The countdown!!

70 days to go!! Not that I'm counting - but I've 70 days before I can start work again. February does sound like such a long way away doesn't it...but time does fly, and I will be starting the job before I know it. I thought I would set myself a little challenge and attempt to do a blog post each day - with a finished ATC. At the end of the 70 days I'll give away the ATC's I have made, not sure how yet, but I'll think of something.

I'm allowing myself to "play" with anything. It may be craft stuff that's been in my stash for years, it may be something nice and new. I'll attempt to mix it up.

For my first day I decided to work with wonderful fusible fibres. Angelina fibres have always been a favourite for me, and there's so many ways of using them.

I'm using a pack brought to us by Clarity - look at the big box of colour!!

First take a small amount of the fibres from the box and "mix" them together. Spread the fibres out on a piece of paper - keep it fine to create a delicate sheet

Cover with another piece of paper and then iron. The fibres fuse together with heat - and you don't need too much heat! If you iron for too long you can burn the fibres. A fine layer like this will fuse in a few seconds. Always cover the fibres before you iron, or you'll get a sticky iron! If the fibres arnt fused properly they will still feel "fluffy". Simply cover and iron again.

Sorry about the lighting on my photos, the lighting in my room is terrible!! I had to unplug my daylight lamp for the iron!

Anyway, try this. Create a cone with a piece of card, and wrap the sheet you have created around it

Allow the sheet to overlap, as you are going to fuse this together. Cover the part where the fibres join, with paper, and gently iron. The fibres will fuse giving you a cone shape. I ironed mid air, as it will fuse quickly so isn't to awkward.

This would make a lovely Christmas tree, or, as I did, make a lovely Christmas decoration. I've just added wire and beads

Next, take a rubber stamp, make sure it's one which will with-stand heat. I've inked the stamp up with versamark. You then need a clump of fibres. You will need more fibres for this as you are making an impression, so need depth in order to do this. The stamp I'm using is an old favourite of mine from Crafty Notions:

Pop the fibres on top of the stamp, and cover with paper

Again, apply the iron. You will need more heat this time, and always avoid using steam!

When it is done, the image will be indented into the fibres. I love this look. Some stamps suit this technique more than others. You can use different colour ink to ink up your stamp, use different colour fibres, or even colour the fibres with a permanent pen. If it hasn't fused properly it will, again, feel fluffy and won't have picked up the detail properly. Over heated, and it will have gone a little dull:

I used gold pebeo gilding wax over the top of my fibres, just gently brushing it over the image so it hits the top of the image. I then finished the card by adding it to a black card, and popped on a word stamped topper

One day down....are the bets on for how many I get done!! gulp :)

Xx