Crafty countdown- 66 days to go

Today: sitting in my messy craft room, the weather chilly and blustery outside, the dogs chilled, radio 6 on with Giles Peterson playing some cool tunes. Crafting. It's one of those days when I have to steal myself, this is bliss. I thank my lucky stars that I'm able to do this. 

And, talking of stars (seemless), sitting in my room are 3 boxes of cool little stars which I bought ages ago for my web site, but couldn't list as the boxes were all damaged - it's not a major disaster as I kept them :)

Normally things like this make we want to get out the triple thick embossing powder, but as these have holes in, they're shouting out to be used with wire.

I also had on my desk a piece of Meg which had already been base coated with black paint, then white gesso

I blobbed some paint on my craft sheet, and applied with an old towel. This adds texture whist applying the paint 

Next I used a stencil and sponged the paint through 

I didn't worry about It being perfect. And I never pre-plan these things. It's all about playing and experimenting - seeing what happens. To emphasise the circles I used my pocky tool to scratch rough circles into the mdf

I like the exposure of the black paint and mdf. However, it looks a little heavy, so I used white gesso to knock the intensity back a little

The base is rough from the scratching, so I lightly sanded it, and sanded the edges, to reveal some of the black paint.

Really happy with this now, like the texture and the colours, so I'm ready to stamp. This is the scary bit - once I've stamped I have to love it or paint over the whole thing! I didn't want to stamp with black as I thought this would be too heavy, so I used a nice denim from Adirondack, and one of my fav stamps from stampers anonymous, another Tim Holtz collection.

I then painted my stars and threaded them with coated wire. I used a nice pliable wire 

Don't they look cool! Now to apply them to my base. I used 3D foam under the moon, and then a combination of pinflair and cosmic shimmer glues. I sculpted the wire, so my stars say precisely where i wanted them:

Really happy with it. I added a little black paint to the moon and stars to lift them off the base, and then couldn't help myself - glitter glue!! Has to be stickles star dust. Not to much, but just enough to give it a subtle sparkle:

67 days to go!!! Crafty countdown

Another day down folks...it goes so quick when you're keeping your eye on it! It's a bit scary. Exciting though, I've already got my first kit being delivered next week!! THATS exciting.

Okay, so I looked round my craft again and saw a die cut image, that was my starting point. We all have die cuts knocking about that we haven't used - I have loads!!

I took a double sided adhesive sheet, and stuck it to a piece of card. 

I always work on a bigger piece of card, even if I'm doing an ATC. This gives me a chance to cut bits off if I don't like them. Remove the protective sheet and I've stuck on the die cut. I used the protective sheet to make sure my die is stuck down properly (use the shiney side, so it doesn't stick to your adhesive sheet).

I then covered the adhesive with all shiney stuff. I used glitters, snowy stuff and metal flakes. I worked them into the adhesive and then brushed off the excess. I worked the flakes into adhesive with a sponge. I love this technique.

I cut my card down to make two different looks

Arnt they pretty. One I decorated with a Christmas flower, ribbon and mini fir cones.

The second one I used a pretty butterfly from a sheet I also had knocking about, to give it a different feel:

I inked the edges a little, to blend with my butterfly, added a little bow - and bobs your uncle.

The Crafty Countdown - 68 days to go. Time to get inky

This evening I was inspired to do something because of a scrap of card sitting on my desk...this scrap in fact:

It might not seem particularly inspiring, this piece of white card with glittery dots, however I thought "will those glittery dots resist ink"

With that, I picked up my Cosmic Shimmer Colour Cloud Blending Ink, and my new favourite, my ink smoothie.  Love these little ink sponges, very cool!  I blended 4 different colours over the card, and look how those glittery dots pop:

I the took an old, but favourite, stamp.  It's a Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz design, and very beautiful, for an ATC it's a big stamp, however, so I needed to cut it down and use it in a different way to make it work:

I decided to do two cards, slightly different.  You can see the stamp, above, and the way I've used it to get a different effect.  

On one card I've over stamped the image using the blue Colour Blend Ink, on the second card I've used the lovely glittery pens from Spectrum Noir, and blended some rich sparkle into my stamped image:

I then stamped my sentiment stamp, one onto white, and then one onto a scrap of my inked card.  I mat and layered the sentiments, and then added them to my card:

68 days to go.  Do you know, doing this really does bring it home just how fast time flies!!  Gulp :)

I forgot to mention......

There's a few people who have commented asking where I am, as I haven't been on Create and Craft for some time.  I am sorry, I have posted on Facebook and Twitter - but forgot that some of my blog followers wouldn't see these postings.

Well, I have indeed been off the screens for some time.  I have actually left C&C.  It was a hard decision to make, as I loved my job, have met some life-long friends, and had so much fun.  It's funny, but we go on about Family, Friendship and fun - and it really did have that feeling most of the time - and with almost all the people I had the pleasure of working with.  I am still a massive fan, and know they will grow from strength to strength.  

As many of you know, I have always done crafty things, whether it be demonstrating, workshops or my own web site.  When I was no longer allowed to do any of these things, it did feel as though my creative freedom had been stolen - and eventually, this got the better of me.  For the time being I still have contractual restrictions as to what I can do - so actually can't work really, but in February I will be free again.  Hence the count down blog :)  I'm not allowed to say where I'm going - but will be back on your screens.  I am working on my own range of products, which is exciting but really scary, and enjoying getting time to craft again....I feel this is the calm before the storm (in a good way).

Thank you all for your lovely comments, I will try and answer you all, but I do read them and really appreciate the time you take to contact me.  I have had an over-whelming response to my news, which was really surprising - but fab!  I look forward to sharing my crafty count-down, and then the next adventures with you.

Big glittery hugs

Leonie xxxx 

Countdown - 69 days to go!

Hooray, day 2 of the countdown, and I've done a post (it would have been bad if I hadn't got to day 2 wouldn't it!).

However, my obsession with Angelina fibres has continued.  Once I get started with them, I don't seem to be able to stop.  And why should I stop, they are fabulous to play with.  

I decided to continue with the technique I showed yesterday, when I made the free standing cone.  This time I dug out a battery operated string of tiny LED lights.  These are already pretty, but I made tiny Angelina cones to fit over each LED light.  I punched two holes in the top of each cone using a hole punch, to thread the wire and lights through each cone.  A twist of the wire at the top of the cone, holds each one in place.  I've had them on a few hours now, and they are perfect:

Angelina fibres only bond to each other, so that means you can "trap" other things in them.  Experiment with this, as it really can change the look of your finished piece.  I created quite a thick sheet of fibres and trapped some silver metal flakes, and some white snow flakes:

Sandwich in between greaseproof paper and iron both sides.

I actually over ironed mine, on purpose of course (!!), you will hopefully see from the photo, the part that isn't burnt shines more than the part that has been over-heated.  However, I still liked the result, so still used it:

I created a thicker sheet as I wanted to die cut the fibres.  If they are fine, a regular die will have trouble cutting them.  The thicker sheet cuts well, but I did add a shim.  I used a lovely die from the Sue Wilson collection, it's the poinsettia collection.  I used the full die set with the angelina fibres, and then with the frame dies I just cut plain white card stock.

Glue them together, and then I popped a brad through the center.  My brads are so old!  These are from a kit I used to have when I worked at QVC.  This is why us crafters don't chuck anything decent away, stuff always comes in handy.  

Cut your ATC card to size, I used red card, then a smaller piece of white card, which I embossed and added a touch of gilding wax.  Glue the poinsettia in place, and then add a little Christmas message.

To finish, I added a little glitter glue.

Two down.......

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

Easy Card Making Ideas

Back, actually still blogging in the same year as my last post.  Boom!

On TV we often chat about how myself and Anne-Marie are going to bring in the Paper Police for the mis-use of Hunkydory cardstock. Now, whilst this is a joke (sort of), I thought rather than keep threatening people, it might just be nice to show an example of how we can use one piece of card for multiple looks.  I have started easy, and progressed to a trickier, but still completely do-able set of cards.  It's going to be a long post - ready?.....

Lets start...

We need to start with the chosen piece of cardstock.  I went for this as I can already imagine it as two separate cards.  

The first card I made was literally just by folding the card in half: 

Sorry, the picture isn't great is it...The card is folded and then I have literally only added 3 different toppers.  Use 3D foam to create dimension.  Layering the toppers adds interest to your card.  I haven't even added mat and layering to my toppers as each one has a foiled border.

Next, I cut the main piece of card in half, so I could now create two very simple cards.  Use plain cardstock as a base - I used a pearlescent card so it complemented the finish of my main cardstock.

I haven't used a mat and layer for my main image, just to keep it as simple as possible.  If you wish to add an extra layer of card, place this under the decorative card layer.  Choose a colour that you can pick out of the main image. You will need to cut the decorative card down a little - I only ever show a very small mat and layer border.  Play around to see how you prefer yours.

With this card, I have added a topper, which I have mat and layered.  I added a larger piece of gold card, and then a piece of turquoise card.  This was just slightly bigger than the gold card, so giving that lovely small border.  I added a mat and layer to the topper to lift it from my main image - otherwise it would get lost into the highly decorative background.  I then added another little sentiment.

The second half of the decorative card was added onto a plain pearlescent card, with a couple of toppers added on top.  As I wanted to use a larger topper this time, I covered the bird on the cardstock, so the topper looked correct.  Again, add 3D foam for dimension.

Okay, they have been really nice and simple so far, literally just cardstock and toppers.  Next we need to get handy with our scissors or craft knife.

I really have leaped onto cutting and changing the cardstock now, but it's still very simple.  I used the half of the card with the bird and pink panel.  I cut the card down into a panel, cutting up to the bird, and around it, so it is coming out of the card..  The design of the card allows you to see where this is an obvious place to cut into your image.  Essentially, I have cut away the pink part of the card.  I then used another piece of plain pearlescent card as my base cardstock.  I cut the front of the card down, so it was just a little larger than the decorative panel.  I used a piece of turquoise card to mat and layer my panel onto, and attached this onto the front of my card.  

The topper I used on my original card, I now decided to cut up.  I cut out the postbox, which I added to the front of the card with 3D foam.  I also cut out the bird, butterflies and some of the letters.  I glued the bird and some of the letters to the front of the card.  I used Pinflair this time, as the images are smaller and the Pinflair allows me to angle the images rather than them remaining flat, which happens with 3D foam. 

 I also cut out two of the foiled swirls, and added on to the top left corner.

I then used one of the inserts from this Hunkydory collection.  The insert is also pearlescent. Although the insert isn't precisely the same design as my main cardstock, this doesn't matter, as the colours blend wonderfully.  I used the half of the insert that didn't have the sentiment printed on it.

I added the main topper, which I matted and layered onto turquoise card, this lifts it off the insert. The flat topper will sit under the front of the card.  The further two toppers are added to the card with 3D foam, this will sit to the right of the card front. I added a couple of little butterflies on the right side, and also one of the foiled corners.

I finished the card with a little bit of Stickles glitter glue, I used gold and Diamond, on the flowers, leaves and the bunting.

The second half of my card (can you believe, the main images are still from one piece of A4 card!).

I used the insert which matched the letter box from the cardstock.  I cut the insert down, along the line of flowers and the letterbox.  I then glued this to the front of my pearlescent card, landscape.  I then cut along the image again, this time through the pearlescent card.  Make sure you keep a section at the top complete along the fold, to form the body of the card.  I then cut down the excess pearlescent card to the right, so the front of the card will just overhang the back of the card slightly.

Using the card, I cut out the postbox, some of the flowers and some letters, which were decoupaged onto the front of the card. I added a little Stickles Glitter Glue.

On the inside of the card I used one of the matching inserts, which I cut down so the bird was at the top.  I cut some paper from one of the other inserts, which I matted and layered onto a piece of pearlescent card.  I also added the foil border, and a sentiment.

A little bit of glitter glue, finishes my last card.

This is why I love kits like the Hunkydory kits available.  You can make the easiest card ever, or you can really play, and create something completely different.  

Happy days.