Laser cut shapes

Hello again.

I have been enjoying using wooden laser cut shapes recently.
I like to work with a variety of products and different techniques or I soon get bored  with what I am doing!!
 I have tried many different crafts over the years but really enjoy stamping and all the related techniques.

 The lovely wooden laser cut shapes, by Artcuts,  are great, as they can be used for stamping and various colouring techniques because they are made from a light coloured birch ply .

The joy of these wooden shapes is that if you make a mistake, it can all be sanded off and redone, without damaging the shape!! Which is always a bonus.

 

So far, I have painted, crackled, heat embossed, inked, stained and covered them with metal sheet.   I have also been  able to use my Crop-a-dile  tool to make extra holes if needed.
 I am sure there is still plenty of experimenting to be done.





 

 

 

 

This is a necklace I made recently.
The butterflies have been stamped and heat embossed  with Cosmic shimmer powder. The heart is covered with black embossed, metal sheet.

I was very pleased with the result and need to find some time to make some different jewellery in the near future I think!

Thank you  for visiting

Carole

Card layouts

                                            
 Is it just me or are there others of you out there who have difficulty deciding on layouts for cards.

When I made this card using the lovely Crafty Individuals stamp, I spent ages trying to decide which layout I liked the best. This was even before I  had to make a decision as to where to put the words!!
 I find it useful to take a photo of each layout and then look at them altogether on the screen. This seems to clarify it for me. Although I did think that each one had its merits.

 

I liked the colours on this card , I used Peacock feathers  and Mustard seed Distress inks, blended together. The die cuts are Marianne D and Spellbinder.
The background stamp was an Artemio stamp.

Have a good day and thanks for looking.

 

Carole

Oriental style

 

 

 

Hello.

Just realized how long ago it was that I did my last post.

 

 Lots of things have happened in recent weeks and I am only just getting back into doing things and being able to concentrate on crafting again!!

 This is a very unusual occurrence for me!

 

 Thought I would show you some oriental style cards that I did using Oxford Impression stamps.

 I like Oriental style artwork and enjoy creating cards with images like these.

The Geisha in the top sample is beautiful as she sits reading by a window created with a Sizzix die cut. I have made a reflection of the temple in the water, using a brayer. A very tranquil scene.

 This card has a photo style stamped image, which is mounted onto a background made using Versamagic inkpads and a mask.
The background was embossed using the same mask, then inked lightly.
A Memory Box flower die cut is attached to the front, over the text.

The cards above have images from the same set, with the addition of an embossed background (Tim Holtz folder) , and die cuts from Sizzix and Memory box.

Hope you have enjoyed looking.
Bye for now.
Carole


 


Card for a friend

 

 

Hello.

 

 Thought I would show you a card I made with the IndigoBlu  stamp that I used  on one calendar page. I think this is such a pretty stamp. It reminds me of an illustration that was in a book I had as a child.

 

The die cut tulips by Crafts Too work perfectly with it.

I have attached them to the front so that it is slightly bowed. The card will stand up like that , but I stuck a triangle shaped tab to the back as a stand. It is less likely to fall over then. You do, however, need a box to put it in rather than an envelope, so the tulips don't get squashed!

 

 

 

The embossing folder and die cut centre are both by Sizzix.

 

All the items in the project can be bought at The Craft Barn.

Calendar Front Page

Hello.

Hope you are enjoying some beautiful weather, like we have been.
It's lovely at the moment with a gorgeous blue sky and bright sunshine. Really cheers me up. Great.
Our magnolia tree is just coming into bud so I'm hoping the temperature doesn't plummet again to spoil it!

Anyhow, back to crafting.
I almost forgot to show you the front cover of my calendar.

This is my favourite part and I tend to have it showing most of the time, which does rather defeat the object of the other pages!

 I really like metal sheet , stamping and embossing it.  It is a great product to work with.
This was made from some strips left over from another project. They have been embossed with various Sizzix embossing folders, coloured with acrylic paint and scuffed. The flowers were embossed with a Tando mask.



Most of the products used in the calendar can be bought from The Craft Barn, which has recently moved to Priory Farm at South Nutfield.  It is still in a barn but a modern, converted one. It is bright and airy and 'stuffed' with lots of crafting goodies.
 Why not pay a visit and enjoy!

Thanks for visiting.
Bye for now.

Carole
                      

October November December

Hello again.

 Hope you have enjoyed looking at my calendar. Today I have the final months to show you.

October : An owl had to appear somewhere in my calendar! I just love this IndigoBlu stamp, it's such a beautiful illustration of a Tawny owl , I think. There is a wax resist technique on the background of both of them. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see in the photo, but it is a leafy effect, made with a couple of leaf masks.

 

 

November: This page was made with a napkin that Barbara, one of our group, kindly brought in for us all to use. The colours on it were lovely, really autumnal. I stuck it onto card first and let it dry , then cut the squirrel out. The background was another section of the design, which I stuck directly onto the calendar page.

 

 

 

December: Two different pages again. The top sample is the pretty Woodware robin stamp on a Marianne D die cut shape. The bottom page is made from another napkin, that Jan brought for us to use.  Several of us are cat lovers so this worked well for us and was cute for the December page.

 

 

So that's the whole year . I hope you have enjoyed looking at the pages as much as I did making them. My mind is already buzzing, trying to decide what I will make for 2014. So many lovely stamps around , it will be a difficult decision!
 Bye for now.

Thanks for visiting.
 Carole.

July, August, September

 

Three more calendar pages. 

 

 One product I do like to work with is metal sheet, so I had to include a page in my calendar with metal on it.

 

 

July: The  Paper Artsy sunflower was stamped and embossed onto metal sheet. It was coloured with alcohol inks and cut out. The flourish is a Tim Holtz die cut. They are mounted onto an embossed piece of Coredination card, which has been scuffed. (Crafts Too folder)

 

 

 August: One of my favourite pages. I.O. Cover a card stamp - Paisley. Crafty Individuals Peacock. Memory Box flowers and Marianne D flourish. I really like the VersaFine Majestic blue inkpad I used. It is a lovely vibrant colour.

September : This page was fun to make as I used various products and techniques.    The Dreamweaver scarecrow is cute and worked well for September. It is standing on a background made with a variety of leaf masks and Distress ink colours. The border is a Memory Box die cut, on the top sample, with a Martha Stewart punch pelmet.  The bottom sample has Spellbinder D- Lites Cattails , that look like corn stalks. Worked well with the scarecrow.

 

 

After I had photographed my pages I found I had a stamp by Hobby Art, with a lovely quote by Anne Bronte. It says "A light wind swept over the corn and all nature laughed in the sunshine." It was just the right size to put in the top left-hand corner of the page and  it worked beautifully.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

Carole