Less is More, and a couple more...

Hi all, I'm back with some more berry coloured inspired creativity! Whenever I create with these colours, I just keep going! In my quest to use my stash rather than hoard it in a box, I thought I would use one of my sadly neglected Papertrey Ink stamp sets, called, appropriately enough, Harvest Berries.

First, I sprinkled some Purple and Violet Brushos from That's Crafty onto some plain white card, then spritzed with water for this magical effect. Everytime I use Brushos, it never fails to delight me! When it was dry, I stamped in Versamark the large sprig of leaves from the stamp set, and white embossed it. I didn't feel it stood out enough, so I then traced around some of the leaves and stem with a black fineliner.

I stamped the sentiment in Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Up! ink, and also used the same colour card to mat the panel. Before adhering to the panel, I sprinkled some Stampendous Shabby White embossing enamel over the surface, and heated from underneath. Although you can't see it in the photo, it's very sparkly in real life.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Less is More - Berry Colours

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

That's Crafty Challenges - Purple

4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - Berry Colours

Hi all, I'm sharing my little make today for this week's new Less is More challenge, to use Berry colours. Now, I love berry shades, especially deep purples and raspberry reds, and once I start creating with them, I can't stop!

For this card, I used some scraps left over from another project, which I still need to blog, and my new dies from MFT (available at Dies to Die for) Blueprints 20. I actually cut and assembled 7 of these mini quilts, and found it very therapeutic, like an extended jigsaw puzzle!

The main body of the quilt was made using some background paper I had made using a Visible Ink stamp, Flower INKcognito, clear embossed, then spritzed with some Deco Art paint sprays in Purple and Primary Magenta  for an embossed/resist technique.

As the  background card had already been made last week, all I needed to do was cut and assemble.

The raspberry mat was also cut using a cross stitched rectangular die, also from the Blueprints 20 die set. I added some purple twine and a deep purple button, and the sentiment is from Uniko Studios,  All Occasion Sentiments #1, stamped in Hero Arts new Ombre ink pad in 'Lilac to Grape Purple'.

I stopped short of adding any further bling or glitter, but it's difficult for me haha! I love the bling!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Pauline

Less is More, Uniko Studios

Hi all, I'm back today with a card made for the new Less is More Challenge. This week, it is Chrissie's birthday (challenge creator and owner) and to celebrate the theme this week is a card for Chrissie's birthday but using 'Snippets' or scraps as I call them! I also was inspired to make a card for this month's Uniko Studios challenge which is Black, White and a splash of colour.

To create this card I used Decorative Doilies and Time after Time set for the sentiment.

Here is the little snippet of white card I used to pop up my cut out pieces of doily - I was toying with which colour to use, as it needed to be bright against the black doilies. I went for Distress Ink Peacock Feathers in the end.

I stamped the doilies in Memento Tuxedo Black onto a large card base measuring 6 3/4 inches square!

I cut the little blue doilies out, and popped them up on foam pads for dimension.

For my favourite sparkle, I added some turquoise gems.
I have a few more ideas using these stamps, which I love, so pretty and crisply detailed.

 Happy Birthday Chrissie!

I am entering this into the following challenges -

Less is More - Snippets

Uniko Studios - Black White and a splash of colour.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Playing with Brushos..again!

Hi all, I'm a bit late posting this card, as I had finished it on Sunday, but I was waiting for some brighter weather to take a picture! I made this card for this week's Less is More challenge, and the theme this week is Beachy! I don't have many nautical style stamps, but I KNOW that I do own a Pink Paislee set...somewhere!  I've looked high and low for it, and I can't find it anywhere! I remember seeing it in a box that it shouldn't be in, and thinking 'Oh, I'll put that back in a minute!' Hmmm! That'll teach me to replace my stuff after use. Ho hum.

Anyway, I had bought a sea themed stencil from a craft fair ages ago, (may have been at the NEC last November) so I thought I would use that.

I used the seahorse image from the stencil, using Grunge Paste coloured with ultramarine Brusho pigment powder. I have done a little tutorial on how I created this card further down. The sentiment is one of my wooden stamps, by Hampton Arts which I haven't used before. I do find the Less is More challenge gets me to use my unused stash - this card has used a stamp and a stencil plus the luxe dust which I had bought but squirrelled away!

After the image was dry, I sprinkled more ultramarine Brushos onto the card around the seahorse, and a slight touch of leaf green. Then I spritzed with water, and used my hand held color spritzer to move the paint around the paper.

 When this was dry,  I felt the seahorse blended into the background too well, so I went around the raised paste with a fine liner pen. I added some Vintage Silver embossing powder and some Opal dust for some glittery shimmer.

Below are some pics of how I created this card, I thought I would leave it til last so you can just skip over it hehe!

 Here are my tools - Grunge Paste, Brushos, pallette knife, acrylic block, watercolour card, stencil.
The stencil is by The Crafter's Workshop.

I spread a little bit of the paste onto my block, I wasn't too sure how much to use, I did need to add a bit more.

I very lightly sprinkled ultra marine Brusho onto the paste, and mixed.

It came out a pale baby blue colour, so I added some more...

When I was happy with the colour, I wanted to add some shimmer, so I added a pinch of some Luxe Dust pearl powder. This made the paste really dry, so I spritzed it with some water.

Then I applied it to the stencil, I didn't tape the stencil to the card, which is advisable, but I got away with it this time!

When finished applying, I carefully peeled the stencil back...

I was really pleased with the clear definition of this lovely stencil. My only gripe is the luxe dust didn't really show up, so I either need to use more, or apply it topically to the top of the stencilled paste when dry.

Thanks for stopping by

Pauline

Playing with Copics and Cheshire Cats!

Hi all, I'm just sharing a fun card today, made using the Cheshire Cat image from Visible Image stamps, coloured with Copics.

I've taken the picture on my phone, as it's very gloomy here, and my camera is playing up. Quite impressed with how ok it looks! The background was made using Brushos in Emerald Green and Purple, onto a watercolour card, then spritzed with water. Finally I added some gems to the eyes around the card for some sparkle!

I stamped some random smiles around the edges in Dusty Concord Distress Ink, and layered with some purple Bazzill. This was my first play with Copics, and as such, although I like the colours, I don't like the brush nib - everybody else loves it, but I'm not a fan! Yet!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Simon Say Stamp - Furry Friends

Crafting from the Heart - anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - One Layer - Masculine

Hi all, I made a couple of cards this morning with my new favourite toy - Brushos! They are so easy to use, and produce such pretty results, I love them!!

I've made a couple of masculine cards for this week's Less Is More challenge, and this week is the dreaded one layer plus the other dreaded Masculine! Hmm, well, that's handy, as my son is 11 next week, and I still have to make him a card. This is the card I made for him:

I have used the stamp set Robot Data Set, by Visible Image, and stamped the robot, the binary code and sentiment in Versamark and embossed in clear powder onto a large card base.

Then when it was cool, I sprinkled some Emerald Green Brusho over the binary code parts, and sprinkled some Black over the robot.

Then i lightly misted so the powder didn't get pushed around too much by the spray. When dry, I added some Stampendous Vintage Silver embossing pwder, and heated from underneath. This stuff gets everywhere, it looks like grit, but makes such a great addition to grunge stuff up.

I thought the sentiment didn't stand out enough, so I edged it in a black fine liner, not too pleased with it now, oh well, I will leave well alone next time!

As I was on a roll, I thought I would use a new mask I bought recently, and try the Brushos through it. It is more patchy than a thicker medium, but I like the effect.

I taped the stencil to the card base, then either side I also placed  two pieces of plain paper to shield the rest of the card from any stray powder or spatters.

Then I sprinkled some Olive Green and Terracotta onto the card, and spritzed gently.

I added some Glamour dust to the numbers and clockface shape to give it a bit more definition.

I tried to capture the sparkle, but it's a very dull day here.

And here they are together.

So a productive day all round, I made my son's birthday card (the robot) and I made a spare :-)

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Playing with Brushos...

Hi all, I'm here today to share a card I made using my new Brushos pigment powder paints. They are addictive! You can either make up the paint as a watercolour, or, as I have done here, sprinkle certain colours onto spray spritzed watercolour card for a different effect.

Last weekend I went to the Newbury Papercraft show, which is a new show to this area, replacing the old Artstamps show that used to be held here every July. Hopefully the show was busy enough to convince the exhibitors that we do need a show like this for this area. It certainly was busy! We had to queue to enter! Two ladies in the queue behind me said they looked forward to the shows at Newbury all year, as they don't travel to the others around the country, so fingers crossed  it will continue.

There were a variety of demonstrators there, including Kay Carley, who I really wanted to see demonstrate her techniques with Brushos. I had already had a play with my Brushos, but I wanted to see how others used them. Her table was packed, but I managed to see Kay, and had a quick chat with her. These are the cards she demo'd at the show, and I took my inspiration from the pink flowery one.

 For my card I used a Woodware stamp I had bought but not used yet, and it had the whimsical, free feel I needed for this technique.

I stamped it in clear Versamark, and embossed in clear powder. I then sprinkled some Bruso pigments onto the card - Rose Pink onto the petal area, Leaf Green onto the leafy area, Cobalt Blue for the background, and a small touch of Violet.

I then spritzed gently with my mini mister, and the magic happened!

I used a small paintbrush to guide some of the colour up into the leaves, and around the petals.

If it got a bit too wet with the spritzing, I just dabbed some of the water away with a small piece of paper towel.

When dry, I gently sprinkled some Stampendous Shabby Pink embossing enamel, which contains some tiny pieces of glitter, so it gently sparkles. I then lightly sprayed it with some Tattered Angels Dazzling Diamonds.

I love the effect of the colours together, and this technique is very easy to do, and you get great results! I have made a card using this technique when I first got the Brushos, and you can see the results HERE.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:  

 Papertake Weekly, Anything goes challenge.

Tuesday Throwdown - No patterned paper

CAS on Sunday - Embossing

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline