grunge and brusho

 Good morning everyone, if you have seen Nikki's guest designer posts then you will have had your appetite whetted for this month's DT offerings!
So as not to disappoint anyone here are my brusho offerings - and yes, I can do a card without brusho......I just love the random effects of the stuff!
I used the lovely floral grunge stamp, perfect for brushos, though I am sure Sue didn't  design it deliberately.....
The first one was stamped with versamark and white embossed before sprinkling black brusho all over and spritzing with water. Once dry, torn edges, mat onto black card, then onto a white sqaure blank card - done. A very quick card, takes longer for the brusho to dry than for anything else!

 My second version took a bit longer, started out the same with white embossed image. Then I carefully sprinkled grey brusho round the image, and activated it using a wet paintbrush - you still get the random colour effect, but only where you want it. Once dry,I tapped off any excess grey powder before sprinkling the flower with orange brusho and activating it the same way.
Torn round the edges again, double mats of black and orange and mounted onto a white square card blank.
I almost always do my cards without any sentiments, then they can be used for almost any occasion, that and brusho are my main crafting perversions!
There were some fantastic samples on the TV show, so keep checking, my teamies will be keeping you inspired this monthm, that's for sure!

auricula (by Veronica)

 Two versions today using the auricula script stamp from Chocolate Baroque - I have never been a fan of this particular flower, but a lot of gardeners seem to be, though I do like the script background on the stamp!

The background card blank was randomly stamped using the unmounted stamp and just inking up the flowers.
Image was stamped onto white card using versamark and gold embossing powder, then coloured using brusho powders.
I ran the red ink pad used for the background stmaping round the edges of the trimmed card before adding a bit of spotty ribbon and mounting onto the background.




For the second card the image was stamped with black versafine and embossed with clear powder, and this time I used watercolour paints to colour the leaves and flowers, aiming for a more masculine feel.

brusho orchid (by Veronica)

For my second post this month featuring stamps from the September TV show I have gone back to form and used brusho powders.
I created a pile of backgrounds with the brusho first - they take a bit to dry, so I like to do several at a time,( and I often blot them using another sheet of card if they come out too dark)  and the ones I don't use always come in handy later on....
For both cards I stamped the lady's slipper orchid using versamark and embosssed with white embossing powder.
The first card has a darker background, and I used more brusho as a watercolour to colour the leaves and the flower. I added a purple card mat the same size as the trimmed image, and glued both at an angle onto a square white card blank.



The second was a much more delicate image, and I again coloured the flower and some of the  leaves, but this time with very watered down brusho.
The card blank was randomly stamped with the flower head using an almost-dried out purple ink pad before adding a mat of purple card

 Both my cards today use the captivating cacti individual stamp, which is quite a big stamp.
Sorry if you were hoping for a brusho-less card, but the first one is rather less obviously brusho!
I stamped and embossed the image onto white card before sprinkling red, green and orange brusho lightly over the background. I then painted the cacti with red and leaf green brusho using a wet paintbrush to activate the powders.
I stamped the tall cactus from scrumptious succulents across  the white card blank to give a background before adding a mat of black card

My second card is more obviously 'normal' brusho, with a background square of card coloured with red and yellow brusho. I used the same colours after stamping and embossing the image with white embossing powder, trying to get most of the red on the flowers and the yellow on the cacti.
The mat of black card was stamped using the sempervivium?  image from scrumptious succulents stamped randomly using a white ink pad, which doesn't really show up on the scan. I have a large collection of different makes of white ink pad, and am not really happy with any of them so far!

scrumptious succulent (by Veronica)

This time a flowering cactus from the scrumptious succulents plate and a sentiment from blossom and grow, just to swop things around a bit.....
Afraid it's still brusho though - images stamped with versamark and white embossed before sprinkling leaf green brusho over the background and orange over the flowers and sentiment before spritzing with water. It looked a bit washed out when dry, so i sprinkled more brusho over the stems and the flowers and used a wet paintbrush to add more colour - once everything is dry, just tap off any excess powder.
A mat of black card and mounted onto a 7" square white card blank to finish off.

in all things of nature (by Veronica)

Good morning everyone, today I have the first of my samples using this lovely spiky flower, and, of course, my favourite brusho powders - very appropriate weather for cacti and succulent stamps, if not for todays show featuring Christmas stamps!
The spiky flower is from the blossom and grow plate, and the sentiment from scrumptious succulents.
A very quick card if you ignore the drying time - both images were stamped with versamark ink and white embossed. A good sprinkling of black brusho powder and a fairly heavy spritzing with water was all that was needed.
Once it was dry, trimmed to size and a mat of bronze/red  card to pick up the colours in the brusho, them mounted on a 7" square white card blank.

Another version, different colours, this time stamped using black versafine and clear embossed with green and orange powders.  An accidental more watery effect, not really cacti-like, but I liked it - think I will try to get the same effect with the mermaid queen stamp.....

lords & ladies (by Veronica)

 Today I have two cards using the lords & ladies flower stamp, and, of course, brusho powders.
The first one was stamped in brown ink and masked using Pebeo drawing gum before sprinkling blue and yellow brusho and spritzing with water. I also used the same colours on another piece of card to create the background piece.
Once everything was dry. I rubbed off the masking fluid and trimmed both pieces down to fit a 5"x7" white card blank, edging both pieces with a black marker before gluing down


The second card had a distress ink background
after stamping and masking the flower, adding the inks to a blending mat, spritzing with water and mopping up with the card. I added the foliage stamp in grey once everything was dry and before rubbing off the masking fluid.
I added shading with grey ink and a waterbrush, then used yello and green brusho with a waterbrush to add more colour to the leaves and the stamen. Green marker round the edges, and a 6"square card blank to finish.

dream wings (by Veronica)

 I loved playing with this new stamp set, so much so that i have a lot to show you today, so a coffee first may be an idea!
My first two were experiments which worked ok, thankfully. I remembered seeing a post where someone had stamped using brusho, so i had to try it out. Sprinkling powder onto a stamp and then spritzing with water was not a good idea - it took about 8 impressions to get a passable image!
A different stamp, using the paler grey powder with a waterbrush to apply to the autumn medley stamp and stamping onto damp card was much better! I wanted a dreamy effect, so added nore powder round the edges and spritzed fairly heavily with water then used a damp feather stamp to stamp into the brusho round the face. - it took a long time to dry, but I liked the efffect, though the feathers didn't show up as well as i had hoped. The large zentangled feathers and the sentiment from words of inspiration were stamped in versamark and white embossed.


 This one was my first attempt at an eclipse card. I used a distress ink background on and A5 piece of white card, and stamped the birds fron the curly birds set using black versafine ink. I masked the bodies and wings using Pebeo drawing gum before stamping the feathers in grey versafine ink. I have a magnetic platform for my big shot, which was a definite help diecutting the letters - you don't really realise how big the letters are until you try to fit a word in! I made an A5 card from black card and trimmed the stamped panel down to fit, gluing the centres of the letters in place before adding the actual letters on foam pads. This was very fiddly, and I think you would get a better result diecutting the letters several times and gluing them in place.

This one used another distress ink background, with the curly birds again stamped in black versafine and masked with the drawing gum before stamping the feathers with grey versafine.
The sentiment in black is from the feathers set.








The fourth one is fairly similar, except that I stamped feathers drifting downwards on the card  using versamark and white embossing powder before dusting with turquoise and grey brusho powders and spritzing heavily with water.
The feathers were masked with the drawing gum before stamping the curly birds in blue distress ink.  sentiment in black versafine ink
.I used the same blue ink on the white base card and sponged the edges as well before adding the panel.



My last card was cut down from an A4 sheet of card, so i have quite a bit left in case I need to make some quick cards.......




The feathers were stamped using versamark ink and white embossed before sprinkling turquoise and purple brusho over the sheet and spritzing with water. A corner of the card was trimmed to
5.5" square and mounted onto a slightly larger piece of black card before adding to a 6" sqaure white card.

landscape edges by Veronica

 Landscape edges is my favourite of all the edges series of stamps, and this particular stamp is top of the list! It works beautifully with my favourite brusho powders too.

For my first card I wanted to get a darker sky than usual, but not a night sky.  I was very happy with the rather stormy appearance here - using my favourite brusho powders (mostly the grey) to create the sky after stamping and embossing the trees.
Trimmed down and matted on black card, then glued to the top of a 7"square white card blank, with the sentiment from the see beauty clear stamp set stamped at the bottom right.

 My second card has the more usual sunrise/sunset sky, again created with brusho powders, this time turquoise, yellow and orange.
Again a black matt, this time a 5"x7" card blank, with the sentiment from words of inspiration

flower power (by Veronica)

 I hope everyone had an enoyable Christmas, with lots of crafty goodies coming your way! It was nice to be able to sit and watch Lesley on tv on Saturday, even though I should have been sorting stuff out.....

 Here are the last of my samples using  the flower stamps.
I made notelets using kraft card, with white embossed images, coloured using some ancient pots of H2Os.
I made a folder to hold them, just a sheet of card folded into three. The background stamp was stamped using vintage photo distress ink, and the fuchsia stamped and embossed in white onto an oval die cut in brown card.








My final card used the lovely big lily stamp, stamped in black versafine and clear embossed. It was coloured with brusho powders, trying to keep most of the powders in appropriate places -not always successfully.
After spritzing with water I used a paintbrush to spread the colour into the petals. Once dry, the sentiment was stamped and the image trimmed to fit onto a 5"x7" white card blank with a red mat layer.

cyclist (by Veronica)

A slightly more cheerful card than my last post, using the same stencil and die cut, but this time with a distress ink and brusho background. I sprinkled grey brusho powder over a square of card and spritzed with water before sponging hickory smoke distress ink through the stencil.
The larger cyclist from eccentric edwardian was stamped in black versafine and the smmaller one from curiosities in grey versafine. I added a corner die cut in black card and a sentiment from steampunk travel before inking round the edges with black versafine and adding to a white card blank

edwardian (by Veronica)

Today I am sharing a couple of samples using the e
ccentric edwardian stamps.
The first is a rather grungy card.
Background used a cog stencil and a very elderly walnut stain ink spray that I was given ages ago and had never used, I added another lighter layer of spray after removing the stencil. The car was stamped in black versafine ink, then the man alsoin black versafine but clear embossed to make him stand out a bit more.
A few diecut cogs from dark brown card were added in the corners, then a mat of the same brown card before adding to a square white card blank






I  also recycled an empty instant coffee tin, these are so useful as a pen/brush holder.
This time the strip of white card cut to fit round the can with a lsight overlap was coloured with grey brusho powder, then randomly stmaped with the large crackle stamp using a grey ink pad. I used a die cut as a stencil and brushed more grey ink over it.
The man was stamped using black versafine ink and clear embossing powder before using the cyclist stamp and the small cyclist from the curiosities set to fill in the gaps.
I stuck the card to the can using redline tape stuck onto the can first along the edges with one vertical strip, then a final vertical strip onto the slightly overlapping edge of the card.

Chequered flowers (by Veronica)

 I loved playing with this stamp, and - surprise- my favourite brusho powders.
All the images were stamped , embossed and masked using masking fluid before sprinkling with brusho powders.

The first one I used leaf green , purple and truquoise powders, not that you can see much of the turquoise.
Once dry, it was trimmed down and mounted onto a 5"x7" white card blank.
 The second one is much the same, except that I only used the purple this time, and the image was gold embossed.
The powder didn't spread as far this time, but it looked a bit like a torn edge, so i left it  as it was. Trimmed down rather more, and added to another 5"x7" white card blank with a gold mat and a gold embossed sentiment



The final one was my favourite, a more dramatic version just using the black brusho powder  - I love the mutli-colour effect you get with this.
This one wasn't trimmed as closely, and mounted onto a 7" square white card blank using white and black mats.

There were some fantastic samples from the team on the shows last month, so keep checking to see some of them over the next two weeks

hanging flowers (byVeronica)

 I hope you enjoyed watching Lesley and Lynnda on the recent TV shows , showing the lovely colouring pages and the matching stamps.
These are two of my samples using the hanging flowers stamp - loved this one, thought it was very like a fuschsia, I shall probably get corrected on that though, not being a gardener.
Needless to say, I used brushos on the first one. I stamped the flowers first using black versafine and clear embossing powder. then painted them with masking fluid before using grey brusho powder and spritzing with water.
Once everything was dry, I rubbed off the masking fluid and painted the leaves using lime green brusho. White and black mats finished it off.

The second version was stamped with versamark onto black card and embossed with gold detail powder. The flowers and leaves were painted with diluted  Aztec lustre paints - have to admit this was their first use since I bought them from CB last year!
Mats this time were gold and black onto a white base card.

There were some fantastic samples on the shows, so keep checking to see what my teamies have to show you, you won't be disappointed!

fantasy castles (by Veronica)

For my last post this month here are two cards using one of the stamps from fantasy castles, along with my favourite brusho powders.

They are both very simple cards, with the brusho background done first, then the image stamped using black versafine ink over a suitable part of  the background. I used A4 sheets of card for the backgrounds, and trimmed them down after stamping the castle -the spare unused bits always come in handy for other projects, so they are not wasted.

I used Lesley's brusho technique to colour in the trees and the domes - sprinkle the powder in the area you want to colour, then use a wet paintbrush with clean water to add the colour where you want it - brilliant for the trees, as you get all the different greens, and you just shake off any excess powder.
On the first card, I added an extra tree by stamping the tree on the left of the image again on the right, and on thesecond card I sponged hickory smoke distress ink through a stencil to create a foreground.

fantasy castle (by Veronica)

The second of my samples for the shows last month uses one of the lovely images from the fantasy castles set of stamps - I have to admit these were far more my scene than the fairies!
This started out as playing with distress oxide ink pads on white card, without any idea where I was going. I thought that the palace stamp would fit, as it looked as if it was on a shore, and I already had a watery effect at the base of my very rough landscape. I stamped it with black versafine and clear embossed it before adding colour with brusho powders and watercolour pencils. The palace was stamped onto acetate with the versafine, turned over and  matched up with the original, rubbed firmly to transfer the image onto the watery area. It didn't transfer cleanly, but that didn't matter.
I added foliage from the tranquility stamp set using first and second generation stamping to frame the scene and give an impression of depth - it also toned down the rather bright sky!

Katya again

 two more samples using the lovely Katya - you can tell she was my favourite, can't you!
Katya stamped with black versafine, clear embossed and masked with masking fluid. The buildings from the babushka set were stamped using an old multi-coloured dye ink pad that was so old the colours had all merged into an apology for black - very different from the original! It worked for the buildings, as there were still traces of the original colours when the background was spritzed with water to activate the brusho powders, so I got a misty skyline effect.
Once everything was dry, I rubbed off the masking fluid and coloured her using watered down aztec metallic paints.







The second version is a bit more dramatic , and a tad more complicated.
It started out the same way, stamping and masking Katya before stamping the castle from the fantasy castle set, as I thought it looked sufficiently Russian. I coloured the castle with brusho powders and a waterbrush, mostly using sandstone, lemon and leaf green powders. Katya was coloured with mica powders and a waterbrush. I created a layered effect by trimming the castle to a square and cutting round Katya where she was outside the square. I added a square gold mat behind the castle.
The background was randomly stamped with the silhouette palaces stamp using the same ancient ink pad and grey, purple and black brusho powders which all sort of merged into a misty nighttime effect.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing the wonderful samples from the team over the last month, we certainly enjoyed making them!

babushka (by Veronica)

Apologies for the picture-heavy post, thought I ought to show some photos of how it was done!
Thought I would try something a little different with the babushka dolls, and make a pop-up box card. Normally I would cut out the box, but as I had some ready-made blanks I used those for speed - they were rather shorter than I would have preferred, but worked quite well in the end.
I used the babushka dolls plate and the silhouette palaces stamps with a mixture of markers, pencils, brushos and distress inks.
The folded flat box fits into an 8"x8" square envelope, and the top panels are 85x80mm, side panels 85x105mm , and the back 85x185mm - sorry for the mix of measurements.

 I stamped the buildings from babushka onto
80x75mm panels for the fold-down flaps, and also at the top of a 80x180 panel for the inside back of the card,using black versafine ink. They were coloured with watercolour pencils.
The pic shows how they were glued onto the base card.

 The side panels were 80x100mm, and here I stamped the smaller stamp from silhouette palaces using black archival ink, then sprinkled lemon, rose red and turquoise brusho powder before spritzing it for the sky.





The same stamp was used at the bottom of a 80x180mm panel for the back, this time using smoky grey distress ink and sponging round the edges with the grey as well.

I stamped 2 large and 1 medium dolls onto white card using versafine again and coloured them with marker pens so that they stood out a bit from the background.
The blank came with 2 bars for the inner box, so the smaller doll was glued to the front of the back bar and the other to the front and back of the front bar

two more photos of the completed box from different angles

Katya (by Veronica)

I loved doing this sample for the recent TV shows, using the gorgeous big Katya stamp with the larger silhouette palace stamp in the background.
I used brusho powders in the background to try to create a mysterious effect, after first masking Katya with masking fluid and then stamping the buildings twice on each side using a very old dye-based ink pad as I didn't care if the colour bled a bit.
Grey brusho powder for the background, spritzed with water.
Once everything was dry, I peeled off the mask and coloured Katya with alcohol markers. A gold mirri card matt added before mounting onto a white base card.
The team made some fantastic samples for the shows which will be appearing on blogs over the next few weeks, so if you had a favourite from the                                                                                    shows, keep looking!

monchrome bridge (by Veronica)

 I thought I wouold try something different using the lovely bridge stamp from kingfisher song, too nice an image to just use in the background.
i stamped the stones from sticks and stones in the foreground, and then the bridge, with the clouds from the seashore scenes stamp set.
The sky was sponged roughly with distress inks, with white pencil highlights to the moon and clouds.
I used grey brusho powder for the bridge and river, with black and grey watercolour pencils for the trees and stones, with more white pencil highlights.

The second version used a mask for the moon, and the iris leaf stamp repeated across the front to give depth. I added some turquoise brusho powder to the grey this time for the river, and stamped the leaves several times across the base card.
I had great frun doing these, and was pleased with how they turned out, so hope that you like them too.