feathered friends (by Veronica)

 

Staying with feathers sort of, this time this time mixing bird stamps from the retired list. The first sample is very simple. the strip of birds from fly away with me stamped in black on white card, trimmed round and mounted onto black card then onto a white card blank. The sentiment from live out loud also stamped in black and edged with black card.

The owl from wise owl was stamped in black onto white card, clear embossed and coloured with marker pens, cut out and mounted onto a distress oxide background edged with a swirl stamp from dawn chorus and a marker pen along the edges. Sentiment from sing your song.
 

Making Your Scrap Papers Work For You (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you showcasing some of the retired stamps that we brought to the TV shows on Create and Craft last month. The TV shows were so busy, and if you were watching, you would have seen that we had to change our demos, sometimes in the middle of what we were doing, it certainly made us think on our feet! 

I wanted to share two of the projects that I talked about during the shows, although one you did not see in its completed version, I made a different version on the show due to sellouts of the stamps that I had planned to use.

Often we have bits of card and paper in our scrap boxes that do not seem to go together, a piece of card left over from a crafting session that is blue and purple, and a piece of brown card. Whatever would make them work in a project together? 

I like to mix and match my scraps together, and can easily put these pieces with each other by using toning inks. I used the piece of tea dyed card as the large background, stamping a small worker stamp randomly all over using various shades of blue and purple, then edging the card with a blue ink. I then stamped a large flower three times onto the blue/purple card using purple Versafine Clair ink and clear embossing powder. I cut the flowers out and adhered them to the background, adding a piece of scrap corrugated card underneath the third one to raise it up slightly. I can add a sentiment at a later date when I know what the card will be used for.

My second project was created by taking a piece of greyboard and painting it with white paint. I added torn strips of book paper and then painted the whole piece with acrylic paint. I chose a pretty green paint, and some touches of plum around the edges. The green paint allowed the book pages to still be seen, as it was not completely opaque. I added some stencilling with Plum Archival Ink, and stamped a pretty leafy sprig from one of the retiring stamp sets, Take It or Leaf It.

I chose some patterned papers to stamp and emboss birds from Sing Your Song, Live Out Loud, and Fly Away With Me. I added a bit of colour using Distress Inks and a blending brush to make the papers fit my colour scheme. I also had some left over card from another project, which had originally been blue and green. It did not match my colour scheme, but I had some of the plum paint from this project on my craft mat, so I spritzed it with water, and splattered it over the card, to tone the card in with this project.

A very simple way to get the card to match. I then stamped the sentiment onto a die cut piece of the card, and sponged some of the Plum Archival Ink around the edges. Finally, I attached the birds to the leafy branches, and attached the sentiment to the panel.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I will be back later in the month with more projects to share.

Take care,

Judith xx

Retired Birds (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have some projects to share with you featuring some of the fabulous retired stamps that we brought to last month's TV shows on Create and Craft. These stamps are no longer available on the website, but if you were lucky enough to purchase these stamps in our whirlwind shows, or from the website itself, then hopefully you will be inspired this month with the projects from the Design Team.

 My first two projects we created in much the same way, I placed two colours of Distress Oxide onto a large square acrylic block and spritzed this with water. I pressed the block onto a piece of textured card to colour the background. Once the card was dry, I added images from Dawn Chorus, Wise Owl and Let Your Heart Sing.

On the first card I added a sentiment from Amazing Mackintosh Words:

To complete the second card, I used a fineliner pen to lengthen the stalks and add more berries and flowers. Do not be afraid to embellish your images and create a picture. Silhouettes are a great way to do this, as all you need is a black pen. The sentiment is from Sing Your Song.

Finally here is an older card that I made some time ago which is in keeping with the general theme of my two previous cards. I made a Distress ink background for both layers, used brown ink for the stamping. I added some white charcoal to create a dreamy feel to the top layer. The image is from Let Your Heart Sing and the sentiment is from Fly Away With Me.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you.

Take care,

Judith xx

Keeping it Simple

Hello, I am here to share some more of my samples from the February show on Hochanda.

These were all relatively quick to make with some stamping and embossing and a little bit of colouring.

My first piece uses an MDF board which I have covered with Chocolate Baroque Black and White Paper (Series 2) using a gel medium. I'm not sure if these are still available, but Series 3 are!  I have then added some watercolour inks, starting with purple, then blue and green. When it was completely dry I stamped the Carnation from Fresh Florals and a sentiment from Artistic Affirmations and embossed in white.

For my next card I used alcohol inks in shades of purples and blues at the top and greens at the bottom on some yupo paper. I then stamped a dragonfly and a few butterflies from Butterfly Blush using Alcohol Lift ink. I did the same with some of the foliage stamps that were also on the show and added a sentiment from Sow the Seeds.

My next card uses the Daisy stamp from Fresh Florals. I stamped with Archival and used watercolour pencils for the flowers and Distress Ink for the edges. I have added a sentiment from Fly Away with Me.

This card uses two of the foliage stamps from Eastern Grasses. I used my stamping platform and stamped the larger of the stamps first, rotating my card each time. I then used the smaller stamp to fill in the gaps. I coloured the open seed heads with a red glaze pen and added the sentiment to the centre. Very quick, but effective.

My last piece features an accordion style card from a die. I stamped the butterflies and dragonflies from Just Butterflies onto some white card and die cut the panels out and glued onto the card base.

 I love how the stamp sets mix so well with each other.

See you soon

Sandra x

Spring part 1 - (by Magda)

Hello,
Spring is coming, daffodils are blooming and birds are flying through the blue sky...  this mix of nature inspired my first post of this month.

I used the following items for my page and the tag:
- Chocolate Baroque stamps    Fly Away With Me,    Spring Bird Daffodil
- Archival Jet black for stamping
- Distress Ink pad  in several colours for the backgrounds
- Stencils
- Aquarelle Pencils
- White Gesso
- Mica.

I hope you could smell the spring air looking at my projects, hugs

Magda

Owl in Copper by Penny

Good morning peeps, I hope you are all warm and well.  I'm back with my last post for this month and it features the lovely Wise Owl and Fly Away With Me  stamp sets; Copper Soft Form paste, copper embossing powder, Versamark ink, gold gilding wax and a copper marker pen.

On a piece of black card I stamped and embossed several different sized feathers, in a random pattern all over.  I then edged the panel with copper pen.

To create the embellishments I spread Soft Form paste over the owl and feather stamps, left them to dry then peeled them off the stamps.  I added a little gold gilding wax to accentuate the patterns.  I took a piece of spare black card then stamped and embossed the quote in copper.  I then tore around the quote and added gold gilding wax to the rough edges.   

I matted the background panel onto a white base card and attached the embellishments to it.  This is a lovely card to create, and using copper with the black not only looks good but it makes a nice change from gold and silver.


Thank you for dropping in today, I hope you've enjoyed this last post of this month from me.

Until next month then,



                             xx  Penny  xx

Doves of Peace by Brenda

Good morning, Brenda here with my last post of January sharing some more Bird inspired creations.

My first has some reverse stamping using the graceful Dove from Fly away with me. I used an Oxide ink background and my starting point was to stamp the image onto acetate (ensuring the Dove is facing into the centre) using Versafine black and then carefully lay a piece of cardstock over the top and gently rub over the image to ensure the ink all transferred. Next take a careful look at the image to see where you need to stamp the reverse image and I always use grey as the reverse stamping will always be a little lighter. I'm sure many of you are old hands at this but anyone new to this I'm always happy to help, just mail me. Finally a sentiment from Sing your song

I've used Let your heart sing again for this one stamped into a masked oval which I inked with Distress Inks and a masked sun and stamped with the oval mask still in place using Versafine black. After removing the mask I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment.

The background for this one is part of a master board which I find really useful having pre prepared and which I batch make in quieter moments. I added some background interest using the flourishes Fly away with me and Wise owl and stamped one of the birds from Dawn Chorus and a computer generated sentiment.

Thank you for your visit today.

tweet tweet (by Rachel)

Hello there! Rachel here today with another post with samples from the December shows. I love these stamps...I think they are so very versatile.  In this birdhouse I used stamps from  live-out-loud and fly-away-with-me.

I also used a script stamp in the background and added a melting pot flower too.

For this card I used the same two stamp sets working this time onto a gelli background that I had created using paints.

Finally in this card I used wise owl rubber stamp sheet - firstly with the gelli plate to create the background and also stamping in paint and fussy cutting the main image. I also used the sentiment from the live out loud sheet.

I hope you feel inspired by these makes and use the ideas to inform your own makes! Big hugs rachel xx

wildest dreams (by Veronica)

  This stamp set seemed to cry out for monochrome , or at least this stamp strip did.....
Both the bird strip and the words were stamped in black versafine ink and clear embossed, trimmed down and edged with black ink. The central bird was coloured with marker pens, then both pieces mounted onto a white card blank.

This image from sing your song was stamped in black versafine ink and clear embossed, then coloured with brusho powders using s damp paintbrush to add the colours, and baby wipe to reomove some of the colour to try to give an impression of a misty sun.
The white card blank was randomly stamped with the same image using grey ink and holding the stamp so that only the bubbly bit was used. The words stamped over the top with black versafine before adding the trimmed down image.

Moonlight song by Brenda

Morning, Brenda here with more from Lesley's December shows featuring all things Birds, I've had Let your heart sing for years, it's such a lovely stamps set and lends itself to so many occasions and for this one I went with shades of yellow with a hint of black, my thinking was moonlight but it could equally be early morning just before sunset, I will let you decide. After masking the moon I brushed on on sky, removed the mask and added some more colour across the moon and then stamped the bird image. I used my stamp platform for this along with black versafine so that I could repeat stamp to achieve a deep image.........I resisted buying one for so long and now I really wonder why, especially since my recent illness when my hands and arms have become quite weak and it has become invaluable. Finally I matted ad layered onto coordinating cardstock.

Here I took the three birdies from Fly away with me and stamped each individually onto a piece of art board using versafine toffee, then using the small egg from the same set I repeat stamped around the edges of each piece, a flourish in the corner using the tail of the Dove and under one bird added a branch from Dawn Chorus. Next I added some brick wall stencilling to the background and glazed all using repeat inking and embossing using versamark and detail clear powder, finally mounting all onto a piece of corrugated to which I added some aqua Frantage.

My final share using purple and yellow, a colour palette I always enjoy using has a central masked circle coloured with Pan Pastels and stencilled with Really Useful Leaves and Distress Inks, the mask removed and one of the birds from Dawn Chorus and sentiment from Sing your song stamped in Versafine black, both repeat stamped using my stamp platform.

My thanks as always for popping by today.

Spring Birds (by Julie)

Hello, the two cards I have to share with you today are following on with the bird theme for this month.

My first card is stamped with Fly Away With Me. The background has been coloured with Old Paper and Weathered Wood Distress Stains, before being over-stamped with the swirly tailed, stylised bird and egg designs.

The decorative bird tiles were inked up with grey versafine and stamped onto spare stamping card, before being cut out and coloured with Distress inks. I then stamped the two birds from Fly Away With Me using Crimson Versafine onto the panel as shown. You then need to take a craft knife and snip a little insert under each bird for one of the tiles to be placed so it looks like the birds are actually perched onto the tile. The remaining third tile can be attached with 3D foam pads towards the top right of the design.

Cut the decorative panel to size, mount onto black card-stock before attaching to your card blank.

My second card is stamped with Dawn Chorus. The base card was coloured with Mustard Seed and Carved Pumpkin Distress inks and then the little bird and decorative swirl were over-stamped in the bottom left and top right corners of the card, using Onyx Black and grey Versafine.

The little Dawn Chorus scene was inked up with Onyx Black Versafine and stamped onto spare stamping card, coloured with Distress inks and then cut out and mounted onto black card-stock.

The card was finished off with a sentiment from Paisley Elephant.

Thanks for stopping by and please call back soon for daily Design Team inspiration.

Julie xx

Birds at any season (by Magda)

Hello,
during this month I am posting projects with the beautiful stamps Lesley showcased on Hochanda at the beginning of December.
Birds can be used at any season to send warm messages to friends.

For my projects I used Versafine  Onyx Black for stamping the following stamps:
Let your heart sing
Fly away with me
Live out loud
Fat Robin

Distress Ink Pad through stencils or used as a wash allowed to change the white cardstock  and a tag into a colorful background

These following 3 cards explain my interpretation of research done on the relationship between the  bird, primary colours and songs. 

 Blue Bird : a song by Paul McCartney

Red Bird : a Children's song 1966 renewed in 1994

Yellow Bird :  an old Haitian Folk Song

I hope you enjoyed my post and thank you for passing by 

Magda

Imagine That! by Penny

Morning peeps, this is my first post of 2019 so Happy New Year to you all!  I hope you all had a great Festive Season and that you're looking forward to lots of crafty fun this year.  I'm kicking off with a lovely tag  today that features stamps from the Sing Your Song  and Words of Inspiration sets;   blue Versafine ink, clear and copper EP, Distress Inks, gold glitter texture paste, CB Useful Leaves Mask/Stencil, Versamark ink, gold pen.

I painted a greyboard tag with white gesso and when it was dry I blended Distress inks over it.  I stamped a swirly bird image from the Fly Away With Me set all over the tag using one of the DIs.  I applied Versamark ink around the edges of the tag and embossed it with a gold sparkle EP.

On some white card I stamped and embossed a bird and a bird house, coloured them with DIs and cut them both out.  I took the stencil and applied the texture paste to the top of the tag to add foliage.  I then attached a die cut branch from my stash and attached the bird to the branch.  I attached the birdhouse in the same way, as though it's hanging from the branch.

I stamped and embossed the word 'Imagine' in copper onto another piece of white card.  I cut it into a label shape and coloured it with DI.  I edged the label with a copper pen, then added some lines and dots with a gold pen before attaching the label to the tag.  I added some fibres and ribbons to complete the design.  

Golden Song  by Penny

For my second project today I have another sample from December's shows, with stamps from the Sing Your Song and the Live Out Loud sets, red Soft Form Relief Paste, red Versafine ink, clear EP, gold gilding wax, and a gold pen.

I spread the red paste over the large negative image from the Live Out Loud set.  I left it to set overnight.  When it was ready I peeled it off the stamp and added some gilding wax as a highlight.

On a white base card I stamped and embossed a bird in a tree image and the sentiment from the Sing Your Song set using red ink and clear powder.  I added some gold dots around the words and coloured the flowers on the bird.

I coloured a piece of paper with a gold pen, then attached the paste panel to it and matted that onto black card.  I attached the panel to the card to complete this stylish design.

Thank you for dropping by today.  I hope these projects have given you some crafty ideas, I'll be back again later in the month with more crafty fun!

Take care,

                   

                               xx  Penny  xx 

Live out Loud by Brenda

Good morning, Brenda here with my first post of January sharing some of my Bird creations from Lesley's recent Hochanda shows. 

As I have been rather poorly for the last couple of months I am being ably assisted by hubby in writing up my posts, I can push inks and paints about and my stamping platform is a wonderful asset but not too good stringing the words together so we will blame his lack of crafty knowledge if there are a few faux pas!

The top card started with an oxide ink background panel with repeat stamping using the flourish from Dawn Chorus and the focal panels with images from Live out loud, again using versafine black and heat embossed with detail clear embossing powder. The edges of each panel inked with versamark, dusted with detail gold powder and heat embossed, then layered up with foam pads to give some dimension.

I am rather obsessed with MDF monolith's, they make a nice change from cards and are fun to work with. This one was given a quick coat of gesso, followed by Little Birdie chalk acrylic paint which I am equally obsessed with along with the Little Birdie crackle medium which I also used on this piece. It really is one of the best I've used and perfect for both the experienced and new crafter. Next some texture paste added through a stencil and the Owl from Wise owl stamped with Versafine black and gold accents added to both the Owl and stencilled elements. Some feathers from Dawn Chorus stamped here and there, sentiment from Sing your song, ribbon and finally liquid pearls to highlight.

Finally a bright and cheerful card using lots of masking and the bird images from Fly away with me, I created masks for the three images, using three lovely bright colours of Versafine Clair inks and just repeat stamped using the masks to move across the squares of card. It takes a little time but is fun to do and providing you remember to place the mask where you have stamped you can't really go wrong.

Many thanks for popping in today and wishing you a Happy and Crafty 2019.