Elemental (by Sandra)

Hello, I am sharing my third post of the month with you to show my cards made for the Create and Craft shows in March.

I have used Floral Paraphernalia Elements and Out of the Trees Elements stamp sets. These really  compliment the main sets, but can also be used as stand alone sets.

For my first card I sprinkled some Turquoise Brusho down the edge of a card blank, lightly spritzed it  and left it to dry overnight. Once it was dry I stamped the Port Hole shapes and solid circles. I then stamped the floral and leaf stamps, masking where needed. I used pencils to colour in. I added some of the number stamps from the sets and a quote from Artistic Expressions.

Next I used the Element stamps to create a small scene. 

Starting from the "front" I stamped the stone wall. I then masked a small area so that I could stamp the deer behind the wall. I then masked the deer and stamped the treeline. I used a stencil to create some hills in the background and coloured with Distress Inks. I finished by adding the script stamp to the lower edge.

For my last card today I used my stamping platform to repeat stamp the flower and leaf stamps. I have then coloured using watercolour pencils and a little bit of Stickles. I die cut a couple of circles and added the word Joy from Artistic Expressions. 

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

 

Playing With The Elements (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today showcasing the stamps that we featured on last month's TV shows on Create and Craft.

My first project was a particular favourite demo on the TV shows. I love the colours, purple and turquoise, and the images are really beautiful too. I created a Distress Ink background and stamped several images from The Phenominal Butterfly Elements and I also used the circles from Floral Paraphernalia Elements stamp set with toning ink over the top using Versafine Nocturne ink. I die cut a circle of Drawing Cartridge and blended some Distress Oxide over the top, then spritzed the ink with water. Once the background was dry, I inked up The Phenominal Butterfly Slim Strip stamp and pressed the circle onto a section of the stamp. I coloured the dragonfly and butterfly with shimmer paints for maximum impact.

For my next project, I drew a circle in pencil onto a piece of smooth white stamping card. I added flowers from the Floral Paraphernalia Elements stamp set, and covered them with Masking Tissue. I added leaves, and covered them with Masking Tissue as well. Finally, I stamped the script rings in the gaps that were left. My circle is a bit random, and I could have worked it out to be a little bit more refined, but I wanted it to look quite natural.

I removed the Masking Tissue and coloured all of the images with pencil, adding deeper colours for shading, and grey pencil around the edges for touches of shadow. I added some script on the background from the Out of the Trees Elements stamp set.

A little bit of inking with green ink around the edges takes away the whiteness of the background.

I wanted to show how you could use up some of your tiny offcuts of patterned paper and make a much simpler version of this wreath. In my picture below, I stamped various elements to create the ring, and added the leaves and flowers cut from patterned paper.

I hope that I have given you lots of ideas for these very versatile stamps. Thanks so much for stopping by, take care,

Judith xx

Adding motion to stamps by Natalie Ballard

You will need a vehicular stamp or other potentially moving object. The train featured here is from the Out of the Tree Elements stamp set. Ideally, the stamp should have the object in perspective rather than flat on.

Stamp your image onto smooth stamping card or cartridge paper using a permanent ink. With sharpened coloured pencils and a ruler, work along the perspective lines of your stamped image. Harder coloured pencils will work better. Press the colour along the areas where the colour is; as you reach the edge of the colour area, lift slightly and flick the pencil beyond the edge. Do this not only for the colours but also create a similar effect for the highlights; not by using a white pencil, but by shading the trail with a coloured pencil.

Use the same technique to extend the rails across your card front or panel.

You can then stamp and colour a background if you wish. To make the original image "move" more, keep the background static and soft. Here, I used the cogs from The Phenomenal Butterfly Elements stamp set stamped with a lighter grey ink so as to not overpower the main image. On the cogs I used the same technique but going around the cogs like they are spinning.

Phenomenal Butterflies (By Tracy Thompson)

 Today I would like to share with you a couple of creations that were made for March's shows on Create & Craft.  The first one above is using the fabulous stamp The Phenomenal Butterfly, which is a very large long stamp and beautiful to work with.  I started by creating a background with Distress oxides and layering on to my base card.  I then cut three squares and stamped a different part of the stamp on each square.  I then stamped the butterflies and dragonflies again, cut them out coloured them in the same colour inks as the background and covered them in clear embossing powder for a glossy finish.  I placed them over the original image on the squares, I stamped a sentiment from the set called Birthday Words on a strip of card and added to my card.

For my second creation I started by stamping the wall from the Out Of The Tees Elements, I stamped another on some masking paper and covered the original, with the masking paper over the wall I stamped the train in place then stamped that onto masking paper too.  Now that both my main elements were in place I started to create my scene.  Using Distress oxides I created a hill, I then used the trees along the hill line, then behind the wall.  for the foreground I stamped foliage from the Walk tall stamp set.  I removed my masking paper and coloured my main elements.

I will look forward to later in the month when I will share with you a couple more makes from these shows

Thank you for looking

Happy crafting

Tracy x

All a Bit Horizontal (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today showcasing stamps that we brought to you on last month's TV shows on Create and Craft.

It was so nice to meet up with Lesley again after a two year break and to get the chance to demo again on the TV shows. I hope that you managed to watch some of the shows and to see Lesley and I in action. My projects today were both demos on the shows, and I am focusing on a couple of the long horizontal stamps for this blog post.

My first card was a really quick project. I made a quick background with a strip of Drawing Cartridge, adding some Distress Oxides to the very long acrylic block that Lesley is hoping to obtain for the website again very soon, and spritzing this with water. You could smoosh some ink onto a glass mat or kraft mat instead. I placed the Drawing Cartridge over the block and pressed it over the ink. I left the background to dry.

Once the background was dry, I stamped the Out of the Trees stamp over the background using Versafine ink. I added a few touches of pencil to some of the detail. I added the strip of background to a kraft card blank, allowing it to wrap all around the card. TIP: I scored the strip where the fold of the card should be first, and attached the strip matching the fold.

 

My second project was created by painting a piece of media board with green paint and leaving it to dry. I stamped one of the pretty papers that were available on the show with the Country Reflections stamp using Archival ink. I added a couple of coordinating stamps from the Country Reflections Elements, Floral Paraphernalia Elements, and Out of the Trees Elements stamp set to complete the picture, and added a few finishing touches with coloured pencils.

I will be back soon with more projects to share, thanks for stopping by,

Take care,

Judith xx