Dotty Strip (by Judith)

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

I started my project with a large card blank, and drew along the opening edge using one of the Chocolate Baroque Draw and Tear Rulers Set 1 using a pencil. I cut the excess card away. On the inside of the card, I stamped the long dotty strip from Slim Word Strip 2 with a yellow dye based ink. I stamped a word strip from Slim Word Strip 1 over the top. I used one of the leaves from the From Nature 2 stamp set to stamp randomly over the front of the card using second generation stamping. I wanted a paler background because I did not want to detract from the other parts of the card.I added a splatter stamp from Timeless, using green and yellow ink. 

I took a whiteboard heart and coloured it with the same yellow and green inks, and then stamped the same word strip as I had used along the card edge. I filled the heart, moving the strip across each time I stamped, to get a random compilation of the words. It looks great on one of these hearts. 

This card was fairly quick to complete, and I can see lots of possibilities for adapting the design to suit lots of occasions. Using the big word strips, especially now we have two sets for you to choose from gives lots of choices, and I hope that you will try out this idea, or a variation of the theme.

I decided to make another card featuring the dotty strip from the Slim Word Strip 2 stamp set. I stamped the strip onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge several times using shades of green and orange Distress Ink to create an ombre effect. I stamped the fruit tree from The Tree of Knowledge stamp set onto a piece of book paper, and coloured it with markers. I added some shading around the edges using green distress Ink. This card would be suitable for lots of occasions- a graduation, a book lover's birthday, or even just to show someone you are thinking about them.

 Thanks for stopping by, take care,

 

Judith xx

Painted Butterflies (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a couple of projects to share with you using stamps that were featured on last month's TV shows.

My first project was created using a stencilled background and three different colours of Distress Ink.  I used a piece of Smooth White Stamping Paper and moved the stencil across the page to cover the entire area. If you look closely, you can see where I have joined the two sections together, but it doesn't really matter, as it is just a background, and the butterflies from the Steampunk Butterfly stamp set mostly cover it up. 

I chose three words from the Punky Expressions stamp set, and stamped them onto the background using Versafine Black ink. I stamped the butterflies onto some Drawing Cartridge using the same ink, and coloured them with Inktense pencils, blending the colours with a waterbrush. Any watercolour pencils would do. I cut the wings out and adhered them either side of the words. Finally, I added the sentiment, also from Punky Expressions.

For my second card, I created a background using a piece of Drawing Cartridge and Distress Inks in shades of brown and green. I added stamps from Make Your Mark, Timeless and Steampunk Butterfly. I stamped and embossed two butterflies from the last set using copper embossing powder, and coloured them with Inktense pencils and a waterbrush, again, you could use any watercolour pencils. I cut the butterflies out and added words from Punky Expressions. I edged the background using a dark brown ink.

I had a lot of fun creating these cards, the stamp sets are so versatile, and as you can see, they all mix and match so well. I hope that I have inspired you to try out some ideas. Thanks for stopping by, take care,

Judith xx

Bottle, Jug and a Cup of Tea! (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a project to share with you from last month's TV shows on The Craft Store. 

I found a background in my stash that I thought would be perfect to use with Kim Moody's Bottle and Jug stamp, and so my card was dictated by these colours. I had coloured the original background with tea and added an image from Baroque Ephemera 1. I then dry brushed the background with pale blue acrylic paint.

I stamped the main image onto a smaller piece of tea dyed drawing cartridge to match the main background. I masked the image and stamped a tree from Trees a Crowd, and added blossoms from Orchard Design a Tree stamp set. I added a few splats using a stamp from the Timeless stamp set. I removed the mask and coloured the image with pencils.

These images have been an absolute delight to work with and are so versatile. I hope that you have enjoyed seeing our projects and have lots of ideas to try using the stamps yourselves.

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and take care.

Judith xx

Time for Nature (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I am sharing my last few projects this month featuring stamps from last month's TV shows on The Craft Store. 

My first card features stamps from the beautiful stamp set Sow the Seeds. These large stamps are perfect for journaling or creating eye catching, distinctive cards for someone special. I love the seed heads, and wanted them to shine in my project. I created a background using my inky plate and soft colours. I stamped the images, and added some pencil where the shading was present. I added extra foliage from Silhouette Grasses, such a useful stamp set.

My next card features the fabulous pine cone from Mother Earth as a focal point. I stamped this three times onto kraft card, using brown ink, and cut it out and scrunched it up to give it added texture. I created a background on a piece of tea dyed drawing cartridge, using stamps from Sow the Seeds and Make Your Mark.

The next two cards are older samples that I posted on my own blog a little while ago, but I will share them with you here. A simple piece of white embossing, and then the image was painted with Koh-I-Noor watercolours:

The leaf was stamped using different colours of ink, and then lightly coloured with pencils to accentuate the shading:

Finally I created a card using the Scripts and Timepieces stamp set, which was only available during the TV shows. I coloured my background with Distress Ink, and stamped the scripts using dark brown ink. I added splatters from the Timeless stamp set. The cental piece was created by stamping onto a piece of stampbord which I had coloured with Distress Ink, and I then added triple embossing for a shiny glaze.

Thankis for stopping by, take care,

Judith xx

past times (by Veronica)

Today I have samples using the Timeless and Scripts and Timepieces stamp sets. - anything with script images is right up my street, so i loved these.

My first sample  used the Scripts and Timepieces along with a window stamp from Gothic Fragments in the background. The background panel was inked with distress inks and stamped the large script and the window using the same inks.

I stamped the script panel on a separate piece of white card using a stamping platform. I inked the stamp up using the Koh-i-Noor marker pens , using the red pen for the initial flourish and odd words in the the script and black for the rest. Once it was dry I cleaned the stamp then inked the initial flourish using a versamark pen and stamped again - the stamping  platform meant that it lined up beautifully - then embossed in gold.  I tore the image out then inked round the edges before curling it up and  over to look like a scroll and gluing onto the   background.

 The Timeless set for the second card, stamped twice onto white card in black and once in versamark and gold embossed. One black image was overstamped  and gold embossed using a versamark pen and coloured with distress inks. Watch faces were cut out of the other images and decoupaged onto the main image, which was ddded to a distress ink background. The sentiment is from Say it Vertically 

A trio of vases by Brenda

Good morning to you all, my first post sharing some creations from last months shows on Hochanda, two shows and two different sets of stamps and I have some from both in this post.

Above I used two of the vases, kiss stamping them with Versafine Claire Medieval Blue onto three panels, masking and adding flowers stamped with Versafine Clair Glamorous, a little stamping around the edge with worker stamps from Timeless and Ace Card and masked circles to highlight the flowers. The sentiment is from Sow the Seeds, finished with a button and twine bow.

On this one I used Timeless stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn, roughly tore the piece and inked all over with Versafine and Speckled Egg Embossing Glaze. I did the same with the two sentiments from the same stamp set and mounted onto a base piece which I scored and inked with the same colour Oxide.

I hope you all have a good Thursday and that I have offered a little inspiration today.

Florals in Reds and Golds (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a few more projects to share with you, featuring stamps from last month's TV shows. 

My first card was created using a Brusho background, I have lots of these in my stash, waiting to be used when I need them. I make a batch in lots of different colours, which I can pull out when I need them in a hurry. Very handy when I am making DT samples!

I stamped a leafy sprig from the Autumn Poppy stamp set randomly over the background. It is not an exact match to the main image, but is close enough. I coloured the image with pencils, choosing a lovely olive green and soft red.

I die cut an oval and stamped the Flora Musica image, adding a bit of Distress Ink around the edges to soften the whiteness of the card. I coloured the image with pencils once more, coordinating with the colours of the background. I chose some toning ribbons to pull the project together. 

To create my second project I made a wrinkle free distress background, using Distress Inks on a craft mat, which I mopped up with a piece of drawing cartridge. I stamped around the edges with the Large Crackle Background, and added the splatter stamp from the Timeless stamp set. 

I die cut a rectangle and stamped the Crackling Rose which I coloured with pencils. The sentiment comes from the Life is so much Better stamp set.

The stamp from my final card was not actually featured on the show Song Thrush, its silhouette companion made an appearance. I made this card and so will share it as you could create something very similar. I used a tea stained background, and stamped a leafy image from Brocade Backgrounds over the top.

I stamped the main image twice, and coloured the images with pencils. I decoupaged some of the flowers before matting the layers onto brown card. The sentiment once more is taken from Life is so much Better. 

I had so much fun this month working with a lot of these older stamps. For some of you they will be brand new. It was great to revisit the images and get to use them again, mixing them with newer stamps that were not around when the stamps first came out. I hope that you have seen lots of inspiration from the rest of the Design Team as well. 

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and take care,

Judith xx

Bauble Butterfly (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. Today I am celebrating a lockdown Birthday, and like many of you this year, it will be a subdued affair. However, I am thankful for my family around me, and will celebrate properly once we can get out and about again.

I have created a card using stamps from last month's TV shows on Hochanda. There was a fabulous selection, and I was really spolit for choice when I came to creating something for my blog post. I decided to use the plain circle from Shaded Baubles, and added a butterfly from Butterfly Perfumery as a focal point.

 

I found a spritzed background in my stash, which I cut down to fit a 6" x 6" card, and drew a wiggly frame using a fineliner pen. I added a sentiment, from Butterfly Perfumery once again. The splatters are from the Timeless stamp set, such a useful little stamp. 

 I stamped the bauble image onto a paler version of the spritzed background so that it toned in with the main background, and then stamped the butterfly on top. I stamped the butterfly again on a piece of spare card, and coloured it with Inktense pencils, blending them with a water brush. I added shading around the edge with Distress Ink. I fussy cut the image, and decoupaged it onto the circle. 

Thanks for stopping by, take care, and stay safe,

Judith xx

Chrysanthemum Stairway by Brenda

Morning Peeps, Brenda here to share a few more samples from Lesley's September Hochanda shows with the lovely new Blueprint stamps.

As is my usual route, inks and colours are the order of the day starting with Barn Door Distress Oxide brayered lightly onto the the background and then Chrysanthemum Blueprint stamped with Versafine black. I stamped the blooms a second time onto an offcut coloured with the same Oxide, cut out and paper pieced and the leaves coloured with Koh-i-Noor paint. Some texture paste stencilled to one side, a fee sequins, sentiment and some splats of white paint.

The background of this one has a thick brayered later of Actylic paint over which I used a stencil and gesso to add some interest. Blooms from Allium Blueprint and Echinacea  Blueprint stamped onto inked offcuts and cut out to place over strips of white card and a die cut oval. Sentiments from the same stamp sets and a couple of red 'splodges' using one of the worker stamps from Timeless.

Many thanks for you visit today.

A time for reflection by Rachel

Hello there - Rachel here today with some more samples from the June shows - this time using the timeless stamp set. This first card is an accordion card  - I made a masterboard using oxides for the background then stamped each one separately. The front of the accordion is the main focus and I triple embossed the watch face to make it look glassy.

The other accordion pages were stamped also using the stamps from the set.

In my second sample I built up a background using the stamps in oxide inks then overstamped in black versafine Clair and cut the piece up into four before mounting onto black card.

I think this is such a pretty stamp set yet so useful for male cards. 

I hope I have given you some inspiration!

Hugs

Rachel x

Incredible Time and Inspiring Katya by Penny

Good morning peeps, I hope you are all happy and well.  For my last DT post of the month I have a couple of cards to share with you.  

Incredible Time.

For this card I have used stamps from the Timeless set, Versamark ink, gold EP, Distress inks and some Glossy Accents.  

On a piece of smooth white card I blended three colours of Distress inks and dried the card.  I then stamped the large collage image using Versamark ink then embossed it in gold.  I used a gold pen to edge the panel then added some Glossy Accents to a few of the clock faces and set the panel aside to dry naturally.  

I took a piece of blue paper and stamped the collage image in a pale DI randomly.  I then stamped some of the lovely worker stamps randomly around the edges of a white base card, using the same colours as I used for the background panel.  I attached the stamped blue paper to the card then added the focal panel when it was dry. 

I had already stamped and embossed the single clockface image onto white card, cut it out and added Glossy Accents as before.  As a final touch I attached the clockface in 3D onto the card.

Inspiring Katya.

This card is really quick and easy, the sentiment can be changed to suit any occasion.  I have used stamps from the Katya and Words of Inspiration sets; grey Versafine ink, Distress Inks, CB Strip Stencils - circles, alcohol pens, a gold pen and some gems from my stash.  

On a piece of smooth white paper ( actually the back of an old calendar) I stamped Katya in grey Versafine.  I coloured her in with alcohol markers and added gold pen to enrich the look of her headdress.  I masked off the image and used DI through a stencil for the background, then removed the mask. 

I had left the perforated edge of the calendar on the artwork for a bit of interest and texture.  I stamped a couple of words onto spare pieces of smooth white paper and used DI and the circle stencil as a background for the sentiment panels.  I then matted all the panels onto a contrasting colour of card and attached them to a white basecard.  To complete the design I added a few gems to the headdress.  

I shall be back next month with some more samples to share with you, so until then please stay safe, keep well and respect each other,

                            x x  Penny  x x   

timeless....? (by Veronica)

Good morning everyone, hopefully you are all well and enjoying some nice weather...

Today I have a couple of ideas to share using the big stamp from the timeless sheet. 

The first shows the whole stamp on a candle  - one side stamped in black onto white tissue paper and left naked, the other side stamped in black again but the background coloured with marker pens 

This is a big stamp, and I had to search to find a tall enough candle  - as it was so big, I used one image on each side so you could choose which fit the colour scheme better.  It was quite difficult holding the copy paper tightly enough when using the heat gun to apply the images to the candle - I should really have used a an oven glove but couldn't stop and look for one halfway.

My second sample just uses the clock faces to decorate a small A6 notebook. I was lucky that the notebook came with a black cover so I could just add my grungy image. The background was a page torn from an old diary, crumpled up and sprayed with diluted walnut stain ink. Once it was dry, I tore it to fit the cover, then swiped a dark brown ink pad over the creases and very roughly round the edges. 

I stamped the images twice onto white card using versamark, and embossed one in silver and one in gold. I cut the four clock faces out of the silver one, and just the large one from the gold then glued them onto the front of the cover.

Looking at Backgrounds (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. Even in times like these, I hope that you have been able to find some enjoyment in your crafting, in whatever form that has taken. A lot of you have been saying that your mojo has taken a walk, but hopefully the inspiration here on the blog, on the Facebook Group, and Lesley's daily Facebook live posts are continuing to provide you with lots of ideas.

I have created a card for you using the lovely Katya, and stamps from the Timeless stamp set. I used a piece of card from my stash that had been washed with a tea bag dipped in warm water. This gives the card a lovely aged feel, perfect for the look I wanted. It's a very quick way of colouring a background.

I stamped Katya using dark brown Archival ink, and covered the image with masking tissue, before adding the large image from the Timeless stamp set a couple of times. I then added lots of the smaller images using second generation stamping to fill the rest of the space, and overstamping the other image as well. I used sepia tones, keeping in with the general colour palette.

I removed the mask, and coloured Katya with Koh-I-Noor Polycolour pencils, these blend really well, and add a pop of colour to the main image. I felt that the main decorative piece on Katya's headdress reminded me of a cog, and so she fitted so well with the 'Timeless' theme, a lady from a bygone era.

To create my second card, I added Distress Inks to a piece of Drawing Cartridge with some water, and then stamped the little butterflies from Baroque Meadow across the background using toning colours of Versafine Clair inks. I used a whiteboard postcard, and stamped a sentiment from Words of Gratitude across the background using grey Archival Ink. I added some shading around the edge of the postcard using Distress Ink and stamped the Tangled Birch over the top, which I coloured with pencils as before.

My final card, which I shared at the time of the TV shows was a really quick card, a simple Brusho background with the same wording added. I then stamped the images from Baroque Meadow in black ink, and added a piece of black ribbon, before mounting the project onto black card.

These lovely stamps are so versatile, always a pleasure to create with. I will be back later in the month with more ideas to share with you. Take care for now, and stay safe,

Judith xx

Rather a lot of purple by Brenda

Good morning everyone, today I have some cards to share using the stamps from the June shows on Hochanda where the lovely Katya featured. She really is a lovely image and a delight to work with and it seems that without realising it I was having a bit of a purple day when I created these two.

The above card has an Oxide ink background onto an arch shaped base card created with dies. Katya was then stamped with Versafine black as were the Butterflies from Just Butterflies and sentiment from Words of Love and a few pearls added to embellish.

For the background to this one I used a piece of acetate which I dabbed with Oxide ink and a spritz of water and dabbed onto the card as I only wanted hints pf colour rather than covering the whole piece. I then randomly stamped with images from Rustic Fragments, Baroque Ephemera and Edgy Edges and a sentiment from what remains my favourite Chocolate Baroque sentiment set Words of Inspiration. Finally I stamped and cut out two clock faces from Timeless along with two wire circles (sourced from one of hubby's greenhouses!)

Have a lovely day.

Sepia landscape by Brenda

Hello all, Brenda here with a couple more shares and the top one is very much comfort zone crafting for me, a landscape with threes and hills using Harmony Tree staped three times using Versafine Toffee and a little sepia colouring added with Distress Markers. The hills and sky have al been done with a mixture of Pan Pastels and Distress Inks and some small worker stamps used to build up the scene. I hand drew the fence.....a rather rickety one which looks in need of repair!!

I 'splodged'.......very technical term, Distress Oxides to create a background then used images from Timeless to stamp onto a Whiteboard Heart and some smaller circles taken from a  sheet of Whiteboard Shapes, the whiteboard elements were all inked with the same DI's before stamping.

Stay safe and well everyone.

Imagination meets reality by Brenda

I'm here with some more Steampunk inspiration starting above with a triptych style creation using the birds from Steampunk Birds, all stamped onto an Distress Oxide background with some stencilling added. The birds have been coloured with pencils and some cogs added around the edges using stamps from Punky Romance.

A small shoal of fish here along with a pink Octopus - well it is fantasy! An Oxide background, stenciling and repeat stamping across the bottom using stamps from Steampunk Sea World and the fishes are all from Steampunk Funky Fish along with a sentiment from Punky Expressions.

My favourite Cockerel again from Steampunk Birds, this time stamped onto a piece of inked artboard and then covered with three coats of UTEE. The base layer has been stamped with several images from Steampunk Sea World and Timeless and a focal element mounted onto a piece of corrugated.

Have a lovely day everyone.

Strut your Punky Stuff by Brenda

Morning Peeps, today I have a few more shares using the Steampunk stamps Lesley showcased recently on Hochnda TV.

I adore the Punky Cockerel featured on Steampunk Birds as he rather reminds me of one of our own! An Oxide background with stenciling and a die cut corner, the Cockerel stamped with Versafine Clair and coloured and a few 'coffee stains' stamped using an image from Timeless.

More Oxides and stencilling to create an underwater scene and various images stamped from both Steampunk Sea World and Steampunk Funky Fish and a little watercolour added here and there.

This one has a background created using the Gelli Plate and acrylic paint, some rays added with Distress Ink and one of the images from Steampunk Sea World repeat stamped across the bottom and a sentiment from Punky Expressions added.

My thanks as always for popping in today and I hope I have offered a little inspiration.