Rosy, Rosy.

Hello. I'm sharing the last of my samples made for the Hochanda (now known as The Craft Store) show in March. Lesley was showcasing some beautiful, individual floral stamps.

My first card uses the Floribunda Net stamp. Such a pretty stamp.

I stamped with VersaMark and embossed with Pink powder, I then used watercolour inks to colour. I used a punch on the corners and mat and layered onto some mirror card.

 

My next card uses the beautiful Crackling Rose stamp. A lovely stamp, especially if you like to colour.

For this card I stamped in brown archival ink and coloured with watercolour pencils. I added a die cut rose leaf and some pretty pink design papers.

This card uses the Flora Musica stamp. 

I stamped in Memento ink and used alcohol markers to colour. I layered onto an oval die cut. For the background I used a stamp from the Dusky Damask stamp set.

My last piece today is a grey board heart which I covered with some design paper and Brushos. I stamped the Harlequin Bouquet stamp in Archival ink and coloured with watercolour pencils. I then added some crackle glaze, being careful not to move the pencil. When it was dry I added some antiquing cream to highlight the crackles. I finished with a sentiment from Life is So Much Better.

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

 

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

A Celebration of Flowers part - 3 by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies and welcome to my third and final post of the month.

I’m showing some of my samples from last months Hochanda shows featuring these beautiful and versatile stamps.

No Envelopes in this post, but a selection of cards and tags, I hope you like them.

See ya next month. Thank you so much for visiting.

Have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx

All things bright and beautiful (by rachel)

 Hello there! Rachel here today with some more makes from Lesley's March shows. 

In this first sample I really wanted to use colour - the background of the tag was paint brayered onto to a gessoed greyboard piece - the topper was simply stamped Garden Lace scene onto smooth card) in black and coloured in using watercolour brush pens.

For this simple card I stamped the arched landscape image in black ink then set with colourless embossing powder before again colouring using watercolour brush pens. 

For this third make I used the landscape collage image and stamped it on smooth card and set with clear embossing powder. Next I coloured it in more subtley using translucent paints. I then fussy cut the image. I used the same translucent paints to create the colour in the background, drying between colours to prevent muddying. I also added background stamping in orange ink.

I hope I have given you a few more ideas of ways to use your stamps.

Big hugs

Rachel x

Gentle butterflies (by Carole)

Hello again. 

For my second GDT post I have used the Floral Clock stamp with my favourite colours. Very difficult sometimetimes to get out of my comfort zone with colours, although it does happen occasionally. 

Stamps used:- Floral Clock, Harebell Butterfly, words from Parsley Clock

25cm frame which I had in my stash, just the right size!

The background is done with Distress Inks and spritzed. I love the unpredictability of the backgrounds you get with this technique.

Floral Clock was then over stamped in black and several spare butterflies stamped onto card scraps and cut out.

When this was dry it was mounted onto a piece of card with a thin border.

The other harebells from Harebell Butterfly were then over stamped across the bottom and lightly coloured.

The saying is very poignant to me recently and I feel it goes well with the soft blues.

Hope you have enjoyed my project and I shall be back with my final sample next week.

Stay safe everyone and happy crafting.

Carole.

Live, Laugh, Dream by Brenda

Brenda here again for more shares of work from last months Hochanda shows. 

I went for a bit of bold contrast with the above creation using Flora Musica stamped onto an oval and coloured in with Koh-i-Noor paints and placed over the edge of a card. The border to the left is from Harlequin Rose, a strip of red ribbon to carry the colour of the blooms and a sentiment from my Life is so much Better inspirational quote set which featured in the show.

I have used one of Lesley's new Say it Vertically sentiment sets down the side of this one and Landscape Collage stamped in black and colour added just to the sun with matting and layering to carry that colour.

May thanks for your kind visits and words of encouragement.

Spring Time - (by Magda) March Fairy, Another Brick in the Walled Garden, Curiosities, Steampunkery

 Hello everyone and nice to see you here again.

My page of today has a lots of layers and items :

I used several Distress Ink Pad colors, watercolors pencils, acrylic colors, white gesso, stencils, baby wipe, archival ink for stamping the Clock of "Curiosities",  Spring of "March Fairy", and Time of "Steampunkery". 

Thank you for passing by, hugs

Magda

flower power (by Veronica)

One of my favourite stamps was in the shows last month, the lovely flora musica and i have two versions to share today. The first is a very CAS card, simply stamped onto a  square of white card. The stamp was inked with distress marker pens and stamped using a stamping platform. I used a damp brush to draw the cololur out into the flowers and leaves and stamped the sentiment from birthday words in the bottom corner. The card was edged with ablack marker pen before mounting onto a white card blank.

The second version was again stamped using marker pens, this time edged with distress ink and mounted onto a dark red car. The background panel was sponged with matching distress inks, and randomly overstamped using just the flowers and a swirly music stamp from the music fanfare set. The same sentiment was stamped onto spare card and cut out using a punch,

the next cards use the harlequin bouquet  stamp, the first stamped in grey versafine onto white card and then again using black versafine onto spare white card, The first piece of card was coloured using wild honey distress ink and water on a craft mat, and the harlequin part of the stamp stamped randomly using the same distress inkpad to create the background. The flowers and leaves on the second image were coloured with marker pens, cut out and glued over the first images.

The base card was sponged with hickory smoke distress ink, then the image stamped randomly using the wild honey distress ink

The second version is more muted, inked first with distress markers then overstamped qwith black versafine. Background card sponged with hickory smoke and a pink distress oxide 

( probably worn lipstick, but not sure!) then randomly stamped with the harlequin part of the stamp using the grey.

Sentiment from say it vertically
 

My final card uses the floribunda stamp, stamped in versamark onto kraft card and white embossed. I sprinkled truquoise brusho powders over the flowers and spritzed with water. Mounts were white and turquoise card onto a square card blank , and the sentiment stamped in turquoise ink onto a scrap of white card edged with the same inkpad and matted onto a scrap of kraft card

Pretty Song Thrush

Hello I'm sharing more of my samples from the March show on Hochanda (now known as The Craft Store).

My first cards are made using the  Song Thrush set.  

This card uses soft blues and yellows. I used Archival ink and watercolour pencils and left a lot of the area white. I have mat and layered onto toning card.

The second card, in contrast, uses vibrant orange, yellow and black. 

I used a technique called Joseph's Coat. 

*I used a blending tool to add areas of colour all over my base card - I used Distress Inks. 

*When it was dry, I stamped  the Song Thrush with VersaMark and heat embossed with clear powder.  

*I then covered with black ink and buffed it off with paper towel to reveal the colours below the embossing. 

* I mat and layered some Chocolate Baroque papers onto a Gatefold card base and added the Song Thrush to the front. 

(Remember to only put glue on the one side or you won't be able to open your card!)

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

Spring Primroses (by Carole)

Hello everyone, today sees the first of three posts this month by our regular Guest Design Team member Carole. She has created a beautiful Spring themed project for your inspiration.

Carole writes:

 

Hello everyone.

I'm delighted to be doing a GDT session again.

I have revisited some older stamps as these are often neglected and it's not until I start using them again that I realise how much I enjoyed them the last time I used them.

So many ideas buzz around and no time to do them!!!

As the weather has been gorgeous here for a little while, and the garden is bursting with life, my first sample is using Spring Awakening. This is a lovely stamp for Spring birthdays and Mother's Day cards. 

The colours look a bit washed out in my photo unfortunately.

Stamps used: Spring Awakening, Amazing Mackintosh Words, Essence of Nature

I stamped the face onto a piece of backing paper that had been coloured with different yellows and sage Distress Inks. This was then spritzed to was the colour out a little.

The primroses were stamped a few more times, cut out and coloured.

The main image was coloured with watercolour pencils, still one of my favourite ways to add colour.

The loose primroses were then added to the areas required.

Hope you are enjoying some lovely Springtime weather where you are too.

See you next time for another of my samples.

Happy Crafting

Carole 😊

Blue Florals (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today featuring stamps that we brought to the TV shows last month. Both projects share a common theme, I have used blue tones to colour the flowers. You can colour the images however you like, so why not use blue, or whatever colour you prefer? You can match the colours that the recipient loves, a favourite colour scheme, or the gift that you might be giving. 

To create my first card, I created a Brusho background, using green, turquoise and purple, and once this was dry, I inked through a stencil, using the same colours of Distress Ink. I stamped a verical sentiment from the Say It Vertically stamp set over the top.

I die cut an oval and stamped and embossed the Harlequin Bouquet, using Versafine and clear embossing powder. I coloured the image with watercolour pencils and lightly blended the colours with a water brush. I edged the oval with Distress Ink.

Another Brusho background formed the basis for my second card. I stamped the Floribunda Net over the top using Versafine once more. I added some stencilling with a mesh stencil using gilding wax this time, adding a bit of subtle shimmer. I coloured the roses with pencils, and then used a glittery pen over the top for more sparkle. I used a sentiment from Life is so much Better to create a frame.

I will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you. 

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and take care,

Judith xx

A Celebration of Flowers part - 2 by Zoe

Good morning Lovelies and welcome to my second post for this month.

I hope you’re all keeping well.

So I’m back with some more of my samples from last months Hochanda shows.

This post is featuring the amazing new sentiments, I particularly love the Vertical ones, they are so versatile.

My first card I used my Gel press to create the background.

I hope you like my creations. 

Thank you so much for spending your time visiting today.

Have a wonderful day xx Zoe xx

Musica and Harlequin (by Rachel)

 Hello there - Rachel here today with some samples from the March shows.

In this first make I used the flora musica stamp and one of the black and white papers that Lesley produces. I started by stamping the image onto the paper and colouring the flowers using alcohol pens. I then used the paper almost as rice paper and adhered it to a 6x6 inch piece of greyboard. Next I added the sentiment then used some resin to seal the whole thing. Once dry (this took a couple of days) I added the whole piece to a piece of paper and added this to a card blank. Finally I added the sentiment.

For this second card I used the Harlequin Bouquet stamp - I created an alcohol ink background on yupo paper then inked up the stamp with lift ink - I removed the ink and used the piece with the removed ink to form the topper background. With the ink I lifted I stamped on the card blank I was going to use. Next I cleaned the stamp and then used it to stamp in black ink onto a piece of white card. I then fussy cut this image and added it to the topper which I layered onto black card as a mat. Finally I added more stamping to the background card using summeritme ink and also black ink.

I hope these samples have given you a few different ideas.

Have a great day!

Hugs

Rachel xx

Smiling by Brenda

Good morning, hope everyone is OK and had a good Easter. 

Today I am sharing some of my samplesd from last months Hochanda shows. Starting with the top creation using the beautiful Floribunda Net which I stamped onto an inky Oxide background and bleached out the colour from the blooms. Using gesso as an 'ink' I stamped some circles from Just Useful and numbers from Small Graph. On a panel across the bottom I used one of the images from Life is so much Better which was launched on the show. They are my own and first set of inspirational quotes and I'm still a bit taken back that Lesley and David wanted to make them into a stamp set, thank you both 😊

Following the current trend of long tall cards I used Garden Lace Scene which fits this style so well. After stamping the image I added colour and mated with coordinating colours. The sentiment is another from Life is so much Better.

As always my thanks for popping in today.

Floral Notes - (by Magda), Music Fanfare, Floribunda Net, Flora Musica, Harlequin Bouquet, Floral Notes

 Hello girls,

Music and Flowers are in  the recipe of this first post of April.

At first, looking at the stamps plates, I decided the colors to use for the Brusho-Wash background. Then I stamped Floribunda Net, Flora Musica and Harlequin Bouquet  of Chocolate Baroque with Archival ink on tissue papers. After that I cut several decoupages and decided which to use and where to glue them on the page. Finally I colored very delicately some flowers with water colored pencils and spritzed very softly  with water. When all was well dry, I stamped from Music Fanfare and Floral Notes the two stamps in red.

I hope you liked this different journaling page today, Hugs

Magda 

a splash of colour (by Veronica)

My cards today from last month's TV shows all have inky backgrounds as a main part, though using different stamps.

The first ones feature the klimt panel stamp, which is quite large. I stamped the image onto white card using black versafine ink and clear embossed it before addin tiny amounts of brusho powders in blue, red and yellow over parts of the design and spritzing with water.

I cut a square of card to fit a &" card blank and coloured it using distress inks dabbed onto a craft mat and spritzed with water. I stamped parts of the panel randomly using grey versafine ink to create my background. The main panel was trimmed down to the edge of the stamp and mounted onto black card, then onto the background which was edged with a                                                                             black marker pen.

My second card used the same shades of brusho powder, but this time I used watercolour card and a lot of water and a second sheet of white card pressed onto the wet first sheet to give a second paler image.

I stamped the panel using versamark ink and a white embossing powder onto the card trying to match the image up with areas of colour. This time I left a border round the panel when i trimmed it, mounted it onto black card, then onto the background piece  and more black card.

for the second group I used the songthrush stamped in black onto card coloured with brusho powders and then clear embossed.

Both these card are DL sized, and the panel was trimmed down and mounted onto balck card and then onto a panel cut from the same card stamped with a sentiment from life is so much better.  On the second card i used bleach to highlight the flowers and black card behind the coloured strip

 

A Day Out

Hello everyone, I'm sharing some of the cards I made for the March show on Hochanda.

These are some beautiful stamps, all with a landscape theme. I want to show how versatile the stamps are by sharing two examples of each stamp set. 

My first cards use the Landscape Collage stamp set. 

For this card I used pink Distress Inks for the background.  I then spritzed with some water and blotted with paper towel to give some interest. I stamped the image in black onto the background. I stamped again in black onto some white card, coloured the flowers, the background and the moon. I cut away the frame and the cut the remaining image into "tiles" which I placed onto the pink card at different heights with foam pads. I added a sentiment from Life is so Much Better. 

This is the same stamp, but coloured with shades of blues and purple Distress Markers.

The background is Distress inks. This time I lifted the ink by spraying a stamp from Abstract Fragments with water, stamped and then blotted the card dry. This leaves a lovely reverse image. I also added stamping in the corners from Butterfly Daisy Collage.

My next cards use the Arched Landscape stamp set.

I started with a 8x8 card base, I added slightly smaller mats in black, purple and white.  On the white mat I die cut the corner and added some stamping from Make Your Mark.

I then used a 6x4 piece of photo paper. Unfortunately, this technique does not work on all photo papers so it is trial and error! On my craft sheet I pressed my lightest Distress Oxide pad down a couple of times and then spayed with water. I then dipped the photo paper into the ink and gently dried it. (I say gently as the paper is thin and could easily scorch.)  I repeated this with a few colours starting with the lightest to darkest, using less ink each time. When the final layer was dry I used some damp paper towel and wiped off the chalky "oxide" leaving the vibrant colours behind. I then stamped with VersaMark and embossed in white. I added a black mat to complete my card.

This card uses the same stamp, but a totally different look by using alcohol markers. I used Memento Ink to stamp the image. I finished by making a white frame and layers.

My last two today use the Garden Lace Scene stamps

First I made a tag, stamping in Archival ink and coloured with watercolour pens. I then gave it a coating of shimmer spray and some pretty ribbons.

For my last card I stamped the image 4 times onto white card in Memento ink. I have  cut  away parts of the image to decoupage the layers. I coloured in each of the areas that would be showing with alcohol markers. I then layered the pieces with foam pads.

 I love how I can use any colouring medium with these stamps and get great results.

Thanks for looking

Sandra x