When I first saw the poinsettia stamps and dies from Sue Wilson’s Festive Collection for Creative Expressions, I knew I had to go 3D. There’s nothing quite so Christmas as a classic potted poinsettia. A simple, though repetitive, make, this will brighten any room.
This month, for Jones Crafts, I have been sent the new Graphic45 Raining Cats & Dogs Collection of papers. At the risk of alienating half my loyal readership, I don’t really do cats… so it’s just raining dogs in this massive layout! I’ve used an Ikea Ribba 50x50cm frame to hold the layout, placing the main sheet behind the mount which is conveniently sized at 11½” square aperture. The pictures of Esther and her pups are mounted on the various complimentary papers, embellished with various of the die cut chipboard tags, cut out stamps from the Mr Whiskers page (omitting the cat ones, obviously) and layered paper ribbon from the Playful Pals page. A few paper flowers decorated up to more or less match brings the centre to the mount and breaks up the border.
I’ve edged everything with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and that includes ageing the gingham ribbon bows as well so they didn’t stand out quite as much. Oh, and a top tip – if you’re keeping the deep frame, remember the insert takes up quarter of an inch round the outer edge of the mount if you’re laying out away from the frame… And if I’d had a couple more of the centre sheets, I would have decoupaged several of the elements, such as the flowers and the stamps, and the lovely lady with the umbrella.
Hope this inspires you to work with the Collection – and work big!
This month sees my swan song as my term on the Creative Expression’s design team comes to an end at the end of September. But what a ending – this month I’ve been sent the fabulous new set of Sue Wilson dies and stamps to play with, including these gorgeous filigree Vintage Bauble dies. I’ve done them in two colour ways for inspiration and rather like them, even if I do say so myself and don’t overly go for frilly things!
To download a step-by-step tutorial and kit list, click here.
My final -ptych card using this month’s featured stamps from Creative Expressions is another play on the tone-on-tone theme. Featuring heat embossing, iridescent watercolour and careful colour choices, this is a simple, relatively quick, and effective card for any occasion.
This morning saw the launch of Craftwork Cards latest paper and die cut collection – The Potting Shed – on Create & Craft TV. Once again I’ve had the chance to make some samples for the show which will be featured on their blog on 26th August. In the meantime, here’s a tutorial video I did for a pop-up insert for one of my cards.
There’s even more to the Kaisercraft Outdoor Trail Collection than the angling theme I showed a couple of weeks ago. These cards incorporate the more generic hiking and exploring elements of the collection, including the die cut collectables. As before I’ve edged all the pieces with Walnut Stain Distress Ink to tie them all together and mounted them onto 6″ square card blanks. The cards would be suitable for the ramblers out there, or indeed a good luck card for someone moving away.
These floral panels from Creative Expressions are so useful for making cards full of colour and the included sentiments give flexibility in how you can use the cards you make. This week I’ve included two summery panels, with a sentiment designed to remind me in the depths of winter murk of these glorious days of sunshine!
Welcome to the Creative Expressions August 2014 Blog Hop! Hopefully you got here from Donna’s blog but, if you didn’t, here’s the start at the Creative Expressions News Blog!
These new Christmas designs from the Singles Range at Creative Expressions, include seven different stamps. As you will see from the samples made for the Blog Hop, they do not just have to be used as they are but can be altered and interchanged to give lots of different options.
One randomly selected person commenting on this blog post before the closing date will win the following fabulous prize, which includes some of the new stamp designs:
Here are four card ideas for three of the new stamp designs:
Joy to the World
Stamp Joy to the World in Perfect Medium on Coconut White card. Heat emboss with Lapis Black Aurora. Cut to size. Emboss 4½” square piece of Brunswick Green card with Couture Creations New Year Dove folder. Wrap a length of Green/Ivory Grosgrain ribbon round the embossed card and secure. Mount on 4⅝” square piece of Coconut White card, then a 5″ square of Brunswick Green, using Cosmic Shimmer Specialist Acrylic Glue. Stick down to your card blank and then outline the white card border in Cosmic Shimmer Aurora Twinkle.
Believe
Print Believe stamp onto Milk card with Perfect Medium ink and heat emboss with Bright Gold Metallic embossing powder. Cut to size and mount on Brunswick Green card. Emboss a strip of Brunswick Green card, 5″ x 1¾”, using the New Year Dove folder. Mount on your card blank and overlay the heat embossed image using foam pads. Add the pearl swirls and edge with Comic Shimmer Golden Sparkle PVA.
Joy to the World #2
Stamp Joy to the World with Perfect Medium ink and mask the bottom image before printing onto a piece of Cobalt card stock. Heat emboss with True Detail White embossing powder. Cut out leaving a ¼” border. Edge with 5mm double sided tape. Reveal top layer of tape and cover with Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Sprinkes, pressing the glitter into the tape before brushing off the excess and returning to the pot. Cut a piece of Cobalt card 2½” high to fit your card blank and edge with Diamond Sprinkles as before. Using a piece of wide low tack masking tape, press down over the self adhesive Star Swirl and carefully peel off from the backing sheet – the masking tape keeps the shape as you transfer it to the cardstock. Press down firmly on the pearls taking care not to press the masking tape too hard onto the card – peel off the masking tape. Mount on your card blank with Cosmic Shimmer Glue and then adhere two small Fancy Pearl Embellishments using the same glue. Allow to dry completely.
Happy New Year
Ink up Happy New Year stamp with Perfect Medium and mask off side and top section, print onto Cobalt card. Heat emboss with Silver Shine Metallic embossing powder. Mount on Milk card using Cosmic Shimmer Specialist Acrylic Glue. Emboss a 5″ x 3½” piece of Cobalt card with the Couture Creations Happy New Year folder and gild with Pewter Gilding Wax. Mount on Milk card with Cosmic Shimmer Glue. Stamp, emboss and mount the sentiment from All Occasions set as before. Assemble on a C6 card and embellish with drops of Silver Lustre pearlescent PVA.
Thank you for visiting my blog, please leave a comment below in order to be in with a chance of winning a prize!
Once you have done that, you will need to click here to visit Tracy’s blog.
To help you along the way, here is a list for the Blog Hop:-
1. Sue Wilson
2. Julia Watts
3. Tracey Laughton
4. Kim Bacon
5. Donna Ratcliff
6. Neil Burley [you are here]
7. Tracy Heaton
8. Kerry Hickton
9. Pam Smith
10. Creative Expressions
Start page, prize details and how to take part: Creative Expressions News Blog. The blog hop started on Friday 15th August at 6am and ends Tuesday 19th August at 5pm.
Thank you for taking part in our Blog Hop – good luck!
It’s been fun finding out the proper words for panelled artworks – this week I’ve done a pentaptych (it’s all Greek to me… which is why when I looked up quintaptych it wasn’t a word). Any hoo – back to the point! The new stamps from Creative Expressions are perfect for arranging in panels, and with a little snipping away of the border the centre panel fits beautifully, all on a 6″ card. Add colour with Distress Markers and a simply effective card results.
I think I may have mentioned this before, but I’ll say again: I like the challenge of working with a restricted palette of materials and colours. That’s one of the beauties of working on the various design teams. This month’s package from Jones Crafts featuring the Outdoor Trail Collection from Kaisercraft is no exception, especially as I have been asked to concentrate on making cards. I’ve used the 6½” x 6½” paper pad and collectables die cuts on 6″ square card blanks to make these four cards which are particularly suited to the angler in your life. I love the muted but masculine colour scheme and the nature themed papers. I’ve edged the elements in Walnut Stain Distress Ink to bring them all together.
Stamps used: Dream Big / Confidence / Today Clear Stamps from Kaisercraft.