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 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.
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’m still playing with the stencils/masks from That Special Touch for my card this week – it’s the 6×6″ Art Deco Elements again. I wanted to make a classic white on kraft colour combo, and after a bit of trial and error, discovered that the Perfect Medium pad isn’t soft enough to get into the finer bits of the stencil. That’s where a piece of Cut ‘n’ Dry foam came in handy. I’ve also made a video of the process – I’m a bit rusty on the commentary side of things, my apologies. I’d love to know if you find the ‘live’ demonstration helpful.
And for the British spelling purists, this is also a stencilled card.
This 12×12″ canvas board plaque demonstrates the versatility of several Cosmic Shimmer products as well as the That Special Touch masks. Built up in layers, this is the perfect cool blue summer home decor piece to showcase your creativity with texture and bling!
For a full photo tutorial, click here.
In the last of the summer seaside theme posts for this month, I’ve made use of the new Pronty MDF crown available via Creative Expressions as the inspiration for my ‘King of the Castle’ project, also featuring their new Singles stamps ‘Treasure Seeker’ and ‘Sandcastle in the Sun’. I’ve used their acrylic inks to colour the images and added bling with polished silk glitters and pearlescent PVAs. It would be ideal to add to a layout or use as a standalone piece.
For a shopping list and full (printable) step-by-step tutorial: click here [PDF].
More bling next week!
It’s a seaside and nautical theme this month for the Creative Expressions Design Team with various stamp designs making their debut. This week, I’ve used two designed by Sam Poole, the Creative Expressions Singles ‘Nautical Words’ and ‘Netting’. A quick and simple card, perfect for a last minute Father’s Day card. Or for any special nautical person for that matter!
Creative Expressions have produced a myriad of nautical themed stamps ready for the male card recipients in your life – and this is just one, the Creative Expressions Singles Ship in a Bottle stamp set, complete with the Father’s Day sentiment.
For a printable worksheet, including templates for the bottle stand, click here.
As I mentioned last week, I’ve been playing with some crackle effect mediums over the past months. Last week I showed you the two-step Craquelure, new from Cosmic Shimmer. This week: Cosmic Shimmer Crackle Glaze. This is a single step crackle medium which you paint over the base colour which forms the crack colour. The top coat is then painted over the top when dry in the opposite direction, and in the colour that will be cracking. Here’s the result when Antique Linen Distress Paint is cracked over Cosmic Shimmer Mulled Wine Matt Chalk Paint.