Mass Production Line: The Burley Christmas Cards

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It’s that time of year again. That time when you’ve designed this year’s Christmas card, and it’s time to make all 75 cards that are apparently required. So, a mass production line swings into action. Here are some tips:

  • When heat embossing large numbers of images, consider getting a teppanyaki hot plate (top right). Cover with a heat resistant non-stick sheet, turn up to a temperature where the embossing powder just melts, and then as you stamp and add the powder to each piece, the previous piece is melting. Slide the piece off with the end of a paintbrush as the embossing powder finishes melting. Occasionally you may need to push the card to the hot surface (again with the end of a paintbrush) if it has curled up.
  • Liquid Pearl dots love to cling and merge to the next one if wet. In my mass production line, I dotted in the same place on each holly sprig before leaving the set to dry. After a minimum of an hour, I did the next dot on each sprig, and left them again. Finally the third dot was added in the same fashion.

    TOP TIP:
    If your Liquid Pearls is misbehaving, warm it up on a radiator or in your pocket. It become less viscous, flowing better and forming nice domes.

  • Assemble in batches – and take a break between batches to stretch, change your attention, and generally improve productivity. And prevent boredom!

As to the finished result – you’ll have to wait and see. Especially if you’re one of the lucky 75 that receives the real thing 😉

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Thank You Cards

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Using a combination of techniques I learnt in my Background Check class with Online Card Classes, Hero Arts Ombré ink pads and a #neverbeenused Darkroom Door background stamp, I’ve made these five ‘thank you’ cards. Quick, simple and super effective results, even if I do say so myself 🙂

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Art Journal Page: Make Art (and stop hoarding)

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In fear of being hoist by my own petard, I set to this morning to tackle something that has been building up for quite a while… I’d made a comment yesterday on the Craftwork Cards Fan Page in response to a post about hoarding craft materials: that it was only hoarding if you hadn’t actually used them. And then realised my collection of rubber stamps that hadn’t seen an ink pad was quite extensive #neverbeenused #nbu. So I laid them all out to start planning on using them all at least once… it might take a while:
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Background Check: Day 3

BC_participantDay 3 of my online card class, and they’ve introduced a fab idea – a ‘design break’. A chance to use what we’ve learnt in class to make cards. I didn’t have chance yesterday as I was prepping for a large workshop (news of this released next week…), so I’ve been making the cards this morning before today’s class is released. Here are my makes:

The text is all self-designed and cut from 300gsm card on my Silhouette Cameo. Colour added with distress inks, direct to paper. I love the results of some of these – not styles I would have immediately gone for, but very effective cards. Now to go and see what Day 4 has in store!

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Background Check: Day 2

BC_participantIt’s Day 2 of my online class, and we’re playing with stamps and inks to make backgrounds. In the main today was revising techniques I’ve previously come across, but always good to see them used in imaginative ways by the tutors and yank them back to the forefront of my memory! Here’s today’s highlights:

Lots of stripes, and not a stripe stamp in sight. What’s a man to do? Go find some funky foam and cut that into strips. Add a bit of removable double sided tape, and ta da, strippy stripy stamps and backgrounds 🙂

I also like the idea of working more on mid-tone cardstock. I remember in college working on a charcoal ground and getting on better – you can use light and dark shades to emphasise shape, form and, in this case, pattern. I’ve been doing some zentangling on Strathmore Toned Gray Artist’s Tiles and finding the same (more of that in another post).

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Ombré Stamped Cards

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It was an exciting day yesterday as several orders got delivered… I knew what was coming, but the ladies attending my Come & Craft session in The Studio were definitely living vicariously as I unpacked each one!

This morning, as I got to grips with my new varifocal specs, I decided to do a straight rubber stamped card – not something I have done for quite a while. To be honest, I don’t know whether it’s the glasses or the fumes from spray glazing some bowls that’s making things go swimmy…

I’ve used the new Hero Arts Ombré dye ink pads to make my cards. Each ink pad is made from three graduated colour strips and with a little shimmy as you ink up the stamps, you get great blended ombré effects. Above are four cards I made showing off several of the colours available. Ombré colours used: Pink to Red; Light to Dark Peach and Butter to Orange; Lilac to Grape Purple; Grey to Black. Stamps: background – Darkroom Door Harlequin; Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Carved Swirl; flower is an old Anita’s stamp and the sentiment is Stampendous’ Cling Grunge Birthday.
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Bunny Friends with Chameleons

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I’m not normally one to be grabbed by a ‘cutesy’ image, but this new rubber stamp from Penny Black / Margaret Sherry (dated 2009, so re-released?) definitely caught my eye. It’s one of those stamps that comes with a coloured image on the wooden block, which really helps those that need guidance on colouring in. I’ve used my Chameleon Pens to colour these in, which really came into their own for the shading on the pots. It took a couple of goes to find the right combination to get a good terracotta colour, which is why the pots are different colours between the two cards. The lettering is cut on my Silhouette Cameo – I found I need to set the cutter to ‘deep cut’ on the on-board screen, which meant the little serifs didn’t end up tearing.

Never Been Used: more in my art journal…

I’m still trying to get a new trend going – tagging a post where I’ve used something that hasn’t previously been used by me as #nbu – never been used. One problem is finding time to do it myself! It’s part of my determination that nothing comes into my studio that I don’t then use in some way…. perhaps a rather weak way of justifying the purchase in the first place! Anyway, I finally did something last night with my Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous stamp set ‘Remnants’ (CMS130):

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Art Journal Pages: with Carabelle Studio Stamps

Here are some more previews of projects I will be demonstrating at Daisy’s Jewels and Crafts in April. I’ve created a couple of art journal pages using Carabelle Studio‘s ‘Steampunk Man Portrait’ ‘Steampunk: Machine à remoter le temps’ with ‘Collage Texte et Négatif’. The second page features ‘The here and now’. And the third features Birgit Koopsen’s ‘Leafs’.

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Never Been Used: Spider Mum Stamp

I’m sure I’m not the only one that has a section of stash that has never been used. Shocking, I know. I have to admit my never been used pile is relatively small – but I have a lot of stash, so there’s actually a fair number of items in it! This situation is not good. Happily, I keep stamps out of the drawer until I have used them in a project and as the pile is growing, I thought I would do something about it.

So I’d like to introduce you to a new hashtag: #nbu – never been used. If you too would like to rise to the challenge of raiding your stash for something that you have never used so far, make a project with it and share the fact that you have one less thing that has never been used, remember to tag it with #nbu. Then we can all share in your success!

Here’s my inaugural never been used project. I have several Stampendous Jumbo stamps in my unused pile, and this is the first to be used – Spider Mum. I’ve stamped in Jet Black Archival onto watercolour paper and then coloured with Letraset AquaMarkers. The border is heat embossed with WOW! Superfine White Pearlescent EP.

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