Wednesday 22 December 2010

Tim Holtz , Paper Rosette Thank You Cards.

 

Hello, just a very quick post today.
I am finding the time is just running away with me but I still need my 'Blogging Fix'! 
So here are a few Thank You Cards using my Tim Holtz / Sizzix, Paper Rosette Die and a Martha Stewart Punch. Very fast to make and easy too!
 See you soon, thanks for stopping by today.


Eileen xx



Monday 6 December 2010

Clarity Stamp, My Brayer And Barbara Gray On TV.


Hi,It's a good Monday for me, I hope it is the same for you.

This card is copied from a demonstration I watched by Barbara Gray  from Clarity Stamps yesterday on a TV shopping channel.

The clouds are, I feel, just magic and so easy to do.

 Brayer your smooth, coated, card stock with a layer of Cloudy Blue Adirondack Ink and taking a cotton wool ball ( fluff this up a bit)  dab it into a Versamark Ink Pad.
 'Stamp' the cotton wool ball over the card stock then load your brayer with Denim Ink and after taking off some of  the excess ink, flick the brayer across your project.

When you are satisfied with the depth of colour, lightly buff  your work with some soft tissue. I had a couple of tries before I was happy but it did not take too long ...have a go!

I am going to use this technique again and again.
I think it's just grand!  Thanks Barbara!

Thank you for popping by today and have a great week.
Eileen x

Monday 29 November 2010

That Lavinia Stamp Again ...With Little Claire.

 Good morning, It's a lovely day here in a very sunny North Kent.

When Daisy and I went on our walk over the fields it started to snow but we enjoyed looking at the huge flakes and kept all warm in our winter coats. Daisy was a joy to watch as she chased after the 'Snow Fairies'

Today's card is a sort of 'carry-on' from yesterday as I have fallen in luv with the small Lavinia leaf stamp and the 'wreath look' thanks to my friend Melissa!

I stamped it again using my Adirondack, Lettuce and Bottle Green inks and teamed it with a Poinsettia flower from the little Claire Christmas range.

I coloured it in with my Copic Pens and cut the image using a circle from my Nestabilities.


A few beads, gems and a ribbon ...job done.

Thanks for popping by, see you soon and watch out for the wreath again.....in blue!!

Eileen x

Sunday 21 November 2010

Nestabilities Snowflake Decoration.

Hi , It seems I am always dashing around at the moment and today is no exception!  I am off to London in a while to see MIL who is still in hospital but is slowly getting better thank goodness. However, it seems to be one step forward and two steps back!
I went to the Allhallows Crop yesterday and had a wonderful time with my crafty mates. Thank you ladies for a great time, it was a real stress buster!

The project shown today is from a design from this SUPER blog by Yvonne  This ladies blog is so beautiful you must have a look. I just had to make this because I love her work and it's easy to do!



Three sets of Nestabilities here! Lacey Circles. Large Standard Circles and the Snowflake Die.
Cut and Go!
Thanks for popping by today.
Eileen x

Tuesday 9 November 2010

A White Christmas..... With a Crealies Template.


This card started off as a wedding card! Now it's a Christmas card ...!

I used the Crealies Template  again. This template is so versatile you can use it for any occasion you like, look on the site under Simple Shortcuts!

White and Cream card ( not a very good picture, sorry) The flowers and 'hat pin' came from an on line shop called Wild Orchid Crafts  A super site for flowers and ribbon ...quick service too! I mostly just buy white organza ribbon now and colour it with my Copic's... any colour I like. Good even coverage, NO streaking .

The Metal 'Merry Christmas' was in my stash. A simple card, too simple do you think?
Thanks for popping along to my blog today.
Had a new Clarity stamp delivered last week...gonna play with it tomorrow !
BTW my Daisy has her own blog now Daisy's Diary ...when you get a minute have a look !!
See you soon
Eileen x

Sunday 7 November 2010

How To Blend With A Brayer...... Part Three.


 Hi, this is the last part of 'How To Blend With A Brayer'....Huh! who said thank gawd for that?

I've  received hundreds of emails (well a couple) from Speedball brayer owners who have been following the posts and they have succeeded in beautiful blending!
Most rewarding to know you can understand what I am talking about cos sometimes I get in a muddle and I am writing the blooming thing.

Now....before I take you into the land of part three I just need a little word with....VAL!

Val is good friend ( or was ) and we both attended a crop on Saturday in Faversham. I had the most super time ...thanks for your company ladies.

I digress....Val told me how she had enjoyed reading these posts. I was flattered, not for long through!

"Yes" said Val  "I found that if I kept a pin beside me I was fine"  "A PIN ! what the heck is that for " said I  "Well" she replied  "When I found I was NODDING OFF I stuck the pin in my hand, woke up and carried on reading your blog"..... I sobbed!

 Get yer pin ready Val cos here comes another 'chapter'!


At the top of this post is the card I finished at the crop yesterday with the blended background of Adirondack inks, a stamped swirl, a few poppies and a white gel pen to doodle with.

Today I swapped my Speedball brayer for one of my other brayers with the hard plastic roller.

Using a Rainbow Vivid dye ink pad and Glossy Card stock I have produced the two small backgrounds shown here.

I stamped some white glossy card with a Clarity Stamp and Versamark ink, then loaded the brayer, taking care not to run the colours into each other and without taking any excess ink off I ran the roller over the card (this is the orange/yellow card)

I used a fairly light touch to begin with, then applied more pressure as I loaded up the brayer with more ink to add other layers.  Some kitchen roll was then employed to 'polish' the card, this removes any excess ink and reveals the  leafy swirl image ...this is called the Resist Technique.

On the blue card the process is the same, except, I heat embossed the image after stamping with the Versamark ink and covering it with white embossing powder. Again it needed a polish.

Well, that's it ...I hope it has been of some use to you.

Val, I hope you have a plaster cos blood on your cards is 'not a good look'!

Thanks for dropping by today...Wedding cards later this week. Please visit again if you can.
Vivid ink pad link!
Eileen xx


Friday 5 November 2010

How To Blend With A Brayer .... Part Two



Pic 1
All ready to go now? Wrists all relaxed  and floppy? Okay, lets roll.

As you can see from Pic1. Adirondack ink pads have an easy peel label on the back that gives you  advice regarding colour combination's to use for a 'tone on tone' look. I find this useful and I am going for the Willow,Citrus and Lettuce option with Pitch Black to shade the edges.

Pic 2
Pic 2 shows all the 'kit' for today and I remembered to lay my brayer on it's plastic frame not on the rubber roller!
I have cut a DL strip from my Lavinia Smooth Matt card stock and placed it on a pile of cheap copy paper. Next to this is another stack of cheap copy paper that I will use to take off the excess ink from my brayer.

Pic 3
Load your brayer with the lightest shade of  ink making sure it has even coverage right across the roller with NO gaps. (See Pic 3) Uneven coverage leads to lines and 'messy' blending
Flick your brayer three or four times over the cheap copy paper to take off most of the ink.

Pic 4. cheap copy paper on right!
All the time you are using your brayer, to take off ink, or to blend on your card stock use a QUICK FLICKING movement and be gentle!
Also, it is vital for the blending process that you just 'kiss' your card stock with the brayer. If you press too heavily your brayer will 'bite back' and give you unsightly lines...not nice!
After removing most of the ink go to your card stock (which is placed in a vertical position) and starting 'off  the page' from the copy paper, go across your work from left to right using the light flicking movements.
You should hardly see any colour!
Ink up the brayer and take off the excess ink and do the same again......repeat this over and over until you are happy with the depth of colour of your background. Pic 4 shows the pale background and how much ink is on the cheap copy paper.
Change ink pads to the next shade up and with fresh copy paper in place, ink up just half of the roller (see pic 5) Take off the excess ink by rolling across your copy paper FOUR or FIVE times. Yeah I know it's a lot but trust me I'm a card maker! You will get lines if you rush this or leave too much ink on!

Still keeping to the same 'light touch flicking method ' Brayer across three quarters of  the card.
REMEMBER to keep an eye on your copy paper as you must not allow any ink from this paper to taint the clean area of your brayer.
Picture 5

Repeat over as before until you are happy with the blending and depth of colour.

As long as you are gentle you should not get any lines as you 'blend' into the lighter section.
If you do, then don't panic, ink the roller again and take off the excess, brayer again going from left to right   until it smooths out! If you are left handed do you go from right to left.

Always, always, brayer from the beginning of your work each time. The very edge... 'off the page' and go from left to right. Please do not start from  'where you left off' or the middle. I hope that makes sense!
Repeat all of  the above using  your final darker shade.Take your time it's worth it.Once you have got the 'knack' you can blend colours very quickly. Are you asleep yet?
Part three tomorrow !
Eileen x

Thursday 4 November 2010

How To Blend With A Brayer...... Part One.

I have a few of these
This post is one of three that I hope will help if you are having problems with 'blending' while using a brayer and your dye based inks.

Part One shows you all the equipment I use to achieve the results that I like. There are other products, however, those shown here are the best ones for me.

My Brayer tree!
My brayer 'tree' is an old mug tree that I use to store and protect my brayers.

The brayers don't see the sun! (along with my stamps they stay in the dark) I never lay them down on their rubber edge as this can dent the surface of the rollers. So hanging them is tidy and saves them from damage.

You will notice I have three Speedball Brayers (soft rubber) and two hard plastic brayers with vivid red rollers in two different sizes.

I will talk about the techniques I use with this kind of brayer in part three of this tutorial.
My Favourite Card for blending
For now, I want to concentrate on the blending technique and I find I can only achieve the blending I like with my Speedball Brayer.
Next up in my equipment list of 'must haves' are the inks I use. Adirondack dye based Ink pads and Big and Juicy pads. I don't use ANY other inks on my Speedball Brayers.
I use baby wipes to clean my brayers or mild soap and water NEVER, NEVER solvent based cleaners!
Finally, the  paper I use is SO important.
Postcard size card from Clarity Stamps, Smooth 160gsm paper from the IQ premium range at Staples ( not cheap but lots of it and a cheaper way when you are learning!) and finally Matt card stock from Lavinia Stamps, most of my cards are made using this one.

You will also need piles of 'cheap as chips' copy paper... any brand will do.
When I started to brayer I got in a right old mess but after watching some DVDs from Clarity Stamps and Lavinia Stamps and getting the products that will produce the results you want, it is JUST a matter of practice and 'flicking your wrists!......
Part two ...How to Blend is.....tomorrow. Make sure all yours wrists are 'floppy' by then please!
Thanks for looking.
Eileen xx

Thursday 28 October 2010

It's A Doodle With Clarity !



On smooth white Matt card and using my brayer I blended two Adirondack ink colours, Stream and Sunset Orange ( bit bold but who cares!)
I used both of the Leafy Swirls stamps from Clarity Stamps and then 'doodled'  with a white gel pen.

Thanks for dropping by today and please keep an eye on my friend Angela's Blog She has music on it now!! Oh gawd ...what am I going to do with her!   Eileen x

Wednesday 20 October 2010

More Lovely Lavinia Stamps

Hi, I am posting a quick card this evening that I made using Lavinia Stamps. The colours are perhaps a little unusual !

I  just love Lavinia stamps and really enjoy playing with them.

I watched the Ranger products show on QVC yesterday and they featured the Melting Pot ...I have one of these and I am going to dust it off tomorrow and try to produce some of the work I saw during the show.
Thanks for all your support ... I really appreciate it ...Eileen xx

Saturday 16 October 2010

A couple of Rub-on's and a Sticker.

Good evening everyone, I hope you're  having a good weekend.
I went to the Allhallows Crop today and along with loads of my crafty mates I had a super time. Thanks ladies for a great day!

This card was made for my friend Sheila.
The main flourish is a Rub-on, so is the sentiment. The daises are dimensional  flower stickers that I've had for ages and I think they look lovely.
I am happy to report that Sheila loved the card.
Eileen x

Sunday 3 October 2010

A Brayer And My New Lavinia Stamps.


I hope your weekend is a good one so far.
I went to a crop yesterday and had a super time with loads of crafty pals. Thanks Stephanie and all the ladies for a great time and yummy cake!

The day just flew by because I was playing with my Adirondack inks, my brayer ( I love it) and some new Lavinia stamps ....it was deep, deep joy!


This card is for my friend Barbara, ( don't look at the pictures Barbara then it will be a nice surprise!) who will be celebrating her birthday on the 31st of October.

Barbara is recovering from an operation  on her knee. Wishing you a speedy recovery Barbara.
Thanks for looking today.
Eileen xx


Thursday 9 September 2010

Our Daisy.... x

Our Daisy,
who will be a year old at the end of October.
Such a sweet nature. A total joy!

Thursday 26 August 2010

Shapeabilities Cross Collection Easter Card or Wedding card.

Hello, I just fell in love with this card when I first saw it on the FB Spellbinders Paper Arts Page.

The lady that designed and posted it there is Irina Blount.

I went on line to buy the 'Cross Collection' and have used them lots of times, as this card is ideal for so many different occasions.




I also used my Hougie Board to emboss some of the lines needed on the card stock layers.
The Spellbinder die is the 'Fleur De Lis' Shapeabilities Pendant.
Thanks for stopping by today.


Eileen x

Tuesday 24 August 2010

This is what it is!

Hello ....well this is what I have been up to.
I first saw this card design in a magazine.
I think it was in Card Making Inspirations.


I used various fonts from Quickutz Dies for the numbers and Nestabilities Stars. The Snake came from 'google' and I printed it and added some Glossy Accents onto it's 'scales'!
I think it is a fun card and I enjoyed making it.
It is easy to do but takes some time with the doodling ! Give it a go....why not!
Eileen x

Friday 6 August 2010

Flowers and a Melt Pot!



Hi everyone,
I am not posting a card today.I have been playing a lot with this new 'bit of kit.' Well, say new but I bought my Melt Pot in April at the Ally-Pally in London.

I have only just got around to using it because I saw an article in this months Craft Stamper magazine called Faux Porcelain Flowers.   I read the article and looked on the site recommended  /http://sherrycheever.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ and was hooked !!
 My first faux porcelain flower
Look at the left hand side of Sherry's site in categories, faux porcelain.
I had a great afternoon and this is what I produced ....not bad for a FIRST attempt .

I must say I got a bit 'cocky' and because my first one was not too bad I reckoned the next would be a doddle... WRONG ! the second and third attempt were rubbish ....only fit for the bin . Huh!

The  pink flower was cut with my Nestabilities (Dahlia) then coloured in with distressed inks and its dippy time into the pot!
The second and I think, better flower, was cut using the first four Blossom Nestie dies and some lovely printed paper.
I also used a heat gun on this one to smooth out the bits and bubbles left after I  had removed it from the pot.

The video on Sherry's site is easy to follow. However, she uses a different flower and a slightly different technique to the one in the Craft Stamper mag....anyway I had great fun.

Thanks for stopping by
Have a good weekend
Eileen x

Saturday 31 July 2010

Wedding in Blue....



I,ve been playing with Wedding Stationery again today and this time I have added a bit of "Blue"


 A Cuttlebug embossing folder, Cuttlebug butterfly and some spellbinders tags ... I printed the words on my PC and scored all the lines on the cards with my trusty Hougie board!
Thanks for popping by today ....F1 racing tomorrow, Oh yes looking forward to that.

Have a pleasant Sunday and a great week ....post again soon x
Eileen x

Monday 26 July 2010

Tim Holtz / Sizzix Embossing Folder




This card is embossed using a new Tim Holtz / Sizzix embossing folder, the paper flowers were bought  from Crafts u love.
I scored a few lines at the bottom of the cards using my Hougie board and bone folder.

Finally I embellished the flowers with white sequins and gems.

 The leaf is a Spellbinder Shapeabilities, Assorted leaves.

I will be sending one of the cards to a friend who is celebrating her birthday soon ...I hope she won't mind me  posting it first ! Happy birthday for Thursday Melissa!

Thanks for looking today.
Eileen xx




Tuesday 29 June 2010

Nestabilities,Shapeabilities and a punch!

 Poppy card
Hi, I have spent most of my day crafting and enjoying every moment of it ....bit hot and sticky but I am not moaning the sunshine is just wonderful.
The cards I have posted today are made from the Shapeabilities Fleur De Lis pendant that I have used before.


I just love it and they were very easy to do .


The Poppy Stamp is from Lavinia Stamps

The other stamp, on the Lavender card is also from Lavinia Stamps. I think they are so pretty.


I used a punch on the lavender card ...from the EK corner punch range.


Just  punch around the largest size of the Classic large circle nestabilities. I find it best to hold the punch upside down so you can see where you are placing it so it will line up with the 'cut shape' before.

I saw this on one of my 'blog hops' I can't remember which one ! but will find it and post the link...the lady is very clever and produces the most beautiful work.

Thanks for looking today.
Back soon ....Eileenx

Thursday 24 June 2010

Hougie scoring board

Good morning, another lovely sunny day and I am  back in the garden crafting and listening to the afternoon play (from yesterday) on the BBC iPlayer.......deep deep joy!

I have made a quick card using my Hougie Board, a great bit of kit that I use all the time.

I stamped the image on to a square 5in x 5in card blank with archival black ink and a Hero Arts stamp called Thinking of You!


 
The score lines are easy to do on the Hougie board and only take a minute or two.

The butterflies are Shapeabilities from Spellbinders and  after cutting, I stencilled them in the die with the same ink, plonked them in the corner and put the kettle on for morning coffee and a rich tea biscuit!



I have also posted a picture of my craft bag showing how I carry my Hougie board around.

It's too big to go in the bag but luckily has a handle and I 'nicked' a carabina from my husband (we go to the Scottish Highlands every year and he is a 'Munro bagger' ...you know, he wheezes up the mountains and coughs a lot when he gets to the top!)  I clip it through the handle then attach it to my bag ...it hits my legs when I carry it but ....hey.... we all need to suffer for our art !!



I also use another 'nicked' carabina to attach my roll of double sided tape where I can always find it and just pull from the roll however much I need ... small things that make my crafting more fun!

 Coffee's ready ...thanks for looking today.
Happy crafting.
Eileen x

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Shaperbilities Butterflies and Peel-offs!


So just a quick post to show what I've  been playing with today.
I wanted to use this beige colour card but felt a bit lazy so instead of stamping I used Peel-offs and  Copic Markers

The butterflies are Shapeabilities.
After die cutting the large one, I covered it with some of the peel-offs  and coloured it to match the flowers.
Thanks for stopping by today.



Eileen x