'What you do speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday 25 February 2020

Good morning, all!
I'm here with a reminder of our current challenge over at Try it on Tuesday - Go Green OR Recycle. 

I made a little, simple card, using some of the scrap in my stash. It IS only simple AND it was inspired by a post of Godelieve's, who does a regular Sunday Scraps feature, which is always inspiring.

Here's what I started with... 
...a torn piece of cardboard, some glittery twine that came wrapped around a present, a discarded stencil monoprint, discarded folded card, stamped in a gold crackle pattern and a stamped and fussy cut flower head.

I trimmed down the card, added some of my favourite Hero Arts words and added the flower, with a drawn in stem.

Next, I straightened off the corrugated card, attached, fixing it in position, then wrapping the twine around it. 
Then I hunted through my words stash...
added the Delicata edged sentiment over the twine, and voilà, simple.
We'd love you to join our challenge...see what you can make with the scraps you've stashed away, or just use green. If you're anything like I am, you'd probably generate at least a card's worth of scrap in one single week!
I look forward to seeing your creations.

Thank you for calling in
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Tuesday 18 February 2020

Good Morning!
It's Tuesday and that means a new challenge over at Try it on Tuesday. Our new theme for the next two weeks is 'Go Green or Recycle'. 

For my first project, I went with greens for this simple card. I just smooshed some Oxides onto my craft mat, using Cracked Pistachio, Lucky Clover and Pine Needles Distress Oxides, gradually adding colour to my card until the effect was 'interesting' enough. I also tilted it a few times to encourage the inks to drip. The gorgeous leaves were stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, clear embossed, then coloured with the same inks and with Prisma Pencils. 

Finally, I added and clear embossed the words, mounting the panel onto black, then green and finally onto white. I used Delicata Gold reinker to spatter, having already dripped and dried (with the heat tool) some water on the panel. I love the way the water splashes show up negatively, adding so much extra interest to a simple background. I also love the way the hues separate into other shades, looking blue in parts. 
A very simple card, but also very calming, I think...
Please go to see what the other DT members have done with this. I always enjoy seeing the variety in our creations.
I'll be back with a second project next week, this time I'm recycling.
Linking to
Country View Crafts, Splatters, Splashes and Drips
and 
Alphabet Challenge, W for Anything you Wish

Thank you for calling in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Friday 14 February 2020

Hello!
Happy Valentine's Day!
I found this quite pretty background in amongst my stash and thought I'd use it up. It was the result of using a stencil on glossy card, with Versamark ink, to create a resist effect. Unfortunately, I have no idea which inks I used on it, but I'd guess not Distress inks because of the stronger colours. The BIG - for me - drawback of DIs is that they fade. That said, I know this was only made towards the end of the year, so it hasn't had a lot of time to fade, but glossy card is a totally different animal and doesn't absorb colour like matte card.
The experiment worked really well. The resist effect worked beautifully and I was happy with it. So I chose a Brilliance Trio pad to colour coordinate and stamped Art Journey words on one side, followed by the main image from the same set, using Permanent Document Ink. The words on the right are from Stampendous - clear embossed with Spectrum. The beauty of Brilliance inks is that they create a barrier and a perfect resist effect...even through permanent ink. Sometimes it's a distinct disadvantage! Had I thought about it, I may well have stamped her onto matte card, coloured and cut her out - but I didn't. Fortunately, I like the effect  😊😊
The resist pattern is a heart and swirls stencil, but I covered most of it up, so I decided to use toning heart brads - then changed my mind and used punchies.
You can see the Brilliance resisting the ink here... it has a lovely, pearly sheen. I really ought to use them more.
I was really intrigued by Linda's post, showing this technique, so I had to try it out...especially as I found some nice, large tags while sorting through stash. Linda's results are FAR more colourful than mine but I know I was heavy handed with the white acrylic, so I'll try to improve on them.

Basically, you paint a base layer of dark paint - black or, as Linda also used, dark brown - let it dry, spray with water based inks, let it dry, then stencil some white paint over the top - and let it dry. It's fun and the results are pretty cool!
I'm still in 'must use up all my bits of card and paper' mode, so I used whatever was in my die cuts and words stash, refusing to stamp anything new. I really must stop cutting 10 or more of every new die I get! I've had this silky sari ribbon for YEARS!
Linking to 
Sweet Stampin, All you need is love
Allsorts, Add a Heart
Daring Cardmakers, Someone or Something you love
Alphabet Challenge, W for Anything you wish
Ellibelle's Corner, Add a Sentiment
Retro Rubber, Love (stamps over 10 yrs old)
Day of the Month Card Club, Send a Card to a Friend Day!

Thank you for calling in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Saturday 8 February 2020

Hello!
I'm currently in the middle of a total reorganisation of my craft room, clearing out loads of things that would be treasures to someone else (sets of inkpads, etc) but I haven't used them for years and they're just taking up much needed space. It's hard to let some of it go 😊😖 

Today, I'm sharing a small book type creation - 4" x 3" - so it's a card with a couple of pages, really, 😉 (a booklet?) made from some die cuts I had in my box. I used Aall and Create florals and words (all but one) on it and stuck to two colours - Wilted Violet and Cracked Pistachio (Oxides) - one of the colour combinations I really like. The backgrounds are made by smooshing the inks, then spraying copious amounts of water and letting the inks drip.  All stamps are clear embossed Versafine. 
It only has three pages with front and back covers, both of which are doubled up.
It's a great little die. Although it has the spaces for a coil, I decided to glue the pages along the edge, then remembered these alternative paper clips - Supaclips - I bought years ago (still available). The purple shade was just right for the colous, so I used three of them to hold the pages together more firmly. The covers are dry embossed, as you'll see from the first page photo.
 
 
There's a bit of stencilling on this page, plus some text.
More stencilling (Brilliance Moonlight White) and stamping
Some of the flowers have been layered
Background stamping and more stencilling - words on the right unknown
Coloured with Prisma Pencils
A little stamping on this - and white gel pen 
The back cover
Can't remember where this stamp came from!
I used to make a lot of mini books and really enjoyed making this, so you may see more in the next few months... 

I'm linking this to
Allsorts, Add a heart
Simon Says Stamp Mondays, A Floral Frenzy
Mix it up, ATG, optional stencilling

Glad you called  in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx

Tuesday 4 February 2020

Good Morning 😊
It's Tuesday and it's time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday
For the next two weeks, we're looking for your creations with the theme of
Share the Love
Even those of us who don't have a significant 'other' in our life know people who celebrate Anniversaries, get married or engaged - and we have friends we care about, so this challenge is all about celebrating the relationships that matter to us. In the UK, Valentine's cards are only really shared between couples, but I know that elsewhere in the world, you also send them to friends...

I made a simple card, using an old Stampendous stamp I love, but only seem to pull out at this time of year, which is a shame, really. 

I stamped in the centre of a 5.5 x 5.5 white card in Versamark ink, then added white Embossing powder and heat set. Using Salty Ocean and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxides, I dragged them over my non stick mat, sprayed with water, then smooshed by dragging the card through it. I let it dry and added more water a couple of times, then left it to dry. Next, I stamped and embossed the larger heart onto a white scrap, coloured it, cut it out and attached over the original image, added some white doodling and colouring, then stamped and embossed in white on a scrap of the pink card I'd chosen for my next layer and attached bottom right. I love the way the pink and blue mingled and created a lovely shade of purple. Looking at it now, I think that colouring a couple of the smaller hearts in the same colour as the large one would be nice...as would a few pearls or gems (not usually my style, but I think they'd work with this stamp.)
 I do hope you'll join us and please do pop over to the blog to see my team mates' wonderful creations...they are all SO talented!

I'm linking this to 
Make My Monday, I heart You
Dare 2B Artzy, Love is in the Air

Thank you for calling in today
Back soon
Cath
xxx