Card Factory 2015–Brusho Trees

Following my first Brusho experiments using the Inkylicous clear stamp set “Simply Trees,” this morning I made the four best ones into cards. My studio became a matting and layering factory for the morning! I think I am definitely improving with this skill and most of them look pretty straight, which was not how it used to be in the old days…

I have thrown out sample #1 as unusable, but have decided to use #2 which was borderline. It does look better mounted.

I went through my stash and extracted various papers and cards suitable for matting and layering these designs, and again spent some time deciding on different combinations.

Design #2

I chose a sheet from a small pack of marbled papers for the main background layer for this card. All the cards have a narrow matt layer of glitter card from another pack. These are in colours that I know I shall never use for anything else, and I am not keen on the colours on their own, or on glitter card in general, but in conjunction with other papers and as matt layers for cards, I can use up a lot of stash that really does nothing for me! I bought quite a bit of paper back in the days when I was starting, and not sure what I really wanted to do, and some of these purchases turned out to be a bit of a mistake until now! I am determined to use up a lot of the clutter in my studio so that I can have room for more useful stuff.

Preparing to stick the layers down, I thought that the exposed white card of the base looked a little stark, so to soften it, I distressed the edges with Forest Moss distress ink, which definitely improved its appearance.

Here is design #2 complete.

Design #3

Another pack of paper is quite thin, verging on tissue paper. It has real leaves embedded in it. I used this paper in different colours for the remaining three cards. For this one, I chose a cream-coloured glitter card for the narrow matt layer.

When the leaves paper was stuck down onto the base card, the very edge of this white card was visible, so I ran my home-made ink blender around the edges with some of my new Fossilised Amber distress ink.

The finished card.

Design #4

For this card, I chose a yellow glitter card for the narrow matt layer, and the natural coloured paper from the leaves pack.

I distressed the edges of the base card covered with the leaves paper, using Vintage Photo distress ink.

Here is the finished card.

Design #5

For the final design, I chose a green sheet from the leaves pack. When this was laid over white (the colour of the base card in each case), because it was so thin, it looked a bit washed out, so I glued it down onto the plain orange card seen in the above photo, to give it a slightly richer appearance. Once trimmed, this double-layer was glued down onto the base card.

In this case, I distressed the edges with Forest Moss distress ink.

The finished card.

Here are the cards made from designs # 2 and 3.

The cards made from designs #4 and 5.

As usual, I have left these cards blank inside, so that I can add appropriate sentiments when I need to use them, with the exception of design #3. We are going to a birthday supper tonight, so this card hasn’t even made it into my new card stash! Using Forest Moss distress ink, I stamped the “Happy Birthday” sentiment onto a scrap of white card, which I trimmed to size and coloured with Fossilised Amber distress ink, using a home-made ink blender, and then matted onto more of the cream glitter card. I stuck this down onto the base card, and then stamped the same sentiment inside, again using Forest Moss distress ink, and applied some Fossilised Amber distress ink over the stamping to give it a bit more impact. This stamp is one of a collection of clear sentiment stamps that I have had from when I first started, and I no longer have the packaging so I do not know the name of the set, or the manufacturer.

Here is design #3 in birthday card mode.

Despite this being my first attempt at using Brushos, I am pretty happy with the results, and think they have come out quite nicely mounted as cards. This is definitely something I am going to again, using a variety of different stamps.

Packing Up the Goodies

THE BIG REVEAL, PART 10.

Many of my regular visitors have been justifiably very frustrated and impatient with me lately because I’ve been working hard on several secret projects that I wasn’t at liberty to reveal until now. With her permission, I can now reveal that I have been making stuff for Shaz. As many of you will know, she is about to undergo major surgery and has been through so much over the past year. She and her lovely hubby share the same birthday and I have made cards for them both, a get well card for her (still under wraps) and a selection of bits and pieces for her to play with once she feels up to being creative again. She opened the parcel on her birthday (14th Aug.) and now that she has received them I can share the making of them with you. Until now, I didn’t want to spoil her surprise as she visits my blog regularly. Throughout my own cancer journey, this wonderful friend has been such an encouragement and support to me, and this is one way I can thank her, and show my own appreciation and support. I know that she would love a visit from you to wish her well for her surgery on 2nd Sept.

I have been uploading a couple of posts each day over the previous few days until all was revealed. Please scroll down for earlier posts.

The get well card will get its big reveal once I know Shaz’s hubby has given it to her while she’s in hospital.

Having now completed all the cards and bits and pieces to send off, I was ready to pack them all up in a box.  I have received similar parcels in the past and know how exciting and what fun it is, opening them up and sorting through the contents, and feeling so good that someone has thought of me and wanted to brighten my day. This is what I want to do – to share a little joy and happiness during the dark days when problems abound.

Packing Up the Goodies

Here is what went in the parcel, in the order in which I made them.

Steampunk birthday card for her hubby.

Her birthday card.

Some embellishments made recently from the moulds I made, and some from my stash.

After making these, I painted the hearts and wings, and some of these went into the parcel.

I made several backgrounds/small masterboards from A4 card.

The first one was made using my new Dylusions paints, with the addition of some gold embossing.

The next one was one using Dylusions spray inks with a gesso resist, on a background of black gesso.

When I made this one, there was a lot of ink on the craft sheet, so I created another background by smooshing some card in this ink, and adding sea salt for an interesting texture.

The second one on a black gesso background was of butterflies in Perfect Pearls.

I made a series of small shapes from card which had been sprayed with Dylusions spray inks and heat embossed, which acted as a resist to the distress inks which I applied afterwards. I made two A5 sheets in this manner and then cut out various shapes with a knife and with punches. (I kept the very small circles).

I also made some in the same manner, stamping and heat embossing with white embossing powder, using my lace stamps, this time with a pale blue/turquoise background.

I used several of these heat-embossed shapes as labels to go in the small packages in the parcel, and the rest went in with blank backs. They could all be used as small embellishments in a variety of projects.

One of the lace motifs I made into a simple card to go in the parcel in the form of a letter.

Coming back to backgrounds/masterboards, I made three faux leather masterboards in brown, green and red.

Here are some of the small packs of bits and pieces I put in the parcel along with the above projects. Included is a shallow DVD spindle box containing a selection of flowers from my stash, all made by me over a long period, from pieces cut with my Cougar cutting machine. There is also a pack of a few silk flowers, some sentiments also cut with the Cougar; the Friendly Plastic embellishments, some butterflies cut with the Cougar, and a pack of miscellaneous die-cuts, charms, stick-ons and so on, most of which were given to me by other people and which I know I shall never use – if she doesn’t want them, she can pass them on in like manner. Got to keep this stuff moving!!

I also made up a selection of fancy yarns in approximately 3-4 yard lengths, which could be used to embellish tags etc. The colours and textures are vibrant and varied.

I rolled up the masterboards and secured them with a label from the lace shapes collection. Everything was packed into a pizza box which hopefully will preserve it all in the post!

I had in my stash a beautiful piece of tissue which I had sprayed with Dylusions spray inks when I first got them, and which was finished by a spray of Crafter’s Companion Spray and Sparkle – this paper is very richly coloured and blingy with the glitter spray. It’s been in my stash for so long and I still haven’t used it, so I thought it was time it went to a new home and perhaps would get used! I can always make some more. It wasn’t large enough to wrap everything up in, so I laid it on top of the stuff and tucked it in, tying a length of fancy yarn around the whole collection.

I found two strips of smooshed and sprayed backgrounds on watercolour paper, which were just too long to go in the box, except diagonally, so I tucked these under the yarn, together with the lace card I’d made. I think it makes quite a nice presentation when the lid of the box is lifted.

I wish Shaz and her hubby all the very best in the coming weeks and months, and hope this parcel brings her some comfort and cheer, and above all, some fun when she feels up to making things again.

Birthday Card for my Hubby

My hubby’s birthday is on Tuesday, and I am so glad that Mr. Mojo and Mrs. Muse have decided to return from their unexpected long holiday and come to my rescue, so that I could make him a mixed media card! He has been so brilliant over the past months and I want to show my appreciation for him in every way that I can.

I am still taking baby steps creatively, and didn’t want to take on a huge project, so I thought it would be good to use some of the things in my stash to make his card. Here is the finished card.

Last year I had a session making alcohol ink backgrounds on the backs of some A5 fliers we’d picked up at the county show (I love recycling!) – they were on shiny paper.

I also embossed some co-ordinating pieces of card to go with each background.

For this card I chose the background using gold, silver, copper and pearl mixatives. This one had a nice co-ordinating card which I’d embossed with the Cuttlebug folder “Diamond Plate,” which is good and manly!

Rummaging through my stash, I found the Friendly Plastic gear wheels and other hardware that I’d made some time ago. These were painted with black gesso which makes a good base for adding gilding wax.

Also in my stash I found a few tissue paper hearts that somebody sent me once in a collection of die-cuts, and I chose one in a colour appropriate for this card, to lay down as a background under the embellishments, adding some gilding wax lightly applied with my finger.

Finally I made a faux porcelain sentiment for the card. You use UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) for this technique, building up the layers – I had several printed oval shapes  with “Happy Birthday” printed on them in a suitable font in my stash from a previous project. I used Versamark and my heat gun for this, and unfortunately it made the card curl a bit; I think it would probably distort less if one immersed the whole thing in UTEE in the meltpot, so I must remember this next time I use this technique. (Last time I started with a thicker piece made from several layers laminated together, and I think that distorted less.)

Here are some detail shots of the card.

For the “metal” hardware, I used a mixture of silver, gold and copper gilding wax. Of course, the metallic appearance doesn’t pick up too well on the photos.

On the above picture you can see that I have also applied some glass bead gel medium using a palette knife, and lightly applied some gold gilding wax with my finger, for a bit of added texture and to tie the design together.

I have had the large “blue steel” gear wheel in my stash for ages – I think it was a die-cut, and I cut it from a piece of card from Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate box! It has a lovely metallic shimmer to it. Across the bottom I added some glass bead gel medium with a palette knife and lightly rubbed this with gold gilding wax.

The inside of the card. I can’t remember where I got this sentiment stamp – it is part of a set of clear stamps I bought when I first started, and I didn’t keep the packaging. I don’t like clear stamps as much as rubber ones, and have only a few.

I inked the inside of the card, and the edge of the card base on the front, using Gathered Twigs distress ink and an Inkylicious Ink Duster. The card front was matted and layered with some brown cardstock. The Friendly Plastic embellishments were stuck down with Pinflair gel glue; the heart was attached with regular matt gel medium, and the large gearwheel with Scotch Quick Dry adhesive, and the remainder of the elements with my ATG glue gun. The faux porcelain sentiment was attached with two small brads through the matting and layering before I stuck that down onto the card base.

There is a lot of texture and thickness on this card! It’s a good thing I have a large supply of very heavy white cardstock for card bases or they’d never hold up, the amount of stuff I always put on my cards!

A Seahorse for Marlene

Great news, folks! Mr. Mojo and Mrs. Muse have returned at last from their extended holiday/absence without leave! Since my cancer diagnosis in mid-January, I have been so preoccupied and unsettled, and with my mind so full of it all, that I have not been able to focus on anything creative. Today I am really feeling a lot better – it is now over 6 weeks since my surgery, and although I still tire more easily than in my normal M.E. state, I do feel more myself. I am about to embark on six months of intensive chemotherapy and am determined to take advantage of those periods when I am feeling better in between.

Recently a friend of mine contacted me to say that she was exploring the idea of ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) and asked if we could swap. I was thinking perhaps I had an ATC in my stash that I could send her, but there was nothing suitable. She said she had done a seahorse one so I decided to do the same.

Her ATC arrived yesterday and I love the colour, and the addition of a little bling, which I am pleased to see how well the camera picked this up for once – it is usually really hard to capture sparkly surfaces!

I decided to do another of my signature teabag stain ATCs. I’m afraid I didn’t remember to photograph the stain before I drew on it, but it was one on a sheet of watercolour paper that I used to dry teabags on – they leave such lovely marks.

I used a fine Faber Castell sepia pen to do the drawing, and added some Zentangles around the edge, and after completing the drawing, I cut it out around the outline.

I shaded the drawing with a brown pastel pencil and blended it with a paper stump.

I took one of my ATC blanks and inked the edges with Tea Dye distress ink.

I used Scotch Quick Dry adhesive to stick the drawing onto the back piece, and added a little more drawing around the edge.

I wrapped the ATC in a scrap of tissue paper which I stamped with some of my seashell stamps, using sepia archival ink, and repeated this motif, adding a little seahorse, on the small cream envelope I chose to send Marlene her ATC in.

I included one of my little fans in with the ATC – I made a whole lot of these to go with ATCs for the last ATC swap I took part in. These were stamped with Versamark onto black card using one of my favourite fan stamps, and then brushed with dry Perfect Pearls, adding a little tie of ribbon on the handle.

I tied up the little parcel with some co-ordinating fancy yarn. I hope Marlene enjoys her ATC.

OK, so it’s a small start, but the creative block is down, and I am excited about getting back into my ARTHaven again. Watch this space – I hope it isn’t just a flash in the pan!

Recycled Mini-Album Pages–Childhood

Because this album contains personal family information I am unable to share fully all the pages with you, but I can show you what I’ve been working on recently – pages concentrating on a childhood in the 1920s.

For this first page, I took three pictures (scanned and printed from the original photos) and ripped the edges to soften them. They were lightly distressed with Weathered Wood and Tea Dye Distress Inks. I created a deeply textured background from scrunched up tissue paper laid down with regular matt gel medium which was then painted with a mixture of Payne’s Grey and white acrylic paints, with a final light application of silver gilding wax on the high points of the texture. The pictures were applied with more gel medium, as were the card strips with the hand-written text. The irregular border was added at the end, following the edges of the textured background.

An important feature of this album is the arrangement of the pages throughout. All the pages were made from recycled Christmas cards painted with black gesso, and I have trimmed them so that they decrease in size to the centre of each signature, with the smallest, central one having its sides glued together to form a pocket into which a tag can be placed, which will probably be the only interactive aspect of this particular album. I am creating a different black and white border for each page so that the further into each signature you move, the more of these compound borders will be revealed.

The next picture shows some plastic packaging from some chicken pieces I bought recently. Once I spotted the gorgeous texture on the bottom, I couldn’t throw these little plastic trays away! You can see that I have cut out some pieces from the base of another identical tray.

These pieces are resting on a piece of kitchen paper that I’ve been using for mopping up – it has developed into a gorgeous grungey background which is definitely going to find its way into the album at some point. The complete chicken tray is resting on a new scratch paper which is developing well into a nice background piece, too.

Now for the transformation of the chicken packaging! Unrecognisable, isn’t it!!

I cut the border off the lozenge-shaped textured pieces, and with three of these these border pieces I created a frame for the journaling by gluing them down onto a piece of card which has previously been painted with a mixture of blue, green and crimson acrylic paints. Onto this I wrote the text, and then glued the whole thing in place onto the page. The lozenge-shaped pieces were painted and then glued direct to the page after the photo had been applied. I added a touch of gold gilding wax to the raised texture of all the pieces. (I think gilding wax is becoming my signature material as I simply can’t resist using it!)

For the background of the page, I took my Decreasing Circles stencil and applied Versamark embossing ink through it with a small piece of Cut’n’Dry foam. I added some strencilling over the edge of the photo as well, to make it blend into the page. After this I painted on some Perfect Pearls in Cappuccino and (I think) Green Patina.

I made a small tag from scrap card which I painted black, and embellished in the same way with the stencil and Perfect Pearls. Onto this, with my white Sigma pen, I wrote some journaling about the two older generations depicted in the photo. I made two circles from card stamped with archival black ink using a flower stamp and inked with three shades of Distress Inks – Tea Dye, Victorian Velvet and Weathered Wood, and these were glued either side of the tag. Using a 1 1/2 in circle punch, I cut a semi-circle from the edge of the tag pocket so that when the tag was inserted, the tag puller would completely fill the semi-circle.

A black and white heart border completed the page, softened a little with some curves on the right hand page.

Some detail:

I added a little Perfect Gold Perfect Pearl from my Perfect Pearls palette, to outline the chicken packaging pieces and add a bit of definition.

A detail shot of the tag, slightly pulled out, revealing how the tag puller fits into the semi-circular hole, and showing a little of the white jorunaling inside, and the stencilled background.

Turning the page, the second childhood page is revealed.

This picture shows the reverse side of the tag puller. I embellished the pages with some clear heat embossing to create some texture – the stamps were from the Tim Holtz Bitty Grunge set by Stampers Anonymous. The photos were stuck down with gel medium. Over the bottom of the left hand photo, I stamped with Versamark, using another stamp from the same set, and then heat embossed with Distress Embossing Powder to give a raised, rough texture.  I went over the entire page with Versamark, using the small piece of Cut’n’Dry foam dabbed randomly over the page, and then I applied some Perfect Pearls with a soft brush – the colours were as before, but using Interference Green instead of Green Patina. This treatment was extended over the photos too.

Over the right hand photo, I stuck down a die cut vintage bicycle, one of several which Julia, our WOYWW hostess, sent me some time ago – this particular one was lime green to start with, but I distressed it with Tea Die Distress Ink and then applied it with gel medium, some of which ended up on the surface, creating a nice random texture, which was highlighted by the application of some copper gilding wax, giving the bicycle a lovely vintage, rusty look. I did not add further borders to this particular page.

Videos will follow in due course – I’m still in the process of editing them.

The next page will concentrate on student days and young manhood.