Q.A.S.........

I should have been tidying my craft room....but I couldn't help myself make one more card  before I cleaned and tidied my Oak House Studio stamps away. I have been joining in with their summer challenge (5 months and 5 designers exploring 5 different themes)

I am joining in with April .....Something blue.

So one more Q.A.S (quick and simple) note card for a friend...

One damaged piece of card stock....covered with a vintage book page, pc printed greeting, Oak House Mountain Ash leaf stamp and midnight pigment Ink ...and the card was done it a couple of minutes ....it took longer to get the things together.

I wanted to staple the sentiment on but despite tidying my room (well more or less) I still haven't unearthed the stapler.....so I had to settle for a fake doodled one ...plus two more on the panel on the insert.

Hopefully my friend will enjoy the bosom heaving text of the page...and I am hoping that this is CAS enough for Less is More who are looking white space ....that is not white?!?!

.....and I apologise to Ethel M Dell ...but the book is already seriously damaged.....it does go against the grain to rip books but in this case I am hopefully putting it to good use rather than see it permanently destroyed!!!

LESS IS MORE white/not white space

Oak House Studio blog for inspiration and the Inkspired Facebook Page where you could join in adding your blue projects.... Check out the pages for details.

...thanks for popping by :-)

P.H.D..........projects half done.....plural...

Recently I had to make a sympathy card....I know that maybe the colours I used aren't typically sympathy colours but as the family have deep faith I thought that a warm glow in the background would reflect the important message of the cross.

....and the card isn't totally frugal "just add glue" as I did use a bought rubber stamp, the rest was created with felt pen ink and my daubers.....but I did think it would be possible to create the card completely without bought items....

.........So I added it to my to do/try/finish pile and yesterday... I noticed City Crafter has a challenge....do a PHD.....finish a project half done .......oh I could enter soooooo many times but as I was a bit stumped for Easter cards this year I wondered if I could adapt and actually finish my cross project. Less is more has a colour challenge of citrus and Hiding in my Craftoom is spring colours so I kept to the original colour palette of my sympathy card.

To create the cross I used a couple of pieces of thin corrugated card taped together, I cut a couple of different widths to recreate the shape. . .it did take a while to get the card inky enough and I did experiment with dragging the card to create a mistier effect not just stamping it for a cleaner effect, and as the brown in the pen set was a bit light I added some greens to darken it.

I quite liked all the effects but think I do prefer the stamped pieces.

The test pieces were just scraps, my chosen finished piece was actually one of the torn ones but I liked the effect and decided to copy the tearing on the opposite side.

I was quite happy with the finished image just mounted on Kraft card but thought perhaps for Easter it needed a bit more signs of life .....I doodled a little plant growing round the cross....again the pen wasn't a good colour so I used a little highlighter pen to brighten the leaves.

While the inks we're out I also needed to make my friends card....now this is where I need some advice...originally this was completely c.a.s....design on a white card blank....but as my friend has just started card making and is favouring a more decorative style, I was worried she might think I had not gone to a lot of trouble ....so I chopped it off to layer on coloured card stock with some decorative mats and layers and embellishments.....but I got cold feet...I'm just not comfortable with lots on a card. So far I have just suspended it on some ribbon ...and added some some faux embossed stitching on the base card

oh and a little detail on the back....and stamped detail inside....

Plus a 

hidden sentiment under the giant tag

.....(I know there is a little sentiment on the front but am hoping this qualifies for Creative moments challenge).

Anyway.....

Should I have layered it.?

Added bows, brads, lace and/or embellishments?

Put stitching round the panel/tag?

Use a corner rounder on the panel?

Heat Embossed the stamped image?????? 

Is it missing something......I have till Sunday to change it?

I Would appreciate any opinions always nice to have a fresh pair of eyes look at it objectively ............and while I am at it I must say thank you to my two new followers who have joined me since I have been back..... I really appreciate everyone who pops by and takes the time to comment.

Less is more - citrus
Hiding in my Craftroom - spring colours
Creative moments - anything goes/sentiment on front
City crafter - project half done

Thank you Lynnda

                                            

 This week I received a wonderful parcel in the post from Lynnda at Oak House Studio. A few weeks ago she hosted one of her very clever online One Stamp events. There were so many fantastic projects from people and I loved playing along, particularly as she chose one of my favourite stamps to play with - her lovely double daisy stamp, and I was lucky enough to win one her very generous prizes for contributing on the facebook page.

I am in inky heaven....but so far have not had a decent session to really play with the wonderful stamps and inks I won.
I was intrigued by one of the little stamps and I decided to have a quick play and create a card with just the stamp, household products and scraps.

Lynndas stamps are so well made, I didn't even need a mount. I decided to try beaching some scraps of coloured card. I applied mainly neat bleach with one of my handmade daubers. The more it dried the better the effect, but I must admit I was a bit disappointed with the results, perhaps I need to try some different types of card. But as I was short on time i used some of my test pieces to create a little floral basket.

Inspired by LESS IS MORE to create texture I used some scrap corrugated car to make the basket and CASology wants some distressing which was definitely the touch that was needed to make the basket a bit more interesting. I also used the paint, to paint slivers of paper for leaves and I paint distressed some card to stamp the message on (another stamp from my prize).

I wasn't sure there was enough texture so I suspended the a panel from rough string ......still not satisfied I tried adding some faux blind stitching round the edge.......I'm sure it would look better with some matts and layers but I wanted to stay true to C.A.S. if possible. Which is also the challenge this week at HIDING IN MY CRAFTROOM. 

 

     

                                                                     

      

Not sure it was a success but next time I will practice on some scraps first instead of being gung-ho and going straight for it .....especially while the glue was still wet....and it was still attached to the card!....slightly scary moment when I lifted up the ruler and half the flowers were attached to it!!!!!.....will I ever learn to be patient?.....unlikely ;-)

Less is more - texture

CASology - distress

Hiding in my craftroom - CAS

Image Transfer ~ Rub-ons

Something that has been niggling me for a while is how to achieve a print without my stamps.  Being able to transfer an image from my printer without running the actual card through the machine means I can be more flexible with the placement and combine other techniques prior to the printing stage……

I have explored several other ways in the past - gesso (messy, time consuming & not totally suitable for cardmaking) –wintergreen oil (works but…..whoa!  be prepared to have your house smell ….for days!!) orange oil (smells much nicer but not totally successful) and I know there are several other ways but the simplest seemed to be Freezer Paper (Pinterest suggestion). I duly found the Freezer Paper (on e bay) and was poised at the point of purchase when I realised all it was, was wax paper…..now bearing in mind I keep all the backing from sticker sheets, labels and old pages from my girls sticker albums (use them for wiping over card prior to “old style” stencil embossing) it really didn’t seem necessary to buy more.

It’s one layer week at Less is More and they have a challenge to use a Flourish….perfect week to try the paper transfer…..only trouble is this week I have zero time to experiment so this has been a very hurried sample…

I created a quick Fathers Day card  (with a difference…now hubbie is officially Father of the Bride-to–be) using text and a flourish (Florals 2 Dingbat – letter e) and flourish border created with Wingdings 2 (letters a & b) with some words hidden within (Typo upright)….then came the fun bit….. printing on the wax paper….the first bit of paper I tried was a scrap from a Label sheet stuck to a carrier sheet

Couple of Don’ts…..

Don’t …forget to reverse the image if you’re using text…..guess who forgot!

Don’t …forget to turn the paper ink side down before rubbing over the image….guess who’s got a blue thumb!!

HEY PRESTO !!!!!!!  it works and I really loved the soft effect….I think this will be particularly great for vintage images. It was so easy, the ink transfers very quickly, just gently rub over the back with a finger or thumb……oh another Don’t …..Don’t try and move it once its down…it will blur….yes …guess who tested this theory as well!!!

but the good news is I also discovered you can completely wipe the wax paper clean and reuse it!!

I was intrigued to see if I could actually use this technique with stamping and luckily sitting on my desk was a lovely new stamp from Oak House Studio…a beautiful big flourish!!!! I quickly stamped this with Stampin Up “Not quite Navy” ink…. then printed my wording directly on a very thick piece of wax paper (from a sticker album) and actually I surprised it blended quite well with the stamped image….perhaps a bit soft…..will have to investigate this a bit further, using different types of paper and colours!

 

I couldn't resist stamping the design over the spine……… and onto the back………oh and on the inside as well!!

Sorry this has been long winded yet again but I must also say thank you to the Less is More Ladies for showcasing my Jar shaped card (tough challenge!!) I really appreciate the support you give to my “homemade” efforts and I really appreciate the lovely comments from you and the people who pop by and take the time to leave a message

                                               THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

p.s Check out Lynnda’s (Oak House Studio blog) stamped scarf…what a great idea….something else I must  try!!!!

A bit of stamping…..yay!!!

Well for Less is More and my blog this week I have indulged myself with a little bit of stamping. This week I have been working with  a lovely Stamp from Oak House Studio. Owner of Oak House Studio and Designer of the Clematis Stamp is Lynnda Worsnop who this weekend is hosting a 24hr event using just the one stamp in lots of different ways. I have had amazing fun experimenting  with the stamp finding different ways of using it and I have to say, for a clear stamp (laser cut in a very strong polymer…giving an impression as good as a rubber stamp) it really is very durable ….just as well as I have been extremely hard on it….thank goodness there isn’t a “Society for the Protection  of Stamps” as I wouldn’t blame Lynnda for reporting me for mistreatment…the good news is the stamp is still standing and stamping as beautifully as when I received it….

….so to prove it’s still working (despite being dunked in all sorts of inappropriate paints etc!) I have made a card for Less Is More’s Red White and Blue challenge

Inspired by the blue and white china I inherited from my mum, I masked off a square panel with Post-it notes (with a square post-it used as a template), then drew round the panel with an ordinary Berol Handwriting pen….despite using a stamp I wanted to avoid using bought cardmaking products as much as possible, so I also avoided using a bought inkpad and used an ordinary felt pelt rubbed over the stamp. As the pen was waterbased it was easily washed to colour the image….. ideally I wanted to glaze the panel but every household item I tried made the ink bleed too much and I think even bought inkpads may have the same effect….if anyone has any clever ideas I would love to know.

But with time ticking away I have left the image matt and added my touch of red…a knotted scrap of ribbon (yes I cant even throw off cuts of ribbon away…in fact I keep a tub of little scraps pre-tied in bows …and if they’re not big enough for bows …I use them knotted!!!)

If you’re lucky enough to live near the Oak House Studio, do drop in and visit Lynnda and see what she is up to (I think she will have the kettle on), if not pop by her blog (hopefully my projects will be there) I have scheduled a couple of sensible home decor projects …I am still working on a very “unglamorous” idea …..and keep an eye on her One Stamp facebook page this weekend (9th and 10th June).

p.s love the stamped watch you’ve just posted on your blog Lynnda….oooooh want one of those!!!!!

Nappy crafting definitely not happy crafting….

Should have called this post “warts and all” as this week my idea didn’t quite work but if I’m honest it was more the execution of the projects that failed…..

A couple of weeks ago Katie and I made her friend a Nappy bouquet (congrats on the safe arrival of beautiful Betty Rose!!)…

….and much to Katie’s frustration she caught me “salvaging” the one nappy that got trashed in the making “Honestly mum…cant you throw anything away!!!!!”

“er ……..no!” and boy I’m glad I didn’t as Less is More really made my brain hurt with their one layer challenge of three stamps….its bad enough not using bought cardmaking things but to come up with three stamps that was going to be a challenge… so this week I had to do a bit of a cheat….I used some free stamps from Quick Cards Magazine.  I could have stamped with some household things in fact my third stamp was actually a bit of card but I really  wanted to have a go at making my own ink pads to use with stamps….HENCE THE NAPPY….see Katie told you I would use it!!!.

I have made impro ink pads before but finding a medium to successfully contain the ink (food colouring in this case) without clogging or oversaturating is not easy…..and actually its a big thumbs up for disposable nappies as they retain plenty of moisture but still allow some through when pressed…pity my stamping skills didn’t live up to expectation

First attempt …….started reasonably well, thought I would use the back of the stamp to create a shadow (used some double sided tape to attach the stamp onto the base of a flat bottomed glass)…but the colours were disappointing particularly the purple I mixed…dull…dull… dull ….and to top it all I mis-stamped one of the jars…all in all …insipid!

 

 

Second attempt…….

decided to customise the pads with different colours, again shadow stamped but this time used some black ink for the outline… 

didn’t think this one through and ended up with a silly gap at the end, so doodled a lollypop at the end to compensate…but as I dislike the the dark colour scheme for the theme…its more bin fodder…..

one  final attempt…added a little pen ink to the pads and a really quick design just to test the pads and…..

really…really… earth shatteringly….poor layout but the colours were improved…oh well back to the drawing board…

CHEATING...but bargain cards

Apologies first, my blog is primarily about making cards without purchasing anything special just card and glue, but as I still make lots of cards for other reasons as well and as these cards were made as frugally as possible, I thought I would do a quick post about them.

I supply my niece with batches of cards which she sells in her Pub on the Norfolk Broads. She and her husband work very hard to raise a lot of money for the R.N.L.I, she keeps a basket of cards on the bar which she sells and keeps the profits for her charity. With this in mind I try and make the cards as economical as possible and I soon realised the best sellers were the CAS style (didn't know it was called that then).

I received an emergency text the other day that despite taking a fresh batch last weekend, they had all gone! so I have had to make a quick fresh batch. I make as many male cards for the pub as I do female, so thought I would enter this one into Less is More's Masculine challenge, the whole batch took me half the time that previous entry did, which did turn out to be of a fiasco!! (thank you to the lovely people who left me supportive comments!).

This little guy is from an Inkadinkadoo set and I have coloured him with promarkers, but I wanted a little bit more texture than flat shading so I dotted a couple of different shades over the base layer, then dotted the blender pen to create further detail. I actually think this style of colouring (bit "pointillism" effect) could be achieved with felt pens....will have to try this some other time. The stamping is far from perfect. I love the image but as they are clear stamps I find I don't always achieve the same crisp finish as with rubber. (my excuse and I'm sticking to it....."a bad workman always blames his tools" .....fair comment I think ...gloss over that!).

I used a couple more of the "Humorous Birthday!" set, another Inkadinkadoo Camping set (there are also lots of campers and caravaners on their site) and an image from Earnies 99p stamps (fab little, usable clear stamps, great value)



I also did some other stamping techniques, I stamped the bikes on a scrap of fantasy acetate film, this gives a great 3d effect, again very popular with the lads of all ages, also did some waterclour effects, with the Sheena Douglas Creative Expressions pub (needless to say popular), and some lovely unmounted rubber stamps from Xelacrafts. I have had these for ages and have used them countless times....for some reason the lady is VERY popular. Joking aside I actually think she is gorgeous.... "a bottom to aspire to", good job mine is behind me and I don't have to look at it!! lol....... I know it isn't that shapely!!!!!

Despite typing fast (miracle) my time is running out and I must go to work. If I don't get to visit you and comment I apologise, I wont be back till later and know I wont get much time but I always keep an eye on the wonderful inspiration everyone provides....

HAVE A GOOD DAY ALL!

TAKEAWAY CALENDAR CARD

I've designed this card for Allsorts Challenge which is "use something not designed for cardmaking"...well as my blog is all about slightly alternative papercrafting this is really up my street... but I really wanted to use something I have never used before... so as I ended up with duplicate calendars from our wonderful local takeaway (no I do not eat that many takeaways...but my daughter's..bestfriend's...partner's...family own it!! so they are always very generous to us...thank you Christine and Darren), I decided to sacrifice one and utilise the very pretty design on a card.

In fact all the stuff is recycled. Raffia from a posy of flowers I received a long time ago, a fabric flower from an artificial bunch, old nail varnish, ordinary stationary split pins, and the card base was created by sandwiching an off-cut of brown card with a piece of ivory card



I found the calender easy to cut but found one of the edges frayed and fell apart quickly so that section I supported on the back with tape and cut through the middle.


I didn't like the shiny pin heads so I covered these with nail varnish and put some of the nail varnish in the middle of the flower to cover the hole (this had the plastic fixing pushed through the centre, which I had removed), unfortunately the nail varnish has separated and was very runny which sunk into the fabric.....LUCKILY I had saved some shiny bits from a previous
project so I sprinkled these on ...I am a serious hoarder... these were the little tiny bits that fell off the scouring pads I cut up for my Cute as a button card...but I knew they would come in for something!!!!!!

Finally as the calendar was made from a compressed paper and the back was lovely and white, I couldn't resist trying this with a proper rubber stamp...I did ink the stamp with waterbased brush markers, so again cost effective...but it still stamped beautifully. I turned this into a quick topper with a scrap of the brown card and a piece of embroidery thread, I only attached this along the top so it hangs nicely like a mini blind!
... the cards needs finishing but I will save this for when the occasion arises.

As QUICK CARDS MAGAZINE has a competition celebrating Chinese New Year I may send this off for that.

Beach Inspired

This was a very quick card to make....took a little bit longer waiting for the paint to dry!!!

It is for a couple of challenges and primarily for my B-I-L and his partner who recently wrote me a thank you letter..it was such a joy to receive a proper and entertaining letter in the post so I just wanted to acknowledge how much I appreciated the thought. As they live near the sea (lucky things can see the sea from their flat) I took inspiration from a beach look..... plus the tester pots I had in the shed were all very suitable for this theme.

The actual design was taken from Claire's sketch challenge at Do Crafts and the distressed look is the next challenge from DYSU , despite it being distressed I tried to keep to my resolution to keep it simple....slightly difficult bearing in mind the busy sketch plan and distressing which doesn't lend itself to simple!! but I did resist the temptation to doodle round the stamped blocks!

I have found a fab new ink blending tool......MEMORY FOAM INSOLES!! my daughter and I both had to fit some insoles in new shoes and luckily we both have small feet so there was plenty of off-cuts but they were only a £1 a pair anyway. I also cut a square of the foam to make my stamping block.

The design was completed by printing the lettering on my computer and randomly cut out then stuck on, some thread bought from the charity shop (20p!) pulled the design together.

Banana Frog Hop - Summer Fete - Have fun

If you've landed here from the Banana Frog blog hop.......Welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and if you're just visiting, welcome to you too!!)

This is my quiet little corner of the internet. Where I mainly ramble to myself about my obsession with papercrafting. I am one of the world's worst with the amount I spend on my hobby so to redress the balance I have created this blog with the focus on economical crafting.

So with my niece's birthday looming I decided to make a card with the Hop theme of "Summer Fete" I thought the bright colours would sum up the theme and suit a young girl.

As with the other cards I made for Banana Frog I have kept costs to a minimum, using up scraps and ordinary waterbased brush/felt pens instead of ink. This actually works in my favour as I wanted to just use the pretty scroll detail off one of the stamps in the Take Note set. Not an obvious choice to make a card with but it has some lovely elements and I have loved playing around creating patterns and motifs with them.

To create the stars begin by inking the scroll detail and stamping it in the middle of a piece of card. Repeat this five times point to point, cleaning the stamp and changing colour for each impression.

Then repeat five times more with the stamp reversed and the point facing outwards.

Roughly cut the stars out.

Cut three different colour circles, distress the edges with some of the pen ink and daubers.

Add some details with the lines of the journalling tag

Tie bows at the ends of some strips of ribbon, attach these onto some strips of double sided tape.

Stamp the word "fun" with the small Pharmacy alphabet set, on small scraps of card and cut out irregular shapes

Mount the stars and letters on double sided foam squares (if you haven't got sticky foam squares use spacers cut from corrugated card).

Print the other word on the PC, distress with ink and embellish with stamps.

Thank you so much for hopping by, it's now time to visit Julie at Notes on Paper to see what fab project she has come up with.

If you've got time leave a little comment to say "Hi" or share your favourite economical crafty tip, I'd love to hear from you and you will stand a chance to win something from Banana Frog.

Have a lovely day....I'm now off for a quick hop around too....but then off to work....looking on the bright side it means I get to earn more which means I can treat myself to some more stamps...I have my eye on some of Bev's new Christmas stamps!!!

Apologies for the delay of this post......I have been doing battle with my scanner........it won!
I said in my second spot I would be adding a couple of scanned images to supplement the projects....unfortunately my scanner didn't want to play....it's working but then getting stuck at the point of opening the View and Use window.....if anyone has any suggestions I would be most grateful


Anyway that only left me with a short time to have a play with the fantastic stamps from Banana Frog. I have become obsessed with the Take note set. Originally I thought it was just a useful Scrapbooking journaling set but there are so many pretty element that can be used if you do selective inking


The scroll element from the large journaling panel makes a great scroll leaf.




The whole project was again salvaged stuff.

The card blank was damaged down the edge....so that was hidden by daubing ink over top with a very coarse sponge.

The flower is from an artificial bunch. Pull all the plastic parts away from the petals then reattach onto a piece of card ( I stitched it on). Then decorate the middle...I used some hideous green glitter nail varnish......I don't wear it honestly!!!




The greeting was stamped onto a page from a stamp album. I stamped the message on the page and on a scrap which was then cut out to form a mask. The smaller journaling panel was then stamped over top. Tear and distress the message before attaching.





Ribbon stamping


As I mentioned on the banana frog blog I have been stamping on ribbon (to make a cravat for Alexander!!) As the scanner is not working I have photographed my test piece) but it's not very clear.

Sorry for such a patchy post ......must do better next time!! perhaps the scanned will be working by then.....hopefully.