Sunday, March 25, 2018

Bunnies and Punnies

I have fallen down a rabbit hole.

Kinda not unexpected, given the proximity to Easter. Ha. [Oh, come on! Work with me here! It was at least semi-funny. You had to have anticipated something of the kind, given the title of this blog post. (You totally just re-read the title, didn't you?)]

So, as I was saying, rabbit hole.

Yeah.

See, the thing is...well, you all know how much I love brayering and sponging for making beautiful backgrounds for cards, right? Right. So, for some time now I have been resisting the almost irresistible lure that is distress inks. And then they came along with distress oxide inks, and my self control (of which I have, I freely admit, very little) was pushed almost to breaking point. Almost, but not quite. I managed to resist them for some months, perhaps years. I don't know; I lose track of time.

Any-who...just recently I made the mistake of watching a YouTube video of Jennifer McGuire demonstrating distress oxide inks....and....well, my resolve weakened, shall we say? And maybe four colours got added to an order I was placing online...and then perhaps a few days - and YouTube videos - later, another (heh, heh) twelve more colours were ordered...

...and now...

Man, I love these things!

So yeah - rabbit hole.

I may or may not have been spending a fair amount of time experimenting with different techniques and colour combinations and...well, you get the drift.

The upshot of all of that is, here for your delectation today are a some cards made using distress oxide inks. Have I mentioned how much I love these? Okay, good.


Materials used:
  • stamps - none
  • card - watermelon wonder, basic black, whisper white
  • other - distress oxide inks, blending tool, Inkylicious stencils - Wings of Flight and Skyline/Rooftops/Sun/Moon/Stars, post-it notes, mounting tape

Here's the birds again, this time with a night time sky rather than morning.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Best Yet (retired)
  • card - Bermuda bay, whisper white, basic black
  • other - distress oxide inks, blending tool, Inkylicious stencils - Wings of Flight, embossing buddy, white embossing powder, heat tool

And this next one is my favourite so far. I love the colour combo plus the effect of the stencil, which was simply spritzed with water and left to sit over the sponged background for two minutes, then the piece was dried with a heat tool. Also love the way the oxidation process not only lightens the colours but gives a textured look as well. BTW, this card is an adaptation of one of Jennifer's.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Sunshine and Rainbows
  • card - whisper white, basic grey
  • other - distress oxide inks, blending tool, heat tool, stitched circle die, Big Shot, Up and Away thinlits, water spritzer, paper towels, sunburst thinlits, Dimensionals, MFT Radiating Rays stencil

So, yep, I'm firmly down this hole and have no intention of digging myself out any time soon...okay, maybe for Easter. Cos, you know, chocolate.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez





Friday, March 16, 2018

CASE

As crafters, I'm sure we're all familiar with the old adage, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' - in fact, we even created our own version of the phrase: CASEing. To CASE means to 'copy and share everything' and it's a major part of what we do - we share our creations in the hopes of inspiring others. There is an etiquette to CASEing though: if you copy someone's else's work, you give them credit for the original design and don't just purloin it as your own idea.

Today's card is one I've CASEd from Paula Dobson, who is a master with a brayer or a sponge. Sure, I've made a few cosmetic changes, but it's still essentially the card she designed. I fell in love with it and simply could not resist attempting to recreate it, and I'm so glad I did.

Here's my take:



You can see Paula's original here, plus she also gives a brief rundown on how she made it. Two tips I can give from my own experience: (1) don't apply too much ink when you're sponging and (2) keep inky fingers away from the clean white space! (yep, learned that one the hard way, lol)

Materials used:

  • stamps - Amazing You (SAB)
  • card - soft sky, basic black, whisper white
  • other - white embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy, Celebrate You thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, sponges, rhinestones, stamp-a-ma-jig

We're coming to the end of the Sale-a-bration promotion, but I know I'll be using this stamp/die combo for many months to come, I just love it.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Hugs and Flowers

Inspired by a Monica Gale card, I played around this morning with my new Stamparatus. In case you've been asleep through all the hoopla about this stamp positioning apparatus, it's a recent Stampin' Up! product which will be on the market worldwide on June 1st. What sets it apart from other similar tools is that it has two removable/reversible stamp platforms, giving you the opportunity to set up four (yep, FOUR) stamps at once for multi-step stamping. It also means you can do the effect I've done here, called hinge step stamping.



The flowers were coloured with pink pirouette and old olive Stampin' Blends, then accented with my sweet sugarplum marker. Lightly drawing around the silhouette with Sahara sand or (as in this case) soft sky marker creates a natural shadow and makes the bouquet 'pop' visually out from the paper. Try not to look at the crookedness of my white layer - when this happens in class, we always say "That's how you know it's been lovingly hand made and not mass produced". Well, that's my excuse anyway, and I'm sticking with it!

Materials used:

  • stamps - Lots of Lavender (SAB), Lovely Inside & Out
  • card - sweet sugarplum, basic black, whisper white
  • other - Stampin' Blends, markers, Stamparatus, Dimensionals, white embossing powder, heat tool

Here's a video of the hinge step stamping technique:


This is the same technique I used on my 'sneakers' card here. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

SaveSave

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Lavender Love

Have you had a play with SU's new Shimmer White Embossing Paste? No? OH. MY. GOODNESS. Order some NOW!!!

I had a play with this new product earlier in the week and instantly fell in love. There will be a whole lot more on my next order, believe me.

Here's the first finished card. For this I mixed two drops of flirty flamingo re-inker with a good sized blob of paste (gave me enough for two cards), then used it on SU's diamond decorative mask (comes in a pack with 3 others). It is soooooooo damn sparkly and pretty - trust me, you won't be able to resist this stuff. Hint: once your jar is opened, cover the top with Glad Wrap before putting the lid back on (to stop the air getting to it and hardening it).



Materials used:

  • stamps - Lots of Lavender
  • card - whisper white, flirty flamingo, fresh fig
  • other - shimmer white embossing paste, palette knives, silicone craft sheet, re-inker, Pattern Party decorative masks, blender pen, layering ovals dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella

Here's a bit closer up so you can see the sparkle.


Have I convinced you yet to get some? Good! Go forth and purchase! (and hey, thanks for calling in)

Cheers
Kez