So Mush Love

I do enjoy using my papercrafting skills to make gifts for others and this particular project has been on the go for a while now, with me doing some compartmental making here and there to fit in around other activities.

It's my first time making altered embroidery hoops and I do hope the recipients like them. They're intended to hold a very special photo ... more on that at a later date.

My process began with applying gesso to the wooden hoops, then paint once that was dry and lastly some grit paste highlighted with crayon. The backgrounds were done with sprays of both distress and oxides, as were the leaves. I ink blended the 'shrooms and of course did some splatters with both water and paint. The parts that are overhanging the "photo" portion are free of adhesive so a photo can be printed to size and slotted easily in. Lastly I adhered some sisal threads and Spanish moss.

They can be hung on the wall or sit on a plate stand. These particular ones are 20cm hoops but they come in a variety of sizes and I recommend them as a great fun alternative to the usual photo frames. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and restful holiday season, however you celebrate, and thank you for your visits and support throughout the year.

Cheers

Kerry

Carpe Diem

I was really drawn to the graphic for the Colorful Options challenge this month.

So dramatic! I really wanted to create but didn't want to fall back on Halloween or autumn as a theme. As I love the suited image in the collage, I decided to try something along those lines. Here's how it turned out:

I made my background with distress spray stain and oxide spray on watercolour card, then stamped over it with archival ink. The gentleman is three layers and for fun I added the orange tie as a sort of reverse of the image in the collage. As the background stamping is about living life to the fullest, I thought the Carpe Diem sentiment die was a perfect fit.

Materials used:

• stamps - Do What You Love (Pinkfresh Studios)
• dies - Gentlemen, Tailored (both Tim Holtz), stitched rectangle, Carpe Diem (stash)
• other - crackling campfire distress spray stain and oxide spray, water spritzer, Big Shot, MISTI, hickory smoke archival ink

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Silence of the Night

I don't usually delve into the darker side of Halloween, but I'd been playing with moon backgrounds the other day and had one which reacted quite differently to what I was expecting and ended up being a little on the spooky side. Then two things converged: one, I was thinking there was just a little time left for one last Halloween craft project, and two, I saw this week's theme of stencilling at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. My mind put those things together and I decided there was no harm in playing with that spooky background to see what I could make.

Here's the result:

I stencilled fractured cracks over the moon and decayed over the gravestones, then added trees, ghosties and a couple of sentiment stickers. 

Materials used (mostly Tim Holtz):

• dies - Vault Fright Night
• stencils - Fractured mini, Decayed
• other - moon mask, distress oxide sprays and inks, Curiosities sticker book, water spritzer
• not TH - blending brushes, Big Shot, heat tool

I hope you enjoy your Halloween, whether it's spooky or cutesy or anything in between! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Recycle - Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

This month I'm delighted to be a Guest Stamptember Designer over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  I'll be sharing a project each Monday in September alongside the regular members of the Design Team and hope you'll pop back each week to join me. 

This week's theme is RECYCLE and as it's the first Monday of the month, Simon Says Stamp are showcasing a brand/company and the design team are all using products from Brutus Monroe. (You don't have to use them to join in with the challenge, but if you have them they'd love to see them used.)

So, without further ado, let's dive into my project! 

I recycled a die-cut Spellbinders dancin' birthday dragon from an earlier card (this one). For the background I used distress oxide sprays and inks then stamped polka dots from Tim Holtz's Mr Rabbit set and splattered with Dina Wakely white gesso. I then sprayed with worn lipstick and picked raspberry Distress Spritz through the Brutus Monroe vortex stencil. I finished with a Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Birthday sentiment and some clear sequins. The whole panel was mounted on recycled corrugated cardboard to give depth and dimension. 

Do head over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog to see what the design team have come up with to inspire you.

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a fabulous $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store - all you have to do is take out your crafting supplies, make something following this week's prompt, and link up at the bottom of the Challenge Blog post. You can join up to 5 times, giving you 5 chances to win! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance.

Feel free to leave me some comment love and thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you back next Monday.

Cheers

Kerry

Travel - Just Add Ink Challenge #708

It's a choose two option this week with Just Add Ink! Here's what we've got for you:

I chose blending and embossing, though I did end up - as so often happens with a choose two - using some of the third element as well, lol. 

My turquoise background piece is a blending of two inks, then I lightly applied some embossing ink through a stencil and added embossing glaze in a matching tone. The glazes are transparent, which was ideal when I was after more of a 'hint' of colour, rather than a full-on immersion. My globe was cut from card in my stash that had ink blending already and I added more blending around the edges of the continents to mimic the look of an atlas (for those of us old enough to remember what they are, lol). There are multiple layers to my airplane for extra depth and sturdiness. I chose a lowercase alphabet for 'travel' to contrast with the uppercase stamped sentiments.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Text (Tim Holtz)
• dies - Vault World Travel (TH), Alphanumeric Tiny Type Lower (TH), stitched rectangle (Paper Rose)
• distress inks - salvaged patina, peacock feathers, wild honey, twisted citron
• other - compass stencil (Stamperia), salvaged patina distress glaze (TH), distress embossing dabber (TH), craft foam, MISTI, Dimensionals, Big Shot, blending brushes, heat tool

There are more samples to inspire you on the Just Add Ink blog and as always, we'd love to see your creations in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Lucky Enough - Just Add Ink #701

It's not my scheduled week to create for Just Add Ink but the inspiration picture spoke to me and I simply couldn't resist!

The vibrant colours peaked my interest, something about them just said life and joy to me, so I tried to think of something - or someone - to reflect this feeling. In the end I couldn't go past the incomparable Gladys, who just oozes vibrancy and love for life from every pore! Especially when she's going glam...

I used yellow and orange oxide sprays for my background then stencilled and stamped a few circles to echo those in the inspiration photo. The pieces for Gladys were coloured with more sprays, both ink and oxide, and for the top layer, a touch of shimmery mica. She's glammed up with false eyelashes and bright feathers. The quote chip is perfect for this young lady, don't you think?

Materials used:

• stamps - Timeless Textures (Stampin' Up)
• card - watercolour, black, beige, white
• dies - Gladys Colorize (Tim Holtz), stitched rectangles (Paper Rose)
• distress inks/oxides/sprays - mustard seed, saltwater taffy, ripe persimmon, kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry, cocktail party mica stain
• other - Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, Quote Chip - Labels (Tim Holtz), mini dots stencil THMS59 (Tim Holtz), feather trim, blending brush, Splat box, false eyelashes, Copic markers Y17 and YR04

What does our photo make you think of? Check out what the team came up with and if you're inspired to create, be sure to share it on our Linky.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Boo

I've been seeing Halloween makes for a few weeks now and thought, "come on people, it's only July!" Now we're into August and I've been sucked into the vortex ... roflol. 

Saw a card that inspired the idea for the raised portions I've done here. Wasn't sure if it would work but I like it, I think the splintered vibe adds to the creepy ambience. 

I began with stamping the webs onto two pieces of black card and embossing with white, then cut one with the diamond die and stuck some of the shapes onto the other black piece. Once attached I spritzed with various oxide inks (dye inks won't show over black, you need the pigment) and also sprayed oxides onto watercolour card to use for my skeleton. The bats were cut from black gloss card and I bent their wings to give them some movement. When they catch the light they reflect other colours and look terrific.

There are two layers to the sentiment, as usual, as this adds more depth, and the background piece is watercolour card sponged with ink then spritzed. 

Materials used - all stamps, dies and inks are Tim Holtz unless otherwise noted:

• stamps - Unravelled 
• card - basic black, watercolour
• dies - Mr Bones, Toil & Trouble, Alphanumeric Theory
• distress oxide sprays - antique linen, frayed burlap, pumice stone, lost shadow
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, MISTI, craft foam, Dimensionals, blending brush, Simply Diamonds die (Pink Fresh Studios)

Thanks for creeping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge #197

Welcome to the second challenge of the month with The Card Concept, when we give you not one but two mood boards to inspire your creativity. This time around we offer you Industrial Modern and Nature Calls.

I love to play with industrial chic so picked option A for my mixed media card, inspired by the cogs and rusty metal. 

I used a background I had on hand that had been sprayed with uncharted mariner and rusty hinge distress inks and ran it through the fabulous mechanical 3D embossing folder. This was then highlighted with antique gold wax rubbed over many of the raised areas and cut into three sections. The chipboard corner piece was left plain as I like the contrast and that it enhances the background without stealing its limelight, so to speak. The copper clay card base was given a very light sponging with black ink around the edges.

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, basic black, copper clay
• distress sprays - uncharted mariner, rusty hinge
• other Tim Holtz products - Mechanical 3D embossing folder, Paper Dolls mini, Small Talk sticker
• other - Big Shot, Industrial corners chipboard (Dusty Attic), heat tool, Dimensionals, craft foam, antique gold wax (Art Alchemy), sponge dauber

What's your vibe? Maybe you have someone in your life who loves industrial, steampunk or fishing and the great outdoors? We'd love to see your creation in our gallery, plus don't forget there's more to see and inspire you over on The Card Concept blog. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry 

The Card Concept Challenge #194

Are you ready for another Card Concept inspiration challenge? This week's Spring Banquet pic is sure to get you thinking all things sweet, fresh and pretty, even if you're not experiencing spring right now.

I was inspired by the candle, flowers and colour palette for my mixed media card.

My flowers were sprayed with two oxide pinks and I also used two shades of green for my leaves. The background was one colour but in both distress and oxide. The lantern and candle were shaded with distress inks after being die-cut, then layered together and the quote chip gives a nice solid base for them to sit on. The finishing touches were paint splatters and sponging the edges of the card.

Materials used:

• card - watercolour, basic grey, very vanilla
• distress spray stains - speckled egg, twisted citron, mowed lawn
• distress oxide sprays - speckled egg, spun sugar, kitsch flamingo, crushed olive
• distress ink/oxide ink - weathered wood, lost shadow, hickory smoke, antique linen, mustard seed, spiced marmalade
• other Tim Holtz products - Candlelight colorize dies, Bouquet paper flowers, Funky floral 3 dies, quote chip, picket fence distress paint
• other - Big Shot, craft foam, heat tool, Dimensionals, mini glue dots, paintbrush, sponge dauber

Do pay a visit to the Card Concept blog to see what my fellow team mates made to inspire you and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Things with Wings

I decided to join in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week with the theme Things with Wings and had a blast creating this mixed media card.

Materials used:

• card - very vanilla, basic white, early espresso, watercolour, Essentials (The Junk Journal Studio)
• distress/oxide inks/sprays - uncharted mariner, rusty hinge, vintage photo
• other Tim Holtz products - Silhouette Birds die, Field Notes ephemera, Clippings stickers, distress paint antique linen, mummy cloth, Sidekick, distress watercolour pencils
• other - branch die, small rhinestone, sponge daubers, paint brush, craft foam, Dimensionals, crimper

I was lovely to get my grunge on a little bit with plenty of distressing, sponging and splattering, lol. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Edited to add: I was lucky to be picked for both the Designer Spotlight and as the random winner of the challenge! Many thanks to the design team and Simon Says Stamp.

We're Going on an Egg Hunt

With both my girls grown and in homes of their own, I don't often make for Easter these days, but when I saw the Tim Holtz Easter release, I just knew I had to get them and create.

I've made a small display dome heavily inspired by two of Tim's makers, Paula Cheney and Tami Bastiaans.

The rabbit and eggs were painted with distress paint, I coloured the flowers using oxide sprays and hauled out some fake moss I bought years ago for the grass. Everything is hot glued in - it seems to be the only type of glue that holds that moss, which is kind of plasticy and very resistant to staying put, lol. As my eyesight isn't great for painting finer details with a brush, I used a Copic marker for the eyes and nose on my Easter Bunny.

By the way, this dome is only 4 1/4" high (about 11cm) and those tiny eggs are just that at 1/2" (1.3cm)!

Materials used:

• Tim Holtz Ideaology - salvaged rabbit, tiny eggs, barrel, bouquet, display dome
• distress paints - saltwater taffy, salvaged patina, dusty concord, squeezed lemonade, walnut stain, frayed burlap, antique linen
• distress oxide sprays - worn lipstick, kitsch flamingo
• other - E47 copic marker, linen thread, hot glue gun, imitation moss, paintbrush

With my first grandchild on the way, from next year I'll be able to indulge and make tons of fun things for all the holidays and occasions - can't wait!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

PS How many of you saw my title and started singing 'we're going on a bear hunt' in your head like I did? Fess up! LOL.