Tic Tac Toe At Anything But A Card. . . . .

Hi everyone, I'm back with a new post for Anything But A Card challenge blog today. This month we have a tic tac toe board for you to create from with a touch of romance involved - I love doing these! Here's the board for you and it's a little different because our clever ladies have come up with a pictorial image for you:

As usual, you can choose either a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row from which to work. I think this is a clever idea and I had a lot of fun with this. If you want to read the full details of the challenge and check up on the rules, then pop over to Anything But A Card where you'll also see more inspiration from some of my Teamies. A new set of work will be posted on each sunday in February by a different group of the DT, so don't forget to visit over the coming weeks.

For my make I chose the centre vertical line: Recycling; Hearts and the colour Black. I used some Amazon packaging and some Christmas Cracker embellishments. I use Amazon packaging all the time because it will take all kinds of mediums, die cuts and embosses beautifully and of course - it's free!!

My recycled items: Amazon packaging, wired bead from Christmas crackers and some lovely black shiny carrier bag handles which I saved ages ago. The filigree flower isn't recycled but thought I'd show you what it looked like before I cut it with tin snips and curled some of the petals.

I've cut a matchbook shape using a die and used it to insert little stamped cards with love notes on. It could just as easily contain a gift card, a cheque, some cash or an IOU such as the promise of a meal for two or if you're lucky enough some travel tickets to a romantic destination! Here's the final product:

Front view of matchbook with the black carrier bag handle cord used to secure the flap in place.

Back  view


Inside view of matchbook showing 'love' tokens

The matchbook is die cut, embossed with a folder then coated with DecoArt Gesso - a great product which gives great coverage and can be watered down depending on what is needed.

DecoArt Traditions in carbon black was applied twice to give a deep black finish.

DecoArt metallic lustre was roughly applied to the embossed areas followed by a coat of DecoArt Triple Thick gloss. Adding this last layer has made the matchbook difficult to photograph!



Both metallic lustres by DecoArt were used on the project as described in this tutorial. The Triple Thick glaze gave a glass like finish to the project - it self levels after application so you don't need to over brush/spread it. Make sure the glaze is completely dry before touching otherwise you finger prints will be clearly visible. I have found that if you use a heat gun - with great care and caution! - on the finger marks they will disappear.

A die cut heart was embossed then treated as above with Traditions carbon black and lots of Metallic Lustre. To give extra texture some DecoArt Perfect Crackle was applied thickly to make large cracks. This heart was applied to the back of the matchbook.

Small black gems have been applied to the embossed flowers.

A heart charm was treated with metallic lustre (silver and black shimmer which is a gorgeous gunmetal type colour) and buffed. A die cut swirl made from the Amazon packaging is embossed with silver EP. The bottom layer is a metal filigree flower which has been coloured with some metallic lustres (colours as above) then cut and curled. The wired beads from the Christmas crackers are attached to the heart along with some other pieces of coiled silver wire.

The inside of the matchbook is lined with sticky backed canvas. 

The canvas was stamped then embossed with silver EP but it didn't take very well so rather than discard it, I painted over the canvas with carbon black Traditions and then dried it with a heat gun. At this point the magic happened and the stamped image reappeared and I liked the look very much. 

Two tickets were die cut in different sizes. The large one is made from the recycled packaging and has been painted with carbon black. A heart image is stamped and embossed with silver EP. The smaller ticket is cut from white card, stamped and embossed with black EP.

 I rather likes creating a black Valentine piece - makes a change from red or pastel shades. So, which line will you choose from our tic tac toe board I wonder? Can't wait to see what you come up with! Remember to visit Anything But A Card for some further details and see what the rest of the DT for week one have come up with.

Many thanks for making the time to visit. I really appreciate your comments.

A Three Colour Challenge - With No Black At Our Creative Corner

Hello everyone. It's time for a new challenge at Our Creative Corner and this month our hostess is the wonderful Jenny from Pushing The Right Buttons. Jenny has come up with a real treat of a challenge which will have you putting your thinking caps on!

The challenge set requires us to use three colours: Blue; Plum/Purple and Brown. No black lines are allowed at all! This had me thinking for a while but I eventually decided to choose three colours of paint, some stencils and a stamp to see what I could come up with.

Before I show you what I've made, don't forget to visit Our Creative Corner and see what my very talented Teamies have come up with. We all show together at the start of the month now so you're in for a treat - so many different makes from the same starting point! Check the rules and details of our fab sponsor while you're there too.

For me, the colour combination had a contemporary/retro feel and the use of geometric shapes came to mind. My first attempts on card just didn't work and I wasn't getting anywhere fast. I then decided to substitute fabric for the substrate and I was away. . . . . . . . I didn't have a clear outcome in mind but decided to use the colours, stencils and stamp to produce a piece of fabric first. I would work out what to do with it after!

I chose some DecoArt paints, one of their fabric mediums which means you can use ordinary paint on fabric, a piece of white pure cotton, some stencils and a script stamp to make this:

The completed fabric was used to make a glasses case - I can NEVER find my glasses and it drives me mad! I usually have them on a beaded chain but I've now broken two and don't think it's worth buying another!

I started building up the design by using the desert turquoise paint with the 'block' stencil. Some mulberry paint was then used to edge each block. Further stencils were then used to fill in the design.

The script stamp was used with burnt umber paint and fabric medium onto white cotton fabric. I didn't take particular care with this task because the fabric was to be cut into 3cm strips. This fabric was cut on the cross to enable it to be used on the curved edges of the case.
When stamping with acrylic paint, I find it best to brush a thin layer onto a craft mat. Tap the stamp  several times - gently - onto the paint to coat the stamp. I tend to hold the stamp in position a little longer when working on fabric. 

A scrap of fabric was used to cover a 'self cover' button which I thought would look good.

A loop for use with the button was worked in matching thread.

A nice snug closure to keep those glasses safe!

I love how the paints work together and the mulberry paint almost seems blue when it touches the turquoise.

Back view of the case. I should add that there is a layer of cotton batting fabric between the outer and the lining. This is to protect the glasses against sharp objects in my handbag.

Something very different from me this time and I hope you like it. I keep thinking I should use fabric more but I do love to grab card, paper and things to alter too.

So, it's your turn to make something using blue, plum/purple and brown (but NOT black remember!), link up with us at Our Creative Corner and you could have the chance to win a prize from our wonderful sponsor. For more details click here.

Thanks for taking the time to visit today. I will have a second post later today if you'd like to take a look.

The Ombré Technique At Craft Stamper. . . . .

Hello everyone. I've been gone again for quite a while - sorry. Just settling in to our new home, having chimneys swept and not really having a crafting hat on for much of the time. I really don't like it when you want to play but the mind is blank and no amount of messing around produces anything that satisfies.

I decided to look around for some inspiration and thanks to a reminder on Facebook by Jenny, I went back to my Craft Stamper and flipped through until I found the article on the Ombre technique. I didn't have a clue what it was and then realised that this was probably something we've all done from time to time with our inks and paints. I just didn't know it had a name!

The latest challenge on the Craft Stamper blog asks you to produce a creation using the technique and this seemed to be the just the kick start I needed to get inky again.

I decided to get three distress colours out and some stamps and have a play. I wanted to make something useful so decided on a card - you don't see many of those here do you?!!

Here's my latest offering. Something a little different but so much fun to make (thanks Jenny!):

I chose three distress colours: barn door, spiced marmalade and mustard seed along with a much loved LP stamp and a sentiment stamp. Some die cutting, punching, dry embossing, stamping, water brush work and finally a little twisted wire (because I can't resist it!) and there you have my card. Oh, and of course, the Ombré technique!

I've used three different layers to work with: plain card, dry embossed card and canvas. Each layer displays the Ombré technique using the colours chosen. I so love the stamp used and I was pleased how well it worked over the coloured background.

I used parts of the stamped image to make little punched blossoms and used a water brush to bleach out the colour from the iconic LP cheeks. I used all three distress colours in turn for all the blossoms so they kept the technique going throughout the card.

The top layer of card was firstly inked in the manner described in the magazine then embossed in a folder for extra texture. The middle canvas layer was also coloured using the technique and some walnut stain distress was added to the edges.

Some card was again coloured with two of the shades, stamped to add extra detail using a combination of both inks on the stamp. When dry a label was cut and stamped with the sentiment in archival. Some brads coloured with alcohol ink finish the label.I used some foam pads to attach the label for extra dimension. You can also see the stamping on the bottom layer here - it's very subtle.

As you may have guessed, I stamped the image several times and then used various sections on my card. Here I have cut out the 'rose' image, used a ball tool on the back to add dimension and attached it in the appropriate place on the card.

In this image you can see how even the tiny flowers have been given dimension by using a ball tool on the reverse.

Some rusty wire was gently coiled and added to the card. I used the direction of the embossed pattern to determine where to put the wire.

I used most of the stamp image but did remove a little section at the top because it looked to fussy when cut out. This stamped strip was attached to the embossed card using foam pads for extra height.

So love those little faces peering out from the blossoms! Tiny black gems were used for the centres of the blossoms - bling's not my thing but I like these tiny ones for this purpose.

I really enjoyed this little make and the great thing is of course, I get to add another card to my rather small collection (I should make more!).

Thanks for having a look and not giving up on me completely! Two more projects are almost ready to go so perhaps you really WILL see more of me now. Hope you are all well and I look forward to trying to catch up with you.

Challenge 31 At Anything But A Card. . . . . . . . Balance.

Hello everyone. Hope your first week in 2014 is going well. It's time for a new challenge at Anything But A Card and this time the theme is based on the photograph below and one word:  Balance.

I had to think quite hard for this challenge! Eventually I decided to take the word Balance and use it in a fairly literal sense.  I could have used the colours, the shapes, the sea or a host of other starting points that this photo and the word conjure up. That's the wonderful thing about challenges at Anything But A Card - you can think as far outside the box as you like and as long as it's NOT a card and you reflect the theme in some way, then we are always thrilled to see what you come up with!

I couldn't get the image of something balancing out of my head so here's my little ATC which depicts balance as I see it:

I've used my favourite Oxford Impressions steampunk bird stamp and he's balancing on some 'rusty' machinery.

For the 'rusty' machinery, I used an old mirror fixing, two die cut card gears and a heart brad to secure them together. The rust was all achieved using DecoArt Traditions paints, their sand texture paste and some Andy Skinner Timeworn techniques.

An ATC was die cut and covered with part of a gelli plate print (made using DecoArt Americana and Traditions paints) then run through an embossing folder. To tone down the brightly coloured gelli print, some DecoArt Metallic Lustres were applied along with a little Treasure Gold to add a green tinge.
Both hat and bird are stamped with archival ink onto white card then cut out. The hat was embossed with clear powder, decorated with some rusty wire and the theme word added using a label maker.

I wanted to make the bird look as if he was balancing on his perch. The rusty wire is used to help secure the foot on the 'machinery'.

I decided to colour the bird in a bright colour to make him stand out yet still tone with a similar colour used in the background.

Hope you like my little bird. I'll have to try not to use him again on an ATC but I can't promise!

So what will you make? Need some more inspiration? Why not pop over to Anything But A Card and see what the first team have come up with and remember, the DT is split into three. That means that each of the following weekends will provide some further inspiration for you! Click here to see what my teamies have made for you. Can't wait to see what you make for this challenge. . . . . . . 

No More Shopping Sins. . . . . . . . . . At Our Creative Corner

Hello Everyone and a very happy and healthy New Year to you all!

(I'm hoping that 2014 brings more good times to our family than perhaps some of us experienced in 2013.) 

A new challenge begins at Our Creative Corner today, hosted by the wonderfully talented Claudia. You are asked to search out supplies which you bought but have yet to use - we all have those little goodies hiding away somewhere don't we? We may be holding onto them because they are so precious or perhaps you bought something and then wondered what on earth to do with it!

This month we have a wonderful sponsor on board too for a randomly drawn entry. We are delighted to be able to offer a prize, kindly provided by Crafty Individuals! Not only is Claudia's challenge a great deal of fun but you get the chance to win a lovely Crafty Individuals treat just for entering. No brainer really isn't it?

Why not pop over to Our Creative Corner and see what my other teamies have come up with? I promise that you're in for a treat if you do. The best part is that you get to see all the design team's work now,  at the start of each month. A feast of inspiration for you all!

I had absolutely no problem fishing something out of my cupboard. I bought these flowers when I first started crafting with any regularity so they have been hanging around for nearly two years. They are very pretty but I have never found a way to combine them in my work - I prefer to make my own these days!

Delicate 'baby's breath' flowers which were just asking for a makeover!

Here's what I made to help show off my 'new look' flowers:

A beautiful sunny day took me outside to take my pictures. Some detail was lost in the shadows but you can see the details in the coming photographs.

The flowers were coated with acrylic wax followed by some rusting powder. This was left for a while then sprayed with vinegar and left to dry. So simple! The flowers were mounted on a painted scrap from my 'bits' box.

Some rusty wire was used to make springs and tiny rusty bells were attached to the ends.

I've had a number of rather battered bracelets for sometime now and decided to cut one and use it to finish the bottom of the tag. Some DecoArt Lustre was smoothed across the bracelet and buffed.

An oval shape was cut from card and coloured with distress ink. This beautiful Chapel Road stamp was then added using VersaFine ink. The edges of the oval were roughly embossed with gold powder.

The tag background was coloured with distress ink and then architectural and floral images were stamped using distress inks in various tones. The edges of the tag were shaded with Versafine ink. Embossed gold script was used randomly in the background of the tag.
A little rusting powder was used around the edges of the stamped oval too.

I still had a few of my leaves left so decided to use one to mount the oval on. Before using the leaf it was coated with some matte medium to help preserve it and prevent it crumbling.
The top of the tag is finished with some chunky jute and rusty wire.

I hope this inspires you to go and have a look over at Our Creative Corner to see the gorgeous pieces made by the other members of the team. It's over to you then to rummage through your craft stuff and find something that you've never used before in a project of your choice. Link up with us at Our Creative Corner and you may be the lucky winner of the Crafty Individuals prize; you may be chosen as one of our top three talents by Claudia and you could even be our 'top talent' next month! What are you waiting for? Can't wait to see what you come up with!