Inkylicious dancing in the rain

Hi Crafty friends!! 

So today I spent half the morning debating which inkylicious stamp to try out first. I bought several new stamps at the Thetford Sincerely yours craft show a few weeks back. So will be creating a blog post for these in the next few days. For now I thought I’d start with the ‘dance in the rain’ set. 

I started off by stamping the dancing lady with a black versafine inkpad on a piece of card cut to approximately 6.5 cm x 13cm. While the ink was wet I poured wow embossing powder over the image. Tip off any excess powder then emboss with the heat gun. 

For this card I used Tim Holtz new oxide inks. This is the first time I’ve really played with them and I have to say they’re incredible, so much nicer to work with than the distress inks - I highly recommend getting these!!! 

Anyway back to this card I started off with the wilted violet. Apply a layer of ink to about half way up the card. For this I used the sponges from creative expressions, dab off the excess ink on your glass mat then apply in circular motions. 

Now do the same with the worn lipstick ink to the top section. Blend into the voilet section

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Next I used the salty ocean blue inkpad and applied it around edges

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Now time for my favourite part. As I’m rather a clumsy person with water on my desk I did this step on my draining board in the kitchen. Run your fingers under the tap and then let any large amounts of water drip off. I then flicked the water over the inked piece of card. Adding extra droplets of water in areas it’s needed. Take a piece of kitchen roll and dab off the excess water. You’ll then be left with some lovely white rain effect splodges. 

One thing I should have mentioned at the start - I used a really thick 300gsm card stock. This prevents the card from going slightly rippled when wet with water. 

To finish the topper off I went round the edges again with blue oxide ink to darken the water effected areas. I then used a star dust Sakura pen around the edges to give it abit of a sparkle (unfortunately the camera hasn’t picked this up very well. 

Cut a piece of dark purple card just slightly larger than your main topper. And stick together using your choice of glue. I tend to use cosmic shimmer glue. 

 Cut a piece of white card Stamp, then heat emboss the verse ‘life isn’t about waiting for a storm’ - I just love this verse. Mount the stamped verse onto a slightly larger piece of purple card. 

Now we can start putting the card together. Take a prescored 6x6 card base - fold along the scored line. Then stick the topper and verse down. 

To finish off I added a few jems around the dancing lady and a few in the bottom right corner. The corner jems were purchased from ‘the range’ (my all time favourite shop!!). 

I then drew some lines around the edges. I also played around with a few different border effects. I included all 3 cards with different borders. 

Thanks all for reading. 

I’ll be back soon with some more cards using the inkylicious stamps. 

Shopping list 

Inkylicious dance in the rain stamp

Tim Holtz oxide inks 

Black versafine stamp pad

Wow ultrafine clear embossing powder

Heat gun 

Cosmic shimmer glue

Creative expressions blending sponges 

300gsm white card

Pre scored 6x6 card 

Purple card 

Xcut gillotine 

Gems 

Fine line black pen 

Sukura star dust pen 

Sunshine designs watercolour card

Hi crafty friends. 

I'm a little overwhelmed at just how popular this card has been, I've had so many people asking how I I made it so thought I'd better update my blog! 

The image I used here is made by sunshine designs. I think I've had it in my stash for about 8 years and never used it. I'm not really sure what the image is called but I love it and it stamps beautifully. 

I started by cutting a piece of card to approximately 10.5cm square, then stamped the image with versafine black ink. Those of you who've read my previous posts will know that this is best ink pad ever!!! 

While the ink is still wet. Pour a thin layer of ultra fine embossing powder over the stamped image and tap off any excess back into the pot. Then using the heat gun, emboss the image. 

Now time to get your water ready - if your anything like me I like to get this just before I'm about to use it, I'm the worlds clumsiest person! Or if it's not me that knocks it over it's my amazing 8year old boy who also likes crafting or my nosey boyfriend who just happened to knock the water over everything. As you could imagine I really wasn't impressed. Anyway, using the paint brush wet the centre of the image. Take your first colour - for this particular card I'm using rose and and violet from the Royal Langnickel watercolour set. I tend to start of with the lightest colour first. Put a really small amount of paint on your pallet and add lots of water. Place a largish amount of paint in the centre.

Now for the fun part - remember to work quickly!! Take a straw and blow the paint from the centre out. Keep going until you have your desired look.

I then took a little break and made a cup of coffee while I waited for the image to dry a little.
I then repeated with the next colour. I used a much smaller amount of violet so I didn't overpower the rose pink.

For the next step I cut out a pink mount just slightly larger than the main topper and stuck it down using cosmic shimmer glue. Then mount onto a prescored 6x6 white card base.

Finally I finished off with a double wavy line around the edges.

As you can see from the main photo I created a few different colour combinations. The colours I used  were:
Violet and Cerulean blue
Gamboge and Crimson red lake

I must apologise about the poor lighting - currently waiting on a new photo light box!


Shopping list

Sunshine designs rubber stamp - I'm afraid I have no idea what it's called!
Wow ultra fine embossing powder
Versafine black ink pad
White card
Coloured card
Royal Langnickel watercolour paints
Paintbrush
Water
Paper trimmer
Cosmic shimmer glue
Heat gun

Woodware reindeer card

Good Evening!!!

Its been a while since I posted on here so thought it was about time I started blogging again!

I have lots of half made cards on my desk waiting to be finished which means I'll have lots to show you in the coming week.

First up is this reindeer card.......

Shopping List 

- Woodware reindeer stamp

- White Card

- Hot off the press background papers 

- Versafine black ink pad - This ink pad is probably the best you can get!!!!

- Wow embossing powder

- ProMarker/Spectrum Noir pens

- Red card

- Woodware puff paint

- White glitter

- Cosmic Shimmer Glue 

- Clear stamping block

- Glossy accents 

- Heat embossing tool

I started off by Stamping the image onto plain white card with versafine black ink and embossing with a clear ultra fine wow embossing powder. I then used my Xcut guillotine to cut evenly around the edges - leaving a slighlty larger gap where the antlers and scarf overlap the main border.

On almost all my cards I use a selection of Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens. They both have such  a great selection of colours - but I do love to mix them up, and they blend together really well. 

Colour the image with the colours pictured above.

For the background I used a blue watercolour based pen with a koi water brush.

Now time to use the puff paint. This is made by woodware and is so fun to work with. For this particular image I used white. They have a few different colours,but would highly recommend getting a white, yellow and black. These are great for doing the centres in flowers. 

Anyway back to this card. Puff paint is really thick and expands when heated. Be sure to only use a small amount on the desired areas. Once you have put the paint on, i normally sprinkle a small amount of glitter on top to give it abit of a sparkle.

Switch your heat gun on and give it a few seconds to heat up. Then hold a few inched above the puff paint and watch it expand. For this particular image I didn't do it for too long as I didn't want it 'too puffy'. I recommend never to do this after it has been stuck down onto a card - it will ripple!

Next I used a white Sakura pen to highlight selected areas and Ranger Glossy accents on the reindeer's nose. I just love using glossy accents on a card, it really makes the image pop! You will need to let this dry before continuing.

Take a piece of red card and using the guillotine cut it just slightly larger than the reindeer image. 

Now for the base of the card. I usually cheat and use pre scored card blanks, for this card I used a 6x6 base. 

Take the red card and cut it just slightly smaller than your base card.

Next take your decorative background papers. For this one I used the papers from Hot Off the Press that I bought as a set several years ago from QVC. I have to be honest I don't even know if you can still purchase them. When it comes to decorative papers I'm abit of a hoarder and like to look at them for ages before I actually use them. Id like to think I'm not the only crafter that does this?

Cut your decorative background paper just slightly smaller than your red card. 

Stick the various layers onto your base card, including the main reindeer topper.

I then Finished off by drawing a stitch affect border around the edge and placed a diamante on the snowflake.

Its always good to play around with different background papers. Here's a few examples.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Hope to see you back here soon!!!

Love Never Dies skull card

Hi fellow crafter's!!!

This evening I'm going to tell you about one of my favourite collection of stamps and dies. 

For those of you who know me personally will know that not only am I obsessed with crafting but I just love anything skulls!!! So you can imagine my excitement when Sheena Douglas Released the Day of the dead collection of stamps and dies. Shes also released another set to go alongside this - which I cant wait to play with!!

Anyway, back to the card.

I started off by mounting a piece of plain black paper onto a pre - scored 6x6 white card base. 

Cut another piece of card just slightly smaller and emboss with Sheena Douglas skull embossing folder. You will need to run this through the machine twice, making sure its aligned before running it through the second time. Then using the cosmic shimmer gilding polish (think I'm a little obsessed with this stuff - its amazing!!!) gently apply a very thin layer of gold over the embossed area using the sponge provided. Take the red gilding polish and carefully smear a red line along the edge of the card to give the border a nice finish.

Using the set of tonic heart dies cut out the decorative heart and colour with red gilding polish. Cut out a second heart out of black card without the decorative border. Now stick them together.

I then cut a third solid heart out and stuck the decorative border heart on to it with silicone glue to give it a raised effect.
This can now be stuck to the main card base.

Now for the fiddly part..... Cut 2 skeletons out of white card along with the top hat and roses head piece. Then using the matching stamps ink the skeletons up with grey ink and lay it down image upwards. Take the die cut skeleton to the stamp, line it up and press down with your fingers. Continue to do this with all skeleton pieces and the top hat/head piece - stamping these in black instead of grey.

Colour the hat and Roses. For this I use a mixture of both spectrum noir and pro marker pens.

I then cut the smaller heart out of black card using a tattered lace heart die and again coloured it with red cosmic shimmer gilding polish.

Position the skeletons in place so it looks like their holding the smaller tattered lace heart and stick with cosmic shimmer glue.

Finally using the stamp 'love never dies' from the day of the dead set stamp it with gold ink.
I then cut it out using a decorative border and drew around the edge with stardust sakura pen.
This text was stuck using pinflair silicone glue to give a raised effect.

Shopping List

- Pre - scored 6x6 card base
- Black card
- White card
- Cosmic shimmer glue
- Pinflair glue
- Tonic heart dies
- Sheena Douglas - Day of the dead
- Tattered lace mini heart die
- Cosmic Shimmer gilding polish
- Pro markers/spectrum noirs
- Die cutting machine - I use the Gemini by crafter's companion

Heart card

Evening all!!

Have been busy making a few valentines cards over the last few days. Tonight I'm going to talk you through how I made this heart card using the xcut floral filigree heart die.

I started off by mounting a 6x6 piece of black card onto a pre-folded white card base.
I then cut out a second layer slightly smaller, which I embossed with Leonie Pujol's gorgeous heart embossing folder. (As this is an A6 size embossing folder I had run it through the machine twice - emboss as much of the card as you can the first time, then move the card along to match the design and run through the machine a second time.)

Using the red cosmic shimmer gilding polish apply a very thin layer over the embossed area. I also run the sponge applicator along the edge of the embossed card to give a red border.
This can now be stuck to the main card.

For the next step I cut the heart out of black card and again covered it with the red gilding polish, this time applying it thicker than on the embossed card.

Place the die on a piece of black card and draw around it, then cut it out with a pair of scissors and mount the die cut heart onto it and stick onto main card.

Cut 'with love' from black card using the xcut die and colour with gold cosmic shimmer gilding polish.

Now time to add the finishing touches!! Firstly I stuck a deep red skeleton leaf in opposite corners of the card along with a few strands from a peacock feather.
I then die cut 2 leaves out of an Olive coloured card using the Marianne branch forest die. Cut the top section of leaves off and stick in the corners.
Finish with a couple of red mulberry paper roses.

Shopping List

- Pre-folded 6x6 Dovecraft card base
- Black card
- Cosmic shimmer glue
- Marianne forest branch die
- Xcut floral filigree heart
- Xcut with love die
- Cosmic shimmer gilding polish
- Strands from a peacock feather
- Mulberry paper roses

Gilding flakes tree card

Evening crafty friends!!!!

This evening I'm going to tell you how I made this gilding flake tree card.

I Made this card using 'The crafters workshop' stencil - Aspen trees. Using some low tack masking tape I stuck the stencil to black card to keep it in place. Take a small piece of stamping foam and smear a thin layer of flitter glu over it. 

Carefully dab the sponge through the stencil, making sure the glue doesn't seep under it. You only need to apply a thin layer which appears clear once applied. 

Carefully peel back the stencil and place in bowl of hot soapy water ready to clean later.

For the next step I used Crafty Notions gilding flakes - medley mix. This company has an incredible range of colours available!!! 

Sprinkle a generous amount of flakes over the glue. Then using a polishing sponge carefully push down onto the flakes, without dragging them across the image - this will smudge the wet glue.

Leave to dry for a few minutes........

Now for the fun part - revealing the image.

Carefully brush of all the excess flakes and rub away any loose flakes that may have stuck to unwanted areas. 

I then cut a thin even edge around the image and then mounted it onto black 6x6 card using foam tape to give it abit of dimension. This is now ready to mount onto a pre-folded 6x6 white card base.

Dont forget to clean your stencil!!!!

Shopping list

- Black card

- White pre-folded 6x6 card base

- The crafty workshop stencil - aspen trees

- Crafty notions gilding flakes

- Stamping sponge

- Polishing sponge

- Flitter glu

- Bowl of warm soapy water!!!!

Reindeer Aperture Card

Evening crafty friends!!!

Feeling rather nervous about writing my first ever blog. Thought I'd start with one of my favourite Christmas cards.

For this card I used the beautiful Crafter's companion create a card - enchanted reindeer die. I cut it out of plain white card then coated it with white Cosmic shimmer gilding polish. I just love this collection - it allows you to give a lovely shimmery coating to card and many other surfaces.

I then cut an even edge around the cut image.

For the layer behind I cut a slightly larger square out of mirror card, then using tattered lace square dies cut a slightly smaller square out the centre, so your left with a square aperture.  (This should be large enough for you to mount the top layer onto with an even border, but without the bottom aperture showing through the die cut image.)

Time to prepare the base card! For this I used pre-scored 6x6 white card. Cut an aperture out of the centre using the same tattered lace square die used on the mirror card.

Stick the layers onto the base card. For this I prefer to use Cosmic shimmer glue with a tattered lace fine glue tip.

Now for the finishing touches. Place a piece of mirror card over the reindeer and run through the die cutting machine. I cut the unwanted swirls off with a pair of scissors, so I was left with just the reindeer. I decoupaged this onto the main die cut image. Finally I dotted a few diamonte's and star shaped jems on.

Shopping List

• Crafter's companion create a card enchanted reindeer die
• Tattered lace essential squares
• Cosmic shimmer gilding polish
• White card stock
• Pre-scored 6x6 card
• Mirror card stock
• Cosmic shimmer glue
• Silicone glue
• Diamonte's 
• Self adhesive star jems