Rose in the Moonlight

Hello again.

For this card I used a selection of Stamps from Leonie Pujols' new launch. I also used a sentiment stamp by Sheena Douglas. Blueprint Sketch,Weathered Wood and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. A selection of blue alcohol markers as well as a couple of greens and a Sharpie white fine liner pen. To cut the design I used a Tonic Circular Die.

I really loved making this card and I love the colours in the moonlight. I won't go into great detail with regard to the masking as I detailed it in the Parchment card earlier in the week and I don't want to bore you. Below is a photo of the mask I made of the image I wanted to use. You could use Drawing Gum, but if you do make sure your are careful with the ink residue from stamping when rubbing off the gum. I decided to use the paper as it's faster for this size and type of design.

When choosing the stamps to use, I tried to bear in mind the petals that would be darker or lighter and used stamps to reflect that. When the stamping was complete, I used my alcohol markers to add colour and depth to the flower and stem.

For cutting out I used the out of the box technique with a Tonic die. Then using my selection of distress inks I blended around the moon shape and using a mask blended away from the flower.

Finally I used foam tape to attach it to black card. I used an inverted corner punch around the edge of the black card. The I layered it onto blue card, I used a different corner punch on the blue card. Lastly I added some stars in the sky using the white fine liner.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog & I hope you will come back again.Nick xx

A new Art Journal

Hello just an extra share this morning. I love making these art journals and over the last couple of days I have made another, so here it is. I have made it with completely recycled materials. I use backing board from envelopes for the cover, even the signatures inside are made from card and papers that were slightly damaged around the edges. They were cut down to make them the perfect size for the journal.

I used the faux leather technique and then embossed with a rose embossing folder on the from and back cover, When this was dry I used Aged Mahogany to colour the roses roughly before using a mixture of distress inks to create the leather look. When this was dry I added protection using mod podge.

I've not listed the whole process as I posted a step by step in March. If you would like to see how, click here.

I am adding this to the Sisterhood of Snarky Stamps: 57 -E is for Embossing Challenge.

Sepia/Brown Illusion Coaster project

Here's another of the projects I made using stamps from the new Leonie Pujol range. 

To prepare the MDF coaster, I gave it tow coats of white gesso. When it was dry I marked out the first line of my edge border lightly in pencil, I have made it slightly darker here so it shows up a little better.

Next I added my first bars with a ruler and fine liner (05) in sepia.

Then I marked out my second line for the edge border in pencil, followed by some more bars using the ruler and fine liner. The more bars you add, the greater the dimension as it creates the illusion of depth. It's worth bearing in mind though that the more you add, the more spaces that are created to fill with stamps. You want to try and leave some larger spaces so the stamp designs stand out.

I started adding the bars I wanted to appear closest and then worked backwards. Careful not to go over any lines.

Time to mask and and stamp the edge and bars ready to stamp. I used washi tape for the edge and Pebeo drawing gum for the bars.

When It was dry I selected the stamp I wanted and filled the space between to form the border.

After removing the tape and gum, I used the straight edge of copier paper to mask off the other areas for stamping until the design was complete.

When I finished the stamping I took the sepia fine liner and drew a deckled edge around both sides of the border avoiding crossing any lines.

Then it was just a case of adding shading to the design with either alcohol markers or pencils and varnishing with an appropriate sealer depending on which medium you have used. I used crafters companion Spray and Shine.

Misty Morning Scarecrow

It was very misty this morning, the sky was the most beautiful shades of blue and the mist was sitting in the pockets of the land. I have tried to show that in this card I made for the Monthly Clarity Challenge blog.

I used the Scarecrow as my main image and wanted it to appear that he was coming out of the card. I started by stamping him onto my base card and onto a piece of copier paper to act as a mask. Then layered masks over him to create the frame, sunrise, and hills. Using a Clarity Countryside Stencil, a clarity moon mask, a clarity landscape mask and so torn copier paper.

For the landscape I used, Bundled Sage and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks. For the Sky I used Adirondack Cloudy Blue and Stonewashed. For the sun I used Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks.

I then removed the Stencil and replaced it with the Countryside mask (inner) and masked my frame with washi tape. I offset the mask slightly to achieve a slightly 3D look and continue the misty feel. I blended away from my mask first and then blended off from the frame using Blueprint Sketch distress ink,

The frame was deckled using a black fine line marker and the space between coloured with my alcohol markers. I then removed the mask and coloured the scarecrow using my Alcohol markers. I cut out the frame using a craft knife and ruler, and finished by cutting around the parts of the scarecrow that extended past the frame.

Finally I layered this onto white cardstock then onto a black pearl card.

I am entering this card into the Clarity Blog Challenge Number 38 

StampBord With Silver Clay

The inspiration for this project came about because of the builders that were here. They used to hang their lunch bags in the tree outside the window. One evening a bag was left in the tree. It was just a coincidence that the moon was full that night. The whole of the tree was lit up by the moonlight and the bag was really shining. 

For this project I have used:

A white Sharpie extra fine point liner.

Black Archival ink pad

Distress inks: Blueprint Sketch, Dusty Concorde, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot.

I used Stampbord, stamping the tree first using the branch. I used the edge of some copier paper to mask of when adding the branches. The branch bends really well, so you can get some great results, it doesn't look the same when you repeat the branch.

Then I stamped the row of flowers, I love this stamp, It reminds me of the Thrift plant used on the Brass Thrupenny bit. It's got a real Art Deco look about it and inspired another card (to come).

I masked the flower heads with Pebeo drawing gum and allowed it to dry. I purposely left a small gap at the bottom, but you could quite easily line the stamp up with the edge if you wanted to. I used Versamark to stamp the moon and used clear embossing powder over the top. I did use an anti static bag as well to avoid unwanted areas of clear.

Then with a blending tool I built up a layer of Blueprint Sketch, gradually lighter towards the focal point. Using the same technique I added Dusty Concorde and Chipped Sapphire to create a dark to light blend. Finally just around the edge I blended in some Black Soot, very lightly with very little on the pad.

Using a scrapping tool, I added the highlights to the tree. This was done twice, the first time I added a suggestion of Blueprint Sketch and the second was left white for added dimension.

The pendant hanging from the tree was made using silver clay, the pattern was added using the stamp from Tangled Tails. These are great stamps to use with the silver clay.

Finally, I removed the drawing gum from the flowers and again used Blueprint Sketch to add a 3D look and a scraping tool to add highlights to the black flowers. The added a few stars with the Sharpie pen.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Something completely different using just two of Leonie's new stamps, the Kites from The Tangled Tails set and the Branch from The Branching Out set from Leonie Pujol. I found the branch particularly useful as It bends really well giving lots of scope for trees etc. The sentiment on this card is from the Fanciful Phrases collection from Creative Expressions.

After deciding on the size of the image, I made a box frame by taking a sheet of Centura Pearl and adding a 3/4''measurement to each side. Then using my big score board scored at 1/4'' and 3/4''. This gives the frame a 1/2'' depth and leaves 1/4 to attach to the base card. I then used an oval die to create the aperture.

Firstly, I stamped the kites in the area I wanted them in and masked them off using Pebeo Drawing Gum and leaving it to dry naturally. Then I created the landscape using some torn paper, I used 3 distress ink pads for this: Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn and Forest Moss applied with cut n dry.

I then masked of some clouds made with torn paper and used Adirondack Cloudy Blue and Stonewashed for the sky. The tree branches were stamped in Coffee Archival, the foliage was made using the same distress inks as the grass with the addition of Pine Needles.

After colouring the kites, I attached embroidery thread to the kites by making a hole and threading through the holes to the back of the card. The oval Background was  then stuck onto my base card, Blue Centura Pearl from the Brights selection from Crafters Companion. I used acetate in the aperture so before securing it, I made a hole for the kite tails to come through to the front. For the kite handle I used 3/4'' of paintbrush and glued it while winding it onto the handle.


I have entered this card into the Penny Black April Birthdays Challenge.

I have entered this card into the Country View Crafts April Spring Challenge. Flying a kite on a mild spring day.

Parchment Zentangle

For this card I decided to create a Parchment design using Zentangle. Leonie's new stamps are fantastic for this, the sky is the limit when it comes to different ways to use them. Across the collection there are many possibilities to be creative.

Firstly, I chose a design that I wanted to use. It's best to pick and open design or stamp for this to give you room to play with the design. For this you will also need a mask for the inside and outside of the design to allow multiple pattern stamps to be used.

I traced my design onto parchment using a mapping pen and the same design onto copier paper, this will act as your masks. The outside mask will stay in place throughout the project until the stamping is complete.For each section of stamping I just removed the particular segment from the inside mask and replaced them as needed. For the stamping I used a white stayzon ink pad.

When I had completed all of the stamping I removed the remaining masks. Then I created a square frame around the design. It's easy to mask this off and I used low tack tape while I stamped all the way around the inside of the frame. I used a mask of the stamp I used so I could overlap the stamps without causing any crossed lines.I used a ball tools to produce the white work and add shading where I wanted. You don't have to do this, you can just retrace your design using a small ball tool and a soft mat.

To finish, I shaded the back of the parchment with black. You can use black pencils or Alcohol markers, whatever your particular preference. I chose black but any colour would work well. I used a corner punch to attach to black pearl card and layered onto Centura Pearl Snow White from Crafters Companion.