When's a Heart Not a Heart

Hi everyone, I hope you're all enjoying your May Day Bank Holiday and the weather is nice, where you are. When is a Heart not a Heart? When it's a tree. This is a project I made for Leonie's One Day Special on Hochanda. I thought it would be a nice idea to come up with a card that used the waste after cutting all of those lovely dies.

To start I cut 2 pieces of card bot measuring 8'' square, one was scrap the other ,my base card. On the scrap piece I cut through the middle with a wobbly line, then on the lower portion I die cut a pattern using the flower sprigs that come in the 'Funky Base Heart' set, this would become my stencil.

I placed the lower stencil onto my base card, while I blended and coloured the sky, using shaded Lilac and Tumbled Glass Distress inks.

Next I took the upper part of my stencil to cover the sky, I used Stick n Spray to position the 'Imagine' stencil for Leonie's collection. Then I added the land using Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron Distress ink. Finally I replaced the lower stencil and sponged through the pattern with Mowed Lawn.

On a sheet of watercolour card I created a background using Brusho, half of the sheet with Emerald Green, Leaf Green and Yellow. The other half with Light Brown. I spritzed this with water, once dry I cut out the Hearts from the green side and trunk shapes from the brown.

From a previous project, I had kept the waste so I used 3 of these to layer up the watercolour trees.

Using a green alcohol marker, I coloured the white edges.

Using 3D Glue Gel, I added the trunks and tree tops to my card before layering it onto a dark Blue base card made using Centura Pearl.

Thank you for joining me today, sorry for not posting the last couple of day's. my hands have been incredibly bad and so I haven't been able to do anything at all. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Reflect and Grow Step by Step

Hi, I thoroughly enjoyed mixing it up with this project. I made it for Leonie's Typography Collection show on Hochanda, I hope you enjoy the step by step and the finished card.

From Kraft card I cut 4 each of the Antique Frames from Sara's Shabby Chic Collection. They are really beautiful and make a really substantial piece when layered up.

Before adding any Distress Inks, I added Pebeo drawing gum around the edges, It doesn't actually rub off of Kraft card but it does give a great wood effect once the inks are added.

To make the mirror frame and base look like old wood, I used the ink in the photo. Starting with the Aged Mahogany, then in order from dark to light.

I took a piece of Acetate just slightly bigger than the mirror frame. First I applied the Gilding Paste from Pebeo and left to dry. I some areas I stippled it as I didn't want a perfect mirror look. When dry I added the Pebeo silver leaf sheet. Then using Stayzon black ink, I stamped a crackle stamp over the top, this one is from Bee Crafty.

I cut out my letters using Leonie's Typography die range, 2 of each and stuck together with Tacky Glue for depth.

The Kraft background card was embossed using the Woodgrain Textures embossing folder from Crafters Companion. I then distressed it using the same colour Distress Inks that I used for the frame. The darkest of them were only used at the top and bottom of the card, leaving the middle lighter.

I then gilded my letters, using the Pebeo Gilding Paste and their Gold Leaf.

For the mirror stand, I used the base of the tree from Leonie's 'Funky Tree'. I coloured it with Vintage Photo and added Glossy Accents, the Glossy Accents always makes the colours appear darker so be careful. I used Black card to layer the piece onto, giving a narrow border before adding it to a silver/white basecard.

Thank for coming to see what I have been sharing. I hope you will continue visiting as I have some exciting things coming up very soon. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

'A la Mode'

Today's step by step, is a card I made for Leonie's Typography show. The shows will still be available on 'Rewind' via the Hochanda website. 

To start I took the 'Antique Frames' from Sara's Shabby Chic collection, using the second die in the set I cut it 3 times. I then stuck them over the images I wanted to use for this project. The sheet I used here is from The 'Gilded Lily' from Graphic 45. I roughly cut them out before carefully trimming them in line with the frame.

The 'Classic Lily' dies from the same Shabby Chic collection were cut from a script design in the Graphic 45 pad. I added more tone and colour to the leaves using Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.

For the background paper, I cut my card to 7 3/4'' square. I stamped the top of the tree from Leonie's 'Funky Tree' stamp set. The colours I used were Antique Linen,Tattered Rose and Victorian Velvet. I used the same colours over the card and concentrated the colour around the edges of the card. The Lily flowers were also coloured using these inks. When finished I layered my background onto black card, leaving a very narrow border

I added dots of the Mixtion Relief from Pebeo on the embossed areas of the frame and the ends of the lily stamens. Once this was dry I gilded them with the Pebeo Gold leaf sheets.

I cut a border strip from the same Graphic 45 pad and backed it with black card. I then cut out 'A La Mode' from Leonie's Typography die collection before assembling the card as shown.

Thank you for joining me today, I hope you like the step by step and the card I have shared today. Thank you so much for all of the nice comments both here and on Facebook. I do appreciate them. Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Printers Plate

Welcome back, Today I am sharing the method I used to make this Printers Plate look. It was one of the cards I made for the Typography Collection that Leonie launched on Hochanda.

To begin with, I cut a bunch of letters from white card using the dies in the collection. For this project I decided to use the two larger fonts in the set. This is a wonderful way to use up all that card you have in your scrap box. I made sure I had 5 of each letter to get a lot of depth once they were glued together. When they were dry I coloured them using Distress inks, Black Soot, Hickory Smoke and Old Photo.

I then used some basic square and rectangle dies to cut a base for the individual letters or pairs. This was all cut from scraps of black card that I had, all the letters were stuck to the bases using Collall Tacky Glue.

Around the plates and letters I added Sand Texture paste from DecoArt and set aside. Once dry I coloured over the paste with black gesso, while keeping the letters original distress colour.When these were dry I used a mixture of gilding wax, Empire Gold, Renaissance Gold and Silver, all from Pebeo. This added highlights to the letters as well as texture and age.

I took my base card which I had already treated with the sand texture paste and gesso. The letters were then carefully arranged to fit before securing to the base card. I then added the gilding waxes to ensure the pieces blended together seamlessly.

The embossing folder 'Just Be' was used for my sentiment, I ran it through my machine with versamark so I could added the burgundy embossing powder to highlight the words. Next I stamped the Typography frame and used the same powder for this. Finally I layered the piece onto burgundy/red mirror card to contrast with the main letters.

Thank you so much for joining me today, I hope you have enjoyed the step by step along with the project I have shared. I have to say a huge thank you for all of your messages and support, this is something I just would continue if I knew you weren't enjoying the things I share. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

Dragonfly Dance

You might have seen the card I am sharing today on Leonie's Typography show on Wednesday. If you missed the shows, please take a look on 'Rewind' via the Hochanda website. There were some excellent demos from Leonie as always.

The main card was cut to 7 1/2 x 6 1/2''. The first step was to cut out the 'Weathered Window' die from Sara's Shabby Chic Collection.

Using Metro Grey Nuvo ink by 'Tonic' I inked up the brickwork 'Textures' embossing folder and ran it through my machine to give it an aged and weathered look to the card.

The trellis was made from the Weathered Window die, using just the lower panes. These were then tinted with a light swipe over with Gathered Twigs distress ink before attaching them with Collall Tacky Glue.

To make the window protrude past the wall, I layered 3 of them together. Then taking the  top of the window i made a planter. These pieces were left over after making the trellis, after all we dont like to waste anything.

Next I stamped a selection of stamps from Leonie's Typography Collection onto shrink plastic, using black Stayzon ink. They were all coloured with Spectrum Noir pencils, before shrinking.

Gathered Twigs, Distress ink was swiped over the window frame to colour. I then chose a piece of patterned paper to act as wallpaper for the interior, this was stuck using 3 mm foam tape to give more depth.

I layered the card onto black card, giving a narrow border, then onto silver/grey Centura Pearl giving a 1/2 border. For the sentiment I used one of the Typography frames, manipulating it into the shape i wanted, then added the sentiment.I added colour to this using Twisted Citron Distress ink. Lastly I arranged the flowers and foliage using 3D glue gel.

Finally I added Leonie's little bee to the window.

Thanks for joining me today. Hope you have enjoyed your visit. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

Create Magic Step by Step

Morning, Today I'm sharing the Magic Hat card that I made for the Launch of the wonderful Typography Collection by Leonie. It has been such a versatile range to work with, the number of projects it can be used on is simply limitless. Hopefully you managed to watch some of the shows yesterday, if not they will be available on Rewind via Hochanda's website.

To start this project, I drew and coloured a top hat with my alcohol markers in 4 shades of grey, only using black for the darkest areas. At the same time I traced around the hat to make a mask from copier paper, which I would need later.

Next, I created the playing cards by drawing around the embossing folders, this gave a perfect size and rounded corners. This was repeated 5 times before cutting them out.

Using Leonie's Typography dies, I cut out the letters and ordinals that I needed to create the Ace, King, Queen cards.

The last 2 cards were embossed with Create and Magic from the embossing folders that make up the collection.

The next step was to create the background for the hat, this is when the mask was needed to cover the hat. Taking the star stamp from the 'Rag Doll' set I stamped around the card with black Archival ink. The stars were then coloured with Spectrum Aqua Markers in Sunset, Wildflower and Peacock Blue. Lastly using  craft knife I cut a slit in the top hat where I could insert the playing cards later.

The wand was made using a plant stake, cut to 6'', then coloured with a black alcohol marker. The whit tip were added using my white Sharpie Marker.

To create the main background, I randomly stamped half of the hair from the rag doll, as I used the Spectrum Aqua makers it was easy to only colour the area I needed to stamp. Then I added the other half of the hair to create the shape. The colours I used were the same as for the stars.

Having cut mats for the layers from Black card, I edged all of the pieces with a gold 4Artist Marker from Pebeo. I added the gold edging to the playing cards and the embossed cards before assembling my card using Collall Tacky Glue and 3D glue gel.

I really hope you have enjoyed my step by step today along with the finished card. Thank you so much for visiting my blog today, I really hope you will stop by again to see what I am sharing. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

Another Sneak Peek.

Morning all. As promised here is another card I have made for Leonie's shows on Hochanda today. She is on 7 am (Now) 10 am , 2 pm and again at 5pm. 

Thanks for taking a look, I will be sharing the step by steps for the cards I made for the show and the ones that I haven't shared with you yet. Seems I have some catching up to do, but great to be blogging again. Thank you so much for your support, Take care and Happy Crafting.xx

Sneaky Peak for Leonie's Shows Tomorrow

Hi Everyone. Here is a Sneaky Peak of a Card I made for Leonie's Shows Tomorrow. I am treating you to a full Peek rather than a little teaser. Leonie is kicking off the day on Hochanda at 7 am, so set those alarm clocks. She will also be live at 10 am, 2 pm and 5 as well as her wonderful Let Leonie Loose show. Poor lady, what a day of inspiration and fun for us all though.

Thank you ever so much for taking a look,  more in the morning. I will be adding Step by Steps as before as well as catching up with some of the cards I haven't shared yet. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx

Words Dont Come Easy- They do Now!

Hi. Leonie is back on Hochanda starting at 7 am, with a twist on her extremely popular Typography Collection, her shows are always fun and full of inspiration so please don't miss them. Today I thought I would kick things off by sharing a card I made for the last show, along with a step by step.

To begin with, I created 2 background papers. For these I used the Script stamp from Leonie's Photopolymer collection. I stamped the script onto Sheena Stamping Card using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink. Then added colour using the same pad along with Black soot around the edges.

I cut out the letters I needed from one of these backgrounds using the larger font in the collection.

Next I took an 8 x 1 1/4'' strip from The 8 x 8'' Steampunk Stories pad by Bee Crafty. I distressed it further and added colour using Tattered Rose and Antique Linen Distress Ink. I then backed this onto black card, leaving a narrow border.

My main background was a 7 1/2'' square of Sheena Stamping card. I used Cube Embossing folder from the Patterns Rule set by Leonie along the left hand side of the card. Then used the same Distress Inks to add more colour and texture before backing onto black card.

I chose some coordination papers to add some panels, which I also backed onto black card after stamping Leonie's wonderful frames and matching word stamps.

I cut out some words and definitions from a very old and battered dictionary to compliment the theme, backed them onto the coordinating papers and then black card. Finally I stamped the larger open flower from Leonie's 'Fly Free' Stamps set on the papers to create a layered single flower. Under this I added a tail, using a stamp from her 'Funky Tree' stamp set.

I hope you will tune in for the marathon of shows Leonie has for us tomorrow and join in the fun. Thank you so much for stopping by, more tomorrow and a sneaky peek for you later. Take care and Happy Crafting.xxx