Woodware - Spring Blooms

Firstly apologies for being late for this post. I had maybe a glass of wine too many last night and forgot to write my post for Woodware. Well it was Mother's Day ....!!
Anyway here it is. We were asked to use Spring Blooms as our theme. I know the Onion Bloom stamp from Magenta is not really a spring flower. But I used fresh greens and yellows to give it a touch of spring.

For the main image I used yellow and green brush markers directly on the stamp and spritzed lightly with water before stamping onto white card.

 

I love the effects you get using this brush less watercolour technique.

For the background  I used a resist known as Ghosting. I first came across it in the lovely book Magenta published a few years ago called "Paper Magic". You stamp your image using white pigment ink all over the card and allow to dry or heat set. Then blend 3 or 4 colours of pigment inks over the top. I used a couple of yellow and green Colorbox Cat's eyes. They are great for this technique. But alternatively you can use a bit of sponge. Rub firmly over the top with some kitchen towel and your images will appear. I used another Magenta stamp for this called "Shadow Branch" but any solid image would work quite well.

 

  I then over stamped tone on tone with a little sprig stamp just to add a little more depth. What I like about this technique is that it allows you to make lovely subtle delicate backgrounds that can be tailor made for your main image. How many times do you waste time looking for exactly the right patterned paper to compliment your main image? I know I have. This way you make your own!!
A bit of ribbon and a few pearls just add the finishing touches.
Have a good week everyone.
Siobhan x

Woodware - Sketch Challenge 21

Well folks, this week is our 21st sketch challenge for Woodware. This is the one you are invited to enter as there is a voucher up for grabs. 
Here is the sketch :

A nice simple layout. I have turned the sketch 90 degrees for my project. I chose to use the lovelyCRP146 Rose Corset made by Stampendous. I always find this goes down a treat for girly cards. 
 

I coloured the image with pink and coral coloured pencils. To add a bit of bling, I embossed the edges of the scallop oval with Frantage Shabby Pink embossing powder.

I stamped a border down the RHS using the border from Stampendous Damask Chair clear set. The American Lady Corsets script came from another Stampendous clear set. I also used one of the Crafty Edge punches to add a lacy edge on the strip of patterned paper to continue the feminine feel.
For my rose embellishment I used my "Emboss Gloss" wand on the edges of the petals before assembling the flower, to emboss with the Shabby pink powder. I love the texture of these powders....they really do add another dimension!!
Here is my rose in more detail:

 
Remember if you want to join us in this month's challenge, you will find the details on the Woodware blog. Stampendous have also just released their new catalogue and there are some stunning stamps and new Frantage powders.
Have a good week.
Siobhan x

Tagtastic Circle Group

Last year I was part of a circle journal group. We decided this year to have a different theme and we decided on Technique Tags. For anyone that follows Tim Holtz, you will know that he uses tags for so much of his art work. They are a nice size and shape and easy to display or store.
The idea is that each month we chose a technique in advance. We make one tag using the basic technique as a reference. Then we make two tags using that technique then finishing with stamping and embellishments. One tag we keep for ourselves and the second goes to a member of our group. Its a great way to keep in touch as we meet for coffee and blether for an hour or so and today we swapped our first tags. So I told the girls that I would post the tags on my blog. I apologise in advance for the quality of the photos. The lighting was not great for taking pictures but hopefully you get the idea.
Our first technique was "BLENDED DISTRESS/SPRITZ AND FLICK". We thought we would start with something simple to ease everyone in.

First up was Erin's tag which went to Isobel. This was Erin's first attempted at this technique. I love the combination of colours.

Next was Isobel's tag. This went to Lin. I like the soft vintage colours and all the little haberdashery details.

Lin's tag went to Linda. I love the colours Lin used and the metallic pocket watch which started life as mirri card!

 
Next up Linda's Tag was for Liz. Unfortunately Liz couldn't make it today so I have her tag for safe keeping. So Liz if you see this you will know what you are getting!! The wings and flowers are all sparkly and I love the citrus colours Linda has used!! 

This was Linda's second tag, but she didn't know if Liz would like the Octopede factory image so went for a safer option to give away, but I love this one two - fun and quirky just like our Linda!!

Next up is Maggie's tag which went to Pat. Maggie was inspired by the Chinese New Year for her tag. I think she has captured the oriental theme beautifully! Can you spot a serpent's head?

Pat's tag came to me. Apologies Pat, my hand must of shook a bit when I took this photo. Pat is a new member to our group but I think she did a great job. I love the colours and the little scene is actually tissue paper. Very clever!

My tag went to Sue. I chose a nature scene for my tag. I got given the poppy die from my sister last time I was home in Ireland and thought it would work well in my country scene.

Sue ended up having to make a tag for her daughter Erin. So to surprise her she made two, one Erin had seen and the other she hadn't. This is the one Erin knew she was getting. I love the colours and the use of Frantage powders around the edge.

 
Now here is the tag that Erin didn't know about. Erin loves Winnie the Pooh so a perfect choice from her Mum!!

Last up is an extra tag I made. Lynne was unable to make the meeting so that meant Maggie would have had nothing to take home. So she got my extra tag of the elephants.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the challenge. It was lovely to see so many great interpretations of the technique. I think you will agree, we have a talented bunch of ladies. Next time we are tackling Embossed Resist Backgrounds.

Woodware - Animals Wild and Not So Wild

An unusual theme this week from Woodware. I am late again sorry!! I am still playing catch-up from not being well for a couple of weeks. Although I am back at work I have to admit I am struggling a bit. Anyway here is my card for this week's theme. As my sister and her family are into horses in a big way i am always on the look out for stamps to use for their birthday cards. This little DaVinci horse is by Stampendous.

 To give it more impact I stamped it 3 times in a row then added some colour with watercolour pens as a wash.

To finish off I added some brown and cream gingham ribbon and a button. 

I also found the little cowboy boots in my charm box to finish off. 
That's all folks as i am dashing off to catch my bus to work.
Siobhan 

Woodware - Shining Silver

Hi everyone. This is a very quick post this week as I have been ill. The theme this week at Woodware is "Shining Silver" I pasted a Dreamweaver thistle stencil with metallic silver paste. Once dry I cut it out and layered up with a bit of tartan.
Not my finest hour!! But better than nothing I guess. I am starting to feel better so hopefully next week will see something a bit better!!

It is a lovely stencil and one I find quite useful for men's cards. Usually though I stencil emboss it and add colour with a stencil brush and pigment inks.

But that's the beauty of stencils .... they are very versatile. Promise to be more on the ball next week. Got to go back to work tomorrow which I am dreading. But at least there are only two days to get through until the weekend.
Siobhan x

Woodware - Wedding Stationary

This week at Woodware we have been asked to make Wedding Stationary. First of all apologies for the late posting of this project. But on Wednesday night I was struck down with a nasty bug. I hardly left my bed yesterday. But today I am feeling a bit better and am sitting up in bed writing this post. 
I am not really a hearts type of person so I wanted to design a very simple set of wedding stationary that would perhaps suit a more mature couple tying the knot. I wanted it to be simple and elegant. Also I think too with the high cost of postage many people are looking to have less dimensional cards that will post at the normal cost.
So here is my selection :

The image I have chosen is the beautifully detailed  Stampendous Magnolia stamp. I felt that it really needed very little done with it.
For the main invitation I have embossed it with a detail gold powder. This really makes a difference if your stamp has lots of fine detail as this one has.

To soften the edges and make it have a vintage feel I blended a brown ink over the edges of the card.
Next the evening invitation :

Just stamped in a dark brown in and layered with a green/gold metallic card.
I think nowadays it is quite common to include a RSVP card so another simple card to easily include into your stationary set.

And to finish off my little collection I made a little folder which could be used as a wedding favour. This template came from Splitcoast Stampers and is a tea bag folder. But I often use it as a little gift with a couple of flat chocolates. But you could also put a lottery ticket or scratch card in one side.

The inside is very simple to make.

So I hope you like my selection of stationary. I have always steered away from making wedding stationary. But I have promised to make my daughters stationary when the time comes. At least then it will be a labour of love, but I doubt it will be anywhere as simple as this!!
Siobhan x
 

Woodware - Sketch Challenge

Time for our next Sketch challenge over at Woodware this week. I am last up this time and there have been some lovely samples this week, with a few glimpses of some of the new stamps just launched. So be sure to take a peek!!
So this is the sketch : 




For my offering I have turned the sketch 90 degrees. I have chosen the lovely Stampendous stamp "Springtime in Paris". I have stamped it simply in a dark brown ink and added gold to the flowers from one of my USArtQuest Mica Palettes. 

The frame behind the images was made with Frantage powders Shabby White and Aged Gold. 
The stamped border at the top is from a clear Stampendous set called Damask chair. It is such a lovely intricate border that always adds a touch of elegance. 

 

The background was made using the Stampendous music score stamp and my favourite technique of spritzing water onto a stamp and lifting off to remove ink. 

My flower was several layers of parchment daisies. I stamped and embossed with a detail gold powder before punching out with a large daisy punch. 
To keep with the French theme, my text paper was torn out of my old French Dictionary. I was always useless at French at school but at least I have found great uses for my French Dictionary!! 
Remember, if you enter our sketch challenge you are in with a chance of winning a Woodware voucher to spend at your nearest stockist.
Have a good weekend. I believe we may get more snow on Sunday!! So winter is not over just yet.
Siobhan x

Woodware - A Little Birdie Told Me

Just as I was about to start writing about this weeks challenge card for Woodware, I went on to our DT blog. Apparently we have already done this challenge a few weeks ago and this week's challenge should be a Baby theme.
I can only apologise, I don't have time now to make a new sample. So I am trying to think out of the box. This little wren is sitting on her eggs .... so when you open the card it could say "Congratulations. A little bird told me you are expecting!"

 I have stamped the bird (Stampendous Nestled Bird CRR158) in brown ink then coloured in with coloured pencils. I have then splattered some gold and green mica paints over the panel be flicking my paintbrush to get a nice fine splatter.

The background was made very simply by sponging some soft green and yellow inks onto a piece of text paper (this is from my Oxfam bought French Dictionary). Then I stamped some foliage (Magenta Shadow Branch 37.266O) first in green then gold inks. I embossed the gold foliage with gold powder.
As a finishing touch I cut out two identical small rectangles from white and green card. On the white tag I stamped the sentiment (From Francoises clear set FRCL141 Owl Greetings) then punched out the small flower below it. Then I sandwiched them together and attached to the organza ribbon bow.

So, it's not what it should have been but hopefully you will appreciate what a beautiful image of a bird this is. I have used it several times already.
Next week I hope to be back on track with the correct theme. 
Have a good week!!
Siobhan x
 

Woodware - Bubbles and Bubblegum Pink

My goodness!! I don't know who chose this theme for us this week at Woodware but it was a bit of a challenge. I am not a pink person and I had to dredge through a lot of stamps to eventually find this old one designed by Francoise. This is FRN006  Champagne Celebration. I bought this years ago to make an engagement card.
I stamped the image in black twice and cut out one as a tag. This was coloured in with pink markers and then I added glitter to the  glasses on the second image, to cut out when dry and decoupage onto the tag. 

For the background I blended a couple shades of pink dye inks onto white card stock. To create the bubbles I used some small solid circle stamps (they came from an old winter Woodware clear set that has been discontinued). But any solid circles will do or even punch some out of craft foam with circle punches or dies. I spritzed with water, stamped and lifted off. This removes some of the ink leaving the bubbles. You may have noticed that this is a favourite technique of mine for building up layers in a background stamp.

To finish off I added some ribbon to the tag which I heated gently with my heat gun to cause it to crinkle and then added some glitter domes and clear gems for a little bit of sparkle.
I am second of out DT to post this week so I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with over at the Woodware blog.
I thought I would share another photo with you which I took through my craft room window. It is a female yellow hammer. There was a group of 4 of them feeding on the grass. I have never seen them in the garden before as they are usually a bird of fields and hedgerows. 

 

Woodware - Heart Felt Wishes

Our challenge this week over at Woodware is Heart Felt Wishes. Some of the Woodware team are over in the States for the winter CHA, lucky devils. Hopefully coming back with some exciting new products to tempt us. I must admit that is one of the things I do miss now that my shop has gone. I loved going to trade shows to see all the lovely new things and get to participate in some really good workshops. Working in the NHS doesn't really offer the same excitement!! 

Anyway my sample for this week's post uses the absolutely gorgeous Stampendous stamp CRP147 Butterfly Post. I just stamped it in a dark brown ink and blended some soft pink inks over the edges to soften it. 
I also stamped the butterfly onto vellum and embossed it with clear powder. I cut this out and added some pink glitter pen over the top of the wings for a bit of shimmer.

I did a bit of background stamping with the flourish from the Cling Jumbo Hollyhocks set. The flower was made from about 8 large daisies punched out of the vellum or parchment paper. The tips of the daisy were sponged with a soft pink ink, and the glittery centre is one of the glittery snowballs that Woodware started selling last year (not just for Christmas!!)

I also used a crafty edger punch for a lacy border. I always find butterfly cards are popular for birthdays and I love this stamp. It's one I have used many times.
Well that's it for this week. Be sure to pop over to the Woodware blog for great inspiration. 
Siobhan x

Woodware Sketch Challenge

It's another sketch challenge this week at Woodware. This week's sketch looks like this :

So a nice simple sketch and I have kept mine very simple this week. I have had a bit of a busy week at work and by the time I get home I find I am just too tired to be creative. 

I have used a cute little Stampendous stamp CRH282 Cling Feather Bonnet Baby. I bought it as a cute stamp for Easter but I thought it could be used for a baby card or even a birthday.

I don't think I need to explain anything for this one. The flourish of pearls are from Woodware. They come on a clear plastic strip and are so easy to use. Someone did ask how I evenly rounded the corners. I cut two squares of patterned paper (14cm square in this case) then cut them in half diagonally. Turn them over an butt them together neatly the stick with D/S tape. Once joined it's easy to round the corners with a punch.

There are three little chicks in this range. I bought mine from The Stamp Man and it took me ages to decide which one to go for. Of course I will probably get the other two next time!!
 

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday....!! I am away to have a bath to ease my aching feet. I am trying to break in a new pair of work trainers and it is not going well!!
Have a good weekend.
Siobhan x

Woodware - Vintage Hearts and Love

This week's theme at Woodware is called "Vintage Hearts and Love". Before we know it Valentine's Day will be upon us!! So this card will be put away to give to my hubby on the day. He will probably fall about laughing. Firstly we don't usually bother now with Valentines Day cards and secondly he doesn't really do the whole romance thing!! Then he will feel all guilty because he didn't get me anything!!
I have used a Magenta cling set as my main image (37.257Q Retro Romance). As the name implies it is quite a modern image so I have tried to make it more vintage.

The image was stamped and embossed with white powder. Then I blended 2 or 3 shades of brown inks over the resist and buffed it up with a bit of kitchen towel to make the white pop.I painted the centre of the hearts with Pearl-ex gold to make them shimmer.

For the next panel I softly blended the same brown inks onto a square of white card stock. I used a flourish stamp (this one is the ornate border from CRS5031 Jumbo Hollyhocks by Stampendous) spritzed with water to lift off some of the ink to give a watermark effect. Then I stamped some script across the panel. This lovely script is from Stampendous CRS5029 Jumbo Songbird.
The background bronze card had a little bit of stamping in the corners embossed with a detail gold powder. This little vine was actually part of CRP110 Dragonfly Vine. I like to use parts of a stamp sometimes  to add little details. I think as a previous shop owner I was always trying to show people just how versatile stamps can be. I guess old habits die hard.

 
The words were computer generated and the lace is a Woodware product that is self adhesive making it so easy to use.
I suppose it could be a wedding card too.
Have a good weekend. At least the weather promises to be a bit better. 
Siobhan x