Colouring

OK...this is just a quickie. I have now formed a group on Facebook with the same name (yvejayecrafts) which you can join, ask me or other members questions and show off your own work. All I ask is you don't use it for selling your unwanted items.

If you know this already this post is just a duplicate of my Facebook one so I'll leave it up to you whether you want to read on at this point.

When Anna Griffin was on QVC a couple of weeks ago I bought the collectors set of dies despite having four of the seven dies in the collection. The following day when the programme aired on TV there was a collection with just the three dies that I'd wanted. As the three dies were only £6 cheaper than the set purchased I didn't consider cancelling or sending my original order back. When My order was delivered I immediately listed the 4 duplicate dies on EBay at £1.99 which would have covered the difference of £6 between the two sets. At the end of bidding I had made £43 (not including the EBay fees).
Having wanted a set of Derwent Inktense pencils for a few months I bought a set of 36 with my profits.
This is my first colouring practice with my fab new pencils. Before and after dry and wet.



Bored with ideas for those stamped images? Well next week I will be posting some ideas on different mediums/techniques you could use. It's later now and I'm tired so night night.

Yve

Water colouring

Last week (ish) I was watching the launch of the new Spectrum Noir aqua pens which reminded me why I had bought the Promarker versions a couple of years ago. Having seen a similar demo at the time I had wanted to try it , but as the way it sometimes goes, I'd never actually got round to it.

Anyway this week I decided to put any other projects to one side and finally get round to playing with the pens. I did two versions of this (but sadly dripped paint on one of them) and I was so pleased with one of them that I made it into a piece of wall art.

I hope you like it. I used the new heartfelt creations dies for the flowers and butterflies, Tonic Royal Fern die and a section of a Crafts two ( I think) die.

I'm so impressed and will be using these pens again in my colouring as I absolutely love them. They blend really well and colour mixing is really easy when scribbled on a glass mat.

Gotta go check my jam tarts now so more later.


Yve

Taking a break

For the last couple months I have been taking a break from card making and have returned to Scrapbooking. Although I prefer making cards I have built up a substantial stock of them which will take quite a while to use up.
So, without further ado here are a few pages for you to look at and maybe provide you some inspiration.

 

 

Above is my poochie who was 8 weeks old at the time this photo was taken. Because this is a 6" x 6" scrapbook space is limited therefore I have kept the layouts simple.



 



 

Here she is a little older. In this one I have used the new heartfelt creations dies and flowers which reflect the pattern and colours in the duvet cover she is lying on.

 

Here we have my late puddy cat, Ebony. She was about 6 months old in the windowsill picture and a few years older in the one with my late dog Meg. she is looking sorry for herself because she'd slipped into a bath of scalding hot water and wasn't allowed to lick the cream off her paws. Thankfully the water wasn't too deep.

 

 

In this photo she was she is still very much a kitten. This as taken in my first house whilst I was looking after my dad's dog Suzi. Suzi was in a road accident at some point and had lost her left eye and possibly received some brain damage. She was a natural mum and although I don't recall her ever having pups she used to let Ebony suckle her.

 

OK. Having to keep this short today but will post more when I get the chance.

 

Yve

 

 

Shaving Foam Backgrounds.

Although this is not a new technique it is having a bit of a revival. I first saw it in a Craft Stamper magazine about 4-5 years ago and had every intention of getting around to it, BUT never did.
As I have found out this can be a fun but messy technique and even though you think all pattern/ink are done, keep going because you get some lovely subtle marble effects. Great for toning matting/layering!
Here are a few simple examples of what I've made so far.

 This one is a second or third lift where the ink is still bright.

This one is probably around the tenth lift with no extra ink added. I also did a shadow effect on the tree.

The one below is a first impression but I also used a stencil.

I think bold line art complements these types of background, especially when stamped and heat embossed in black. You see the bold splash of colour with the simplicity of the line art. When stamping/embossing in a colour other than black it made the image disappear into the background and you didn't get the striking contrast.




Happy crafting

Yve

:)



 

Stamping on Acetate

Stamping on acetate is not as easy as stamping onto paper because of the static. Embossing powder clings to it something shocking.
When stamping onto acetate it is advisable not to just swipe the acetate with an antistatic bag where you are going to stamp, but to put a good amount of powder (French chalk/talc) down onto both sides of the acetate AND the sheet of copy paper that you are collecting the excess embossing powder on. You will then need to wipe the talc/French chalk off after you have heat set the embossing powder snowflakes.
Speaking of heat setting you need to be extra careful doing this as even heat resistant acetate will bend and buckle if you over heat.

TOP TIP. If you work with acetate a lot consider buying a box of OHP (overhead projector) acetate from a stationary store. (I use Staples). All these cards are stamped onto OHP acetate. It works just as well as heat resistant acetate.

This top one is stamped in pale blue using the

Creative Expressions – Bold Snowflake Stamp –UMS168.

It has then been decoupaged in white and then embellished with Silver stickles and crystal gems. The circular greeting on the back panel is one of my own computer graphics, mounted on matching tones of card and cut with Tonic layering circles.

 

The second one is simply stamped and embossed in white. The frost effect has been done using scrunched up wax paper and sandwiched between the front acetate and a separate panel of acetate behind. Again the greeting is  my own design.

 

 

 

 

Instructions for bottom card.

1) Using a light blue base card measuring 145mm x 145mm dust liberally with an antistatic bag.
2) Stamp and heat emboss using Versamark and clear embossing powder.
3) Randomly stamp again with Tumbled Glass and Stormy Skies Distress ink.
4)Dust again with the antistatic bag and stamp and heat emboss using silver embossing powder.
5)Distress using Peacock Feathers, Stormy Skies and Chipped Sapphire.
6) Buff to remove any excess ink off.
7) Cut the
Creative Expressions – Let it snow Die – CED3004 twice, once in silver and once in navy and offset them against each other to give a shadow effect.
8) Cut a lengthwise strip of acetate 298mm x 145mm and score in half to make a square card.
9) Liberally dust all surfaces (front, back, inside and copy paper) then stamp around the edges of the card front and heat emboss using white embossing powder.
10) Wipe away excess chalk/talc with a damp microfiber cloth.
11) Assemble card by gluing the 'Let it snow' greeting to the distressed inner and then fix both to the inside of the acetate.
12) add clear crystal jewels to the centre of the snowflake.
13) if desired place a backing sheet to the back of the card to cover any adhesive and for the personalized message.

Happy crafting

Yve. :)
 

Promarkers going dry? Top tip !

If your alcohol markers are going dry or you accidentally left the lid off, don't throw them away they can be reinvigorated!
Just remove the end of the pen to get to the inside and drip triple distilled vodka onto the coloured felt tube. Re seal and leave for a few hours. How much vodka you use will depend on how dry the pen is.

This is a bit messy so if you don't want to get your fingers stained wear some rubber gloves.

More money saved!

Yve
:)

Oooooh !  Just had a thought............maybe you could use this for the shading effect in the previous post. Hmmmm?? Will have to try that!

Turn your Promarkers into shading pens

Am just watching the UK's dedicated crafting Channel (I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about) and specifically the programme about the alcohol pens with the colour blending pens with the name of a lizard (Ch---------n).  Having already got a good selection of PROMARKERS I thought I'd see if this worked with them and guess what IT DOES !

Simply turn your coloured promarker upside down with whichever end you are wanting to use and press's the chisel end of your blender pen to the end of your coloured pen and wait for the blending solution to be absorbed into the tip of the coloured marker. Use as demonstrated or if you didn't watch the demo shade from the light area to the dark area with just the one pen. Ta dah!

Money saved!

Yve
:)