Monday 27 April 2015

The Fox Pub

Hello fellow bloggers and visitors alike! It's been a busy week of tidying and sorting of my Craft Studio - which was too cold to craft in over winter..., but since the sun is shining (sort of) and it's a little warmer (though I've been awfully chilly today....!) I've been able to get out and have a right good sort.

My other half has built a bar in his 'man-den', which is actually very cool! And my little girl wanted a pub sign for it! So out come the woodworking tools and paints! It's a 3 person operation!



Here you can see Steve cutting out MDF shapes with a new tool. Impressive :-)



Then my daughter and I got the paints out! We have used the IndigoBlu acrylic paints for this job and the Fox is painted using Miss Moneypenny.



























We are pleased with the outcome! I had no idea Steve was actually going to do this so it was fun to have a little play with something different!

We all had a lovely weekend working on an idea together as a family. Hope you like!

Peace & harmony to all!
Maxine, Harriet & Steve (oh and Tod the fox too!)

Thursday 16 April 2015

Gorjuss 30 Years card




Today I am going to show you a step-by-step using the following products:

Santoro Gorjuss "Little Red" stamp
DoCraft Typography stamps "3" and "0"
Promarker alcohol pens (colours listed below)
Memento ink (Jet Black)
Cosmic Shimmer Ultra Thick Embossing Powder (Pearl)
Sailor 2 in 1 Glue Pen
Distress Ink pads


NUMBERS:
I stamped the numbers 3 and 0 onto a smooth stamping paper, using Memento Black ink, then 'filled in' the numbers using a glue pen. I added the embossing powder and heat with my heat tool.


LITTLE RED:
I stamped up Little Red using the Memento Ink - this works well with Alcohol Markers, though it's best to let the ink dry before colouring in. You can heat-set with a heat tool if required.

COLOURING IN TIME:
Select your colours - choose for face, hair and the clothing. I would do a 'scribble' test on the paper you are using as a guide as the pen cases are not always true to the colour. (I say select them first, it saves time and stops you rummaging through the pen case!)



FACE:
I've picked Ivory, Blush and Dusky Pink.
An all over coat with Ivory, then I next added a line around the edge of the face and neck using Blush. I went back over using the Ivory to blend the colours to give a nice gradient. After that, I used the Dusky Pink to deepen any areas and to give a little colour to her cheeks. Lastly, I went over with Ivory to blend.

HAIR:
Before colouring the hair I coloured the hairband with Poppy.
I used 3 shades for the hair: Henna, Chestnut and Walnut.

The lightest shades are on the bangs and the darkest at back near the neck. I started with the Henna all over, then added Chestnut around the edges and to shade areas, then added Walnut to deepen shades. I then blended all those shaded parts using the Henna.

APPLE:
The apple is fun to colour! I used Poppy, Crimson and Burgundy for the apple, and Marsh Green and Olive Green for the leaf. I then picked Henna for the stalk.



CLOTHES:
The Cloak uses Poppy and Crimson, and I shaded darker in places that I wanted to show movement and shape. The Dress uses Marsh Green and Olive Green. The chisel end is good for large areas! I rarely use it but did use it for the dress!
On the 'frilly lace' I simply applied a couple of dots using Putty, and then used the Blender pen to blend - not too much or it will drag the green out of the dress.
The tights are great fun to colour, using Cool Grey 2, Cool Grey 4, Black and the Blender pens. A tin line around the edges with the light Grey, then the Black on edges for the dark stripes. Then blend using the dark Grey. Use the Blender pen to blend the light grey!

I fussy cut out both Little Red, the apple, plus also the numbers 3 and 0.

Now it's time to make a background!


 I am going to make a 5" x 7" card, so I will cut my background to a little larger than that size. I'm going to use water with Distress Inks colours Walnut Stain, Peeled Paint and Weathered Wood. I pressed the ink pads into my mat - use can use a glass mat, heat resistant mat, or inking mat, preferably one without a texture. Spritz with water and then gently slide your paper through the colours. Cover all the paper - you can let dry inbetween. Add more colour if required.

You can spritz with water to get some effects too. I also edged with Walnut Stain using a piece of cut and foam to add depth.

Once I was happy with the background, I also stamped the apple all over using Peeled Paint distress ink.

Finally - I put together the lot onto my card! The ribbon is velvet and I used Docrafts Xcut Lace Trim punch into paper to create the 'lace'. I glued everything into place, and trimmed everything to size!




I did not have the right colour gems...but not matter! Choose a light shade and colour using the Promarker! (this will work with all alcohol marker pens).

I hope you like this little card! It's been fun to make. It's very simple but all done very cost effectively using your pens and inks!

Tuesday 14 April 2015

Tri-beauties

Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope all are well.



I've had lots of fun playing with these stamps and felt that I really wanted to showcase them up together in one - and what better way than in a frame for 3 images!

I found this little frame in one of big supermarkets, on sale for a surprising £2!

It was shiny red! Very nice, but did not go with anything in  my house.....what to do? IndigoBlu it of course!!!

Using Goldfinger IndigoBlu cottage acrylic paint, painted onto the frame - as the frame is was shiny, it did not stay put, which was fine as I really wanted to have that red show through! A couple of thin coats did the trick nicely for me.

Once all painted, I roughed over with an emery board, just to distress it slightly and give in the look I desired, which was to have a gold frame with red showing through!!

The same look can be achieved by first painting a frame using the IndigoBlu PostBox Red, or Ruby Slippers Cottage Acrylic paints.

I stamped Becca, Caitlin and Dianne onto a cream stamping card using Versafine Vintage Sepia. Once dry, I added Distress Ink Walnut Stain, lightly with a waterbrush, giving shading to the faces. I distressed very lightly all around the edges.

I'm rather pleased with the effect! I hope you like it too!

Peace to all,

Maxine

Wednesday 8 April 2015

Off the Edge - An IndigoBlu Blog Challenge

Welcome to my blog! I hope you have all had a lovely Easter.

Today I've gone with a very simple card for the IndigoBlu Off the Edge Blog Challenge.

Using the IndigoBlu Dinkie Flutterbye stamp, I stamped a 10.5cm x 10.5cm piece of IndigoBlu white stamping card using Onyx Black Versafine. I then stamped the "Remember you are Loved" sentiment from the IndigoBlu Bella stamp onto a thin strip of card measuring 10.5cm in length. I edged both of these with black.

I cut a 12cm x 12cm piece of IndigoBlu black card, and then layered all up and onto a 13.5cm x 13.5cm card. I added some little black gems from my stash and voila! Very clean and simple. I was tempted to add colour, but was so struck by the starkness of the stamp on the card, I decided to leave it as it is.

I hope you like it!


Saturday 4 April 2015

Playing with colour : Aqua Tints

Had a little bit of fun playing with the Crafter's Companion Aqua Tints.

Very different to use from paint! But here is the result of my playing! I think I need a little more practice (and that's not just because it's rather a lot of fun....). Let me know what you think!

I've used the Brights and Beautiful Aqua Tints with IndigoBlu stamps (Mr Darcy; Nature I; Wild Meadow; Here Comes Santa).