Springtime

Springtime

Hallo There!

I don't know why I called this

thread Springtime -must be

wishful thinking!  

You never know, by the time 

this project is published it

may well be spring........

meantime it is bitter cold

and I was not made for

bitter cold.................don't

suppose you were either

To take us into a springlike

state, here's Helen Chilton

with a gorgeous tag

"For this tag I'm using Distress Crayons, which

I really love. They have one distinct advantage

 over Gelatos - if you heat them with a heatgun, 

they will dry, not remain tacky. 

This means you can stamp over them easily

 and add more colour over the top 

without it being contaminated by

 the colour beneath.

I've painted the tag with a thin layer

 of clear medium - any varnish or sealer will do.

 It helps the crayons blend.

Scribble on your colours.

Blend with your fingers.

Stencil over with a baby wipe.

take out a bit of extra colour where you're

 going to stamp.

Stamp the art stamps, heat set and add 

extra crayon over the top. 

Layer onto cardboard and add fibres and beads.

 Very quick and easy to make."

That was a treat of a project

Helen.  Many thanks for the

tips on using the DI Crayons too

If you are interested in adding

Distress Crayons to your stash

they are currently on offer at

a reduced price at

www.thecraftbarn.co.uk 

head on over and grab

a bargain

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday

Happy Mother's Day!

I was thinking about Mothering 

Sunday - its origins and customs,

when it dawned on me that I

haven't seen a Simnel Cake for a

long while.  Do any of you bake

them for Mothering Sunday? 

Can they even still be bought?

 Craftyfield has popped in with

 a lovely bright card to share

with you:

"Gelatos are great for adding colour quickly

 to a project. Here I used them dry as this

 is my favourite technique with them.

I simply scribbled the colours over

 the stencil, held in place with masking 

tape and rubbed a dry baby wipe over. 

A brush will work equally well for this.

If you want clean colours, use a clean 

piece of wipe everytime you change

 colours, especially when working with 

complementary colours which together 

make greys... (Blue/Orange; Yellow/Violet, 

Red/Green).

For a quicker background, you can

 create a stripe with masking tape,

 instead of doing the whole card 

front as I did. 

Or stencil just 2 corners, or inside a 

heart stencil... the possibilities are endless.

If you are doing the whole card front 

with a small stencil like I did, be 

mindful of the pattern repeat. 

The one I used for instance had a 

vertical repeat, but I couldn't find 

a way to join the design horizontally! 

No matter... the joint will be mostly

 hidden by the focal image.

Over to you, have a play 

with these sticks, they are great fun!"

You'll find Gelatos here:

Or you could use Distress Crayons

They are fun to use too and

come in the Distress colours so

can be matched to your project.

They can be found here:

Thank you Craftyfield - love that

background

I know that in other countries, 

Mother's Day falls at different times

of the year.  Also, there are other

customs - do please share what

you do in your country

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Hallo Everyone!

This week we shall mostly

be doing painting!............

Ha ha! Oh no we are not,

well not really.

Van Gogh is this week's muse

and here is Craftyfield :

 "My inspiration for this "painting" is 

Van Gogh's Cottage paintings. 

I tried to emulate the colours and the 

effect of the brushstokes, but without

 oils paint, brushes or the need for an 

accurate drawing...

I stamped my cottage with Versafine ink

 on Linen card.

 For the sky I mixed the blue Gelato

 with the white Distress crayon, 

and as you can see not a problem!

After applying different shades of green

 on the trees and bushes I smear them

 with a silicone tipped tool.

 For the smallest details I take the paint

 directly from the Gelato onto the silicone tip.

On top of the greens I add some yellow

 for lighter areas and paint the branches 

and chimney.

The thatched roof and woodwork have

 been "painted" with the Distress crayons. 

The next step is to paint in the walls 

(with a mix of grey and white),

 the grass and the final bush, which I

 had left till the end to avoid smearing

 green where I didn't want it!

To mount my painting, I created a small 

frame with a rectangle die within a 

larger label die.

This technique works well with softer 

wax crayons, but if you don't have Gelatos 

or Distress crayons, you can use

 Faber Castell oil pastels instead."

Supplies:

Cottage Stamp:
Distress crayons:
Gelatos:
Linen card:
Core'dination cardstock:

Thank you Craftyfield, I find

this picture so relaxing to

look at and thank you too,

for reminding me to get the

Gelatos out..............!

Well I think you will all agree

that Craftyfield has got us off

to a good start.  Be sure to

check in every day to see

the entire quartet of Van Gogh

inspired projects

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Bokeh

Bokeh

Hallo Everyone!

Hope you are all well and

seasonal bug free................

everywhere I go it seems

that everyone is coughing and

sneezing.................might have

to consider living in quarantine

for the time being ............

Today's Bokeh project is from

Craftyfield, who has a different

take on the technique:

" I started by applying Distress inks to my Kraft tag. 

Some of the lighter colours do not show much at this stage 

but will be revealed in the next stage...

To create the Bokeh effect I have designed my own stencil, 

of course you can use one of the many circles designs available 

but I'm a control freak... and wanted to create the circles one at a time. 

To cut your own, use either circle dies or a circle cutter as I did.

The traditional way to create the Bokeh effect 

is to use white pigment ink but I fancied trying it

 with a Distress Crayon first.

 I stencilled 2 circles with a white Distress crayon to see the results. 

I continued with the pigment ink as I found it easier to 

control the different levels of opacity of the circles.

For the stamping I used the Paper Artsy flowers with Versafine black 

and embossed them in clear powder. T

he sentiment by Kaisercraft is also stamped with Versafine but not embossed.

You can see my embossing powder container (ex take away dish) in which I decant my pot. 

Not much left at the moment!

I pulled out my Gelatos and coloured a circle around the flower heads 

using a stencil, to echo the Bokeh circles.

Quite simple to make, although it did take me a long time 

to stencil all those circles one by one! 

The most difficult part is to know when to stop 

and I hope I haven't gone overboard!"

Supplies:

Ranger Kraft Tag No10:

Distress Inks: 

Circle cutter:

Distress Crayons set 3:

Kaisercraft Love This 

E3 Kay Carley 02:

Versafine Black:

Clear Embossing powder:

Mix & Match Designing with Gelatos Set:

No, Craftyfield you haven't gone overboard - 

it is a super tag.  I love the technique you

used too, not to mention cutting your own

stencil!

I quite often cut my own stencil's too and I use  

a purpose made product called Punch it And Die

"Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Easter - Dawn Heald

Morning all,

Happy Easter!!

Hope you are all having a good, restful
time.  Pity about the weather but we
wouldn't expect anything else!

Dawn is here today to show
you her really lovely Easter card.

Dawn says -

Hi crafty friends, Happy Easter and hope

 you have a lovely long weekend. Today's

 card is simple but shows the versatility of 

our day to day Crafting supplies. I try

 to use these to fit in with holidays, 

celebrations and special occasions rather

 than purchase a lot of specific items that

 would only rarely be used. That's just

 my way. I hope this gives you some

 ideas or inspiration and to look at 
what you do have, to go with some new treats!

To make this card....

Ink the edges of a card blank and stick a

 base of pattern paper to this, also
 with inked edges.

Next cut or die cut an oval shape. Stamp

 the PaperArtsy circles all over, colour 

with Distress crayons, by applying colour 

directly and blend with water brush.  Stamp,
colour, cut out the bird in same way.

Attach ribbon across the middle of your egg.

 Then on the reverse of the oval egg stick 
ribbon around the edge, pleating as you go.

Attach to you card with double thickness

 of foam pads. Same with bird.

Simple, none specific stash that shows

 the occasion. I hope. Lol!

This is so pretty, love the soft colours
used and perfect for Easter!!
Thank you Dawn!

Products used -

PaperArtsy JOFY 31 Stamp Set

PaperArtsy E3 Darcy EM02 Mini Stamp

Tim Holtz Distress Crayons 

Radiant Neon 4 Inks - Warm Set

Perfect Prints Paper Pad 

Ranger Archival Ink - Tree Branch

From own stash - Ribbon, 

Scallop Edged Card Blank

I will be back tomorrow with the 
Two Week Challenge.
This is the only time it will be delayed,
it's not going to be on Mondays!!

Jane x