At Random

At Random

Hallo Everyone!

Hope you are having a lazy

Sunday................why not

spend a little time with

Louise Thomson as she plays

with Dylusions and fairies......

"I could play with Dylusions sprays all day! 

Here are a few backgrounds created by 

spraying either directly on to card then

 adding extra water, or by spraying on to my 

non stick mat and then picking up the colour

 -or both! 

I chose one of my backgrounds to 

create a simple card. 

It is stamped with Lavinia stamps 

using Memento ink, touched up 

with Wink of Stella for some sparkle

and mounted on to black card to finish."

Thank you Louise such a lovely card

and so simple to make too.  

I think the design would look 

well embossed in white on the 

darker background too.......

Have you noticed?  All three cards

that have been featured this week

would lend themselves to almost

any occasion from Get Well to

Happy Birthday to sending a note.

So just pop onto the SALE and

choose your background medium

to get you started.............

There's lots of papers too that you

can stamp directly onto for that

all important background........

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Archiving

Archiving

Hallo Everyone!

Hope you've all recovered

from your Bank Holiday

excesses!  

Here we have had the annual

Jack in the Green Festival

(Some of you may know him

as The Green Man) but in 

these here parts...............

Street entertainers galore,

a bit of a fun fair and parades.

Definitely one of those Oh to

be in England moments......

Sorry to drivel on if you are

elsewhere in the world......

You could get your own back

and tell us what is happening

where you are................!

In the meantime, we have

Jane Castle to share her new

Scrapbook with us.....:

"I made myself 2 promises this year, 

the first was to start an art journal 

( which I've done) the second was 

to make a start on sorting out my 

Mum's old photos and to make a 

scrap book for my daughter's family.

As Mum is heading for her 98th birthday

I felt I'd better get a move on while she 

can still identify some of the Great Aunts

 and Uncles etc.

The page I'm sharing with you today 

has a photo of my Mum, Nan and Aunt. 

For this I've used some of Kaisercraft's

beautiful 12 x 12 papers.

To begin with I trimmed my base paper 

to 27cm x 27cm----- I decided that I might

 need to move some pages as 

more photos are found so thought

 that if they all measured the same and 

were placed in the scrap book with photo 

corners moving them wouldn't be a problem.

The 2 pieces that were trimmed off 

would be used on the page but turned over. 

Next I cut the frame for the photo using 

another piece from the same collection and 

a Spellbinders Die.

Measuring on the back of the frame I marked 

where the slits were needed  for slotting in 

the corners of the photo. 

I then stamped in Archival Ink some random 

bits of text using a PaperArtsy Mini stamp, and 

some flowers using a Lavinia stamp. 

For both sets of stamping I used 

second generation ink.

The flowers were then brushed 

with Ranger's Perfect Pearls.

I then cut various flowers and leaves ready 

to decorate the page.

For this I used some Core-dinations sanded it, 

tore it and the trimmings from the 2 sheets of 

Kaisercraft Mademoiselle Collection

Then it was down to attaching everything 

to the page. 

The 2 strips that had been reversed after

 trimming were stuck with double sided tape, 

the 2 hollyhock flowers were tied with 

some string and stuck with Cosmic Shimmers glue.

The centre piece of pink Core-dinations was 

lightly sanded before attaching. 

For the journaling I used a 

Tim Holtz Idea-ology journaling ticket 

and wrote on it with  a matching brown ink. 

(I had a blue ink in my fountain pen 

and it looked so out of place!!)

A few pearl embellishments for the flower centres

 and the page is complete. 

I really enjoyed putting this page together 

but when you've got beautiful paper/card

and some wonderful photos 

how could you not have fun?!"

Items Used

Kaisercraft Madewmoiselle Collection - Timepiece and Posy

Core-dinations sand it, tear it emboss it - 

Thinlits Tim Holtz mini Tattered Florals 

Memory Box dies - Hollyhock Stem and Ivy tendrils

Archival Ink - Sepia and Watering Can

Ranger Perfect Pearls

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Journaling Tickets

Lavinia - Wild Flower stamp

PaperArtsy Mini Ink and the Dog stamp

Spellbinders Nestabilities die

Thank you for sharing Jane.  

So good to still have your mum

with you to explain who's who

in the old photos. 

I wonder how scrapbooking will

evolve now that we seem to

have lots of photos.............

.........stored in our digital devices

but nothing printed

Leave you with that

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Silhouettes

Silhouettes

Hi there!

Today we have a great card that

could be either masculine or 

feminine.  Hmm.... any fantasy

fan too!

Louise Thomson is here to

take us through it

"Lavinia make some absolutely stunning stamps, 

perfect for creating scenes and silhouettes.

I had a go at using mine to create a fun fantasy scene.

I cut a circle from thin scrap card using a punch 

and stuck it in place using a low tack adhesive.

Next I blended a selection of firey coloured distress inks 

over the top to create a backdrop for the scene. 

I started with the paler yellows and built up the colour 

more around the edges for depth.

Next I removed the circle mask.

I decided I wasn’t happy with the starkness 

of the white below so I blended a very small amount

 of antique linen distress ink on to the moon. 

I tore the edge of a piece of scrap paper and 

cut a volcano shape from it. 

I stuck this down with low tack adhesive and blended

 fired brick and hickory smoke distress inks over the top.

I continued to use torn paper masks 

to build up the layers in the scenery.

Once I was happy with the background, 

I started to add in my silhouette stamps.

The castle stamp has been stamped 

multiple times overlapping itself so that it 

looked the right size for the scene. 

I also added fineliner shadowing beneath it.

Finally I matted the scene on to a bit of 

shimmery black paper from my stash and 

mounted on to a blank card."

Materials used

Lavinia stamps: 

Mini dragon

Silhouette castle

Vine

Lavender

Mini slender mushrooms

Distress inks; Antique linen, Scattered straw, 

Carved pumpkin, Fired brick, Hickory smoke, 

Seedless preserves, Candied apple.

Woodware circle punch

Low tack adhesive

Card blank (6”x6”)

Thank you Louise for setting the imagination alight

with this super card.

My brain has whirled into the realms of

fantasy - I'm thinking Game of Thrones, 

Lord of the Rings, Hobbits

Who thought Lavinia Stamps were just

for cutesy fairyland projects.........?

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Silhouettes

Silhouettes

Hallo there!

Another lovely day

and I hope, a happy one

Certainly Claire Jackson is

set to make us smile with her

beautiful project, so let's get

going........

"Cut a piece of yupo 10cm x 10cm. 

Use a piece of masking paper or a post it

to create a mask for the moon. 

Using a felt applicator dab spots of aqua alcohol ink 

over the entire piece of paper. 

On a clean piece of felt pad put a few drops 

of blending solution and go over the aqua 

to create a mottled background.

Tear a piece of card to mask off the upper part 

of the square and create a hill line. 

Apply turquoise ink below the mask. 

Go over with blending solution. 

Move the mask down and add purple twilight 

around the bottom. 

Remove the moon mask and add a mixture of 

turquoise and purple alcohol ink around the 

edges of the square. 

Make sure a few dots overlap the moon

 to create the impression of depth.

 Stamp the rabbits in black Archival ink. 

(Touch up any pale bits with a black Sharpie.)

 Along the bottom, stamp the fairy buttercups

 in cobalt and deep purple. 

Stamp the mini leaves around the sides 

and top in cornflower blue and cobalt. 

Add a couple of drops of aqua ink to a baby wipe 

and gently dab onto the moon to create depth.

Add black stems with a fine permanent pen 

and white highlights with a gel pen. 

Add a very pale grey edge to the moon 

with an alcohol marker.

Stick the top layers of the printer tray together 

and paint the tray and stand in Fresco Finish eggplant. 

When dry, stamp the tray (not the stand) 

with small flowers in mermaid and sherbet. 

Wait for it to be completely dry and paint 

a thin layer of translucent blueberry over the top. 

The flowers will just show through. 

If it’s too thick just wipe it back with a baby wipe.

Rub on a thin layer of pink tulip Alchemy Wax, 

again using a baby wipe to take off any excess. 

It’s hard to see in the photos but it adds a delicate shimmer.

Run a clear embossing pad along the edges

 and emboss in silver embossing powder. 

Cut a piece of patterned paper to go on the back of the tray. 

Assemble all of the pieces together"

Materials used:

Yupo paper

Alcohol ink: purple twilight, turquoise, aqua

Archival ink: jet black, cobalt, cornflower blue, deep purple

Lavinia stamps

Tando mini printer tray

White gel pen

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paint

Alchemy wax: pink tulip

Detail embossing powder: silver

Clear emboss ink pad

Thank you Claire for such a fun project

Another for my 'To Do' list.......

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Silhouettes

Silhouettes 

Hallo there!

Hope you have a happy day

Jane Castle has dropped by today

with a beautiful cheery project

that's sure to bring a smile or two

"I am a big fan of Lavinia Stamps so was very delighted 

when this topic came up. 

The card I'm sharing with you today 

is fairly simple to produce but has 

a girlie magic about it.

To begin with I stamped Believe onto a piece of shrink Plastic 

in Brilliance Pearlescent Olive and Starlite Black. 

This was then cut to size and 2 holes punched 

at the top before heating to shrink.

This was then threaded with some bakers twine 

and set aside whilst I continued with the card. 

For this I started with a blank DL sized card 

and coloured the background with Distress Inks

 and a blending tool.

Then using a small sponge and a torn piece of paper 

added cloud/mist hi-lights before stamping the bottom 

and sides with the flower border stamp and Starlite Black ink. 

Whilst the ink was still wet I brushed on some 

mica powder to give the fairy dust feel.

The fairies were then stamped in black and as there are 

just 3 dancing fairies on this stamp I positioned the second set 

of 3 so the ribbon at the top entwined to give the appearance 

of it just being one continous stamped image.

I then added detail to the ribbon with a fine black pen and tiny dots. 

Lastly I stamped 2 clusters of stars each side of the Believe banner 

and brushed them with perfect pearls.

The nice thing about cards like this is they are suitable 

or any age group young or more mature!"

Items Used

Lavinia Stamps

Shrink Plastic

Distress Inks in Faded Jeans, Wild Honey, Victorian Velvet, Twisted Citron and Pumice Stone

Brilliance ink in Pearlescent Olive and Starlite Black

Cosmic Shimmers Mica Powder in Black Pearl

Ranger Perfect Pearls

Ranger Blending Tool

Archival ink

Bakers Twine

A delightful card Jane, very many thanks.

This would be a good one to

have as a standby I feel so guess

what I'm going to do this afternoon?!

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx