Opposites week - Karen

Hi, 
Karen's choice of "opposites" is Day and Night. A couple of beautiful sample for you, which really reflect the day and night through the painting, colours and embossing.
Karen used a Tando Creative Arabian Style Layered Arch Frame. 
Let's see how she made it.. 

When you buy Tando Creative, you often get the 'waste' put in the bag as well.  I have used the 'waste' from the Arabian Style Layered Arch Frame.  They are a lovely shape & size to work on. I gessoed them first then painted a scene with lots of Fresco Paints, mixing colours as I needed to. (they mix and blend beautifully).  

The gorgeous elephants are from a Craft Individuals stamp...I painted some thin card first then stamped in black. When dry they were clear embossed before cutting out.  The painted chipboard has also been clear embossed.  Some Treasure Gold Classic was rubbed around before I added the string around the bottom.  The elephants and sentiment have been attached with foam pads.  

I threaded string through a hole at the top to hang.

Karen used

Tando Creative Arabian Style Layered Arch Frame

Crafty Individuals - On Safari - CI-390

PaperArtsy Fresco Paints: Sage, Guacamole, Cheesecake, Claret, Pumpkin Soup, Stone, Little Black Dress, Ice Blue and Inky Pool

Treasure Gold - Classic

Clear Embossing Powder

See you tomorrow

A splash of colours - Jane

Hi, 
Jane's turn and her colour scheme was Pool: orange - turquoise - white
I have to share Jane's first reaction when she saw the colour scheme I gave her:
"Orange ,blue and white..........are you having a laugh Izzy?????"

Yes I laughed.. when I read her reaction... 
I must add that I did NOT impose the colour schemes. I did say, if you don't like it, let me know, I'll change it. 
But Jane took up the challenge and came up with this really pretty bracelet and earrings. Sometimes pushing people out of their comfort zone is a good thing.

As the summer has finally got here and holidays are not far off for some, I decided on some jewellery for that hot, sunny day sitting round the pool........not in this country obviously.....

The bracelet is made using elasticated cord so really doesn't take long to do.  Arrange the beads how you like and tie off in a tight knot

The matching earrings are made using short flat end head pins and looped onto jump rings 

Materials used -

Tiny bead mix: Wedding Days, Tutti Fruity and China Blue

Clear elastic reel: 0.7 mm

Jewellery findings

Fish hook Earwire: silver plate

Round jump rings 5 mm: silver 

Short Head Pins: silver 

See you tomorrow

Music week - Jane

Hi, 
Something completely different but oh so pretty today: music earrings. The expression "it's music to my ears" came to mind when I saw Jane's sample. Jane used one of our music charm along with beads to make those lovely earrings. 

After the extravaganza I'm all 'idea'd out' or as I like to call it 'crafter's block'. I was really struggling to come up with something for this and then lovely, lovely Elizabeth, one of the wonderful team in the shop showed me these little violins and then well...

Thank you Elizabeth for the inspiration!!

I haven't made any jewellery for a while, so this made a nice change

I left the violins plain but you could decorate them with little gems or alcohol inks if you wanted

Add some beads to finish......

Although I showed Eye Pins in the photo, I didn't actually use them!!

Materials

Violin Steam Punk Style - Antique Silver

Small Size Fish Hook Ear Wires - Black 

Flat End Head Pins Hard - Black

Oval Jump Rings - Black

Beads - Tiny Glass Bead Mix - Wedding Days

Beads - Designer Glass Bead Mix - Purples

See you tomorrow

Spring bouquet - Gio

Hi, 
Not one but three samples with Gio today including some funky jewellery too. Who would have thought of making earrings and a ring with the JOFY stamps, eh?
She also made a lovely C&S card. Seeee, I told you there would still be C&S on our blog ;)

Earrings

For the earrings: I stamped the main circle and two small from the PaperArtsy mini: JOFY mini 16 on a piece of Ranger Specialty paper using Archival ink . I cut them out and coloured with several colours of Ranger Alcohol inks using a little brush. I covered them with Glossy Accents and I added some micro beads when still wet. I assembled the main circle and the small with two jump rings and I linked to the fish hook earwire.

Ring

For the ring: I stamped the main circle from the PaperArtsy mini: JOFY mini 16 on a piece of Ranger Specialty paper using Archival ink . I cut them out and coloured with several colours of Ranger Alcohol inks using a little brush. I covered them with Glossy Accents and I added some micro beads when still wet. I cut a piece of book page slightly larger then the circle and I glued it on the back of the circle along with the ring.

Card

For the card: I stamped the main circle and two small ones from the PaperArtsy mini: JOFY mini 16 on a piece of Ranger Specialty paper using Archival ink . 

I cut them out and coloured with several colours of Ranger Alcohol inks using a little brush. 

I covered them with Glossy Accents and I added some micro beads when still wet. 

I cut a piece of white cardstock to size, I folded in half and I cut out a large circle. 

I sprayed lightly using Cosmic Shimmer Mister: rich gold and I dripped some drops of Cosmic Shimmer Mister: golden mint. 

I added some sewed details. 

I glued the stamped circles around and inside the larger one.

Materials

PaperArtsy mini: JOFY mini 16 

Alcohol inks

Specialty Stamping Paper 

Judikins micro glass beads: rose 

Glossy Accents

Fish hook Earwire: silver plate 

Cosmic Shimmer Misters: Golden Mint, Rich Gold.

Our special offer this weekend is 

10% Lin Brown's dies

Just use the code LIN10 at checkout

See you tomorrow

Vintaj week - Karen and Gio

Hello, 

I promised some jewellery earlier this week, well here it is with a beautiful pendant made by Karen as well as  earring made by Gio.
Both projects are very simple to make, so there is no excuse. Why don't you give it a try? (and show us of course ;))

Using Patina paints (Opalite, Cobalt & Ruby), I dabbed colour onto the blank heart. I found that you really need to shake the bottles well. When it was dry I gently sanded to reveal the pretty pattern underneath and was delighted that the sanded pattern came up like silver so don't be put off with it looking so dark before you paint it. ! I threaded 3 small beads onto each of the 3 jump rings and then attached those to 2cm length of chain. Another jump ring was attached to one end and the other end attached to the heart. 

I used some leather thonging that I salvaged from an old pendant!

Material

Vintaj Arte Metal - Violet Garden Heart

Chain

Jump rings

Beads

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

 A couple of simple earrings

I coloured the Vintaj Charms Delicate Heart with Vintaj Patina kit: Antique Window and Rusted Hardware and I hang them to an eye pin. 

I added two glass beads and I made a little loop with the plier to attach the Fish hook earwire.

Material

Vintaj Charms and embellishments: 19 x 18mm Delicate Heart

Glass bead mix: Lollipop, Amethyst

Fish hook Earwire: silver plate

Eye pins 50 mm: silver

See you tomorrow

Vintaj week - Gio

Hi, 
Hope you had a lovely weekend :o)

This week is going to be all about Vintaj. And yes, I do mean Vintaj and not "vintage", although the Vintaj product will definitely help you with all your vintage projects ;-) 
Vintaj are natural brass metal charms and embellishments for jewellery, mixed media, paper craft, scrapbooking and textiles. They are Eco Friendly as they are lead-free and nickel-free. 

You have the "Altered blanks" you can emboss and colour to make them truly unique

and the embellishments to give that lovely final touch to your projects.

You can give style and texture to your Vintaj jewellery with the Deco Emboss dies which offer different designs on the same die. The possibilities are endless. 

Along with the metal embellishments, there is a line of Patina which will allow you to colour and age the metal to give you that antique, vintage look

So our team has been playing. But instead of making jewellery (although there will be some of those too), they have used the Vintaj products in all sorts of different way to show you how versatile they are. 

Gio will start this week with a beautiful and colourful layout. She used the Vintaj Patinas on tags covered with metal tape.

I covered 5 Ranger Manila Tag No.5 with metal tape. I embossed them with different embossing folders and I sanded them.

Then I coloured them with Vintaj Patina kit: Antique Window and Rusted Hardware spreading and mixing the colours with a baby wipe.

For the background: I used as a base a 30X30 grey cardstock. I adhered a foil of PaperArtsy Crackly tissue paper and some pieces of old book pages using Claudine Hellmuth Studio Medium - Matte. When dry, I covered with Claudine Hellmuth Studio - Gesso. Then I randomly sprayed  some Dylusions ink spray: Crushed grape using The Crafters Workshop template - Chickenwire reversed. I added some details using Distress Ink pad: Ripe persimmon and Tando Masks: Sequin Waste and I distressed the borders with the Vintaj patina. I glued the tags to the cardstock along with a picture cut to size. I added the title and the journaling.

Material

Vintaj Patina kit: Antique Window

Inkssentials Metal Foil Tape Sheets

Vintaj Patina kit: Rusted Hardware

Ranger Manila Tag No.5

Couture Creations embossing folder: Vintage plumes

Cuttlebug embossing folder: Diamonds in the rough

Cuttlebug embossing folder: Mesh

Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders - Daisy Blast & Paisley Palooza Set

PaperArtsy Crackly tissue paper

The Crafters Workshop template - Chickenwire reversed

Claudine Hellmuth Studio - Gesso

Claudine Hellmuth Studio Medium - Matte

Dylusions ink spray: Crushed grape

Distress Ink pad: Ripe persimmon

Tando Masks: Sequin Waste

See you tomorrow

Crafty Individuals week with Gio

Hi, 
A couple of samples with Gio today, including one calendar. 
Gio used the masks in 3 different ways on her sample: as an embossing stencil (with paste), as a stamped (once inked) and with the inks sprayed over. 
She also made a lovely cuff bracelet using metal. 

I cut a piece of white cardstock to the size of my calendar and used Beautiful butterflies mask and Dreamweaver embossing paste: Crackle paste (using a palette knife) to create the background.

Once dry I inked the same mask with the Metallic Distress Stain: Tarnished brass and I used as a stamp on the central part of the cardstock. I even inked the crackled dried paste with a brush and little bit of metallic Stain.

I then used the mask as stencil, spraying it with Cosmic Shimmer Mister: Golden Mint.

I cut some butterflies from Crafty Individuals picture book: Butterflies and flowers and I covered them with Ranger Ultra thick embossing clear powder, then I melted it to give a glossy effect . I glued the butterflies and the month to the cardstock.

********

To make the cuff bracelet I cut a piece of metal from Metal sheet - real copper , then I embossed it using the Crafty Individuals picture book: Butterflies and flowers mask. (TIP: I made several try with different sandwich on a leftover of metal, it will depend on the embossing machine you use). I sanded the metal a little bit to highlight the embossed pattern. I curved the metal (using my wrist for the size) and I adhered the butterflies covered with Ranger Ultra thick embossing clear powder.

Gio used:

Crafty Individuals picture book: Butterflies and flowers

Crafty Individuals mask: Beautiful butterflies

Dreamweaver embossing paste: Crackle

Metal sheet - real copper

Cosmic Shimmer Ultra Thick Embossing crystals: Ancient Copper

Ultra thick embossing powder (Ranger): clear

Metallic Distress Stain: Tarnished brass

Cosmic Shimmer Mister: golden mint

Glossy Accents

Palette knife

Our special offer this week

20% off selected Crafty Individuals stamps. 

From CI-017 to CI-250 included

use code CRAFTY20 at checkout

See you tomorrow

Sizzix week: Karen and Jane

Hi, 
Sizzix this week? how many Sizzix addicts out there? 
We now have an extensive range of dies on the website: Original, Tim Hotlz, Framelits, Bigz Pro, Pop-up, ScoreBoard, Sizzlits and more.. You can find them all HERE... 
There are over 340 dies to chose from on our website. You are spoilt for choice :o)

So let's start the week with Karen and Jane. Both of them used some of the latest animal dies, which are really cute

Karen made a lovely key ring. As she says.... 

 Something fairly simple: Meet Bruce. You can add him to a key ring, handbag or just have him hanging around on a hook waiting for his walk!

Using some leather I cut out 2 scottie dogs and sewed them together on my machine. The leather eye was cut in half and glued on with die cut felt eye to give some character. The bone was die cut with shrink plastic, coloured with pale blue pencil. This was attached to the top of the chain lead, next to the strap cut from a scrap of leather. A torn strip of fabric made the scarf.

Sizzix Bigz die...Scottie Dog

Shrink plastic

fabric

eyelet

Chain

= = = = = = = = = = =

Now for the sample with Jane. She is really spoiling you today as she took the time to take a LOT of pictures to show you how the Pop n' Cut dies work

For this card I used the Pop'n'Cuts Base and Insert die. First you take out the insert die which comes with it and use the base die to cut your card..

Next, place the insert on the magnet with the notches on the base and insert dies together......(I am not using the insert that came with the die)

Cut your insert

I used the matching Sizzlets set to decorate the insert, then I stuck the insert into the base card.

For the next card I did not use the base die but cut a piece of Coredinations slightly bigger than the insert.

This is the insert which came with the base die and I used the matching Sizzlits set to cut a piece to stamp my greeting on..

Because the paper is so pretty, I decided only to decorate by adding adhesive gems to the inside. The outside I added some Tattered Florals diecut flowers but kept it very simple

Do have a play with these dies, they are lovely to work with and are very versatile!!

If you want to see some more samples using these dies, there is a lovely board in the shop made by Sandy. Do have a look they are beautiful!!!

Well I love diecutting and couldn't resist having a play with the new animal dies

Ooops, sorry owls are not animals so how about this one.

To make these cards just remember not to put the fold of the card completely over the metal cutting area......
(Sorry this picture isn't great but I wanted you to see that the fold was placed before the cutting line)

Wish mine looked like these!!!....

Die cutting is great fun, remember to check the instructions that come with your machine if you are not sure which plates to use!!

Materials used -

Sizzix Pop'n'Cuts Base and Insert Die: Horizontal A2

Pop'n'Cuts Insert Hello 

Sizzlets Hello Set and Love Set

Bigz Die Owl #2 and Hedgehog

Big z Die Tattered Florals 

Coredinations

Bazzill Dots

Magenta Papers - Tea Garden and Peace

Hobby Art Stamps - Sentiments Set

First Edition Paper Pad - Dreamcatcher

Our special offer this week

Spend £30 on Sizzix products between Sept 10th and 17th and get a £5 voucher back

(you will find it in your parcel)

See you tomorrow