Another Tattered Flower

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great week.   Summer has arrived here, it's hot and humid.  Ontario weather is strange, we go from winter to summer almost overnight.   Less than two weeks ago we had a few snow flurries and today I have the AC on as it's hot on our second floor.  Hopefully the nice weather stays :)

I had another play with Tattered Florals die cuts by Tim Holtz (Sizzix).   The background has more white space than I usually show but I thought the flower colour popped against it. 

I stamped Hero Art's - Fabulous Flourish stamp in the background with smokey grey Versafine ink. (I love this flourish stamp it is fabulous!)  'Art' is from Chocolate Baroque's Artistic Expressions set.   Next I splattered a little acrylic paint and silver glimmermist.

The flower layers are coloured with Distress Ink.  I spritzed them with water, crinkled, unfolded, and then layered into the large flower.    I curled a few petals and glued prills to the flower centre.   The purple/orange mat is a piece of background that was hanging out in the my stash.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

If You can Dream It, You can Do It

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.    I would like to welcome more new followers, thank you so much, I appreciate everyone's interest, visits and kind comments.  You sure make blogging so much fun!

The Art Journal Journey Challenge for September is "Less is More".    While Clean & Simple is not where most of my designs seem to end up, I still love to see what people can create using this style and I enjoy the challenge of one layer LIM card designs. 

A LIM Journal Page is another challenge as my pages normally have layers of colours & designs which cover every inch of the page.   My interpretation of LIM for Art Journal pages was to leave some white space and I hope this qualifies as I'm joining this month's challenge :)

I sprayed Teal, Midnight & White Dylusions onto the background.   I spritzed a little water and tipped the page to let it run both up and down.   I added a little salt to create texture.    Using Distress Inks I added design with TCW stencils - Harlequin and Tiny Circles.

I stamped with Fabulous Flourish S5449 from Hero Arts (and it IS fabulous) and Bonnie (face) C4568 from Impression Obsession.  I am an Artist is from Chocolate Baroque's Artistic Affirmations and If you can Dream it you can Do it is from CB's Words of Inspiration.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Cheers,
Shirley

Garden Art Journal Page

Good morning !  I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.  I had a great day yesterday teaching at Crop Circles.   Helen, the owner, has a wonderful group of loyal & creative ladies that come out for the fun.   Each participant created 6 cards, we enjoyed a delicious lunch & I came home tired & happy !    I also purchased some new fabulous 'goodies', including beautiful new Christmas stamps by Penny Black.   

I'm sharing my second Art Journal page today.  It's so much fun to 'play' & create and it's nice that I keep this work for me.   This page 'feels' like my garden where I can go to Dream and look at the Beauty of the flowers & texture of plants.   I included one of Ryn's Moth's which you can find here at Designs by Ryn. 

I used Dylusions Inks, Distress Inks, white Acrylic Paint, Templates and Rubber Stamps to create this page.   I also highlighted a little with a white Neocolor crayon.

Stamps:
Designs by Ryn - Tsuki (Moth) CM-B5
Hero Art - S5154 Three Ferns (embossed with gold)
Rubber Stamped - A1102E Fern (hard to see with ink blended over)
Chocolate Baroque - Artistic Expressions (Dream, Imagine, Beauty)

Templates:
Crafters Workshop - TCW226s mini Leaf Frame & TCW278s Circle Explosion
'Stencil It' book - 'trellis' & butterfly

That's all for now, thanks for your visit and have a great day !
Shirley

Life is Beautiful

Hello everyone !

My sister is out visiting today, and it's raining so I had unexpected time for crafting.     I decided to work on a card to enter into the For Your Inspiration  Challenge Blog (FYI #35)  before it closes in 4 days.   I always find the photos and creations from the DT inspiring.  See bottom of this post for this challenge's photo, it's a beauty !

I was going through all my stamps with my Sister yesterday and when I saw this one I had the desire to create something with it.   I've always been 'in love' with this design, but haven't used it for at least a year & half.    How does the time go by so fast ?    Too many stamps and not enough time :)

Since I've used a 'forgotten' stamp, this also qualifies for Judiths' Forgotten Friday as well.  If you have a chance to visit Judith's blog you won't be disappointed, she creates beautiful work !

Stamps:   Hero Art - S5356 Etched Medallion
               Impression Obsession - CC027 Cover a Card - Flourishes
               Rubber Stamped - A1102E Fern
               "Life is Beautiful" sentiment stamp was included in the gift package at the Art Specially show in Zeist, The Netherlands in April.   I wasn't there, but my sweet Sis kindly gave me hers  :)

Dies used:   Marianne Design LR0150 (blue leafy branch)
                  Crealies CL CS 11 - green leaves

The background for this card was created by using a sheet of paper from the Basic Grey Kioshi Collection (6x6 pad).   I stamped over this sheet using the CAC - Flourishes with Brilliance Galaxy Gold Ink. 

The narrow strip across the background is a piece of left-over watercolour paper that I dipped into Peacock Feathers DI that was rubbed onto my craft mat and sprayed with water.  I then stamped it with the Fern stamp & Mowed Grass DI. 

The flower was stamped and embossed with Gold EP three times.  The powder has a bit of glitter in it, which gives an uneven texture and a bit of sparkle.    I coloured the flower with my Tom Bow markers and cut out them out in sections to layer as shown. 

"Life is Beautiful" was stamped with Colorbox Harbor Pigment Ink.   I also added rhinestones. 

And below is the Inspiration Photo:

By the way, some of my blogland friends have been asking about my knee.  I'm happy to report that I'm doing great.  Not a 100% (yet) but I'm thrilled to be back to most of my regular activities !

Thanks for your visit & have a great day !     
Shirley

Experimenting with Dylusions Ink

Good Morning Everyone

I  hope you had a great weekend.    Because of my fall last week I'm still doing a lot of sitting around and taking this time to relax and catch up on reading.  I normally like to stay active, but still thankful the injuries are not worse and I will heal.   Thank you for all your well-wishes, they are appreciated.

Yesterday I was 'itching' to do something crafty so I decided to get out my new Dylusions Inks.    I can spray inks while standing up and do a little stamping, just can't get into making cards where I need to move around my room.

Without looking at any tutorials, I created a 'mucky mess'.    I wondered why is this looking so awful when I've seen such beautiful creations on Blogs that I follow ?   So I search UTube and watch tutorial videos where I learn you should spray water first and have a big role of paper towels handy.

I tried again.... and 'ta da' ...beautiful vibrant colours emerge !  This is great fun & I can't wait to 'play' some more.   Now I would like to add some stencils to my growing crafting tools.   It never ends does it ?
Here is the simple tag I created.   The colours are more vibrant than this photo shows.  

After spraying the background with Dylusions Inks,  I stamped with Black Stazon ink using Hero Art, S5154 Three Ferns, Designs by Ryn CM-F5 Leaves & the word 'Art' is from Chocolate Baroque, Artistic Expressions set.   I was stamping at a table that is uneven so the ferns didn't stamp properly, but I decided they look 'distressed' and it would be fine on this tag, this is a practice piece.  I added a little fibre & leaf charm. 

June 29th update:  Here is a link to YouTube Video with Dyan Reaveley, Ranger Signature Designer demonstrating her ink, stencils & stamps:   Dylusions Demo

Thanks for all your visits & comments, they are very much appreciated.  Have a great day,
Shirley

Created by Saakje & and Thank you Ina !

Hello Crafters !    It was gorgeous here this weekend and we enjoyed it by watching our granddaughter's soccer games and working out in the gardens. 

If you are looking for my Blog Candy please go here:  Blog Candy   Draw is May 17th.

A few days ago, Ina from Little Bits of Craft  passed on the Liebster Blog Award to me.  I am thrilled that I have been given this honour three times recently.  I've already passed the award on the first time, but I want to Thank Ina for thinking of me, it really is appreciated.  If you have a chance please visit Ina's Blog, she creates beautiful cards  !

My passion for card making was 'given' to me from my creative Tante Saakje, who lives in the Netherlands.   Saakje gave me a beautiful hand crafted Christmas card in 2004.   It was created with Iris Folding and I was in awe by the beauty !   During a vacation in the Netherlands in 2006,  Saakje taught me the Dutch Art of paper folding, dry embossing and embroidery on paper.   I fell in love with it all and haven't looked back since !  A couple of years later during another Dutch vacation, I was introduced to the joy of rubber stamping by Saakje & my Cousins and that's when  I became a stamp addict !     I have a life time supply of papers for folding, beads & floss for embroidery, templates for embossing and now the drawers are getting stuffed with stamps & inks !     

A couple of days ago Tante Saakje emailed me photos of beautiful cards that she created.  I love them and wanted to share a couple with you !

Saakje explained the following about the above card:   

"I made the background by blending Mustard Seed, Evergreen Bough and Mahogany Distress Inks and then sprayed with Perfect Pearls.    I stamped Hero Art CG120 'antique writing' over the background & embossed with silver.   The flowers were created with Hero Art CL945 Blossom Art, also embossed with Silver and coloured with Peerless Watercolours."   

I am not familiar with these watercolours, but I think the results are gorgeous and I'm very proud of my Tante Saakje.  I also want to thank her for sharing her love of paper art with me !

This next card also created by Saakje is completely different !   Zentangle that she drew !  Love it !   She is concerned that this is not exactly as planned, but whatever the plan was, this is beautiful !

I love to Doodle and saw Zentangle for the first time again by Saakje.  She was visiting with me here last summer and we sat under the trees either working on Embroidery, Beading, Doodling, Zentangle or puttering in the flower gardens  !   We have so much fun sharing our same passions !   

Thank you Saakje for sharing your creations !

Again if you are looking for the Blog Candy promotion please find it here Blog Candy .  The draw is May 17th.    Good Luck in the draw ! 

Thanks for your visits, it's appreciated !

Have a great day

Shirley   

Less is More - Sketch Challenge

Hello Crafters !  I hope you enjoyed your weekend !      We were working outside most of the day in our gardens !    We have lots to do, but it felt wonderful !  

I'm venturing again into the world of Clean & Simple and entering another challenge at Less is More.  I enjoy looking at the elegant creations by the DT & participants.  I'm intriqued by the challenge of this style which is different for me.    I like to 3D images and create colorful backgrounds with no white space,  but it is also fun to make cards that are CAS !   

This week's (#65) is a Sketch Challenge, but there is a choice of either a square or circle in the centre.

I've been playing a lot with Tombow markers, water & salt to create backgrounds so I have a lot of bits & pieces left over.   I decided to use a little orange/yellow one for my mini-background.  I stamped & embossed in gold, a small leafy branch from the Hero Art Set - CL477 Delicate Leaf Clusters and then adhered the piece onto a very narrow dark brown mat.   I popped up the 'mini scene' over the white square folded card stock.    I stamped the just a note sentiment that is from a little Kaiser Craft Set - CS921 Thinking of you with Memento Rich Cocoa Dye Ink.

This is the Sketch I chose:

Thanks for stopping by.  Your visits & kind comments make me smile !
Shirley

Fairy at Sunrise

Hello Crafters !   

I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  I had fun today with wonderful ladies in a class over at Crop Circles teaching the background technique with Tom Bows, Water & Salt .   Wow, what a mess we can make when 'playing', but the ladies created beautiful work !    Helen (owner of Crop Circles) will send me photos and I'll get them posted soon.   

Last night I worked on another card using this technique to show the ladies today.  I was inspired by the photo (see bottom of this post) from For Your Inspiration's Blog and this is my second entry into their current (FYI #28) challenge.

I'm also entering this card into Craft a Scene Challenge #4, as the theme is to use a Silhouette this month.

It's worth taking time to check out both Challenge Blogs as they feature awesome creations from both the DT and participants ! 

The background was created using Tom Bow markers, water & salt.    The 'grass' was created by using a stamp from the Hero Art CL428 Set which was stamped several times (partly off the page) & embossed with gold.  The little fairy silhouette is from Class Act Inc. ANGF316C (sm butterfly pixie) stamped with ColorBox Boysenberry Pigment Ink and embossed with Clear.  

The picture below is from For Your Inspiration's Blog.    I can't stopping look at this, it's such a gorgeous photo !

That's all for this evening.  Thanks for all your visits, they are appreciated ! 

Shirley 

Spring Flowers

Good Evening !

We are enjoying warmer than normal temperatures in this area.   Our snow has melted (yay !) and I've had a chance to get out into the gardens to start pruning and admire crocus that are blooming.   We normally wait until April for this treat !

The warm weather motivated this simple card for Spring.    It's a challenge for me to create cards without a 3D image, but I've been inspired by looking at the elegant cards posted at  Less is More's Blog.   I love creations that are 'fussy' but also appreciate Clean & Simple.      At some point I would like to enter some of their challenges.  
 

The background behind the tulip was created using the stamp kissing technique (again).   I covered Impression Obsession's Solid Cover a Card with Colour Box Moss Green pigment ink.   I used a flower from the Hero Art flower set CL428 and covered it with Boysenberry Colour Box pigment ink and then 'kissed' the two stamps.  Using the Cover a Card stamp I then applied the image to white cardstock.   Over this I stamped the tulip from the Hero Art Set CL427 and embossed with deep purple powder.   I coloured the tulip a little with Prisma Pencils.    I used dark plum & vibrant moss green cardstock to compliment the stamping.   A little ribbon and rhinestones were added for the finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you are enjoying nice weather where you live !
Shirley

A Tropical New Year

Happy New Year everyone !     We had a wonderful time celebrating last night with good friends until the wee hours of the morning.   I can never sleep in, so here I am enjoying the morning in my craft room with a cup of tea.

I have a good view of the snow & trees in our backyard from my craft room.   It's very pretty but I'm dreaming about tropical places & flowers !

I created this card using the Cathie Allan "Stamp Smoosh" technique, which is easy.   I enjoyed taking a class with Cathie at the Scrapfest show last Fall.    This stamp is a Poinsettia but I used tropical colours which is a vibrant change from all the Christmas cards and snow themes etc.

This stamp, F5434 Poinsettia Bloom by Hero Art, is a solid image which works well with the 'stamp smoosh' technique.  (start with your lightest colour, stamp down hard and give your wrist a little twist to 'smoosh' the ink)    Fluid Chalk Inks work well as they dry quickly to allow you to 'lay down' your next colour.  I used  heavy white card stock and ColourBox Fluid Chalk Ink set Ocean Breeze - starting with Lime Pastel, then Ice Jade and finally Aquamarine.     I stamped the flower out again with ColourBox Pigment Harbour, in a 'normal' manner.  I embossed these with clear powder.   I stamped out one extra flower to cut and pop up on the card.   I have a hard time making a card without some kind of dimension added.   

Because the background has a lot going on, I really didn't want to cover it up with much else.   I added some ribbon, a charm and a few lime green stickles on the darkest flowers and matted onto co-ordinating card stock.  I used a nestability label - S4347 with a sentiment from Inkadinkado (96614 set) which was also stamped with Colourbox Harbour Pigment Ink, embossed with clear and then inked with Peeled Paint Distress Ink using the die for a mask. 

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all the best for a Happy, Healthy & Creative 2012 !
Cheers
Shirley

Christmas Poinsettias

Good Morning !

I am busy making card samples with the new Shirley Doodle stamps    I had fun this week working on these Christmas Poinsettia cards.

I stamped the flower 3 times on white paper and embossed with Gold.   The leaves and flourishes at the bottom were also embossed with gold.   I blended Aged Mahogany Distress Ink on the flowers, then added Interference Red -  MicaColour Paint and added more dimension with my Tom Bow markers.  I then cut out the flowers and layered as shown.  Stickles & a pearl sprig were added as final touches !

Stamped used:   Shirley Doodle Wavy Poinsettia, Impression Obsession Cover a Card - Flourishes CC027, Penny Black - Crystalline Sentiments & Snowflakes 30-018 (with Dye Ink), the leaves are from Hero Arts CL427 Antique Flower set.

Paper is by Basic Grey - Wassail 6x6 pad.  

I hope you can see the sheen from the Micacolour paints in these photos  !  

The card above was created with the same stamps & techniques but with alternate colours.  The paper is also from Basic Grey - Wassail. 

Have a great day & thanks for stopping by !
Shirley

Dragonflies & background

I'm teaching 2 workshops on Saturday that are 'all about backgrounds'.   I'm excited to share ideas on creating 'scenery' backgrounds using Distress Inks and homemade 'masks'.   It's a fun technique !   I saw a sample of this style at an amazing stamp store downtown Amsterdam (Posthumas) over a year ago and through trial & error I figured out how to create something similar.   

This 'sunset & weeds" card was created by using stamps from Hero Art & Inkadinkado

Have a great day !
Shirley