Light a Candle..

It's Christmas!  All right, it's not, not really - but it's now nearer to next Christmas than last, and over at Ikesworld Challenges we believe in getting ready early! I've used "Holly"  and applied it to this candle, printing onto tissue paper and then using my heat gun to embed it into the wax.

We're taking a summer break so this will be the last Ikesworld challenge until September, so please do join in with us!  If you use one of Ike's digis you could win a gift voucher for Ike's shop, where there are lots of yummy digital stamps to choose from - so come on, show us your projects.  We really want to see them.

Bye for now,

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Monochrome

Team B's turn at Ikesworld Challenge blogs and the theme is Monchrome.

I've gone for straightforward black and white with this card, using Candle Poe and the Poe Paper Freebie.

The card is basically a variation on a stand-up fold card and the pattern is here - simples!  

Toodle-uma-luma....

The latest challenge from Ikesworld is a song/movie title.

This series of digs just reminds me so much of myself and my sister when we were children, I've chosen My Umbrella to illustrate a very old song "The Umbrella Man".  My mother used to sing it to me - we all sang

Colour Inspiration at Ikesworld

Hi folks!  Time for Team B to take the spotlight at Ikesworld Challenges, and this time we've been given a colour palette to inspire us.

As Ike has also produced some beautiful new images as well, I wanted to use one of those.  The digi's featuring the little girl reminded me so mush of my sister and myself when we were children...

I chose "My New Shoes" for my project.  I coloured it in digitally using the colours in the inspiration image to use as an embellishment in a digital scrapbook page

I used Serif's Digital Craft Artist software to put the page together.  The baby in the photo is me, at about 18 months old.

Tickled Pink at Ikesworld

Oops, I almost forgot to blog my DT piece for the Ikesworld Challenge blog!  I am a bit computer-challenged at the moment, being in the process of moving in to a new machine, and between that and the public holiday on Easter Monday, plus a week off work (which I spent sewing, believe it or not!) I've sort of lost track of things.  I also had a senior moment where I thought I was deleting pictures from my phone, but it turned out they were from my blog...so if you've visited older posts and are wondering where the pictures have gone, it's all my fault...

Anyway, one I didn't delete was this week's project.  I've used Mother & Baby to make a clean and simple card.  No grunge, no inky bits, and  - it's PINK.  I don't do pink as a rule, having been forced to wear it as a child.  (My sister got outfilts to match mine, but in blue. We've both been scarred for life by the experience.   Fortunately, I have two sons- I don't know how I'd have reacted to a request for a Barbie castle!).  I've used this image a few times because I really, really love it;  I think this would be a good card for a new baby girl. 

Anyway. I'm still moving into my new computer and learning a new operating system (from Windows to Mac OS) so it mat be a bit interesting for a while.  Bear with me, won't you?

Crafty hugs,

Keren

Everything Easter at Ikesworld

Team B’s turn at the  Ikesworld Challenge Blog and we’re continuing the theme of Easter.

I’m using Blossom 1.  This is such a pretty image and could be coloured in a number of different ways.  I’ve gone for a sort of apple-blossom pink (although my apple trees don’t have any blossom on them just yet so I’m working from memory).  One of these days I’ll do a project that doesn’t involve tissue paper, but today is not that day.  I sized the image to fit on a cardboard egg which I’d sealed, given an undercoat of gesso, and then painted with Daler-Rowney shimmer acrylic inks, first  in Sun-up blue and the a coat of Pearl Moon over the top.

While I had the gesso around, I painted some over the reverse side of the tissue paper, just where the blossoms were.  (I should point out that I use the crunchy tissue paper – the sort you wrap things in – not the soft kind like Kleenex.  I’ve never tried printing on the soft kind and I’m not sure what would happen if I did).  When it was dry I coloured the other side with alcohol markers – Spectrum Noir’s this time – and then cut the image out, keeping close to the edge. 

After that it just needed to be stuck to the egg and sealed over the top.  I used Bindex this time, just for a change.  A bit of trimming and there you have it!

Hope you're going to share your project with us at the Ikesworld Challenge blog.  If you use one of Ike's images you're in with a chance of winning a prize - so why not give it a go?  Ike even has a freebie that you can use if you don't have any of her digis, and you can't say fairer than that!  See you there?

Crafty hugs,

Keren

Spring at Ikesworld

Spring is springing up everywhere!  I thought the daffodils had been washed away in the torrential storms we’ve had over the past few months, but they made it through the winter and now they’re everywhere.  Over at Ikesworld  challenges we’re celebrating the spring as well.  Here’s my project:

I used two of Ike’s digis, the Arch and Finch on pine.  Pine didn’t seem to be very spring-like to me to when I printed out the digi I cut the bird away from the branch.  Now, I am not an ornithologist;  in fact, I have a bit of bird phobia.  I react to birds the way some people react to spiders (I’m fine with spiders, by the way) so, having avoided the creatures for all these years, I had no idea what colour a finch might be.  I had to turn to my friend Mr Google.  What a revelation – they come in all sorts of colours, not just brown.  I had no idea that finches were so brightly-coloured!    Who’d have thought it?

I picked a bird that was a pretty shade of blue as my model and coloured in my digi to match.  Because I’d chopped the bird away from the branch, I put him to perch in some die-cut foliage, in front of a nice blue sky background - I stencilled a bit of Stormy Sky DI through a That Special Touch mask to give it a bit of interest. He was a bit lonely, so I gave him a friend - another good thing about digis, if I want my birdie facing left instead of right I can, very easily.  

I printed the arch onto card first of all, cut it out, and gave it a coat of light Terra paint.  This is textured and opaque, so to get the detail back I printed it out again (without altering the size) onto tissue paper.  I added a bit of shading with alcohol markers (shades of warn grey) on the back and applied it to the previously-prepared arch with Mod Podge.  (I could have used gel medium, but the Mod Podge was handy on my desk).  I let it dry before fussy-cutting the arch – it’s not easy to handle soggy tissue paper, and by not cutting it too closely I had something to hold onto while I was wrestling it into place. 

I assembled the project using cardboard tabs to support the 3d elements  And there are my birdies.  Thanks for visiting - I do hope you liked them!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Movie Madness at Ikesworld

I used to be a werewolf - but I'm all right NOOOOWWW!  Week two of the Movie Madness challenge at Ikesworld Challenge blog, and it's team B's turn to take the stage.  I'm using  Wolf 1 in "The Curse of the Werewolf"

Another pocket slider card, this time- you know me, when I get an idea I do tend to flog it to death!  I created the background in Photoshop and coloured the wolfman in digitally.  I couldn't get the colour right..so I decided that, as it was an old movie, black & white might work...and it did.  When I was laying out the images for printing, I added a couple of extra werewolf heads so that I could layer them up for a 3D effect.

Hope you like it!  Hope you'll visit Ikesworld Challenge Blog and share your project - there's a free digi and an opportunity to win some Ikesart digis if you use one of Ike's designs in your project!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

Tic Tac Toe at Ikesworld Challenges

It's Team B's turn to take the stage at Ikesworld Challenge blog, and it's a Tic-Tac-Toe grid this time.

I've taken the top row- that's glitter, flowers and embossing, using Candle Poe - I've coloured it in digitally, using brown shades.  The digi looks a bit odd until it's coloured, but when it is, it is really effective (Ike is a GENIUS!)

The embossed frame - which looks so much like leather- is, in fact, kraft card that has been treated with a water and glycerine mixture.  (See Sheena Douglass's YouTube demonstration to see how!)  The heart is covered in Distress glitter - I love Distress glitter, it's glitter for grown-ups!  

You blood-red roses

Our boots and clothes are all in pawn,

Go down, you blood red roses, go down!

It's mighty drafty round Cape Horn.

Go down, you blood red roses, go down!

All you pinks and posies,

Go down, you blood red roses, go down!

I've had this sea shanty in my head ever since starting work on my projects for Ikesworld Challenge Blog's DT entry in the Smeared and Smudged  My Bloody Valentine blog hop.  I admit to being an old folkie from way back, and loved the rousing harmonies.  So it's the inspiration for my third blog hop piece - red roses signifying love and all that smooshy stuff!

I've used two of Ike's digis on this - Candle Poe and Gothic Window.  Well, seeing that Poe-sies are mentioned in the shanty (sorry!)  Master Poe had to get in there somewhere!  The Rose stamp was a free covermount from Craft Stamper magazine - it's a small version of one made by Visible Image.  The card is a pocket sleeve pop-up - it folds flat to fit in an envelope but stands up nicely when the tab is pulled.

PS - I'm entering this in the Quoth the Raven challenge - How doth I loveth thee?

Crafty hugs,

Keren

Here's my heart

Day 2 of the Smeared and Smudged My Bloody Valentine Blog Hop as part of the Ikesworld Challenge blog DT.  Today it's a nice simple card from me..just a bit of lettering on a background of red with black hearts...

until you pull on the card edges and then...

up pops the heart!  The great thing about digi stamps- this one is "the Tell-Tale Heart" - is that they can be any size you like.  I enlarged this one quite a bit - it's only a tiny bit of the whole digi.  The card is a "waving flag" card- you can find the template and instructions here.

And as this is rather anti-Valentine, I'm entering it in the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers blog challenge!
Thanks for visiting!

xxx Keren

Love lies bleeding

Here we go with the Smeared and Smudged My Bloody Valentine blog hop, and the Ikesworld
Challenge Blog Design Team is joining in the fun!

The blog hoppers (you can see them here) are linking up for three days, today, tomorrow and
Friday. My piece for today is “Love Lies Bleeding”. I used the “Vamp” digi stamp from Ike’s new releases (SOOO lush!).

 I’ve had the heart plaque for a while – I bought it from the supermarket for £1-50 – it originally had “Home Sweet Home” printed on it but I soon changed that with a coat of black gesso! I gave is some texture with spider web net, painted it red and added some texture paste through a
Tim Holtz stencil then coloured it again with Dylusions sprays. It’s a substantial size – about eight inches from top to bottom – so isn’t it great that digital
stamps are easy to resize (and flip horizontally as well?)

The Vamp I printed out onto tissue paper (the kind you pack things in, not Kleenex) and I painted white acrylic over the back before I coloured the front with alcohol markers. (I’m still not tired of this technique!) The next bit was a happy accident. I probably should have given the Dylusion’d bit a coat of sealer before I stuck the tissue picture to the base - it became a lot redder than I'd planned!  But I decided I liked it...

Last of all I die-cut the letters from cardboard and painted them black.  Once I'd stuck them down I gave them a light rub with gilding wax.  And there he is!

See you later!

xxx Keren

Blog hoppin' @ Ikesworld Challenges

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog.

 I’m very excited to be part of the very first Ikesworld Challenge blog hop. If you’re working through the hop in order you should have arrived here from I don't do Straight's  blog. If not, you can start the hop with Blackdragon and work your way through in order.

I’ve chosen to use Bite Me for my project. This is one of the new releases from Ike – isn’t it lovely?

Here's what I did with it!



I watched a video of Wendy Vecchi at the CHA and was inspired to follow her example – although, not having most of the materials she used I had to improvise a bit. I used a small (10 cm) MDF heart shape and gave it a rough coat of copper-coloured texture paste, not worrying too much about covering the whole of the surface. Once that was dry I spread a coat of Kroma crackle medium roughly on top. And then I left it to dry. Kroma takes a long time to dry (it goes on clear and dries white)– up to three days. (Hint – do not leave the project where someone can carelessly throw a shirt onto it, to the detriment of both the project and the shirt.) Once dry, it keeps on cracking and if you don’t seal it, the crackle can fall off the substrate, so once it was dry  I blended Distress inks over the surface and then covered the whole thing with Mod Podge and some printed tissue (this was a scrap left over from something else).

While it was drying, I started work on the digi. I’m still on my printing-onto-tissue- paper kick (stick the tissue to a piece of ordinary paper along the edge that feeds into the printer before you print). I coloured the image with Promarkers. Because I wanted the features of the face to stand out I painted white acrylic paint over the reverse, then I cut it out close to the outline of the face. I brushed more Mod Podge (matte) over the whole thing, stuck the digi down and sealed it with – guess what – more Mod Podge. Once it was dry I gave it a coat of Klear (now known as Pledge Multi-surface wax polish); I like the satiny sheen it adds.

What else? I made the flower by sticking three layers of paper flower shapes together (I’ve had them for ages – I think they may be from Prima but I’m not sure).  The metal leaves are by Creative Expressions and I dipped them into some UTEE, coloured with red and green UTEE dye in my Melt Pot.

And that's it!  Now to continue the hop, please continue to back to Ikesworld to check in- but don't forget to leave a comment first!  Thanks for calling!

Ike'sWorld Challenge Blog

Black Dragon

Ginny

Lisa

Crafting Vicky

Samara

Jane

Shelley

Ike

Kristy

Melanie

Shoni

I don't do Straight

Keren

Anything Goes at Ikesworld

It's Team B's turn to bat at Ikesworld Challenges and it's Anything Goes this time.

I really love the Mother and Baby digi I used in my last DT piece so, since it's Anything Goes I decided to use it again, but in a different way.

I'm still playing with Cold Porcelain (why have I only just discovered this stuff?) and for this piece I filled an oval Pendant tray (from a well-known internet auction site!) with the Cold Porcelain.  Once it was hardened (it shrinks slightly so I glued it into the setting once I'd finished) I printed the digi on tissue paper (I'm still playing with that technique as well!) and coloured it with Promarkers.  I was worried about the printer ink running when I glued the tissue to the surface with gel medium- and then I remembered my pot of Judikins Micro Glaze! It's not that easy to get hold of but it is magic stuff.  See, no runny colours!

Thanks for visiting!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

New Beginnings

Hello blog friends, thank you for visiting.  It's Team B's turn over at Ikesworld Challenges and the theme is New Year - New Beginnings.

I've chosen to use Mother & Baby, because I think this image is just SOOOO beautiful.

I don't know about you, but over the holidays my crafting gets put on hold because all my stuff gets put away so that the place doesn't look like there's been an explosion in a craft shop when Santa (or the family) comes to visit.  So this had to be created with minimum supplies!  I coloured the picture with a fairly light hand using Promarkers, and painted the card for the frame with pearlescent inks (I just dabbed them on with bits of sponge).  The I laid strips of fusible webbing (the stuff you use to keep the hem of your trousers up) over the top of the card, pinned  onto a cork tile to stop it blowing around , like this -

(Sorry for the naff photo!) Then heated it with my heat gun so that it melted into holes, threw silver embossing powder over it and then heated again to melt the powder, so it looked like this -

I wasn't too bothered about the big gap in the middle because I knew I'd be cutting it out.  Once I'd done that, I finished off the edges with some silver peel-offs and added some flowers (bought ones - GASP!-but  all my crafty stuff is in boxes, remember?)  which I sprayed blue to tone with the card.  Job done!

So how about joining in the fun at Ikesworld?  There's lots of inspiration from the DT, and a freebie digi to get you going.  If you use one of Ike's digi's there's even a chance of winning a prize- which can't be bad.  See you there!

Crafty Hugs,

Keren

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Challenge 7 at Ikesworld Challenges is" Christmas is Coming" , and it's team B's turn to strut our stuff.  I've used the Christmas Pixie digi.this time

Cute, isn't she?
I'm still playing with tissue paper - it's a great way of getting stamped images onto surfaces that aren't easy to stamp onto directly.  In this instance, a Christmas Tree bauble - a large, glittery one.
I printed the Pixie onto tissue paper (not the kind you sneeze into, the wrapping paper kind) by sticking it to a piece of ordinary printing paper along the edge that feeds into the printer. I coloured the image on the reverse with alcohol markers (Promarkers in this case, as it happens). Then I cut the image out close to the edge (I could have torn it out, but I am not the sort of person who can do that without a disaster happening!), brushed a light coat of gel medium over the section of the bauble where I wanted the image and smoothed it over.  The medium helps the paper stretch a bit so that it'll curve over the surface.   I brushed more of the medium over the image as well to help it blend in - I didn't work this too much as I didn't want to disturb the printed lines.
So there she is, all ready to go onto the tree, when I can bring myself to put away all my crafty toys and put the tree up, braving Craft Supervisor Mysti's disapproval to do so.  She really doesn't appreciate the Christmas tree as it blocks the view out of her favourite observation post.  Last year she was photographed using her laser vision in an attempt to get rid of it - (well, that's what it looks like to me!)

I hope you have a happy and safe festive season (don't let your cat laser the tree!)  and thank you, thank you for visiting my blog. And now you've been here, how about hopping over to Ikesworld and seeing what the rest of the DT have been up to and giving the challenge a go?  There's even a freebie to get you going and you could win a prize if you use one of Ike's digis in your creation.  See you there!

Crafty hugs,

Keren

It feels like winter

Team B's turn over at Ikesworld blog challenges again and I've chosen "Castle" for my DT piece this time.

I love playing with digi's.  Just because they are electronic files, rather than physical stamps, doesn't mean you have to stick to just printing them and colouring with markers.  This time I tinted the digi a grey-green before I printed it out onto tissue paper.  I painted the back of the castle in white acrylic to make it stand out when I glued it to the "weathered wood" panel (an Andy Skinner Timeworn Technique) with matte gel medium.  The tissue blends into the background and makes it look as if the picture was painted direct onto the panel.  

I finished it off with some Tim Holtz Tattered Pinecones cut from Kraft Core Core'dinations.  As well as the pinecone, the die cuts a piece of foliage, which is very useful.  So now it's over to you - why not join in the fun at Ikes?  There's lots of inspiration from the rest of the Design Teams (A and B) to get you going, and there's even a free digi for you.  If you use one of Ike's digis in your project you could win a $15 voucher for her store, which can't be bad.  See you there!

Photo Inspiration at Ikesworld

It's Team B's time to share at Ikesworld Challenges and this time Ike has given us a photo to use as inspiration.

Aren't the colours gorgeous?  I enjoy the colours of autumn so much.  This year autumn has arrived late here and the trees have only just changed colour (in fact, there's one or two stubbornly remaining green at the mo).  There's definitely less daylight about, as well.  So, for my DT project this time, I decided to decorate a candle with Ike's Autumn Nymph digi, which I coloured in digitally , because the technique uses tissue paper which would be tricky to colour in with markers in this (small) scale.

If you haven't come across this technique before, it is incredibly quick and simple to do.  Print, draw or stamp your chosen image onto tissue paper.  (You can print onto tissue paper - the kind that you wrap precious items in, not the Kleenex kind- by taping the edge that goes into the printer first to a piece of ordinary paper.)  Tear around your image (the rough edges make the tissue "disappear" into the wax.  Then place your image onto your candle and wrap it in a piece of baking paper or greaseproof paper or wax paper - something that you can see through, will take being heated, and is non-stick.  It needs to be long enough to go all around the candle with a bit left over for you to grip.

Now, take your heat gun in one hand and pick up the candle by gripping the extra baking paper so that you can see the image through it and heat the candle.  The image will look faint and pale at first but as the wax melts it sinks into it, and it suddenly appears brighter.  Once that happens, move on until the whole image is clear.  Unwrap the candle and just as easy as that, you have a fancy candle.  Most pillar candles have a wick that is, strictly speaking, too thin, so that the outer shell of the candle doesn't get consumed. If this applies to the candle you've used, it can be burned - but do be careful as if the flame gets to the tissue, it'll flare up and you'll have an incident on your hands.

So that's my offering, and there's lots of inspiration over at Ikesworld Challenge blog.  How about joining in the fun?  We'd love to see what you come up with, and if you use one of Ike's digi's, you might win a prize!

Who dat cat?

It's Team B's time to take the stage at Ikesworld Challenges and we're showcasing Ike's Krazy Kritters.  Given a choice, I always go feline, so I've chosen the Kooky Katz for a Kinetic Kard.  In this case, a pushmi-pullyu card.

Here's the card -

Pull gently on the tabs and -

I added the "Who dat up dere?" wording to the digi before I printed it out.  I coloured the image with Spectrum Noirs - the cat looked ginger to me so I chose light browns, oranges and terracotta colours.  His eyes are actually quite a bright green, but the colour isn't showing up in the photo.  I blended DI's (Mustard Seed and Wild Honey) over the background

This one is actually quite easy to construct once you know how and there are instructions here   I enjoy making cards with something extra and I hope you like it - but you can make anything you like to join in the challenge at Ikesworld.  If you use one of Ike's digi's you're in with a chance of winning a prize and Ike has even got a freebie for you - you can't say fairer than that!

Crafty Hugs

Keren

Anything goes at IkesWorld

Hi folks, we're halfway through Challenge 3 at IkesWorld Challenge Blog and it's time for Team B to strut our stuff.

I've chosen to use Snowdrops again - I like this digi just SOOOO much.  I've said before that one of the beauties of digital stamps is that they can be any size and I've printed this out on acetate at teeny-tiny size.

I've used an Epiphany frame which conveniently comes with the right-sized epoxy sticker to cover it.  I don't have the Epiphany punch  - it would have been a lot easier if I had! - so I used the epoxy as a template by sticking it to the acetate, sticking the acetate to double-sided adhesive sheet, then sticking it to a scrap of glitter card and then cutting it out with scissors.  I adhered the whole thing to the frame with a bit of Cosmic Shimmer glue (that is a good glue!)

I added a pearl bead to make a bail and voila, a pendant!  Here's a second pic to give you a better idea of the scale -

If you haven't already, hop on over to IkesWorld Challenge blog and see what the rest of Team B have been up to - and also what Team A have created.

Crafty Hugs,

Keren