Showing posts with label Marianne Designs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marianne Designs. Show all posts

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Simply G45…

Hi everyone,
Today it’s a card using one of my beautiful Graphic 45 papers, one of those that I take out, stroke lovingly and, usually, put away again, lol. I do find it extremely challenging using these types of papers, whoever the designer, as I don’t want to cover anything up!…..












This makes an effective but quick and easy card. Starting with a sheet from the 8” x 8” paper pad, an 8” card blank and a mat:









I decided to make the text in the centre the focal point of the card by framing it. The largest of the Spellbinders nestabilities Floral ovals set is just the right size. 
In order to create the frame I inked the outer edges with DI and then carefully cut out the centre to leave just a frame.
The frame has been glued onto the paper with Multi-medium matte and the edges rubbed with DI.  One of the papers has a selection of toppers on it so I cut one out and edged that too ready to add.

For contrast, I picked out some card which is the same colour orange that featured in the main G45 paper and chose some Cheery Lynn dies – (Craftables) Butterfly and (Creatables) Leaves.



To finish off (and accompany the topper) I chose some pre-made mini sparkly roses and a strip of blue card, all edged in brown. Once it was all put together I added some gems to the blue card too.


Top:














Bottom:















Done:


















Thanks for stopping by today, have a great week!

Chris xxx




Wednesday, 10 September 2014

Seaside Scraps



Hello Everyone! Jennie here from Live the Dream and today I am sharing a technique rather than a finished project.  This is one of my favourite ways of using up lots of bits and pieces which have a joint theme but which colour wise just don't have anything to do with each other!

Are you like me and have loads of die cuts lying around the desk - cut for one project or another, but not used? Well here is a great way of using them.


I have taken a Ranger No #8 tag and first added a few dots here and there with a circle mask  and Grunge Paste - use any mask or stencil, just  get some texture on the tag. I then gathered some die cuts which had a "seaside" feel to them. - Tim Holtz Cogs and Spring Greenery and a Marianne Design Anchor.  You can see they are all different colours, but just stick them down! I added some scrim over the top - you could use builders mesh or some netting or light muslin. I love working with paper clay and moulds but sometimes the pieces just don't feel right on a page or tag, so this compass had been lying around for a bit and so had these little flowers. I have even put a metal spinner on the cog as this will take the next stage well too.  I filled in the gaps with some shells - some found on the beach here in Shetland and others bought.  Finally I filled in the smaller gaps with seed beads.

At this stage leave it to dry overnight - if you attempt the next stage before everything has really stuck down you will probably have problems!


And this is the bit I LOVE! Cover the whole lot with white gesso - some areas will need a couple of coats - and use a small paintbrush so you can get into all the nooks and crannies. You will find it SO therapeutic and it looks fabulous when finished. The gesso evens everything out giving you a blank canvas to work with. Notice how even the metal gets covered too.

Again leave to dry fully (this is a great project for fitting in around another project!).


Then hunt around in your stash for some lovely spray colours which will fit your theme.  I have used sprays made from Lumine Arte Primary Elements as I had them already made from another project, but I also love Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and you can get absolutely fabulous effects from mixing Distress Ink Re-inkers with  Perfect Pearls. For a darker effect try Dylusions Ink Sprays - you can always tone them down a bit by spraying them with a little water if you want something lighter.


Dab off the inks here and there so you get different levels of colour and let the gesso show through in places.  Again this needs some good drying time.  You can blitz it with the heat gun, but bear in mind what you have stuck down - my paper clay compass started to soften and buckle when I got impatient and tried to speed up the drying time!


And that is all there is to it.  

I love this technique for trying out different types of textures and colours. I love it too as I can use up lots of bits and pieces lying around the desk from other projects. It works fabulously with flowers made for projects and not used.  And … I find it makes a fabulous topper for a birthday card for someone special as you can choose die cuts or pieces which you know they are going to love.

I hope this has given you some inspiration and I do hope you will give it a try. 

Jennie







Monday, 23 June 2014

Kraft and White



Hi Everyone! I am sharing a card with you today made in (mainly) kraft and white card and papers - a favourite combination of mine and using some of my Marianne Design dies, which I haven't used in a while.

You can't beat a bit of fancy cutting and folding to create a centre fold card with a bit of a wow factor and there is a great tutorial HERE at Split Coast Stampers for a centre step card and the one I used to create this 14 cm x 14 cm card.


Once you have made your card base (I made mine in kraft card stock) it is then a matter of making four panels (two on the front and the two side panels).  I used some Grunge Paste through a mask to create some texture.  I used a text mask but any small pattern would be very effective.



I then used Marianne Designs dies to create the lower part of the collage, cutting some in white and some kraft.  I love these dies as they layer so well, however, they are a little difficult to die cut being so decorative. The trick is to layer some wax paper between the die and your paper and it just pops out quite cleanly and it is easier to poke any remaining pieces with a tool.  Wax paper is available in the shop and comes in a great long roll so no worries about getting through it quickly.

I layered my die cuts over a small tag I cut from some left over papers and a bit of thread - quite simple but it just adds another layer of interest.


To complete the collage I layered some of my handmade flowers using the Tattered Florals die (there is a tutorial on my blog HERE) and also some rolled roses for the side panels (another tutorial HERE) inking the edges instead of distressing them. A little spray of leaves from Tim's Spring Greenery die just finishes these two side panels.

Final additions included a few punched butterflies and a couple of stick pins and - well that was it really. All in all quite a quick card to put together as the colour palette was limited and the centre fold panel is a smaller area to decorate.

Thank you for joining me today!

Jennie x









Saturday, 3 May 2014

I’ll take the High Road…

Today’s card was inspired by an old set of scrapbooking stamps I came across that I’ve never used! The moment I saw this particular stamp the outline of the card appeared in my head…
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The palette for the card is blue and black. The great thing about black and white papers is that you can change them to any colour using Tim's DIs, this became Weathered wood (blue) and black:
TakeTheHighRoad03 TakeTheHighRoad04

Next came the Doodle squares mask with some Rusty hinge DI:
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I cut a map from an atlas and inked the edges and this is the stamp that provoked the concept for the card (stamped in black archival ink):
TakeTheHighRoad01 TakeTheHighRoad09

Also stamped in black are the travel badge and the ticket using Tim's Travel labels and Odds & ends stamp sets. Once stamps they were lightly/patchily coloured with the blue before being edged with the brown. The decorative bar was created from an off cut of mount board from a Trellis Frameworks die, painted with Weathered wood DP:
TakeTheHighRoad02 TakeTheHighRoad07

I also used die cuts - Cheery Lynn Gears and Marainne Classic cars:
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Top left:
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Top right:
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Bottom right:
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Completed:
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Thanks for stopping by, have a great crafty weekend!

Chris xxx