Wildlife By The River Of Creativity

 

     I'm trying something different for this month's River Of Creativity, we may be a multi craft challenge but that doesn't mean you can't enter with a card project. So if you are making your Christmas cards you can join us as long as it has a wild animal on it.

     This trio started as a splodge background using Distress Oxides. I like making a few of these splodge backgrounds in a nice long, messy play session, no two are ever the same, even when using the same colours.

     To add a little sparkle to the background I used pearl mica water instead of just water when spritzing the inks, I have found that this means I can tip the stamp platform around mixing up the inks with no need for a brayer. You do need a heavy weight card so it doesn't buckle when wet or better still watercolour card, although that can be harder to stamp on than smooth.

     Tartan seems to be popular this year so I searched through my stash and found one that picked out the ink colours perfectly, more by luck than judgement. 

      I stamped with Versafine Black using Lavinia Stamps deer and trees, the beauty of a stamp platform is silhouettes are no longer hit and miss, these images were stamped three times to get a nice dark coverage.

      When I cut mat layers I am very frugal, why use a complete layer when a wide border will do, I can keep the inners for another project.

     Although each card has a similar background I wanted them to be noticeably different. The first one was cut as a stitch dot square, mounted on a thin black mat, then on top of the tartan layer using foam tape, with the tartan flush to the card. To finish off I used a white gel pen to add highlights, mixed results with this, then a few tiny silver peel off stars.

     The second one I cut with a stitch dot circle, matted on a black layer with foam onto the tartan layer that was die cut in the corners with a snowflake pattern. To keep the curve element I used a corner punch on both the tartan and the card blank.

     I have been admiring the eclipse cards popping up in blogland so decided to give it a try. The main panel was again cut with the stitch dot square but then die cut with a bauble die. I then cut four plain card layers with the same bauble and stuck them together to make a thick mat. I wanted to add a little sparkle so I coloured the edge of this thick mat with a silver Sharpie, followed by a silver glitter gel pen, then I stuck the top layer on.

      As the bauble was raised I chose to mat and layer all the other pieces without any foam tape. This image has a small Father Christmas and reindeer stamped in the sky and to finish it off I used a white Posca pen to add the snowfall.

      All three cards are 7x7 inches so will either be a large letter or hand delivered. It was challenging to make them all appear different while using the same stash and it adds three cards to the box ready for December.

      Please come and join us at River of Creativity with anything you have made, including cards, that features wildlife. 

I would like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round - Something beginning with S or T

Sparkles Christmas - #129 Flora / Fauna

Jingle Belles - Snow

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - #152 Anything Christmas

The Holly and Ivy - #102 Anything Christmas

Merry Little Christmas - #39 Anything Christmas

Peace On Earth Christmas - #1 Anything Christmas

Who Let The Dogs Out?

     This is a group of cards made and sent to some of my crafting friends, we were due to meet up but like most things Covid put a stop to that.

     The backgrounds were made with Distress Inks and a Splatter stamp from Inkylicious, I've made lots of these as every time you make one it's different and so easy too.

     The silhouettes are all Lavinia stamps, I've not got a lot of the fairies, just a few small ones, but I do have lots of animals. These are actually wolves not dogs, but I don't think that matters very much. Having a stamp platform has made using silhouette stamps SO much easier, at least now when I miss a bit I can go back and stamp it again in exactly the same place!

     The greeting is an old Woodware stamp, I love the font, then layered with a black mat to pick out the silhouettes and the cards were finished. 

     During this pandemic I have watched many more craft videos on Facebook and Youtube than I would normally have done, I am grateful to those people for keeping us entertained and enthused at such a stressful time. I have learned quite a lot too, making a batch of backgrounds when the mood takes you and keeping the run off/tidy up bits for die cutting to name but a few.

I would like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

The Fairy and The Unicorn - Anything Fantasy

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Pearly Sparkles - Animals/Birds/Insects

TGIF - Cats and Dogs

Printing Plate Comparisons

     This comparison is purely my findings, it is not a definitive guide, my skill level is very much 'still learning' so please try these for yourselves. It was inspired by watching some very talented people using a Gel Plate, I wondered if I could use what I already had to get a similar effect.

     I have used four different printing plates, there are many other brands available. Three of these will fit in my stamp platform, making them very easy to use and build multiple layers, without re-aligning, if desired. Thickness ranges from 2.5mm to 3.25mm. The Gel Press is too thick for my press at 8.5mm, so this was used on a craft mat, laying the card on top to get an image making multiple layers more difficult, but not impossible.

     All these samples have been stamped on to the same type of card - Limetree 250sgm Silky Smooth. I've also used similar colours to make comparison easier.

    

     Plate - John Next Door Media Plate

     Ink - Izink Dye inks     Mer Du Sud / Nuit / Encre

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, daub edges with ink, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

     Plate - Inkylicious Mini Splatter Circle

     Ink - Izink Dye inks     Mer Du Sud / Nuit / Encre

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

     Plate - Crafty Roo Poly Plate

     Ink - Izink Dye inks     Mer Du Sud / Nuit / Encre

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

     Plate - Gel Press

      Ink - Izink Dye inks     Mer Du Sud / Nuit / Encre

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate, spritz with water and stamp.

     Plate - John Next Door Media Plate

     Ink - Izink Pigment inks     Sky Blue / Aqua / Light Blue / Violet

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, daub edges with ink, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

     Plate - Inkylicious Mini Splatter Circle

     Ink - Izink Pigment inks     Sky Blue / Aqua / Light Blue / Violet

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

     Plate - Crafty Roo Poly Plate

     Ink - Izink Pigment inks     Sky Blue / Aqua / Light Blue / Violet

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

      Plate - Gel Press

      Ink - Izink Pigment inks     Sky Blue / Aqua / Light Blue / Violet

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

     Plate - John Next Door Media Plate

     Ink - Distress Oxide  Tumbled Glass / Broken China / Faded Jeans / Wilted Violet

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

     Plate - Inkylicious Mini Splatter Circle

     Ink - Distress Oxide  Tumbled Glass / Broken China / Faded Jeans / Wilted Violet

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, spritz with water and tip to mix inks, stamp, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp again.

     Plate - Crafty Roo Poly Plate

     Ink - Distress Oxide  Tumbled Glass / Broken China / Faded Jeans / Wilted Violet

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate and stamp.

     Plate - Gel Press

      Ink - Distress Oxide  Tumbled Glass / Broken China / Faded Jeans / Wilted Violet

     Brusho mixed to paint - Ultra Marine / Purple

     Method: ink plate, brayer, flick water on plate, flick Brusho paint on plate, spritz with water and stamp.

Conclusions and discoveries

Conclusions - I need LOTS more practice, especially with the Gel Press.

                      If I get this messy with just inks maybe paint would be a bad idea! But I did enjoy it.

Discoveries - Each plate reacts differently with the inks because they are made with a slightly different material. Some with 'bead' on the surface, others don't.

                      Cover your card when flicking Brusho on the plate to keep it clean - unless of course you want the splattered look. It's also a good idea to cover your work area, use copy paper for future backgrounds.

                      Do not clean your plates once used - just wipe with a damp cloth to save colour contamination - they need to be 'dirty' to work well. If your plate stops sticking to your platform just give it a gentle wash to restore the tack.

                      Brusho may stain your plates. Some inks may stain them too but they will still work.

                       Clean your brayer off on spare card for future use - the odd marks you may get are from the edges of the plates or bumps under your card but they add character so don't worry.

      Printing plates can also be used with paint, alcohol inks and probably much more. There is a wealth of talent out there in blogland, You Tube and on Facebook so go and take a look. Don't be afraid to play, just remember no sharp objects - they can damage your plate and be careful with heat and sunlight for the same reason.

      To say it's only card is all very well but card costs money, as do inks. Playing is a great way to find out what you can achieve, so I would suggest working on smaller, say A6 or ATC size, pieces of card. Some of these experiments will turn out to be amazing, great for smaller greeting cards and some will be for recycle but with lessons learnt. For this experiment I have used A6 for the plates and some 6x3 strips of card I have had lurking around for a while for the brayer run off.

     

Shutter Card Fairy

     This was made using the new Shutter Card die set from John Next Door, it's not as complicated as it looks....honest. John has made a video on how to put this card together, which you can find here.

     The background was something I already had sitting in my 'to finish' pile, it's a stack of part made experiments. The coloured area was made using Distress Oxides and a 'Splatter' stamp from Inkylicious, the stamped seed heads and fairy are all Lavinia Stamps.

     To add extra effect I used the new Poppy Heads die set, adding DS adhesive sheet to black card then cutting two seed heads and adding them to the stamped ones.

     The image panel was mounted on black and then on to white card, this was trimmed to fit once the front panel was cut so that they would be equal once assembled.

     Using a sheet of patterned card and two square dies I cut the front aperture. To make anything other than the rectangle that comes in the set the only thing to remember is the height of the shutters, as long as they are able to open through the aperture it can be any width you choose. The shutters are added individually so you can put in as many as you like, I chose two for this card.

     The shutters have a stencilled pattern in pink on the back to look pretty when open. I've also cut a couple more seed heads to go on the outside and a tiny butterfly. The banners are in the main die set, as are the words, these are cut in silver mirri and then a black top one with the words cut in. To finish I added a couple of die cut corner decorations, also a JND die.

Materials List   (available from your local craft shop)
JND198 - Shutter Card die set

JND177 - Poppy Heads die set

S57262 - 3D PVA Glue from Stix2

Lavinia Stamps - various seed heads & tiny fairy

Inkylicious - Splatter Circle XL  

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes

Inkspirational - Frame It

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

A Bit More Time To Craft - Anything Goes

SplatteRings Galore

     Lockdown has had two benefits for me, a little more time to craft, bake and garden, plus some really good demo videos on Facebook and You Tube. This project was inspired by Eileen Godwin's video on Facebook, using some stamps from Visible Image.

      Not being much of a painter this is something I might not have tried, but this is using paint to create a background, not a picture.....that I can manage.
      In the video Eileen used a white card tag backed with greyboard for stability, I have used a piece of mountboard which is nice and strong with a smooth surface.
      Eileen uses small amounts of acrylic paint, any brand as it doesn't have to be the expensive type, and spreads it on thinly with an old plastic loyalty card. It didn't look anything special but it doesn't have to, it's just a background.

      I did make a mountboard tag to start with, then started thinking about a larger project. How could I get a larger splat ring than the Visible Image one?......Ah ha....What about the Inkylicious splatter stamp?
      I have both the large and the small Inkylicious splatter, they are amazingly useful for backgrounds, for this I have used the smaller one.
      Using a circle die I cut a mask from Stix2 Masking Sheet, worked out where my splatter would go and then masked what would be the middle. This is the beauty of using a stamp press, you can line everything up with ease.

       I inked my stamp with Versafine Onyx Black and stamped onto the board, it looked good but another coat made it look better. I carefully peeled off the mask and used it again further up the board.
      Then using the Visible Image splatter I stamped with the same ink in three other places. The ink took a long time to dry, in the end I put it on the window sill in full sun and left it there while I collected all the other bits I would need.

     Using a white gel pen I added circles to the inside of the splatters, I noticed that my circle dies had tiny notches at each quarter, this proved very useful when adding the white lines through each circle.
     For the most part the lines and circles are almost spot on, there is one that is not but it's not glaringly obvious so I think it will be fine.
     I also found a stencil that has circles of increasing size so that came in handy too. I used another stamp from Visible Image to add circles of tiny dots in silver ink, they are not bold but as the board is tilted they appear. The final touch was to find something shiny to go in the middle of the large circles, the stickers I found have been in my stash for years! The small circles looked a bit empty so I added small stickers to them.
      I think it would be very easy to keep adding bits to this but I chose to stop after the stickers, I am happy with how this looks now. As to what I'm going to do with it, well I think it will probably make a book cover as it's approximately 7.5 x 5.5 inches.
     I loved what Eileen had made and once I had tried it I wanted to make more, the challenge of finding something to make a larger splatter really got me thinking. Being home with my stash has got me trying all sorts of things, all I have bought in the last eight weeks is some foam tape and a few plastic hair clips for birds feet.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Arty Divas - Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

A Place To Start - Create A Custom Background
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Oh Christmas Tree

     Trees are the optional theme for Christmas At Sweet Stampin' this month. I dug a few things from my stash and began to play around with various trees, settling on a traditional looking Christmas tree.

     Inkylicious have a rather nice splatter plate but as I wanted to make smaller cards for posting I managed to get their newer Mini Splatter, great for a 5 inch square.
     Using Distress Oxides Jeans & Spruce I made the background by inking up the plate, then spritzing it with a little water containing pearl mica powder, before stamping it onto my card base.
     Using a Lavinia Christmas tree I stamped it with Versafine Olympia Green.

     I wanted to use a red pearl card to cut the word Christmas but I couldn't find any, so I made my own. Using the small spritz bottle of water with pearl mice added I sprayed my red card very lightly.
     Once dry I cut the word with a Tim Holtz die but as it's rather thin I left it in the die, dabbed the glue on the back of the card and then placed it on the background and gently poked it out of the die. I found this much easier than fighting with it, I also did this with the word Merry, it made sure the spacing was perfect as well.
     This card was so easy to make I decided with time running out that I would batch make, creating my own background means they are not all the same.
     Please pop over to Christmas At Sweet Stampin' to see all the DT inspiration, then come and join us with your project.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

Unicorn - Christmas/Winter

Dragonfly Dreams - Christmas/Winter

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas

Monochrome Bauble

   Welcome to my second card for Christmas At Sweet Stampin', our optional twist this month is monochrome but you can join us with any Christmas themed creation.

     This card started with some white card, a bauble stencil and Distress Ink. Using masking tape I secured the stencil to the card and my craft mat, then with an Inkylicious dusting brush I coloured the bauble shape with blue Distress Ink, trying to get it a little darker at the top than the bottom.
     I decided to stamp my image before removing the stencil, I've been a bit clumsy lately so thought this would protect the clean white card a bit longer and I'm happy to say it worked.
     This could just as easily be done in a stamp press, it's just that I was so keen to get it started I forgot until I got to the stamping stage!

     The image was stamped with Versafine Clair Medieval Blue, which is a very dark blue. I wanted to add some tiny stars to the night sky so I used a silver glitter gel pen. As the main star was stamped in blue I chose to add a tiny clear gem to the centre to make it stand out and shine.
     I wanted to keep it simple so I tried to find blue card to match my image, easier said than done, you would think with all the card and paper I have that I would have some the right shade?...no.  So I found an alcohol marker that did match almost perfectly, I cut a white mat layer and coloured the edge with the pen, let it dry and then matted my image panel.
     Once the panel was on a white card blank it needed a big greeting, a die cut would work well as it would sit across the layers happily. I cut one in white and coloured it with the same pen as the mat but it was too dull, so a quick rummage through the mirri card draw and a nice dark blue mirri greeting was ready. I saw somebody showing a tip for adding glue to a thin die cut, but sadly I don't remember who. Put some PVA on the back of your hand and dab the die cut over it to pick up a light coating before putting it on the card, it saves glue splodges oozing out when you press it down.
     A simple monochrome card suitable for a man and thin enough for posting. Making one card a month for is not going to get my stash built up very quickly, so starting next month I will try to make a batch of cards for each challenge to be blogged throughout the month.
     Please come and join us at Christmas At Sweet Stampin' with your seasonal creations, if you haven't seen all the DT inspiration then pop over and take a look.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

ABC Christmas - Hang It Up/Intricate

The 12 Month's Of Christmas - Anything Goes/optional Fairies

The Holly and Ivy - Anything Goes

Curious March Hare

     Some of you may know my thoughts on rabbits, so it's a good thing this one is a hare! These stamps are gorgeous and being silhouette they are perfect when you've made a special background.

     Another background made with the amazing splodge and Distress Oxides, Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac and Broken China on white card.
     I stamped the hare, tree branch and fairy in Versafine black and set it aside for a few days while I had a think about mat layer colours.
     I die cut the image with my largest square die and then used a punch to take off the corners, I was going to cut this one out as a circle but I hadn't used a large enough piece of card.
     A little Broken China around the edge knocked back the white a little before going on a black mat layer. At this point I decided it was a bit too open in the bottom left corner and as I didn't want to add a greeting I went for some flowers instead.

     I found the perfect card to mat the next layer but as I only have a couple of sheets I though it would be good to cut out the centre and keep it for another project, once layered up you can't tell it's missing!
    To stay with the colour theme I die cut some tiny flowers in lilac card, shaped them and added them to the tree branch, with a tiny purple gem in each flower my card was complete.
     This one will sit in my card box until required, only then will a greeting be added inside.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Cardz 4 Galz - March Hares     (Spotlight winner)

Die Cuttin' Divas - Cherry Blossom or Pink

Addicted To Stamps - Spring

Splat Cat

     I know, another splat card, I can't promise not to post more but I will try and show some other work too....honest. This one is for a friends special birthday, let's just say it's a bit of a Saga and today's the day, it was delivered last night so it's alright to post now.

     Using my stamp platform and my splat stamp I inked up with Distress Oxides, spritzed with water containing pearl mica powder and stamped.
     A lot of my friends are cat lovers, as am I, so it just had to be one of Lavinia's silhouette cats. As he seems to be looking up, a tree branch with a tiny fairy squatting on it completed the picture.
     A little colour added to the edge after rounding the corners knocked back the white and a black mat layer makes the silhouettes stand out.
     A gorgeous lilac Stardust card layer was added before going on to a white card blank to finish off. There is no greeting on the outside as I felt the image was enough on it's own, there is a short message inside but that's staying a secret.
 

   


 Another of our group has made the cake so I have made a small needle felted cat to go on top. By the time this is published the cake will be gone, but hopefully the cat will have survived. This little fellow is my third felting project so he's quite basic, if I progress with felting I hope to make another cat or two.
   

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Show Us Your Pussycats - Anything Goes/St.Catricks Day

   Little Red Wagon - Animals

Dream Valley - 4 Legged Friends

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

     I am pleased to say that I am now a member of the Design Team for Christmas At sweet Stampin', which means that at least once per month I can bring you a festive project. Please don't groan, I know it's only February, but if you start now you'll have everything sorted by December!

      I have used the splodge stamp quite a few times recently but that's because it's such a great stamp for backgrounds, especially with Distress Oxide Inks,it's from Inkylicious.
      The inks were dabbed direct from the pad across the stamp, then spritzed with water to make it all run and blend a little before being stamped on to good quality card. The card needs to be quite thick as the moisture will make it buckle a little.
      Once dry I used a white paint pen and tapped it hard while holding it over the image, this made lots of tiny white stars. The large star was stamped and embossed in silver.
      The stag is a Lavinia Stamps image stamped in Versafine black, using a stamp press really helps with silhouette images as you can go over them several times to get a perfectly solid black image.
      I haven't added a greeting to the outside of the card as I feel it doesn't need it, plus I have some friends who like to frame their cards and adding a seasonal greeting would limit when they could display it.
      Please pop over to CASS to see all the lovely DT inspiration, I'm so happy to be part of this team and looking forward to having lots of Christmas cards and decorations made before we reach December.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round - Carols and Songs
Winter Wonderland - Anything Christmas for Eileen
The 12 Months of Christmas - Anything Christmas, optional penguins
CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas, optional cute
The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas