OUR WINNER!

EXMOUTH TOWN CRIER picked the winner of our £50 voucher competition on Saturday!  The winner is Mrs J Stacey of Cardiff.
CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs Stacey who said " I really look forward to spending the voucher on my next visit to JAPONICA! Thank you"
Many thanks to Roger our town crier for "crying" the winner for us outside JAPONICA - what a voice!!!

Embossed Effects



Aged Hunter Green emb.powder

The detail of the Aged Powders has really workd well with these stamp.  The tree is by Hobby art - available on cling now.  And here is St Nick - again in Scarlet!   I have added a background of "PONDEROSA PINE" (Magenta) printed in Versafine Vintage Sepia for a varied textured background.  The wired Gold ribbon bow matches the Gold layering that brings out the little glimpse of gold in the Aged powders perfectly.

Aged Scarlet St Nick - again!

Aged Aqua Poinsettia

This New Clear set by Woodware has stamped really well with these Aged powders - again.  This Aqua is a lovely shade - so I have set it off with gems from an asst pk in my "stash".   Add a lovely sentiment (Hoby Art) and an Organza bow - the job is done!

Using 2 colours of embossing powder

Stampendous make some lovely sets of powders - 5 in a box for around £9.  This set is called MERLOT - Wild Plum, Pomegranite, Grape, Lettuce & Mushroom!  On the pink card I have used Grape and Wild Plum for the tree and for the message (By Stampendous).  On the purple card I have used Lettuce and Grape for the tree and themessage (Hobby Art). Layer to match and trim corners using a large corner punch for a different look - these make very simple cards for anyone who wants to practise their embossing and have a bit of fun with colours!

SATURDAYS DEMO IS ON "ENAMELLING" - 10.30 til 3.30 at JAPONICA - Exmouth. 
AWARD-WINNING CRAFT RETAILER!

Frantage boxes Demo

Snow Village Scene Box

I have been inspired by a design of box by Fran Seiford from Stampendous that I made with her in September-so here is my own idea using a Village Scene stamp.  Print onto white card, using  Versafine Onyx Black inkpad.  Add coloured pencils...then Cear emboss (I used Crystal by Stampendous -it is very sparkly).  The plain wooden box was covered with clear embossing ink and covered with Aged Aqua embossing powder.  Heat to finish.   Add clear ink to edges of box lid, add Aqua powder, & heat to finish.  Glue card panel securely to top of box.   Add clear ink to surrounding edges, and add more Aqua powder to "FRAME" the card panel on top of box! 

Box Lid

 This Santa - from Hobby Art St Nick set makes a lovely box too.  Same technique - but different colours!  I could not resist the Aged Scarlet embossing powder - very apt don't you think?  I printed him with Crimson Red Versafine inkpad - a perfect red for this image. I have added some Crushed Ice and Tea stained Mica flakes to the corners for extra texture.

St Nick Box with Aged Scarlet embossing powder!

Here you can see the full box and how good the wooden sides of the box take the embossing powder.   This could be adapted for any time of the year!

BLACK MAGIC TECHNIQUE CLASS!

Close-up of Liquid Pearl detail

Tree & Baubles Doodles set



BLACK MAGIC in October!  I wanted to use this method because some of the NEW stamps out this season, really were very suitable for this technique.  It is important to choose solid or semi slid stamps for this technique as the larger areas of white print allow more pencil colour to be added.

1.  Print with a White Chalk inkpad (Versamagic-Cloud white -Dewdrop
      is only £1.70). Allow to dry.
2.  Use Watercolour (or very soft)pencils, to colour in areas - I like to keep to
     1 or 2 colours and match with white/coloured layering to
      match. (you will find they will sit on top of the matte finish of chalk
      inkpads very easily!
3.   NOW THE FUN!   Embellish with Liquid pearls or Stickles to enhance  some areas as you wish.


Large Doodle Tree

The Big Tree in this Doodle Tree - all done with Pinks - very pretty.  You can see how the Pink penicl sits well and the Liquid Pearl really enhances this print. I have added an extra layer of White and Pink onto a white card - the extra white really makes it stand out well!
The pink Spotty ribbon is just the finishing touch - and I have added this to the spine of the card in quite an extravagant way!

Jade Green has been used on this Poinsettia card -along with dark reds to create a very different look for his POinsettia set of stamps.
All of the small stamps have been used to create a festive ad interesting border too -check out theHollyberries, leaves, birds etc.
Jade Green ribbon has also been added tomathc the layering. The message is also from this same set of stamps.
ALL OF THE ABOVE STAMPS WERE FROM CLEAR STAMPS by WOODWARE CRAFT COLLECTION - All in stock at Japonica now -with even more ideas and samples to inspire you this Christmas season!

Thank you stopping by my blog.


Black Magic Poinsettias

Bella on a Bauble!

Bella is one of Wild Rose Studios latest releases for Christmas - she is quite adorable too.  Thsi is my favourite!

To this easel card I added a Holly frame.  Bella is coloured usign Pearl _Exx pallette (Pastelle).  Silver peel-off stickers have been added to the message ledge (it holds the easel in place!)

There is an embossed panel on the inside here that shows throughtthe acetate half od the card front.  I have added die cut Happy Christmas - a lovely script!  Again Bella is coloured using Pearl paints -lovely shades of pinks and lavenders go well with the baby elephant grey!

 

This elegant embossed panel is a folder by Crafts-too!  My message is merely a Peel-Off sticker on a gold panel - very easy to do  but looks good with this embossed panel.  I have put gols metal dots on the extravagant ribbon for a luxurious look.   Have you fallen in love with Bella yet??

Christmas Poinsettias

 Thursday FREE demo in JAPONICA!   Punch Craft Christmas Flowers & Leaves
I love this Poinsettia -it is made froma Christmas tree punch, punch 16 and trim away spikes - leaving the perfect point and length youneed for each petal(or bract).  I have shaded a little - I like to use Gold Brilliance ink on this ivory pearlescent paper..  I have used papers form a range by Wild Rose Studios- Annabelles Christmas - a great range of classic colours and seasonal designs.  I have made Holly branches from a few Green foil paper Holly leaves (1" punch) put together onto a stem!

This Ivoy Poinsettia has a moremodern look with its bright pinks/lavenders - but festive nevertheless!  I have used the 2" Holly leaf.


I love the ivory flowers - but I just have to make a red one too!! Very classical - again with lovely papers from Wild Rose Studios Annabelles Christmas range.  The " holly kleaf punch in silver makes a lovely addition to this design.  I have just added veins to the leaves using a needle tool. Small details can make a big difference can't they? 

Inspired by...

This week was soo busy with driving to Thame on Monday to do workshops with the "Woodware" team.  Debbie and I had a great day out and came back very inspired by all the new stamps & products we used.  The food and the company was excellent too.  What a day!

In my demo this week I found myself using my favourite stamp - Snowy Postcard by Stampendous.  I eventually made up my mind which was my favourite -there are so many lovely new stamps out.
Here are my Vintagey Christmas cards - I hope you like them.  Leave a message if you do to show there is someone out there!

In Thame on Monday Fran Seiford (Stampendous) used the same stamp for her box - it was a lovely finished product. Here is the box I made with Fran....

And here is the Holly Basket one I made later at JAPONICAS demo morning!   Holly Basket is also a Stampendous stamp - I love this one too - I will be using it in my workshop on Friday.

I added some wired silver ribbon to this one - the little wooden boxes are in stock in Japonica - (£3.50 lg and £2.50 sml.).  They would make lovely trinket boxes for Christmas.

Christmas card "Make & Take"

I did a "Make & Take" at the Glenorchy Church hall today with lots of lovely crafty folk. 

We coloured our prints with coloured pencils and then covered the image with Double sided adhesive sheet -then for the magic!  We covered the area with Crystal glitter for that WOW factor!  A very simple technique -but a lovely finish to suit all abilities.  The results were all beautiful - well done ladies!

Winter Bunnies Nestling together (Stampendous cling stamps)

 

Winter Chapel - (Stampendous)

 

The Make & Take session was part of the Festival to celebrate the opening of the NEW refurbishment that has been taking place over the last few months in the Church hall where I hold my workshops.  

A theme of blue and yellows in the hall give a seasdie feel to this lovely hall in our seaside town of Exmouth.

The Christmas card that my ladies made had a very sparkly, frosty theme and all were made beautifully, as you can see from the photo. Claire, Liz, Ann, Bernice and Lee-anne made lovely cards this morning-and got covered in glitter -as you do!!

 This stamp is a NEW clear singles (Woodware) and the 25 has been decoupaged to the sticky surface befreo add ign the fianl glitter layer as before.  A white organza bow just dresses the card to finish it.

Using Sakura Glaze pens with glitter

POTS TRIO in black peel-off stickers.

 Attach the Black peel-Of stickers to the acetate card. 
ON THE BACK of acetate, add colour with the Sakura gelly roll GLAZE pens.  Colour an area and then add crystal glitter, then colour an area NOT next to that area and add glitter again.  This method will not be hurried -so be patient.  Colours will run into each other when wet!  I have allowed te blues on the leaves to run so it adds depth to my colours.  I used my favourite colours for this - 3 blues (Sapphire, navy and aqua) and white for these pots. 



Stylised Flowers for someone special!

Same method - backed with white card to the inside of the acetate card and then with a complimentary colour onto the back part of the card -for my message.

Keeping the glittered area on the back of the acetate leaves a shiny glitzy clean finish to the front of the card - allow to dry thoroughly for 30 -60 minutes.

Butterfly was placed onto a spare bit of acetate and allowed to dry thoroughly before cutting out and attaching to top of my design.  (a Didi glue dot is best for this)







BELLS TRIO

 

A DINGLY DANGLY BELL

I have cut a square window in this square card for my Christmas Bell to dangle in!  The surrounding area was decorated with small Peel-Offs from the same sheet (Noel and extra holly berries & leaves).  I have coloured the Leaves with green glaze pen and added trios of red dots to fill in space.  These pens work really well for this!   A bit of practise is all it needs - just 3 little dots!

Workshops & Courses Sept/Oct 2012

ALL of my courses are bookable in advance - a deposit of £5 will secure your place. 
No more than 12 per class. 
Mre information - just telephone me 01395-271739 or message me via e-mail.

3 session course -STAMPING TECHNIQUES

Sat 15th Sept -     PRINTING, MASKING & BACKGROUNDS

Sat 13th Oct  -     EMBOSSING for a perfect finish

Sat 10th Nov -    COLOURING TECHNIQUES &generally getting the best out of your stamped images.

ALL 3 SESSIONS 9.30 to 12.30 =  £30. 

FREE "MAKE & TAKE"   Wed 12th Sept 10 to 12noon

AT Glenorchy United Reformed Church.

A opportunity to make a card using paper-craft tecniques with Jan Caudrelier as part of Glenorchys festival to  celebrate the opening of their newly refurbished areas. Just pop in to participate!

WORKSHOPS with Jan -Daytimes or Evenings

FRIDAY SEPT 21st -     CHRISTMAS ASSORTMENT    10-4pm  £17.50

We will make a variety of cards using a wide variety of trends-Easel, Tent, Screen cards -all using Stamping with Cuttlebug Folders and dies for our layouts. (You willnot need your own Cuttlebug for this class -but do feel free to bring yours along if you wish).

WED SEPT 26th      USING FRANTAGE   7-9.30pm   £10

Frantage is the NEW Vintage embossing powders by Stampendous.  I shall use specific stamps that really allow the Frantage to enhance their images to the best advantage. The Crushesd Ice is my favourite so far.

Mon OCTOBER 1st        BLACK MAGIC TECHNIQUE  10am to 12.30pm   £10

We will use whit eink and watercolour pencils for this tchnique to create some lovley effects.

NB Please bring WATERCOLOUR pencils if you have them.

and in the afternoon....

Mon OCTOBER 1st       EMBOSSING IN WHITE  1.30 to 4pm   £10

Embossing in white can create some stunning effects used with coloured card.  Hee are a few ideas using NEW seasons stamps.

Mon OCTOBER 8th      PAPER PIECING   10 to 4pm   £17.50

Paper piecing (NOT piercing!) is an interesting way to use some of the lovely papers that are around.  Woodware have some NEW design stamps that will be perfect for this technique too! (I sometimes call this "colouring-in with papers!")

Lilies in Paper and Vellum

Lilies in Basket

My demo in JAPONICA this week was all about Punch craft.

These lilies are made from the small Lilium Feathers punch by Leone Em. I used pink paper -shaded with a darker pink.

The Basket is a die-cut looking very contemporary in white -but cuts equally well in cork sheet -very "basketty". 

I have used a 1" punch by Woodware - Monstera leaf -as I like the round shape of this hot house leaf with a Lily -it works well in green vellum too.
TOP TIP - If you do not have lots of colours of vellum - use white vellum and swipe a BRILLIANCE inkpad over it - let it dry before punching it.  BRILLIANCE dries very well in Vellum and comes in lovely colours -shads of green are particularly good.


Close up of stamens



Close up of support in green.

The close up shows the stamens inside the Lily.

The support for the flower head allows flower to remain erect on the card and not flatten.




Large Lilies in Vellum


These Lilies were made in white vellum coloured with a BRILLIANCE inkpad -Yellow and Coral. 
The large Lilium Feathers punch by Leone Em was used for these flowers.  Cream vellum is the overlay background on the long white card and the Lilies have been "tied" into a bunch with Ivory Organza ribbon. The Monstera leaf adds another shape to this bunch too -all in green vellums.

* NEXT weeks FREE demo in JAPONICA is USING SAKURA GELLY ROLL GLAZE PENS with GLITTER. 
Thursday morn 10-30 til 12.30.

Close up of larger  lily in vellum

Hobby Art Scenes 'a La Janet'

My demo in JAPONICA last week was all about scenes! This set has a mixture of scenes already made in it so it was very simple to use.  (Scene-it Toppers).  They were all gently coloured with soft pencils ( I use the Sakura ones as they blend really well) onto linen card for extra texture.  I took my green shades from the paper I chose for my layout in this simple screen card.  All the messages came from a set designed specially for landscape and seaside designs.  A screen type card is a good way of using small scenes to incorporate into a bigger card.  Larger scenes are much more difficult to create - so I don't do them much bigger - ever!

This stamp is just 1 large stamp -Tuscany - but I have covered the foreground with Lavender Magic Soft to make it look like a lavender field for a change!  Usually this design is seen with sunflowers in the foreground!

Autumn Scene-It, was the set used for this design. 

TOP TIP 1- Use the printed acetate sheet in the set to help create your scene by placing it over our prints to see if you have room for the next tree or house etc..
All the scene has been printed with black Versafine inkpad and then coloured with Tombow pens (on an acrylic block, ink being picked up using a brush and water). 

TOP TIP 2- Look for opportunities or colour as often scenes can be drab wth lots of green and brown, such as the poppies in th foreground to add that touch of colour. 

I have added Glossy Accent to the red petals to make them more prominent. The layering in red and then black makes these red poppie stand out even more too.  Again the scene-it messages are perfect for this scene. "The Earth laughs in flowers!"  The tiny decoupaged butterflies are from two accents in the message set and painted wth Tombow pens, just to add a tiny embellishment that is appropriate to the design. 

Stampendous Roses

I decided to use this fabulous large Roses set by Stampendous for my Demo instore last Thursday as I feel that often folk are a little shy of using bloomin' great stamps...and these are!  I love the cling rubber style stamps asyou have the best of all - hand cut rubber dies, mounted onto a cushion for easy stamping - easy to use and easy to store.  My favourite.  Stampendous have lots of lovely large sets (£13.20) for 2 large stamps - lots in stock at Japonica -with even more samples to see.
The thing you have to remember with using  a large stamp is to inkup well with a good inkpad -my favourtes are Brilliance or Versafine as both give good detail. 

    I used Onyx Black Versafine and embossed my outline with clear embossing powder first of all.   I printed the same image onto cream SHRINKLES using a black Stazon inkpad.  For colouring I used sponge dauber to pick up ink from ikpad and sponge gently onto both card and cream Shrink plastic as I used BRILLIANCE  Rocket red gold and Pearlscent Olive - both of these will dry on both surfaces and will ensure the colours match when used together on a card like this.  The colouring effect was a soft haze of colour rather than precise colouring-in - very easy to do with a little practise.

The roses on this Funny fold card were printed as before and embossed. I used Pearl paints -A Mica Pallette -Pastelle (by US Artquest), for the colouring, layered onto pink Pearl card and then onto the main card of Ivory pearl. The colours I used were a pastel pink and a grey green for the leaves.  All of this Pearl gives a very luxurious finish. This card was made from an A4 size card and will need a DL envelope.

 This a colour variation on the above card -just to show how you could use the same rose -but create 3 different panels for a smaller card (A5).  I used more bronze & golden tones with sage greens for this card.  All of the colours came from the same palette of pearl paints!  The wording stamp (Love is Patient...) is by Hobby Art and makes a lovely background to these rose anniversary cards. This is also available as a cling rubber stamp now at £5.50.

A Paper Anniversary

This is a boxful of Greetings cards made for a 1st (Paper) Anniversary.  The box of 15 square cards are very simple and uncluttered designs.  The  cards include some Birthdays, Thank you, Anniversary & Best Wishes for a young couple to use.  They are so busy these days that I thought a box of handmade cards would be quite useful-and of course it is PAPER!        

The 3-D butterfly is a favourite Peel-Off and makes a very pretty card.  All of the cards are 125mms square and have insert papers in them printed with an appropriate message. 

I have made use of Cuttlebug embossing folders too to create interesting but simple backgrounds and layers for the designs.   Organza ribbon adds a soft finishing touch to most of these cards too, with Diamond  Stickles added at the very end-so it cannot be smudged!

The box lid was made from a silver foiled wedding 12 x 12 paper I had, and i tied organza ribbon around it and added a simple tag in the colourscheme of their Wedding Day to finish it off.

TOP TIP - A box of handmade greetings cards can be a welcome gift for many occasions - some one who is busy working, or housebound or disabled would enjoy giving handmade cards.  You could add a book of stamps and a special pen to complete the gift too!

PEEL-OFF STICKERS for special occasions!

This weeks demo in JAPONICA on Peel-Offs came in very handy for me as I needed to make 2 cards for very special occasions!    So here is a card for Jane -my very best friend has just moved -so she will probably see this before Mr Postie delivers it!  Happy New Home Jane!

I used black Peel -off stickers (Francoise Collection - Woodware) and painted it with Pearl-Exe pallettes.  Some items are cut out and mounted onto card using 3-d foam pads to create my "street".  I hope Jane likes it and will be very contented in her new "pad".

My next special occasion was a Diamond Wedding anniversary. Some very dear friends of ours Stuart & Shelagh celebrated on Sunday at Courtlands in Lympstone with all their friends and family!  We had a wonderful day...and were fed royally too.  We wish the Happy Couple many more years together too.  Bless you both.
Here is my card for them - I used Jane Gills Bubbles Peel-off sticker in silver and added lots of sparkly bits.  The blue area is Pearl Ex paint - adding a luxurious touch to the fnished card.  The border has some sparkly flourishes over it - and  I added a personal greeting inside.

PEEL-OFFS are so under rated -but some very classy cards can be made using them with a little ingenuity.   

Jans shading with pencils

This weeks FREE demo in JAPONICA was all about shading with pencils ...and Peel-Off stickers.  Some stickers with larger spaces to colour-in can be a bit dauntng - so here are some tips on how to get the best results using this shading technique.

TOP TIP no 1 - Really rub on the back of the Peel-Off to stick it down well, so the pencils tip does not shift it!
TOP TIP no 2 - Choose your colours well 2-3 shades.
TOP TIP no 3 - Use good quality pencils as they blend better.  (I use Sakura Bruynzeel -all available at JAPONICA -boxed sets or sold  inidividually - 48 fab colours that blend really well)

3 colours used for this one - red, peach and brown!

Pink and Magenta for the next one...

Start at tip of flower - using a strong colour - and "feather" the colour down the area.  Use the same colour at opposite end of shape (or use a 2nd colour if wanting to use 3 colours total).  Then add another colour to the central area -shading over the 1st (and 2nd) colour -to blend - you will get an interesting shaded area of colour!
I hope you like these simple cards.  I have tried to show you quite an assortment of colours that have shaded well together.   The colours I used are all labelled on the samples in store. 

Blue, grey and white for the Elelgant dress...

and then Lavender and Pastel pink with an orange background for this neat flower..