Hummingbirds and Leafy Column

So who has got their heating back on then??  Pretty chilly for the middle of May, but it will all be okay soon because I am going to a Clarity workshop in Cowden next week and it has always been lovely weather in previous years, so I am very hopeful....  Not that it matters a bit what the weather is like, I am soooo excited about going, I just love meeting up with Barbara and Dave and all the wonderful Clarity team and all the lovely ladies who attend regularly and have become friends.
This card is another sample for the Clarity show on HSE 24.  I love both these stamps, so had a good time doing this card!  I also used pan pastels and gilding flakes, two of my favourite products!

• I did the three background strips as one piece and cut it into three
• Using a palette of red pan pastels, shade an A5 piece of linen effect cardstock from dark to light
• Fix with hairspray or fixative
• When dry, stamp randomly with the leafy column using currant Adirondack ink
• Cut into three strips and trim to size.
• Mat each strip onto gold card, then onto a square of black card
• For the main image, prepare another piece of linen card with the pan pastels, and stamp the hummingbirds with currant, emboss with holographic powder
• Here's the tricky bit - cut out the circle background round the birds
• Stick a piece of double sided adhesive on the back of the card, so the circle is sticky from the front
• Apply gilding flakes and scrub with a sponge to remove excess flakes
• Trim the card to size and mat on to gold, then black card
• Stamp the edge of the base card with the leafy column in currant, (I used the third generation to give a more faded look)
• Arrange all the bits on the base card
• To add a finishing touch, I added dots of gold using a gold leaf pen

Did I mention that it was the Clarity workshop next week....?
Janet xx

Spring has sprung at last!

Hello bloggers!

Well, it is a beautiful day here in rural Norfolk.  The sun is shining (after a shower of rain!), the birds are twittering away and all the doors are open.  I have spotted the first few house martins around, I always love it when they are here!
In honour of all of the above, I thought I would share a 'Spring' ATC I made recently.

  An ATC is an Artist's Trading Card. It has to be 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size and you have to trade it rather than sell it - other than that, you can do what you like!
For this one, I coloured the card first with yellow and green pan pastels.
Stamp the sheep into place - I had to mask one of the little ones and stamp the one behind it.
Rub out the colour from the sheep , so they are white, rather than green, then fix with hairspray (or proper fixative!)
Cut out masks for all the sheep and position carefully
Add the hills by using a torn paper mask and 'Meadow' adirondack ink, then stamped the tree (one of my favourites!) into place, also stamp the edges of the tree round the edges of the ATC to look like bushes
Stamp the word 'spring' from the remountable seasons set and the bird into place
The sheep are from the Remountable farm set

Pan Pastel Tree

This is another card I did for the workshop on Saturday, using Pan Pastels with a lovely Dreamweaver stencil



 

I used Pan Pastels to do both the background and

the main image.

• Tear a piece of white linen effect cardstock, so it is a bit bigger than the stencil
• Place the Cypress Tree stencil in the centre of the card and emboss (I use a Grand Calibur)
• Remove the stencil and using a pale colour Pan Pastel, colour the centre area, it is easier to do this now rather than later
• Replace the stencil and sponge some Versa Mark ink through the gaps
• Leave the stencil in place, then sponge a mixture of green, brown and red pan pastels through the gaps
• Lift the stencil and shade round the edges with pan pastels
• To create the 'ground' tear a piece of paper and place it so you can add shade under the bark of the tree
• Remove the paper and fix with hairspray
• Mat on to a torn piece of white linen cardstock, then onto green and finally the white base card
• Add card candy
• There you have it - a nice simple card!
• Enjoy your weekend xx 







Cards from Diva Red workshop on Saturday 6th April

So this is my first blog - how exciting! 

Obviously I have to post a picture of a card!!  Inspired by a lovely lady, Eileen Godwin, these were done for the Diva Red workshop I run with my crafty friend Moira.  They are very easy to do,

•  blend pan pastels over some lovely linen effect cardstock
• fix with cheap hairspray.
•  Stamp the Cherry Blossom Claritystamp with versamark  and emboss with black powder (remember to use something anti-static first)
• Colour in the blossom with an opaque white pen
• Attach butterflies with a brad.  The butterflies are dies from Spellbinders
• Mat onto black card, then onto the white base card
• Voila!