A Quick and Simple card

 

Hi There! I am here with a super quick and easy card for you today using today's and yesterday's January Savers. 

I began by placing the scales inkable over a 6x6 white card blank and blended teal, yellow and magenta ink through using blending brushes.

Next I stamped the larger flower from blooming blooms, and a smaller one either side of it, using Versafine Clair ink.

Using a 0.05 micron pen, I extended the stem to the bottom edge of the card.

I coloured the flowers using ecoline brush pens. 

I created a border around the card using the small squiggle from Blooming Blooms. 

Finally I stamped the sentiment from ticker tape 4 onto a scrap of card and cut it out, attaching it to the card using 3d foam pads.

Here is the finished card again.

I used:

6x6" card blank

Scales 6x6 inkable

water based dye ink in teal, yellow and magenta (Memento or Distress ink will both work)

Blooming Blooms stamp set

Micron pen

Black Versafine Clair ink

Ecoline markers

Ticker Tape 4 stamp set

3d foam pads

I do love a card that comes together as quickly as that did! Thanks for looking and don't forget to check out todays final January saver!

Hey, Sunshine!

Hi There! Thought I would share a super quick but colourful card with you that will brighten the dullest of days.

I began by blending 3 shades of distress oxides through the inkable on to an ivory deckle edged card. 

On a piece of card, I stamped the Doodle Art rainbow bird in Black versafine clair and coloured it by painting with Dina Wakley gloss drops.

Next I die cut a circle from ivory card and stamped it with the circles stamp from Journal art Elements 3 using spiced marmalade distress oxide ink. 

I attached this to the centre of the card using foam pads, adding the bird on the top. I added the sentiment in versafine clair ink.

Finally I added a few dayglow highlights using Gelly Roll moonlight pens.

Here is the finished card again.

I used:

6x6" ivory card blank

Big ones inkable - egg timers

Distress oxide inks in Twisted citron, mustard seed and spiced marmalade

rainbow birds stamp set

Black Versafine Clair ink

Dina Wakley Gloss drops

Journal Art Elements 3 stamp set

Mixed messages 4 stamp set

Gelly Roll Moonlight pens

Today's January savers are the fabulous mdf journals that you can find here . I will be live on the Bee Crafty Facebook page at 8pm this evening, so I hope you can join me. Thanks for looking! 

Let Them Stare Journal Page

Hi There! I am sharing with you how I made this journal spread today, but it is a long one so grab yourself a cuppa and take a look! 
 

I began by stamping just the face and neck of Dream onto stamping tissue using Versafine Clair ink.

I used a wet paint brush to remove the excess tissue and create a feathered edge to the image.

Using drops of dylusions paint in peony blush and desert sand, I mixed a skin tone shade and painted it over the bottom right corner of the page in my dylusions mini journal. 

I used blue lagoon, periwinkle and laidback lilac to add colour to the rest of the page in vertical and horizontal blocks. 

Once this was dry, I dry brushed over most of the page using white gesso, with some heavier and lighter patches.  

I used matte medium to add the stamped face to the skin tone area and left to dry.

Next I used the paints, a white gel pen and a coloured pencil to add some more detail to the face.

I painted a scrap piece of card using all the paints except for Desert Sand and left it to dry. 

Back on the journal page I used the Squircles Grande Inkable to add some patches of Villainous potion Distress oxide. 

I used the same ink to add some stamping using Journal Art Elements #2.

Now the painted card was dry, I stamped 2 different sizes of flowers from the Dandedaisy set using black versafine clair ink and cut them out. 

I also stamped and cut out the sentiment from Mixed messages 4.

I added the sentiment and the flowers (for her hair) to the page using matte medium and added some white highlights with the gel pen. 

A final splatter of white ink and it was finished...

And here's a close up. 

I used:

Dylusions mini journal

Dream Bundle (today's January Saver featuring Dream, Journal Art Elements #2 and handwritten words)

Versafine Clair Nocturne and Twilight

Bee Crafty Stamping Tissue

Dylusions paints in Peony Blush, Desert Sand, Blue Lagoon, Laidback Lilac and Periwinkle

White Gesso

White gel pen

Pencil crayons

Matte Medium

Inkable Grande - Squircles

Distress oxide inks in Villainous potion, Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch

Dandedaisy stamp set

Mixed messages #4 stamp set

White Linen Dylusions spray

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed seeing how I did it. 

Don't forget that we have the 3bs challenge and the alter a playing card challenge over in the Bee Crafty stamps Facebook group. There are also January savers every day this month, to chase away the January blues!  

Time for a change

 

It's a very long time since I shared anything that wasn't a craft tutorial or samples but I thought I would take a moment to let you know a bit of news.

The end of 2023 was very hectic with highs and lows. There was the GKR karate nationals in November, Black Belt grading in December. I gained a silver medal for kata and a bronze for kumite at Nationals and then was awarded my second Dan (Nidan) at grading. Never in a thousand years would I have thought I could achieve so much in Karate, and I am eternally grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way. 

It is truly humbling to see how much love and support comes from my Karate family, both instructors and students alike.  I feel very much valued and appreciated. 

When Steve's Dad passed away only a few weeks off his 103rd birthday it wasn't really a surprise, but when Mark (63) passed only days later it was both shocking and thought provoking. If there was one thing to take from it, it was that life is too short, and to be stuck doing things that you no longer love was wasting it. After some soul searching, I decided that after 4 years it was time to step down from the Crafty Individuals DT. In the early days I loved their stamps so much, but as time has gone on I was struggling to find the inspiration to work with the more recent designs. I don't intend joining any other DTs but am very very happy doing what I am doing with Bee Crafty. Bev and Sam have been so very kind and supportive and crafting with their products is my happy place. 

Some more positives that came out of 2023 were re-connecting with my cousins. As the 'baby' of the family I have 5 female cousins who are all older than me and some I hadn't seen since I was about 5! 

I also spent a few weekends in May and June looking for wild orchids at various sites around Notts with a very knowledgeable horticultural friend, and hope to do more in 2024. My other project is going to be turning most of the vegetable patch at the bottom of the garden into a woodland garden. The trees have grown a lot since we moved in 24 years ago! 

I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends who need some support, like Dad, who will be 95 next month, and a close friend who is recently bereaved. 

Now life is as normal as it is going to be post-pandemic, I want to enjoy my retirement a bit more. During lockdown we got into the habit of doing an hours bird watch in the garden once a month. This fell by the wayside in the past 6 months, but we will make time for it once more. I am also looking forward to spending more time and head space keeping fit and healthy, going out walking and of course continuing with my karate. 

Anyway, that is enough from me for now. Hope your 2024 is full of things you love. 

New Year, New Journal

 

Hi There! Thought I would share my first completed page in my new journal today. It's a Dylusions mini journal, although this page would work equally well in any A5 notebook or sketchbook

I began by adding random patches of magenta and ocean acrylic paint to a double page. I used some Dina Wakley paints that need using up, but Dylusions paints in Blue Hawaiian and Bubblegum pink would give a similar effect. Where the paints mix they are a fabulous purple colour. I purposefully left the top left corner colour free as a place to put the sentiment.

I taped the chrysanthemum 6x6 inkable in the bottom right corner and added black gesso through it with a stencil brush. I removed the inkable carefully and left the page to dry.

Next I added a stem to the chrysanthemum, using a black sharpie pen and painted the top left corner with white gesso. I extended this gesso very lightly across the pink and blue areas and left to dry. 

Once the paint was completely dry I used wilted violet distress oxide through the circles D'inkable over the paler areas.

I used distress oxide inks to stamp some of the Doodle Art mandalas over the background. 

whilst the stamping dried I stamped two of the sentiments from mixed messages #1 onto a scrap of thin card using versafine clair inks and cut them out

I added these to the page using matte medium and added a little texture paste through the small dots D'inkable. 

Here is the finished page once more...

and here is a close up to show the stamping and texture. 

I used:

Dylusions mini journal

Acrylic paint 

6x6 inkable - Chrysanthemum

Black gesso

White gesso

Dinkables sets 2 and 3

Doodle Art Mandalas sets 1 and 2

Distress oxide inks in Tumbled Glass. Salty Ocean, Shaded Lilac and Wilted violet

Mixed messages set 1

Versafine clair ink in Monarch and Fantasia

Matte Medium

Texture paste

It was really lovely to just play in my journal and make a good start on this new one that has been lying here since I finished the previous one back in September. I will be live on the Bee Crafty facebook page tonight at 8pm. Hope you can join me!

Thanks for looking!