This technique gives gorgeous results. I am always looking out for interesting ways to use my stencils and this one is very satisfying. The background is definitely the star here. Most important tip for using gilding flakes: close all the windows and do not sneeze! They are incredibly light and will go everywhere given the… Continue reading Gilding flake swirls
I think we're up to the eighth colouring challenge hosted by the inimitable Kathy Racoosin over at The Daily Marker. I still don't know how she manages it, even with the help of her team of Goodwill Ambassadors on Instagram. And this year she's doing a Coloring Challenge Road Trip as well! I shall be… Continue reading The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge
I'm used to using glossy accents to highlight eyes or make balloons shiny and things on that scale. I had never thought of using thin lines of it to create rain or water ripples though. For this card, I got out the pico embellisher instead of the glossy accents; it's much more liquid and comes… Continue reading Make a splash
My first mixed media canvas panel. I'm not sure what the original inspiration was, but I had the idea of standing inside a room looking through a window at the moon and once I had enough of a picture in my mind, I started creating it on canvas. The canvas is 8" square. Not huge,… Continue reading Shiny objects canvas
I finally had to stop procrastinating and actually get around to making a card for my other half's mum's birthday. I love colouring Power Poppy flowers. There's so much detail in the illustrations that I swear the end result would look gorgeous even if you just coloured it flat with no shading. But, of course,… Continue reading Rose and chamomile
Why do I always leave making cards for challenges until the end of the month? It's not making the cards that's the problem, it's not even getting the photographs done — I've got that workflow sorted — it's writing up the blog post to go with them. Actually, it's more the "thinking about writing the… Continue reading Cake Monster
I like foil and I like stencils, so how could I not pick up a pot of Deco Foil Transfer Gel when I saw one of my regular shops had it in stock. Rather than just grab a random stencil and quickly try it out, I thought I'd do a more thorough test with a… Continue reading Test: Deco Foil Transfer Gel
This was not planned. This was the result of having a strip of double-sided adhesive sheet and a bit of the rainbow foil left lying on my desk and my head already in glitter mode for the next Sparkle & Shine lessons. I stuck the adhesive strip to a scrap of card, applied the foil… Continue reading Glitter rainbow foil stripe
A friend of ours regularly buys techy stuff for himself only to turn around and sell it again shortly after; this inspired my other half to suggest that there should be a “for sale” sign somewhere on his birthday card. We had already decided there would be robots and this Lawn Fawn set has a… Continue reading Presents for sale
My first small batch of Christmas cards. I’m not sure how many I’ll make this year — I must sit down and work out how many I really need — but I think it will have to be fewer than I made last year. Either that or I need to get them all finished well… Continue reading Christmas town
I recently watched a review on YouTube comparing blending tools and I was so appalled at the results they were getting with the Ranger blending tool and Distress Oxides that I had to stop and go have a try — I have some oxides, but I hadn’t tried blending them yet… I am by no… Continue reading Test: Blending Distress Oxides
I love to try new crafty things. Whether it's following through on an idea that just popped into my head or being inspired by someone else's creation, stretching myself artistically or experimenting with a new technique, successful or not so much, it's all good fun 🙂 Nearly all of the cards I make are standard… Continue reading Napkin-fold card
I really must try to finish blogging the last of the cards I made for the Sparkle & Shine class; I got all the glittery ones done and then ran out of steam... So here goes with the first of the foiled cards. For this one, I used the balloon die cut left over from… Continue reading Rainbow foil balloon
We’re heading towards the end of yet another month so it’s time for another challenge card. After last month’s turtle, Gerda Steiner gave us a cute little mouse with a hoard of strawberries to colour. Inspired by the sketch challenge from Seven Hills Crafts, I thought I’d combine the two challenges and make a shaker… Continue reading Strawberry mouse shaker
It’s my other half’s birthday today, so of course I had to create something special and geeky for him. I returned to a common theme: Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Specifically, this time, the new ones where Gypsy appears as a silhouette on-screen and Tom Servo flies around occasionally rather than being stuck in the seats.… Continue reading MST3K: The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Crafty Rat 