October issue of Craft Stamper

Yesterday my issue arrived of the October issue of Craft Stamper and guess what??? My project is the star of the cover!!!

Here is a sneaky peek of what my project inside is all about - intaglio shrink plastic. Intaglio shrink plastic is where you stamp into the shrink plastic whilst it is still hot and molten to create a textured piece of plastic. Never ever do this with clear stamps though - only rubber ones. You will find that you get the best results when you use deeply etched stamps which is why the Aspects of Design range from The Stamp Man is so good for this technique - their deeply etched stamps are second to none.

Anyway to find out more about intaglio shrink plastic you'll need to buy the October issue of Craft Stamper!!

Three Little Tiles All In A Row

Oops - sorry guys!! I was just too tired yesterday to post anything up as I had a really full day. I will tell you soon exactly what has been keeping me SO busy now that it is all done with!

Meanwhile here is another of those Craft Barn Extravaganza cards. I know that I mentioned about posting up those Glitter Pot class cards but I still haven't had time to load them up - once I have I will start posting them - promise!!

Anyway this card was made using the Funky Flowers and Fancy Flourishes stamp sets along with some Arabella Basic Grey paper along the bottom of the card. The flowers were stamped onto frosted shrink plastic, coloured and then shrunk down.

Don't forget that my blog candy ends at midnight tomorrow so you still have time to enter!!

Butterfly Card from The Craft Barn's Summer Extravaganza

Hi Everyone. I don't think that I have shown you this card but if I am duplicating myself I do apologise!! Things here are mega busy at the moment so I don't have time to check!!

A quick posting this time I'm afraid. The butterflies are from the Funky Frames stamp sheet and that fine flourish is from the Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet. The butterflies are also on textured shrink plastic that was heated and shrunk first with a different flourish then stamped into it whilst it was still hot - one of my favourite techniques infact with shrink plastic.

I'll try and post again tomorrow............

Tangerine Dream

Here's another one of those tall slim cards with shrink plastic flowers and that Arabella Basic Grey paper. The flowers (from the Funky Flowers stamp sheet) were stamped onto frosted shrink plastic and coloured using Coloursoft pencils and then shrunk.

The paper was of course embellished using different flourish stamps from Fancy Flourishes.

All products are available from The Craft Barn and the stamps are available from either The Craft Barn or The Stamp Man.

Shrunk flowers

Good morning. My thanks to those of you who have left me such lovely comments over the past couple of days. I am still really busy so haven't had the time to reply to them but be assured that I am reading them and that they mean a lot to me!!

Anyway with that said here is another of those Craft Barn cards made with the Funky Flowers and Fancy Flourishes stamp sheets. As you can see this time I stamped the flowers onto frosted shrink plastic using Graphite Black Brilliance. I did all my stamping and colouring (using Coloursoft pencils) on the frosted side and then shrunk them down. They actually shrink down to quite a nice size.

The background paper is that Arabella one again from Basic Grey with flourishes stamped over the top of it and around the edge. I really like decorating my background papers in this way. Being a stamper first and foremost, using background papers is a bit alien to me but being able to decorate them somehow makes them more appealing to me!!

Tall Dragonflies/Butterflies

My thanks to everyone who commented on yesterdays card - you seemed to really like that one!

For this card I stamped the backing paper (Basic Grey) using one of my flourish stamps and then added small strips of the same backing paper and stamped the wording onto them. Both the wording and the flourish came from the Fancy Flourish stamp sheet. The dragonflies/butterflies (from the Funky Frames stamp sheet) were coloured using Coloursoft pencils and Sansador and the shrink plastic tiles behind them were stamped with one of the flourish stamps.

All the materials used on this card are available from The Craft Barn and the stamp sheets can be purchased from either The Craft Barn or The Stamp Man.

Mini Dragonfly Card

Good morning. So here is another of those mini cards that will be winging its way to Jill very shortly. The scanned in image has come out darker than it is in real life and again has not picked up the glitter both on the dragonfly and the background. The dragonfly is from the Funky Frames stamp sheet and the wording and flourishes are from the Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet. The background paper is by Basic Grey and I just embellished it using different flourishes and inkpads. The tile behind the dragonfly is made from clear shrink plastic. I stamped into it while it was still hot with one of the flourish stamps to give it texture. The dragonfly was coloured with Coloursoft pencils, Sansador and paper stumps.

All the materials used are available from The Craft Barn and the stamps are available from both The Stamp Man and The Craft Barn.

The Last Of The Penny Black cards!

Morning Guys. I get the impression from your comments yesterday that you all think I'm a little bit mad!! Well what can I say apart from sometimes needs must! I don't normally take my crafting out and about with me but I just couldn't bear the fact that I would be wasting valuable time. Anyway I got all the cutting out done that I took with me to do so I was quite pleased with that. (If I got any strange looks from anyone I didn't notice as I was too busy with my head down cutting away!!) My hair is now chopped and judging by the amount that was on the floor it is a wonder I have any left - it definitely isn't thick and heavy any more!

Anyway onto the very last of those Penny Black cards. I have saved my favourite to last!! I think that I like this one the best because it is in my favourite colour scheme as well as having my favourite Penny Black flower stamp (of the moment) on it. Also I went back to stamping my own backgrounds for this card with just an odd strip here and there of a MME background paper.

The flowers and the shrink plastic butterfly were coloured with the Coloursoft pencils and Sansador. The butterfly is from the Stampendous Flutterfly Friends clear set and all the other stamps you see on the card are by Penny Black. I hope you like it!

Internet Explorer Is Driving Me Crazy!!

Thank goodness there are other internet based programmes out there because at the moment me and Internet Explorer are most definitely not friends!! Nearly every time I try and use it, it decides to shut down on me - hence my post being rather late today!

And it is yet another shrink plastic card - see I was a very busy bunny!! All stamps on this one are by Penny Black and the papers are by My Minds Eye. Again not my normal colour scheme but this one reminds me of autumn because of the reds, greens and oranges.

Meanwhile I hope that everyone out there is having more luck than me at the moment with surfing the internet. Everything was fine until I downloaded Internet Explorer 8 - that was my downfall I think!

And Some More Penny Black!

As you will have probably gathered by now I ended up doing quite a few cards for that Glitter Pot demo day as here is yet another one from that weekend. The flowers were stamped onto shrink plastic, coloured with the Coloursoft pencils and shrunk down. The stripey paper is by Daisy Bucket. More my normal type of colour scheme this time too!

Mini Flowers

Apparently it is a lovely bright and warm day out there this morning,here on the south east coast. However I wouldn't know much about that as I have lots to do (yet again!) over the next few days.

I have finished the cards for my workshop at Stamp Addicts but am still working on some sample cards for their demo day. Sarah kindly sent me some new colouring pencils to play with and they are really nice. The only thing I have against them at the moment is that the colours are a bit limited as there is no purple, lilac, pale pinks, or aqua colours!!! This most definitely needs sorting out I think!! The colours that are in the set though blend beautifully and glide onto the paper. I will load up some samples using them once I've completed a few.


Meanwhile the card today is one that I did for The Glitter Pot's demo day using those Penny Black stamps. This particular flower stamp is most definitely my favourite at the moment along of course with that background stamp. The flowers were stamped onto the frosted side of the shrink plastic and coloured with Coloursoft pencils before shrinking it down. The papers (which I am sure you must recognise by now!) are by My Minds Eye. All available from The Glitter Pot.

And More Penny Black

Here's another card usinng Penny Black flowers and frosted shrink plastic. The shrink plastic was shrunk first then the flowers were stamped using Brilliance Starlight black to keep it 'soft' looking. Colouring was done with Coloursoft pencils, Sansador and paper stumps. Papers are by My Minds Eye and all stamps are by Penny Black.

A Buzzy Bee

Here's the second card that we made in the afternoon class on Saturday. It is a really sweet little card, as like the one I showed you the other day it is only 10x10cm once folded. I've used the same Penny Black background stamp that you have been seeing for several days now and the bee and wording is from that Stampendous Flutterfly Friends clear stamp set. You can't tell from this photo but behind the bee is a piece of clear shrink plastic that I stamped with the background stamp with white StazOn and then stuck to dark green card. The papers are by My Minds Eye.

Pink and Green Dragonflies

Morning. Here is a picture of the card that we made on Saturday afternoon at The Glitter Pot. Behind each of the dragonflies there is a textured piece of clear shrink plastic that is achieved using the intaglio technique. (Can't tell you anything more on how to do it, for now, as it isn't fair to those that booked on the class. However I will be doing a feature on this technique in the October issue of Craft Stamper so keep a look out for that to learn more.)

The papers are by My Minds Eye, the dragonflies you will probably recognise as I have used them before - they are from the Stampendous Flutterfly Friends clear stamp set and the wording and background stamp are by Penny Black. Everything can be purchased from The Glitter Pot.

So tired!!

Morning everyone - well it is just about still morning as I begin typing this! I am SO tired this morning that it is taking me forever to do things. Yesterday's classes were really quite hectic as they were both full as well as being fairly challenging. I think that everyone really liked the technique that we covered in the afternoon class using the clear shrink plastic. (I'll post that card up tomorrow for you to see.)

Meanwhile here is the second smaller card from the morning class - no-one actually got to make this card although several people did make a start on it and went away with the components to finish it at home. It is only 10x10cm once folded but makes a really sweet little card to give to someone. The flowers and background stamp are by Penny Black and the 'dreams' wording is from the Flutterfly Friends clear stamp set by Stampendous. The green paper is by My Minds Eye and the stripey paper is by Daisy Bucket all of which can be purchased from The Glitter Pot.

Shrink Plastic Class

Tomorrow I am at The Glitter Pot all day teaching classes on shrink plastic which is definitely one of my favourite mediums to work with. When I first started using shrink plastic (many years ago!!) I couldn't get on with it at all. It wasn't until I tried using a different heat gun (the white one that looks like a hairdryer) that it all came together for me and I haven't looked back since. I still don't get on very well using the long heat guns with the plastic as I find that they are too fierce.

Anyway I am digressing! The card I've posted up today is one that we will be making in the morning using Penny Black flowers and that Penny Black background stamp (that I keep using on all my cards). The little shrunken bees in the punched out flowers are from the Flutterfly Friends stamp set by Stampendous. The stripey background paper is by Daisy Bucket and the leaves are by My Minds Eye. All of these things are available from The Glitter Pot.

And More Penny Black Flowers!

Oops I'm a bit late posting again today as I have been a busy bunny.

Anyway here is another card from when I was demoing the other weekend using those same Penny Black stamps. I am fairly certain that the background papers are all by My Minds Eye and the rest was stamped using the Penny Black Srolling Along background stamp which I just LOVE! I don't normally put blue and green together but I think it turned out quite well.

More Penny Black Flowers

Morning everyone. Well the stamp sheets didn't make it in time for the Port Sunlight show but hopefully it won't be too much longer and then Jill will pop them up on The Stamp Man's website for you to see.

Meanwhile just to prove that I have been making cards here is one of the cards that I was able to take with me the other weekend to The Glitter Pot's demo weekend. All the stamps are by Penny Black and the background papers are by My Minds Eye. The green panel at the top of the card was stamped with the Penny Black Scrolling Along stamp in both Versamark Dazzle and Brilliance Starlite Black. The Starlite Black is a soft black so isn't so harsh - I used this same inkpad to stamp in the corners of the flower panel too. A bit of a different colour scheme for me as I normally go for cool colours so I hope you like it!

Penny Black Flowers

Oh dear another late post!! I did have good intentions but have been SO busy beavering away! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow..........

Meanwhile here is another card from last weekend. All the stamps are by Penny Black and the papers are by My Minds Eye and are from The Glitter Pot. The butterflies (in the flowers that you can't see very well from this scanned image!) are from the Stampendous Flutterfly Friends stamp sheet.

Flutterfly Friends

Oh dear!! I had meant to post much earlier than this but I am still trying to play catch up!

This card is one of my Glitter Pot demo ones using clear shrink plastic behind each of the butterflies. The butterflies and bees are off of the same clear stamp sheet by Stampendous called Flutterfly Friends and the swirly background stamp is by Penny Black. Background papers and stamps are all available from The Glitter Pot.

Gotta go as have SO much to do...............