Monster hugs

Hello everyone,

On the last day of the year, I have another AALL & Create project to share and this time it is a card.
I love going back to older stamp sets and that is what I did for today and combined it with one of Bipasha's fabulous new dies.

Here's how: 

First I cut out this die called 'cells'; I used white card stock. 

I first printed this circle Gelli plate onto a card panel with turquoise paint, sorry no picture but it is just a blue circle. I then brayered white acrylic paint onto my gel plate and put the die cut on top. I put it front down because I want it to be legible after printing. I rolled the brayer over a few more times to remove some of the paint.

When I took the die cut off, this is what it looked like. 

I then printed it on top of my turquoise base layer. 

I rolled some of the same paint over the die cut and cut it down to use on my card as well. 

I added some stamping on my circle. I also doodled around the circle with a black pen. 

Next I stamped this cutie and coloured him. 

Work in progress... 

After I finished colouring I added some white highlights and cut him and his hat out. These pieces are going to be combined to finish the card. 

And here it is.

I have used the following AALL & Create products:

Die #14 - Cells by Bipasha Bk

Stamp set #53 (Monsters) by Olga Heldwein

Stamp set #211 Count on you by Aida Domisiewicz

for more information about the AALL & Create products  and a worldwide list of stockists, please visit:

www.aallandcreate.com/boutique 

Thank you for stopping by today ! 

Embrace imperfection

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my blog!

I hope you have had a fab Christmas Day with lots of pressies and lovely food !

Today I am sharing another project I made for AALL & Create and this time I decorated a paint brush.

This was fun to make and here is how I did it:

First I die cut this fab numbered strip with one of Bipasha Bk's fabulous dies. 

I cut the die cut in half and removed the pieces I didn't want. I then glued half to the front and half to the back of the brush. Before I started this project I brushed the hairs of the brush with gel medium to make them a little stiffer so it is easier to work with. 

Next I painted the brush with acrylic paints, using my favourite colours again ! 

After painting I used some antiquing cream from DecoArt to darken the numbers in the die cut. When this had dried I put a layer of mat varnish over the top because this stuff keeps reacting with water if you don't. Next I heat embossed the stem of the brush and added some modelling paste through this cool stencil, choosing the word 'create' on the front and.... 

...a random shape on the back. 

I then added some stamping.

Next I stamped the elements I wanted to use to decorate the brush. I also stamped a tiny piece of pencil with the word butterfly. I painted the pencil before I stamped it, using the same paint as on the brush. 

I inked the edges of the brush with Archival Jet Black ink and added my elements and threaded some ribbon through the hole in the top. I think it turned out super cute! 

Here's a pic of the back. 

Some close ups... 

For this project I used :

Die #12 - Code - by Bipasha Bk

Stencil #2 - Olga Heldwein

Stamp set #45 - Tracy Evans

Stamp set #46 - Tracy Evans

Stamp set #125 - For the record - Aida Domisiewicz

For more information about all the fabulous AALL & Create products please visit:

www.aallandcreate.com/boutique

Thank you very much for stopping by today !

This week at Vera Lane Studio

Hello everyone,

and Happy Thursday to you! Or should I say Happy Boxing Day! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas with lots of pressies and lovely food !
For today's Vera Lane Studio project I have made a card and a postcard.

I used a home made star stencil to make the background. I then placed one of the 'holiday monsters' on it and added some washi tape. The sentiment is of a different set called 'Treena'. 

You'll find 'Holiday monsters' HERE.

'Treena' HERE.

and the last card for this year is this card. I wish you all the best for the new year, good health, lots of lovely crafting and whatever else you wish for! 

I used the Mix 'n Match Vases for this card and simply added the 'new year' to the bottom. I also used my homemade stencil again and a little piece of design paper. The 'flowers' and the vase were coloured with Copic Markers. 

You'll find the Mix 'n Match vases HERE.

Thank you very much for all your support over the last year ! 

Strange things, weird people

Hello everyone,

for today's VivaLasVegaStamps! blogpost I have made a postcard.

and here's how:

I used Distress Oxide Inks to create this background. I smooshed them onto my craft mat and then sprayed with water. The paper was then dunked in it. I used watercolour paper. 

After it drieD I used a Tim Holtz stencil and some white paint to add some interest. 

Next I randomly stamped the background with two different stamps. (A list of all the stamps I used is at the bottom of this blogpost). 

Next i stamped my main image; on the card and on a piece of watercolour card stock. I also stamped the sentiment. I used the same paper to avoid colour differences. 

I used watercolour markers to colour in the images, no water. I just blended the colours with each other. 

I added the sentiment, doodled under the strips with a black pen and added a postage stamp. I then used the postcard stamp again but just the part with the circular postmarks. 

I have used the following VLVS! stamps:

4596 - postcard 

19931 - postcard ATC size

17660 - Steampunk couple

20228 - Spend your life

Other materials:

Distress Oxide inks, Broken China, Carved Pumpkin and Mustard seed

Stencil Cargo THS001 by Tim Holtz

Amsterdam Acrylics, Titanium White

Archival inks, Chrome Yellow, Tiger Lily and Aquamarine

Memento Ink, London Fog

Versafine Clair, Nocturne

White and black pens

a postage stamp

Thank you so much for stopping by today !

Tring tring

Hello everyone,

Today's AALL & Create post is a card. I had to use Bipasha's fabulous stamps again because I simply love them. Also this colour scheme is great I think.

Here's how,

First I made a background. I used a technique that I learned from Jo Rice's Hochanda show where she used a brayer to ink the gelli plate with Distress Oxide Inks and then dripped some water on it. I used Broken China, Crushed Olive and Mustard Seed and took a print. This piece of paper is just under 

5" x 7". 

Next I stamped part of this fabulous stamp on my card. 

Next I used some more of Bipasha's stamp to use as collage elements. I coloured them with my Copic Markers; at this stage I wasn't sure which pieces I was going to use. 

And this is the result. I didn't use the telephone handset but did use the birds. I also added the back wheel which I stamped again on a piece of card that was made with the gelliplate in the same way. I also added a smidge of orange in the left bottom corner so it balanced better in my opinion. Lastly I added some white splatters, matted it on black card stock and adhered it my my 5"x7" card. 

I have used: 

Stamp set #237 - Phonebooth elements by Bipasha Bk

#228 - Postbox & Phonelines by Bipasha Bk

#144 - Farmhouse tales by Bipasha Bk

For more information about all the AALL & Create products including a complete list of worldwide stockists, please visit:

www.aallandcreate.com/boutique

Thank you for stopping by today !

Shine brightly

Hello everyone,

For my second inspiration piece for the 'Stars' Challenge over at Country View Challenges this month,  I have made an Art Journal spread. I bought a new journal and was keen to try it out. I decided it is OK but the pages are a little thin.

So I gessoed them before I started. 

I stamped the stars with VersaMark ink and heat embossed them, then added the colour, background stamping and the edging of the page with acrylic paint. 

Lastly I added the photo and the sentiment. 

I have of course a YouTube video where you can see how I made it. 

You can also click HERE to go straight to YouTube. 

We would love it if you could play along with us and make something starry! Please do read the rules first though. You'll find them HERE. 

Thank you for stopping by today ! 

This week at Vera Lane Studio

Hello everyone,

and Happy Thursday !

For today's Vera Lane Studio project I have made a postcard and an ATC.

Meet Princess Leia ! How cute is she... 

I have printed her, coloured her with Copics (after some research on internet as I have never seen Starwars) and cut her out. The background was a try out for a journal spread I did at the beginning of the month with some of Janet's new stamps. I liked it and didn't want to throw it away. 

I glued the princess down and added the sentiment. 

You will find "Princess Leia and Yoda" HERE. 

This little girl is trying to stay warm. She was coloured with Copic Markers, cut out and placed in a background from my stash. I added a piece of book paper for her to stand on. 

You will find 'Warm and cozy' HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today ! 

A small tag book for AALL & Create

Hello everyone,

For today's Guest Designpost for AALL & Create I have made a small book out or a tag that I cut out of Mixed Media paper.

Here is how:

This is the outside of the tag, I used my sewing machine to add a piece of MM paper on the inside. You can't see that here. I painted the outside with turquoise and white paint and then added some printing with this fab stencil ! 

I did the same to the inside of the tag. For the little piece of paper inside I used different colours. This is a combination of inks and paint. 

I added stamping, birds at the top and a little train at the bottom. I later coloured these of course. I used Faber Castell Big Brush Markers for this because they work fabulously on painted backgrounds.  

I stamped these little 'Dog toys' to colour and use as my main images. 

All finished colouring; I used Copic Markers to colour these, I then cut them out. 

I added a little background stamping and glued this little cutie on the front. 

On the inside page, I placed the other three dog toys and added some stamping and some hearts. 

The sentiment is on the outside of the page that I put in the tag. 

Close ups of the right hand page. 

And the left hand page. 

I have used :

Stamp set #249 - Dog toys by Janet Klein

Stamp set #76 - Classic Caravan by Bipasha Bk

Stamp set #144 - Farmhouse tales by Bipasha Bk

Stamp set #234 - Brush Flower by Tracy Evans

Stencil #45 - Digital Bubbles by Autour de Maw

For more information about all the fabulous AALL & Create products and a list of worldwide stockists, please visit: 

www.aallandcreate.com/boutique

Thank you for stopping by today !