Graveyard Ghouls

I couldn't resist buying the Ghoulish Googlies Bundle in the Holiday Catalogue. Only $30.95 for a set of 6 stamps, plus 20 tags, 10 glassine bags, 50 googly eyes and some twine...Bargain! I'm so glad I didn't resist, because I've had so much fun playing with it all. This was the first card I made with the set:

 

I used my brayer to create a spooky Rich Razzleberry sky, and created a Graveyard scene using the stamp set and a couple of punches to make gravestones. These guys are just too cute to be spooky!

Brayered Purple Sky

Who says the sky can't be purple?
A few of my ladies requested that I teach a brayering class this month, and since I am such an obliging person ;o), I was happy to! Here's what I came up with:

I brayered on Whisper White cardstock in Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant ink and then stamped the image from the My Friend stamp set in Black ink over the top.
The lovely sentiment is from the Blooming with Kindness stamp set, layered on punches and framelits.

Blog Candy Winner!

And the winner is......


A few of you had correct guesses, so well done, but the first correct answer was Liam on 15/8 at 5:43pm. Congratulations Liam, and thanks everyone for having a go!


Here is what I used to make this card:


Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Upsy Daisy, Fresh Cuts
ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Old Olive
card: Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Old Olive
other: White Gel Pen, Brayer, Kraft Taffeta Ribbon

This card was born when I was practising my brayering. I started brayering in Baja Breeze and built up the deeper colour with Not Quite Navy. I then stamped Upsy Daisy in Not Quite Navy, and outlined some of the stems with a White Gel pen. I mounted it on Not Quite Navy, which gave me a lovely panel that needed to be turned into a card. None of the colours that I tried it with worked, I think because I had made an in-between shade of "Not Quite Baja Breeze" with my brayering! I settled on Old Olive and a neutral, Sahara Sand, but it was one of those cards that just felt blah to me.
You were all so kind, saying that my card was fine as it was, but I really didn't like it! So rather than just making a few adjustments, I have given the card major surgery. I ripped off my brayered panel, tossed out the rest of the card, and started over.
This is what I came up with this time:

I'm still not 100% happy, but I think it's better...what do you think??

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Upsy Daisy, Oval All
ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Basic Grey
card: Basic Grey, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Urban Garden DSP
other: White Gel Pen, Brayer, Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon, Baja Breeze Double-Stitched Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Not Quite Navy Marker, Basic Grey Marker, sponge daubers

P.S Now I'd better go and pack!!! I'll be checking my emails while I'm away, and am still able to place orders, so let me know if you need anything :o)

The Big 200!

I told you a big number was coming up....well, it's 200! 200 subscribers to my blog, that is! I remember when I first started this blog, and I was talking to myself for quite some time. It's hard to believe that 200 people receive an email update when I post to my blog. I still sometimes feel like I am talking to myself, because not too many of you leave comments (thank you so much to those who do. I read every one of them, and I love hearing what you have to say. it always brightens my day).

I know one thing that gets the comments up....Blog Candy! I'm not going to make it too easy on you though! There's 2 parts to this one. Normally at the end of each post I write a full list of materials that I used to make the card. This time YOU have to write the list :o)
Leave a comment telling me everything I used to make this card:


Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: ??
ink: ??
card: ??
other: ??
You tell me!

This was the first card that I made with Upsy Daisy, and I dislike it so much that it has taken me this long to show it to you! That brings me to the second part of the Blog Candy. It's a Fixer-Upper....any ideas on how I can improve this card? Tell me your improvements and I'll take them on board and make the new improved version.
I will draw a winner from the correct entries, and they will receive the new, improved card, plus the "Fun Flowers" stamp (page 3 of the Spring Mini).
This is open to anyone in Australia, Demos included.
Good luck!

Always Sunset

Last month's technique class was masking, and this is the card we made....quite Zindorf-esque, I think! Michelle Zindorf is the master of brayering. Her work is stunning.
For those who don't know, a brayer is a rubber roller used to apply ink. It's an essential item in a stamper's toolbox, and can be used to get rainbow effects like this, as well as to apply ink evenly to large detailed stamps, to dye patterned paper a different colour, and lots more.
To get this look, we used gloss cardstock, and started by brayering the entire piece with More Mustard ink. You apply ink using a brayer by rolling backwards and forwards until the ink is even. I find gloss is a bit more forgiving to brayer on than regular cardstock.
I then stamped the bird from 'Always' in Elegant Eggplant ink, and masked him with a cut-out sticky note. Next I stamped the Baroque Motifs swirl in More Mustard ink. I then made a mask for the sun (just a 1 3/8" circle punched out of a Sticky note). Next I brayered with Really Rust ink, starting at the top of the card and working my way down as I rolled to get a blending effect. I did the same thing with Chocolate Chip on the bottom half. Then I removed the sun mask, and stamped the branches from Always on the right hand side.
The finishing touches are some black grosgrain ribbon on the left, with a Hodgepodge paperclip, and the sentiment is also inside a Hodgepodge frame.
'Always' is another gorgeous set that is only available until the end of this month!

Another Brayer Background

Yep, it's official...I definitely have the Brayer Bug. Watch out - I think it's contagious!
This time I steered away from my usual Blues and Greens and went for some earthy, autumnal colours instead. I inked up my Brayer in Sahara Sand first, and then inked one edge in More Mustard and the other in Really Rust. I sponged the colours on the Brayer to blend the colours (this helps prevent any lines). Then I brayered back and forth like mad on my Whisper White cardstock. I stamped Stem Silhouettes on top in Basic Black ink. It's hard to tell in the pic, but the Really Rust piece has been stamped with the Canvas Background in Versamark ink. I mounted it all on a Card base of Sahara Sand. Some Hemp Twine adds to the Rustic feel, and the sentiment is from All Year Cheer I.
I actually made this card for my sister who recently had to go to hospital with a broken ankle, but I didn't like it enough to give it to her, and I still haven't made her a replacement (even though she is now out of hospital and hobbling around on crutches!). Sorry Yvette!

On the Brayer Bandwagon!

There seem to be a lot of brayered sky backgrounds at the moment...blame Alisa...she started it! :-P
Here's my first attempt. I inked my brayer in Cool Caribbean, and then inked the top in Not Quite Navy and the bottom in Certainly Celery. I blended the ink a bit on the brayer with a sponge, and then wheeled back and forth like mad on my Whisper White cardstock until it looked the way I wanted it to!
Then I stamped 'Lovely as a Tree' in Basic Black ink on top. I've had this stamp set for a little while now, but this was it's first inking. I wanted a stamp set to challenge me, and this is a definite departure from my usual style. I don't like it yet, but maybe it will grow on me (trees grow, right?? ;-)
I mounted it on black, and then I had sooo much trouble finding the right colour to mat it on. The brayering had blended the colours and so nothing matched. It was a good reminder of what card-making used to be like pre-Stampin' Up! ....pulling out every single shade of blue, and still not finding the right one. I finally resorted to Sahara Sand. It's like a pair of beige pants...it goes with everything! I played around with stamped backgrounds and finally decided to leave it plain...still not sure if that was a good move or not. The base card is Cool Caribbean, with the edges sponged in Not Quite Navy.
Sometimes everything flows when I make a card, and sometimes it's like going swimsuit shopping....nothing seems to fit right *sigh*

More to resist!

Here we have a little 'Wild About You' Elephant showcasing the Emboss Resist technique. This card was inspired by Teneale. This is such a WOW technique!

First, I stamped Paisley Background onto Whisper White cardstock, then I clear-embossed the elephant on top. Then with a brayer, roll ink over the top of the whole shebang and wipe off excess ink with a tissue. I've stamped and cut out his ear separately, and I've also punched out an eye and stuck it on, and glossed it up with Crystal Effects. Some paper piercing, some slit punch scallops and some faux stitching finish him off. I love this Colour Combo!: Vintage Violet, Brocade Blue, Bordering Blue, Sage Shadow

I'm dying to show you the other 2 crabby cards I made yesterday, so I thought I'd show you the other resist card we did at my class and get it out of the way! This one is Versamark Resist. The photo doesn't show it off particularly well (click on it to get a closer look), but the bold flower/fern image was stamped in Versamark onto glossy cardstock and allowed to dry. Then Pale Plum ink was sponged over the top. Next, the bold and the outline images were over-stamped in Perfect Plum. You get a really dimensional effect. A greeting on the word window punch and a piece of Organdy Ribbon to finish it off.

More Crabbies tomorrow!

How could you resist?

Resist techniques, that is! I taught a class this week called "Ir-resist-able" and we did 3 resist techniques. This one is crayon resist, and we also did versamark resist and emboss resist. I'll show you those cards over the next couple of days. To make this card, stamp the leaf from 'Natural Beauty' in Chocolate Chip ink on a piece of white gloss cardstock. (I prefer to use a piece that's larger than I actually want it and then trim it to size. That way you avoid getting fingerprints which also resist the ink!). Next, colour the parts of the leaf that you want to remain white using an ordinary kids white crayon. The next step is to brayer ink from the 'Pumpkin Patch' Kaleidacolour inkpad onto your glossy card. Trim to size, embellish with gold organdy ribbon and Hodgepodge, and attach to a Chocolate Chip base card.