Ever have a project which has been lurking in your house for years? A forgotten project, once started, never finished? This was one of mine.
When I spent a year in France as part of my Uni degree Craig and I wrote letters to each other every week. I kept these all in a box along with some postcards and brochures etc from Lyon. When we moved into our previous house in 2009 I decided that i was going to make a mini book to hold all these items. I was going to make a video and I designed the whole thing and pre-cut all the papers and everything. Then I hit an issue. The video i was started was rubbish- the lighting was really bad, so much that the colours were not true and that bugged me soooooo badly. We also didn’t have a proper camera mount. Because of these things my inspiration flew out the window and hit itself in the face on the way out. I packed everything away together and then it lay in hibernation.
Fast forward. Geez, has it been three years?!
Then one day for no apparent reason, I did it!
I faced the giant and decided that it was GOING to GET MADE! I didn’t want to do a video any more, that ship had sailed, but it was silly having a half finished project staring at me all this time.
And here it is. And I LOVE IT! I like the design, (i wanted a vintage, timeless yet french inspired romantic feeling), I love the textures, I love the content, i love the story behind the project getting made and i love the fact that it is finished.
My bind it all had its work cut out for it because there were so many things to go in to the book. The final thing doesn’t even close properly but i don’t care. Because its done. and its great.
Do you have any projects which are dwelling on your mind? Go get inspired and face your own giant!
Today i’ve got a video for you, walking you through a little inking fun. I like to use white embossing powder to emboss a stamped image and then colour over it, as the white always pops out so vividly. I picked up this really yummy Penny Black stamp a little while ago and it is perfect for this technique.
I had fun making the video, I hope you enjoy watching it.
As for us, we are going to two summer fayres today. They promise me bouncy castles, BBQs, craft stalls, beer tents and car boot sales. I’ll let you take one guess at which one of those interests me the most! (and one guess to which interests Craig the most! ) LOL.
I’ve had a super weekend, but boy am I exhausted! Mum, Dad and my niece Bethany were over for a visit, and although the weekend was action packed, unfortunately I didn’t get to spend much time the craft room. So instead I’ve pulled out a photo of a card that I made a little while ago but still hadn’t gotten round to showing you yet. This isn’t my usual kinda bright and colourful style, but hey, we all need a break from the norm every now and again!
For this card I went for a more arty-farty kinda look, as I started by inking a page from an old french novel. Next I painted it with gesso to create a light background to stamp on. I purposely painted the gesso roughly, as I wanted a grungy look. Next I stamped a music background onto the paper, along with some flowers using distress ink. The torn edges give a more rustic feel, and I thought the gingham/ plaid paper worked really well as a vintage style background to use for matting and layering. No surprises that the text stamp is from Unity stamps, one of my many Kit of the Months. I just love how versatile these stamp kits are as they push the boundaries of my creative imagination in all sorts of directions.
HI there everyone, and welcome to another Miss You Monday post. I had lots of fun making this weeks card for Sarah. It started because I wanted to use up some of my scraps, and then I got so swept away in inspiration I ended up doing a little stamping, a little sewing, a little homemade-embellishment-making, a little distressing, and a little video-making!!
A few people have asked me what markers I use to colour the stamped images on my cards. I know that copic markers are all the rage right now, but i havent had the pleasure of playing with them yet (maybe when the bank balance allows). But I usually don’t use markers, but instead use my distress inks to colour in stamped images. As I had a few questions in relation to this, what better way to answer them than to show you in a little video…
So here it is: a video showing you a fun technique on how you can colour in stamped images with distress inks and a watercolour brush pen – that I have just discovered is called Aquaflo. These pens are likely the best £4 I have ever spent because i use them ALL the time!! Definitely a must-have tool in your crafting arsenal!
