Adding a little metal - SSS Challenge

Time I  rejoined the crafting world I think!

Well my goodness it has been a while! As promised, we did move and we moved to Germany. I would like to say that the trip went smoothly but that would be the worst of lies and to be honest, the challenges are ongoing and with no real end in sight - the result of moving anywhere with a very old person I am afraid. However, I cannot praise my new countrymen enough. They are helpful and good natured and really go out of their way to make things better if they can.

A view from our house through the village.

However, I am still pleased that we made the decision and that Germany was the winner. It really is the most beautiful country in my eyes.

The sunsets from our bedroom are something worth seeing!

We have bought a beautiful 119 year old farmhouse in the German countryside and we have bags of room so I can feel myself spreading out.

Springtime and our house in the background.

I am waiting for the day that the challenges ease up a bit so that we can enjoy this beautiful part of the world.
Of course a certain little someone is enjoying it all immensely...

Naturally nose in the air (default position) and sunning herself on the terrace!

Cannot beat breakfast on the terrace.

Our garden is really taking off and I am loving the discovery of all the hidden plants emerging.

It is all just a bit much to take in! But as you can see, it is a bit nice here.

I love piling on the details.

But enough about that for the time being. I thought that it was high time that I joined in with another Simon Says Stamp Challenge. I love them and I have missed taking part. This week is all about adding something metallic - as a die hard metal fan, I could not pass that one up! So my lovelies, here it is......

So many people are doing lovely things for us at the moment, I needed more thank you cards!

I wanted to make something with a summery feel this time. My natural inclination is to Halloween and Christmas and to be honest, I really struggle with Spring and Summer themes.
Because of the theme of this week's challenge and because of the beautiful new(ish) rose gold and copper kraft core from Tim Holtz, I decided to start there and create an 3D embossed panel...

The trend right now is to leave the threads loose and tangled.

A frame came next and the centre was cut out with the largest of the Deckle dies from Sizzix.
Naturally I sanded it all (you know me) and then I stitched it with black thread.

Love that antique distressed look.

I splattered it with dark brown acrylic paint too and allowed it to dry. 

always, but always have a spare bit of card handy to mop up the excess. This can be put aside for another project - like money in the bank!

The next step was to create a background. This is a big card (A5) and the lovely Tim Holtz papers do not quite span the card. Oxides to the rescue! I started with old paper and antique linen, went on to shabby shutters and then finished with stormy sky.

Coming together now!

I stitched the front panels onto the background and trimmed it to fit the card. 

NOTHING finishes a card for me like stitching.

I adore this film strip too so some of that went next. I cut a scrap of lace from the background offcut too using the lovely new Sizzix 'Crochet' die from Tim Holtz. It adds texture and because it is the same as the background, it pulls it all together.

Adding another colour in at this point may have been too much.

Time to build the floral bit. I cut a frame from rose gold metallic card stock and glued it to a piece of grey board. This is one of the new seasons dies from Sizzix too. It is a steel rule Bigz die so it cuts through the thicker stuff effortlessly.

Lay some leaves onto the panel before you put the frame on to add depth.

I went to my stash of greenery for the leaves and used a mixture of everything. I have a tute for these leaves here. It is actually an Autumn leaf one but the technique is exactly the same for green leaves. Have a play. Get your favourite greens going. 

I used a dimensional foam to give the daisies some lift - and never glue down the whole flower! Just the centres will do and it makes the project look a lot better. Not so flat.

All that was left for this bit was to choose some flowers. I love these daisies from the Wildflower Stems #1 set (Sizzix). I used only the heads and coloured the centres with Distress ink in mustard seed and wild honey. I came back in with some Distress markers and added some dots around the base of the centres for more depth. Let me know if you would like a tute to show you how to do this.

Of course no self respecting bouquet is complete without filler flowers so I used some of those from my stash box.

When you get a moment, make some little blooms and blossoms from your paper offcuts and put them in a handy box. You will be pleased that you did!

This little guy was goíng to be an insect - a bee or similar but it just didn't look right so I thought about a little fairy child instead. Acetate wings from Ideology and a paper doll and Wham!- success! I used dimensional foam to put him on too.

You NEED a packet of these fairy wings!

I love the way that the paper dolls have different poses. You can usually find the perfect one.

Don't worry if some of the label is hidden - you really want those layers happening so tuck things in behind other things and watch the magic happen.

One of the last things to do was to make a label to say thank you - Sizzix Alphanumeric label is the die that you are looking for. And I have gone over to using double sided adhesive sheet to make the letters. SO much easier than messing around with glue! An A4 sheet lasts for ages and I use my Sizzix Side Kick because it is also less fiddly.

The daisies needed some work!

I really wasn't happy with the flatness of the daisies so I went back in with a water brush and some weathered wood Distress Ink and shaded the petals. All of a sudden the card popped!

And that's it guys! I do hope that you like it. It felt funny to be crafting again after so many months without my things while we were moving.

There will be more fairies in the future!

Its all about the texture and the layers.

See you next time!
Love and hugs
Debbie
xx

Have Scraps? Make Flowers!

Hi all and a very Happy New Year to you!

Well it is the time of year (for me at least) where I look at my significant stash and wonder how to make sense of it all - actually I am a neat freak and I need order. So this time, I spent some time in the plastic box named paper scraps. Yes, plastic box and, yes, labelled.

Flowers are one of the most useful and popular elements for any sort of papercraft project and they are really easy to make.

But you will need a few basic things. Firstly, some sort of die cutter really cuts down time as well as paper....oh dear, let me continue. I love my Big Shot from Sizzix and the dies are great too. Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals die is always pressed into service but I have collected a huge range (as you do) of other dies and punches too. Find the ones that you like and build a collection which works for you.

Next, you need a ball tool. This is an oversized stylus with two different shaped balls, one at each end and it is a tool beloved of suger crafters and polymer clay artists. It is also great for shaping paper flowers.

A hot glue gun is the next must have. My Dremel has made the job of making flowers a breeze. Get plenty of glue sticks in too. Running out is awful!

Finally, save your paper bits. There is no such thing as waste in a proper craft room. Increasingly smaller pieces of paper or fabric can be used for all sorts of things. Buy yourself a plastic box.....

Okay, how do we make flowers? The first thing is to cut out the shapes in whatever colours you have and whichever shapes take your fancy.

Now glue them together in various ways. Please note that although single coloured flowers are needed in many cases, it is quite alright to create your own colours and textures. Look at what is left over and try stuff. If it doesn't work, try other stuff.

Although a flat layer of progressively smaller flower shapes will look a bit like a flower, it is actually boring. Have a look and see what I mean.....

Flat and boring. This is where the shaping tool comes into its own. Place the flower in the palm of your hand and push the ball tool into the middle. Scrunch the petals around the tool and crease the petals up a bit.
Now look at the difference!

Seee what I mean? Here is another from a slightly different angle....

Now good results are obtained by shaping the whole flower at the one time but even better is to scrunch a petal layer at a time. And try this too - wet the petals with a fine water mister, scrunch them and leave to dry. Now open  them out again and you will have some really great textures. One caveat however, please remember that you are dealing with paper here and it is very fragile, especially when wet so treat it gently.

Go mad! Make fantasy flowers - they are not meant to be immediately recognisable by a botanist. They are flowers and they are all beautiful. Take a look at my garden.

As you see, variety is beautiful and these are like money in the bank when you are crafting. Remember to make different sizes too and try out some buds here and there. Put them in their own plastic box....labelled paper flowers and use them with impunity when crafting - they sell on eBay too.

Well happy crafting and thank you for stopping by.
Debs
xxx