UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE - by Fran Chalmers

Hi everyone!

Today I have made a quick celebration card for you.

 To create the background I got Distress Oxides in Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed and dragged them over the card at an angle of 45 degrees to create three stripes.

To give the background some more texture, I used the corner of a background stamp with the three different oxide colours.

I stamped my main image three times on some thick paper, coloured them and fussy cut them out (which was a bit of a task in itself!)  I coloured the stars on the hats with gold glitter pen.

I stuck the three cut out images onto the card,  and stamped the sentiment black ink.

I mounted it on black card to finish it off.

Stamps Used:

Dictionary Page 19015

Whimsical Star Hat Lady 19526

Until further notice 19172

Other items used:

Distress Oxides in Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade

Versafine Clair ink in Nocturn

Watercolour pencils

Clear Wink of Stella

Gold glitter pen

Charcoal pencil for shadows

Black card

See you next time!

"Is it Wine o'clock yet?" - by Fran Chalmers

Hi everyone!

Today I have made a card which reflects how I've been feeling this week, lol!

To make the background I smooshed Distress Oxide ink in Seedless Preserves and water onto some card.

Once it was dry, I inked the clockface in Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide, then spritzed it with water before stamping it onto the card to give a blurry image.  I dried it with a heat gun.

I stamped my main image on some thick paper with Versafine Clair in Nocturn, coloured it and fussy cut it out.

I stamped a few background stamps in Seedless Preserves to give some texture, then stamped my sentiments and cut them out.  I glued the sentiments and image onto the card, went round the edge with a black marker pen and mounted onto card.

 

Stamps Used:

Screaming Lady 18765

Bloody Hell 20466

Is it wine o'clock yet 18567

Writing and scribbles collage 20695

Rows of Numbers 20170

Other items used:

Distress Oxide ink in Seedless Preserves

Versafine Clair Nocturn

Colouring pens

Black marker pen

See you next time!

TWO BUTTERFLY TAGS - by Fran Chalmers

Hi everyone!

Today I have made two small tags using the same stamps and similar colours, but they are quite different. I hope you like them.

 For the first tag, I made a background using Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch distress oxides, mixed with water on a mat.

I then stamped round the edge with Writing and Scibbles Collage stamp  in Versafine Clair Blue Belle to add some interest.

I then stamped the main image in Versafine Clair Nocturn in the centre of the tag.  I masked off the top butterfly so the image would fit on the tag!

I went round the edge of the tag with Wilted Violet Distress Oxide, and added some sequins to give some texture and sparkle.

With the second tag, I started by stamping the image onto white card with Versafine Clair Blue Belle. I then went round the edge with Distress Oxide in Tumbled Glass.

Again, I added some interest round the edge using the Writing and Scribbles Collage stamp, this time stamped in Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass  

I then added some splats in blue Posca pen, and went round the very edge with Distress Oxide in Blueprint Sketch. I also added some clear dew drop gems for some bling.

To finish both tags, I added some threads in coordinating colours.

Stamps Used:

Butterfly Specimens 19415

Writing and Scribbles Collage 20695

Other items used:

Distress oxides in Blueprint Sketch, Tumbled Glass, Wilted Violet, Salty |Ocean

Versafine Clair inks in Blue Belle and Nocturn

Blue Posca Pen

Sequins

Clear Dew Drop gems

Threads

See you next time!

CRAZY FRIENDS by Fran Chalmers

 Hello everyone!

Today I have made a simple postcard as I haven't been able to do much crafting due to illness.

First of all I smooshed a Distress Oxide background in Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber and Salty Ocean.

I added some interest to the background by using Blueprint Sketch through a stencil I had,

I also added some numbers and inked the edges in the same colour 

I stamped the main image in thick paper, and cut it out, leaving a white edge.  I decided not to colour the image as I thought it had more impact in black and white.

I added the sentiment, stamped onto card.

Stamps Used:

Five ladies 18537

If you have crazy 18569

Library return dates 20342

Other items used:

Distress Oxides in Blueprint Sketch, Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber, Salty Ocean

Versafine Clair ink in Nocturn

See you next time!

SPOOKY OLD HOUSE by Fran Chalmers

Happy Halloween everyone!

Today I have made a card topper/tag (I haven't decided yet!) which is a bit spooky!

First of all I blended my background with Distress Oxides in Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn and Wilted Violet.

 I then went round the edges with Element Ink in Dark Denim.

I used a moon mask and added the Dark Denim round the outside so the moon picked up the Twisted Citron underneath.  I then stamped the old house and coloured parts of it with a black pastel pencil.  I also used a bright yellow gel pen in the windows.

I added some tree branches round the edges and stamped the raven onto a piece of thick paper, and added Blueprint Sketch distress ink to the white parts (their feathers do have a bluish black tint, don't they!)

Once I had stuck the raven onto the tag, I used a Titanium White pan pastel to give the impression of mist.

As I haven't decided yet how to use this tag/topper, I didn't put any sentiment on it.  I quite like it without anything on it and I hope you do too!

Stamps Used:

Old House 19741

Raven Looking Up 20269

Weathered Tree 19467

Other Items Used:

Distress Oxides in Wilted Violet, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Blueprint Sketch

Versafine Clair in Nocturn

Elements Ink in Dark Denim

Black pastel pencil

Yellow gel pen

White Titanium pan pastel

See you next time!

ATCs WITH CHECKS AND PATTERNS by Fran Chalmers

Hello everyone!

Today I have made 3 ATCs.  I wanted to play with patterns, so the backgrounds and the stamps used all have patterns on them.

Firstly I made all my backgrounds using stencils from my stash and coloured with distress oxides.  I wanted the backgrounds to match the stamps I was using with them - for example, waves for the fish.

I stamped the images I wanted to use on thick paper and fussy cut them out.  You will notice that they all had black and white checks on them somewhere. I decided not to colour the images to give more impact.  

I edged each ATC with a pattern that echoed the pattern from the stencil using a black fine liner.  

I hope you like them!

Stamps Used:

Monkey in hat 19066

Sheep with Legs 19067

Whimsical checker fish 19528

Other Items Used:

Various stencils

Distress Oxides in Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilised Amber, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Salvaged Patina and Peacock Feathers

Black fine liner

Versafine Clair Nocturn