Mica Techniques Inspired by Jennifer McGuire

Evening All,

As you know I am a big fan of Jennifer McGuire, as are my littlest Grandchildren, so here are a few cards inspired by something that I saw on her blog a while ago. 

They were made for a class on Mica powders.

I love this dotty effect on the leaves.

I will have to try and find the post where Jennifer showed how to achieve this particular technique.

These were made during the same class using some Altenew stamps and a pearlized stamp layering technique.

I think this was the Mica Removal Technique, but I have found various clips on YouTube that Jennifer has done HERE. They are all fabulous, so settle yourself down with a cuppa and prepare to be inspired. The problem is then finding enough time to play.

Better get to bed, it back to work for me tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Stay safe and hugs

Kimx

A Blast from the Past - Retiform

Evening Everyone,

My good friend Gill Till has been doing a fabulous job just lately of reminding us of those much underused items that are languishing in our crafty stash, along with long forgotten techniques on her Way To Go Wednesday over on Facebook.

This week she has reminded me of an old technique that I taught her many years ago called Retiform.

It is a deceptively simple technique also known as the Grid technique owing to the lines/grids that are formed across the card.

It is actually a masking technique which is much easier to achieve than you might think at first glance.

It is also a great way to use lots of stamps on the one card.

I'm afraid that this card was rather hard to photograph as the masked panel has been heat embossed after all the sponging and stamping has been done.

I used large post it notes to mask off the various grids on the card which I then sponged with ink.

I'm having trouble describing exactly what to do, so I'm going to direct you to Google where there are loads of fabulous tutorials and Youtube clips.

I also used the Southwest corner punch and some threads on the Retiform panels.

I am one of those sad people that has kept a pictorial record of all the classes that I have taught over the years, 

and it goes right back to 2003!!! So you can see a few more of the cards that I have made using this masking technique.

When I first taught the Retiform technique I used it as a Part 3 in a series of masking classes.

Part 1 (Simple) was basic grid masking as on the top three, and bottom left hand cards. 

Part 2 (Medium) was Retiform masking over a complete stamped image, bottom middle card.

Part 3 (Hard) was Retiform masking to include a central panel and lots of stamps. Bottom right card.

I'm off to link this to Gill's Way to go Wednesday Facebook post, and remind her that I taught her this in April 2006!!!!!! Where did those years go to lol.

Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and craft.

Hugs Kimx

No Patterned Papers at CCM

Afternoon All,
Another Monday, and the start of a lovely new challenge at CCM where our host Dr Monika is looking for you to use 'No Patterned Papers' in your creations.

I have to say that this was an easy one for me since I love creating backgrounds as you know.

The hard part was choosing which card to share with you.
I decided on this one which was recently on the TV when my friend Jane Gill did her Woodware shows on Create and Craft.
I used Distress Oxides for the background using the 'Smack Down Technique' that I found on YouTube. The beautiful bird has also been coloured with Distress Oxides.

This card was also made using the same stamp set, only this time I just used one colour of Distress Oxide.

As you can see his tail feathers make a fabulous background on their own.
I hope that you will have fun with our challenge. I look forward to stopping by and seeing what you come up with.
Have a great evening.
Happy Crafting and hugs.
Kimx

Back Again with a Birthday.

Evening Everyone
Well I'm back again. New Year, new start maybe.
I expect most of us have made some sort of resolution, and I bet most of us will have failed by about Friday, if not before.
I managed to get my parcel to Creative Expressions in the post this afternoon, so that is one thing that I can cross off my very long list of 'Things to do'.
The trouble with new pieces of equipment is that they eat into your crafting time while you try to find things. I have spent the last couple of hours trying to sync my Fitbit to my new laptop. I've given up so it is still 10.30 on Boxing Day in my little corner of the world lol.

Now give me new bits of crafty equipment and I can soon find things to do with them, and I don't feel like I am wasting my time at all.

My new favourite toy is the Alcohol Lift Inkpad. OMG it is just amazing.
I first played with it back in October in preparation for a class at Sirstampalot in Peterboro.

This card was made for my Boss's daughter using one of the images 'lifted' using said inkpad.

The poppy image is by Penny Black and has become another favourite of mine. Playing with the inkpad, stamp and Alcohol inks has left me with quite a stack of images waiting to be made into cards, so I will have plenty more projects to share with you.
I'm rubbish at step by step photos though so I will direct you to YouTube and the amazing Jennifer McGuire, who has become my new go to place for inspiration.
She has several clips available on the Alcohol Lift inkpad, and best of all she gives you finished cards that she has made with all of the pieces that she creates during her playtime.
Do check it out if you have a moment or three to spare, but be prepared to loose several hours both in watching and playtime.
Happy Crafting and hugs
Kimx

Gelli Play

Hi All
Are you well?
I can't believe that another day of my holiday is nearly at an end.
We are planning an early finish today as Andy needs to catch up on some Walking Dead episodes before the Sky box eats them, so I intend to have a very early night.

I have been playing with the Gelli Plate for the last couple of days in preparation for my class tomorrow evening.
They now do a circular one, so as you can see that just had to find its way into my stash.

This is a card that I have managed to finish from the huge stash of papers that I have managed to make in just a few hours play.

The background was inspired by some YouTube clips posted by the lovely Tracy from Lavinia Stamps. Like me she likes to work with dye based inks rather than acrylic paints. I really haven't mastered the art of working with paint yet. More play is needed I think and a few more views of tutorials from Barbara Gray.

I have used some Woodware clear stamps, Distress and Versafine inks to create the background on the Gelli Plate before the print is 'pulled'.

The Black images and sentiment have been added to the print to give added depth, and a finished feel.
Better get back to my playtime, only an hour to go before we start thinking of going home.
Bye for now.
Hugs Kimx

Wax Paper Resist and Embossing Folders

Hi All
Well I've made it through my eight straight days at work, and here I am facing the start of another week. Where on earth did those 2 days off go. (In fact I have just finished a day of work since once again this post got side lined !!!!)
Sorry I have been absent for a while, this post has been started about 5 times, and then much like any cardmaking  last week, a 'granny nap' took over.
Not that I don't have plenty of things that I can share with you, given how quiet I have been in Blogland just lately, in fact I could really do with blogging twice a day in a bid to catch up with things.
We had another fabulous class at Davina's on Saturday, and this time I didn't break the iron so no thinking  on my feet, we were able to play with Waxed Paper and Embossing folders.
Once again I got a little bit carried away with the samples so I think that I will split them up into a couple of posts or this will end up like War and Peace.

As usual we made a technique tag to add to their book, and in fact this time they made two so that they could remember what to do with the left over waxed paper (tag far left)

The background to this card was made using a fab Sheena embossing folder, waxed paper and kaleidacolour inks.

I added some matching punched leaves and some stamped flowers along with a Hobby Art sentiment.

This card was made with another panel of the background,

 punched leaves, stamped flowers and a different Hobby Art sentiment.

I also found a few matching gems.

The beauty of this technique is that if you sandwich your embossed waxed paper between two pieces of card before you iron it you get the positive and negative image transered to the card stock.

I placed a strip of both the positive and negative background onto one of the tags,

and the other tag had a left over piece of the waxed paper coloured with stazon inks after the wax had been removed.

The sentiment has been added by stamping it onto acetate using Stazon ink and then attaching it with a fine line of glitter glue around the edges.
I think I had better press  publish on this before yet another day goes past.
Hugs, and Happy Monday.
Kimx

My kind of Alcohol

Hi All
I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend.
We had a fabulous class yesterday at Davina's playing with Alcohol inks. As a non drinker this is definitely my kind of alcohol, and we had so much fun playing with it. There was also cake and Easter Eggs, what more could a girl ask for!!
Because it has been such a long time since I have played with Alcohol Inks (I used the ones by Dreamweaver available from Woodware) I checked out Pinterest and Youtube for some ideas.

As you can see I ended up with loads of bit (this is just a small selection) which need finishing off.

As usual we made a tag which shows the inks used as a background on glossy card stock.

In fact there were so many techniques to share that we ended up making two. This second one shows inks used on acetate which I found HERE (about 5mins into the clip)
I'm off to do a bit of finishing off so I might try and pop back later with some more finished samples, it just depends on how much fun I'm having and whether I can stop before bed time :O).
Hugs Kimx

The beginning of a Beautiful Year

Hi All
Well I really seem to have excelled myself in the Christmas card department this weekend. I think maybe I'm making up for all those months when I didn't manage to make a single card.
Still no pictures I'm afraid. I can't wait to get my bag back tomorrow.
I hadn't realised just how much I used my camera and how much time it saves me just by taking the photos when I need them rather than having to scroll through months worth of pictures.

This card was once again made for the Woodware catalogue but the sentiment is perfect for a certain young lady whose birthday is today - my youngest daughter Becki who reaches the tender age of 30. Where did all those years go?
I hope that she had been having a wonderful day and that she has been thoroughly spoilt. I will be seeing her tomorrow when we will be exchanging cards and gifts, and sharing a meal at the pub.
I just hope that she won't have too much of a headache after all her celebrating today lol.

Back to the card. The background has been created using the Colorbox Stylus Tool and a Woodware stamp set designed by Jane Gill.

The stylus tool is a fabulous piece of kit which you can use to create your own backgrounds.
HERE is a link to a Youtube clip on how to use them.

Once I had created the background I stamped and embossed on to it in black to give a good contrast.
Hope you like it.
Hugs Kimx

Woodware USA Challenge - A sketch for December

  
Afternoon everyone
My card today has been made to enter into the sketch challenge over at Woodware USA.
Don't forget that this sketch is also being used in the UK over at Woodware UK so you can play along there as well.

It has been made with a lovely clear stamps set called Groovy Cats FRCL124.
I have stamped and embossed the cat onto watercolour card and coloured it using dye based inks. It has been cut out using an oval nestie and a technique called 'Out of the Box with Nestabilities' which I found on Youtube. This allows you to leave part of the image outside of the nestie.

The blue background has been made using several of the smaller images from the set.
I stamped and embossed in versamark and clear embossing powder and then painted with thin undiluted bleach.
I added a white dot to the fish eyes with a Gelly roll glaze pen.
The strip of brown card has also been stamped and embossed with versamark and clear embossing powder.

I have added glossy accents to the fish bowl and collar tag.

The wool across the card is from my stash, as is the small frog charm.
I couldn't find a fish, but then given that our cat has a tendency to bring us presents of slow worms and newts it probably won't be long before she adds frogs to her repertoire. It therefore did seem kind of fitting lol.
I hope that this will inspire you to enter the challenge HERE.
I must write some Christmas cards now otherwise all my efforts to get them finished on time will go to waste.
Have a lovely evening.
Hugs
Kimx