Blue Peacock - from the grumpy crafter! :-)

I just love the background on this tag!  It is so vibrant - the photos just don't do it justice.  I started by embossing the peacock feather stamp from Chocolate Baroque Peacock Glory set of stamps and I embossed it in clear embossing powder.  I then sprayed the tag with Cosmic Shimmer Misters... I chose Peacock Green and Midnight Blue and Purple Violet - all very strong vibrant colours and when sprayed with a lot of ink and then just left to dry the colours are amazing!  As it was drying I gently rubbed across the embossed feathers with a cloth to remove the mister from most of the embossing to make those feathers really stand out.

This tag then sat on my desk for a few days.  You know how it is .. you create a gorgeous tag... and you don't want to cover it up!  everything you try just doesn't quite look right..... because it's covering that fab background!  Well after a few days I decided to just go for it.  I brayered a piece of matt cardstock with Big n Juicy waterfall  ink, so it kept with the bluey green theme - but much less vibrant.  I then stamped my peacock in archival black and cut him out.   I then added some highlights with my white gel pen.   He needed a bit of contrast as the colours were still too similar for him to pop... so I stuck him onto white card and cut round with a bit of a border.  Finally.. my tag was coming together!  I wanted to keep the wording simple... so I left it all with just black stamping onto white card - using a phrase from Chocolate Baroque Artistic Affirmations set - that I thought was very appropriate for me this week.. as I've had to squeeze in a late night crafting session!.  A final strip of white card - rather wonkily (is that a word??) cut...  to give it some character of course!... was the final touch to go behind the wording and ta daaaa...  my tag was finally finished..   And it still looks fab.. even if I say so myself!

This was one of the creations from my late night tired and grumpy crafting session.   I just wasn't in the mood to craft... or do anything... but a blog deadline is a blog deadline, so I thought...... OK I'll just sit and make one tag - something simple but quick and effective.  Well two hours later I was a happy girl, covered in ink, and ended up creating my most favourite pieces for ages... so I'll be excited to share them all with you over the next couple of days!  They say art is theraputic... for me this week it was certainly true!

happy crafting (even if you are feeling grumpy!)
Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Chocolate Baroque Stamps
Shop for Cosmic Shimmer Misters

Firey Lady

Todays project features a stamp from Creative Expressions.  I've created the background using distress inks and then stamped over the top with the chicken wire stamp and also with a bit of bubble wrap (always good for a bit of texture!).  I've used a mask too to add lots of layers of texture.  I've stamped a couple of borders along the bottom in a black archival ink and then added some highlights using a white gel pen.  The greeting is from Chocolate Baroque and the lady has been stamped in archival black.  I've then used a waterpen to colour in the lady and lift the colour off with a cloth.  Just keep repeating this to tone down the background colour, and then you can pick up some distress ink with your waterbrush and re-colour back in to give the definition from the background.  Again a few white highlights make all the difference!

This was a piece I created a while back.. I had a different project lined up to show you today...  but unfortunately my photography skills last night were not up to scratch... so I will re-photograph tonight to show you less blurry!  Fortunately I had this sample at the shop and thought it might be one you would like.

I get to be creative again this evening as I have the heart card workshop - always fun to get out those misters!  If you read this early enough.. there are still a couple of spaces so if you fancy joining me, just give the shop a call 01953 454976 - the workshop starts at 6pm

happy crafting

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Stamps
Shop for Distress Inks
Shop for White Gel pen

Glitzy Dragonfly

Hello on this chilly day.  If you've been lucky, you've been able to stay in the warm today and do a bit of crafting because that's been just a bit chilly out there!

Today's project is a 5x7" card that has been layered with beautiful papers from Crafty Individuals.  These are from Book one.  I found the dragonfly paper and thought that would work perfectly as main paper.  I selected a different pattern to go behind my dragonfly.  I cut and mounted each piece onto white and then black card.  I then stamped my Crafty Individuals dragonfly drawing stamp onto the paper and then again onto white cardstock.  I cut out the dragonfly from the white cardstock and then glittered him up with Stickles - Crystal.  Once dry I stuck him down just by his body so his wings could fly free.  As a final touch I measured a centimetre in from each corner of my panel and just knicked the card with my scissors - this gave a notch for my bakers twin to sit in and once wound round all four sides I secured it at the back with some tape.

Simple but very effective!

There's still some places left on this Thursday's heart card workshop - if you would like to book, just give us a call on Thursday on 01953 454976

Right... better get busy this evening creating tomorrows project!

happy crafting

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Crafty Individuals stamps
Shop for Printed Paper Pads

It's Tree-mendous!

I can't believe it's already been over a month since I started my project a day blog!  I wasn't sure at first whether I would be able to keep up the pace.. both with time and with ideas!... but so far so good...  It's certainly my aim to continue with something new each day for you.

Today's project is using the lovely tree from Indigoblu (Tree-mendous).  The background was one I had already prepared.  It's been created using Distress Paints and masks.  Ever so simple, just swirl together your colours (I've used 3 different shades - Salty Ocean, Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves) and then apply the dots through a mask with white paint.  If I'm having a messy play day... getting out the paints, misters etc...  I tend to always create a few extra sheets from just the project I'm working on.  As they take a little time to dry, it means that you can always have some interesting backgrounds to use on a day when you haven't got time to get all the messy stuff out and wait for drying times!

I took my background sheet and stamped my tree using archival black ink. I then stamped the words which was from a stamp set I had for Christmas and then matted and layered onto black card in the right size to fit my 5x7" cardstock.  My finishing touch is a little leaf charm tied onto a bakers twine bow.  I've stuck the charm and the bow to the card using Glossy Accents.

I hope you are all enjoying my daily projects... would love to have your comments to know what you think... what would you like to see..?  What sort of projects do you like best?  Or have I inspired you to create something that you would like to share...?  Go on and give me a shout so I know I'm not talking to myself! :-)

happy crafting

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Indigoblu Tree-mendous stamp
Shop for Distress Paints

Pink Love Heart

I was in the mood to play with papers for this project so rummaged through my collection of 12x12 papers.  I found a lovely pale pink Love themed paper that I thought would be perfect as a background for my heart die.    This card is made on a large 8x8" card blank.  I started with a mottled pink paper, and stamped and embossed a love wording stamp I have in gold powder to give it some interest.  I left the bottom paper just the mauve mottled shade.  I cut the pale pink 12x12 paper with love words to be behind my die cut heart - which is a Memory Box Die - Bingham Heart.  This was cut from cardstock previously sprayed using Cosmic Shimmer Mister - Bilberry Crush.  A final touch is the greeting which is a peel-off sticker and peel-off dots in the corners.

A simple but elegant card today.

Something different for tomorrow!

happy crafting

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Memory Box Bingham Heart Die
Shop for Bilberry Crush Mister
Shop for love 12x12 paper

Pretty Peacock

This project is another sample for my all day rubber stamping workshop planned for 27th April.  The afternoon projects will be a one that combines heat embossing and using mica powders and watercolour paints. 

This gorgeous peacock is from Chocolate Baroque Peacock Glory set of stamps.  I've stamped and embossed the peacock in black detail embossing powder and used Cosmic Shimmer Mica powders used as a watercolour paint to colour - Persian Sea and Summer Grass..  The border has been coloured using the Persian Sea.  The background is simply embossed in black.

If you would like to join me at the all day workshop you can book via the website.

happy crafting!

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Embossing Powders
Shop for Chocolate Baroque Stamps
Shop for Mica Powders

Something Simple & Workshop list

Today's project is a simple one.  A fabulous stamp from Stampendous - Click your Heels just stamped and then simply coloured.

It's really nice to make very elaborate cards, but sometimes just keeping it simple really works - particularly with a really detailed stamp such as this.  Of course it has lots of potential for more elaborate designs... and you will see some as I play more with this design. 

I started by stamping with Archival black ink.  I though that this would be nice to be coloured using my drawing inks.  They are also perfect because the very fine brush makes colouring in the little details very easy.  I've kept the colouring very simply - a pale blue colour - Sea View and a pale blush beige shade - Cosmic Blush. 

As you can see I've then added three colour mounts just to pick up on the colours and mounted onto a square card.

With thanks to Sarah again for loaning me some of her fabulous stamps!

I've got a crafting session lined up .... so keep visiting to see my next batch of creations!   Many of my recent samples have now been put on display in shop as I'll be featuring them in my next batch of workshops.  The list is now finally available - I hope you feel it is worth the wait!.   Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full list of papercrafting workshop and keep an eye on our website for Sarah's jewellery workshops as they are about to be published too!  If you would like to book, just email, book online or give us a ring!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Click your Heels stamp
Shop for Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks
Book a workshop

Aldridge Crafts & Champagne Moments

01953 454976  www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk

Craft Workshops

Held in Store (Attleborough Norfolk) – Limited places – book now!

Booking is essential.  Payment is required at the time of booking.

Thu 30th Jan 6-8pm - Heart Card - £12.50

In this workshop with Jane you will create a beautiful heart card ideal for Valentines, Weddings and Anniversary cards.  You will use the following techniques – Heat embossing with embossing powders, Stamping, Die cutting, Using Watercolour Ink Misters and Matting and layering your card



Thu 13^th Feb 6-8pm - Colouring Techniques  - £15.00 This workshop with Jane focuses on learning colouring techniques using a variety of different mediums.  Time permitting we will make three card toppers, one using Watercolour pencils, one using ProMarkers and one using Mica/Watercolour Paints.  You will learn about shading and adding dimension to your images using colour. 

Thu 27^th Feb 6-8pm - Die-Cutting and Embossing Butterfly Card - £12.50

In this workshop with Jane you create a beautiful 8x8” card with 9 embossed panels and die cut flowers and butterflies to decorate.  You will learn about how to emboss and cut shapes using a die cutting machine and how to arrange them onto your card.

Thu 6^th March 6-8pm  - Zentangling stamped designs  - £12.50

You’ve heard the phrase zentangling… what is it?  Well it’s posh doodling!  Jane will teach you how to select a suitable stamped image and then to stamp and decorate it with patterns using the zentangling technique.  You will create a card which you will decorate with zentangled borders to match your topper. 

Thu 13^th March 6-8pm - Using Backing Papers on Cards - £12.50

Jane will show you how to make a beautiful 8x8” card using a main stamped motif and then matching it with backing papers and embellishments.  You will learn how to stamp and colour your image and then select and design your card with printed patterned papers and matching it with embellishments.

Thu 3^rd April 6-8pm - Vintage style steampunk butterfly  - £15.00

This workshop with Jane will show you how to stamp onto backing papers to create a vintage style steampunk themed 8x8” card.  You will learn to stamp, use Distress Inks and Stains to create backgrounds as well as use a die cutting machine to create your embellishments.

Thu 10^th April 6-8pm - Wild Meadow Stamps Inking Techniques - £15.00

In this techniques workshop, Jane will show you how to create all the techniques shown on our Wild Meadow display board.  You will learn how to use Memento and Versafine inks.  All about blending onto glossy card and stamping layers of flowers onto mat card.  Ideal for the hesitant stamper to get confident with using all sorts of different inks.

Thu 17^th April 6-8pm - Art Flower Tag - £15.00

In this workshop with Jane you will create a gorgeous vibrantly coloured flower tag.  You will use Watercolour Ink Misters, heat embossing and colour with Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks to create your very own art flower tag.

Sunday 27^th April 10am-3pm - All day stamping workshop  - £30.00

A day of fun fun fun!!  This all day stamping workshop with Jane is suitable for any level crafter – whether you are a beginner or have experience.  The morning project will be to create a beautiful 8x8” card with an animal theme (different choices available!).  You will be using masks and Distress Inks, plus embellishments and printed backing papers too.  The afternoon project will be to create a 5x7” card with a lovely butterfly or peacock design.  You will be heat embossing your design and using mica powders and mica watercolour paints or drawing inks to colour in and also to create your background.  Refreshments provided – just bring your lunch!

 

Rose Pearl Necklace Set

We had a customer order this week who wanted some earring made with our Rose colour glass pearls to match an outfit... so what to do with the rest of the strand... so I got creating! 

To create this project you will need....
1 strand Rose 8mm Glass Pearls
2 strands 6mm faceted purple glass beads
1 pack of Tibetan Style Flower beads
2 toggle clasps
Plus your tigertail, crimps, jump rings, earring hooks and tools

 The pattern for the necklace was to start with 3 purple glass, then flower, then repeat the pattern of purple glass, pink pearl, purple glass, flower bead until you have your necklace at the required length and then finish with your three purple beads. 

The earring drop pattern is flower, purple bead, pink pearl, purple bead, flower.

Depending on how long you wanted your necklace, you may have enough to make a bracelet.  If you only have a small amount of purple glass beads and pink pearls left, adjust your pattern so you can make a length long enough for a bracelet - for mine making it two flower beads together was enough to extend the design to make the pattern.

You can shop for all your beading and findings supplies at our website www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk or follow the links at the top of the post to take you to each of the elements for this project.

This necklace set will shortly be on sale on our Folksy site!

happy crafting!

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk

Follow your dreams tag

See... I couldn't stop with these stamps!  These are the Art Flowers set from Creative Expressions.

Today's project starts again with the blank white tag.  I sprayed the cardstock with Cosmic Shimmer Misters - Bilberry Crush (My favourite!) and Red Firefly.  I wanted the colours to be really firey and intense.  I left this aside to dry thoroughly (give it a blast with your heat gun to encourage it) but don't blot it dry as you'll remove the intensity of the colour.

Once thoroughly dry, stick your piece of washi tape along the side.  I liked the idea of the simple black and white pattern so it wouldn't distract from my background or flower.  I next stamped and embossed in detail black both my flower and my greeting onto separate white card.

I coloured my flower using my Drawing Inks (yippeeee... I've finally found which box they've been hiding in for the past few months!).  I cut out my flower and my greeting ready to mount onto my card.  I decided I wanted to add a little charm by my greeting, but it looked odd because the greeting was cut out, so I cut out a little bit of card the same width of my banner and embossed it with detail black and stuck it to extend my banner, this meant I then had something to stick my charm onto.  I stuck the pieces on and then stuck on the heart charm and the flower centre (a gold beadcap) with glossy accents.  The final detail was three little black peel-off dots along the bottom and some black and purple ribbon at the top.

I love the vibrant colour of this tag - it has a real wow factor!

happy crafting
Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Art Flowers Stamps
Shop for Embossing Powders
Shop for Cosmic Shimmer Ink Misters
Shop for Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks
Shop for Charms

Dream in Colour Tag

I have had such fun this morning!  I have a busy few days lined up so today's mission was to create enough projects to share with you over the next few days.  I was lucky enough to be lent some different stamps from my good friend Sarah, so I started with the usual excitement you have of using new stamps!!

For this set I have used the Art Flowers from Creative Expressions.  These are a fab set for anyone who likes the artsy style (why haven't I got these in my stash already...!)  I thought I would have a play with the Distress Paints for this project and as they are quite a new product, I'm still learning my techniques and thought you might like to share the process!

 I started with a plain white tag - normal mat cardstock - nothing special!  I stamped and embossed the three ribbons with a silver detail embossing powder and then the create art stamp in black (it was supposed to be silver too... but threw over the wrong colour powder .. oh well.. happy accidents and all that!!).

 I then selected my paint colours (sorry for the blurry pic!)... Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Crushed Olive.  I wanted the blue to be the most prominent colour as I thought it would combine well with the silver embossed detail.  I started by spritzing the tag with water so it was quite wet.  I then used the sponge top to apply my colour all in the same direction.  Work onto a non stick craft mat because you can then use it as a paint palette so as not to waste your colours.  Once you have swiped over your three colours, take an old cloth and wipe your tag.  This helps to blend the colours, but also wipes the paint away from the embossed areas.  If you then need to apply more colour (I needed more blue) - just add it on, or pick up from your craft mat and use your cloth to apply more colour and blend.  Once you are happy, give it a very quick blast with the heat gun (not too intense as you don't want to further melt your embossing powder) just enough to 'warm' the card to help it to dry quicker.  This is what it then looks like.

 It was a little bare in the background so I took the flower stamp from the set and stamped it using Versafine Smokey Grey.  Just enough to give a little detail.

 I then stamped and embossed the flower and the greeting in black detail embossing powder.  I applied colour with the Distress Paints again- this time with more colour applied and I added in a little Picked Raspberry around the outside of the petals just to give a little contrast.  Again wipe away and blend with your cloth.  Cut out your pieces and stick on.  Finally I punched a hole in the tag and added a blue and green ribbon!

I had so much fun creating this tag... just love the finished tag!  I've so far managed to complete tomorrow's project, and a jewellery project for Friday... and I have the rest of the afternoon to create more - I definitely have my crafting mojo today!  hurrah!
happy crafting
Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Art Flowers Stamps
Shop for Distress Paints
Shop for Embossing Powders

Vintage Heart Card for New Workshop

I know some of you are awaiting our workshop list - forgive me for the delay, but I wanted to prepare samples ready for when we publish our workshop list so you know exactly which project you will be making. 

This is for a workshop on Thursday 30th January 6-8pm in the shop in Attleborough (£12.50).

To learn how to create this card we will be covering heat embossing, die cutting, using Cosmic Shimmer Ink Misters and learning about layering your stamped designs.  I thought it would make a nice card for Valentine's day - but you could also give it for a wedding card, wedding anniversary or just for a card for someone you love.

My idea for this card started with the ink misters and the stamp cut out with a heart die cut..... from there I tried various different backgrounds, but settled on this delicate gold text background.  I am really pleased with this card - hope you all like it!

If you would like to have a fun evening crafting with me and creating this gorgeous card... just give us a call on 01953 454976 or email me at aldridgecrafts@googlemail.com to book your place!

Back tomorrow with another project... got creative plans in the morning... let's see what I create tomorrow!

happy crafting

Jane

PS - I promise the full workshop list is almost ready for publishing... not long to wait!!

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk

Acrylic Paints with Stamps

I'm all out of sync today!  I thought I had a blog project finished today.. only to find out I haven't!  So I've been browsing through old creations to find some that I don't think I've shared with you before (forgive me if I have!).

These were all made using rubber stamps together with Acrylic Paints.  I've used Eco-green paints here - which are a really nice creamy consistency paint to use, and have the big plus of having a wax content so once dry you can buff them to a high shine!.

 This first design is a nice way to start working with Acrylic Paints and stamps - no skills required!!.  I took a good weight cardstock (or use the grey board off the back of your paper pads!) - and using two colours simply paint on.  If you paint one colour first and then use the second colour onto a dry brush and lightly paint over the top you can achieve these whispy lines.  I've then stamped my Pure Elegance Stamp (from Creative Expressions) and some swirls in black ink.  Finally I've added some white gel pen highlights so she stands out from the background.  Then simply mat and layer onto a card.

 This design is using the same stamp again but this time I painted the background in gold and allowed to dry.  Then I have stamped the lady again in black and then painted her in using the eco-green paints.  Again some white gel highlights lift the design and you may need to retrace some of the black outline with a fine-liner pen if it's lost some definition.  The flower is from Marianne Designs. 

I think sometimes crafters are a bit hesitant to work with paints as they feel its more of an artists thing and you need to have skill to use them, but I love working with paint and you can achieve some very effective finishes with very little skill needed... go on give it a go!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Acrylic Paints

Champagne and Dancing!

I really enjoyed making this card - something a little different and very striking!

I've used my freebie stamps again - from Creative Stamping Magazine.  It has the most gorgeous lace corner stamp that you can stamp four times to make this beautiful lacy motif.  I've stamped the whole card using Versafine Satin Red ink.  Once I had stamped the lacy motif I cut it out and then cut out a white mount and used a Martha Stewart punch on the corners.  I cut out a circle shape using a die - just big enough to fit in the fabulous saying.  The main motif was mounted onto a red border which really highlights those decorative corner.  finally the 6x6" card blank was stamped with the rose motif using the same inkpad.  As you can see I often start from the top of my design and work backwards as I find that then you can make sure your background perfectly matches the type of motif you are laying onto it.

Why not try yourself some monotone stamping... pick a colour and carry it through the design.  I would love to see your creations - please comment with your blog to share!

Have a lovely Sunday and I hope you get to fit in some crafting time!

happy crafting

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts
Shop for Inkpads
Shop for Creative Stamping Magazine

Delicate Snowdrops

Todays project has been created using the Chocolate Baroque Snowdrop Script Stamp.  I started by inking a C6 cardblank using Distress Ink - Peeled Paint and then sprayed water into my hand and flicked it over the top and then used a tissue to remove the droplets to give the mottled effect.

I then cut out a fancy square shape using a die from a dictionary page.  I then stamped my snowdrop using Vintage Sepia Versafine Ink and also stamped the greeting in the same colour.  I watercoloured the leaves with some watercolour pencils, and added a little grey shading to the flowers with watercolour pencils too.  I cut a mount to size and inked around the edge with the sepia inkpad - you will see this is a technique I use a lot for two reasons - firstly you always get a background that will match your stamped image, secondly it saves me having to have huge quantities of different coloured cardstock to hand when I am crafting on the go!

I mounted it all together just adding some ink around the edge of my greeting to give it some definition before mounting it onto the card. 

I like the feel of this card.. all as delicate as the snowdrops!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Chocolate Baroque Stamps
Shop for Inkpads

Red Roses

Today's project has been made using the Creative Stamping Magazine's free stamp.  There is a lovely rose with foliage stamp with lots of detail.  I stamped this in black and then turned my card and repeated so I had three roses together.  I've coloured my roses using Distress inks with a waterbrush - Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint

The die is from Spellbinders (sorry I can't remember which set - will have to try and find out!).  The background die is a borderabilities spellbinders die.

I've stamped the rose again at the bottom of the card using Satin Red Versafine ink.   The greeting is from the same set of stamps.

I'm off to play this evening at the Attleborough Craft Club we run... looking forward to lots of crafting and laughing!

happy crafting!

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk

Shop for Creative Stamping Magazine
Shop for Inks

Oooh new stamps to play with - how exciting!!

oooh new stamps to play with - how exciting!!   Finally gave in to my desire to have the Chocolate Baroque Butterfly Flourish Swirls stamp! 

I started by lightly spraying the background with a blue Cosmic Shimmer Mister and drying it thoroughly (sorry I hastily put it away after and forgot to note the name... probably Ocean Sunlight).  I then stamped and embossed my butterfly design.  It stamped it again on separate card and embossed with black so I could cut out my butterflies to mount on top for extra dimension.  I coloured the butterflies using Cosmic Shimmer Watercolour Paints.

I stamped a mount card with the flower design from the same set and embossed it with a metallic purple embossing powder to get an all over border.

I assembled all my card together onto a 5x7" card blank

I think you may be seeing these stamps a fair bit....  lots of ideas and can't wait to play with them!

have fun crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Chocolate Baroque Stamps
Shop for Cosmic Shimmer Misters
Shop for Embossing Powders
Shop for Cosmic Shimmer Pearlescent Paints

Simple Rocking Horse

I've had fun playing around with these stamps.  They are the free stamps that come with Creative Stamping magazine (a few copies still left - £5.99).  This rocking horse is so detailed - I was really impressed with how good the quality of the stamps are!  I started by stamping my horse in black VersaFine and then cut him out with an oval nestabilities die and then a border with the matching scallop edge oval die.  I edged around the scallop oval with a Pear Green Promarker.

I stamped my lace border along the edge of some card - twice - using VersaFine Spanish Moss.  I cut around the edge of the lace and then stuck to each side of my 5x7" card.  I stamped my greeting from the same sheet of stamps and edged the border with the ink and mounted onto my card.

You'll see more to come from this set of stamps... I had great fun playing around with them!

Oh.. and I've finally got round to setting up my Folksy shop - there will be new products added gradually but at the moment you can buy some of my blog cards and jewellery and some crafting supplies... have a look when you get a mo!  http://folksy.com/shops/AldridgeCrafts


happy crafting
Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Creative Stamping Magazine
Shop for Inkpads

Snowdrops in Teal

See.. told you yesterday I had been playing with coloured inks!!  Today's card has been made using Chocolate Baroque stamps - Snowdrop Script and the flourish from Decadent Brocade.  I rummaged through my ink collection and found an unloved Teal Stazon pad that hadn't seen daylight for a while... so I thought I would theme the card all in that colour.  The snowdrop was stamped and cut out.  Then the mount was cut out and I inked the border using a cut n dry foam into the stazon pad (not just for Distress Inks!).  I stamped the background stamp with Stazon but as I don't very often clean my stamps there was a little black residue which gave it a nice darker part to the design here and there.  I cut the background piece out and mounted it on a black border..  just to give a little contrast.  Finally I cut out a card strip and inked it directly with the inkpad to get a stronger - but mottled colour finish. 

Once dry I used my Martha Stewart punch to cut out on both sides.  A handy hint for cutting a matching border with the punches - if you line up the right top corner of your strip to the end of the punch and start punching your pattern on one side, then turn your card around and match up the bottom left corner with the edge of the punch your pattern should be mirrored on the other side!  Give it a try with your border punches.  Also try a 1", 1.5", 2" strip width as you will get a different border effect depending on the width of your strip....  anyways  back to the card - I fixed my pattern strip using some Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear glue.

I cut a rectangle from white card and used the same punch and its matching corner to cut around the design.  I then cut it so I could use it on both corners behind the mount.  I used the cut n dry foam again to add a little ink shading on the edge of the border and then the card was then finished onto an 8x8" card blank.

have fun playing with your punches!

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
Shop for Inkpads
Shop for Chocolate Baroque Stamps

Green Owl....

This lovely owl is from the Wise Owl set from Chocolate Baroque.  The background flourish is also Chocolate Baroque - Decadent Brocade.  I started by embossing the brocade flourish in white embossing powder.  I then inked over the top using a mix of brown Distress Inks.  I stamped and embossed my owl in black and then coloured with Pear Green Promarker.   I cut three lengths of lace and put double sided tape on the back and then layered at the top of the card.  I cut a length of linen tape and coloured with the same promarker and then cut in half lengthways and stuck a piece at the top to edge the lace.  Then I bound it with black bakers twine.  I arranged my feathers behind my owl and stuck down.  Finally I handwrote my words and cut out and mounted.

It was nice to create a piece that had lots of layers and textures to it.

I've been busy creating again today getting ready the projects for the rest of this week.  I've been playing around with stamping in different coloured inks - so that may be a bit of a theme this week!  I can't wait to share some of the projects with you!

happy crafting

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
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Clean and Simple Butterflies

No ink at all on today's project!  I fancied having a play with dies and embossing folders on today's project.  I started by cutting out 9 squares out of white card - I used a die - but you could handcut them if you don't have a square die the right size.  I then made a random selection from my collection of embossing folders.  They are a mixture - some Cuttlebug, some Crafts Too, some other brands.  I tried to get a mix of patterns and embossed each square with a different pattern.  I next selected my card colour.  After trying several colours I liked this deep aubergine purple textured cardstock so I next cut a square to fit an 8x8" card blank and then arranged my squares evenly on the card and stuck them down.

I then used the off-cuts from my 12x12 card to cut out the die cut shapes.  I used four Memory Box Dies...  Bella Bouquet, Vivienne Butterfly, Kaleidoscope Butterfly and Perched Reed Bird.  I then arranged the dies onto my card and stuck down with Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear Glue.

It made a change from getting inky... and I have a few more dies and embossing projects in mind to have a play with.  I think I might spend this evening cutting out die cut flowers as I have a big project in mind that will need lots and lots of flowers... so I think I'll start cutting a few here and there to save me having one big cut out session and getting cuttlebuggers dead arm!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
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Zentangled Monsters

Another outing for my Woodware Monsters stamps again today.  This time with a different slant.  My regulars will know I am partial to a bit of zentangling, and as soon as I saw these stamps I thought they would be an  ideal stamp to zentangle!  I stamped my three monsters in a line and then just started to doodle.  I left the faces clear so that they didn't lose definition.  Then a few dashes at their feet so they had something to stand on. 

Next I hand-drew a deliberately wibbly border (that's a technical term you know!)  I then drew in the lines to colour in alternate squares.  Finally mounting onto black and adding a little black bakers twine to add a little detail to my finished card.  This one is on a 5x7" card blank.  I challenge you all to rummage your stamp collection and find one to zentangle.  Be sure to either email me a pic and I'll post it on the blog, or link to your blog in the comments so I can see your zentangling too!

have fun
Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
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Little Cub

I'm a little late with today's blog!   I got myself too comfy with having a Friday evening relax and time escaped me!  Today's card features a new range of stamps I've recently got in stock.  They are Stacey's stamps from the USA.  The stamps I have in stock are all amazingly detailed animal designs.  I'm most impressed with the detail in these designs.

I stamped my cub and used watercolour pencils to colour him in - this gave a nice soft look.  I created the backgroound mount using my Tim Holtz Shatter Stencil and Gathered Twigs and Walnut Stain Distress Inks.  The ticket is from the Tim Holtz Adage Tickets book and I tinted it with the same Distress Inks.  The sticky mesh, backing papers and other embellishments are all elements I found when I rummaged through my embellishments and I thought they went well with this design.  Its all been mounted onto an 8x8" card blank.

I rather like this card.  I plan to do lots more with this stamp!  Back tomorrow with my next card project... hopefully a little earlier this time!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
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Sometimes you just need to take a nap.....

Very apt for me today.... I got a little hot under the collar trying to locate a missing parcel that's managed to make it all the way to Attleborough from China.... but they can't find us to deliver it!  So when deciding what to post today I saw this tag and thought... yep that's me today!

I've been playing with a few ideas on this one.  I found this vintage printed paper in my stash and inked with Distress ink (vintage photo) using the new Tim Holtz Shatter mask.  I then inked up a Woodware doily with pumice stone and a piece of ripped script paper with walnut stain.  I assembled my pieces and thought I would be brave and stamp my lady on the top (She's a Personal Impressions stamp).  Always risky as you are stamping on layers, but I figured if she didn't stamp out nicely enough, I could always go to plan B and stamp on separate paper and cut and paste on! 

I stamped my words (love this sentiment!) - an Inkadinkado design - and ripped around it and inked up with pumice stone. 

I then started to assemble, adding a piece of lace as an extra detail.  I then took a Woodware Crochet flower which start off an ivory colour and I flooded it with ink from my vintage photo distress stain.  I left my flower overnight to dry and then attached it the next day together with a metal flower on top.  I used my Cosmic shimmer dries clear glue to stick it all down.

I'm not usually one to work with lace and flowers... but in my new ethos of trying to expand on my style of crafting, I'm planning to experiment with them a bit more!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
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Splash Monsters

Back to our monsters today!  In contrast with the very bright and clean lines of Monday's card, this card uses the same stamps (Woodware Little Monsters) - but in a completely different way!

I first took a Stix2 Masking sheet.  This is an A4 sheet of paper with a plastic protective cover.  You stamp onto the paper side, cut out and remove the plastic sheet to reveal a sticky side.  You can use this fabulous product to create masks using your stamps and dies.  You can create a positive or negative mask - depending on whether you want to mask out the monster or the background around the monster in this case!  I stamped the three monsters and cut them out as neatly as I could.  The big plus with this product, is that you can use it many times before it becomes too battered to use - simply store on the back of your packet of stamps so the masks are always to hand whenever you use the stamps!

I stamped the middle monster onto my white card and then carefully stuck the mask over the top, I then stamped the other two monsters and then stuck on their masks too.  With all my monsters masks I went very splodgy over the top with my Distress Stains - Wild Honey and Broken China - Lots of splashes for great effect!  Then set aside to dry and peel off your masks once dry.  Then mount onto black card and then onto a card where you have edged it with the broken china stain to create a matching border.  Then stamp your greeting and edge with some fineliner lines.

This is such a fun technique to try.. go on and get splodging!

Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk

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