A little masking and stamping

I got a book out of the library, featuring some techniques by a whole range of experts that I knew of, including the indomitable Barbara Gray. Sometimes a reminder of what someone does so well, can set you off on a new tangent. Love your enthusiasm Barbara!

In my demo kit I have a range of Fizzy Moon clear stamps all selling at £3.99 each, and I wanted to do something new with them. So put the two ideas together and you get my current stamping demo - taddaa!

Now I started by masking off a square patturn to do a whole page (aka the Barbara example) and then I simplified it to simply stamping cut squares measuring 3" x 3", which I placed on scrap card before chalking.

For the full page version, you mask off a square, stamp inside it, cover the image with mask and colour background using stamps and chalks. (I know Barbara uses lovely tape, but this is my cheap version!) Stamp the character onto a post-it note, capturing as much sticky edge as you can to form the mask.

In demos, I'm using 3" x 3" squares to mount on cards.

Stamp Fizzy onto the square so that he goes off the edge; place cut mask on top, stamp snowflakes in red ink, then shade with chalks (I use Dovecraft Brights). Now remove post-it to reveal a white bear ready to be coloured. I am using watercolour pencils, but you could use any colouring medium of your choice.

Here's another of the Fizzy Stamps...

Gift Card Wallet

With some many retailers selling gift cards not vouchers now, here is a little holder, made from double sided card stock and a spare 5" square envelope.

Step by step for the basic design here - more twists on what you can do with it later in the week :-)

1.

I'm using the Easiscore board here, but I'll give you measurements as well. Cut card to a strip 8 x 4.5" (I'm often working with Trimcraft 8x8" card pads so these are ideal.)

Score on line 4 (about 3" from end). This will be the front face.

2.

Use lines 5 & 6 to score a second line 0.5" from the first. Fold these to form a nice squared fold.

3.

Now line this up with the butt board and score using line 4 again (This gives you the back panel the same depth as the front.)

Then repeat step 2 so you have a 4th score line just 0.5" from the 3rd.

What you have left is the flap that sits over the front panel. This needs trimming to approximately 1.5 or 2". Use decorative scissors if you wish, and work with any parts of the patturn that you might want to feature.

4.

Now for the inner. Take a 5" square envelope and stick shut. Use line 1 to score down both sides. These will form gussets.

5.

Cut envelope in half horizontally and cut a slither off the bottom so it is open both ends. Fold the gussets in. Trim top with decorative scissors. It is now ready to go inside the card wallet. Stick to the back panel, avoiding your double score lines. Then fold front panel up and stick in place.

Perfect Summer Day

The title was care of scrapnfonts.com - it was a free sheet that I downloaded promoting their gorgeous brushes for photoshop etc. I love their range of fonts and other goodies.

The little book is constructed from one bit of 12x12; folded in half and quarters in both directions, to give you 16 squares. Then cut on dotted lines shown below.
This gives you a continuous strip that you concertina fold together (follow my numbers!)
Join the pairs to form pockets (some open at the top and some at the sides) or if you don't want pockets just stick the pairs together to form pages.

Caroline x

A Treat Inside

To create the inside of this card I cut a piece of patturned paper the same size as the card, and then folded it in half, and then in half back on itself. You cannot see it well here, but the patturn is facing towards the card. I used more pretty paper cut into pieces and covered the white side. (yes I could've used double sided paper, but this gives it a rather nice solid weight.)
The decoupage Smirk charater was stuck onto panel 2 and 3 of the insert while it was flat; allowing me to cut around the flowers on the 3rd panel with a knife. When folded these then stand out and are backed with patturned paper.
Last tip: when you stick the insert into your card, do so with the insert folded and ensure that the character does not poke out the side. This leaves you with a gap either side of your insert which you then decorate.

Hello

I've been through the files and pulled out some photos of past creations, to get us into the mood.
Not sure if they define my style, as I like to experiment a little with different styles.