Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge : November

A bit of a last minute rush for the Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge this month, where did that month go! I knew exactly what I wanted to do earlier in November but the days just got gobbled up.

November's verse;

Dull November brings the blast

Then the leaves go whirling past

Here is my entry;

I hadn't used Brushos on any of my pages for this project yet so this one is a Brusho and silhouette design, just to mix it up and use a different technique. I used Moss Green Brusho, possibly my favourite colour in that range and I think it really works for Autumnal scenes. I love the browns and purples that are mixed in with the greens.

The tree and leaves are from Lavina Stamps.

Only one month to go for this project now and the book will be complete.

Have a great weekend everybody. x

Winter Trees

I didn't manage to post anything for last week's Craft Barn challenge due to the usual Christmas panic but this week's theme is "Tree" so it seems appropriate to enter a card I made using my Winter Trees Woodware stamp purchased at The Craft Barn. The design is not entirely original as it was inspired by a Brusho's demo by Kay Carley earlier in the year. Thanks Kay.

The trees are stamped and embossed in black on ordinary stamping card then Brushos (grey) added with lots of water. Shabby white embossing enamel is sprinkled on for the snow.

I love tree images so maybe I will manage a second entry for this challenge before Christmas, who knows.

Stay warm,

Julia x

Penny Black Demure Take 2

I have been playing with my Penny Black Demure stamp again, this time using Brushos. Its always a good idea to have more than one project in mind when you buy a new stamp and I have thought of at least four ideas using this one.

Penny Black stamp : Demure
Brushos : Brilliant Red and Leaf Green
Highlighted with Pink Candy Stickles

This is stamped onto ordinary white stamping card using versamark and embossed in white. The Brushos paint is added afterwards and spritzed with water. Leaf Green is so full of different colours, see the turquoise and yellows it makes.

New PaperArtsy Products, Brushos and Demos

Having spent some time each evening watching the videos of the new PaperArtsy products launched this month, I was really looking forward to browsing them at The Craft Barn yesterday. I wasn't disappointed, a fabulous new range of plates.
Check out the PaperArtsy blog if you haven't yet seen the examples from the design team :
http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/

The demos yesterday at the Craft Barn were particularly inspiring this month. The demonstrators are so generous with sharing their knowledge. This month we got to talk with Helen Chilton, Kay Carley and Carol Cockbain demonstrating the new Lynne Perrella stamps, Brushos and Sue Wilson dies.

So, I bought new stuff (no surprise there) and was determined to try the techniques I learned about yesterday. Fortunately I have some Brushos already so here is a little card inspired by Kay's examples. All products used in my projects today are available from The Craft Barn.

I used the same Woodware stamp as in my last post : Bubble Blooms

The image is stamped with a versamark ink pad and embossed with white embossing powder first. Then sprinkle some Brushos, a tiny bit of Brilliant Red first in the flower heads, spritz with water and dry with a heat gun. I added some Leaf Green roughly around the foliage and repeated the same.

To finish off, I added some Stampendous Shabby White embossing enamel. Kay uses that Shabby White a lot on her artwork, nice effect, I love the little gold bits in it. 

Here's a close up :

My second project this weekend was inspired by Helen and for this one I played with my new Lynne Perrella stamp plate : LPC033. I tried Helen's technique of using the same stamp for the background as used for the focal image. My panel is a bit messy but I had loads of fun with it.

The background was made using the same stamp coloured with Distress Markers : Peeled Paint, Broken China and Worn Lipstick. The focal image is stamped with Stazon ink on glossy card and colured with distress markers : Broken China, Worn Lipstick and Squeezed Lemonade. Some of the elements from the LPC033 plate added to the background and border. My Stazon ink pad is a tad juicy so I might try this again using second generation stamping.

I had some of the background left over so made a bookmark:

Many Thanks to Helen and to Kay for the inspiration for the above. I am feeling quite pleased with my crafting productivity this weekend.

Enjoy what's left of Sunday. x