Handmade in Scotland: April 2014

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Mahogany Monochrome

Hi Folks ! Well another 'little' post from me. This time it is another of my pictures. I have made this for my Hubby's up and coming 50 th (so don't tell him ). I am also going to enter this into the Clarity Stamp Challenge, Monochrome. I am a bit late in posting this (so what's new ) as I not only did the picture but I have stained and waxed the pine frame to co-ordinate. The frame was a very pale pine and as the colour of the ink I used for the picture is Ranger Distress Ink - Aged Mahogany, it took me a while to get the shade right and then I had to wax it a few times after that.

So on with the show and tell! I cut a piece of canvas 51 x 21 cm and taped up the edges with masking tape. I took two pieces of copy paper, joined them together. I cut along the length of this to get the shape for my hills. I put in a moon mask over to the right of the picture and then added a bit of a sky with my large Clarity Stencil Brush and my chosen colour which as I mentioned above was Aged Mahogany. I used another roughly torn piece of paper and a make-up sponge to add a horizon and to add shading for the hills.

I chose my stamps all from Clarity stamp ( as them's the rules)- Split Tree, Mini Pear Tree, Large Birch Leaf, Small Birch Leaf, small leaf (used for grasses), Grasses 2, Grasses 3 and Tree ( used for hedgerows ) and finally Pointillism Stamp ( used for added ground texture)

I stamped the bare split trees and then stamped them with the Small Beech Leaf. Next was the Mini Pear Tree. I took the edge of a tree stamp to make my hedgerows (where we are living now they are everywhere...only the real ones are so very neatly trimmed. ) I then added shading and the grasses around the two trees. I added the tall grasses 2 and 3 to the bottom. Next the Large Beech Leaves to the top corners of the picture. I decided to add some more shading with my trusty make-up sponge and Clarity Stencil Brushes

So all that was left was for me to put the picture in the frame and take some photos...well guess who had a day off work. Yep that's right Hubby. And guess who wanted to sit out in the sun. Yep Hubby. In the end I sent him to the local shop just so that I could get a picture in good light which in itself brought problems of trying not to get a reflection of myself in the picture. Oh well done now!

Hope you like it !

Congratulations to Jane Morris for winning the Flower Power Challenge. Congratulations to the other Top 5 Picks too. Barbara Lancaster, Shelagh Metselaar, Lynne Bishop and Andy Duggan. Very well deserved and I feel very honoured to be among you. (also happy to get another Top 5 button for my Blog )xxxx

Happy crafting.

Emma xxx

Sunday 27 April 2014

Just a Note

Hi Folks ! A little card here using Clarity Stamps. I made this card for a friend who had recently undergone an operation and was well into her recovery and I just wanted to let her know I was thinking of her.

I decided to use my new Small leafy Swirl stamp along with the sentiment Just a Note. I love the leafy swirl stamps and the font of the sentiment blends in nicely with them. I have used only one ink pad Archival Brilliance - Pearlescent Lavender.

I began by stamping the leafy swirl around the edges of my Card Blank, 'blotting before plotting' as Barbara Gray is always saying.

I then taped up a piece of Textured Card with Low Tack Tape and stamped the swirl at an angle. Next I stamped the sentiment followed by the swirl again.
I then part stamped the swirl in the opposite corners but this time adding a blotted image too.

I shaded in the corners using my Clarity Stencil Brushes. I removed the Low Tack Tape and taking my ink pad I ran it along the edges of my image. I finally
attached this piece to my already stamped card blank with double sided tape

I do like the effect of the shading in this card which unfortunately is quite hard to see. I went for a light touch rather than having dark corners as it suited the colour of the ink better.

I hope you like it.

Happy Crafting!

Emma xx

Playing with my Melt Pot.

Hi Folks! Once again I have been a bit remiss in doing my Blog Posts. Surely you can forgive me as I have had a good reason...the SUN has been shining! I have also been doing a bit of landscaping in my new garden (with the help of my husband and son. They do all the donkey work...I just point and tell them where to put things, I was allowed to plant the bulbs though)

I have to admit that I haven't made many cards this month but I have been playing with my Melt Pot. I have been making moulds from some of the embellishments I have in my craft stash and practising my technique of pouring the UTEE in them. So far I feel they are not up to sharing...a few air bubbles got missed here and there but I am getting better, will share when I feel they are up to scratch.

But what I am proud of is the flowers that I have made using two new dies from Sizzix. I got a load of new things from their recent sale, saved over a £120 BARGAIN.

I used Rose 3D 658504 to make this lovely rose.

It is a spiral die and very easy to use. I added a couple of leaves from my stash - a Marriane Die - coloured them with a Pro Marker before sticking them to the back. I then dipped them in my Melt Pot. Not bad for a first attempt me thinks!

Susan's Garden Mini Lily 658408

I then went on to make these two lovely Orchids. I started with white paper and coloured the petals and leaves with a Pro Marker. The only thing I didn't like was the stamen part of the die so I decided to use some of my wire that I still have from when I used to make flowers from Petal Paste. The wire has a coating on it that you can colour with pens like the Pro Markers. I just folded the wire over ( concertina ) and then snipped the folds at one end. I bent the ends over and coloured the tips with a brown Pro Marker. Using the wire made it easier to glue into the middle of the flowers too.

So now I am going to have a play and see what flowers I can produce from these dies as I have had a request to decorate some boxes with them. I have one more post to write for today and then I had better get a move on as I still have a challenge to enter too, running out of time this month. Note to self...get organised girl!

I would love to hear what you think about my flowers, all comments welcome especially if you have any tips to pass on.

Happy Crafting!

Emma xx