MADE BY JEAN, AND A GIVEAWAY.....

Cold and wet and miserable here tonight - just the weather for a spot of crafting, or a spot of blogging!  I have a few items that I have made to show you tonight - the first ones feature some of our dies within, as well as stamping of course..

Firstly two cards inspired really by one of our new team members Joanna.  I love the way she uses nesting dies sometimes (I think) to create some of her cards.  So in the two below I have used a set of gothic arch dies to create the card format.  To get this result or similar you will need nesting dies that have straight edges as well as curved - so that you can cut a folded card shape from them.  In the background I have used a Distress Ink technique - rubbing the ink pads onto a craft sheet, then spraying gently with water before picking up the random colour effect onto card.  If you try this with our super smooth stamping card (love this stuff in white or cream!) you get a particularly nice effect.  As the card is starting to dry I tend to add a little more water spray for an even more mottled effect.  The dry surface then provides an excellent surface to stamp onto.  If you haven't tried this card yet do give it a go - it is fantastic!

Stamps featuring in the card above are CI-209 'Winter Trees', and CI-287 'Birds on a Wire'.

And in this second style stamps CI-397 'Call of the Sea' and CI-272 'Seaside Treasures'.
The die I used in both samples is the Elegant Swirl.

I have a few assorted samples now...  A hanging shadow box created from our swirls and frames die cut sheet and the Delicate Dragonfly die..

Then a couple of decorated tags...

Both of the tags feature our 'In a Gilded Cage' die, and the first one also sports our 'Lacewing Butterfly' die.

To finish off tonight I have a card where I sprayed over the Magic Roundabout mask onto old dictionary paper, and then cut a heart shape from the paper..

With Valentines Day in mind perhaps?  I added the metal decorative elements Corner Charms and a Frame Charm - both nice and lightweight and very useful.

And finally I have an experimental project made just for fun, and where I used a square of wood as my base, then painted and sprayed and stamped and stencilled..

Maybe you might like to have this actual piece I made sent to you, along with the items I used to make it???  That would be a pack of the Corner Charms as mentioned above, plus the Alice Palace Bunnies stamp, the Fine Flowers Panel mask, and the Oriental Fans stamp!  If this appeals to you and you follow this blog please leave a comment at the end of this post, and in a few days time we will randomly choose a winning comment owner to receive this little bundle.

Thanks for reading this post,

Back soon,

Jean x