SHINY NEW JOURNAL, AND THE PROMISED STEP BY STEP....

That's mine then, the shiny new journal!  We recently got a few large Dylusions Journals in stock and as they seem much more robust than any other ones I have, I decided to take one on holiday last week to Northumberland.  The aim at the moment being to mess about in it with simple sketches, layouts, collage, and stamping.  Only a couple of pages (large square ones) completed so far, but I hope to keep going with it, and also keep you up to date with progress (watch this space)....

There is a wealth of flowers and grasses to be found in the sand dunes at Embleton beach (hence the harebells above).  It is a very beautiful spot, and with nice weather you could be anywhere in the world.....

I was going to watch the England football game tonight, and be a little bit supportive, but soon got bored I'm afraid, and here I am writing this instead!  Teamie Sylvie recently sent me a great step by step in photographs, and as mentioned on Facebook the other day, here are the steps tonight.....

The super finished card...

The steps to create the background...

Loving the burnt oranges and greens Sylvie used - skies look great in strong colours. Thanks very much for sharing!!

And thanks to you for checking in.  Hope it's been interesting, and catch up with you again soon.
By the way we have just put some 'being retired' stamps, plus other bits and bobs, into the Special Offers pages section on the website at cracking prices.  As the saying goes - 'once they are gone, they are really gone!'

Back soon,
Jean x

A STEP BY STEP GUIDE BY LOVELY SANDRA.....

Tonight I have a fabulous step by step guide by our clever teamie Sandra.  We have been asked several times about the techniques used with the recently released grasses stamps and the sun/moon effect cards.  Three card samples follow all by Sandra, who has very kindly recreated one of these cards as a step by step 'how to' guide, with notes at the end on 'how to' make the other two as well.....

Here is the stamp used in her card above....

And here are the steps accompanied by lots of fabulous photos.  Thanks so much Sandra.

The inks and tools Sandra used...

 1. Start by dusting and blending the yellow ink...

2. Use a circular mask to create the sun/moon and then add the purple ink with a brush...

3. Use a piece of copy paper to create a mask and then dust over the with Memento black to create the water...

4. Your card should look similar to the image below when the paper is removed...  

5. Use your copy paper again to cover the water and then stamp your silhouette image using the black Versafine ink.  The Versafine ink leaves a darker impression that will be clean and sharp.  As this ink takes quite a while to dry, I heat emboss mine with a clear embossing powder.  This will also avoid any accidental smudges...

6. Your card should now look similar to the image below.  

7. Stamp the image a second time to the right hand side, but a little lower this time to give a more natural look...

8. Using the Versafine ink again, stamp the image onto a piece of acetate...

9. Very carefully, line up the image and then gently rub over it to create the reflection.  Take care not to press the image above the water.  This is the most difficult part of the card to do but it will get easier with practice.  If the image isn't perfect, then you can always re-ink and go over it again as it's easy to line up with the acetate being clear.  Remember that the reflection should be lighter than the image...

10. Do the same again to complete the reflection...

11. I used some deckle edge scissors and made a mask using two pieces of card.  Blend over it with the Memento black ink and this with then give a more natural effect between the image and it's reflection...  

12. Your card should now look similar to the image below...

13. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment onto some white card before using a die to cut it out.  I used the small finger daubers to add some colour before removing the card from the die.  This then creates a white border...

14. Here's my finished card.  Before I mounted the finished image, I used the Ink Dusters and finger daubers with Adirondack Eggplant ink around the edge to darken it.  This helps to draw the viewers eye into the image.  I mounted the image onto black card and then again onto a white card to finish...

15. To make a much easier version of the card,  just use the silhouette stamps and don't create a reflection. I've added the image below to show how this might look.  I would use a sentiment over the sun/moon to complete the card.  Don't forget that any of the colours that I've used can be changed to give your card a completely different look.  

  
The first card at the top of this post could be created in exactly the same way as the tutorial above, by creating the background first and then using then silhouette stamps. 

Moonlit Perching Bird, second card above:

1) Make a large circular aperture and then colour the moon with yellow ink. 
2)  Use a circular mask to cover the moon before using the Denim ink to create the night sky. 
3) Stamp the image with Versafine.  You can leave it to dry but I prefer to heat emboss with clear powder to give a darker image and to avoid any smudges.
4) Use a white pen to add some stars.  You could also splatter with white acrylic paint. 

We hope you have enjoyed the tutorial - do give it a go as the cards are lots of fun to make, and we would love to see your samples.

One of our lovely customers is Eriko in Japan, and Eriko spurred us on to ask Sandra for the 'how to' above.  Eriko also attached the following lovely image she had made with the grasses stamp to her email...

 

Thanks to both of you for sharing your makes in tonight's post.

Bye for now,
Back soon,
Jean x