Domino Journal for AALL & Create

Hello Friends!

No surprises today, I am continuing my slight addition to making journals!  Whenever I see Tracy Evans' border stamp plates for AALL & Create, I just see journals and Tracy's Layered Domino stamp plate is no exception.

I thought this would be perfect for someone who enjoys games (perhaps a man?) so I really just stuck to black, white and red.

The stamp itself is a border stamp (#151) and when I cut the journal out (Eileen Hull's Wrapped Journal, with the flap cut off), I planned where to stamp on the blank journal cover.  After stamping I used Dina Wakley Media Heavy Body Paint in Ruby (slightly thinned with water) to cover the whole of the outside.  Thinning the paint makes it easy to cover the stamping without obliterating it.

I stamped the numbers again onto some watercolour card and then fussy cut them.  Since I wanted them to look really bold, I used a black marker pen to colour the numbers fully, I attached them, highlighting with a white marker pen.

I also stamped the sentiment, the word 'domino', and extra dominoes, fussy cut them all and added them to the journal front.

I turned my attention to the inside signatures.  I always like to create lots of pockets, like the double one above.

The remaining signatures were decorated with more stamped and fussy cut dominoes.

To finish off I stamped the dominoes again onto shrink plastic to make a hanging charm set.

Finally, here is a view of the back of the journal.

Here is the stamp that I used, this and all other AALL & Create stamps and stencils are available HERE, where you will also find a list of worldwide stockists.

Thanks, as always, for your visit, I really appreciate you taking the time.  

Hope to see you again soon!

Hugs, Anne xx

Follow Your Dreams...

Hello Friends

My Guest project for That's Crafty this week is bright and colourful!

Here is a sneaky peek:

I hope you will have time to pop over to That's Crafty to have a look.

Thanks so much for your visit, hope to see you again soon!

Hugs, Anne xxx

Wendy Vecchi Country Flower Cards

Hello Friends

I am back with some more inspiration using Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous Country Flower

Stamp/Die/Stencil set.

I wanted to experiment with Wendy Vecchi's new Washi Tape and one of Wendy's older Stamp sets - LCS018 - It's More Than Flower Art.

Here is what I started with, along with some white stamping card.

For the first card I stamped the stripes in Wendy's Blendable Dye Ink in Tea Rose.  The flower and leaves were stamped in Watering Can Archival ink, cut out using the dies in the set and then coloured with Blendable Dye Inks in Tea Rose, Peat Moss and Sunflower.

The Washi Tape was torn slightly and applied in strips going across and up and down the card.  To finish off I splatted some Tea Rose and Sunflower inks, mixed with a little water.  I used a Tim Holtz word strip attached to some more Washi Tape.

This card was made in exactly the same way just using different colours.  I don't use Washi Tape very often but I really love how the tapes set off the flowers beautifully in these designs.

I cut some extra card for matting and coloured the edges of each with the Blendable Inks so that they matched the colours in the cards.

Here is a final look at the finished cards.

If you are based in the UK you can pre-order Wendy's fabulous new stamps/dies/stencils and the Washi Tape from Art From the Heart.  (Wendy's amazing new Stay-tion, that she demoed at Creativation is also available on pre-order from AFTH).

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

Red Baron takes flight...

Hello Friends, welcome to my lovely new followers!

My project this week for AALL & Create uses Olga Heldwein's fabulous Red Baron A4 sized stamp set #114.  I have been wanting to play with this stamp for ages!

I created an Artist Trading Block using the ATB die by Eileen Hull for my base.

I die cut the block from mountboard and assembled it.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers, and then used embossing paste through Olga's Stencil #2 by AALL & Create to create some background interest before cutting to size for the block.  Since the block is black, I inked the edges of the layering pieces with Black distress Ink.

I stamped the Red Baron images onto white cardstock.

I fussy cut all the elements that I wanted to use on my block and coloured some with Derwent Inktense pencils.

You can see in this photo that I added splats in red and black to the background.

In the end I decided to colour the large circle before mounting it.

A final view from the top showing more of the cut out circles, which I layered up with sticky pads.  Finally, I added some 'feet' to the block, from some old packing foam I have been saving.

You can purchase the stamp set and stencil that I used HERE, where you will find a list of worldwide stockists.

I left the top of the box open so that a small gift can be placed inside.

Thanks so much for your visit, I do really appreciate you taking the time.  I hope to be back on Saturday with another Wendy Vecchi project, using her wonderful new products.

Hugs, Anne  xxx

Faux Fossilised Amber for That's Crafty

Hello Friends

My Guest project for That's Crafty this week is a Faux Fossilised Amber

'museum piece'.  Here is a sneak preview:

If you have the time I hope you will pop over HERE to see the whole project.

As always, thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

Wendy Vecchi Country Flower Journal

Hello Friends

I feel so thrilled and honoured to have been asked by Wendy Vecchi and Ranger Ink to try out some of Wendy's latest release of products including Wendy's Make Art Stamp/Die/Stencil - Country Flower set. Thank you again, to Wendy and to Ranger Ink for giving me this opportunity!

I have been down and a little subdued this week due to the death of a lovely friend and neighbour but I sat down yesterday and created one of my favourite things, a journal.

The gorgeous flowers on the front are from Wendy's new Make Art Stamp/Die/Stencil set called Country Flowers.  They remind me of blue Cornflowers. 

In the UK, Wendy's new releases are available to pre-order from Art From the Heart (I am not on commission!).

This is the contents of the beautiful parcel I received.  It includes Wendy's new stamp/die/stencil sets, her new Washi Tape range and new colours of  Wendy's Make Art Blendable Dye Inks.

After die cutting the journal (Eileen Hull's Wrapped Journal with the flap cut off), I stamped and embossed one of Wendy's older background stamp sets (Script WVBG022) to the front and back.

The thing I love about Wendy's new stamp set is that it has a stamp for the image, and another one to add colour to the image and then a die set to cut the flower (and leaves) out.  So quick and easy and such a reasonable price £14.99 in the UK (and $14.99 US) for the set!  I also love the way the stamps take the inks, (both archival and dye inks) and they stamp with just a tiny amount of pressure (great for those of us who have dexterity issues!).

Here is a view of the completed cover, you can see that I added some stencilling, using part of the stencil that comes in the set.

I added two pockets to the inside of the journal.  The left hand side was decorated with some of Wendy's gorgeous Washi tape.  The pocket on the right hand side was stencilled, again, with the stencil that comes with the set.

I created three signatures for the inside of my journal, again using stamps, dies and stencils from the set and I incorporated some Washi tape too.

 Finally, here is a view of the completed journal.

I will have a few more projects to share over the next couple of weeks, using Wendy's products, I hope you will visit to see them.  Do check out Wendy's blog HERE to see more of her new release.

On Monday and Tuesday next week I will be attending Stitches (the UK's much smaller version of Creativation) with my dear friends Kath and Enfys, and we are meeting up with other friends, Zoe and Kaz, and no doubt lots of others, to discuss all things crafty.  I am really looking forward to it.

Have a lovely weekend and I will have another post to share on Monday for That's Crafty.

Hugs, Anne xx

All You Need Is Love

Hello Friends

I am here today sharing a card made as Guest for AALL & Create, to celebrate today,

Valentine's Day, for those of you who hold with the celebration.

We don't 'celebrate' as such but we do exchange cards and I really enjoyed making this one.

I used two AALL & Create stamp sets, #45 by Tracy Evans and #57 by Olga Heldwein.

I cut a piece of card 6" square and stamped a part of the larger stamp and then used Tracy's heart stamp to add the hearts to the side.  I stamped, coloured (with Ecoline inks) and fussy cut the elements I wanted to add.

I cut a piece of card slightly larger, to mat my topper on and coloured it with the same red ink to coordinate. I used some red and blue paint to add splatters to the background.  I cut some thin wire to add to the circle element of the design.  It adds some lovely texture.

Here is a close up showing the wire, the hearts (coated with Glossy Accents) and the lovely little dragonflies (I love the little hearts on the wings).  Finally I added my sentiment (a Tim Holtz chitchat words sticker).

The stamps I used are available from shops around the world, you can find details HERE.

Thanks so much for your visit and your support, I really do appreciate it!  I know lots of people prefer Facebook and Instagram these days - and let's face it, it is much quicker to leave a little comment, in our busy lives, but I am sticking with my blog too as it is a record for me.  

Hugs, Anne xxx

Coins, coins and a holder for That's Crafty

Hello Everyone

I have a new project over on That's Crafty Blog today, a rather large project,

here is a little sneak peek....

I hope you have time to pop over and have a look at the whole project HERE.

As always, thanks for looking and I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

She wore flowers in her hair....

Hello Friends

My Guest designer project this week for AALL & Create uses a wonderful stamp (#54) by Bipasha BK, and two stencils, one (#6) by Autour de Mwa and and one (#47) by Olga Heldwein to create a large 5" x 7" card.

The background was created as part of a (very) happy accident!  Last week I was watching my lovely friend Tracy Evans demoing at a craft event, using a shaving foam technique through a stencil.

 I tried the technique but did it all wrong, but when I applied Distress Oxides over the mistake I ended up with a background that I loved!

I stamped over the background with Stamp #54.

I stamped again over the piece of card that was left over and cut out the elements I wanted to layer up.  I ripped the edge of the bottle element to add some further texture and interest.

I added some more stencilling using texture paste, made from 13Arts Magic Powder, coloured with Distress Oxide.  I added Glossy Accents  to the eye and the crown and decoupaged them.

I love the sentiment on this stamp - 'She wore flowers in her hair' ....

These are the products from AALL & Create that I used, all of which are available from AALL & Create website.

As always, thanks so much for your visit, I really appreciate it.

Hugs, Anne xx

Dream Big, Fly High for That's Crafty

Hello Friends

My Guest designer project for That's Crafty is a trio of Artist Trading Cards using

some beautiful design papers by 13 Arts.  Here is a sneak peek for you:

I hope, if you have the time, you will pop over HERE and have a look at my very quick and easy project this week.

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you again later in the week.

Hugs, Anne xxx

Sketched and Doodled Mini Journal/Album

Hello Friends

The first day of the month means that we have a new challenge starting at Mini Album Makers!  We had some fabulous entries last month and I hope you will join in this month.

Each year I like to make a mini journal / diary to keep notes, thoughts and appointments in.   I am a bit late this year but better late than never I guess!

To create the base I used my all time favourite die - Eileen Hull's Passport die by Sizzix (660331), I just love it's compact size.  I cut it in black mountboard, which is nice and sturdy.

I do love a bit of colour and so I stamped, coloured and fussy cut several flowers from AALL & Create stamp set #154 by Tracy Evans.  I used Ecoline watercolour ink markers for my colouring.

Before adding the flowers to the front cover, I stamped and embossed in white WOW embossing powder, using Stamp #150 by Tracy Evans for AALL & Create.

On the inside front cover I added a die cut by Tim Holtz, his Stitched Slots Thinlits die by Sizzix (662697), it is a really handy size that fits the journal perfectly.  I also added the elastic binding as shown.

For the inside back cover, I like to cover up the knot created by the elastic closure and I created a pocket.  I added my favourite quote for my journals - stamped and embossed in white.  The stamp is by Darkroom Door.

The pocket is easily made, using a piece of card 4.1/2" x  4.3/4".
On the long side, score at 1/4", 3/4", 3.3/4" and 4.1/4"
On the short side score at 1/2"
Cut off the corners as shown to lessen the bulk, use a bone folder to crease all the score lines well and glue into the journal.

I stamped and die cut several tickets (stamp and die by Tim Holtz) to show how the holder can be used.  

I cut three signatures 3.1/4" x 4.3/4", one in white card and two in black card.  The first one contains a 2019 diary (purchased).  I added the remaining flowers to each of the signatures, adding a little doodling and some washi tape to 'ground' the flowers.

The second signature contains plain watercolour paper.

 The final signature contains ruled paper for notes.  I added a pen holder to the middle signature as I never seem to be able to find a pen when I need one!

I do hope you can join us at Mini Album Makers where
  Our generous sponsor this month is

and the super talented
Kae Pea
aka Kristen Powers
Join our challenge this month 
and you will be eligible to receive a prize package
from
Rubber Moon
You probably are aware of her amazing rubber stamps,  as well as her stencils
and now her unique inks called
Moonlight Duo Tint & Hue Ink
Take a look at her artistry here & follow along for ideas galore:

RubberMoon
Dream it. Make it.™

Thanks so much for looking, if you would like to see what my talented team mates have made this month, then please check them out HERE.

I am adding this to Craft Stamper 'Take it Make it' Challenge HERE.

Hugs, Anne xxx