Art Journal

The rain and mist is swirling around the Blue Mountains today and it is an ideal day to spend holed up in my creative parlour. This morning, I am starting to make faux leather which will be turned into the cover for an art journal, I have done this technique before but decided to revisit it again.  Here is a link to the Faux Leather technique by Sheena Douglas.

I have embossed it with Sheena's beautiful folder called "Flying Beauties"

It is sitting around trying to dry on this wet day, which is happening oh so slowly, so I will be back with another post later.

Hope you are having a creative day,

xx Liz

2015 has Arrived!

Should I start this post with a Happy New Year to you all??? 2015 has arrived!!! I know it is already half way through January, but it is my first post for the year.

January for our family sees me busy making lots of cards as there are about 10 birthdays this month. What a way to start the year........crafting. It is hard isn't it? I forgot to take photos of the first few cards so I could post them here but here is one I made today.

I have had those bottle cap thingys for years and today I remembered why I bought them. It was to make a watch......

The watch face was stamped and embossed in liquid platinium from a background stamp of watches that I have had for many years. The strap is a piece of black ribbon. The papers came from my stash and I used a few sentiments from a free set at Stampin Up called 'Big Day'.

Hope you are having a creative day

xx Liz

It's All About Christmas

With only one month until Christmas, the production of Christmas cards has been happening in my craft room. I always say that I will start earlier in the year but it never happens!!

Well, I have been watching lots of you-tube and visiting Pinterest regularly for inspiration and I have also been trying out new techniques to include in my cards.

Here are a few that I have made today.

This was copied from a you-tube video by Simon Says Stamps, but I didn't have the stencil so I used the Stampin Up tree punch  cut out in masking paper. I used distress ink pads in Festive Berries, Spiced Marigold, Mustard Seed, Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean. The greeting is from Waltzingmouse Stamps.

The Next card is using Gelatos to colour the focal image that has been stamped and embossed with white embossing powder.

The wonderful sentiment is another one from a set by Waltzingmouse Stamps called 'Tis the Season'. Gelatos were smoothed over the water colour paper with my finger and the colours were Metallic Blue and Green with Green tea mixed in as well, I then spritzed with water and blended them some more. The beautiful metallic shimmer unfortunately doesn't show in the photo.

Finally I have a third card which uses the beautiful Creative Expression Gilding Flakes,  (this is a link to the You-tube video showing how to use them.)

The Gilding flakes give this card a wonderful elegant dimension and I will be making different cards using these lovely flakes.

The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous: Old Fashioned Christmas stamped in Versafine Onyx Black.

This is just a taste of what I have been up to whilst trying to stay cool in my craft room. The air conditioning is keeping my room at a lovely 23 degrees Celsius, whilst outside it is 40 degrees. 

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx Liz

Playing with Simply Pressed Clay

I know it has been a while since I posted on here, but I have been playing in my haven!

What have I been up to you ask? Well, a bit of this and that. For this past month, I have been on holidays and enjoying time away from my regular job. This has given me the time to clean out my craft room, which led me to the realization that I DO NOT need any more things...........don't we all say that at times and then another great product takes our fancy.

Today I am showing what can be done with SU simply pressed clay. I discovered those molds used for cake decorating and tried them with the clay. They work just as well as the buttons and blossoms clay molds that SU sell. This then gives you so many more opportunities to use the clay. Here is the card that I made.

The cupcake is painted with twinkling H2O's Coral Berry and the wrapper in Lemon drop and Nutmeg. The background is created by white embossing a stamped image and then rubbing with gelatos in Bubblegum, Melon and Tangerine. All that was layered on a white cardbase stamped in Tuxedo Black with a stamp set  by Sheena Douglas called A Taste of India.The sentiment is from the same set.

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx Liz

Japanese Paper

Whilst out shopping with a crafty friend last week, she showed me a beautiful piece of Japanese paper that she had fallen in love with. "What can you do with this?" she exclaimed. So I rose to the challenge to create some cards using the sheet of paper that she so desperately wanted to buy. 

The photos below are my creations and I hope they will help to inspire.

I have used Darkroom Door Kimono Stamp Set for the main figure and the sentiment comes from Waltzing Mouse Stamps

This card showcases another stamp from Darkroom Door and again a sentiment from Waltzingmouse Stamps

I have used the paper to create the hanging lanterns by cutting circles
 and putting them through a crimper before adding the tops and bottoms
 out of a small piece of cardstock.
The tassle and topper comes from  WaltzingMouse Stamps and the sentiment from Stampin Up.

I have used a Japanese character stamp for the background . The weeping tree on the front panel comes from Jemac Stamps

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx Liz

Digital Stamping

Have you ever used digital stamps?

I have bought a lot of them over the years, but never seem to know how to use them. I have printed them out and have them lying around on my craft desk in piles waiting for that moment of inspiration on where to use them.

After moving the pile for the upteenth time, I decided that last week was the time to have another closer look at them. I chose a lovely little stamp of a mouse in a cocktail glass. For the life of me I don't even know which company this comes from any more! I used him/her on a birthday card for a friend that has a celebration coming up later this week. Colouring in with copic markers and then using glossy accents to make the glass look realistic, I mounted the cut out image on a background that I had water-coloured after heat embossing an image of cracked glass. Adding a sentiment to the bottom of the card completed the picture and here is the card:

I might need to play around a little more, but it was a bit of fun and something to not feel frightened about using. Digital stamps are now on my 'use list' which opens up a whole new world of stamping. If you haven't given it a go, then bite the bullet and have a go, you never know where it might lead you.

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx Liz

Creative Friday

Today, I have enjoyed a wonderful day of card making in my Craft Haven. This is the name that a dear friend of mine named her craft space the other day and I have adopted it!

The card I have made, is using the terrific stamp set from Art Impression called 'Celeste'. She is a beauty, and oh so right for our stage in life. I can see me making lots of cards for my friends using this delightful stamp. So, without keeping you in suspense any longer, here is my creation.

I have coloured her in using Copic markers in various colours. The floor is stamped with Darkroom Door 'Woodgrain' background stamp.  The couch stamped with Impression Obsession 'Distressed Corduroy' after I masked 'Celeste'. I have distressed the edges of the card with Vintage Photo distress ink and a blending tool.

                      

 I hope you are having a creative day,

xx Liz