Design Team Make.......First Christmas Card

Hello everyone...Genny here. I always think to myself that I know what I'm going to be doing the next week and by the time that I get to this point ..many times I have created something different. As most of you know, most of the craft channels have been featuring Christmas products..far too early in my world..but I can understand that lots of us have to begin early in the year. I generally don't begin until August and I have several hundred to make. But due to all this Christmas television I ended up thinking of Christmas ideas. And I arrived at this card.

I began by painting some blue skies..using watercolour paper and my Lyra watercolours. I left the bottom white and created blue skies above it. I did about 5 A4 pieces. On one of them I stamped 4 Christmas trees, using my distress ink..Forest Moss.The stamp itself is a Hobby Art stamp..but you could use any Christmas tree one that you already have. I then cuts the trees out in a rectangle..placing the tree slightly on the left. I then mounted this rectangle onto some black card. I also mounted one of the plain backgrounds onto another piece of black card. I then went over both layers with a white ink pen and added snow falling and some snow onto the tree. I finally added some glitter and a ribbon.

To my mind, this is the perfect card to batch make. You could make a huge pile of backgrounds really easily..yet the finished card is quite special.

So I'm not even going to mention what I might be doing next week..my ideas well may change...but until then..take care and happy crafting.

Design team makes....Stencils

Hello everyone ....Genny here. For todays design team make I have been playing with a stencil and trying different ways of using it. For the first make (above) I have stencilled onto black card. I first taped the stencil down and sponged through some white acrylic paint and let it dry. Then I went over it again,once dry with yellow,red and green acrylic. The white underneath made the colours really pop. It is important to not have too much paint on your sponge dabber..else it will flood under the stencil..as I found on my first attempt..lol. So put your dabber into the paint and then dab onto a spare piece of paper and then dab onto your stencil. The other important thing is to take your time and build up the colour bit by bit. When the stencilled image was dry, I went round the edges of the petals with a white pencil to give a little definition.

On the cards below I used my distress inks but twp different methods of applying. For the first one I used a blending sponge and on the second I used a stencil brush.

The distress inks I used were Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn and Spiced Marmalade.

As you can see, both the different methods produce a very different effect. The yellow flowered one, using a stencil brush, has a rougher texture than the blending sponge. It is important to keep your stencil brush upright and again to take your time, so that your bristles don't push under the stencil.

The blending sponge technique is my favourite. It gave a lot smoother impression and the colours looked a lot brighter. The final thing I did was edge the petals with a grey pencil and what that does is give the petals a little more definition and seems to make them pop off the page.

I'm hoping to use this stencil for another couple of techniques...shaving foam and texture paste. The texture paste I intend to make myself but for it to have a smoother texture than the one I used on the walling last week. I will share both techniques with you next week.

As always, if you need anything for your crafting..just ask Julie here at JB-Crafting Supplies. So until next week...take care and happy crafting.

Design team make....The Funky Chicken

Hello everyone...Genny here. For this weeks design team makes I have been working with this fabulous stamp from Hobby Art. It is called Funky Chicken and is so much fun. Sometimes you just need to make a card that will raise a giggle or even just make some one smile..and these chickens certainly deliver. On all these cards, I made the backing paper by stamping the same pattern but in different colours.

On the first card I used the 3 cockerals, stamped them with my memento inkpad and coloured them with my promarkers. Since I made this card, I thought what a great 'boys on the town' card.

For my second card I just stamped the images into circles..looking from different ways and just thought it would make a great card to send a smile.

For my last card, I stamped the same chicken 3 times and coloured them differently..the same colours but in different areas. I added the sentiment 'don't flap'..another great card to send to a friend.

I know from my own card making that sometimes you just need that cheeky card for a friend and I really think these funky chickens fit the well. I am hoping to have another play with them soon, as I keep thinking of different ways to use them. When I have the time to have another play..I will share them with you.

I hope that the weather is being kind to you, wherever you are. Being a lady of a certain age, I have found the heat rather hard to deal with. So you will find me crafting in front of my fan..which guarantees fun when the glitter comes out..lol. The cats have discovered that in front of the fan is a good place to be..so I find that I have to share. So until next week...take care and happy crafting.

Design team make.....Using Texture Paste

Hello everyone...Genny here. Today's make is a canvas using texture paste and I thought it would be good to share with you all. There are lots of different types of texture paste out there, all at various prices but I was talking to a friend and she said I am sure that you could make your own...so I did.

I wanted to make quite a course texture paste that I could use through a stencil that I had that looked like a stone wall. The recipe I used was 2 tablespoons of pva, 2 tablespoons of white acrylic paint, 2 tablespoons of talcum powder and some sand. I mixed them all together, adding the sand until it became a texture that I felt that I could use through the stencil. If it feels too thick, you can add a little water..by the same token if it feels too wet either add a little more sand or talcum. Then I placed my stencil onto a small canvas and applied the texture paste...as in the picture below.

I then let it dry.. I let it dry overnight to ensure that it was thoroughly dry. Then I painted the whole canvas with some acrylic paint that I had mixed to a colour I wanted for my stone. You can alter this to suit what you want to do. You could paint it all white for example or if you had the patience you could paint the spaces between 'the stones' one colour and the stones themselves another. It all depends what effect you would like.

While the paint was drying, I stamped out some flowers and leaves and coloured them with my lyra watercolours. I then added them to the canvas. While I was playing about with my texture paste I also realised that if you just wanted the paste to be fine don't add any sand,just add more talcum powder. That will create a texture similar to a plaster finish but would also be good depending on the look you wanted. This would give you aa finish that you would be able to stamp into. The only thing that I would add is to say that it's vital that you clean everything thoroughly as soon as you've finished. I have a couple of bowls which I keep together for making the paste in and a spoon and spreader. Everything is kept together in a cupboard ready for the next time. I've also kept a jar of sand..when I asked my friend for a jar of sand he was intrigued to what I was going to do..lol

I hope that you like the finished project and that you will have a go at making your own texture paste. For anything you need or want, please pop over to speak to Julie. I know that she stocks some brilliant acrylic paints in case you need any. So until next time..take care and happy crafting.