Monday 28 November 2016

Final Week for Resistance at Unstampabelles

Gosh - people must be very busy! We have only two entries over at Unstampabelles,  and only a week to go for you to resist in some way without using a stamp! As long as you hold something back, or stop something from happening and then tell us how in your blog you meet the challenge!



We seem to be having summer resisting arrival and winter resisting leaving at the moment - it has been cold and windy lately, but interspersed with very warm windy days. We want summer to get here but the growth of grasses has been extraordinary and once the warmth arrives so does the fire season! However, it is nice seeing such a lush green landscape - here is one to look at before you see my card for Unstampabelles.


Bridport by Dan Fellow's


I started by smearing Versamark onto the recessed part of the embossing folder and embossing a piece of watercolour card. Carefully removing this, I added clear embossing powder onto the card and heat embossed it - it is the raised pieces which are not sealed by the clear EP.


Next I splodged TH Distress ink onto a sheet of ascetate and spritzed it with some water


I then lay this face side down over the embossed piece and pressed the spread ink into the paper with a roller - the clear embossing resists the ink but the unembossed section (raised section) does not so it absorbs the diluted ink.


A quick rub over with a sheet of paper towel to mop up the excess and another sheet of watercolour paper to clean up the rest (to be used later for something) and hey presto!


Mounted and a die cut added for another Christmas card!


It makes such a pretty background. 

You too can be resistant and add your object to our challenge!

You can go HERE to enter.


Saturday 26 November 2016

Whatever the Weather! A new challenge at CWD

Yes, that is right -the new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies is "Whatever the Weather!"



With climate change front and centre, and with all the different weather conditions we have experienced over the last year, this challenge asks us to create something related to a weather condition.


I started with some lovely rubber stamps of raindrops and circles that reminded me of puddles. It has been raining a lot here lately, despite being Spring.  I then used my lovely Tim Holtz Crazy Cat stamps, and coloured them with my SU pens by rubbing them onto glass and then picking up the ink with my water pens, and painting them.


I used the Tim Holtz Accessories sheet to add hats to my cats!


Don't you just love the look on their faces.

I added a die cut and a stamped sentiment.


My bottom stamp was slightly off kilter but at that stage I was not going back!!!


Hope you like it - I got the idea from a group I belong to on FB!
All card is from SU

Off to Crafting with Dragonflies for a look at the rest of the DT work - it is impressive!

then start to create your own version of the theme
Whatever the Weather!

Monday 21 November 2016

Midway through November - still Resisting at Unstampabelles

#63 Resistance at Unstampabelles!


Yes, another Christmas card

Before that - sometimes I see a photograph taken in my home state and don't even recognise the place. This has become one I must see for myself now - so beautiful

A stunning capture of Mt Paris Dam thanks to Craig J Doumouras who says:
“People do not take magical photos. A magical photo is a gift. In this photo, a cloud covered the sun, shading the area where I was, but was still shining brightly on the other side of the dam wall. It only lasted seconds, and I was fortunate to have been right there.”
www.instagram.com/juddbaileys


Now, remember when I was playing with the powder inks a few weeks ago? 
I ended up with several extra pieces of watercolour paper used to wipe up the overflow from the first distress card I made and I used one of them today for this card.


I laid a stencil over it and taped it into place, and began sponging carefully some black TH Distress ink through it - my stencil became the resistance. 


This is what the sheet then looked like - I did spray it with some gold mist after that as well


Another shot of the outcome


I added a die cut and this is what I got!


Very dramatic


You too can do a resist technique - just look it up at Pinterest and substitute stencils for hand drawing for stamps and your work will fit the current challenge at Unstampabelles.



Monday 14 November 2016

Unstampabelles and Resistance

What do the aliens say when they land - "Resistance is futile; resistance is futile"  (I think I was channeling Darleks then) - anyway, you know you want to have a go at this challenge so why not!

Before that - here is a cute photo of (wet) wildlife here in Tassie this morning by that wonderful photographer Greg Faull


Can you see the joey? 


See - resistance is futile. You get a bath whether you want it or not!

Challenge £63 at Unstampabelles
Resistance Technique
Twist - tell us how in your blog

So, what do I have that illustrates resistance?

This week I tried using a candle as a pen to act as a resist. It is sort of OK, so I will share it - remembering everything is a learning experience, and we grow through experimentation! (Sounds like aliens again)


Firstly, I wrote a message on a sheet of watercolour paper using the sharp end of the candle - I think the wick got in the way!


Then I washed it over with ink using my new ombre pad - I pressed the pad into the glass top and sprayed it with water, then lay the paper over it. I tried to get the ombre effect as well on the sheet; I finished it off with a paint brush 


The I sprinkled it with salt while it was wet 


Salt on watercolor paint when wet leaves a speckled impression - like snow falling perhaps....
of course, brush off salt when dry!
Another type of resistance........


I used the sheet created to make another Christmas card and so I added some red pen to the white writing  to highlight it - but it resisted my pen too so is only there in parts!

Here is another go at resistance using candle and salt that failed.  
You can see bits of resistance in the white showing through the yellow colour


I stencilled with ink onto the card afterwards
Both the sentiment and the christmas tree
I added the metal angel with a dimensional


I also smooched sparkle over the tree and the sentiment
I guess the stencil was a type of resist as well


I wanted an Australian scene when I first began this card so that is why it is yellow and blue skies - a Christmas in Australia is in summer.

No entries yet to the resist - people are too stumped by Trump perhaps?
Resistance is the word for the time!!
Get out there and resist and add your work to our challenge at 

Saturday 12 November 2016

White on White for CWD

For the current challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies we were asked for White on White

Oh no! I added some gold - do you  think Hilde will notice?


I love white on white but this card needed a bit of a lift so I added the gold - perhaps I should have kept the white panel and just used the gold snowflake/star die but I had stuck stuff down and couldn't change it when I thought of that.  


I used a Spellbinders set Majestic Elements - Marvelous Squares
And Stampin' Up Whisper White card


The gold is also Stampin' Up card


The ribbon and the pearl were from the stash.
Tying that bow was difficult!

I used dimentionals from various places to add height as I built up the layers. 


A Tassie photo for you to view 


It's been a bit cold and wet here lately - a late touch of winter in spring - but the roses were great for a while - these are notmine; not even sure where they were grown

Monday 7 November 2016

Unstampabelles is asking for us to Resist!

Now, this is a hard one! I know how to use resist with stamps and so I didn't think about this being hard until I started to create something for the challenge. Before I begin - the annual photograph of the rhododendron in the garden outside my craft room - poor thing is getting a bit leggy and needs to be fed I think, and it gets blown about and blasted with the occasional salt water bath from the river, but still looks lovely.


This is the prize for November at Unstampabelles


Well, I had a thought about embossing powder so went with that!
As I cannot stamp I used a stencil I made by die cutting the circle into some old thicker card
While die cutting I also did the Santa and sleigh out of black sparkly card - you can see it on the glass top here - it looks a bit spidery........


Anyways, I sticky taped some watercolor paper onto the glass, and then laid the stencil over this - I rubbed the Versamark over the circle and then used the pen to highlight the smaller dots


Orange EP from SU was used - bright eh!


Once I had heat embossed this, I sprayed the sheet with water...


....and puffed in some paint powders......fun!



I gave it another squirt with the water spray


I had some run-off, so wiped it off with another sheet of card - actually, I ended up with 2 sheets and stain all over my pinkies!


Outside to dry off in the sunshine, next to the rhodie!


This is what I did with the finished sheet - after I had rubbed it gently with a tissue to remove any excess paint on the embossed section.


I admit it does look good. 


Except the sentiment s crocked - but it is staying that way!


Why not go over to Unstampbelles, and see what else is there - and then have a go at resisting!