Enamelling Letters - How I Did It

Hello Everyone,


I recently mentioned in a WOYWW post (Week 478) that I'd been shown a way to give old letters a new look ... you know the ones, bought on a whim but never been used! I should say that although it's new to me, I'm sure many of you have seen it/done it before. This is what the letters looked like after the makeover.

For the record, just in case, like me, you haven't tried it before, here's how it's done.

First, I chose a set of flocked letters that I didn't love - American Crafts Thickers Emerald - how inappropriate is that name! Look at them - they don't stick to the backing sheet anymore, in fact I don't think they ever did, and, in truth, there's never been any call for that colour in any of the scrapbook layouts I've made.

I picked out the letters for the title I wanted then did a colour tester on a letter 'z' - there's not much call for 'z's making them pretty disposable.

Next I coloured the letters using two Promarkers in the colours I wanted, Cardinal Red and Cobalt Blue.

This proved to be more tricky than I thought because of the flocking - I pressed too hard with the pen to begin with - something to bear in mind next time I do this.

The letters were left to dry before I covered them with embossing fluid using an American Crafts brush tip pen. These pens come in a pack of three, all with different tips - the others are broad tip and medium tip but I found the brush tip the best for this job.

The final stage is to cover them with clear embossing powder - I used Stamps Away powder but any clear EP will do - and use a heat tool to melt the powder. This is the really fiddly stage - I found I needed a pair of tweezers to stop the letters scooting all over the place.

Also, it took several reapplications of both the embossing fluid and the powder before I got the high gloss finish I was looking for but the end result is well worth the effort. One thing to note is that the affect of embossing was to deepen and enrich the two shades chosen as can be seen in this photo. This turned out to be a happy accident!

Here's the page with the finished title and as can be seen the colours are perfect.The photo was taken at the Artist Textiles Exhibition - Picasso to Warhol at New Lanark in April this year.

I was delighted with the result - I love the glossy finish - and changing the colour extended the use of letters I might have eventually consigned to the bin.

Take care and have a great day tomorrow.

Making Flower Embellishments - A Little How-To Post plus Sunday Snippets

Hello Everyone,

One of the many crafting websites I pop over to regularly is Shimelle Laine's Pretty Paper, True Stories where it's possible to find lots of inspirational posts covering a wide variety of techniques. A recent post by Gretchen McElveen is on making flowers. I couldn't resist trying this out for myself and thought you might like to give it a try too.

Here's the flower and here's how it was made.

Step 1: It's simple enough. Take a couple of the small shaped ink pads, Gretchen used Colorbox Cat's Eye pads, I used Memento Dewdrops pads - the colours are Love Letter and Pear Tart - and some white cardstock. Stamp the ink pads all over the card. It's stating the obvious I know but the red shapes are for the 'petals', and the green for the 'leaves'. I did try a couple of deeper colours, Rhubarb Stalk and Pistachio - you can see one of each in two of the corners - but preferred the lighter colours.

Step 2: Outline each shape using a black fine line pen - the one I have is an Artline 200 Fine 0.4. You don't have to be too exact ... this is just as well because I can hardly draw a straight line to save myself :)

Step 3: Cut the shapes out leaving a narrow margin of white round each shape ... again you don't need to be precise.

Step 4: Pierce each shape at what will be the base of the 'petal'/'leaf' with a pokey tool. Next, arrange five 'petals' to form a flower shape and then place two or three of the 'leaves' behind. Finally, push a brad through the pierced holes and fasten at the back. End result: a fabulous flower embellishment that can be used on any project.

I've used the two flowers I made to decorate two cards but they could just as easily be used to embellish any project that calls for flowers.

The cards were made using white die-cut card bases, plain green or pink cardstock and some leftover scraps of patterned paper, trimmed with a scalloped edge punch. The toppers are die-cut scalloped edge circles (bought from e-bay back in the days before I had a die-cutting machine) stamped with the sentiment and embellished with the flowers and tiny hearts punched from a snippet of card inked with the red ink pad. The final embellishment is the card candy.

Because of those tiny snippets and the leftover scraps of patterned paper I'm submitting both card to:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 139

And that is all for today : ) Rather later than I intended but I've been busy sorting out stuff in the garden. I only meant to be out there for an hour or so but it was such a lovely sunny day that I got quite absorbed and lost track of time. 

Hope you had as good a day too.

Happy Crafting.

Bright and Cheerful Get Well Card - with a little matting and layering trick thrown in

Hello Folks

Hope you've had a merry Monday. We've had wall-to-wall sunshine today so most of it has been spent out in the garden just enjoying the warmth. That being so, the card shown in this post is one that was made some time ago.

This colourful card is the result of a personal challenge I gave myself to make one as bright and cheerful as possible using mainly snippets, that way if it didn't work or, more likely, I didn't like it, not much material would be wasted! An added bonus is that I've also manage to incorporate another NBUS ... the little floral wood-mounted stamp is another of my very first stamping purchases.

It's a really small card made with a leftover scrap of fuschia pink card measuring 8½" x 4¼" folded in half. The floral  image was stamped in Archival black ink, coloured with H2O's and then cut out with a square-shaped die. The yellow matting layer was cut using the faux die method of tracing round the die and then cut out with scissors. The green layer is a die-cut.  Floral ribbon, yellow coloured gems and yellow glitter glue embellish the card. 

The final touch is the punched greeting label which is also matted on to yellow and green card. Each layer is made with the same punch ... a wee trick I've mentioned in past posts. However, for anybody new to cardmaking I thought this time I'd put together a little photographic record of how I do it here.

To make the greeting label these are the materials need - cardstock, stamp set and ink pad and a suitable punch ... for this sample I used the Word Window label punch from Stampin' Up but other shapes work well too - ovals, circles, squares all work well for this technique. 

Start by punching out the labels that will be used for the matting layers ... for this label I punched out one each in yellow and green.

Next, the greeting is stamped on white card and then punched out with the same label punch.

This photo shows the three labels I used to make the greeting. I should point out that how many layers you add is optional ... I've made a greeting with just one matting layer for other projects.

Before adhering the labels together cut in half, as shown, the punched pieces that will be used for matting.

To put the pieces together, apply adhesive to the back of the greeting then two halves of the first layer are manipulated into place in such a way that a tiny edge of colour showing. The process is then repeated with the next layer.  

This is the finished greeting label. As you can see, the effect is as though three different sized punches were used instead of the one ... a neat trick don't you think :) 

I think the same technique could be done with some dies instead of punches ... I have a set of oblong dies that would be ideal - will have to try that out some time. 

As the card is made almost entirely from bits found in the snippet drawer, I'm off over to Di's at Pixie's Snippet Playground - Week 129 ... second time this week and it's only just begun :)

Hope you found this post useful ... especially if you have never seen this trick for creating several layers from one punch before.

It's late and The Boss will be in any moment now meowing loudly, telling me it's time for bed :) 

Hope you have a good night.

Happy Crafting,

Materials used: scraps and snippets of pink, green, yellow and white cardstock; X-cut square die set; stamps - three flower stamp - no indication of make or name, Hero Arts Classic Messages stamp set; Celedon and Just Peachy H2Os, Summer Fun set; yellow Stickles; Archival black ink pad; Stampin' Up Word Window punch; yellow floral printed ribbon; yellow sticky-backed gems  

Inky Topper Backgrounds - a how I did it post

Evening Everyone,

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the weekend.

I've been trying out a new, for me, inking technique for making backgrounds for toppers and I thought I'd show you how it's done ... just in case you've never seen it before and might like to give it a try. This one is easy :)

First, here is the card I made with the finished topper, and sentiment.

Step 1: here's the materials required ... a scrap of white card ... mine measured 3.75" x 2.5" (10x6.5cm) ... and some Memento Dew Drop ink pads ... here I've chosen the colours Love Letter, Pear Tart and Danube Blue. Dew Drop pads are the perfect shape but I'd say that almost any pad that is shaped to have a pointed end would be just as good.

Step 2: drag the pads down the card, more or less in a straight line, to create a striped effect ... it doesn't have to be perfect, in fact, the less perfect it is the better.

Step 3: the stamping. Choose your stamp ... I chose Inkadinkado's Camera for this, my first, attempt ... and decide which way the stripes are going to go ... here I've stamped portrait, but it could just as easily been landscape.

Step 4: trim the stamping down before matting ... I used black card, another scrap, for the mat ... and construct the card.

The base is a 5"square black card from Craft UK, the patterned paper is from Pebbles Sunny Side 6x6 pad and the green and red card candy is from stash.

Step 5: going mad with all my dinky ink pads and scraps of card. I tried out a variety of scraps ... matte, shiny, smooth and even gold 'pearlescent'. The latter didn't work well, 24 hours later the ink still hadn't dried! I also discovered that newer, wetter pads give the best results.

You can really had fun mixing up the colours. I now have some very useful backgrounds for card toppers ... all except the gold one which had to be binned.

Some snippets, quite a few in fact, were used up in the making of this post so I'm off over to Di's playground ... Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 97 ... to submit my card and see what the other Snippeteers have been doing with snippets too.

I hope some of you found this way of using ink pads of interest and if you decide to try out it out for yourself, do let me know - I'd love to see what you do with it :)

In the meantime, take care and happy crafting,

Going Purple Patchwork Crazy - and how it was made

Morning Everyone,

It's still morning here, just!

And it's Friday 13th!!! Hope you all get through the day without incident :)

I thought I'd not only show you the patchwork cushion that featured on my desk on Wednesday's WOYWW post now that it is finished, but also show a few photos of it in the making.

I realise it doesn't go well with the chair it's photographed on, but it was designed for a room decorated in shades of purple and white so it will look better there :)

The crazy style is a very old form of patchwork - the earliest example is reportedly from 12th century Venice, however it really became popular in the US in Victorian times. Although it is thought to be an ideal way of using up scraps of fabric I don't do that. Because I've not been sewing for years, I no longer have a box of leftovers and trimmings to work from. Instead, I'm working with a bunch of fat quarters bought at my local shop. And the advantage of that is that I can pick out colours and designs that are perfect for any project.

A goodly few of you have said that you might like to go crazy too, so here's a few photos to show how I make crazy patchwork ... it's not the only way it can be done, purists will probably shudder at this, but it's the way that works for me.

Stage 1- was to cut the central piece ... always a 5-sided irregularly shape - as large as required and including a ¼" seam allowance on all 5 sides. I use a Simplicity Simply Crazy template which can be seen in the Stage 3 photo. You can see the rows of embroidered stitches I've added, done in two colours of thread to add interest.

Stage 2 - cut a square a of calico to fit the size of cushion plus, in this case 16½", the ½" is for the ¼" seam allowance needed for all 4 sides. This is the base onto which the patchwork will be sewn. Cut odd shaped strips of fabric in a variety of widths to be sewn around the 5 sides of the centre piece.

Stage 3 - this is where the strips are sewn, always with a ¼" seam allowance, folded over, pressed and then top-stitched with a row of embroidery stitches ... traditionally this stage was done by hand. If your machine doesn't have fancy stitches then rows of zigzag stitching would be a lovely alternative. Before sewing on some of the strips I've layered a length of lace, just to add a bit more texture and interest to the cushion cover. Keep adding strips until the calico base is completely covered. Turn to the wrong side and trim the excess from around the edge of the calico base. In this photo you can see, lying on top, the plastic template used to cut the centre piece of fabric.

Final stage - I make an envelope style backing by cutting a piece of fabric, here it's the same plain purple as some of the strips, the same width as the calico base, 16½", and the length that measurement plus 5½" - total length 22". This is then cut in two pieces, one two-thirds, leaving the other measuring one-third. The next job is to finish off the edges that will form envelope closure by sewing a neat seam on one 16½" wide edge of each piece. To finish arrange all the pieces, right sides together, overlapping the backing to form the closure, and stitch around the 4 sides of the cover. Because I used cotton fabrics, some of which had a tendency to fray, I added a row of zigzag around the edges ... hopefully that will keep it all nicely together when laundered. Trim the corners, turn to right side, pushing out the corners, and give the cover a final press.

This is a quick and easy way of doing crazy patchwork so I hope with this post I have encouraged those of you who would like to make something similar to give it a go. I've seen even smaller and simpler projects - hearts, pot holders, tea cosies, make-up and toilet bags - which would make great starter projects. There's plenty of YouTube demos and fabulous blogs of patchworker/quilters where you can pick up ideas, tips and wrinkles ... they are all much more experienced and talented than I am too.

It was morning when I started to type up this post! It's afternoon now, so I'll wish you a very happy afternoon and hope you have a very enjoyable weekend lined up.

Take care and happy crafting,

Naughty or Nice - A Christmas Gift Tag

Afternoon Everyone,

I hope you are all well and keeping up with all the necessary preparations for the holiday season.

Yesterday, we went off to Tesco's to get some photographs printed. A simple enough exercise you  would think but, no! We only picked the machine that decided it was going on strike ... half way through the process. After endless head-scratching from a couple of Tesco's staff, the problem was eventually sorted and the photos appeared. Phew!!!

After all that excitement we trotted off up to the cafeteria for a recuperative cuppa and were entertained to find a chaffinch swooping up in the roof space. Apparently, it's not unusual for one to fly in through the front doors which are always open. Goodness knows what elf and safety would say about it but we were delighted :))

Home again and I decided to try, once again, using up some of the bits of leftover ribbon, lace and trimmings that have accumulated in the craft space by making a small gift tag.

There's nothing much to it. The label is just a bog-standard luggage label bought at WH Smith - this is a manila one. It's the largest size I could find in the shop, but is still nowhere near as big as those used by Tim Holtz, Hels, etc.

I did stamp it all over with red polka dots but once the topper was added hardly any can be seen. The topper is matted on to a snippet of the card I decorated with inks, stamping and mica powders - made like this:

Starting with A4 sheets of smooth white card, several ink pads in a variety of colours and several ink brushes, blend the inks in a fairly random fashion until happy with the result. For some reason my camera finds it hard to focus on the result, but hopefully you get the general idea.

The next stage is to stamp all over the card, for this I chose two leafy Penny Black stamps, then brush with various shades of mica. Now my camera does like this a lot better :) Here's a close-up of the detail.

Lovely, isn't it? 

Here's another shot of the tag taken from another angle - you can see the stamped polka dots on this one.

Materials: a manila label; stamp -  Stampin' Up's Dots, Dots, Dots; Tim Holtz Festive Berries distress ink; small piece of the hand decorated paper for matting; card topper from Cardmaker's Delights; iridescent glitter; gold Liquid Pearls; twine, cotton lace, gingham ribbon; red buttons & green gems from stash.

Using snippets means only one thing here in blogland ... a trip over to Pixie's Crafty Snippet Challenge #50 ... #50, another two weeks and it's Di's first snippet anniversary!!!

It took me a lot longer to locate the shots of the paper on my PC than I expected ... I had a senior moment and couldn't remember where I'd filed them :)

I'm off now to calm down with a bit of therapeutic crafting :))

Take care and remember to relax occasionally, if you can, during this busy period.

Oh, and Happy Crafting :) 

A London Olympics Scrap Page - plus a handy tip for creating a pennant

Hello Everyone,

My second visit today, this time with this scrap page layout recording the London Olympics.

Over at Scrap Our Stash this month we were challenged to pagerize/scraplift this fun layout of Debbie's, entitled Water Silhouettes 

I thought this layout would be ideal for a collage of Olympic photographs I'd collected throughout the event. I created the collage using the Shape Collage programme mentioned in this earlier post here. As mentioned then the only downside of not having the fully paid up programme, rather than the freebie, is that the web address is always included somewhere on any collage created. In this case it appeared across the middle so I superimposed four of my favourite photos - this had the advantage of giving the shots emphasis, so no bad thing after all.

Having created the collage, the next step was to put together a kit from my stash ... I didn't want to go out and buy any new supplies, instead I wanted to use what I had. Easier said than done! I didn't have any suitable patterned paper except for a cheap striped one that I didn't particularly like, it reminded me too much of men's pyjamas. However, the colours were right - red, white and blue. So after much raking in boxes of cardstock, here's the kit I came up with.

Four 12"x12" sheets of card: Stampin' Up's smooth card, Basic Black and Whisper White; Bazzill Basics, Tomato: Coredinations, Evening Sky.
The striped pattern paper - maker unknown.
Alphas: Docrafts Forever Friends Cosy Christmas alpha stickers; Paperchase Gold Number stickers.
Union Flag patterned ribbon from my favourite local craft centre
Tools: score board; star-shaped stencils; 1¼" round punch; 1½" square punch

As you can see the layout and the embellishments are all very simple ... it relies mainly on pennants, cut from the card, for interest. The rosettes, which no longer look anything like men's pyjamas, are made from 1" wide strips of the striped paper, scored at 1cm intervals, folded in concertina fashion, ends adhered together and then, once persuaded into shape, adhered to a circle punched from the red card. All the stars were traced using the stencil and then cut out. Two larger red ones for the rosettes and two smaller blue ones to decorate the pennant at the top of the layout.

The pennants were cut with the square punch - a tip I picked up from watching this demo by ChicnScratch , aka Angie Kennedy Juda, on YouTube. I haven't worked out how to embed a YouTube video in a post yet so here in photos is how it's done.

You need your strip of card, cut to the length and width you need ... mine vary in width from 2" to ¾" ... and a square punch.

Position the end of the card on the diagonal into the corner of the square aperture as shown above. Punch out the triangle of card showing in the aperture.

Result, a perfect pennant shape. Super simple with no need for all the usual palaver of measuring and marking out with ruler and pencil. Many thanks to Angie :)

So that's my layout - it's a simple design, very loosely based on Debbie's, with all the emphasis on that collage of amazing people who filled almost all my waking moments for two wonderfully exciting weeks.

My husband, Alan, remembers the previous London Olympics in 1948. He was 10 years old that year and  had to go to the local cinema to see the reported highlights on Pathe News. Britain had just been through WWII, it was a time of austerity and rationing, and televisions did not become widely available until the 1950s.  He tells me that the opening ceremony was an altogether simpler affair than that of this year's - the highlight for him being the release of thousands of pigeons all at the same time - an amazing sight as the flew up and away. Oh, how things have changed!

That's it for this evening. I have a couple of completed cards to share but I will leave them for tomorrow.

In the meantime, I bid you all goodnight,