Handmade Birthday paper and card for my sweet Daisy

Hi everyone, and welcome to my latest design team make for Visible Image. The theme for our makes this week is "children". My sweetest granddaughter Daisy is 11 on the 11th of this month. I really don't know where those years have gone. She is still my best crafting buddy and loves to craft with me whenever she can. I decided that I would make her gift wrap, a tag and a card which all coordinated. She loves nature and one of her favourite Visible Image sets is the Bees. 

The stamp sets I used are the 

Bee Happy 

with their  co ordinating dies

The birthday balloons

 and their co ordinating dies

and one of the sentiments from the best birthday ever sentiment sets.

This is my step by step tutorial. 

I first stamped 1 of each of the balloons on kraft card using distress oxide ink. These are shown as below with their co ordinating dies. I also die cut  the number 11 using the number 1 die in the set, in black card. 

Here they are cut out. I stamped the sentiment onto kraft card and cut around it.

  I added scorched timber distress ink to all the edges to make everything pop. 

I stamped and die cut out some of the smaller bees. I always make more than I need so that some are always ready for a new project. 

I attached ribbons behind the balloons using foam tape and a bow to each front . I adhered the number 11 in place.

I stamped some stars on the tag (seen in final photo) and adhered everything in place. I added gold glitter pen and sparkle to the wings. 

I matted the tag onto yellow card and added a co ordinating ribbon. Here is the finished tag again.

For the matching gift wrap I wrapped brown paper around my glass media mat and using the 4 smaller bees on an acrylic block randomly stamped all over using VersaFine Summertime ink.

So here are the tag and gift wrap. 

This is the co ordinating card I made for Daisy.

and here her parcel all ready for her to open on her birthday. 

Can you guess what is inside?

 Shhhh...it's a new pair of Converse boots, her favourite footwear!

You can obviously use any stamp sets at all for this project. It really does elevate your gifting if you hand stamp your own gift wrap and make a matching tag (and even card as I did).

All the Visible Image links are listed below;

 Our kind, friendly and supportive customer Facebook Group is here ...it would be lovely to see you join us.  You will be warmly welcomed and see lots of inspiration from the DT and customers to inspire your own creativity. 

 I also organize a monthly artist trading card swap in the group. Whether you are a new stamper or a seasoned one you are most welcome to join us. Over 150 members, worldwide, have taken part since it started over 3 years ago. It's been such fun and it's so lovely to receive a unique piece of art from your partner in the post. The details and sign up for each swap are posted in the group on the 23rd of the month. There is no "monthly" commitment, just join in when you have the time and if you live in the UK can you choose to post to the UK only if that suits you best.

The main Visible Image Facebook business page is here

Visible Image also has its own You Tube channel here where you can see videos and Lives to give you lots of inspiration and ideas. 

Their Instagram page can be found here 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Crafting tricks and treats from Visible Image

Hi everyone today I am taking part in a "tricks and treats" feature over on the Visible Image blog. Myself and some of my fellow design team members are sharing lots of crafting "tricks" (hacks or tips) and some crafting "treats" with ideas to help you take your crafting to a different level. I came up with an idea of showing how an identical card design can look so different just using additional techniques. One card is a simple mixed media make, the second has a few more "treats" added. I even have a third card which uses the left overs. To make this post easy to refer to I have added all the "tricks" or "treats" in bold type as I take you through my step by step tutorial showing how all 3 cards were made

As it is autumn and nearly Halloween I kept to this theme when I chose my stamps and ink colours but you could use any stamp set and any colours. Below are the 3 cards I made, 2 with the identical leaf design and sentiment and a Halloween card I made with a leaf "left over".

The leaf friendship cards were made using the lovely Erika's Maple set

 with a sentiment from the Look forward with hope stamp set.

 The Halloween card was made using the awesome Happy Halloween set.

To make things simpler I have numbered the 2 leaf friendship cards,

Card 1

and Card 2 

This is how they came together;  

I used 300gsm Pink Frog smooth white card to make card 1 and Daylor Rowney 250gsm mixed media card for card 2. These are my personal preferences for stamping. 

Trick; You need to use smooth cardstock or the smoother side of mixed media card to get a clear stamped image. As long as your card can take water you can mix and match. You can use using thinner card but you need to try it out. Over the years I have found my own favourites and some are very cheap card. Don't be afraid to try different types and brands and find your own personal preferences. 

First I stamped my design onto each piece of card. I stamped 2 small leaves and the sentiment first. 

Trick; the ink you use for stamping is also important if you want a clear crisp impression. Pigment inks are best but take time to dry. My go to stamping ink is Versafine Clair. I used Nocturne for these cards. 

Treat; try clear heat embossing your stamped image. It provides a smooth shiny and clear surface which also resists any extra inks added. I would also recommend using super fine clear powder particularly for heat embossing sentiments. 

This is the stamped leaf design.

Tip; As I chose to  decoupage the middle leaf using a cut out one on top it does not matter if your stamping overlaps. This eliminates the need to mask, which personally, is a technique I rarely use.  

I then chose these 3 autumnal inspired distress ink colours.

For card one I pressed a little of each ink piece of acetate.

Tip; use the clear carrier sheet that your stamps are attached to. 

Spritz on a little water until droplets form.

Then press over several areas of the background. 

Trick; to avoid smudging the wet ink use a heat gun to carefully dry your background (or just leave to air dry).

Treat; there is a big difference between a heat tool and an embossing gun. If you want to take your crafting to the next level it is worth investing in both. Although both give out the same heat a heat gun diffuses its heat and does not move the inks. An embossing gun has a very concentrated point for heating, designed to melt embossing powders. If you use an embossing gun to dry inks over an area where an image has already been heat embossed you risk melting the existing embossing. 

Next I went through my stash of  backgrounds made using book pages and distress inks to find something suitable for "decoupaging" my large leaf. I chose these 2. I stamped a few of the large leaves and cut them out.

Trick; store any spares you don't use with the stamp set. They are then ready made for your next autumn leaves project.

Because I had already stamped the large leaf on the card I didn't need the stalk, so I cut them off. 

Trick; when fussy cutting try to move the card not the scissors. 

Trick; have a background making session occasionally so that you always have something ready for when you want to create. It is important that that inks are dry too so is this super useful and a time saver. 

Treat; I love using book pages to stamp on. They add a lovely extra "vintage" twist to mixed media makes.  But always ensure you read the text so that there is nothing embarrassing when you adhere them to your projects! I have an old copy of "The tale of 2 cities" my Hb gave me years ago. Sticking the pages onto thin paper also helps to give them some extra body.

 

I then adhered a leaf onto card 1.

and finished off with a few sequins.

Treat; adding a few sequins or gems are great finishing touches for your card making. Think about their placement before you stick them down. You might need to re arrange for the best effect

For card 2  I added the same 3 inks but used a circular blending tool for their application. 

Trick; the newer more domed blending tools make ink blending much easier. If you find using regular distress inks hard to blend (it does just take practice) try the oxide version, which are easier. However, personally, I like the vibrancy and translucency of regular distress inks. 

Treat; add a few spritzes  of water to the background and blot off with paper towel. It removes some of the ink and gives a very interesting bleached effect and also mixes the inks a little.

 1 added a large leaf over the stamped one in the same way as card 1. 

Treats; put a small piece of foam pad under the top of the leaf to raise it slightly and add some drops of glossy accents for some more finishing touches. These treats give more dimension to your card.

For both cards I matted onto black card and then a white card blank.

Trick; using a black card matt makes the cards "pop". (Dark red and dark colours will also work well). Inking the edges with a dark ink and even distressing (see card 2) using a distress tool or blade of your scissors all add extra interest and texture.

Treat; try to be accurate when you mat and mount your cards. Cards which are "wonky" detract from all your hard work. Use premium card blanks too if you would like to "elevate" your card making. Flimsy cards fall over and bend. 

Here are both finished cards together.

So what did I do with one of the spare leaves...well of course I had to make a quick and simple Trick or Treat card didn't I!

I used black card for the background. I cut the leaf out with its stalk intact this time.

I found a ready made pumpkin left over from a previous project and simply stuck him under the edge of the leaf, added some white dots using the stamp in the set and picket fence distress ink. I then stamped and heat embossed  the sentiment using sparkly white embossing powder.

And in a few minutes I had an extra card....

Trick; use an antistatic bag if you are using glittery embossing powders on black card. It stops all those stray flecks of powder sticking, which can spoil a finished card. 

I really hope you enjoyed my crafting tricks and treats in this post. I am hoping that, particularly for new paper crafters, they might encourage you to try some new techniques. For those seasoned card makers  out there I hope you might also have enjoyed a few treats here today.  

If you have any crafting questions that you would find useful to be answered in similar posts please let us know. 

Enjoy your Halloween....and make sure you have enough treats for the Trick or Treaters...boo to you!!

I will be back with my "usual" design team post on 4th November. It's a children theme and I have something very different to share.

Bye for now,

Jane x

Happy nearly Halloween for our Country View Crafts October challenge

 Hello everyone, it's time for my second blogged design team make for our October Country View Crafts challenge hosted over on Facebook. You don't need a blog or an Instagram account, just head over to the group and join in with the fun! The link is Here and if you are not already a member just request to join and we will warmly welcome you. It is also be a place you can be the first to hear about workshops, the latest releases etc etc. We have a happy membership of over 350 crafters and we are growing every day. You can enter the challenges up to 5 times as you like as long as you use products or brands which are stocked on the Country View Website.

The theme for October is "Halloween" so we would like to see all your spooky makes. You still have 5 days left to join in. I love Halloween crafting and each year make 6 Halloween tags to add to the little Halloween gifts I give to my kids and grandkids.

Obviously my go to products to reach for are from my Tim Holtz stash. This man has so many amazing products to choose from and CVC stocks loads.

This is my next tag;

 I blended a distress ink background onto a tag using black soot, mustard seed and lumberjack plaid distress ink and adding some drips of water using my distress sprayer and dried it with my heat gun.

I die cut a moon and some bats using my Moonlight die set.

I found one of my inked Cathedral die cuts and chose a spooky paper doll couple.

 

I added a few more elements including the stamped Happy Halloween and put my tag together. 

Here it is once more.

I hope I might have inspired you to give our October "Halloween" challenge a go. There is a fab prize up for grabs too for one randomly selected and you can enter up to 5 times!

Remember you can find me most days over on Instagram Here @jane.tyrrell where I share many, many more makes then I have the time to blog.

I would also like to give you a heads up that my 2024 Inky cardmaking Christmas workshop at Dotty's Teahouse in Carshalton, Surrey will be held on 2 dates this year; Thursday 21st and repeated on 28th November, 7.30-10pm. The cost is £30 which includes my tuition, workshop notes, all materials, a take home bag and a hot drink and festive bake.

 Bookings are open NOW in person at the counter or by telephoning Dotty's on

 020 3754 4613   

There has been a delay adding on line booking via the website but it will hopefully be rectified very soon. 

This is the link to Dotty's website. 

This is the 3rd year I have hosted  these workshops, they are such festive fun! Please feel free to contact me via Instagram messenger. 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x