Shiny Butterfly

Hello!

I am sharing a card with you that I have made with a piece of left over yupo that I had used with alcohol inks and some gold foil.

I die cut the lovely butterfly from Tonic's wings and things collection in gold mirri card and layered it over the alcohol ink.  I placed this on top of a card base on which I had inked up my geometric circle stencil in Seedless Preserve, Dusty Concord and Milled Lavender distress ink.  I added a gold embossed sentiment from Crafters Companion's Flutterby range.

I shall link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes and at Less is More where we are using scraps from our bit box.  I will also link up at the Anything Goes with Dies challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

The geometric circle stencil is available in my Folksy store.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

New Uniko Stencil Release

Hello!

We have a fun surprise today with the release of 3 fab new stencils from Uniko.  They work perfectly with stamps in the Uniko range.  Here are some of the cards that I have made with these designs.

The Bright Butterflies stencil makes a great summer background.  I simply inked in distress oxides and cut a butterfly aperture to make a shaker card.  I shall link this card up at Simon Wednesdays Challenge where the theme is Bright and Cheerful.

I used the stencil to create a more subtle background here by inking through with versamark and brushing over in perfect pearls.  I added a butterfly from Uniko's English Country Garden stamp set which I had watercoloured with aquamarkers and perfect pearls.

Here I inked through the Mehndi Mandala in a range of blue distress oxides and popped a block sentiment over the top.  This gorgeous stencil makes quick and easy cards.

I used the scattered polka hexagons stencil on this card by using squeezed lemonade distress oxide and then moving it around to add some further hexagons in black soot.  I stamped some of the wonderful bees from the new Bee Happy stamp set.  I shall link this card up at InkspirationaI where the current challenge is to use small stamps.  

I played with the mandala stencil again on this card by dabbing through it with flitterglu and using gilding flakes on some cardstock that had been coloured with colour bursts.  A few punched butterflies and a die cut sentiment complete the design.

I hope you like these designs - you can hop along with the us to celebrate the release and see much more inspiration from the lovely DT.  We are also joined by the fab Ruth from Crafting While the Baby Naps.  And as with all of Uniko's blog hops there is a giveaway too!  If you comment along the way you will be in with a chance to win one of the three stencils - Bev will randomly pick 3 lucky winners :)

Thank you for stopping by!

Sarah x

Grungy Bees

Hello!

I spent a bit of time over the weekend playing with stencils, greyboard, mdf, inks and sprays to create this canvas:

I had lasercut some honeycomb from greyboard and adhered random pieces of it to the opposite corners of the canvas before painting it with some rust effect paint from Cosmic Shimmer.  I adhered some Tim Holtz tissue paper to the canvas with Indigoblu's Slap It On.  I then sprayed through my honeycomb stencil with Fossilised Amber distress spray and allowed some drips to run down like honey.  I used my bee stencil with black and gold acrylic paints and used my messy dots stencil with black and gold paint to add further detail.  I also used some stamps from Uniko, AALL and Create and Indigoblu.  I painted some mdf bees with crackle paste and then added black acrylic paint and pebeo gilding wax.  I added glossy accents to them too.  Finally I used a fab sentiment die from Stamplorations, stacked it up, added some gilding wax and glossy accents.  

I often struggle to know when a canvas is finished...particularly as it is a departure from my CAS designs!

I shall link up at Country View Crafts where this month's challenge is the written word and at Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge for a second time where the theme is layers.

I hope you like this.  It was great fun to put together and use some of my stencils and mdf.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah x

Geometric Elephant

Hello!

If you have visited my blog recently, you may have seen the geometric lion stencil that I have been using.  Today, I have a card made with my new geometric elephant....

I have simply inked through the stencil with Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch, Faded Jeans and Black Soot distress oxides to create an ombre effect.  An old sentiment stamp from Hero Arts completes this simple one layer design.  

I shall link up at AAA Cards where the theme is Geometric.

I hope you like this new stencil - it is lots of fun!

Sarah x

Starry Stag

Hello!

I have been wanting to play along at Time Out all week but haven't had the chance until today.  The theme is Holiday and so I have used a couple of my stencils to create a christmas card:

I inked through the stag's head stencil with Blueprint Sketch, Salty Ocean and Black Soot distress oxides.  I then laid my shooting star stencil over the top and dabbed through with flitter glue and applied silver gilding flakes.  I stamped and silver embossed a sentiment from Altenew to complete the card.

I shall also link up at Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge where Anything Goes without the optional twist.

I hope you like this CAS christmas card and the stencils that I have used.  You can find them in my Folksy store.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Floral Heart

Hello!

How has your week been?  Good, I hope!  Today, I have a couple of cards to share with you that I have made from playing with my new floral heart stencil.

First up I have layered the stencil - the floral heart and base heart have been designed to work together perfectly....

I simply inked through the base stencil in a range of blue distress oxides.  I then lined the floral detail stencil over the top of the inked heart and used Black Soot distress oxide.  I think it looks quite dramatic!  The lovely sentiment is from Mama Elephant.

I shall link up at Less is More where the theme is Friendship.

On my next card I have just used the floral stencil.  This time I sprinkled colour bursts over the stencil on watercolour card and gave it a few spritzes with water.  I quickly mopped up excess with kitchen towel and lifted the stencil to avoid bleed under the stencil.

How different does that look?!  I simply popped up a Uniko Block sentiment in the centre.  

I hope you like these designs.  As always, you can find the stencils in my Folksy shop :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x 

Sea Horse

Hello!

I have been having so much fun playing with my gelli plate and trying out techniques that are stretching my usual CAS style with something a bit more artsy and layered.  Here are a few examples:

I was using the technique with alcohol ink on my gelli plate that the wonderful Barbara Gray demonstrated on YouTube a few Tuesdays ago.  

I used my lovely seahorse silhouette on the gelli plate and added a sentiment and some bubble effect stamps from Visible Image.  I shall link up for a second time at Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge where the theme is layers.

Here I used Uniko's fab Stylised Floral stencil on the gelli plate and then used black spray paint through my Afro Style stencil - it gives great coverage over the gelli background.  I added a Sizzix die cut up the side of the card.

I hope you like my cards :)

Sarah x

Uniko Revisited - Beautiful Blooms

Hello!

We are revisiting two beautiful sets from Uniko today - Beautiful Blooms I, II and III.  I have a few cards to share with you - once I get these sets back out, I can't stop playing!!  In particular, I decided to feature the lovely leaves that are in Beautiful Blooms I:

First up I decided to create a wreath with the leaves by simply masking them and stamping in different shades of green.  I have combined the wreath with a sentiment from Spring Botanicals Daffodil.

This card has a more autumnal feel as I stamped the leaves falling across the card in shades of orange.  The sentiment is from All Occasion Sentiments #6.  I was really pleased with how this turned out :)

On this card I used part of the Wonky Stripes Stencil on the card panel and stamped and cut out the blooms and leaves in shades of pink and purple.  These sets come with matching dies so check them out!  The sentiment is from Uniko's Birthday Sentiments.  I shall link this card up at Seize the Birthday - anything goes.

The rest of the DT have more fab inspiration to share with you at the Uniko blog and there is a giveaway if you decide to hop along with us!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Powerful Lion

Hello,

I am back with another card made using my geometric lion stencil.  I used alcohol inks on my gelli plate using the technique shared by Barbara Gray on YouTube.

I added some archival inks to the lion to create further depth and also randomly inked parts of my Messy Dots stencil around the edges to add to the mottled effect.

I shall link this card up at Inkspirational where the word prompt is Power as, obviously, a lion is very powerful :)  I shall also link up at the Mixed Media challenge over at Happy Little Stampers where the June challenge is layers.

You can find the stencils that I have used on this design in my Folksy shop.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Afro and Alcohol Inks

Hello!

I am here with a reminder card for the current Take It Make It challenge over at Craft Stamper.   I used my afro stencil (available in my Folksy store) with a gelli plate and alcohol inks after watching a YouTube video by Barbara Gray from Clarity Stamp.

Basically I spread a range of alcohol inks on to my gelli plate before putting the stencil down.  I spritzed some blending solution over yupo paper and placed the stencil on that before running through my die cutting machine.  That process re-activated the alcohol inks and created a print that left the aperture as white space.  I was able to pull a separate print of the negative from the gelli plate by brayering acrylic paint over it and lifting the image on to a separate piece of card.  I hope that makes sense!!  Barbara's video explains it much more clearly :)

Once that was done, I put the stencil back in place and inked round the edge of the silhouette with black archival ink.  I then stamped a fab scribbled background stamp from Dina Wakeley through the aperture and added one of her sentiment stamps.

Sorry for such a long explanation.  I had never thought of using alcohol inks on my gelli plate before and really liked how this came out.  There is more inspiration from the talented DT over at Craft Stamper.  As long as you have used stamping on your project, anything goes so it could be easier to play along.  Our sponsor this month is the fabulous Uniko - Bev's range of stamps and stencils is amazing :)

Thanks for stopping by today,

Sarah x

Butterfly Afro

Hello!

I love my afro style stencil and mask - I wish that I had more time to realise all of the ideas that I have.  Isn't that the same for all of us?!  Today I inked through the stencil with a range of bright distress oxides to create the following:

Once I had inked through the stencil, I stamped a range of butterflies from Mama Elephant and Paper Smooches within the stencil aperture before removing the stencil and adding a few butterflies in colour.

I shall link up at Simon's Monday Challenge where this week's theme is Bright and Beautiful and at Seize the Birthday (without the optional twist of patterned paper).

You can find this stencil and mask in my Folksy store :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

More Lions

Hello!

I have been making more cards with my new geometric lion stencil - this is so versatile and works perfectly for mens cards and lots of occasions.  Because it has a stylised geometric look it can also be used in lots of different colour ways.  Here is a very bright card that I came up with to prove the point!

I inked up the lion in a range of distress oxides and popped him up over some grungy style stamps from Lisa Horton and Dina Wakely which had been stamped in black and colours to echo the lion.  The sentiment is from Visible Image.  I think this card makes a real statement!!

However, I also inked up the lion stencil in more natural yellows and browns to make this card:

I simply inked up half of the lion's face on one side of the card and then turned it over to do the other half of the card.  That is one of the benefits of stencils as it is easy to reverse the image.  The grasses across the bottom of the card are from Tonic and the sentiment is from CASual Fridays.  This would potentially make a great card for father's day :)

I hope you like my geometric lion....I think he is fun!  Don't forget to check him and my other stencils out in my Folksy store.

Thanks as always for stopping by,

Sarah x

Uniko Challenge Reminder

Hello!

I am late in sharing my card for the current challenge over at Uniko which is a gorgeous photo inspiration with the optional twist of birthday.  It us such a lovely image:

I was particularly struck by the green and white pattern on the case and I came up with two cards:

I simply went through the chrysanthemum stencil with versamark and white embossed it on some subtly patterned paper.  I white embossed the birthday sentiment on kraft card.  I figured that a belated sentiment was fitting given I am late with my card!

I also stamped and white embossed the lovely delicate images from make a wish on the remaining paper to make a second card.  

The challenge is open until 22 June so there is plenty of time to play along.  Check out the fab inspiration from the DT and in the gallery over at the Uniko blog :)

Thank you for stopping by,

Sarah x

Geometric Lion

Hello!

I have had lots of fun playing with a new stencil....a geometric lion stencil.  Here are a couple of cards that I have made with it.

I stamped a range of sentiments from Stamplorations in blues from Altenew on the base card.  I inked through the stencil in a range of blue distress inks and cut it out.  I simply popped it up on foam tape to create a bit of dimension.  I shall link up at Simon's Monday Challenge where the theme is Masculine.

On this card I inked through the stencil on to some subtly patterned paper with black soot and walnut stain distress inks before clear embossing.  I added a gold embossed sentiment from Waltzingmouse Stamps (discontinued).  I shall link up for a final time at Simon's Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes.

I hope you like these designs....I have got lots of ideas for this stencil :)

You can find it in my Folksy store.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x