Corsage of roses and hypericum berries

This evening's class was on corsages and this is what I came up with.

I think that it's a fair version of a wedding or a prom corsage and I like it because it's so bright. Very Latin. I can imagine doing the tango wearing this.

The only trouble with corsages is that they don't last for any length of time. You have to appreciate them for the moment.

White Hand Tied Bouquet

Now for something completely different fromn the cards. although it does fit in with the flower cards that I've been making recently.

I've started a five week flower arranging course and this is one of my creations. It's not the first hand tied bouquets that I've done but it is by far the best. I moaned and groaned that I was useless at tying these bouquets and then I put this together in about two minutes flat. I must have taken more notice than I realised.

Just to remind myself, I used:

10 white roses

spray carnations

euphorbia from the garden

farsia leaves from the garden

striped grasses from the garden

Gypsophila

To make the bouquet you need to have a central stem and spiral the rest of the flowers and foliage around the central stem. Use the fatsia leaves to edge the arrangement.

Lilac Flowers

Four flowers seems to be the thing at the moment and my hand drawn calligraphy flowers have been neglected while I've been using the stamps. neglected but not forgotten and I got them out today to make this lilac card.




What I Used

1 base card in white linen 14cm x 14cm when folded.
An extra piece of white card to draw the images.Calligraphy Pens in English lavender and Orchid (You'll find them in the Elegance set of pens)

Lilac card

3d foam pads

Art and Graphic pen No 56

Sentiment stamp

What I did:

I cut four squares from the spare piece of white card and drew four flowers with the calligraphy pens. I did them slightly off centre. I used the green Art and Graphics to draw stems and leaves.

I used 3d foam pads to stick them to the piece of lilac card and made sure to leave a border all around the squares.

I then stuck this lilac card to the base card.

I drew around the base card with a dot and a dash line .

I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the card.

I wonder what will come next. I won't commit myself as I need to see what mood I'm in.

Watercolour Effects

I've been doing a fair few watercolour effests with rubber stamps lately and I've been asked to explain how to do it so here goes.

First of all choose your stamp. The one that I have here is the rose from the Flowers and Leaves sheet by Time To Stamp.

I chose three colours to ink up the stamp. Art and Graphic 55, 56, 202.

I dabbed the ink onto the stamp and stamped it onto white card. You can see in the image below that the leaves are dabbed with both of the greens. If you use just one of them it will look like a cartoon.

As you can see the image is very stark. Not really what you want. Now take the Kuretake H2O brush, I used the fine detailer, and add a little water to your chosen areas. The ink will flow and you can use the brush to direct the flow.

While the image is still wet you can add more colour if you feel that it needs it. I added a little pink to the thorns and leaves as that is what they look like in nature.

Tag Rose

Well, the cards to be made with the Flowers and Leaves sheet have yet to be exhausted and this is today's make. I used the rose stamp for the first time and I used the trusty H2O brush to make it look watercoloured.

The stripy effect at the bottom is simply made by drawing random stripes, none too carefully with the Art and Graphic pens that I used to colour the rose stamp. I used a lot of 3d foam to give the flower height and I decoupaged it before I stuck it to the tag. It's not stamped directly onto the tag as it would be too flat. To be honest, for that reason, I think that the message is too flat on the card.

A little bit of stitched ribbon covers the join and adds interest to the tag.

Hope that you like this too.

Four Flowers in a Row

Now I know that it's a lame title but this is what i started out with. It's a pretty stamp from Savvy Stamps and that's exactly what it is: Four Flowers in a Row.

I've been looking at the sketches on splitcoast Stampers and I really like these layered ones at the moment so this is what I came up with.

Instructions will follow when I've got the time.

Dotty Lilac

This is the latest in the Dotty range made with Dotta Riffic pens from Kuretake. Dotty papers are all of the rage at the moment and it's not always easy to get the colours that you need. So why not use the Dotta Riffics to make your own backgrounds that compliment your chosen colour scheme?


In this card, I've chosen:

Baby Pink (026)
Lilac
The other things that I used were:
1 base card 10.5cm x 15cm
a piece of heavy paper or light card
a bowshaper
a white frame
3d foam from Stix2
lilac ribbon

1. I decorated a piece of heavy paper or light card. I cut a piece about 10cm x 14cm.
2. I made the stripes at the bottom of the card by simply masking off a section of the card and drawing both thick and thin lines in both pink and lilac. You can do this easily as the Dotta Riffics have a thin and a thick end. I like this bar coding effect. Try not to make everything too even. If you do, any mistake will be more obvious.
3. To make the dotty effect at the top of the paper, I used both colours of the fat end of the Dotta Riffics to dot colour onto the paper. I covered the remaining section of paper with dots. Alternate the colour for a pleasing effect.
4. Now take the decorated paper and trim to about 9.5cm x 13cm.
5. Use a bowshaper to tie a bow in the lilac ribbon. Stick to the decorated paper where the lines meet the dots.
6. Mount it onto lilac card and trim to leave a thin border.
7. Stick to the base card.
8. I took a white frame and ran the dotta Riffic pen along the edge to give the efest that you see in the picture.
9. I stamped the sentiment on a separate piece of white card and trimmed it to fit behind the frame. I used 3d foam to do this.
10. Now stick the framed sentiment to the base card as seen in the photograph.

Watercolour Iris

Here's the next stamp from the same sheet and this time it's an iris. I didn't want to take the conventional route with this stamp. I decided that I wanted it to look like I had actually painted it.



So this is what I used and did.
I inked up the stamp iris stamp with the Kuretake Art and Graphic pens and stamped the image out three times.
I used the H2O waterbrush to wet the stamped image and this seems to make it look as if it is watercoloured without all of the trouble of actually doing so.
I used the three images and decoupaged them to get a raised effect on the flower.
I used the Art and Graphic pens and dabbed on the bottom portion of the card to get the pattern as seen on the card.
I covered the join with some willow double edged satin ribbon.
I stuck the iris to the base card and then cut out a piece of white card to be a pot. I used the same colours as the iris to colour in the pot. I stuck this over the base of the Iris.
I cut a tab from a piece of white card and the stamped a sentiment on the tab. I used one from the Inspirational sayings sheet.
I stuck a button to the tab and edged it with the green art and graphic pens.
I used the narrow end of the green pen to draw a stitched border around the top part of the card.

I hope that you like it as much as I do.

Dandelion Clocks

Did any of you play dandelion clocks when you were little? I know that I did, but I can't remember what the outcome of the time meant. Anyone remember?
This card is made with the dandelion seedhead from the Flowers and Leaves sheet. If you remember I did say that I was going to attempt to make as many cards as I could out of that sheet. So here goes for the next card.



What I Used:
1 base card in white linen 14cm x 14cm when folded.
An extra piece of white card to stamp the images.
Art and Graphic pens, Numbers: 1, 202, 302, 80, 81 85
The Dandelion clock stamp from the Flowers and Leaves sheet of stamps by "Time to Stamp".
Lilac card
3d foam pads
6mm Swiss dot lilac ribbon.
Thank you stamp from the Inspirational Sayings sheet

What I did:
I cut a piece of card about 9 x 7cm. I wet the card and used the pens to apply a thin wash of colour using the Art and Graphic pens, Numbers: 1, 202, 302. I then allowed this to dry.
I inked up the stamp with colour 80 which is very pale grey. I stamped this onto the card about half way down the stem.
I then inked up the stamp with colour 81 and stamped the whole of the image as seen. Without inking again I stamped the image on the card but further down the sheet. See picture for the example.
I mounted the card on to lilac card and trmmd it to leave a small border.
I cut a length of lilac ribbon and tied a small piece of ribbon to it as shown I then stuck it to the base card. You can use tacky glue or double sided tape.
I then used the 3d foam pads to attach the dandelion image to the card.
I inked the message stamp with the Art and Graphic pens, number 85 and stamped the image to the bottom part of the card.

The Same Tulip but a colour Change

Well, the possibilities are endless it seems. Here's the latest card that uses the tulip stamp.

I'm not too sure that the image is good enough on this page but it is fine when you click for an enlargement.

Hydrangea

This card is also made from the same sheet. It's a beautiful hydrangea. I'm going to try it in lots of colours.

More Tulips

Tulips For The Spring

Well, the Summer is officially with us but the weather has not yet caught up so let's pretend that it's still spring and make a card dedicated to that thought.



I made this card while I was away on my holidays and I had a mission in mind; create as many cards as possible from one sheet of stamps. You've seen the one that I made earlier with this stamp so this is the second.

What I Used:
White linen base card 14cm x 14cm
Doodlebug Design paper in Loopy Love
Tulip stamp from the Flower and Leaf sheet by "Time to Stamp"
Art and graphic pens in pink and leaf green
Small daisy stamp from the Flower Power sheet by "I Brake for Stamps"
3D foam stickers
Length of 9mm saddle stitch ribbon in pink with white stitching
Think Spring, sentiment stamp from "I Brake for Stamps"
Extra white card to stamp the image and mount it onto the card.

What I did:
I cut a piece of the loopy love paper and stuck it to the base card leaving a small margin around the paper.
I used the Art and Graphic pen in pink to ink the daisy stamp and stamped the top third of the card.
I tied a bow in the ribbon and used it to cover the join.
I inked the tulip stamp with the green and pink Art and Graphic pens and stamped it onto a piece of white card. I then used the H2O brush to soften the image.
I mounted this onto a piece of pink card and used 3d foam pads to stick it to the base card.
I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of card and mounted it and stuck it to the card.

Hope that you like it too.