Into the Woods

Hello everyone,

I’m back with not one but two Visible Image makes using their gorgeous Into the Woods stamp set.

I’m enjoying making cleaner cards at the moment and trying to embrace all that white space, which is something that doesn’t sit comfortably with me but I’m trying!

I started by working out where I wanted the main focal point to be, in this case the beautiful tree image, and made light pencil marks where the branches would be.  Using Distress Spray Stains in Bundled Sage and Forest Moss, I dotted a small amount of ink onto the card and used a straw to blow the ink around.  I layered up the ink as I didn’t want to put too much down at once.

Once I was happy with the look, I used the circular image from the Life is Beautiful set to add a bit more interest.  This was stamped using a Nuvo Hybrid ink pad in Metro Grey.  I also added a circle to the top of the card where the sentiment was to be placed to break it up.

Using a stamping platform, I then stamped the tree and the Take Chances sentiment.  I didn’t want to use a stamping block as I wanted the images to be dark and would be able to stamp confidently two or three times without the image being compromised.

To finish the card, I’ve splattered some gold Distress Spray Stain and added some pale gold sequins.  This is all then matted onto a moss coloured card before matting onto card stock.

My second card today also uses Into the Woods alongside Organics.

I’ve used water colour card as usual (as it soaks up the watery inks nicely)  and torn two strips of masking tape to create the border for my colour block.

Using Distress Oxide ink pads in Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint, I’ve made a wash of colour to which I’ve stamped over using the Organics stamp set.

Once this is completely dry, I’ve heat embossed the tree and the distress line (on the left) in Bright White powder and then moved it slightly on the stamping platform and then embossed in black.  This creates a lovely highlight.

The sentiment was taken from the Imperfection is Beauty set and is also stamped using embossing powder.  To finish, I’ve matted it onto black card and et voila!

Here’s the stamp sets I’ve used for these makes:

Into the Woods

 

Life is Beautiful

 

Take Chances

 

Organics

 

Imperfection is Beauty

Don’t forget to take a look at the Visible Image blog or the Visible Image Facebook page where you’ll see lots more fabulous inspiration from the other design team members.

Catch you next time!

H xx

 

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Into The Woods

Hello everyone…

I’m back today sharing a couple of makes for Visible Image and once again, I’ve used one of their fabulous new releases – Into The Woods.

The DT has already come up with some absolute stunning makes using this stamp set but I can’t seem to get away from making it look dark and moody!

The first card uses a mixture of mediums for the background and once dried, I’ve used the largest stamp from The Ripple Effect with a clear embossing powder to create another texture.

 

To break up the sky, I’ve stamped Scripted Streets randomly in a deep brown as well as taking the stripes from the Stars and Stripe stencil and teaming it with Nuvo’s Hybrid Metro Grey ink pad.  As you can see, the circles from The Ripple Effect has resisted the ink and left a hint of a circle.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and mix elements of stencils with stamps

The wood landscape stamps are just fabulous.  Lovely and wide (they are A5 in width) you can layer them in different colours to create depth, or as I have done here, just used a black ink.  I can see these being hugely popular… especially if you add a hint of white embossing powder to resemble snow – a Christmas scene right there!!

Textures and tones are easily created by different mediums

To finish the card, stamp the sentiments onto grey inky card using a black ink pad and secure to the card using foam tape.   Matt onto black and and attach to a card blank… et voila!

My second make today is really moody and quite haunting.

 

The background is similar to the first one, generated exactly the same way.  When dry, I’ve die-cut a circle from card and used the negative to add grey Oxide Inks in Hickory Smoke and Iced Spruce.  I’ve used my finger to smudge the ink and once happy with the colouring, I’ve added Nuvo Aqua Shimmer in Glitter Gloss around the edges for a hint of sparkle.  Once the mask has been removed, I’ve used Derwent Inktense pencils to add a little yellow to the edges.

The owl has been stamped in the same glossy embossing powder as the trees

The woods have been stamped using Wow’s embossing powder in British Summertime (excellent name for a grey!) and Ebony Superfine Black.

The detail on the large tree is just beautiful!

To finish, add a sentiment.  I’ve chosen ‘Always listen to the voices in Your Head’ as I loved the font and felt it worked well with the moodiness of the card.  Add black ink to the edges and matt onto an olive green card before securing to a card blank.

And here’s the stamps used in todays projects…

Into The Woods

 

Voices In Your Head

 

The Ripple Effect

 

Scripted Streets

 

Stars and Stripes

Check out the other DT makes using the new releases… they are all absolutely stunning!!

Have a good day and catch you next time…

H x

Butterfly Ink

Hello everyone and thank you for joining me here today!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock of late, you will have seen that Visible Image has released six new stamps and eight new stencils.  They have absolutely done it again and produced the most fabulous images and sentiments that I know everyone is going to love/want/need!

As someone who loves to add texture to their makes, I have a huge love of stencils.  I absolutely love all of them if I’m honest as they’re all so versatile and you can pick certain elements out of all of them to use in different ways but the Butterfly Ink stencil really caught my eye.

Butterfly Ink Stencil and the sentiment is from the Voices In Your Head set

I wanted to use the stencil is a really simple way to show how fabulous it is and so I made a card using just the stencil, a sentiment and some crackle paint.  All Visible Images stencil’s are fabulous quality, so lovely and thick so that they holds mediums really well and they’re pretty tough (my stencils go through a bit of a bashing and have all survived!)

Having secured the stencil to some watercolour card, I’ve applied crackle paint quite thickly in places as I wanted a some lovely thick cracks.  Once dried (air drying is best) I’ve dripped different coloured inks along the cracks that the ink spreads.

I love the subtle colour that the ink gives

Around the edge of the butterfly, I’ve used a watercolour pencil to give a watery outline and I’ve also given him a coat of matt varnish to protect the crackle and stop it flaking off over time.

Visible Images sentiment stamps are always so perfect!

The sentiment is from the new Voices In Your Head set and comes with four sentiments that you can easily mix up and use the words to form your own sentiments.  I have been known to cut sentiment stamps into individual words (if they aren’t already) as I like to mix things up a bit and this makes it easier.

Having trimmed the image down, I’ve inked the edged using a matching ink pad and then matted it onto black card.  The sentiment has then been stamped over a watery inky background and secured to the bottom of the card using foam tape.

The new stamps and stencils are going to be flying out of Visible Image HQ and if you need any encouragement, head on over to their blog where you’ll find plenty of inspiration from the other DT members.  Here’s what I used for this make:

Butterfly Ink Stencil

 

Voices In Your Head stamp set

Thanks for looking, see you all soon!

H x

 

Incredible Butterfly Ink

Hello everyone…

A very impromptu post today as I’ve had some lovely comments over on the Visible Image Facebook page about this little make…

I was only playing when I made it but sometimes that’s when you get the best results.

So some of you were asking for a tutorial and (obviously) I can’t go back and re-make (and I haven’t got the time to make another one) so I thought I’d talk you through the process, is that ok?

The stencil I’ve used is one of the gorgeous new releases from Visible Image and is called Butterfly Ink.  It’s one of eight new stencils and all are amazing!

Anyway… to start, I taped the stencil (please use low-tack tape or it’ll ruin everything!) to textured card.  I’ve then drawn around the butterfly using Derwent Inktense pencils.  I did the Tan colour first using a fine paintbrush to add water and dilute the lines.

Be careful when adding water that you don’t add too much as it will seep under the stencil, so less is more.  I then added the Bark colour in the same way…

Don’t forget to add colour to the elements around the butterfly

Use the colour around the edges to then colour the butterfly itself.  I teased the colour out of the edges as this gave enough colour for me but you can add as much or as little colour as you like.  To make the Frayed Burlap colour slightly more intense, I’ve given it a very light spritz, as this really makes the colour come alive.

Once dry, take a Wink of Stella brush and added subtle sparkle around the outline

I’ve used Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide ink pad on the sentiment as I love the chalky finish you get.  I didn’t use a stamping platform or an acrylic block, I literally stuck the stamp to my fingers and freehanded the stamping so I could control where I wanted the lettering to start/end.

Once dry, I added more shimmer using the Wink of Stella on some of the letters. To finish, I’ve matted it onto black card and then onto a beautiful copper pearlescent card before securing it to a 7×7″ card blank.

And there you go!  A really easy card to make and even if you fluff up the outline (like I did in places) it doesn’t matter as you can use a brush to erase any mistakes!  I’d love to see any cards you create using this technique so do tag me any!

Catch up again soon,

H x

Create Your Calm

Hello once again…

I’ve been itching to share this Visible Image DT project with you all as I just love how it’s turned out!  It really got my creative juices flowing and I adore all the different textures on there from the stamps I’ve used.

I started out by heat embossing The Ripple Effect in white embossing powder onto watercolour card before adding distress oxide inks in a watercolour style around the ripples themselves.

The oxides inks pads are great for creating watercolour backgrounds

To create a hint of sparkle to the project, Fibonacci was heat embossed using a gorgeous metallic copper powder, which looks beautiful when the light hits it.  Next, to contrast with the calming hues, I added Infusion powders to the areas in-between.

I used Anita’s 3D Clear Gloss to make the ripples as it has a fine nib so is perfect for smaller areas

To build on the texture, I stamped the net from the Mesh-ellaneous set in a deep blue and then added the shoal of fish  and the sea plants (both from Dare to Swim).

I’m a little bit in love with Wow’s Copper Embossing Powders as they add warmth to a project with a hint of sparkle

With everything dry I could begin to add my main focal images; the gorgeous Sea Horse and the sentiment from Create Your Calm.

Even with all the different textures, the make still felt like it needed some dimension to it so I added clear gloss to the ripple areas to make it look glassy and add some movement and I just love the finished effect!  The ripple stamp works just beautifully with the Create Your Calm and Dare to Swim sets… def more to investigate there!!

Check out the Visible Image blog to see what the rest of the DT have been making.  That’s all from me for now… catch up again soon!

H xx

 

Visible Image and MISTI Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome, welcome, welcome!

Today the Visible Image DT has teamed up with the lovely DT folk over at My Sweet Petunia (in the good ol’ U S of A)  to have a blog hop so I hope you’ll join in and travel through everyone’s blogs and see what we’ve all been up to.  There are two fabulous prizes of $50!!  One lucky person will win $50 to spend at My Sweet Petunia and another the same at  Visible Image!!!

To win, all you have to do is leave comments on the participants blogs by Monday 30th April at 6am… if I’ve worked that out correctly!?  The winners will be announced on Tuesday May 1st on both the My Sweet Petunia and Visible Image blogs.

Helen and Mark from Visible Image sent over a gazillion stamps for their DT and in return we were able to chose a Misti Stamping Platform of our liking.  I chose the Mini-Misti as it’s super cute and diddy!

The Mini-Misti has a surface of 5″x 6″

The Mini-Misti is fabulous for creating perfectly stamped tags and ATC’s and comes with magnets which holds your base in place so you can reposition the stamp before closing the ‘lid’ to adhere it to the Misti itself.   By having everything secured, you can re-stamp 2 or 3 times so your image is faultless.

These stamps are from Visible Image’s Universal set

I wanted to create  grungy music style make for the hop and so to start, I stamped lots of the different background stamps from Visible Image onto white tissue paper.  Having already die-cut a tag from watercolour card, I gave it a layer of Gesso as I knew it was going to have to withstand lots of mediums.

I used Archival Ink to stamp with as it’s fabulously permanent and waterproof

Using a clear gel medium, I stuck the tissue paper images to the tag in a haphazard fashion and painted on a watery coat of Gesso to make the black less stark.  Once the Gesso layer had dried, I popped it on the Mini-Misti and held it in place using the magnets (which I’ve wrapped in masking tape so they are easily removable).

Once dry, I added 3 little stars from the Stars and Stripe stencil using crackle paste

To layer over the tissue paper, I used the fabulous Elemental stamp as I knew it would work well with the images I’d already chosen… I love the contrast between the scribbly stamps and the graphic look of Elemental.

I placed Elemental where I wanted it and closed the lid of the platform to adhere the stamp.

Once stamped, I added white embossing powder and melted it using a heat gun.  Once cooled, I repositioned the stamp on the top of the tag and stamped again.

I love the feint white lines over the tissue paper images

To add the colour, I firstly sponged ‘picked raspberry’ Distress Oxide around the edges and infilled with ‘worn lipstick’ to create a base.  By adding ‘Infusions’ in ‘Are You Cerise’, ‘Raspberry’ and ‘Violetta’ I was able to make a grungy looking background.  Once dried, I buffed up where Elemental had been stamped so it peeped through the colour.

I love how the colour has ‘stuck’ to the hand in the Elemental stamp!

To the base of the tag, I’ve stamped the music bars from the Music Speaks set, just to add extra interest.

I’ve turned the tag on it’s side so the music bar stamps fits where I want it to stamp

The next step is to add the main focal image… in this case the guitar from the same set as before.   I’ve used the music sets a lot lately and I just love the way they work with the other stamps (and not just the music stamps either!)

The Misti make it so easy to stamp and re-stamp until your image is perfect

After adding a mask over the guitar stamped image, I used the Misti to be able to locate exactly where I wanted the Creativity sentiment to go and I decided I wanted it to be split across the tag and the Misti enabled me to do this perfectly.

Mask areas out to create the look you want

With the sentiment in place, it was time to create the ‘top’ guitar.  I’ve used Distress Oxide ink pads in Seedless Preserve and Wilted Violet which I blotted onto a craft sheet before spritzing with water.  After swiping the card through the colours a few times/drying/spritzing,  I stamped the guitar using a Versafine ink pad as this gives such a good finish.

After fussy cutting out the shape, I decided to add some extra interest by adding a small section of white muslin and some wire (which I stapled into place) to the base of where the guitar would be.  Once secured in position, I added the guitar using foam dots.

To give a tiny hint of sparkle, I traced over the letters with a Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen

To finish, I’ve added a few musical notes from the Music On, World Off set and threaded some dyed muslin though the top of the tag and there you go!

TA-DA!!

Here are the Visible Image stamp sets I’ve used for this make:

Universal

 

Scripted Streets

 

Sparkle in the Rain

 

Elemental

 

Stars and Stripe Stencil

 

Music Speaks

 

Music On, World Off

 

Creativity

 

Mini Misti

So… to be in with a chance to win… hop along to the following blogs and leave a little comment and it could be you that wins one of the $50 spree!!

Here are the lovely designers involved:

Veerle Moreels

Ilina Crouse

Lisa Taggart

Jeanne Streiff

Sharon Traynor

Kia Gibson-Clapper

Becca Cruger

Ceal Pritchett

Pauline Butcher

Giovana Smith

Josefine Fourage

Chris Dayton

Jane Tyrrell

Stephanie Severin

Tenia Nelson

Janine Tinklenberg

Elisa Ablett

Dina Kowal

Heather Mitchell (You’re already here!)

Kyra Sanders

Lynn Good

Susan Wymer

Lanette Erickson

Joan Bardee

Aga Baraniak

Judy Rozema

Eileen Goodwin

There’s bound to be inspiration aplenty so have a good nosy around and see what everyone has been up to and you might bag your self some new stash while you’re at it!

H xx

Visible Image: Zodiac Aries Card

Hello everyone,

Heather back again with a new make for Visible Image!

I’m sure you’ve come across Visible Images’s gorgeous Zodiac stamps by now and if not you have to check them out – they make birthdays super easy!  This month is Aries and one of my oldest friends has her birthday within this month and I thought the Zodiac Aries stamp set  would be just perfect for her.

The background was made with Distress Oxide ink pads and I’ve randomly stamped Fibonacci in areas using Wow! embossing powder in Metallic Platinum. Using white and silver Distress Spray Stains, I’ve gently flicked some ink over the top to break up the grid on the stamp.

Then, taking some of the excess background card, I’ve stamped the Ram’s head several times using Opaque Bright White embossing powder (from Wow! again) and then layered the head using foam dots.

Lastly, I added the sentiments (not all are from the Aries stamp set as I chose personality traits from the other sets that suited my friend).  These were, as before, stamped onto spare background card and matted onto card, they were then attached using foam dots to add a bit of dimension.

A super easy card but it looks pretty special and even better as it means something to the person it’s made for.

Zodiac Aries

Fibonacci

Why not hop on over to the Visible Image blog to see what everyone else has been making… there are some absolute stunners!!

Take care and catch up again soon xx