Treat Your Gorjuss Mums

So I recently discovered the full amazingness of the Gorjuss collection from Santoro London. I’d walked past these paper pads and other stationery items before but for some reason I’d never looked properly at them. Today, however, I went shopping and made a beeline for this section after the brand came to my attention on YouTube.

I also bought the Memento Tuxedo Black ink, which I’d heard great things about, and was really impressed with the crisp image I got (above). I decided to stamp the girl with the bunny as I loved my pink bunny toy as a child and immediately thought of an idea for a Mother’s Day card when I saw the stamp set.

I watercoloured the little girl with Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge & Gathered Twigs), then fussy-cut her out leaving a white border.

I used some vintage-style paper from a 6×6 paper pad (sorry, not sure on the brand) and cut this to the same size as my blank card. Then I trimmed down a strip of normal white card and stamped these sentiments. The ‘to my special Mother’ is from Clearly Besotted’s ‘Fresh Flowers’ stamp set, and the longer sentiment below is from Mama Elephant’s ‘Bear Hugs’ stamp set.

I also blended around the edges of the white strip with Antique Linen to add to the aged look of the card. Then I popped the Gorjuss girl up on some double-sided foam tape and attached.

I got a few other Gorjuss stamps today plus some other bits, and have a couple of deliveries due soon so will hopefully be putting up a ‘haul’ post in the next few days.

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Manly Card Monday #16

My two favourite dog breeds are dachshunds, which are everywhere in the stamping world, and staffies, which are much harder to get hold of – ironic since it’s the other way around in the dog  world! Staffies are everywhere on the streets, and have a bad reputation which is completely undeserved. They are loving and loyal and remember – there are no bad dogs, only bad owners.

Our family dog has the same name as me – Emma – as she was a rescue dog so we didn’t get to name her ourselves. So we call her Emmadog to differentiate! I wanted to colour this stamp so that it looked like Emmadog, who is a kind of mottled black and brown, except now she is around 19 years old so is mostly grey in the face.

I used Spectrum Noir markers and Gamsol to colour the image, which I then fussy-cut out and put to one side.

This paw-print paper came from my local craft store and was my starting point for this card. I love the masculine colours and thought they would be great for a father’s day card. First I cut down the red and gold to the size I wanted and then stuck it to the black card and trimmed around it so I had the border how I wanted (I did mess up a little bit on the left side!), then die-cut the stitched white rectangle and stuck that to the same black card.

I used the scraps left over to make the banner and the btw in the middle that her paw is hanging over. Finally, I stamped ‘happy dad’s day’ next to the dog.

Products:

‘Happy Dad’s Day’ sentiment stamp & Large Stitched Rectangles dies – lawnfawn.com

Staffordshire bull terrier unmounted stamp – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Staffordshire-Terrier-Unmounted-Stamp-SP000824/dp/B00MNPO934

Spectrum Noir coloured pencils – http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/spectrum-noir-pencil-nature-24-pack/599631-1003?gclid=Cj0KEQjwkIurBRDwoZfi1bGCxocBEiQAmcs-erpZv5hDazxLXIytHeYSRzO4j6sDx9iJ7EwYI_Zb22caAt_98P8HAQ

Free Haul! – Clearly Besotted Stamps

Recently, I subscribed to Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine and my free gift has now come through! I don’t really have any flowers stamps so was excited to get to work on more elegant cards than I usually make.

  

Colouring isn’t really my forte, so I decided on a simple design so I could concentrate on my watercolour technique. After heat-embossing the flowers in white powder on white card, I started painting with a cheap paint set from my local stationery shop. Embossing in white like this creates a really nice effect with the watercolours.

Again, I wanted to keep it simple, so I used very few colours, bringing in darker shades here and there for dimension. (Didn’t work very well though!)

Then I cut apart this patterned paper which I chose because it would pick up the purple and green colours of the flowers, and stuck it down on two blank cards so that it left a strip of white at the top.

I stamped and embossed the greetings and having fussy-cut the flowers, stuck those down too. (On the Mother’s Day card, I stuck one flower down with double-sided foam so that it is a bit higher than the one underneath.)

Simple and quite quick, apart from the fussy-cutting. Flowers always add a pretty touch!

Products Used:

6×6 patterned paper pad – http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/361178234641?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

Clearly Besotted assorted stamps – http://www.clearlybesottedstamps.com

Watercolours & blank cards – http://www.theworks.co.uk/

White embossing powder – http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/321265206419?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

Heat tool – http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/191241171346?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

Versamark ink, clear – http://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/craft-essentials-c2144/inks-and-inkpads-c2145/tsukineko-versamark-watermark-ink-pad-small-p25158/s25258?gclid=Cj0KEQjwuI-oBRCEi87g0K3O8OoBEiQAb25WAe2O3DxsEUICIuYHQ1EmSKvklvDRpCloKkJWmu_RhlUaAtA-8P8HAQ

Mother’s Day Tag: “I Look Up to You”

I got the Mama Elephant ‘Bear Hug’ stamps recently and knew I wanted to use them for Mother’s Day. I already have a card ready that I made ages ago, so I decided I would use the bears on a gift tag.

First I die-cut the base shape twice, with pearly blue card and then with plain white. Then I put those aside and stamped the bear and cub on separate card.

I used Copics in E43N and E44 to colour the bears, and Spectrum Noir marker in FS3 for the ears. Then I embossed the sentiment (cutest sentiment ever!) with Wow bright white powder.

The green paper is Lawn Fawn and is die-cut with an Elizabeth Crafts Design border die. I stuck everything  down and started on the back.

The “from” comes from a very old set of Christmas stamps which has probably been the best card-making investment I’ve ever made. They cost around £5 but they have about 20 different stamps and a few can be used all year round.

I took a flower stamp (I think it’s meant to be holly or mistletoe or something but it looks more flowery to me) from the same set and stamped in blue ink, then took a similar smaller stamp that came free with a Lawn Fawn purchase and stamped that in coral. There was no rhyme or reason to anything on the back of the tag!

Finally I wrote my message, hole-punched the tag and threaded yellow baker’s twine through.

Products Used:

• Stitched journaling die, Let’s Polka paper – http://www.lawnfawn.com
• Baker’s twine – http://www.amazon.co.uk/
• Spectrum Noir markers – http://www.spectrumnoir.com
• Copic ciao markers – https://imaginationinternationalinc.com/copic/
• Bear Hugs stamps – http://mamaelephant.com
• Grass border die – http://www.ecraftdesigns.com