2014 Aussie Notecard Swap Update Three

The following pics are of Aussie Notecards that I swapped.

The first one is 'Furry Friends' which I made for Linda in May.

The second one is 'Sweet Girls' which I made for Vicki in June.

The third one is 'Vintage Sewing Room' which I made for Tanya in April and the fouth one is also 'Vintage Sewing Room' which I made for Linda in April due to one of the girls being unable to participate that month.

2014 Aussie Notecard Swap Update Two

Blogging Friends, here are more pics of Aussie Notecard Swap Cards. 

 The first one is Linda's 'Steampunk' which she sent to Janette.

The second one is Janette's 'Steampunk' which she sent to Tanya.

The third one is Diane's 'Hello Birdy' which she sent to Jenny.

The fourth one is Jenny's ' Bold and Bright' which she sent to Linda.

The fifth one is Janette's 'Bold and Bright' which she sent to Jenny.

Aren't they fabulous cards!!!

Aussie 2014 Notecard Swap Update

Hi There Blogging Friends!  My goodness it has been a long time since I put up a blog post. Here is some catch up pics of my Aussie 2014 Notecard Swap.

Below is my 'Steampunk' March Card which I made for Jenny and the following card is the 'Steampunk' card I received from Tanya.

Chunky Goodness

Hi There Blogging Friends.  I've had a very nice time this week playing around with the 'Encrusted Jewel Technique', which was developed by Fran Seiford from Stampendous.

The range of products available under the name 'Fran-tage' are just fabulous.  Embossing powders have been given an "aged" look by the addition of burnish gold embossing enamel and embellishments such as mica, colour fragments and glass glitter add a gorgeous sparkle.

I wanted to combine the technique with my stamping so here are the results.

I decided that this lady needed a mat for her feet and her hat embossed to balance the chunkiness. The chunky shabby white enamel and some of my glass micro beads were perfect to throw into the mix.

I decided that this one needed a shimmery border to give a dramatic affect to the bird stamp.  I used the lovely Aged Pink Embossing Enamels, Mica Flakes and Shabby White Enamel.

I didn't want to put any white on the next one so; I started with the Aged Hunter Green Embossing Enamel then covered it with Utee and added some sparkle that I had sitting in my stash.  I love the affect of the Utee on top of the enamel.

I also wanted to see how a dress would look so; I used the 'Aged Green' and 'Aged Hunter Green' with the 'Chunky White' embossing enamel and was delighted with the way it came out.  The sweet girls hair has been done in the 'Aged Ochre Embossing Enamel'.

One of the things I also had in mind for this technique, was to use the enamels to create foregound under trees or in general stamped scenes.  I applied alcohol inks for the background scene, embossed the tree in normal embossing powder then; used the 'Aged Green Embossing Enamel' for the foreground.  Loved how the burnished gold bubbled up to create a rocky type of affect.

If you haven't tried this technique yet, you don't know what you are missing.  Australian crafters can buy the products from 'Craftonline'.  You can also see Fran demonstrate her technique on You Tube.  Just search for the Stampendous Channel and you will find her.    Have fun!

Second Page of My Glue Book

Hi There Blogging Friends!  I have just finished the second project for my "Glue Book".  The challenge was to make a small Accordian book with the same theme as our first page, which was 'Girly'.  I decided to put my girls in a Dolls House and after making the Accordian book, I set up a layout in my glue book so that the little Accordian book could be tucked inside.  I'm pretty happy with the result.... 

Love those vintage girls!

Glue Booking & February Notecard Swap

Hi There Blogging Friends.  I've been wanting to work on a "glue book" for a long time but had never got to make a start.

Well; that was until Amy over at 'The Altered Place' started up a Journal Lab group and prompted us all to make a Glue Book.

I had previously read, that it was important to use a vintage book that was "sewn" at the spine, not glued at the spine, so I searched my local Op Shop until I found one.  It is about 5.5in x 8.5in (14cm x 21.5cm).  Here are some pics of it...

I glued four pages together with Gel Medium then; lightly washed Gesso over each new thick page.  The subject for our first page was "Girly" so I gathered up a mixture of papers and vintage images.
 

Then; it was a matter of play, play play!  I coloured the background with my Faber Castell 'Gelato's'.  Stamped with Stazon Ink then; gave the entire background a watery wash of Gesso.  After that, I layered the images on with Gel Medium and washed over with 'Jo Sonja's Satin Varnish' to seal it all.  The last touches of lace were attached with 'Glossy Accents and Glitter Glue was used to put a sparkle here and there.  I am pretty happy with my first attemp.

Now here is the cute card I received from Linda for my Aussie 2014 Notecard Swap.   The subject was 'Bright and Bold, so Linda couldn't go wrong with red, blue and yellow.  Love it!

Below is my 'Bright and Bold' card that I sent to Diane.  The pink background was created with Dylusion sprays and the poppies embossed in glitter black.  The butterfly was stamped and coloured with Pitt Art Pens and flooded with Glossy Accents.  I teamed it with the black and white spot paper and aqua cardstock.  Not my usual style but I enjoyed creating it.

Aussie Notecard 2014 Swap - 'Hello Birdy'

Hi There Blogging Friends!  I just couldn't wait to show you some of the fabulous cards that my swap girls created for our first month of this years 'Aussie Notecard' Swap.

The first one was created by Linda  and sent to Vicki.  The colours are gorgeous and the sweetest little bird is gently resting on some beautiful flowers and foliage.  The delightful saying "life is a matter of moments" just begs us to slow down and smell the flowers....just love it!

The next one was sent to Linda by Tanya.  Don't you just love these two sweet birdies, sitting close together and brushed over with a sweep of gold.  The beautiful mauve roses and bit of bling make it "oh so dreamy"!

The next one was created by Janette and sent to Diane.  It is a beautiful mix of pretty background paper, sweet flowers, glitter glue and the boldest little birdy of all;  the Blue Wren.  Janette was true to the species by ensuring that the colours of her birdy were as they are in the wild.   A wonderful card Janette!

Finally; here is Jenny's creation that she sent to Tanya.  What a fantastic view from Jenny's rustic window and best of all a little birdy stopping by on the outside window sill, to share a little message.  The colours are beautifully executed for the creation of a gentle and thought provoking card.....love it also!

These are just a few of the cards from ladies that do not have blogs.  Next post will be a sneek peek at February's subject 'Bold and Bright"..........oh its a lot of fun!

Aussie Notecard Swap and Card Making in the Heat

Hi There Blogging Friends!   Here is a pic of the card I made for Janette in my Aussie Notecard 2014 Swap.  The January theme was 'Hello Birdy' and at first it appears that my birdy was flying by his birdcage, but the second pic will reveal that he was flying to spend some time with his girlfiend who is in a very secret place.

 Below is the card I received from Vikki.  We are all trying to do some sort of technique or something different with our swap cards and I just love the fact that Vikki did her own artwork on the my card.  Isn't it the sweetest birdy!!

and.....like most people in Australia at the moment I have been feeling the hot weather, so I sat in front of my air-con for a couple of days and made the cards below.   It was fun playing with my dies, embossing folders and punches.