Love Is In The Air

Today is my 18th wedding anniversary - how time flies!

Here is the card that I created for Dan

This card started out because I fell in love with the new Stamperia soft moulds.  Oh my, these are wonderful!  The price is also amazing!

I first tried using them with Prima Soft Gel, but I wasn't entirely happy with it.

I then tried it again using the Stamperia cream paste.  Wow - this is wonderful.  Yes, I left it 24 hours to dry - but so pleased I did - this paste is gorgeous to use!

Here you can see the Prima gel on the left and Stamperia cream, paste on the right.  I thought the difference was really clear.

I stamped around a card blank using a PaperArsty Seth Apter mini stamp and Archival ink.

The mould once fully dry was given a coat of PaperArtsy chalk paint - I think this gave a bit more 'grip' to the Infusions.  I then added PaperArtsy Infusions across parts of the mould and spritzed water.  I kept patting dry in between and then adding more and repeating until I was happy.

I left this to dry completely but I think  could have carefully dried this with a heat gun.

To finish, I added a Tim Holtz paper doll and quote.

I was so pleased with how this turned out for a very simple card.

Thanks for joining me today.

Happy crafting!
Miriam

Country View Crafts Challenges - Bokeh

Today I am sharing my second project for the Bokeh challenge.

Here is my project:

For this project I used a bold PaperArtsy JOFY stamp - this is such a beautiful stamp.

I started by blending blue circles using different shades of Distress inks.

I used a stencil to blend teh white circles so that they looked more pronounced.

I love the different shades on this card.

I hope that you have been inspired to join in with this month's Challenge.  Make sure you pop over to the blog to see the inspiration from the design team and to join in with the Challenge.

Thanks for joining me,
Miriam

Happy Birthday!

Today it is Dan's birthday.

As a car nut , I mean enthusiast, I wanted to make him a card that had a motoring theme.

Here is the finished card

I started by creating a brayered background masterboard using various PaperArtsy Fresco acrylic paints.  I love making backgrounds this way as they are so quick and effective.

After the brayering I went to town with stamping randomly all over the background.

When I was happy with the background I cut two mats. This also meant that I have some left over for another project.

The mats behind the brayered backgrounds are cut from Lisa Horton stitched scallop squares - these are truly amazing!  You get straight and scalloped dies.

The main image is an Aston Martin, which I bought many years ago from America.  I find it really hard to find good and realistic car stamps in the UK.

To finish my card I added metal gears and embellishments.

This was so much fun to make.  I am hoping that Dan loves it as much as I do!

Thanks for joining me,
Miriam

Co-ordinating Coral

Tonight I am sharing a project over on the PaperArtsy blog.  The theme for the fortnight is Coral.  You will have seen that there are some amazing new co-ordinating Coral shades that have been released in Fresco Acrylic paint range.

For my project I decided to create a masterboard and then use that to create a co-ordinating set to give to celebrate a birthday.

Here is my project

I chose to use the fabulous new Gwen Lafleur collection for PaperArtsy.  Gwen's designs are quite bold and striking - perfect for creating a masterboard.

I chose to create a masterboard out of a 12x12 inch sheet of tissue paper.

The colours that I used are:

Snowflake
Peachy Keen
Coral
Peach Nectar
Mermaid
Beach Hut

I chose the blues to contrast the wonderful Coral.

At first I brayed the colours onto the tissue paper and then used various stamps to stamp the colours all over the paper.  I also added snowflake and gold to brighten the colours.

Once I was happy I added splatters using a Posca pen.

The largest medallion stamp was mounted onto white cardstock and then I used a white gel pen to add highlights to it.

The card was finished by using a quote from a PaperArtsy Alison Bomber stamp set.

To go with the card I used more parts of the completed masterboard to create a tag and gift box.

I thought it would be really nice for a recipient to receive a matching collection.

I loved using this selection of colours.  The corals worked so well with the blues and pinks.  It was so good to create so many projects with one simple masterboard.  I also have enough left over to create another card or a couple of atcs.

Thanks for joining me this evening.  Make sure you pop over to the PaperArtsy blog to see the projects shared for this topic.

Happy Crafting!

Miriam

Country View Crafts Challenges - Bokeh

This month, Sue has chosen 'Bokeh' to be the theme for the Challenge.  I must admit, I had to do some research in this first to find that it is a photography technique where everything around the focal image appears blurred.   That got me thinking and here is my first project for the challenge:

For this project I tried to make the focal images stand out whereas the other images which are in front of the focal images look less clear and more blurred.

I'm not sure it quite turned out as I planned, but I had great fun in creating this card and in my first bokeh adventure.

Pop over to the Challenge blog to look at the other projects created by the design team - you are in for a treat this month!

I hope that you are inspired to join in with this Challenge.  Don't forget, all entrants are entered into the draw to win a gift voucher to spend in the Country View Crafts online store.

Happy Crafting!
Miriam