Swaps For Onstage - Reverse Masking Technique

As this blog goes live, I will be very excited heading into the first stamping event for Melbourne Onstage 2024! If I don't already, very shortly I will have a new stamp set from the soon-to-be-released Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue 2024-2025 - I chose Country Flowers bundle, so stamps and dies for this one. I'll share some cards soon.

One thing we do at Onstage is swap with other demonstrators, and you may be one who is visiting my blog to find out a little more about how I made my swap.

I mounted the Coffee With Friends ladies on the bench and the sentiment on the one block so they were lined up perfectly. These first few were stamped in Tuxedo Black Momento before I decided that I preferred Early Espresso. It stamps just as dark as black, and the ink seemed more even.

After the images are stamped, it is time to stamp and cut masks. You can use the mask 2-4 times before it gets too wet with ink and tears, but it was a lot of fiddly fussy cutting for those masks, ha ha!

The top stamp in Oceanfront is the one I used for the sky with Boho Blue. The grass was the middle stamp, inked up in Granny Apple Green and stamped twice in opposite directions for good coverage.

After the first tries, I featured the sky more prominently, and full strength instead of stamped off as above. The masks do need to be peeled of carefully both to be able to re-use them and to not damage the image they masked.

 

The stamped piece was die cut with Countryside Corners dies and I lost some of the stamped grass I had added from the Oceanfront stamp, but it was worth it. The Boho Blue layer was cut with another Countryside Corners die. It has been embossed with the Splatters 3D embossing folder from the duo Stripes & Splatters TIEF. These smaller folders fit the mini Cut n Emboss machine.

Another rectangle layer was added in Misty Moonlight and for a finished card I would glue it straight to a Boho Blue card base. My card bases are cut at 14.5cm across the middle of an A4 piece of card because it ties in better with the American measurements the dies come in.

Happy crafting,

 

Colour Creations Blog Hop - Week 22 - Early Espresso

Contributors to this blog hop are all members of Claire Daly's Art With Heart group. We love chatting, crafting and getting together in person.

Early Espresso is our focus colour this week and as you might expect, it is a deep rich brown.

There were new stamps in the house this week which I was keen to get inky, so I've played with Medley Mix. 

Coffee With Friends I've had a while now but what better to use with Early Espresso.

Di Furniss follows on from me this week.

If at any time you find a broken link or would like to see a full list of participants, please head to the blog of our host of the AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop, Catherine Proctor.

 

CTC #436 CASE projects featuring a Walk in the Forest DSP

 

CASE-ing The Catty Crew are a group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators from Australia & New Zealand who take inspiration weekly from the catalogues. The catalogues are a fantastic resource, and we love to inspire you to seek inspiration there too.

This week we challenge you to CASE Walk in the Forest and we will share our projects to inspire you. At the bottom left of the illustration from the catalogue you will see a card with a tree die and a bear which is a work in progress. The skewed, striped paper inspired me to create something similar to that.

A narrow piece of striped paper was die cut with Gorgeously Made dies top and bottom. Those dies help me get past my fear of randomness with real tearing. A leafy piece from the same dies was cut to add background interest.

Another of these great images from Coffee With Friends took the place of the tree & bear. I took a Masterclass in colouring with Stampin' Blends with Jay Soriano recently. I feel I learned a lot from Jay's tuition and intend to keep on trying to perfect my technique.

The inside was matted and stamped to finish my card. I love mixing and matching stamp sets to send the messages I want to friends. Very happy with this one.

We love for you to share your projects using the challenges. We do request that the projects you submit have been created especially for this challenge. You can CASE directly or be inspired by a sketch/layout, colour combo or embellishment. Ask to join our Facebook group, and then add a picture of your CASE letting us know which card or project you've CASE-d.

Julia Quinn is next stop on this blog hop.

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Colour Creations Blog Hop - week 19 - Crumb Cake

Contributors to this blog hop are all members of Claire Daly's Art With Heart group. We love chatting, crafting and getting together in person.

I'm sure we will see lots of wonderful projects shared by the team this week featuring Crumb Cake. It is a neutral which has been in the range for the whole time I've been a demonstrator, more than 12 years.
 

One of my favourite stamps from the annual catalogue is Gorgeously Made. It is tempting to keep on using it with the colours used in the catalogue spread because they are so pretty, but I decided to experiment and use Crumb Cake.

After cutting a lot of labels I had this scrap of card left which made an interesting mask or stencil for blending ink onto card.

Once I was satisfied with the background I used 3 of the stamps to create even more interest.

It seemed a good idea to continue on to use some of the dies from the Gorgeously Made bundle, so some leaves were added to the piece of torn notepaper.

I have been playing with Stampin' Blends after doing a colouring master class with Jay Soriano and afterwards had this image from Coffee With Friends which seemed to be a good fit for this card. A new sentiment-only stamp set from the mini catalogue - So Sincere - provided this lovely thought to finish the card off. 

I hope I have provided some inspiration for your creativity too, leave a comment if you have the time. Come back next Wednesday night for some Crushed Curry.

Next participant in the blog hop is the lovely Rachel Woollard who will surely have a wonderful card or project to share.

 If at any time you find a broken link or would like to see a full list of participants, please head to the blog of our host of the AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop, Catherine Proctor.

Coffee With Friends

Another Stampin' Up! stamp set with people is Coffee With Friends. There is an example in the catalogue using a different tree die and the two women sitting on a park bench, so I decided to try it with Aspen Trees dies.

Quite a lot of 'pruning' was needed before the women were visible, but it is pretty much the result I was after.

A little stamping on the inside and the card was all done.

SHOP

Your orders are very much appreciated, no matter how small or big, every little bit helps me to meet my minimums, and keep on creating. Hopefully you are inspired by some of the projects I share and want to make your own. My online shop is open anytime and delivery by tracked Australia Post takes 5-10 days.

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