Under the Sea .......

Good morning,

Happy Friday! And Happy 1st of August too.  Welcome to a brand new Take It Make It Challenge over on the Craft Stamper Blog.

We had some fabulous entries last month for the Embossing Powder Resist challenge, it was so hard to chose a winner again ..... you lot don't make it easy!!!

Are you ready for this months challenge?  This could either be really easy, or really difficult depending on how good you are at making decisions ..... it took me a while!

It's a bit of an Anything Goes theme this month.  All you have to do is choose ANY technique, by ANY designer, from ANY of the Craft Stamper issues in 2014.  That means you've probably got a couple of hundred projects to choose from ..... easy!!!!

One of my favourite techniques is from the July issue (page 28) ...... Bleach Blocking using Distress Inks, by the lovely Hels Sheridan. It was actually a TIMI challenge a couple of months back so many of you may have already given this fun technique a go.

I started out by inking up a piece of white card stock using shades of blue Distress Inks.  I then took one of the new mini blending tools (the round ones), added a piece of clean foam, wet it with clean water, then used the foam to 'bleach' out some of the ink .....

I then started to create my little underwater scene using the Under the Sea stamps from IndigoBlu.  I stamped the images using Onyx Black Versafine ink and then heat embossed with a clear powder.  This helps to keep the image nice and crisp when colouring them in.

I used the IndigoBlu English Cottage Paints to add my colour ...... the gorgeous metallics in the Silver and Gold, and I added in a touch of Townhouse Teal  for the Seahorse

The bubbles have had Glossy Accents and a little fine crystal glitter added to give a shimmery iridescent look

I finished off by cutting the card into a tag shape, added the sentiment, and tied some natural twine around the bottom for a little more interest .....

Right .... now it's over to you.  Just choose your favourite technique from ANY of the Craft Stamper  magazines so far this year, add some rubber stamping to your project and away you go.  I can't wait to see what you all choose.
As always there's a fabulous prize up for grabs, and you have until midnight on the 27th to get your entries in to be in with a chance of winning ..... have fun!!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day, and have a great weekend.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Have you tried Bleach Blocking yet ....... ?

Morning everyone,

Happy Friday!  I'm actually sat on a ferry, crossing the Irish Sea when this post goes live, so fingers crossed that the weather's ok.  I don't do bumpy water!!!
As of this afternoon, this is where I shall be spending the next 7 days ..... relaxing, hopefully in the sunshine, with the whole family on holiday together ........ that hasn't happened in a while!

Pear Tree Cottage

As it's the second Friday in the month, it's time to remind you all that the latest Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge is well under way ..... have you had a go at the Bleach Blocking technique yet?  If not there's a whole new collection of  inspiration pieces from the DT over on the Challenge Blog .... go on why not give it a go!
As always there's a great prize up for grabs ..... this month our sponsors are the fabulous IndigoBlu!

Plus the winner also gets their work published in Craft Stamper magazine too!!

The challenge is all about Bleach Blocking ..... creating interesting backgrounds using Distress Inks, blending foam, and good old clean water to get that bleached out look.

Here's what I came up with .....

You can see I've created the look of a wall behind the flowers.  The colours have come out quite pale but I think it comes across ok.

I started by cutting a piece of white cardstock to fit on the front of a 6x6 square cardblank .... allowing for an extra layer to be added behind (the pink layer).
I then coloured the card using Distress inks ..... Antique Linen, Dried Marigold, Scattered Straw and a touch of Aged Mahogany around the edges.   I took a piece of blending foam and cut it in half, before soaking it with water.  I then 'bleached out' the brickwork design all over the inked card

I stamped the grasses across the bottom using a green Archival ink ........  how pretty are these

They are actually from a new IndigoBlu stamp plate that's available, at the moment, exclusively from Craft Stamper magazine.  They're part of the gift you receive when you subscribe .... how good is that!?  Your favourite craft mag delivered to your door each month and gorgeous, new IndigoBlu stamps to add to your collection ...... thrown in!!!  Sounds good to me ...... I renewed my subscription as you can see!

The cute little tulips were made using the new Penny Black die ..... Dainty.  I've cut the die twice from green cardstock, then cut the flower heads again from pink and yellow cardstock.  They've then been layered up to add a bit of dimension, and attached over the stamped grasses.  They've even got drops of morning dew on them .... well actually it's Glossy Accents that's supposed to look like dew!!!

The words are one of my favourite stamps from Tim Holtz, stamped on a piece of white card inked using the same colours of Distress as I used for the background

A bit of matting and layering to finish it off, then it's been attached to the card to look as though it's hanging on the wall.

No bleach blocking on the inside, just the grasses again.

I've kept things CAS.  A touch of Distress ink in one corner, and I've taken away some of the colour by using the good old water flicking technique (another way to get the bleached look) before I stamped over the top

Are you feeling inspired yet?  It is quite a fun technique to do ..... and remember .... there's that fab prize for the winner.

You have until midnight on Wednesday 25th June to get your entries in, and the winner will be announced on the blog on Friday 27th.  Go on .... get bleaching! 

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend.  I'm looking forward to a week of good food, nice wine and great company.

Good luck in the challenge.

Linda

xx