Lovely as a tree brayering

A friend of mine has recently got the brayering bug and she's got me all inspired too! I got my brayer out over the weekend to have a go at the brayer/resist technique and came up with this birthday card for today's Masculine Monday post:

The brayer gives a real intensity of colour and a wonderful airbrushed quality that I love and if you're thinking of buying one, I can highly recommend the Stampin' Up one with its soft rubber. I started by stamping the oak leaves from Lovely as a Tree and colouring them with a blender pen and ink. The leaves are then covered with versamark - this is easy with a versamark pen - and heat embossed using clear embossing powder. That makes them waterproof so they resist the ink when you brayer over them. I used Bashful Blue and sponged the edges with Marina Mist.

I have several leaf stamp sets and love combining them. This oak leaf from Autumn Splendor, is a completely different style to the one from Lovely as a Tree but works really well as an embellishment. I've used the acorns from the set too and added a knot of linen thread for extra interest.

I always think it's a great idea to build up a diverse collection of sentiments. This one is from a retired hostess set and it has definitely earned its place amongst my favourites. I chose to stamp it in Cajun Craze which really 'sings' against the blue sky but fits in nicely with the natural theme.

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Autumn Splendor, Afterthoughts (retired hostess set)

Ink: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Cajun Craze

Card stock: Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Other: Markers, stamp-a-majig, clear embossing powder, versamark pen, heat tool, brayer, linen thread

I'd be delighted to order any of these supplies for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I am committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to help and advise. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593.

Click here to see all the free Sale-a-bration sets and don't forget to let me know which ones you'd like - remember, you get one free item for EVERY £45 spent!

I hope you had a good weekend. It rained here all day yesterday and my youngest son and I curled up and watched a lovely film called 'Black Stallion' about a boy and his horse. Halfway through the film, my husband came in and hovered about for a while a puzzled look on his face. Eventually he said: "So how is this about pirates?" I shook my head sadly. "It's called Black Stallion," I told him. "Not Black Galleon!"

I'll be back tomorrow with some elegant designer paper creations. Enjoy your Monday!

Autumn Splendor leaves

There's lots going on at Less is More this morning where the challenge is to make a one-layer card featuring leaves. Mandi's back and Chrissie's saying that French Foliage is one of her all time favourite sets. I couldn't agree more - you could ink the stamps up and throw them at a piece of card stock and they would look gorgeous! (Not that I'm suggesting for a minute that Chrissie has done so!!!) I've made heaps of cards using the set (click on French Foliage in the index in my side bar if you'd like to see them) so today I thought I'd use another favourite leafy set. Come and have a look:

Autumn Splendor has a different, more graphic style of leaf which I think looks stunning in all sorts of colours, but I've used these rich autumn colours today to celebrate the season! You probably couldn't make a simpler card but I think the colours and shapes of the leaves make it effective nevertheless.

And have you seen this sentiment stamp from the Thank You Kindly set? I love the shape of it and all the movement in its swirls and use it a lot.

I made another card using the oak leaf from the Autumn Splendor set:

It's made using the resist technique - I inked up the image with veramark ink, stamped it onto the card base and heat-embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I masked off a panel and sponged inks over the leaf which, because the embossing makes it waterproof, it resists. When I'd taken the masks off and added the sentiment, I added score lines for definition and sponged a bit more ink onto the card to look as if it's spilling out over the lines.

It was looking a bit bland at this point so I gave the leaf a shadow with a Sahara Sand marker and added a piece of my beloved linen thread - which perked it up no end! Only wish it could do the same for me as I'm suffering from a nasty cold this morning!

Supplies needed for these cards:

LOTS OF LEAVES CARD

Stamps: Autumn Splendor, Thank You Kindly

Ink: Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso

Card stock: Confetti Cream

Other: Stamp-a-majig

SINGLE LEAF CARD

Stamps: Autumn Splendor, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Cherry Cobbler

Card stock: Confetti Cream

Other: Versamark ink pad, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Sahara Sand marker, stamp-a-majig, linen thread, scoring blade

I'd love to order any of these supplies for you and I can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I am committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to help and advise. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. 

It's cold and damp and gloomy in Buckingham today - perfect crafting weather! But I've had my crafting fix for the day and it's time to get on with the chores... even if I do wish I could curl in front of a fire watching re-runs of Downton Abbey with a cup of hot lemon and some tissues at my side. Sigh!

I'll be back later to see what leafiness you've been up to! See you later,