Alcohol Ink Lift technique with Copic Refills - VIDEO

I've been MICA (Missing In Crafty Action) for a few weeks as I've been working on finishing off stock for my Etsy shop and adding listings. Nobody should ever think Etsy is just take a photo, stick it in your shop and it will sell. You have to know what you are doing and I am very grateful to have the help of Jewellery and Gems with it. Getting my head around all that is needed to get noticed and to get sales on top of looking after the girls and the household just about finished me off last week!

Onwards and upwards! It's nice to be able to switch crafts from time to time, so I had a good play with some Copic refills, acetate, card and some large stamps trying out the Alcohol Ink Lift Technique I've seen in passing - Teresa Morgan's video is very good. I know Ranger and Tim Holtz have come out with an alcohol ink lift stamp pad, but these days all my money goes on fabric, so I decided to try it with my Copic refills and some colourless blender as well as the copic cleaner.

I have a video of how I got on. Of course, during the process, my video camera died, so I had to scrabble around for the charger and the best results I had have been lost, but I hope you still find the other footage useful. Please remember that YouTube is a third party and as such you may want to look at its privacy policy if you have any concerns about cookies being placed on your machine. 

What I've learnt is:

Colourless Blender is best - the cleaner pushes the ink away too much
A detailed stamps works better than a semi solid stamp
Acetate works quite well, but it can take a while to dry, and it does leave it a bit sticky
Don't put foil flakes on...... see video as to why!
Don't put too much colourless blender on your sponge when using with stencils
Have fun making a mess - I know Michelle Short uses gloves and now I know why!!

When it works it works really really nicely and I have three finished projects as you can see. I even made a shaker having seen Lisa's recent fantastic efforts. It's been a while!

Have you ever tried this?? It was a really great session! I've seen people using gelli plates with alcohol ink too, so maybe that's also something to try. Happy crafting everyone!

Very Simple Christmas Cards - Pretty Pink Posh - VIDEO

So I'm back and with a video too - yay! I'm finding that I have time on Fridays now to do a bit of mass producing and with Christmas coming up, the best kind of mass production are Christmas cards.
 


I try to keep mine super simple when mass producing and these are the superest simplest you can possibly get. Card blank, some patterned paper (Lawn Fawn Let's Bokeh in the Snow which I've had for ages), and a plain stamped image on the front. 

I've even managed to make a video of the process, so I hope you enjoy this little foray into my mass production of Christmas cards, which you can watch below (please note this links to a third party, YouTube, which may require Cookies) or via my YouTube channel. If you like what you see, would love to have you as a subscriber.

Wishing you a splendidly happy and crafty day, thanks for stopping by :)

Home - Sugar Pea Super Guest Designer Post #1 - VIDEO

Hi Everyone, I'm absolutely thrilled to be Guest Designing for Sugar Pea Designs over the next three months. I've been a fan of theirs since I started crafting and the first thing I bought was the Home Sweet Home SugarCut and so I thought it would be nice to start my term by showcasing this. I have used it quite a number of times, making it one of my most used dies. 

I have a video to accompany this post, which you can watch here, or over on my You Tube channel.

I took an A5 (UK sized) piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock and cut it in half and started inking up a galaxy background with some bright distress inks. In between the bright splotches I added some Black Soot. This highlights the bright spots and makes it into the galaxy. I need some more practice using the Bristol Smooth I think, as it is so smooth I felt it didn't blend as well as I'd like.

I then took some white gouache and mixed some up with water to make splatter and added it on top of the panel, along with some Clear Sparkle Pen.

Then I took some white card stock and die cut out the SugarCut Home Sweet Home and the SugarCut Homescape. I was very careful to remember to keep hold of the little windows and the heart and the piece between the M and E! I then stamped the sentiment from the Sweet Sentiments - Home set.

I cut all the pieces down to fit an A2 (US) card base and adhered the galaxy background. I then popped up the die cut pieces with some foam tape, adding in the little die cut out pieces with some multi medium matte.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I'll be back again soon with more SugarPea inspiration. Happy Crafting!

Uniko Guest Design - Surprise Stencil Release - Mehndi Mandala - Blog Hop + VIDEO

Hi Everyone, I'm absolutely thrilled to have been asked to Guest Design for Uniko, a lovely UK based company who makes fabulous stamps and stencils. I have quite a few of their stencils already, so to be asked to use more of them, of course it was an instant yes!

This is part of the blog hop to celebrate the release. You can start over at the Uniko blog, and I'll let you know who to hop onto next at the end of my post. This is the first of three cards made using three stencils. I have a video to go with this one showing you how I made 4 cards in 45 minutes using just one stencil.



You can watch the video here or over on my YT channel :)

I took a piece of A4 white card stock and cut it down to 11 inches as I always make my cards 5.5x4.25 (US A2 sized). I then marked out the middle point so I would know where to place the middle of my stencil.

I placed my stencil in the middle and started blending with very gentle ink blending in Spun Sugar. It's quite light, so I built up the layers gradually. I then put the stencil on top and added Picked Raspberry for some contrast. 

I removed the stencil and then cut the panels to size to fit my card blanks. I picked two different pink colours to fit with the pink on the stencil and background. I then attached them with foam tape on top. I'd like to give credit to my friend Lisa Tilson of My Card Trip whose card I saw using the slightly off set mounting of the panel. It gave me the main idea for this set. I thought a few sequins in pink and clear would be a nice addition.

This is such a gorgeous stencil, and I hope this inspires you to try some stencilling. The new release is available now over on the Uniko website and you can carry on in the hop by visiting Beverly Brown, Uniko's esteemed creator.

I'll be back tomorrow with more. Happy Crafting!

How To - Stencils with Funky Fossils Designs Mermaids - VIDEO

Hello! So if you saw my April and May haul video, you'll have seen the gorgeous mermaid stencil that Sarah Gray from Funky Fossil Designs gave me to have a play around with. I decided when I had a couple of hours to spare (no kids in the house!!) I'd have a good old play with hers and some other stencils I had that hadn't seen much love in a while.

I ended up only using the mermaids in the end - once I started I couldn't stop! - and I filmed the process. You can watch this below or over on my YouTube channel. My camera decided to have a bit of a wobbly at points and I lost some of the footage, but I hope you can still get the gist of them. 

I decided to try something different and not do a voice over for this video. My space in the basement is lovely, but I find the boiler and pipe work can be noisy at the worst times and finding a time to be able to do them is hard. I thought I'd edit it without this time. I'd love some feedback on how you find this. 

Here are the projects I finished. I used lots of different techniques from ink blending to texture paste and glitter - yes I used glitter even though I usually hate the stuff. I even used some of my new distress oxides. They really do blend nicely and I suspect I may be saving up for some more :)

1. Coloured texture paste and glitter. 

2. Distress ink and water bleaching

3. Distress ink and texture paste with glitter stencil on top

4. Distress Oxide and splatter

The detail is amazing on the stencil - the swimming mermaid's hair is spectacular - and you can buy this and others in Sarah's Folksy Shop.

I hope you enjoyed today's projects. I really am in the mood for stencils right now, so expect to see some more of them! Thank you so much for stopping by and Happy Crafting :)

Craft Haul - April, May 2018 - VIDEO

Hello! Here I am sharing my crafty hauls from April and May. I combined them as I knew I was going to Happy Stampers in Port Sunlight in May.

I'm over on my You Tube channel where you can watch it, or you can watch below. Details of where I bought the items are in the description on my YouTube video.

Thank you so much for all your kind comments on my GDPR posts of the past couple of days and I'm glad some of you have found them useful. We shall see what happens on 25th May!

I'll be back with some crafty posts soon - I have a lot of NBUS to use up!! Happy Crafting Everyone :)

Craft Haul - March 2018 - VIDEO

So this was originally the smallest haul video I'd done, when I got an email to say a local craft shop was closing down and they were having a closing down sale. As I'd been planning a visit next week for some fabrics, I popped over to Samuel Taylor's in Embsay (just outside Skipton) on Good Friday and picked up some things in the sale. I wouldn't say it was the best discount in the world on a closing down sale, but it's all things I'll use, and I got what I needed. It's not closing until the end of April, so I dare say I'll be back.

You can watch my video below, or on YouTube:

Thanks so much for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Mermaid Week - Day 7 - Honey Bee Stamps - VIDEO

Well, here it is, the last day of Mermaid Week! I hope you've enjoyed all my creations so far. Now this one is special to me because I was given the stamped image on a panel at the very first Colouring Challenge Road Trip in Edinburgh last August. I intend to buy this set as soon as I can - Honey Bee are now being stocked in Dies to Die For - and so I hope you'll forgive me not actually owning it quite yet.

It's a fabulously cheery mermaid and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with her. I wanted to give her the coloured pencil treatment and to use my black pencil for highlights and add a stencil around her just like Kathy does.

I have a speed colouring video you can watch here or over on my YT channel:

I used my Polychromos and made sure I sharpened them often. I'm still not too happy with skin tones - I struggle with this with my Copics as well - but I enjoyed the challenge and the practice.

  
Thank you for sticking with me. I have so enjoyed using up my stash in as many different ways as possible and I enjoyed that they all turned out completely different. The only thing in common was that they were mermaids. Adieu Mermaids for a little while at least...

Happy Crafting Everyone!

How to... Paper Piecing for Card Making - VIDEO

A very talented and lovely crafty friend gave me this Stamping Tiny Townie Garden Girl Morning Glory stamp for my birthday back in November and I've been thinking about doing the paper piecing technique with it ever since. I LOVE paper piecing and I LOVE these Garden Girls and I decided to film the process for you.

The great thing about paper piecing is that you can use up lots of scraps. I found some of my Lawn Fawn plaid paper in my scrap pieces box and, as you'll see in the video, I had two pieces of just the right colours of blue and green.

You can watch the video here, or over on my You Tube channel:

The thing to remember when fussy cutting is to move the paper and not the scissors. I coloured the rest of the girl in with Copics and simply die cut with my WPlus9 Sunshine Layers die - that's one of the best purchases I've ever made! - and adhered to an A2 (US) card blank that I'd covered with another piece of my Lawn Fawn plaid paper.

Thank you for taking the time to read and leave me a comment. Wishing you all a very Happy Mothering Sunday and lots of crafty fun!

Craft Haul - February 2018 - VIDEO

Hi Everyone! Thank you for your well wishes. I still have a cold, as you'll be able to tell from this video, but it is improving every day and I certainly don't feel as ill as I once did.

I'm over on my YouTube channel sharing my crafty haul for last month. Managed to spend a bit this month - ooops! But got some nice things and am desperate to get stuck in and crafting a bit more. And if you stick with the video to 7 minutes or so, I hope you'll forgive my generous mistake!

You can watch it below, or over on my YouTube channel.

Once again, thank you for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Using my Letterpress and Magazine Makes #9 - VIDEO

I'm doing my best to keep up with my plan for two videos a month, one haul and one other. It's taken me a while to get round to this one as despite the antibiotics, which cleared up the main infection, my tonsillitis lingered in the form of earache and a bad cold, and then everyone go upset tummies - it's been a wild 6 weeks!

But, it's here before the end of the month and I hope you find it interesting. I'm using my Letterpress which comes out maybe once a year for a play. It still works, despite the large crack in the top plate....In my December haul video, I showed the new supplies I'd managed to get at a reasonable price from the USA, so I got it out to have a good play.

These are the panels I made.

And the video process is here or on my YT channel:

I particularly love the floral background panel. I've used it with the Altenew layering dies which came free with Simply Cards and Papercraft issue 174. Last time I used this panel, it was with the Altenew layering stamp with also came free with Simply Cards and Papercraft. You can read about it in the blog post Magazine Makes #2 - Altenew Roses.

I really like these inks, but they aren't as vibrant as the sticky tube ink that comes with the kit, which is a shame, but they are so much easier to clean and don't take a long time to dry, which can happen if you use too much of the other. 

Been good to get a whole lot more cards added to my stash! Thank you for stopping by - it is always appreciated. Happy Crafting Everyone! :)

Some news and Craft Haul - January 2018 - VIDEO

Hi Everyone, I've been MIA for a while owing to life getting a little bit hectic, but I'm back and ready to share my haul for the month of January.

First up is my news. I've recently got a paid job, as opposed to my current unpaid work as a full time mum, of  5 hours a week as the school librarian in my daughters' school. It takes me back to what I was doing before I became a Mum and has been good fun. Extra cash, but sadly less time for crafting as I adjust to it all.

Of course working in a school comes with hazards. The germ ridden little darlings then gave me tonsillitis which is a horrific and unimaginably painful disease for which I've been on antibiotics for the past week. I can't wait to see what else I get - been a while since I had the mumps..... 

So that's my life lately, of course it hasn't stopped me buying stuff, so onto my latest haul. You can watch it below or on my YouTube channel, where I'd love it if you stopped by and subscribed.

I've ordered from the following shops I've used before (please note, I don't have any affiliation with these shops), Amazon, Seven Hills Crafts, Clearly Besotted and Samuel Taylors, but I've also got some digital stamps from a newish company run by Patricia Alvarez. It's called Kinda Cute by Patricia and I love her little images,and they are very reasonably priced and don't take up much storage space.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

My first Gelli Prints - VIDEO

How is everyone today? I'm trying to keep up with my New Year's resolution to have a haul video on the 1st and a crafting video on 10th. So far so good, eh?

I've been wanting to try gelli printing for a while now after watching Kim Dellow's mixed media videos. My November - December 2017 Haul shows the gelli plate I bought along with the acrylic paints. The latter give lots of colour for not much cost.

I had a lot of fun, and plan on playing more after watching some more videos. I find the acrylic paint dries very quickly and I didn't fully get to grips with how to manage that.

I ended up using the blue background to make a picture for my Dad for his Christmas. I simply framed it with an IKEA Ribba box frame I had. Apologies for the terrible photo, but I forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it and so this is it in situ on his wall and I only had my phone with me to take a picture!

Do let me know what you think. Ever dabbled in mixed media or gelli printing? Happy Crafting!!

Craft Haul - November, December 2017 - VIDEO

A very Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a good Christmas and that Santa was very good to you all.

I'm back for my first video of 2018. I'm aiming to be much more consistent with my videos and do a haul and a crafty video once a month. Nothing like starting the new year with good intentions!

This haul is things I purchased at the end of November and in December. I actually won some of the goodies I'm showing from Dies to Die For in their Christmas giveaway - not bad at all!

Here's to a supremely crafty 2018!

5 cards, 1 stamp set - Uniko - VIDEO

Hi Everyone. So in my last post, I was a bit smug and said I felt like I was on top of things - not any more. I'm moving into panic mode now as I try to work out if I have enough Christmas cards. The answer was no, so I got out the fabulous Block Party Christmas stamp set from Uniko and had a good play for well over an hour.

The result is 5 cards from 1 set - and you could easily do lots of multiples with this set - and a video showing all the different types. 

I always say that if I get 5 cards out of one stamp set it's been well used (I'm working through my NBUS, I promise!), so this has been well used indeed.

1. Copic Colouring

2. One colour stamping

3. Emboss resist
 

4. Stencil Overlay (Distress Oxides)

5. Paper Piecing
 

Hoping you are all getting on well with Christmas prep - I have ordered the chicken from the butchers, so we are good to go there.

I'm linking this up to the Uniko challenge for this month, #44, which is Christmas.

Also Pixie's Snippets Playground weeks 311 and 312 as I used a lot of scrap white card (salvaged from cards that didn't make it) and patterned paper scraps. 

Happy crafting everyone!

Craft Haul - September, October, November - VIDEO

Hi Everyone! Despite my craft room being in a bit of a mess for much of September and October, I have still managed to buy a few bits and pieces here and there, so I have a haul video to share with you today. I've ordered some online at Seven Hills Crafts, but I also had some purchases from my September Copic class with Dies to Die For Pop Up shop, a trip to Stamp Magic in Doncaster with the lovely Natalie, and popping into my local Hobbycraft.

Thank you to all of my lovely YouTube subscribers, as I'm almost at 200! I know there are lots of people out there with a load more, but 200 is quite a milestone and I just want you to know you are all very much appreciated for popping by and watching and leaving me such nice comments.

Happy Crafting Everyone - I'm off to make more Christmas cards :) 

Sewing Fat Quarter Bags for Copic Markers - VIDEO

Why Hello! Yes, you have come to the right blog, it is me, Ruth, but I'm here with a non card making project and video. I'm showing you how I make my little zipper bags that I use to transport my Copic markers around when I go off travelling. 

I filmed this a few weeks ago and thought it would be nice to share as I'm off to Edinburgh on 26th so I can get to the Daily Marker Coloring Challenge Road Trip with Kathy Racoosin and Debby Hughes on the Sunday. Big thank you for my husband for doing his duty at bath time over the weekend :) To say I'm excited is an understatement!!

I make these bags based on a You Tube tutorial I saw by Made Everyday and I thought I'd share with you how I do it, in case you feel inspired to make your own. With a little bit of practice for the zip and if you go slow and steady with your sewing, you can make these quite easily.

This is what I use to make them:

• Quilter's Ruler
• Rotary Cutter
• Cutting Mat
• 2 fat quarters
• 3 zips the length of your finished bag. I use 8,7 and 6 inch zips (the whole zip will be about an inch longer)
• Quilter's clips/pins - I use a combination of both
• Fusible fleece 
• Thread - I generally just use white, but you can use a matching colour
• Iron and ironing board
• Sewing machine
• Zipper foot

The video shows the process, as you can make these any size you like, but I can make 3 bags from two fat quarters. My finished bags measure 8x6, 7x5 and 6x4 inches.

Fold each fat quarter in half length ways right sides together and iron them before cutting. With the fold to the bottom of the cutting mat, place it just slightly overhanging the bottom. You will trim it to separate the pieces later. Then cut out your pieces as mentioned below. If you cut it this way you will get the number of pieces you need.

This close up shows how you measure 9 inches up the side and then cut along 7 inches.

• An 8x6 bag will need two outer pieces measuring 9x7; two lining pieces measuring 9x7 and two 8x6 pieces of fusible fleece. You will need an 8 inch zip.

• A 7x5 bag will need two outer pieces measuring 8x6; two lining pieces measuring 8x6 and two pieces of fusible fleece measuring 7x5. You will need a 7 inch zip.

• A 6x4 bag will need two outer pieces measuring 7x5;two lining pieces measuring 7x5 and two pieces of fusible fleece measuring 6x4. You will need a 6 inch zip.

Here's the video which shows how you make them up - you'll see more clearly the sizes I've mentioned above.

I have been sending these out as presents to friends, but some friends have suggested selling them, so I may one day. 

Happy crafting! I will update my blog with details of the coloring challenge road trip when I return at the start of next week.

Dream Big - Clearly Besotted Stamps and Polychromos Pencils - VIDEO

Hello again Everyone. I'm enjoying making videos at the moment, so I have another card from the last Clearly Besotted release (not long now until the new one!) that I've coloured with Polychromos Pencils. I got these for Christmas 18 months ago and I need to get them out of their case more often!

I started by cutting a piece of white card to A2 (US) size and then die cutting it with a stitched rectangle and then with the MFT stitched Peekaboo frame die.

With an A2 white card base and my Precision Press, I stamped the pianist and the curtains in Memento Tuxedo Black. Even though I'm not Copic colouring, it's a nice black ink that dries quickly.

I then proceeded to colour with my pencils, and you can watch it all in the video below or over on my YouTube channel.

I stamped the sentiment on the front with VersaFine Onyx Black ink and then popped it on the card base with foam tape - as you can tell from the video, that didn't quite go to plan, but I'm still pleased with how it all turned out.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me today, and I hope to see you all again soon!

Ink Dusters Vs Ink Blenders - VIDEO

So I was playing around with the MFT cloud stencil making backgrounds for some cards (Mr Seagull was one of them) and did a bit of filming of me using both the Ink Dusters and Ink Blending tool that I normally use.


The Ink Dusters are manufactured by a local company called Inkylicious. You get a pack of 3 brushes for £14.99, although I think my craft fair purchase was a little cheaper, and they are double ended so you get 6 brushes. You can read all about the brushes on the Inkylicious web page.

You can watch my video below or in YouTube:

Some pictures of the end result. In the video you see me using just distress ink, but I also used some Altenew inks which I like to blend with too - I find they don't stamp well but they do blend nicely.

1. Altenew Ink on the left, Distress on the right. Ink Duster at the top, Blending pad at the bottom.

 2. You can see in the following two photos how much brighter the blending tool lays down the ink. This is the blending tool. Altenew Ocean Waves on the left and Tumbled Glass on the right.

3. The Ink Duster does lay down a lovely layer of light ink which you can build on. Altenew on left, distress on the right. 

4. I even tried on vellum and the result is the same. Lighter layer for the ink duster and brighter with the blending tool.

5. The cards I made. Each picture has one background with the blending tool and one with the ink duster. While the photos aren't great, you can tell the difference.

I really do like them and find they lay down a nice light layer of ink that you can build up and it often avoids the harsh lines I can get with the blending tool. I may in future invest in some Clarity Brushes as well as I think the pointed tip will come in handy. I won't give up on the blending tools, as I think it depends on the look you are going for as to which tool you use for your project.

Do you have any of the brushes? Clarity or Ink Dusters? Would love to know your thoughts. I'm a big fan of crafting tools! 

Thank you so much for popping by today. Happy Crafting!

Craft Haul - April, May, June 2017 - VIDEO

Hi Everyone! Those of you in the UK, how are you surviving the heat wave? Seriously, it's nearly 9pm here as I type and it feels like it's about 24 degress outside. Musn't grumble as it's lovely to have the sunshine, but an ice bath would be really nice right now....

Anyway, I have a haul video of the purchases I've made over the last three months, including the recent craft fair I went to that some of you may have seen on Instagram.

You can watch the video here or over on my YT channel and if you haven't already, would be lovely if you could subscribe. That way you don't miss any in future :)

Here is a list of my purchases. I have signed up to affiliate links on some products. If you purchase any item after clicking on an affiliate link, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps in a small way to support the running of my blog and is very much appreciated, thank you!

Clearly Besotted Sweet Symphony	Clearly Besotted Poodle Around	Clearly Besotted Into the Woods II	Inkylicious Ink Dusters	Memento Dual Marker Pen	MFT - Dienamics Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frame	MFT - Dienamics Rectangle Peek A Boo Window
MFT - Dienamice Square Peek a Boo Window	MFT - Seaside Seagulls	MFT - Stencil Cloud

LinkDeli.com

Thank you so much for reading and watching, enjoy the rest of the week.