Sending you roses....

Hi folks... A little take on last week’s Creative Expressions Design Team project for this week’s post!! Still using the Damask Stencil, but this time with Texture Paste..

You'll hopefully have noticed the addition of some Roses? Which, you may be interested to know were also made from Texture Paste?!!
So, if you fancy giving it a go, here's a step by step to help you on your way!!

As I generally do these days when using Masks, I started off the project by embossing the image..

Place the Mask back over the area which has been embossed

and apply your Texture Paste (Decadent Denim)

Remove the Mask and put to one side to dry, this could be anything up to an hour depending on how heavy handed you have been with the Texture Paste.

Once dry, matt and layered with some complimentary card stock.
If like me you sometimes struggle to find the right colour of embellishment to go with your project then I guess the best thing you could try and use is the same product, but in a different way?!
This is how the Roses came into being...
Now, I grant you, Texture Paste is a gloopy "liquid", but not when it's dry!!

Spread some of the Paste onto a non stick mat and allow it to dry overnight...

Once dry, it will simply peel off of the non stick sheet, this is the back

once turned over you have a nice smooth surface to play with.

I know this material will die cut quite well but I decided to make my Roses free hand, so I cut a "rough" spiral circle

and "Quilled" it into a flower.

Applying a few to my project

before attaching my sentiment which was stamped in Perfect Medium and "dusted" with Decadent Denim Mica Powder to tie the project together.

finishing off the centre of the flowers with some Decadent Denim Twinkles...
I must admit I'm quite in awe as to how the Texture Paste has developed into a secondary material which can be used in a different way than it may have been intended.

I've got a couple of other colours and mixtures on the go at the moment.
Looking forward to seeing how they pan out!!!
Thanks for checking us out, see you soon.
Andy...

Ingredients Used:
Creative Expressions Damask Mask
Decadent Denim Texture Paste
Decadent Denim Mica Powder
Decadent Denim Twinkles
Perfect Medium
CEC712 Scribble Rose Elements

Hearts & Diamonds....

Hi folks.. I hope you all had an enjoyable Bank Holiday Weekend? Me, I found some time to get some more samples prepared for Saturday's embossing demo her at Pinnacles.....

The title of this post really is just a reflection of the images on this project..
Obviously, we have a whacking great big Heart in the middle AND around the edges (just in case you were wondering how the frame was achieved)...

The Diamonds, right in the centre of the Heart...

I've got a Diamond Wedding Anniversary (or is it Golden?) coming up, either way I think this card should be fit for purpose....
More samples coming along later this week..
Thanks for checking us out.
See you soon
Andy.

Marianne Designs Creatables Die - LR0299 Filigraan Heart
Dutch Doobadoo Mask - Diamonds
Sue Wilson Large Embossing Folder - EF-017 Quilted Flower

Believing the Magic....

... Hi folks... I suspect that, like many of us at this time of year, we revert back to our inner child just a little bit, although I know for some that inner child stays with them all year round!!!!
Every family has their Christmas traditions, and our family is no different.. Yes, we still all have Advent Calendar’s each year, the Tree goes up as early as possible!! And we all have a Christmas stocking.

Which is what makes this card a little bit special.. It brings back memories..
Hope it does for you too and that you still believe in the Magic!!?
Have a great day and thanks for checking us out.
See you soon.
Andy.

I somehow seem to...

...have made Steampunk "perdy", totally unintentional as I'm use to throwing lots of Ink and grunge at a project like this! But, it chose its own direction and I'm pretty happy with the results, even if it wasn't where I thought I'd be going with it!!

I've known that Cheery Lynn were releasing a selection of new dies to their Steampunk range for a while now, it was just a case of being patient until they arrived!!

I've used the smaller heart from the Hearts n Gears Die Set B378, cut out on a thin Gold Metal and sanded back to reveal the Silver core.

For the background, I embossed a "Special Touch" Mask (Mechanical) through the Big Shot Machine, adding a light coat of Rich Cocoa Memento Ink to highlight the embossing.

The Branches, for the Baubles to hang from, were cut form one of the new Spellbinders D-Lite Dies (S2-048 Sprigs).

The sentiment was a "Freebie" (gotta love a freebie) from Issue 60 of Creative Cardmaking Magazine, stamped in Rich Cocoa Memento Ink and Die cut with Spellbinders Cogs Die (S4-386).

Right, off to play with some of the other Steampunk Dies in the set, hopefully, this time I'll be able to "Butch" them up a bit more!!
Thanks for checking us out. See you soon.
Andy.

Embossing with a difference...

Hey Blogland.. September already eh!! Soon be Christmas..
Today, I wanted to share with you a project I made as a sample for this weeks lesson here at Pinnacles..
This week we have been playing around with Embossing.. Now, not the traditional embossing i.e with Embossing Folders. You must know me by now? and that I like to try and get a little more out of a product other than it's intended use..So here we go with a project using a Mask... These have become so popular recently due to the increased use of Mists and Inks. But is that all you can use them for?! Me thinks not!!
Here's a "how to" guide if you fancy giving this project or something similar a go..
There are several different ways to emboss a Mask, and this is what works for me using the Cuttlebug.. If you have a Big Shot, Vagabond or Grand Calibur machine then have a play with your plates to get the right combination and see what you come up with..So, I placed the Mask directly onto my Cuttlebug A Plate,followed by my 290gsm card stock,my No Shims Mat,2 x 225gsm card stock to bulk out the "sandwich",finishing off with my Cuttlebug C plate and passed the whole thing through the machine.Mmmmmm, to be honest, not much to be seen here I grant you!But, with the addition of a little bit of London Fog Memento Ink...and a bit of matt and layering.. Viola!!My intention was to make this project into an Easel card.As every Easel has to have a stand I decided to play with one of our new EK Success Deep Edger Punches... So, I took the Flower Burst Punch and a 2.5" wide strip of card stock. Normally if I was just punching a border I would start roughly in the middle of the strip of card and punch away.. But this punch looked like it had potential to do something much more interesting so I had to line it up at a specific point.. You'll see why in a mo..I chose to line up the end of my card stock with the centre of the pattern on the punch and punch a full border along the card stock..Nice eh!!?But, if you turn your card stock over and line up the end of the card stock against the same guide you used previously and punch a border,you get this!! Now, that's getting good use from a punch don't you think!?This Flower Burst border was added to my prepared Easel Card as it's stopper.To add a little bit more interest to the Flowers, and the card in general I punched out a few Butterflies using the Martha Stewart Large Monarch Butterfly Punch.Adding them on top of the Flowersand to the Embossed image which had now been added to the card.And there you go. Quite a soft and subtle project but very effective and a great way to use this Mask in a very different way than it's intended use..So good in fact that I made another one in a different colour...
So, why not give it a go?...
And don't forget, it's our 8th Birthday Celebrations on Saturday (03/09/11).. A Free Demo with the very talented Lynn Gilbert from Creative Expressions, a 40% sale on all 12" x 12" single sheet papers, 12" x 12", 8" x 8", 6" x 6", A4 and A5 backing paper stacks and all Scrapbooking Albums.. Remember, Pinnacle Crafts Club Members can add their standard Discount onto these items making them Half Price.. Not only that!! Enter our Birthday draw with any purchase on the day and you could be one of the FIVE lucky winners drawn at random who can win one of the new release Spellbinder dies of their choice... Wowzers!! Sorry, new word I've picked up!
Thanks for checking us out, and see you soon.
Andy.