At last! Time to make Owl cards!

Well, it's taken me weeks I know, but I have finally got round to taking some step by step photos so I can give you the Owl card instructions that many of you have been asking me for. Sorry it took me so long! This will be a looong post because of all the pictures! Okay, here goes!You will need: Owl stamp from my clear set - Swirly Birds PICS013 (If you want a cute owl, as opposed to a serious one, then try"Fluffy Owl" FH116 which is a wood mounted one.) 3 x shades of Versamagic Inkpads...I used Night Sky, Aegean Blue & Purple Hydrangea, but go with what takes your fancy. You'll also need a black ink pad (I used Archival so I could crack on with colouring my owl) a bottle of Ranger's Distress Re-inker in Black Soot, a circle punch, a piece of sponge and a thin straw! You will also need whatever is your choice of colouring medium in various browns, greys and ochre - I use Marvy Le Plume pens and a waterbrush, and, of course, some cardstock. Okay, first of all, cut a piece of white card a bit smaller than your card blank. Punch a circle from thin card and stick it to the top right of the piece of card using repositionable glue. Make sure it is secure before the next step. Starting with the lightest of your chosen Versamagic colours, pick up a little ink with the sponge and swipe it across the card in a diagonal direction - this gives the impression of a rain swept sky. Turn the sponge around and repeat with the next colour. Finally, repeat with the darkest shade, adding colour until you like the effect. Make sure that you apply ink across the circle to define the shape.Now carefully remove the circle mask..a pricking tool can be helpful for this. Don't worry if you do damage the surface of the card beneath as you can add some Diamond Stickles to disguise it!

Next, drop a blob of the Distress Re-Inker at the bottom of the card - I usually place the card onto a bigger piece of scrap card whilst I do this as it avoids mess and allows me to lift the image for the next step. Here comes the fun part now! Take a straw (the thinner the better) and blow the ink blob up the card. As it goes up the card you can blow sideways to make a twig shoot out an angle. Keep adding blobs to the bottom of the card and then blow them to create more branches. The way the ink "spiders" across the card gives a very natural look which is much more random than drawing them. It does make one feel a bit light headed though! Mat the finished piece onto black card and then onto the card blank.

Stamp the owl twice onto thin white card and colour him with your chosen medium. You only need the wing from the second owl. Cut the images out and decoupage the wing over the first owl. It will give a more natural look if you stick the top of the wing flat to the base image whilst using silicone glue to give height to the tip. Carefully "roll" the owl around your finger to give him a nice shape and squidge a line of silicone down the back of the image before positioning him onto the card. If you want a bit of sparkle, just add a little Stickles to the moon.
Well, I hope you will have a go at the card - let me know how you get on! Lindsay

Up and coming events

Hello everyone - hope you have as much lovely sunshine as we do here today. I remembered to put my clocks forward and was quite happy that I wasn't working away from home today, so have been able to absorb the lost hour quite smoothly. It will be nice to have all that extra light later in the day again now, that's for sure.

I was at Create With Card in Ashton Under Lyne on friday...a very chilly day but they kept me warm with hot chocolate! Then, yesterday, was spent at Top Barn Crafts (above) which is in Plassey craft and retail village near Wrexham. It's a lovely setting as you can see in the picture on the left...the tree in the gardens has been carved into a work of art featuring different animals and birds as well as a naked lady! It's well worth a visit, with various Boutiques, shops and a cafe and restaurant as well as the craft shop of course. Hello to everyone that I met at both shops, and I hope that you had fun with all the techniques using your new pens. Below is a picture of a pendant made from one the kits that I was using yesterday...the metal butterfly has been coloured with Glaze pens to give an enamelled effect. I wanted to add something to the circles at the edegs of the wings and finally decided to use eyelets! They fit perfectly and I just pushed them tightly in with some Glossy Accents to keep them securely in place. It would be nice to add beads or gems, but I had to do something quite quick. It's not the best picture as the glaze is very reflective!I'm adding some new dates once I've done this post, so do check to see if I'll be in your area and come along if you can - we always have fun at my demonstrations!

Next weekend (4th/5th April) is the big demonstration event at both Osaldtwistle Mills and Dawn Bibby's Design Studio and will be well worth a visit. Dawn will be there of course, as will Leonie, Paula Pascual, Sheena Douglass and myself, as well as all of Dawn's creative team. There will be make n takes and demonstrations, lots of new products and more than a bit of fun I'm sure!

In response to your comments - yes, I really will be adding instructions for the owl cards (promise) it is just a case of getting the time to create the design in stages to photograph. I was all set to do it last week and then something else turned up that needed doing "yesterday"...just for a change! Thank you for all the comments that you leave generally - I do appreciate them all.

I was wondering where all "our" little birds had vanished to, as we seem to have had hardly any at our feeders lately. The pigeons have been as cheeky as ever of course! Our squirrels seemed to have deserted us too...was it something I said?! Thankfully, they must have read my mind as I can report that they are back with a vengeance and we have gained a Robin now too which is great...we found our last Robin dead over a year ago and think that he may have crashed into the window. One of our squirrels was back this morning which cheered me up, as I do love the way that they stand up on their back legs and look up at the window as if to say "come on, get the monkey nuts out!" - cute! He was burying them all this morning, so I hope that he remembers where they are before one of the ever observant Magpies starts digging them all up!

Well, that's my demonstration and wildlife report done for today! Don't forget to bring ATC's to swap if you are coming along next weekend and I will endeavour to post the owl instructions this week if humanly possible! Happy Sunday, Lindsay

Do try this...it's fab!

This is a technique that I was showing when I was at The Stamp Hut last saturday. If you have alcohol inks then give it a try as the effect is lovely...the photographs don't do it justice. You may have used white Cast Coated card in this way, but here I used the new Metallic Film from Personal Impressions (check out their website for your nearest stockist) which comes in packs of five A4 sheets. It's a versatile surface as it can be used on ink jet printers for a metallic sheen behind photographs, it can be stamped on with permanent ink and can also be heat embossed...images created in this way look great if they are highlighted with a white pen.

So, to create this lovely abstract effect, you will need a non-stick craft sheet, Ranger alcohol inks in three colours plus one of the Mixatives (I used gold here) and the Alcohol Blending Solution, plus, of course, a piece of the metallic film. I cut mine into a managable size - around 4" (or 10 cms) square(ish). You may wish to wear disposable gloves as it is rather messy, but that's part of the fun!

Okay, take one of the ink colours and squeeze a streak of it onto the craft sheet - around a 2" (or 5 cms) line will do. Now take the second colour and add a streak of that...you can either put this one beside the first, or be daring and go across the first one! Repeat with the final colour. Now take the Mixative and shake it well, with the lid on, before adding a few blobs of the ink in and around the colours streaks. Squirt a small amount of the Blending solution over the colours - the amount is up to you really, but remember that the more you add, the more you will dilute the ink colours and their viscosity.

Now take a piece of the metallic film and drop it, shiny side down, onto the inks. Press lightly (this is where it gets messy when all the ink squidges out!) and, keeping it flat to the craft sheet, twist it clockwise before lifting it up. At this point you will probably go "ooooh!" or "aaaaah" or something similar, but you may want to touch the film back to the surface to pick up some extra colour before it dries. The ink will dry very quickly but you will probably have some colour left on the craft sheet, so you can add another squirt of Blending solution and repeat with another piece of film. The colours will be lighter but just as effective. I have managed to colour three pieces of film using just one application of inks.

Once the film is dry you can use it as a background, for ATC's, stamping onto with an Archival ink pad, or even punching out shapes...butterflies or leaves spring to mind. Have a go anyway and let me know how you get on! Lindsay

Check out a great blog candy...

Hello all and thanks to Horners Corner for mentioning a great Blog Candy over on charmedcrafts.blogspot.com . Do check it out and what you need to do to be in with a chance. If I wasn't in "the business" I'd enter it myself!!! Lindsay

Card instructions and an award!

Just a quick post to say that there are now instructions for my shelf cards on Personal Impressions website and there will be more added soon. Just go to the website (the link is in my website list below left) and click on the "project focus" button to download them.

The award is for "Best Stamps" and was won by Personal Impressions in the Craft Business awards 2008/9! We also won awards for "Best Cardmaker" and "Best Manufacturer", so we are all very pleased (and a bit proud too!!!) Lindsay

Bury St Edmunds & an afternoon out

Hello to all the ladies who came to see me

at the Stamp Hut in Bury St Edmunds on Saturday - it was a very busy and enjoyable day. My journey down there was long but the wonderful scenery along the way made it pass quite quickly. The train passed through wonderful rolling hills in Derbyshire with little lambs frollicking in the energising sunshine. As we neared the latter part of the route, the landscape flattened out to endless fields - a much starker, yet equally dramatic vista. I was not quick enough to capture the wonderful view of Ely Cathedral which was gone before my camera would whirr into action...so frustrating! Not many birds along the way, though I did see rather a lot of Pheasants and loads and loads of Bunnies - very sweet! I arrived in time to have a look around the town and, unlike my last visit in November, it was still daylight so I was able to take in the sights. Here are just a couple of views of the very atmospheric Abbey which held a beautiful park within its' walls. It had centuries of history etched into the walls and doors as you can imagine. I spent the evening writing some articles for a project that I am working on at the moment and had a great night's sleep....too good really, as I could hardly believe how quickly the morning seemed to arrive!

All the ladies who visited the Stamp Hut were so eager to see new ideas and I hope that you are all having fun with your purchases and not getting too light headed when making the trees! I was so busy that I just didn't get chance to take any photos of the day and even missed the chance to snap the new cards I had made. Oh well! Above you can see a Starbuck's mint tin which I decorated using Personal Impressions canvas coloured with Alcohol inks...I loved the leathery effect that this gave. I used Shrink Plastic to create the little medallions and strung them from gold thread which I wrapped around the tin. I used a gold Decocolour pen to add some swirls and a few bronze coloured gems added the fiishing touch.Here is the tin surrounded by the "Moo" cards which I made to fill it with. I don't think that I have made them the correct size for Moos, but they fit my tin so I don't mind! For those who may not have heard of these little cards, they are a standard, smaller sized business card, which, like ATC's, can be swapped or given away to share ideas or your details. I had great fun making this little set and it was very simple to do. I used JEJE double sided adhesive sheet to stick the canvas around the tin as it's a strong, all over adhesive so it gives a smooth finish.

My friend Elaine came to see me at the end of my demonstration, helped me pack everything away into my special Tardis suitcase and then we hot footed it to a restauant for a quick meal and a catch up before my train was due to depart. I don't get to see Elaine very often, so it was a lovely chance to get together, even if it was a bit rushed! The journey home was rather tiring to say the least - train travel in the dark always seems so much longer with no views to speed things along.

I didn't get to mum and dad's for Mother's Day, but my sister took them out for lunch. So, mum had a second treat today as we went over to see them and took a trip to a rebuilt garden centre which had been beautifully designed and was a feast for the eyes with unusual displays, well thought out decor and gorgeous flowers. There was a customer survey to vote for your favourite three from a selection (over a hundred) of brand new Violas and Pansies. They are among my favourite garden flowers and there were some exquisite little blooms of countless colours..very hard to choose!
Here are mum and dad by two Pansies, though I hasten to add that these were artificial ones and were not a new Triffid variety, though, judging by mum's face she's not too sure! Carrying on the oversized theme, we found this rather unusual planter. Dad thought he'd better check if there was a cuppa in there though! It was a lovely afternoon and a nice change for all of us! Well that is all for the moment. I thought that I'd better write a longer post as I have been away from here for a few days. I'll be adding new cards and some new Blog Candy soon, so keep an eye open for that. I'll be in Ashton Under Lyne on Friday and Wrexham on Saturday, so pop in and see me if you are around - details in my diary on the left of course. Take care folks! Lindsay

Stampers Gallery

It was a lovely Spring day up here in the north west yesterday and also a lovely day at Stampers Gallery. Sue and Phil had organised everything perfectly as always, so I was busy for the whole day, which is how I like it! Stampers Gallery won one of the best retailer craft awards, so were feeling (quite rightly!) very proud of their achievement.
Here are some of the many ladies who spent time with me as I inked and stamped my way through the day. My only gripe was that nobody brought any ATC's to swap with me! Here is a card that I made yesterday using one of the stamps from the "Swirly Bird" set (PICS013). I drew the swirly background using Sakura silver and gold shadow pens and added some adhesive gems...I am using these a lot at the moment! I stamped the bird with two colours of Distress Ink and then waterbrushed the colour across the image before cutting out. The image was matted onto a card and I added some more swirls. A simple card - and not a very good photo...my camera seemed to be objecting to the amount of light yesterday for some reason.

This card uses the butterfly and tiny flower from the "Count My Blessings" stamp set. The butterfly was coloured using several shades of Versamagic Dewdrop ink pads (I adore these pads - so many colours and the ink is so versatile) then stamped and cut out. I used Marvy Le Plume pens to apply colour directly to the flower stamp to give a shaded effect, then used the fine point of the green pen to add the stems. I added the text using one of the stamps from the Messages set 1 (PICS010) again using a Versamagic Dewdrop ink pad.

The last card that I photographed uses the same little flower stamp and another from the Messages set. I really had fun making the panel for this one, using several shades of Distress Ink pads (Fired Brick, Old Paper and Walnut Stain) which were applied to a piece of cream card using the foam blending tool. I then flicked a little water across the inked card and, after about ten seconds, dabbed away the water with a tissue. The inks react with the water, which "bleaches" some of the colour out...great technique and one of the many fabby things about these inks. I used the pens to stamp the flowers in the same way as the previous card and stamped the text with the Walnut Stain ink pad. I popped it straight onto a DL card blank...it didn't need a mat around it because of the Walnut Stain edging... and then added three more flowers to the bottom of the card using paler versions of the colours in the main image. Oh yes, I also added a touch of sparkle to the main flowers using a clear Stardust gel pen. This is a very simple card, but it just worked because of the way that the colours compliment each other. Hope you like them anyway!

As promised, I will be adding step by steps for creating the Owl/tree cards, but please bear with me as I'm working on quite a few projects at the moment. And thank you to Sue and Phil who gave me a lovely bunch of flowers before I left the shop, which was much appreciated.

Well, that's all for the moment folks. Enjoy the rest of the weekend! Lindsay