Sugar Nellie - Daisy

Hiya :)

Here's a little card that's taken me aaages to make, but still i'm not too sure whether i like it! For some strange reason, i'm having trouble actually putting the cards together at the moment. I've got a pile of images all coloured and paired up with pretty papers and flowers etc, but I just can't make them into a card that i like! Wierd isn't it!?

Anyways... i'll shut up now :P

I've used the adorable 'Daisy' from Sugar Nellie, coloured with distress inks. 7 gypsies papers, Wild Orchid and Prima flowers, a Tim Holtz die, X-cut border punch and some other buts and bobs. Everything is inked with Vintage Photo distress ink, hand stitched, and glittered with 'Star Dust' stickles.

The little tag is left blank so that i can add an age/name/sentiment later :)

I'm not too pleased with my colouring on this card, but i'll be nice and tell you the colours anyway :)

Hair - Vintage Photo, Black Soot

Skin - Tattered Rose, Antique Linen

T-shirt - Victorian Velvet, Walnut Stain

Trousers - Weathered Wood, Black Soot

Grass - Peeled Paint

Flowers - Wild Honey, Victorian Velvet

Belt - Dusty Concord

I'm entering this in:

Bunny Zoes's Crafts - spring... flowers everywhere
Crazy 4 Challenges - use dies
Creative Inspirations - distress

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs, Rachel xx

Tilda picking cherries

Hello everyone :)

Just a quick post tonight as i need to get some revision done before my geography exam tomorrow!

Todays card is using one of my new stamps, which i *think* is called Tilda Picking Cherries. I used Tim Holtz papers, Wild Orchid Crafts flowers, and ribbon from The Ribbon Girl.

Everything is edged with Vintage Photo distress ink, and stitched with my sewing machine - not by hand! That's right!... all that time i was doing my sewing by hand, and we actually have a sewing machine! lol

I've coloured Tilda slightly different this time. I'm not quite sure whether i like her darker skin or not, but i'm experimenting! :)

Colours:

Skin - Vintage Photo, Antique Linen, Tattered Rose

Hair - Vintage Photo, Black Soot

Dress - Victorian Velvet, Walnut Stain

Socks - Weathered Wood

Shoes - Vintage Photo, Black Soot

Shadow - Weathered Wood, Black Soot

I'm entering this in Stamp Something - anything goes and 7 Kids - challenge yourself (colouring)

Thanks for looking

Rachel xx

Special Birthday Tilda

Hey bloggers!

I'm sorry about the long wait for a post. I've been uber busy with school work and exams this past week so it's been reeeaally nice to have a little play at my messy desk this weekend :) Here's what i've come up with....

At first, my plans were to make a card with a little box inside, but i changed my mind at the last minute and put a pocket in instead.

The front is following the sketch from Simon Says Stamp, and i used Prima papers, a Tilda coloured with distress inks, some pearls and ribbon and lace from the ribbon girl (my prize from Just magnolia last week!) It is hand stitched, inked with Vintage Photo distress ink and distressed with scissors.

It is quite similar the my last card but i really {love} these papers and the image!

My photos are rubbish again today i'm afraid. I'm really struggling in this horrible weather to find any decent light!

Distress inks used:

Skin - Antique Linen & Tattered Rose

Hair - Vintage Photo & Black Soot

Top, present, socks and bow - Weathered Wood & Black Soot

Trousers - Vintage Photo & Black Soot

The heart is cut from chipboard and then covered in the Prima paper, inked and crackle painted.

Here is some natural twine which i bought the other day, tied into a bow, with a butterfly charm :)

The back...

For the inside, i made a little pocket for a gift card/money etc, and then on the right panel is a blank bit to write a little message on.

I'm also entering this in:

Just Magnolia - favourite things

Really Reasonable Ribbon - heart

Stamp Something - anything goes

Thanks for looking

Rachel xx

Pressie Time!!!

Hiya!

Here's a card made using a gorgeous new stamp which i won in Maria's candy a few weeks back :)

I coloured the image with distress inks, and glittered with star dust stickles. The paper is from Prima's 'Jack and Jill' collection, and is hand stitched and lightly distressed with stickles. Then i just added a combination of different flowers, a sentiment tag, a charm and some pearls.

Tilda is coloured with distress inks:

Skin - Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Vintage Photo

Hair and trousers - Vintage Photo, black soot

Top, socks, present, headband - Weathered Wood, Black Soot I'm entering this in Papertake Weekly - anything goes, Stamp something - something wth glitter, Magnolia Down Under - a gift for you
Thanks for stopping by

Rachel xx

Colouring with Distress Inks - Tips and Techniques

Hello lovely bloggers :)

There are a few people who have asked me how to colour with distress inks lately, so i'm hoping this might help.

I am not doing a full tutorial, as I don't think my colouring is anywhere near good enough to be telling people how to do it, but i have put together a few of my top tips and techiques which should help you, and i will put some links to a few tutorials by other people at the bottom of this post.

My post is mainly aimed at beginner distress inkers, but there might be a bit of something for everyone so have a quick look :D

You can either use the inkpads or the re-inkers for colouring. If you use the re-inkers, just put a few drops onto an acrylic block or pallete, and for inkpads, tap the pad onto an acrylic block to get the colour. Do not put your damp paintbrush straight onto the inkpad, as it will dilute it and ruin your pad.

I don't have the full set of distress inks. Infact, at the moment i only have 11 out of the 30+ (and before christmas i only had 7), but as long as you choose them carefully, you should be able to colour most things in the way you want.

My 8 top tips and techniques

1) You NEED to use a good quality, heavyish weight watercolour paper. When i first started colouring with my inks, i made the mistake of using a cheap watercolour paper, and as soon as you put water onto the image, the paper just tares up and makes a right mess. I can reccomend 'The Langton - Etrra Smooth (Hot Pressed), or a quality paper that is at least 250 gsm and smooth (preferably hot pressed (hp) should be ok.

2) If you can't afford the whole set of inks, or don't want to buy them all, buy just one of every colour group(one blue, one brown etc), as you can mix them or water them down to make them look very different. Before christmas, i only had one blue - Broken China, which is quite bright, so i coloured my image with Broken China, and then coloured over the top with Antique Linen to mute it slightly to match my papers.2) For skin colours, i reccomend Antique Linen, and Tattered Rose, and i used Victorian Velvet for cheeks. For a darker skin tone, Vintage Photo in the shadow areas looks quite good.

3) Make sure you stamp your image using a waterproof ink. I use Archival by Ranger in Tuxedo Black.

4) Only put a tiny bit of ink on your brush. You can always add more, but it's harder to remove extra ink.

5) Don't put too much water on your brush. I dip my brush in water, and then dab it on a tissue to remove an excess. Again, it is easier to put more on.

6) Start with the darker/shadow areas of your image, and work your way into the lighter bits. Keep cleaning your brush in the water and use small brush strokes or a circular motion to blend.

7) If you make a mistake or go outside the lines. Quickly blend the colour with a damp, clean brush to remove some ink, and keep doing this until it is gone/almost gone.

8) Always have a tissue on hand to dab your brush on or to remove water if you put too much on your image.

This was going to be a '10 top tips' thing, but i couldn't think of any more lol

Practice Makes Perfect! -I hate this saying, but with distress inks, it really does help.

If you are looking for a full, photo tutorial, please visit the lovely Hanna :)

Thanks for looking

Rachel xx

The Gorgeous Tilda... again!

Hiya

Here's a card using some gorgeous new papers i bought yesterday at Samual Taylors. I haven't been for ages, and i used to practically live there!, so it was really nice to go again and have a browse in the sales :)

The image is 'Tilda With Peony' and is coloured with distress inks. The papers are from the 'Kioshi' collection by Basic Grey. I {love} them! All of the stitching is done by hand, and then i just added a ribbon, charm and some pearls to keep it nice and simple.

I coloured Tilda with my distress inks:

Skin - Antique Linen, Tattered Rose & Victorian Velvet

Hair - Vintage Photo & Black Soot

Dress - Weathered Wood & Black Soot

Socks - Weathered Wood

Shoes - Vintage Photo & Black Soot

Flower - Victorian Velvet

Leaves - Peeled Paint

I'm entering this into:

Just Magnolia and hAnglar & sTanglar - anything goes

Creative Inspirations - something new
7 Kids College Fund - anything goes

Sketch and Stash - sketch

Thanks for looking

Hugs, Rachel xx

Just for you!

Hey :)

Here's a little card i've been making the past few days. I've not really had much crafty time lately, so just been grabbing 5 mins at every chance i get!

I used another cute Tilda stamp which mum got me for christmas. I can't remember the name of it right now, but isn't she just sooooo sweet!?

The papers are papermania, and i sanded the edges and stitched around them by hand. The cheery blossom flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and i made the rosette from red ribbon. I just added a few bits and bobs from my stash, and there you go!

I'm not too sure whether i like this card or not. I love the colours, but its all a bit higgledy-piggledy. Ah well :)

I coloured Tilda with distress inks -

Skin - Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Vintage Photo & Victorian Velvet

Hair - Vintage Photo & Black Soot

Dress, Hat and Shoes - Vintage Photo & Black Soot

Socks - Walnut Stain

I'm entering this in the Just Magnolia challenge, which is Anything Goes!

Thanks for looking, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hugs, Rachel xx

Pretty in pink

Hey!

Did you all have a nice christmas?

We had a really nice chritsmas morning at home and then went to my grandma and grandad's for dinner and stopped over for a couple of days so it's been really lovely.

Oh, and i never managed to finish all of the stuff i was making! My sister got one armwarmer wrapped up with and i.o.u. note for the other haha!

Soooo, here is a card which i started last week, and finished last night. It was going to be my sister's christmas card, but i didn't have time to finish it so she didn't get one in the end lol.

I used 'Sweet Tilda' and coloured her with distress inks. The papers are Tim Holtz, all edged with Walnut Stain distress ink and gold glitter glue and hand stitched. I didn't want to go too overboard, so just added some pearls and felt ribbon which i stitched on to make it ripply. Tilda is coloured with distress inks:

Hair - Walnut Stain

Skin - Antique Linen, Tattered Rose & Walnut Stain

Dress, socks and ribbons - Victorian Velvet

Shoes - Walnut Stain

I'm entering this in:

Just Magnolia - sketch

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - sparkle and shine

Thanks for looking

Rachel xx

Christmas cake anyone???

Hey hey!

Well, i've just finished decorating the christmas cake, so i thought i'd come here and wish you all

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

and i hope everyone has a lovely day.

I've still got 2 cards to make and a pair of arm-warmers to knit before tomorow so i'd better get on with it!

We are staying with my grandma and grandad for a couple of days, so i'll show you everything i've made when we get back :D

Big christmas hugs to you all!

Rachel xx

A little pink stocking...

Hiya :)

Eeeek! I can't actually believe it's less than a week 'til cristmas! How quick has this year gone? It's mad!

Anyways... here is a stocking tag, i've made to go with the scarf i've knitted mum as a present. I say it's a tag, but it's a bit big so i'm not sure if it'll get used as a tag yet.

I used tim holtz papers, made into a patchwork type background, then i added some bits of broken jewellry, a tag, a bow and some holly leaves cut from felt. The edges are inked with distress inks and distressed with scissors, and all of the stitching is done by hand again. It is finished with a few gems and stickles around the edges.I'm entering this in:

Totally Gorjuss - for someone special

Creative Inspirations - anything goes christmas
Allsorts - anything goes

PaperPlay - anything but a card

Stamp Something - something with a tag or pocket

Right... i'm off to ice the christmas cake now :)
Thanks for looking

Rachel xx