Tuesday 30 June 2015

PRETTY IN PINK….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved


I always associate the colour pink with the word pretty, so when we decided to make a 'pretty card'  the colour theme was obvious. We also decided that we do not use background papers enough. So what do you get when you put the two together? You get the card in the above photograph….Pretty in Pink!

The card itself is made from smooth white 300gsm card, the background paper is from a Phill Martin Setimentally Yours Designer Paper Pad called Graceful Butterflies & Dragonflies. The paper in the pad is 8x8 inches and is 170gsm premium paper which makes it suitable for lots of different projects. It features 4 designs in 6 different colours and you get two sheets of each, so 48 in total and the pad also coordinates with other products from Phill's Graceful Range.

We used an embossing folder from Creative Expressions called Large Heart Lattice which is a favourite of ours as it gives a beautiful effect, which I put through our Spellbinders Grand Calibur. The paper was stuck to the card using Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue, which I think is a must for any crafter as it is easy to use, adheres really well and is clear when it dries. To give the card a 3D look, you will see a middle panel was also created and stuck to the card using STIX2 Double Sided Foam Tape.

The dies used to create the toppers are both from Wild Rose Studio called 'Peacock Butterfly' and 'Flower Circle', to match the butterflies on the background paper. We used a selection of Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads in various pink shades 'Victorian Velvet', 'Spun Sugar' and 'Picked Raspberry' to colour the die cuts, blending them with a Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool which is perfect for this type of work. 

Using WOW! Ultra High Clear Gloss Embossing Powder we gave the butterfly and the outer edge of the flower circle a 'ceramic' look. The middle of the 'Flower Circle' was then stamped with a sentiment stamp from from Wild Rose Studio using a Tim Holtz Distress Pad in 'Victorian Velvet'.  The 'Butterfly' and 'Flower Circle' were then attached to the card using STIX2 Foam Pads. Finally we added some Mini White Pearl Swirls from Creative Expressions to the body of the butterfly and to create it's antenna.

We hope you have enjoyed tonight's post and it has given you some ideas.
Lyn and Dan



Friday 26 June 2015

Hello PEBEO…...

                                             Picture world © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

The sun is out, the weather is warm and today I had that exciting "Summer Feeling". It is hard to explain and you are probably thinking where is this going but I think it has something to do with the nights being lighter for longer and  me thinking to myself nothing is impossible. So tonight I wanted to post something a bit different to reflect my bright mood. So the project in the photograph above is what tonight is all about….BRIGHTS!

Among all things crafty that I love, I am a fan of mixed media. I can't specifically tell you why but I think it is to do with my love of different textures, even when making my cards you will have seen that textures are important to me,  whether they be made with an embossing folder or the use of something like Rangers Glossy Accents.

Tonight's project is made using products from a French company called Pebeo, founded in 1919 and still family owned. I always say that at Craft Boutique at 84, it is really important for us to stock products  from companies that we like working with and Pebeo is no exception. They do a huge range of products offering what we think is fantastic quality.

So let me tell you how I made my project. It is done on a piece of square canvas board and the first step was to use Pebeo's Clear GEDEO Resin to create the sun effect in the top left hand corner and the streak effect on the left had side. I then used some of their Studio Acrylics Sand Gel in white to create the beautiful sand texture on the bottom right of the canvas. The resin and sand gel gives you great 3D textures as your base. You will notice in the middle I added a small piece of scrap booking paper as I wanted to see how the other products would work with it. I stuck it to the canvas by using a gloss gel, similar to a Claudine Hellmuth type product, I think a clear PVA glue would also work.

The colour itself is made by using a mix of PEBEO Vitrail, Fantasy Prisme and Moon, all of which can be used to create transparent, honeycomb and marbled effects. To bring the 'sun' out I then used GEDEO Mirror Effect Leaves in gold, which is a foil so you just rub it on to your project. Lastly, and I am not sure you can see them in the photograph but I used gold gilding flakes for sparkle (yes, I know I couldn't resist).

I really hope you have enjoyed tonight's post, it was fun to do. If you do not use a lot of mixed media  and would like to have a go we are going to be running some short workshops in September to give you the opportunity to have a go. It is a really good opportunity to learn about new products and see how they can be used in conjunction with your craft work. I think the gilding flakes is a great example as we use them a lot in our card making at the shop.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and get to do some things crafty.
Dan
x

www.craftboutique84.com


Tuesday 23 June 2015

TRIPLE DECKER….DOUBLE STAMPING….


 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

You know sometimes when you are working on a craft project and you get really excited inside because you have a feeling it is going to look really nice when it is finished? Well that is exactly how we felt when we started doing this card. This is a technique that we have seen before but never used, so really wanted to give it a go and are really happy with the results.

The card itself is made out of black card stock and as you can see in the photograph above there are three layers of a light cream card on top which is a Foundation Card from Creative Expressions, 220gsm and the colour is called 'Milk'. It is a real favourite colour of ours. As you can see the black card has also been used to create the borders for each of the cream layers and I think it frames them really well. All the layers were stuck down using a Crafters Companion Extra Strong Permanent Glue Tape, which is an easy to use double sided adhesive.

Two different stamps were used to create the images on the front of the card, The first one was a leaf style clear stamp from Woodware and was stamped using a Rangers Archival Ink Pad in "Watering Can", which created the soft background. Next using a Rangers Archival Ink Pad in "Jet Black", we stamped the flower stamp and this is what created the bolder look against the soft background. I think that the grey and black ink combined works well against the black and cream card, however you could use other ink pad combinations to create similar effects. 

To get the stamped effect on this card, you temporarily stick all the cream layers of card together and then do the stamping. Once done you then put the black layers of card inbetween. You need to make sure that you line the card up so that the image looks continuous.

To finish off the outside of the card, we used a Rangers Liquid Pearl in "Majestic Purple", which although quite subtle against the bold stamped image of the flowers, the colour compliments the grey and black colouring.


 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

To make this project a bit more special by linking the inside of the card to the outside of the card,  as you can see from the photograph we also stamped the flower in "Jet Black" and added the "thanks" sentiment from PaperArtsy.  Just a little tip, but when using a colour card as the base for your project, you can use a more neutral coloured card on the inside to write your message. I think that the "milk" card works really well in this instance.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project. The triple decker and double stamp technique is a lovely way to work and I have a feeling over the next few weeks you may see some more projects with a similar look.

Happy Crafting!
Dan

P.S - Just a reminder that we have a card making workshop at the shop in Wanstead this weekend on Sunday, so if you would like to join us please call the shop on 0208 530 1244 to book your place.







Sunday 21 June 2015

Card Making Workshop on Sunday the 28th of June



Card Making Workshop - Theme: Die Cutting 
Sunday the 28th of June
12.30pm to 2.30pm
Cost £7.50 per person
(includes all the materials you need and of course tea, coffee and cake!)

Limited Spaces Available

To book your place, please call the shop on 0208 530 1244.



Friday 19 June 2015

All That Glitters….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

There is always something striking about using vibrant, bold colours against a black background, no matter what craft project it is you are working on. I find that they stand out beautifully against the dark background and I think the two examples in the above photograph are no exception. 

Using a VersaMark Watercolour Ink Pad we stamped a Sheena Douglass Poppy Stamp onto both pieces of black card, then used a WOW! Embossing Powder in "Metallic Rich Gold Regular". Once heated with a heat tool it created a great image from the stamp. For the main card standing up in the photograph, we decided to make it a "Just A Note" card using the same technique to create the sentiment. The sentiment is from a clear stamp set from Wild Rose Studio and they are really versatile to use on cards among other projects. Although a very simple card to make I think it looks very effective. 

The piece of card laying down was stamped and heat embossed in exactly the same way, however rather than leaving it plain we wanted to experiment and see what the poppies would look like "coloured in". For this technique we used a Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder in "Perfect Gold", which was mixed with water and applied with a paint brush. The experiment worked, it looked great once it had dried. I think it just shows you how versatile you can be when using your stamps and embossing powders.

One tip when working with stamps and embossing powders, is to use an Anti Static bag and wipe it across the surface before you start. It helps to eliminate smudges and fingerprints on your work.

Happy Crafting this weekend!
Dan
x


Tuesday 16 June 2015

It's All A Bit Space Like….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

With Father's Day being in just a few days we thought it would be a fun way to use some of our new products from WOW! to create a card. As you can see from the photograph, I think the card has turned out to have a space feel to it. 

The card itself is made from 300gsm smooth white card and all the layers have been made out of coloured card called Air Force Blue which I think is a great colour, especially when making cards for men and it works well with so many other colours. I decided to use a simple two colour combination on this project.

The bottom layer was heat embossed using a new background stamp from WOW! called "POP" which was stamped onto the card using a VersaMark Watermark Ink Pad. The WOW! embossing powder colour is called "Metallic Silver Regular". An embossing folder was used to give texture to the second layer and and it was also edged in the silver embossing powder. To stick all the layers of card I used Scotch Double Sided Tape.

For the final layer, I have to be honest and say that I tried to do a few things before I decided to just add a sentiment, everything else just looked a bit too much. So, I am not always keen on my own writing, but I have to say it is amazing what you can do with a VersaMark pen and some silver embossing powder! I think that the simple writing on the top layer works well. 

I also think I could becoming 'addicted' to the great effects you can get with embossing powders! I really like the combination of the embossing powders with an embossing folder as I am a fan of combining textures as it makes all sorts of projects look so interesting.

Happy crafting! We will be back on Friday with another project post, using a stamping technique that is simple but very effective.

Dan
x


Sunday 14 June 2015

The Theme of Tonight….The Beauty of Simple Die Cutting - Project Three

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Tonight is the last of the three projects in this series and I wonder if you can guess who had more influence in designing this card, based on the colour theme. If you follow the blog regularly you will definitely know! 

For the previous two cards we used dies designed by Sweet Dixie and Wild Rose Studio and we used different embossing folders as a contrast. The project in the photograph above is slightly different as it combines dies from both Wild Rose Studio and Sue Wilson at Creative Expressions. I have heard Sue Wilson say that she designs  her dies to work in conjunction with each other. I think that you can combine dies from different designers on your projects, which not only makes your projects more interesting but also means you get the most out of your dies.

The Butterfly dies used are the same as in the previous project, the "Peacock Butterfly" and "Little Butterfly" from Wild Rose Studio. 

The die at the bottom of the card was cut out in both black and white card using the Border die, from Sue Wilson's, Creative Expressions French Collection - Corner, Border & Tag die set. The set contains three dies. The white die cut was stuck over the black card using Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic glue. I hope that you can see from the photograph the shadow effect that this creates. The same technique was used in the top right hand corner of the card, this time using the Corner die from the set. I think both of these dies work really well with the delicate wings of the butterflies. 

Rangers Liquid Pearls in "Platinum Pearl" was used along the body of the butterfly to add some colour. Finally we stamped a sentiment from a stamp set by IndigoBlu called 'B.F.F', using a Rangers Archival "Jet Black" ink pad.

So that was the last of the projects in this series and as promised below are details of our next card making workshop. I hope you have enjoyed all the cards and reading about how they were made.

Happy Crafting,
Dan
x

Card Making Workshop - Theme: Die Cutting 
Sunday the 28th of June
12.30pm to 2.30pm
Cost £7.50 per person
(includes all the materials you need and of course tea, coffee and cake!)

Limited Spaces Available

To book your place, please call the shop on 0208 530 1244.


Saturday 13 June 2015

The Theme of Tonight….The Beauty of Simple Die Cutting - Project Two

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Tonight's project features a variety of Speciality Dies from Wild Rose Studio. To start with we die cut both the "Peacock Butterfly" and "Little Butterfly" in a mix of the white and purple card to create a 3D effect as the main focus on the card. These are two of our favourite dies from Wild Rose Studio and work beautifully individually and together. 

At the bottom we used the "Woodland Border" die, which we cut out in white card and stuck it down with Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic glue. This glue is great to use and is how all the other die cuts were also stuck down. The die that you can see in the photograph that links in between the butterflies and woodland border is a die called "Oval Flower" again in white card, however instead of using the complete die, once it was cut out we cut off part of it to make it look like it was climbing out of the "Woodland Border". 

Rangers Liquid Pearls in "Lavender Lace" was used to bring out the detail of the middle of the flowers and the body of the butterfly. The slightly larger flower just above the sentiment was outlined with the "Lavender Lace"  and we added a Creative Expressions 5mm white pearl in the centre. The sentiment itself is also from a range by Wild Rose Studio, which was stamped with a Versacraft Ink Pad in "Wisteria"

I am hoping that you can see from the photograph that the top layer white card has some texture in it. This was done using and embossing folder called "Linear Leaves", which is new in 2015 from Creative Expressions.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at this project, I think the purple and white work particularly well together as a colour theme.

Back tomorrow for the last project in our series of three and remember we will be posting details on our upcoming card workshop.

Dan
x

Friday 12 June 2015

WOW! SUMMER COLOURS 2015….SNEAK PREVIEW BEFORE THE WEEKEND AS PROMISED

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved


AND HERE THEY ARE…. Summer Colours 2015! Featuring Long Island Teal, Atlantic Seaspray, Daytona Sands, Mulberry Mist and Florida Sunset. The colours are absolutely beautiful and sparkly, which as some of you will know I love a bit of sparkle!

Available from our shop in Wanstead this weekend, they retail at £2.50 each. We are running a special offer in the shop for this weekend only. If you buy all five colours we will give you a WOW! small storage case for free to keep them in.

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Dan
x

(Offer available on Saturday the 13th of June 2015 and Sunday the 14th of June 2015, while stocks last. The offer is only available in the shop in Wanstead which closes at 4pm on Sunday.)

The Theme of Tonight….The Beauty of Simple Die Cutting - Project One


   Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved
Hello,Happy Friday! So as the title says the theme of tonight is the beauty of simple die cutting and including tonight we will be posting details on the individual cards featured in the photograph above over three nights. 

For these projects the cards have been made using a range of dies from Wild Rose Studio, Sweet Dixie and Creative Expressions designed by Sue WilsonTo start this project series off, I wanted to say that each of the cards was made using 300gsm smooth white card and each of the card layers (the coloured card and the white card) was stuck down using Scotch Double Sided tape

I thought tonight I would start with the Fairy card, shown in the photograph below.

   Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

The die used on this card is part of a set from Sweet Dixie called 'Fairy and Butterflies'. As well as the fairy, there are also two butterflies that make up this set although we have not used them here. You can cut, emboss and stencil with these Sweet Dixie Dies, so they are good for working with. 

In order to create some texture we used an embossing folder from Creative Expressions called 'Sparkle Square' on about a third of the top white card and picked out the middle of the alternate squares by using Rangers Liquid Pearls in 'Mint Green'. I know I am biased but up close the Liquid Pearls look really beautiful against the white card.  

A piece of thin white card was stuck down using Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue above the embossed part of the card, mounted on turquoise card creating a two tone look. To finish the card off we added a sentiment using a clear stamp from Wild Rose Studio, stamped in a Versacraft Ink Pad 'Baby Blue' to give some contrast.

Remember to look out for the other cards over the next two nights and on the third night I will be posting details of our next card workshop. Can you guess what the theme will be?

Dan
x

Tuesday 9 June 2015

WOW! Look What We Made….


 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Embossing powders and glitters can be used to create wonderful craft projects and that is what we used to decorate the two canvas blocks in the photographs in this post. You can also use them to make striking backgrounds, create effects on your cards, to make jewellery and embellishments as well as using them in your scrapbooking projects, the list is really endless as the powders and glitters are so versatile.

                                      Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

The two projects above were made with new WOW! Embossing Powders. WOW! is the range we currently stock in the shop and sell online. Not only are their products gorgeous and absolutely lovely to work with, but as retailers WOW! is a great company for us to work with and that is very important to us at Craft Boutique at 84.

We actually used their new Summer Colours for these two projects, using all the colours in conjunction with each other. There are five colours in the collection in total, comprising of a gold, silver, bright pink, vintage look pink and a teal. In order to get the embossing powders to stick to the canvas blocks, tissue paper, little hearts and sentiment banners we used a Versamark Ink Pad which worked really well. We also used it on the stamps to create the images and sentiments and then used a Heat Tool on everything to melt the powder which created the raised finishes.

I hope from the photographs you can see how well the colours work with each other. The canvases are on display in the shop if you want a closer look the next time you pop in. 

The Summer Collection colours we used will be available in the shop and online from this weekend, which is a little ahead of their main release. We will be posting the colours on the blog before the weekend as a sneak preview.

Thank you for reading this post, I really hope you have enjoyed it. We certainly had a fun time making them, there was lots of laughter….

Happy Crafting,
Dan
x x x

Sunday 7 June 2015

A Really Lovely Thank You

  Picture World © Geoff Wilkinson - Card © Lexi-All rights reserved

If you look at our blog regularly you would have seen that we posted a card made by Lexi, who is the granddaughter of one of our customers Janet. Last weekend we had a Demo day at the shop in Wanstead and Lexi came to visit with Janet bringing us this card, which we think is beautiful and definitely deserved to be posted on the blog this weekend. The colours Lexi chose look lovely and the flowers very pretty.


Lexi,
Thank you for our beautiful card.
Nanny also told me that you got a special prize at school last week. We wanted to say a big well done.


We look forward to seeing more of your craft projects,
Lyn and Danielle
x

Friday 5 June 2015

Bespoke Sparkle Anyone?

  Design and photograph World © Lyn Wilkinson - All rights reserved

We have a lovely rep called Tanya from one of our suppliers who we get all things Cosmic Shimmer from, to stock in the shop. When we first started looking at what to stock at Craft Boutique at 84, we knew we had to have Cosmic Shimmer as a brand and Tanya was the person who told us how lovely their Sparkle Texture Paste was to use and also how versatile it can be. 

For 2015, one of the new colours launched that we have on sale at the shop is called 'Polar White'. What makes this colour so versatile is that it has no hint of colour in it like 'Aurora Sparkle' and 'Frosty Dawn', it is just white so is great to mix with paints, ink refills and dry glitter to create your own bespoke colours. Also Sparkle Texture Paste no matter what colour it is, is always beautifully sparkly. 


The Iris in the card above was created using 'Polar White' texture paste, mixed with various PaperArtsy paints, for example the stem and leaves are 'Hey Pesto',  through a stencil. She did this on a piece of smooth white stamping card which she stuck to the scalloped card using Scotch Double Sided Tape.

The dark blue border is light weight card embossed and stuck to the card again using the Scotch Double Sided Tape and the sentiment stamp is from Wild Rose Studio and was stamped using a Versa Craft 'Pale Lilac' ink pad.

If you have never used Cosmic Shimmer's Sparkle Texture Paste in your craft projects, I would definitely say it is worth trying to create great effects.

Have a lovely weekend and happy crafting,

Tuesday 2 June 2015

I Couldn't Leave the Boys Out….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World ©  Danielle Wilkinson -  All Rights Reserved

I told you I wouldn't leave the boys out didn't I? So here I am with my second project using the 'Ornate Pram' Speciality Die from Wild Rose Studio. I used our 'Spellbinders Grand Calibur' to cut the die and again I have to say it did the job beautifully.

I used a smooth white 300gsm card for the base and also for the top layer with the pram die cutout. As I chose a pink and white colour theme for the baby girl card I posted on the blog on Friday, I decided to go for a blue and white colour theme for the baby boy card. As you can see from the photograph I used a blue and white striped card under the top layer and stamped the sentiment on white card also on top of a strip of the same blue and white card. I used 'Scotch Double Sided Tape' to stick all the layers. 

I die cut the 'Ornate Pram' in blue pearlised card along with another new Wild Rose Studio die for 2015 called 'Vivianna Corner', which as you can see I used on one of the top corners. To stick down the pram die cutout I used 'Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue'. To stick down the 'Vivianna Corner' 
I used STIX2 foam pads, adding a 3D look to the project. 

The sentiment itself is made up of two stamps from Wild Rose Studio's 'Vivianna Greetings' clear stamp set, stamped with a Versa Craft 'Midnight' ink pad. I often like to create different layers in my projects to make them more interesting, so again I made this 3D by using the foam pads.

For the final touches this time I used some Creative Expressions 5mm white self adhesive pearls in the corner. In the centre of the wheels on the pram and the top of the 'Vivianna Corner' I added blue diamantes. Sparkly, I love it!

This card took a little longer to make than the baby girl card because as you can see it is bigger and there is more on it, even though the prams are in the same place on both. I just wanted to demonstrate that you can use the same die to create different looks.

Look out for a new project post on Friday night.

Happy Crafting!
Dan

You can find us at:
 'eightyfour' 
84 Nightingale Lane, 
Wanstead, 
London E112EZ 
Tel: 0208 530 1244  
www.craftboutique84.com