Concentrating on a splash of colour!

 Hi everybody,

Jill here, and this week, I'm playing with an oldie but a goodie....

...adding a nice bright splash of colour to my project using the classic, Mama Elephant's Up and Away.

I started with a piece of watercolour card and lightly stamped out the image I wanted to use into the top corner to set as a marker, and clear heat embossed a scattering of clouds, using Mama Elephant's Unicorns and Rainbows around the same area.  I then used my Zig Real Brush pens to scribble colour across that concentrated background, then went back in with a load of water and washed it all out.  To add a little more interest, I then went back in with some white and shimmer spray, and added a few flick and splashes.

On a separate piece of watercolour card, I stamped out my image again, and coloured using my Zigs (yes, it's a pretty strong addiction I have with them haha), and fussy cut.  I stamped out my sentiment from the same Up and Away set in the white space, and clear heat embossed to give a nice finish.  I then mounted my image back over my background using foam tape.  I was planning on cutting down the overlay to the same size as my panel, but I really loved how it looked hanging over so left if.

I then mounted my piece into the corner of a light grey card blank and there you have it.

I really hope you like it, and always, everything I have used is linked up below so be sure to go have a shop :)

See you next week.

Jillx

Inside Out Secret....shhhh.

 

Hey! How are you?

I have a confession.

I've been keeping a secret from you all. It's one of the best products (and probably the least expensive) in the whole store.

I felt I should come clean and show you.

You're none the wiser?

Yup, You'd be forgiven for passing them by. They are Pop-up Trio creative cuts dies!

and they're £3.50. I wouldn't normally say the price, but really- they're brilliant!

Here's how.

Lay them out on a piece of thin (it needs to be thin so it's easier to bend) cardstock. You can see the red lines; they don't come like that, but I've just followed the central score lines from the die on the reverse using a permanent pen so I can line up the centre with the fold line. Add some washi and then pass through your die cutting machine.

Once cut, this is what they look like.

Then you need to carefully push the fold from the reverse so they stand up like this.

 The great thing about these little dies, is you can cut as many or as few and position them exactly. I have some expensive pop-up dies but they only cut where they're designed to.
Then you simply decorate. I've done it straightforwardly but you could go to town. I've used the cute Unicorns and Rainbows set

Such an easy and effective idea. Once you've finished the inside part, add a 'jacket' of cardstock or paper to hide the folds and decorate the front too! 

There are a reasonable amount in stock - but I wouldn't hang around now the secret is out!

Hope you have a lovely unicorn-y and rainbow-y kinda day!

Keren xx

A krafty bit of watercolour.

Hi everybody,

Jill here, and this week I'm watercolouring on kraft card.

Using Mama Elephant's Unicorns and Rainbows.

It would seem the craft world has gone crackers for unicorns recently, (not that I'm complaining), and there have been many releases featuring them, but these for sure are my favourites.  Just the right mix of cute and quirky.  You also get a load of cool sentiments and tons of cute images with the set to help build your scene up.

Now I'm a megafan of kraft card, and an equally sizable fan of watercolouring, but realised I had never mixed the two!  So decided to try it out.  After trying out a few different options, I ended up going with my Peerless watercolours as they seemed to turn out the most vivid, but was so surprised at how many different mediums worked really well against the darker kraft card.  Distress Inks looks awesome, Derwent Inktense pencils stayed bright, intense, and blended beautifully on there, so definitely get your supplies out and see what you like best. 

I started by stamping out my unicorn and colouring him, like I say, with Peerless watercolours, and fussy cut.  I snipped off his wings, and replaced them with some I'd stamped onto vellum and coloured from the back, using a Sakura Stardust pen, just for a little added interest.  I then die-cut my rainbow from my background panel, using Paper Smooches Rainbow die (fyi - this mega popular die is due back in store any minute now so keep your eyes peeled!), watercolured it accordingly, and in-laid it back in.  I then cut a couple of sets of Paper Smooches Curly Clouds, and built them up over my rainbow, adding my unicorn over the top using foam adhesive to finish of my magical little scene.

I added my sentiment, from the same gorgeous Unicorns and Rainbows set, and clear heat embossed.  I liked the clean simplicity of my card, so embellished with a few sequins, mounted onto a white card blank, and left it there.

I really hope you like my slightly more 'earthy' take on the good ol' majestic unicorn!

As always, everything I have used is linked below.

See you next week.

Jillx

  

Unicorn Merry-go-round!

Hi! Fancy a spin? 

There's something incredibly nostalgic about fairs and I love seeing those ornately beautiful Carousels. That's where I got the inspiration for this card..plus I wanted to combine two fabulous Mama Elephant sets.

and mixing it up with 'New Family'

So I started out with the whole idea of adding the New Family animals on the back of the horses. I needed the unicorns to look more like carousel horses so I masked off the manes as below and used the moon in the set to act as a saddle.

The 'pole' things- were created using the little dashes and star and stamping opposite ways. Once you start with a theme and work out what you actually need to complete the picture, you can find similar shapes if you look hard enough!

It's also a useful example of 'suggestion'. I was trying to work out how to add the top and bottom and make it look realistically like 'flying Jennies' (another name for the Merry Go Round) but once I'd connected the riders and horses and poles, it was enough. The imagery is strong enough to suggest the scene- plus it's less work for me too!!

Hope you're day is a fun one, and you don't feel like you're going round in circles!
See you next week,

Keren xx