More Punching

If only this sort of punching was more physical I would be able to satisfy my need for exercise as well as the need to do craft in one go.

The demo book is coming along nicely and I have even managed to come up with a few of my own designs rather than just copy others I have seen on the web.


The pictures below are my own design. Granted that the owl is a hybrid of the one above.


I just love my my rubber ducky idea. He is sooo cute.

This one shows how a small variation in the design can make a big difference to the animal that comes out. If you make the dogs ears stand upright he looks like a donkey. I even found by mistake how to make the nose and the eyes.

I don't think this book will ever really be finished. It may slow down for a while but never finish. Hope you enjoy looking at them and if you make one I would love to know and even see what you did with it.

Sample Book

Running a bit late tonight getting this scanned and loaded but thankfully the images are self explanatory. One day when I have more time I will actually start putting step by step instructions on here.

Appart from the last one, all of these were done this weekend. It was nice to sit back and create while listening to the rain falling (a rarity in these parts). Hope we get some more this week.

Experimental

I have been plucking up the courage to try and be a little more artistic and learn how to use the brayer to add colour to my card. Yesterday my friend came over and we decided to try it together. Below are my examples:

I used the glossy white hoping that the colour would "move" around better. For my first attempt using the brayer I am happy with how this one worked out. I was hoping it would be a little brighter but accidentally got a little brown on the yellow colour so had to blend it.

My friend has done scenic stamping and brought some of them along for me to try. The only things Stampin Up in this card are the sun, inks and the card. The sun almost turned into a near disaster and the words just refused to stamp cleanly in the middle (non stampin up stamp) but I am very glad with how it turned out.

These next two I followed instructions from a brayer expert. Not sure why but my black ink has decided that it wants to be purple. The tree is supposed to be black. I sponged black around the outside as well and had to use the stazon black and it certainly lives up to its promise of drying quickly and I found it tough going there for a while. This was done on whisper white paper and the sun seemed to disappear so in the second image I used white gloss paper. I also used stazon black for the tree but it looks like it has snow on it. I am still happy with them.

Finally some punchart. Enough of the dogs, here is a cat. No I didn't brayer the background but I did sponge it. I am soooooo happy with how it turned out. I masked off the moon and then added a touch of metalic silver ink to it. Hope you have enjoyed looking as much I have had experimenting.

Woofer Punching

This week has been one of those that seems to drag on and on. The good thing about it all is there seems to be extra time to have some crafty fun. I decided to do some more work on my punchart booklet. Yes I am a dog lover and yes I have started with just dogs. :) Different animals etc are on the cards for later.

Punch Art Dog 1

As you know, last weekend I started having fun again with some punches. I got so inspired I decided to hunt the the internet for more ideas. There is so much out there. One of the ideas I saw was to put them in a little booklet. I have decided to do this as well because it will be a great resource for my classes. As I create it over the next few weeks I will post images of it here. That way you won't have to hunting the web like I did. :)

All stamps and papers used are Stampin Up ones ... of course.

Trial and Error

To say I have been inspired over the last few days is an understatement. All I want to do is get into my studio and play. Working full time is such a bummer when there is craft to be done.

One of the latest things I am teaching myself to do is to mask off areas of the a card and blend inks together by sponging them on. The card below is the only one I have done so far. Not the best but it is ok. I should have stamped onto white card and not old olive, but the old olive was already cut so I got lazy. My computer screen is on full brightness so if the image looks dark to you then you are probably seeing it in it's natural form. I am very happy with how the hills turned out anyway. One guess what I have planned for the weekend.

Punches

Wow two blog posts in two days. This is becoming a habit! LOL

This last weekend gone I had a friend come over for a "play" day. She is so creative and I get so much inspiration from her. Somehow we both ended up doing punchart which is something neither of us have done in a long time. In fact the only real time I have done it was when called upon in a swap.

The card below started as an experiment. I used the Stampin up circle cutter but because the paper underneath was only held on one edge it buckled. You see I was doing what I typically do with a stanley knife and that is push hard. You don't need to do that with the circle cutter. I tried it again on a scrap and did it lightly, moving the blade around several times quickly and I got the perfect circle. If you choose to get this from Stampin Up I strongly recommend you get the glass cutter, this was the blade doesn't dig into a mat.

Back to the experimental card ... I am calling it the backwards card because really I made it backwards. The flowers stamped on the cardstock should have been done first but were done last and so on and so forth. Ok so what do you need to make this card:

• Card Stock: Really Rust; Old Olive
• Haiku Designer Series Paper
• Punches: 5 Petal Punch; Word Window
• Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments; Playful Petals
• Inks: Really Rust, Old Olive
• Old Olive Ribbon
• Clear button and hemp twine

The central flower is made by punching out numerous flowers with the 5 Petal Punch and then cutting down to the centre to create individual petals that I could place anywhere. From there it is just a matter of starting with the outer layer and then gluing each consecutive layer closer to the centre. I have also curved each petal around a pencil to give it more of a 3-D look.

This next card was my design but not necessarily my idea. In the punchart swap that I mentioned there was a card with a coffee cup on it. I just modified it to make some smaller coffee cups as well. To make these you need the following:

PUNCHES

Small Cup

- 1" circle

- small oval

Large Cup

- 1 1/4" circle

- small oval

- large oval

Other

- 1 1/4" square

STAMPS

- Priceless

- Pendant Park

CARD STOCK

- Really Rust

- Kraft

- Naturals Ivy

INK

- Really Rust

- Sahara Sand

Finally my favourite one. It came about because I wanted to create something slightly different with the Big Shot Dies. I folded the cardstock and then placed it on the die so that some of the fold would not get cut. I then decided to have a little more fun with my punches and see what I could come up with. The result was this owl. I think he is kinda cute. You will need:

PUNCHES

- 1 3/8" circle

- 3/4" circle

- 1/2" circle

- Scallop oval for wings

(only available in a recent mini but I am

hoping it comes out in next years

main catalogue)

- Scallop Circle (nose and feet)

- Extra Large 2 Step bird (branch)

- Medium Jewelry tag

DIES

- Scallop Circle

CARD STOCK

- Naturals Ivy

- Really Rust

- Kraft

- Old Olive

- Close to Cocoa

- Black

INKS

-Really Rust

- Close to Coca

- Sahara Sand

- Not Quite Navy

STAMPS

- Owl Together Now

Friends

Believe it or not I have actually managed to find the time over the past few weeks to have some creative fun. It helps that I have now sorted out my studio.

In the main catalogue for 2009-2010 one of the "In Colours" is Baja Breeze. It is my favourite of the In Colours. On this card I have used:

• Paper - Baja Breeze card stock; Baja Breeze textured paper (sorry it was only available in a previous mini); White card stock
• Ink - Baja Breeze; Stazon Watermark
• Stamps - Vintage Vogue; Sanded background
• Baja Breeze Ribbon
• Clear Embossing power

One of the tools I used is the Stamp-a-ma-jig. This is a great tool when you need to layer a stamp in the one spot with different inks. The F in this card was stamped first with Baja Breeze ink and using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to mark its position. I then stamped the F in Stazon Watermark and thanks to the Stamp-a-ma-jig, was able to stamp perfectly over the top of the Baja Breeze. I was then able to sprinkle on the clear embossing powder. The effect is just to make the F stand out more in an almost glossy 3 dimensional way without changing the colour.

The card below was not planned out at all. I just went with the flow and I am quite happy with how it turned out. In this card I used:

• Card Stock: Kraft; Naturals Ivory, Rich Razzelberry
• Ink: Close to Cocoa; Rich Razelberry
• Pens: Old Olive; Pumpkin Pie
• Stamps: Friendly Words (roller); Friends 24-7

The Rich Razzelberry is fast becoming a favourite of mine but is only available in the current Autumn Mini Catalogue.