The magazine article I just finished this week is for Creative Cardmaking featuring our Retro Vases themeplate. I sent them a selection of cards to choose from, and of course in the process I ended up with lots of stamped stuff in the bits box.
That particular themeplate is packed full of stamps – about 44 I think, but I keep losing count! Anyway, there are lots of solid stamps as well as detail ones and together they mix and match into vast permutations of different designs and patterns.
The background on this card is a much loved technique – direct to paper. I used pigment inks and just squished yellow, lime green and turquoise inks together onto a piece of card, then stamped the solid egg shape with turquoise, and stamped the leaf in green. I think they look like some kind of seed pod.
The dragonfly came out of the bits box – a left over from an open day when we first got Scrap FX chipboard into the shop. I still think their designs are stunningly beautiful – so much so that this dragonfly fell into the ‘too precious to use’ category, so it’s been lounging around in the bits box ever since. Ridiculous really!
The words are from the Curly Birds themeplate and they are stamped over one of our new blush block stamps, coming out very soon.
The craft room is looking remarkably tidy at the moment and I have actually got four A4 bits boxes stacked up on the table, so plenty of fodder for more cards to come. Tonight I started putting something together from the boxes that involved a glimmer misted tag which I stamped over with one of the brocade stamps using an Adirondack Ginger inkpad. I am trying to make stuff from what I have without generating new bits, but as I misted the stamp ready to clean it, I thought it would come out lovely on watercolour paper …
So I tried stamping onto wet watercolour paper
then on dry
then I overstamped the wet-in-wet one with black
and hey presto – yet more things for the bits box!
Glenda, I am so envious of you.
Not just for your obvious talent and the ability to ‘think outside the box’, but for the time you make to play. I’m glad that you do play and that you also make time to post your results on this blog for all of us to see. You have so many ideas and turn ‘bits’ as you call them into works of art. Please keep posting so I can continue to try to copy your techniques for myself!
Thank you for all your ideas and it’s wonderful that you keep them coming as I feel like a sponge soaking them up; I only have one small bits box so I don’t feel half as guilty now and you remind me that some of the loveliest cards have come out of the discard pile.
More great ideas – thanks for sharing and I see you are about to tempt us with more new stamps – I’d never have guessed LOL!!
Val W
I get busy and don’t watch for a coupel of days and suddenly lots of new posts, glad to see the sparks are still flying from your pens!
Love the wet-on-wet technique with the overstamping. And the new blush block stamps sound extremely interesting! Can’t wait to see them. Tell us more!
Love the overstamping too….I keep trying to use up my own bits…but somehow they are never just quite what I want at the time…….or even quite the right size!!!
xoxo
Oooh! Those blush block stamps look like a definite must have and love the wet-in-wet overstamped with black technique.
Somehow the ‘bits’ in my bits box never seem to have quite the same possibilities as yours which always end up as works of art for the rest of us to drool over.
Lesley Xx
The wet on wet technique looks very interesting indeed.
I agree with Lesley, the blush block stamps are cool! Might just give all this a go myself …..
Ohh that’s clever. I like the black image stamped over the watercolour effect one. Like a shadow background
Very nice.
Best wishes
Billie
Love the stamping on water colour paper. I’ve tried stuff like that in the past, but just ended up with a monster smudge that looked like nothing on earth.
Have to try it again!
Love
Jill
x
Lovely ideas, I’m looking forward to some Retro Vase inspiration, I’m slowly cutting out my themeplate
Love the wet on wet over stamped in black too
You are so inspirational Glenda, thank you for sharing all your wonderful creations with us. Wish I could make such great creations from my bit box, I never seem to have the right thing for what I am doing. I must try harder
That’s a lovely technique Glenda. I too have several bit boxes and I just can’t bear to part with any of the contents. I know what you mean about too lovely to use. I try to use one of my “precious bits” on cards and gifts for my friends and family who I know always really appreciate what I make
xx Chris
Loving the overstamping technique Glenda, it adds a depth to the image and looks super. Don’t leave it too long before you use the piece in some art !!