Something a bit fishy.

Sometimes I just want to play and see where it takes me and this page in my journal was one of those occasions.

I started with a couple of Sarah's stencils and some ink just to lay down a background. I used the hexagon background stamp and red Versafine to add a bit of stamping and dribbled some more ink from the top.

I already had the idea to use the Doodle Doll as a mermaid, stamping the parts individually onto scraps of coloured paper and the punched circles added to the magical scene.

 So what could be more appropriate to go with her than my own fishy stamp set  "Don't Be Crabby" from the Special Editions range also stamped onto paper scraps.

 See you soon,

Jaine x

Art Journaling with the Doodle Dolls

Hello Claireliz here.

Happy Easter, I wish you many chocolate eggs!

I've been having a play in my art journal with Sarah's Doodle Doll stamps, One of the sayings from Sarah's Princess Doodle Doll stamp set has kind of stuck with me...

"Always wear your invisible crown"

Personally I think that is a great bit of advice, no matter where you are or what you are doing, always wear your invisible crown, this was my starting point for this journal page....

I sprayed the background with aqua spray ink, whilst that was drying I stamped the six Doodle Dolls - Be Amazing, Princess, Wish Upon A Star, Dream a Little Dream, Art Girl and last but not least Zombie Girl (because we all have days when we don't feel our best), Whilst the ink was drying on the dolls I returned to the journal page, I used Sarah's Chevron Stencil & some Faded Jeans Distress Ink to create the chevrons in opposite corners, then I stamped around the edges of the page using the stamps from the Doodle Doll sets & different coloured inks. 

I coloured all of the Doodle Dolls with Promakers, glued them to the page & drew around them with a black pen. 

I stamped the phrase "Always wear your invisible crown" using Sarah's Alpha Block stamp set & I stamped the word "invisible" in blue to make it a bit more invisible.

I wanted to give each Doodle Doll an invisible crown so I used the crown stamp from the Princess Doodle Doll stamp & stamped it onto each Doodle Dolls head, then instead of colouring them in I used clear Stickles to create the look of an invisible crown...

Finally I used some hot pink polka dot paper from one of Sarah's AFOMFT kits, I stamped stars onto the paper, cut them out & attached them to the page.

That's all from me for today, I hope you all have a lovely time & enjoy the chocolate, don't forget to always wear your invisible crown.

Take care & hope to see you soon.

C xx

Faux Letterpress Background

Hi it's Lisa here and I've been playing about with the Chevron Stripe Mask again.

This is another way to create a textured background using both heat and dry embossing and is a sort of Faux Letterpress technique...

Completed Card

Here's what you'll need:

• Chevron Stripe Mask
• Sentiments Stamps
• Gold, Red and Black Inkpad
• Clear Sparkle and Red Sparkle Embossing Powder
• Viva Decor Pearl Pen
• Kraft and Red Card
• Die Cutting Machine

Step by Step:

1. Ink the mask with gold ink, making sure it is completely covered. Take a 14cm square piece of white card and place carefully onto the mask, securing with some low tack tape. Run through your die cutting machine to emboss and print the ink. I used a Cuttlebug and the sandwich was as follows A plate, B plate, mask, card, embossing mat, 2 card shims and a B plate. Carefully remove the mask. Cover with clear sparkle embossing powder and heat emboss. Mat onto red card and fix to your card base.
2. Take a strip of white card and stamp a border using the heart stamp (from Sentiments Stamps). Trim leaving a small white border, mat onto Kraft card and fix to the card blank and 
3. Create a fishtail on a strip of white card. Mat onto red card and fix to the card blank. Stamp the 'I Love You' (from Sentiments Stamps) onto Kraft card. Tear ends and fix to card.
4. Decorate with pearls.

Close-up of the de-bossed heat embossing!!!

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the start of our February Challenge as there are some fabulous projects to see.

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon for more inspiration from the fabulous Hurley Girlies!

Lisa

Embossed Background

Hi it's Lisa here with my first inspiration post on the new look blog.

We have already shown you a couple of posts on ways to create texture using masks, one from Jaine here and one from Jess here. I wanted to try and show that you don't always need to get messy (although sometimes that is fun!) to create a cool background.

Completed Card

Here's what you'll need:

• Chevron Stripe Mask
• Sentiments Stamps
• Yellow, Orange and Black Inkpads
• Stickles Glitter Glue and Viva Decor Pearl Pen
• White and Orange Card
• Die Cutting Machine

Step by Step:

1. Take a 14cm square of white card and place onto the mask, securing with some low tack tape. Run through your die cutting machine to emboss. I used a Cuttlebug and the sandwich was as follows A plate, B plate, mask, card, embossing mat, 2 card shims and a B plate.
2. With the mask still in place use a stencil brush to apply the ink. Remove the mask and mat onto orange card. Fix to your card base.
3. Take a strip of white card and stamp with various sentiment stamps. Mat on orange card and fix to the card base.
4. Stamp 'Surprise' onto a thin strip of white card and trim ends into fishtails (I used a square punch for this). Fix to card base using 3D foam pads.
5. Decorate with pearls and glitter glue.

A close up of the embossing.

I'm not sure that the camera has truly picked up the texture but it looks lovely in real life and makes you want to stroke it (sad as that sounds!).

Hope you are inspired to try something different with your masks and if you give this a go leave a link to your project in the comments below as I would love to pop by and take a look...nosey? me? ;-)

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon for more inspiration from the fabulous Hurley Girlies!

Lisa

Playing with textures

Everybody has their 'thing' and I'm so happy when I'm using textures, in fact as I was making this piece I found myself actually smirking. (That's not sad is it?)

Anyway I thought I'd share with you how to make a similar background to mine whether it's for a journal page or a card topper, it's easy.

For starters you'll need a sturdy piece of card to work on. You need something substantial to hold all those mediums and layers. I used 300gsm mixed media paper but you could use a piece of cardboard just as well.

The first layer is gesso spread with a card. Not too thick but just like spreading butter on a piece of bread.

Stamp into the wet gesso. I used a new hexagon background stamp by Sarah. Please please please make sure you wash the stamp straight away after. Fill a bowl with warm soapy water if you know you can't wash it straight away as once the paint has dried it'll ruin your stamps.

Once the gesso is dry use a stencil to add texture paste. Use a card once again to wipe the paste through the stencil. I used the Chevron Stripe stencil.

You can also start to glue on some 3d embellishments. The thread, chipboard star and wooden leaves were all included in my monthly Kit Club kit but you can find lots of embellishments here in the shop. Once dry go over them with some gesso so they blend into the background more.

The fun bit is adding spray ink. You'll see the texture start to really pop out of the page at this point. 

Randomly stamp across the page.  Again I've gone for some of the Kit club stamps but it could be any stamps just to add an extra layer.

To finish my page off I layered some of Sarah's journaling cards from the Documented 365 range  together along with the film strip printed from the Say Cheese digi kit (I use this a lot printed onto acetate) and all held together with some staples. I stuck this down to the page and gave it a light covering of gesso just to stop it taking over the page too much. 

So there you have it. I really hope I can inspire you to try some texture and have fun. 

Jaine x

Challenge 86 - Bonfire Brights

Hi! It's Sharon here and it's my first challenge! I've chosen Bonfire Brights for the theme this month. 

I love Bonfire Night, the bright reds, oranges and yellows of the bonfire and the multi coloured fireworks.

I made an ATC for the challenge. The papers are from the fabulous Journaled365 kit which I printed out and coloured with Aquatone pencils. The sentiment is from Sarah's Stars Stamp set. Couldn't resist a bit of sparkly glitter as sparklers are the highlight of my bonfire night! (Please make sure you all stay safe on Bonfire Night by following the firework safety code-sorry, that's the nurse in me speaking!)

I hope you can join us in our challenge this month and can't wait to see your creations!

And while you're here, don't forget to check out the inspiring things the DT have made.

Tania

For my Bonfire Bright card I have used the pennants from the Hello Sunshine for my bonfire/firework and the leaves from Be Amazing which have been coloured and stickles added

and the stars from Wish upon a Star which were embossed then I added assorted gems.

Jaine 

I've used the chevron stripe stencil  with texture paste on my journal background, the Doodle Home stamps set and stars, sequins and journaling cut-outs from Septembers Kit club.

Clare

I made this card using images and sentiments from Sarah's Doodle Home stamp set. The designer paper is from the Monthly Kit Club which I love! Punched stars, a memory box fence die and candy dots coloured using a black Promarker was added to add more detail.

Nicole

I created a bookmarker in Photoshop using Sarahs Spook Street kit. I love this kit and love that it works for me all year around! I used the adorable Angelica Strange on it and added in lots of elements from the kit, keeping it in theme with bonfire bright colours - so much fun!!

Ria

I made a shaker card using stamp combinations from Sarah. For the background I used the Large Texture stamp while the sentiment is from the Sentiments Stamp. I also stamped the stars from the Wish Upon a Star Girl stamps. I highlighted the bonfire color yellow orange which are the stars. For the papers, I used A Few of my Favorite Things Vol.1 8x8 paper collection   

Claireliz

I used Sarah's My Favourite Things kit to create this layout, the edges of all the papers have been distressed using an emery board. I also added some black Stickles onto the Thickers to add some extra sparkle.

Carol

I used the new Woodland Wonders Under the Stars digi kit to make this pretty card.

Claire

I have used Sarah's 'Few of my Favourite Things' kit box from August to create this card.

 I was inspired by the bright colours that reminded me of fireworks, and the embers that glow at the end of the evening on bonfire night.

Natalie

I used Sarah's latest kit to create this bright, funky card.

I used Ranger Inks mixed with water to create the background.











I cut into the papers to make a banner and cut out the small flowers.


 I used Sarah's Butterfly Stamps and sprinkled some sequins.

 Lisa

I have used star paper from the Back to School kit and woodgrain paper from the Say Cheese kit. The sentiment is part of Sarah's Handdrawn Roses stamp set. 

Jess

I have used Sarah's Halloween Edition Doodle Doll Stamp Set to create the checked background and the Good Witch, which have been heat embossed.  Together with the crackle background using the

Mini Textures Stamp Set

We look forward to seeing your projects - you have until midnight on 30th November to enter - just click below to submit your link!