and the winner is....

Morning all...today we are announcing the winner of the colour combo competition....
Her name is Jules and she sent in this gorgeous page!!!

I am sure you will agree it is a gorgeous page! well done Jules!

using distress inks on embellishments

Hi its Carol and today we're going to look at colouring embellishments to fit in with the colour scheme of our pieces.....all using distress ink and re-inkers.

Re-inkers are not just for re-inking distress ink pads - using a mini mister add a pippette of ink to water and you're away -  a spray distress ink (don't think that this is a replacement for distress stains as its totally different)

Here I've got a couple of re-inkers and mixed them with water in a mini mister.....you know all the gorgeous coloured ribbon and flowered trim,  thing is you never have the right colour for your project -  now you do...if you have some white/cream options in your stash - spritz them with the re-inker mix and dry carefully with your heat gun - now, careful is the operative word here, please ensure that the gun is well away from your product!! scrunch up your ribbon and pick up the excess from your craft mat as you gently dry it and you'll end up with vintage ribbon and matching flowered trim....fab embellishments.

Add colour to chipboard, Tando products take distress inks really well, stamp and add a glaze you'll get some great results.

Here is a little piece I made using our distressed embellishments

The base is kraft resist cut out using a sizzix die by Tim Holtz this was then coloured using the new distress ink, Peacock feathers.  Tim Holtz ideaology tape was coloured using the same distress ink and placed along the bottom.  The ribbon, rossette, Tando button and maya road flowered trim were all coloured using festive berries, peacock feathers and re-inker spritzers in barn door and broken china.......a movers and shapers label was cut out of kraft resist and the edges coloured using the peacock feathers ink....The flower at the side is kraft glassine cut using the tattered florals die and then coloured, scrunched up and carefully opened and a bead placed in the middle....

I hope that these posts have given you some ideas to try.  Take a look at Tim Holtz's books, you'll find lots of techniques and inspiration to try.....

Carol

May kit...cardstock

As you may have seen we added a cardstock add on for the kit this month...I fell in love with the bright colours and gave myself a challenge...could I make a page just out of card stock? well in the end I did ) with only a few small bits of pattern paper!

I love the contrast of the yellow behind the cut out smile word on the tag!

and some more close ups!

You can see the kit here......http://www.papermaze.co.uk/category/kits-may-2012 thanks for looking!

Something a bit different....

When I saw this paper in the May kit....

I knew that I wanted to make something that just used this paper as the main feature....so I grabbed an old frame I had lying around and made something to put on my wall in my scrap booking room. ( I did add a sheet of kraft from my stash)

I used an older photo of my son and my nephew and then used a newer one to show how they have grown...

I have a page to show you in a few days....due to my bad hands I was not able to make the usual amount of projects that I would normally do....but I did make a page using the card stock add on that comes with this kit...so see you then.

Time again for.......May kit

Hi all...
We are trying to juggle our kits around and have them on certain dates...so sooner than expected
It is time again for another kit...I introduce you to the gorgeous May kit...

We had added on another option this month...a Bazzill Match Maker pack, consisting of four matching cardstocks, that go perfectly with the kit...

Here are some close ups of what you will get in this kit...

Last month we popped in some of the canvas butterflies to try, this month we have added in some of Tim Holtz film strips...if you had not had a try at this, now is the time!

It comes with brown and white cardstock... Here are the papers on the other side...

In this kit you will get...

One sheet of brown Bazzill cardstock
One sheet of white cardstock.
Crate Paper - StoryTeller Lifetime
This and that - Charming Vintage Fans
Crate Paper - Random Collection Victorian
October Afternoon Sasparilla Wagon train
Cosmo Cricket - Tea for two
Crate Paper Story teller phrase stickers
Jillibean Soup - Label sticker funny sayings
6 small Tim Holtz paperclips
One kraft die cut smile tag
one  navy blue sheer ribbon
one navy blue twine
2 smash tabs...the colours on these may vary
4 wooden flower embellishments...the flower designs will vary
4 Jenni Bowlin Stars
6 blue buttons ...the sizes will vary
12" of Tim holtz film strip

 This kit will be up on the website today...you will find it here...If you are a fan of Lou's work keep an eye out for next months kit, which she is currently putting together, it is going to be beautiful!

Distress techniques

Hi its Carol and today we are going to have another play with distress inks.

Have you ever been caught out by that forgotten card or tag and thought you don't have time to make one? - well, by using distress inks you can make a simple, but, elegant card in minutes....

This is what you need:-

Heat proof mat, distress inks, blending applicator and foam, or cut and dry, stamp, waterbrush, cardstock, card.

Using distress ink, ink up your stamp...here I have used pine needles on the leaves and stems and festive berries (this is the best RED ever and only available in the festive multi pack ) when you've inked the stamp breathe on it - this transfers moisture in your breathe onto the ink - stamp onto your card/cardstock then quickly using  a water brush pull out the colour.

 if the ink has dried a little or you want a deeper colour just lift the ink off your stamp using your water brush or swish your pad onto you mat and pick up ink from there..

How about just using one colour of distress:-

 

 Using vintage photo I've stamped and used the waterbrush and then added some subtle colour around the edges.

Voila a quick cards....this is a great technique to use at Christmas with a snowman stamp - add a bit of glitter and you've got some quick and simple cards.

Distress inks are so versatile and throughout my blog posts they will constantly be mentioned. 

Play with your inks and discover new ways to use them...I love to colour papers, Tim Holtz Kraft paper and his kraft glassine are great items to ink and then use as background papers or run thro' your die cutting machine and make your own embellishments:-

Here I've used Kraft Paper, text paper and glassine......I've cut out shapes using the rosettes die and the tattered floral garland die.....

Add ink to your pieces, can you see how the resist on the kraft paper actually resists the distress ink - with the glassine I've found it better to ink this with cut and dry, I get a softer touch with it and do less damage!! 

Next time I'll show you a piece to make using your own coloured embellishments.

Carol

 

Kraft on Kraft using Graphic45

For today's post I want to share with you a page I created using only sheets of the gorgeous new Graphic45 Kraft Reflections Collection.

Each sheet of this new line is printed onto kraft, and it can be slightly daunting to know how to use them all together and still make them stand out.

So along with this page I have some tips for layering up cardstock of the same colours, and making each layer stand out.

Firstly, choose a bright, bold photo. A monochrome or sepia photo would fade into the papers.

 From your photo, choose one or two accent colours to add to your page. I went for red and black.

 As you can see, I cut some smaller elements out of the Kraft Reflections papers, like these little postage stamps and the clock faces. I used a watered down mix of coloured inks to lightly paint a colour wash over some of the elements. This helped to separate some of them from the kraft background.

 To ensure each element and layer had a definate edge, use a good black inkpad to brush the edges with. This should leave each layer with a strong outline and help them jump off the page.

Lastly, the best way to separate each layer is to have depth between them. Use foam tape when sticking them down to lift each layer up and leave you with a dimensional piece.

Our new website!

We've been busy over the last few months redesigning our website to make your shopping experience a whole lot easier!  We have a clean, fresh site, with larger thumbnails, easier browsing and a save basket facility!  There are still a few tweaks needed, but come and have a look here and tell us what you think!  If you're a fan of our facebook page, you can leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning a £20 voucher :)

And speaking of winning vouchers, don't forget there is one up for grabs on this blog, with our colour combo competition. Choose one of the four colour combos you've seen here over the last few weeks and create a page, card or project using that colourway.  Email your layouts to wendy@bbbweb.com and we'll choose someone to win a £20 voucher to spend online or in the shop!  And if you need reminding, here are the four colour combos:

The closing date is May 19th - good luck!  And don't forget to have a browse through our new website!

'The Scrap Cake' papers...part II

Lou here again with two more LO's using the new papers in store from The Scrap Cake. These gorgeously feminine papers are created by Karola Witczak, and if you have ever seen her scrapbooking style, you will understand how beautiful they are!

The papers are predominantly flowery, but with both pink and blue shades, and chicken wire effects on some, it wouldn't be difficult to use them for a boys layout too.

I teamed the papers up with corrugated card and some Prima flowers and resist canvas leaves for a really natural look. The sheet of circle sentiments are perfect to cut out and use on either a scrapbook page or card.

To echo the alphabet printed on the base sheet, I used some old letter stickers as a mask and spritzed pink glimmer mist onto the background before removing the letter stickers again. To make these stand out, I then traced around the letters with a white gel pen.

My second layout looks full of detail, but really, with these papers, it takes just a few elements cut out to add plenty of detail to a page.

I cut out four of the sentiment frames, and some clusters from the flowered paper. It took no time at all, and with a title and some eyelets and twine, the layout was soon complete.

So there are my four pages I created using the Scrap Cake papers. I hope you enjoy playing with them as much as I did!

last colour combo...

Morning all...today we have the last colour combination for you...

And here is the sample using these colours...( though i did add in a bit of pink!)

this page was done using the new line from Little yellow Bicycle line called Hello Spring...this will be up on the website to buy soon...look out for it as it is gorgeous!

the little sticker sheets which I used to make the sun and the banners here... are so cute!

so I now hand this challenge over to you...you have until the 19th May to send me your colour combination entry..my email wendy@bbbweb.com. It can be a layout, card or altered item...you decide...don't forget the winner wins a £20 voucher to spend on anything they like on the online store. I cannot wait to see your entries.

New card sketch

Hi again, I'm back with the new card sketch for you today :) This sketch is super versatile!

I used the sketch quite literally for this card, but I have plans to use it over and over again!

The papers are from Fancy Pants Childish Things and I added some Hero Arts gems and a little flick of ink. Simple, but I like it!

We'd love to see your creations - show us your designs if you use one of our sketches!

See you soon :)