Guest Designer - Julia Dunnit - Part 2

If you missed it, Julia shared two gorgeous cards with us here.  Today she is sharing three more!


Well gentle reader of course I can't leave the Quiefire Design stamps alone. I'm too old to change and so I've continued to make cards that feature text on the front....it can describe the intention of the inside, issue an immediate greeting, convey wisdom...you get it.

And then there's humour too.  Love this.  This card of course, follows my tradition and is easy to make.  The shoe stamp is Dawn Houser for Inkadinkado, stamped in good old Black Versafine ink and then re-stamped immediately (second generation ink).  The two were then cut out (it is a one shoe image).  The background image, a Marianne stamp, is stamped in second generation of Dove Grey Stazon; then the rose head and leaves are incredibly lightly coloured and washed with water to pale them down.  The 'incredible' part of this is that I managed not to be too heavy handed. (But then you aren't privvy to the number of false starts I made either...).

The Perfect Pair of Shoes

I used a ruler to tear the postcard image from the card, coloured the torn edge with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain, and matted and layered it onto a black pre-fold card.  Stamp the sentiment (The Perfect Pair of Shoes) - again black Versafine, and give it drying time. (Ask me how I know to advise you about this). Lastly, just glue the cut out shoes on - lightest behind.  Stick the front shoe at a jaunty angle over the first one so as to slightly create the illusion of a pair!
Now....send your lovely card to anyone you know who's trying something new, starting up, starting over or considering anything.  A frightened woman doing DT work, for example.

Well I had to really, didn't I?  I was quite insensible over the choice over at Quietfire Design, and consider myself to have been very strong indeed in choosing only two from so many beautiful Christmas related texts.

I may be late to the Kraft party, but this year I've used it more than ever, and see no sign of stopping! This card features the Tidings text and a die by Sizzix under the Tim Holtz signature line. The papers are from a single set called Krafty Christmas by Dovecraft.

Tidings

I coloured the edges of the tag and the gingham paper with light touches of Vintage Photo Distress Ink (off a sponge), the sentiment is embossed with Cosmic Shimmer embossing powder: Blue Raspberry Aurora.  I can't say that word. Aurora.
I stuck the gems on one at a time, they are from an old pack that I can't identify...and you can tell that I didn't have a template!




And then…

Oh, Santa

See what I mean - Kraft and Red again!  LOVE this cheeky message! Here's a Dolly Mama stamp from Penny Black, stamped and embossed with White powder.  I cut her out  but left a decent margin around her...to allow the image to stand out a bit and to avoid too much cussing at the fussy cut job I'd given myself!  She's coloured with sponges and various Distress Inks (before cutting out)...no careful colouring here - if I want to repeat this card, the cutting has to be the only slow part!  The Kraft mat is embossed with a plaid folder from Design Objectives (DO Crafts) and the printed stock is by My Mind's Eye....the ruled print is the other side of the pattern print, so only one piece was harmed for the making of this card. I've given her gobbly eyes too...well, she is trying to hide a fib after all.  The text is embossed with WOW Red powder.  The quality of the lettering and the rubber means that these Quietfire stamps are a gift to emboss, and in my opinion, that shows them at their best on an otherwise busy card.

We'd like to thank Julia for her wonderful projects and entertaining instructions!  I don't think I've ever chuckled so much when I've been editing.  What Julia didn't mention is that she is the founder of WOYWW - What's On your Workdesk? Wednesday.  Participants photograph projects they are working on and post them to their own blogs, then hop over to WOWW and link their blog with all the others.  "Desk hopping at its best"  Hop on over and check it out!

Guest Designer - Julia Dunnit - Part 1

Hello.
Read gently, please - I’m a bit shy today. My name is Julia, I’m a blogger over at www.stamping-ground.blogspot.com. Being a blogger meant that it was only a matter of time until someone ‘enabled’ my discovery of Quietfire Design. 

 

I discovered stamping about 20 years ago; put down my sewing needle and turned irrevocably to paper and ink. I still love stamps above all, and I’m a font junkie. I have friends who say that I’m unable to make a card without having some words on the front.  They are probably right. Quietfire Design has become another of my reasons for using the written word – why wouldn’t you when they are all so beautifully lettered? So it makes sense to accept an invitation to guest on the DT right? Ignorance is bliss.  I had no idea how self critical and terrified I could become!  Ah well...’face the fear and do it anyway’.

 So now, allowing for my amateur status in all things, have a look at what I’ve been making….

 I used good watercolour stock and dripped Distress Stain onto the wetted area, then used the heat gun to dry it because I'm too impatient to wait. Next, I die cut it (it's a Joy die) and ran a silver Krylon pen around the edge.  You can't tell, but the text is embossed - Versacolour Imperial Blue and embossed with clear powder.  Nor can you tell that the Dragonfly is highlighted with silver Glamour Dust.  As was my face, and of course my decolletage....clumsy, moi?


While I was squashing the Distress stain against the corner of an acrylic block to produce enough liquid to drip onto the wet water-colour paper, I had another idea and decided to 'go grand' so that I could use one of my favourite stamps; it’s from this set. If there's a trick to this, it's to stamp the text and emboss it before you do anything else, so that the plastic surface of the embossing can resist the inks. I used white embossing powder to maintain the contrast.



Credit of course, to Sizzix and T. Holtz Esq for the die, and to Provocraft for the embossing folder. You can see too that I can’t tell when I've finished, so I used a white gel pen to doodle a border top and bottom and then to 'stitch' some of the coloured blobs (technical term) together.

Julia has three more wonderful cards to share with us later on this month. Stay tuned!