The Purple Zone

Hibiscus & Butterflies Skull

2021-05-21T18:06:00.003+00:00

Our DT member Irene Carolan sent us this sample and we were struck by the way that she has coloured around the image as well as inside the image.

So we decided to duplicate the look but Vicky and I chose 2 different mediums.

Both images were stamped in black onto Kraft card

I chose to colour mine with Polychromos pencils

and Vicky chose Brushables, pigment pens.

Obviously I did not spend as much time on mine as you can see that Irene did on hers, building up layers of colour with her pencils.

But you will see me demonstrate one of these on The Craft Store TV at 3pm on Saturday 22nd May.

Geisha Skully

2021-05-21T09:00:00.003+00:00

Geisha Skully will be making her debut in our show on The Craft Store TV on Saturday 22nd May at 3pm along with several other designs by Teri Sherman.

The top card is stamped onto Inchies and watercoloured

the bottom card is stamped onto craft card and coloured with chalk pencils.

Keeping it Simple

2021-05-20T20:54:00.002+00:00

Keeping it simple with only 3 different Versafine inkpads and 3 stamps.

Wisteria, Bee and Thinking of you.

Because of their solid style the inkpad does all the work.

They are stamped onto a sealed surface card which keeps the ink vibrant.

Colourful Mod Garden

2021-05-17T15:57:00.000+00:00

This one took me quite a while but I really wanted to have the Mod Garden with different coloured tops on so I coloured the stamp with water based pens but could only colour a couple at a time and then stamp, hence why it took quite a while.

The butterfly is stamped onto acetate and coloured on the reverse with Diamond Glaze and mica powders.

Mod Bloom in Amazing Glaze

2021-05-12T07:22:00.001+00:00

Did you catch our show on The Craft Store TV yesterday?

This is one of the cards I made using our Mod Blooms.

I covered the Twinchie in 3 layers of Amazing Glaze and then 2 layers of Gold embossing powder before inking with Pink Cosmos Stazon Pigment and stamping into the hot embossing powder.

The dragonfly is in the set with the Mod Bloom.

Twinchie Scenes

2021-04-30T10:48:00.000+00:00

If you watched our last show on The Craft Store ( 20th April) you will have seen these cards.

The top card is one I made for The Craft Store YouTube tutorial.

For both cards I stamped onto Twinchies with our Scenic Sailing and on the top one I also used one of our Hot Air Balloons.

I stamped the boats and balloon first and then masked them with our Eclipse Masking Tape before stamping the Scene.

I then masked the scene before inking the sky with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide and stamping some clouds from our Dottiness set.

After removing all the masks I coloured with Aquacrayons.

Once dry I inked with a clear inkpad and applied two layers of Amazing Glaze to give the glazed tile finish.

Thatched Cottage with roses

2021-04-15T06:07:00.004+00:00

Firstly stamp the small Poppies multiple times, masking each one with Eclipse Masking tape as you go. And then stamp the Thatched Cottage.

Remove all masks and colour

The Queen of Shrink

2021-04-13T20:56:00.002+00:00

Did you hear Yiannis on The Craft Store during our show on Monday - he called me
The Queen of Shrink
Apparently I need to get a T-shirt with my new name on. Can I buy one or do I need to make one?

I was shrinking Poppies at the time but I haven't photographed that card yet so here is a necklace I made with black shrink plastic and our grunge flowers stamped with a glitter acrylic paint.

Happy Easter

2021-04-02T05:00:00.001+00:00

I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend and manage to see at least some of your family (in the garden, obviously). And maybe indulge in a little chocolate

This card was created with our Easter Chicks rubber stamp set.

Shrink Plaster Easter Eggs

2021-03-24T10:14:00.001+00:00

The little bunny is from our Easter Friends set, designed by Sherry West

The eggs from our Egg Trio are all stamped onto white shrink plastic with Stazon Pigment inkpads and then some coloured with Brushables.

The greeting is from our Birthday Greetings clear stamp set.

The brolly is from our Fancy Brolly stamp set.

The border is hand drawn with a black fine liner pen.

Acetate Butterflies

2021-03-21T10:00:00.001+00:00

Brenda Weatherill created this card for us using the Old World Swallowtail stamp and also

the Beautiful Butterfly sentiment stamp.

The butterflies are stamped onto acetate.

As seen on TV

2021-03-20T10:00:00.005+00:00

This is the card that I made on TV earlier this week, well I shrunk the butterfly.

This is our Old World Swallowtail butterfly designed by JudiKins, stamped onto sanded shrink plastic in Grey Stazon Pigment and coloured on the reverse with Brushables.

The background stamps are stamped with the same grey inkpad -

Doodle Blooms Super Size and Beautiful Butterfly

The background has been splattered with a watered down version of the orange brushable ink.

Bunny Buddies

2021-03-19T11:00:00.001+00:00

These 2 little guys are from our Easter Friends stamp set, designed by Sherry West.

Card created by Irene Carolan.

Easter Friends

2021-03-18T11:00:00.001+00:00

Have you seen our Easter Friends designed by Sherry West, aren't they adorable.

This card was created by DT member Irene Carolan and coloured with alcohol pens.

Shrink Plastic

2021-03-17T23:16:00.000+00:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I was on here last - apologies.

Earlier today I was on Hochanda TV and this is 2 of my demo cards.

The top card is intaglio style - white shrink plastic 8.5cm square (anti-static bag) shrunk and then stamped into with our Round Illusion stamp using Stazon Pigment in pink and purple.

The bottom card is one of the new Easter Friends and some Easter Eggs on gold and silver shrink plastic.

I stamped on the gold shrink with grey Stazon pigment and on the silver shrink with pink Stazon pigment.

Before shrinking the gold eggs I coloured the details with a sparkle paint which not only give them sparkle but once shrunk also gives them a raised pattern.

TV Demos

2020-11-28T12:27:00.002+00:00

These are my 4 demonstration cards from Hochanda TV last weekend.

No.1 is Groovy Blooms stamped and masked before stamping the flowers. I also then cut around the top half of largest flower before scoring the card. Coloured with alcohol markers.

No.2 is some of the elements from the Best Friends: Girls clear stamp set, stamped around a cut out circle (otherwise I wouldn't be able to maintain the circle shape).

No.3 Petalwork Passion embossed in white onto kraft card. The same with the leaves but they have been sponged with a green Distress Oxide. The background is kraft card coloured with Distress Oxides.

No.4 The elements from Best Friends: Boys. The puppy has been stamped onto our Christmas Tag and '5 Today' is from our Typewriter Alphabet clear stamp set. The background of the card is one of our inksplat stamps.

Hochanda TV today

2020-11-21T07:55:00.002+00:00

Our new Petalwork Passion and Groovy Blooms will be on Hochanda TV today at 11am.

Both sets of rubber stamps were hand drawn by Vicky.

For these cards Vicky has embossed in silver on coloured vellum.

NEW Best Friends : Boys

2020-11-14T06:00:00.001+00:00

Best Friends : Boys is our next brand new clear stamp set designed by Sherry West.

You can find it on our website here.

Both cards created by DT member Alysha Sheridan

You can see that again Alysha has used many of the elements included in the set to create the wreath of bugs.

I think these images that Sherry has created are adorable, we will be featuring all these new stamps in our Hochanda TV show on Saturday 21st November at 11am.

NEW Best Friends : Girls

2020-11-13T06:00:00.001+00:00

The first of our new stamps just launched is Best Friends : Girls

A clear stamp set designed by Sherry West.

You can find this new clear stamp set here.

The set includes the girls but also the elements that DT member Alysha Sheridan has used to create the wreath. Both cards created by Alysha.

When I'm trying to create a circle I use a punched or die cut circle as a template to work around otherwise mine would be wonky.

Sentiments from our clear stamp sets.

Upcycling Light Bulbs as Christmas Decorations

2020-11-11T06:00:00.009+00:00

If you've visited our store you might have seen our chandeliers, we have 9 and the total number of light bulbs is 45 - yes 45!

So when we replace bulbs every couple of months we then have an abundance of dead bulbs,

so Vicky decided to start decorating some.

Vicky used the Stix2 3D PVA glue to create the patterns on the bulbs and then covered them with glitter, but before she started she did wipe an anti-static bag over the bulbs to make it easier to remove the excess glitter.

It's very easy and fun to do.

Otter Snuggles

2020-11-07T06:00:00.008+00:00

Vicky decided to experiment with some different colours on the animals and this is her Otter version which she painted with aquacolour crayons.

It could be the reflection of the water giving their coats that blue sheen.

Kingfishers by Irene

2020-11-06T06:00:00.002+00:00

Our DT member Irene Carolan likes to make big cards, so that leaves lots of room for some great background papers like this stripy one.

Plus a sentiment from one our clear birthday sets.

Kingfishers designed by Teri Sherman

Foxes or Wolves

2020-10-29T06:00:00.001+00:00

During our Hochanda TV show with Adam he was convinced these were wolves, even though the stamp is called Foxy Mama. So I looked for an image to compare the 2 and yes they are very similar so it could be used for either. And for anyone that was watching the show you will be pleased to know that the artist Teri Sherman was also watching a making a list of other animals that were requested, so watch this space.

Cards created by DT member Alysha Sheridan.

Double Waterfall Cards

2020-10-28T06:00:00.001+00:00

Vicky was determined to make our 12 Days of Christmas stamp sets into waterfall cards, but it turns out they have to be double waterfall cards as you can't have more than 6 (but best with 5) in each waterfall.

So this is the result using our 12 Days of Christmas original set and the mini set.

Kingfishers on Shrink

2020-10-26T07:17:00.002+00:00

If you are a regular visitor here you will be well aware of my love of shrink plastic. Now I didn't think these new stamps would lend themselves to shrink but DT member Debbie Watts proved me wrong with several of her hards so I decided to give it a go.

Here I have stamped the Kingfishers with Black Stazon Pigment inkpad onto the smooth side of sanded shrink plastic. I gave it a couple of minutes to dry before turning over and colouring onto the sanded side with Pastel Chalk Pencils.

Remember the colours intensify as it shrinks so don't go too heavy with your colouring.