Orange Serenity

Today is the final day for the autumnal colours challenge, there is still time to get your entries into the album on the Facebook group to win one of 5 prizes.

Products Used:

- Oriental Companion Stamp set

- Colour Chemistry Pigment Ink - Pumpkin

Here you can see a simple to make card that looks quite different. I took inspiration from TV surfing this morning and coming across an interesting program about Asia and knew I wanted to get my oriental stamps out!

First I went around the edges with the Pumpkin ink. I then 'quirkily' stamped a border around the paper, making sure it wasn't 'perfect' to add to the effect. Finally I stamped the Serenity Prayer and the flowers, colouring them in with some orange to tie the whole thing together.

For some reason I absolutely love orange at the moment, it must be due to the trees changing!

Have a great day, Andy.

Autumnal Colours - The Mighty Oak

The Mighty Oak

Here is my final piece for the Autumnal Colours challenge.

The Oak Tree Stamp 

The Oak Corner 

The large  Charming Butterfly

and Sentiments from the Spring Blooms set.

I have also used a piece of brown distress card

Variegated, Copper and Gold gilding flakes 

Glue on a piece of cut and dry foam

Thank you for looking 

Love Doreen.

Tag Cards with Andy

I have been going through tags like there's no tomorrow but what does one do with them once they're made? I've been having a go at making some cards using them!

The one above features the Mountain Ash leaf and Script sentiment in Yummy chocolate ink.  I wanted a proper handmade country autumn feel to it and so I have gone around some cream card with a black marker and then stamped the Beech tree stamp around the edges. Finally I added the tag which was coloured using Sea Blue and some Yummy Chocolate pigment ink. 

Here  I used the same two stamps but with simplistic matting and layering with a more complex tag using first and second generation stamping in the background. 

Finally here's one mounted on white and then black card making it appear almost framed, drawing out the sentiment in the centre. The background of the tag is the same stamp in first, second and third generation ink with the Union Jack Stamp. 

You can find all the stash here

Mountain Ash Leaf stamp

Script Sentiment Set

Beech Tree

Union Jack Stamp

Enjoy stamp

Pigment ink pads

Tags offer

What do you do with your tags? I'd love you to share! 

PS Lynnda has a deal on tags....

Just For You

I'm writing this blog post on a very cold and windy day.  Whatever happened to summer?  I'm sure the summer months get shorter and shorter.  

I guess today's card fits in with the turn of weather and the start of autumn.  The finished card measures 15 x 15 cms.  I've stamped the Large Christmas Corner stamp onto a slightly smaller card 14cm x14cm  - if you line up the corner of the stamp with each corner of the the card you get a perfect fit with equal space between the stamped images.  To paint the images I used the acrylic inks. I've also added a dash of gold acrylic ink to the petals and a smidgen of glitter to the leaves and finished off with faux pearl gems.

For the middle of the card I've used "Just For You" from the Script Sentiment collection and the holly leaves from the Big Christmas collection.   I stamped the sentiment and the holly leaf onto some inked glossy card background I made with the spray inks and acrylic paints (tutorial can be found on my blog - Inky Backgrounds ).  Cut the leaves and sentiment out -mount the words onto a piece of co-coordinating card or paper and glue to the center of the card, add the holly leaves to the corners and finish off with a couple of faux pearl gems.  

collage of the card

Close up - you can see the gold acrylic on this image

I hope the weather is kind to you where you are.

Till next time happy crafting.

Anita

Autumnal colours - Card and Tag

Autumnal Scene 

To make this card I have used ....

Oak House Studio Pigment ink pads, the colours ; 

Pumpkin, Lemon Yellow, Golden Yellow, Sepia and Fire Brick 

Oak House Studio Acrylic Inks, the colours ;

Citrine, Amber and Garnet.
Clear embossing powder

Other items included a Versamark pen and a little talc.

Oak House Studio stamps include The Beech and Oak Tree plus the Squares border stamp I also used one of the blank circles for the sun out of the Flowers and Circles stamp set.

I used Oak House Studio Stamping card, the inks blend beautifully into this card, for the initial laying down of  colours using a blending tool with foam pad on.
Then I took the border stamp and used the sepia ink pad to stamp the border taking care to match up the pattern, obviously when inking up use a wet wipe to wipe off any excess ink that you don't want on the card.
I waited for the ink to dry and then dusted with some talc, Next I stamped the sun using the Golden Yellow, then the trees using the Fire Brick. Sprinkle clear embossing powder over the wet images and heat set from underneath, then take the inks and randomly colour the border, this dries really quickly then using the brush tip of the Versamark pen go over all the squares covering the coloured areas, embossing powder and heat set again.

The tag is really simple, using the same method as above and the same colours all apart from the inking up of the stamp which I used the Golden Yellow in the centre of the leaves and the Fire Brick on the outside. I did not use Acrylic Inks either, choosing to just let the colours laid down using the ink pads shine through the embossed areas.

 Thank you for looking

Love Doreen

Up-cycled paper bag.

Here is another project for the September Autumnal Colours challenge. A recycled brown paper bag, courtesy of my local Chinese take-away. This was perfect for putting some magazines in that I'd bought for a fellow crafts (aged 97!!!).

Products used were:
Sunflower Stamp 
Copper Detail Embossing Powder
Inks in a bottle  (Brazil Nut, Citrus Lemon (Yellow), Paris Pink

I sprayed white A4 card with Brazil Nut then tore around it. I sprayed the ribbon with Citrus Yellow then Paris Pink and used it to give colour under the sunflowers, for the bow and bag handles. The sunflowers were stamped onto yellow card, embosssed with Copper Detail embossing powder, coloured with a mixture of the spray inks above then cut out and added.
I cut out the words on white card using my Cricut Mini and again variegated the colours by spraying in sections. A very simple way to dress up a plain old paper bag! 

For more pics and a bit more detail on the process click here. Suz xxx

Autumn Tree - Challenge

Hello there Bloggers!! Hope you are all well? Lovely to see you all again

Lynnda has very kindly invited me back to join in this month's Challenge as a Guest Designer so here is my make for you today....

I used sponges to create the sunset sky after cutting out a large circle from a post it to mask out the sun. Using torn paper as another mask I was able to add in the hills with the same sponging technique. I used Lemon Yellow, Daffodil, Valentine and a teeny touch of Yummy chocolate 

The sentiment is stamped in Chocolate and the tree is first inked up in Valentine before stamping off 1st generation onto scrap paper and randomly applying touches of Yummy Chocolate. English Garden Words available HERE, tree available HERE

The corner panels used the same mixed colour stamping but were heat embossed with clear this time before being masked over to colour the background. Clematis tower available HERE

The colour was added to the flowers using the inks and a water brush.

I hope you have found some inspiation in this month's DT samples - they are all wonderful!

Thank you Lynnda for asking me back and I cant wait to see all your entries

Take care

Crafty cheers for now

Love

Rae

xxx

Autumn Wedding

Hi everyone Sylvia here. Autumn is a beautiful time of year with the changing leaves and misty mornings, and such a lovely season for weddings.  I have been playing around with some ideas for autumn weddings, there are some super stamps in the shop which are ideal for wedding cards and invitations. I chose to use a leaf stamp from the Large Spring Blooms  stamp set coloured with Colour Chemistry Inks in citrus orange, lemon and lime with a little french mint thrown in.

I wanted a clean and simple look with a splash of autumn colour for this stationery.  An aperture was cut in the center of an ivory pearlecsent card blank and the center diagonal area of the card flicked with citrus lemon, orange, lime and french mint inks.  The leaf was coloured with inks using the same colours and attached in the center of the aperture on to the invitation insert.  The same theme was carried through the table stationery too.

Don't forget you have until the end of the month to enter the autumn colours challenge, we would love to see your autumnal cards and projects.

Sylv xx

Inky Fun from Doreen

Autumnal Colours .... Well I think so 

 Spray a piece of A5 white stamp card with tempting teal ink from the bottled ink range. I used a piece of honeycomb shaped mesh to spray through.

 Using Colour Chemistry inkpads in Fire Brick and Golden Yellow ink on some bubble wrap and apply over the dried tempting teal ink.

Then two more of the inkpads in Pumpkin and Forest Green, I also use the Golden Yellow again and tap small areas randomly, cover with clear embossing powder and heat from under the card, this will leave a smoother emboss.

Colour using the inkpads as your medium and loosen with a little water and apply with a paint brush. For the background I used a baby wet wipe to dab the same colours around the image. 

Mount the Stamped image onto the dry background.

Finally using a piece of contrast card mount and apply to a card.

I think it has an autumnal feel about it .... what do you think ??

Thanks for looking 

Love Doreen x

Great news...........

Hi folks, it's Clare here and I'm back at Oak House Studios. I was absolutely thrilled when Lynnda contacted me and asked if I would do another three months for the design team.

So last week we saw Oak House Studios launch the new monthly challenge of the Autumn Colours. I love the autumn when leaves start to change and we are surrounded by those lovely earthy, golden colours. Luckily enough for us we are fortunate to have access to the fabulous inks and ink pads that Oak House Studios make along with the fabulous stamps which enable us to create our own works of art!

My first piece was stamped onto canvas board.

• Mountain Ash Leaf
• English Garden words
• Sunflower stamp
• Pumpkin & citrus ink in a bottle
• Wine, sienna & black ink pad
• English words was heat embossed with the gorgeous pearl bronze embossing powder

Well there's a little bit of inspiration from me. I look forward to seeing what everyone sends in for the challenge. Don't forget you could be in with a chance of one of 5 prizes to spend online with Oak House Studios.
I will be back soon with some more autumn colours for you.
Hugs and good luck!
Clare x x x x

Posted with Blogsy

Autumnal Holly Leaves

Hello everyone hope you've all had a wonderful weekend.

I've been having a play with the holly leaf from the Big Christmas collection.  I started by stamping the leaves in a circular design very organically with black archival ink.  I then painted the whole image using neocolors II water soluble wax crayons.  I built the colours up gradually until I was happy with the depth.  I've added some gold acrylic and glitter to the leaves.  To finish off I added some red star gems in between the outer leaves.

The center of the card is made up of 5 leaves which have been stamped, coloured and cut out and then mounted using foam pads to give some depth.  

The berries are made from a selection of seed beads in a mix of red and gold - these were threaded onto some thin wire and just randomly twisted until they resembled a cluster of berries.

I've mounted this onto a cream A6 card to which I've stamped the leaves using the Spring Green and Dusky Rose pigment ink pads  - I added the dusky rose to the center of the leaf and then the spring green to the edges to get a two tone effect.

Until next time keep crafting.

Anita

Doreens First Project for the Autumnal Colours Challenge.

        A very simple card to start with  ....

Card by Doreen Sympson

The Colour Chemistry ink pads used to create the sky were :

Slate Grey

Powder Blue

For the Sun I used:

Lemon Yellow 

Golden Yellow

Then for the trees and leaves on the pathway I used:

Yummy Chocolate

Green Oak

Lemon Yellow

Pumpkin

All are from the Oak House Studio Colour Chemistry Range.

The Tree Stamp is also from Oak House Studio it is the Ash Tree.

I stamped onto Oak House Studio A5 Cream Stamping Card.

A piece of paper in my stash was used for layering purposes and a permanent ink pen was used to frame the topper. To embellish I just used Orange Peel Stickles to enhance the colours used in the making of this card.

Thank you for looking,

Love

Doreen 

Video Tutorial From Andy using Pigment Ink pads

The above tag was made using one of the tree stamps and the Wine pigment ink.

I have started producing some YouTube videos and this is my first one.



Using this same technique I have created the below card:



So why not give it a go with the pigment ink colours you have and see how that changes the mood of the card?

Happy Crafting!

Inspiration for The Autumnal Colours Challenge

Hello everyone hope you're all well and busy creating.  

I've been playing with a couple of the stamps from The Big Christmas Collection set and no it's not too early to mention the "C" word especially in the crafting world where we work months in advance.   

I have used the solid flower and feather stamp (looks like it to me) to stamp the design onto a strip of white card using Yummy Chocolate & Dusky Rose.ink pads  To this I've added some to the Citrus orange ink with a paint brush as an accent in the middle of the flower and along the edge of the white card.  I then finished the card with a dash of glitter and some pearl effect gems and added this to a gorgeous maroon card with a hint of gold (which doesn't show to well in the picture).  A simple design but as you can see very effective and can be achieved with any of the stamps from Oak House Studio.  

Well that's if from me today I hope you will share some of your creations with us here on Oak House Studio.

Keep Crafting 

Anita

Autumnal Colours Challenge

Here are my two projects for the Autumnal Theme challenge, which I had lots of fun with but are completely different.

 The first project is a card, but could easily be a canvas. Products Used were:

• Walesby Heart Stamp
• Embossing powders in Copper, Pearl Gold and Seafoam White and Crystal Sparkle
• Spray Inks in Brazil Nut and Paris Pink

I also used: jewellery wire, die cut wings, silver pearls, gold guilding wax, and embossing folder, handwritten words and 2 Pitt Pens (one to write with and one to outline the words and corners. The detailed step by step is on my blog if you'd like to know more. http://craftyhumphreys.blogspot.co.uk/

Ptoducts used:

Sunflower Stamp & Sentiment Stamp

Embossing Powders

The second Autumnal Card was much simpler! I stamped and embossed the middle Sunlower with Copper embossing powder, Masked it off then stamped and embossed either side and also the sentiment (one from a very hand set in a beautiful delicate text) using the Pearl Gold embossing powder. I used watercolour paints to colour and a Spectrum Noir pen to outline for depth. You could decoupage the middle image to make it stand out, but this way it is flat for postage! The step-by-step for this is also on my blog. Have fun making yours! Suz xxx

Creativity never goes out of style

Good Morning! Rachel here today with something autumnal to share with you! 

Here's a card using lots of inky goodness from Oak House Studio. 

To create this I used the following products:

Ink-in-a-Bottle - Pumpkin Pie, Simply chocolate and Brazil Nut

Colour-Chemistry-Pigment-Ink - pumpkin and yummy chocolate

Mountain-Ash-Leaf-unmounted-stamp

Creativity-never-goes-out-of-style

To make my background I stippled the inks onto some card using a stencil brush leaving a pattern reminiscent of alcohol inks. Then I stamped the leaves using the pumpkin first and then the simply chocolate. Next I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of card that had been similarly coloured and matted and layered with dark brown card. Last thing was to add the brown bow.

I hope you like my first DT piece for Oak House Studio and I look forward to bringing you more inspiration soon!

Hugs

Rachel x

Say Hello to Anita Mistry

Hi, I'm Anita and I've been making art for over 20 years.  I work mainly in mixed media and like to incorporate rubber stamps into my work and also use them as the main focus in cards etc.  I have enjoyed running workshops at a craft shop which was not to far from where I live.  After being made redundant from a job of 10+ years I now enjoy designing, making and selling my artwork and jewellery from my home studio and  at selected art/craft fairs.  I'm really looking forward to creating with the Oak House Studio stamps and products.  You can follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/ItsamistryDesignStudio1 and/or via my blog http://itsamistrydesignstudio.blogspot.co.uk/ where I post my ideas and creations.  I hope you'll pop by and say hello I always enjoy connecting with other arts/craft people.  Keep crafting.  Anita.

Meet Andy Duggan

Hello there!

I'm one of the new kids on the block and I'm also fairly new to crafting as I have only been doing it for about a year! I love experimenting with all sorts of different mediums and like 'letting go' with my projects. By day I am a psychology lecturer and 'year leader' at a Sixth Form College and find there's nothing better to take the stress of daily life away than crafting. Currently I'm having a lovely big play with Christmas related craft and look forward to sharing my journey with you. If you're interested my personal blog can be found at www.dopacraft.co.uk

Happy Crafting!

Andy

Hello! This is me!

Hello! My name is Rachel Fisher and I am delighted to be on the Design Team for Oak House Studio. I am a happily married stay at home mum to two daughters. They are six and eight and full of beans. When I did work I used to teach Chemistry at High School although I have done lots of other jobs too. I have crafted on and off for most of my life but papercrafting really started for me about 10 years ago when I took a course at my local higher education establishment on parchment craft and varied card making techniques like iris folding and lace. Gradually I have become more and more interested in inks and stamping and mixed media and here I am now still with a lot to learn but very keen to do so. I blog daily and you can find my blog at Fishers Cards and Crafts. 

When not crafting I enjoy keeping fit by running and swimming, I chair the PTA at my daughters' school and run a pack of rainbows - where I'm known as Toucan - hence the picture!!!

Looking forward to getting to know more about my team mates and working with all the lovely products from Oak House Studio.

Hugs

Rachel x

Meet Suz Humphreys (Surrey Crafts)

Hello all.
I'm Suz Humphreys, also know as Surrey Crafts on FB or Crafty Humphreys on Blogger.
I left the 'rat race' in 2012 after almost 20 years of working in the Criminal Justice System to join the wonderful world of Inks, Stamps and All Things Arty. I have been running craft workshops for almost 3 years in Surrey teaching all forms of papercrafting, and also mixed media, jewellery and creative embroidery. I am on the DecoArt Helping Artist Programme so really looking forward to using lots of different mediums to show off the fabulous Oak House Studio products....this really feels like a match made in crafty heaven! Hope you'll join me in this inky, painty journey! If you are interested my blog is http://www.craftyhumphreys.blogspot.co.uk/  Hugs to you all. Suz xxx

Say Hello to Doreen Sympson

Hello, this is me 

Where to start  ?? I am married to Derek and have been for almost 29 years, we have a daughter Elizabeth and 2 grandchildren Jake and Faye. 

I have crafted for as long as I can remember doing anything from knitting to lacemaking, then about 8 years ago a friend of mine said have you ever made cards ? To start with I replied no, it really doesn’t interest me, to which she said “I will make you up a little kit of some bits and pieces and you can have a go, see what you come up with.“

Well that was me hooked !  I started first with card kits and was happy enough with them for a while then started to buy sentiment stamps to embellish them as there were not always the sentiments in the kits or in my collection of peel offs that I needed.  I have to say I still have the peel offs but do not turn to very often and would be better off trying to find someone to give them to so as they do get used. 

From then the idea of being able to stamp my own scenes became quite appealling afterall I only had to buy a stamp which fitted my desired theme and I could do what I wanted couldn’t I ? How hard could it be ? Harder than I realised, certainly a whole lot more to it than meets the eye !! With the help of the classroom lessons on create and craft, I learnt so much more and progressed gradually and then with encouragement from Facebook friends and family found myself hungry to progress even further.Then a friend introduced me to Oak House Studio products and then came a Design Team request open to all and I applied to become part of this Design Team and was lucky enough to be accepted, which makes me very happy and extremely proud to be a member of the Oak House Studio Design Team for the Autumn Season. 

I look forward to getting to know everyone and to working with you all.

Love

 Doreen