Lucky Sweep

This stamp is from Little Claire, he's from a set of two called Cutie-Patooties. His companion is a little girl in apron and mop cap but I fell in love with this little chap. He reminds me of when my Dad used to sweep chimneys and visit weddings to offer good luck. I chose to colour with Distress Inks as I like to blend as well as stamp and paint with them. The layers are all coloured with the Distress Ink to keep the colours co-ordinated and it means I don't need to buy coloured card for backing.

The shape is a Spellbinder die, there are three layers all mounted with foam pads to give dimension. The folding layer is also cut with this die making sure that the fold is below the cutting line and doesn't get chopped off. Easel cards are something a bit different and when used with shaped cards look that little bit special.

I've used the smallest die in the set to cut a plate for the greeting which also holds the card upright for display when mounted using foam pads. If you want to acheive the white edge on a coloured layer then leave the die in place when inking the card, it will protect the edge and keep it white.

I've put a little 'Best Wishes' peel off on the greeting plate. If you're going to stamp the greeting then I suggest you stamp before cutting out, it's easier to line up the die than to hover over the cut shape and hope it's in the right place.

Now I have my Father's Day card made it's time to get ready for the next demo day in Lowestoft. I'll get some of the samples loaded up on the blog when they're finished. If you're coming to Thetford for the Sincerely Yours show come and say hello, I'll be with Aldridge Crafts.

Distress Ink Techniques at Taverham

Sorry for the blog silence over the last two weeks but some delightful thieves decided to steal several yards of phone cable cutting off at least four villages including mine!
The next workshop at Sew Simple will be Distress Ink Techniques. These inks are so versatile, it is possible to achieve some very good effects quite easily. We will be getting our hands dirty making beautiful backgrounds and stamping some simple but effective images.
The idea of this workshop is to give you the opportunity to play around with these inks. We will build up a small sample book for you to keep as a reference guide.

Note Added:  If you would like this workshop run again then please contact Pam or Emma at Sew Simple in Taverham and place your request.