A Two Stamp Background - VISIBLE IMAGE

The Friday Feature - with Visible Image

Morning all! It has been a frantic couple of weeks for my friends at Visible Image what with trade shows and TV launches. But they are certainly not complaining about the amount of work they had to do. Quite the opposite. Thanks to a very successful Trade Show and sell-out TV shows they are enjoying a surge in orders and new customers. Well done Helen and Mark! I already knew you were brilliant at what you do, now everybody knows!

For my blog today I am going to concentrate on a couple of stamps from the new range of Sentiments which launched on the TV nearly a week ago. Being on the Design Team is such fun as we get to play ehem, WORK with some lovely products well before you see them. For me these initial samples are not about adding embellishments, or using die-cuts, I like to use just the stamps and ink. I like the stamp to go it alone, to show you what it can do. We aren't all blessed with a cavern of stash.

Various shades of pink with black over-stamping. 

This step-by-step will show you how I created the flower background on two of my cards made for the TV launch. 

I wanted to create a shaded image of the daisy-like flower from the Happy Birthday set so I went for 3 shades of pink/red. You could use any colours you like. Don't be afraid to experiment! Of course you could use one colour but the main thing is to stick to fairly light colours for this stage.

I don't own a crafting mat, you know the brown non-stick ones but to be honest I am happy using what comes to hand and also I like to make my equipment multi-purpose. Acrylic blocks are great as paint pallets as they are easy to clean. I squished each of my ink pads directly onto the block. If you are worried about mixing colours on the pad while doing this squishing thing then it doesn't matter at this stage if the colours don't meet up.

By having a larger portion of one colour than the others means that my overall colour scheme would be, in this case, an autumn shade of red with the 2 other colours, bright pink and hot pink, playing more of a minor, highlighting sort of role.

Using the flower from the Happy Birthday set, I loaded up the stamp by pressing into the colours on the acrylic block. Move around the block a bit to blend the colours. Those gaps you can see in the picture above will vanish. Each time you load up your stamp move around the acrylic block to pick up different colours. (If it starts to get a bit dry simply spray the block lightly with water and stamp that onto a piece of paper to use later and re-apply new ink to the block.)

If the ink is very wet you may want to stamp-off some of the wetness first onto another piece of card. I would want to keep these stamped-off images for another project as I hate waste! A tip for you to get a good even spread of images is to start in the middle of your page and then add 6 more images around it like a flower. Then go round again keeping the spacing even. It is very difficult to get an even pattern if you start at the edge!

Once I had the full page of the base flowers I went on to adding the feathery flower image from the Thank You set. I used a dark red for this. Although lining up exactly over a particular base flower is not essential,     it is super easy with these stamps to get good central placement. They are clear and so you can see through the mount block! Keep turning the stamp around to avoid any obvious repeat in direction. 

Above you can see some other combinations using the same technique. I found an ink pad at the back of my drawer which had several shades of blue in the one pad, but it was a little bit on the dry side. Not good for using on its own but it really didn't matter here. Being a pre-blended pad meant I could get the shaded effect straight from the ink pad onto the stamp. Can you see the little white lines left in the stamped images where the separate colours are in the pad? Well they won't matter as they will be covered up in the next round of stamping anyway! Similarly, if your base image is a little blurred or smudged it probably wont show once you have stamped over with the other image. Mind you, these Visible Image stamps all stamp perfectly so it won't happen!! I used a darker shade of blue to do the over stamping. I also did some with some paint. These were a little darker but still worked OK. I put small dots of water based paints onto the acrylic block and picked up the ink in the same way as I did before. I used jet black for the over stamping. 

You could make lots of different backing pages like this, ready to use in your projects. If you use an acrylic block like I did for the pink one, you could also use up the residue on the block as the background for the main image. This means no waste and it matches perfectly. This is what I did for the pink one above. Those eagle-eyed readers will notice that I had used a different sized block!

Multi-colour base flower with black over-stamping

I hope you have enjoyed this blog. You can pick up these stamps, and many more from the Visible Image online shop. Click on the images below to take you straight there!

        

Don't forget there is also the Facebook group, the Visible Image blog and the other DT blogs where you can get inspiration, up load your makes and meet up with like minded people.

There are only a few hours left to enter the February challenge, but if you have got time why not give it a go? The theme is LOVE. You will need to be quick, it closes at 8pm tonight.

Come back here tomorrow to see my DT inspirations for the March challenge. You are going to love the theme this month. I certainly did!

Well, off to the room of craftiness to play with my Visible Image stamps. It is a hard life but somebody has to do it!

KimB xxxxx

Visible Image Stamp Launch!

Hey, how are you? Just a quick post today. I don't want to distract you too much form the main event today. 

If it is before 10am then you have time to settle down with a nice hot cuppa and a few nibbles to watch the launch of a new collection of stamps from Visible Image! If it is after 10am then you have time to plan ahead for the 4pm show. 

Mark will be on screen this morning and again this afternoon at 4pm show casing these new stamps and doing some awesome demos! Sky channel 671 / Freeview 36 / Freesat 813 / Virgin 748 or download the Create& Craft App.

I absolutely love these stamps! I was so engrossed making samples that I clean forgot to do anything else! I had a little production line going, my fingers flew around the craft desk like a Ninja!

Helen and Mark did a fantastic job in creating these stamps, how could I fail to make lovely cards with them? Thanks Mark and Helen xxxx

So, as I said, just a short blog today, but I hope it has been long enough to inspire you to taking a longer look at the Visible Image products and shows.

Don't forget the Facebook group, the Visible Image blog and the Visible Image challenge.

Have a great Saturday! KimB xxxx

New Stamps from Visible Image

Well Hello all you lovely people! I am thrilled to bring you a few of my samples made using some of the new Visible Image stamps.

Firstly, I need to tell you that the other DT members have already been showcasing their projects this week so if you haven't been to see them yet I would urge you to pop over to their blogs and have a look. You will find their blog links over on the left. See you in a minute or two!

Now that you are back, what do you think of the new stamps? What do you think of the lovely samples the DT have created? Are you inspired? How could you not be? 

These lovely new stamps from Visible Image are being launched on Create and Craft tomorrow, 22nd February, at 10am and 4pm. Mark will be back doing some awesome demos so don't miss it! He will be on Sky channel 671 / Freeview 36 / Freesat 813 / Virgin 748 and for those that are more savvy than me you can also use the Create and Craft app.

The samples that I am sharing with you today feature verses written by Helen and what lovely words they are. It can be really hard to say what you feel sometimes but she has managed to capture some perfect phrases and sentiment in these stamps. 

I start with the Sympathy card. How many times have you wanted to make a sympathy card but failed? They are not the easiest of cards to make but Visible Image seem to have made this difficult process quite straight forward. Well, I found it easy and I am sure you will. 

With any sympathy card is is often difficult to use colour in the design. There is a natural tendency to head for black but I felt that it would be perfectly OK to use this background with the hint of colour in it without seeming to brash. I had been using a large acrylic block as a paint pallet and as usual, rather than washing off the residual colour, (I think this time it was water colour paint) I simply misted it with a little water and stamped the block onto some card. These prints often turn out good enough to use as a background as this one did. I would rather try it and get a blobby mess than waste any potential!! The down side is trying to recreate them.  This print had all the right features, soft edges, blended colours and an out of focus look. Using a brand spanking new jet black ink pad I stamped the flower heads, stems and main sentiment. Mounted on the black card and them onto a long card base all that was left to do was to stamp the verse. I am really pleased with the result.

My 2nd card today is a simple Thank You card. The background has been created using 3 colours of ink in the same way as the Sympathy card. This time it was a deliberate inking of the acrylic block as I wanted it to match to the mounting card stock. One of the features of these stamps is the separate stems. It gives you the opportunity to keep them straight as I have here, or to place them on the acrylic block with a curve as I did with the samples. It gives a more modern look with the straight stems.

My final project for today is a card I made up with some off cuts! All the bits were bin-bound! There was a large piece of brown/yellow ombré card that had a smudge on it and a base card that went a bit haywire when I used the wrong colour ink to stamp the flowers with. But with some careful placement of sentiments, a bit of trimming and the addition of the lovely silhouette flowers, I was able to create this interesting card. I cut a piece off the main scrap of card and used it for the sentiment. I placed the sentiment over the smudge that I mentioned earlier! I like the way the light bit of card stands out against the dark background. A happy accident I can assure you!

So there we have it, 3 designs, which you may well get to see on the TV alongside a myriad of others from the fab DT, but these 3 are just the tip of the iceberg! I created loads more designs, most of them I sent off to Visible Image for inclusion in their TV sample box along with those of my DT mates. It really is going to be a fab show! I hope you can be there to be inspired.

Don't forget the Facebook group, the Visible Image blog and the Visible Image challenge.

Enjoy your weekend, and I hope to bring you more projects using these new stamps very soon......


KimB xxxx

Visible Image - The Friday Feature

Good morning readers! Hope you are well? The weather is certainly playing havoc here at the moment but luckily I haven't resorted to candle light crafting.........yet! My thoughts are with those who are still being badly affected and I hope that things improve soon.

Onto the main reason we are here today. It is Friday, which is my day to show you a Visible Image project. I am always so impressed with the clarity with which all the Visible Image stamps stamp. It is all down to the deep etch polymer. I don't think there is a better medium for getting that perfect image every time.

My card today features stamps from the Clock stamp set - Time after Time. I love this set as it is made up of some really useful images which lend themselves to a multitude of designs and styles.

I started with the background. Using my favourite blending inks I coloured the card with Aubergine, Sage Green and Sunshine Yellow. The next stage was to stamp a random pattern of the small cogs with the Sage Green ink. I was a little less random with the number stamp, I really wanted to keep it the right way up so when I stamped I made sure I placed them evenly. I used all 3 ink colours this time to continue with the shaded theme.

Onto the feature element! I had been experimenting with masking tape with a view to eliminating the need for a separate white mount. I masked off a very narrow border all around the piece of card and proceeded to shade the card from one corner and fading out to the opposite corner using only the Sunshine Yellow. With the masking tape still in place I then stamped the big pocket watch and some more cogs in jet black on the yellow. Again I kept the feature stamps to the bottom left corner. I carefully removed the masking tape. It is a nervous moment removing masking tape! Had it stuck just enough or too much? Would there be 'leakake' or would the top coat of the paper pull away? Phew! Neither in this case! The bottom left corner had kept that crisp white line that I wanted.

I am really pleased with the result and will certainly use this type of masking and shading again.Watch this space!

Click on the image below to be taken directly to the Visible Image online shop, but don't just stay on that page, go for a wander and look at some of the other amazing stamps they have!

Visible Image also have a Facebook group, a blog and a monthly challenge, which this month is LOVE.

Drop by using any of the links above and see examples of the other DT members work, upload your own projects and why not take part in the challenge?

Right, must away! I have multitude of things to do before NEXT Friday. There are things in the pipeline with Visible Image, nudge nudge, wink wink!  Check out the other DT blogs or join the Facebook group and you might get a surprise!

Take care, have fun, stay safe! If you have any questions about my work or about Visible Image please feel free to leave me a comment and I will get back to you asap.

KimB xxxxxx

It must be Friday 'cos I'm blogging with Visible Image

How is everyone? Dry I hope? Hasn't it been wet and windy this week again? One of my fellow Visible Image DT members mentioned they had been getting power cuts. Thinking about it, if you are lucky enough to have a decent glow from a candle I should imagine that crafting is something you could just about do in a power cut. Granted you wouldn't be able to use your heat gun, but that seems like a small sacrifice. It is nice to have a hobby that doesn't rely on electricity.

OK, enough babble, let me tell you about my card for this week. I look at it and see so many different things. Perhaps it is a sunrise, perhaps it is late summer, maybe it is coastal, in the dunes, maybe it is a cornfield with a harvest moon. Whatever you see in it, it is a simple card using some of the lovely 'basic' stamps. 

First I masked off the moon/sun area. Yep, we have been here before and no doubt we will go there again! I used Cosmic Shimmers (a mica enriched ink in a mister, had them for ages, just using up stuff in my stash!) to create the dark green sky. OK, not an exact representation of a sky, but you know those days when the sky is a funny colour, not blue, not yellow, not pink, not grey? Well, maybe it is that day! Once that was completely dry I removed the mask and sprayed a little more deliberately going into the white space of the moon/sun to give it a 'round' look.

I used the tall grasses stamp over the globe in black to anchor it, to give it some perspective. I love the way the addition of a single blade of grass, or a flower silhouette brings the globe to life! Using the same grasses stamp I then stamped a row of them onto a pale yellow piece of card but this time in a sage green. 

I used the sentiments from the Clock stamp set - time after time, on the main image and the word remember from the same set used in a repeat for the banner. Once again I found the need to use the birds from the Free your Imagination set.  I know I have used them so many times but they are so useful and perfect on this card.

Click on the image below to be whisked off to the Visible Image shop page.

           

Have you joined the Visible Image Facebook group yet? You really should. You will get the chance to hear about new projects before anyone else does, you can enter competitions, and even upload your own Visible Image makes. We love seeing what you do with the stamps, don't be shy! You can also enter your makes into the monthly challenge there. You will also get advanced news about the TV shows.

The Visible Image blog is a great place to see lots of samples, meet the DT and access also hosts the Monthly Challenge which this moth is LOVE. You can see the DT inspirations there to.

Don't forget the Visible Image web-shop where you will find more inspiration but more importantly you can buy the lovely stamps! They are high quality, deep etched photopolymer creating a fantastic image when stamped.  Have you seen the lovely jester stamp? His name is Harley and he is proving to be a very popular stamp.

Check out the other DT blogs, the list is on the side banner as well as quick links to everything else that is Visible Image related.

I am away to my craft room for a few hours of tinkering! See you again next week for another Visible Image inspired project. Comments are welcome, and if you have any questions about my work, or about Visible Image, then I will be happy to answer them.

Many hugs
KimB xxxxxx

Visible Image - The February Challenge - LOVE

Here we are in February already! I must say that January rushed by me like a whirlwind. As today is the first of the month there is a new challenge starting with Visible Image. No surprises for guessing what the theme this month is! Yep, that is right it is Groundhog Day. So off you go make something crafty featuring a Groundho...........wait a minute, who wrote that in my diary?????

Of course it isn't! Actually there are a few 'festival/celebratory' days in February. First there is Imbolc on the 1st, the first day of Spring, then Candlemas on the 2nd, (has it been 40 days since Christmas already?) and we musn't forget Lupercalia, the end of winter (Yay!) on the 15th but the most widely celebrated day is Valentines day. 

So my lovely readers, the challenge commences today, get your Visible Image stamps out and make a project to celebrate all that is LOVE.

The rules are to make something using at least one Visible Image stamp, and please no DiGi images. You can enter as many times as you like, enter as many challenges with your project as you like but as with most challenges no back-linking is allowed. Your project can be anything, card, tag, canvas, scrapbook page, anything in fact as long as it meets the basics rules.

As this was my first challenge inspiration for Visible Image I wanted to do something bold and daring. I wanted to let everybody know I had arrived!  

I first created the background with some mica based paints in neon shades. Once this was completely dry I stamped over with the cracked glass stamp from the Clock Stamp set - Time after Time in black embossing powder.

The sentiment, Create with your Soul, was stamped onto a piece of card I had coloured with the yellow mica paint and mounted onto a piece coloured with the blue mica paint. I find it helps to give a totally co-ordinated look if you colour your own backgrounds. I finished it off with a lime green ribbon which I deliberately placed off centre.   

Click on the images below to be whisked away to the Visible Image shop page where you can see more examples from the DT.

Midway through the month I felt the urge to make another card for the challenge. I was inspired by the free rose stamp which came with Craft Stamper magazine, but the same rose image is available in 2 sizes in the Immortal Love set. The freebie rose stamp is about the same size as the smaller one in the set.

Once again I coloured some white card for the background and the roses. This time I used a glycerin based ink medium. The roses were stamped and embossed in black before being cut out and mounted on the card in a bunch. The base card was stamped with random words and an area behind the bouquet was stamped with the grunge flourish and the grasses stamp to add some depth.

Now, I used a variety of stamps for this card so bear with while I list them all! Again, by clicking on the image you will be teleported to the shop!

Grunge Flourish
The Rose - either the freebie or one from Immortal Love 
Words from the Clock set -Time after Time
Tall Grass

Don't forget to check out the other DT blogs for inspiration and in depth information about their LOVE inspirations and then crack on with your entry. Their links are on my side panel or via their images on the Visible Image blog.

Join the Facebook group for more Visible Image shenanigans, make a few new friends, get some inspiration and generally hang out with  like minded stampers!

Hope February is good to you, I look forward to seeing your projects on the challenge page and on Facebook.

Hugs-a-plenty KimB xxxxx