Playing with peel-offs!

Hello and good afternoon!
It's certainly been a while since I've been on here, what with work and time moving at such an inconvenient speed - how dare it!  I've managed to make a little time here and there for crafting, but I must be honest, most of that allocated time has been spend sitting on the sofa looking at technique videos on youtube!
These videos are far too addictive, one I found in particular focused on creating your own stained glass window effect using water based pens...
So, of course, I thought I would have a try.  I decided that, instead of stamping my image, I'd use some stickers that I had in my collection to create my own style of background...

It's a really easy technique to learn.  I coloured in the stickers - the make on the stickers says "Francoise collection" - using permanent markers for peel-offs - great pens as you can use them to change the colours of the stickers, you can also use them on pearl and gem stickers!  

I found that applying the brown and the orange marker to silver peel offs created a lovely autumnal tone, which is what I was looking for, but still had the shimmer you get from silver peel-offs.
I attached these at random places on my card stock and then came the fun bit - the colouring in!
For this, I used Spectrum Aqua pens -I love these, they are so easy to work with!  I like how they feel, too.  Sadly, though, I have yet to drum it into my head which way is which - you can almost guarantee that if you want the paintbrush end, you'll get the fine marker end!
The distinct advantage of using water based pens is that you can wipe it off the peel-off, so you don't have to worry about being painfully neat!
I used the Nature range.  (Mainly because this is the only range that I have!  Time to write Santa a letter...).  This pack has some lovely autumnal colours - can you tell that Autumn is my favourite time of the year yet!!??
So anyway...  using the paintbrush end of the marker, you colour in along one side of each segment, so that that appears much darker on the finished result.  Using a wet paintbrush, you then bleed the colour outwards to fill in the rest of the peel-off, and repeat!!  Simple!  I then repeated this technique around the bases to my flowers and leaves and bled it down.  I stamped a sentiment ( cant remember who made that one, sorry!), coloured in some pearls with my peel-off markers and attached...quick stitch effect using the fine point on the aqua markers and layer onto gold card..  hurrah a card that didn't take me half the night to make!!  That is very unusual for me....







Peel off's number two please.....
So, this wasn't the only card that I made using my peel-offs.  While playing around, I found that I quite liked the stencil effect that you get using peel-offs.

 I decided to use the peel-offs to create an unique background paper, like used on the two cards above.

I chose to use the silver peel-offs again.  I haven't coloured them in in this picture using the peel-off markers - but I did later on.  I attached the leaves in random positions across my cardstock, with some going over the edges to make it look like it's been cut from some cardstock.  Turning back to the lovely Spectrum aqua markers, I then coloured in each leaf and around the leaf - in the top left card I coloured in much more roughly than in the top right card.  Once the borders were around each
leaf, I used a wet paintbrush to bleed out the colour, topping up on more colour if I felt it needed it, and bled the colours into each other to create the background colour.  On the top right card, I used mostly one colour for the background and bled the others into it.





Next comes the fun bit!  The difficulty I have with stencils is that I don't always ensure that the stencil is firmly attached to the card, meaning there is gap underneath for the medium to pool in to.  With the peel-offs, you don't get that gap!  So when you peel it off, you get a lovely leaf pattern from the colour of your original cardstock, as you can see in the cards above, the whiteness of the leaf pattern offers a contrast to the colour work.  You do have to take card peeling it off, as the wet cardstock may peel off too.  Or, you know, you could be patient.  I'm not patient, though.
Stick your leaves to scrap cardstock and colour in with your markers and cut them out and you get lovely leaf embellishments like I've used in the cards above.
So there you go, two different approaches with the humble peel-off!  Thank you for taking the time to read my blog!!  Have a lovely day!

Sara
The heavy handed crafter

Busy busy busy..

Good morning!! Goodness it's been a while since I've been here!  It's been a very busy end to the summer holidays, with lots of lovely outings with my family, and extended family visiting too!  Does mean you don't get a lot of time for crafting.. or when you do, you feel far too tired to do so!

Then there is that major challenge that comes along that sits itself firmly on your craft table and refuses to move (or even to tidy up for you...).  It's name is Crafters block.  Goodness is that one a hard one to move!  So sadly, I haven't got much to show you while I try to push that thing out of the way.  Thankfully, though, we are rapidly approaching the time in the month where new craft magazines come out.. I am waiting for the one I have on subscription (thank you in-laws :) ) to come noisily through the letter box and land on the floor with the thud of possibility :)  (seriously, who thought it was a good idea to put a letter box so high up in the door?  Every time we get post it hits the floor with such a thud, you'd swear it was an argos catalogue and not just the bank trying to sell you a credit card!).

On the plus side, though, the other week I did get an exciting delivery!  I was naughty and treated myself to some lovely papers and stamps from Lili of the Valley.  (It turned out to be very naughty as later that week I had to pay to fix my car.  Something really difficult apart parting with money for your car!!).  I've admired their range for a long time, but never really bought anything until I went to a craft festival several months ago.  I'm not really one for buying online, I like to see the papers and look through them before commiting to buy, and I also want to see the size of the stamps.  Having had a chance to see them at the festival, and admired the many pretty paper packs, I gave in to the lovely sale they had on, thinking it as a little early birthday present to myself (which isn't until October, but hey, spreading the cost!!).

Due to how busy I've been, I've only recently had chance to play with them.  I bought six of the character style stamps and so I decided to have a play at stamping them and colouring them in.  Or at least, that was the plan, until my five year old saw them and decided that he, too, would like to colour them in...

I did manage to make two cards with two of the stamps, though, so I'll quickly share them with you.  Also, I'm pleased to note, Trimcrafts competition for this month is on colouring in.  My medium of choice, currently, is distress inks and the self watering paintbrush, which I used on one of the cards, and that will become my first entry for their competition.  My other card was coloured in with Letraset promarker, which was a kind gift from my husbands grandfather for Christmas a few years ago.

Anyway, I've talked enough!  Here are the cards...

I hope you like them!!  The papers I used are from Lili of the valley, too.  I think the biggest praise I can give to them is that when I bought the papers, I liked each one of them and wanted to use each one..  I normally find with paper packs that there are one or two that I just wouldn't use.

Well, have a lovely day!! I'm going to go dry my hair!

Sara
The Heavy Handed Crafter