Friday, October 13

Colours of fall cards with Ruby Rock-It


Fall is in full swing here in Northern California which inspired me to create these cards in bright fall colours using Ranger mini inks and Francheville cards sets.


To start with, I used the Bella ! Champagne Bubbles clear stamp with Ranger Victorian Velvet Distress paint on the background and then heat set. I then applied Ranger distress ink all over the cards in a circular motion using the mini blending tool. I used a combination of pinks, purples, yellow and browns to create this effect. I then used a mini mister to spray water across the card which had a bleaching effect on the Distress ink.


For this card I used a Fundamentals doily, then a piece of patterned paper from the Faded Empire collection. (great way to use scraps from former projects). I used the same inks to colour my Sentiment Topper, and finished with some Bella! florals and some Droplets.


For the second card I used the same formula with a little more yellow in the mix. I used the same combination of embellishments, but turned my card to the side and created a cascading cluster from the top corner. 




Francheville card set

Ranger Distress ink: Spun Sugar, Pickled Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, Milled Lavender, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Shaded Lilac, Seedless Preserves, Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs.


Thursday, October 12

Fall Wagon with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

One of the things I love most about moving to live in the States is decorating for the holidays.  Back in Australia, it's really only Christmas, but here, I get to decorate for three months straight across three different themes...it's awesome! My front porch is already covered in all things fall, and since I was in a fall mood, I decided to decorate this cute Gypsy Wagon to match. I've had this one for a while now waiting for the perfect plan. It was one of the first things I chose from the Gyspy Soul Laser Cuts shop, and I am super pleased with the way it turned out.


Your kit will come flat and has a lot of pieces. Don't be overwhelmed by this. It's not as hard to piece together as it looks. In fact, it's quite simple. Unfortunately I was too excited to put it together and forgot to take step by step pics. I'll try to explain as best I can. Here's what you are aiming for:


A few things to note. If you plan to paint the wagon, or cover it in paper,  I find it much easier to do it before assembling. Just be careful not to paint the tabs or fill the slots with paint. I chose not to add the door to the front of mine. If you decide to add it, do it before you decorate.

Here's what the base will look like. There are little cogs to attach the wheels to the axel. They are small, be careful not to lose them. If you want the wheels to move, I definitely suggest painting each piece separately before assembly, so they don't dry together.


Here's the underside. I also decided to paint the decorative siding in gold after priming with gesso. (see the next picture also).


The sides all slot together. It should be pretty obvious. I again painted the decorative corners in gold.


I have chosen to keep my roof piece separate. It can slot in, but I wanted to be able to remove it. At the moment, I have some battery operated tea lights in there, but I also  plan to put some pumpkin spice scented pot pourrie inside, so I want to be able to change it out each year. For the roof, you will see a number of long slats, plus 4 end pieces. Two have the tabs for the assembly, and two are plain to cover over the slats once completed. Use liquid adhesive to glue the slats at one end, then flip and attach at the other end once dry.

I took strips of patterned paper and used a border punch to create the decorative slat effect for the roof. You could also paint it, or cover it in textured material. I rolled a strip of paper and adhered to the centre of the roof.



Notice how my cascading flowers continue from the roof down the side of the wagon, then draws the eye to the smaller cluster in the front of the wagon.






Supplies used:


Heartfelt Creations paper
Gesso
Silks paint:sunflower
paper sunflowers and roses
mesh gauze



Tuesday, October 10


Here in Northern California, the leaves are just starting to curl on the ends and change colours. The nights are getting cooler and the long summer days are becoming shorter. Summer is done, and Fall is here, so I used this as my inspiration to create this fall coloured Thankfulness card. 

Ruby Rock-It are partnering with Ranger at the moment for some product swaps, and we have been working with the Tim Holtz Distress ink minis.  I have used them in a couple of ways on this card. 


  I started with a simple white card base from the Franchville card sets. I used Ranger Gathered Twig distress ink along with a Ranger blending tool to add brown around the edge of the card. When applying ink in this way, use a circular motion, starting off the edge of the project to avoid harsh edges. Next I layered some Rusty Hinge distress ink, then Tumbled glass distress ink, and finally some bold areas of Broken China distress ink.


 Next, I sprayed some water across the card with a mini mister, to "activate" the ink, and heat set it. This created the bleaching water drop effect you see in the corner. Once dry, I applied a spray of Distress Spray Stain in Pumice Stone. I aimed fairly closely to get some big droplets, then again heat set. 


To keep the focus on the inked background, I kept my embellishments simple. I first added the Bella! Bling Accent Flourish across the bottom of the card. I then went back to my Broken China distress ink, and coloured a large white Bella! floral to match my background. The paper flower took the ink really well. Just be sure to apply the ink to both layers of the flower, both front and back. I combined this with some white and yellow florals. 

I tucked white mesh and hessian twine into the cluster for texture, before finally adding a simple see through sentiment sticker.


Supplies used:

Ranger distress inks: Gathered Twig, Rusty Hinge, Tumbled Glass, Broken China
Ranger Distress Spray Stain: Pumice Stone