Inspired by Dyan Reaveley

Also at the CHS show, I watched Dyan Reaveley demonstrate her new Dyelusions colours, stencils and stamps, all of which I loved.

Something really useful I picked up was that she mops up the inks with the whole kitchen roll - just dabs all the excess ink away on the roll.  I had been struggling with this before as the inks pool a lot when you spray them on and I've always left them to dry for ages.  This way, you can just get straight on with the next stage - stencilling or stamping or more spraying - Dyan was using her white semi-opaque spray to create a shadowing effect.

All of this was fantastic, so when I came home, I had a go.  This is what I did:

I have to say that she makes it look effortless, whereas I had a few crises of confidence whilst doing it.  I used the Tim Holtz Random Alphabet mask to block out the lettering, and then sprayed Dyelusions sprays over the top.  After mopping up the excess, I stamped with Stampers Anonymous Tattered Elements and a Moulding Mat Lava Lamp.  Then I removed the masks and coloured in the lettering with a brush and Dyelusions (as I had seen Dyan do).  Then I did some extra detail with a Sharpie.

I have been doing some more and will post those when I have finished them.

A Very Merry Christmas

It has been a very busy time getting ready for Christmas, not least for the mad rush to get some Christmas cards made and written before the Royal Mail deadline passes.

So this year, after getting some Dyelusion sprays for my birthday from my lovely Stitch & Bitch friends (and the majority of them looking bemused at my delight), I thought I would use them as backgrounds in my cards.

For the tree I used some fabric I had previously printed with Stewart Gill True Colour Paints and I cut it into 1" strips and machined onto fabric.  I then cut tree shapes and bondawebbed them onto the paper.

Also for the Christmas Stitch get together, I made a table runner out of purple felt which fell out of my cupboard last week.  I used the Sizzix Reindeer and Snowflake dies and an On The Edge border which I sewed onto the panel.  

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and I will post again in the New Year.