Can't you believe it's December already? The year is drawing to a close and it won't be long before the New Year is upon us. Anyway, to celebrate the festive season, the Froglets were given this colour inspiration:
Here's what the they came up with:
Anthea
Stamps used, Retro Space
Tips, Stamp and emobss your image then colour it in with Twinkling H20s, Matt your stamped image with patterned paper and then raise it off your layout with some foam tape.
Hello everyoneeee,
how are you??? Are you already running for christmas Gift??? ^__^
I love december it's soooooo warm month!!!!:)
Today we'll create some card using a tecnique that I love sooo much! Canvas, stamps and many different inks:)
Materials you need to make this project:
Ooooookkkkkkkkkk:)
Cut some pieces of neutral canvas and use the ink pads to color them;) I used colors like cream, organge, yellow, violet , brown, fucsia, pink .. remember to use tender colors for the backround and bright or dark colors to stamp;)
Use your creativity to make fabolous embellishments for your cards;)
If you want you can also paint the borders ;) or use acrylic colors ;)
Play with the stamps, it is so relaxing!!!;)
Create your cards!!!
Here all the single cards ;)
I hope to have inspired you ;)
Love Lory
We had so many wonderful submissions for the 2009 Banana Frog design team that in addition to our amazing design team, each month we will have a guest designer showing you fantastic creations. The guest designer will have two days to show their lovely projects, 1st and 15th of the month.
This month we welcome the lovely Gwen Lafleur to Banana Frog.
My name is Gwen Lafleur and I live just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, but I'm originally from the Northern Virginia / Washington D.C. area. I've had an obsession with paper and stickers since I was a little girl and while I was growing up, my mom would do craft fairs in our home so it's no surprise that I grew up to have the crafting bug. I've been scrapbooking for about 15 years and I started stamping a few years after that. By day I work for a large online company as a website conversion manager and by night I'm a full-time student (for the third time!) This time I'm working on getting my MBA and hopefully after I graduate I'll be finished with school for a while.
With my schedule I tend to get pretty busy, but working in my craft attic helps me to de-stress when I need to get away from work and homework so I make sure I set aside some time to come up and play as often as possible. In my free time (when I'm not scrapping!) I love to cook, read, watch ice hockey and I especially love to travel. My trips are one of my favorite scrapbook subjects (along with my adorable diva of a niece) and I post lots of photos and layouts on my blog (http://gwenyth.typepad.com). With that, I'd just like to give a huge "thank you!" to Banana Frog for this opportunity... I love Banana Frog stamps and it's been a lot of fun to have the chance to use them and share my projects.
Christmas Tussie:
I've been seeing a lot of tussies making the rounds on the internet and I really wanted to try them. With the Retro Christmas and What a Star! sets, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a Christmas tussie.
I cut a cone shape out of white cardstock and then stamped and heat embossed the stars - I did each color separately so I stamped and embossed three times. Then I sprayed the paper with a few different colors of Glimmer Mist and blotted - the embossing powder resists the mist. I attached a string to hang my wreath accent to the cardstock so that it would come through the tip of the cone and then used Score-tape to create the cone shape.
For the wreath accent, I punched a scalloped circle and covered it in gold glitter and then adhered a glittered chipboard frame. I stamped the wreath and colored it with Copics, cut it out and attached it to the chipboard. Then I just added a plastic crystal to hang from the bottom.
For the top, I put a small piece of floral foam inside the tussie and stuck in a Christmas floral pick. Then I stamped and colored the sleigh, added Stickles, and cut it out and attached it to a piece of thick wire and stuck it in with the pick. Finally I attached some sheer gold ribbon to the insides of the cone for the handle.
Li'l Cowgirl:
For the background, I stamped the daisies and leaves from the Build a Daisy set using resist ink and then while it was still a bit wet I spritzed the background with Glimmer Mist. Instead of resisting the mist, the wet resist ink soaks it in and it makes it darker than the rest of the page.
For this project Gwen has put together a wonderful tutorial!
Build a Daisy Card:
For this card, I used the Build-a-Daisy set again. I stamped the petals using a glue pad and then covered them with fine glitter and cut out the individual petals.
When I attached them to the card, I wanted the top layer to have some dimension so I adhered the petals in the center and then cut small pieces of pop dots and put them underneath so that as they came out they would lift up.
I also made the envelope out of vellum and used the stem stamp and curved it on my stamping block to make it match the curve around the cutout on the envelope.
Thank you Gwen for some gorgeous projects and a super tutorial! Check back on the 15th to see some more projects by our talented December Guest Designer!
I recently received delivery of my new Christmas stash purchases for this year, I totally love Christmas and winter products, they are always my most favourite to play with. All that pretty paper and glittery embellishments, oh yes!
So what better excuse to break into that stash than to make some Christmas cards, because really.. this year my progress hasn't been so great! So again I am using that keep it simple-ish approach in hopes of catching up a little.
But, I decided to mix things up a bit and use some stamps that weren't actually Christmas stamps - but which set?
Well that Build a Bloom set must be one of the most versatile designs from Banana Frog - it even does Christmas trees!
These whimsical Christmas trees can be left plain or blinged up with a little glitter - I used the little square stamp from Make a Chain to create the "trunk".
And since I had another of those IKEA card blanks to hand, I made one with some snazzy "baubles":
And definitely some more glitter here!
So many possibilities with this set, it's why it's one of my favourites. :o)
I was so excited when I received a parcel full of new stamps in my letter box, I couldn't wait to get playing. This month I have made a layout about my sister, we are in Australia and she has just moved to the UK as a Primary School Teacher, my boys miss her like crazy so I thought I would pay a little tribute to her using the gorgeous new designs.
On this layout I have used 2 of the new sets.
First up is the Matryoshka Dolls Set, WOW, I love this set!! I have used them twice on the layout
I have stamped them onto some patterned paper, then cut them out, attached them to my layout, using some foam tape for some dimension, and then applied some Kindy Glitz to one pair and Flower Brads on the other just to jazz them up a little.
I have also stamped out the lace like design from the same set hand cut it out, attached it to my layout and then added a line of pearls along it
I used the circle like design from the same set, stamped it out onto some cardstock, cut it out, added a brad to the centre then using some foam tape for dimension I placed it in the centre of a paper flower. I paired this up with the Build a Daisy set. I picked one of the designs from the larger petals, stamped it out over and over, then cut these out, adhered these to the back of my paper flower and curled up the edges slightly for some dimension.
Do you have a project using some Frog stamps? if so we would like to see it, head on over to our Flickr Gallery and start loading them up!!
Well seen as my next blog post isn't till after that Jolly old man pays us a visit I just want to wish you all a Safe and Happy Christmas!! From Me to You!!
Happy Scrapp'in
Anthea
Tracie and I spent a lovely day in Cornwall back in October for the Scrapangels Scrapfest. It was a day of cutting, sticking and above all, stamping our way to wonderful creations. As Tracie is having problems posting at the moment, I wanted to share one her projects from that day. It is a gorgeous canvas using It's all about...Arrows, Retro Snowflakes and Teen Tiny.
Adhere sticky backed canvas to 6x6 piece of card and paint using acrylic paint.
Whilst the paint is still wet, stamp over the canvas surface using one of the retro snowflake stamps.
As you stamp you will remove some of the acrylic paint, which when dry will leave a decorative pattern.
Using a baby wipe, apply green and blue acrylic paint to the framed canvas - try not to apply too much paint as you want to achieve a wash effect.
Using sharp scissors cut approx. 2 inches from the rounded end of each of the wooden sticks.
Paint wooden pieces using white acrylic paint.
Stamp a heart on to a small piece of metal using Stazon ink.
Cut out metal heart and place on to stamping foam.
Gently emboss over the design using an embossing tool or blunt pencil - don't press to hard!
Stamp house on to painted decorative canvas piece and cut out - leaving a small border.
Attach metal heart to the centre of the house using a foam pad.
Stamp the words "Home Sweet Home" on to left over pieces of painted canvas and cut out.
Using Glossy Accents, stick wooden sticks to canvas to create a "picket fence".
Attach house using 3d foam pads. The house should sit on top of the fence.
Draw a cloud on to white cardstock, cut out and adhere to canvas with it just peeping out from behind the house.
Add words "Home Sweet Home" to top right of canvas - using Glossy Accents to adhere in to place.
Add a row of buttons along bottom of fence and doodle flower stems and leaves.
Finally add 3 silver cup hooks to the bottom of the canvas to create a safe place for you to hang your keys.
Voila! Your home décor project is now complete.
Hi all!
The last post from Bev made me laugh … come on admit it how many people end up crafting like that? I’m just glad it’s not just me and maybe I won’t be quite so embarrassed to show you my inky blocks and craft mat from now on LOL!
Although Bev did have the excuse of preparing her fabulous demos for create and craft, didn’t she do great! Lovely Demos and I am soooo going to be making those candles!!
Talking of the show I thought I would use one of the samples I sent her for this stamping school. 1. Because I really like it, it’s simple and would make a great Christmas gift and 2. Because I can say ‘as seen on tv’ LOL, I’ve always wanted to say that, thanks for indulging me!
So here it is
Boho Chic Jewellery
Not a lot of ingredients for this one …. You will need the large Doll from the Mastryoshka stamp set, some permanent ink, permanent markers and some shrink plastic. You will also need some beads and charms, a silver ring, jump rings, chain, wire and something to make the necklace from. I used a leather thong but you could use a chain or some thin ribbon.
Stamp your Doll onto the shrink plastic. Now at this point I am going to be honest, it’s not that easy!! Because it is quite a solid mass of ink, the stamp is quite wet and it slips on the shrink plastic so go careful, be definite with the positioning but don’t press down straight away. Once it is in place hold it steady and gently apply pressure over the stamp area. And like me if at first you don’t succeed try, try and try again! I actually had about 8 images in the end and picked the best 3!
Once you have your images use some permanent marker pens to colour in the detailed decoration on the image.
Cut out the dolls, leave a small margin around the outside and cut a tab at the top, to punch a hole in.
Shrink your dolls. The large doll makes the perfect size mini doll!
Now start gathering charms and beads and add all the elements onto a silver ring with some jump rings, chain and wire.
Build up all your charms, dolls and beads until you’re happy.
Attach to the necklace. I used a long length of leather thong tying the ends and looping it through the silver ring, lastly adding a silver bead above the silver ring for a little extra decoration and voila, your very own piece of boho chic jewellery!
I hope you feel inspired to have a go at some shrink plastic jewellery now. You could add a bracelet too like this one that I made back in the summer! I can’t wait to get my hands on the kawaii kokeshi set of stamps, how cute will they look made into jewellery?
Whatever you’ve been inspired to create with your banana frog stamps please share them with us in our flick’r gallery. Thanks for hopping by the lilly pad and please hop back soon to get even more inspiration from the other talented froglets.
Until soon happy crafting
Love
M x
I just wanted to show my desk. I would like to think that by showing it to you that it would make me more tidy in future. Cathartic like. I'd like to think that, but I know that is just not going to happen! Anyone who knows me well, anyone who has worked with me or even just spent time with me or anyone who has cropped with me will know I am messy. I am clean but incredibly messy. I am the kind of person who has to tidy up her craft area before she can do anything creative or uses every pot and pan in the house when cooking -just ask John!
So here it is...
I need to also tell you that I was still actually working on this space when I took the photo. I ended up with about 3" square! Thank God I was making cards and not scrapbooking at the time!
The eagle eyed amongst you will notice a couple of new images amongst the mess on my desk (and for those not eagle eyed, they are the butterflies and the Japanese dolls), they are brand new stamps which I will be launching on the TV tomorrow. If you are awake at 9am tomorrow morning tune in to Create and Craft and laugh at me while I try to demonstrate while concentrating on not swearing, looking at the monitors or sticking my tongue out in concentration! If you would like to see the new sets ahead of time, check out here where you can see what will be on the show -scroll down a bit to see the stamps.
I have made quite a few bits and bobs but have had a huge helping hand from Kirsty, Audrey and Michelle. Thank you so much. They realised that things were getting a bit stressful with having 2 kids off school sick and so sent me some gorgeous samples to show. Thank you, thank you :)
OKay, so I have to pack everything up and get ready. Let me know if you watch the show!
With Christmas fast approaching I wanted to show you this month how you can make quick and easy crimbo cards - even if you haven't got any Christmas Stamps.
Materials used :-
Kraft card - Square
Twine
Glue pad
Glitter
Quickie Glue Pen
Circle Punch
Black VersaFine Ink (Excellent for detailed stamps)
and last but certainly not least
BANANA FROG SUPERLISCIOUS STAMPS
Take your Kraft Card and the dash stamp from SUPERLISCIOUS and ink in black and stamp around two sides and bottom of card, next punch out three 1" circles and using the "circle dots" stamp and the glue pad "ink up" and stamp onto the circle then taking your chosen glitter cover the stamped design and leave for a while before shaking off the excess, this gives it time to adhere.
Attach the circles using foam pads then using your Quickie Glue pen, run a line up from the circles to the top and stick the twine down, make bows from more twine and attach with a liquid glue.
And there you go a quick and Krafty Christmas
