Banana Frog Blog

Project of the day: Going dotty

Recently I have become re-addicted to Liquid Pearls, I can't seem to get enough of adding little pearly dots here and there to all my card projects... and why should this addition not extend to my Banana Frog stamps?

There's something very therapeutic about adding those little dots to your stamped images, and there's no reason for them to just be pastel colours.

I stamped the background in red ink using a design from the Concentric set: 

 

And added red Liquid Pearls:

 

But of course there is always room for pastel colours, and the best tip is to stamp your image using Versamark, I used Flowery Thoughts for this card and added the stem and leaves by hand using a Versamark pen, and then just went over with Liquid Pearls:

 

 

Once my Liquid Pearl addiction has run its course I shall be back to adding Stickles dots!

Break out the colour!

When it comes to stamping, I'm sure I'm not the only one who reaches first for that trusty, well-worn black ink pad about 99% of the time!

It's kind of a hard habit to break because black just goes with everything right?

But I actually had a rummage through my rather extensive ink pad collection (I don't know how it got to the state it is!) the other day and decided that it was really time some of those zinging colours had an outing!

A great way to reacquaint yourself with the actual colours of your inks is to create some journaling accents with the It's all about... Documenting stamps on scraps and off-cuts. The ones you like, you just cut out and bag up for later use, they are just so handy and versatile to have around. Of the little pile I made I selected my favourite one and set about using it on a project.

Well it didn't take much to remind me why my two favourite non-black shades are Memento Rose Bud and Versamagic Turquoise Gem - a fab combo indeed. And here is the end result of where that colour journey took me:

  

The itty bitty font in the Paper Chains set is just the perfect fit for those journaling blocks, and the circle stamps were fab to add a little accent too.

 

To lift the colours a bit more I traced the edges with glossy accents.

So there you have it, one journaling card down... a dozen odd left to go!

Project of the Day:: Party Favours

So you're organising a kid's party. You have the guests to invite,  cake, food, activities to prepare, not forgetting party favours too. Rather than going out to buy a goodie bag, you can easily create one using cardstock and stamps. I've accumulated a load of cardstock over the years, some colours which I know I will never use for my pages. So instead of leaving them on the shelf, I tend to use them for making gifts. I found an instruction (off the web) for making a sour cream container and proceeded to make a few for party favours.

1. Cut a 6x6" piece (size may vary depending on how large or little your gift is). You can easily get 4 pieces out of a 12x12" sheet.
2. Spray glimmer mist on the cardstock to render it glittery.
3. Stamp images randomly on the cardstock. I used Scrbble Flowers and It's All About Stars stamp sets.
4. Apply double-sided tape on one end of the cardstock and adhere to the other end, without pressing on the sides.
5. Apply double-sided tape on the end of the container.
6. Fill the container with sweet or any treats.
7. Fold this end in opposite direction to the other end such that it forms a cross when you look from the top.
8. Now decorate the container as desired. I kept it simple as I needed to make a fair number. As I had included gifts for different sexes, containers meant for girls were top with a scribble flower and those for boys were decorated with a star. Both of which were stamped and cut out.

These were easy to make and will make a delightful party favour to a kid. With the school term nearly the end, they will do well for end of year teachers' gift as well!

Project of the Day :: Bubbles'n'bling

 
I have a had a madly busy (slightly stressful) week, so what better way to unwind than with a nice bath full of bubbles... and then I saw the boring plain glass bottle that the bubblebath is kept in and thought 'now that needs a banana frog make-over'!

So I gilded the top and and bottom with a random molten effect way, and then began stamping the bottle sides - the 'its all about cirlces' set are ideal for creating 'bubbles'.  But sadly the bottle sides weren't completely flat... so I had to find a solution.... which was to stamp onto clear sticky back plastic (sbp) and wrap it around the bottle!  aaah I knew that watching all those episodes of Blue Peter as a child would pay off eventually! :o)   I estimated the size of the sbp I wanted/needed and got stamping - I didn't stamp too much because I knew the bottle was transparent and so all sides/images would be visible.  I stamped using white stazon ink which is great because its opaque but when it is backed by the coloured bubble bath it reflects some of its colour - nice!

 

I added some gems for dimensional 'bubbles' and 'cos a girl's got to have a bit of bling with her bath hasn't she!

and now I'm off to lay in that bath of lovely bubbles, admire my newly transformed bottle and, most importantly, relax.......................

Jo

x

wave the flag for summer...

Hi folks! We have been fortunate lately and had some brief spells of summer sunshine to lift our spirit's and it got me thinking about all the summer BBQ's that I can't wait to have this year.

But what does every good BBQ need other than good weather, food and friends? Why some fabulous Banana Frog bunting (or flags!) to decorate the place.

I used the scallop edge from the Circus Stories stamp set to create a pretty and fun edging along all the flags.

I also used the Scribble Flowers and Whirligig stamp sets to decorate the flags with.

Then the were simply attached to some garden canes with eyelets and ribbons.

A pretty addition to any outdoor party this summer!

Enjoy!

Hannah 

Blender pen with Banana frog stamps! Project of the Day

Hello everyone ! Today I am going to show you a really fun technique to use with your Banana Frog

stamps.. Supplies that you will need are : cardstock (any color) for your card, banana frog stamps

( I used the Build a Cupcake set, this is a very fun set),ink ,some strips of paper, and a Blender pen.

 So after you have your cardstock cut to

the size you want your card. You will stamp you image on another piece of cardstock like pictured below.

You can also see the the photo some ink on the side of my stamp block the red and blue. This is where the

technique comes in,you just pick up the ink with the blender pen and color in your stamped image,which

is also pictured below.

 

Then all you gave to do is cut your colored stamped imaged out! Below is the card I made using this technique also in the photo below is a blender pen.  Thanks for coming by the blog!

amy

It's not hard to resist!

Resist stamping is a great technique to try for eye-catching backgrounds, and the Scribble Flowers set is perfect to try this out.

You'll need:

 

• White cardstock
• Nicely cleaned stamps
• Versamark ink
• Clear embossing powder
• Watercolour paint
• Tissues

Make sure your stamps are clean, ink up with the Versamark ink and stamp your background.

Apply clear embossing powder over the stamped images, tap off the excess, and use a fine brush to brush away any areas where the powder has clung due to static.

Heat emboss the stamped background.

Mix the paint so that it has a watery consistency (this will enable it to resist properly - if it is the consistency of acrylic paint it will simply dry over the resist image).

Apply the paint with a foam brush.

To bring out the effect, dab at the stamped image with a tissue to remove the excess paint.

Once dried, cut your background to size for your project.

Stamping school: Backgrounds

Hello! . Today I am going to show you a way I like to use background stamps from banana frog! For this card I used the stamp set Backgrounds.

First you will need some cardstock cut down to card size.

 

Then you will need a square piece of paper to place on to your card front. I used removable adhesion

to place my paper square on my cardstock something like this.

 

I then took my stamp and stamped the edges of my of my card .

 So that when you get done stamping around the edges,it will look something like this, now you can remove the white square from your card,leaving this

 now comes the embellishments. I added some ribbon and a cardstock sticker.

 

 

and here is my finished card. Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to come back for many ideas

on stamping with banana frog stamps

Amy

Project of the Day :: Stamped Coasters

I’d guess I’m not alone in being regularly tempted by anything plain and potentially stampable. You’ve fallen victim to the ‘I could do something with that’ syndrome, too, right? It happened to me a few weeks ago in the supermarket, a place where I’m especially vulnerable (due to boredom) and often spend as much time looking at interesting packaging and non-consumables as I do food. I’ve been wanting to try stamping on wood for a while now, so a set of inexpensive plain bamboo coasters didn’t even need a second thought. I bought them home and broke out my Banana Frog stamp sets to work out the where, what and how. One of the many wonderful things about clear stamps is the fact you can arrange them on your chosen surface before committing anything to ink and get an idea of how a finished design might look. I eventually decided on two from Shimelle’s Circus Stories set, teamed with some Amy Butler prints which have been burning a hole in my paper drawer since I bought them last month.

To put each one together, I lined up the swirl and strip stamps on an acrylic block and stamped with a clear VersaMark pad near to one edge of the coaster. The flat surface means it’s easy to get a good, even impression and the VersaMark’s stickiness compared to coloured inks helps stop slipping on the slightly shiny surface.

With the impression stamped, I then added white embossing powder on top and dusted off the stray bits with a tiny paintbrush before heating. The surface took a bit longer to cool down than paper or cardstock, but once it did, the image was fixed. I also found that some of the smaller details (i.e. the tiny dots along the swirl and strip) were hazier in places than they might have been on paper. After some experimenting, I went back over the image with a paper-piercing tool, pushing it a little way down into the surface of the coaster. It brought the details back out, and added a little bit of extra texture – the best kind of double-bonus problem-solving.

With the stamped part finished, I trimmed four of the Amy Butler prints to size, rounded the lower corners and stuck into position. A quick spray of clear varnish (or a coat of Mod Podge) will protect your hard work from the rigours of water-rings and wine-stains, and a piece of coordinating felt glued to the underside finishes everything off neatly.

If you’ve got any questions or (even better) a stamped project that started life on the supermarket shelves, we’d love to hear about it. Post in the comments below, or to the ever-marvellous Flickr group.

 

Until next month, have a happy Easter, Froglets!

 

Kirsty

x

Project of the day: Build a... border?

No, it's not a new Banana Frog stamp set... but a way to use that old chestnut, the Build a Bloom set!

If you are addicted to scallop borders, try your hand at creating one using these stamps:

   

I wanted to create a nicely matching scallop border for this pretty strip of paper (yay me on using up those scraps! *Ü*).

So I marked some guide lines on my card blank roughly half an inch narrower than the paper:

 

Then I inked up the swirly petal stamp, and stamped it so that the swirl of the pattern appeared just at the pencil line:

 

I carried on stamping along so that the petals were almost touching - you can vary your spacing and the height of your petal from the line depending on the type of border you want to create:

 

Once you've done that row, flip your card round and stamp the bottom border, making sure you're lined up with the top:

 

Once you're done, attach your strip of paper - and hey presto, you have a custom-made scalloped border!

 

All you need to do now is add a few embellishments and a greeting, and you're done:

 

For a quirky border you can create a grassy background effect using the plain petal and stamping a bit more randomly:

You can edge your cards and create frames too, this looks great with really striking colours:

 

Or make the border the main focus of your card - like this leafy vine effect:

     

Or invert the petals for a more elegant look:

 

I hope those have given you a few ideas on how else to use these stamps. :o)

In addition to Build a Bloom, I used:

• Classic Wedding
• Pharmacy Large
• Pharmacy Regular