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!

Inspiration Online

At the end of the month, the design team tend to start chatting about what's inspiring them as they work on new projects!  Here are a few things they think might inspire you to more happy crafting!

Sassafras Paper Whimsies diecuts...Everybody is loving the cute size and designs!

Colour Combo websites like this or this -- challenge yourself to use up the paper scraps you collect after you finish a project by working them together in these colour combinations for a new look.

Creative Type -- fab ideas for using your letter stamps, and you know we love those at Banana Frog!

Find interviews with creative people at Artists Who Blog.  A great place to find new blogs to inspire!

Fabulous textile projects here!

And of course we are still loving the new stamps!

So...what's inspiring YOU right now?  Let us know - we'd love to check it out!

Workshop sneak peek!

If you are going to the Great Northern Paper Extravaganza in Harrogate this weekend you can take a Banana Frog breakfast workshop. We will be making this vibrant and fun mini album. You need to reserve your place on the workshop ahead of time. The classes start at 8.45am and run for an hour. I know it is an early start but then you get time to look round the show before it officially opens -so you can get some great bargains too!

It is going to be a fun workshop!

Cut away cards...

Sometimes square just doesn't quite cut it and after staring at a blank piece of card for a while, completely uninspired I took the plunge and dived in with scissors and decorative edge punches to create some cards with a slightly different edge...

By simply cutting off one corner of your card you can give it a bit more dimension, I edged it with a trimmed sticker by Rouge de Garance, stamped the large Scribble flower and added a sentiment with the letter stamps from Shimelle’s Paper Chains stamp set.

If you have a large square punch add holes to your card and the Pattern Blocks stamps fit perfectly. I simple suspended the stamped images with some thread attached to the back of the card and they give a graphic card a little bit of movement.

Decorative edge punches can give a pretty effect to the edge of cards too – simply trim the edge straight first and then follow along the straight edge with the punch. For the Yum card I added a patterned paper by Rouge de Garance to the back section of the card to continue the colour scheme used with the That Takes the Cake stamp set. Both cards are finished with simple text using the Pharmacy stamps and Bensfolk.

 

So give it a go, be brave and cut into that card!

Have fun!

Hannah

x x x

Tea for two?

Having recently got my hands on Shimelle's That takes the cake set of stamps I was immediately inspired to create my own cake stand complete with yummy looking cakes to decorate my tea table with!

The stand itself is made from three circular pieces of chipboard attached to an old kitchen roll tube at different heights. Each platform is covered with a selection of Rouge de Garance papers and edged with the scroll from the Circus Stories stamp set.

The top of the stand is finished off with the hearts and stars, again from the Circus Stories stamp set and I attached them to wire so that they could spring and dance about! I mounted the fun springs onto a doily to give a traditional tea time feel but with a modern twist.

Each cake is stamped onto two pieces of paper; a patterned for the cup cake bottom and a plain for the top. The tops of the cakes were then decorated with glitter to give a twinkly iced effect and a sparkly cherry was added to each one.

Finally I attached some small pearls around the edges of each level of the stand to complete the funky but traditional look.

 

The only downside is that I don’t get to eat the cake!

Have fun.

Hannah

x x x

Stamps are not just for paper...

I was missing my textile roots recently and began to wonder how I could use my favourite Banana Frog stamps in a new way to incorporate some much needed stitching therapy...

So here they are: Our very own Banana Frogs!

 

After drawing the simple frog pattern onto my fabric I printed blocks of colour onto different parts of the frogs body and then using a permanent ink pad I stamped over the top using the Whirligig, Circus Stories, Retro Baubles, Scribble Flowers and Funky Paisely stamps sets. I added a BF monogram onto the back of one of the frogs using the large Madfont set .

I embellished parts of the stamped detail with hand stitching, sequins and beads to give the froggies a bit of sparkle and glamour!

So if you fancy doing something new, try creating your own patterned fabric with your favourite Banana Frog stamps, we'd love to see your creations!

Have fun!

Hannah

x x x

Tic Tac Toe Game Board

Tic Tac Toe is a common game that can easily be played using pen and paper. However, I decided to try and create one that was portable and where the chips wouldn’t be lost easily.

Instructions

1)      Cut a piece of chipboard to your desired size.

2)      Decorate accordingly. I stuck a torn piece of music sheet and a page off a book onto it and applied gesso to the surface.

3)      Using a piece of cork coaster (from Ikea), I divided it into 9 squares using 2 different sheets of patterned papers. The lines were then marked using ric rac.

4)      Mark out the area where you want to place the coaster . Using a corner stamp from the Fanciful stamp set, I stamped and embossed the 4 square corners. Stick the coaster onto the decorated chipboard.

5)      To make the chips, I stamped 5 sets of 2 different images onto a cardstock. I made use of a leaf and flower image from Tropical Garden stamp set. I applied a thick amount of Ranger’s accent gloss onto the images. Allow the accent gloss to dry (overnight if necessary).

6)      Attach the chips unto the board using Velcro.

7)    Stamped and embossed the word Tic Tac Toe. I made use of Bensfolk alphabet stamp set. Leave out the ‘o’ in ‘Toe’ as this is replaced by one of the chips.

8)      Finally, punch two holes at the top of the chipboard. Attached eyelets and ribbon.

Now you have a hanging Tic Tac Toe game board ready to be played anytime.

I love the designs on my Take Note journalling stamps and have been trying to think up ways I could use them on my layouts other than just for journalling! I had an idea that I could use them as a frame for a photo - so I thought I would give it a try!

  First of all I stamped the parts of the journalling blocks that I wanted to use on to some pages ripped from an old paperback, and then cut round them. I thought the easiest way to do it would be to stick the frame to the back of the picture rather than onto the layout, so I ran a glue stick around the edge of my photo and started to stick things down. I was left with a couple of teeny gaps so I stamped a few of the hearts from the Take Note set and popped those over the gaps!

Once I had my frame in place I started on the rest of the layout. I have used Jenni Bowlin papers - I'm really loving this colour combo at the moment, especially with the old book print! I used Willing Race stamps for the title... So there you have it! Can you think of any different ways to use your journalling stamps? I'd love to see them!

Have money, will travel....

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a bit of a compulsive traveller, and love to visit new places as often as I can. So over the years I have managed to accumulate quite a collection of foreign notes and coins that document the countries that I have visited. This was a collection I decided to start when the euro started to come into use and I realised there would soon be countries that I had been to in Europe that I would no longer be able to get the currency for!

So after returning from my last trip away I set to work putting together something to house this growing collection of mine and instantly realised the Journaling stamp set and Pattern Blocks set were perfect for creating fake passport stamps to tie in with the whole travel theme and from that little spark of inspiration this project was born.

Starting with printed panels which I quickly put together in word to record the important things I wanted to remember about each of the countries I began randomly stamping the circular and square journaling spots and bar-code pattern stamps overhanging the edges of the panels in brightly coloured inks (its best to do this with a piece of scratch paper underneath!). Repeating this for each different currency I had.

Whilst these were drying I moved on to making the front panels for the pockets using the Steelfish Outline (lower) alpha stamps to add the country name onto a plain coloured cardstock panel measuring 3.5x4". Making a finger notch with my small circle punch, rounding the bottom corners, and outlining with a fineline marker. The back panel of the pockets are made with a 3.5x4.75" pieces of patterned paper with rounded corners and a hole punched in the top left hand corner. To complete the pocket these two are then sandwiched together with foam tape first attached to the smaller front panel. (You can use one or two layers of tape depending on how deep you want your pocket to be).

To finish I then simply attached the stamped info panels to the back of the pocket with double sided tape, and outlined with a fineliner. Repeat the whole process for each pocket and each country, bind together with a book ring and Voila! Now where did I put those spare Baht!! 

Journaling Tags

It appears that journaling tags are popular. A look at Etsy stores will reveal an array of homemade tags on sale. I decided to have a go at making a few tags using Banana Frog stamps. Armed with a set of blank tags, I set down to play.

I opted for simple designs on the tags as I wanted to leave some space for journaling. Here are a few that I’ve come up with:

If using a tag doesn’t take your fancy, try creating your own journaling spots using various cut out shapes i.e. squares, circles, or shapes with scalloped edges. Simply have fun with your Banana Frog stamps and come out with your own unique designs. Don’t forget to show us your creations!

#1) Heart tag

            Created using I Heart You stamp set.

#2) Corner tag

            Made use of stamps from Fanciful and Journaling. To achieve the dotted lines, I used the big bracket stamp and inked the dotted lines. To ensure that you have the lines where you want, masked the surrounding areas with scrap paper and stamped.

#3) Flower tag

            This was done using stamps from Tropical Garden

#4) Squares tag

            Created using the Postage stamp set. It was later coloured in using watercolour pencils and the colours softened by brushing over with water.

#5) Swirl tag

            This was done combining Swirls and Journaling stamp set and using the masking technique.

#6) Circle tag

            This was created using stamps from Journaling and Swirls.

Here’s an example of a layout that incorporated the use of a journaling tag:

If using a tag doesn’t take your fancy, try creating your own journaling spots using various cut out shapes i.e. squares, circles, or shapes with scalloped edges. Simply have fun with your Banana Frog stamps and come out with your own unique designs. Don’t forget to show us your creations!