We had so many
wonderful submissions for the 2010 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 20th of the month.
The first guest designer for 2010 is the lovely Katy Fox. Many of you may know Katy as the editor of Craft Stamper (so clearly she is addicted to stamps!) and she also has a blog. Over to you Katy...
I was so excited to be asked by Bev to be a guest designer for
Banana Frog; and then a bit scared when she told me I was first up! No pressure
then!
Bev sent me four lovely froggie sets to play with – Fairytale
Princess; Fireworks; Butterflies & Swirls and Willing Race alphabet. My favourite
set was definitely the Fireworks set, it’s incredibly versatile and I can see
me using it a lot in future. I am also a bit of a font junkie so I loved the
alphabet stamps. I guess at first glance these are the two less exciting
looking sets, but I love stamps that I can use over and over, are equally good
for cards and scrapbooking, and don’t have a really specific occasion or focus.
I’ve also used two other sets of stamps I already had – Super Dreamy and Tiny
Teen alphabet.
I do love a challenge and I hope you enjoy the things I have
created to share with you this month.
Just So Cute Layout
On this layout I’ve used stamps in various ways. I’ve created my
own patterned background cardstock, I’ve made little letters that are kind of
similar to the teeny letters that are popular in scrapbooking at the moment
(and you’ll never run out of vowels!), and I’ve embossed Thickers foam alphabet
stickers using stamps.
Stamps used… Banana Frog Swirls & Butterflies; Super Dreamy;
Fireworks; Tiny Teen alphabet
1 Using four different colours of Versamagic Ink, stamp the chunkier
Fireworks images (all four sizes) onto white cardstock, overlapping the images
as shown. Add black pearls to the centre of each to add definition.
2 Trim cardstock and punch holes all around using a Crop-A-Dile.
Join the holes with wobbly doodled lines.
3 Mark the position of the left-hand edge of the photo with
pencil and stamp the border from Super Dreamy over the line (you may need to
stamp twice depending on the size of your photo). Rub out the pencil line once
dry. Colour the circles using the same inks as used to stamp the Fireworks
images, applied with a water brush.
4 To make the small letters, stamp the words ‘just so’ with Tiny
Teen stamps onto white card using black ink. Cut each letter out into a
rectangle and doodle a border round with fine black pen.
5 Place the foam Thickers stickers to spell ‘cute’ on a heat
proof craft mat and gently heat up using a heat gun. You only need to heat for
a few seconds. Firmly press the un-inked Fireworks stamp into the foam, keeping
the pressure applied for around 10 seconds. Lift to reveal the embossed letter.
If you don’t like how it turned out, reheat to remove the embossing.
6 Stamp the bracket shaped box from Butterflies & Swirls set
and add the date with the Tiny Teen stamps. Cut out. Assemble the layout as
shown using Basic Grey Ambrosia papers to complement the stamping.
Sunny Birthday
I thought the Fireworks stamps would lend themselves to making
cards more suitable for a male recipient. I combined them with alphabets to
create a bespoke greeting. The card is entirely made with inkpads and stamps.
Stamps used… Fireworks; Willing Race alphabet; Tiny Teen
alphabet
1 Repeatedly stamp each of the thinner Fireworks images in
Versamark on white card. Emboss with clear detail powder to create a resist.
2 Blend Distress Inks (Mustard Seed; Dried Marigold; Spiced
Marmalade; Fired Brick) over the background with Cut-n-Dry foam. Wipe over with
a tissue to remove excess ink from the embossed areas.
3 Stamp the largest chunkier Firework image in Fired Brick ink
and emboss with clear powder. Cut out in a circle. Blend coloured inks (the
same Distress Inks as before) over the top blending from the lightest to the
darkest in concentric circles.
4 Stamp the word ‘birthday’ using the Willing Race alphabet, and
‘happy’ using Tiny Teen onto white card. Gently blend Dried Marigold ink around
the edges of the panel. Mat onto black cardstock and add brads in the corners.
5 Glue the circle behind the greeting and add to the background panel with 3D foam. Mat the whole thing onto a black A6 card blank.
Fireworks Flowers
Stamps used… Banana Frog
Fireworks; Butterflies & Swirls; Willing Race alphabet
Stamp the chunkier Fireworks
images in pink and purple Brilliance Inks. Cut out and layer as shown to make
‘flowers’ (I cut the outer ring from the largest image to make the ‘flowers’
more balanced). Add a pearl brad to the centre of each.
Stamp a green piece of paper with the
Fireworks, again using a tonal ink so the effect is a background rather than
bold images.
Finally stamp ‘hi’ onto the purple background paper using the alphabet set and emboss it with white powder. Assemble elements on a card blank as shown.
Thank you Katy for these lovely projects. Check back on the 20th for some more (there are princesses and butterflies!)
hello! love your doggy LO!! pretty cards, the cards are great, brilliant idea to cut the stamped fireworks into flowers, must try that!
Posted by: Helen | April 01, 2010 at 01:35 PM
Thanks for sharing this! Love everything---
Posted by: {vicki} | April 01, 2010 at 04:02 PM
Love what you've done Katy, especially with those Thickers. The Fireworks are my all time fave BF stamps too. You did a great job being first up and I am even more excited about my GDT spot now! xxx
Posted by: Beki | April 01, 2010 at 09:08 PM
Wow a lovely selection, I like your firework flowers they are brilliant, Thanks x
Posted by: Mustavcoffee | April 01, 2010 at 11:41 PM
WTG Katy LOVE the projects and LOVE the colours!!! Gret to see you here :) M x
Posted by: michelle | April 02, 2010 at 07:02 PM
Fabulous - I love your layout and may need to get a set of those fireworks stamps now!
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