Banana Frog Blog

POTD - Tweet and fluffy

Hi all and welcome to my little fluffy corner of the Lillypad for this month. I came across a box of feathers in my studio the other day and apart from wondering why I had them, I also thought what can I do with them and came up with this...

 
 ‘Tweet and fluffy cards’

I used the Hiya chick stamp set with its tadpole sister shake your tail feathers and the It’s all about hearts stamp set alongside my new favourites Letraset flex markers, coloured card, a doodle pen, a crop-a-dile and some black brilliance ink. Oh and some cheap hairspray (all will become clear!)

 
I stamped the bird with a big tail from the tadpole set several times onto some letraset paper and then here’s where the hairspray comes in, when the ink was dry sprayed the images with hairspray, this fixes the ink so it doesn’t run when the images are being coloured in.

 
I coloured in one complete bird image and then just sections for layers on another. Flex markers are brilliant if you haven’t tried them. They are lovely to work with and work well with the other letraset markers, they kind of work like coloured blenders.

 
I cut out a bird and its matching layers and curled these for dimension and then added some feathers behind the tails for some fluffy fun!

 
For the pink square card, I stamped out the large heart from it’s all about hearts onto some red card and some paler pink card. I cut out the pale pink heart losing the scallops and cut the red heart out leaving a border around the scallops. I also cut out the centre of the red heart and kept it to one side for another card. Using the small heart stamp from the Hiya chick set and the sentiment from the tadpole set I filled in the pale pink heart.

 
 
Sticking the pale pink heart to the base of the card I added the red frame on foam pads as well as the bird for dimension.

 
 
I used the red heart I had cut out of the previous frame on the blue card and added a sentiment from Hiya Chick. The pink strip of card is doodled with a scallop and cut out then punched with a crop-a-dile. The pattern on the pink card is created using the cute little flower stamps in the Hiya chick set.

 
 
And lastly the yellow card is matted with a teal and a hand doodled and cut out yellow rectangle of card. The sentiment is from the Hiya chick set as is the branch stamp which I stamped 3 times to build a bigger branch for my bird to sit on.

I like my brightly coloured fluffy birds and think they would make great scrapbook embellishments.... oh and they’d look fab on a home decor frame!

Thanks for stopping by the lillypad, I hope you’re well and happy and I’ll see you soon. Until then Happy Crafting

Love MJM x

Banana Blog Hop & Winners

Hope you are enjoying the last week of the school holidays (especially if you have children). Where does time flies? 

Here are the winners of last month's blog hop:

Helen (http://craftimperfect.blogspot.com/)

Wendyp81 (http://www.paperinkandsmiles.blogspot.com/)

Alisha (no blog given but you know who you are!)

Congratulations! Email Bev ([email protected]) with your choice of Banana Frog stamp set. 

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Now for this month's blog hop. With a number of Froglets not with us this month, we have only a couple of Froglets showcasing their artwork! Without further ado, here they are:

Jo (http://www.jofirthyoung.blogspot.com/)

Beki (http://www.beksynormz.blogspot.com/)

Enjoy today's inspiration. We'll be back again next month, hopefully in full force for the next blog hop!

 

Project of the Day :: Scraps & Sentiments

Hi

I have made a conscious decision to use up my stash - the big picture stash - embellishments, paper etc etc etc...
First in the firing line was the box I have on my desk where I put all the scraps left over when making a project - we all have one of those don't we - the box that contains stuff that  'will come in useful..', that is 'too nice to throw away' and that 'there must be a use for..'  Oh yes, we all have that box - it can't just be me surely??
My cards this month are going to be using up some of those bits...

As part of the stash-attack I die cut lots & lots of rosettes (thankyou Tim Holtz for creating those dies - makes rosette creation much easier!) out of left over 12x12 sheets. I put them in a box ready for future projects:

So my cards this month use some of those rosettes, scraps and of course - Banana Frog stamps..
I gathered up sets that had borders and greetings and used them to add interest to the backgrounds and act as a base for embellishments:

      
   

Using 'All about Elegance' and  'Sentimental Style':
 

Using another 'All about Elegance' border and 'Sentimental Style' phrase:

 
 

Using 'Shimelles Backgrounds' and 'Sentimental Style'

 
 

Using 'Swirls' and 'Sentimental Style'

 
 

I hope these have inspired you to 'attack' your stash - you'll be surprised what you rediscover and what you can create (and you'll be glad you didn't throw it away!!) and further ways to use your stamps.

Thanks for stopping by, take care

Jo

POTD: One Simple Idea, Endless Cards

Hey Everyone, Beki here! Back after a short break while my study got a little full on and crafty pursuits went out of the window!!  I usually take the opportunity during school holidays to make a litttle stash of cards so that when things get busy and I need a card I can just reach for one.  With this in mind I thought I'd find a simple format for a card that I could replicate but change slightly so I didn't just make a pile of identical ones.  This is what I came up with...

 
Some simple paper piecing that looks really effective.  All you need is your favourite BF stamps that have parts which are easy to cut out, I used That Takes The Cake and Cupcake Greetings (both of which are absolute bargains at the moment!!).  You will also need some paper scraps, ribbons and card blanks.

First stamp your images onto scraps of paper....

 
The rest couldn't be simpler....cut out each seperate part and piece together.  Leave somewhere to overlap them when you stick them together.

Stick them together.  Choose some paper to mat your cupcake on, I used a text design as this is a favourite of mine but grid paper or other monochrome patterns would work well.

 
Create a mat using this background paper and stick to your card. You can vary the design by using different mats. For example, I used the smaller cupcakes and circle stamps from Cupcake Greetings for a different design.

 
Finish with a ribbon.

You could also add a greeting....

 

 

So that's it.  Hope you like it and if you find any other Banana Frog stamps that work well for this, let me know xx

POTD: Stamping in Two Colours

In my other life, I am a primary school teacher.  I recently saw a scapped classroom door sign made by a colleague and decided that I wanted one of my own - but this would work for all sorts of things.  Children's bedroom door signs? 

I started by making the main part of the sign. 

I used the Kawaii Kokeshi set to stamp the three little dolls.  I wanted to have the images in colour rather than simply black and white, so I stamped each one twice before cutting and assembling. 

I think they're really cute :-)

I used the De Louisville Tadpole Set for my stamped lettering.  The size is perfect and it's quick and easy to stamp the letters, snip them out and ink the edges.  Plus, you never run out of vowels! 

All finished and ready to go on the door! 

POTD - Simply clear stamping

Hi all, here I am again to share a Project of the Day with you and as promised I expanded on the project I did for the Frog blog hop last Saturday.

 
Sun, Sand, Sea

Stamping onto acetate to create a background page for scrapbooks is super easy but quite striking especially when you add alcohol ink for added interest. All I have used is the It's all about Circles stamp set and the De Louisville Tadpole stamp set for the alphas. I have added to that Alcohol inks; stream, oregano and bottle, black Stayzon, Adirondak ink; denim, Distress ink; weathered wood, Ribbon, hessian, lace, gems and some scrap paper. Of course I also used a 12 x 12 acetate sheet!

 
I printed my photos in draft onto some copy paper and placed them where I would like them to go on the 12 x 12 to give myself a guide for the stamped pattern. I then went to town with the Circle stamp set and some stayzon creating a pattern.

 
Once I was happy with the stamping I flipped over the acetate and dripped the alcohol ink over the stamped areas and the photo area. I didn’t do anything else than drop the colour on and let it do its own thing and I made sure I left some areas clear so the acetate effect can still be seen.

 
Turning the 12 x 12 back the right way when the alcohol ink was dry, which doesn’t take long, I removed the draft photos and built up my layout using proper photos, scrap paper, hessian, ribbon and lace.

 
I stamped the rectangle from the Circles stamps to create my journaling block on to white card using blue ink and weathered wood distress ink to break down the white.

 
I stamped the title using the DeLouisville stamp set on some scrap paper ripped into strips.

 
And finally I added some gems to the circles I had stamped.

 
I love the mix of textures against the acetate and the lovely patterns that the alcohol inks create.

 

An acetate layout like this looks great on an easel and creates a great talking point.

Why not have a go at creating with some acetate? Banana Frog stamps lend themselves very well to this technique with the lovely simple graphic patterns, most of which are on sale so grab a bargain while you can!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my project with you and until I see you again next month Happy Stamping

Love MJM x

Banana Frog Blog Hop

A little later than usual but my apologies.... I'm in a completely different time zone at the moment!

We are back with the Froglets showcasing their creative work in this month's blog hop. The theme is summer-related. So without further ado, here are the blogs of the Froglets: 

Audrey (http://www.organisedmess.blogspot.com)

Beki (www.beksynormz.blogspot.com)

Francine (http://francineclouden.typepad.com/)

Michelle (www.mjm-thearttart.blogspot.com)

 

And if you fancy winning a Banana Frog stamp set, simply leave a comment on the blogs that you hopped. Happy hopping!

 

Project of the day :: Good Luck!!

Hi

Everyone needs a bit of good luck every so often, so this month I made some cards on that theme.  I used the Kowaii Kokeshi images and the colour that in the Chinese culture is considered lucky - red.

 
 
 
The cards have been created by stamping in bands of images - in red, brown and black with accents of gold.  I created the sentiment strip on the computer, cut it out and attached it over the stamped panels.

 
Thanks for stopping by - go take a look at the Banana Frog site - these cute images are on sale! Clear HERE to go straight there....

Take care

Jo

Project of the Day : Stamped Grid

I think my go to scrapbook page layout is a grid. I love grids and most of my pages seemed to be based on one kind or another. Like this one

Here's how I made it.

I taped up my page with some low tack masking tape then misted with a couple colours of spray ink

I loaded up my acrylic block with the circular stamps from the Build a Daisy set

Then stamped randomly over the page

Once everything was dry, I removed the tape

Then proceeded to make my page

Here's a close up

Go ahead! Give this technique a try, it's pretty quick and you can get a unique background by varying the stamps and colours.

 

POTD: Eat Cake!

Hello hello - it's time for another Project of the Day!  I love these photographs of my neice - in fact, she makes a very good model generally as she loves nothing more than posing for the camera! 

For this layout, I started with a basic foundation of cardstock and patterned paper, and added a ribbon underneath the photographs. 

Then it was time to add the pretty stuff.  I used the scrummy Cupcake Greetings set to stamp little cupcakes, and added a circular outline of hearts and words.  I love that this set is so versatile - the cupcakes fit inside different outlines, so there's lots of possibilities. I coloured the images with watercolour pencils, and matted them onto punched scallop circles, before attaching them with foam pads to raise them up a little.  I used five (always an odd number, for some reason it just looks better) along the bottom of the page - the repetition gives a nice effect I think. 

The "You're So Sweet" sentiment comes from Cupcake Greetings, and I stamped a border from Sentimental Style (again, it's great that they fit together, and makes your stamp sets so much more versatile).  


The layout title was stamped using Willing Race - a set which you would be horrified to see the state of, I've used it so much! 

And hey presto - one very pink, very girly layout! 

I hope you enjoyed my project - see you back here next month for more Banana Froggy goodness!