O for Oak

Back with my next postcard for The Craft Barn's Alpha Dictionary Challenge where the letter this time is O.   The word I've chosen to do is OAK as in trees, leaves etc.

So I've used an oblong piece of card.  stamped the Oak Leaves with the Triple Meadow Green ink pad leaving an oval plain.   I've stamped the small Oak Tree in the middle and then used edges of the big Oak Tree to stamp round the edges to give that overgrown feel.  I've drawn an oval round the tree and painted a sunsetty scene (I seriously don't like this but have no time to do again).  It's just finished with the letter Thicker and the dictionary definition.

Sorry I didn't get chance to visit you all last time - we were on holiday in Wales with little 4G and we had to sit in a car park to upload my post.  Back home now so I hope to visit you all this time. 

Many thanks for visiting me!

Elaine  xx

Tree Triptych

Well it's wet and miserable out there so I'm staying in....... here's my next postcard for The Craft Barn's Alpha Dictionary Challenge where the letter is T.    I've probably been very boring this time and gone for TREE but Three in a Triptych with some added Text.

I've stamped and clear embossed the Beech and Oak Trees with Versafine Onyx Black (to show off all the detail) on 3 pieces of card and using a torn piece of paper as a mask added the Winter Words Text stamp up the hill !  All stamps are from Oak House Studio.   With the mask still in place I've blended on green at the bottom, then blue for the sky and finished with the torn dictionary definition and letter T Thicker.

I tried not to do a scene as my S is a seaside scene but my brain was stuck on trees on a hill.  Thanks for visiting and leaving comments, they are much appreciated!!

Elaine  x  

October Challenge - Borders and Frames

Just a heads up about the new challenge over on the Oak House Studio blog. For October the theme is Borders and Frames so quite a wide choice - why not enter and have a chance of winning some goodies.  All the details are HERE and there'll be posts on the blog all month from the Design Team for inspiration.

My first card uses the Scroll Frames set of stamps - 4 individual stamps that can be placed together on your acrylic block to create a heart.  (More of my ideas for this set of stamps will be on the Oak House Studio blog on Friday).  Mine is embossed with Pearl Silver powder and painted with Delicious Damson Ink in a Bottle.  Round the edge I've stamped randomly in Purple Pigment Ink and then blended with Orchid Pigment Ink.   I coloured the seam binding with all the leftover ink on my mat and finished with the Evening Invitation sentiment from the Wedding Words set.

My second card is much simpler - I've stamped the Oak Tree and Leafy Scroll Border in black and clear embossed.  I've inked round the edges with Forest Green Pigment Ink and coloured the leaves too.

My final card uses the Men's Tools and Men's Words stamp sets along with the Thoresby scroll backgrounds.   The wooden frame is created using the Plank of Wood stamp inked in Yummy Chocolate Pigment ink and painted with Chocolate Ink in a Bottle.  I just mitred the corners and backed it with the Thoresby Square (Positive).  There is a negative version designed for silver clay and polymer clay projects.  I've stamped the large Thoresby scroll onto the card with Powder Blue Ink and added a row of tools.   Perfect for that man in your life!!

Hope I've inspired you to have a go and enter the challenge this month - thanks for visiting!!

Quotes & Lyrics - Silence

Here's my postcard for The Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics challenge which is to use Silence and/or Dazzle.   Various songs came to mind but I couldn't decide how to depict them so I went off searching for quotes and found this one about oaks and acorns. 

The background is a mix of Distress Inks - Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn and Pine Needles - and the Oak Tree is an Oak House Studio stamp inked with Olympia Green Versafine and clear embossed.  The small oak leaves and gold acorn (I was thinking Silence is Golden here) are by PSX - they've been stamped and embossed and then distressed with a little Barn Door and Spiced Marmalade. 

The quote was on an internet quote site and  its by Thomas Carlyle, the Scottish Philosopher - I thought it was about how beautiful nature can be.  However when I looked for the rest of the poem/prose I found it was made up from an 8 line paragraph in his book about The French Revolution and the oak hasn't just blown down in the wind, no, the woodman came with his axe!!   So someone has actually paraphrased what Carlyle said and made it a quote......so I hope I'm still allowed to use it.

Well last years challenge was educational and I think this years will be too.  Its great to read all the interesting quotes; not so much fun knowing some of the 'old' songs!!

Great British Craft Festival

Ok this is a blatant advert so if you don't want to read it that's fine.

If you're in the Midlands and looking for a Craft Fair there is a new one this weekend - the Great British Craft Festival at Donington Park organised by Create and Craft.

There are lots of exhibitors including Lynnda (and Martin) from Oak House Studio  - I have it on good authority that not only will Lynnda have loads of stamps to sell but lots of new goodies too - Cream Stamping Card, Colour Chemistry Ink Pads and Spray Inks in lots of colours too.   Oh and to carry on the chemistry theme, Pipettes that I'm assured are much cheaper than Tim Holtz's!!

Just to finish here's a simple card done with spray inks using torn paper for the hill and overstamped with Oak House Studio's Oak Tree.

Whatever you're doing, have a great weekend!

Snowy Oak

Well it's been an interesting week. A couple of days of continuous snow... about 2ft of it in total .... school has been closed and we've stayed in keeping warm. I've got christmas cards made and started on Tim's tags etc.

This morning it started out at minus 11 and whilst it has warmed up, it's still freezing. I went up the park taking photos but it was grey and foggy. Do you recognise this tree - it's actually the inspiration for Oak House Studio's Oak Tree stamp.



A couple of hours later and the sun has come out, the icicles are growing by the minute and I should really put my wellies on and go outside again.... but a mug of steaming coffee is beckoning!!

Tree Silhouettes

I've been playing with gloss card and distress inks again trying out an idea I saw in Craft Stamper magazine - sorry but I can't find my copy at the moment so can't credit the designer. She used just a square of colour and a silhouette flower.

Whilst working on a set of autumnal ATCs I veered off at a bit of a tangent. Everyone knows you can use Distress Inks to produce a distressed shabby effect but they work just as well swiped across gloss card to make a pale background. I've masked the background with post-it notes and used autumnal colours of Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door to show off the Beech Tree.


The Oak Tree background is just swipes of Shabby Shutters, Bundled Sage, Broken China and Stormy Skies again using post-it notes as the mask.

It's so simple but I think it looks very effective and really shows off these Oak House Studio trees. Apologies for the photos - the colours show up much better in real life...honest!