More Blue Pretties !

Hello, I hope you are having a good Tuesday wherever you are; even though my blog is still relatively new , I am always so thrilled that when I check my stats and  I am now starting to build up my audience. It gives me such a buzz that crafters from all around the world can view my little place on the net ( I know that is the idea, but it's still amazing !!! ) and makes my little efforts so worthwhile ! So, if you have just discovered " Petite Fleur Paperie " thank you for visiting and do keep coming back, there are lots of nice goodies to come this side of Christmas !

I have the last of my blue pretties for you today ! They all use the same range from Stampin' Up that I have used in the previous two posts. The first is a little gift box which was made simply by covering with papers; I used double sided sticky tape for the whole box and measured and scored my paper reasonably accurately before attaching ( there is always some tweaking to do so don't worry, place your paper around first before committing to stick to check accuracy ). I have used my Big Shot die cutting machine to cut out the big flowers and the scalloped circle and the leaves from a lovely SU punch which also includes a little bird. These papers are retiring in a few days but all these projects would work well with other papers or even your own stamped designs.

This above piece was a bit of an experiment and I intend to do more because I really liked the effect ! I have seen both masking and wet stamping on many blogs and in many books so I put them together and had a play. You need to use a good thick watercolour paper for this technique, the mask was the frame left over after I had cut out a scalloped circle on my die cutting machine. I used a low tack dry adhesive to attach the mask on top of of the watercolour paper and then damped down the paper within the frame only,  with a water brush. I started by washing some blue and green ( SU inks picked up on my water brush ) over the background and while the paper was damp ( not wet as the colour will seep under your mask and you will loose the shape ) I then stamped in blue using a foliage design around the edge of the mask to form a frame. You can see in the next photo that I stamped well over the edge and I will probably use the frame in another project as I never throw anything away !

At this point my paper was drying out a little so I damped down my paper again (don't drown it !!! ) and then stamped the edge again in a different blue and added green and blue inks using a flower and clock design. Let this dry well and then remove your mask to reveal what will hopefully be a little masterpiece ! If you did this on a larger piece of paper you could frame it  and hang it on your wall, you could even do a series of three or more and make a display. Tip ~ if your paper doesn't dry flat,  just run the iron over the reverse side to flatten.

This is a simple little card made from all my favourite elements in this themed project and all the stamps and inks used here are available from the new catalogue. I cannot emphasise how important it is to use good inks, I have used a lot of brands and some just are not worth buying as they dry out so quickly. SU inks are highly pigmented and the design of the container ensures the ink pad is stored upside down, so the ink is always on the upper surface of the pad when you need to use it; furthermore you only have to buy the ink pad once as bottles of re-inker are available for you to top up with !

My final little card is a teacup ! I love templates and they are so easy to find online ! This card took minutes to decorate once I had cut out the shape, the fold is at the top, and if you use a good card it will stand up well. Don't forget to rub out your pencil marks after ! ( Don't look too close !!! )

I also found a little teapot which would also work well. Sometimes it's nice to get your teeth into a theme and really explore some possibilities. Hope you have enjoyed these little offerings !

Until next time, happy crafting ! 

Hugs Jane x