Cracked Glass Technique… by Rachel Jakes

Hi, I have a little picture tutorial for you on the cracked glass technique,

Here are the things that you need.. (minus a freezer..lol)

Ultra thick embossing powder,

versa mark

a heat gun

and of course  your coloured  image..

take your chosen image and cover with the versa mark

 

once covered in the versa mark.. i then immerse the image in the ultra thick embossing powder.. (i always use tubs for mine.. it makes less mess..)

once the image is covered with the ultra thick embossing powder.. use a heat gun to heat the UTEP

 

Repeat the last three steps a further two times..

and you will end up with a lovely smooth shiny covered image..

pop your image in the freezer for 10min..

when you remove your image it will be curled.. lol. this is normal.

just bend your image where you want the cracks to be.. (i love this part.. )

if you don’t like the result, you can always heat the utep  again and pop back in the freezer for a second go..

after you have the desired cracked effect just rub some distress ink into the cracks to give a more aged look.. this also shows the cracks up better..

i have used tea dye for my colour choice.. (the thing that i have used to apply the distress ink is a Tim Holtz blending tool)

rub any excess ink off of your image with an old cloth.

 

here is the finished image, using the cracked glass technique.

one completed card, using the cracked glass technique.

hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

hugs Rach

xx

Image “ Wee and Reindeer”

Whiff of joy Stamps 

illustrated by Norma Fickel

 

papers: my minds eye

ribbon: stash

punches: Martha Stewart border punch

charm: whiff of joy stamps 

flower: handmade.

Handmade Cracker tutorial by Rachel Jakes

Handmade Cracker tutorial…

What is a Christmas Cracker?

A Christmas Cracker is a decorated paper tube, twisted at both ends. A person pulls on each end of the cracker and when the cracker breaks, a cracker strip “pops” and the contents of the cracker falls out..in the U.K Crackers are usually placed at each persons place at the dinner table. They are pulled with the person next to them at the table before eating.. there is usually a paper hat and a quote or joke inside the cracker along with a small gift/token.. the dearer the cracker cost the better the token is..

these are the things that i used to create my cracker.. you will also need glue/tape and your filling ..

the pattered paper ..(7.5” x 12”) i have used dp but you could use Christmas wrapping paper, (the thinner the paper the easier it is to break when pulled.)

stiffener ends (2” x7”) plain white card

toilet roll tube.

A Cracker Snap… for the pop (bought from my local craft shop)

some ribbon for tying the ends..

small gift, paper hat and joke..(not shown above) you can usually purchase these things from your local craft shop.

place toilet roll tube on the reverse side of the paper you are using.. making sure that the tube is centred across the length of the paper. Add some sticky tape or glue, to the centre at the front edge of the paper, stick the toilet roll to the sticky strip…

stick the cracker snap as shown in picture above.. making sure it is in the centre of the paper.. only stick the centre leaving the rest of the snap free… else it isn’t going to pop…

stick some tape to the top edge of the dp… as shown above…

and roll the paper around the toilet roll and securing with the tape at the top edge.

so you should have the same as the picture shown below

take one of the stiffeners and add tape as shown above…

roll the stiffener so that it is smaller than the diameter of the cracker end and insert it into the end (being carful not to stick the edges where the tape is together..tricky bit) be careful not to trap the snap when doing this.

spread the stiffener out to the outer edges of the cracker wall and secure with the tape.. making sure the edges all line up.

you should end up with something like the picture above…

next with your fore finger and thumb squish the paper together between the toilet roll and the stiffener..(this is where if you used thinner paper it is easier..be careful if using thicker paper like me as it may tear)

tie some ribbon round the squished (gathered) end, to hold the opening closed.

add your goodies to the cracker through the still opened end….

(paper hat, joke, small gift)

close the end up with ribbon the same way as before once you have added your gifts…

I don’t have a hat.. or a written joke.. but hopefully you will get the idea…

Decorate your Christmas Cracker how you wish.. i used the mini quiet Santa that i got in my dt kit…. from

whiff of joy stamps

to decorate mine.. this smaller image is perfect for this project…

the dp i used is alpine frost by S.e.i

hope you enjoyed this little tutorial.

Hugs Rach

xxx

Image : mini Quite Santa

here is a link to the regular quiet Santa

illustrated by Elisabeth Bell

A video of how i colour a whiff of joy image with my copic markers...

This is a video of how i colour in a whiff of joy   image with my copic markers..

the paper i use is canson manga art board and i use memento ink for stamping.

a great source of information for all things copic can be found at 

I like markers

 

First part

 

first section of copic colouring
Uploaded by rach5614. - Watch original web videos.

 

Second part

copic colouring part 2
Uploaded by rach5614. - Discover more animation and arts videos.

Hugs Rachxxx

 

copic colouring video of a magnolia image

This is the first video of two of how i colour in a magnolia image with my copic markers..

the paper i use is canson manga art board and i use memento ink for stamping.

a great source of information for all things copic can be found at 

I like markers

just magnolia part one
Uploaded by rach5614. - Watch original web videos.

This is the second part of the video.

part two of just magnolia image.
Uploaded by rach5614. - Independent web videos.

hugs Rachxxx

Flower Tutorial. using Papershapers retro flower punches

This is a tutorial video on how i make one of my flowers using the papershapers retro flower punches..

i have said in the video that the second punch used is the small retro punch it is actually the medium punch.

There are a load of other little mistakes.. but i can’t cut the video any more…lol.. there wouldn’t be anything left!!

Hope that you can make some sense from it.. and that i gives you some ideas of your own.

Flower tutorial
Uploaded by rach5614. - Watch original web videos.

Thanks for dropping by.

Hugs Rachxx

out of the frame nestie tutorial

I keep being asked how i achieve my out of bounds images with the nestability shapes by spellbinders. i have been sending anyone who asks to the very talented Katharina’s blog as this is where i first saw this and have been hooked ever since.. below is my very own version of this technique which will stay on this tutorial page for easy reference. I have added the instructions to the pictures. but if you can’t read them then click on the picture and it should get larger.. fingers crossed.

The image that i have used for this tutorial is one of the whiff of joy stamps that is due to be released for sale on the 14th of June 2009.

hope that this little tutorial has been of some help.

take care and have fun.

hugs Rach

xxx

Copic Tutorial

I have been too chicken to do one of these before, besides the time it takes.. wow!

anyway i was asked by the girls over at stampartic magazine if i would do an article for them, and if at all possible if i could do a copic tutorial…

so here it is…lol.

this has already been posted on the stampArtic blog, and you may have seen it already, but if you haven't then you can find it here on my new tutorial page..

I have tried to make this as short as i can but to still be informative.. but it is still long..and repetitive.

i find that pictures explain things far better than my waffle..lol.

PLEASE NOTE

i am not copic certified or qualified in anyway or form, this is just to show you how i work with my copic markers, and hoping that you find it of some help.

Well first things first. you will need to stamp your chosen image. (mine is a magnolia image.) I use Memento tuxedo black ink with my copic’s. The paper that i use is canson manga art boards. (again not everyone's choice..just mine)

the colours that i like to use for skin tones are E000, E00, E51, and E11. you can by all means use any combo you like but this is just what i like to use.

i start by adding the lightest colour first, while trying to imagine where the light source is coming from.

I then use E00, a slightly darker shade. not going quite as far as the first colour.

E51, is next.. again, slightly less area is coloured in.

then the darkest shade is added, E11. i use this as my shadow.

I then add my cheek colour, i sometimes do this first before any colour, depends if i remember or not..

go over the whole face with your lightest colour again in a small circular motion, (in my case E000) this blends all the colours together.

one finished face.

just do all the other skin parts the same way, try and visualize where the light source is coming from.

start with the lightest of your colour choice and work your way through to the darkest of your colour choice.

remember after this stage just go over the whole area again in small circular motions with the lightest colour to blend all the colours together.

here is the arms complete and the start of the top. again start off by using the lightest of the colours that you have chosen..

the way that i choose my colours (apart from the skin) is to pick the main colour that i want to use and then pick colours a shade lighter and shade darker than my main chosen colour, for the shadow and light.. i.e... for the t-shirt my choice was Y35 as my main colour I then went on to pick the colours y32 and y38 as my contrasting colours, not leaving to big a gap in the shades.

you can mix any colour combo, but I'm not that brave at the moment. this is just the way that i pick out my colours.

add your next shade not going as far as the first.

then add you darkest colour, if you have more shades in between that is fine, just keep going as before.

last but not least go over the whole area with the lightest colour to blend.

I work in small areas of my image at a time so that the ink stays wet and blends smoothly.

i coloured the rest of the stripes on the top the same way,

the trousers are done exactly the same way again. i will show you one leg to show you. and so you can see what i mean when i say i work small areas at a time.

this is the main colour added.

remember if you keep going over and over the same area with the same colour again and again your colour will darken.. just a word of warning.

last but not least i add the darkest colour where i want my shadow to fall.

this is what the trouser leg looks like once i went over the whole area with the lightest colour.

this is the image with the skin and yellow area’s complete.

I wanted Tilda’s little bee hat to be black, don’t colour your area with one shade of black as this will make your image look flat. instead use different shades of grey..( that’s what i do..)

using your lightest colour first. My Choice is W4

layer the colours like before ( lightest to darkest)I used the colours W4, W6, W8, and W10 for the hat

again remember to go over the whole area with the lightest colour to blend the colours together.. (W4 in this case)

a closer look

and start all over again for the stripes in the top.. again visualising where you think the light source is coming from.

this is the different layers of colour before again using the lightest colour to blend them all together.

(i used the same colours as the hat)

the top once blended together.

The hair.

colours that i used are E21,

E25

E27

E29

all blended together with E21. (the lightest colour)

for the wings i used C0 and C1 you can’t see to well on this picture but i haven’t gone as far to the edge with the light colour as i have done previously as i want some white to still show.

this picture shows where i put the darker shadow colour.

after this stage just go over the two colours with the lighter C0. to blend, but again don’t go to the edge.

because i want the edges to look blended and not bold lines where the colour meets the white.l i use the copic blender pen on the whole wing area, this blends the greys into the white.

I do the same kind of thing as the wings with the outside of my image.this is the lightest colour i have gone the whole way round the image.

using the next darker shade pick out shaded area’s

more shading with the next darker colour.

( i have shown the colour pens as i used them in the picture.)

finally add a tiny amount of the darkest colour that you want to add.

go over the edges of the different colours with the lightest colour again to blend them.

finally go over the whole outlined area with your blender pen 0

this will make the edges blend into the white paper more seamlessly, and lighten and blend the greys together a little more..

do the same thing with the ground area to give your image something to stand on.

hope that this has been helpful. sorry about all the pictures. but i couldn’t see any other way of explaining it..

Here is a completed card with the image.