All You Need is Love with Emma Ivemey

Hello there Southern Ridge fans! Emma here to share with you a fun art piece I’ve created with the oh-so-versatile chipboard pieces we all love.

I’ve used canvas paper for my base this time; if you haven’t tried it out I would highly recommend it. It’s very heavy weight (180lb / 296 gsm), which means you can use all kinds of liquid media on it. Plus, it has the texture of a real canvas that gives a little more interest to your art than a simple plain piece of paper.

This background colour happened by accident, as I was experimenting with colours for another project. This scheme didn’t suit the other project, so I put it aside. (There’s quite a few layers of colour on that paper.. I’m not sure I could recreate it again exactly, but that’s the fun of experimenting).

I felt that the kind of fantasy twilight glow would perfectly suit black silhouettes, so that inspired me to use the fairy and butterfly pieces. To create the black sparkle on the chipboard, I used Emerald Creek Onyx Frost Allure embossing powder. I then added some stamps on the background in white, grey, brown and black to enhance the twilight atmosphere. Some sequins gave the finishing touches here and there.

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Lil Faries

- Butterfly Mix

Other Supplies Used:

- Emerald Creek Craft Supplies: Onyx Frost Embossing Powder

- Bienfang Canvas Paper

- Paper Artsy / Seth Apter Fresco Finish Paint: Snowflake, Spanish Mulberry, Glacier Ice, Steel Grey and Venice Blue

- Crafter’s Companion: Stamps

- Imagine Crafts: Versamark Watermark Ink, Versafine Ink - Black Onyx and Memento Ink - London Fog

- Wild Whisper Designs: Wood Heart and Sequins

- Close to my Heart Ink: White Daisy and Slate

- Ranger Ink:  Archival Ink - Coffee

Thanks for visiting Southern Ridge today, I hope you are inspired to create something with silhouettes.

~~ Emma ~~

Keep Calm Card with Emma Ivemey

Hello crafty friends! Today I would like to share a fun card I made with the help of Southern Ridge Trading Co.

Us English people have a love-hate relationship with football (soccer), which has been going on for quite a while. Every four years, there is a World Cup competition, and it tends to make us all go a bit crazy for a few weeks. Usually our team plays badly, and goes home in some sort of disgrace. This year however, we actually did get through to the semi-final. We lost, but it was still a huge improvement on previous years.

With this in mind, I decided to use the Southern Ridge Trading Co “Tea Time” set to make a “Keep Calm” card. We may have lost the football, but at least we still have tea!

I used Tonic Studios Nuvo Drops in bright white on the milk jug, which gives it a ceramic look. (Allow to dry overnight for best results!) The teapot and teacup have been painted white and decoupaged with chintz-style patterned paper to remind us of those happy days when tea was always served from pots.

I guess we’ll have to wait another four years for another shot at the World Cup, but in the meantime, we’ll just have a cup of tea and everything will be right with the world.

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Tea Time Set

Other Supplies Used:

- Crafter's Companion: Rustic Cottage Patterned Paper 

- Reminisce: England Stickers 

- DecoArt: White Paint

- Tonic Studios: Nuvo Drops - White and Gold

- Tim Holtz for Ranger Ink: Distress Ink - Antique Linen

- White paper doily 

Happy crafting!

~~ Emma ~~

Crafty Art Journal with Emma Ivemey

Hello there!  Emma here with you today to share an art journal page I’ve created using the beautiful chipboard shapes from Southern Ridge.

I’m sure I’m not alone in sometimes going through a creative low patch.  When there’s a lot going on in your life, it can often be difficult to sit down and create.  Maybe you’re thinking “what shall I make”, or perhaps it’s “why do I make”? Creative blocks can be hard to get through.

I think the important thing to remember is that art doesn’t always follow rules, and often it can be helpful to use an art journal to create something spontaneous that comes from your heart.  It’s your journal, and it’s for you to keep entirely to yourself if you like. It’s a great strategy for experimenting with new mediums, or a new stencil.

For this piece, I have used the Vintage Dressmaker Mix set.  I have embellished the chipboard with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide, and also the Distress Crayons.  I loved the metallic look for the sewing machine and scissors.

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Dressmaker Mix

Other Supplies Used:

- Strathmore Mixed Media Ring Bound Sketchbook

- Tim Holtz Ideaology: Printed Tissue Wrap

- Tim Holtz for Ranger Ink: Distress Ink, Distress Oxide Ink and Distress Crayons

- Vicki Boutin for American Crafts: Mixed Media Stencil

- Taylored Expressions: Stamp

- Imagine Crafts: Versafine Clair Ink

- Spectrum Noir: Sparkle Pen

- Close to My Heart: Wooden Clothes Pin and Buttons

- Prima Marketing: Paper Flowers, Lace and Ribbon

- Fabritac Adhesive

Next time you feel you’re in a craft rut, try an art journal page.  You never know what might inspire you next.

Happy crafting!

~~ Emma ~~

Time for Coffee Gift Card with Emma Ivemey

Hello crafty friends!  I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that coffee is definitely the essential liquid to get us through our busy days.  I’m British, so tea still holds a place in my heart, but most days it’s coffee that is more likely to be in my cup.  (I find wine and crafting do not really go well together.. unless you like wonky embellishments.. 😉).

Today I’d like to share with you a cute “just because” card I made that is perfect for the coffee-loving friend in your life.  

First off, I embossed a piece of light coloured cardstock with this Sizzix timepieces folder.  I lightly added Antique Linen distress ink to the raised parts.  (The ink dries lighter than shown in the photo).  I adhered this to the front of my kraft card base.  I’m using a pre-made side-stepper card base from Crafter’s Companion, but there are many tutorials online for how to make one of your own.

Next, the fun part!  It’s all fun of course, but I do enjoy heat embossing.  I chose one of this awesome set from Southern Ridge -  I Love Coffee

I used some white embossing powder to create a ceramic mug feel, and highlighted the heart with some red stickles.

For the sentiment, I used the Coffee Plans stamp set from SRM Stickers, which I stamped and again embossed with white.  This set also has super-cute coffee bean stamps, which I’ve used with Delicata Bronze ink along the side of the card.

The side-stepper card has the perfect spot to add a gift card, or in this case, a sachet of coffee, as an added bonus.  I’ve adhered this with a glue dot, and again used the Coffee Plans stamp set to add the #caffeineplease in white underneath.

So I think this card is great, but I decided it needed one last embellishment from Southern Ridge:

Here, I’ve used the Pine Branch to perfectly set off my card.  I coloured the branch with Spectrum Noir Illustrator pen in Oak Tree, and then covered in Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen clear overlay for a little bling.

I love this card, and it was made easy by using Southern Ridge’s amazing products.  There’s definitely something for every occasion.  What gift card will you make today?!

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- I Love Coffee

- Pine Branch

Other Supplies Used:

- Crafter's Companion: Kraft Side-Stepper Fancy Card Base

- American Crafts: Beige and Red Textured Cardstock 

- ClearSnap: White Embossing Powder and White Pigment Ink

- Ranger Ink: Tiara Stickles

- SRM Stickers: Coffee Plans Stamp Set 

- Tim Holtz for Ranger Ink: Embossing Ink and Antique Linen Distress Ink

- Imagine Crafts: Bronze Delicata Ink

- Sizzix: Clocks & Print Blocks Textured Impressions Folder

- Spectrum Noir: Illustrator marker & clear overlay Sparkle Pen

Happy crafting!

~~ Emma ~~

I Believe In Fairies Mixed Media Tag with Emma Ivemey

We are excited to welcome Emma Ivemey to our Guest Design Team. Emma is up on the blog today sharing her fabulous I Believe In Fairies Mixed Media Tag, that's sure to inspire you. Sit back and relax and learn all about how she created her first project for us!

Hello crafty friends!  I am Emma Ivemey (from Emmanade Crafts), and I am so happy to be here as a guest designer for Southern Ridge Trading Co.  I have been admiring these products for a while, so it is such fun to be working with them!

This project is a fun mixed media tag, using a couple of characters from the Lil Fairies set. The tag is kraft, from Ranger Inkssentials (size #12).

First, I gave the tag a coat of gesso, then used some patterned tissue paper to cover the entire front of the tag.  I dry-brushed some more gesso on the front of the paper when adhered.

Now for some colour!  I absolutely love DecoArt’s Media line, so here I’ve used Cobalt Teal Hue, Primary Magenta and Primary Yellow to create my background.  I love the cool green created by the mix of the yellow and blue.

Sticking with the DecoArt Media products, I used the modelling paste to add some texture with a fun stencil.

To finish off the background, I used some flower and butterfly stamps from Taylored Expressions, and Versafine Clair ink.

To decorate the chipboard fairies, I first painted them with DecoArt acrylic, then used Bo Bunny glitter paste to add some shiny accent to the wings.

For the fairies’ ‘clothes’, I’ve used some sequins and ribbon to give them some modesty!

So here is my finished tag: I’ve added a quote from Peter Pan, and little of the same ribbon as the fairy skirt through the eyelet at the top of the tag just as final touches.

I’ve had a great time creating this project!  What will be your next project with Southern Ridge products?

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Lil Fairies Set

Other Supplies Used:

- Ranger Inkssentials: Kraft Tag

- Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Patterned Tissue Paper

- DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics

- DecoArt Media White Gesso

- DecoArt Media Modelling Paste

- Taylored Expressions: Make it Amazing stamps

- Bo Bunny: Frost Glitter Paste

- Tsukineko: Versafine Clair Inks

- Wild Whisper: Sequins

- Pink ribbon

~~  Emma ~~