Chocolate Baroque - Snowflake Shadow

Hello, and here we are at the start of another week and with only a few days left in October.  I haven't been doing very well with Christmas card making, so I thought today I would channel my efforts in that direction. 

I recently bought a couple of stamps from Chocolate Baroque from a range called Big Bold Backgrounds. They lend themselves to all sorts of stamping and embossing effects, and being 6 inches square make quick cards quite achievable.

I noticed that Less is More are running a challenge at the moment to make a card using string or twine and Stamping For Pleasure have a Rudolph Day Challenge which runs until the end of the month, so I thought I would enter this card in both challenges.

At Less is More they require a simple card with just one layer, and on this occasion with the use of string or twine.  I began with an A6 white card.  I then stamped the Snowflake Shadow using Memento Dye Ink in Lady Bug onto white stamping card.  I cut this down into two equal pieces and  attached a piece of white card in the centre to attach the twine to.  I noticed that one of the cards demonstrated used a lovely flat knot, so I thought I would give it  a try.  Lastly I added a sentiment.

A Little Bit Floral - Dahlia

Hi there.  I was asked by a friend to make a card for a lady's 90th birthday, and as the Dahlia is a good Autumn flower - believe it or not I have actually seen some still in flower - and having a rather nice Sheena Douglass Dahlia stamp from a set called A Little Bit Floral.  I decided that was the one to use.  You will see from previous posts that I am a big fan of Sheena's stamps, as they make a good centrepiece little else is needed.                                                                                                                                

For this card I used:

Peachy Pink Pearlescent Card (A4 folded)
Pink Glitter Card
Floral Paper 
Peachy Pink Vellum with a good weight
White Stamping Card
Promarker Pens in Rose Pink, Ruby Red,
Lime Green and Forest Green
Memento Dye Ink -London Fog
Versamark Ink
WOW Silver Embossing Powder
Stamps:  A Little Bit Floral - Dahlia and Docrafts Sentiment
and Numbers 
Xcut Oval Nesting Dies
Nellie's Border Dies
Freebie Embossing Folder with Flowers and Butterflies                
Pinflair Glue Gel
Bone Folder

I started by stamping the Dahlia flower twice, and  the bud and leaves on white card using Memento London Fog and coloured with the Promarkers.  The flower consists of three layers.   As a tip for very mean crafters like myself, for the bottom layer I cut the very centre of the flower and a few small leaves off one image to use as the very top layer, and for the middle layer I used the second image with the outside leaves cut away, so that when layered the cut away piece on the base layer doesn't show at all, which means you don't have to stamp a third image.  I layered the base card with the floral paper and the glitter card which I edged with the Nellies Border Dies, and then cut the vellum with the Xcut Oval Die and embossed it; but unfortunately this doesn't show up in the photo.  I stuck the vellum to the glitter card using Pinflair Glue Gel in the centre so that it can't be seen when the flower is layered on top. The flower was also layered using the Glue Gel and  I curved the flower with a bone folder prior to assembly to give it some shape.   Finally I stamped the sentiment on some of the peachy pink card using Versamark and heat embossed with Silver EP, and using one of the Xcut Oval dies to cut it out, stuck it in place with Glue Gel.

It's always a bit worrying when making a card for someone else to give that they will be happy with the finished result, but flowers are usually a safe option.  Luckily Judith who asked me to make the card was pleased with the result, and hopefully the lady whose 90th birthday it is will like it too. 

Koi Carp

Hi there fellow card enthusiasts.  Today I am highlighting a card I have made using a lovely Koi Carp from a series of stamps by Sheena Douglass called A Little Bit Oriental.

This is a good sized stamp and amply fills a 6 inch square card, so I decided to keep it quite simple.  I saw this background of circles representing bubbles used by a lady called Miranda who is a design team member for Designs by Ryn so decided to give it a try.

To do this I cut templates from paper using three different sized nesting dies from Xcut making sure to leave plenty of space round the circle to cover the card.  I used them randomly to make a nice shape using a mixture of Adirondack ink in Stonewashed and Memento London Fog just to darken the blue a little.  As my templates were a little flimsy I used the appropriate sized die to cover the edges of the paper and sponged the colour through.  I then layered this on some black card.  I stamped the Koi on a separate piece of card using Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink, coloured it with Promarkers, cut it out, applied it to the background with Pinflair Glue Gel to make it stand out a bit, and lastly added a sentiment.

It's not a technique I have used very often but I hope you agree it makes a simple but effective backdrop to the lovely Carp.

Thank you for looking at my blog today.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Christmas Snowflake

Today we are back to Christmas again.  I have used a stamp from Indigoblu called Large Snowflake.  The card was constructed in a very similar way to the Poinsettia previously posted here, in that I used the stamp to make the background as well.

 A 6 inch square white card was layered with black card on which I stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with WOW Gold EP using just the flourishy edge of the stamp.  The snowflake was heat embossed on white card with WOW Gold Sparkle EP - this has a really lovely glittery finish and unlike glitter once heat set does not shed at all.

The gem in the centre was made using Cosmic Shimmer glue painted with a black Promarker.  This technique is quite simple to do.  The Cosmic Shimmer glue keeps it's shape very well and after making one or two it gets easier.  I make them on a craft sheet and they take an hour or two to dry.  You could apply straight on to the project but I'm not brave enough for that!  You could also make them shinier with Glossy Accents or something similar.  

Love Bench - Anniversary

Hi there.  Today I thought I would  highlight an anniversary card for a change.  On this card I used a stamp made by a company called Deep Red, and a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder called Kimmy-Luvs which I bought quite a long time ago and may not now be readily available.

I started with a white 6 inch square card, and then embossed a piece of white card with the embossing folder.  Adirondack dye inks in Stonewashed and Pink Sherbet and a touch of Tumbled Glass Distress ink were applied randomly to the raised surface and then this embossed card was cut into four banner shaped pieces of equal width.  I then stamped the Deep Red image straight on to the base card with Versamark and heat embossed with WOW Silver EP, and using the Tumbled Glass and Pink Sherbet inks plus a little Memento dye ink in London Fog coloured in the image using a water brush.  I framed the image with the embossed banners and finished with a sentiment.  I hope you are enjoying your weekend and thanks for visiting my blog today.

Christmas Starts Here - Poinsettia

Hello to all those people who have visited here and those that have left some lovely comments which I really appreciate.

I've decided that now we are in to October I really ought to think about making some Christmas cards and this first offering is a stamp from Chocolate Baroque I actually bought a few weeks ago which I believe is not now available.  The colours are not the typical Christmas colours - especially the black - but it gives a good contrasting background to the gold and cream.

I used a gold pearlescent 51/4 inch square card on which I layered a 41/4 inch square piece of cream card.  The black card which is about 1/4 inch smaller all round was stamped randomly with the same poinsettia stamp using versamark ink and then heat embossed with WOW Gold EP.  The main image was stamped and embossed twice on to cream card using the same technique as for the background, but with just the central part of the flower for the top layer to give it a bit of dimension, and put together with Pinflair Glue Gel.  I finished by colouring the centre of the flower with a Signo Gold Pigment Pen and then added a sentiment.