Robin and Holly Wreath

Hi and welcome all.  Today I am showing another Christmas card made with a freebie stamp and a Crafter's Companion Embossing Folder called  Snow Flurry which I embossed twice to fit the background on my square card.  I have also used some pretty holly patterned paper from a set by Dovecraft called The Twelve Days of Christmas and die cut the bottom with a Spellbinders Curved Borders 1 die.

Happy Little Stampers Sketch Challenge for November still has a few days to run and I used the sketch for this card.  I decided to make a banner for the image to sit on instead of a tag shape, and my background embossed layer is a little larger, but I hope it is close enough.

I stamped the wreath with the robin using Versafine Smokey Gray ink on to a snippet of white card and then I decided to colour using my Promarkers.  To be honest I don't have many colours and I felt when I had finished that perhaps the colours were a little dark for the robin, and maybe it would have been better to use Spectrum Noir pencils or watercolour with inks.  I then cut this with a Simon Says Stitched Circle die and using the next size up I cut another using a snippet of dark green card. 

I finished with a green die cut sentiment from another small piece of the same green which I adhered with Stick It.  To use you peel back the protective top layer and lay your card on to it and cut round, and when you have die cut you remove the paper on the other side and stick down.  This worked fantastically, even with the dot for the 'i' which is miniscule.  I have tried another make which I'm sure would be great with larger die cuts and for other techniques with glitter, micas etc, but with the small delicate sentiments was no good at all, just didn't cut well and wouldn't stick firmly enough to the back of the letters.

I hope I haven't bored you all to tears but I was so pleased with the result and really wasn't expecting it to work so well, and I expect lots of  you will know of this stuff already but for the uninitiated it is worth a mention.

After I had put the card together I thought perhaps I would highlight the berries on the topper and the backing paper with some red stickles glue, and I also used a little glossy accents on the robin's eye.

Thanks for your visits and kind comments which I appreciate very much because this blog wouldn't be the same without you all!  x

Pat  x

I would also like to enter the following challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop  - Week 205 where we use up our snippets.
The Craft Barn - Snowflakes. 
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Addicted to Stamps and More - Make Your Mark.
Penny Black and More - Anything Christmas.

  

November Rudolph Days Challenge

Hi there everybody.  I am trying to progress quickly with my Christmas cards now as time is getting short and I have quite a lot to do yet so there will probably be quite a few posts with just Christmas cards.  This card was made with a mixture of stamps and an embossing folder which I got as freebies with magazines.  This is the last Rudolph Days for this year and I haven't entered the challenge as many times as I would have liked but will try to do better next year.  Up until he end of last year it was run by our friend Sarn of Stamping for Pleasure, but she decided to stand down, and Mo of Scraps of Life by Scrappymo stepped up to carry it on, and I think we all agree she has done a wonderful job, and what is really special is that Sarn is Guest Designer this month.  The challenge runs until the last day of the month.

I started by embossing the border strip down each side of my white square card and then I used a snippet of white card and stamped using Versafine Smokey Gray ink and coloured with my Distress inks in Festive Berries and Seedless Preserves for the shading.  I also used some Stonewashed Adirondack ink for the background.  I finished by using some Mustard Seed Distress ink in the centre of the flower and then gave it some shine with Glossy Accents.  I did add a little extra blue around the edge of the flower with a Spectrum Noir pencil as I felt when I had layered it up that it needed defining a bit more.

I mat and layered using some snippets of silver mirri and dark blue card which I cut using two sizes of Stitched Square Dies.

I finished by stamping the sentiment on to another snippet of white card using Versamark and WOW Silver Embossing Powder and then die cut using a Spellbinders Scalloped Oval die.  I did originally stamp straight on to the base card but unfortunately it was a little bit messy so I had to re-stamp on to the scallop oval die cut which is why it doesn't fit the space as well as it might. 

Thank you for taking a look today.

Pat  x

I am also entering the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge 172 Make Your Mark.
Penny Black and More - Anything Christmas.

Gelli Plate Autumn Leaves

Hi all.  I am back with probably my last autumnal card for this year and is a card I made recently for a friend's birthday.  I saw Barbara Gray of Claritystamp do something similar on her blog so thought I would give it a go.  It uses acrylic paint and real leaves with the gelli plate to make a background and a set of different leaf stamps from Hobby Art called Falling Leaves.  The two dies placed on top for the sentiment are from a Spellbinder set called Floral Ovals.

I began by using some fallen leaves I collected in a few different shapes, and also a couple of green ones from a shrub.  I got out some cheap acrylic paints I bought to experiment on the gelli plate with a while ago, in black, white, red, yellow, blue and buttermilk, and by mixing the colours together I managed to make some reasonable autumnal colours.  I took each colour in turn and using a brayer applied the colour to several of the leaves and placed them face down on the 6" x 6" gelli plate and then after brayering the back lifted the leaves off.  I pretty much covered the plate bit by bit and where the leaves overlapped I left each one to dry before adding the next coloured one to keep the colours nice and clean.  When everything was dry I applied a layer of buttermilk paint all over and using a piece of good quality paper I lifted the print by laying it on top of the plate and rubbing over the back a few times to get maximum coverage.  The idea is that the last coat of paint reactivates the underneath coats so that when you rub over it nearly all the paint lifts off on to the paper.  As you can see a lot of the leaf prints are not terribly clear and there are a few bits of the white paper which show through but I liked the overall look of the piece.

I finished the background by adding some more leaves using two of the small silhouette leaf stamps from the Hobbyart set with some Brilliance Galaxy Gold and Olive Pearlescent Pigment Inks.  The olive ones show up better than the gold ones.

I found some snippets of white card and stamped one of the larger leaf shapes from the Hobby Art set, using Versamark Ink and WOW Copper Embossing Powder, which I heat set, and then I coloured using Adirondack Inks and a water brush and blended the colours together.  I used slightly different colours on the two leaves to make them look more random, and the colours were Sunshine Yellow, Cranberry, Mowed Lawn and Espresso, and also a bit of Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and when dry I fussy cut them.

I finished by using some snippets of Kraft card to die cut the two Floral Ovals and I stamped the sentiment with the Versamark and WOW Copper EP.  I then found another snippet of Kraft card to back the gelli plate print and mounted this on to the white base card and then adhered the sentiment plate, and finally stuck the leaves with some Pinflair Glue Gel.

Before I go I would like to introduce a lovely new follower called Tina Z whose blog you will find here and I'm sure she would love you to drop by and take a look.

Now I don't have any more birthday cards to make for a while I really must get on with my Christmas cards which I am late doing as usual!  Thank you for visiting my blog today.

Pat   x

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 204 where we use our leftover pieces/snippets of card, paper etc.
Mixed Media World - Anything Goes.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Divine Poppies

This time of year when Autumn is in full flow the Poppy is in our minds because of its link to Remembrance Day on the 11th, and I have to say that the Poppy is one of my favourite flowers, so as I needed a birthday card for a cousin of mine I turned to a new stamp which I got quite recently, a Penny Black one which is called Divine.  I must admit that it is a little larger than I realised but by cutting the bottom off the stem it fits better on the card which is approximately 6" x 6".

I started with a snippet of white card to fit the base card with a small border and embossed it with a zig zag style mask called Chevrons which is from That Special Touch, and adhered it to the base card.  I then used another snippet of white card and stamped the Poppies using Versafine Smokey Grey ink and coloured using distress inks in Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Seedless Preserves, Walnut Stain and Mowed Lawn.  I use a water brush as a rule and I tend to mix the colours together a bit as I apply them.  I then cut the flower heads off the stems as I had it in mind to use the flowers and the buds and then draw in the stems myself as I wasn't sure how it was going to fit on the card, but after some thought I decided to try and cut the whole thing out and if that worked stick it to the background.  It wasn't easy but I managed fairly well as the card was reasonably substantial and then any white bits round the stem I coloured with the Walnut Stain and then I stuck the two flower heads back over the stems.

I then found another snippet of white card and cut the second sized die from the Spellbinders Floral Ovals set on which I stamped the sentiment, again using the Smokey Grey ink and whilst wet I heat embossed it with WOW Clear Embossing Powder but it doesn't really show in the photo.

I finished the card by making a little butterfly from a freebie set I have had for a while and stamped on another snippet of white card using the Smokey Grey ink which whilst wet I heat embossed with WOW Clear EP and then coloured with my Spectrum Noir pencils as it was such a small space to colour and I thought the pencils would be more controllable.  I finished the butterfly with some clear Wink of Stella, but again it doesn't show the lovely shimmer in the photo.

Thank you for visiting the blog today.

Pat  x

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 203 where we use up our snippets.
Butterfly Challenge - 'Z' is for Zig Zag.
Virginia's View Challenge - No. 20  Texture.
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Dies and/or Punches.

Autumn Fenceline

Hi everybody.  I have a male family birthday to make a card for and I decided to use a NBUS/never before used stamp from Serendipity Stamps called Winter Fenceline, but I have adapted it to an Autumn scene instead.

I started by stamping the image on to a snippet of white card using Versafine Smokey Grey ink and coloured it using Distress Inks in Spiced Marmalade, Walnut Stain, Mowed Lawn, Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans and applied with a water brush to give a very washy watered down look and I did mix the green with a little of the brown because I didn't want the colours to look too bright.  I did add the birds in the sky which weren't part of the image.  I then die cut the image with a stitched square die and matted it on to a snippet of white card.

The background is a snippet of a piece I made using Sheena Douglass' faux leather technique which you can find here and for the embossing I used a Craft Concepts EF called More Dots.  I used it on a card I made over a year ago, featuring a pair of jeans with a leather belt, and it had been languishing amongst my bits and pieces ever since, the post is here if you wish to take a look.  I had a light bulb moment and thought this would make a good background so mounted this on to the base card before adding the topper.

I finished the card with the sentiment on this double fishtail banner shape made from another snippet of white card.

Thank you for joining me today and I do appreciate all your lovely comments.

Pat  x

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Create Something Beginning with the Letter 'N'.  My 'N' is for the new stamp I am using.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 202.  The aim is to use lots of snippets.
Virginia's View Challenge - No 20 Textures.  This has dry embossing texture.

Autumn Leaves

Hi everybody.  Less is More Challenge has a theme of paper piecing this week so I have made a card, rather last minute, using an owl stamp from Indigoblu and some leaves  from a set by Hobbycraft.  I do hope they don't feel it is too fussy for a CAS card though.

I started by stamping the owl on to a snippet of white card using Adirondack Espresso ink and die cut it with a circle die and then coloured with some of my Spectrum Noir pencils and finished by adding some Glossy Accents to the eyes.  I then adhered this to a white square card.

Next I found some snippets of paper with nice autumnal colours amongst the freebie pads I have collected over several years as papers last a long time with me as I don't use them very often.   I have used several of the different leaf shapes from this Hobbycraft stamp set which I bought a few weeks ago and is being used for the first time, and stamped on to these snippets again using the Espresso ink.  I then fussy cut them out and stuck them in a circle around the owl using glue gel for dimension to make a nice frame.  I finished by stamping a sentiment.

Before I go I would like to introduce a new follower called Florence whose blog you will find here.  She is a very creative lady and her work encompasses cards, crafts and photography so please do go and take a look, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for visiting my blog today and your interest is always much appreciated.

Pat  x

I would also like to enter the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - So Glossy.  I have used Glossy Accents on the owl's eyes.
Virginia's View Challenge - Texture.  The decoupaged leaves are my texture.
Share Handmade Kindness Challenge - Week 1.  This card is for the son of one of my cousins.  Jennifer McGuire has four weekly challenges throughout the month of November and this first week is to send a card to someone in your family or a friend.