Deer and Silver Embossed Background

Hi everyone.  This is a card I made using another topper I found amongst my bits and am not sure of its origins, and which I thought would look good with this background from a set by Indigoblu called Here Comes Santa.  I actually got this set from a local shop at a bargain price several years ago and it isn't available on many sites now, but this site is the cheapest I found.  I made this card a while ago, but I did hope to make a new card for the Rudolph Days Challenge run by lovely Mo over at Scraps of Life by Scrappymo, and I have been rather busy so consequently ran out of time,  but I did want to enter, so hope that this card will fit the bill.  I am only just in time as this is a very short month.  

I started with a 6" square white base card and stamped this beautiful large background border stamp from the set on to each side of the card using Versamark Ink and heat set using WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder.  I also stamped the sentiment from the same set with the same EP.  I then just mounted the topper over it.  Job done!

Thank you for visiting today.

I am entering the following challenges:

Rudolph Days February 2018 Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes.
Christmas at Sweet Stampin' Challenge February 2018 - Anything Christmas Goes.
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 23 Anything Christmas Goes.

Twofer Challenge - Hearts

Hi everybody.  It is the second challenge for Darnell's Twofer Challenge and I am only just in time to enter as it closes on the 24th.  The idea of the challenge is that we make two differently designed cards using the same stamps/die but they must be for two different occasions.  I decided to use the Sue Wilson Heart of Hearts die on both cards and here is what I did.

I am entering these in the  Twofer Card Challenge -  No. 2 Hearts.


On the first card I used a piece of canvas paper and a Tim Holtz Flourish stencil.  I used Brilliance ink Galaxy Gold through the stencil and when dry I use Abandoned Coral Distress Ink blended with some blending foam and cut it into a square using a Stitched Square die from The Works.  I decided to heat emboss the whole thing with Versamark Ink and WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder to give it the look of a tile.

I then die cut the Heart of Hearts, the inner die, on a snippet of white card backed with Stick It adhesive.  I very carefully removed the die and took the paper from the back of it and stuck it down on to another piece of white card.  I made a bit of an error here as the snippet of card was not big enough to use the outer die to cut it so I had to use the edge of the hearts as a guide and cut it by hand.  I then die cut a second one using another snippet of white card and using the Abandoned Coral DI with blending foam coloured it and used a few of the hearts to stick over the original white ones to add extra interest.

I then used a Marianne Twine Border die to dry emboss a border down the right hand side of the base card and assembled the card, finishing with a sentiment heat embossed with Versamark Ink and WOW Gold Metallic EP.  I also used my Wink of Stella pen over the red hearts to give then a nice glittery finish.  For some reason in the photo it looks as though it isn't glued down properly along the bottom, but in real life it looks fine and also the glittery finish doesn't really show.

  I am entering this card in the following challenges:

CAS Mix Up February Challenge - Felt, Cork or Canvas.  I have used canvas paper plus stamped sentiment and heat and dry embossing and die cutting.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 320 where we use up our snippets of paper and card etc.
Happy Little Stampers February CAS Challenge  - Hearts.
Happy Little Stampers February Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.


For the second card I decided to use a larger of the stitched square dies from The Works using another snippet of white card, and I dry embossed the main piece of the heart die on to this.  I then smooshed using Wilted Violet and Candied Apple Distress Inks and because the heart was quite deeply embossed the inks only caught the hearts and left the background of the heart white.

I then die cut a little butterfly and coloured it with the same inks and applied it with blending foam and decorated the background with some of the leftover red hearts from the first card.  I then used the WOS Pen on these hearts and also the dry embossed ones and added the white die cut sentiment.  The glittery finish doesn't really show on this photo either but it is quite pretty in real life.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Country View Challenges February 2018 - Anything But Cute.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Make Your Own Background.
Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes.
Happy Little Stampers February Watercolour Challenge  - Hearts.

Thank you for coming to look at my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.

Lions at Dusk

Hi everybody.  I decided to get out one of my Sheena Douglass sets and used the Acacia tree from the African Landscape, and the silhouette lions from Roar.  Unfortunately they don't seem to be available anywhere at present.

There is a story to this card as I made it for a birthday in November and I wrote the post and after sending the card off realised that I hadn't taken a photo of it.  When I sent out my Christmas cards I very cheekily asked if they could take send it back to me, or take a photo themselves and send it to me as an attachment, and I also said if they didn't have it any more I would quite understand as not everyone keeps their cards for very long.  Well a little while ago it came in a nice padded envelope and I was so happy to complete it's cycle and show it to you all, as in truth I was so disappointed not to be able to put it up here as I felt it was rather a success.  It has travelled to Hertfordshire and back and considering the mileage it has fared OK...lol.

I started with the background and using my Brushos I sprinkled some Ultramarine at the top of the piece of white card, following by some Yellow and Orange in the middle, and then some Purple and Dark Brown and some Black towards the bottom.  I sprayed some water and guided the ink with a brush to get the colours roughly where I wanted them.  I then dried it with my heat tool and stamped the tree and the silhouette lions towards the centre of the piece using Black Archival.  I used my Misti as the stamps are quite large and reinked a couple of times to get the depth of colour I wanted.

I thought the sky and the foreground needed to be darker as the stamps looked far too prominent,  so I sprinkled some more purple, dark brown and black in the foreground and added quite a lot of water and moved it around with a brush, and used some of the same colours up the sides to make the yellow behind the lions stand out and look more like the setting sun.  I also darkened the sky by adding a little black to the aquamarine, mixed it on my mat and applied it again with the brush.  I dried thoroughly with the heat tool as it was very wet and did crinkle a little, and I was too impatient to let it dry on it's own....lol. 

I cut the scene using a Stitched Square die from The Works and backed it with a some black card and some white funky foam to give it a bit of dimension and strength, and added it on to the white 6" square base card.

I finished by die cutting a sentiment from another piece of black card.

Before  finishing I would like to introduce a new follower called Ksenija, and you will find her blog here.  She is probably known to quite a few of you, but if you have never visited her then you are in for a treat as she is very talented.

Thank you for dropping by today and I will see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Cards 4 Guyz Challenge - No. 188 - Something beginning with 'L' (Lions and Landscape).  (So pleased to be chosen as Top 3 Winner)
Country View Challenges - February 2018 Anything But Cute.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Add a Die Cut.

Scored Frame Anniversary

Hi everybody.   I love using Brushos and some of the mop up paper towel looks quite pretty and this piece in particular caught my eye.  I also used the largest scalloped heart and plain heart from a Nellie Snellen Multi Frame Heart set.  This is quite a simple card and the CAS Watercolour February Challenge has the theme of hearts, it being the month of love, so I thought I would join in with this card.

I die cut the plain heart first from a snippet of white card.  I then added some PVA glue all over it and covered it with the piece of kitchen towel which I flattened as much as possible.  I then cut round it with scissors leaving just a small piece to turn over on the wrong side and glued it down with the PVA.  I then cut the large scalloped heart from another snippet of white card and coloured with Yellow Brusho.  I sprinkled a little on to my glass mat and spritzed it and then laid the heart into it and moved it around until it was covered with the paint.  When dry I layered the plain heart over the scalloped one.  I thought the plain white 6" square base card needed a bit of interest so I scored three lines in each direction which left a square in the middle where I mounted the heart.  I then stamped the sentiment using Versafine Smokey Gray Ink and heat set it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Country View Challenges: February 2018 - Anything but Cute.
Happy Little Stampers February CAS Challenge - Hearts.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 319 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
AAA Card Challenge - CAS No. 108 All You Need Is Love.
Uniko Challenge - No. 45 Something Old, Something New with Optional Twist - Love (I have used my very old Nellie Snellen dies for the hearts).