Snowman and Mistletoe

Hi there.    I made this card to enter the Rudolph Days Challenge which is run by Mo over at Scraps of Life by Scrappymo and it runs from the 25th to the end of each month and gives us all an opportunity to get some Christmas cards made throughout the year.  I decided to put together this Penny Black stamp and stencil as they both feature Mistletoe.

For this card I used:

Penny Black Snowman from Jolly Friends Stamp Set.  (difficult to find over here).
Penny Black Stencil - Alluring (it doesn't seem to be available over here).
Snippets of White and Silver Mirri Card. 
8" x 8" White Base Card cut in half horizontally.
Simon Says Stitched Oval Die. 
XCut Corner Punch.
Versafine Smokey Gray Ink.
Cosmic Shimmer Multi-Tex Powder - mixed with water to make a paste (I am trying this for the first time).
Adirondack Inks - Lettuce, Bottle, Espresso, Sunshine Yellow and Stonewashed.
Distress Inks - Festive Berries and Mowed Lawn.
Cosmic Shimmer White Glue. 
Gold Mica Powder.
Britannia Die Cut Sentiment. 

I started with a snippet of white card the approximate size I needed and mixed a small amount of the Multi-Tex with water to make a fairly stiff paste.  This particular product is new to me and I wasn't sure how easy it would be to use.  It does say you can mix in some glue to make the finished result more flexible (1 part Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear Glue to 8 parts powder) but I decided to use it just mixed with water.  I applied it through the stencil which I anchored with some repositionable tape.  I also masked an area of the stencil which I didn't want covered with the paste.  I removed the stencil and let it dry for about an hour as the layer was reasonably thin.  I laid the stencil back over and inked through it with the Sunshine Yellow, Lettuce and Bottle inks on the leaves.   I then added some of the Bottle with a little Espresso to the stems.  I found this quite easy to apply and I was pleased with the finished result.  I finished the background by adding the Stonewashed ink with one of my Clarity brushes which leaves a nice smooth finish and the colour tends to be paler when applied with a brush. 

I found another snippet of white card and die cut it with the stitched oval die and then stamped the snowman on to it using the Smokey Gray ink.  I then coloured it using a waterbrush with the Festive Berries mixed with a little of the yellow to give more of an orange colour, and also with the Stonewashed ink on the scarf, then Mowed Lawn on the Mistletoe as this is a brighter green to stand out better against the scarf.  I also used the Stonewashed on the sky with a little of the green mixed in to look a little like trees in the background.

Before putting the card together I applied the White PVA to the Mistletoe berries on the background and those the snowman is holding, and also around the snowman.  When dry I added little black micron pen dots to the berries, and looking at them again decided to add a bit of gold mica powder mixed with water over them as they looked a little too white.   I also applied a little to the snowman's hat and scarf and on the end of the Mistletoe leaves.   Finally I die cut the sentiment from another snippet of silver mirri card.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

February Rudolph Days Challenge - Anything Goes.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Weeks 269/270 where we use our snippets of paper and card etc.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Penny Black and More Challenge - Use Your Favourite Stamp (I adore this cute snowman and I'm sure he will be making an appearance many times more.
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Try Something New (the Cosmic Shimmer Multi-Tex was a new to me item).

Watercolour Crocuses

Hi all.  Well, here we are nearing the end of another month, and I always feel that when we get into March spring is just around the corner, and as there are quite a few crocuses in bloom now I thought I would give my Chocolate Baroque Spring Bird Crocus stamps an airing.  This card sort of evolved into something quite different to the one I had in my mind when I started but that happens to me quite a lot, and I tend to go with the flow, and because of this the order of working was totally wrong really and  I'm not sure whether I like it or not, but for good or ill here it is..lol.

For the card I used:

White Base Card (originally 8" square cut to make a top fold 6" x 4".
Piece of white card die cut slightly smaller using a Crealies XXL Rectangle with Dots Dies (this particular die is difficult to find at present).
Chocolate Baroque Spring Bird Crocus stamps.
Tim Holtz Woodgrain Embossing Folder (comes as a pair with Bricked).
Adirondack Lettuce and Sunshine Yellow Inks.
Distress Inks - Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers and Walnut Stain.
Versamark Ink.
WOW Metallic Copper Embossing Powder.
Sentiment stamp.

I started by stamping the crocus on to the die cut piece of white card using my Misti.  I used the yellow and greens straight on to the stamp, spritzed with water and stamped, and then using my waterbrush I moved the ink around and added more where necessary.  I masked and stamped and coloured it a second time.

When dry I then ran the whole thing through the woodgrain embossing folder.  The image became a little indistinct, so I ran it through my machine again just using the plates to flatten the embossing a little bit.  I then coloured the background using the Peacock Feathers ink applied with my waterbrush.  I also added a tiny bit of the Walnut Stain under the flowers to ground them.

The challenge over at Chocolate Baroque is a colour challenge and as well as the colours already mentioned it asked for some metallic copper which I was going to use on just the sentiment but I decided to restamp using the Misti and heat embossed with Versamark ink using the WOW copper EP.  As I had dry embossed already the copper embossing was a little patchy but I think the random look is OK here.  I then finished by heat embossing the sentiment.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today and I'll see you soon.

I am entering the following challenges:
  
CAS Watercolour Challenge - Love.  I hope this fits the challenge with 'love' in the sentiment.
Addicted to CAS Challenge - No. 105 Wood.
AAA Cards CAS Challenge - No. 84 Watercolour.
Happy Little Stampers February Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (optional twist dies).
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge  - Anything Goes.
Chocolate Baroque Challenge - No 32.  Hopefully the extra yellow on the flowers is allowed.

CAS Valentine

Hi there everybody.  I needed a card for my DH and I thought I would make a shaker card with some little mirri hearts inside.  It started off OK but finished in total disaster as the hearts kept gravitating to the edges and sticking on the dimensional tape and I tried to open it up and move them away but that didn't work at all and it gradually got more and more sad and sorry looking with all the messing about with it so it had to go into the bin!  I then came up with this which was made in rather a hurry but turned out OK.

For the card I used:

White Card.
Red Card.
Leonie Pujol Dotty Heart Embossing Folder.
Nellie Snellen Multi Frame Heart Die.
Distress Ink - Black Soot.
WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder.
Versamark Ink.
Crimping Tool.
Glossy Accents.
Few Gems.

I started by inking up the embossing folder in the centre with the black ink and spritzed with water, then pressed the white card over it firmly to transfer the pattern, and dried it with a heat tool.  I then lined it up inside the embossing folder and embossed the whole piece of card.  I then die cut the heart from the red card and ran it through the crimping tool to corrugate it.  I decided to add a bit of detail with the glossy accents across the corrugated surface which looks like shiny stripes.

I didn't have red or black baker's twine so used a cream one and coloured it with some black ink mixed with a bit of water which has made it a sort of grey colour.  Not sure if it looks a bit dull and uninteresting as a colour, but when I put the card together I decided the red offset it a bit.

I fixed three lines of it to the top layer before adhering to the base card and then tucked the heart underneath and took a separate piece and tied it round the middle.

I finished by stamping the sentiment using the versamark and silver embosssing powder.  I used my Misti and I did press it a trifle hard in order to stamp it on to the rather uneven surface so it looks a bit patchy, I think that is down to the light shining on the silver embossing, and a bit thicker than maybe it should, but it worked reasonably well.  I then added a gem to the bow and three tiny ones scattered around as I felt it needed something to lift it a bit.  I did wonder if he would think the gems a bit girlie...lol, but luckily he thought they looked fine and not too feminine. 

Thank you for looking at my blog today and hope to see you soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

CAS Mix Up February Challenge - Corrugated Cardboard.  (I crimped the card myself as I didn't have any corrugated cardboard.  I also have dry and wet embossing and the inked embossing folder as my own choice techniques.
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Use Your Favourite Tool.  (Mine is my Grand Calibur which gets used for most of the cards I make).
That's Crafty Challenge - I Heart You.
Casology Challenge  - Romance.

Shades of Blue Birthday

Hi all.  There is a fun challenge going on at the moment run by Kara of K and R Designs called 300 Weeks of Inspiration Challenge.  She keeps a file of her favourite projects which she adds to every week called the Friday Inspiration File, and every 100 weeks she challenges us to pick a card and CASE it, so I decided to look through and found this one, made by Laurie, which you will find here.

 Here is my CASEing of it.

For the card I used:

White Card Blank aproximately 6" x 6".
Piece of White Card  51/2" x 51/2".
Adirondack Stonewashed Ink.
Distress Inks - Peacock Feathers and Faded Jeans.
Couture Creations Embossing Folder Compassionate.
Sue Wilson Die Orange Blossom Leaves.
Piece of White Vellum. 
WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder.
Sentiment. 

I started by cutting the pair of leaves from the piece of white card.  I then used the embossing folder, running it through my machine twice to extend the pattern a little.  It isn't a repeat pattern on this folder but luckily it blends in and looks fine.

I found a strip of white card in my bits box and applied the three blue inks in stripes of colour using a blending tool, the same colour on the top and bottom and centre which was the Stonewashed darkened a bit with the Faded Jeans, and then in between with Peacock Feathers.  I then attached this to the underside of the cut out leaves.

I cut a strip of white vellum wide enough to take my sentiment which I stamped and heat embossed with the silver embossing powder, and then wrapped it around the top layer before adhering this to the card.

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

I am also entering the following challenges"

Happy Little Stampers February CAS Challenge - Blue.
CAS on Sunday Challenge No 101 Colour Challenge.
Less is More Challenge - Colour Wheel (three adjacent colours).

Inky Bubble Wrap Anniversary

Hi there everyone.  I thought I would make another card to enter into Darnell's NBUS Challenge No. 10.  My last card was a NBUS set of stamps but she did have an optional theme of Bubble Wrap which obviously that didn't have, so thought I would make another entry which would incorporate that.  I don't have any alcohol inks so decided to use the bubble wrap as a stamp and this is the result.  I used a NBUS embossing folder and a sentiment from the stamp set that came with it, which was yet another recent magazine freebie, I told you I can't resist them...lol.

For the card I used:

Freebie Magazine Stamps and Embossing Folder (I used one of the sentiment stamps from the set).
Creative Expressions Sue Wilson Finishing Touches Heart of Hearts Dies.  (The smaller of the outer edge dies).
Distress Inks in Fired Brick, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade and Seedless Preserves.
WOW Metallic Gold Embossing Powder.
WOW Clear Embossing Powder.
Snippets of White Card for the heart and sentiment strip.
White Funky Foam.
White Base Card 8" x 8" cut down to just under 6" x 6".

I started with a snippet of white card which I embossed with the freebie hearts embossing folder.

I found another snippet of white card and die cut the heart.  I smooshed it with the two reds and the orange, and then finished with the bubble wrap inked up with the purple colour and spritzed with a little water.  When dry I stamped the heart with Versamark and heat embossed with Clear Gloss EP.

I cut a strip from another snippet of white card and using the Misti I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed using the Gold EP and then cut it into a fishtail banner.

When I assembled the card I added a piece of funky foam to the underside of the heart to give it a bit of dimension and finished by adhering the sentiment strip across the heart and glued it either side leaving it loose in the middle.

Thank you for joining me here today and I'll be back soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Weeks 267 and 268 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - The Colour of Love.
Less is More - Celebrating a 6th Birthday (use adjacent colours on the colour wheel).

Saying It With Flowers

Hi all.  We have a friend who had a very nasty accident a few days ago and this is for her.  She was crossing the road and went under the wheel of a bus and unfortunately had to have part of her left leg amputated.  It was such a shock when we heard the news but she seems really positive, as she says it could have been so much worse.  We haven't seen her yet, but I have sent this card and hope she likes it.

For the card I used:

Altenew Freebie Stamps and  dies which came with a magazine a while ago.  (NBUS never before used Schtuff)
Adirondack Sunshine Yellow, Cranberry, Lettuce and Bottle Inks.
Distress Inks - Spiced Marmalade and Walnut Stain.
Archival Black Ink.
Cream Dovecraft Base Card about 6" square.
Snippet of White Card.

I began by stamping the flowers using a snippet of white card and my Misti.  There are three stamps and I started with the base layer stamp using the lightest colour Sunshine Yellow, followed by the second stamp in Spiced Marmalade, and then the smallest stamp in Cranberry, and this last stamp I twisted slightly and added the Walnut Stain too.  I did three of these flowers and then die cut them with the die that came with the set.

I then made six leaves using another snippet of white card.  The first two of the three leaf stamps using the Lettuce ink which obviously looks darker with the second layer, and then finishing with the smallest stamp using the Bottle.  I then die cut them.

I stamped the sentiment into place using the Misti and the Black ink which I covered with Wow Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and heat set.

I then adhered the flowers and leaves using Pinflair Glue Gel for a bit of dimension, and I shaped them a little with my bone folder.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Weeks 265 and 266 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
NBUS Challenge No. 10 - (No Optional Twist).