Snowy Umbrella

Hi there everybody.  This is a card I made for my husband using the cute Hedgies from Penny Black.  This image is part of the set called Jolly Friends.  Not the greatest of photos again taken in the evening under my daylight lamp.  In order not to get the flare off the silver mirri it has to be taken to one side of the lamp and then the side away from the lamp looks a bit dark.

Used To Make This Card:

Penny Black Jolly Friends Stamp Set (not easy to find at present).
Versafine Smokey Gray Ink.
Distress Inks - Festive Berries, Mowed Lawn, Walnut Stain and Picked Raspberry.
Adirondack Inks - Sunshine Yellow and Stonewashed.
Marianne Embossing Folder - Snowflakes.
Crealies Nesting Dies with Dots (not available here at present).
White Card.
Silver Mirri Card.
Cosmic Shimmer White PVA. 

I started with a piece of white card on which I stamped the image using Versafine Smokey Gray ink.  I then coloured the image using the inks mentioned above applied with a waterbrush.  To get the paler colour for the body of the Hedgie I mixed a little pink into the yellow and added a little brown.  The hands and feet I added more brown to make them a little darker.

I cut this piece with one of the rectangle dies and then embossed with the snowflakes, and in order to cover the rectangular shape I had to extend it a little.  I then used the next biggest die to cut the silver mirri mat and I adhered the topper to the mat.  I then adhered this to the white base card which started out as an 8" x 8" card and cut a piece off the side and the top to frame the layer nicely.  It ended up approximately 7" x 51/4".

I finished with the White PVA on the umbrella, on the ground around the Hedgies and I added some extra dimension to the snowflakes in the coloured area.  I then die cut the sentiment from some silver mirri card.

That's all for today but I'll be back again soon.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Winter or Christmas.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Merry Christmas to All

Hi there.  This will be a fairly short post as the tag was featured in this post here.   I decided to make a card of it and layered it up on a snippet of white card embossed with the freebie Poinsettia Embossing Folder I have used recently, and then on to a snippet of gold mirri which was die cut with one of the Crealies Rectangle Nesting Dies with Dots which I used on the last post.  This was then adhered to the base card, again an 8" x 8" card cut down to suit.

I decided to adhere it at a jaunty angle and it didn't need a sentiment as the tag is covered in greetings.

I would like to thank everyone who takes an interest in my little corner of blogland and wish you all

                        A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY HEALTHY AND 
                                           WONDERFULLY CREATIVE 2017.

Vintage Bauble Part 2

Hi everybody.  Well I thought I would follow up the previous post with another go I had at the Vintage Bauble but this one did not include any inlaying of fiddly little bits..lol.  It did however use up the leftover piece of the bauble.  I used the inner pieces on the last post and all I had to do was to die cut this piece with the edger die.  Sorry the photo isn't the best, but it was a very gloomy day and, like the last post, I did it under the daylight lamp I have, but I think it would have been better with all the other lights switched off as the left had side has caught the more yellow colour of the overhead light.

Used on this card:

Creative Expressions Vintage Bauble Die.
Snippets of Silver Mirri Card.
Poinsettia and Holly Frame Embossing Folder (Magazine Freebie last year).
Crealies XXL 44 Rectangle Nesting dies with Dots.
Britannia Sentiment Die.
Embroidery Thread.

As I have mentioned having used the inner pieces I then used the edge die to cut the die out.  I then cut the under layer with the same die using a snippet of silver mirri card and I also cut the bauble hanger from a snippet of the silver mirri.  Luckily the blue piece had the Stick It adhesive on the back so it stuck down onto the silver mirri fairly easily and only needed some little dabs of glue, and  I then adhered the hanger on top.

Using a new (NBUS) set of pierced rectangles, or as they say with dots, I cut out two different sizes, the smaller from a snippet of white card, and then a slightly larger from silver mirri.  I then used the Poinsettia Embossing Folder on the white layer and stuck the bauble in place.  I used a length of silver embroidery thread (all six threads) threaded on to a needle and pushed it through with the needle just under the hook of the hanger and at the top of part of the flourish and fixed it at the back with double sided tape.  I then adhered this layer to the silver layer.

I finished by adhering this to the base card.  I have a 8" x 8" white base card and I cut it so it framed these two layers nicely.  I think it ended up somewhere in the region of 7" x 5 1/2".  I have already posted the card so can't be precise.  Lastly I added the bow from the silver embroidery thread stuck
with Glossy Accents which sticks really firmly, and then added the die cut sentiment using up the last snippet of the blue coloured card left over from the bauble.

Thank you for dropping by today and I'll see you soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Weeks 260 and 261 where we use our snippets of paper and card etc.
Happy Little Stampers December Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Sparkle.
AAA Cards Challenge  - No 80 Silver.
CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - No. 163 Christmas and Hanukkah.

Vintage Bauble

Hi to you all.  Here is another Christmas card using an inlay technique which was supposed to follow something I saw Jennifer McGuire do but my bauble has lots of very small pieces and wasn't a good choice for the technique and I ended up doing it differently.  I might have another go at some point with a simpler one, but I certainly won't be doing it with this one again as it took rather a long time and a lot of patience to get all the little pieces in place.  Sorry this is not a good photo.  The weather has been so dark and gloomy so I took the photo under my daylight lamp but I think I should have turned the other lights off because there are some horrid yellow light reflections, and no chance to do it again as the card has been posted.

What I used for the card:

Creative Expressions by Sue Wilson Die Set - Vintage Bauble.
Snippets of White Card. 
8" x 8" White Base Card cut in half horizontally. 
Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Faded Jeans.
Silver Mica mixed with a little water in a spray bottle.
Crafters Companion Nordic Christmas Embossing Folder.  (not easy to find at the moment) 
Silver Embroidery silk.
Die cut sentiment using Silver Mirri Card. 

I cut one of the small sized baubles using a snippet of white card and coloured it using the Distress Inks applied with blending foam.  I used the Picked Raspberry at the top and the Peacock Feathers at the bottom meeting in the midddle and blending to give a purple colour.  I stuck this to another snippet of white card ready to have the pieces inlaid.

I cut a second bauble from a another snippet of white card backed with Stick It adhesive and which I had coloured with the Faded Jeans ink using blending foam, but this time only used the inner die.  I carefully removed the outer edges and most of the infill pieces stayed in the die, probably because of the stick it on the back which helped to keep them in place.  I carefully teased off the sticky backing from each of the pieces in the die and laid the die down over the outer edges stuck to the card and gradually, using pokey tool, pressed them into place.  It proved very difficult to remove the backing from some of the very small pieces but I got there in the end and luckily didn't lose any of the pieces.  Some did fall out of the die but I managed to pick them up with my pokey tool and pushed them into place.

At this stage the bauble was standing proud, so I got another snippet of white card and cut it to the width I needed but left it longer, and then using just the outer die cut a hole for the bauble to fit into.  I then embossed with the Nordic Embossing Folder and placed this over the bauble and marked where I needed to cut it to fit the card, and then stuck double sided tape around the bauble shaped hole and pressed this around the bauble to fix it in place.

I then found a piece of silver embroidery thread and using the complete thickness (six threads) I threaded it on to a needle and pushed it through to the back of the top of the bauble and fixed with tape on the back and took it over the top of the card and fixed that at the back too.  I then adhered this to the base card using double sided tape.  I then made a little bow with another piece of the embroidery thread and stuck it with Glossy Accents which sticks nice and firmly.

I finished with a sentiment cut from Silver Mirri card, and I added some WOS to the inlaid pieces to give them more sparkle.  I also added some gold pen dots to the embossed pattern and also some silver snowflakes.  I was pleased with the finished card but what a performance!!  In order to do the technique the way Jennifer McGuire does it here you need to use dies with large open spaces and no miniscule pieces..lol.

Before I go I would like to introduce Nancy who is my latest follower and you will find her blog here.  I'm sure a lot of you will already know her as she is on the Design Team of the CAS Mix Up and Watercolour Challenges run by Loll and Bonnie.  If you haven't seen her blog before do go and take a look, you won't be disappointed as there is a great variety of wonderfully creative inky creations.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll be back soon.
                                                                                                                                                             

I am entering the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers December CAS Challenge - Favourite Technique or Product (Inlaid Die).

Robin on a Branch

Hi there.  I had this Penny Black image stamped from the other day when I made a tag.  My first go was with Versafine Smokey Gray ink and I decided to use Gold Embossing Powder instead and as this one didn't get used I decided to make a card with it, which is what you can see here.

For the card I used:

Penny Black little bird from a set called Jolly Friends.
Verve Stamp Set Pinecone Christmas.
Simon Says Stitched Square Die. 
XCut Sentiment Die.
Snippet of White Card.
Snippets of Silver Mirri.
Adirondack Stonewashed, Espresso, Lettuce, Bottle and Sunshine Yellow Inks.
Distress Ink - Stormy Sky.
Lyra Aqua Markers.
Cosmic Shimmer White PVA. 
Stick It Adhesive. 

Using a snippet of white card I stamped the branch, foliage and pine cones from the Verve stamp set using the Espresso ink for the branch and pinecones and Lettuce and Bottle for the foliage as I wanted a little variation in the colour tone I added the lighter colour and then a bit of the darker colour to the stamp.

I cut it out using the largest stitched die and then added the Stonewashed ink and darkened with Stormy Sky round the edges and added a few light clouds with a mask I cut to shape blended using one of the Clarity Blending brushes.  I decided to add a bit of yellow to the centre to warm it up a bit.

I then coloured in  the little bird with the Lyra markers and cut the image out.  I adhered it on to the branch using Pinflair Glue Gel.

I finished by adding some White PVA to the robin's hat trim and bobble, and then some on tree branches and cones and also the falling snow.   I found a snippet of silver mirri which I matted the topper on to before adding to my white base card, and another silver snippet for the die cut sentiment which I backed with the Stick It.

Before I go I have a new follower to introduce, it is Liv, otherwise known as Swissie, whose blog you will find here.   She is a very clever all round crafter and she has a lot of very pretty knitted items on show at the moment, and I'm sure she would appreciate a visit.     

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 259 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Artistic Stamper December Challenge - Christmas.
Country View Challenge December - Christmas.
Twelve Days of Christmas Cards Challenge - with Kylie and Friends.
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Let There Be Snow.
CAS Mix Up December Challenge - Stamping + Sponging + Your Choice.  

Hibiscus and Leafy Frame

Hi all.  I  was lucky enough to be chosen the winner of the October Stamping Sensations Challenge and so was asked to create a card for the December Challenge which is entitled Floral Fancies.  

I found a snippet of white card and embossed the Apple Blossom Leafy Frame and coloured it with Distress Inks and a waterbrush.  I used Mowed Lawn and a touch of Walnut Stain added to the green for some shading.   I adhered this to the white square base card.

I then used another snippet of white card and stamped the Apple Blossom Hibiscus flower image twice using Versamark and heat embossed with WOW Opaque White Embossing Powder.  I coloured the flowers with Picked Raspberry and a bit of Seedless Preserves DI, and then coloured the leaves with Adirondack Sunshine Yellow and the Mowed Lawn and Walnut Stain DI.  I fussy cut the two flowers out.

I then cut a sentiment mat with another snippet of white card using the second largest die from a Spellbinders set called Captivating Squares, and stamped a sentiment from the same freebie set using Versafine Smokey Gray Ink, and whilst it was still wet I covered it in WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and heat set it.  I added the sentiment mat and adhered the flowers using some Pinflair Glue Gel to give them some shape and dimension.

I have really enjoyed being a Guest Designer for Stamping Sensations,  so thank you to Brenda for asking me, and please go and take a look at all the beautiful cards from their Design Team which will I am sure inspire you to enter a card this month.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll be back soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 258 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Addicted to Stamps and More - No 222 Make Your Mark.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Grand Sunset Sails

Hi there everyone.  I needed to make a masculine card very quickly for a family member and so I went with my Couture Creations Grand Sunset Sails Embossing Folder which I have had for quite a long time but haven't used all that much.  Unfortunately as with other CC folders they come and go and so not easy to source now.  This card also gets my vote for the longest time to make an easy card.  Everything that could go wrong did go wrong...lol.  I will explain later.

For the card I used:

Square White Base Card.
Snippet of Blue Card.
Snippet of Silver Mirri Card.
Snippet of Dark Blue Card.
The Couture Creations Embossing Folder.
Versamark Ink.
WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder.
Distress Ink Faded Jeans.
XCut Best Wishes Die.

The technique I used here was the inking up of the folder with Versamark before embossing it and then adding the Embossing Powder and heat embossing it.  This particular folder has a lot of positive and negative on both sides of the folder so wasn't easy to choose but in the end I inked up the inside of the front using a brayer which helps to keep it on just the areas where you want it.  After embossing I added the powder and heat set it.  I have to say it wasn't totally covered but I decided it just had a slight random look, but after thinking about it for a bit I decided to brayer the Faded Jeans Ink on to the other parts of the scene which brought out more of the detail and seemed to finish it better.  I did cut it down a bit and mounted it on to some dark blue card before mounting that on to my white  base card.

I finished by adding the silver die cut sentiment which I had backed with Stick It adhesive.

If you are short of time or just plain bored please feel free to miss this bit......

Well, I thought I had finished but then realised after it had been sitting whilst I ran an insert off the computer, that I had mounted the scene upside down on the card.  At this point I had about 15 minutes to make the post which luckily is just a short walk away.  I tried to pull it apart but wrecked the base card, partially wrecked the backing card and slightly tore the scene itself.  Well as you can imagine the air was blue and I thought well how am I going to get this in any state to send at all, having by this time missed the post.  I ended up by starting with a new white card, stuck back the bit that had ripped from the topper, and I managed to stick back the bits that had torn from the back of the card it was mounted on to, and at this point I used some extra bits of tape on the back of the topper to help flatten it a bit, before remounting it, although it was looking a trifle bedaggled by this time.  I decided to stick it to the new card and see what it looked like, and readded the sentiment which luckily came away from the old card base without any damage.

I hate to throw anything away and after it had sat a while, it began to settle and as you can see from the picture above it looks OK.  I just wanted to make the point that it is possible to save something even when you think it is beyond repair!  On reflection it would have been better to just cut the whole thing round the edge and leave it on the piece of white base card, especially as I had used double sided tape which when you want it to stick doesn't, and when you'd rather it hadn't stuck so well proves to be a tough customer...lol.  It went in to the next day's post so was probably received late but better late than not at all.

Before I go I want to introduce who I believe to be a new follower called Sue whose blog you will find here.  Without a photo they don't join the front of the queue of faces and it was only when I realised my number had risen that I did some investigating and came up with this lady so please do go and visit her wonderful blog as there are lots of lovely things to look at.   If this isn't the correct blog then perhaps Sue you can let me know and I will give you a shout out.

Thank you for visiting today, and I promise my next post will not be so long winded.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 257 where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
WOW Embossing Powder November Challenge.
The Male Room - No 49 ???Scapes - This is a seascape of sorts so hope this fits the brief.  (Honourable Mention)