A Year in Cards

Hi everybody.  For several years now at New Year I show cards which reflect my last year of blogging, one for each month.    I think this last year has probably been my best so far, definitely more prolific and including new challenges with things I thought I would never be lucky enough to do.  I have chosen some which were my personal favourites, and some which were popular with you out there, so here they are.

I hope you like my selection, and there were others which I would have liked to show too, but was strict with myself to keep it to just one from each month.

Thank you for joining me today, and I would like to wish you all

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

Snowy Scene on Kraft and Deer Heart

Hi there.  Before it is absolutely too late to show any more Christmas cards, here are a couple of cards which I made for my nearest and dearest.  The first is one I did earlier in the month for our son in Australia.  I am always afraid that it isn't going to arrive in time as Australia Post is rather random, especially as I was a little bit later sending it than usual, but luckily it made it with a few days to spare.  I used some of the stamps from Chocolate Baroque set Robin the Spruce and the deer is from a Claritystamp set called Winter Wonderland.

I decided to use a piece of kraft card for a change, and started by masking the moon and putting a mask in place for the snow slopes, and with a blending tool added the sky using Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.  I then added Brilliance Moonlight White ink for the snow and then added the foreground bird on a branch adding some red using a pencil, and some of the other branches with Smokey Gray Versafine ink, and then a few of the branches with Ground Espresso Distress Ink all covered in Versamark ink and then heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and I also added some more tree branches using Versamark Ink and heat embossed with WOW Opaque Bright White EP.  I then added the deer using the Ground Espresso DI and again heat embossed with the Clear Gloss EP.   I took away the moon mask and decided to put some mist across the moon and around it too using the Brilliance Moonlight White ink.  I then decided to add some bits of snow and highlights using a white gel pen. 

I mounted this on to a piece of silver card and added the silver sentiment.

The second card is I made for my Hubby.  It was a fairly simple card but he was pleased with it.

I used a Docrafts stamp from their Create Christmas range, and embossed it on to dark blue card using WOW Silver EP and then cut it with a square stitched die from The Works.   I then backed it with some silver card and made a white snowy embossed background using a Simon Says Falling Snow stencil, but unfortunately this doesn't show at all in the photo.   I then added a silver sentiment to finish it.

Neither of the photos came out that well.  This time of year with rather grey dark days it is difficult to take a decent photo of anything.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.

Christmas Greetings

Hi everybody.  I would just like to say a big thank you to all who visit and take the time to comment, and especially to those that do so on a regular basis for taking precious time out of their day to do so.  It means so much to know that what you do is enjoyed by others, it really makes it all so worthwhile.  Since I started blogging over five years ago it never ceases to amaze me how many generous and kind hearted people there are out there.

I hope you all have a very enjoyable Christmas and a happy, healthy and with other Bloggers in mind, an exceedingly creative New Year, and I also look forward to visiting lots more of you in 2019.

Mosaic Flower Birthday

Hi there everybody.  This is my third and last post for this month as Guest Designer over at the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog and I decided to use their Mosaic Flower stamp.  I love chinese lanterns and these remind me of them, but I did choose a yellow for them and with just a touch of orange, and colouring the mosaic adds a bit more detail and interest to the background too.

I made the background first using Mermaid Lagoon and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks laid onto my glass mat, spritzed with water and then the card dragged through to pick up the ink.  When dry I then stamped the flowers using Versamark ink and WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder and coloured with my DI's using Fossilised Amber and Carved Pumpkin for the flowers, and Ground Espresso for the stems applied with a waterbrush.  I also used some of the same colours to fill in a few of the mosaic shapes in the background.

I finished by layering it on to dark blue card and I made a sentiment strip with the same blue card using a sentiment from Paisley Elephant stamped with Versamark and heat embossed again using the Silver Metallic EP.  I placed a piece of foam on the back to raise it up a bit.

Most days there are posts from other members of the Design Team and Guest Design Team so do pop over and take a look here.  There are always a great variety of styles and types of project shown to suit all tastes.

Thank you for dropping by today as I know how busy it is with just a day to go before the festivities begin.  I do intend to put a post up tomorrow, that is if I get it done in time, as with everything else going on it's 50/50...lol.

Black Ice Steampunk Clock

Hi everyone.  Here is my second card this month as a Guest Designer over at Chocolate Baroque, and with a masculine card using a technique called Black Ice and stamps from the set Steampunkery.

Basically you start with gold or silver card and brush your Black Archival ink pad over it very lightly angling it so that the edges catch the black ink and there is a little brushed across the face of the card, working in one direction, and then turning and sweeping it back across in the opposite direction.  I again used the Black Archival ink to stamp the image and some of the words.   I used a stamp positioner for this as it helps to get a good crisp outline on this shiny surface, otherwise with a steady hand and a straight down and up technique holding the card still as you lift is the way to go, plus perhaps talc or something similar brushed on to the surface helps to stop the stamp from slipping on contact.  When dry I swept the Versamark ink across very lightly just letting the weight of the pad do the work.  I then heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, which has given it this shiny icy look with a slightly uneven surface as the Clear EP does not entirely cover it.

I then cut the background piece from white card and dry embossed it using an Xcut Embossing Folder called Galvanised Steel.  I ran it through twice to extend it.  I then used some Gold Mica Powder with a wet paint brush around the edges and then added some Hickory Smoke Distress Ink applied with a blending tool to darken and dull it down just a little.

To finish I added a gold on black narrow banner with the sentiment heat embossed using WOW Gold Metallic EP.  When putting the card together I decided to add a piece of foam to the back of the topper to give it some dimension.

I will be back over on the Design Team Blog again next week with my last card for this month.  Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.

Chocolate Baroque Fluttering Hearts Anniversary

Hi everyone.  I am back again with another Guest Designer spot on Chocolate Baroque.  I decided to use the Fluttering Hearts set of stamps, and I took four heart images from that set, one of which has a bird on the top which I decided not to include, and I stamped them on to a piece of white card using Versamark Ink and then heat set with WOW Gold Metallic Embossing Powder.   I coloured the cut out hearts with Dusty Concord and Broken China, plus a small amount of Peeled Paint Distress Ink, using a waterbrush.  I then went over the top with a Wink of Stella pen to give the hearts some added sparkle.

I then made a background by laying colour down on a Tim Holtz stencil Flourish using Dusty Concord and Broken China Distress Ink, spritzed with water and pressed the stencil down on to a piece of white card.

Finally I cut the background and also another slightly larger piece of white card using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle die and mounted it all up as you can see using dimensional glue gel behind the hearts, and finished with an embossed sentiment using the Gold Metallic EP.

I will be back on the Design Team Blog next week with my second card of the month and hope you will join me again then.

Thank you for visiting today and I will see you again soon.

Under the Bridge

Hi everybody.  I needed a masculine card so decided to use one of a set of Urban & Country stamps by Sheena Douglass, and this one is called Under the Bridge.  This is a silhouette stamp actually, but I decided to change it and watercolour it as a scene rather than stamp in just one colour.

I stamped it using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink as the base colour and then gradually added shading and some background and foreground foliage, and the train passing under the bridge was coloured with Aged Mahogany DI which is a reddy brown colour.  The green is Pine Needles, and the shadows are Ground Espresso.  The sky has some Chipped Sapphire and a little of the green added for a bit of contrast, and also some Dusty Concord.  The colours are all well watered down as I didn't want anything too strong so you can see some of the lovely brickwork on the viaduct.  I framed it with dark blue and kraft card and added the sentiment using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

Thanks for your visit today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - 'B' is For? - Bridge, Birthday, Blue and Brown.
Uniko Challenge - No. 50 Celebrate (no twist).
Happy Little Stampers December Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (no twist).