CAS Christmas Challenge January 2021 Guest Designer Spot

Hi everybody.  I am so pleased to be doing a GD spot over at CAS Christmas Challenge, especially as it is the first one of 2021 and the theme for this first challenge is Silhouette.

I used a set of three silhouette dies to make this circular bauble shaped winter scene which came free with a magazine probably more than a year ago and I don't think they have been used before.  

I used Distress inks to the base layer to add the colour to the sky with Chipped Sapphire and Blueprint sketch and also a bit of Picked Raspberry, and added the stars using a white gel pen.  I then cut each of the three different dies and added some of the combined blue inks which were left on my ink blending tool to add colour to the different silhouettes in varying degrees, and also used a bit of pink with the other end of my pokey tool which has a flatter end of about the right size, to put ink on the miniscule windows.  I used a bit of repositionable glue runner on the backs to hold the four layers together whilst I die cut them with the stitched circle die.  I have to say it was asking a lot even of my Gemini and where they were the thickest it would not easily cut so I then did them one at a time, using the bits of each it had cut to line it up with the die, which worked OK.

Unfortunately the light was not the best when I took the photo and there is a bit of a shadow over the left side making it look like blue ink on the snow, but I only inked very little of the edge of each layer and partially over the trees house and figures.  I did take off one of the trees from the top layer and cut it down a bit and added it on the end of the second which has the house to give that layer more interest, and I then added the sentiment using Versafine Majestic Blue ink.

The CAS Christmas challenge is open until the 24th of the month and you will get lots of inspiration from their great Design Team so I hope you can visit and play along. 

Anyway thanks for coming over to my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.  

I am entering the following challenge:

NBUS Challenge - No. 22 Where we show our Never Before Used Schtuff.

A Year of Cards 2020...The Favourites!

Hi everyone.  Here is my selection of cards, one for each month of 2020...well not quite..lol.

There are a few extras as I have included my Twofer entries for June and July, and also an extra Christmas one to finish with.  This was from October and I couldn't choose between the hare and this bauble using my favourite stencil for this year, so I have added it in at the end.  

Thank you for all your visits to my blog throughout the year and I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hoping it will bring better times for us all.

 

Sparkly Protea

Hi all.  I got this Protea stencil from Funky Fossil a while ago and this is its first outing.  I needed a speedy card for a family birthday and I thought this would be good.  

I decided to use Iced Spruce and Tattered Rose Distress Inks blended through the stencil, and I finished the flower with a bit of Clear Wink of Stella.  I added the sentiment using Versafine Smokey Gray ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and matted on to a piece of light grey card before adding it to my usual 6" square White card.

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

I am entering the following challenge:

NBUS Challenge - No. 21 Using our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 603/4 Sparkle and Shine.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Sparkle and Shine.
AAA Cards:CAS Game - No. 180 Made in Minute (no optional twist).

Happy Christmas - Scenic Baubles

Hi everybody.  I am showing two more cards that I made with the Sweet Poppy Stencils Winter Bauble.  I used both Distress and Versafine Inks, and stamped the scenes inside both using some freebie stamps which came with a recent magazine.  

For both I stencilled on to a piece of white card 51/2" square, and for this first one used Festive Berries and Pine Needles DI for the stencilling and added the scene using the Pine Needles for the trees and Versafine Olympia Green for the deer family, although having stamped them twice using my stamp positioner it looks more like black.  I finished with the sentiment using Versafine Satin Red and matted on to red card before adding on to a 6" square white card.  On both cards I used my Mono Sand Eraser to take the ink off the paper to whiten just enough to make it look like snow around the scene in the bauble.

On this second one I used Salty Ocean DI all over it and then to shade a bit I added Blueprint Sketch DI.  I used Versafine Majestic Blue to stamp the cabin and trees, masking the edges of the bauble as the stamp overlapped a bit.  I also stamped the sentiment using the same blue Versafine ink and matted it on to blue card before adding it on to the same sized white card as above.

I would like to wish all my followers and visitors a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS and hope that the coming year will be a much better one for all of us.  Thank you for all the views and comments I have received which I really do appreciate.

Christmas Plaid

Hi everybody.  I had been trying to finish my Christmas cards but was not feeling inspired, so was searching for inspiration looking at lots of cards, and I do love what Karen Dunbrook does...she is ace at background making.  I saw a card of hers which I have CASEd and which you will find here if you are interested, but she did hers using masking tape which she inked to get the stripes of colour and using different red and green inks and a different snowflake stamp.  I did try using the masking tape and it did work OK, but I chose rather pale colours and have made  a card using it but am not sure that it will get an airing here, the jury's out.  I have made two different cards both using Distress Inks..one in red and green, and one using blue and purple, and this is the one I am concentrating on.  I also used a Chocolate Baroque stamp called Big Bold Background Snowflake Outline.

 
I started by making the background using Broken China and Dusty Concord DIs on a snippet of white card.  I decided to add the stripes of colour to make the plaid background using my brayer as I thought it would be quicker, just inking about an inch or so to one end of it, and rolled this across my square piece of white card in alternate stripes of the blue and purple, turning the card and doing the same in the other direction.  I had to go over some of them with a bit more ink to get a more even coverage, but it worked fairly well.  I dried it with my heat tool and then added the lines, again in both directions, using a black Sharpie pen, first broken lines through the middle of every stripe in one direction, and then doing the same but with a solid line in the other. 

Making sure it was thoroughly dry and using an anti static pad, I stamped the Outline Snowflake using the Versamark and heat set it with WOW Opaque Bright White EP.  I then matted it on to a snippet of light blue card and added it to the 6" square white base card.  I finished with a banner sentiment using another snippet of the same blue card and embossed it with the Opaque Bright White EP.

Just before I go here is the other card I made using Fired Brick and Cracked Pistachio DIs and a slightly different configuration of black lines, and matted on to dark green card.  

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 393 where we use our snippets of card, paper etc. 
Country View Challenges Dec. 2020 - Anything Christmas Goes.
We Love Chocolate Baroque December Challenge - Anything Goes.

Sparkling Snowflake

Hi all.  I made a card with this this large snowflake die which I recently acquired at a local store, but it seems to be sold out at present.  I also used some Creative Expressions Pixie Powders which have a lovely Mica shimmer to them and also used some gold acrylic paint which I bought ages ago but have only just got around to using.  Snowflakes of any sort are a favourite of mine and don't need any excuse to use them.

I started with the background using blue, green and gold powders which I sprinkled on to my glass mat and spritzed with water before laying my piece of card over the top, and I kept adding extra in the same way until I was happy with the depth of colour.  When dry I die cut the snowflake out of this piece of card and put it to one side.  I then painted another piece of card with the gold paint and die cut the same snowflake from this too.

I then cut a piece of double sided sticky sheet to just a little larger than the snowflake and peeled back one side and attached it to my white base card and peeled back the other side and adhered the top layer to it, minus the cut out star, being careful to get it in the right place before pressing it down.  I then stuck the gold layer star in to the aperture and finally glued the top layer over that using some wet glue and which now stands proud.  With hindsight I should have put the tacky sheet on the back of this before I cut out the snowflake which would have made it much easier to adhere.  I thought that the gold layer would show around the edges of the top snowflake but not sure it has made that much difference, and it would have been fine just to use white or maybe the blue card instead.

 

I finished by adding the sentiment on to a piece of dark blue card using Versamark Ink and then heat embossed it with Silver Metallic Embossing Powder, and cut it into a fishtail banner.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

ABC Christmas Challenge - "Y" is for Your Favourite Things and "Z" for Zzzzzz (a sleeping image)
Christmas Card Throwdown: December - Pick a Previous 2020 Challenge Theme (I have chosen June's theme of Snowflakes.
Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 29 December: Anything Christmas Goes.
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 85 Anything Christmas Goes.
Winter Wonderland Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes (end of year challenge)
Allsorts Challenge - Week 602 Got to be Christmas.

Winter Anniversary

Hi everybody.  This is the last anniversary of the year that I make for, and as it is winter I decided to do something with the season in mind.  I recently bought this Crafter's Companion set of silhouette foliage stamps called Festive Foliage (I bought the set in a local store and it seems to be unavailable now)  and I used a Sweet Dixie heart die.

I got the idea from some recently released stamps from Penny Black and one has foliage in a heart shape, so I decided to use this idea and stamped a selection of these stamps in a heart shape on a piece of kraft card using Tea Dye Distress Ink...this was a colour close to the colour of the card and I wanted to be able to colour over the top.  I first used the largest heart die from the above mentioned set with a pencil to mark out the shape...I wouldn't say it is the perfect heart but not bad.  I then coloured with a waterbrush using my Inktense Pencils which having lots of pigment work well on kraft card.  When it was dry I rubbed out the pencil line  and matted this on to a piece of dark green card before adding it on to my white 6" square card.

I finished by adding a die cut heart within the heart backed with a piece of foam to give it dimension, and I
stamped the sentiment using Versamark Ink and then heat embossed it with WOW Metallic Gold Embossing Powder.  I then added some sparkle on the berries using a clear Wink of Stella pen.  It looks a bit strange in the photo, just as though there are white specks, presumably just the way the light has caught it.  It is a new pen so a bit over juicy I think.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Crafty Creations December Challenge - Anything Goes.
NBUS Challenge - No. 21 Anything Goes with your Never Before Used Schtuff. 
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 391 Sorry it's so last minute!  Where we use our snippets of card, paper etc. ( I used a couple of snippets of kraft card for the topper and heart and also a snippet of green for the matted layer)