Christmas Lantern

Hi everyone.  I have another Beccy's Place freebie image called Christmas Lantern, and I also used an embossing folder which was another freebie with a magazine, but can't remember which one as it was a long time ago.

I printed the image in a soft grey colour this time and used my brush markers to colour with a waterbrush to apply them and fussy cut and backed it with some foam.  I found a piece of white card and using the embossing folder then did what I did last time and sprayed it with a little water before sending it through my machine, and it definitely makes the embossing more pronounced.  I then added the sentiment using Versafine Satin Red and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder before adding the topper to the card.  I decided to add some yellow to give the glow of the lamp around it and using a brush I applied some Fosselized Amber Distress Ink and then adhered the lantern over it.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Beccy's Place December Challenge - Anything Goes using one of Beccy's images/Bingo Grid.
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - No. 143 Non-Traditional Christmas Colours.
Happy Little Stampers December Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes.
Happy Little Stampers December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes/Stencil.
Country View Challenges - December: Christmas.

Fly and Be Free Butterfly

Hi everyone.  A birthday card today using the Creative Individuals stamp Fly and Be Free.  I used Brushos and a bit of added Inktense Pencil and blending with some Distress Inks.

I started with the Brushos in Violet and Sea Green on my glass mat with water and applied to the card using a piece of acrylic as I find this makes them easier to use.  I did each colour separately and dried in between.  I then stamped using Versafine Imperial Purple Ink and added some extra colour on the circles and the butterfly using the Mustard Yellow Inktense Pencil, taking the colour from the tip with the waterbrush.  I also added some white pencil here and there and I used some Clear Wink of Stella on the butterfly wings.  I cut the piece down a bit leaving room for the sentiment to be added at the bottom of the 6" square card, again using the Imperial Purple Ink and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Embossing Powder.   I then blended some Wilted Violet Distress Ink around the edges and also blended a little more on to the wings as I felt they needed to be darkened a bit so that they stood out better.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - December - ' I love.....' (I love stamping and inking and making my own backgrounds).
Stamping Sensations Challenge - December - Anything Stamped/Winter Wonderland.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Add Some Sparkle (Wink of Stella on the butterfly wings).
Allsorts Challenge - Week 706 Anything Goes/Let it Snow.
Crafty Calendar Challenge - December - Anything Goes.
We Love to Create Mixed Media Challenge - No 12 Anything Mixed Media Goes.
Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge - No. 89 Anything Mixed Media Goes.

Poinsettia Wreath

Hi everybody.  I have one of Beccy Muir's digital images another of the freebie ones, and unsurprisingly another wreath too, as I do love the wreath shape.   I decided to use alcohol markers which I haven't used for I don't know how long.  I felt as though I had lost the knack of using them and wasn't totally happy with the result and nearly threw it away, but the next day on looking at it again I decided it wasn't as bad as I thought.  I only have a dozen of the Promarkers and the two tones of green are not terribly close in colour to get very natural shading, and there is only one brown which is a little darker for the background wreath than I would have liked, but since I finished the card it has grown on me.

I did the palest possible printing colour which is the equivalent of no line colouring and I used the same paper to print on.  This time I checked and it is only 120gsm so thinner than I was thinking.  I decided to cut it out to place it over the embossed background which is a Crafter's Companion embossing folder called Frosted Elegance.  I decided as my card is 300gsm to spray it with a little water before dry embossing to see if it would etch it a little more deeply and I think that it does look more pronounced, so a success.  I added the wreath backed with a bit of foam for dimension, and then die cut a sentiment from red card to add beneath.

Thank you for coming to visit my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Beccy's Place December Challenge - Anything Goes/optional: Bingo Grid.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 705 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Christmas Kickstart Challenge - No. 69 If It's Christmassy, Link It Up!
The Holly and Ivy Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes.
Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 47 Anything Christmas Goes.
Peace on Earth Challenge - No. 29 Anything Christmas Goes.
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge - No. 623 Anything Christmas Goes. (Sadly after 12 years Hazel has decided to make it the last challenge at the end of the year)
Winter Wonderland Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes.
Country View Challenges - December - Christmas.

Navy and Cream Anniversary

Hi everybody.  I have an anniversary card to show you today, actually the last family anniversary until April.  I decided to use the colours of the latest Color Hues Challenge which appealed to me as something a bit different when making an anniversary card.

I started with the topper using some cream pearlised card and decided to use some lines scored down the middle of the square shape, about 3 1/4" square, and decided on the negative, going into the card.  I then die cut a heart from the centre and backed it with a piece of the navy to frame.  I used this heart and die cut it one size smaller.  I then backed this with a piece of foam and placed it in the centre and added three little self drawn hearts using a dark blue Sakura Starlight gel pen for a bit of sparkle and also ran the pen down the lines on the cream heart, and finished with a sentiment using Versafine Majestic Blue ink below the topper on the 6" square white base card.

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

I am also entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Crafty Calendar Challenge - December Anything Goes.
Alphabet Challenge - R is for Reduce (CAS).
CAS on Friday Challenge - No. 245 Greeting Card.
Color Hues Challenge - No. 54 Navy and Cream.

Berry Wreath

Hi there.  Here is another card made for the A Month of Holiday Cards Challenge over at Beccy's Place and another freebie from her site.  This time I coloured it with my Inktense Pencils but without any water.

I coloured the image which I again printed on the 160gsm paper and used two of the browns, greens and reds and an orange to colour it.  I then fussy cut it out and placed it over a white stitched circle mounted on to a red one using a couple of snippets of card from my box, and just added a sentiment using Versafine Satin Red heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and I also added some Clear Wink of Stella to the berries which I like, but unfortunately it being a water reactive medium it did make the berries look a rather dense red instead of their being more variation in tone, but they do have a lovely shimmer and shine.  I decided as it nicely filled the card it didn't need anything else.

Before I go I have to introduce Beccy  whose beautiful wreath image I have used in this post..thank you so much for becoming my latest follower.  For those who don't know her just press the link at the top of the post and go and see her wonderful digital images.

Thank you for coming to visit today and I'll see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 442 Where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
Happy Little Stampers November Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes/Santa.
Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 47 Anything Christmas Goes.

Berry Branch

There is a Christmas Challenge run by Beccy Muir from Beccy's Place called A Month of Holiday Cards Challenge and I am rather late to the party but thought I would try and at least make a few cards before the end of the month.  I was going to start sooner but have had a busy month with birthdays to make for and also unfortuately hubby had to have an emergency hernia operation four weeks ago and so the start of the month was when he came home so didn't have so much time for a week or two, but thankfully he is much better now.  I used one of Beccy's freebie images called Berry Branch.

I started with the digital image on some 160gsm paper, as my printer does not like thicker card.  I read somewhere that if you use white gesso over the paper you can use watercolour techniques without it buckling too much.  I maybe should have used it straight out of the tube but I did water it down a bit so it didn't obscure the digital image lines too much, and this did make it warp a little, but after drying it wasn't bad and I did find the colour went on better without going through to the other side, but I did end up fussy cutting it out as it wasn't completely unwrinkled.  I used some Lyra Water Brush Pens in a light and dark brown and also a red, orange and a bit of purple for shading, applied to my mat and then using a waterbrush to paint with.  I also used some 3D Clear Gloss Pen over the top of the whole thing which gave it a bit more strength and a lovely gloss finish.  I used a black and white plaid paper as a background and adhered the berry branch to a piece of white card, both layers cut with a rectangular stitched die, and backed with red card.  I finished with a Versafine Satin Red Ink for the sentiment heat embossed 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:

Rudolph Days November Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes.
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes.
Happy Little Stampers November Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes/Santa.

Floral Delight

Hi there.  It is a friend's birthday and I have recently been lucky enough to win a set of delightful florals by Highlight Crafts called Crown and Glory Set 3 and so I thought I would open them and dive in.  I also used a stencil which was a freebie with a magazine a few years ago which I thought would make a good background for the flowers.

I started by stamping the flowers in Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and then coloured using a set of Lyra waterbrush pens which I scribbled onto my glass mat and picked up with a waterbrush, and then I fussy cut them out.  

I decided to dry emboss the stencil and then I put the stencil over the embossing and used my Versamark Ink with a blending tool to add it to the stencil piece and then heat embossed with WOW Silver Metallic EP.  I made the silly error of not dusting with an anti static bag first, and inevitably some of the powder clung to the card where I didn't want it to, and I did manage to remove most of it, but in the end I went ahead with the heat tool and it was I thought acceptable...I was short of time as I have had a lot going on at home recently and got behind with my cardmaking and unfortunately November is a busy month for me with lots of cards to make.  

I finished by adding the sentiment in the Nocturne Ink and heat embossed with the Clear Gloss EP and arranged the flowers above using some pieces of foam underneath them to give a bit of dimension.   The stencil is quite large and the card is my usual 6" square.  I did decide to chop the corners off the stencil layer to give a bit of a different look. 

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you drop by again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers November Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes.
Happy Little Stampers November Birthday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Happy Little Stampers November Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Stencil It.
Crazy is our fame - Stencils are our game - November Challenge -  Anything Goes/Fall Colors.
NBUS Challenge - No. 44 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Cards 4 Galz Challenge - No. 186 Use A Stencil.