Rudolph Day - Snowy Pinecone Branches

Hi everyone.  Today is the first Rudolph Day of the new year and our new host is Mo of Scraps of Life by Scrappymo who has taken over the challenge from Sarn.  The challenge rules remain much the same but this year a single card constitutes an entry instead of two.  I decided to use a set of Verve stamps called Pinecone Christmas which I got in early December but actually didn't get around to using.  I also used a Cuttlebug Holly Ribbons Embossing Folder for the background panel.  The topper was mounted on to a Spellbinder Decorative Elements Labels Eight die cut.

The branch, leaves and cones come as separate stamps and you stamp the branch then add the foliage and cones.  The foliage is arranged on the stamp so that it lines up the branch for simpler stamping.  The branch was stamped twice on a snippet of white card using Adirondack Espresso ink, and then the leaves were added using Adirondack Lettuce ink,and then darkening parts of the stamp with Adirondack Bottle.  The pine cones were stamped using the same Espresso ink.  I added some Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA to the branches and then added a little bit of WOW Sparkling Snow EP on top and heated it gently to set it in place and to give it the look of snow settled on the branches.  I cut a dark green mat using the second size Labels Eight die and then using the die to shape the stamped topper I pencilled the inner shape on to it and then cut it out and mounted it on to the dark green mat.

For the background panel I used another snippet of white card and embossed with the Holly Ribbons EF after having inked the folder with the Bottle Adirondack ink.  After running it through the machine and having made sure it was perfectly dry I then used the Lettuce Adirondack ink to fill in the rest of the white area of the embossed panel.  I then backed this with another snippet of dark green card.

I mounted the panel and topper on to a square white card and finished by stamping the sentiment using the Bottle ink.

Thank you for visiting today.

Pat x

As well as the Rudolph Day challenge I would like to enter the following challenges:

Pixies Crafty Workshop - Week 161 where we use up our snippety bits.
Country View Challenges - Use Something New To You.
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes.

Sails Galore!

Hi all.  I have been rather lazy since the start of the new year and haven't been doing a lot of card making, but I did make this card for the son of one of my cousins whose birthday was last weekend.  I used a NBUS Couture Creations Embossing Folder called Grand Sunset Sails.  I don't quite understand where the 'sunset' comes from as there is no indication of the setting sun, and my version is definitely a daytime scene.

I started by embossing it on to a snippet of white card, and then using various Memento inks straight from the pad ( they are teardrop shaped ink pads so it is quite easy to use them in this way by using the tip for the finer detail and then flat for the rest), and to enhance the detail a bit more I used some Spectrum Noir Pencils.  I did have to cut it down a bit to fit my square card.

I mounted this on to a snippet of dark green card and then finished by making a banner from another snippet of the green card and heat embossed the sentiment using Perfect Medium and WOW Gold Embossing Powder.  I thought it needed something more so I pinpointed one particular yacht on the EF and used a snippet of Gold Mirri card, and after embossing I cut it out and adhered it to the banner.

Thank you for dropping by today.

Pat x

I am just in time to enter it over at the NBUS Challenge which the lovely Darnell is running over at djkardkreations.

I am also entering:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 160.  This is run by the delightful Di and she encourages us to use up our snippets of crafty stash.

                                                                

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - It's a Guy Thing.

                                                     

Stitched Hearts Anniversary

Hi there everybody.   Firstly today I would like to introduce a new follower who is the lovely Bonnie and you will find her blog here.  For those that do not know her she is on the design team for Addicted to CAS and Merry Monday and she makes some beautiful cards so please do go and visit her.

I have an Anniversary card to show today which I actually made back in December but never got around to showing.  I often look on Pinterest to get some ideas when the mojo is a bit lacking and mine is definitely having difficulties at the moment.   I found quite a few cards having cut out heart shaped apertures with paper behind including this one here by Kasia Curry which I liked because the hearts went over the edge, so I thought I would do something along the same lines.

I started by cutting out the hearts from a snippet of cream card using my Nellie Snellen Multi-Frame Hearts die, the smaller of the plain hearts in the set.  I took a piece of patterned paper from a freebie set by My Mind's Eye, which came with a magazine some time ago, and placed it underneath, then mounted that on to a snippet of black card.  I found a snippet of bright pink card and mounted that on to another snippet of black card, and finished by layering it all up on to a square white card.

I finished the whole thing off with a Papermania sentiment stamped using Black Archival ink and then using a black Micron pen I outlined the hearts with faux stitching.

Thank you for looking at my blog today.

Pat x

I would like to enter the following challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 159 where we are asked to use up our cardmaking snippets.
The Card Concept - 26 Happy One Year Anniversary.  From the inspiration photo I took the colour pink and mine is also an Anniversary card, and the style is Clean and Simple Layered. 

My Five Favourite Creations of 2014

Hi all.  I am joining in with the very talented  Debby's five favourite creations for the whole of last year and this is the follow up to the Christmas selection which I have already posted.

Some of them just leap out at you and asked to be picked, but then there are others where deciding which to show is a bit of an 'eeny meeny mo' exercise! Anyway, these are they:

                                                             Rose Script Anniversary

                 
                   I was pleased with this card because I tried a technique called 'under the edge' die
                   cutting for the first time and I felt the Promarker colouring of the rose worked well.

                                                            Monochromatic Seascape

             
                I have chosen this one because it was quite a complicated card to make and I love
                these stamps, and also I was so pleased because it was chosen as the card of the month
                over at Crafter's Companion.

                                                                 Underwater World                                                                                                                                                                             

 

               
                     I used another new technique for this card which was to use tissue paper glued
                     to the card for added texture and I do love anything to do with the sea.

                                                        Denims and Faux Leather Belt

                 This card used another new to me technique which had just become very popular
                 to do which was to make faux leather with card softened with glycerin, and also the
                 different shape to the card which is something I rarely do.

                                                                      Chess Game

           
                     Another male card and I was pleased with the way it turned out as I made the
                     chessboard from scratch and the perspective worked better than I expected.
                     I have to say this is something that I probably won't do again as it took a very
                     long time to mask off and colour all the squares.

                                                                   On the Beach

                 This is my sixth choice but I think it is my most successful Gelli Plate background
                 to date, so I hope I am forgiven for including this too.  Gelli Plate printing is very
                 random and I was extremely lucky with the way the colours merged together, and yes,
                 it's another seaside card!

Most of these are masculine makes and I do have lots of pretty feminine cards too, but I chose these because they were the most challenging but ultimately the most satisfying makes of 2014, and in the main the ones that got the most comments at the time.  I really do appreciate everyone that takes the time to stop and look.   

I notice that I have a new follower who goes by the name of Grapevine but I do not have any other details.  If you let me have some more information I will give you a proper introduction.

Thank you for dropping by.

Pat  x

I am also entering the following challenge:

Ideas & Paper - A Few of My Favourite Things 2014.

                                                   

Lady's Mantle

Hi there everybody.  Firstly I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and hope it is also a healthy and fulfilling one too!  I am so pleased to be a part of this creative community and thankful for all the kind words and encouragement I have received over the last year from all those that I have come to know.  With this in mind I would like to introduce a new follower called Desire, whose blog you will find here, and I'm sure she would be delighted if you went over and visited her there.

Well on with the first card to be shown in 2015.  This is a birthday card I made for a cousin of mine whose birthday was just a little before Christmas.  I belong to the  Claritystamp New Design Club and receive a stamp every month and this was one from several months ago which I haven't got around to using.  It is called Lady's Mantle and is more of a wild flower.

I used a snippet of white card and my distress inks to watercolour the little scene, I can't remember exactly, but several of the blues, some brown and a little yellow, all watered down a lot to keep it quite subdued.  I then stamped the Lady's Mantle using Black Archival Ink and with a  fine nibbed black Micron Pen I inked in the stem as this stamp is just the flower head, and used some Perfect Pearls on the little flowers.   I then die cut the scene using my Xcut Hexagon Dies, the second largest die I think, and using the same die I cut another snippet of white card for the front of the card, just a little smaller than the base card.  I then used the leftover piece of white card to die cut a frame using the same die and the next size down and then glued this so the little scene and the white cut out front piece matched up and then stuck the frame in place over the top.  I finished the card with a sentiment inked using the Black Archival Ink.

Thank you for stopping here today.

Pat x

I am entering this card over at the lovely Darnell's third challenge which is to celebrate her reaching a new milestone of over seven hundred followers, and my unused item is the stamp.  You will find the challenge here, and thank you so much for this celebration.
                                             
                                             
 
I am also entering this over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop run by the lovely Di who has also reached a three year milestone with her challenge blog and thank you very much for the lovely prizes on offer to celebrate this marvellous feat.  I was hoping to enter more than one card but I'm afraid the deadline is in a little over a day, so time has beaten me again!

I am also entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Virginia's View Challenge - A Clean Slate.
Happy Little Stampers - Watercolouring.
Happy Little Stampers - January Sketch Challenge.

My Favourite Five Christmas Cards of 2014

Hi there.  Debby over at A Scrapjourney has her challenge on at the moment to choose our five favourite Christmas cards.
                                                      

Now, this year I have not posted as many Christmas cards as I did last year because I started so late and I ran out of time to blog them.  I have given myself a stern talking too and must start earlier this coming year!  Anyway, here is my selection.

                                                      MonochromaticWinter Wonderland

                                                                 Snowy Winter Houses

                                                                       Framed Noel

                                                           Glittery Snowflakes Christmas

                                                                    Happy Christmas

I am linking up with this challenge right away as I am not sure when the challenge closes.  Thank you for coming to take a look today.

Pat x          
         
                                                                               

                                                       

Happy Christmas

Hi there everybody.   Here is a card I made after seeing something similar over at Heather Telford's bits & pieces.  I only found her blog relatively recently and on looking through some of her posts you can see what wonderful work she produces.  I looked at the video tutorial she made and couldn't wait to have a go.  I used the tree from a freebie set from Penny Black which I got recently with a magazine, and although more of an indoor tree I thought it would probably work OK.

 Now it is no way as good as hers and it is similar as there isn't a lot of different ways to do snow and trees, but I hope she wouldn't consider this too much of a copy.  I cut a piece of copy paper with the shape for the snow, and the moon I cut using a circle die, cut the inside of the die to make it a bit smaller, pencilling the shape on to a 'post it' note and cutting out.  I used watercolour paper this time as I wanted to make it wetter and this does allow you to wet with a spray where ordinary card disintegrates much more easily.  I used  a brush and some water with my Distress Inks in  Tumbled Glass and Faded Jeans to build up the sky.  The trees were stamped with Adirondack - Bottle.  I actually spritzed the stamp with a bit of water before stamping so it blurred a bit and then went over again when dry with the same colour without the added water and on one or two I used a bit of Black Soot over the top instead of Bottle.   I did have a bit of a problem with the copy paper getting too wet and transferring the green  in several places.  I did try lifting the colour out with lots of water on the brush and a tissue which worked a little, but I just had to incorporate these in to the design as best I could.  If the tree looked a bit too thin I used a little extra Bottle ink with a brush and water to make the foliage more dense.  I used some more of the blues round the trees to give the appearance of the trees sitting in snow hollows and blurred lines of blue to give the snow depth.  I think this worked a bit but Heather's is fantastic.

I finished by stamping the sentiment and added some Perfect Pearls for the falling snow.  I think my blobs are a bit too regular.  Her brush and masking fluid gives a much more random effect.  Overall I was pleased with the way it turned out, but please if you don't know Heather and have never seen her work do go and take a look as you will be blown away by it.

After photographing it I decided that as it was what I considered to be my best and most creative card, artistically speaking, of the season,  I put a new sentiment tag over the top making it more personal and sent it to our son.  I didn't bother to take another photo though so this is it prior to the sentiment change.  

I would like to say a big thank you to all my lovely followers and fellow bloggers who I have come to know in the last fifteen months and hope that you all have a lovely Christmas, and for those that don't celebrate, an enjoyable break, and that 2015 will be happy, healthy and fulfilling. 

Pat x