Oh Christmas Tree

Hi there.  I am just about in time to get my entry in to this month's Rudolph Days Challenge run by Mo over at Scraps of Life by Scrappymo.  I was thinking that I had got a couple more days forgetting it is a shorter month, though one day longer this year as it is a leap year.   I have made this card using a Crafty Individuals Large Christmas Tree (CI-460) stamped using Versafine Olympia Green which to be truthful is so dark it looks black on the kraft card.  I also stamped the sentiment using the same ink and then heat embossed both using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

I decided to add some stars using a freebie stencil which I have had for ages, and added Brilliance White Ink through it using a piece of blending foam.  I then accentuated some of them with a Signo Gel Pen and I also used this for the snow on the tree and some falling snow.

Thanks for visiting today and I hope you will come back again soon.

I am entering the following challenge:

February Rudolph Days Challenge - Anything Christmas goes.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 260 All About Occasions.  (Great to be chosen as one of the 'Rockers' for this challenge)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Winter Wonderland Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes.

CAS in Red and Black

Hi everybody.  I just have time to enter the CAS Watercolour Challenge which this month has the theme of Red and Black.  I decided to make a stencil from a die using one from a Sizzix Mixed Media Set No. 3.  There are three dies and I used the crackle corner.  As I used the die as a stencil I also made this a second entry to the CAS Mix Up Challenge.

I cut out the die using a piece of copy paper and stencilled it using Black Soot Distress Ink on to a square piece of white card and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then used a flower stamp from a Pinkfresh set which came with a recent magazine.  I stamped it using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and coloured it using some Staedtler Watercolour Brush Pens, a red and black.  This is in fact the first time I have used them, and I applied the colour with the brush end and moved it around with my waterbrush.  I then finished with a sentiment from the Pinkfresh set using the Nocturne ink and again heat set with the Clear Gloss EP and added this to the 6" square white card and added the flower adhering it with Pinflair Glue Gel.

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

I am also entering:

AAA Cards Challenge - No. 159 One Corner + Optional Twist Love Those Older Supplies (the flowers are new but the die I used for the stencil is a die I have had for a long time).
Stamping Sensations February Challenge - Feminine.
Less is More Challenge - No. 413 More (but still CAS).
 


(So pleased to be chosen as one of the  Outstanding Designs for both of these challenges)



 

                                                                                          

Sunflower Doily

I decided to enter two of Loll and Bonnie's CAS Challenges with this card as I have managed to cover both with the one card using an Xcut Sunflower Doily Die, and a little bird from Crafty Individuals which came with a few others as a freebie with a recent order.  I did try to find it on their site but couldn't.  

The CAS Mix Up Challenge asks us to make a stencil from a die and include stamping, and a technique of our choice which in my case is heat embossing, and CAS Stencil Challenge  asks for foil, so I combined both these challenges and using the Sunflower Doily die I cut a stencil from a piece of thickish paper and used some Pinflair stencil glue.  I thought it might be strong enough to use with the foil, and having used it with a wet sponge as a temporary stencil adhesive literally to hold a stencil in placed I found that it was inclined to stick to and lift the surface of the paper so thought if I used it neat it would be strong enough to hold the foil.  I applied it through my stencil using a piece of blending foam but ommitted the scalloped edge, and then I left it to dry off before placing the gold foil over it and rubbed it down first with my fingers then with a bone folder and I would say it worked reasonably well.                                                                                                                                                      

There were a few bits of foil where I didn't want them but I managed to remove these more or less with a Mono Sand Eraser.  I then stamped the little bird using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and then fussy cut it out.  I also added a sentiment using the Nocturne ink before adding this to a 6" square white card.  Lastly I added the bird to the centre of the doily using Pinflair Glue Gel for a bit of dimension.

I am not totally convinced that the foil would stay put when sent in the post, but saying that I have rubbed it with my fingers and it seems to be OK, but the coverage could be better, as you can see in the close up there are a few bare bits, but I think I will investigate other ways of applying it which may be better.

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

I am also entering:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment.
Penny Black and More February Challenge - Animals, Birds and Butterflies.
Seize The Birthday - No. 183 Show me your White Space.

Scripted Heart Valentine

Hi everybody.  Here is a valentine card I made for my hubby.  It is a bit glitsy but toned down by the black background I think.  I used an Indigoblu stamp called French Script and a Leonie Pujol embossing folder called Dotty Heart.

I started with the black background and covered two thirds of it with the script heat embossing with WOW Black Sparkle Embossing Glitter.  I then die cut a red heart using a set of dies from Sweet Dixie with the WOW Red Sparkle on the right hand side of the heart, again using the French Script.  I dry embossed the other side of the heart with the Dotty Heart embossing folder, and then added a piece of funky foam underneath for a bit of dimension.  I finished by using the sentiment die from The Works and cut two  of them, heat embossing the top one with two layers of Metallic Silver Embossing Glitter, and layered the two together offsetting them to make a white highlight which unfortunately doesn't show up that well in the photo.

Hubby did say he loved the card without any prompting from me, so I take that as a pleasing result...lol.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Playground - No. 371 where we use up our snippets of card, paper etc.  (I have used snippets of black, red and white card).
Happy Little Stampers February Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 258 All About Occasions.
Double D February Challenge - Hearts.
The Male Room Challenge - No 129 Heart You.
The Card Concept - No. 128 Be Mine, Valentine)  I have chosen the clean and graphic look.
Fusion Card Challenge - Valentine.  (I used the photo)

Bee-you-tiful Bees

Hi everyone.  Less is More Challenge is celebrating it's 9th birthday, so congratulations to the team for a really fun and successful challenge, and long may you continue,  and the theme is 'Less (tiny and few)'.  I wouldn't say that CAS comes naturally to me but I do love the look, and enjoy trying to achieve it if I can.  I have not been a good contributor lately but thought that this year, and especially it being their birthday I would get an entry in, and will definitely try to enter more often.

I bought some Crafty Individual stamps recently and as an extra Jean kindly sent me a few little single stamps one of which was this really cute little bee image which is so detailed,  and that is what I used.  I have looked it up and I think it comes from the 'Floral Postcard' collage stamp.

I found a sentiment from my stash which seemed appropriate and stamped it using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then did a little fairly soft stencilling using a Tim Holtz Honeycomb stencil using Adirondack Sunshine Yellow and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.  I then stamped the bee around the sentiment again using the Nocturne ink and coloured them using more of the Spiced Marmalade DI and also some Black Soot DI and used a Wink of Stella Pen to glitter the wings a bit, though it doesn't really show.  I think perhaps my pen is running out so must buy a new one soon.  I cut the piece of white card slightly smaller than the 6" square card and mounted it up.

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







I am also entering:

Stamping Sensations February Challenge - Feminine.
Penny Black and More February Challenge - Animals, Birds and Butterflies.  (I am hoping that as butterflies and bees both have six legs and are therefore insects my bees are eligible, but please remove my entry if not)
Happy Little Stampers February CAS Challenge - Positive.  (Pleased to be one of the Favourites).
AAA Cards:CAS Game No 158 - Up To One Third + optional twist hearts.

Chocolate Baroque cards for December TV

Hi everyone.  Here are the cards I made for the December Chocolate Baroque shows on Hochanda.  

My first card was made using the Steampunk Sea World and the Steampunk Funky Fish stamps.  I started with the background using some Brushos in Turquoise and Ultramarine and a bit of Dark Brown at the bottom, keeping it fairly light.  I then stamped the images using Versafine Deep Lagoon ink second generation, as I didn't want the outlines to be too heavy.  I then coloured them using a selection of Distress Inks applied with a waterbrush - Ripe Persimmon, Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean and Peeled Paint.  I then added some extra ink to the background and around the edges to darken it a bit using more Salty Ocean and Dusty Concord and then added the sentiment from Punky Expressions stamped with Versafine Deep Lagoon again using second generation ink.
 

This second card features stamps from Punky Flowers and a sentiment from Punky Expressions.  I made a watercolour background using my Distress Inks in Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord and then stamped the middle flower using the middle sized flower and heat embossed it with WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder.  I then made a mask for it before stamping the two smaller flowers, one either side and heat embossed them with the Silver EP.  I then masked these two and stamped the coil branches six times and added the smaller of the group of cogs  and the sentiment, all  Silver EP heat embossed.  I finished by adding some of the same two colours to the flowers using a waterbrush.

This next card uses an image from Punky Flowers and I decided to put it over an alcohol ink on Yupo background which I had already made with Stream, Flamingo, Clover and Citrus.  I added the strip of white card with the image stamped in Momento Teal Zeal and heat embossed a couple of times with WOW Clear EP to really make it stand out.  I then blended the same ink around the edges using a blending tool and added the sentiment from Punky Expressions cut into a banner and using the Teal Zeal again, but didn't heat emboss it this time as I wanted it to have a softer look, and edged very lightly with the same ink.

My last card  is a watercoloured scene using Steampunk Birds and one of the flowers from Punky Flowers.

I stamped the flowers in the foreground first using Versafine clair Nocturne ink and then masked one of the flowers and added the birdhouse, and then the bird on the perch, all using the Nocturne ink.  I then coloured them all using my Distress Inks in Brushed Corduroy, Tea Dye, Carved Pumpkin, Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber, Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Peeled Paint.  I did occasionally mix some of the colours together for other tones.  I then added some hand drawn leaves around the bird to make it look like he is perched on a branch though obviously it does look more like a perch than a branch, but a bit of poetic license there..lol, and then I added a golden sun behind the birdhouse using Scattered Straw and Fossilized Amber.  I finished by adding the grass using Peeled Paint and added a bit of blue to it for the hills and then did the sky with Salty Ocean and added a sentiment using second generation Nocturne ink.

I wanted to give this a bit of a fantasy look, I wasn't going for very much realism as these stamps give everyday objects a bit of a twist.  

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

 

Steampunk Birds

Hi there everyone.  This is my last Guest Design Team post over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog and I have chosen images from the Steampunk Birds set of stamps, and also the little flower from Punky Flowers.

I started by stamping the little chick three times on to white card using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and then watercoloured the three images with Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Ink and cut them out using the whole image, then minus the egg to the right, then just the wing, followed lastly by just the shell over the chick and decoupaged using the glue gel which gives it a nice 3D look.   I then stamped the little birds and sentiments on to a 4" square piece of white card using more Nocturne ink and coloured them using Peacock Feathers DI applied with a waterbrush.  I then blended more Vintage Photo and Spiced Marmalade around the edges and added the decoupaged image to the centre.

Next I cut a piece of white card a little smaller than the square card and stamped the larger double bird image on a spring and also the corkscrew birds image which I thought nicely fitted in with the theme of the card, again with Nocturne ink.  I then infilled with a small cog image from Steampunk Birds and the smallest flower image from Steampunk Flowers using Mustard Seed and finished with more Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade and also a small amount of the Vintage Photo blended around the edges.

Thank you for joining me today and I'll be back again soon and please visit the Design Team Blog for lots of great inspiration as there are new posts most days.