HappyNew Year!

Happy New Year to all my blog readers.  It's my lovely Brother In Law  Les's 70th birthday on Monday, so I got my stampscape stamps out for his card.  I can't believe he's 70 already, it only seems like yesterday since he was teaching me to knit when I was about 8.  I've always had a great relationship with him, so he deserves a card which takes longer to make.

All stamps used in the image are by Stampscapes, I used distress inks to colour the image all applied with brushes and sponges.  I used stamps by Clarity for the wording and a stamp from Inkylicious for the scrolls.

And here's a photo of my big Sister Chris and Brother In Law Les.

Scenic Christmas

 I got inspiration for this from Sheena on UTube.  The main dies and all the stamps are by Sheena Douglass, the holly leaves are by Sue Wilson.

I cut all the dies first, then inked through them before removing the card, using the die like a stencil. I used Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink for all the stamping.  For the background I used just one stamp, then cut the trees out using the matching die, and stamped them.  Then with a little water and a paint brush I blended out the ink a little. and created the snow banks at the base just using the ink and paint brush.  I finished off with some sparkle.

A side view as I don't know what they call this style of card.  The good think about it is it goes flat to go into the envelope..... lol.

Thanks for looking

xx

Let It Snow with Lavinia Stamps

Novembers challenge over on Lavinia Stamps is Let It Snow.  Well usually that wouldn't be hard to do would it, but I don't have many of Lavinia's Christmas stamps, and the ones I do have don't include snow.....  Anyway, as any crafter will do, I improvised with white embossing powder.

I started by making the hills with a torn strip of paper as a mask and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and blended it with a shaving brush, I wanted the hills to be very subtle.  Then I added the same colour to the sky, I then used Dusty Concord DI to add the purple, taking it into the blue of the sky a little too.  All the black stamping was done with Versafine. Then I stamped with Versamark and white embossing glitter by WOW and gave it a blast with the heat gun.  I used a Versamark pen to add the snow to the castle, tree and holly leaves and heat embossed with the same white embossing glitter.  I used Glamour dust for the fairy's wings, though it's not showing up on the picture.  Lastly I sponged the Distressed Condord DI around the edges to frame it all.

Thanks for looking xx

More Christmas Cards.......

I've been doing well with making my Christmas cards the last couple of weeks, here's this weeks makes.

 Well I'm still not too sure about Kraft Card or not...... hmm.  I started off by cutting the shape with a die by Spellbinders,  first I cut the full shape, then used 2 together to make a frame.  Taking the full die cut, I blended white ink with a shaving brush, till I was happy with the depth of white.  I then stamped the image with Memento Rich Cocoa, stamps from Inkylicious, and used a white gel pen to create the snow, which I then gave a bit of sparkle to with Glamour Dust, lastly I attached the frame cut and added the sentiment, which I made on my Cameo, and the twine bow.  For the backing I simply stamped random snowflakes with the same colour memento ink.

 This is my latest stamp from Penny Black, I do love there twiggy/tree stamps.  I  started this card by cutting a frame using the Sue Wilson Noble Pierced dies.  I then stamped the image and heat embossed in white.  Then I used Distress Inks in Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire and blended it with sponges and added the berries with Waco Pearl Maker (saves on gems..... lol).  While the pearls dried I stamped the border using my Misti to line them up near as perfect as I could.... lol.  The border stamps are by Phill Martin, and I love them!  Once all dry I put the card together sticking the image piece straight onto the card, then place the frame using sticky pads to lift it just a little.

 I made the frame the same as the card above.  For the centre, I stamped and heat embossed the snowflakes using clear embossing powder.  Snowflake stamps are by Sue Wilson, then blended Distress Inks in Shaded Lilac and Tumbled Glass over them, the clear embossing powder acts as a resist so the white from the card show through.  Then I splashed a little water over the inks to create the little white spots.  The card was then finished off the same as above.

 I embossed the background first, then cut the frame using a die by Amy Design called Wintertide.  I also cut a circle of card big enough to sit behind the frame.  I stamped the trees in Versamark and heat embossed with clear powder, so I could ink over the image without it smudging. The tree stamp if from Inkylicious, I used shaving brushed to blend the 2 colours of Distress Ink, Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar.  I finished the card off with a sentiment made on my Cameo and some Christmas twine.

Again the frame was created the same way as the others.  I masked off the image piece and blended Broken China Distress Ink.  Then using the masks again where needed I stamped the trees and added some sparkle for the snow, again using Glamour Dust.  The tree stamp is from a Penny Black,The card was finished of the same as above.

Inspiration from Pinterest

I'm on a roll with my Christmas cards, though I'm a long way behind what I usually am every year.

 I made a stencil with a bauble die for this one.  I blended ink with brushes through the stencil, then stamped my image and coloured it with pencils, stamp is by Inkylicious,  I then used the same dies to cut a frame which I attached over the image,  to give the impression of it being a bauble, and gave it a bit of sparkle, it's showing very gold in the photo, but it isn't really.... lol.  The sentiment is one I made last year on my Cameo.  To finish off, I added card candy to each corner and give that the sparkle treatment too....lol

Both of these cards use the Winter Berries stamp from Penny Black which I stamped with Rich Cocoa Memento ink.  Stormy Sky Distress ink was blended over that.  The sentiment on the first one is from a stamp set by Penny Black, and the other Visible Image.  I used Pinflair Pearl Wand for the red berries.

Same Stamp, 3 Ways

I've been after this stamp for a few years, and finally managed to get it.  A friend over in the US kindly sent me it.  It's by Stampin Up, but I'm sure it's retired now.

 First I stamped and heat embossed with white embossing powder, the blended a couple of colours of Distress Inks to look like it's coming from behind, colours used were Picked Raspberry and Broken China.  The heat embossing resists the ink and gives a lovely effect.  I finished off with a sentiment from Visible Image.

 I stamped and heat embossed just half of the stamp on an off cut of card, matted onto a piece of silver card and finished of with the sentiment which if from a set by Honeydoo Stamps.

Heat embossed again and the sentiment is from Visible Image.

Blue & Purple with Lavinia

This months challenge over on Lavinia Stamps is all about Blue & Purple.

I started by creating my background with Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord, placing the mask for the moon first.  Once I was happy with that I got my stamps out (I really need some sentiment stamps by Lavinia... lol)  I stamped mushrooms with the same inks and also the leaves.  Then I used black to stamp the other images.

Thanks for looking xx

Out of This World!

I've been playing with inks this weekend, and love this Galaxy effect.  I used Distress Inks in Seedless Preserve, Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot.  Once all the inking was done, I splashed water, which has a little bit of mica powder added, over it all which left a nice subtle shimmer.  Then I watered down a tiny bit of white Gesso and splattered if all over.  I then stamped the images and heat embossed them, stamps by Sheena Douglass, the lettering was heat embossed with stamps from Urban Stamps.

More Christmas Cards

I took inspiration from Heather Telford for this card.  I started by blending Distress Inks for the background (Evergreen Bough, Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire).  Then I heat embossed the image with white embossing powder.  I stamped the trees with Chipped Sapphire DI, then heat embossed the sentiment.  To finish off I watered down a tiny bit of white gesso, and flicked it over the card to give the impression of falling snow.

The image stamp is by Honey Doo Crafts, Trees  -Penny Black and the sentiment Just Rite stamps.

 These 2 cards were made using a die by Sue Wilson, Aurora Star, using just the inner part of the 2 die set.  The sentiment in the top card is a stamp by Urban Stamps and the bottom one's sentiment is by Just Rite stamps.

I used the Holly Striplet die by Sue Wilson for this one, just using the inner die 3 times.  I used Cosmic Twinkle for the berries, the sentiment again by Just Rite which I stamped onto card cut with Sue Wilson's Pierced Flags die.

Latest Art Journal Pages

 I created the background for this one with a brayer and acrylic paint in a couple of shades of blue.  I used stencils by Andy Skinner.  The skull and flowers are by Sheena Douglass, and the stamping round the edge is by Ryn.

 I am entering this one into the present challenge on That's Crafty where the theme is 'Zesty Zing'. The background for this one was created with baby wipes that I'd used to mop up inks and paints.  I thought it looked pretty, so let it dry out and just tore it up and stuck it down.  Then I went over that with a stencil I made from a die and added a bit of stamping in black.  The wording is a stamp that was a freebie a while ago, it's all one stamp, I just cut it up after stamping.  The main image is a stamp by Julie Nutting, coloured with Distress Inks on a separate piece of card and attached with mod podge. The bubbles are just cut circles on a spare piece of card, coloured with Gelatos and cut out.

 I got the idea for this one from Pinterest.  I've had the post card stamps for years and never known what to do with it..... so when I saw one similar on Pinterest, I just had to give it a go.  The background was done with Distress Inks, I stamped and masked the postcards, the sentiment was generated on the computer.

The background was made with my fingers and acrylic paint.  I used texture paste through a stencil for the tree and coloured it with Distress Inks when it was dry.  I used a couple of tops dipped into white acrylic pain for the circles, the bubbles are a stamp, can't remember who by, and the butterflies are die cuts coloured with Distress Inks.  The working was done with Dyan Reaveley stamps.

Lavinia Stamps - No Black (28th August)

This months challenge over on Lavia Stamps is 'No Black', now I always do silhouettes with black, so this was a nice change for me, I used brown to stamp my main images and purple, green and blue for the others.  I used Distress Inks to colour the background and finished of with some glitter, more than I would usually use..... lol. 

Sheena Douglass Canvass

I made this canvass for the 2nd stage of a DT appplication, which unfortunately I didn't get because I work for a well known craft company.

 I started off by using a script stamp and stamped it a few times onto tissue paper, which I then ripped up and stuck randomly over the blank canvass,  I added some texture paste through a stencil for the corner,  then I added a coat of Gesso.  I made a couple of ink sprays using 2 colours of Aquatints and water and added it till I was happy with the colour.  The butterfly, dragonflies and flowers were all stamped and coloured with the same 2 colour Aquatints, but I used them as water colours.  The pictures really don't do the colours justice....lol

And here's some close ups.

All stamps and the stencil are by Sheena Douglass.

Thanks for looking xx

40th Birthday

The present challenge on That's Crafty (22.7.16) is Feminine.

It's my nieces 40th on Friday, so I thought I'd make her card a little different.

I repeatedly stamped the water droplets to cover my piece of card stock, this stamp is from Inkylicious.  Then I used Distress Markers to add the colour.  I then went back to each one and removed some colour from the bottom of the droplet, just with a paint brush and water, then added the white dots on each with a gel pen.  This give them so much dimension.  Next I blended some Distress Inks onto a piece of white card and cut them out with a die, added a little bit of stamping before adding them to the card.  I printed the sentiment and cut it out with tag dies by Sue Wilson.

I think the water droplets look like gems or misshapen jelly beans..... lol.

Thanks for looking.

Water Droplets

 I got inspiration from Eileen Godwin for this card.  The background was made with Distress Inks, pressing the ink pad onto an acrylic block, spraying with water, then placing onto a piece of card.  Once it was dry I stamped the water droplet stamp.  I removed a little of the colour from each droplet using a paint brush and water and dabbing of the water.  Once dried I added little white spots to the top of the droplets, to give more dimension.  I die cut the butterflies on a piece of leftover over card, and attached them with foam pads.  The sentiment is from a stamp set by Stamps U Love.

I used the same stamp for this one, but stamped onto white card and coloured each droplet with Distress Ink Markers.  I think they look like jelly beans or jewels.

The droplet stamp is from Inkylicious or Designs by Ryn.

Masculine Art Journal Page

The present challenge over at That's Crafty is 'Masculine', so I thought I'd do a page in my journal, since it's all quite girly at the moment, need variation, right?

I blended Distress Inks all over the page, I used Rusty Hinge, Broken China, Stormy Sky and Vintage Photo.  I used Texture Paste through a clock stencil, and coloured it with the same inks.  I added various bits of stamping, and cut the clock from a Tim Holtz die.  I coloured this with Vintage Photo DI, then added some gilding wax to it and also over the stencilling.  The wording is a stamp from Visible Image.

Thanks for looking. xx

Fly.............

Another journal page....

I used Aquatints for the background, added some stenciling and stamping.  I also used Aquatints to colour the butterfly and dragonfly, and when dry used a clear sparkle pen from Crafters Companion over the top of the wings.  I then added glossy accents to the bodies and the drops for a bit of dimension.  All stamps and stencils are by Sheena Douglass.

Thanks for looking xx

Some Journal Pages....

...... Yes I'm still addicted to this......

 I stuck some Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap to the page to start with, then sprayed with a couple of Dylusion Sprays, drying between each layer, randomly stamped images.  I got inspiration for this from Marta Lapkowska, really love her work.

 I used acrylic paints for the background on this one, applied with my fingers (had rubber gloves on though, lol). m then I added some random stamping and added the bubbles simply by painting circles with white Gesso, I then added the colour with Gelatos, smudged with my finger.  The sentiment is a stamp by Dyan Reaveley, which I cut up.  The dragon fly was a left over die cut from another project.  Inspiration again from Marta.

 I used a couple of Dylusion sprays for the background, added some texture through a stencil for the squares.  Heat embossed the tyre tracks with white embossing powder, then added some random stamping.  The butterfly and sentiment are from Visible Image.  Inspiration was from Corrie Herriman.

 I used Dylusion Sprays for the background, some random stenciling and stamping.  The stencil in the middle is by Dyan Reaveley, and the wording was found on the internet and printed on the computer.  I've had this stencil for a long time and never really used it as it's bigger than I was expecting it to be.  But since I'm now into journaling, I thought it was perfect.

 I coloured the background with Gelatos, used a Sheena stencil for the sun rays.  I added a little acrylic paint to give the top half a dull look, Stamps are by Crafters Companion, Ryn, and Paper Artsy, the man was die cut using a Tim Holtz die.  Wording was computer generated.

 I'm still in love with New York since our visit back in 2014, and I think I always will be.  So I just had to do a page dedicated to NYC. (probably won't be the only one either...lol) Background made using a couple of Dylusion Sprays, and dabbing most of it back off, I wanted a subtle background.  The stamp along the bottom is from Altenew, the script stamp is one of Sheenas, I printed the images and cut them out.  Wording is computer generated too.

Pretty Bubbles.......

I'm getting quite addicted to this Art Journal malarky....lol

I used Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral) for the background then sprayed water through a stencil and splashed water to remove some colour.  Stenciled with the same DI colours.  The bubbles (a big lopsided....) were stamped with Sheena stamps and coloured with Gellatos. The smaller bubbles were stamped with Lavinia stamps and round the edges with a stamp from Paper Artsy. I finished off stamping the words, using stamps by Dyan Reavely and colours in some of the bubbles round the edges with gold and white pens.
Inspiration for this is from Marta Lapkowska.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Sheena Stamps & Art Journaling

I've been playing with journaling for a while now, just using a book I already had.  I finally bought one of Dyan Reavely's Art Journals from Crafters Companion, when their new shop opened just 20 minutes drive from me.  It sat on my desktop for a couple of weeks, before I could bring myself you actually use it......lol.  Anyway I've done a few pages in it now and I used stamps by Sheena Douglass for this one.

I made the background by brayering acrylic paints onto the page till I was happy with the result.  Then I got my stamps out and got on with the stamping.  I knew when I bought the circle stamps they would make good flowers, so I stamped onto book pages and cut them out. I kept going back to this page as I just felt it wasn't quite finished, and I needed to decide what wording to use.  I used a white gel pen to add some highlights, jus to make things pop a little.

Thanks for looking.

xx

In The Pink!

There's a new challenge over on That's Crafty where the theme is 'In The Pink'.  I've been playing around with a bit of art journaling this past week or so, so thought I'd do this for the challenge.

I started the background by using one colour Aquatint, working from the bottom of the page to the top to create the 'Hombre' look.  I used various stamps from Dylusions, and Tim Holtz, the lady stencils are from Clarity Stamps.  The working is a stamps by Dyan Reavely - I'm pretty sure the with a pair of sparkly shoes, and a new tiara, she could conquer the world'.  I don't have a tiara stamp, but I thought a crown was just as good.  I also added glitter to the feet to create the sparkly shoes....

Thanks for looking.

xx

Sheena Stamps

I recently bought some of Sheena Douglass's new stamps and a couple of other goodies that she demo'd on TV,  and have finally had a lovely play with them.  I think I may be slightly addicted to the Rose...... lol, I love it!

Here's what I've been doing.....

First of all, a couple of tags.

 I've been messing with inks lately and this is a tag I sprayed with Dylusions ink, and splashed with water to create the white dots.  I then stamped the rose with Versafine then I went over that with gilding paste which I then dragged in a little with a damp paintbrush, this creates an embroidery look. Once it was clear, it stays sticky for a long time, I went over it all with foil.   This technique is called  Brush Embroidery, which I used to do when I made wedding cakes, so it was nice to try it again.  I also used the liquid gilding paste around the edges, applied with a sponge, and added foil to that too, it gives a lovely distressed look and very subtle.  I finished off stamping and heat embossing the sentiment.

For this one, I went looking in my file of backgrounds and came across this one which was made with Brushos.  All I did was stamp the rose onto it then cut it out.  I cut a tag from Kraft Card and attached ripped pieces of a book page, finished off with some Distress Ink around the edges and added the word.

 I stamped onto water colour card for this one, and used water colour paints to add the colour.  Then blended some Distress Ink around the image and added the stamping with another stamp by Sheena.

Last one.......  This was another background I found in my file, which was made with Brushos and blown around a bit using the Tim Holtz air spritzer.  I stamped and heat embossed the rose, then used Brushos to add the colour.  I added water, a section at a time, then sprinkled Brushos onto the wet and let it do it's thing, just easing colour into the little crooks and crannies with a paintbrush.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Seahorses

The present challenge over on That's Crafty is 'The Sea'.  This is my entry for the challenge.

I cut the tag from Sheena's stamping card and gave it a spray with Dylusions inks. I used a stamp from a Sheena Douglass set for the leaves, the bubbles are an Inkylicious stamp,  The seahorses was the free stamp on the latest issue of Craft Stamper, and she shells are from an older copy of the same mag, both coloured with Distress Inks.
Thanks for looking.
xx