Winter Wishes

 I love this simple technique which I saw on Inkylicious's site a couple of years ago.  White ink blended through a stencil with a blending brush, well I use shaving brushes.....lol.  The stamp is by Inkylicious and simply highted with a white gel pen.

Cute Bears from Lily of the Valley

 

Images from Lili of the Valley never fail to make a nice card.  I used their new digi paper and image and overlayed the image onto the paper, I love this idea.  

I used Arteza pencils to colour the image.

Week 10 Christmas Card

I heat embossed the image which is from a stamp set by Inkadinkadoo which I've had for a few years.  I also added some gems to the snowflake centres, the sentiment is a die cut.  The lacy edges were cut with a die by Cheery Lyn.

Thats 10 Christmas cards in the box which I wouldn't have had..... lol 

Thanks for looking xx

Week 9 Christmas Card

Star Bright

This weeks theme is Star Bright.  I used the Aurora Star dies by Sue Wilson, cutting just the fancy piece on the background, then I cut with the outline die in gold card and another using both the fancy die and the outline at the same time.  I creased gently along the centre of the points and glued them together.  I then attached the star with glue gel just to add a bit of dimension. 

I forgot to upload......

..... my weekly Christmas cards, so here they are from week 4 to week 8.

Week 4 Recycle

I thought I'd struggle with this one, but while rummaging through my stash I found this lovely snowflake which I removed from a Christmas card we received a couple of years ago, how lucky was that.... lol.  All I needed to do was give it a nice embossed background and mount it onto the card blank. 

Week 5 - Christmas Presents

I inked up the background with Distress Inks and gave it a splash of water, which I then dabbed up with tissue, this removed the ink and leaves white splash marks.  I stamped the cat, hat and presents and coloured them with Zigs, then cut them out and added them to the card.  I finished off by stamping the fish decorations and the sentiment.  All stamps are by Tim Holtz.

Week 6 - Gatefold Card

I used a stamp by Penny Black for the Poinsettias, coloured with Zigs, mounted it up onto a die cut oval and added a few sequins.  The sentiment is computer generated.

Week 7 - Red & Silver

The tree stamp is from Stampin Up, Lovely as a Tree set, which I heat embossed and added some gems.  I finished off with a couple of die cut corners and a die cut sentiment.

                                                                Week 8 - Jingle Bells

                 Stamps for this one are from a set by Sheena Douglass, and coloured with Zigs.

                                                                   Thanks for looking xx

Week 3 Christmas Card

I used stamps and matching dies by Sheena Douglass for this one, the sentiment is also one of Sheenas.  I did the die cutting first, then pressed the cuts onto the inked stamp.  I used Distress inks to colour the leaves.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Week 2 Christmas Card

My 2nd Christmas card, (making at least 1 a week).  I got inspiration from google.

The main stamp is from Stampscapes, the branches is a tree stamp from Art Impressions (had it for years) and the sentiment is from my favourite set by Just Rite Stamps.  I coloured the cabin with proMarkers the rest was done with Distress Inks.  I also used a white pen for the snow.  The cabin stamp includes the trees and water in front, it's a waterside cabin.  I masked off the water with a sticky note while inking up the stamp as I wanted snow all around.

Thanks for looking.

xx

First Christmas Card for 2017

I was in such a last minute rush for my Christmas last year, so I'm making sure I make them throughout the year, just as I always used to.  I admin a couple of groups on Facebook and have started a weekly Christmas card challenge in one of them, a sure way for me to keep up!

This is my card for Week 1 where the theme is 'Keep It Simple'

I stamped the tree with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I then added a little bit of sparkle with Glamour Dust and also the gem.  The tree stamp is by Art Impressions and the sentiment is by Just Rite Stamps.  I think I may do more of these later in the year.

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.

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.

First Christmas card for 2016!

This is my first Christmas card for next year...... can't beat starting early...... lol.  Ok, I'll admit, I make them all year round.

I started with a 'shaving foam' background which I'd done a while ago.  I added hills with Stormy Sky distress ink, and added the stamping using stamps from Lavinia of course.  Finished off with some sparkle.  The sentiment was computer generated and then foiled.

I'd like to enter this into the present challenges at Lavinia Stamps (31.12.15)
and That's Crafty (8.1.16)

Inkylicious Christmas

I bought this stamps at the beginning of October and this is the first time I've stamped with it and actually added it to a card.  I got the inspiration from a card by Martine Smith on a facebook group I'm in.  Martines card was a bigger than this one, I made it to fit a 6 inch square card base.

The stamps is from Inkylicious and is called Winter Lodge.  I made little slopes by masking and inking against the mask, coloured the image with Promarkers.  The icicles were cut with a die from Marianne Dies, the snowflakes were Spellbinders dies.  I finished of with some glamour dust for the sparkle.

Thanks for looking 

xxx

Christmas Cards

It's a couple of weeks since I last posted, I've been busy decorating, so haven't really had time of felt like making cards.  I've made a couple of Christmas cards and this is one of them.  I saw this style on my friend Kathy's blog, and thought I'd give it a go.

I used a sponge to drag some colour along the bottom of the card, Distress Ink - Peacock Feathers, then inked through a stencil in the same colour.  I then stamps some snowflakes with Versafine Smokey Gray and finished off with a sentiment from JustRite stamps and some gems.

Crazy Bird Christmas

Don't you just love the Crazy Birds!  This one doesn't look happy at all does he...... lol.

I stamped the had and the bird first on water colour card, then cut them with the matching dies.  I then used Distress Inks to colour him in.  The branch and cones were cut with Marianne dies and the background was ran through an embossing folder with Distress Ink added with a blending tool.  It doesn't show on the picture, but I also rubbed Gilding Wax all over the embossing, the sentiment was cut with dies by Tim Holtz.

Thanks for looking

I'd like to enter this into the present challenge at Papertake Weekly where the theme is Anything Goes.

Glitter & Gems

I've been playing with Aquatints, and came up with this background, completely by accident.  I wasn't happy with how I did it at first, so though well before I put it in the bin, I'd have a play around with it.  So all I did was splash more Aquatints and water to it, and this was the result, love the marble effect that happened.  The stamp is from Lavinia Stamps, which I stamped with black Versafine, then heat embossed with Crystal Print Magic ( from DMD), the photo doesn't show the sparkle though, anyway I added gems to it, cut the icicles with a Marianne die, snowflake with a Spellbinders die and added glitter to them.  The sentiment was cut with Tim Holtz dies.

I'd like to enter this into the present challenges at - 

Lavinia - Glitter & Gems.

World Wide Open - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking.

xx

Brushos & Visible Image

Time again for some inspiration using stamps from the fab Visible Image.

First I stamps the Poinsettias then used Brushos to add the colours.  Starting with the flowers, I took a paintbrush and painted the flowers, with water, then sprinkled just a tiny amount of the red Brusho and spread it around a little to fill in all the petals, I did this for each flower.  Then I painted water onto the background, and again sprinkled the Brushos, letting the colour spread as normal, but using the paintbrush to help the colour spread.  I finished off with gold gems in the flower centres and a sentiment.

Stamps used for this one are:

Pointsettia Stamp Set

Merry Christmas

Here's the links for everything Visible Image.

Visible Image Website - Buy stamps, get lots of inspiration, newsletter sign up, and contact details.

Visible Image Blog - Daily inspiration from the DT.

Visible Image Facebook Group - DT inspiration, monthly 'Show & Tell' contest, and the place to find lots of other Visible Image fans.

Visible Image Facebook Page - Where you'll find all the latest news and information.