Saturday 30 November 2013

Happy Christmas Little Boy!

I have one Great Nephew and I always like to make him a special card. When I saw this stamp set, I thought it was ideal. He's only 6 and I think a lot of the Santa images are a bit scary, but this one is nice and friendly and even has a cuddly reindeer.

 

The reindeer is stamped first and masked to make it look as if he is standing in front of Santa, The image is coloured with distress markers and a water brush. I've said it before, I'm not the best colourist. I don't often do coloured-in images, but I'm quite pleased how this turned out. I couldn't resist adding a little snowman sticker to wave hello :-)

 
"Santa"

Flowersoft decorates Santa's beard and hat. I wanted it to look naturally scruffy and to stay put in the post, so used a smear of PVA to attach the flowersoft! This is a nice, big card with plenty of room inside for some spondoolies. You know what I mean :-) Maddy x

Friday 29 November 2013

More Ink!

I just love getting all inky, so one more inky Paperartsy one before I finish.


This time I sponged the resist lampost with distress inks to get a more controlled colouring with Festive Berries in the centre and Evergreen Bough around the edges. The lamp is coloured as before, and a festive ribbon used in the background to make the card a bit more jolly.

Well, it's Friday again (yippee!) and I hope you have a good one. Please come back and join me on Sunday to find out about our December challenge at Stamping Sensations, and what I've got in the bag for my design team make ;-) Maddy x

Thursday 28 November 2013

Another inky lampost

Today's card uses a resist technique to make the lampost look white on a coloured background.

 
"Resist Lampost"

The lampost is stamped onto white card using clear versamark, then heat-embossed with clear holographic powder before colouring with distress inks using the wrinkle-free distress technique.
 
 
"Glittery lamp"
 
The lamp is coloured in the same way as yesterday's with a faux bleach technique and yellow distress marker
 
"Tree Charm"

A tree charm is hung from a brad (N.B. I like to colour white brads with embossing powder by dipping into versamark, then embossing powder and heating with a heat tool; unfortunately, you can see in the photo where I missed a bit and didn't notice!).

 

Netting and lace add some terxture.

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Getting Inky with Paper Artsy

I was in a local craft shop a few weeks ago and just couldn't help myself, I had to buy this fabulous stamp set from Paper Artsy.

"Getting Inky with Paper Artsy"

The background is coloured using Tim Holtz' wrinkle-free distress technique and overstamped in the same ink. The ink on the main panel must be completely dry before you stamp and heat-emboss the main image, or the background ink will pick up embossing powder.

"Glittery Lamp"

The lamp-post is stamped in black archival and heat-embossed with holographic pwder to get that glittery effect from the lamplight. A water brush is used to remove ink from within the lamp, then yellow is added using a distress marker.



Isn't that a great sentiment? Please join me tomorrow for another card made with this stamp set.

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Poinsettias Decoupage

This pair of cards is made with some old stash given to me by my mil (thanks Martha!). I matted the decoupage onto layers of cream card and Papermania poinsettias before adding ribbon & bows.

 
"A Joyous Christmas"

Just for a change, I made the other one a different way round.

 

If you look carefully, you can see snowflakes embossed into the cream card behind the bow.

 

This view shows the layers of decoupage. Many people use foam pads to separate the layers, but I prefer dimensional glue and use Pinflair because it smells better than silicone glue.

Monday 25 November 2013

Glad Tidings

I bought a set from Papermania called "Christmas Tidings". The printed papers are not the best quality in the world, but the pictures are pretty and great for making quick cards for charity. Here's a couple:

"Let it Snow Decoupage"

I like the decoupage on this scene with the rooves in layers, although it's hard to see in the photograph.

"Happy Christmas"

Both the cards have backgrounds stamped with snowflakes using white brilliance ink. The diecuts are Spellbinders and the flower is from Meiflower - I thought it had a feeling of movement, like a wheel. I have made lots more cards with this pack, but we'll have to see whether there is time to share more of them before Christmas.

Sunday 24 November 2013

Dashing through the snow...

...on a one-horse open sleigh! Here's a nice one I found in my stash.

"Dashing through the snow..."

Do you shudder at the dreaded word "peel-off"? It can be a dirty word in the stamping world, but I'm here to encourage you to dig out that old stash and give it a new lease of life! All the peel-offs and stickers on these cards were given to me by people on Docrafts in the goody bag swaps (thank you!).
 
"...on a one-horse open sleigh"

The horse and sleigh are coloured with distress markers. I'm not the best colourist in the world as you can see, but I hope I've given you a way to use up some of that extra stash. Maddy x

Saturday 23 November 2013

Fa la la la la la la la la

You're singing the "la"s and seeing whether I got the right number aren't you? :-) Here's a great way to make quick cards and use up some of those stickers and peel-offs.

Take a blue card blank and cut a piece of thin white card to size so that it would mat on top. Using scissors, cut a wavy line through the white card. This gives you two pieces of white card that are the right size to fix to the front of two blue card blanks and look like snow-covered hills!

"fa la la la la la la la la"

I stamped some birds from one of my favourite free magazine stamps last year and coloured them with distress markers. A sentiment, some tree stickers  and the star stickers finished the card off nicely!

N.B. If you don't have blue card blanks, you can use white card blanks and blue card to make the sky. You make the card just the same, but stick the blue over the white.

 

As you can see, I had so much fun making these cards...

 

... I made a whole bunch of them!

 

I never like to make two the same, so I moved the stamping around, changed the colours, used stars instead of snowflakes, added some snow to some with a white opaque pen, etc.

 

Some have more trees than others lol! See you again tomorrow for some more snowy scenes. Maddy x

Friday 22 November 2013

Hanging Bauble Shaker Card

Following on from yesterday's bauble shaker card, today's card takes the oncvept one step further.

 
"Peace on Earth"

An aperture is cut in the front of the card in a size larger than the bauble. Holographic silver card behind the aperture provides a nice backdrop.

Two baubles are stamped and heat-embossed on white card.

 


Each of the stamped baubles is placed behind acetate and a bauble frame cut from black and silver card, with foam tape between the frame and the white card to provide space for the shaker elements. I like to use a mixture of seed beads and sequins in colours suitable to match the card.

 

The two bauble shakers are sandwiched together with a length of silver twine between them and glued together with PVA. The sandwich is left to dry before fixing into the aperture in the card by hanging from a brad.

 

As a final embellishment, a couple more baubles are stamped & heat-embossed then diecut and fixed to the front of the card with Pinflair to raise them a little.

OK, that's the end of the shaker cards for now. I'm not saying there won't be more this year, but I'm not saying there will be either :-) Have a great weekend everyone. Maddy x

Entered for the following challenges:
Crafty Hands - Sparkle and Bling
Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Thursday 21 November 2013

Bauble Shaker Card

A bauble shaker card is much easier to make than the snowglobes I've been sharing lately, and if you fancy having a go at a shaker card, this is a good one to start with.

 


The stamp is from a set that came free with this month's issue of Simply Cards and Papercraft. I stamped in black archival and heat-embossed with clear holographic powder, then cut out with a larger die than usual to leave room to stick down the acetate.

Fix a thin layer of foam tape all around the outside of the stamped image.

Cut a matching aperture in the outer card (the black and silver card above) and cut a larger diecut from acetate, then glue the acetate behind the outer card with glossy accents.

Fill the stamped image with seed beads, then stick the foam tape to the acetate. I add some more foam tape behind the outer card to fix to a card front.

I hope you can follow that! If not, let me know in the comments section and I'll endeavour to do a picture tutorial.

Entered for the following challenges:
Rhedd and Rosies - Christmas is Coming
ABC Christmas Challenge - Winter Wishes

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Graphic45 Christmas Emporium Snowglobe Card

This last snowglobe card in the series uses Graphic45 Christmas Emporium patterned papers. I couldn't resist using the image for a snowglobe, it just fit perfectly.

 

The background paper is also from the same paper pad. Well, that's it for the snowglobe cards, but please join me tomorrow for a different type of shaker card.

Entered for the following challenge:
Fab 'n' Funky - Anything Goes

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Tuesday Technique - quick blue backgrounds

Today's snowglobe cards have blue backgrounds. I find it particularly difficult to find blue background papers for Christmas cards. I don't know whether it's because I use them up first, or whether it's because there aren't any in my stash to start with, but I often resort to making my own.

 

This is one method I use to make quick blue backgrounds. Fill a mister with water. Add a few drops of blue distress reinker (Stormy Sky works well) and a small spatula of silver Perfect Pearls. Put the top on and mix, then spray over white card. When it runs out, repeat using a different blue reinker to add some depth. White patches of card are OK, it just looks like a snow-laden sky! Just leave the card to dry, cut to size, and sponge the edge with some matching distress ink if required.

 

The blue background on this card is actually packaging recycled from a Marks and Spencer cake box. Well, I had to buy it, it was the perfect blue for my project... and then I had to eat the cakes :-)

Entered for the following challenge:
Christmas Cards All Year Round - Winter Wonderland
Ribbon Carousel - Anything Goes

Monday 18 November 2013

More Snowglobes

Are you bored of the snowglobes yet? No? That's good, because I have more to share yet.

 


This is one of my favourite snowglobe cards. I think the circular sentiment goes particularly well in the image, and I love the warm colours.

Entered for the following challenge:

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Shabby Chic / Vintage
Dream Valley - Clean and Simple (this is as CAS as I get lol!)

Sunday 17 November 2013

Snowglobes with Red Backgrounds

Well, yesterdays cards all had green backgrounds (they seem to go down well here in Ireland for some reason :-). Today's have red backgrounds.

 

It was a bit trickier to photograph these for some reason, so please forgive the reflections from the camera flash in the acetate.

 
 
I love that image of Father Christmas in his sleigh being pulled along by the reindeer.
 
 
As you can see, I've used up lots of odds and ends of ribbons on these cards, and apart from the snowglobe images, the rest of the papers are mostly from magazine free gifts.

 

So we've had red and blue, red and green, red and bronze, and finally red and purple! You'll have noticed that I use a different cardstock to cut the frame and stand for the snowglobes depending on the colour scheme, but in each case I like to rub the card with some gilding wax, either gold or silver depending on the colour of the card.

Entered for the following challenge:
Speedy Fox and Friends - Red Christmas

Saturday 16 November 2013

Snowglobes!

I love snowglobes, don't you? Over the next few days I will be sharing some snowglobe shaker cards. You love snowglobes, you love shaker cards, well why not try snowglobe shaker cards? :-)

 

This first batch has green backgrounds. The circle of acetate, circle of patterned paper and circular frame are cut using Sizzix Framelits dies. The "stand" shape uses a Memory Box die.

 

I've used circles cut from Tim Holtz' Seasonal Paper Pad for all the images in the snow globes. I love the vintage colours!

 


The ribbons are matched to the colours in the snow globe images.

 

The images are all advertising "artificial snow" which seems to be flakes of mica. There's not much call for that in Northern Ireland :-)

Friday 15 November 2013

Graphic45 Christmas Emporium Santa through the Arched window

When I was a little girl, there was a TV programme on every day which kicked off the children's programmes on BBC1 called "Play School". Half way through the programme, they would show a short film and ask us to guess which window the film was in. Was it through the round window, or the square window? No, today we use the arched window!

 
"Santa through the Arched Window"

I love the red of the tiny flowers added to the dark patterned paper of the vines. Many years ago, my family moved to the Isle of Wight on Christmas Eve and there were red roses in bloom in the front garden!


This card uses the larger of the window dies from the Heartfelt Creations "Chateau Gate" die set. Both the window diecuts close so that the recipient can open them for a nice surprise.

Thursday 14 November 2013

Graphic45 Christmas Emporium Card with Patchwork Background


Today's card uses the patchwork technique I shared a couple of weeks ago to create a background from scraps of patterned papers.

"Compliments of the Season"
 
The frame is diecut using a Spellbinders set, and the little coner pieces are leftover cut-outs from the frame die. It's hard to see the dimension in this photograph, but the frame is raised up with little dabs of Pinflair glue. With flourishes, I nornally only glue the main stems so the shoots are free to move as they would in real life..

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Graphic45 Christmas Emporium Cards

Over the next couple of days, I will be sharing some cards I made using patterned papers from Graphic45's "Chritmas Emporium" 8" x 8" paper pad. Although I love playing with inks and stamps, from time to time I like to get some patterned papers out and play with diecutting. These first two cards use the small window from Heartfelt Creations' "Chateau Gate" die set. The thick, double-sided paper from the paper pad is perfect for a window diecut since there is a pattern on both sides of the window.

 

One of the advantages of not designing for a particular company is that I am free to mix and match on my projects. There are flourishes from a Cheery Lynn die and the Poinsettia made from a Papermania petal pouch really draws the eye.

 

This second card has poinsettias made using the Spellbinders Poinsettia dies with the patterned papers.

Tuesday 12 November 2013

The Gilded Lampost

Another card with gilding flakes today. The layout and colour scheme are similar to yesterday's card, but different stamps are used.
 
"The Gilded Lampost"

The background is stamped with Tim Holtz' snowflakes in black archival ink, and a little red promarker is used to highlight the "HOME" in the "HOME for Christmas" sentiment. The sentiment and lampost are from a PaperArtsy set.

Monday 11 November 2013

Gilding Flakes

If you want an effective but fairly quick design for a Christmas card, gilding flakes are a great choice. They look particularly effective on a black background, so for this card I used a super smooth black cardstock to stamp the (specialist) glue, and matted and layered with cream.

"Reindeer Flight"

This Tim Holtz reindeer stamp is one of my all-time favourites and goes well with the PaperArtsy sentiment "may luck and good wishes be yours this year".

 
"Gilding"

After stamping and gilding the main image, I like to add some glue to the border of the card and gild that too.

Of course, today is Remembrance Day and I am thinking of all my relatives who fought in the Second World War. They were all conscripted or "called up" and went to war not because they chose to, but because they had to. My grandfather told me that they all expected to die in the trenches, like so many of the men of the Great War which was little more than 20 years before. Like many men of his generation, they rarely spoke of the things they witnessed, but one night he described to me what happened on his first day in the Army.

They were told to report to a railway station at a particular time, and were transported to a hut in the middle of nowhere. When they arrived it was dark and cold. They had no blankets. He said he was lucky because he had a big coat. They slept on hard benches and he described to me how in the night he heard many of the men crying.

War is not glamorous. We remember in order that it must not happen again.

Entered for the following challenges:
Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Anything But Ink
Sweet Stampin' - Christmas is Coming
Anonymous Stamps - Anything Goes

Sunday 10 November 2013

More Christmas cards using Magazine Freebies

This set of card uses papers and toppers that came free with a magazine a year or more ago.

 

Look very closely at these first two. There's something you might not see at first glance...

 

Did you spot the hidden reindeer? I diecut the deer using the Sizzix Reindeer Flight die and fixed to the cards with foam pads to raise them up, but lining up with the background images. It's a bit easier to see the deer in the first card since he is just stepping into the picture :-)

 

No reideer on this one, but I added some gold glitter glue to the carrot on the snowman's nose, and a Papermania brad fixes the tag in place.

Entered for the following challenge:
Crafty Little Fairies - Christmas in November