Floral Ampersand

Hi everyone.  I have a card today featuring some dies by Spellbinders called Sentimental Ampersand, which came with a recent Die Cutting Essentials Magazine, and  I also used a set of dies from Paper Discovery called Slimline Card Builder, and both being used for the first time here.

I started with the topper using the Ampersand and the flowers and leaves which decorate it.  I cut them out using some black card for the ampersand, cut twice and glued together and then heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss EP, and then cut the flowers and leaves and coloured them using Adirondack Peach Bellini for the flowers and Lettuce for the leaves and added them to the Ampersand.  I then cut the background using a square die from the Card Builder set using a piece of white card cut to fit a 6" square base card and cut into this piece of card four times to make a square design and then adhered this to the base card.  I decided to use another layer beneath the floral piece and so I cut a square stitched die from more white card and glued this to the centre of the card raising it up with some foam and then added the topper to this.  I finished with a sentiment cut from black card using another die from the set and added a strip of white card on the back of it to highlight the letters more, and also added some foam on this to raise it to the same level as the topper.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Color Hues Challenge - No. 84 Peach and Green.
Seize the Birthday Challenge - No. 281 Any Colour and Green.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 776 It has to be Spring/Anything Goes.
The Flower Challenge - No. 90 Add Layers.
NBUS Challenge - No. 61 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but has said anyone can join in.  This is Week 2 'D' is for Dies/Die Cuts.

T'wit T'woo

Hi everyone.  I have a card today using an Indigoblu owl stamp which I have had for a number of years but is still available, and I also used the latest technique over at Group of Seven Cardmakers which is the eclipse technique using a cover die.  I used a new die set which I bought a while ago and being used for the first time here by Card Making Magic featuring a foliage frame, separate coverplate foliage and a 5" x 7" rectangle die.  I did go to Craft Stash to see if it is still available but it is now out of stock.

For the technique you have to stamp, stencil or use two identical pieces of paper.  As I was using a stamp I cut two pieces of card to 5" x 7" and placed each in turn in my stamp positioner and stamped the image, and then I used the framed foliage die to cut one of them, and then I lined up the die cut piece and adhered it exactly over the the whole image.  I then cut the piece down to fit onto a 5" x 7" card with just a small border.  I stamped the images using Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink and I then used the same ink to stamp a sentiment and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and cut it into a strip and placed it over the image.  It worked well and I like the look but the foliage die was so difficult to cut, and after sending it through my Big Shot about ten times, twisting and turning it and using different shims including a metal plate it still did not cut entirely through, except around the edges, so I had to use a pair of small decoupage scissors to cut about three quarters of it which did take quite a long time.  I only use Craft Creations 300 gsm card which is of course rather thick, but I do not usually have such a job to die cut with it.  The reason I like this card is that it is the exact match to the cards I use and I do hate it when white card you use for a topper doesn't match the base card.

Before I go I would like to welcome a new follower called Marjolijn whose blog you will find here and thank you very much for becoming a follower.  

Thank you for visiting me here today and I will see you again soon.  Our son is visiting us from Australia for just a couple of weeks and it will be wonderful to see him especially as it was only planned yesterday and he arrives on Sunday, so I apologise if I don't get to visit as much and there may not be very much activity here. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Triple B Challenge - April '24 Anything Goes/Mood Board using Birds, Butterflies and Blooms (one, two or all three elements).
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Happy Birthday.
NBUS Challenge - No. 61 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Allsorts Challenge - Week 755 For the love of Animals/Anything Goes.

I am also joining Darnell with her I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but she has invited anyone who wants to join her.  This is April Week 1 - I is for Ink/Colour Mediums.

Robin Amid the Holly

Hi all.  A Christmas card to show today, and this is a little robin which came free with a magazine more than a year ago and was called Spirit of Winter, and which I stamped and coloured with my pencils.   The holly and berries was a stamp from Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 127 called Merry and Bright, and the pine branches were cut out of an old Memory Box die called Pine Needle Border.  I also used a Sara Davies embossing folder called Entwined Holly.  

I saw this slightly different card topper shape on Pinterest, and on one card it was a loose shaped piece just attached at the top of the card, and then on another it was as I have done, actually glued to the card.  I embossed the Entwined Holly onto a snippet of white card and cut the shape and then using another snippet of silver mirri I stuck them together and attached to the 7" x 5" card.  I then stamped the holly and berries twice onto a snippet of white card using Versamark and heat embossed with WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder and coloured with my Lyra Pencils.  I already had the little robin stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia on a snippet of Kraft card and also coloured with the pencils.  I added the sentiment onto the white base card again using the Metallic Silver EP, and I think I must have overheated the embossing as it bubbled a bit, but I actually thought that added some texture so I left it as is.  I then glued the robin and holly and berries onto the edge of the card shape using Pinflair Glue Gel to give them some shape, and I used some Glossy Accents on the berries.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Rudolph Days March Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes.
Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 476 Where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 159 Anything Christmas Goes.
Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge - No. 60 Anything Christmas Goes.
ABC Christmas Challenge - E, F and G - I have used 'E' is for Embossing.
Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes.
Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Anything Goes Embossing/Birds.

I am also entering Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but she has said that anyone is welcome to join her.  This is Week 4: 'A' is for Anything Goes.

Japanese Dreams

Hi everybody.  I got out an older set of stamps and an embossing folder which came with Creative Stamping Magazine Issue 104   I decided to use the folder and also the Koi carp stamp from the set which is being used for the first tine here.

The theme over at Color Hues is blue and cream so I decided to use these colours, and I found a snippet of cream card which I used for the embossed background, but obviously with all the added ink it isn't visible.  I inked up the EF in Salty Ocean Distress Ink on the smooth side, spritzed with water and then ran it through my machine, and I then got out some Blueprint Sketch DI, and with a brush highlighted the raised parts and then after cutting it down a bit I also darkened the edges.  I then used another snippet on which I stamped the fish and heat embossed it used WOW Metallic Gold Rich Embossing Powder, and I then watercoloured it using a waterbrush and the Salty Ocean DI just giving it some soft colour..a bit of poetic licence here as I don't think there are actually any blue carp, but was sticking to my blue and cream theme.  I then fussy cut it out.  I finished the card by mounting the background on a piece of blue cardstock and added it to a 7' x 5" which card which I did cut down a bit as the scale of the card didn't look quite right.   I also added the cream and gold embossed sentiment which I stamped onto another snippet of cream card using an Xcut die from a set of Tags and Bookplates.  I also backed the fish with some foam tape for a bit of dimension.  

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge - No. 60 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Color Hues Challenge - No. 83 Cream and Blue.

We Love Stamping March Challenge - Feminine/Anything Goes.

Stamping Sensations March Challenge - Spring/Anything Goes.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 772 Feathers and/or Fur/Anything Goes.

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S. Challenge, one she has set for herself but she has said that anyone who would like to can join in, and this is Week 3 E for Embossing (Folders).

Layered Roses

Hi all.  I decided it was about time to use some of my much neglected papers, and I got out an Altenew Layered Roses Die set which I got free with a magazine many years ago and which I am sure I have never used..tut! tut!  I also used a new corner die which I got in the Black Friday sale and this is its first outing and is called Bamboo Corner Trellis, a Paper Discovery die set.  There is a bamboo die, but this is the second in the set which has a more generic trellis look.  You can cut both designs out as well as just cutting them into the card, and there are a couple of sentiments too.  

I got out a couple of sets of papers, the first a Craft Consortium pad called Grunge Light and an old one by Chocolate Baroque which I used for just the orange coloured rose, and I was able to cut the pieces for the purple and pink flowers and the leaves from the Craft Consortium pad as there are lots of sheets where there are a good variety of colours and tones.  I decided to also cut a white base layer to make the flowers and leaves sturdier.  I also cut a piece of blue from the Craft Consortium pack to go behind the trellis.

I cut a piece of white card to about 5.75", just slightly wider than the trellis die and cut that adding the blue paper behind it, and I then put all the pieces together and added the flowers and leaves over the trellis.  I did add a piece of foam to the back of the first yellow/orange flower but decided not to do the same to the other two as I could see that it would make them rather thickly layered for posting.  I finished by die cutting the sentiment from a piece of gold glitter card which was a label which came on a parcel and which I thought was too pretty to waste.  I had already cut a butterfly from it, used on this card here, and I just managed to cut the sentiment from the rest.  

Thank you for dropping by today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge - No. 60 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 771 Use Yellow/Anything Goes.
Triple B Challenge - March - Anything Goes/Mood Board, using one, two or all three elements.
The Flower Challenge - No. 89 Make a Square Card.
Seize the Birthday Challenge - No. 279 Coordinating Card Tag Combo/Anything Goes.

 

 

 

 

 

I am also joining in with Darnells I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set for herself but which she has invited anyone to join in with March Week 2: D is for Die/Die Cuts.

Take Flight

Hi everyone.  Whilst I had my stencils out I decided to make a card using a couple of stencils from sets I bought a few years ago at The Range and by Craft Sensations, both 6" square.  The first is a flight of butterflies, and the other a pattern of leaves.  I also very luckily won a set of stamps by Sheena Douglass called True Colours which has a couple of different butterflies and a few sentiments, and one of these is being used for the first time here, together with a sentiment from the set.  I also used a stitched square die set bought from The Works, again a few years ago, and one I use a lot.

Using a snippet of white card I started the background by stencilling the leaves using two green Distress Inks - Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint.  I kept the coverage light using a brush and then I removed that stencil and laid the butterfly stencil down and started with Mermaid Lagoon DI and then darkened it with Peacock Feathers DI to make the butterflies stand out over the leaves.  I then went back to using the leaves and added some more of each of the greens in areas where there were no butterflies.  When I was happy I die cut the background with the largest stitched square die and I also added the 'Take Flight' words using Versafine Olympia Green Ink and then heat embossed with the WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder..I must admit that it is so dark it looks like black.  I finished the background by blending some of each of the greens around the edges to darken them.

I then stamped one of the butterflies onto a snippet of white card using the Peeled Paint DI and then heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss EP.  I decided to colour it with my recently acquired alcohol pens using shades of turquoise, but I did give it a green body, and at the end I went over the edges, including the antennae, using a black micron pen as I felt they would be better darker to stand out against the background.  I added the background and butterfly onto a white card,  just slightly smaller than 6" square.  I am trying to use up some scalloped edge cards which I have had for ages and I prefer a straight edge so I have been cutting the scalloped edge off which of course makes them smaller.

Before I go I would like to introduce a new follower called Barb whose blog you will find here and thank you for becoming my latest follower.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Color Hues Challenge - No. 82 Turquoise and Green.
NBUS Challenge - No. 60 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 475 Where we use our snippets of paper and card etc.
We Love Stamping Challenge - March Feminine.
Triple B Challenge - March - Birds-Blooms and Butterflies ( using at least one of the three).

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge which she has set for herself, but she has said that anyone is welcome to join in.  This is Week 1 - Ink/Colour Medium.  

Masked Stencilling - Group of Seven Cardmakers

Hi everybody.  I am privileged to have been asked to be a Guest Designer over at the Group of Seven for this month and the technique this time is Masked Stencilling.  I cut a heart shape for the mask using a die from a set by Sweet Dixie, and a couple of different heart stencils from a set which came from The Range a few years ago and made by Craft Sensations.

I started with the background colour within the heart and decided on a combination of Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Twisted Citron.  I applied the ink with a blending brush having first masked off a wavy shape down the right side which I tore myself, and using the same inks to apply the first heart stencil adding the corresponding ink in that portion of the heart.  I then took away the shaped piece and added some more of the three colours down the rest of the right hand portion of the heart, then replaced the mask using the other end of the piece I tore the mask from so that it matched up when placing over the left side.  I then added the second heart stencil again with the corresponding ink colour over each of the three coloured areas of the narrower piece on the right.  I then added some tiny white hearts around the background which I had saved from some previous die cutting, I think it was probably a Sue Wilson die which I have and it has lots of different sized hearts within the large heart but I just used the smaller ones.  It looks a bit like embossing and I think it just adds a bit more interest to the background.  I finished the card by adding a sentiment strip with the anniversary sentiment stamped using Versafine Clair Notcturne ink, and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and backed it with some foam tape for more dimension.  The card is a little less than 6" square.

I hope you go and visit the Group of Seven who are a lovely group of very talented people, and there are lots of links featuring previous techniques to take a look at for even more creative inspiration.  There is also a link at the bottom of the post where you can add any cards you make using the Masked Stencilling technique.    

I am entering the following challenges:

Stencil Fun Challenge - Feb. 24 Anything Goes/Love/Hearts.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 769 Anything Goes/Things That Fly.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.