Christmas Joy

This is a card that I made for the Christmas card group on the Chocolate Baroque community site where a small group of us encourage each other to make at least one Christmas card each month in order to get a head start before the "busy season / panic station " is upon us. We work to a suggested  theme and for April it was a sentiment or text. For my sentiment I chose this large Joy stamp from a Chocolate Baroque set of clear large Christmas Greetings which can also be bought individually. The poinsettia frame is also CB from a set of rubber stamps called Christmas Creatures, so called because it also has images of birds and animals in it. This frame stamp actually has a little church scene in it, but I masked it off with tape before inking it so as to make room to stamp the sentiment. I stamped the frame complete with flower with Versamark ink onto ivory card, remembering to remove the masking tape before stamping, and then embossed using WOW pale gold EP. I then carefully stamped the word inside the frame and embossed in the same way. Next I trimmed it fairly close to the image and edged it with a gold Krylon pen. Next I looked in the snippets box for green and red card to mat it onto. I also found some smaller snippets and stamped the whole poinsettia onto green card twice and just the flower part onto red card twice using versamark ink and embossing with WOW clear powder. I then fussy cut them all out and stuck the red ones on top of the green with Cosmic Shimmer glue, and added some yellow stickles dots to the centres. I cut my Base card from an A4 sheet of ivory card and intended it to be 5"x 7", I trimmed the bottom but forgot to trim the side so it ended up 6" x 7" instead so now I will have to make a custom sized envelope for it as I didn't realise what I'd done until after I had fixed the matted panel in place. The stripy ribbon I used has got nice gold threads running through it but they seem to have disappeared in the photo. I finished the card by sticking one flower over the gold one on the frame and the other on the ribbon.
Because of all the snippets I used I am going to pop over to Pixies Playground with it and see what's happening, there is usually some sort of mischief going on among the other playmates.
Thank you all for looking and for your comments which I really appreciate.

April Rudolph Day

It has been a little while since I posted a blog because I have been visiting my sister, Kate, in spain and enjoying some lovely warm sunshine. Before I went away I managed to make all the birthday cards I needed this month, and to make and post off all the swaps that I regularly take part in. I didn't have time to make my Rudolph Day cards though, but as I was due to return on the 24th I hoped I would be able to do them then. However while I was at Kate's she suggested I might like to make one while I was there and this is what I made. First I selected this lovely holly spray stamp by Posh Impressions from her extensive range of Christmas stamps, and stamped it on white paper with a green Memento ink pad, ( I'm sorry I don't remember which shade ).I coloured it with Copic Markers and then cut it out using a die from Spellbinders Decorative Labels 8, and then mounted it onto a snippet of dark green card. I cut and folded an A6 side opening card with the fold on the short edge, and added the stamped panel and the greeting which is a See D's stamp. When I got home I could see that I had smudged some glue on the corners of the die cut so I went all round the fancy edge with Starlight Stickles which covered the glue and added a bit of festive bling and I also added the red gem stones.

Another evening Kate asked me if I would like to try out her Pan Pastels, and I said yes please because I have wanted to get some for a while but I was  reluctant to splash out on them without trying them first.I cut a sheet of A4 paper into four and set about playing. I ended up with some pretty and usable backgrounds. This one I did intending it to be Christmassy  colours, it is a bit pale really but I decided to go ahead and use a Christmas stamp on it anyway. I believe this is an Indigo Blu stamp, again from one of Kates bulging stamp files, and stamped with Memento black ink. I brought it home with me like that and then last night I trimmed it down a bit  and using my Sakura sparkle pens added a little colour to the swirl and baubles. I highlighted the snowflakes with a white gel pen and Diamond stickles. The greeting is a Chocolate Baroque clear stamp.I fixed the whole thing to a piece of red glitter card and then to a top folded white A6 card.So that is how I spent two happy evenings with Kate in her craft room and with Arwin occupying 'her space on the work desk'. Those of you who follow Kate's blog Manualidades por mi  will know all about Arwin.                                                                 So now I am going to link this to  Rudolph Day at Sarn's blog Stamping For Pleasure.
Thank you for visiting my blog and for comments which I really appreciate. I will try and catch up with some commenting at the weekend.
Jean                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                     

Spring At Last

Spring at Last is the title of the current Butterfly Spot challenge and Mrs. A. wants to see some yellow, as well as a butterfly of two of course. I started by stamping the postcard image from Inkylicious with rich cocoa Memento ink and colouring it with ColourSoft pencils. I then tore around it and added shading with Distress inks in old paper, antique linen, tea dye and vintage photo. I used pale yellow pearlescent card and Spellbinders Marvelous Squares for the die cuts. The backing paper is some that I was given  and I trimmed it to fit the front of a 5.5" square card. It looks more green IRL but the weather is very dull here today and I couldn't get a very good representation of the colour. In the end I took this with a flash and it is the best I could manage. The paper was quite plain so I randomly stamped some  script and a small swirl, with bundled sage Distress ink. The lace down the side is an ivory coloured rub down. I layered the squares and stamped image, and then cut the filigree butterfly from the same pearl card using a Memory Box die, and the solid one with the matching die from a snippet of coppery brown pearl card. This is mounted on the card with foam pads to add dimension, and has some tiny pearls on the body.
I am also entering this at Stamping Sensations - Use Punches Or Dies
                                    Pixie's Snippets Playground - use up at least one snippet, mine is the base butterfly and I also used a snippet of card for the stamping.
Thank you to all who come and visit and for you lovely comments which are all really appreciated.

Two into Three

It's the 25th today which means it's time for the Rudolph Day challenge at Sarn's blog Stamping For Pleasure, where we are required to make two or more Christmas cards or projects. I set out to make two identical CAS cards using this quirky little Christmas tree stamp from Chocolate Baroque. I first cut and folded two white 4.25" square cards and stamped the image with Versafine olympia Green ink. As I went to add a little colour I realised that I had stamped one of them upside down so I cut the front of the card off and trimmed it down a bit and then looked for something to mount it on. I found a sheet of red pearlised card that would do the trick, and then decided that while I was cutting one small card from it I may as well cut two.I then stamped the image once again on what had been the back of the original card and hey presto! three cards from two. I used Sakura sparkle pens for the colouring and alternated the colours on some of the baubles so they weren't quite exactly the same.The greeting is also from Chocolate Baroque.
Thank you for looking and for your comments, I really appreciate them.

90th Birthday

This is the card that I made for my brother in law's 90th birthday earlier this week.The ivy stamp I used is from Inkylicious and because I didn't want the stamping to look too heavy I used Brilliance Lightning black ink. I had trouble finding the right greens to colour the leaves and I think in the end I used mainly ColourSoft pencils blended with Sansodor and added little touches with Promarkers and Distress markers for the stems and roots.I coloured the wall with promarkers.I trimmed this and mounted it on a mat cut from a snippet of dark green card. I had a piece of ivy backing paper from a Papermania christmas pack but it looked rather whitish next to the stamped piece which started out as ivory card, however as it fitted the card theme so well I photocopied it onto some thin ivory card, and then used a TH Alterations brick wall EF to emboss it.I cut it down to fit the front of an A6 kraft card and stuck it in place. The stamped panel is fixed with thin foam tape. The greeting is stamped onto a snippet of the printed card and matted on another snippet of the green card, and the 90 cut from another  tiny snippet of the same green using a TH  Upon A Time alphabet die.
My brother in law, who very fit and healthy for a 90 year old had a lovely birthday. My sister arranged a tea party for him and all the people from the flats where they live were there as well as some family, and now they are on holiday in the south of France.
I am off  to Pixies snippets Playground now to show this snippety card. No matter how many snippets I use the box just keeps getting more full up !!

I am also entering at Allsorts Challenge - All About The Boys
                               Ruby's Rainbow - Happy Birthday


Thank you for looking and for your comments which I really appreciate.

Abstract Birthday

This is the card that I made for my sons birthday this week. I was inspired by an article by Joanne Allison in the February issue of Craft Stamper magazine in which she showed several techniques for using Drywall tape, available in the DIY section of many £1 shops. I thought  it would be ideal for making abstract cards suitable for men. By making small snippet sized samples I managed to incorporate most of the techniques she showed. As you can see the tape is in the form of a fine mesh, which is sticky on one side. The first technique, that I used on the right of the card is to simply lay it on as a stencil and ink through it, which I did gently with black soot Distress ink using a piece of cut and dry sponge. The next was to cut a piece of the tape and colour it with a permanent marker, I think I used a Whispers bright red marker. Next I stuck some tape to a snippet of card and covered it with some foil tape, also from a DIY shop I think. I used a paper stump to make sure the mesh really showed up.  It should then have been painted with black acrylic paint but I didn't have any black so I coloured it with a black permanent marker, and then sanded it lightly to reveal the metal. In the magazine this was left with the silver showing but fancied to see it gold so I rubbed some Treasure Brass gilding wax over it. For the last sample I stuck the mesh to a piece of double sided sticky sheet and then onto another snippet of card and tipped some gold glitter over it and used my fingers to press it down and burnish it before tipping off the excess. I realised at this point that it would have looked better if I had coloured the mesh first, but I rescued it by using a fine line black pen to go over the mesh lines. This was a little tricky as the pen kept collecting glitter on the nib and I had to keep cleaning it off, but as I had only made a small sample it wasn't too bad and the result was worth it.  I punched out a couple of stars from this, and one from the black and gold piece and glued them to the card. I stamped the greeting with a Chocolate Baroque clear stamp from the Amazing Birthday set, in the middle of the card and used a gold gel pen to highlight the word Amazing. I'm not sure if this shows in the photo but it might if you click on it to enlarge it. To finish I added the black and red dots with a random dots stamp from Denami Designs and black soot and fired brick Distress inks.
I had fun playing with this and as I now have a large roll of the tape I might well be using it again soon.
As I used little snippets of card for the samples I am going to pop over to the Snippets Playground with it and see what they have been getting up to this week.

I am also entering at Crafty Creations Challenges - Happy Birthday
                          Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Thank you all for looking and for your lovely friendly comments I really appreciate them.

Lavender Fairy

When I was looking through one of my stamp files last week I came across this Crafter's Companion set which I haven't used for ages. I love all the Flower Fairies and this  is one of my favourites, I have a cross stitched version of her hanging in my bedroom that I made some years ago.
Anyway I decided to give this set an airing and began by stamping the fairy onto white card with Memento Tuxedo black ink.I then stamped the lavender around her using first,second and third impressions without re-inking to give the illusion of depth. I coloured with Colour Soft pencils using Sansodor to blend. For the wings I used a little pencil colour and Sakura sparkle pens and just blended with a water brush. I stamped the butterfly from the set twice and coloured them first with a cream pencil and the blended in a little colour and sparkle with the sakura pens. I don't think the sparkle shows in the photo, it is quite subtle but pretty in the right light. Next I trimmed close to the image and then using duster brushes and Distress Inks I shaded in the background with bundled sage and milled lavender at the bottom and broken china at the top. I used some purple pearl card for a mat cutting it a bit longer than the picture and trimming the bottom edge with a Memory Box scalloped die. This was then stuck to an A5 card, and the birthday greeting stamped below with dusty concord Distress ink, and a Chocolate Baroque clear stamp from the Amazing Birthday set. I have added two pieces of toning ribbon attached at the top of the card with a staple and left them hanging free. I looked for a button to hide the staple but couldn't find one the right colour so I used this one which was a pale blueish lilac and coloured it with a promarker to match. In fact all the elements tone with each other much better IRL than it looks here, I think it probably it's the purple card that hasn't photographed very well. Anyway I tied some purple metallic cord through the button and stuck it on with a glue dot.
I am entering this at Seize The Birthday - Anything Goes Birthday
         Fashionable Stampers Challenge - Anything Goes
 and Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge - 3 B's where she has asked for butterflies, buttons and bows, at least one of each.

Thank you for looking and for all your lovely comments which are greatly appreciated.