Christmas Post

I know it's still only October, but since most of my cards take around 2 hours to make (especially where colouring is involved), it's important to start early if I want all of my cards to be handmade.

This card was made using a Barkley stamp by Crafter's Companion, which I stamped onto a die cut circle.  I coloured it with Polychromos pencils (I am liking the pencils a lot more than the markers at the moment).  I hand stitched around the edges of the circle and layered it onto different sized snowflakes so that they stick out around the edges (I did this by drawing around the circle initially and sticking the snowflakes so that they partially overlapped the edges of the circle.   I layered this onto red card and patterned papers and added snowflakes, sparkly gems and pearls at the corners to finish it off.

It doesn't show up well in the picture, but I glittered all of the snowflakes, the snow on top of the post box and the falling snow in the stamped image.  I used Stickles glitter glue for this.  I like it much better than loose glitter because it's a lot less messy.  Whenever I use loose glitter I end up finding bits of it everywhere for weeks, including in my hair and stuck to my arms, legs and face! 

Cardz 4 Galz: Fantasy

This is my Design Team card for the current challenge at Cardz 4 Galz, which is fairytale/fantasy.

I created this card using some fairy house stamps I have by Lavinia Stamps.  I created the background to the main picture with distress inks and various bits of masking (the houses, the sun and hills).  I then spritzed it with some mica sprays to add some sparkle (although this doesn't show up well on the photo), and coloured the houses using pearly watercolours.  I also aded some white highlighting and glitter.  For the background I used patterned paper and heat embossed the corners with gold embossing powder.  To embellish I added paper flowers with button centres and die cut dragonflies.  The sentiment 'don't forget to fly' is from the Tim Holtz Ideology "small Talk" pad.

Happy Halloween

Well, I am still busy with painting and decorating, so even though I have the week off work I have not had much time to make anything.  We are doing the hall and stairs, so it's a bit of a mammoth task.  Five days in and I am finally beginning to stop aching! 

Anyway, I did get a bit of free time this afternoon.  This little lady has been sitting around on a corner of my desk fully coloured and waiting to be made into something for a few weeks now, and I looked at her today and decided she needed to be made into a Halloween card. 

The image is a digi stamp from the Ickyinks collection by Polkadoodles, and her name is Oddella.  I coloured her with Polychromos pencils.  The papers are from the Gorjuss collection by Santoro.  I added some ants and a spider, which are plastic Halloween toys.  The sentiment is printed, and I dripped on some Fired Brick Distress ink, which I think is a really good blood red colour.

I don't tend to make many Halloween cards.  However, my eleven yeard old son is a bit halloween obsessed, so we do tend to do other things - Halloween cupcakes, bat cookies, decorations and costumes complete with face paint (I LOVE doing face paint.  I'm always amazed at how different you can make someone look) - so I will try and find time next week to share some of our creations on here.

A Quick Christmas Card

I have been very busy over the last few days, decorating and doing the wrong kind of painting.  I am feeling my age, as I am aching everywhere, and this did not happen when I did painting and decorating when I was younger!

As you can imagine, this has not left me much time for making things, but I did manage to make this Christmas card.  The image I've used here is a freebie that I downloaded some time ago.  I have it credited to Kasjan's Scrapblogg, but I have no idea whether or not it is still available.  I coloured it using Polychromos pencils.

The background papers I used on this card are from the Jingle All the Way pad by First Edition.  Hopefully I will have more time to create (and more things to share) soon.

Make My Monday: I Put a Spell on You

I am very excited to announce that as from today I am a member of the design team for the Make My Monday craft challenge blog.  The Theme for this week's challenge is 'I Put a Spell on You' (Halloween), and this is my first DT card.

For someone who has a love of all things macabre, I have a distinct lack of halloweeny things in my craft stash, so I had to get creative for this one.

The image is a stamp by Sweet Pea Stamps, and I coloured her using Polychromos Pencils I carefully cut her out and layered her onto a circle of green card which I stamped with spiderwebs and stitched around the edge in black thread.  The pumpkin paper layered behind is paper that I've had since my very early days of crafting (too many years ago to mention)  It started out as plan white paper with orange pumpkins, but I thought it was boring so I inked it with distress inks in shades of orange and sprayed it with a gold mica spray.  The purple paper behind is from a lovely pad that I was fortunate to be able to pickup at Poundland (I doubt  they were on the shelves for very long), and I have also sprayed that with gold mica spray.  The sentiment is printed, and I inked the background with distress inks and sprayed it with water.  To finish it off, I added a plastic spider and some black lace along the bottom.

Sian.

Traditional Christmas

I have been creating Christmas cards again (well, it is only just over 2 months to go now).  This time I thought I would try something a bit different, using the stamp and poinsettia scoring boards that came with this month's Papercraft Inspirations magazine.  This is not my usual style at all, but I do enjoy going out of my confort zone from time to time.  I think it's turned out quite classy.

I stamped the sentiment onto a white die cut oval and coloured it with Polychromos pencils, then layered it onto a die cut scalloped oval.  I created the poinsettias using the scoring board, rubberd soem gold gilding wax over them and along the edges and layered them up.  I added some micro beads to the centres.  I then layered everything onto patterned paper, added a large gold bow and added somm glitter glue to the sentiment, finisihing it off with two little gold pearls at the corners.

Time Flies

I haven't been very productive over the last week, as I've had a nasty cold.  I have however managed a couple of cards this weekend, including this one which I've made for the current Cardz 4 Guyz challenge, Time Flies.

The image is a digi stamp by Bloobell Stamps called Steam Punk, and I thought he would be great for this challenge.  I colured him using Polychromos pencils.  I layered the image onto patterned paper and a strip of card which I embossed using an embossing folder.  The cogs are X-cut dies.

Cardz 4 Galz Challenge: Use at Least one Die

This is my DT card for this week's challenge at Cardz 4 Galz, which is to use at least one die.  As you can see I have used lots of dies to make this card!

I stamped the sentiment onto a die cut circle and used lots of die cut flowers around the circle and in the corners of the card.  I cut away half of the front of the card and embossed the remaining half using an embossing folder.  I added some matting and layering underneath (inside the card), which has the added advantage of adding some stability.  this means that even though I have cut away part of the front, the card still stands up.  I fininshed off the flowers with pearl centres.
  
I think this is the first time I have used a sentiment as the main focus on one of my cards!

I look forward to seeing everyone's entries for the challenge!

Make My Monday: Photo Inspiration

This week's challenge on Make my Monday is to make something inspired by the photo on the right.  I think the photo is stunningly beautiful, so couldn't resist having a go at this!

The picture below is my creation.  I created the background using distress inks in shades of orange, red and black, with a die cut circle masking the moon.  I then lightly inked over part of the moon to give it a bit more depth.  The cat is a Craft Stamper freebie from a while back, and I can't remember where I got the owl.  I was initally planning to stamp the branches, but I couldn't find a stamp in my stash that was right for this, so I painted them freehand using acrylic.  I added some highlighting to the branches once they were dry using a Sakura Stardust pen, so that it looks like the moonlight is reflecting off them.

The image is the main focal point, so I decided to keep the rest of the card simple so as not to detract from it.  I layered the image onto black and then white card, and embossed some light red card using an embossing folder to use for the main card background, then layered it onto black card on a white card blank.

I thought that the image looked rather halloweeny, which isn't really what I was looking for with this, but it fits with the time of year, so I'm happy.  I ddin't want it to be a halloween card though, so I added the inspirational quote "life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful", which is from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Small Talk pad.  I think it makes the perfect finishing touch!

I hope you like my creation.

Sian.

Blossoms

Today I am sharing a card I have made using a beautiful digi stamp by Connie Fong Art.  I have coloured her using Polychromos pencils.  The background papers were from The Works - they seem to have quite a lot of nice papers at the moment, at really good prices.  The blossom dies that I have used to embellish this card are by Spellbinders.  The photo doesn't show it well, but I have added some glitter glue to the centres of the die cut blossoms and the flowers on the main image and have used some Glossy Accents on her eyes and mouth.

I hope you like it!

Sian.

Black Magic

I have made this card for the current Fantasy Stampers challenge, the theme of which is Black Magic.  The aim is to use black as the focal point of your work.  I would also like to enter it into the current Make My Monday challenge, which is no patterned paper.

I created both the background and the butterfly by stamping in Versamark ink on black card and brushing over with mica powders  I then matted and layered it onto purple card.  I used foam pads behind the square and the butterfly to give it some dimension, but I don't think this comes through well in the photo.  I wanted to keep this quite simple so as not to detract from the background so I added a bit of glitter to the butterfly, some purple gems and a large purple bow.  The sentiment, 'use your wings' is from the Tim Holtz Ideaology 'Small Talk' sticker pad, which has some lovely inspirational quotes.  The flower stamp used for the background is one that I've had for a long time, which came free with Craft Stamper Magazine.  I can't remember what brand the butterfly stamp is, but I do remember that I got it at the first ever craft show I went to, so it's quite old!

I always have difficulty photographing black cards and this one is no exception.  It's also a lot more shimmery in real life because again this is hard to capture in a photograph

Getting Inky

I don't often get the inks out these days, partly because I craft in a corner of the lounge, and when I make a mess I have to clear it up, and partly because I work full time in the kind of job where inky fingers are frowned upon, so I need to try and confine my inky time to when I know I will have a couple of days for the ink to wash off (it doesn't come off easily, especially when it gets under my nails).

This is a card I made at the weekend.  the stamp I used is by Crafty Individuals.  I created layers by stamping over the image with a snowflake background in Versamark ink and embossing the snowflakes with clear embossing powder, then inking over it with distress inks.  I added a few highlights with white gel pen to make the deer stand out a bit.  I  distressed the edges of the image and the papers with scissors and Distress Inks and added kraft card behind.  The papers used on this card are from the Bobunny Sleigh Ride collection.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crazy 4 Challenges - Forest Friends
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

It's too Early! (Christmas in January)

I was looking through photos on my phone tonight and came across some Christmas cards that I made at the beginning this year, when I must have had a short break in my studies, so I have decided to share them.  This top card was made using a digi stamp by Digi Stamp Boutique.  I coloured it with Promarkers.  The background papers are by First Edition and I added some die cut snowflakes.

 The second card was created using an image by Di's Digi Stamps.  This is one of my favourite Christmas Digi Stamps.  I coloured it with Promarkers, and added a die cut landscape at the bottom.  I also added some timy red gems as lights on the trees.

 For this third card I decided to do something a bit different.  With all the pink, this is far more girly than my usual style.  The image is by Digi Stamp Boutique, and I coloured it with Promarkers.

This final card was made using another Digi Stamp Boutique image coloured with Promarkers.  The background papers are by First Edition, and I embellished it with some bits that have been hanging around in my craft stash for a few years.

Blue Christmas

Today I am sharing some more of my Christmas cards.  I have a tendency to use of a lot of traditional christmas colours on my cards (red, green, white), so I have been trying to get out of the rut a bit and use some different colours.  These are some cards I have made using a blue theme.  The top card was made using a digi stamp from Di's Digi Stamps, which I have coloured with Polychromos pencils (my favourite colouring medium at the moment).  I have also used patterned papers.  These are from the Frosty Christmas pad by Lili of the Valley.  I have also added die cut snowflakes.  As it is a Christmas card I have of course also added glitter (I use Stickles glitter glue because it is nice and easy)!

The second card was made using the free snow globe stamp that came with this month's Quick Cards Made Easy magazine.  I decided that I wanted to have a 'working' snow globe, so this is a shaker card.  The deer stamp was also part of the free set that came with the magazine and I coloured it with Polychromos pencils.  I layered the patterned paper onto blue card, then stamped the snow globe onto it.  Then I die cut a circle in the middle of the globe and stuck acetate behind it.  I stamped the background onto a spearate piece of card and coloured it then added double sided sticky foam around the window.  Finally I added some white glitter in the circle created by the foam tape and stuck the background onto it.  I have added some wooden snowflakes to embellish it.  Both the snowflakes and the papers are from Hobbycraft.

By the time Christmas comes around I may actually have managed to make enough cards this year to give everyone handmade ones, which will be nice.

Christmas Again!

I have been busy making Christmas cards over the last few weeks.  It's nice to finally have time.  This is a card that I made using the Hollyanna digi stamp from Lacy Sunshine.  I have coloured her using Polychromos pencils.  I have hand stitched around the edge of the main image and added die cut holly and a stamped sentiment. 

I am entering this card in the Addicted to Stamps and More challenge, where this week's challenge is holiday I am hoping to join lotsmore challenges once I get properly back into the swing of things!