Sparkle & Glitter Christmas card

I am not overly fond of glitter (especially the loose one) but I do like shiny things... And shiny is good for Christmas cards!

 

I used a brand new Uniko Studio sentiment to "suspend" my old bauble stamp (Katzelkraft) and stamped with black ink before embossing with WOW Blue Pearl embossing powder.

 

I painted the baubles with metallic pencils to add some shine, but when used with water the effect is very subtle as the particles are extremely fine, even in real life it is difficult to see.

To obtain further shine, I started applying Copic Spica clear pen, but I don't know what the problem is, although if shaken vigorously it manages to spray its glittery ink, under normal use... nothing, the pen is just dry.

 

And then for the glitter... I used Sparkle Medium in Jade (Imagination Crafts) with a stencil and loose white glitter on a zig-zag die-cut.

 

A note about the Blue Pearl embossing powder I used in this project: this is an interference colour (WOW have other colours) and depending on the background over which it is applied, the colour looks different. The angle of the light also changes the colour too. In the photo below the colour is clearly blue (sorry for the blur) whilst in the first picture it looks more black. On top of white, it looked pearly white.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Imagination Crafts - Glitter and Sparkle
Uniko Studio - Christmas/Winter Holidays
Arty Inklings - Christmas Cheer
Polka Doodle - Christmas
SSS Monday challenge - Counting Down to the holidays

If you have had similar problems with Copic Spicas, please share in your comments, I don't know if the pen is ready to be chucked out, although I haven't used it much!

Thanks for coming by,

Challenged by Liz Borer

It's Liz's turn this week to inspire us on the Paper Artsy blog. I took my inspiration from her second project and picked out the cling film method for the background as well as the cord "frame" and embossed metal .

On top of the painted board, I applied texture paste using a Prima mask... I went overboard with the texture paste because it's so much fun I couldn't stop myself! As a result, I ended up with very small areas to stamp onto, so I used a dinky one from  ESN07 as a filler.
The main image (chosen for its size!) is from Hot Pick 1201, inked with water based markers. I created a mat for it with a die-cut and embossed piece of metal, which I painted with Fresco South Pacific, rubbing the top to get back to the metal.

The clock embellishment is a bottle cap, in which I poured gold UTEE and impressed a clock stamp into.

I am also entering the Pan Pastel UK challenge.

Thanks for coming by,

Inks & Stamps = Wrapping Paper

A totally different "canvas" for this Christmas make... The Impression Obsession challenge is all about holidays cards, tags, gifts and I decided to make my own wrapping paper with stamps. I have done this before and I won't lie... it is time consuming, especially for something that will get ripped up within seconds of being received! Still I have some spare paper I don't know how else to use taking up precious space!

First, I stamped Cover-a-Card Canvas (CC073) with Tumbled glass Distress ink, then gave the stamp a quarter turn and stamped again (24 stamping). This way, I obtained an overall color, which isn't possible with sprays (too much cockling) or using a brayer (a smooth application is out of the question).
Then I used the Rose Leaf Branch (F8199)  and stamped in Forest Moss Distress ink, re-inking only every third stamping to give some tonal variation.

Here you can see the detail and how the first generation stamping compares to the third generation stamping.

I am also entering the SSS Monday and Pan Pastels UK challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

More Christmas cards

I just received a kit (Papercrafter) so I had to crack it open, it would be rude not to!

These cards are fairly simple and quick to make, especially as the design is lifted from examples given in the magazine.

I used patterned paper from the kit as well as the aperture shaped cards, bits of coloured cards and die cut a border for each card. The music score, stamped and embossed in white, is made with a stamp from the kit too.

Not necessarily my favourite makes, but quick so perfect for Christmas cards in a hurry.

I am entering the WOW! Embossing powders, Stamping sensation, the Artistic Stamper and Lisa B. Designs challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

Art Journal Letter N & fifty shades of grey

I just chose the title to entice readers... but my post isn't titillating in anyway, unless crafting is your thing!
I wanted to join the Craft Barn challenge and have a play... I knew I wanted to use pastels this time and a Tim Holtz stamp, so I chose my word accordingly: Nostalgia. And since I was using pastels, I thought I would join the Pan Pastel challenge which gave me the colour scheme.

Throughout the page I have only used the pastel over Versamarked images. I used the Grunge background stamp (Impression Obsession) as a border all around the page, the Canvas stamp (also IO) and a Hero Arts flourish background. I varied the shades of grey from light to dark and cool to warm.
Then of course my chosen Tim Holtz stamp, for which I allowed myself a pop of red for the bellboy's jacket and hat, as it gives the image focus and creates a bit of excitement in an otherwise grey page...
At this point I used an electric eraser to recover some of the white for the "Victoria" and the bell boy's face.

I then used a number of small filler stamps with dye inks, sometimes mixing colours directly on the stamps.

Hope you like this one,

Challenged by Jo Myhill (2)

This week I am following closely Jo Myhill's recipe for her second project on the Paper Artsy blog.

I came a bit unstuck with the colours, but I wanted to stick to Fresco paints and I don't have any of the opaque colours. The embossing on my "Number plates" (I used this instead of an ATC die-cut) isn't as sanded as I would have liked and so doesn't show very much.
Still, I am not planning to hang this piece anywhere, it's only for practice and destined to the bin!

The PA stamps I used are from Hot Picks 1202, 1204, 1206, 1207.

I have enjoyed making the Master Board anyway and plan to do more. What about you? Tempted?

Thanks for coming by,