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,

Challenged by Liz Borer

Liz has joined the Paper Artsy blog for another week of inspiration. Among the fantastic and complex creations she shared with us, I picked several bits and combined them on a panel.

First there was this lettering technique with grunge paste. As she mentioned in her post that it was like applying glitter glue from a bottle, it gave me an idea... I had a set of small glitter glue bottles (freebie from a magazine) and emptied most of the glue into a spare container. This already had a remnant of a mix of South Pacific Fresco and white paint. I mixed the texture paste with water then sucked it into the glitter glue bottle, put back the nozzle tip and managed a more controlled application with it to write the word Blooming. Quite pleased with that one!

Second, Liz used stencils with paste to give some texture to this project, so I did the same using a Prima mask and a DIY mask. I applied Limelight and Claret paints using a water spray to move the paint around. When dry, I used Treasure Gold Aquamarine to highlight the textures.

Third Liz cut apart a laser cut frame to adorn her box (same post as above), I didn't have that same item but I thought I could make something similar with a punch. I used lightweight cardboard and, after punching, I painted it with the mixture of glitter glue and South Pacific, the by product of my first technique. This could have been a disaster but I would only know if I tried... so I did!
You won't see the glitter or the original colour of the piece since, when I stuck it to my finished board, I realised the colour clash was so awful I couldn't let it stand. I took oil pastels to it in an attempt to get a better colour match.

Finally I stamped the irises from Hot Pick 1204 with green and purple dye inks.

Thanks for coming by,

(Second) Favorite technique

Well this is what the Impression Obsession challenges us to do... but as I have already shown it here and here I decided to go for my second but newest favorite, namely gilding !

Shame the weather is so grey, I couldn't get a good photo of that shiny gold but trust me the flakes look gorgeous in real life!

I stamped the Bird Collage 1 (E13043) with glue and applied the gilding flakes, there is some loss of detail (the music score is nearly invisible) but not too much.
For the large background mat I decided to use ribbon, to try and make a dent in the stash, and weaved a lilac and a purple organza ribbons.
I added a die-cut heart from an old card kit, a button and a tag die-cut with IO Flags Die Set (DIE015-F) and stamped with the coordinating Tag Set (3119-SM).

I am also entering this card in the Craft Room, Stamping Sensations, Bunny Zoe's Crafts challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

Classic Christmas

On reflection, I need more Christmas cards so here goes...

The main tree image (magazine freebie) has been stamped on gold cardstock with Versamark and embossed in green. I added a flourish embossed in white and the sentiment in black.

I used a shaped card and backed the aperture with a letter pressed panel (Lifestyle Crafts) added some red vellum and cardstock behind the aperture.
On the front panel I stamped and embossed a swirl in gold (from the same set of freebie) and die cut a corner from gold mirri board with the corner from the Spellbinders Persian Accents die set.

I am entering the Lisa.B. Designs challenge:

Hope you will like this,

Challenged by Joanna Wardle

Joanna on the Paper Artsy blog this week has inspired me to make not one but two projects week... OK they're  Clean and simple so it didn't take to long!

My first one follows Joanna's card recipe here:

My second card is based on this idea :

 

Not so pleased with that one... I should have mixed a better colour for my texture paste flower or finally acquired that Treasure Gold! I used oil pastel here but it just doesn't work as well.

 

Thanks for coming by,

 

Stars, Stripes and die-cuts

I have a lot of freebie stamps from magazine and most of the time they get inked only once, if at all. But this star stamp, I have realised, has actually received more than its share of inking! I guess this is because it is the only stamp I can use for boys when they have outgrown teddy bears... I would never have bought it myself!

It's a CAS card, again it's for a boy so can't be too fussy, and I used similar ideas as previous cards I made with this stamp.
I stamped the star on white cardstock, embossed with a dark blue embossing powder and die-cut with a Spellbinders Nestabilitie.
I stuck 3 strips of double sided tape and embossed with WOW embossing powder in detail silver.
I stamped the sentiment (another freebie) and embossed in white.
A die-cut (Spellbinders) in the corner from silver card finishes the card.
I am entering the WOW Embossing powder and LadyBug Crafts challenges.

Do you have any freebie go-to-stamps that you would not bought for yourself ? Let me know your faves...

Halloween layout

Halloween is trending on all crafting blogs, so I feel duty bound to add my own Halloween post! As I am catching up with scrapbooking my photos, here's the layout I made:

All the stamps used are from Crafty Individuals, CI-319 for the image between the 2 photos, which I coloured with pencils and CI-209 for the embossed trees.

The idea, not entirely successful, was to emboss the trees with clear powder and use Versamark around the trees brushing mica powders (Imagination Crafts - Nature set) over the top, to create a spooky night scene. Trouble is I used Core'dination cardstock which is textured and I lost some of the stamp detail. The second problem I had was trying to clean the mica off the embossed trees...

I die-cut a few leaves, using the resulting stencil to ink some leaves (white pigment ink), and the letters for my title from some more Black magic Core'dination cardstock.

I am entering the following challenges:
Crafty Individuals, Country View Crafts- Something Spooky, Imagination Crafts, My Mum's Craft shop, Pan Pastels UK, Ali-Craft

Thanks for coming by,