Just one word
Posted: December 26, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Designer Paper 15 Comments
I need a few more cards on Christmas Eve so I pulled out a new punch and created a wreath from designer paper. The original card featured a two word sentiment but it worked just fine with one word too so I will enter it into this week’s Less is More challenge to use just one word.
I made some last minute tags which I post soon too. Have a relaxing day.
Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Music (flourishes)
Inks: Riding hood red
Cardstock: Flourishes classic ivory
Also: Merry Moments D.P. , red twine, Recollections leaf punch
Those snow scenes I love to do…
Posted: December 22, 2011 Filed under: Branch Out, CAS, Stamped Landscapes 12 Comments
A couple of posts ago I featured a snow scene I did for the Less is More snow challenge. I love creating snow scenes but that one I entered in the challenge was not the first one I did that day. It was the fourth. The first three are featured in this post. All of them are ok, but they were not quite what I was after. Snow scenes can be a little tricky at times. In the one above you will see I managed a strange yellowy tinge in the sky; wrong sponge I think.
In the one below the tiny words in the sentiment are a little hard to read and the shadow on that tree? Well, it is hardly a shadow; I could have planned that a little better.
The card below suffered from a restamping of the foreground tree which didn’t really match up; I must have moved the positioning tool. To salvage it I used an embossing pen to draw snow on the branches but it is still a bit messy.
All that to say: sometimes it takes a few attempts before I come up with the scene I am after, but those attempts can often be used, as is, or with a little creative alteration.
Enjoy your day, still no snow here, but now we have plenty of ice!
Supplies:
Stamps: Many Merry Messages, Branch out,
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Taken with Teal, Bashful Blue, Versamark, Basic Black
Cardstock: MFP Snow Storm Smooth Heavy
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid, white e.p.
Delighted
Posted: December 16, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Holiday Sampler, Many Merry Messages 5 Comments
Here is another card inspired by a very creative artist. I am always impressed when I visit Sarita’s blog by how elegant her cards are. Her cards often feature gorgeous flourishes, flowers or fireworks but one day I dropped in to find some delightfully whimsical creations featuring coloured lights.
My card is a pretty close copy of Sarita’s clean and simple creation. I coloured the lights with markers and drew the cord after stamping.
Still no sign of snow here but I hope to be back with some snowy Christmas cards soon. Thanks for all your kind comments, I am happy you dropped by.
Supplies:
Stamps: Holdiay Sampler, Many Merry Messages
Inks: Bashful Blue, Only Orange, Rose Red, Gable Green, Yoyo Yellow and Black markers
Cardstock: MFP Snow Storm Smooth Heavy
Less is More Snow
Posted: December 11, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Stamped Landscapes 41 Comments
This week the challenge on the Less is More blog is a One Layer Card featuring snow. I love doing snow scenes and have been looking for a window of opportunity to do one or two.
I started by masking the top and bottom of the card base to leave a panel where I could brayer the sky. I also added a moon mask. To create falling snow I flicked masking fluid all over the card base and let it dry. I then brayered Taken with Teal ink over the panel, working from right to left so it would be lighter around the moon. After I removed the masks I used a wavy hill mask to sponge in some snow drifts and stamp some clumps of trees.
Still nowhere near this amount of snow around here, but there are two weeks before Christmas so it could still be white. Thanks for dropping in, I hope you have a great week.
Supplies:
Stamps: Wondrous Gift, a little tree stamp from Embassy Arts
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Taken with Teal
Cardstock: MFP Snow Storm Smooth Heavy
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Seashells
Posted: December 3, 2011 Filed under: CAS 9 Comments
I made this card quite some time ago and posted it to my dad who has been undergoing cancer treatment. I didn’t send the card alone; it was part of a package of bits and pieces that I thought my parents would like. To keep the cost down I sent the package by surface mail, thinking that it might take 6 weeks perhaps. My parents received it a few days ago, 10 weeks after I posted it. As my dad reads this blog I wanted to post him a card he hadn’t already seen. There was a card for my mother in there too but it has been so long that I can’t remember which one it was!
The news has been good since I sent that card, the last two cycles of my father’s chemotherapy have been cancelled because of the success of the treatments he has had since August. He will start a new type of treatment in February.
My parents live in Australia as I did for the first 35 years of my life and the weather is warming up for them. So although a card with seashells on it might seem out of place for those of us seeing snow outside, it is not for Aussies looking forward to their summer holidays.
Supplies:
Stamps: Shells(Stampworld), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU)
Inks: Summer Sun, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: Whisper White
Less is More Leaves
Posted: November 13, 2011 Filed under: CAS, With Gratitude | Tags: Stampin Up 35 Comments
When I saw that the challenge at Less is More was “leaves” and one layer, two favourites for me, I was very hopeful that I would find time to participate. Although I am surrounded by leaves of yellow, orange and brown I decided to stamp silver leaves because I have noticed lately a few silver birch trees around the place looking really silver when the wind is blowing their leaves. I chose to use silver, blue and grey for my leaves card instead.
I stamped the birch leaf in versamark and embossed in silver before sponging in blue and grey. I then added more leaves in grey, some double stamped to get a fainter image. The silver does look pretty but the photo doesn’t show it quite as well as I’d wished.
Thanks for dropping by today. Thank you to all the new subscribers and followers as well as the faithful readers who have been dropping in hoping to see something new here. I know it has been a while between posts but I have been busy with a different artistic project. I have been doing a printmaking unit with my small art class; if you are interested in seeing our marbling and linoprinting you can see it on my other blog.
Supplies:
Stamps: With Gratitude, Ageless Adornment (SU)
Inks: Going Grey, Bashful Blue, Versamark
Cardstock: Mark’s Finest Papers Snow Storm Smooth Heavy
Also: Sterling Silver e.p.
Take one, take two
Posted: September 25, 2011 Filed under: CAS, With Gratitude 25 CommentsI have missed stamping during the last few busy weeks so the sketch at Less is More was a nice way to get back into it this weekend. The sketch features a square card base but I think a little artistic license is allowed so my cards are rectangular.
My first attempt didn’t make it into this post but the one below is similar. I masked a rectangle in the top left corner and rolled some music notes across it. I added colour by sponging and then removed the mask. My intention was to stamp two leaves, one falling onto the coloured panel and one falling off. When I dropped the stamp onto the top left hand edge I had to add another leaf, then another to balance and before long leaves fell down the whole card.
My second card is not a one layer but it is more to my liking. I did the same sponging and musical notes on a panel but added a larger gold leaf and then popped it up on stampin’ dimensionals. Now that I have had a chance to stamp again I also need to get back to my intention to accept Susan’s challenge to send thank you cards to loved ones before Thanksgiving. None sent yet…so that shouldn’t be too hard to improve on!
Supplies:
Stamps: With Gratitude, Kind Thanks, Music notes roller (SU)
Inks: Encore gold, Apricot Appeal, Ruby Red, Real Rust, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic Ivory
Also: Gold Glory e.p.
Reflections
Posted: September 5, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Stamped Landscapes 23 CommentsThe photography section of the National Geographic website is full of breathtaking photos. One caught my eye a couple of days ago and inspired the following card. You can see the photo by Macduff Everton here.
I took a few stamper’s liberties in recreating the photo as I was limited by the stamps I had. I masked the top and bottom of the card then place a mask across the line of reflection to create the top part of the scene first. Using three tones of brown I sponged the sky , hill and ground then added the trees.
After moving the centre mask I sponged the reflections. I then re-stamped the trees on the plastic positioning sheet that comes with stamp-ama-jig. I placed the sheet upside down and ink side down below the line of reflection and rolled over it with a brayer to transfer the image. I know, I know a photo tutorial would explain it much better than me!
The National Geographic site has also inspired me to try and take some reflections shots of my own. I hope you enjoy your long weekend, if you have one. It’s back to school tomorrow for everyone here. Thanks for dropping by and thanks for leaving comments here; I love to read them and follow the trail back to your creations when I can.
Supplies:
Stamps: Little stamp of four trees I acquired somewhere, Thank you Kindly (SU)
Inks: Crumb cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso (SU)
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic Ivory
Golden leaves
Posted: September 3, 2011 Filed under: CAS, With Gratitude 35 CommentsThis week’s challenge at Less is More is to use something metallic. I am reluctant to admit it but there are golden leaves falling in my back yard already.
I decided to use gold embossing powder and ink to add a metallic touch to my card. First I masked then stamped the leaf twice in gold ink. Then I got distracted by something on the computer as you do. I don’t know how long I was away from the card but when I came back to it the gold ink had dried to really hold much embossing powder. I heated it anyway then brayered over the leaves with summer sun and old olive. There wasn’t enough rich colour with just the green and yellow so I switched to sponging and added some pumpkin pie. To finish I removed the masks and stamped two more leaves and embossed them immediately.
I hope you weekend is delightful.
Supplies:
Stamps: With Gratitude (SU)
Inks: Encore gold, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic Ivory
Also: Gold Glory e.p.
Summer forever
Posted: September 2, 2011 Filed under: CAS, Trees 11 Comments
The nights are getting cooler here but the days are still lovely so I thought another summer scene would be appropriate. It won’t be long before it is all autumn colours. Unlike others who are already posting their Christmas designs, I can’t seem to stamp too much out of season. I guess I am inspired by whatever’s happening outside.
This is the type of scene that I usually do on a one layer card but I think it works with a thin black mat also. I sponged a blue and green background between two masks before removing the masks and adding the tree and sentiment.
Have a great weekend.
Supplies:
Stamps: Trees (Darkroom Door) Season of Friendship (SU)
Inks: Basic Black, Brocade Blue ,Certainly Celery
Cardstock: SU Whisper White, Brocade Blue, Basic Black
Heather Telford 
