Red and white Christmas

Posted: November 14, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Holiday Sampler | 6 Comments

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This is a nice quick card using stamps that I usually pull out for  tags.   The set is an old SU set which has been used and used by my family and at Christmas workshops every year since I bought it.  I stamped the three images, added a bow to the ornament and punched them out with a 1¼” square punch. I popped them up on stampin’ dimensionals then lined them up on the Merry Moments designer paper.  It was tricky to get that sentiment positioned correctly so I pulled out the stamp-a-ma-jig.

Even though I did this a while ago I noticed it fits the CAS challenge on Splitcoast this week which is to use one colour with white.  Well technically  it doesn’t fit, because I used vanilla not white!  Anyway there are some great cards in the CAS40 gallery this week that don’t bend the rules.

Supplies:
Stamps: Holiday Sampler, Fundamental Phrases
Inks: Real Red
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Merry Moments Designer paper, Real Red
Also: Stampin’ Dimensionals

The Pine line

Posted: November 7, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Best Yet, Gifts of Christmas, Patterned Pines | 4 Comments

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This is the third card out of the four I designed for the workshop.  For some reason, rather than just stamping the three tree stamp in the centre of the white panel, I felt the need to run the image off both the sides of the panel so I stamped half the stamp on one side and then re-inked and stamped again on the other side.  My friend who was demonstrating this one for me at the next table always started her demonstration by telling the ladies they could do it my way or the simpler way!  I don’t blame her, it also looked  just fine stamped in the centre!

Not much more to say really, I’m looking forward to doing a bit more with this set, maybe cutting out the trees, stamping them in different colours and spreading them around a bit.

Supplies:
Stamps: Patterned Pines, Best Yet
Inks: Real Red, Handsome Hunter
Cardstock: Real Red, Handsome Hunter, Whisper White

The fourth card is a little different again.  I wasn’t sure I liked it at first, but several friends assured me that it appealed to them so I went ahead.

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I cut along the stripes of the Dejardin designer paper for my decorative strip and then just matted my image once and stuck a knotted piece of ribbon on with a glue dot.  All the cards for the workshop were fairly simple but that meant that four cards were easily completed by the women and girls who came, some of whom are not stampers.  And there was plenty of time for chatting too.  I really enjoyed the night as I have done for the last few years.  I hope to do another similar night at the church in the new year making a selection of cards.

Thanks so much  for dropping in.

Supplies:
Stamps: Gifts of Christmas
Inks: Always Artichoke
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Le Jardin Designer paper, Almost Artichoke, River Rock
Also: Artichoke grosgrain ribbon

Framed Trees

Posted: October 31, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Lovely as a Tree | 1 Comment

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This is another of the cards I designed for the Christmas Card Workshop at my church last weekend.  This one was my favourite because I was really pleased with the way the sponged background worked out.  I positioned post-it notes around the edges of the white piece of cardstock and sponged in Bashful Blue before stamping the trees in Not Quite Navy.  I purposely made the “window’ a little smaller than the size of the tree stamp so the image would go the edges.  I’m not sure why, but it was what I wanted!   I then embossed the sentiment in white e.p.

I liked the framed area idea so much I tried it with the lone pine from Lovely as a Tree as well.  This time I sponged in Mellow Moss and stamped in Always Artichoke.

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It needed a white insert so I used the complete sentiment from All Year Cheer with a bit of tree on the side.

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By the way if you are ever searching for cards using a particular stamp set, my categories are pretty much all stamp sets with a few exceptions and are listed in the drop down menu on the right hand side labeled Categories.  Thanks for dropping in, there are a couple more from the workshop which I hope to post soon.

Supplies:

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Best Yet,  All Year Cheer
Inks: Versamark, Not quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss
Cardstock: Not quite Navy, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
Also:  White e.p.

Stamped Brindabellas

Posted: October 17, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Branch Out, Lovely as a Tree, Stamped Landscapes | 9 Comments

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Hi again, it has been a while between cards hasn’t it?  Life has been very busy here with one thing and another.  Sadly there has been no time for stamping and no time even for posting cards already completed.

I made this one quite a few weeks ago.  The inspiration was a card from my parents which was sitting on the cabinet next to my stamping table.  It sits there because it has such a beautiful moonrise on it.  The photo was taken by my father and made into a card for me.  When my dad saw it there he suggested I try creating a similar stamped image.  This is my attempt at stamping a scene from the Brindabellas, an Australian mountain range.

It has been so long since I stamped it I hope I can remember the process I used.  I know I threw away the first attempt.  To begin I stamped the moon, a little circle stamp from a flower set and then embossed it in clear.  Then I worked on the coloured sky.  I sponged in Bordering Blue, Going Grey, Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum and Almost Amethyst to create the sunset.   The silhouette of the hill was sponged in over a torn paper masking sheet.  The trees are from Branch Out and Lovely as a Tree.  I inked parts of the Branch Out tree so I could create a little variety on the horizon and mimic the trees in the original photo somewhat.  The moon was meant to be in the space between two trees but I missed so I reheated the moon slightly to heat set the black branch on the embossed moon.

The original photo taken by my dad is below.  The trees are blackened and bare because of horrendous bushfires which destroyed forest in the area.

Thanks for dropping in, it shouldn’t be so long between posts next time as I have a Christmas card workshop next weekend so some stamping must happen this weekend!  I hope to have designed four cards by tomorrow evening.

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Supplies:

Stamps:  Branch Out, Lovely as a Tree
Inks: Basic Black, Bordering Blue, Going Grey, Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Almost Amethyst
Cardstock: Whisper white, Basic Black, Buckaroo Blue

Blue Birthday

Posted: September 19, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Baroque Motifs | 3 Comments

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This is the birthday card I made my 15year old for her birthday back in August.  I was not late in giving it to her, just late in posting it for you!

I chose these colours because she wears them and looks great in them.  I also chose lots of white space because she is my “less is more” girl.  I inked the flourish in versamark and then Turquoise before stamping and embossing in clear.  The fine shadow details on parts of the flourish were added with the Brilliant Blue stampin’ marker.  The flowers were stamped in Brilliant Blue also.  The matted panel is popped up on stampin’ dimensionals.

Thanks so much for dropping in, I hope to be posting with a little more regularity soon.

Supplies:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Fundamental Phrases
Inks: Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Also:  Turquoise grosgrain ribbon, Turquoise brads

Gum blossoms blue

Posted: September 1, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Bloom Away | 4 Comments

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When I received my new Bloom Away set from the Australian catalog, I stamped each image in black and then looked up the colours of the flowers to try watercolouring them as realistically as possible.  This is the first image I did after searching online for my colours and finding this painting.   I should have looked even closer to home as there was a beautiful picture that my dad had taken and included in a calendar he made and sent us last year.

After I had finished the colouring I wasn’t sure what I wanted in the background and tried several arrangements of blue blossoms before deciding to fill in the entire background.   On one hand it seems a bit busy, on the other I feel like I just made my own patterned paper.

Supplies:

Stamps: Bloom Away
Inks: Basic Black, Not quite Navy
Cardstock: Not quite Navy, Whisper White
Also:  Faber-Castell watercolour pencils

1 set, 1 colour scheme: 2 ways

Posted: August 23, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: CAS, Of the Earth | 9 Comments

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I played with the new hostess set, Of the Earth, the other day.  It has three pretty picture stamps and a quote.  I decided against the quote and chose “thinking of you” sentiments instead.  The colour scheme I used is a calm one so I wanted the words to be restful as well.

I used Rose Red, Mellow Moss and Bashful Blue on both cards.  The little bird stamp is easy to punch out with the 1¼” square punch, but the rectangular pieces I cut before stamping to make sure they were identical.  All the images are popped up on stampin’ dimensionals.

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Thanks for dropping in today.

Supplies:

Stamps: Of the Earth, Thoughts and Prayers, All Year Cheer
Inks:  Mellow Moss, Rose Red, Bashful Blue
Cardstock: Whisper White
Also:  Stampin’ dimensionals, square punch

Bloom Away

Posted: August 16, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Bloom Away, CAS | 12 Comments

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My parents arrived from Australia a week or so ago, with this stamp set.  It is an SU set but I don’t imagine it will ever appear in my Canadian catalog because it features Australian native flowers.  I was browsing some blogs one day and saw a card which featured a gum blossom, so followed up the card information to find the set in the Australian catalog.  My dad  located a demonstrator not far from their place and… now I have a new set.

The set includes a waratah, a gum blossom and a banksia, these are a couple of my first attempts with the gum and banksia.  I know the gum blossom will be my favourite stamp from the set.  I have like gum blossoms ever since my  mum read Snugglepot and Cuddlepie to me when I was five or six.  I even won a prize in Grade 1, when I dressed up as Ragged Blossom for a Book Week parade!

I stamped the full image twice for both cards, once in green, once in black.  I coloured the black images using  watercolour pencils, ink from the stamp pad lids and a blender pen.  I then punched out a feature square from the coloured image, matted it and attached it to the green image with stampin’ dimensionals.  In the gum blossom card above I masked the edge of the background image using a post-it note and then stamped the left of the stamp again to create a larger bunch of blossom.

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Thank you for dropping in today and a special thanks for the encouraging comments people have been leaving for me.  I have really enjoyed your kind words.

Supplies:

Stamps: Bloom Away, Fundamental Phrases
Inks: Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Pixie Pink
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Whisper White
Also:  Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, square punches

Happy Birthday Stamp Simply

Posted: August 13, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Extreme Surfboard | 28 Comments

Sharon is celebrating over at No Time to Stamp because the Friday Stamp Simply  challenge is turning 100.  The 100th challenge is to make a birthday card.   Sharon  invited a bunch of guests to celebrate and I was happy  to be included.  There is quite a line up of talented stampers with all sorts of birthday projects and blog candy galore!

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My parents are staying with me at present and asked whether I could make a card for a 21 year old young man.   As you know I make very few masculine cards but I have a few new stamps which should change that a bit.  I bought three of the new SU Extreme stamps with my son, his friends and my nephews in mind.  This is my first effort with the Extreme Surfer stamp.

I began by flicking embossing fluid on watercolour paper with a paintbrush.  I then embossed in white and soaked the watercolour paper with water.  I used three reinkers to create the surf and then waited for it to dry before embossing the surfer.  Actually that is not quite true, I should have waited until it was totally dry because a couple of wet patches did retain a bit of black embossing powder.  In Australia your twenty-first birthday is considered a milestone so my parents thought it would be appropriate to have 21 on the front of the card.  None of my numeral stamps looked right so I wrote the words on with a black fineliner.  I then fiddled around with the mattes and split the scene in three panels.  Inside is a repeat of the surfer on a Not quite navy splodge.

Edited to add: A few people have asked what embossing fluid is.  It is a fluid for re-inking a clear embossing pad, I bought it quite a long time ago,  I wonder if the versamark pad refill in the SU catalog  is the same sort of thing.

Thanks for dropping in, make sure you check out the great projects completed by the other birthday guests.

  1. Pat Adam – Christmas Gift Tags with BLOG CANDY

  2. AJ – 1 Card Done 3 Ways

  3. Janine – A Stress Free Summer Menu with BLOG CANDY

  4. Tammy – Birthday Reminder Book with BLOG CANDY

  5. Jennifer – Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

  6. Julie – Card Set in Tote with Directions

  7. Barbara–  Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

  8. Deb– Tutorial on Dying Silk Ribbon Using Copics and Refills

  9. Jenny– Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

  10. Jerri – Birthday Card and Tutorial on Hand Embossing with Light Box

  11. Joan– Birthday Card and Etched Glass with BLOG CANDY

  12. LeAnne – Birthday Card with Glitter

  13. Barb– Birthday Cake 3-D Gift Item with BLOG CANDY

  14. Darlene – Birthday Card with Special Recipe

  15. Rose Ann– Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

  16. Leslie – Gift Tin of Soaps with Coordinating Card

  17. Heather – Birthday Card  (that’s me!)

  18. Sabrina– Birthday Card with BLOG CANDY

  19. Sharon– Monogrammed Birthday Gift Set with BLOG CANDY

Supplies:

Stamps: Extreme Surfboard
Inks: Versamark, Not quite Navy, Night of Navy, Buckaroo Blue, Basic Black
Cardstock: Not quite Navy, Basic Black, Whisper White
Also:  White e.p., clear e.p., Pilot fineliner

So thankful

Posted: August 12, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Lovely as a Tree, My Kid's cards | 2 Comments

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A few days ago I posted the birthday cards my girls made for each other.  Today I have a card my fifteen year-old made for my husband and me and gave to us on her birthday.  We were surprised to be receiving a card but there was a beautiful hand made gift too, which blew us away.  I wrote about it here

Supplies:

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, All Year Cheer
Inks: Versamark, Not quite Navy
Cardstock: Not quite Navy, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Also:  Silver e.p.

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