Santa Hat Seahorses!

Hi there

I'm back with my final make of 2019!

This was the Christmas card I made for my other half.  Seahorses always wear Santa hats at Christmas, right?!

For my background I inked up a blend of four Distress Ink colours.  Before I intensified the ink, I laid a sun ray stencil over the upper part and continued ink blending to create the rays of light through the water.  I then splattered the panel with water and blotted with kitchen paper.  I also used a white pigment ink pen to add some speckles towards the top of the panel.  When completely dry the panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle die and I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment at the base using silver sparkle embossing powder.  On a separate piece of cardstock I stamped the santa hats then masked these before stamping the seahorses.  These were then coloured with ProMarkers before being fussy cut.  I attempted to go around the edges to hide the white of the cardstock but my black ProMarker began to bleed through so I abandoned this idea.  I must find a pen I can use for this!  Before popping the seahorses up on 3D foam I stamped the bubbles and 'painted' with water and blotted the colour away.  In hindsight I think these would have worked better in white.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Sweet Seahorses, Hang Around (sentiment); Create a Smile - Friends in the Woods (hat); Festive Friend - free with Papercraft Essentials magazine (hat)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot; Memento - Tuxedo Black; VersaMark
• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Sunny Day
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver Sparkle

Challenge entries:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #470 - Anything Goes

Christmas with the Cuties - Challenge #34 - Christmas Cuties

Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - December Challenge - Anything Goes

Phew, I finally got through them all!

I just want to say thanks so much to all of you that visit my blog and for all the wonderful feedback you take the time to leave.  It really is so appreciated.

I'll be back on Thursday with details of the new CAS challenge at Happy Little Stampers.  Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating and seeing in the New Year, whatever your plans are :)

Winter Wonderland Walkies

Hi there

Back again with two very similar cards, and using more Card-io stamps that I just love for winter cards.

This first card was made for my bestie, she became mum to a puppy earlier this year which was my inspiration for this design...

On a die cut panel I masked a curve with some scrap paper and blended the sky and sunrise.  With the mask still in place I stamped the fir trees using first, second and third generation stamping for some depth.  Using the mask again I blended a little colour at the base of where my images would be, and then stamped the dog walker, the tree and the sentiment.  I then used a glue pen to add some glitter to the slope of the hill.  To finish I sprinkled on some embossing enamel for the snow.

The next card I made for my brother and sister-in-law, who recently re-homed two beautiful dogs...

This card was made in exactly the same way, just using a few different stamps and these little images were perfect for what I wanted.  And I've only just noticed I forgot to add the embossing enamel for the snow!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Card-io - Mini Tall Trees, Winter Trees, Festive Fun; Winter Wonderland - free with Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine (sentiment on Card 1); Enchanted Corner - free with Papercraft Essentials magazine (sentiment on Card 2)
• Ink: Versa Color - Neptune, Orange, Marigold; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Frost - Frosty Dawn; Stampendous - Chunky White Deep Impression Embossing Enamel

Challenge entries:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #470 - Anything Goes

Christmas with the Cuties - Challenge #34 - Christmas Cuties

Creative Inspirations - December Challenge - Festive Fun!

Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

STAMPlorations - December CAS Cards Challenge - Anything Goes

Just one more Christmas card to share with you from my 2019 makes, I'll be back with that one very soon.  I'd love for you to pop back x

Framed Modern Poinsettia

Good morning

Just a couple more Christmas cards to share after this one!

This is the card I made for my mum using a stamp set I had on my wishlist from Uniko, and bought just before Christmas...a present to myself! :D

I love the style of this poinsettia, and even better that it's a layering stamp.  I stamped two layers of the flower in two shades of red and then masked it (not the best masking job, I was running out of time! lol) before stamping the leaves in two shades of green.  I trimmed the panel down with a stitched rectangle die and stamped the final layer of the flower with VersaMark and heat embossed in gold, and also did the same with the sentiment.  I die cut some black cardstock with the larger rectangle die from the same set, adhered that flat to the card base and then mounted the upper panel on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Season of Beauty
• Ink: Altenew - Crimson, Velvet, Evergreen, Forest Glades; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles

Challenge entries:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #470 - Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

My Time to Craft - Challenge #412 - Christmas Flowers

Uniko - 2019 Christmas Party 

STAMPlorations - December CAS Cards Challenge - Anything Goes (Christmas colours)

Penny Black and More - December Challenge - Flowers

Thanks for joining me...back soon!

Winter Bunnies

Good morning

I was a awake at silly o'clock this morning with no hope of getting back to sleep so I thought I'd come on here and share another card with you.


This is the Christmas card I made for my next door neighbour.  She has house bunnies so I knew exactly which stamp I wanted to use...

On a die cut stitched rectangle panel this image was simply stamped and I coloured it with ProMarkers.  I did try to colour the bunnies to look like her actual bunnies, fairly unsuccessfully due to my lack of markers!  Oh well, the thought was there and she loved it!  To finish I used a glitter pen to add some shimmer to the snow.

Materials used:

• Stamp: Lili of the Valley - Bunnies Ho Ho Ho
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Glitter Pen - Clear

Challenge entries:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #470 - Anything Goes

Christmas with the Cuties - Challenge #34 - Christmas Cuties

CASology - Week 358 - Branch

Passion for ProMarkers - Challenge #523 - Mega Christmas Challenge

I still have a handful of Christmas cards to share and these will all be up between now and the New Year :)

Grandparents On The Nice List

Hi there

Today I'm sharing a card I made for a friend, for her children to give to their grandparents. 

There certainly aren't any cards you can buy in the shops that say 'Granny and Grampy'!

I die cut a large stitched rectangle to use as my upper panel and stamped the Santa and Rudolph, before then masking the Santa so I could stamp the tree behind him.  I then stamped the sentiment below and coloured the images with ProMarkers.  I used a gold pen to colour his belt.  Then came the trickiest part.  I die cut the letters from gold and silver glitter cardstock and glued these individually to the panel, it was quite fiddly as they were fairly small but I placed a post-it note across the panel so I could get them as straight as possible.  The panel was then popped up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: MFT - Jingle All The Way
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; MFT - Bottle Cap Letters
• Coloured with ProMarkers

Challenge entries:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #470 - Anything Goes

Christmas with the Cuties - Challenge #34 - Christmas Cuties

Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - December Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Passion for ProMarkers - Week #523 - Mega Christmas Challenge Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking, I always appreciate your visits and feedback :)

Green and Gold Festive Foliage Minis

Hi there

Back with some 'same but different' multiples this time.

For these three I stamped and heat embossed the images in gold on green cardstock...

I used some offcuts of two shades of green cardstock for the panels on these mini cards.  I used the festive florals and foliage from a stamp set that was free with a magazine.  All were stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed in gold.  The sentiments heat embossed on the black strips were from a different stamp set.  Each area of stamping was then die cut using a pierced square die and adhered flat to the card bases. 

To finish, I added some clear Wink of Stella to parts of the images to add some subtle shimmer.  Here it was added to the flower petals and berries...

And on this one the shimmer was just added to the pine cone...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Christmas Florals - free set with Creative Stamping magazine; Marion Emberson - Sparkling Christmas
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax

Challenge entries:

CASology - Week 358 - Branch

My Time To Craft - Challenge #412 - Christmas Flowers

Penny Black and More - December Challenge - Flowers

That's all of the multiples now posted.  I still have some individual cards to share so I'll be back with those very soon.

Christmas Card Multiples - Most Wonderful in Black and Silver Sparkle

Hi guys

Another quick and easy design for you.

I had some black cardstock which had already been cut into.  So I die cut three stitched rectangles out of what remained of the sheet and inked up the same design on each panel...

I applied some anti-static powder to each panel and inked them up one by one in my MISTI, stamping the image and sentiment using VersaMark ink.  I then applied silver sparkle embossing powder and heat set them, first heating on the reverse to stop any of the glitter blowing away.  The panels were then adhered flat to the card bases. Easy!

Materials used:

• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Stamps: Uniko - Snowflake Serenade
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver Sparkle

Challenge entries:

Uniko - 2019 Christmas Party

More still to come!  Thanks for stopping by x

Christmas Card Multiples - Stencilled Baubles

Good morning!

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and hopefully some relaxation following the madness that usually occurs in the lead up to the festivities!

Ok, back to it, and I'm sharing more of my Christmas card makes today.

These were super quick one layers...

I used part of a festive stencil to ink my hanging baubles and graduated the ink blend using three colours of Distress Ink.  The sentiment was stamped alongside in black ink.  To finish, I added some dots with a glue pen in the stripes of the baubles and sprinkled on some fine glitter to add some Christmas sparkle (see the last photo for a detailed view).

Materials used:

• Stencil: Imagination Crafts - Christmas Holly (the holly is the top part of the stencil I didn't use here!)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Peacock Feathers; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Christmas Poinsettia
• Accents: Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Frost - Frosty Dawn

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - December Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting, I'll be back a little later with more of my 2019 Christmas cards.

Christmas Card Multiples - Winter Sunrise

Happy Christmas Eve!

I'm finally home from work so it's feet up and relax time :)

But before I do that I thought I'd share another little set of cards I made this year, another design using Card-io stamps.  I just love their scene builder stamps and I was particularly happy with how these turned out.

I die cut four pierced squares, and four more slightly larger.  On the smaller of the squares I created the snow scenes, first by masking and ink blending the sunrise and tree background and then stamping all the trees.  I then sprinkled and heated some chunky embossing enamel to create the falling snow.  I adhered the larger of the squares flat to the card bases then adhered the inked squares on fun foam.  The sentiments were stamped in black below.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Card-io - Mini Tall Trees, Winter Trees; Christmas Sparkle (free set with Creative Stamping magazine)
• Ink: Versa Color - Neptune, Marigold, Orange; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Accents: Stampendous - Chunky White Deep Impression Embossing Enamel

Challenge entries:

Allsorts - Challenge #551/2 - Anything Goes

Uniko - Challenge #56 - Christmas (optional twist: tree)

Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting, I still have more cards to share so I'll be posting those over the next week or so.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas with your nearest and dearest, I hope you all have a fabulous time.