Monday 25 November 2013

More Merry Christmas

Good afternoon everyone! And what a gorgeous sunny day it has been too! A beautiful clear blue sky and a very pleasant 23 degrees. My beautiful Sally (lab) has been alternating between lying in the sun until her black fur is hot to touch and she is panting like a steam train

To coming inside and collapsing on the cool tiles whereupon I can't help but laugh at my "hotdog" :-) Ten minutes later she's off to sun bake again - she is so funny!

Meanwhile I have been continuing to make Christmas cards…two cards here with a variation of the Paper Pal arts sketch that I've already made two cards for :-) Yes! Its a keeper of a sketch!!

I also wanted to use up some of the Winter Frost DSP that I haven't used so much of as yet.
This first card uses the Silver foil card stock which is almost permanently out on my table at the moment. But I wondered if the Silver Glimmer paper might actually be better for this one?

Apart from this small difference they are the same card. And as you can see, very little stamping involved! The base is Pool party and have used the Indigo snowflakes from the Winter Frost DSP. Some of the new Silver Ribbon is also used to cover the join of the two papers. The white card stock having been put through the Big Shot using the Print Poetry embossing folder.
The Expression Thinlits die was used to create the "merry" using Pool Party - I find using a sheet of Baking Paper in between the die and the card stock makes it easier to pop out when cut. And I've also found that the more often the die is used, the easier it pops out too! 
The tree image is again from the Joyous Celebrations set  and its actually stamped in Coastal Cabana ink as it gives just a little more colour to it than the Pool Party that would normally coordinate. The Silver glimmer paper here adds to the textured look of the card and seems to suit better than the Foil I think? In each case, dimensionals are used underneath the whole blue/white layer to give it a lift ( and add some dimension ;-) )

Card stock: Pool Party, Whisper White, Silver Foil, Silver Glimmer Paper
Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost Specialty
Ink: Coastal Cabana
Stamp: Joyous Celebrations
Accessories: Big Shot, Print Poetry EF, Expressions Thinlits dies, Basic Rhinestones

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan









Saturday 23 November 2013

Red and white for PPA -180

This red and white - and Gold! - card I decided to use as a practice for the Pals Paper Arts sketch this week ( see previous Post for more info).
The white layer is embossed with the  Petals a Plenty embossing folder and I'm not quite sure why I then decided to colour the middle of the flowers with a marker?? 
The card base and vertical panels are from Brushed Gold card stock. And the red DSP is from the Polka Dot Parade pack - such a happy set of papers!

Card stock: Brushed Gold, Whisper White,
Designer Series Paper: Polka dot Parade
Ink: Real Red
Stamps: Sassy Salutations, Joyous Celebrations
Accessories: Big Shot, Petals a Plenty EF, Basic Pearls

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan



Christmas on my mind!

Today's card is inspired by the fabulous sketch at Pals Paper Arts and my challenge to myself this week to turn every sketch into a Christmas card. And doing quite well - I am now half way thru making the 50 I need….so need to speed it up a bit maybe :-)

This is actually the second card I have made with this sketch - the first was in alternative colours and I will post a bit later.


I picked up the colours from the lovely Winter Frost DSP - Bermuda Bay and the gorgeous silver! The greeting is from the Sassy Salutations set and the tree image is from a retired set that I have been playing with  lately called Joyous Celebrations. The Whisper White layer is embossed with the Print Poetry embossing folder.
Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Silver Foil
Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost Specialty
Ink: Bermuda Bay
Stamps: Sassy Salutations, Joyous Celebrations
Accessories: Big Shot, Print Poetry EF, Silver ribbon, Basic Pearls

Here are a couple of "action shots" of the dogs playing in the park yesterday - sadly the weather hasn't been all that  accommodating today and the sun in these photos is a great reminder that Summer is coming soon!


They have such fun teasing each other but Sally is definitely the "boss" and here she's coming in to surprise Monty but this time...
He's off! Like a crazy puppy he runs a big circle - right back into the smiling jaws of Sal!
He didn't  stand a chance this time LOL!
But they really do love one another!!

Happy stamping until next time. 
Jan










Friday 22 November 2013

Red and White Christmas

Red and white is one of my favourite colour combos and I haven't really used it much in Christmas cards this year so it was time to give it a whirl. And what better than to use the combo for this weeks sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.
Ok - red and white and a little gold!!


There is something about that Gold foil…I just can't get enough of it :-) Just as well there is plenty left in the packet! The DSP is from the Polka Dot Parade pack and the poinsettia is embossed in Gold with some pearls on top. The greeting is embossed in White. I have an aunt who is particularly fond of red and white so this will go in the post to her. I hope she likes it!

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Designer Series Paper: Polka Dot Parade
Ink: Versamark
Stamps: Joyful Christmas, Many Merry Messages
Accessories: Basic pearls and dimensionals

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan



Thursday 21 November 2013

Spot the Dimensional for PCC #68

Today's card uses some of my favourite colours this Christmas season and is inspired by the sketch at the Paper Craft Crew this week.
Now those who know me well are aware that i tend to use a LOT of Dimensionals to add volume to a card. But on this card, because of the way the banners cover the centre panel I decided to use less. So here is YOUR challenge dear readers - "Spot the  Dimensional!" There are only three in use…
Have you found them? There is one under the top of each of the banners and one under the greeting!
One other detail hard to see in this photo is that the Base of the card has been put through the Big Shot with the Polka Dots embossing folder.
The Come to Bethlehem image is a stamp set I have had since I first started stamping - and now it also features as part of this years "Best of Christmas" stamp sets - but this is indeed the original :-)
The greeting is from a set retired last year called Joyous Celebrations and is cut out with the 1" circle punch and layered onto a 11/4' circle of Midnight Muse. The banners are cut from Silver Foil card stock and the beautiful Winter Frost specialty designer series paper.

Card stock: Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Whisper White, Silver Foil
Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost Specialty
Stamps: Come to Bethlehem, Joyous Celebrations
Ink: Midnight Muse
Access: Big Shot, Polka dots EF, Silver Ribbon, 1' an 1 1/4' circle punches, Basic Rhinestones 

Now today was a special day for my dog Sally's special friend Monty - his fourth birthday! So we took him to Hays Paddock park and they had a special play.


 The thrill is always in the chase and Sally wasn't previously (prior to being adopted) called Cougar for nothing as she is a whole 5years his senior but you wouldn't know it as she can more than keep up with him!
 Got Him!

And of course she had a kiss for the Birthday Boy too!! 


Happy stamping until next time,

Jan



Multimedia project

A few weeks ago our parish Priest was talking about how when asked to bless a home he "always looks for a crucifix in the bedrooms". I thought about this….I could've gone out and bought a "traditional' one if I 'd wanted but I thought I could make one.  I had a triplet of Canvases on a bedroom wall that I was looking at changing to something more colourful so I decided to combine the two projects. I've used just one of the three canvases and initially painted it white to cover the old (Ikea) image and that means I have two left over to use elsewhere!
Next I took a little time to create a background for the Easter scene - bear in mind that although I think can use a stamp I have NEVER even suggested I can draw (or paint for that matter!!)
Unfortunately the mountains really do look quite amateurish but the sky at least has some depth to it.
I decided to experiment with a new product to me - Modge Podge (MP) by Tim Holts. it is a little similar to Crystal Effects in that it is to be used as a clear lacquer. Except it goes on white, is a fair bit thinner and therefore dries quicker. I picked up some sticks from the Park for the Cross and applied a layer of MP and when dry then used some Hemp Twine to tie the Cross together and then used another layer of MP including over the Twine to secure the shape before layering on top of some Burlap Ribbon.



For the main Butterfly I used the Swallowtail stamp and embossed it with Cherry Cobbler EP onto card stock. To colour I used Encore silver ink - applied with a Blender Pen, and Marina Mist and Cherry Cobbler markers.
Then came the task of trying to create different words from the three available with the Expressions thinlits which are "Thankful, Merry" and "love"
I wanted to have :faith, hope and love…
Love was easy of course:

it was the other two words that required a little creativity! For "faith" I used the "f", "a" and "th" from "thankful". The "i" used part of the "u" from the same word and I punched a dot with a handheld punch.


Hope was the trickiest of all to create!! I used the "h" from thankful and the "o" and "e" from "love". the "p" used part of the "f"(the lower half)  and then I used the "a" upside down AND back to front on top!! Hope was cut from Cherry Cobbler card stock and then a layer of MP applied before adhering to the canvas. The other two words were cut from Foil card stock.


The other butterfly bases are glimmer paper cut with the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die and the smaller butterflies are stamped with the Papillon Potpourri set - stamped in both Versamark and coloured inks and then clear embossed. They are also covered with a layer of Modge Podge before being applied to the middle of the larger ones with dimensionals.



Materials: Paint - Coral Blue Structure, White Structure and Australian yellow green Structure and Grass Green Structure, Modge Podge
Garden sticks!

SU! products:
Card stock: Whisper white ( all butterflies), Gold and Silver Foil, Red, Gold and Silver Glimmer paper, Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Swallowtail, Papillon Potpourri
Inks: Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, Pacific Point, Encore Sliver, Versamark
Accessories: Big Shot, Expressions Thinlits, Hemp Twine, Beautiful butterflies Bigz die,  Cherry Cobbler and Clear Embossing powders, Blender pens

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan


Wednesday 20 November 2013

Joyous Celebrations and Easel Cards

Its been one of those weeks which has meant little card making has been able to be done!! So was glad to get some time today to make a card for this weeks sketch challenge at Just Add Ink.
I didn't have a scallop quite large enough to allow for the image I chose  so instead went for a circular border for the central image. This card is going to be for one of my sister's whose husband really loves deer so it needed to be something special so have turned it into an Easel card that can have a Tea light candle behind it.
The base of the card is Old Olive card stock and the bright red circle is from a a retired Christmas pack.
The reindeer is stamped onto Vellum card stock with Early Espresso and Versamark ink and  Clear  embossed then attached from the back which is also covered with another Old Olive circle frame.
The circles are cut with Circle Framelits and the border is embossed with the Houndstooth EF as is the beautiful Gold Foil card stock which the chocolate chip ribbon is tucked in behind. Some Basic Rhinestones add a little bit of extra bling :-)

To make an Easel card is easy and fun.To start you make a usual sized card base in Landscape form - that is it opens from the side.
Next you score the whole front of the card diagonally from the top right hand corner to the base. Now you have your basic Easel. Fold the card along the Scored line as shown. To make the "Front" or raised portion add another piece of card stock on top and ONLY add adhesive ( Sticky strip is best) below the Scored line on the card base.
For this card, a circle the same size as the inside of the frame on the front of the card was cut to allow the reindeer on Vellum to be highlighted with a Tea Light candle from behind. Use the same size framelit (or punch if using) for each hole. I cut the Base first - and placed the framelit right up to the scored line. To aid lining up the circles, I lined up the top layer of the card with the Base and turned the whole card over and used a pencil to draw inside the circle on the back of the top layer - this gave me an outline to line up my framelit when cutting.  
On the inside of the card, I used the 25 December of the same stamp set and layered it on top of a circle scallop with dimensionals. The dimensionals here ARE important as the added height is needed to keep the card front upright when standing. 
And yes, it closes flat too for easy postage :-) so I hope you might give Easel cards a go if these are new to you!

Card stock: Old Olive, Chocolate chip, Whisper White, Gold Foil, Vellum card stock
Designer Series Paper: Candlelight Christmas (retired)
Stamp: Joyous Celebrations
Inks: Early Espresso, Versa mark, Real Red
Accessories: Big Shot: Houndstooth EF, Clear EP, Circle Framelits, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8 Circle Punch (for dec 25) Basic Rhinestones, Chocolate ribbon

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan



Monday 11 November 2013

Midnight Muse for FMS

This afternoon's card is inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

 I am still making my way through Christmas cards so it was just a decision of which image to use….and the beautiful dove from Calm Christmas is my favourite this year. I loved what Cindy made with this stamp too! Here is my version:

The card base is Midnight Muse and the White layer is embossed with the Pretty Print embossing folder. The lovely Silver Foil card stock is layered on top of another piece of Midnight Muse. The greeting s stamped in Versamark and clear embossed. The basic pearls used for agents are coloured with a Midnight Muse marker after being attached to the card.


Card stock: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, silver Foil
Ink: Midnight Muse, Hunter green (retired marker for branch), Versamark
Stamps: Calm Christmas
Accessories: Big Shot, Pretty Print EF, Basic Pearls

Whilst working in the garden today I came upon my favourite rose showing all of its colours. Its a Chameleon and when the buds first open they are a rich yellow and pink.
The next day the yellow fades a little as the pink flourishes.

And later the pink fades too to the edges and the centre fades to white

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan





I'm back!

I'm sorry its been a little while between posts - I haven't been so well. But we are improving and back on track again.

I have some great news in that I won my first ever card Challenge over at Just Add Ink last week with my Girly Grunge card! Such a lovely surprise! A big thanks to the JAI team for all the great challenges and the lovely encouraging comments! For years now I have been inspired by the JAI Team and all those who enter the challenges and so I am excited to be able to enter now let alone win one! Wow!!

Today I have a couple of Christmas cards to share - neither will be entered in a challenge today but hopefully we will have a Challenge card for you soon.
Yes, this card is similar to a previous card - sometimes just a small adjustment can make a card an individual! The base of the card is Midnight Muse and the next layer is River Rock added with dimensionals to allow the Burlap to be tucked underneath. The "button" is actually a brad - one of the retired Baja Breeze corduroy brads from a couple of years back. I like the "natural" feel it has -  it compliments the Burlap ribbon don't you think?
The Wonderful Blessing is stamped in Midnight Muse and then some Dazzling Diamonds are applied using a Glue pen to the angels and stars above the stable. And it is cut out with the circles framelits as is the layer underneath.

Card stock: Midnight Muse, River Rock, Whisper White
Inks: Midnight Muse
Stamp: Wonderful Blessing
Accessories: Big Shot, Circles Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Burlap Ribbon, Corduroy Brad.

The second card is inspired by a sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches. This card is a case of Cindy Hall whose card you can see in the link above. It is too similar to enter but I have another idea forming for an entry card so watch this space :-)


Yes Midnight Muse is THE colour today! The Background paper is from the Winter Frost Specialty pack - my "go to " pack this year, I love the colours! So the belly band has a gap in it and the left side is  embossed with the Petals a Plenty embossing folder - it looks like a Poinsettia! The greeting is embossed in White but next time I think Midnight Muse might be better?

Card stock: Midnight Must, Pool Party, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost Specialty
Inks: Midnight Muse, Pool Party (marker for the branch), Versamark
Accessories: Big Shot, Petals a Plenty EF, White Embossing Powder, Basic Rhinestones

Happy Stamping until next time,

Jan



Monday 4 November 2013

Girly Thank You

Well it is a colour challenge over at Just Add Ink this week and I love the individual colours!
But I will admit that when I sat down to use them I did struggle a little to get started - but not for too long :-)
I wanted to use a bit of Gorgeous Grunge for the background however in the past when I've used Crumb cake it looked like some coffee had landed on the page! So I limited the splatters to Perfect Plum :-)
The butterflies are from the Papillon Potpourri set and are added with dimensionals as is the frame over the "Thank You" which is stamped with images from the Chalk Talk set. 

Card stock: Raspberry Ripple, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Inks: Raspberry Ripple, Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum
Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, Chalk Talk, Gorgeous Grunge
Accessories: Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelits, Bitty Butterfly punch, Raspberry Ripple Ribbon, Chevron Border punch, Basic Rhinestones, Neutral Brads (retired)

Well its time to go to the Park so my dog Sally can see her friend Monty who she has missed over the weekend - and she is giving me the message to please hurry!! (yes, sometimes its hard to work out who is boss, dog or man  - she knows what she wants and how to get it)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan




Its Not a Christmas card!

Yes! its time to have a brief break from the seasonal mad rush to get all the Christmas cards made and do something a little bit different! Its almost a Public Holiday in Melbourne today - tomorrow is Melbourne Cup day. So a lot of people take today off as well to make it a lovely long weekend. Although not all people - we ran into 20 odd pupils from a local Primary School having a bike ride day at the Park today! They were having  a great time feeding the ducks their lunches!!

Today's card is inspired by a challenging sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.
And yes, I did TRY and come up with a Christmas card but instead decided to keep it simple and just stick to the sketch - somewhat :-)

Yes, somewhat indeed! As changed the squares to Hexagons and came up with a Clean masculine card. The gingham stamped hexagons are from the Six Sided Sampler Stamp Set and are punched out with the co-ordinating punch. The base of the card is embossed using the Chevron embossing folder. 
The Star is punched from the lovely Gold Foil card stock and it has such a bright shimmer!
 The button is made from Simply Pressed Clay. For this button I sprinkled some Dazzling Diamonds into the mold before pressing in the Clay. So that does two things a) it adds the glitter to the top of the button and b) the glitter also acts as a release agent for the clay making it easier to get out of the mold. You can put the molds with the clay inside into the freezer for half an hour if you like but I find leaving a piece of the Clay flat on the table for 20 mins before pressing into the molds works just as well. Both processes allow the Clay to dry out a bit and so you can use whichever is easier for you. This button I coloured with a red marker afterwards too. You can colour the Clay with reindeers before using in the molds or colour with markers afterwards. It is so versatile, I love it!!

The greeting is from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set and is cut out with the co-ordinating framelits. So a pretty quick and easy card today :-)

Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red, Gold Foil
Inks: Black Stazon, Real Red (marker)
Stamps: Six Sided Sampler, Itty Bitty Banners
Accessories: Big Shot, Chevron EF, Bitty Banners Framelits, Hexagon punch, Star punch (retired), Simply Pressed Clay, Dazzling Diamonds, Bakers Twine

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan






Sunday 3 November 2013

Joyful Christmas

What a lovely Sunday it is today! The forecast hail and heavy rain has so far stayed away and it has been a relaxing morning so far - with busyness to kick in later :-) So in the meantime I have a card to share with you that I created for the Paper Craft Crew Sketch challenge this week.

Once again it is a Christmas card - I think I'm about 12 down and 30+ to go - so I'll be doing Christmas cards for a while yet :-)

The Bermuda Bay base card goes well with my favourite DSP of the Season -  the Winter Frost Specialty! So that was an easy colour choice :-) 
And I decided to use the Silver in the DSP as a main theme  - embossing both the greeting and Poinsettia in silver and the silver ribbon. The card stock underneath the DSP is Smoky Slate and is punched with the Fancy fan border punch (retired)
The bottom half of the card is embossed with the Polka dots EF.


Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate, Vellum
Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost Specialty
Inks: Versamark
Accessories : Silver Embossing powder, Silver Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Big Shot, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Fancy Fan Border Punch

Well, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Sunday!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan