Post Box Christmas cards

I have been doing a little reorganizing in my craft room  and I came across the post box stamp in these cards, It was one of the first stamps I ever bought. I was never happy with colouring mediums at the time. There were none of the quality colouring products that are available today. So I was always disappointed with the results.

 So this stamp got packed away along with  the rest of my meagre collection. That was when I decided stamping wasn't for me. 

Since then, stamps and the products used with them have come a long way, making the whole experience a lot easier and more pleasurable. 

So upon reacquainting myself with this lovely stamp, I decided to try creating a scene around the post box using Lavinia stamps.

After blending in the horizon and the sky, I stamped the postbox , masked it off and began building up the scene.  

Using the edge of a piece of torn paper and a small blending brush with next to no ink on, I brushed in a few snow drifts.

 Then stamped in the background trees and foliage in the foreground.

I used copic markers to colour the post box and white Posca pen to add snow to the branches and create  snowflakes.

This was the finished card . I enjoyed creating this card so much I decided to make a few more and tried to vary the background, by either using different tree stamps or drawing in the  trees myself.

On this card I decided to draw in the background trees with copic markers.

I stamped a fence in but didn't line it up too well.

On the card below I added a rabbit and missed out a few trees.

Most of the stamps I used to create these scenes are from Lavinia's mini stamp collection.

The sentiments are from an S.U set called itty bitty Christmas.

The size of these cards are 4 x 8 1/2 inches.

The smaller withches

 On this card I used all three of the smaller witches in the set and one of the small cats on this blended background. I added some tiny evergreen trees along the horizon and larger deciduous trees behind the witches. And an assortment of mini foliage stamps as silhouettes around the outer edges.

spooky house

The spooky house used on these cards is also included in the dream witch bundle from Lavinia stamps.

 The tree branch and moon are quite old stamps from the same company, but are still available.

I used S.U inks to blend the sky. First I lightly blended in some yellow then stamped the moon and masked it off  while I added more yellow, orange and red to the sky. and dark grey to the bottom half,  I stamped the scene and  drew in a the path and grave stones and highlighted them with a white paint pen.

 
 This one I'm not so happy with.  I loved the purple splattered background I started, but I didn't think one through before starting. But as I said, I was just experimenting with background colours.

Halloween cards.

 

I think this card has a very autumnal feel to it.  It was my  first attempt using the  witch bundle from Lavinia stamps. 

I have had some extra time to play with them this week. 

Many of my creations this week were just about experimenting with colours and backgrounds.  

I used diluted lemon Brusho powder and painted the entire piece of card lemon. While the card was still wet, I brushed in a little  diluted black brusho into the corners and let the black bleed into the wet lemon. 

Once dry I stamped the images and added a bunch of sparkles using Posca  paint pens.

 For the card above, I blended light brown ink over the card  using blending brushes to colour the background.

 I used an old Lavinia tree stamp in the background to give a little depth.   Then used a selection of the mini stamps to add foliage to the trees and sides.

 Along the bottom I used larger plant stamps to fill in.

I think this one has be to my favourite colour. 

 I am including a link to Lavinia stamps witch bundle.

https://www.laviniastamps.com/product/the-dream-witch-collection-bundle/

single layer card.

I need cute card for next week.  As it's a certain young ladies birthday. So I created this card using some stamps from Lavinia stamps and a couple of stamps I bought at the Stamperama craft show last week. On this card I have stamped Lori the rabbit outside the scene looking in.

The birds are literally  part of the " in the Harbour " stamp, by stamp addicts. If you look at the boat cards in the post below you'll see the birds are on this stamp.  I cut the birds off the stamp so I could use them on their own.
 

On this version I added a row of trees and swapped the wild flowers for toadstools and used a different fence.  I missed out the birds and added a the sun going down behind the hills. I swapped Lori out for Pippin.

On this version I changed the position of the sun and the toadstools.

I also missed out the row of trees and changed the colour of the sky.

The hedgerow beneath the trees in this photo was created using just the tip of the rounded tree used  in second photo. I masked off the area under the tree with scrap paper and stamped just the top of the tree multiple times over the edge of the masking paper.

Lots Lavinia Stamps

I have been distracted from crafting and blogging by the lovely weather we have had.  When it's dry and sunny, it's time to get out in the garden to do lots of pruning,  fence painting, cleaning and painting a few pots, planting up the pots and  generally tidy up. I have to say it's been a lot of  hard work, but well worth the effort. I also made a little friend while working outside. He pops in  every day for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a few snacks in between. He will come very close and sit in the feeder next to the garden table and cocks his head to one side as I sit close by and talk to him. He doesn't seem to be too bothered that I am sat so close if I put my hand out I could touch him. You probably think I am crazy talking to a blackbird, but as he sits there with his head cocked to one side and looking directly at me, he really does look as though he is listening to every word I say. 

My son tells me that birds recognise faces, so maybe he has seen enough of my face over the last few weeks to recognise me and trusts me enough to realise, I will not hurt him. If this is the case I feel truly honoured.

The weather has taken a turn now and we've had some heavy rain and a thunder storm, which will do the garden good and give me some time to catch up with my crafting and blogging. 

I used a whole host of stamps from Lavinia stamps to create this card. I used Stampin up ink pads, Blending brushes,  seven or eight colours of posca pens for the flowers, plus a black Versafine Clare ink pad.

A lot of experimenting

This card was inspire by a video by Amanda Branston that I found on Lavinia stamps Facebook page. Amanda used Yupo paper and alcohol ink to create a wonderful background for her stamping. Unfortunately I have a few issues with my lungs, which puts me off using any substance that may affect my breathing.  Yes,  I know a lot of these things are low odour but just because they are low odour doesn't mean there are no fumes... it just means you can't smell them as much. I have come a cropper a few times using low odour products. So I am more cautious now. 

 I desperately wanted to create something similar so I thought |I would play around with re inkers and brusho powders to see if I could create something vaguely similar. Well , I am sad to say, I didn't create a background anywhere near as nice as Amanda achieved with her alcohol inks and Yupo. But after working my way through a whole block of watercolour paper, I did eventually produce a few backgrounds that were useable but still not what I wanted.

 My homemade gell plate was a bit cracked and dented so before I could do anything, I had to melt it down in the microwave  and pour it into a shallow circular container and leave it to set. Once it was fully set a daubed small amounts of various colours of ink and spritzed with water.  Then pressed the paper on top of the gell plate.  My first mistake was using too much re inker and too little water.  My second was using too much water and so it went on and on. 

 In the end I found mixing up a tiny amounts of brusho powders with a little water and adding drops of  three different colours to the gell plate with a pipet, then spritzing with a little water was better but still a long way from what I wanted.

Then kind of by accident, I created something that was fairly close to what I was aiming for.  See the header photo.  My gell plate was so mucky with the residue from previous attempts I couldn't be bothered to clean it properly as I'd almost lost the will to live.

 I just dotted some brusho mix on one side of the gell plate and pressed the paper on top giving me those lovely colourful watery marks in a peachy orange colour. The very pale peach on the opposite side is just the residue from the gell plate.

The green version didn't work out as well, but I decided to stamp on it to see how it turned out , the photo above doesn't do it justice the colour are much stronger in reality and I thought it was a little too dark and sombre so I splattered it with bleach. giving  a little more interest and  creating lighter patches.  I also added a gold rim to the edge of the circle using gold wax polish.

 I found this a difficult card to photograph , the colours are stronger in reality

 Using purple and black ink and the same stamps I used for the focal point,  I stamped the background on pretty peacock card stock.

Gatefold card

We all need a bit of inspiration from time to time and need to hop on to Youtube to find something that  inspires us and kick starts the mojo. Which is exactly what I did before creating this card.

I came across a video by Jo Rice on making this gatefold card. I thought it was very pretty, and  a bit out of my comfort zone, but  I wanted to have a go  at making this card anyway. Especially as I had received the fir tree stamps for Christmas and hadn't yet used them. It was the perfect excuse to get them out and start stamping.   

Once I had made the card, I remembered why I am not a great fan of gatefold cards. I think we waste our time decorating the front panels of this type of card.  The only time you see the front panels are when it's closed, but it won't stand when it's closed, so the side panels are folded out, hiding the artwork, and revealing a fairly plain, uninteresting central panel that's often totally unrelated to the outside artwork. which has also been written on by the sender. Not something I personally would want to put on display. I want to see the beautiful artwork.

I think that's why I was drawn to this card, I loved that Jo decorated the central panel to match her front panels. The sender wouldn't want to write on a beautifully decorated panel and would automatically write their greeting on the back or one of the inner side panels.

As I sit here writing this  I am wondering what it would be like if  I made the two front panels again (excluding the moon) and stick them to the inside panels to create a panoramic scene and maybe just put one scene and a sentiment on the outside...  I think I may try that.

Forest scene treat bags

I said I would do a quick tutorial on how I created my little forest scenes. These images were created on cheap and nasty  6x4 envelopes, which I sealed,  then cut the top end off to create a new opening, and used these as treat bags. 

I blended yellow (S.U. Barely Banana, which is a pale warm yellow, not a citrus yellow)  ink around the edges of the envelope, working my way towards the middle, the yellow was stronger at the edges fading out as I worked towards the centre. I left a white patch in the middle. The yellow needs to be blended carefully, as you get to the middle it needs to be very pale where it meets the white  so you don't have any harsh lines.

Once the yellow was applied I blended in some  pale papaya ink, ( another S.U ink which is a pale orange) working over the yellow edges and the corners, applying less and less ink as I worked inwards. I didn't want to cover all the yellow.

I tore a sheet of copier paper and placed it over the top section of the envelope and blended a lime green ink on the bottom section to create the woodland floor. I also used the edge of the torn paper to create some contours in the ground. You'll see these in the photos below.

I stamped a tree trunk either side of the envelope. I masked off the trunks using the sticky edge of a couple of post it notes.  Then stamped the trunk again diagonally.

Using my stamping platform  I secured my piece of work with the magnets.  I positioned the CLEAN mice stamps, where I wanted them to be on my work and closed the platform to pick up the stamps.

 I inked up the mice stamps using Versafine Clare Nocturn and closed the platform again to transfer the  mice image to my work.

 The mice stamps are from Lavinia stamps.( In fact all the stamps I used on this project were purchased from Lavinia stamps)

The beauty of using a stamping platform is, That if your image doesn't stamp correctly you can ink up the stamps again and stamp over the previously stamped images.  This will fill in any misses perfectly, providing your work hasn't moved at all. Always lift the platform door carefully to ensure your work doesn't move.  Sometimes the stamp will stick to your work, so if you're not careful your work can move.

If you don't have a platform and you get small  misses you can usually fill these in with a small paintbrush and the ink you used for stamping.

Once the mice were stamped  I could start stamping the foliage. I used the leaf creeper stamp to form the overhanging greenery.  I stamped in a yellow and lime green ink.  I finished off with a few stamped in Versafine Clare  Shady lane. I like this ink,  it gives good coverage, especially for silhouettes.

I masked off the tree trunks again, and stamped some wild flowers over the masked off areas, so they appear to be behind the trees. I used red ink for some and dark blue ink for others. I dotted some Posca paint over the top of the flowers in a lighter colour for a little more dimension.

Then stamping some ferns at the base of the trunks in lime green, and shady lady.

I wasn't completely happy with my fern stamping, so when the ferns where dry I stamped a small branch over the bottom of the envelope and up over some of the ferns in brown Versafine Clare.

 Versafine inks take much longer to dry, so I gave it some drying time before dotting  white Posca paint on and around the branches to form buds and flowers, disguising  the areas I wasn't too happy with. I added a few more flowers to the foreground again adding tiny dots of  Posca paint to the blooms.

 After waiting for the paint and inks to dry,  I coloured the tree trunks with Copic markers. If you look at the photo above the lower mouse looks odd, almost as though he is floating. He needs to be grounded.

This is easily done with a piece of torn paper placed over the mouse with his foot poking out  and brushing a tiny amount of a darker ink over the edge of the paper and  his foot.

If you are very confident you could bring this ink shading downwards to form the shadow. I am not that confident, so I added some shadows beneath the mouse with black chalk pastel and a tiny, stiff paint brush. Because I can rub out the chalk pastel if I mess up.

 This is not my normal style, so I did feel a little daunted when I decided to have a go at creating these scenes. But it really didn't take that much effort or time to create these images.  Which is just as well as I need to do 3 bags each week and I don't have vast amounts of time to waste on something that will end up in the bin a few minutes after they sweets have been devoured, ha ha . 

Woodland scenes

 I have been collecting the odd Lavinia stamp for a number of years, just one or two here and there, but over  the last 18months, I've been receiving them as gifts for Christmas and birthdays. I 've even bought a few extra myself, possibly because  I've bought everything I want from this years S.U catalogue. I always  struggle to find something to buy as the catalogue comes to an end.  So it's a good time to try something different using another company's products.

I find it quite a challenge to change style completely. Creating this type of scene takes some forethought and a bit of practise to create something that looks half decent, but it's worth  persevering.   Even though Hubby doesn't like this style of stamping. He says they're  too busy for his liking.

My answer is, woodlands are busy places. He obviously doesn't take in the scenery when he is walking through the woods with the dog. ha ha. I'm going to be in trouble for that one.  lol.

My next post will be on how I create these scenes. So pop back in a few days if you're interested in how I did these.

There are also lots of  video tutorials on  Lavinia stamps website.

Wintery cards

This post is a continuation of my previous post. I didn't have photos available to add to the previous post when I wrote it. 

 I just wanted to show that you can change things up to create different cards.  You have many options to change things up to give a different look, while keeping the same theme and style.  If you give packs of cards as gifts,  it's nice if they look like a set.

   

On the  7 x 5 inch card above I used a small rabbit, so there was space for a few more trees in the background. I used the Fern branch stamp set for the overhanging branches. I worked on a smaller panel so the rabbit wouldn't get lost. By adhering the panel to a larger card base meant I could add a larger sentiment.

On the next inch 6x 4 card, I changed the rabbit for deer and the overhanging branches are from the willow set. I didn't bother with the clouds over the moon on this one.

On this one I added pink in the sky instead of yellow. I added another row of trees on the left.

For the next one, I used a  skeleton tree branch and added the crow looking down on the rabbit.

I added a touch of peach to the sky on this one.

I didn't add any over hanging branches on this 5 x 7 card for a more desolate look for the wolf.

There is just a hint of pink in the sky on both the wolf cards. I did add a touch of blue to the horizon on these.

As you can see, these cards are all very similar but all quite different. Just but changing a colour, using a different stamp or two or the size. 

You could also change the orientation.

Wintery cards

A little late for Christmas I know, but these were last minute Christmas cards and I didn't get time to do a post on them before Christmas.  The good news is I have given you plenty of time to recreate cards like this for next Christmas.

I used one of the  new foxes from Lavinia stamps, along with the fern branch set and a tiny little twig stamp also from Lavinia stamps to create this card. The tiny conifer I think I bought from Inkylicious stamps a long time ago, but I think the set is still available.

 I punched out a circle from the sticky edge of a post it note to mask off the moon area and blended in the sky using yellow and grey ink on this one.

Once the sky was inked, I added a couple of clouds by placing a piece of torn paper over the moon and brushing a little ink over the edge of the paper. to make the moon look spherical I brushed a little grey ink around the edges, leaving the centre white.

I added snow drifts using the same technique I used for the clouds going over the moon. You may notice I am using different  backgrounds for this post as I forgot to take photos of each step when working on the yellow and grey version. You may also notice I don't always work in the same order.

Now the  blending work has been completed it's time to do the stamping. Sometimes I'll start by stamping the background trees and sometimes I'll start with the foreground.

 It's a good idea to map out where your focal point is going to be before stamping anything. It's easy to get carried away stamping the trees and then find your animals head gets lost in the background.

You could stamp your animal first if  you are unsure about where to place your trees and foliage.

I stamped the fox in Versafine Clare ink, it's a lovely intense black ink so no need to keep stamping over it to get good coverage. I think, I stamped it twice.  Using  my Stamparatus. (that's a stamping platform for those that don't know, and  it's a tool I wouldn't be without now.) 

When the animal is dry you'll need to ground it. This is easily done by just brushing a little ink underneath the animal. I did this last which is why it doesn't show in the photos. You'll have to go to the last photo to see the light shading beneath the animals. 

 

I used  Posca pens in  brown and yellow and just dotted clusters of three dots on the twiggy bits then added one dot of yellow in the centre of each cluster. Occasionally I did a single dot.

The over hanging branches  are  Lavinia stamps branches. Fern branch on the card above and the header picture.

The branch below is another Lavinia stamp as is the crow and  Pippin the  rabbit.

 I stamped the branches in grey

 Then used a white Posca pen and drew snow on top of each of the branches.

Using the same pen I held it over the work and basically beat the barrel of the pen with the handle of a big paint brush to get it to splatter white paint over the whole piece of work to give the impression of snow.