Winter Woods

This very sparkly card was inspired by a video on youtube by Jan B.
I changed a few things on this card, the first being the size. This card is 7 x 5 inches Jan's card I think is 6 X 4 inches. I have more green trees on this card. Jan has  just two.
Jan's sentiment is larger and is in the centre of the foreground.
Jan stuck a torn strip of white card across the bottom of the card for snow.
I didn't bother with that bit. I masked of the bottom of the card with post it's while stamping. Once I had stamped the trees I removed the masks and smeared some ink in the foreground with the edge of a sponge dauber.
Jan used  a Sizzex adhesive sheets to cover the front with adhesive before dunking the whole thing in dazzling diamonds glitter.

I didn't have the adhesive strips so I used my Xyron 510 adhesive machine to apply a the dry adhesive.
I have to say using the Xyron adhesive worked out a little cheaper.
I paid £10. 24 for a 5.5 metre cartridge (18ft ) of adhesive from Amazon,  whereas the Sizzex adhesive sheets from S.U  cost £9.95  for sheets totalling
 12 ft.   Both types of adhesives are approximately 6" wide.

 Another reason for me to use Xyron was because I could get a couple of cartidges delivered the next day rather than waiting a week to get the sheets from S.U.
There was no P&P on my Amazon order either, so it was a no brainer really.

Spirited snowmen.

Here I have combined the  retired holly wheel stamp with the new Spirited Snowman set.

I used Stickles Ruby Slippers glitter glue on the holly berries.

Absolutely nothing difficult  about this one so no need for explanations.

Cambridge Carols Again.

 Have you noticed this  version of Cambridge Carols stamp is missing the skaters?

No,  I didn't mask them out,  They were there originally. I had a bit of a mishap on the lower half  of the image after I had stamped and coloured it.

I was pleased with my colouring on this one,  so I was really annoyed with myself for messing it up with ink smudges.

Salvaging my work wasn't  as bigger issue as I thought it might be. I simply  cut out all the of the frozen river,   then I stuck what was left  on a new, longer piece of card.
 Extending  the river  meant the new  longer  image  now covers  almost all of my card front, So I don't need to add background papers.

Cambridge Carols in Blues and Greys

Another Cambridge Carols Card this time in Blues and greys.

I don't know about you,  but I can feel an Arctic blast  from this one.  It's a very cold  and icy looking card. 

So I decided to add a couple of  holly leaves and berries to cheer it up a little.

So Santa meets Buffalo Check

This card is even smaller than my last one At 3 1/2 inches x 5 inches.

I used the Buffalo Check  background stamp for the background and the image of Santa in his pinny is from the So Santa set.

spirited snowmen

I love the way this one turned out.

The snowman stamp is from S.U 's autumn winter catalogue this year. It's called spirited snowmen. If you haven't seen the catalogue the link to it is on the right of this page. just click on the catalogue image and it should take you to the products.

I coloured the image with Copic Markers and the cable knit embossed background was created with cable embossing folder which was from last years autumn /winter catalogue and is still available.

Purple Cambridge Carols

Another card using the Cambridge Carols Stamp set. This time I have coloured the image using several shades of purple. 

 I stamped  the  snowflakes on concorde crush card stock with frost white shimmer paint.

I may not be posting much for a while,  my Bigshot has died.  I use it almost everyday so  I'm feeling like I've had my right arm cut off.   Hubby has ordered some new internal organs for it, so hopefully it will make a full recovery after it's transplants. ..... Eagerly awaiting  the postman now.

Cambridge Carols 2 and 3

 I have been  playing with the Cambridge Carols stamps set again.
I 've trying out different colours for this set and trying to decide
which colours I prefer.

 I'm not keen on the bridge coloured in brick red

 I do like the bridge coloured in a mix of cool and warm greys, but hubby says it's  a bit  sombre  looking.

Another stamp in the Cambridge Carols set is this cute wheelbarrow and Christmas tree. It's not a large stamp so the card below is quite small 4x4 inches

Cambridge Carols

This image of  the tree in a wheelbarrow is one of the stamps in stamp set called "Cambridge Carols" by Stampin' Up. I think, I was partly attracted to this set because of it's name, due to the fact I used to live near Cambridge many years ago.The size of this card is  6 x 4 inches so that should give you an idea of the size of this stamp.
I coloured the image with Copic markers and added a little glitter with the two way glue pen.  \I triple mounted the image to increase the overall size, before adhering it the front of my card , which I had already covered with a piece of DSP.

So Santa

This is my first card with the new "So Santa" set. I coloured the image with Copic markers.  I used the retired embossing folder "Gently Falling for some background interest.
I am not a fan of wide borders, so I really don't know I chose to put a wide border on this card.  As I am looking at this picture,  I have the strongest urges to take this card apart and cut that border down.

MIrror Image Stamping

Many years ago card making experts told us to stamp an image onto an acrylic block and then use the block to stamp the image onto your card stock to obtain a mirror image of your stamp.
The results I got were always very poor and only ever suitable for creating reflections, where a perfect image isn't essential.

This photo is an example of  a bird I have stamped twice using the acrylic block method.  You have to agree the results are very disappointing.

Don't ask me why, but I had this crazy idea to stamp the image onto the black rubber embossing mat that came with my big shot. The results surprised me. 
Here's how I stamped the the birds at the top of this post.

 I placed the rubber mat in the stamparatus,  then positioned the card stock in the stamparatus, and placed the stamp face down on the card stock where I wanted my bird to be stamped. I closed the stamparatus  and pressed over the stamp to pick up the stamp.



I opened the Stamparatus, (making a mental note as to the position of the card stock,)  then I removed the card.
I inked up the stamp with  Memento black ink  and closed the stampararus  and gently pressed over the stamp area to transfer the ink to the rubber mat.                                               
I opened the stamparatus  and re inked the stamp and close the stamparatus again. 
Gently press the inked stamp onto the black rubber mat for the second time.

Open the stamparatus and re position your piece of card over the inked image taking care not to smudge the inky image. 
then close the the stamparatus  with the stamp still attached and press firmly over the top of the stamp. Don't rush this step, you need to do it slowly to give the card a chance to soak up the ink.

Now you can open the stamparatus and flip the card over and stamp the second bird  as normal.

You can do this using wood mount stamps on the rubber mat too. but make sure you ink up your stamp really well as you won't be able to add the second layer of ink using this method.              Even with one layer of ink the result is pretty impressive.
 You have to admit  it's a far cry from the acrylic block stamping.

I didn't stop at birds either here's an example using the deer from the S.U set Nature Sings. 
The bird is from a set called An open heart. 
                                                 I think,  I have now been converted by the stamparatus,  I will be buying clear mount stamps instead of wood mount  now..... Maybe  I'll still buy the text stamps in wood....who wants a card with the writing back to front. lol. 
Sorry this post has been so long. I hope you will find it useful and try this method for yourself.

Merry Patterns Stamp Set

I used the stamp set  Merry Patterns  to create this card.  

                          

This set should offer lots of  variety.

I have kept this card really simple and I only use four of the stamps in the set. I chose to colour the candles with markers rather than using the candle infill  stamps.

The back ground was created using a wheel stamp and white ink.

On my second card I used the candle infill stamps to add a pattern to the candles.
I stamped some pine needles around the base of the candles and added a few berries of red glitter or with  white gel pen.
I haven't got round to using the deer stamps yet.

Another Acetate Card

Another acetate card. This time I used the  retired Serene  Snowflakes stamp set and White Stazon ink.  A little tip here; when stamping on acetate don't use a brand new ink pad or one that you have recently re inked.  The juicier the ink pad is the more chance of the stamp slipping on the acetate, leaving you with blurry images instead of nice crisp images.
The candle image is from a set that was free from S.U  with a qualifying order.
I coloured the images with Copic markers.

Acrylic Block Stamping.

After creating and sharing this card on social media I was asked to do a tutorial on this technique, so this is for you Sarah  Hardy.

I find this technique to be a little hit and miss at the best of times, but in the main most pieces can be used for something.

Choose three colours of ink pad, I like the colours in the  photo best for this technique. Earthy colours seem to look best. Starting with the lightest colour, dab it onto one end of an acrylic block, repeat this with the next two colours.  You will also need some water colour paper for this technique.

I recommend starting with the lightest colour so you do not contaminate your light colour ink pad with the darker ink as you dab the pads on the block. lighter colour will not affect your darker ink pads.






Spritz the inked up block with  a fine misting of water 2 or 3 squirts is usually enough, but a lot depends on how fine the mist is from your bottle.
You don't want your block so wet that all ink water runs off as you turn it over.



                                            You will need some  water colour paper to stamp on for best results, although I have previously tried this technique on a heavy cartridge paper with limited success.
Once you have misted  your block flip it over and lay it on the water colour paper. Press the block down gently to spread the ink /water mix underneath.


Don't press too hard or it will ooze out the sides.  If you're lucky  and get good coverage, you will be able to remove the acrylic block and allow it to dry before stamping over it.

If you're not so lucky you could try the following to avoid or filling in those dry patches.
Spritz the water colour paper with water and wipe off the excess water with kitchen tissue before stamping with the block.



Another thing I do to improve the coverage is to  lift the opposite end of the block to the dry patches very slowly until a puddle forms at the other end, but  do not take the block off the paper completely. 






If necessary, I will lay the block back down and then lift the opposite end of the block until the puddle forms at the opposite end.


 Once I am happy with the coverage and with some kitchen roll in hand,  I lift the block off and mop up the excess moisture from the block and the puddle left on the card stock.



When the card has dried out  you can then stamp over with the images of your choice. My favourite stamp set to use with this technique is the retired Happy Scenes stamp set.
The trees are a perfect for the size blocks I stamp with.










To finish  I apply a little glue using the two way glue pen and sprinkle with white glitter. Then  bush off the excess glitter with a soft brush.







Too much glitter  can over power these little scenes, so it's important you only apply the tiniest amounts of glitter.



If you find you have too much glitter on your project, you can remove it using an adhesive remover.










All that's left to do now is turn your image into a card. I like to keep the card clean and simple so as not to distract from the focal point.
For me that means  mounting the image onto some dark card with a very narrow border  then adhered to either a white of cream base card with a simple sentiment

Teddy New Years card.

I have had a bit of a clear out of my craft room over the half term holiday.
During my sorting I came across this  photocopied image. It's signed with my maiden name, meaning I drew this a very long time ago, way before I discovered stamping.
I remember,  I drew a series of these bear images and photocopied them onto vanilla card stock, so I could water colour the images without having the ink run and because I wanted to make more than one of each image without actually having to re draw the images.
 When I found this  uncoloured image I just had to try colouring it with my Copic markers, even though the card stock isn't ideal for use with alcohol markers it didn't turn out too bad. The cable knit embossed background makes it look better.

Christmas in the making.

I fell in love with the stamp set this image came from. It's called Christmas in the making and it's available from Stampin' up until the end of the year when the autumn/ winter catalogue ends.


My stamp set only arrived yesterday and this is the result of my first play with it.


Coloured with Copic markers and with a little glitter added for sparkle.

Christmas Mice.

I have had these Crafter's Companion mice stamps for many years and they are one of my  favourite sets for Christmas.

They are all individual stamps so they can be positioned as close or as far apart as you wish. I like them huddled together,  so that means  there is a bit of masking  to do.

I coloured the images with Copic markers. once the ink was dry,  I stamped over the sky area with white craft ink.

Staching through the snow

I have been playing  with this set again.

This time I have used the Serene Snowflake stamp set  with white craft ink to create a background for the Santa image.

Handmade Christmas card

Another Lili of the valley digital stamp. Don't let the digital bit put you off , they also do rubber versions of most, if not all of their stamps.

This is my first attempted at colouring this image. I can't say I enjoyed colouring all that night sky blue. But now I have done it once,  I have come up with some other ideas to conserve my ink.  I just have to try it out before I share.

Snow Globe card

The di e used for this snow globe card is another Sue Wilson  die, called snow globe, surprisingly.
Now I have to say I love snow globes but I am not really sure about the ring around what would be a glass ball on the real thing.
 I am planning to make one with out the ring around the globe to see what that looks like.
The image I used for the centre is another Lili of the valley image.  A digital image again.
The beauty of the digital image is that they can be re sized. I  made this one smaller so that it would fit in the snow globe die.

 I  am wishing now,  I had bought the treat cups that go with the snow globe die... I could have really gone to town with this one.   Think I may have order some,, he he ..... Shhhh.. don't tell  hubby.
Again I have used the retire  wheel stamp from S.U  and the white craft ink to creat this black and white background.