masculine christmas card.

Okay, so this may not be a traditional Christmas card but after the year we've had,   I'd be lying if  I said I hadn't thought about having a few drinks. I am not much of a drinker really, so for me to want a drink,  things have to be getting me down.  I suppose after spending the best part of eight months being shut up indoors due to this Corona virus,  I guess anybody would  fancy a drink or two. 

This card is going to  a male cousin who likes a few JD's on his weekends off.

I created this card by stamping the holly branch first, then masking it off and stamping the glass over the top of the holly. I then added a mask over the glass and stamped the decanter over the top of the masks. I used copic markers to colour the images and added a little stickles glitter glue.

 

Don't get your tinsel in a tangle.

A quick  Christmas pixie  card. I cut an aperture in a sheet of Christmas card and glued the pixie behind the aperture and then just stuck the the panel on the front of a base card.
This pixie stamp is in the new winter catalogue and it's called  Don't stop Believin'.

Cambridge Carols again.

 A few days ago I posted a card using  this stamp  from the Cambridge Carols  on  the Demonstrator Facebook page.   Another Demo left comment on how she loved it done in black and white.

I was a little confused at first as the card was the navy and white card in post below this one.
It turned out that she was looking at the post on her phone and it did look black and white on the small screen.  Her comment gave me the idea of colouring the image in black an white...well that's not strictly true. I used lot of shades of grey, (not quite 50 shades  of  grey though,   ( lol.)

The result isn't as bad as I thought it would be.
I wanted to keep the whole card black and white but I wasn't keen any on any of  my black and white papers , so I decided to add colour to make the card a little more cheerful.
I die cut some sprigs of berries from red and white card. The looked too flat and dull for my likings.
 The red berries  I pressed them into a Versmark ink pad and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.
The white berries I covered with glue using the two way glue pen and dusted them with  ultra fine white glitter for a frosty appearance.

I  die cut some pine needles and arranged the branches and berries in a variety of ways before settling on this arrangement. I'm not entirely happy with this arrange and can't help feeling it needs something else, but I am not too sure what to add. Maybe a small  pine cone or two?

Dasher meets Joyous Noel DSP

If you read my post on adding ink to white  shimmer paint last week you'll know I wasn't  entirely happy with the results when I tried the shimmer paint resist technique.  

The ink  I added to the shimmer paint was released when I brayered over stamped image with more ink.

So I bought some copper shimmer paint.

I have to say,  I am much happier with the results on fine line / open stamps,  but can be a little patchy on  the solid stamps, so you really must  make sure you apply an even  coat of shimmer paint to the stamp. 

Here I used dasher the deer for this card. Dasher retired many years ago, but I thought he would go well with this  Joyous  Noel DSP.

Snow Scene Cards.

 I bought some stamps from a craft show last year and finally got round to use them just before Christmas.

As you can see,  I experimented with colours.
Blue , pink and lilac.

I have to say the pink one is not as vibrant as it appears here.

 The following cards were inked using  lilac ink after I had stamped the images using Memento Tuxedo Black

After the inks were dry I used a white gel pen to add some snow flakes.

The mirrored snow flake  I purchased from  Hobbycraft 10 for £1.
I don't usually  add embellishment  to  my Christmas cards, as most of the people I send cards to thrown them away, so I try to keep the costs down,  but these  snowflakes were so cheap  and they added a little more interest, so why not.                                                                                                                       

Snowflakes

Nothing outstanding about this card, but I wanted to share how I did the snowflakes on this dark blue background.
Using a white gell pen can give  irregular and disappointing results.
Time to try something different....
Using a Japanese screw punch/book binders punch with a tiny hole attachment, I randomly punched tiny holes all over the background, then mounted the image onto white card stock and Hey Presto!!!  Regular shape, white snowflakes showing through the blue background and no blue ink bleeding into the white gell pen.  I also added  a little glue and glitter into each holes for sparkle.

Bauble card

Another retired Christmas Stamp  from the Ornament  Keepsake set and die cut with the coordinating die.
The sentiment is from a set called  Greetings of the Season.

Bauble Christmas card

 A simple background was created by using a suitable stamp and white craft ink pad.
 I used a wheel stamp that I cannot remember the name of and the bauble stamp is from a set called  Merry and Type.
Both the wheel stamp and  Merry and Type are retired.

Christmas Card

The embossing folder used for the background is called gently falling from S.U.
The Sentiment is from the set called Carols of Christmas, new this year.

This one was a little out of my comfort zone. I don't usually  work with large sentiment stamps so I had trouble deciding on shape and size of card, then what on earth I was going to put with it.
Some banner strips and some fussy cut holly was all I could come up with.

Christmas Card.

I did say I had gone mad with this new embossing folder, didn't I.

Well he re is another card using that folder.
This time as a background for this cute stamped image.

I can't remember the name of the company that makes this stamp.

This card is going to a male member of my family so I chose bottle green for the background.
The little boy reminds me of him when he was younger.

Gilding Wax Card

This is my first card using my new die and gilding wax. For this top one I used all three colours of gilding wax and  applied it using a  streaking motion  and the lightest touch across the die cut.

Here I have die cut the three kings and streaked gold gilding wax over the die cut and added a piece of shimmery blue paper behind, I am not sure I really like this, but I have included the idea anyway... I think I have some more playing to do with this die.

Sharon's Christmas Candle Card

It's been a while since I posted anything here that is probably due to having flu and a chest infection so I hadn't been up to doing very much before Christmas and then Christmas was upon us which left me no time to make anything let so I v'e  had nothing to post.


This card was the only handmade card I received this year it was created by my friend Sharon. I loved the simplicity of this.


My first reaction was to text Sharon and tell her I loved her card and would be CASE ing it as soon as I felt up to it.



I have recently found the energy and time to do just that.




Here is my take on this card. I used the  Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper from SU and punched out the flames using a retired petal punch.  (Sharon used the wing of the bird from the bird punch for her flame.)
 I then coloured the glimmer paper  using the blendabilities   alcohol pens.

I also sponged the edges of the candles for a little dimension.

I gave my background a little more foliage by stamping the pine branch from the stampin' up set Ornamental Pine twice before adding the candles and greeting.

Snow Scene in Purple.

I got bored with blue and wanted to try another colour, so I chose my  favourite shades of purple for this one.  Apart from these colours being  my favourites another reason I chose them is because  I remembered  many years ago all the photo's I took out and about in the snow always had a strong purple hue about them, so it seemed a natural choice.

I used SU's classic ink pads in Concord Crush and Almost Amethyst  both of these  colours have been retired unfortunately. Hopefully one day they will being them out of retirement so I can top up my cardstock and ink refills in these colours.

As you can see I added a moon to this card for some variation.
I also stamped the trees in black rather than green..
The black I ink I used  is from SU again  and it's the CRAFT ink not the classic. 
The ink is a pigment based ink which is much slower to dry  but the black is so much more intense than standard  dye based ink pads.

The instructions for this card are exactly the same as in my previous tutorial apart from adding the moon.

So I will just add a  few instructions for the moon

As in the  tutorial below,  stamp over the white card stock with Versamark clear ink and allow it dry off a little. 
If you don't own a small splatter stamp, try using a versamark pen and drawing dots and small spots over the card stock before you begin inking.

Sponge over the sky area lightly with  light coloured ink. It doesn't matter if your sponging is a little patchy it adds to the effect.

Punch out a circle  from scrap card or heavy paper ( this will be your moon mask ) 
I  strongly recommend you use  a two way glue pen and apply a little  glue to the moon mask and allow it to dry thoroughly. This will prevent your moon mask from moving as you work,  so you should get a nice crisp outline on your finished  moon.

Position your moon mask in the area of the sky where you want your moon to be. 
Position your snow drift mask (see tutorial below this post) over the lower part of your moon mask and hold firmly in place.

Ink up your sponge in the same  light colour as you used for the sky and  begin applying the ink starting in the centre of your moon mask and working outwards and skywards, gently onto your cardstock  around the moon mask and along the snow drift mask.This will create your horizon.

 (DO NOT INK  around the bottom of the moon mask if you want your moon to be partly hidden by the snow drifts.) 

Keep applying ink in the same manner until the colour has built up enough around the edge of the masks to give you a well defined moon. and horizon. 
Carefully remove the moon mask and start sponging your snow drifts. 

Round Easel Card Tutorial

Tonights post is a very long one and it's a  step by step tutorial on making this round easel card. It's one I have been meaning to do for a very long time,  but knew it was going to take me ages to do, so I have been putting it off.

Step 1
Fold a sheet of card in half and place it over a large circle die.  So that the folded edge is only partly cut, lay the card on the die and leave a little of the die exposed. This will create the hinge of the card.(see photo on left)
Run it through your die cutting machine.
The folded edge should NOT be cut completely. See photo below

Step two
Cut another complete circle in the same size and colour card.  (this will be the front of your card.)

On one half of your hinged circles, score a line about half across  the circle making sure it is straight and fold in half towards the center of the card.

Step three



Your base card should now look like the photo below.

Step four


Add adhesive to the outer edge of the folded circle.

Step five

Take your full single circle and place it over the glued section lining up the edges of the circles perfectly.

 Your base card is now ready for decorating.

 Step six.

option one
Cut two white circles one die  size smaller than the base card. 

or

Option two 

Cut, two  white lace doilies and one smaller white circle two die sizes smaller than you base card.

 Step seven
Ink up a  small tree stamp  in a light blue ink. ( I used stampin' up's Bashful blue) near the top of your circle.
 Make sure you leave room above for a  second row of trees.
Using the same ink and stamp  ink up the stamp and lightly stamp the image onto scrap paper then stamp the image again (without re inking)  above and between the first line of trees you stamped. Repeat this process until you have a pleasing arrangement of  trees.

The stamping off of the excess ink before stamping the second row of trees will make them look further away, increasing the depth of your card.

Step Eight .

Ink up a larger tree  or group of trees
(I used the line of tree s stamp from  stampin' up's set Lovely as a tree) with the same ink and stamp the image either side of the circle leaving a gap in the centre  for your focal point .

 Step nine

Take a sponge dauber and ink it up lightly with the same blue ink. Dab off a little of the ink onto scrap paper, then using the edge of the dauber begin making streaks starting at the sides and bringing the streaks in towards the centre and under the larger trees. 
Then draw soft streaks below the smaller trees. This will create the impression of snowy  land and anchor the trees to that ground.
( have a little practise on scrap paper if you have never done this before.)

You can now stamp your focal point.

 Step ten

Using a darker ink ( I have used Stampin' up's Night of Navy) 
The pine tree stamp is from the "Lovely as a tree" stamp set from S.U. 
Stamp the tree in the foreground.







 Step Eleven

Very Important!!!  you card has been handled a lot and has collected oils from your hands and moisture from the inks, so if you apply embossing powder now it is going to stick in places you really don't want it to stick.So the next step is crucial.

Once the inks are dry wipe over the card with an embossing buddy/ anti static pad.  If you don't have one DON'T DESPAIR, you can make one from several layers an old pair of thick tights and some talcum powder. But that's another tutorial.
Another option is to just sprinkle a little talc over the card and  brush or wipe off with a clean cloth or tissue. This method is a little more messy.

Step 12
Ink up a smallish snowflake stamp with Versamark ink and randomly stamp the snow flakes over the trees. 
You won't be able to see where you have stamped very well with this ink as it's clear, so have a good light available and you should be able to see the sheen. 


When you have stamped enough  snowflakes cover them with  a  fine silver embossing powder,  tip the excess back into the pot. 
Then gentle  tap off the excess powder from your work and heat until the embossing powder begins to melt. Don't over heat, once it is shiny move your heat tool to another area of the card.
Over heated embossing powder is not a good look.

 This is the front panel of the card finished.

Now you will need to create the bottom panel.

For option one

just recreate the top part of the front panel on the lower half of the bottom panel.  ( see above photo)
Then adhere this panel to the bottom circle of the base card.


 For option two

Adhere the doilies to the  front  and the base panels. Then adhere the stamped circle into the center of the doily on the front of the card.

So now you need something to stop the card collapsing  when it's being displayed.
This can be done by cutting two strips of card  the same length as the width of your card and layering them. 
Stamping a sentiment on the top layer.

This this then stuck across the middle of the base panel using sticky foam pads  to give it a little height  which will act as the stopper when the card is on display.

My final words on this card are  why not mix and match the options. I am thinking  I may like  one doily on the front and the tree scene on the base. That's  a project for another day as it's time to say goodnight.

Simple Christmas Card

Here's a quick and simple Christmas card using the bigz Snow Flurry die from SU , which sadly retired before I had chance to spot it in the catalogue  and purchase it.  
It took me months to find somebody that was selling one, eventually I did find a lady in Shetland that was willing to part with hers. 

Here I have just cut out the snow flake in silver foiled card and SU's glimmer paper and layered the flakes with some sticky foam pads. I added a few sparkles in the tips and centre of the centre flake but to be honest I really don't think the ones on the tips do anything for the card so I won't be adding them to the tips of any future snowflakes I make.
The background paper I embossed using an A4 Embossing folder called Starburst by Teresa Collins.  I love this starburst design infact I love most of the designs in the range  and the fact they are A4 size means they'll be great for larger projects.

New Guest Artist

Several months ago I invited a colleague  over to have a go at card making.

Initially I got the impression she was coming out of politeness and a little out of curiosity.

Since that evening we  have spent a couple of evenings together, evenings that have consisted of me babbling away  about all the different techniques  that can be used to create different effects,  all the tools and products available and how they can and cannot  be used.  Of course it wouldn't be much fun just talking about it.  To make it fun you need to play, so I shared my toys and we played for hours.

I think she has the bug now !

A little before Christmas I said to Hubby that  Sue was making us a Christmas card. 

After a little thought he said "is that the lady that came round a  couple of months ago  that's just started  card making.?"

 I said "yes"  

He said  "Well, that's gonna be crap then." 

 Sometime between Christmas and New year I sat looking at all the Christmas cards we had received and  my eyes were constantly being drawn one particular handmade card.

Remembering Hubby's  pre Christmas comment,  I asked him to look at all our cards and choose his favourite.

He chose the same card as I had,  as his favourite...............

Guess what!!!..... It was this card created by Sue.    I think somebody had to eat his words.

I told Sue this story this morning,  fortunately this lovely lady has a sense of humour as well as being very creative and found the story quite amusing and she has only threatened to poke Hubby's eyes in next time she see s him. 
If you ask me. he's got off lightly. :->

Santa's List

My second post today is this 6 X 6 card using the Stamp set, Santa's  List. I stamped Santa, coloured him in using two different reds from the Stampin' up marker range.  I love these markers as you don't get the lines you get when you overlap the strokes as you get when colouring with normal felt tip pens.
I  then cut him out using a circular die.I cut out  black and red circles using various size dies to mount Santa on.
 I  cut a circular frame in the gorgeous glimmer paper  from S.U.
Stamped and mounted my greeting and stuck it on using sticky foam pads to give a little more dimension.
The Holly sprig was from a cheap foam set of stamps square in shape. That I have owned for years,  but could never get on with until I cut it down to just the image.
Th embossed background created using  a Spellbinder double embossing folder. It has swirls and stars on one side and Christmas baubles on the other.

Santa's helper

This guy I found on a canadian demonstrator's web site. He is so cute. I just had to try making him. There is a video on making this guy on YOU TUBE. I can't remember the title of the video,
but I am sure you'll find it with these clues to help. Stampin up punch art, Andrea Walford.
Really Sorry I can't be more helpful.
Andrea makes some wonderful things and a visit to her web site is time well spent.

You'll need the Christmas ornament punch, the Boho blossoms punch and small circle punches. Card stock in a variety of colours, a white Gel pen, sponge daubers, pretty in pink ink, stamps to decorate your parcels.

Christmas ornament card.

With my new ornament punch I created this card using real red and marina mist card stock , season of joy stamp set, a versamark pad, Cherry cobbler and marina mist ink pads, daubers and silver embossing powder.

I daubed the edges of my punched ornaments with co ordinated inks. I allowed the ink to dry then

stamped my images with versamark and applied the embossing powder and heated until melted. I drew in the hangers with a silver gel pen.

I then stamped and embossed the greeting.