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Wednesday 30 April 2014

Chinese Lanterns






This lovely design comes from my love of the far East and the Orient.  It is inspired by Sheena Douglass and her team, using some of her stamps from her 'Little Bit Oriental' collection.  I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The base card is a white scalloped edge card.  An image of a Cherry Blossom is randomly stamped in clear ink around the edges of the card, then heat embossed with  clear powder.  Sky blue Brilliance ink is blended along the edges of the card over the Cherry Blossom images, giving a soft resist effect.  The background panel is a piece of black card which is spritzed with both silver and blue Glimmer mists, then put in an embossing folder and put through a machine.   Silver gilding wax is rubbed gently over the raised pattern to emphasise the the lanterns.  The panel is matted on to blue card and layered on  to the base card.  The Cherry Blossom image is stamped on to a strip of blue card in black ink and heat embossed with clear powder.  The blossoms are then painted with white H2O paint, and when dry this panel is matted on to black card and attached to the card with dimensional glue.  Some gems are added for a bit of sparkle.  Large Chinese lantern images are stamped on to acetate in black ink and then heat embossed.  They are cut out and turned face down, then glitter is added to the back of the images.   When dry the lanterns are attached to the card with dimensional glue.  




Tuesday 29 April 2014

Time Travel





This is a really nice card that I designed for my husband's birthday this month (April is a busy and expensive month!)  The design is Steampunk, which I love, with a vintage touch.  I have used a stamp set called 'Hexley Transport' (such a cool name) from 'Inky Doodles', and one of their lovely masks.  I have also used a couple of masks from 'A Touch of Masks'.  The base card is white, a border mask of cogs is placed down one edge of the card and two colours of Distress inks are blended over the mask on to the card.  This process is repeated along all the edges, giving a soft pattern.  The background panel is another piece of white card on to which  a large clock mask is placed.  Two colours of Glimmer mists are spritzed through the mask, which is then removed and the panel is dried with a heat gun.  The clock shows through the colours as white, so to tone it down a brown Distress ink(Brushed Corduroy) is gently applied over it.  The panel is then embossed with another mask of cogs through a machine.  Gold gilding wax is then applied on to the raised embossing, highlighting the pattern.  Brushed Corduroy Distress ink is applied to the edges of the panel to give an aged effect. It is then matted on to brown card and layered on to the base card.   On another piece of white card several images are stamped, a pocket watch, keys, a horn, and a steampunk vintage car.  They are stamped in brown ink and heat embossed with clear powder, then they are coloured with H2O paints which compliment the colours of the inks.  The images are then cut out and applied to the card with dimensional glue.  A small panel of brown card is die cut, then a sentiment is also die cut out of card coloured as before and attached to the panel.  The sentiment is then covered with Glossy Accents, liquid pearls are dotted around the edges of the small panel and personalisation can be added at this stage if required.  The panel is then attached to the card with dimensional glue to complete the design.

Indigo Blooms












This is a beautiful card that I designed for my youngest daughter's birthday this month (she loves purple)!   The design is inspired by Sheena Douglass using some more of her lovely stamps, plus a flavour of Steampunk with a clockwork butterfly using one of my lovely new Inky Doodles stamps by Sarah.  So to begin, the base card is a white scallop edged card.  Two colours of Brilliance inks, pearlescent orchid and pearlescent purple, are blended together along the edges of the card.  A silver glimmer mist is spritzed on to the coloured edges.  Then several small images are stamped randomly to create a background.   A distressed corner image is stamped with clear ink and heat embossed in silver powder to create a sort of frame for the embossed background panel.  This is created from a piece of white card stock.  Two colours of glimmer mists which compliment the Brilliance inks are spritzed all over the panel.  When dry images of text, words and a key are stamped randomly all over the panel, using Brilliance inks graphite black and moonlight white.  The panel is then embossed in a folder through a machine.  Silver gilding wax is then gently rubbed all over the panel, picking up the raised embossing.  The panel is then matted on to black card and layered on to the base card.   The flowers are made from white card that has been coloured and stamped in the same way as the embossed background panel.  The floral images are stamped in black ink on to the card and heat  embossed with clear powder, then cut out.  The centres of the flowers  are painted using Lumiere paints, liquid pearls are dotted around the smaller petals and the middles are covered in Glossy Accents.  The leaves are stamped  on to card coloured in the same way but using different colours, then cut out as before with liquid pearls as highlights.   The butterfly image is stamped on to acetate in black ink then heat embossed with clear powder. The image is cut out, then turned face down  and glitter is added on back of the image.  To complete the design the flowers, leaves and butterfly are attached to the card with dimensional glue.




Sunday 27 April 2014

Baby's First Christmas




This is a lovely design I made for my new grandson's first Christmas!  It uses one of my favourite Christmas colour combinations, and several techniques  making this project great fun to do.  The base card is plain red card stock.  A piece of red spotted scrapbook paper is tinted with red ink around the edges, then matted on to white card and layered on to the base card.  A piece of Centura snow white pearlescent card is put in to an embossing folder and run through a machine. White glitter is added to highlight the snow flakes, and red glitter to the bow.  When dry this background panel is layered on to the card.  Using another piece of patterned paper a stocking shape is drawn and cut out freehand.  This is stuck on to a piece of white card, then cut out again with an extra bit of white card left at the top.  A mixture of glitter crystals and snow glitter is added to the extra piece of white card to form the top of the stocking.  An image of a hand made toy is stamped on to white card using black Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder.  The image is then coloured  with a brown Pro-marker, cut out, and attached to the back of the stocking as if sticking out of it.  Then the stocking is attached to the front of the card.  The tag is made from shrink plastic.  The sentiment is a stamp from Indigo Blue which is stamped on to white shrink plastic using red Versafine ink.  The edges of the tag are coloured with the same ink,a hole punched in to the tag, then it is  shrunk with a heat gun.  A ribbon is added then the tag is attached to the card with dimensional glue. Personalisation can be added at this time to complete the design. 


Sunday 20 April 2014

Sending Lots of Hugs


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This is a lovely design using the  second of a set of two teddy bear stamps.  I wanted to create a soft vintage effect.  The base card is plain white cardstock.  The background is a very pale blue card that has been embossed in a folder through a machine, then tinted around the edges with Distress inks, Broken China and Brushed Corduroy.   It is then matted on to brown card and layered on to the base card.  The focal panel is created using the same card as for the background panel.  The teddy bear image is stamped three or four times (depending how many layers you want) in Sepia ink and heat embossed with  clear powder.  The images are coloured using pro markers, then cut out reducing the images by a little bit with  each layer.  After colouring and cutting out glitter is added to highlight certain areas.  Then the layers  are assembled with dimensional glue and attached to the card.  Some corner images are created in the same way as the focal panel then attached to the card to complete the design.

Thursday 10 April 2014

Baby Hugs


This is a lovely baby card design, which can be made in either pink, blue or any pastel colour.  The base card is Centura Pearl, the card front is shaped at one end with a scalloped edge which is also embossed then colour tinted with blue Brilliance ink.  The background panel is a piece of plain card on to which some baby hand and feet images have been stamped using the Brilliance ink.  The  panel is matted on to darker card and layered on to the base card.  The focal panel is decoupaged with three layers.  The teddy bear image has been stamped and heat embossed in silver powder on to two tones of blue card three times.  Then the images are cut out, each layer cutting away a bit more of the image than the last.  The layers are glittered and assembled with dimensional glue.  On another piece of Centura Pearl card an image of little fairies is stamped randomly.  Then large letters which spell the word baby are stamped and heat embossed with silver powder on to the card, cut out, and glazed with Glossy Accents.  A piece of ribbon is added to the card front, the word baby is attached to the inside of the back of the card, and a greeting completes the design.  

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Spring Flowers







  

This is a lovely design that I came up with for mothers day last month, but it would work equally well for a birthday card.  I have used  Sheena Douglass's stamps and embossing folder, Tattered Lace foliage dies, and a Clarity Stamp stencil.  The base card is Centura Pearl snow white card. Next a piece of white card is placed underneath the leafy stencil and  three colours of Brilliance inks are blended through the stencil using cut'n'dry foam.  The colours used here are lime green, yellow and olive.  The stencil is removed and the panel is embossed in a folder through a machine.  Then the panel is shaped with a Nestabilities die, and a mat is cut from plain card but slightly larger than the panel.  Liquid pearls are used to highlight the corners.  On another piece of white card two colours of Radiant Rain paints are blended with sponges, then spritzed all over with gold glimmer mist.  Then a floral image is stamped on to the coloured card in Sepia Versafine ink, and heat embossed with clear powder.  The flowers are cut out and shaped, then liquid pearls are used to create stamens in the centres of them.  Using the colour blended card and a piece of the plain card used for matting, die cut the foliage shapes.  Colour tint the edges of the foliage, and layered panels, then assemble the card using both wet and dimensional glues.

Monday 7 April 2014

Sleeping Dragons



This is a very simple design for a child's card, and it's quick to make.  The base card is coloured cardstock which is randomly stamped with various foliage images using brilliance inks.  A large number, in this case a 5, is drawn on to a piece of white card then cut out.  The same foliage images are stamped randomly on to the number as  before.  It is then edged with gold Krylon pen for definition.  Two images of a sleeping dragon or dinosaur is stamped and coloured before being cut out.  The card is assembled by attaching the number to the base card, then  adding the dragons with dimensional glue.  The design is finished by adding a greeting and personalising with a name.

Sunday 6 April 2014

On Safari



This design is another good worker, for any sex, any age and many occasions.  In this case it is a birthday card, but it could just as easily be a 'Bon Voyage' or a retirement card.  The base card is plain cardstock that has been spritzed with gold shimmer mist, then several travel related phrases have been randomly stamped in black ink.  The focal panel is a piece of white card which  has had an image of several zebras stamped onto it in black ink.  The image is then masked and repeated with a slight overlap.  When the mask is removed the image appears as a large herd of zebras.  Then all the zebras are masked off and an image of trees and hills is stamped twice above them to create a horizon.  The edges of the panel are tinted with ink then it is matted on to dark card and layered on to the base card.  A greeting has been added by stamping each letter seperately, using a punch to punch them out then inking around the edges and adding them to the card with foam pads.  This is also a good way to personalise the artwork.