Lavinia Christmas Cards Number 2 and 3

 

Hi everyone 😀

Here are two more Christmas Cards that I made this year - which are essentially CASE's of Karen Telfer's card from the Lavinia Stamps YouTube Channel.  I did add some of my own touches to it so it isn't exactly the same.  It was really just trying something new to see how it worked out when someone else has already done the hard work.  You can click on THIS to see Karen's card video. 

For the first card, I used the same Distress Oxide inks that Karen did and for the second card, I chose some different ones.

I used Lavinia Multifarious White Cardstock to make the background and added some white copy paper to mask off the area for the snow.  I blended Distress Oxide Inks in the colours Seedless Preserves, Spun Sugar and Wilted Violet using my Ranger Round Ink Blending Tool.  Once I was happy with the blend, I splattered on some water then dried it with my heat-gun.  For the tree background, I stamped various Lavinia Stamps:  Tree Scene, Small Fairy Fir Tree and Fairy Fir Tree 2 - some are 1st generation stamping - others 2nd or 3rd - using Altenew Obsidian Black Pigment Ink.

I removed the snow mask then dried off my panel.  I used a Powder Bag on the sky then stamped the Lavinia Mini North Star using Versamark Watermark ink and added some Ranger White Detail Embossing Powder that I added some Bellbird Place Diamond Glitter to - then heat-set it using my heat-gun.  I bought a big jar of this glitter when the store 'Bellbird Place' used to go to Craft Shows but they are no longer in business.  

I stamped the bunny - Lavinia Pipin Mini - and the word 'Hope' which is from the 3 Blessings set - using the Obsidian ink then dried it off so I wouldn't accidentally smear it.  I used a White Posca Pen to make the snow then added tiny dots of glue with a Quickie Glue Pen and sprinkled on some of the Diamond Glitter for some lovely sparkle.  I coloured under Pipin with a Grey Pencil just to ground him. 

Lastly, I went around the image with my Ranger Blending Tool with a mix Seedless Preserves and Shaded Lilac.  Because I didn't have any matching cardstock for matting the main panel, I made my own using a mix of Seedless Preserves and Shaded Lilac - and then matted that onto white cardstock.  All the layers were glued together using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.  

And now, here is the next card with a different Distress Oxide Combo which is one I came up with as I was feeling brave:

This colour combo is:  Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac and Tumbled Glass.  The card is otherwise the same process as the first one.  I also made my own matting cardstock layer using Wilted Violet then layered that onto a white card base.

The cards are so pretty and sparkly in real life.  Because the weather was so dreary, the photos are a little dull but I had no choice because I needed them for Christmas Day.  Oh well! 

Thank you Karen Telfer for the inspiration.  I wasn't very confident initially with making the blended ink background and doing the stamping because I am not used to doing that sort of thing - but once I had done a couple of backgrounds and was happy with how it turned out, I made a bunch of cards.  Karen's video was so easy to follow and she is very encouraging so I urge you to watch the video and have a go yourself.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lavinia Tree Scene LAV219 + Small Fairy Fir Tree LAV489 + Fairy Fir Tree 2 LAV492 + Pipin Mini LAV581 + 3 Blessings LAV673 + Mini North Star LAV707

Ink:  Altenew Obsidian Black Pigment, Versamark Watermark, Distress Oxides - Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves, Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac

Designer Paper and Dies:  None

Accessories:  Heat-gun, Lavinia Multifarious White Cardstock, White Copy Paper,  Powder Bag, Ranger White Detail Embossing Powder, Bellbird Place Diamond Glitter (retired), Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Quickie Glue Pen, Posca White Pen, Ranger Round Ink Blending Tool, Grey Pencil

Lavinia Stamps Christmas Card #1

 

Hi everyone 😀

I have been super-busy in my Craft Room the past few weeks making Christmas Cards and will share them over several blog posts.  

This is one that I made for my Mother:

To make my card, I first masked off the top section on a piece of Lavinia Stamps multifarious card with blue painter's tape so I could ink-blend my background.  I used my Tim Holtz round ink blending tool to blend Distress Oxide inks in the colours Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac and Tumbled Glass.  I removed the tape then heat-set it using my heat-gun.

I stamped my Lavinia Stamps Tree Branch using Altenew Obsidian Black pigment ink.  This ink is my favourite for stamping silhouette images as it gives excellent coverage.  I heat-set the image so I didn't end up smearing it as I am such a clumsy person no matter how hard I try not to be 😏

I added some White Puffy Paint which I bought a few weeks ago from KMart (Australia).  It came in a pack of 12 colours for $9.00.  I heated it and watched the magic as it puffed up to look like snow.

I masked off the card again around the ink-blended panel and splattered the panel using a White Posca Pen and heat-set it because I would smear it for sure!

I stamped the sentiment which is from a set by Lavinia Stamps called Seasonal Words then added various silver glitter cardstock diecut/punched snowflakes of various brands.  I have a container full of punched/diecut snowflakes ready for my cards as I do multiples when I make them.  I added tiny Silver Couture Creations rhinestones to the snowflake centres.

I rounded the RH corners with a We R Memory Keepers 1/2" Corner Chomper then added the panel to a card base and tied on some silver twine.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!  We had a hot Christmas lunch with my brother and family - and my mother was there for a little while as she is 93 and in full-time care and very frail.  I am not sure if she really knew what was happening as she was very mixed up and not making much sense.  It was nice to be together as due to distances, we don't see each other very often.  The weather was very, very wet and dreary - it rained ALL day which is very unusual for our typically hot Summer in Melbourne.  I feel sorry for anyone who planned for their Christmas get-togethers outside - but being in Melbourne, we are known as "4 seasons in one day" and it can be wet in the morning, very hot by lunchtime, very windy and stormy at 3pm and freezing by 7 pm.  You never can tell and the weather forecast is really only a guideline of what "might" happen!

Thanks for visiting my blog today and for your support throughout 2023!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lavinia Stamps Tree Branch LAV506 and Seasonal Words LAV838

Ink:  Altenew Obsidian Black pigment, Ranger Distress Oxides in Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac and Tumbled Glass

Designer Papers:  None

Accessories:  Lavinia Multifarious cardstock, silver glitter cardstock (stash), White Puffy Paint (KMart Australia), heat-gun, blue painter's tape, silver twine, White Posca pen, Couture Creations silver rhinestones, Ranger round ink blending tool

Punches:  Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge (tiny snowflakes), WRMK Corner Chomper

Dies:  Various brands (for larger snowflakes)

Spooky Halloween Greetings card

Hi blogging friends

Today I am sharing the Halloween card that I made for my daughter.  I had so much fun making this card and enjoyed making the scene come together.

This is also my entry for the following Challenges (click on the underlined words to take you to their blogs):-

Papertake Weekly - Take your Pick - the last challenge of every month has several themes and you simply take your pick from them. There’s a sketch, a colour theme, a product theme and a technique theme to choose from. I chose the colour theme which is Halloween Hues ie:  blacks, oranges, purples, greys etc.

Little Red Wagon - Challenge #313 - Ghosts and Goblins or other Halloween creatures.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It WT555 - Use brushwork on your card - anything from painting to adding various mediums to dry-brushing.  I dry-brushed white pigment ink on the black elements on my card.

Diecutting Divas Weekly Challenge #239 - Happy Halloween - All projects must have at least one diecut on them to qualify.  I have LOTS as you can see :-)

I did a prototype using diecut white cardstock so I knew exactly where to place my diecut pieces which was a big help and saved alot of frustration - and it made the card come together alot quicker too.  I am perilously low on black cardstock so I couldn't afford to make any mistakes on the actual card itself!

First of all, I made the sky using Ranger watercolour cardstock and Distress Inks.  I diecut a circle from stamping mask paper and placed it on the cardstock so I could mask where I wanted the moon to be.  I then coloured the cardstock using my round ink blending tool with the following Distress Inks:  Dried Marigold, Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, Stormy Sky and Hickory Smoke.  I removed the mask and coloured the moon a little with Dried Marigold and shaded it a little with Hickory Smoke.  I added two layers with my Wink of Stella clear glitter brush over the moon to give it some subtle sparkle.

The house, pumpkin and gravestones and bats are a die by Impression Obsession - Halloween Hill - but I cut off the tree next to the pumpkin and didn't use the far RHS of the diecut (as it didn't fit into the scene but saved it for later on).  The front hill was diecut using another Impression Obsession die - Hill Landscape Layers (which comes as a set of 3) - which I bought from an Australian online store a few days ago.  I don't know about you, but I can't handcut a curvy hill that looks nice so these dies will save me alot of angst!

The gravestones and cat are leftovers from the far RHS of the back hill plus I diecut another scene and cut off a couple of gravestones and tucked them all in behind the diecut hill.

I used a small flat brush dipped very lightly into some white pigment ink to add a bit of whiteness to the tops of all the black diecuts (except for the Orchard Tree frame) so it would look like the moon is reflecting off them and to add a bit more spookiness.  It also adds a bit of depth to the whole scene plus makes the images stand out a bit more.  Here is a close-up so you can see the detail a bit better:

The ghosts were diecut using a Memory Box - Ghastly Ghosts die set - and I added some clear Wink of Stella to them for some sparkle.

The black tree frame is also by Memory Box - Orchard Tree Frame - which I diecut 3 times and glued together using Tombow Mono Multi glue.  Originally I had thought about diecutting one and adding dimensionals behind the frame to 'pop' it up but thought that that would be way too fiddly - so gluing 3 frames together was far easier and alot quicker.  Because the Tombow glue doesn't dry immediately, you have a bit of time to move the parts of the diecut around so that they line up perfectly.  I glued the frame to the scene using the same glue.

I used some cobweb (which I bought from my local supermarket from their Halloween stock) to make some fog/mist over the moon and on the bottom diecuts.  It's awful stuff to work with as it catches on everything but I really love how it looks on my card.  I added very tiny dots of Ranger Multi Medium Matte glue here and there to attach it as this glue dries perfectly clear.

The designer paper has been in my stash forever and is called Spellbound by Making Memories.  I used the Orchard Tree Frame to diecut the paper but used the negative of the diecut.  I used a Lifestyle Nesting Card Template die (rectangle) to cut the paper negative to the size I wanted then just glued that in around the black Orchard Tree diecut frame.  It was great because it just slotted in around the black diecut tree on my black cardstock base.

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts clear set - Happy Halloween - and was stamped in Versamark Watermark ink and heat-embossed using Stampin' Up white embossing powder.  I trimmed the sentiment panel down then cut a flag end on the RHS.  I added a black rhinestone then popped the panel up on 1mm dimensionals.

Lastly, I tied on some Halloween twine. 

I am not sure how many kids will be out trick-or-treating tomorrow evening as it is the Melbourne Cup long weekend here in Victoria and alot of people go away over the four days - plus the weather forecast is looking very wet and stormy. It was great last year seeing the little kids in our street dressed up in cute little costumes and having some fun.  We never do anything really scary - it's all very low-key compared to the USA. 

Thanks for visiting my blog today and for any comments you care to leave - they are always very much appreciated!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Hero Arts Happy Halloween clear set CL353

Ink:  Versamark Watermark, Versacolor white pigment, Ranger Distress Inks - Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Stormy Sky, Seedless Preserves, Hickory Smoke

Designer Paper:  Making Memories Spellbound 12" x 12" (2008) - retired

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Card Templates (rectangles) DC0431 and Nesting Circles LCC001, Impression Obsession Halloween Hill DIE029-P and Hill Landscape Layers DIE343-T, Memory Box Orchard Frame 98300 and Ghastly Ghosts 98701

Accessories:  Small flat paintbrush, Big Shot, Kuretake Wink of Stella clear glitter brush, Tombow Mono Multi glue, Ranger Multi Medium Matte glue, 1mm dimensionals, Kaisercraft rhinestone - Black SB777, Stampin' Up white embossing powder, heat-gun, embossing buddy, cobweb (Woolworths supermarket), Inkadinkado Stamping Mask Paper, Ranger round ink blending tool, Ranger watercolor cardstock, black and white cardstock, Halloween twine by Divine Twine

Lawn Fawn Hippo Birdie to You Birthday Card

Hi blogging friends

Sorry for my long absence:  one way or another life got in the way and I've been very unwell of late but things are starting to settle down now so hopefully, I should be able to post more often and get back on-track to visit your blogs. 

And today, I am sharing a birthday card that I made for my beautiful daughter to celebrate her 12th birthday using some very cute Lawn Fawn stamps. 

This is also my card for the following Challenges:

Lawnscaping Challenge #109 of Sparkle and Shine - anything that sparkles or shines eg: sequins, glossy accents, glitter, Wink of Stella glitter pens, bling etc.

Crafty Catz Challenge #286 of Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #380 of We Love Cake - any cards or projects that include cake 

First of all, I made the background using Ranger Distress Inks.  I smooshed Picked Raspberry, Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks onto my Craft Mat then sprayed them with water.  I lay my piece of Ranger Distress Watercolour Cardstock into the colours and but made sure that I had the green colour along the bottom so it kind-of looked like grass where I would be placing my animals - and the blue and pink where the sky would be.  I dried the cardstock off with my heat-gun then used an old toothbrush to splatter almost full-strength Picked Raspberry and Tumbled Glass over my panel.  I did drip some clean water over the panel to create water spots (like Kristina Werner loves to do) but they are largely hidden by the splatters. Oh well!

The hippo, bird on his back, bird's party hat and balloon are all from the Lawn Fawn Year Four set - and the 2 birds on the ground, presents and the cake that the bird is holding are from the recently released Lawn Fawn Party Animal set.  I stamped them using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto Ranger Distress Watercolour cardstock and coloured them using Faber-Castell watercolour pencils plus the same Distress Inks I used for my background.  I fussy-cut the hippo + birdie etc. because I had layered/stamped the images together and diecut the presents and birds on the ground using the matching Party Animals dies.

All the animals are up on dimensionals and I added Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue to the balloon, pink icing and candle-flame on the cake, the party hats and the ribbons on the presents. 

I must admit to being very taken with Lawn Fawn stamps:  the critters are particularly adorable and I love how you can mix and match sets so easily.

Here is a close-up of those cute-as-a-button images:

I cut the sentiment from the Year Four set in half so I could have 2 lines which I think balances the card nicely.  Lastly, I added blue and pink iridescent star sequins and clear iridescent round sequins here and there using Tombow Mono Multi glue.  I buy most of my sequins from $2 shops here in Australia:  most of them have a stand with a really good range of shapes and colours and they don't cost very much.  Riot Art and Craft also stocks a good range of colours as does Spotlight but are a bit more expensive.

The Happy Birthday designer paper is an old one from my stash - the back side of the Jillibean Soup - Spotted Owl Soup.  All the layers were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lawn Fawn Party Animal and Year 4 clear sets

Dies:  Lawn Fawn Party Animal

Inks:  Ranger Archival Jet Black, Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters

Designer Paper:  Happy Birthday script from Jillibean Soup - Spotted Owl Soup

Accessories:  Big Shot, Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue, dimensionals, Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, #2 round paintbrush, Craft Mat, heat-gun, curved blade paper-tole scissors, old toothbrush, Tombow Mono Multi glue, Stampin' Up Fuse Fast adhesive, blue and pink star iridescent sequins, clear round iridescent sequins, cardstock - rose pink + light blue + Ranger Distress Watercolour

Bokeh Thinking of You Card

Hi blogging friends 

I have seen alot of gorgeous cards on Splitcoaststampers recently which uses the Bokeh technique - so I thought I would give the technique a try.  It is super-easy and fun - and here is the result:

This is also my entry for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge #363 of Diecuts and Punches.  

There is a tutorial for the Bokeh Technique on Splitcoaststampers HERE and I found another tutorial HERE on Shannon Lane's blog - I've got a Crush on Colour.  If you don't know what bokeh means, it relates to photography and you can read more about it HERE on Wikipedia.

I used Ranger Distress Inks in Picked Raspberry and Salty Ocean for my background by smooshing my ink pads onto my Couture Creations non-stick Craft Mat, spraying the inks with water then lay the smooth side of my Ranger Distress watercolour cardstock on top.  I let the cardstock sit in the inks for about 30 seconds then moved it around and lifted it up to check how the coverage was then kept dabbing the cardstock into the inks until I was happy with how it looked.  I was too impatient to wait for my cardstock to air-dry so dried it off using my heat-gun.

I made a stencil of various sizes of circles using clear acetate and my Lifestyle Nesting Circle dies then used a finger dauber to pounce Hero Arts white dye ink circles all over my background using the stencil.  At first my background looked pretty ordinary and I wondered whether it was going to look any good but the more circles that I added and the more that I overlapped, the better it started to look.  I also went over some of the circles to make them brighter than others which really helped the effect look more realistic.  The white circles on the blue part of my card don't show up quite as well in the photo compared to real life.

The decorative edge was made with all-time favourite edge punch:  Martha Stewart Lace Doily.  I attached the panel to white cardstock using Stampin' Up Fuse Fast adhesive then used my Perfect Layers Tools to trim the cardstock to 1/16".

I sponged two small pieces of Stampin' Up Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper (which is sparkly white and as thick as cardstock) with the same Distress Inks that I used for my background then diecut them using my Big Shot and a Memory Box Pippi Butterfly die.  I was a bit concerned that the colour might transfer to my butterfly die so I very carefully ran my heat-gun over the glitter paper before diecutting to make sure it was dry.  I attached just the centres of the butterflies using Tombow Mono Multi glue.

The 'Hello' is a die from Mama Elephant and was diecut from the same glimmer paper and glued on using Tombow Mono Multi glue.

I rounded the corners on the bottom using the 1/8" size on my We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

Lastly, I glued on some iridescent sequins using Ranger Multi Medium Matte which is a strong adhesive and dries clear.  The card is a top folding card.

This card will be going to my Mum just to brighten her day.  Mum's last remaining sibling passed away several weeks ago so it has been a difficult time for her.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps and Designer Paper:  None

Ink:  Ranger Distress - Picked Raspberry and Salty Ocean, Hero Arts White dye

Accessories:  Big Shot, Couture Creations non-stick Craft Mat, Ranger Inkssentials Mister, finger dauber, sponges, Stampin' Up Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper, white cardstock, Tombow Mono Multi glue, Ranger Multi Medium Matte, Stampin' Up Fuse Fast adhesive, iridescent sequins (from stash), acetate, heat-gun, Ranger Distress Watercolour Cardstock, Perfect Layers Tools, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Memory Box Pippi Butterfly #98508, Mama Elephant Hello Script Creative Cuts

Punches:  Martha Stewart Lace Doily edge

Happy Halloween card

Hi blogging friends

Sorry for my long absence:  I have been helping out with preparing for a stall to sell loom band creations (which if you don't already know, are super-popular with kids at the moment!) at my daughter's School Fair (which was held last Sunday).  My daughter made most of the loom band creations which has taken her about 5 months!  We were running the stall to raise money for charity so attending to all the details was very time-consuming (plus I was making a few loom band creations too).  Our stall ended up raising $121 - and when you add a few donations from other people and sales to family/friends, the total ended up being $181!  Woo hoo!  The weather was perfect for the occasion - around 25 deg C (77 deg F) and sunny - which was fantastic but also very lucky because at 2 am the following morning, the storms began and it was very wild with heavy rain and flash-flooding well into the next day.  Soooo glad that we didn't have weather like that for the Fair - it would have been a disaster!

The card I am sharing today is a Halloween card which I made for my daughter and now that I have given to her, I can share it here on my blog.  This is also my entry for the Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #189 of Happy Halloween where you must have at least one diecut on your creation.

I really enjoyed making this card as it gave me an opportunity to play with Distress Inks to make a sunset on Ranger watercolour paper which I have never done before.  I had a great play as I tried different colour combinations and have plenty of leftovers to use for other cards.  But first of all, I punched out a circle from a post-it-note to use as a mask so that when it was removed after blending the inks, I had a moon.

I used a round Ranger Blending Tool which I like alot better than the rectangular one as I find that I get less lines.  I used quite a few colours of Distress Inks (which are listed in the Card Recipe below) which you wouldn't probably realise from just looking at my card.  I went from light to dark and just kept blending till I was happy.  I tried to make it a little darker on the LHS and kept it lighter on the RHS where there would be more light from the moon.  I removed the moon mask but decided to add a little watered down Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink with a paintbrush to the moon to try and make it look more rounded and not quite as white.

The house, tree, pumpkin, tombstones, cat and bats are all from one die called Halloween Hill by Impression Obsession.  I diecut 2 layers from the black cardstock and glued them together so there was a bit more depth.  I used a small scrap of watercolour paper and coloured it yellow using Lemonade Distress ink then cut it to fit in behind the pumpkin face and the windows on the house.  I used a sponge and Hero Arts White dye ink to sponge the edges of the diecut to look like the moon was shining on the various elements then attached the diecut to the inked watercolour paper.  I added some Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds glitter glue plus Kindyglitz Gold glitter glue to the pumpkin face and the windows on the house for a bit of sparkle.

The very front panel is a die by Memory Box - Graveyard Landscape and again, I diecut 2 layers and also sponged the edges with white ink.

The ghosts are also by Memory Box - Ghastly Ghosts which has 5 different ghosts in the set. 

The sentiment is from Hero Arts and was stamped using Versamark Watermark ink and heat-set using Stampin' Up white embossing powder.  I love this embossing powder because it is really white.  I attached 2 Doodlebug brads which I have had in my stash forever.

I used some Mounting Tape to attach the scene to some orange glitter cardstock then attached that to black glitter cardstock using Ranger Wonder tape which is very strong and works really well with glitter cardstock. 

Lastly, I attached some white cobweb across the sky using tiny dots of Tombow Mono Multi glue to look a bit like mist/fog.  This cobweb is from my local supermarket (Woolworths) and comes in a big bag with black spiders and looks like cushion stuffing and costs about $3.  It's really awful to work with as it catches on everything which nearly drove me bonkers - but I like how it looks on my card :-)
Happy Halloween for those of you who celebrate the occasion   We had ALOT more kids/parents visiting us tonight and it was great to catch up with neighbours who were all getting into the spirit of it and just having a happy time with nothing really scary or weird.  I decorated the outside of our house and I noticed that there were alot more decorated houses around compared to previous years.  Seems to be catching on in Australia but not in a creepy way.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  I have ALOT of blog reading to catch up on! 

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment from Hero Arts Happy Halloween CL353 clear set

Inks:  Versamark Watermark, Hero Arts white dye, Ranger Distress - Squeezed Lemonade, Spice Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge, Dusty Concord, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Black Soot

Designer paper:  None

Accessories:  Big Shot, Impression Obsession Halloween Hill DIE029P, Memory Box Graveyard Landscape 98375 and Ghastly Ghosts 98701, Ranger round ink blending tool, Doodlebug 1974 Halloween Assortment boutique brads (2008), heat gun, Stampin' Up white embossing powder, Stampin' Up Dazzling details glitter glue, Kindyglitz gold glitter glue, cobweb (supermarket), sponge, 1 inch circle punch + post-it note (for masking moon), Ranger watercolour paper, paintbrush, X-Press It mounting tape, Tombow Mono Multi glue, Ranger doublesided Wonder tape, cardstock - orange glitter, black glitter, white, black

Masculine embossing folder stamping

Hi blogging friends

Today I am sharing a couple of masculine cards using the same technique of 'Embossing Folder Stamping' that I have shared on my last couple of blog posts.  In my immediate and extended family, we have a ton of birthdays in August and most are masculine - so I was looking for some quick and simple cards that I could make multiples of - and here is my first card:

For my first card, I used a Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder and inked the folder with Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Inks then sprayed the folder with water using my Ranger Mini Mister.  I made sure that where I wanted to stamp my sentiment that I had more of the lighter coloured ink so the sentiment stood out a little.  I lay my kraft cardstock on top and let it sit there for about a minute and pressed down to smoosh the ink around then lifted the cardstock off and let it dry naturally.

I rubbed my embossing buddy over the sentiment area then stamped the sentiment with Pearlescent Chocolate pigment ink and heat-set it using clear embossing powder.  I diecut a star from dark brown cardstock and popped it up on a 3mm dimensional then added Glossy Accents to make it all shiny to match the sentiment (bit hard to see in my photo).

Lastly, I added the dark brown cardstock strip and tied on some Darice Hemp cord.  I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.

Now, here is my 2nd card:

This time I used a Darice Woodgrain embossing folder and used the same inks as my first card.  Once my kraft cardstock was dry, I ran it through my Big Shot with the same Woodgrain folder as I wanted the card to have some texture but I was very careful to match up the pattern perfectly by using removable tape to hold the cardstock in place so it didn't move at all.

I stamped the sentiment using Gingerbread chalk ink then diecut it using a die from a set that I originally purchased on Joanna Sheen's (UK) website.  There is no brand name on the set and I can't find the set on Joanna's website anymore so I have no clue who makes it.  All I remember is that they were very cheap and cut beautifully!  I inked around the edges using Gingerbread ink then popped the sentiment panel up on dimensionals.

I wanted the Hemp cord to match the card so rubbed the Gingerbread ink pad over the cord then heat-set it with my heat-gun it to dry the ink thoroughly then tied it on.

I am sure that you could use these cards for Father's Day as well (which we celebrate in September in Australia) or simply change the sentiment for a Get Well card.  I have made about 6 of them so I have a nice little pile of cards for my stash which makes me uber-happy ----> see:  this is me 

Challenges -

I made my cards for the following challenges -

Papertake Weekly Challenge - For the Boys - anything male
Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #325 - So Macho - any male themed cards/projects
Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple Challenge CAS275 - Quick and Stackable - cards that you can make multiples of
Splitcoaststampers - Technique Lover's Challenge TLC482 - To Emboss or to Stamp - which is specifically for Embossed Folder Stamping

Thanks for stopping by!  It's mid-afternoon on Friday here in Australia so I am really happy that it's almost the weekend.  I haven't been well this week so I'm looking forward to relaxing and having some time-out.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Card No. 1 -

Stamps:  Stamp-It Australia siset-014 sentiment set

Ink:  Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate pigment; Ranger Antique Linen, Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress

Accessories:  Big Shot, Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder, My Favorite Things Stacking Stars Die-namics dies, Ranger Mini Mister, Glossy Accents, 3mm dimensional, clear embossing powder, heat-gun, Darice Hemp Cord (Riot Art and Craft), Fray Stop, embossing buddy, Stamp Positioner, cardstock - kraft, dark brown

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Card No. 2 -

Stamps:   Wendy Irving Expressions clear set J6412.02

Ink:  Versamagic Gingerbread chalk, Ranger Antique Linen, Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress

Accessories:  Big Shot, Darice Woodgrain embossing folder, Unknown brand die (for sentiment panel), Ranger Mini Mister, Darice Hemp Cord (Riot Art and Craft), Fray Stop, heat-gun, dimensionals, cardstock - kraft, chocolate

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Stamping

Hi blogging friends

A short while ago, I came across a card that was stamped with an embossing folder and I really, really loved how it looked but had no clue how it was done because there was no information with the card.  Fortunately, Splitcoaststampers recently uploaded a tutorial including a video HERE so I have spent alot of time playing in my Craft Room trying to learn the technique. 

My initial attempts were quite frustrating because I wasn't sure how much water to spray on the folder.  I found that if I sprayed too much water, the pattern was lost - and then if I didn't spray enough water, I wouldn't get a lovely graduation of colour.   I also played with different mediums such as Tombow Pens and Distress Inks and tried different colour combinations plus I experimented with different embossing folders and found some worked better than others.  I also tried watercolour paper and smooth white cardstock and they both gave very different results but worked really well.  I also learned to let the cardstock dry before thinking that it looks terrible because it looks different after drying.

I was so fortunate that yesterday someone else was caring for my loved one all day so I spent a large part of the day with no interruptions where I could really get stuck in.  And it was great because the day before, we had been at the hospital for appointments for a good deal of the day so I appreciated having a day off after the appointments.   It is very, very rare that I get a whole day to myself at home where I not only have a physical break from being a Carer but also a complete emotional break.  I felt on-top-of-the world at the end of the day and so excited to learn a new technique.  And I didn't even need to make dinner that evening - that was made for me as well - ahhhh, bliss!!

So, without further ado, here is my card:

I used a Cuttlebug Victoria embossing folder and randomly applied Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass, Bundled Sage and Faded Jeans Distress Inks then sprayed the water onto the folder using a Ranger Mini Mister and lay my smooth white cardstock down on top.  I left the cardstock there for almost a minute and pressed down with my fingers so all areas of the cardstock received the ink then lifted it off.   Where there was a darker pool of colour that stood out a bit too much, I simply used a tiny piece of paper towel to blot it up a little.  I left the cardstock to dry by itself but I guess you could dry it with a heat-gun if you were in a hurry.  I was a little afraid that I would spread the ink into the white areas and spoil the effect so I just waited patiently for it to dry because this was my favourite one out of all the ones I had done and believe me, I did tons of them LOL!  Ohhh, I just love how the colours mixed - so pretty don't you think?!

I added the teal cardstock strip then stamped the sentiment using Colorbox Peacock pigment ink and heat-set it using Satin Pearl embossing powder.  I diecut a heart from teal cardstock from the Memory Box Hearts and Stars die set and popped it up on a 3mm dimensional.  Lastly, I corner-punched the RHS of the main panel then tied on the twine.  It really is a simple card even if it took a loooooong time to get to that point but I am so glad that I persevered!

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Splitcoaststampers Technique Lovers Challenge - TLC482 - To Emboss or To Stamp which is specifically for Embossing Folder Stamping

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #323 - Blues and Hues 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog today - I appreciate it very much.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment from Stamp-It Australia self-cling rubber sentiment set siset014

Designer paper:  None

Ink:  Ranger Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans and Bundled Sage; Colorbox Peacock pigment

Accessories:  Cuttlebug Victoria embossing folder, Darice Hemp cord (Riot Art and Craft), 3mm dimensional, Memory Box Hearts and Stars die set, Big Shot, Ranger Mini Mister, heat-gun, Satin Pearl embossing powder, cardstock - teal, white

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner punch

Taylored Expressions: You're my hero - nephew's birthday card

Hi blogging friends,

One of my grown-up nephews is a Musician and this is the one-layer card I made for his birthday: 

I broke out one of my more recent purchases from Taylored Expressions called "You're my hero" which is an awesome set - lots of different rock images for guys and gals, sentiments and grungey elements:  very cooool!  This set is rubber mounted with that foam stuff so you will need something to mount it on for stamping eg: acrylic block, and a stamp positioner comes in very handy!  I have no connection to the company other than loving their stamps and dies - fantastic quality and great value for money IMHO.

I inked up the grungey background image with Faded Jeans Distress ink, misted it with water using my Mini Mister then stamped it on my white cardstock base and stamped it again in a different spot (without re-inking) so I had another image but looking more faded.   I then inked up the same image with Wild Honey Distress ink, misted it with water then stamped that over the blue image and then again without re-inking.  Because Distress inks react with water, I ended up with a bit of a mix of the two colours in various spots which I really like.

I rounded the corners on the top and bottom RH corners with a Stampin' Up corner punch then stamped the bottom LH corner and top RH corner the same way I did the grungey background.

I used my Ranger Ink Blending Tool and foam pad with Wild Honey ink and went around the edges of the card then did the same with Faded Jeans ink.

Once I had done that, I used a heat-gun to dry off the card then used my Stamp Positioner to stamp the guitar, guitar neck/fret board and the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I used a black Bic Mark-it texta to colour in the tuners so they would stand out better from the background.

I wanted to add some glittery black stars so punched out some stars from black cardstock, added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue but after it dried, they didn't look as nice as what I hoped as the glittery bits looked all uneven - and then - LIGHTBULB moment - I grabbed a piece of scrap black cardstock and inked it with Versamark Watermark ink, poured on some Polysparkle clear embossing powder and heat-set it.  Voila!   Nice and sparkly but the glitter was set in the embossing powder so a) it wasn't going to come off and go all over the card, and b) it was nice and even - which I hope you can see from the close-up photo below - hey, it looks just like the night sky!!

Then all I had to do was punch out the stars - easy, peasy!  Great way of making some glittery cardstock - and quick - and when you think about it, you have a way of making glittery cardstock in any colour to match your project if you were needing just a small amount for punching or making an embellishment.  If you don't have Polysparkle clear embossing powder, just pour some of the embossing powder into a little container and mix in some glitter and use that.

Here is a close-up of the glittery stars on the card itself:

Lastly, I added two tiny matching raw sienna brads next to the sentiment to balance the card.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Crazy 4 Challenges:  C4C118 -  New year….new ‘toys’…..new techniques. Do or use something NEW on your card/project. My 'new' technique is the glitter cardstock I made for punching my stars PLUS I am using this newly purchased stamp set for the first time.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to use it WT336 - Versamark - from a while ago.  Note SCS Challenges have no time limit - you can play anytime.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Taylored Expressions 'You're my hero'

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black, Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Faded Jeans and Wild Honey, Versamark Watermark

Accessories:   Brads - raw sienna, Polysparkle embossing powder, heat-gun, Ranger Mini Mister, Ranger Inkssentials Blending tool and foam pads (one for each colour), stamp positioner, acrylic block, Black Bic-Mark it, cardstock:  KW Doggett "Knight" white, black

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner, Carl CP-1 (small) star, Carl CP-2 (large) star

Hero Arts + Sizzix Collage background Distress Inks card

Hi blogging friends

I have been very busy these past few weeks with 2 weeks of school holidays and then my DD was off school sick = almost no crafting or blogging time.  

I also celebrated my mother's birthday, my birthday  and watched the Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar race (I love car racing!), visited the cinema and Melbourne Aquarium among other things.  Any wonder, I only managed to make 2 cards!  I must admit I been a feeling a little "dry" cardmaking-wise, however, I went to a Craft Show last weekend which is the first one I have been to for a few years and it was AWESOME!  Came away with loads of ideas (and loads of really cool stuff thanks to my birthday money) so I shall be diving headlong into my Christmas cardmaking.  Yep, Christmas displays are already in KMart and mince pies are in Woolworths.....{sigh} seems to get earlier and earlier every year.....anyway, I am waffling as usual.......

Whilst I was at the show, I did a fantastic free make-and-take workshop and made a vintagey tag using several different coloured Tim Holtz Distress Inks and was really happy with what I made.  So I pulled out a recent purchase of a Hero Arts Background Collage stamp/Sizzix embossing folder combination set and thought I would give it a whirl.  It took me a few try-outs to figure out what cardstock worked the best for me and what colour choices worked well together - so here is the final result:  

Now I have to say that this sort of cardmaking is totally out of my comfort zone and I am not about to throw my coloured pencils away, but it was really nice to try something different especially as I have been feeling so stale.

To get the background effect, I used 3 Distress ink colours and smooshed them across a non-stick craft sheet keeping the colours all separate, spritzed them with a bit of water using a Ranger Mini Mister till I saw little droplets, then wiped my cardstock through it and moved it around a little to mix the colours but not too much or you will get a browny-kind-of-mess.  I used 140 lb watercolour paper as my ordinary white cardstock couldn't handle the amount of water.  I used 3 different Distress ink pads:  Spun Sugar (pink), Bundled Sage (green) and Tumbled Glass (blue) .  I dried off the watercolour paper using my heat-gun.  I actually did 2 sheets of watercolour paper so I could stamp the butterfly again* (see below) and cut it out.

Using a Ranger Inkssentials foam tool and pad, I went around the edges with Antique Linen Distress ink, then did the same using the Spun Sugar Distress ink.   I inked up my stamp with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and stamped it over the top.  Next I ran the watercolour paper through my Big Shot using the Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder that came with the stamp. The embossing doesn't show up super-well in the photo and looks heaps better in real life.   You can see it a bit of embossing around the sentiment and butterfly but that's about all.  The large flowers around the edges are also embossed but you can't tell from my photo.  I then sprayed the watercolour paper with Pearl Glimmer Mist to give it a bit of sparkle which again isn't visible from my photo but looks very yummy in real life.

I then inked up just the butterfly* and stamped it onto the 2nd sheet of watercolour paper and cut it out, inked around the edge with Antique Linen Distress ink then smothered it in Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue and popped the butterfly centre up on dimensionals and bent the wings up a little.

Using some Kraft cardstock, I rounded 2 of the corners and went around the edges with Spun Sugar + Antique Linen Distress ink.  I pulled out some pink seam binding which I dyed myself a while ago using Jo Sonja acrylic paint mixed with Jo Sonja Textile Medium and attached this to the watercolour paper in 2 separate elements (the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy), then layered the panel onto the Kraft cardstock.

I decided to add some Hero Arts heart pearls to the sentiment to make it stand out a little more.

Now it all sounds like a lot of steps and fiddling but now that I know how to actually do this type of card, ie: what colours look nice together, what cardstock works etc. etc., to make another card the same would probably take 1/10th of the time it took to make this one!  And I do love how it turned out and it was sooooo much fun to make a mess (which I am really good at doing!!) and make something totally different.  I am not sure where you would call this card Distressed, Shabby Chic or Vintage (or something from my compost bin??) - I am a bit clueless so I'll pop this card into all 3 categories on my blog sidebar. 

I found a video made by The Master himself (Tim Holtz) which shows how to do the inked background.  The type of background I did starts at 1 minute 56 seconds into the video.  Enjoy!

Challenges:

I am entering my card into the following challenge -

Splitcoaststampers - Free for all Friday F4A85 Make your own background

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the world!  

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Hero Arts Collage background stamp #657766 (in set with emb.folder)

Ink:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Spun Sugar, Bundled Sage, Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen, Versafine Vintage Sepia

Accessories:  Big Shot, Sizzix Collage background Textured Impressions embossing folder #657766, Ranger Inkssentials Blending tool and foam pads, Ranger Mini Mister (filled with water), non-stick craft sheet, 140lb Watercolour paper, hand-dyed seam binding, Bow Easy, Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist, Hero Arts CH173 Heart Accent pearls, Kindygliz Crystalina, dimensionals, heat-gun, cardstock:  American Krafts

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner punch