Saturday, September 24, 2011

Stampendous Freeze + Snuggly Kitties Christmas Snow Globe



Hi blogging friends Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net

I have been working on a little Christmas project to give to my DD for Christmas.  You may think it's too early for Christmas things, but the way the year is flying by (or should I say: "speeding up" LOL!!), I thought I should get myself into gear.

Late last year, I bought a couple of "do-it-yourself" Snow Globes from Riot Art and Craft but ran out of time to do them, so I pulled them out the other day and set to work.  They are very easy to do and so much fun - and so darned hard to photograph due to the reflection!  So forgive me for the bit of reflection - this was as good as I could get it after taking tons of photos at all different times of the day and on different weather days, ie: cloudy or sunny - in the shade or with different backgrounds - oh well!   In the end, I found my deck chair with the black background seemed to yield the best photo.  Here are a couple of photos of the various bits of the snowglobe so you can see the different elements.  This one is the underneath of the snowglobe with the base taken off:-


In the photo above, you should see the foam which is in the centre of the globe and you use it as a template for cutting your cardstock to just the right size.  Of course, you do 2 images - one for either side of the snowglobe - and I decided to do 2 different Stampendous images.  You must make sure that any embellies like the snowflakes, pearls etc. do NOT stick out too much or you will have trouble fitting the images back in with the foam.  I used Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock with Crystal glitter mixed in for the snow underneath the images, the mitten cuffs and on the hats - which worked out perfectly because it doesn't stick out much.  I love how soft and fluffy it looks.   The images slot in either side of the foam.  Here are some pics of the two images ready to slide into the globe:


This next photo show the round plastic base that you put on the bottom of the globe which will stop your images from coming out.  It just clicks on.


And here is a photo of the other side of the globe once I had put the 2nd image in.  I tried to capture some of the glittery snow falling.  Are you dreaming of a white Christmas?!!  Bet you're singing it now (I know I am LOL!!).


Both pictures were coloured with Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits.  I masked off the sentiment on the Cuddly Kitties stamp.  Here is picture of the stamp so you know what I mean:

Image is copyright Stampendous

I used the head of a pin to add small dots of white acrylic paint to the scarf and hats on the kitties plus the scarf on the snowman.  The snowflakes were punched with a Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch (they are the leftover punchies) - and I added green rhinestones to the snowflake centres on the teddy and snowman image - and white pearls to the snowflake centres on the cuddly kitties image.  I only glued down the centres of the snowflakes and bent the snowflake outer bits up a little to give them some dimension.  I lightly chalked around the images with Kaisercolour blue chalk for the sky.  And as mentioned above, I added Stampendous Fun Flock mixed with glitter for all the fluffy white bits.  I adhered it with some craft glue.

Challenges:

I am entering my snow globe in the following challenges -

Sweet Stamps - Challenge #33 - Anything but a card

Anything Goes Challenge Blog - Challenge #50 - Anything goes

On my next post, I will share the matching card and tag that I am working on.  Stay tuned!!
Thanks for stopping by! Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net  

Jocelyn


Snow Globe Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous F166 Snuggly Kitties (masked off sentiment) + Stampendous D145 Freeze! (snowman and bear)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Blank Snowglobes - Riot Art and Craft, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, Odourless Mineral Spirits, paper stumps, white acrylic paint, pin (for dipping in paint to make the dots on the scarf), Kaiser green rhinestones, Kaiser Snow white pearls, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Stampendous Cotton White flock, crystal glitter, craft glue, Cardstock:  KW Doggett "Knight" white, sky blue

Monday, September 12, 2011

Penny Black: Butterfly Bear Birthday card



Hi blogging friends Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net    

I made a birthday card for my Godfather's partner who is a bright, bubbly and happy lady who means the world to me.  As this particular lady loves bright colours, I went for a bright lilac colour which I know she will love.

The background designer paper was a rather plain looking lilac sheet from my Prima 'Sweet Fairy' 6" x 6" pad so I decided to jazz it up a little by stamping all over it with a little butterfly stamp from the Penny Black set 'Garden Friends'.  I stamped it using Versacolor Lilac pigment ink as well as Versamagic Pretty Petunia chalk ink (the Pretty Petunia colour is the darker purple shade that you can see if you peer closely!).

Then I grabbed a flower from my Penny Black set 'Wonderful' and stamped that all over with Elzybells Sugar Candy (white) pigment ink. I then heat-set the paper to dry off the pigment ink otherwise it would have smeared.   The effect of the stamping is very subtle but made the designer paper look a little more interesting than just using it as it was.  Of course, much of it is covered by all the other stuff on the card now - but it was really an experiment at seeing what I could do with a plain sheet and it was fun to play around.

The teddy (also a Penny Black stamp) was stamped onto watercolour paper using Versafine Onyx black ink and coloured with watercolour pencils and a paintbrush.  I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina to the butterflies which you might be able to see in this wee close-up (note you can click on it if you want a bigger piccy).  This image panel is also up on dimensionals.


The side panel was embossed with my Craft Concepts - Budding Vine embossing folder and the gorgeous border punch is a Martha Stewart edge punch called 'Vintage Floral'.  Isn't it fab?!!  The white lace is over 30 years old which I inherited from my parent's wool and haberdashery store.  I should use more lace on cards - I really love how it looks.  It was sheer luck that the Lilac Twine matched the card perfectly.  Usually I choose my ribbon when I pick my cardstock colour so that I am not left with a card and no matching ribbon which makes me crazy!  I love it when everything you find just seems to match perfectly.

I diecut a tag and stamped the sentiment which is from the Penny Black 'Critter Party' clear set.  I added two tiny hearts which are the leftover punches from using my EK Success Arrows border punch - the punchies look like tiny hearts to me.  I added some Kindyglitz to them as well.

The paper flowers are from Enthaily Wholesale (an Aussie company) and the dark green foliage was made using a Martha Stewart Branch punch.  I did actually remove the green base from underneath the flowers because the green didn't match my card (it was too yellowy-green) so I punched some stars with a Carl CP1 Star punch using the same dark green cardstock as for the foliage and simply glued them underneath the flowers.  I attached the foliage and flowers with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue (LOVE this stuff!).

Lastly I glued on some heart-shaped buttons.

Challenges:

I am entering my card into the following challenges -

Makin' it Colourful - Challenge #34 - Make it purple

PaperPlay Challenges - Week 36 - use 2 or more stamped images.  I have used the teddy stamp plus the other 2 stamps (butterfly and flower) to make the background designer paper.

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On a completely different topic, I have stepped down from the Fat Cat's Design Team which I have been part of for about a year.  Thanks to Kaaren (the owner) for having me - it's been a fab experience and I have learned so much!  Of course, I will still be blogging and cardmaking - nothing will change in that regard.  In fact, here is a little sneaky peak of part of a project I have been working on........hmmmmm.....I wonder what it might be.........



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As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me.  You will find my email address on the LH sidebar of my blog - just scroll down till you see the little smiley face.  Or just leave a comment below and I will update this post if need be.  Thanks so much for stopping by Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black clear sets - 'Make a wish' sentiment from Critter Party 30-013, 'Flower' from Wonderful 30-029 and 'Butterfly' from Garden Friends 30-021, Penny black wood-mounted 'Butterfly Bear' 3696H

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black, Versamagic Pretty Petunia chalk, Versacolor Lilac pigment, Elzybells Sugar Candy (white) pigment ink (no longer available)

Designer paper:  Prima Sweet Fairy 6" x 6" pad

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Tiny Tags dies, Craft Concepts Budding Vine embossing folder, Spellbinder Labels 12 nestabilities, Kindyglitz Crystalina, paper flowers - Enthaily Wholesale, lilac twine - The Twinery,  lace - stash, 140lb Watercolour paper, Faber-Castell and Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, paintbrush, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue, heart buttons - Spotlight, dimensionals, heat-gun, Cardstock:  lilac, lavender, forest green

Punches:  Martha Stewart Vintage Floral edge, EK Success Arrows border, Martha Stewart branch, Carl CP-1 Star

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Stamp-It Australia - Riverbank - Father's Day card



Hi blogging friends Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net  

Sorry I haven't been around.  My mother was rushed to hospital with severe chest pains and of course, the first thing I thought of when I received the phone call, was that she was having a heart attack, but thankfully, it wasn't and she is home again now and the pain is gone.  The doctors still don't know why she was having the chest pain so it's all a bit of a mystery.   She has had a ton of tests, CT scans - you name it, she's has had it - but nothing came up.  I am not sure whether I am more worried now or less worried - at least if we all knew why she had such severe pain, we could deal with it and of course, we don't want her to be sick - it's just, not knowing is stressful for Mum and for the rest of the family, and it robs Mum of her confidence for going out to do shopping or just hop in the car and drive down the street.   Needless to say, I have not had my mind on cardmaking or even had time to nosey around blogs.  Thank you for all your wonderful comments you left on my last card - they really made my day.   I shall hope to catch up on visiting you all very soon!

I suddenly realised 2 days ago that it was Father's Day this coming Sunday and I hadn't done a card for my husband.  I even thought about buying one (eeek - oh, the horror - not to mention the how expensive they are!) and then thought that maybe sitting down doing some colouring would be good therapy and take my mind off things now that Mum was home and seemingly OK.  So, I dug out a recent purchase of a stamp by Stamp-It Australia which is a typical Australian country scene with the river red gum tree and a creek/river and attacked it madly with my watercolour pencils.  I have never coloured a "scene" before so it was a quite a challenge and certainly was stretching my abilities with watercolour pencils that's for sure!!  Waaaay out of my comfort zone!  It nearly ended up in the bin numerous times!

I did actually add a few extra lines/squiggles with a fine .005 waterproof black pen to widen the scene at the horizon and a little bit around the river bank here and there because once I trimmed the scene down, it had little blank areas that looked unfinished which didn't reach the edges of the watercolour paper.  I was so tempted to draw in a few cows or a bird but thought better of it in case I made a mess of it.

I have to say that when I ordered this stamp on-line, I didn't realise how HUGE it was until it arrived!  Oh my gosh - it's massive!   I bought it unmounted and I struggled to find a stamp block large enough to fit all the design on - so my card is definitely NOT your average-sized card by the time I added the designer paper and cardstock borders.  Just as well I am not posting it in the mail - I would be paying extra-postage that's for sure LOL!

The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley (UK) and was stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.  I masked out the 3 flowers underneath the word "Wonderful" when I inked it up and added 3 brown rhinestones to fill the gap.  I diecut the pale olive and brown cardstock with my Cuttlebug and Spellbinder Scalloped Circle Nestabilities and arranged the diecuts so that the scallops look like they are kind-of-intertwining (if that makes some sort of sense!).  It also adds a bit of extra colour to the sentiment but you are not making the sentiment any bigger in diameter.

I attached the ribbon in 2 separate pieces and the double-bow was made with my Bow Easy (LOVE this thing - so cool for making double-bows!).

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

Crazy for Challenges - C4C102 - Male themed cards

Cards for Men - G is for...... - and in my case, G is for gum tree.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I really appreciate it! Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net
 
If you are in a rush to leave a comment, scroll down past the Card Recipe on click on one of the "Reactions"! 
  
Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stamp-it Australia - Riverbank 662I, Sentiment from Lili of the Valley (UK) - Circular Sentiments - For You

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black, Versafine Vintage sepia

Designer paper:  Crate Paper - Static Collection - Gravity

Accessories:  140lb watercolour paper, Faber-Castell and Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, small #2 round paintbrush, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, .005 fine waterproof black pen, Kaiser Rhinestones SB776, Bow Easy, gingham ribbon, Cardstock:  pale olive, raw umber