Penny Black Christmas Friends Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

Today I am sharing my final Christmas card for 2013 which was one that I made for my wonderful husband.   I am very fortunate that my husband doesn't mind cute and adorable images on his cards so that gives me a plethora of images to choose from!

The image is from the Penny Black clear set:  Christmas Friends, and was stamped using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink and coloured using a mix of Tombow pens and watercolour pencils.  I actually messed up the colouring on the hedgehog's scarf so I re-stamped the image onto the same designer paper I used on the side panel and fussy-cut the scarf and glued it over the messed-up scarf.  I often forget about paper-piecing my images so it was a good reminder to myself to do it a little more often!  I added some grey shading using a Tombow Pen to give the scarf a little bit of 'life'.

I chalked around the image with blue chalk for the sky and brown/grey chalk for the ground.

I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the mistletoe that the robin is holding as well as the centres on the tiny snowflakes on the sentiment (not that you can see it in the photo!).  I also added red rhinestones to each side of the sentiment circle.

The green cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools; the red cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/8".

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Christmas Friends clear set PB-30-084, Lili of the Valley (UK) Christmas Circular Sentiments Set 5 # SET005

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer paper:  Kaisercraft Santa's List (2013)

Accessories:  140lb watercolour paper, Big Shot, Lifestyle Nesting Circle + Nesting Scallop Circle dies, Kaszazz 43mm circle punch, Perfect Layers Tools, Tombow Pens, Faber-Castell + Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils, paintbrush, Doodlebug Ladybug twine, Fray Stop, red rhinestones (from stash), Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue,  Kaisercraft chalks, cardstock - red, green

Punches:  Fiskars Scallop border

SCS October Fan Club Brayered Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

When I saw that the Splitcoaststampers October Fan Club challenge was "sleigh", I thought I would use a silhouette Santa and sleigh image over a brayered background just for something a little different to the norm.  Now, I haven't used my brayer for ages so it took a bit of getting used to again as I practiced and practiced on my glossy cardstock.  With the help of my blogging friend Shaz's brayer instructions/tips (from her blog Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz), I managed to tame the brayer beast enough to be happy enough with what I achieved.  And I hardly made any mess which is a first for me as when I have brayered in the past, I have had ink everywhere and just got so frustrated and annoyed with myself.  I think perhaps that learning the right technique has had a lot to do with it.  I do LOVE the look of brayered backgrounds and I should use the technique more often now that I have a little more confidence - thanks Shaz :-) 

 

The Inkadinkado Silhouettes stamp set that I used for the trees and the Santa plus sleigh is RETIRED but Inkadinkado have a different Silhouette set which would suffice HERE (my link goes to 123 Stitch in the USA who I have been buying from for several years - they are fantastic!).  Visible Image Stamps (from the UK) have a Sleigh Silhouette stamp HERE (I have bought from them before but not for a couple of years).  And lastly, Impression Obsession have a Santa and sleigh die HERE (this is an Aussie store as an example who I buy from alot - also fantastic - but if you are not in Australia, you should easily be able to buy this die from elsewhere).  There are tons of brands of tree stamps around so I won't bother listing any as you should be able to find a similar tree somewhere - plus you could even use a tree die instead.

The ink that I used for the brayered blue background is by Kaleidacolor - Blue Breeze - and as you can see, I went from dark blue at the top to light blue at the bottom.  For some reason, the photo looks a bit patchy on my blog post but the photo I am using from my laptop has the colour graduation super-smooth - weird - although I did use a different photo editing program as the LCD screen on our main home computer failed yesterday and I don't have the same editing program on my laptop. 

I stamped the trees using Stazon Jet Black and stamped some without re-inking to give the impression of depth.  The Santa and Sleigh Silhouette was also stamped with Jet Black ink and I practiced on a few scrap pieces of glossy cardstock beforehand because the stamp slips very easily when you stamp it on this particular type of cardstock which will blur the image and spoil it.  I diecut a small circle of glossy cardstock for the moon and sponged on some Colorbox Bisque (yellow) chalk ink with a sponge then stamped part of the silhouette image on the moon and simply glued the circle to the background matching up the reindeer.  I have found this method works better for me than masking off a circle for the moon and then brayering over the top as I would always end up with ragged edges on the moon and I just didn't like how it looked.  Either that or the ink would soak through the mask which would ruin the whole effect :-(  The method I use is far simpler and waaaay easier.

Once the trees were dry, I rubbed my Anti-Static pad over the bottom of the trees and stamped my sentiment using Versamark Watermark ink and heat-set it using White Detail embossing powder.  Whilst it was still hot, I poured on Bubble Fizz fine glitter and then heat-set it again - but you have to be careful not to overheat the embossing or it will go flat.

I used a finger dauber and Ranger Picket Fence (white) Crackle Distress Paint to sponge around the edges of my image panel to give the impression of cold, snowy conditions.  The white dots of snow on the trees were done with a Uniball Signo White pen which I picked up from my local newsagent.

Here is a close-up of the reindeer:

Did you notice the tiny little red nose?  No?  Click on the image to see a bigger view.  See it now?   I didn't have a rhinestone or pearl tiny enough so I used my Ruby Red Liquid Pearls.  Again, I practiced on a scrap piece of glossy cardstock so I knew how much to squeeze the bottle to get a tiny little dot.   It is hard to tell in the photo but I went around the edge of the main panel with Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue then popped the panel up on dimensionals.

The designer papers are by Lili of the Valley (UK) from their Frosty pad.  I again used Picket Fence paint around the edges of the base panel.  The side panel was punched using an EK Success Scalloped Scallops border punch.   All the layers were trimmed to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools.

The white organza ribbon was attached in a separate elements and the bow itself was made using my Bow Easy which was glued on using Fabric Glue.  I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.

I didn't really want to do too much embellishing as is my usual style and thought just adding the 3 diecut My Favorite Things Snowflakes was enough.  I only glued down the centres using Tombow Mono glue and bent the points up a little.  I added a light blue Kaisercraft rhinestone to the centres.

Challenges:

Apart from the SCS Fan Club Challenge, I am entering my card in the following challenge -

My Creative Moments - October Wordplay Challenge of 'Anything'.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Inkadinkado Silhouettes #97289 (RETIRED), Sentiment - Crafty Kids (now Kaszazz) 113K

Ink:  Kaleidacolor Blue Breeze dye, Versamark Watermark, Stazon Jet Black, Colorbox Chalk Bisque

Designer Paper:  Lili of the Valley (UK) Frosty - 8" x 8" pad

Accessories:  Glossy cardstock, brayer, Perfect Layers Tools, Ruby Red Liquid Pearls, 3/8" or 10mm wide white organza ribbon, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, finger dauber, sponge, Uniball Signo White pen UM-120AC, Alison Ellis Design White Detail embossing powder, Alison Ellis Design Bubble Fizz fine glitter, Anti-Static pad, Big Shot, Lifestyle Nesting circle die, MFT Die-namics Snowflake die (I used the smallest one from the Snowflake Trio set), Ranger Picket Fence Crackle Distress Paint, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Kaisercraft light blue rhinestones SB774, dimensionals, heat-gun, fabric glue, Tombow Mono glue

Punches:  EK Success Scalloped Scallops border

Elzybells: George - and his dragon

Hello and welcome to my little Blog :-)

My DD received a party invitation a few days ago to a boy's 7th birthday party which was held on Saturday afternoon.  Eek - not much notice and not much time to make a card because I had lots of running around to do during the week but I managed to squeeze the card in somehow.  It was rather fortunate that I had a Lego set put away in the cupboard which I had bought on sale - what better image to match the Lego set (see below) than my Elzybells Knight and Dragon stamp which I still had on my desk from the card  I uploaded here to my Blog a week or so ago.

And here is the card:

I'm also popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers "Ways to use it Challenge" WT167 of Masculine.

The Cuttlebugging was done with my Quickutz Diamond and Dots embossing folder, then I lightly sanded the embossing.  The image was coloured with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils then I lightly chalked around the image with my Kaisercolour chalks.  I used my Kaszazz distressing rubber stamps with my Hero Arts 'Soft Sand' Shadow ink around the edges of the image, the sentiment and the designer paper, then grabbed my seasponge and smooched the same ink around the edges of each layer on the card.

The sentiment was stamped with Burnt Sienna ink and was popped up on 2mm mounts (dimensionals).  The ribbon was made in 2 separate elements 'cos I like neat ribbons on my cards!

I recently purchased a Bazzill In 'Stitch'z Mat which I used underneath my piercer - it is really thick and works 100 times better than my old mouse mat and I ended up with a much neater row of dots.   

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back tomorrow with another card.

Jocelyn 

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Elzybells - 'George' 16-031, Kaszazz - Crackle and Cross-hatch stamp (comes in a set of 4 unmounted), Kaszazz Birthday Postage Mark

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Hero Arts 'Soft Sand' Shadow, Colorbox Burnt Sienna Chalk

Designer paper:  K & Co. Brookfield Vintage Diamonds

Accessories:  Gamsol, Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, Kaisercolour chalks, Cuttlebug, Quickutz Diamond & Dots embossing folder, 2mm mounts (dimensionals), Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, 15mm - 5/8" wide double-sided satin ribbon (Spotlight), glue dots (to attach ribbon), 3 decorator brass round brads - American Traditional Designs CA-0013, sandpaper, paper piercer, Bazzill In 'Stitch'z piercing mat, seasponge, Martha Stewart Arch Lattice edge punch, Cardstock: white, khaki green, Colormates deep desert dune

Elzybells: George - In days of old, when Knights were bold.......

Hello everyone!  Hope you had a lovely Easter.  

I made this card for my soon-to-be 5 year old nephew and used one of my favourite sketches for the layout from the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long blog.  This sketch is by Maria Bell and is from way back in October 2009 - see this link for the details and here is a copy of the Sketch.  I'm a huge fan of Maria Bell - she is so incredibly talented and I really love her Sketches. 

 

And here is my card:

I have a folder will all my favourite card layouts/sketches which are great for looking through when I'm a bit low on my mojo.

Isn't this Elzybells image just so perfect for boy's cards?  Although my DD said she wants it on her birthday card except that the dragon will HAVE to be pink (of course - what else?!).  The image was coloured with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils and I lightly chalked around the image with my Kaisercolour chalks.  The sentiment is also from Elzybells and because I bought it unmounted, it meant I could separate (ie: cut) the words so it would fit inside the oval panel (note: I can no longer find it on their website but Elzy has plenty of other birthday sentiments that would work just as well).  I added an 'old gold' brad either side of the sentiment.

I had a go at putting some Tim Holtz 'Antique Linen' Distress Ink around the edges of each panel using my new Ranger Ink Blender tool which the Postie delivered last Thursday.   I am not very confident with distressing and aging cards but I am trying to learn (even if I think my distressed cards look like something from my compost bin!).  I "re-discovered" an unmounted Kaszazz stamp in my stash that puts crackle lines on  your cardstock, so pulled out my Hero Arts Shadow ink and proceeded to splot the crackle lines around the main image panel, the sentiment panel and the designer paper.  

The dry embossing is the Cuttlebug Moroccan screen embossing folder which I lightly sanded before adding the Distress ink around the edges.  Both the image and sentiment panels were popped up on mounts (dimensionals).   The brads underneath the ribbon have been kicking around my craft room for over a year but seemed to be just perfect for the card.

Thanks for stopping by to have a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Elzybells - 'George' 16-031 & Happy Birthday sentiment, Kaszazz - Crackle stamp (comes in a set of 4 unmounted)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Tim Holtz 'Antique Linen' Distress Ink, Hero Arts 'Soft Sand' Shadow ink

Designer Paper:  Fancy Pants - Papa "Courageous"

Accessories:  Gamsol, Prismacolor pencils, paper stumps, Kaisercolour chalks, Cuttlebug, Moroccan Screen embossing folder, 1 and 2mm mounts (dimensionals), Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities, Ranger Ink Blender tool, 10mm - 3/8" wide pale olive grosgrain ribbon, glue dot, 2 small 'old gold' brads, 3 decorator brass round brads - American Traditional Designs CA-0013, Cardstock: pale olive, rust, white, Colormates deep outdoorsy olive (pretty cool name for a cardstock colour eh?!)