Joy To The World

Hello there,

I hope that you're all keeping well and happy and finding time to craft. 

I'm here today to share with you a card that I've made for this week's 52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown.  It's a Technique challenge this time of 'Emboss Resist' and here's the card that I've made:

I decided that I wanted my finished card to conjurer up images of Christmas morning,  so I started by stamping the sentiment and the snowflakes with a clear Versa Mark embossing ink and then heat embossing over a clear detailed embossing power to create the 'Resist Technique.'  I then set about creating an early morning sky by colouring with various inks using my Ink Dusters.  Inks used were:

• Adirondack -  Butterscotch, Peach Bellini and Denim
• Impress - Old Rose, Slate Gray
• Memento Lulu Lavender, Tuxedo Black

All the stamps that I've used were freebies from a 'Simply Cards & Papercraft' magazine that I bought a couple of weeks ago and I used a Versafine Black Onyx to stamp in the houses at the bottom of the card as I find that it gives the best coverage. I felt that the finished image was still missing something and so I used a white Jelly Roll pen to dot on some snowflakes.  I mounted the finished image several times, including on a white embossed snowflake background to give the card a little more dimension.

I have to admit that I had several attempts at this challenge before finally settling on one that I was vaguely happy with.  Ordinarily, I would create a scene and then use white embossing powder to give the detail that I wanted but it's much harder stamping with a clear ink when you can't really see where you're going with it, or where you've already been!

Hope to be back with you all soon x

Evening in Africa

Good morning,

Are you like me and just love weekends?  It's fabulous having time to play, especially when I have so many new stamps that I need to try out.  It's like doing a 'Big Shop' as Peter Kay would say and not knowing what to eat first!  I'm absolutely loving the new Serengeti stamps by Inkylicious.  I bought both sets when I went to Stamp Magic at Doncaster last Sunday and I can really see me getting lots of use out of them, especially for masculine cards.

Here's a card that I've made with them for this week's challenge over at 'Allsorts'  Their challenge is to use Orange/Purple/Black or any two.

I decided to use all three colours as these would be perfect to use with my new stamps.  I gently dusted over the card with a Lemon ink and then masked off the sun.  Next, I gently sponged around the sun with Adirondack Mountain Rose to give more depth and to give the effect of a setting sun.  I was brave enough to spray my Ink Dusters with water and then drag them over the card to give a different effect, although it doesn't show too well in the photograph.  I just got away with it; but you have to be really quick when using a matt white card as I've done,  I did this with Impress Tangerine Ink.  I masked off the mountains and then dusted and sponged them with Memento Lulu Lavender ink.  All stamps used and been stamped with Versafine Black Onyx.  Once I was happy with the card, I then dusted around the edge of the card with the purple ink to bring it all together.

Birds On A Wire

Hello there,

Just a quick post today with a card that I've made for this week's 'Less is More' challenge which is a sketch.   When I saw the sketch, I knew that my birds on a wire stamp would be perfect for this challenge and here's the card that I've made:

 Here's the sketch that I've used:

I knew that I would be water colouring the birds and so I heat embossed them with a detailed black embossing powder.  This provides a barrier for the paint and also gives the image a nice, crisp outline.

The stamps that I've used are all by Inkylicious and the inks that I've used are:

• Versafine - Black Onyx
• Impress - Lemon Yellow, Mustard, Pale Aqua, tangerine
• Distress - Fire Bricked Red

Enjoy the rest of your evening and I'll be back with you again tomorrow with more of this weekend's makes. :)

Serengeri Sunset

Hello again.

I've been having a play with some of my new stamps and I've made a card to enter into this week's Less is More challenge, their theme is Masculine. 


I started by using a circular mask and then colouring it with Ink Dusters to create the sun.  The inks that I used were Impress Lemon Yellow and Adirondack Mountain Rose.  I also sponged a little of the Mountain Rose around the edge to give more of a definite shape.  The stamps that I've used are new from Inkylicious and are from the Serengeti 2 set which I bought at the stamp show earlier today.  The sentiment stamp is also by Inkylicious.  I mounted the cream card onto black to match the silhouette stamps that I've used on the main image.  Enjoy the rest of today and I wish you all well, Sandma x

The Wild Woods

Hello, I hope that you're all enjoying a relaxing weekend.  I've had a lovely weekend which included a trip this morning to the 'Stamp Magic' show at Doncaster, needless to say, I bought lots of goodies which I hope to share with you soon.

The card that I'm sharing with you today is one that I've made for this week's 52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown which is called 'The Wild Woods.'

I decided to create a wintry scene and then use my Memory Box deer as the animals in the wood.  I used a winter branch stamped with various shades of green at the top of the card to give the feeling of being in a wood and then used a 'Jack in the Green' stamp as a creature unseen.  It's a stamp that I bought from 'Make Your Mark' in York.  I've had it for many years now but not really had the opportunity to use it before.  I finished the card of by giving it some dimension using an Ivy die which I bought today.  I used gold gilding wax on some of the leaves to give some variation in colour, I also think that green and gold work together beautifully on a Christmas cards.  I quite like the fact that it's turned out quite different from a traditional Christmas card.

The Jack in the Green stamp is from Make your Mark in York and all other stamps used are by Sheena Douglass.  The Ivy die is by Britannia.

Inks used on this card are:

• Memento - Northern Pine
• Impress - Olive Green
• Impress - Emerald
• Distress - Stormy Sky

Blue Christmas

Hello my crafty friends, I hope that you've all had a lovely weekend.

I'm here today to share with you a card that I've made for 52 (Christmas) card throwdown.  Their theme this time is a colour challenge to use blue or purple and a metallic colour.  I think that blue works really well on Christmas scenes and so this was my choice.

I started by masking the moon and hills with acetate and then sponging them with Adirondack Denim.  This is the only colour that I've used  on this card.   Once the hills were in place, I then stamped in the trees and log cabin.  The stamps that I've used are by Stampin Up, Lindsay Mason and Inkylicious.  I finished the card by adding silver peel off stars to give my metallic element.

Colours of Autumn

Hello there,

I'm here today to share a card with you that I've made for this month's challenge over at 'Stamping Sensations' and their theme this time is the 'Colours of Autumn.' 

I started by stamping onto peach card with a Big and Juicy (Spice) ink. The stamps that I used for this are by Chocolate Baroque and I especially love the fern stamp which creates a lovely bold print.  As a contrast to this, I wanted to give the main focal image a sense of space by using just a single image in the middle and leaving lots of open space around it.  The tree and sentiment stamps are both by Inkylicious and I've stamped them using the same Big and Juicy ink pad to keep the colour consistent.  After trying various colours to mount the card on, I felt that the deep red worked best of all.

Winter Cabin

Hello on this misty Autumn morning.

As the days and weeks seem to be whizzing by, I though that it was time to get out my Christmas stamps and make a start.  It's always fun to join in card challenges and so I'm sharing a card with you that I've made for this week's challenge over at '52 Christmas Card Throwdown.' See the sketch below.

I started by taking a piece of square white card and used circular dies to cut out an aperture and to make a frame for the image.  The Stamp that I've used is a new one from Inkylicious called Winter Cabin which fit perfectly into the aperture.  I stamped over a background which I had previously made using pastels and I then used Stickles and Fluffy Stuff to create the snow. The sentiment is also by Inkylicious. The embossing folder that I used to make the border was a freebie out of a Card Making and Papercraft magazine that I bought a couple of weeks ago. I dusted over the pattern with Distress Broken China and then around the outer edge of the card with Memento LuLu Lavendar.  I finished that card by adding a Poinsettia that I made using a Marianne Die.  

Tic Tac Toe

Good Afternoon.  It's a lovely sunny day here in Yorkshire and I hope the sun is shining wherever you are.

I'm here today to share with you a card that I've made for the 'Tic Tac Toe' challenge over at Vintage Stamping.  This is a new thing to me but I thought it was I great idea to be able to choose the different options, although in some ways it was harder to make the final decision.  In the end, I chose: People, Metal Brads and Blue and Brown.  
I think that blue and brown are a fabulous colour combination and so my first task was to make the background,  I used Ink Dusters to give a gentle dusting of Memento Teal Zeal over the white card and then used various stamps from Inkylicious' Elements1 set to create my background design.  I used the Teal Zeal, Memento Rich Cocoa and Distress Tea Die to do this. As the background is quite busy, I decided to make the tag quite simple.  The face is also from the Elements 1set and the sentiment is Oriental Awakening by Inkylicious.  I made the flower by using my Spellbinders Delicate Asters stamps and dies.  I used the same blue colour to continue the theme and then finished the card by adding brass brads to each corned and a diamond brad to the center of my flower.  It was still missing a little something and so I used a couple of die cut brown swirls to give me card the completed look.  Here's the finished card:

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges: