Matching Christmas Cards

Been busy this week making 12 cards to go with the MDF bag i made last week.

It was a lengthy process as there were many layers to create, images to be stamped and hand cut and white card to be kept clean.

Tried to create an Aurora Australis for my non-traditional Christmas theme colours. This is part of the Challenge requirements over at Christmas Fun Challenge.

Took white card from stash, cut into A6 sized pieces and used Pan Pastels to create the background (Turquoise Shade, Pthalo Blue,Ultramarine and Violet) added Dylusions Spray ‘After Midnight’ and ‘Martini’ to get the deep colours of the Aurora onto the card.

I enjoyed adding the Dylusions Spray to the sky, used three different baby wipes (per colour) to get the desired look.

Dropped a tiny amount of the ink onto a plastic lid and dipped baby wipe 1 into it. Smooshed the colour onto the sky, dried with a heat gun. Took baby wipe 2 and removed some of the colour and smooshed again then dried. Took baby wipe number 3 and wiped the colour towards the top of the card. By moving the colour upwards in a wavy line it looks a tad like the ribbons within the Aurora.

Repeated this with the lovely Martini Dylusions Spray colour, this time i added the tiniest amount as i didn’t want it to be too strong, just a hint is enough.

The sand is also Pan Pastels this time the Ochre shades and Burnt Umber, left the area under the sky lighter to try and create some depth.

Wanted the sand to sparkle a tad, mixed some Rich Gold Pan Pastel with warm water, mixed it thoroughly and then sprayed onto the card.

A macro image shows the lustre of the Rich gold and how subtle it looks.

Next it was the fiddly jobs, cutting out the stars and colouring the Stampotique characters of, Twinkie, Daniel’s Tree Topper, Teddy and Tinglyitchiness.

Used Andy Skinners Hippy Chick stencil for the stars, Fresco Paints to colour the characters and the stars.

Used Black Archival ink for all the stamping.

Coloured them on the reverse of tissue paper (normal household tissues). When dry they are easier to work with.

Stamped O Tree from Stampotique onto old book paper and ripped the shape by hand so as to get a non straight edge. This helps the edges disappear when you add the adhesive.

 

Here are the individual elements ready to be assembled. The sentiments are from Dyan Reaveley’s Christmas Plate.

Like to stamp the reverse of the cards, this year i have chosen this sentiment which was a freebie from Craft Stamper Magazine.

Made inners that match but used 2nd generation images as wanted a watermark effect.

Stamped Characters onto metallic envelopes to match the cards.

Finally the completed cards.

Protected in bubble wrap they are being put away and given as an Christmas present.

Thanks you for sticking with the post, it feels like it is one of the longest i have written.

Apologies for some of the images, they were taken during the night.

Would love to read your comments if you have the energy to leave some, thanks for dropping by.

xxx

SDC131: Stars Take Two

Over at Stampotique Designers Blog they are having another week of Stars. Some of the entries are stunning i hope you pop over and take a look.

Over at Paper Artsy this week they have a new Guest Designer, Ellen Vargo. I am new to Ellen’s work but she has an amazing eye for colour and abstract design. Over the last three evenings she has shown us how to create tags, cards and then a framed piece of Art.

I don’t understand abstract but i do understand layering and the concept of using lighter colours first and adding darker colours on top. What Ellen has helped me to learn is how to use these techniques with stamps and stencils.

I decided to have a play but instead of using very bright colours and using paint i chose to use Pan Pastels.

Chose colours, Yellow Ochre Shade, Yellow Ochre, Burnt sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Pthalo Blue, Turquoise Shade and Purple, same as i used on my SDC131 Challenge piece over on my Wordpress Blog. This picture was taken early morning and the colours are not as they appear above, they can be seen in their correct colours here.

I used half an A4 sheet of card stock from stash and coloured it using the lighter shades first, then added the blues and purple over the top, decided to use a larger piece of foam to get long lines of colour and didn’t blend them.

Decided to remove some of the top colour by using a mechanical eraser through a stencil (Andy Skinner Hippy Chick). Then used the tip of the eraser to remove more colour by making small circles. Kay from Indigo Blue uses one called a Whizzy Eraser but i managed to purchase one from my local Stationers which also sells the refills called a Jokar.

Went around both the stars and circles with a black pen and then added an inner circle with a white pen, repeated this with the stars but added a stitch border to them. Not too sure if i should have done this as the main image is supposed to be stamped in black so it becomes the main focal point.

Added the book page pieces and adhered them using clear Gesso, then following Ellen’s instructions i blended these into the background by adding some of the colours i had already used.

Stamped images onto the card using Paper Artsy HP1004 and HP1006 plates, the script and the bullseye. Used my new Inkadinkado Gear Bar to stamp the border and the flowers in Misty Blue and White Versacolour Ink for the bullseye, used Jo Firth Young stamps for the main focal image from plate JOFY12. The sentiments are from Get Stamping Magazine Free plate from Issue 6.

Made a mistake when cutting up the background and cut the half A4 into 4 instead of two so have got myself smaller cards which are 4.5 x 3.2 inches.

I like these more muted cards and will use this technique again and again. As it turns out i actually like this abstract idea so thanks To Ellen and Paper Artsy for my newly learned technique.

All four of the cards together. Hope you like them too. Looking forward to your comments. xxx

Paper Artsy Challenge JAL

I hope Julie Ann will forgive me for using her initials in the title, i think they look great!

Over at Paper Artsy this week they have introduced a new Guest Designer called Julie Ann Lee, she is an amazing Crafter, very talented and makes some beautiful things, you really should visit her Blog, i am sure you won’t be able to tear yourself away.

Julie Ann has made the most amazing casket which she blogged over three nights. She has inspired me to alter an MDF Handbag as i don’t have any boxes at the moment.This is the front of the finished Handbag.

This could turn into a very heavy picture post, thought i would spare you by not posting every one i took. I hope the following images give you a flavour of how it was put together.

Base coated in Snowflake Fresco then a layer of Nougat then used Grunge Paste through a couple of stencils.

Used a number of Fresco Paints to get this finish, wanted to see if i could achieve a summer scene.Forgot to take any pictures between the base and the above lol.

 

Took a break from the project as i couldn’t find a Story for the Handbag, nor could i think of what to include as the secret stuff inside, it is at least completed, now for the inside bits.

Forgot to say i have used Inktense Pencils to colour the moths and have added a lot of Treasure Gold to the flowers, the feet and the handle. Everything else fresco Paints.

The Handbag

This Handbag belongs to an older lady who loves to garden, amongst other pastimes. She loves a bit of sparkle and has a wicked sense of humour but she is often quiet and so not everyone knows her.

She keep things to remind her of her Dad who introduced her to planting and pruning and reading gardening books. So many wonderful flowers to choose from…

She keeps a little note pad in her bag as her memory isn’t what it was.

She can make notes, write down things to do and remember birthdays while she is down the bottom of her garden waiting for the Garden Fairies to visit.

She has a few other bits and bobs in there too.

Plant Markers.

String.

Buttons come in useful for many things but mostly they cheer her up.

Fish Meal to feed her vegetables.

Ah yes, reminders of her time with her Dad when they used to collect flower and vegetable cards.

A few of her special favourites she always carries with her. Here is the handbag full of the above items. Wonder if she’s seen the spiders, argh!

Time to leave all the special bits in the house while she visits with her Garden Fairies.

Hope you like the Handbag, the story and the secret bits she carries with her, do you know who she is?

Is she You?

Well i see i have overdone the pictures again, sorry!!! Hope you have enjoyed visiting and leave a comment so i can see if you have or not.

I Believe!

Do you?