Christmas Tag

I'm sorry for my long absence.  Life seems to be getting in the way recently.

I wanted to share some pictures of one of the Christmas tags that I made this year.  I was quite pleased with the way it turned out and the people who received parcels with one of these tags were delighted with them.

I used a Sizzix framelit to cut the tag base and then hand trimmed some patterned paper for the background layer.  I cut the white wicker basket from a piece of 110 lb Neenah Solar White cardstock using a Marianne Design Craftable - Basket and Blooms.  I hand cut a Neenah Desert Storm background for the basket to fill in the gaps in the wicker.  I die cut the poinsettias using Simon Says Stamp's Poinsettia Parade and arranged them so that they looked as though they were filling the basket.  I filled the centres of the flowers with tiny golden seed beads.  The bow was tied with some narrow gold wired ribbon.  I attached the finished basket to the tag using a double layer of mounting tape under the lower portion and a couple of rolled glue dots under the handle.  The sentiment was stamped with an Impression Obsession rubber stamp using Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black.  Here is a close up showing the dimension of the tag.

 

I am entering this tag in the "Anything Goes" Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year full of happiness, good health and prosperity.

Until next time,

Online Card Class: Copic Markers for Card Makers

I'm busy taking another of the wonderful Online Card Classes.  The latest class is Copic Markers for Card Makers.  Each day several videos are available that teach new techniques using Copic Markers.  We have been given a set of practice sheets to do our "homework".  Here is one of the practice sheets that I completed:

The practice sheets have been lots of fun.  They certainly help hone your colouring skills using Copic markers.

Until next time,

Wetlands

I recently purchased the "Wetlands" set from Stampin' Up.  I just love it!  When I first saw this set, my son had just been involved in a study of the Piping Plovers that have returned to nest at Wasaga Beach.  This species had been extirpated from the Great Lakes area for over 70 years, so there was a lot of environmental excitement when they successfully nested in the area.  The little sand pipers in the Wetlands set reminded me of them.  The set contains some terrific sentiments as well as a wonderful Canada Goose, the sand pipers, and a very versatile grass stamp.  My love of watercolours continues, so I created a watercoloured background before stamping on the goose and grass.  The sand pipers were a perfect accent on the envelope.

 

I double matted the finished watercolour piece, first with black and then with a craft coloured piece of cardstock.  I trimmed the mat with my hand held Purple Cow mouse, using the deckled edge blade.  Next I burnished the edges of the cardstock with some bronze metallic ink.   I mounted everything on a black card base.  I used some natural jute twine from May Arts to tie a multi-strand simple knotted embellishment.

Until next time,

Stretch Your Stamps 2 - Day 1

As you know, I'm in love with Online Card Classes.  I'm currently participating in a new class called, "Stretch Your Stamps 2" and I'm having a great time.  There are tons of terrific ideas.  Here is a card that I tried after watching Shari Carroll's wonderful video.

 

I created the card using a Hero Arts background stamp called "Large Fabric Design".  I applied random blotches of Distress Inks to my craft mat and gently squished the stamp into the ink.  Next I sprayed the stamp with Sheer Shimmer Spritz and stamped the image on Strathmore 140 lb watercolour paper. When the ink had dried, I cut the watercolour paper into 1 inch squares.  In order to give the squares more definition, I inked the edges with some Dark Moss Colorbox Chalk Ink.  I mounted the squares on a panel of Neenah white cardstock.  I added a bow made from some seam binding ribbon which I had died with Vintage Photo ink and scrunched before allowing it to dry.  I glued several die cut "hello" pieces together, which were cut from watercolour paper and a dark brown piece to form a shadow effect.  I finally mounted the panel on some Candy Necklace Bazzill cardstock.  As a finishing touch, I painted a few woodcut butterflies with some Distress Stain Picket Fence and mounted them on the card.  I was pleased with the finished result - hope you like it too!

Until next time,

Art Impressions Front-N-Backs

Recently, I've had great fun playing with an Art Impressions stamp set, "Little Behind".  It features an adorable fat cat with an endearing grin.  The front end of the cat is affixed to the front of the card base, while the back end of the cat is mounted inside the card.  To make things just a little more interesting, the set includes a wobble spring to make the kitty's rear end jiggle when the card is opened.  Such fun!  The cat's front and back were stamped with Jet Black Archival ink on Stampin' Up Smoky Slate cardstock and then added colour using my Prismacolor Premier coloured pencils.  I chose to make it look as though the cat was hanging through an open window by using another Art Impressions stamp which shows a rustic, shuttered window.  I cut an opening through the front of the cardstock and the windows so that you can see through to the inside of the card.  I also chose to add a bit more texture and dimension by adding a window box of flowers under the window sill using the Memory Box small window box die.  I stamped the greeting "hello" using a Simon Says Stamp Handwritten Borders stamp.  As finishing touch, I added some white faux stitching around the edge of the card with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen. 

 

I just love the greeting that is included in the "Little Behind" stamp set.  It is perfect for a belated birthday card.  Those who know me best know that I tend to run on what my son and husband call, Carol time, so "Always a little behind" is a very appropriate greeting from me.  I used another handwritten border stamp for the happy birthday sentiment and added the word "belated" from an Impression Obsession "Life Stuff Sentiments" stamp set.

 

 Thanks for visiting!  

Until next time,