Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to those of you that celebrate. 

Thanks for all your inspiration and visits in 2015!

Enjoy your time with family and friends.

'See you here' in the New Year,
Cheers, Shirley

Enjoy the Magic of the Season

Hello everyone I hope you are enjoying the festive season :)

I have a couple more Christmas cards in oranges and pinks to show.  Again these backgrounds were created on a large sheet which I spritzed Dylusions Inks and Metallic Glimmermist.   I also embossed the front of the white folded card with a snowflake folder.

Stamps:  Chocolate Baroque sets -  Harlequin Christmas and Gothic Fragments.  The sentiment is from Penny Black's Christmas Cheer set

You can see the Metallic Glimmermist on the close up below:

Seasons Greetings,
Shirley

Hello... with Water Effects and Tim Holtz Stencils

Hello everyone... Writing 'hello' makes me think of Adeles' fabulous new song :)

Another break from Christmas designs today.   This one features Tim Holtz stencils and Design by Ryn's water effects stamps.

The challenge this month at Fashionable Stamping Challenges is "Make Your Own Background" so I am joining in again with this design. 

The background started with Distress Inks (Festive Berries, Wilted Violet and Blueprint Sketch) using an acrylic plate and water.   I blended Wilted Violet DI over top using Tim's Latticework stencil.

The flowers were created with Tim's Wildflower stencil.   I used molding paste over the stencil and sprinkled holograph glitter over top while wet.  After it was dry I added ink with a Versamark pen, and embossed with white powder.  It has a lot of texture that's difficult to see in the photo.

I stamped Designs by Ryn's Trickling Water 2 (also available with the unmounted Trickling Water 2 set) and little droplets from the unmounted Textures Set with purple Memento Ink and added white highlights.  I also used the Letter Background stamp by Penny Black (that I've had for ages and still love) here and there in the background which again is hard to see in the photo.  And to finish it off I splattered paint and embossed little a little silver Frantage embossing enamel.

Hello is from Impression Obsession which was stamped on a little die cut tag.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Orange and Pink Christmas with Chocolate Baroque

Hello everyone I hope you are enjoying the weekend.

I'm honored that Lesley, owner of Chocolate Baroque, featured this group of card designs at their Shop Blog along with step by step instructions for each one.  

The challenge this month at Fashionable Stamping Challenges is "Make Your Own Background" so I am joining in with these designs.

As mentioned in other posts, I was focused on creating smaller, flat Christmas cards to reduce postage fees.  I created one large master board background in the non-traditional colours using Dylusions spray inks.  There is Glimmer mist on the backgrounds which created a challenge with photography but it gives such a lovely shimmery effect.

Stamps on above card:  Chocolate Baroque:  Harlequin Christmas and A Child is Born

Stamps on above card:  Chocolate Baroque:  Beautiful Baubles

Chocolate Baroque stamps on above card:   Beautiful Baubles and Warm Christmas Greetings

Chocolate Baroque stamps on above card:  Snowflake Flourish, Gothic Fragments and Bold Christmas Words. 

Chocolate Baroque stamps on above card:  Gothic Angels, Gothic Fragments and Bold Christmas Words


Below you can see the effect of the Glimmer mist over the background:

If you are interested in reading the step by step detail please visit Chocolate Baroque's Shop Blog here.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week,
Shirley

Turquoise Tattered Poisettia

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well during this busy season.     We are enjoying milder weather than normal but I would like to see the sun a little more.   December is usually a dreary month but with the cold weather in January the sun comes back.

I have a Christmas design to show that was a lot of fun to create.

Background:  Dylusion spray inks and with stencilling and stamping using Chocolate Baroque snowflakes.

Stencils:  Tim Holtz Christmas Words THS030 (with Krystal Viva Gel) and Poinsettia THS049 with Distress Ink

Dies:  Sizzix (Tim Holtz) -Tattered Poinsettia 658261 and Holiday Greens 658759, Impression Obsession- Reindeer DIE228-G,  Memory Box- Winterberry Sprig 98732

I embossed the reindeer antlers and the branches with silver embossing power.  I painted the reindeer with Viva 3D stamp paint.  The Poinsettia was stamped with Design by Ryn - Sea Bubbles, coloured with Distress Ink and a coat of Distress crackle paint added.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

My Craft Studio

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great weekend during this busy season.

I love it when other bloggers share photos of their craft rooms/space, it's so much fun to see where you get creative.  Finally I'm ready to share pictures of my space.   When we downsized and moved here over a year ago, my craft room was pink as previously it was a two year old girl's bedroom. 

This spring my dear husband painted it in two grey tones as it had wainscoting that couldn't be removed.  He finished the painting while I was away in the Netherlands visiting family and hanging out at the Art Specially Event.   Recently he finished building all the shelves I requested that hold a display of cards along with inks and other mediums that you can see in the photos below.

I took photos as I entered the room and turned around.  I didn't open up all the drawers or you would fall asleep looking at everything.  I like to be organized so I can find my stash and use it.  Some of the drawers are for non crafting things and I also do embroidery so there are drawers and space reserved for that hobby as well :)

Opening the door to my space

As I walk into the room.  I have empty spots on the walls waiting for artwork :)

I use a dresser that is a great height for die cutting and stamping.  The drawers and cupboards provide extra storage.

I keep more inks, stamping paper, my stash of bling, ribbon, etc in the plastic drawers.   You can see the shelf next to my craft desk that is handy to keep my spray inks and other mediums close.  My bin of stencils are close by as well.

My craft desk with Distress Inks close at hand.  The antique desk drawer is very deep which holds tools, pens etc. 

I  have an 'office' desk that is used as a craft space when I have a crafting buddy over :)  The blue bowl has water for our cat who likes to jump up to see what I'm doing and have a drink :)

Next to the desk is a closet, no longer used for clothing :)

The closet when closed

The closet open on LH side....lots of stamps are stored in these drawers along with other tools.   I keep embroidery stash in the middle section.

Closet open on RH side, more drawers with lots of sheets of Chocolate Baroque stamps :) 

Like all of us I make a mess when working, and this isn't as messy as it can be.  I store 12 x 12 card stock in the RH dresser cupboard.  My small dies are stored in magnetic folders in the LH shelf below the die cutting machine.  The larger die sets are in containers on the dresser shelf.   I keep more paints, markers, mixed media papers etc in the drawers.

And of course my craft desk gets messy when working

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour of my craft studio which is one of my 'happy places'.   I would love to see where you create !

Have a great week,
Shirley

Hummingbird with Blues & a Holiday Gift from Designs by Ryn!

Hello crafty people, I hope you are doing well during this busy month of December. 

I have a design in blue today, featuring another beautiful Hummingbird from Designs by Ryn.   I am not happy how this one photographed so I cropped this first photo.

 
The Hummingbird available on Designs by Ryn's Hummingbird 1 unmounted sheet was stamped onto a Gelli plate print hanging out in my stash and coloured a little with Tombow markers. 

I tried many times to get a proper photograph but will show you the entire design below.   The colours are not showing properly and the glimmer and sheen is making it look 'off'.   You will have to trust me that it's much better IRL.

The background is Dylusions Inks.   I used Ryn's Japanese Anemone stencil with Viva Kristal Gel and Inka gold rubbed over top.  The Crealie Flowers are painted with Viva 3D stamp paint (more glimmer). 

You can see the flowers better in the photo above.  Crealie Die:  Creative Flowers CLCF15.


Good news from Designs by Ryn... she is giving away a free Flowing Branches stencil as a holiday gift with every order placed in December.  No minimum order, no coupon codes required, just place an order for one or more of her fabulous stamps and/or stencils and she will include this holiday gift. :)  Happy dance !

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day
Shirley