Happy New Year !

Happy New Year!   I hope 2015 is a wonderful year for you.

Again I would like to thank everyone for your visits and kind comments.   I feel lucky to connect with friends close to home and fellow bloggers around the world through creative hobbies.   Thanks to all of you for giving me so much inspiration and encouragement.

I have a card design to show today that I very much enjoyed creating.    I used stamps designed by the talented Ryn Tanaka from Designs by Ryn (Trickling Water 2 Set and Patio Stone).

I combined Ryn's stamps with a flower stamp set designed by my talented 'teamie' Miranda Degenaars of Miracle Art Inspirations.  The flower & word stamp set were included with a set of two techniques books written by Miranda for Art Specially.   A sweet sister gave the books and stamps to me as a wonderful gift:)

  
I painted the background with Distress Paints.  Next I brushed watered down Gesso over the dried paint and then scrunched plastic wrap on top.   After drying I also sprayed with a metallic Glimmer Mist (which you cannot see in the photo). I also painted highlights with Gesso using bubble wrap and a round lid.

I stamped Design by Ryn's amazing Trickling Water 2 Set and the lettering from Miranda's stamp set with Cocoa Archival ink.   I also stamped Ryn's Patio Stone with Distress Inks in the background.

The flowers were embossed with brown on separate paper, coloured with Tombow markers and highlighted with white Wink of Stella and Luminate Smooch ink.   I 'fancy cut' the flowers and attached as shown.  The stamped image is one large flower with the smaller one,  I added the 2nd large flower on the left by gluing together.

All the best,
Shirleyx

Art Jounal Page - Fall

Hello everyone !    I hope you had a great weekend, we enjoyed some time checking out the Fall colours.  I took a bunch of photos and added a few at the bottom of this post.

I'm sharing another Art Journal Page that I created using the Fall colours as an inspiration.    I'm still learning and it's a busy page for me,  but it's about Fall !   I added Sunflowers as I thought their bright colours co-ordinated with the background.   We used to grow them in our previous garden and loved to watch Blue Jays hanging onto them while eating the seeds in the late summer/early Fall.

Stamps:
-Miraculous Art (Miranda) available at Inkerbell Stamps, Netherlands -  Zonnegroet set (Large Sunflower & leaves).
-Impression Obsession - H8466 Hydrangea Leaf - large leaf in background
-Designs by Ryn- Forest Floor 1 CM-F12 & Mulberry Leaf CM-F8 (used in background)
-Chocolate Baroque- Artistic Impressions (perfect size for Art Journals)

Templates:
- Crafters Market- Mini Chicken Wire & Ranger/Dylusions - Luscious Leaves

I started by adding Distress Inks with an Acrylic Block (sprayed with water) & Dylusions Inks on the background.  I added texture in layers using Acrylic paints & Distress Inks with the templates.  I stamped the leaf images with Distress Inks.  After adding DI to the large leaf, I sprayed a little water before stamping.    I drew a few flowers with a white gel pen.

The Sunflower was embossed with black and coloured with Distress Inks and Markers.   I thought that 'Gratitude & Beauty' were a good choice of expression for Thanksgiving weekend. 

And here are a few photos of the beautiful Fall scenery around the country side.

Well that's all for this evening.
Thanks for your visit and have a great day !
Shirley

Crealies Lady

Hi everyone, I'm back already with a card created with Crealies.     My sweet (& much younger) Sister who lives in the Netherlands mailed me a couple of the new Crealies stamps that she purchased at the Zeist Stamp Show.   The stamps are designed by Miranda of Miraculous Art.

I love this beautiful lady image as she has Crealie flowers & leaves in her feather-hair which are so much fun to co-ordinate with Crealies Die cuts :)   Visit  Crealies in the Netherlands for more information on their products.   

I stamped the lady with black Stazon ink onto white paper that is suitable for Copic markers.    I used one of my favourite Spellbinder Nesties (S4-347) to cut the shape around the image.   I traced around the die on purple card stock and then cut it out to create the mat.   I coloured the image with Prisma Pencils and added some stickles to her forehead jewels and flowers.    I blended a little Mowed Grass Distress Ink around the edge of the die-cut.   I am loving the LE Summer Distress Ink set, the colours are so vibrant ! 

The die cuts are mounted onto Green Basic Grey paper from the Kioshi collection.    I used Crealies CL CF 20, CL CS 11, CL CS 12 to die cut the flowers & leaves.  Rhinestones were added to the flower centres.

Thanks for your visits & kind comments, they are appreciated.
Have a great day, Shirley

Waterlily & Bubbles

Hello Crafters !   I hope you enjoyed your weekend.  We had fun with our family and of coarse gardening. 

I'm posting a card that I created using stamps that are hand drawn designs by two different artists.  

The Sea Bubbles Set, CM-S15 is from Designs by Ryn and the Waterlily is from the Crealies Company in the Netherlands, designed by Miranda of Miracle Art Inspirations .    I think these two talented artists' designs look great together :)

I was lucky as my sweet 'baby' sister who lives in the Netherlands mailed a couple more of Miranda designed stamps over to me :)   I also think I'm lucky to design for Design's by Ryn !

I created the background by blending Lettuce, Frosted Aqua & Pool Smooch Inks over Versamark ink on white smooth card stock.   I then stamped Design by Ryn's - Sea Bubbles in several areas and embossed with gold.

I stamped the Crealies Waterlily on watercolour paper, embossed with gold and coloured with my Tombows using a brush & water.   I gave the background of the waterlily a light wash of blue paint using the die as a stencil.   

I used Spellbinders Nestabilities S4-114 to cut the circle.  I drew an outline outside of the die on the aqua card stock to create the circle mat.  I added sheer ribbon and layered onto co-ordinating card stock as shown.  I also added some diamond stickles which is difficult to see in the photo.

My step mom is an avid photographer and takes beautiful photos of nature.  Below is a photo that she took of a waterlily at the Naples Botanical Gardens this winter.

Thanks for your visit & have a great day !
Shirley

Miraculous Art Zonnegroet (Sunflower)

Hello Everyone !  I hope your week is going well.

Two years ago while on vacation in the Netherlands I was introduced to Posthumas, a wonderful stamp store downtown Amsterdam.    I was so inspired by the many beautiful card samples they had on display.      Last fall I learned that the talented lady who creates their cards is Miranda.   You can find her creations at her blog,  Miracle art Inspirations.  

Miranda is also an artist and designs stamps for Inkerbell Stamps and Crealies in the Netherlands.   As soon as I saw her Miraculous Art Zonnegroet (Sunflower) set, it came to the top of my 'wish list'.     My kind young sister who lives in the Netherlands purchased the stamp sheet from Inkerbell Stamps and mailed them out to me.    It's a beautiful set and I'm posting two creations featuring them today.   I enjoy cutting so had fun with these flowers !   A third creation is in the mail to my sister to say 'Thanks' for all that she does for me :)  

The background strip was created by blending Banana Custard & Lettuce Smooch Inks and then I stamped  the poem twice with Bamboo Leaves Memento Dye Ink.  I stamped one of the leaves from the Zonnegroet set with Brilliance Gold on the dark green cardstock (hard to see in the photo).

The flower was stamped and embossed twice with Copper EP.  I blended Banana Custard Smooch Ink on the petals and then added Pumpkin Smooch Ink with a little water on my craft mat using a small brush.   I used Lettuce Smooch in the centre which seems to be Zentangle, love it.    The Smooch ink didn't blend like water colours, it dries too quick, but I wanted to add a little contrast.   It was a little experiment, a different effect.   I cut out extra petals from the 2nd flower to pop up on the main flower.   I added liquid pearls to the centre.    You cannot read the poem on this card,  it's there for a background effect.   I like the script.

Marianne Design Creatables LR0150 Branch & Crealies Shapes CL CS 11 were used for the foliage.  I also used Crafts-Too flower embossing folder for the small strip.  

This next card was done with water colours and was arranged so that you can read the poem.  If you don't read Dutch as I mentioned above, I think the script is attractive and makes a nice background.

Unfortunately I cannot read Dutch, but I should as the Netherlands is my heritage and I have close family living there.    I always love my visits as I feel 'at home'. 

I started with a piece of background created with Tom Bows, water & salt.   I stamped the Dutch Sunflower poem twice over top with Bamboo Leaves Memento Dye Ink.      The flower & leaves are arranged so that you can read the first verse at the top and the second on the bottom.

The flower & leaves were stamped and embossed with copper EP and colored with Tombows and water.  Again the flower was stamped twice and I cut out extra petals from the 2nd flower to pop up on the main flower.   I stamped the very small Sunflower from the set on brown card stock with Brilliance Gold ink (again hard to see in the photo).    I added Diamond Stickles to the centre of the flower.    

That's all the flowers for today.   Thanks for stopping by and have a great day !

Shirley