Tattered Poinsettia in Purple and Blue

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.  We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving weekend here, the weather was sunny, warm and the leaves are beautiful in their Fall glory.

I have been creating a lot cards that are flat for mailing but this one isn't.  I've used a bunch of Tim Holtz products to create this design.

List of products used:

• Dylusions spray inks in the background
• Distress Inks on the flowers
• Clear rock candy Distress crackle paint on the flowers
• Holograph Glitter over top of the Distress crackle paint
• Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies:  Tattered Poinsettia, Tag Collection, Holiday Greens
• Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stencils:  Christmas THS030, HollyBough THS015 under the tag, hard to see)
• Holograph embossing powder and Wilted Violet Distress Paint on the Holiday Greens die cuts
• Embossing enamel on background
• Viva Kristall Gel with Christmas word stencil
• Viva Inka Gold Platinum rubbed over the words
• Prima crystal - center of flower

My husband asked me "what does it mean 25 Holidays?"   It's just the part of the stencil I used without thinking so I darkened the 25 after I took the photos.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the week,
Shirley

Not only at Christmas

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.
 
I have been working on a lot of Christmas cards recently and keeping them flat for mailing.  Postage is getting expensive, especially overseas, and if the cards have a lot of layers and rhinestones the cost is the same as a small package.

I have a few to show today using Design by Ryn's Snowflake set and a lovely Impression Obsessions' sentiment - 'Not only at Christmas'. 
 

The background (above) was created using Raspberry and Coral Distress Inks.   I made a stencil from a Memory Box die and blended more ink over top.   I stamped with Designs by Ryn's Snowflake set and then added some die cuts by Memory Box.  Instead of rhinestones I added holograph stickers to the snowflake centres to keep it flat.


The next two are in the 'Shirley colours', a favorite colour combo but I do love other colours as well :)

The background (above) again is Distress Inks and I used a stencil that I made with a Memory Box die and Distress Ink.  I didn't use Ryn's snowflakes on this one, but over stamped with Penny Black's Star Poinsettia and added some gold enamel embossing.  The snowflake die cuts are by Joy Crafts.  Again I added holograph stickers to the snowflake centres.

The background (above) was created with Peacock Feathers and Citron Distress Inks.  I stamped over top with Design by Ryn's Snowflake set with the same inks and embossed Seaweed set with gold glitter powder.  The die cut is from a Memory Box - Holly Holiday Frame set.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my Canadian followers.
Shirley

Experimenting with Modeling Film

Hello everyone and Happy Weekend!

I couldn't resist purchasing Clearly for Art Modeling Film by Arts Parts and below is the result of my first experimental play using it for flowers.
 

I needed to use a shim with my cutting machine so wasted some of the clear film on the first try.

A heat gun is used to shape the flowers.  It takes some experimenting as it cools quickly and then hardens, but you also have to be careful not to burn your fingers when it's first heated. I found heating in sections to work better but had to be careful as re-heating shaped areas will flatten again.   So a bit tricky but also fun to play with something new.

However, I'm not sure how often I will use the film as I enjoy working with paper flowers more, but the effect is pretty cool.  I coloured the flowers with alcohol inks and Wink of Stella.

The background started with a sheet from my stash that I had sprinkled Brushos and spritzed water over top.   I die cut the background using Tim Holtz's - Tag Die set.   Next I stamped the circle designs (from IndigoBlu's - Limor Circles set), embossed the entire tag and then added paints & inks.     I added crackle paint to the piece with the sentiment.

'Just a note' is from Chocolate Baroque's Mackintosh Sentiments set.   The flower die I used was from Heartfelt Creations, - Tattered Blossoms.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Shirley

Create

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.  I've had more time in my craft room recently and have another card to show this evening. 

This design features a beautiful lady stamp from Impression Obsession that I bought while in the Netherlands in the Spring.   I could not resist buying the stamp as there were gorgeous samples on display, created by Miranda.  However it's taken me until now to actually use the stamp as I didn't get into my craft room much during the Spring and Summer.

The background is the new Blueprint and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks with water on a Acrylic sheet (yes I use this technique a lot).    I partially stamped with IO's Cover a Card stamps and then spritzed a little water to let the inks run a little.  Gone are the days when I worked hard to create perfect images with the large background stamps.

Miranda's ladies had colourful hair which I thought were great fun & wanted to do something similiar.  I used Tombow markers direct to the stamp and a navy pigment pen for the eyes.   After it was stamped I added a little water with a brush to the hair for the 'water colour' effect.  I left the rest but darkened her eyes with the pen and added 'eye shadow' with a Tom bow marker.

The metal flowers have been hanging about in my stash for a while, I added dew drops to the centres.

Impression Obsession stamps:  Elsie, CAC Rose Lace, CAC Fluff.
Chocolate Baroque stamp:  Artistic Expressions (Create)

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the week. 
Shirley

Time Flies

Hello everyone I hope you are doing well.

I love this time of year, the colours are gorgeous, the air is fresh and it's much cooler.   But for sure 'time flies' and we should enjoy each moment.   

I have a fall card to show today for Designs by Ryn, again using her beautiful Hummingbirds.  This one took a long time as it changed constantly and at one point it was going into the recycle box.  However I decided to keep it as I kept 'messing around' with the background and birds.

The background started with Raspberry and Coral Distress inks using water on an Acrylic Sheet.  Next I stamped using Maple Leaf, but it's a bit lost into the background.   I stamped Leafy Branch in the background but it's also hidden under white paint (using a stencil).  But that is what's great with Acrylics and mixed media, you can build up the layers and just have a peek of something else underneath.  .  

I won't put you to sleep with the description of all the changes.  I ended up stamping the birds on water colour paper, colouring with Tombow markers, a little Distress paints,  fancy cut and glued to the background.   I also added a little clear Wink of Stella on the birds.

Designs by Ryn Hummingbird stamps:  Hummingbird 2 unmounted set or you can also buy them mounted individually Boot Racket-tail Hummingbird and Perching Hummingbird . 

The leaf die cuts are from Impression Obsession and coloured with Glimmer paint.  The sentiment was a free stamp received while in the Netherlands stamp event from Art Journey.

Thanks for stopping in at my blog and have a great day,
Shirley

Purple Poinsettia

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have another Christmas design to show using a favourite Poinsettia stamp by Penny Black (Christmas Star).  It hasn't been out of it's drawer for a play for long time.   I've given lots of stamps away over the past few years but some I just can't part with including this gorgeous one.  It's great for 'fancy cutting' or 'decoupage'.

The background was a sheet in my stash that I had inked up with Dylusions sprays.   I added more colour and design using a few stencils with both Distress Inks and watered down white Acrylic paint.   I also added some little circles using a little tube with white acrylic paint and silver embossing enamel here & there.

I stamped and embossed the poinsettia twice with silver, fancy cut and layered as shown.  I added a few Tim Holtz die cuts and glued beads to the flower center.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend,
Shirley

Sending a Smile as a Guest Designer for Crealies

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I was very pleased to be invited as a Guest Designer for Crealies, from the Netherlands.  They produce beautiful dies and clear stamps, I have many in my stash. 

The actual design has more purple which always seem difficult to capture in photographs. 

The larger background was created using blue and purple Dylusions Inks along with a little Brusho powders sprinkled and then spritzed with water.

The smaller background was created using Peacock Feathers Distress Ink on an acrylic sheet and spritzed with water.  Next I stamped Bits & Pieces no. 11 Sparkle with Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink.  I'm loving the new Distress colours :)

The sentiment is from Chocolate Baroque's Amazing Birthday set. 

The flowers - Set of 3 no. 3, were sponged with Blueprint Sketch or Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.  I stamped over top with the Bits and Pieces no. 9 Grunge dots.    I used a sponge mat and stylus to add dimension to the flowers and glued them together.   I added purple glitter glue to the centers and added a few swirls from Creative Shapes no. 2.

Crealies items:

Set of 3 stansen no. 3 Bloemen 3/Flowers 3

Creative Shapes no. 2

Bits & Pieces no. 9 Grunge dots

Bits & Pieces no. 11 Sparkle

   

Thank you Annelies for the opportunity and Wilma for your assistance :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
Shirley

Christmas Bells

Happy Weekend everyone !

I have a change from Hummingbirds today - a Christmas design.  I love when Fall arrives, the temperatures are cooler so I have more energy and I'm inspired to create Christmas cards.   I'm showing one today using fabulous stamps from Chocolate Baroque.   I love to create cards with lots of embellishments and layers but with the cost of postage, I need to keep some fairly flat. 

The background is the 'mop up' sheet from the background in my last post using Distress Paints and water on my craft mat.   Next I added more colour using a snowflake stencil by Memory Box and Distress Ink and then stamped the snowflake around in a couple of colours.

I stamped the bells and sentiment direct to the background with Cobalt Archival Ink and coloured with Prisma pencils.  I added highlights with a white pen and also clear Wink of Stella.   I also sprinkled a little white & silver embossing enamel and heated underneath.

Chocolate Baroque stamp sets:  Snowflake and bells are from A Child is Born.  Merry Christmas - I can't find this sentiment on their website but I know that I received it while on the Design Team, I love the font.

Stencils:  Memory Box - 'Modern Sprinkles' (which look like snowflakes to me, difficult to see in the photo) and The Crafters Workshop - 'Circle Explosion' with white acrylic paint and probably my 'most used' stencil.

Thanks for stopping by,
Shirley