CAS Sympathy Cards

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well. 

We are still enjoying mild weather and sunny days, it's fantastic for this time of year.   I worked in the gardens yesterday morning, it felt wonderful.

I created a few CAS style sympathy cards that unfortunately we needed recently.

I used solid shape stamps by Impression Obsession.  I inked them up, spritzed water or used a stencil to create a pattern and then over stamped with flowers by Chocolate Baroque.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.
Shirley

Peace, Joy and Warm Christmas Wishes

Hello everyone I hope you are doing well.  

I have a few final Christmas cards to show today featuring products from Tim Holtz, Crafty Individuals, Crealies & IO.   It's a busy time for everyone, so this will be my last post of 2016.

I thank you all for your visits and kind comments this year.  

Seasons Greetings and see you here in the New Year !
Shirleyx

Winter Wishes

Happy Weekend!  I hope you are enjoying the festive season.

It's colder than average for this time of year... what happened to our 'above normal' temperatures?   It's minus 8 this morning with a few snow flurries.   It's also that time of year when we don't see the sun too much.   

I have a card to show today that was inspired by the very talented Miranda Degenaars.  It was her beautiful sample cards at the Posthumas shop in Amsterdam many years ago that gave me the 'stamping bug' which has not left since.

I added a bit of Brusho's sprinkled and spritzed before stamping.  The Poinsettia (embossed with silver, coloured with Brushos and fancy cut into layers) and little dot stamp are by Magenta.  The Holly branch & sentiment are by Impression Obsession also embossed with silver.   I added a lilttle silver embossing enamel and splattered white acrylic paint over the flower & background.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.
Shirleyx

Peace

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a fabulous weekend.   It's a little cold here but the ground is dry and the sun is starting to shine this morning.

I have a card to show today with no stamping, I think, but maybe I stamped a little with a snowflake and they were watered down eventually. 

I created the background with Goosebumps, Brusho ink powders and Glimmermist.   I also used a star stencil with white Acrylic paint.   Peace (Tim Holtz) and the Reindeer (Impression Obsession) were double & triple die cut, glued together and embossed with clear glitter powder.   The Poinsettias (Crealies) were coloured with distress inks and molded on a foam mat.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week,
Shirleyx

Miracle of Christmas

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

It's a rainy cool day here and I hope to get into my craft room for a while :)   I have another Christmas card to show that features the same background shown in a previous post that I created with Acrylic inks.   I also used Sweet Juliet 'flower' die set by Heartfelt Creations (it's discontinued) and Star Flourish by Creative Expressions.  The text is by Impression Obsession.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend,
Shirley

Art using Stencils

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.    We are doing well and keeping quite busy.    I haven't had much time in my craft room or for blogging but thought I would show this card I made a few weeks ago.

I used mostly inks and stencils, the only stamping is the quote by Impression Obsession.  The butterflies were inked thorough a stencil after creating the rest of the background.  I added little dots and outlined with a white Gelly Roll Pen.  I also added some Silver Frantage.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day,

Shirley

Floral Postcard

Hello Crafters, I hope you are doing well, January seems to be flying by. 

I've finally used a beautiful Crafty Individuals stamp that was sent to me a while ago as a thank you gift from the Craft Stamper magazine (when a card was published).  

The background started with Dylusions spray inks, spritzed water and blotted with a paper towel.  I over stamped using crackle, lettering and water droplets stamps.   The main image was stamped onto glossy cardstock and coloured a little with Tombow markers and highlighted with clear Wink of Stella (which you cannot see).

Stamps:  Crafty Individuals:   Floral Postcard CI-302, Designs by Ryn:   water droplets are from Textures unmounted set,  Impression Obsession:  CC069 Craquelure (crackle), Penny Black:   199L Lettered Background.

Dies:  Crealies Set of 3 No 3 (flowers, CL CS 23 (leaves) and Die-Namics Fancy Flourish small.

I coloured the die cuts with Distress Inks and molded the flowers using a stylus and foam mat by McGill (Paper Blossoms sets).

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
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

Winter Wishes in Green and Yellow

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great weekend.  I've been away from blog land for a little while but back this morning with more Christmas cards:

I normally create 'one of a kind' cards but here is what I would call 'batch' card making, but with some changes.  I used a fantastic tree die set from Impression Obsession as the feature on these.

As you can see I varied the colours and lay-outs slightly:

The backgrounds were created on one master sheet using Dylusions spray inks.  I blended Distress Inks where I wanted to darken it a little.   I over stamped with a snowflake from Chocolate Baroque's A Child is Born.   Winter Wishes is from Impression Obsession as well at the Fir Tree Die  and Sm Snowflakes Die sets.  I added Distress Crackle paint and then glitter over the trees.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Green and Yellow Christmas

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have a few more Christmas cards to show you.  Again I created a large sheet for the background, chopped it up and started stamping :)

The background stamping above includes a small Poinsettia by Magenta and Winter Berries by Penny Black.  Merry Christmas is from Chocolate Baroque.   I stamped on the Tim Holtz Tattered Poinsettia die cuts with Design by Ryn's Sea Bubbles to create some texture.  The 'greenery' is from a McGill punch -Designer Pine .

The background stamps above are from Designs by Ryn:  Snowflake Set and again the Sea Bubbles which I like to use for 'snow'.   I added ornament Die cuts by Memory Box that match the Sea Bubbles and is the reason why I 'had to have it'.   I used again the same sentiment by Chocolate Baroque.

Again the small Poinsettia by Magenta is in the background along with Holly by Impression Obsession.  Peace and Joy is from a Penny Black set.  The star die cuts are by Memory Box. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great 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

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

The Voice of the Sea

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well and enjoying summer.  It's quite hot and humid here but still better than minus 25 Celsius and snow blowing.  

I have a page from my small Art Journal to show today.  I actually started this back in May when the Art Journal Journey challenge was "in the Sea"  but I was too busy to finish it until recently.

This is a mixed media piece but I can no longer remember the steps.   I used acrylic inks and paints along with a couple of stencils.    I also added some glitter with spray glue and silver embossing enamel.

Stamps:  Quote is by Impression Obsession which I used crackle paint over top.    Sea horse Set by Designs by Ryn.

It's hard to see but I also used Design by Ryn's Floral Spiral Stencil in the background.  The flower die cuts are from Heartfelt Creations.  I used white cardstock, blended ink, molded and added micro beads to the centers. 

You can see some of the detail on the close up below:

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week,
Shirleyx

Background with Brushos and Stencil

Hello everyone,  I hope your week is going well :)  Well I'm back already!  It was a rainy day yesterday and I just stayed in and had some fun in my craft room :)

I recently received the July issue of Craft Stamper magazine that is again loaded with lots of inspiration and tutorials.  On page 70, designer Helen Chilton shows various techniques using Brusho ink powders and one using a stencil.  I would never have thought to try a stencil with them, but it worked out great, similar to the first 'pull' from a Gelli plate.

You simply sprinkle Brushos to your card stock (I used mixed media but water colour would work great as well) and then lay your stencil over stop and spritz water.   Voila !  Easy Peasy background.

I used the exact Brusho colours that Helen used in her example as they happen to be favourite colours (but then I do love most colours :))  Turquoise, Yellow and Leaf Green.  I also stamped over the stencil with a letter stamp (as Helen did)  but I had trouble as the stencil was a bit too thick, but some of the lettering is showing.

I used the Turquoise and Yellow brushos to colour the flowers, which I fancy cut and layered up on the card.  I molded the back a little to shape the petals.

Stamps used:   Magenta- The 2 large flowers (no name on the package) Impression Obsession -(Zenspirations CL530 clear set) and Hello(A3579).

Stencil:  TCW- Pointy Circles

Die:   Joy Crafts - Leaf  (6002/0263). 

Thanks for visiting and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Inspired by Miranda

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a wonderful crafty week.

I recently purchased stamps from Impression Obsession and Magenta after seeing gorgeous designs here at Miranda's blog - (I couldn't resist, she should get commission on the sale :)).      I already owned some of the stamps but the background stamps are new and I also ordered some cool whimsical flowers from Magenta, I'll play with them soon :)

The background is green and yellow Brushos spritzed with Gold Glimmermist.  I also added some rings with a lid using white acrylic paint.    I painted the flower and leaves with Tom bow markers and highlighted with Gellyroll pens.

The actual flower stamp has a decorative circle around it (see my blog post here) and is meant to be a Poinsettia, but it works fine for non Christmas as well.

Impression Obsession stamps:  Poinsettia Mandala F15008, Damask Floral J2011, Dangle Design J15013, Dangle Border 1 E15020

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Poinsettia Mandala

Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying the season!  It's a busy time.

I have a card today using a beautiful stamp that I received as blog candy a while ago from the very kind and talented Ellen of The Serendipitious Stamper who is a member of Impression Obsession's Design Team,    I was very happy with it as I love Mandalas and poinsettias - Thank you Ellen !

The background was created by simply randomly stamping with a solid stamp by Hero Arts (Poinsettia Bloom) using Broken China Distress Ink.

The Mandala Poinsettia by Impression Obsession was embossed with silver several times.  I 'fancy cut' the flower, painted with Tom Bow markers and layered as shown.  I used a circle die to cut out the first image.  I have other ideas for this stamp, it's pretty cool as it also has zentangle inspired patterns.

Funny when I created this one (a while ago) at the same time I was blown away by gorgeous card designs that Miranda created using the same stamp and more.  If you have time, it's well worth it to visit Miranda's blog here and also her blog here....enjoy!


Seasons Greetings,
Shirleyx

Count the Moments

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well and managed to get some rest after all the festive activities.   It's been extremely cold here but we are warm & cozy inside and it's a nice time for creativity.  I would like to welcome the new followers, thanks for your interest in my blog  :)  

I have a card and an Art Journal page to share today using stamps from Designs by Ryn in one of my favorite colour combinations.

The background is Dylusions Inks and a stencil by Joggles - Star Flower Mask.    I sprayed over the stencil (mask) for the Journal page (below) and then I turned it over to use the ink that was left on it to create this background.   I embossed Compound Leaf with a green glitter powder and stamped Abstract Leaf Set with Cobalt Archival Ink on the background.

Selini the Moth was stamped on another sheet of paper covered with Dylusions inks sprays, coloured a little with Prisma pencils, highlighted with a white Gelly Roll pen, decoupaged and popped up over the background.  I also added glitter which you can see a little better in the close-up below.    The excellent quote is by Impression Obsession - D1379.

Next is a 'New Year' Art Journal page - I was just playing, going with the flow and allowing myself to be messy.   

The background started with Dylusions inks sprayed over Joggles - Star Flower Mask.   I also used TCW Spinning Top stencil with black acrylic paint over top of other acrylic painting and stamping.  I stamped Design by Ryn's Fiddlehead Set with Distress Inks.   The sillouette was created with a self-made stencil using black acrylic paint and doodled over top.  

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirley

Snowflake Ornaments

Hello everyone,

I have a card today that I'm entering into Impression Obsession's - Think Snow challenge which closes Tuesday, December 17th.  Click on the link for more details.  I've used favourite stamps, the two Damask Snowflakes, to create ornaments.

IO Stamps used:   Cover a Card - Flourishes CC027, SM Damask Snowflake D2259 and Damask Snowflake F2258, Christmas Magic B3585

IO Die used:  The bow hanger is from DIE032-J Vintage Ornament

I started with a sheet of coloured and lightly patterned paper from Basic Grey.   I stamped over top with Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink using the CC027 Flourishes.  (you can see it in the close up below).    Christmas Magic was stamped with Blue Memento Dye Ink.  I edged the background with a silver leaf pen.

I embossed the two Damask Snowflakes in Gold, coloured with Inktense Pencils, cut them out and attached.  I added stickles, liquid pearls and large pearls to each.     I added the 'hangers' from the Ornament Die set.

 
Thanks for your visit and have a great day!
Shirley

Love with Flowers

Hello everyone and Happy Monday.  

I have a couple of cards today that feature layered flowers, using new stamps by Designs by Ryn.   Love is by Chocolate Baroque.  In the first Fall themed design I used the 3 leaves from Ryn's Abstract Leaf set to create a large flower.

 

I stamped Ryn's Leafy Branch with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink on a sheet of  orange Basic Grey paper that has a bit of pattern to create the background.   Next I coloured a sheet of mixed media paper with Dried Marigold DI using an Acrylic Block & water.   I then stamped each of the 3 different sized Leaves from the Abstract Leaf set five times with Kaleidacolor- Creole Spice, Rainbow Dye Ink.   I sponged a little Spiced Marmalade DI on the largest and smallest leaves.   I cut the 15 leaves out to arrange into a flower.  I turned the middle sized leaf inward to create a variance in the 'petals'. 

Love is from Chocolate Baroque's Artistic Expressions set.  A great word set that I use a lot. 

The deep plum Leaf branch die cut is Memory Box - Fresh Foliage

Here is a look at the Abstract Leaf Set I used to create the flower:

With a completely different colour combo I used Crealie die cut flowers with Ryn's Ornate Leaf set (3 different sizes in the set).

I used a sheet of mauve Basic Grey paper and stamped with Impression Obsession's Cover a Card - CAC018 Greenery  with black a couple of times.   I used the leafy pattern stamping to die cut some of the petals along with using a mauve sheet without stamping.     I stamped the Leafy Branch with pink ink on white cardstock for background.   I stamped the medium size Ornate Leaf on the mauve Basic Grey paper, cut them out, dry embossed them on the back to create dimension, and highlighted with a white pen.
 

Die Cuts:  Crealies (flowers) CL CF 20 and Memory Box -Winterberry Sprig

 

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirley

Playing with Alcohol Inks

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I finally succumbed and bought alcohol inks.  I've resisted for a long time because I have so many other mediums but after seeing amazing designs at Marja's, Alie's & Maria's Blogs, and Pinterest I had to buy some. 

I'm enjoying playing with them but I'm having trouble stamping over the glossy papers without smearing the ink.   On the design below I used glossy cardstock, but I have also had fun trying landscapes on Yuppo (plastic coated watercolour paper).

If you have experience with alcohol inks and can give me tips on what inks stamp without smearing (or how) on Yuppo & Glossy paper I would greatly appreciate it.   I've tried Dye, Stazon & Archival Inks, probably Archival works best.  I used Dye ink on the card below and was able to rub off any images that didn't come out sharp. 

I ended up doodling with a black Pigment Pen over the alcohol ink background as I could 'see' flowers in it.   I also stamped a little with Design by Ryn's famous Water Droplets.  I highlighted with a white Gellyroll pen and added some liquid pearls to some flower centers.  Hello is from Impression Obsession (A3579) - a favorite little sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley