Mixed Media Christmas card

Hello my crafting friends, so good of you to come and visit me today. This is going to be a quick post as I am off to Norwich today for a bit of Christmas shopping, can't wait!

I have started my Christmas cards, very late for me but had not time at all before, so I have been playing. This card was inspired by the lovely Pamellia, I saw her beautiful creation and just had to try my own as I loved it so much, you can find Pamellia's HERE its not quite exactly the same but close, thank you Pamellia for your inspiration.

I started by colouring in a piece of card with Pastel Aquatints using the Blue & Green and once dry applied some modelling paste through a metal grid and let that dry overnight, this is where I went wrong as I wished I had sprinkled the embossing powder on top of the wet paste then left to dry before heat embossing it that way it may have stayed only on the circles and not the places in between which I think look a bit messy. I am going to do it again that way so at some time I shall show you the results lol!

I heat embossed it with enamel embossing powder then I distressed the edges of the card a little. I took another piece of card and painted that with Aquatints but using just the Green, once dry I distressed the edge of this too. I matted this onto my base card with Foam tape and attached the top piece too.

I die cut some Christmas Fir branches, Holly leaves, Circles and Reindeer  out of various colour card, the reindeer I inked up and covered with Deco art Glamour dust, the circles I inked with Distress inks Forest Moss and Tumbled Glass, the Holly leaves I rubbed Silver gilding wax all over to add a frost look, I may have over done it a little lol!!! I attached all these on to the card as seen adding a white swirl I found in my stash just under the fir branches.

I coloured some White seam binding with Crushed Olives Distress Ink and made a bow, I did try crushing this by wetting it but this seam binding is so thick it was having none of it so I left it as it was, I placed it over the Branches and Holly leaves then added another bow out of garden twine, which I separated the four strands and used just one. On top of the bow I added a round bead, this was part of some beads I had friends save from their Christmas crackers, you know how sometimes they wrap beads and wire over the ends of these fancy ones, so in past years when we have had our Christmas meal I have claimed the beads lol!!! I attached this with some 3D glue. 

I went round the edge of the card and die cuts with a snow writer but this was a glitter one so it dried clear!!! So I went over it again adding some Deco art glamour dust so it showed up a little. I then watered down some White Acrylic paint and splashed this all over the card using a paint brush, I loved the effect this gave to the card, just like snow. The picture doe pick it up a little if you look close enough.

There you have the finished card.

Items used:

White hammer card

White card

Aquatints pastel set

Tim Holtz Distress Inks Forest Moss, Tumbled Glass and Crushed Olive

Sue Wilson dies Holly leaves

Sheena Douglass Christmas Foliage

Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large

Memory Box Leaping Deer

Deco Art Glamour Dust

Galleria Modelling Paste

White Seam Binding

Gilding wax Silver

Acrylic paint, White and Water

Thank you for looking, Jacquie xxx

Elephant & the Arches

Hello my crafting friends, hope today finds you safe and well? Thank you for looking in on me today I do appreciate you coming by and I love reading all your lovely comments so thank you.

Now the last post I made was showing one of the Diwali cards I had made for one of the teacher at the school where I work, today I am showing you the second card, they both loved them and was very appreciative of them.

This was for a male teacher of Science Nilesh so it had to have a masculine feel about it and I felt the arches were perfect for this so I embossed a piece of card with the Indian Arches embossing folder then coloured it in showing light coming form the doorway and windows, I started with Squeezed lemonade then Dried Marigold and finally Brushed Cordroy. I faux bleached part of the floor where the light was coming in and the rays from the window. I matted this onto some Black card and then onto the base card.

I stamped the Elephant from the Marching Elephants stamps and coloured it in with Pewter Distress Ink, the blanket and hat I coloured using Spectrum Noir Glitter pens to add that little sparkle. I cut the Elephant out and placed him in front of the Arches but not hiding the light. 

I finished the card by adding the Om (Aum) stamp up the corner, I coloured this in to match the light.

Items Used:

Sheena Douglass Taste of India Indian Arches Embossing Folder

Sheena Douglass Taste of India Stamp Marching Elephants

Tim Holtz Distress Inks Squeezed Lemonade, Dried marigold, Brushed Cordroy & Pewter

Spectrum Noir Glitter Pens

Black Card

White Card

Thank you for looking, Jacquie xxx

Diwali Henna Sparkle

Hello my crafting friends, hope this finds you all safe and well, It's getting a lot colder here now of a night and I know some of you have had snow, let's hope its brief lol! Though I have to admit I do like to go out and play in it!!! A big kid at heart.

Some of you may know it was Diwali week last week, the festival of light and we have two Hindu teachers at our school so I made them each a card.

This one I made for Sujahta an English teacher, I knew I wanted to use Sheena's Indian products and I wanted it lovely and bright so I started by inking up a piece of card using Crushed Olives DI, I then ran it through the embossing folder  Henna and re-inked over the embossed pieces, I then coloured in the flower with Aqua Markers. I coloured in some of the edges using Spectrum Noir new Sparkle pens to add a touch of glitter too.

I stamped the flower  Henna onto some White card and cut it out the best I could then coloured it in with Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens and put this to one side to dry.

On more of the White card I stamped the decorative edge using my Versamark Ink Pad then heat embossed with Gold embossing powder, I had to repeat this process in order to get the lengths I wanted to fit round the card as its only a small stamp. I then cut it out the best I could using a sharp craft knife.

I matted the embossed background onto some Black card and then onto the base White card, I attached the decorative edge round the four sides of the card trying to match them up so they were the same both sides. I then attached the stamped flower I had cut out using 3D glue.

I made a simple sentiment and inked round with the Crushed Olives DI to match the card and there you have the finished card.

Items Used:

Sheena Douglass White Stamping Card

Sheena Douglass Black Card

Sheena Douglass Taste of India Embossing Folder Henna

Sheena Douglass Taste of India Stamp Set Henna

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Crushed Olive

Spectrum Noir Aqua Markers

Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens

Papermania Gold Embossing Powder

Versamark Ink Pad

Thank you for looking, Jacquie xxx

Two for ya!

Hello my crafting friends, so good to have you join me today, hope you have all managed to stay safe and warm during this 'Barnaby' storm, if I have the name right, gosh knows where they get these names from?

Have you managed to catch any of Sheena's shows? Aren't these flowers gorgeous and so easy to put together. Sheena has two more shows, today at 8am and tomorrow at 12 noon, please don't miss them and all the wonderful demos.

I have two to show you today-

They both show the Sweet pea and I decided I wanted a lovely Yellow flower, after all Sweet peas do come in such a variety of beautiful colours. For this I first coloured the background with Distress Inks then stamped Sheena's Fusion Sweet Pea onto the card and coloured that in with Distress Inks. I stamped Sheena's Simply Scripty stamp all over the card using Versamark Ink Pad then heat embossed with White embossing Powder, love the look this gives to a background. 

Over the top of this I placed my Sweet Peas spreading them out across the card, I made a couple extra as buds. I added a sentiment and matted and layered up with Yellow card and the White base card and there you have the finished card.

For this one I did a background of Aquatints Pastels, you have to have this quite watery and coat in salt and leave to dry overnight, in the morning just rub off the excess salt and you are left with an original background, no two are the same believe me. I then inked through Sheena's Distress Stencil with Gold Aquatint in two of the opposite corners. In the middle I stamped a sentiment and placed my Red Sweet peas to the side of the card.

I matted this onto Gold Miri card before attaching it to my base card, there you have the finished card.

Two lovely cards but very different I am sure you will agree.

Sheena still has more wonderful shows on Create and Craft at 8am today and 12 noon tomorrow. 

Thank you for looking, Jacquie xxx

SHEENA FOUR DAY DEAL ON CREATE AND CRAFT MONDAY AT 9AM SHOWCASING COUNTRY COTTAGE FLOWERS

Morning my crafting friends, good to have you with me again today, I hope you are all safe and well with all the high winds we are having? Ang I can just imagine you chasing that board lol! Pamellia, lovely dream, sounds very inviting but not sure about the Sherry lol! I do have a mixed media all waiting to be shown but waiting on the right theme lol! As soon as I can I shall do another one for you my friend.

Now its only 1 more day till our Sheena is on our TV screen again, 9am tomorrow morning on Create and Craft, she will be showcasing her wonder Perfect Partners stamps and dies of these wonderful Country Cottage flowers. I made all these flowers from the sets using just copy paper, you can cut 4 layers at one time, possibly more depending on your machine, so it was very quick to make a batch up all at once and keep in a bag to use later, they are very quick to make, a little messy but who does not like a bit of mess!!!

I have two cards for you today:

My first one is showing the beautiful Fushias again in the more natural colour we tend to find them. For this card I used Sheena's script stamp  'Simply Scripty' for the background, stamping it with Tim Holtz Brushed Cordroy Distress Ink and inking round the edge of the card with the same colour. I then ran it through an embossing folder 'Twisted Vine Frame' to add some texture to the background.

I wrapped a piece of lace ribbon around the bottom and some seam binding ribbon down the side adding a triple bow.

The Fushia's that I had painted with Aqua Markers were then placed coming down the card as seen. I stamped the word 'Fushia' onto a piece of card coloured the same way as the background and placed this over the top of the leaves as seen.

To finish this card I matted and layered it up onto Black card then onto the base card.

For this card I coloured the background with Tim Holtz Distress Inks Stormy Sky and Peeled Paint then stenciled through the branches of a tree using Sheena's 'Shady Meadow' stencil and Distress Ink Black Soot, I apologize for the lack of colour on this one as the leaves are Black and the card it was mounted on was also Black card even though it looks Brown in the photo!!! I then embossed it with Sheena's stencil 'The Grunge Tree' and inked that with Distress Ink Brushed Cordroy very lightly, just enough to show the detail. 

The two Butterflies I painted pieces of Black card with Pebeo Iridescent paints then stamped over the top using the Butterfly stamp and Black Stazon ink. I then die cut two of the Butterfly wings one out of Black card the other White card, the black card wing I covered with Dovecraft Glitter Glue Crystal, this is an iridescent colour glue which turned Green once on the card. The White card I covered with Gold Gilding Wax. These were placed on the card as seen.

I layered this up with Black card that I had stamped the word Butterfly using a White stamping ink, Ranger Pigment Ink Pad Glacier White, around each of the corners where my focal card would sit. I matted this onto the base card and there you have the finished card.

These are such easy dies and stamps to work with, I do hope you can tune into the shows to view all the stunning creations from the rest of the Design Team and to see Sheena in action.

Thank you for looking, have a wonderful Sunday.

Love Jacquie xxx

Congratulations

Hello my crafting friends, I do hope this finds you all safe and well especially my friends up in the North with this Abigail storm causing torrential rain up there with possible flooding, keep safe. We expect the rain here from around 11am this morning, at the moment it is lovely and dry, we even had a bit of sunshine around 7 this morning!!! Calm before the storm as they say lol!

Now as I have been saying over the last couple of days Sheena Douglass has a 4DD on Create and Craft starting on Monday morning at 9am showcasing her wonderful dies and stamps of Perfect Partners Country Cottage flowers. These are so gorgeous and easy to work with. Today I am going to show you another of my makes, please do try and look in on at least one of the shows to see the stunning creations by the Design Team and of course Sheena's wonderful demonstrations.

This is another one showing the beautiful Fushias, for this I decided to make a wedding card keeping the lovely Fushias White. I had used the stamps to stamp the petals a light Green.

I got my base card and measured a piece of card to fit inside, on this I stamped one of Sheena's church stamps with Brushed Cordroy and painted it in with the same ink. I love this tone on tone look don't you? Where this image would show on the inside I cut an aperture in the front of my base card. With another piece of card I cut to size then embossed with one of Sheena's embossing folders, the Ivy,  I measured where the aperture would be and die cut a larger aperture.  I took a sheet of Gold miri card and cut to size, giving a boarder round the top layer and die cut the aperture in the center with Sue Wilson Austrian Collection Innsbruck dies but using the smaller die so the pattern would show round the edge.  I layered these together using foam tape for the top layer to lift it up slightly.

I die cut my Fushias and leaves out and coloured them with Aqua Markers, I stamped the petals with DI Bundled Sage, a lovely Pale Green. The leaves once dry were stamped with Forest Moss. This is quite easy to do as Sheena has made the stamps to fit the dies perfectly, I did not use a stamping block I just lay the stamp on my glass mat inked it up and took the die cut and placed it over the top and pressed down with my fingers, you do get a bit messy with the ink over your fingers but that's the fun part right? lol! There is always a part of the stamp and die that will have a slight curve or notch that will enable you to match them up perfectly together. Once all were dry I assembled the flowers and leaves on the card as seen, these are soooo wonderful and easy to make, we had no instructions at all so if I can do it anybody can lol! I would advise to make a hole in the bottom of the flower and petals to push the stamens through either before sticking together or after but whilst the glue is wet, easier that way. I tucked a few leaves in at the top and around the edge of the aperture as I thought they looked better than just having the end of the leaf showing, I am never quite sure how to place a leaf directly on the top as I don't like the end of the leaf showing but sometimes we have no choice lol!

To finish the card I added a sentiment stamped with Brushed Cordroy and layered up with Gold Miri card to match the rest of the card.

Items Used:

Sheena Douglass White Stamping Card

Sheena Douglass Country Flowers Fanciful Fushia Die and Stamps

Sheena Douglass Embossing Folder Ivy

Sheena Douglass Stamp Believe (Church)

Tim Holtz Distress Inks Brushed Cordroy, Bundled Sage and Forest Moss
Sue Wilson Austrian Collection Innsbruck

The Range Gold Miri Card

Foam Tape

Thank you for looking, Jacquie xxx

Take Flight

Morning my crafting friends, hope today finds you all safe and well? Are we all prepared for this 'Abigail' storm they reckon we are going to have today, if weather history is right then we shall get it here tomorrow, we always seem to get it a day later than said!!! Keep yourselves safe wherever you are.

Now my card today is another I have done for Sheena's  day deal starting on Monday at 9am on Create and Craft showcasing some wonderful country flowers stamps and dies and a beautiful Dragonfly and Butterfly. This one is showing her Butterfly, I have used it on shrink plastic to show a scene.

I started by doing the background using Sheena's stencils along with Tim Holtz Distress Inks, I then went round the edge of the card with Black Soot. Once dry I cut it into three strips and layered them onto Gold Miri card, best to make sure you have a card big enough to fit the three strips and the mount to leave a gap between each one, then I added foam tape to the three images and placed them on the card as seen.

I stamped the Butterfly twice onto shrink plastic, coloured them in and left to dry overnight, you cannot dry these with a heat gun obviously!! lol! It did take a while for them to dry but once they are dry just heat them with your heat gun and watch the magic before you eyes. I made the mistake of folding the butterfly before heating then had a job opening up the wings so it may be better to fold after you have shrunk it. Whilst still warm, which isn't very long, I shaped their wings how I wanted them to make them look in flight so to speak. I then attached these to my card with 3D glue.

There you have the finished card, one for many occasions I feel.

Please do look in on your TV on Monday or one of the following three days to see the stunning creations made by the rest of the Design Team.

Thank you for looking, Jacquie xxx

Fabulous Fushias

Morning my crafting friends, good of you to visit me today, sorry I have been a little absent again, lots of work and long suffering toothache, now sorted!

Its that time again when our lovely Sheena has shows coming up on Create and craft showcasing some new and stunning flower dies and stamps along with stunning Butterfly and dragonfly. The shows start on Monday at 9am. So if you are able to please come and watch the lovely Sheena in action and view all the stunning creations made by the Design team.

Here is one of mine...

This is showing the beautiful Fushia die, these are so easy to make and look wonderful when finished.

For this I coloured the background with D.I then stamped over the top with Sheena's script stamp using my Versamark Ink pad and Clear embossing powder.

I then stamped over the top of that with Sheena's Fusion Fushia stamp, not the stamps that are out with the die, coloured this in with Distress Inks then placed the die cut flowers, these were coloured using Aqua markers, down the side of the stamped image.

I loved the finished look of this card, I matted and layered it with White and Plum card to match the flowers.

Items Used:

Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Sheena Douglass Die & Stamps Fushia                       

Sheena Douglass Fusion Fushia stamp

Sheena Douglass White Stamping card 

Sheena Douglass Script Stamp

Spectrum Noir Aqua Markers

Creative Expressions Plum Card

Clear Embossing Powder

Versamark Ink Pad 

Thank you for looking, Jacquie xxx