Silhouette Stamps

I enjoy working with silhouette stamps and this is a recent card which started from an inky background.  I normally use plain white or cream card for my inky play but decided to have a go using some coated card  (Original Clarity card which I've had for more years than I care to think about) using Distress Oxide inks. The results on coated card are slightly different from those using plain card and because the surface was very smooth I found that the stamping in black Versafine ink took much longer to dry so I had to be very careful not to smudge any of the images.  Stamps from a variety of sources were used to build up the scene and I stamped the sentiment onto a separate strip of toning card - this is a better match in real life than it appears to be on the screen., 

Background - Distress Oxide inks with Clarity original coated card
Stamps - from a variety of sources including Lavinia and Card-Io, also some freebies

Dandelions

 I had this piece of card which was coloured during one of my inky play sessions and the colour made me think of dandelions so I decided to see what I could do to make it into a card.  A piece of patterned paper was die cut to form the hills and some dandelion clocks were stamped in green onto the background piece.  Next I used some dies to cut the flowers from cream card and added a banner for the sentiment. Something to brighten up what looks to be quite a dull day.

Dandelion Stamps and dies -  Stampin' Up
Hills - DSP from SU cut using a stitched hills die, MFT I think
Banner - die from Creative Expressions, freebie sentiment

Another One for Christmas

 I did something yesterday which I've not done for over 20 months - bought a craft magazine from the supermarket!!  I've not been anywhere  near such temptations in all that time but I had to visit their Phone Shop to sort out a problem with my mobile and walked past the magazine department on the way.  Thought I deserved a treat so a bought a copy of Die-Cutting Essentials which had this set of Santa dies as a 'free' gift.  When I got back home I just had to cut one out quickly and make a card.  It is quite a detailed die and works a treat; the 'Believe' word is also part of the set and to make it stand out a little bit I used the die to draw around onto a scrap of white card and fussy cut it to form a backing for the word.  So, that's another die set to add to my seasonal collection - might need a larger box to keep them in when I store them all away ready for next year 😉

Fun Penguins

 A couple of penguins here for another Christmas card, one is trying to be Rudolph!!  I used a piece of starry sky paper in the background and then die cut three rectangles which have stitched details on the edges.  Stamped a few stars on them before lining up onto the background and adding the two fun penguins and some Christmas trees on the centre one.  Some words and a scattering of glitzy snowflakes and that's it.  What appear to be black blobs in the sky are actually some iridescent stars which didn't photograph well!!

Penguins and Trees - Stampin' Up.

Penned Flowers

 A floral card to share today using stamped and die cut flowers which have been water-coloured. I've used some of the matching DSP (designer series paper) - a small strip at the bottom and a larger piece above. The die cut oval was embossed.  When the card was put together I thought it needed just a little something else so I added a layered punched butterfly and a few toning gems.  The smaller butterfly was brushed over with Wink of Stella but sadly it doesn't show up in the picture.

Flowers - Penned Flowers, Stampin' Up
Butterfly - Punch from SU 
Oval - Tonic die, embossed using folder from Stampin' Up.

Clean and Simple

 I have a card with white space (cream actually) to share today in the CAS style - really enjoyed making this as a break from Christmas cards.  Started by stencilling using two colours of ink but only making a partial image before stamping the various elements , finally adding a simple sentiment.

 We had lovely weather over the weekend but today is very grey and wet, not at all pleasant and I hear we may be in for a cold snap later in the week.  Never mind it is a good excuse to stay in and craft 😉

Stencil - Charming from Lavinia Stamps
Toadstools and Mice - Stamps from Lavinia
Sentiment - came with a set of freebie stamps from way back
Inks - Tumbled Glass and Spiced Marmalade Distress ink pads by Ranger

Snippets Challenge #414

 Time to take myself off to the Playground for the latest challenge.  A super prize on offer this time and a guest designer with no less than three cards to inspire us.  When I cut into any patterned paper I always save the left overs, where possible with the pad or pack containing the originals - you never know when you might need just a tiny bit more of a favourite one when using the last  whole piece 😉.  For my card this time I've used some strips of Christmas paper from a previous year (not sure how long ago) but managed to find four strips just wide enough to cut some banners.  I also used snippets to cut the sentiment strip and the glitzy snowflakes..  Also I had a larger  white snippet which I trimmed to size before embossing with falling snow EF.  I did have to cut into a new sheet of red card for the outer layer and of course used a card blank.

Banners - DSP from Stampin' Up (retired), banner die from Creative Expressions
Greeting - stamp from Contempo Christmas, also SU (retired)
Snowflakes - dies from Crafter's Companion, Small snippet glitter paper from SU
Embossing - Falling snow embossing folder also SU