Waltzing Simon Says Christmas Without Red or Green

The shiny nature of the silver cardstock (including the Mirri) plus the silver pearlescence of the navy made this very difficult to photograph.

front of card

close-up showing scalloped circle split between 

Mirri & textured silver cardstocks

close-up showing heat embossing of star & 

sentiment panel

angled photo to show sparkle of

 Winter Wonderland heat embossing on star 

inside of card

I have rotated the sketch almost 90 degrees clockwise.

Recipe 

Stamps WS Designs Stars – Christmas, Hobby Art (Love, Joy, Peace).

Inks etc... VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Winter Wonderland & Cobalt Blue Embossing Powders, Brilliance Mediterranean Blue for inking some cardstock edges.

Cardstock An assortment of white, navy & silver in various textures & finishes from “stash”.

Punches Woodware (Circle & Scalloped Circles, Scalloped Rectangle), Xcut (ornate corner).

Challenges Entered

Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge - WMSC26 (see above)

Simon Says ......... Christmas! BUT..... NO red or green!!!

My Creative Classroom - Terriffic Techniques Wk 5

The final set of “homework” for My Creative Classroom – Terrific Techniques (with the theme of texture) proved to be somewhat of an eye-opener. I wasn’t going to do the Funky Foam exercise as I’ve tried this once before & didn’t like it at all. However, that was almost two years ago, & experience has taught me that  I sometimes have to rethink an attitude. I managed to find some craft foam available to purchase in single sheets though the cleanest piece (I don’t think this stock sells very fast) was pink! Suffice to say that I loved the Funky Foam – I wonder if Santa might bring me the pack  of foam I’ve seen in WH Smith’s which contains a whole rainbow of colours.

Owing to the severe weather conditions the planned Open Days at Graphicus this weekend were cancelled. Instead there was a series of posts on the Graphicus Blog with competitions, a crossword, special deals & some free downloads which people were asked to use should they wish to enter one of the competitions.  Somehow the homework pieces & these free downloads matched themselves up.

Polymer Clay

Stamp: Elusive Images

Image stamped into clay & coloured with Perfect Pearls (Interference Blue & Violet) prior to baking

close-up to show the sparkle of the glitter & Perfect Pearls

I made a Christmas ornament from my stamped clay: inking the punched cardstock edges (Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue & Pearlescent Purple), glittering (Ice Stickles Grape Ice) & adding a length of ribbon. The back is another punched & inked piece of pale blue cardstock (thus sandwiching the ribbon) left plain for writing a personal message to make it equally suitable as a gift tag for someone special.

Funky Foam

Stamp: Elusive Images

Ink: Brilliance Starlite Black (image), Brilliance Pearlescent Purple (paper & cardstock edges)

Image stamped into heated foam, layered onto free backing paper plus cardstock & embellished with pearls

UTEE

Stamp: Creative Expressions

Inks: Dusty Concord Distress Ink (Stampbord), Pastel Kaleidacolor (random brayered background), 

Brilliance Pearlescent Purple (paper & cardstock edges)

Stampbord inked & coated with clear UTEE into which image was stamped & the sides coloured (Sakura Stardust Pen); mounted onto randomly brayered background, cardstock & free backing paper; embellished with pearls

close-up highlighting heart motif on Stampbord 

& patterned paper

This came together when I spotted how the heart motif found in the stamped image is echoed in one of the snowflakes (which I embellished with a pearl).

Shrink Plastic

Stamp: Elusive Images

Embossing Powder: Stampendous Twilight

Heated shrink plastic stamped into, cooled & layered onto stamped heat embossed cardstock, matching the pattern of the texture in the stamped shrink plastic to the heat embossed image

close-up showing texture of shrink plastic

 matched with embossed pattern

Stamp: Crafty Individuals

Inks: Brilliance  Pearlescent Olive (stamping), Brilliance Pearlescent Purple (paper & cardstock edges)

Heated shrink plastic stamped into, cooled & layered onto free backing paper designed by Lesley plus stamped cardstock

This is the only one of the samples where I used the technique that I learned in the course to create a piece of artwork inspired by one of the motifs in the  backing paper – in this case stamping the crackle motif to make a piece of textured shrink plastic with which to embellish & coordinating stamped cardstock for matting onto.

My Creative Classroom - Terriffic Techniques Wk 4

Week 4 was all about alchemy & using household items e.g. bleach, lemon juice, cling film etc... I did get very messy with the shaving foam, I even turned the bath water an aqua colour (!), so it was just as well I had had that before skinning my husband's smoked mackerel for dinner. There are, however, some suspiciously green stains on the tea towels after the evening's drying up.

(click on images to enlarge)

Bleach & Colour

Stamp: Elusive Images

Image heat embossed in gold, selected areas bleached & some coloured 

using  Daler-Rowney Artists’ Watercolour Pencils

Stamp: Elusive Images

Inks: Distress Inks (Dried Marigold, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint)

Image heat embossed in silver, selected areas bleached & coloured using Distress Inks

Colour then Bleach 

Stamp: Elusive Images

Inks: Distress Inks (Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood), VersaFine (Onyx Black)

Background inked, image stamped & selected areas bleached 

Stamp: Elusive Images

Inks: Distress Inks (Dried Marigold,  Mustard Seed, Wild Honey), VersaFine (Onyx Black)

Background inked, image stamped & selected areas bleached with some coloured using Distress Inks

Lemon Juice Project

see HERE for details

Shaving Foam Background

Stamp: Elusive Images

Inks: Assorted Fountain Pen Inks

Text heat embossed using PearLustre Alexandrite Embossing Powder

Cling Film Background

Stamp: Hobby Art

Inks etc... Distress Inks (Aged Mahogany, Barn Door, Fired Brick), Perfect Pearls (Interference Red)

Image heat embossed in silver & coloured with Sakura Stardust Pens & Stickles Glitter Glue 

Lemon Juice Goes Christmas Waltzing With Joy

front of card 

close-up showing lemon juice stamped image
 & textured russet cardstock

close-up showing lemon juice stamped sentiment

inside of card

close-up showing textured white cardstock & 

red Mirri card of message panel

I had not intended doing these challenges yesterday – in fact the Keep it Simple! challenge was not one of which I was aware until I was looking for something else, stumbled across it & explored as I’m becoming more & more interested in the “Less Is More” concept when it comes to design & style. There is a place for cute & coloured images within this but also for the non-cute & the more traditional. I like both & am still quite new to the former.

It seems that the Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge lodges in my brain each week & makes itself known at a point when I am doing something else, whether crafting or looking at stamps etc…   I was mounting my Lemon Juice Project for the Terrific Techniques “homework”  this morning when the Waltzing Mouse sketch came to mind &, quick on it’s heels, that I’d seen something about JOY & that that would be perfect for a circular sentiment panel. I had actually dismissed the Keep it Simple! challenge as I didn’t think it would apply to me for Challenge 1 stated "The basic idea is to make a clean, stylish and simple card using our theme to inspire you in 30 minutes or less!". I can never make a card in that period of time but,
looking at the current Design Team samples, it seems to me that it is a case of what can be interpreted as Clean & Simple in appearance. Hopefully I'm not wrong for I was really inspired by what I saw. 

The flower & the sentiment were stamped using lemon juice in place of ink. A hot iron was then applied to activate the juice in order for the imprints to appear.


Recipe
Stamps Elusive Images UA4SP0185 Fantasy Floral (image), Elusive Images UA6GW0211 Celebrations Alphabet (text).
Inks Distress Ink (Scattered Straw) for inking various cardstock edges.
Cardstock Assorted reds & golds in various finishes & textures plus textured white from "stash"; pearlescent white from Crafter's Companion Special Effect Card Pack.
Punches Woodware (circles & scalloped circles, flower), Fiskars (Lace ornate corner).
The gems are Kanban & the button is from "stash".


Challenges Entered
Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge 25 - WMSC 25 (see above) 
Keep it Simple! - JOY (see above)

My Creative Classroom - Terriffic Techniques Wk 3

The subject for the third week of techniques was Stampbord - I worked with the domino sized pieces I had so adapted the exercises to suit.

The first example can be used to make a Christmas Badge (in which case it needs a pin attaching to the back) or as a sentiment on a card or tag. I did not have a sufficient number of tiny gems for the berries so improvised by using a combination of Glossy Accents & Stickles Glitter Glue. The edges were sanded & then the sides coloured with a Sakura Stardust Pen (the dimension of the berries & sparkle of the sides becomes more apparent by clicking the photo to enlarge).

Stamp: Hobby Art

Inks: Distress Inks (Chipped Sapphire, Tumbled Glass), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Colouring: Copics, Stickles Glitter Glue (Xmas Red), Sakura Stardust Pen

With the second example I have used the scratcing tool to etch away the areas inside the wings of the stamped image. This time I went round the edges & the sides with a Sakura Stardust Pen.

Stamp: Elusive Images

Inks: Distress Inks (Crushed Olive, Forest Moss, Peeled Paint), Memento (Tuxedo Black)  

angled view showing edging & sides coloured with Sakura Stardust Pen

Black & White Steps Into Blue With Snow

card standing showing glittered wings

& black Moondust image panel

angled photograph in brilliant sunshine to show

 differences of the various black layers

 close-ups showing pearl embellishments on snowflakes & coat fastening

plus the different finishes of Moondust, textured & glossy black cardstocks

 inside of card

(click on images to enlarge)

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 48 is a sketch by Marlene with the optional theme of "Black, white AND..." (in my case blue) whilst the All Things Sugar Nellie Forum Challenge this week is to make any type of stepper card (I've made a Fancy Fold Stepper based on this tutorial). It was whilst working on the Stepper Card that I realised that I astonishingly also had the bones of the sketch – with a little bit of tweaking (turning the sketch 90 degrees clockwise).

ETA I'd forgotten about describing my image panel. The image was stamped & heat embossed in white onto the Moondust black cardstock. A second image was stamped in black ink onto white cardstock & only the figure cut out & glued in place over the main image panel - really paper piecing the figure with white cardstock. 

Recipe
Stamps Sugar Nellie Leanne Ellis Dreamer (image), Penny Black Giving & Receiving (snowflake).

Inks etc… VersaFine (Onyx Black & Majestic Blue), VersaMark watermark stamp pad & Stampendous Detail White Embossing Powder.

Colouring Stickles Glitter Glue (Ice Stickles Crystal Ice), Sakura Stardust Pen, Inkssentials White Opaque Pen.

Cardstock Black, Moondust black, glossy black, textured black, white, & snowflake patterned blue from “stash”.

Punches, Dies etc… Woodware (large white & small black snowflakes, Dovecraft (small white snowflakes), Spellbinders Nestabilities (Large Deckled Rectangles).

Pearls The black are Papermania, the pale blue & the white from "stash".

Challenges Entered

All Things Sugar Nellie (Paper Craft Planet) Wk 31 - Stepper Card (see above)

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 48 - Marlene's sketch + theme: Black, white AND..... (see above)
Simon Says......... Let It Snow!! - (I think all my snowflakes qualify for this one)
Stamp &  Create Challenge 7 - Tis the Season

Icing On The Cake

I thought I'd take some photos this morning as we had our first snowfall yesterday. It is very pretty but not to be ventured out into - even the most agile of people can find themselves sitting down rather nastily as an icy patch catches you unawares.

view from our bedroom over Brecon town towards the next valley

some pretty berries outside our kitchen window

our woodland viewed from my craft room

.....and the birdbath which looks like an iced cake