Frosty Littles - Hello Bluebird Stamps.

Feels so good to be back making Christmas cards again, it has to be my favourite card making 'season'.  Today, for Hello Bluebird Stamps I have a card using a favourite set from last year called Frosty Littles and the coordinating dies can be found here.  Since we just got a good cold front through my area thoughts turned to hot chocolate, pink peppermints and sparkle and this is what inspired my card.



To make this card I used the Buffalo Check background stamp.  I inked it up with Nuvo Hybrid Ink in Soft Suede and stamped it to a panel of white cardstock, repeating for a better stamped image.  I used 2 different sizes of some standard circular dies from my stash to die cut the three openings.  I did a little Distress Oxide ink blending with Spun Sugar where each opening would be on another panel of white cardstock.   I die cut 3 mini sections of 'snowy hills' using the Hill and Dale Die and edged each with some Stickles glitter in Crystal.



I backed the checked panel with foam tape and applied it to the ink blended panel and in turn this was applied to a sturdy 110lb white cardstock base.

I used Nuvo Crystal Drops in Simply White and dotted in some dimensional snowfall into each circular opening.

On Bristol Smooth cardstock I stamped my Frosty Littles images and coloured them with Copic markers.  They were die cut, backed with foam tape and applied to create 3 little scenes in each opening.  Points were highlighted with a white gel pen.



The card was finished with layered snowflakes die cut using Frosty Flakes.  The larger flake was die cut with white sparkly paper and the smaller one layered on top from white lightweight cardstock.  These were glued together and to the card.

Finally the sentiment was stamped from Snow Play and I used Nuvo Crystal Drops in Dark Walnut for a few chocolatey embellishments.

I'm so happy you navigated to my blog today to read about this card.

Happy crafting!

Nicky x

Fly With Me - Mama Elephant

Hi!  Few things are more fun than creating new baby cards!  My extended family have just welcomed a new baby girl and so I set about making the perfect card!  I have used Fly With Me by Mama Elephant.



Finished card dimensions are 3 1/2" wide x 8 1/2".  From an A4 sheet of cardstock cut the length at 7 inches then score and fold in half (4 bar).  My panel is cut from the remainder of the A4 sheet and the dimensions are 3.2" x 8.2".  Worth writing those down for future reference!  For your coordinating envelopes just Google 'slimline envelopes' (this search yields the best results).  Sometimes they are referred to as 'invitation envelopes' and also '#9 envelopes' or even 'Size 9 envelopes'.



I masked off the edges of my panel and ink blended it using a Clarity Stencil Brush in Spun Sugar Distress Ink.  I then squished a little Worn Lipstick Distress Ink onto my acrylic block, spritzed a tiny bit of water next to it, mixed it and then splashed it randomly.  I removed the masking and stamped the sentiment from New Family using Ranger Archival Ink in Potting Soil and set the panel to one side.



On Bristol Smooth cardstock I stamped my images again using Ranger Archival Ink in Potting Soil.  I watercolour my images using Kuretake Zigs and Tombows.  The following colours were used.  Elephants are Zig in Blue Gray.  Balloons are Zig in Light Pink and Tombow  020.   Blushing cheeks, ears and hair bows also done with Zig in Light Pink.

I die cut the images and applied them to the scene using dimensional foam tape then attached the panel to the card base with a piece of white craft foam behind it to lift it up.



The final embellishing touches were to add Nuvo Crystal Drops.  The colours I've used are Simply White,  Buttermilk and Bubblegum Blush.

I was so happy with how this card turned out and I love the height of it which helped me play with having the elephants floating through the sky.

I'm fighting the urge to make this card all over again in a baby boy theme - it may very well happen!

Happy crafting everybody!

Nicky x

25 Days of Christmas Tags - Hello Bluebird

Hi, I'm excited to be participating this year in the big 25 Days of Christmas Tags event hosted by Tracey McNeely.  All month long designers from a plethora of stamp companies who are sponsoring this fun event, hope to inspire you with handmade gift tags for the Christmas season.  Today I am proudly representing Hello Bluebird Stamps with this trio of cute tags.



I took some tag dies that I pre-owned and die cut 3 tags and the top trim piece to go with each.  I used Bristol Smooth cardstock since the ink goes on like butter!  I then splashed on some white acrylic paint watered down with a dot of water to loosen the mixture.



I used the Hill and Dale die from an additional 3 die cuts of the tag so that I got the matching inverted V pointed bottom but had a curvy snow-line at the top, setting the scene for my characters.



I adhered the 'snow' die cuts to the main tags and the trim piece at the top with glue.



On more Bristol Smooth I stamped out my characters from North Pole Littles using Ranger Archival Ink in Coffee.  I watercolour painted them with my Kuretake Zigs and die cut the images.   I decided on a design for each tag with the lightest background having the lightest painted images progressing to the bolder coloured tag.  I wanted a related set that wasn't totally matchy matchy!  The images were adhered with foam tape.



Time to finish out the tags.  I stamped the sentiments from North Pole Littles with a toning ink colour using my Misti.  I then stamped a second time with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed the sentiments using Clear Embossing Powder.   The sentiments were also applied with foam tape.

I used white Nuvo Drops to add in some dimensional snow and then used toning baker's twine to finish each tag.

Little labours of love - but the right people will appreciate them on their special gift!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nicky x

Animal Parade - Background Card

Hi to you all, thank you for stopping by to read.  Today I'm sharing my final card for this May release by Mama Elephant.  This card once again features 'Animal Parade'.



I die cut a panel of Strathmore Bristol Smooth using the Cloud Nine Creative Cuts which gives the cute wonky stitched edge.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre and then stamped the imagines of the animals I wanted using black archival ink.  I delicately watercolour painted them.



I applied this panel to the card base with a layer of craft foam sandwiched in between which makes the card feel really substantial and in fact cards using craft foam survive the rigours of the mail system so much better!



I then lay the card flat and using different coloured Nuvo Drops I applied dimensional dots for juggling balls over the sweet penguin and set it aside to dry for a couple of hours.



I'm a big fan of these background cards, I love the wallpaper affect and I hope you enjoyed it too.  Thanks for stopping by to read.  Until the next time .....

Nicky x

Animal Parade

I'm totally head over heals excited to be guest designing for Mama Elephant this May and June and maybe beyond.  The materials for the new release are everything you want them to be from Mama Elephant and my first card here uses Animal Parade.



This card features an alcohol ink background that I distressed with white acrylic paint splashes and the tiniest dots of Stickles glitter for a playful twinkle.  I die cut the panel using the largest die from the new 'Basic Rectangles' Creative Cuts which is a comprehensive die set featuring several sizes and a rectangular window die.



On Strathmore Bristol Smooth watercolour cardstock I stamped all of the images, I die cut them and then watercolour painted each of using Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  They were applied to the scene using dimensional foam tape.  They appear to be marching along a road taken from Cityscape Creative Cuts which I die cut from silver cardstock.



The final touch was to highlight a few points with my Uniball Signo White pen and then using Nuvo drops, I created the juggling balls over the little penguin.  The card panel is adhered to the card base with a layer of craft foam in between because I like my cards to feel substantial!

Hope you like the card, I will be back with more cards over the next 3 days, sometimes at the rate of 2 a day!

Thanks for reading,

Nicky x