Winter Woods Overlay Die - Hello Bluebird Stamps

I have a new card for Hello Bluebird Stamps today that I made for fun (one can never have too many Christmas cards on hand at this time of year)!    No stamping at all on this card - I think that's a first for me.  This card uses the Winter Woods Overlay Die that comes with its own snowman!



To create this card used red ink and Black Soot Distress Oxide Ink to darken the edges of a panel  of red cardstock to make a lovely focal point.  I splattered this panel with white acrylic paint and set it aside to fully dry.



A panel of white cardstock was taken and the Winter Woods Overlay die cut.   The frame was backed with foam tape and applied to the scene.  The large centre negative cut was retained and I used the Hill and Dale die to cut a wavy hill for the snowman to eventually stand on.  This was also backed with foam tape, recessed and applied.



The different parts of the snowman were die cut and coloured with Copic markers, highlighted and decorated with a white gel pen and then assembled.  He was backed with yet more foam tape and applied to the scene.

The sentiment was stamped on a speech bubble from Photo Stack and applied.

Thank you so much for coming to my blog today.  Happy crafting!

Nicky x

Calm and Bright and Snowy Village - Miss Ink Stamps

Hello!  Here's my third and final card for Miss Ink's Christmas release for which I'm guest designing!  This is Calm and Bright in combination with Snowy Village.



To make this card I took an A2 panel of Copic friendly white cardstock and I stamped the Snowy Village image with Memento Ink.  I coloured the village using Copic markers.



I stamped the Snow Village again on to masking paper.  The image was fussy cut and then laid over the image on the main panel and I then started to ink blend the sky using Distress Oxide inks in Tumbled Glass and Broken China and Stormy Skies.  The mask was removed.



On more Copic friendly cardstock the images from Calm and Bright were stamped again using Memento Ink.   I coloured them with Copic markers and fussy cut then backed them with foam tape and applied.  The sentiment was stamped.  The panel was applied to a 110lb white cardstock base.



To finish up the scene, points were highlighted with a white gel pen and then from the top down I used the gel pen to add the snow in different sized dots.  I also added the white smoke coming from the chimneys.  Finally I grabbed Stickles glitter in 'Diamond' and decorated the fir trees and the rooftops and the backs of the sweet sleeping critters.

Card complete!  Happy crafting.

Nicky x

Snowball Fight - Hello Bluebird Stamps

I have a new card for Hello Bluebird Stamps today that I'm excited to share.   This card features Snowball Fight one of the latest stamp sets and the very pretty Warm Wishes word die.



To start this card off I took a panel of smooth white cardstock and grabbed my Clarity Stencil Brushes and I ink blended the background using Spun Sugar and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks.

I die cut the Warm Wishes die 3 times from white, pale pink and a slightly deeper pink background that perfectly matched the ink blending.  I adhered them together slightly offset so that you can see the three colours and then glued this to the decorative panel.



To build the big pile of snowballs, I took the group of snowballs image from the Snowball Fight stamp set and stamped the image three times on masking paper.  I fussy cut these 3 images.  I grabbed some Copic friendly cardstock and using pale gray ink I started across the bottom with stamping the design, masking and stamping where necessary to overlap and slowly I repeated this building the snowball pile higher and higher.  I fussy cut the snow pile, backed it with foam tape and applied it to the panel.  I used a Copic marker to add colour to the snowballs and then glittered them using Stickles in 'Crystal'.

On yet more Copic friendly paper I stamped the kittens from the stamp set ... could they BE any cuter?  I coloured them with Copic markers  and highlighted some points with a white gel pen.  I also emphasised their eyes just a little with a black waterproof marker with a very fine tip.  Images were fussy cut and also backed with foam tape and applied.



Just a few finishing touches.  Firstly I stamped the little sentiment to a strip of cardstock and popped it up on foam tape and applied it and then I chose some Nuvo Drops and Dream Drops and more Stickles glitter and dotted the colours randomly to create some twinkle and fun!

Happy crafting everybody - see you next time!

Nicky x

Polar Playtime - Avery Elle

Hello, today I have another card for the holiday season.  This card features Polar Playtime by Avery Elle, together with their Wonky Scalloped Frames Die and Wonky 3D Bow and the sentiment is from Snow Fun.



To start with, I had lots of fun ink blending the background, I used Picked Raspberry, Aged Mahogany and Black Soot Distress Inks to achieve this look.  I then loosened up some white acrylic paint with a splash of water and splattered until my heart was content, setting it to one side to fully dry afterwards.

I die cut the white scalloped frames and backed them with foam tape and I also stamped the penguins from Polar Playtime onto Bristol Smooth using black ink and watercolour painted them using Kuretake Zigs in Green, Oatmeal, Light Pink, Bright Yellow, Orange, Natural Gray and Wine Red.  I die cut the images, backed them with foam tape and then adhered both frames and penguins to the background.



I die cut and constructed the bow from the Wonky 3D Bow die using some matte gold cardstock in my collection.  I adhered it into position and then used a double layer of foam tape discretely inside each loop so that the card could be mailed and the bow wouldn't be crushed.  Note .... I didn't remove the protective cover to the top layer of foam.  The bow was adhered into position.



Lastly, I stamped the sentiment from Snow Fun using Versamark Ink and heat embossed in gold.  I backed it with yet more foam tape and applied.  I felt the warm gold touches in this card worked well with the rich colour of the background.

Finally I dotted in some gold gel pen dots into the background and highlighted points on the penguins with a white gel pen.

Hope you like the card, thanks for coming by to read. 

Nicky x

Woodland Hearth - Miss Ink Stamps

I have a new card for the Miss Ink Stamps new release.   This is a pretty stamp set called Woodland Hearth.



I stamped the main background image using Memento Ink onto Copic friendly cardstock.  I stamped the additional three bunnies on more cardstock.

I coloured the main image panel using entirely Copic markers.



I coloured up the three bunnies then fussy cut them and backed them with foam tape and applied them to the scene.  I created shadows in the scene again using Copic markers.



The sentiment from Woodland Hearth was stamped with Versamark Ink and heat embossed in silver.

The panel was attached to a 110lb white cardstock base.



Starting from the top of the panel and slowly working my way down I added the snow using a white gel pen and the final touch was the application of a few sparkling clear sequins for accents.

I'll be back with an other card for Miss Ink on the 12th.  Hope to see you then.  Happy crafting!

Nicky x

Season's Greetings and Woodland Hearth - Miss Ink Stamps

I am happy to be guest designing for Miss Ink Stamps today to help promote their Christmas release.  My card today combines their Season's Greetings sentiment set with the Woodland Hearth stamp set.



The card was created by stamping the background image on white cardstock trimmed slightly smaller than A2 size.  The trees were dotted with silver Stickles glitter.  The panel was backed with craft foam and applied to the card base.



Using some circle dies from my crafting stash I die cut a larger circle from silver glitter cardstock and one size down from white cardstock.  I ink blended the white one in the centre very softly with Distress Oxide in Spun Sugar.  I adhered the two circles together and then to the background panel.



The adorable image of the kissing bunnies from Woodland Hearth was stamped with Memento Ink and coloured with Copic markers.  It was fussy cut, backed with foam tape and applied.



The sentiment from Season's Greetings was stamped with Versamark Ink and heat embossed in silver on a strip of cardstock which was backed with foam tape and applied.

Points were highlighted with white gel pen to finish off this CAS card.

Thanks for stopping by, I have two more and very different cards coming up in the next few days for this new release.

Happy crafting,

Nicky x

25 Days of Christmas Tags - Avery Elle

Hey there!  I'm representing Avery Elle today with this shaker gift tag for the 25 Day of Christmas Tags - month long event organised by Tracey McNeely and her blog found HERE.



To create my shaker tag I die cut the Classic Flag die from this set 3 times.  Twice in light grey cardstock and once more from white cardstock.   I stencil ink blended a background of clouds on the white die cut and adhered it to one of the grey ones to form the back of the tag.  I set this to one side.

Next, I cut a window out of the remaining grey die cut using the Large Pierced Scallops Die set.  I backed the opening with a piece of acetate and built a shaker until around the window with dimensional foam tape.  I filled the shaker portion with a selection of 'snowy' sequins that I had then adhered the back to the front sealing the contents in.



I used a 1/8 inch hole punch to make the opening for my baker's twine and threaded through a double strand.

I die cut the larger of the two sentiment strips in the Classic Flags die set and I stamped the sentiment from Snow Fun with Versamark Ink then heat embossed in red.

Taking centre stage are some cuties also from the Snow Fun stamp set.  These were stamped with Ranger Archival Ink in Potting Soil on to Bristol Smooth cardstock then watercolour painted using Kuretake Zigs in Wine Red, Haze Blue, Light Pink and Bright Yellow.  Also a Tombow ABT was used in shade 969.  Some points were highlighted with a white gel pen then all images were die cut, backed with foam tape and applied to the top of the shaker window and the sentiment strip was applied underneath them to ground them.



A few Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh were adhered to the outside for a final twinkle.

Thank you for stopping by to read how to make this tag today and I hope you are enjoying all the gift tag inspiration this event is bringing.

Until the next time then, happy crafting!

Nicky x