Winter Foliage

 Good Morning all, i hope you had a good weekend and the weather wasn't too wild. 

Well once again its time for a new challenge over at Make My Monday  the theme for the next two weeks chosen by me is:

WINTER FOLIAGE

Ivy, Holly, pine cones, mistletoe, any greenery that you get in the winter months.

Ive gone with a branch on a Christmas tree, built up with die cut pine leaves.

A5 white linen cardbase.  I then cut a piece of white linen card slightly smaller than my card front and using evergreen bough DI through a stencil i stenciled a light patterned, with it darker and lighter and then inked around the outside edge, stamped my sentiment in black and added the panel to the cardfront.

I found the evergreen bough distress ink in a draw never used although i must have bought it years ago - its now my favourite green ink as its not too dark and has a nice blue tinge. 

I die cut lots of pine branches from green inked cardstock.  I arranged them on the front like one bough on a christmas tree, i also added some gold mirri die cut mistletoe to add more interest.  Then i arranged my die cut fairy lights.  I cut them first from white card and coloured with a grey marker then i cut just the light bulbs from small scraps of glitter card which id had left over from another project. 

Close up, sadly the photo doesn't do the jellybean glitter card justice, when the light hits it it is soo sparkly. 

Items Used:

Elizabeth crafts pine branch die

Cheerylyn pine branch die

Memory box mistletoe die

Fairylight die set

Jellybean glitter card

Brushos & pixie powders in shades of green

Gold mirri card

Stencil

Evergreen bough distress ink

CraftUk ltd white linen card

So if you fancy joining in and to see what everyone comes up with for winter foliage do hop over to MMM

I hope you all have a good week, i must get my head down and crack on with the Christmas cards!  Hugs to you all Emmax

Id like to enter the following:

pixiescraftyworkshop - snippets  - my snippets are the little glitter light bulbs - lots of tiny offcuts now used up

Alphabet Challenge - Q is for Quads

 Good Morning everyone, another week passed by - where are they going?

So its time for a new challenge over at Alphabet Challenge  the theme for the next fortnight is 

Q - QUADS

Use 4 of something

I went for 4 background panels.

I had actually die cut the panels from left over off cuts of pearlised cardstock.  I then dry embossed the squares with a circle embossing folder.  I then coloured them with a mix of aqua tints in green, blue and purple.  The pearl of the card still shows through the inks really well.  I added the inks to a mat, sprayed with water and dipped the card into it. 

I mounted the panels onto silver mirror card  (hard to get a decent photo of the silver), and mounted onto a 6x6 white cardblank.  I die cut the Christmas sentiment from silver mirror card, the circle that comes out the middle i decided to emboss and glue back in.  This i mounted onto a die cut circle and then over the background panels.

Die cut a white snowflake, added a very blingy dazzler to finish.

This one was made in the same way but i had die cut the left over pearl card into rectangle panels instead.  Finished card is 5x7"

Items Used:

MFT Christmas sentiment die

MFT stitched rectangle die set

Wonky stitched square die

Wonk stitched circle die

Poppystamps Marius Stitched snowflake die

Sizzix circle embossing folder

CraftUk Ltd white cardstock

Silver mirri card

Spectrum Noir aqua tints

So if you fancy joining in and seeing what everyone else comes up with for using QUADS then hop over too Alphabet Challenge

Thank you all for stopping by. I hope you all have a good weekend. Emma

Winter Blues

 Good Morning Everyone. 

Its time for a new challenge over at Cardz4guyz  and the theme for the next fortnight is:

WINTER BLUES

A winter card in shades of blue and of course for a boy/man

I decided to do a snowflake emboss resist background for my polar bears

6x6 white card base, my blue panel takes it upto 7" wide as it over hangs the edges of the base card. Something i do now and then and it adds interest and i didn't want to hide all the embossed snowflakes.  

I first stamped the snowflakes onto white card using embossing ink and added a clear embossing powder.  I then inked over the top using distress inks in blue tones.  I splashed on some water and dabbed with a tissue, this gives more interest.  I then rubbed the ink of the embossed snowflakes with a tissue - the embossing powder resists the ink so easily wipes off.  I then added this panel onto navy cardstock and then the base card. 

I die cut my polar bears from white cardstock, added navy card behind the snowflakes in the bear, added on top of a die cut silver mirror snowflake and then a circle cut from vellum.  Add the scarf to the baby bear which i inked with distress oxide.  Stamped greeting onto the base card.   

Just a close up showing the bears better.

Items Used:

Craft stamper mag stamp - the snowflake

Tattered lace polar bears die

Spellbinders lrg snowflake die

Wonky stitched circle dies

Distress Inks - peacock feathers, everygreen bough, chipped shappire

Distress Oxide ink - cracked pistachio

White card is CardcraftUk

Silver & Navy card is payper box.

So if you fancy joining in or just to see what the rest of the DT created and all the entries over the next 2 weeks do hop over to cardz4guyz

I hope you all have a good week, hopefully i will get a bit more time to craft this week, last week was busy with family visiting us.  Lovely to catch up with them all. Hugs Emma



I would like to enter the following challenges:
animalfriendschallenge-november - Winter

craftyanimals challenge-20 - anything goes with animal

sparklesforumchristmaschallenge - embossing wet or dry   - heat embossed background

Using Stencils

Good Morning

Well time for another new challenge over at Make My Monday  with the theme for the next fortnight being

USING STENCILS

So basically use any stencil on your project, for either background or focal point.  I dug out a lattice style stencil and my wink of stella pens and had fun. 

7x7 White cardblank.   For the background i embossed my stencil using my big shot, i put it through on the die embossing sandwich with a rubber mat, the rubber mat then pushed the card through the holes in the stencil.  I then added my wink of stellas pens over the top.   I found it easier to add some of the wink ink to my mat and picking up with a flat head brush and brushing over the card, blending where the colours meet. For a bit of interest i stamped on some tiny birds & butterflies. 

For the topper panel i used heat embossing. Using blending foam i added sticky embossing ink onto my stencil, i then put it ink face down onto a piece of white card and transferred the ink from the stencil onto the card.  I then added clear embossing powder and heated.  The embossing powder acted like a resist on the lines then making it easy to colour inside the lines.  As i wanted my squares to have different colours in each square i found this a better way than trying to add the inks direct through the stencil. I then added the same colour wink of stella pens as i used on the background.

I attached both panels to black card and then onto the card front. Stamped greeting die cut into circles.  Butterflies die cut from white and black card and layered together.  Gems to finish.  

Just a close up.  I also doodled stitching with a black fine pen around the edges of the squares.  White gel pen highlights. Sadly the photos down show the amazing sparkle the wink of stella pens give.  

And this little A6 card i made with another piece i had made with the same stencil and didn't use in the end.  This time i used the stencil in the traditional way, using tape, I stuck the stencil onto white card and then sponged ink through it using the same wink of stella pens.  Layered onto black card, stamped greeting, butterfly and glitter gems dots. 

Items Used:

Lattice Mylar Stencil

Wink Of Stella pens - red, orange, yellow, mint

Clearly besotted sentiments

Sizzix butterfly dies

Large stitched square dies

Wonky square dies

stitched circle dies

So if you fancy joining in and finding out what everyone else comes up with using their stencils please do hop over to MMM

Thank you for stopping by and all your recent visits and comments.  I hope you all have a good week as we head into November. Emmax

House of Horrors

Good Morning everyone.  

So today im sharing something a bit different with a 3 dimensional project.  Im not really into halloween but am into all things mystical - witches, vampires, Cornish Piskeys so had great fun decorating this house shaped printer tray.

I bought a pack of halloween emphemra from ebay, containing lots of different products including tim holtz and combined with items ive collected over the years in my stash.  I decided to give each room of the house a different theme.  The attic isn't yet finished, im still looking for the perfect items which i have in mind. 

Overall Size: 12x7" (20x30 cm).  I first added touches of sand texture paste for the front edges and through a brick stencil on the outside sides of the house.  Once dry covered it all with black gesso. I then highlighted with dry brushing silver acrylic paint on top to give a kind of moonlight feel. 

I cut a blue and gold foil paper, inked the edges and glued to the back of each room of the house as wallpaper. I then bit by bit built up the rooms with items until i was happy, more details below on each room.  I then die cut spiders & webs from black cardstock, again added silver paint and added these to the front of the house.  

The Copse Bride room - i added a grunge board skull & cross bones to the back of the room, my immortal soul tab on top. A vintage wedded couple image, grave stone, skull, spider and white flowers inked with a touch of red. I added a black inked heart in the background. 

Close up, love the skull, so much detail in it

A close up on the spider web, see the fly? - Morrisons supermarket Halloween isle, i toned it down a bit with black ink but think it looks quite realistic. 

Lots of bottles of potions for the witches to use, ive built them up in the background using digital images printed out and sealed with mod podge.  For my real bottles in some i added a drop of alcohol ink just to stain the glass, in the red one there ive added lots of red alcohol ink and glued the cork lid in - a bottle of blood of course.  Micro beads, and glitter in another bottle.  Bits of twine and handmade tatty labels.  One bottle has tipped over and lost its cork stopper and that pesky fly is about. 

Is it an Angel, A Cherub or a nightmare?! I added wings which are actually a die cut angel wings but were the perfect size for the Tim Holtz doll, i also added black ink to tone down the white.  

The bats are sleeping peacefully while the spooky hand carries away an eyeball to its hidden lair.  Not another fly!  My eye balls are digital images, printed out and covered with glossy accents.  The hand reminds me of 'thing' in the Addams Family.

The Witches Lair -  2 Witches over seeing their latest potion.  The cauldron is chipboard - i painted it with black gesso, adding the gesso thick in places to give it texture.  In the backgound a pale whispy girl - Is it a ghost?!  More spiders and cobwebs.  Label in the front.  I added a metal bat at the top of this room too, being too shiny i again added black gesso to dull it down. 

More potions, i used sequins for my mermaid scales bottle, another spider and a little key...... maybe the key unlocks the attic...... time will tell....

This shows the outside wall of the house.  I added sand texture paste through a brick stencil, the sand texture gives a more realistic look to the bricks i think.  Once dry covered with black gesso and dry brushed on red and orange imagination crafts starlight paints and then just a light touch of silver acrylic paint. 

Items Used:

Tim Holtz idea'logy range

Mini bottles and various metal, chipboard charms & ephemera

spider & web die

Daisytrail 'steampunk emporium' digikit

Serif craft artist

Imagination crafts starlight paints

Brick stencil

Sand texture paste

Black gesso

Into the Woods

Good Morning everyone.

Once again its time for a new challenge over at cardz4guyz with the theme for the next fortnight being:

INTO THE WOODS

Anything you find in a wood or forest, think flora, fauna or maybe a teddy bears picnic, or is there a pixie hiding among the trees.  It could be an everyday card or a Christmas card but must be for a man/boy.  

Ive gone with a Christmas card as its that time of year and although i did make this with a man in mind i think its unisex really and could be done in any colours.  Ive gone with green & gold.

4.5x6" white linen cardblank.  I made a background using distress oxide inks and let dry.  I then cut the tree background die from white linen card, this i attached over my background and mounted on the card front.

I then die cut the 2 deer from gold pearl cardstock, i felt they were a bit lost against the background so added a die cut circle of vellum to just soften the background for them.  I snipped a bit off the bottom of the vellum and placed level with the bottom of the background.  Afterwards i thought it kind of had a snow globe look.

I then die cut my sentiments and mounted onto more of the gold pearl card and added to the top.  The sentiments actually have the fishtail on both ends but i snipped off the left side.  

Just a close up and this shows the gold pearl better. 

Items Used:

MFT deer love die set

Concord & Ninth 'season of cheer' die set

Wonky stitched circle dies

Christmas Tree panel die - brand unknown

Distress Oxide inks - cracked pistachio, peacock feathers & twisted lime

White linen cardstock craftUk ltd

Gold Pearl cardstock - payper box

So do hop over Cardz4guyz and see what everyone else comes up with for 'Into the woods' and to join in, everyone is welcome to join the challenge.

I hope you all have a good week. Emma

Floral Shutter Birthday card

Good Morning everyone.

Today im sharing a shutter card  i made for a friends 70th birthday.  I went with purple as the main colour as i know she loves purple and lots of flowers. 

A4 Shutter card, made from white card and tattered lace shutter die set.  I first die cut lots of flowers from a sheet of kraft card covered with purple foiled swirls & purple mirri card. I then shaped and glued the flower layers together to build up lots of dimension.  I also die cut lots of foliage from green inked card.

From white card i cut panels to fit the card front and dry embossed them, well actually debossed as i liked the look of it, i added a touch of green pen and then green glitter to the debossed flower centres.  I went with green as a contrast to all the purple.  I inked around the edges with purple distress ink and attached to the card front. 

I computer printed my sentiment in purple and black and die cut into an oval, inked the edges with purple ink and lots of purple glitter dots around the edge - i know she LOVES her glitter.  I then arranged my flowers and foliage.  Gold gems to finish my flowers. 

Showing it from a slightly different angle

This shows the purple foiled kraft card better and the true colour.

Just showing the card from above when its stood up on display. 

and as many of you know i also like to add detail to the back of my cards.  Here i used a pale purple paper so could easily write my greeting on it and 3 purple cats as she also loves her cats and this is my 3 furry gals - Tilly leader of the gang, Jess following the leader and little Suki being naughty😀

items used:

Tattered lace shutter die set

Daisy flower die set

Cat die set

Foliage die set

Spellbinders Mbossilities folder

B&M Vintage Baroque foiled kraft card pad

B&M Memory lane paper pad

Chocolate box purple mirri card

Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink

Wink of Stella Purple pen

Stickles green, purple

Thank you for stopping by once again.  I hope you all have a good weekend, not sure of my plans yet, will see what the weather brings. Hugs Emma