Flying Home

Hello, as soon as I saw the Flying Home stamp set I knew it would soon be winging it's way to me. It's taken a little while to get round to inking it up but I just love the results with my first card; perfect to send to someone that has just moved into their new home. In fact I think I might already have a recipient within the next few weeks, all being well. I also thought mamma bird feeding her chicks in the nest could make a great card to celebrate the birth of a baby!

Although my card base is Whisper White, I chose to use Soft Sky to create a border. I partially die cut a circle, completing the cutting around the nest with scissors. I love this effect; it can be a little time consuming to get it right but really is quite easy.

I used a combination of Stampin' Up watercolour pencils and ink pads in conjunction with a blender pen to spread the colour.

I used dimensionals to create a 3D effect and placed some linen thread behind the sentiment which is from the At Home with You stamp set.

Magical Mermaids

As soon as I saw the Magical Mermaid stamp set I knew I had to have it. I have a friend whose daughter Grace is a qualified free diver and has her own business as a professional mermaid. I thought of Grace the minute I saw this stamp set in the Annual catalogue that was released in June 2017.

I know many crafters will be in the midst of Christmas preparations so wanted to get away from that for a little while.

Bermuda Bay

Island Indigo

Mint Macaron

Tempting Turquoise

Pacific Point

Rich Razzleberry

Melon Mambo

First of all I stamped the larger mermaid onto Shimmery white cardstock, twice. I coloured the tails and hair using water colour pencils. You don't have to be neat at all as the colour will move with the use of a blender pen.

The mermaid's skin was water coloured using a mix of Crumb Cake and Blushing Bride ink. Once dry, I went over the tail with clear Wink of Stella so that it was really sparkly. It's not so easy to see in the picture but it really glimmers and looks like scales.

The mermaids were then fussy cut and put to one side while I worked on the background. Again I used Shimmery white card stock and spritzed it with water before using an aqua painter to add a wash of ink. I started with my lightest colour first and got progressively darker as I went along. I wanted to create an impression of being in the sea. Once completed, I dabbed the card with kitchen roll to remove excess water, left it to almost dry and then placed under a heavy weight to flatten out. Using Mint Macaron I stamped foliage along the bottom before adhering to a base card in Bermuda Bay.

I took my sentiment from Colourful Seasons, stamping it in Smoky Slate - black would have looked too harsh in my opinion. That was then die cut using the largest oval from the Stitched Shape Framelits. I looped both the silver and gold metallic thread several times and secured behind the oval.

The mermaids were placed around the sentiment, using dimensionals to raise them from the card. I had curved the tail slightly so they weren't too flat. I really hope you like it.

Birthday Blooms in the Spotlight

Hello, a while ago I showcased the spotlight technique, using the gorgeous stamp set, Lovely as a Tree. At the time I also made this card using the same technique but in a slightly different way.

If you've seen many of my blog posts, you'll already be aware just how much I like Birthday Blooms - and how much it features in my cards.

Now normally I love colouring this large stamp in, however this card only needed a hint of colour - in the area spotlighted!

Daffodil Delight

Old Olive

Whisper White

I stamped my image on both Daffodil Delight and Whisper White card. Next I die cut a circle out of the image on the yellow card and put to one side for a moment. Using my watercolour pencils and a blender pen, I coloured in the corresponding area on the white card. The white card was placed behind the yellow, carefully matching the image up, using dimensionals for depth. This was then mounted onto a slightly deeper piece of Old Olive card to create a border top and bottom.

Coffee and Cards - Dragonfly Dreams

A while ago I managed to get to my favourite card group for a chat, coffee, cake, oh and to create a couple of cards in the process. I find the whole event quite relaxing as I don't have to think about the design; that isn't to say I follow slavishly. I don't, sometimes developing my own take and not completing them until I get home. The smaller of the cards showcased here is a point in case. We used the gorgeous Dragonfly Dreams for both cards.

For the first card we stamped and coloured 2 of the bees before fussy cutting them out. Those that are eagle eyed will have noticed that there is a bee die to correspond with the stamp, however, it doesn't just cut around the edge which we wanted for this design.

Now although I loved the little bees, I decided that I wanted transparent wings. I chose not to attach them to the card until I had adapted them. Once home, I stamped the bees onto vellum.. I fussy cut them out and used Wink of Stella on the wings for a touch of shimmer. I then cut the wings off the originals before mounting onto the vellum for a slightly more delicate effect. You can see the difference it makes here.

I also chose to mount my embossed card at a 45° angle for interest as well. In fact even my sentiment was positioned in a different place! Good job I didn't completely alter the second card...

For the second card we created a similar design but stepped up. This time we used the dragonfly, coloured with the water colour pencils and blending pen. I'm not sure why I don't use the pencils that often; they blend beautifully as you can see in the picture below. Again I used a Wink Of Stella on the wings, sorry it doesn't show up too well in the photo.

You may have noticed I used Washi Tape; it certainly gave Susan a bit of a surprise. I even tore it too. I actually liked the effect on this card even though I'm not known for my love washi tape or grungy effects. My only concession was that I chose to use the same design above and below the narrow tape rather than three different ones.

The finished cards