BA @ Uniko

Hi, I'm up over at Uniko with a little bit of Christmas card inspiration.
For details on how I made these cards check out the Uniko blog here.

Altenew Plentiful Pine

Morning all.

It's time for a brand new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz. This time our theme, very appropriately is -

ICY COLD

So, perhaps another chance to use the theme to make more Christmas cards like me?

The other weekend, I treated myself to a crafty day with Altenew's Lydia Evans over in N Wales.

We made a batch of cards and had a great time chating with like minded crafters, old friends and new.

We used a couple of the new November release from Altenew, including Plentiful Pine. Like many of their stamp sets it is a layering one but as in this card it doesn't mean you need to use all the layers!

As it is a OL card, so a bit of planning was required before I started stamping.

I first created a window mask and then added a strip of torn post it tape across the opening and added a die cut circle mask too. I carefully added some Faded Jeans DI across the top of the window and then stamped the second layer of one of the small trees in black whilst the mask was still inplace. 

Carefully removing the torn mask, I moved it down the opening and added some more of the Faded Jeans DI to create another snow drift. Before stamping my foreground trees, I removed the circle mask and stamped over the torn mask with the second layer of the tree in Altenew's Evergreen ink three times. I then over stamped each of these with the third layer and black ink.

A little bit of Weathered Wood DI was added to the moon and across the snow to create some suggested shadow. 

Removing the window mask, I stamped the sentiment from the same set in black and added some stars to the sky with a white gel pen.

Over at Twofer, the wonderful Darnell and her DT are asking for Winter Foliage themed cards, so as I still had my stash out, I made another OLC but this time I used the whole card front.

I used the same torn tape masking principle but this time I used Salty Ocean DI to create the sky and to stamp the background trees. An extra snowdrift was added and the large pine tree was stamped in all its glory using Altenew's Green Fields and black ink set. We discussed using white EP for the final layer on the Saturday but I didn't use it this time, I may in future designs. I did think that the base green was a little too pale on the large tree, so added another base layer with a light inking of the Salty Ocean. The sentiment completes.

Two rather Icy Cold scenes I think!

For more Icy inspiration please check out the rest of the DT here, then why not have a go?

I'm joining in over at:-

Use a Frame

Have you joined in yet?

Just popping around to remind you that there is still time for you to enter the STAMPlorations challenges.

As we are getting near to the festive season, I've kept to the Christmas theme with my card inspiration.

The Theme and Photo prompt challenge inspired me, focusing in on the theme element of stamps and circles.

I've used this technique before but using a group of baubles, but this time I went with just the one circular aperture but two cards!

Using my MISTI, I stamped and embossed the STAMPlorations Merry Little Christmas Typography sentiment, twice with gold on red and once with red on white, onto panel cut with the middle sized Crazy Double stitched rectangle die. Using a MISTI ensures that the stamping is exactly in the same position so I can swap around the different elements easily.

To create the bauble effect, I took one of the red panels and die cut a circle. Setting the red rectangle to one side, I took the red die cut circle and added some Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink to the edges to give it a bit of dimension before adding some foam pads to the back. I added a gold chord to the white panel and then popped the red circle over, matching the writing. The finished panel was then also popped up over a base card from the same white card. A bow from the same gold chord completes.

For the red card, I laid the die cut panel over the other red embossed one and marked the edge of the opening lightly with a pencil. With the same red ink as before, I inked the bottom uncut layer to create dimension and the popped the die cut one over the top with foam pads. Some more of the gold chord was used to create the hanger and bow before the panels were glued to a matching red base card. 

OK, so for more STAMPlorations inspiration check out the teams here.

A New Challenge @ Uniko

Morning all.

Are we really half way through November? Christmas is going to be on us before we realise at this rate!

Anyway if you need some inspiration for your Christmas cards then perhaps the latest challenge at Uniko will help. Here's my card -

This was influenced by the new challenge and a card I saw by the wonderful Therese Calvird.



When I saw  the pic it reminded me of a die cut tree I have in my stash that is a fun take of a Christmas tree by STAMPlorations. At first I thought I could stamp the sentiments onto the tree panels but in the end I decided to use some scraps of green and stamp the sentiments from various Uniko sets on those and then use the tree die cut to help placement. I cut one tree out of brown card and starting from the bottom, adding the green sentiment panels.
The star at the top was stamped using the star from Jolly Christmas, embossed with sparkly gold EP and fussy cut. A snippet of red ribbon around the pot completes the tree.

The background was made using the trapped colour technique. Using  the Winter Foliage stencil, I inked through with Versfine onto a panel of watercolour card inked with Antique Linen that I'd left to dry fully first.
Carefully removing the stencil, I added clear EP and heat set. Once cool, I spritzed it with water and removed the excess ink with a paper towel.
I trimmed the dry panel down and glued it to a white base card before popping up the tree on pads.

OK, that's it from me but for more inspiration from the Uniko team check here.

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

Evening folks.
Have you got all your Christmas cards made yet? I know I haven't, I'm a bit behind this year but perhaps the latest challenge at Perfectly CAS will help you.
Here's my inspiration for you.

The ladies over at CAS Mix Up are featuring the oxidized metal technique, something I'm not familiar with, so after investigating the links, I decided to have a go.
The panel I made was used for this tag and the left over bits were die cut with smaller snowflake dies to make this card. The panel coped best with the large die, these smaller dies had a tendency to cause the embossing layer to flake off but a little heat settled it down again.
The original panel was a silver and turquoise colour that had been in my stash for many many years and it was a little distressed around the edges to start with, but that made the end result even more interesting. I only have one reinker, Tumbled Glass DI, so it dictated that I use a wintery theme!
My sentiment from Uniko's Most Wonderful stamp set was stamped and embossed with silver EP on a white base card and the die cut snowflakes arranged around it, leaving lots of white space.
Quite a quick card and very post friendly.
For more festive CAS inspiration, check out the rest of the team here.

Joining in over at:-




Winter Blues