Holly and Bow Wreath

Hi everyone.  I have a card today for the Rudolph Days Challenge which runs from the 25th to the end of each month, and believe it or not there is only one more this year.  I got a Tattered Lace Holly Wreath and Bow die as a magazine gift and this is it's first outing.  Mo is also running the challenge this time in memory of a lovely lady called Kath of Plain and Simple Blog and there is an extra prize on offer for adding some paper piecing which was a technique which Kath loved, and I have used some snowflake dp for the top layer of my wreath.

I decided to make it dimensional so I cut it twice from black card and then once from the snowflake dp which looked black but against black is more of a grey colour.  Then did one in red and also the bow in red, all of which were snippets from my bits box.  I then cut a stitched mat in silver card, another snippet,  and adhered it to the white square card, and layered the two black layers one over the other, and cut up the top snowflake layer into several pieces and layered those up on top using silcone gel on each layer, which has given some nice dimension.  I thought there would be more shape and movement in the top layer by cutting it but not sure that this made much difference.  I finished by added the red berries cutting in between to make them look more individual and then gave them a coat of Anita's Clear Gloss, and also added the bow and gave that some of the gloss too.  Lastly I cut a sentiment from red card backed with Stick It and added that to finish.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop Challenge  - No. 414 Where we use up our snippets of card and paper etc.
Happy Little Stampers October Challenge - Anything Goes With Dies.
Happy Little Stampers October Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes (no option).
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 104 Anything Goes.
Christmas Crafts All Year Round Challenge - October - Something that starts with 'S' or 'T' (mine is 'S' for Snowflakes which are on the paper I have used for the top layer of my wreath.
Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 39 October - Anything Christmas Goes.
NBUS Challenge - Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge - No. 2 Using Inspiration Board.

Ferns and Leaves Botanical Print

Hi there.  I have made a card for the CAS Mix Up October Card Challenge which finishes on the 24th, so just about in time.  The challenge this time is to use real leaves, ferns or flowers to make a Botanical Print.  I used inks, stamping, heat embossing and gelli printing.

I got out my gelli plate and put Fossilized Amber one side, Abandoned Coral the other with some Candied Apple Distress Ink down the middle and used my brayer to blend them together, I did roller them rather too much as it ended up looking more or less one colour.   I then laid down the two fern leaves with the back of the leaves touching the plate and used a piece of stencil card anchored with some washi at the top placed over  the leaves and rubbed well to get the ink as closely around them as possible. I then pulled up the card and took the leaves away and lowered the card over it again, rubbed well and pulled the print.  I didn't get a very distinct image so I decided to press the ink over the ferns using red on one and the yellow on the other and carefully laid the leaves down again rubbing them to transfer the inks on to the print.  This did give a more interesting look, but I still wasn't happy.  I then took the leaf spray and put some Brushed Corduroy DI on to the back of it and laid it down over the ferns, and did this several times.  I did spray the leaves before pressing down on one occasion too and the look was fairly good.  I then added some Ground Espresso and repeated with that, and this really showed up much better, no added water this time.

I cut the print down and flicked a little water and also some watered down Candied Apple DI for a bit more background interest, and I blended Abandoned Coral and Ground Espresso ink around the edges to darken them, and finished with a sentiment stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then added it to my 6" square white card.  

I was hoping to get a card done for CAS Christmas but hubby and I have had dreadful colds so I haven't been very proactive on the cardmaking front, but was glad to at least get this one done.  Hopefully in a few more days it will be much better.  Hubby had it first and did a test which was fine and I developed mine a couple of days after he started his so obviously he passed it on...very kind of him..lol. 

Thank you for your visit to my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.    

I am also entering the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers October Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (some water used with the leaves and some splattering with diluted ink).
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - October 2021 No. 11 Anything Goes.

Pretty Birdcage

Hi everybody.  A birthday card today for a lovely friend featuring this Chocolate Baroque set called Pretty Birdcage, using the main image, and one of the smaller floral images in the background.  This is its first inking too.

I started with the background piece of white card cut to fit a 6" square card and the small floral image heat embossed on two opposite corners using WOW Bright Opaque White EP, and then I covered it with Adirondack Sunshine Yellow Ink applying it with a brush making the colour stronger in the two corners.  I then used some Fossilised Amber, Dried Marigold and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks gradually darkening the corners even more.  

I then stamped the Pretty Birdcage stamp onto a piece of white card using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss EP before getting out my Inktense Pencils to colour taking the colour from them with a waterbrush which I find for me is the easiest and most controllable way to use them.  I then fussy cut out the image and used some Tea Dye DI watercoloured round the edges and dragging the colour in a little way to make it stand out against the background I created.  Finally I decided to add the Tea Dye DI to the corners too and rubbed the ink pad around all the edges of the background to make it really stand out against the white card, and finished by adding a sentiment using Versafine Toffee Ink.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Uniko Challenge - No. 67 Anything Goes (Optional Twist: Autumn Colours).
Stamping Sensations October Challenge - Animals, Birds and Bugs.
NBUS Challenge - No. 31 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Make My Monday Challenge - No. 158 Embossing - Either.
Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - October - Anything Goes.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - WWC326 Helen's Challenge: All About Occasions.

Woodland Creatures Coloured Sketches

Hi everyone.  Whilst we were on holiday I went into an art shop for a look round and I found an inexpensive book on how to draw woodland animals in simple steps, so I bought it and these are my first two attempts, totally drawn using the examples in the book, but I was pleased with how they turned out.  

The squirrel I did whilst I was away and I only had some inexpensive watercolour pencils, but the mouse I did just the other day with my Intense Pencils and both were using a waterbrush to take the colour from the pencil.  I did them in my sketch book and I always intend to just colour sparingly but get carried away and the paper, especially on the mouse, did warp badly otherwise I might have turned them into cards.  Anyway here they are.

 

As someone has already asked the book I bought is called How to Draw Woodland Animals in Simple Steps by Susie Hodge and is published by Search Press.  There is a whole series of them..in fact I nearly bought one on trees, but thought I would try this first.  Thanks for visiting today and I'll see you again soon.