The ghost of Christmas past....

.... well it looked a little like that to me!

Good afternoon, peeps!  I'm a little late checking in today, I've been cleaning - sorry for the bad language there but...well, you have to occasionally don't you?!

Anyhoo, the reason this looked like the ghost of Christmas past to me is that it's a vintage image and it's produced by embossing vellum and colouring from the back giving it a pastel, slightly faded look:

The snow is Stampendous Frantage Chunky White Embossing Enamel heated from the reverse side and I thought that the Victorian looking post box from the Christmas is Coming plate went perfectly with this Figgy Pudding Lane folder image, which is mounted on mirri card so as not to dull the image at all.  The sentiment is from one of Sheena's new stamp plates that are being launched along with 8 wonderful new embossing folder designs from tomorrow on Create and Craft TV as part of a 4 Day Deal promotion.  Here are the show times:

Monday 21 July at 8.00 a.m., 1.00, 6.00 and 8.00 p.m.

Tuesday 22 July at 9.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.

Wednesday 23 July at 2.00 and 9.00 p.m.

Thursday 24 July at 1.00 and 5.00 p.m.

of course they can change so do watch the TV schedules each day in case.

Thank yu for looking today.

Hugs

Sneaky Peek number 2

Good afternoon, peeps!  I've just popped in for a quick post between food shopping and a visit to the hairdresser - well I'd hate wor Sheena to see me looking unkempt when I'm watching her on TV next week!!

I've just checked the Create and Craft TV schedule and Sheena's new stamps and embossing folders will be launched at 8.00 a.m. on Monday 21 July with further shows at 1.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m.  Since it's a 4 Day Deal, we can look forward to more shows after that and I'll keep you posted with the times of those.

Here's today's peek at what you have coming up:

This is made from two of the embossing folders.  The main feature is 'Snowy Rooftops' which I embossed on to a Luminarte H2O background with both white and black embossing powders and then the one with the bow tied around it is 'Evergreen', which is just embossed and then treated with the Silver Gilding Wax.

I'll see you again tomorrow, peeps but thank you for looking today.

Hugs

More baubles

Good afternoon, peeps!

I expect you're all busy watching Le Tour making its progress through our wonderful Yorkshire countryside in the sunshine and not thinking of snow, frost and wintery scenes at all!  Well, let me divert your thoughts for a moment and show you another sneaky peek of wor Sheena's new Christmas stamps that will be appearing on a TV set near you on Monday 7th July at 11.00 a.m. until 1.00 p.m.  Yes peeps, a whole two hours of wor Sheena answering viewers questions and demonstrating her wonderful techniques on the Craft Clinic on C & C TV!

Yes, it's another of my wonderful crooked photographs....sorry about that!  These bauble stamps are great though because you can add whatever designs you want to them.  Here I've added the holly from the 'Christmas Bauble' plate and the poinsettias from the 'Seasons Greetings' plate. I've built a Christmas tree from the fir branches on the 'Christmas Elements' plate ... easy-peasy.  As you know, Sheena's new stamp sets are always intermixable (is that a word?...)

Anyhoo, don't forget to watch on Monday morning - I'll be there with you!

Thanks for looking.

Hugs

Bauble time!

Good afternoon, peeps!

Here's a peek at something I've made for the first time and especially for wor Sheena's launch of her new set of Christmas stamps on the Craft Clinic at 11.00 a.m. on Monday 7th July:

It was great fun to make and used one of the small holly stamps from the new Christmas Bauble plate as well as a larger holly stamp from the Christmas Visitors plate.  All the holly was painted with Luminarte H2Os and it was certainly more economic than the bought ones!

I hope you'll be watching Sheena's show on Monday, it's so good to have 2 whole hours of hints and demos rather than the usual 1 hour!

Thanks for looking today.

Hugs

Can you hear the ice cracking yet....?

..... if you can, I hope it's in a glass of Pimm's!

Good evening, peeps!  Just popping in briefly to let you know that wor Sheena is on your screens on Monday 7 July for a whole 2 hours!  Yes, peeps, she's helping all crafters in the Craft Clinic at 11.00 a.m. and she'll no doubt be demonstrating some of her new Christmas stamps.  Here's a sneaky peek:

I reckon this beautiful script stamp is going to be an essential for all your Christmas cards this year.  Here I've used it on a 'Caught in Crystal' background but you'd be amazed how different it can look in the hands of the Inkoids!  Go here to visit a few blogs and see the results.

Catch you tomorrow and thanks for looking today

Hugs

Blue Christmas

Good evening, peeps!

It's time to reveal another of the wonderful Christmas stamps that wor Sheena will be showing and demonstrating on IDEAL WORLD (not C & C as I said in my last post!) at 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. on Wednesday.

This should make you feel a lot cooler:

Yes, peeps, only the wishes are warm on this card but I do like shades of blue and mauve for Christmas don't you?

I've used the dies a fair bit on this one - Spellbinders to cut the the aperture in the card and dies from Marianne and Cheery Lyn for the pine tree and the holly.  The image was painted with watercolours.

I can't wait t see what Sheena does with all of the fabulous images and I'll defo be poised with a cup of coffee on Wednesday.  Hope to see you there!

Thank you for looking today.

Hugs

If it was nae fer ma wellies.....

Good morning, peeps!

The way the Yorkshire weather is looking today, I could well be needing a pair of these!  But these are special Christmas wellies from wor Sheena who has already been busy drawing a whole new series of Christmas stamps that you'll see on her shows on Create and Craft TV on Wednesday at 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.

Here's my first sample:

I used the paper piecing technique for this one and just added some shading to the paper with coloured pencils.

I hope you like it and thank you for looking today.

Hugs

Still out of action

The camera that is - not me!  Well good evening, peeps - the sun is shining and all is well except I could do with it being a bit warmer since, despite the sun, it's quite chilly out there!

Since a new camera has still not been purchased, I thought I might show you one or two oldies but not yet seen on my blog-ies....oh yes, all has not yet been revealed!

Today, I've been working on some Clarity samples ready for the shows at the weekend but I don't think I showed you some from the last show:

The challenge from Barbara was to take an 'everyday' kit and make it into a Christmas scene and this is what I did with the Harbour Kit yes, it even snows at the seaside!  The snowflakes on this were made with a Whimsy die called Winter's Jewel 1.

This one was a little easier because it just involved making a Christmas scene from the Village Stamps and the Church Stamp had to be included for this one!

Finally, here is Puck sitting under the Mushrooms in the snow.  The lights weren't very kind to this card - I used Stampendous Shaved Ice to make it look really frosty but the fragments turned pink when photographed.  Maybe the camera was already on the blink.

Well I hope that all these frosty cards haven't got you shivering too much and thank you for looking today.

Hugs

Christmas a la Tim

Good morning, peeps and a chilly one it is too!  The frost was so thick this morning it looked almost like snow!  Still, it's appropriate waether for a post about Christmas cards and I have four of them to show you this morning!

 

All of these cards are for a workshop that I'm teaching at Samuel Taylor's, Brighouse tomorrow.  The objective being not just to loosely follow the style of Tim Holtz but to make quick Christmas cards as well.  There is plenty of Distress Inking in evidence as well as embellishments made fom Grunge Paper.

The stamps featured in the above card are from Indigo Blu, Hero Arts and Viva.

This one has stamps from the same sources and I've added Distress Stickles holly berries to the Grunge Paper holly sprigs.

There's not quite so much of Tim in this one because I've used some wonderful DP from Kaisercraft.  The die cuts are Marianne Christmas Tree 1, the white one being distressed with Forest Moss DI and on the green one I tried all sorts of things to get the snowy effect.  Adirondack Dabber in Snow Cap went really cream when it dried so I went over it with a white wax crayon.  When that wasn't white enough, a white gel pen finally got the result I wanted!

All the little snow flakes were produced using a Martha Stewart edge punch - these are the bits you normally throw away when punching a snowflake border!

Finally, this is a card that has the wishes for the season from another Indigo Blu stamp, as are the trees at the bottom.  The Christmas wishes I've used for the background are from the Viva plate and are stamped in Antique Linen DI.  The ribbon is from my stash.

Well, I hope this has given you some ideas for some quick Christmas cards for your own needs.  I think everyone's beginning to think that time is getting short for making cards - including me!  Although I only send handmade cards to close family and friends who appreciate the effort that goes into them.

Keep warm!

Hugs

My earliest one ever!

Good afternoon, peeps!

Yes, it's true - I've never made a Christmas card this early in the year before although I know that some folks are super organised and make them all through the year, I'm not one of them I'm afraid! So why, I hear you ask amd I starting now? Well, it's a class project and forms a half of the day's projects on 2nd July at Samuel Taylor's in Roseville Street, Leeds. The other half shall be revealed soon! I think that the colours look a bit 'bleached out' on this photo but it was the best I could do.



Maybe many of you have made Tri-fold Shutter cards before, but I do think it's an attractive fold and a great way to use your fabulous DPs. It's even possible now to buy the cards ready cut and folded but this one started out its life as a flat piece of card.

Tilda with Fir is still one of my fave Magnolia Christmas stamps - I wonder what they'll delight us with this year, peeps? All I can say is that I hope they issue them earlier than they did last year!

This is how the card looks when it's open:



Well, I hope the class members like it, it's not a difficult card to make but there's a fair amount of measuring and cutting to keep them busy and, by way of a departure, I decided to use a poinsettia cut from a Marianne die rather than use purchased flowers, even though I like them so much! However, this poinsettia is also very appealing and I can see it getting quite a few airings as Christmas draws ever closer. I expect that, like me, you can't believe that virtually half the year has gone already - scary! Please someone tell the sun to shine before we go into Autumn!

The image is coloured with the usual Copics, Promarkers and Prisma pencils and I was a good girl and kept a note of the colours for you!

OK, this is me leaving you with the card recipe whilst I go back to some more projects but I'll see you again soon.

Recipe

Stamps: Magnolia 'Tilda with Fir' & Jolly Holly, Merry Christmas - Printworks, With love - Artifacts
DPs: Memory Box Mistletoe Collection
Dies: Nesties and Marianne die #LR0122
Distressing: Old Paper DI
Ribbon: from my stash
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E01 E21, R11, R20, R30
Hair: E23, E27, E50
Coat & hat: RV32, Promarkers Antique Pink and Burgundy + Tuscan Red Prisma pencil
Fur on coat & hat: E40, E41, E42
Fir Tree: G40, G82, G85, G94 : Marine Green Prisma pencil
Tights/Mittens: BG70, BG72, Promarker Tea Green + Muted Turquoise Prisma pencil

Hugs

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge #39 - Anything Goes

Good afternoon, peeps!
Well, it hasn't got any warmer here in the North of England and my card for this challenge is looking pretty frosty, too!

This is the fabulous 'Christmas Door' image and you can download it here from the Digi Doodle Shop Store. In fact, why not get yourself some more Christmas images ready for next year while they're on at half price. You can get some inspiration from my teamies at DDS Challenge site. This challenge is an 'Anything Goes' one so not all the images are Christmas ones but that's OK because all the images are half price at the moment!
Anyhoo, back to the card. It's coloured with Copics and Prismas and here are the colours:
Blue bows and glass: BG18/72/75
Wood: E15/25/27/29
Leaves: G24/29/99 & YG67
Door & bows: R22/24/27/29
Bells & baubles: YR21/23/24
Glass: C1/3
Shadows: W1/3/5
The DP I downloaded from Websters Pages and the small sentiment is a Stampington one. The snow/frost is created with Glamour Dust and the brads are from my stash.
I'm entering this card in the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge, which is to show some snow and in the Papertake Weekly Challenge, whcih is another 'Anything Goes'.
I'd like to thank you all for visiting me and for your wonderful comments over the past year - please come back again soon. I wish you and those you love a very peaceful and joyous Christmas and a New Year full of happiness!

The Penultimate

Good afternoon, peeps! Well the snow is lying frozen outside and I'm in the warm colouring away....feels good to me! I'm just sorry for the poor people who have to go out in this freezing weather. Still, it's definitely seasonal - especially for this card, the last but one of my Christmas renderings! I'm sorry about the lighting on this one, which isn't quite right - I didn't use flash but it rather looks as though I did. This dull and gloomy weather isn't kind to our card photography is it, peeps? It's fairly unusual for me to buy a stamp soon after it's released but I quickly decided that this Tilda was my favourite from the latest Magnolia Christmas collection. I coloured her with Copics and Prismas and cut her out to mount over the Magnolia Silent Night music image, which I stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia and distressed with Old Paper Distress Ink. When that was dry, I added Stardust Stickles to the edges for a bit of bling. I've been itching to use some of this paper from the Memory Box 'Mistletoe' paper pad and this card seemed like the perfect occasion. I kept the design simple because I think the paper does the work. I added some corners die cut from gold card with a Quikcutz (I think!) die. Well, this card is in the post now, winging its way to an old friend from my patchwork and quilting days. There's only one more Christmas card to show you now and the image is still on my desk being coloured. Needless to say, that won't be going out this year! I'm sorry I don't have the Copic numbers for this one but I'll do better next time....promise! Keep warm!

The Perfect Tree

Good morning, peeps!
The challenge over at Digi Doodle Shop's Best this week is 'Let it Snow' and we have to show snow somewhere on our project. Well I think I went a bit overboard, don't you?!! But it's entirely appropriate to the weather outside because we certainly have plenty of this white stuff!
The title of this post is also the name of the image and you can buy it from the Digi Doodle Shop here. I think this image is just lovely with the little boy looking very adult carrying his axe and almost dragging his rather reluctant looking sister off to complete the task of finding the perfect Christmas tree. I really enjoyed the colouring, which I did with Copics and various coloured pencils blended with Sansodor. I added Polar White Flower Soft to the fur trim on their clothes and Glossy Accents to the little girl's wellies and the boy's axe blade. The 'snow' is twinkling with DecoArt Glamour Dust - I love the subtle shimmer this stuff gives!
The large snowflake (top left) is created from acetate cut with a Cuttlebug die, then Glossy Accents applied around the edges and the whole thing dipped in Twinklets Diamond Dust that I got from The Hobby House. It's out of stock at the moment but I'm sure that Gill will be getting more in soon. I do love this effect but I always find it difficult to cut the shape from the acetate and end up doing fine surgery with my scalpel to extract the full shape! On top of the acetate snowflake is a second one cut from vellum with a Marianne D die and I applied Quickie Glue to it and used the Glamour Dust again. I gave the same treatment to the small snowflakes and the pine branches. The gem brad and the buttons are from my stash. The doily behind that large snowflake is cut from a Docrafts 'Penelope and Percy' DP with a Marianne D die. The other papers are from a K & Co pad. All the distressing was done with an Adirondack Aqua ink pad.

I finished the inside with more of the K & Co paper and I used the scrap paper that was left over from cutting out the doily to create a frame on some card for a jotting panel - it seemed a shame to waste it! The photograph here looks very 'blue'...the light created from all the snow outside is really distorting the colours of the pictures and it looks much better IRL!
I do hope you'll be able to join us for the challenge this week and I'll see you again soon.
Bye for now!

Tilda and Edwin on ice!

Well good afternoon, peeps! It's getting colder so I thought I'd better make another Christmas card and the inspiration for this one came from the DP on the base part of this easel card - it reminded me of skating tracks in ice. It's from a nameless K & Co pad I picked up at a reduced price at the NEC last March but, even though the pad was reduced, I think it's the most expensive pad I've ever bought but then, there are 50 assorted sheets in it. We can always find an excuse can't we! LOL The other DP is from Bo Bunny.


I coloured Tilda and Edwin ages ago so I don't have any Copic colours for them but the trees were coloured with G20, YG45, YG67 and G99 with C1 and C3 for the snow on the trees. I then put Glamour Dust on the snow part, just as I did on the large white pointsettia.

The gorgeous ribbon is from the boys at Fantastic Ribbons and I got it at the Harrogate show. The charm, pearl brad and pointsettia flowers are from the Hobby House and the crystal chandelier thingy is from Wild Orchid Crafts.


I'm entering this in the Craftalicious Challenge 10, which is Anything Goes and also in the Quixotic Paperie first monthly challenge, which is to make a Christmas card.

Thank you for looking and I do hope you like this latest addition.

Bye for now.

Diane x