Showing posts with label glitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label glitter. Show all posts

Wednesday, 14 July 2021

Sparkling Monochrome Christmas

 

     We are Christmas every month over at Christmas Craft Creations, so if you have made anything seasonal come and join us. This month we are 'anything goes' and we have prizes too.
      Making cards for men doesn't have to be challenging, this one would be very suitable with it's monochrome pallet, even flowers work well this way.
      For this card I cut the frame in white with a silver mirri inner frame. Then cut the tree and foliage layers in shades of grey, finishing with a black glitter background with the deer cut out and backed with silver glitter.  All these layers were stuck down flat but you could easily add foam tape to give more depth.
      For the foliage I used grey and silver mirri card. The flower was cut in mat card for the top layer and glitter card for the backing. The gem in the centre was coloured silver with a Sharpie marker.
     Don't forget to pop over and join in with us at Christmas Craft Creations, you could be one of our lucky prize winners.
            
Materials List
JND194 - Four Seasons die set
JND187 - Lesleys Twigs
JND 190 - Pinstripe Poinsettia die
JNDCC017 - Poinsettia die - (solid background)
JND129 - Mini Ivy
S57262 - 3D PVA Glue



I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
12 Months Of Christmas - #79 Anything Christmas Goes
CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - #550 Anything Christmas Goes
The Holly and Ivy - #97 Anything Christmas
Merry Little Christmas - #35 Anything Christmas Goes
Ike's World - #146 Christmas In July
Shopping Our Stash - #449 Christmas In July
Through The Purple Haze - #182 Christmas In July


Friday, 10 January 2020

January Sparkle


     Christmas At Sweet Stampin' this month is all about Sparkle, this really does sparkle but it's very hard to get a good photograph.
     It's made using a Sweet Poppy stencil and white paste on dark blue card. The stencil was taped down all the way around to prevent movement and paste in the wrong place.
     The paste was applied at the top and dragged down evenly to produce a near even covering, there are a few spots where it is not perfect but it's hand crafted and unique so that's alright with me.
     Once the stencil had been carefully removed I sprinkled the whole card with iridescent glitter and set it aside to dry overnight.
     Once dry I trimmed the card down and matted it on silver before putting it on a white card blank. The sparkle was good but it needed a little something more so I added a gem in the centre, this then made the corners look big and empty, so I added some tiny gems to balance it up.
     When working with stencils and paste I have found it easier to make a batch of card tops, that way there is only one lot of cleaning up with maximum output.
     I know it's only January but please come and join us at Christmas At Sweet Stampin', it will make the end of the year much easier if you have some cards already made.


I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round - Anything Christmas Goes
The 12 Month's of Christmas - Anything Christmas/optional Old Fashioned
CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas/optional Recycle
The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

Sunday, 23 December 2018

I-Zink Snowflake


     This card was made using I-Zink droppers on acetate, with a twist. The droppers come in a variety of colours, some are pearlescent too.
     The acetate is coloured when the inks are dropped on one sheet and another sheet is 'squished' on top of that, it's a bit like making ink blots but with acetate instead of paper. Once pulled apart, when still wet, the result is two pieces of unusually patterned acetate.
     The twist for this one was a die cut snowflake made from masking sheet was added to one piece of acetate before using the inks, the fun came when I tried to peel the masking sheet off without messing up the snowflake, but it worked.
     Having masked off part of the acetate I had some clear area showing so my backing card had to be something simple but special, for a snowflake this had to be white and sparkly.
     Sticking acetate down can be tricky, the adhesive has to be strong and invisible. Double sided sticky sheet is perfect for this, nice and strong and with an all over sticky there are no marks showing.
      The white glitter card was cut just a little larger than the acetate so there would be a sparkly mat layer before going on to a purple mat to bring out the odd bits of matching colour in the inky background.
      Using some white texture paste and a stencil I added some randomly placed snowflakes over the card and sprinkled them with iridescent glitter. The greeting was stamped and embossed in silver, then die cut with a hole in the middle and mounted on foam pads to show the tiny snowflake underneath.
     

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
International Art & Soul - Add Some Sparkle
Winter Wonderland - Anything Christmas
Creatalicious - Christmas Snowflakes

Wednesday, 26 September 2018

The Male Room Goes Outdoors


     The Male Room is going for The Great Outdoors as it's theme this fortnight. I was working on something else for this but it wasn't quite right so I have gone for a winter outdoors card.
     The coloured circle is made using Izink droppers on acetate, I dropped on a few spots of blue, purple and turquoise and squashed it with another sheet of acetate, then pulled them apart to get this amazing pattern.
     The trees are stamped in black on to a white card square and the edge coloured with Distress ink. Sticking acetate can be really tricky so I put double sided sticky over the whole sheet and then die cut the circle, it stuck down perfectly with no sign of how it was attached.
     Using a stencil and some Izink texture paste I added the snowflakes, once the stencil was removed I sprinkled iridescent glitter over the white paste.
     All that was left was to mount the panel on purple card and then on a white card blank. It has no greeting on the outside but I rather like it like that, I will just have to make sure the one inside is rather grand.
     Please pop over to The Male Room and have a look at all the DT inspiration, there are some great ideas to get your creativity going.




I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
A Snowflakes Promise - Anything Christmas Goes
Addicted To Stamps - Christmas Comes Early
The Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

Sunday, 1 May 2016

Humming Along at House Of Cards


     Welcome to a new challenge at the House Of Cards, this month we would like to see you use acetate or vellum on your card.
     To make this card I have stamped and embossed in the middle of an acetate card, I like the illusion of a floating image which in this case is perfect for a bird in flight.
     To add the glitters I have worked on the back of the image, gluing and glittering in separate colours to build up the picture. By working on the back I can also go over the lines a little to make sure the colouring is complete. The glue does shrink back a little so once dry you can see any gaps that need touching up.
     To cover up the less than tidy back of the bird I have added a small square of pearl card, this makes the image stand out a little more and also gives you somewhere to write inside.
    The card is stuck on to the back of the bird so there are no visible glue marks on the front.
     We have lots of inspiration for you at the House Of Cards so please have a look and then come and join us with your creation, you have a whole month to come up with something using acetate or vellum.



I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Cre8tive Hands Friends - Anything Goes
Dragons Lair Designs - Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - Anything Goes



Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Bubble And Bling


     Here's another of the workshop cards we are making today at The Corn Hall. There are two colour variations in the samples but it's up to the students how they decorate their tree.
       The tree is stamped and embossed ready to receive it's decoration.
      These two cards have been decorated with a mixture of glue dots and PVA holding glitters and foils. There are peel off holographic dots, some left gold and silver, some silver ones coloured with peel off pens to get red and blue. The same pens have been used to colour Icing Sugar Candi to go along with the gold and silver Candi. Even gems can be coloured with the pens to match your decoration.
      The white decorated panel is then mounted on a co-ordinating layer of pearl paper before going on to a white card blank. The greeting is stamped and embossed, then punched out and mounted on foam pads.



Materials list - available from your  local craft shop
                                          Stamps - JGS355 Bubble Bloom Festive Tree / FRCL184 Christmas Rounds
                                                        JGS404 Christmas Cheer
                                          98091H  Holographic Peel Offs 
                                          Peel Off Pens
                                          826-07  11/2" Circle Punch

Stix2 Anything -  Glitters
                         PVA Glue
                         Micro Beads
                         Glue Dots 3mm / 6mm / 10mm
                         Craft Foils
                         Tape Runner
                         Foam Pads


I would like to enter these trees in the following challenges:
Merry Monday - Red and Gold
12 Months Of Christmas - Sparkle (FT)
Glory Of Christmas - Glitter and Shine


Monday, 3 August 2015

Dec The Hedge With MDF


     Christmas has arrived at Creative Expressions this month and I got a Christmas Mega Grab Bag of MDF shapes to play with.

     I drilled a small hole in the top of each shape before beginning decoration, I use a small hand drill for this type of job.
     I started with the angel, her wings are covered with CS flake and glitter glue then with CS gold flakes from the Inca Gold pack. Her body was painted white and then rubbed over with Pearl Moon gilding wax.
     While I still had the glue out I covered the dove and used silver gilding flakes .

     The flower is also made with the flake glue and green glitter on the large one, with red glitter on the small one, then stuck together.
     The snowman was glued and covered with white flock, with the exception of his hat, that has been coloured with an alcohol marker, as are his eyes, nose and mouth.
     The tree has been coloured with CS gilding wax in Decadent Bamboo, it is green but the shine has a gold luster to it. The little decorations are CS Glitter glue Red Apple Twinkles.
     The ginger bread man only has his features coloured using a white gel pen.    
There is a small length of gold or silver thread on each shape so they can be hung on a tree. My Christmas Tree is in the loft so I used my hedge to take these photos, it looked rather nice so I may just have to decorate it again in December!
      There are approximately three of each shape in the bag so you could decorate a reasonable sized tree with these, I haven't used the holly, sleigh and candy cane either. If you drill the holes for them the children would love using these little shapes, it would keep them busy for hours!

Materials used 
CE Christmas Mega Grab Bag MDF Shapes
CE Cosmic Shimmer Flake and Glitter Glue
CE CS Gilding Flakes - Inca Gold
CE CS Gilding Wax - Decadent Bamboo / Pearl Moon
CE CS Cosmic Twinkles - Red Apple


I would like to enter these decorations in the following challenges:
Sparkles Christmas - NO Designer Papers
Anything But A Card - Celebration (Christmas)



Thursday, 15 January 2015

Stocking Up For Christmas


     Today is some mid month inspiration for CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra. Our challenge is for Christmas creations, not just cards. With this image I am 'stocking up' for Christmas by adding another card to my collection. It really takes the worry away at Christmas knowing I have already made the cards, it leaves time to create other things too.
     This image is called Stocking Line  from Bugaboo Digi Stamps.
     I have printed on to plain white card, then I covered the image with some double sided sticky sheet. After removing the top cover I sprinkled clear glitter all over the image.
     Then using alcohol markers I have coloured the image through the glitter, this gives a sparkly image but I must say I think I prefer to colour my card and then glitter, it was a technique that I had seen and wanted to try for myself. This may be of more use if you were colouring an image that could be damaged by the markers, having a layer of very thin plastic between the image and the pens would protect it and you would still be able to add colour.
     The image panel has been mounted on some backing paper from stash, I've had it so long I can't remember where it came from, but it has little stockings all over it. At each end of the line I have added a tiny gold square embellishment instead of a brad. In opposite corners I have added a small gold holly leaf peel off and coloured it in with Stardust pens. It's a simple card but with lots of sparkle.
     It may seem crazy to be making Christmas cards already but it really does help build up your stock if you make one or two a month, you get time to spend on each one rather than having to batch make to produce enough in November. Come and join us, we have lots of inspiration on CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
CraftyHazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Use your patterned papers
Card Mania - Make It Sparkle/Let It Shine
ABC Christmas Challenge - A Is For Anything (optional antlers)

Thursday, 1 January 2015

Happy New Year from the House Of Cards


     Welcome to a New Year with House Of Cards. Our format has changed a little, but it now gives you the chance to see all the DT cards at the beginning of the challenge, with a reminder each week through the month so you'll never be stuck for inspiration.
     This month we have a Glittered Blues theme, you can make any style card you wish as long as you stick with our theme. I have made a Vintage style card with a glittered border.
   
      To make the glittered border I have used some double sided sticky sheet and a piece of lace. Lay the lace over the sticky sheet and sprinkle on some mink coloured glitter, remove the excess glitter and then remove the lace. Using a contrasting colour, teal, sprinkle over the remaining sticky sheet to fill in all the gaps. Trim the edges to make a tidy glittered strip. (Top Tip Tuesday's Tip)
     The main image is a free digi from the Graphics Fairy, they have lots of gorgeous vintage images to download. This one has been lightened and had the edges faded out to remove some writting that I didn't want.
     The frame is cut with a Spellbinder die from gold satin card and tarnished with brown acrylic paint. The backing paper is one I had from Eclectic Anthology for a previous project, the colours are perfect for this challenge, I have printed it off a little paler than it was originally.
     The swirl is die cut with a Sizzix Bigz die in dark blue pearl card and decorated with small white sakura flowers edged with Distress Ink Chipped Sapphire, then finished with some small pen strokes using a Stardust clear pen and a tiny teal gem in the middle.

     So come and join us at House Of Cards for the start of a great new year of card creations.
If you like to make Christmas cards there is a new weekly challenge starting on the 2nd of January called CASE-ing Christmas and for the first month there is CANDY every week!!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Make Your Own (Patterned Glitter Strip)


Sparkling Baubles! Christmas isn't over yet.


     Christmas is never far away in my house and if you come and join us at CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra you can keep it with you too.  We are a monthly challenge that embraces anything made for Christmas, not just cards.
     We are sponsored by Bugaboo Digi Stamps so you will find this image there, it's called Make It Snappy Merry Christmas Ornaments.  There are lots of very cute designs as well as some stunning silhouettes to work with.
     This image has been printed on thin acetate and the baubles have been glittered from behind. The snowflakes also have a little clear glitter to give them some sparkle. To attach acetate to card can be a bit of a nuisance as most adhesives show through, for this one I chose to use some double sided sticky sheet, that way the glue is all over so it's not so visible.
     The card the acetate is mounted on has a blue marble effect which lends itself very nicely to the winter theme. This is then attached to a blue pearl card blank so there is sparkle and shine all over this card. The holly berries are red gems stuck on top of the acetate and the small stars have tiny clear gems stuck on them.
     This use of a digi is great if, like me, your colouring skills need improvement as not a single pen has been used.
     Come and join us at CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra with your seasonal makes and get ahead for next Christmas.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Glitter N Sparkle - Anything Goes
Christmas Card Challenges - Anything Goes

Wednesday, 24 December 2014

Merry Christmas



     Merry Christmas wherever you are!  With so many family and friends many miles away Across The Miles seems appropriate. I hope you all have a good Christmas, however you wish to spend it.

   This stamp is by Sheena Douglass from a set called City Christmas, I'll show the other half for New Year. Stamped in Distress ink Chipped Sapphire on white card stock, the edges have been blurred a little with a water brush and the sky coloured with a grey alcohol marker.
    The main image is layered on white card coloured with DI Chipped Sapphire around the edge, then layered on white before being mounted on a white card base coloured blue with DI Chipped Sapphire. You only need to colour the edges that will be seen and it's a great way of getting a perfect colour match with your stamping.
    To finish off I have used Cosmic Shimmer PVA and clear glitter to make the snow sparkle and a sentiment printed on the computer, cut out and stuck on to an airmail style page tab. The sentiment is not raised so it will post easily without incurring extra cost. You would think with all the stamps I have I would have a 'New Year' and 'Across The Miles' somewhere....but no! not a one, so guess what I'm looking for after Christmas!
 
I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Eureka Stamps - Add Some Glitter
Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes with Loose Glitter
Craft a Scene - Winter Theme
Holly Jolly Christmas - Anything Christmas
Jingle Belles - Anything Christmas
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - It's A Blue Blue Christmas


Monday, 22 December 2014

A Little Penguin Sparkle


     Welcome to a rather late Monday post. The Creative Expressions team are taking a break for a week or two so I have brought you something different.
     This little penguin is a stamp set from 'around-2-it' and has been on the market for several years but it's one that has to come out every Christmas because he's so cute.
     The penguin has been stamped on to acetate using black Stazon ink. There are two main stamps in the set, one front view and one back, as well as several different greetings that fit on the envelope he is holding behind his back.
     Each area of the image has been worked from behind using Art Institute Glue and various colours of glitter, the glue dries clear slowly revealing the glitter. Each penguin has been hand cut before putting the two images together. There is a small piece of white card backing his tummy so that it stays white and does not show anything from his back, a small loop of bakers twine from his hat means he can hang on the tree.
     He can be hung on the front of a Christmas card to be given as a small gift, taken off and hung on the tree.
     There are several projects on the desk but most of them are secret squirrel until the new year. I can say that for Creative Expressions we have something of a 'pet' project to bring you and there is a new Christmas challenge starting on the 2nd of January called CASEing Christmas.
     I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and thank you for calling in and taking a look at my work. Here's hoping Father Christmas brings you lots of craft goodies as I'm sure you have all been very good little crafters!


I would like to enter my penguin in the following challenges:
Sentimental Sundays - Anything But A Card
Crafting Musketeers - Use Bling
CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Whatever is Still Needed For Christmas


Saturday, 8 November 2014

Let It Shine

     I am honoured to join Inkspirational this fortnight as a guest designer. The challenge  is a word prompt - Shine, so for me it had to be another acetate and glitter card.
     This post is a bit photograph heavy because I've done a little tutorial on this technique, read on and you'll discover it's not as tricky as it looks.....honest.
     As with most things that shine taking pictures is troublesome so please forgive the quality of some of the pictures, it really does look better 'in the card' .  


     I would suggest you choose a simple design without too many tiny fiddly areas that need to be filled in.
 
      Using Stazon stamp your chosen image on to the acetate. The trick with this is to stamp firmly straight down and don't wiggle, just lift straight back up again. If it goes wrong don't worry, just use Stazon cleaner to wipe it away and try again.
     If you really don't want to stamp then use a peel off instead, put the peel off on the front of your acetate just like a stamped image.
      Turn your acetate over as all the glitter will be added on the back. Put a sheet of paper underneath the acetate so you can see where you are working clearly.
     The best glue I have used for this technique is Art Glitter, it dries clear and holds the glitter very well. If you don't have any of this glue try what you do have on a scrap of acetate to see if it holds the glitter once dry.
 
      Work in small areas using one colour of glitter at a time. The glue will dry slowly as there is no absorption into the acetate, this gives you a little more time to work.
     Make sure you dust off all of the glitter before beginning on another colour.
 
      Once the glue is completely covered with glitter and the excess removed you can move on to another colour, there is no need to wait until it's completely dry, just be careful not to cross contaminate colours.
     The glue comes with a fine tip but I have bought a metal fine tip cover to make sure it always comes out in a tiny trail. When filling areas on the acetate you may notice it shrinks back from the edges sometimes, just go back and add a little more to the edges but don't go over them.

      A large area like this bauble will take longer to dry. As you can see in this picture the small holly and berry areas are already drying clear to show the glitter.
      This is not something you can speed up with a heat gun, but leaving it on a radiator should not harm it.
      To give somewhere to write your greeting you will need to add a backing to your glittered image. I usually add a dark colour to show off the glitter, but for this one I would have lost the string holding the bauble had I used black.
      Something Christmas like.......silver mirri. To fix the mirri card to the acetate I have glued it on the glittered areas, this is because I have tried glue dots, tape and micro dots in the past but they all show through the acetate. The glue took ages to dry because it was sandwiched between two non porous surfaces, again the radiator and a few hours proved all it needed.
     Once completely dry I added the greeting to the reverse of the mirri card and that's it, finished. I like working with acetate in this way, it makes the image look like it's floating. The only draw back is taking photographs of something so very shiny is not easy.
     I hope this has all made sense, if not then please let me know. Thank you to Inkspirational for the chance to guest design for them, please join them this time with your shiny creations.


I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Moving Along With The Times - Sparkle and/or Shine
Creative Moments - Anything Goes Celebration
Crafty Sentiments Designs - Make It Sparkle
Creative Card Crew - Christmas Joy

Thursday, 11 September 2014

Peacock Sparkle



     After a busy summer spent dashing around I have settled back into routine and found some time to craft for fun.
     I would like to thank my DT friends and my followers for their support recently, crafting has certainly helped me keep it together after the loss of my Father.
     This is a card style that I have made before, acetate and glitter are perfect together and this feather is stunning. This is a very simple card in that it has one image floating mid air. The worst bit is waiting for the glue to dry before adding the next colour!
     I have used a Chocolate Baroque stamp with black Stazon on to acetate. On the reverse I have used Art Institute dries clear glue and various glitters.
     To show off the feather to its best it has been backed with black card, a white card square has been added to the inside to write on. It is hard to find a way of fixing acetate without having it show, for this one I have tried Invisidots, which aren't really, as I don't think brads would have looked right.
     This technique is great for Christmas cards too and you can have several on the go at the same time while waiting for glue to dry.

I would like to add this card in the following challenges:
Lexi's Creations - Sparkle and Shine
Make My Monday - Indian Summer
Loves Rubber Stamps - Glitter and Sparkle
Inkspirational - Photo Inspiration ( Peacock, Blue)

Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Sparkling Flakes

     My Christmas card for this week is based on a sketch from 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. 
    As soon as I saw the sketch I knew I had just the right embossing folder for the job, Crafts Too Snowflake Banner.
    I have used some thick white pearl paper to emboss and then gone over the snowflakes with pva dries clear glue and clear glitter to give them some sparkle.
    I tried a few versions with colouring the plaque in the middle but they didn't look right so I've opted for the plain and simple look.
    I've added a greeting in the centre and two snowflakes either side. The little flake on the plaque has a small clear gem on it.
    The snowflake panel is mounted on a small layer of blue and then on a white card covered with the same pearl paper so it matches. I love blue and white any time of year but at Christmas it's great with silver and my favourite snowflakes.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Favourite festive colours

Sunday, 14 April 2013

Ink-spring-ational blossom

     This weeks challenge over at Inkspirational is a photo of some beautiful pink blossom. I'm not a pink person but that blossom is just SO pretty I had to try and make something nice and pink.
    My first thought was to use this cherry blossom stamp from Lakeland, bought many years ago, and some flowersoft that's been lurking in my cupboard for ages.
    The blossom is stamped in Archival Ink Coffee and clear embossed. I then coloured in all the blossom with a Sakura Stardust pink pen so it would still look pink under the flowersoft.
    After sprinkling on the flowersoft and while the glue was still wet I sprinkled some fine pink glitter to give a little sparkle. The picture is matted on pale pink pearl card and then cerise pink pearl card before being mounted on what was a plain white card blank. The card blank has been stamped with a flower stamp and Perfect Medium and then chalked with pink shimmer chalk.
    The little knot is made with Mizuhiki cord in shades of pink. This cord is amazing to work with, it's made from a type of paper that is twisted and starched to make it strong, it's also archive safe. This knot is called a Plum Flower Knot and symbolises beauty, nobility and courage.
    The oriental style writing on the side is stamped in Brilliance Pearlised Orchid using a stamp I've had so long I can't remember where it came from but it is a firm favourite, I just hope it says something nice!

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Star of The East.....

 ...oh Bethlehem star guiding us on to heaven afar.
   This week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown it's anything BUT a card, tag or ATC. Winter Wonderland are looking for stars and Jingle Belles would like to see lots of glitter, shimmer and gems. CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge is a Christmas song or carol but I'm not sure if this mobile will qualify.
   I have a template for this star so I made up two of them in a really gorgeous pearl gold thick paper. The centre of the stars are recessed so I have added clear glitter to them to make them stand out.
   The nativity scene hanging from the star are all cut out in black glitter card using a Sizzix longplate. I had to remember to cut out each character and it's mirror so I could stick them together on the black thread, baby Jesus has a small gold halo added.
   Each character has been added to the star using black cotton thread and a large needle. The thread is fixed inside each star with tape to hold it in place. Not all of the figures hang level, it's very difficult to achieve this so I didn't try!
   Once the figures were stuck together I ran round the edges with a black Promarker to cover any small white marks from the card core that were showing. After all the figures were hung in place I stuck both stars together and hung the whole thing from a gold thread on the top point.
   I would like to enter this mobile in the following challenges:
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Anything BUT a card, tag, ATC.
Winter Wonderland - Christmas Star
Jingle Belles - Bling

Monday, 21 January 2013

Scandinavian Glitz

Somehow it feels right to be making Christmas cards while there's snow outside, even if it is eleven months to go.
This weeks challenge over at 52 CCT is the use of glitter and patterned papers, while Jingle Belles have a red and white Scandinavian feel so after a sift through the Christmas stash this is what I've managed to come up with. I found a lovely red ribbon from a box of chocolates (all eaten in the name of craft) so I can also enter Crafty Hazelnut's challenge to recycle.
I began by covering a square card with patterned paper. Then added a row of 3 mm high tack tape around the edge which I covered with red glitter, I've found this a cheaper way of adding a glitter border than using glitter card to mat with, plus I'm not covering up all that lovely glittery card in the middle.
The bauble is cut from red pearl card using a Spellbinder die and then run through an embossing folder before being sanded back to show the white core, (this is also a good way to hide any cracks that may appear in the red top layer). It is then mounted using foam pads.
The ribbon is stuck on with high tack tape because it has a textured surface, I also added a small length of Scandinavian style ribbon to the straight edge, again stuck on with high tack tape. The greeting is stuck on with thin foam pads across the bauble. The bottom corners looked a little empty so I have put on some red gems to give it a little more sparkle.
As requested in the 52 CCT Challenge I have decorated the inside with a bauble branch stamp in Distress Ink Festive Berries and added a small bauble to the front and back of the envelope in true 'Ruth' style! It really makes the whole card look so classy, thanks Ruth it's a great idea.
I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Glitter, patterned paper and inside decoration
Jingle Belles - Scandinavian style
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Recylce something or use something free

Friday, 4 January 2013

Sparkling New Year

A Sparkling New Year to you all. This my first challenge entry of 2013 so I'm starting it off with a bang!
Over on Jingle Belles Rock the current theme is 'Look What Santa Brought Me' so I have set too with the FlitterGlu kit I got from my son and a new set of die's from Do Crafts that Santa would have got for me if they had been released before Christmas, honest!!
I have used the die's to cut my London skyline in black, silver and white glitter card. Having seen the fireworks at New Year I thought the clock face should be gold. I chose to have white at the back as I wanted to mount it on black card, then I could use my FlitterGlu with flakes and glitters to make the fireworks.
I have a firework stamp in my stash that has been around for ages, it originally came from Anita's. I followed the instructions in my kit to apply the FlitterGlu and was quite impressed with the result. I experimented with glitter, guilding flakes and foils to see what they looked like and though the foil was good it didn't have the right look for this card, so I stuck with flakes for the silvery explosion and fine glitter for the red, green and gold.
I think I shall be using this product quite a bit more. It makes using the stamps you already have more versatile as they're not just for ink anymore. For those of you not familiar with FlitterGlu it is available from IndigoBlu.

Monday, 10 September 2012

Sparkling antlers

This sparkling deer is my challenge entry over at 52CCT. It's a colour challenge this week, brown, cream and red. I'm also hoping he will qualify over on Sparkles Christmas Challenge where sparkle and bling are required.
The deer is a Sizzix die cut out of brown glitter paper that I stuck on to card. I didn't do so well as I stuck him on to white card then I had to colour the edges with a Promarker to get rid of the white, better planning next time!
The deer is stuck on to red card using foam pads. The red gem was stuck on his nose with Cosmic PVA. I used a Fiskars corner punch that has tiny snowflakes on it with cream card to get three different shapes of snowflake, then I stuck a tiny gem in the middle of each one. The snowflake on the rosette was coloured with a Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate teardrop inkpad, the ink wipes off the gem easily.
The rosette in made using the smallest size of Tim Holtz Sizzix Rosette Die. The cream layer is the actual size of the die strip but the red layer has been cut down by a few millimetres before assembly to show a cream border when completed. The Happy Christmas is a tiny peel off coloured with a brown permanent marker.
The whole picture was then layered onto cream card and then back onto red.
52 Christmas Card Challenge - colour challenge, brown, red and cream
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Sparkle and bling , glitter and gems