More tree scenes

I needed to make a Birthday card for my Brother, so went to Pinterest for some inspiration (won't say how much time I spent on there, lol!), and found this amazing card by Theresa Momber. I just loved the way she had given the hill some definition with copics. The scene had a masculine feel to it, and so I set about trying to produce something similar. Here is what I came up with.

I used Distress inks with my ink dusters today, starting with squeezed lemonade in the middle, dried marigold around that, then wild honey and tea dye, finishing off with walnut stain at the edges. The hill was masked and coloured with wild honey and walnut stain. As my distress markers were on the table I thought I would try adding a bit of definition with those, which left a little bit of a line, so as I applied the Distress marker I used an ink duster to blend the edges, and was very pleased with the result. All of the stamps are from Inkylicious. I feel this is different enough from my inspiration to enter it into a challenge, so I am entering it into fashionable stamping challenges where the theme is 'surprise us'

I decided to try again with the Scots Pine stamp from Inkylicious on an off-cut from my first hill. I did both on Silk Art Card.
Hope you enjoy your New Year celebrations. We are off to a friends house later for our annual scrabble tournament and lots of good food. Enjoy whatever you are doing and Happy New Year. Thanks for looking!

All purpose cards

I have made some 'all purpose' cards that may well end up as Thank you cards. For both I used a sentiment and the Morris background stamps from Inkylicious.

With both I added a ribbon too. On the first I used a white gel pen to add a bit of highlighting and the sentiment on the second was placed on a spellbinders die cut that was dusted with ink and stamped with versamark. I brushed a little mica powder over the top.
I hope you have a brilliant new year and thanks for all your lovely comments in 2012. I look forward to seeing you in blogland in 2013. Thanks for looking!

Been playing...

My lovely hubby was very kind and got me some Stampscapes stamps, with some serious unsubtle hinting (i.e. I want those for Christmas, lol!) Once all our visitors had been and gone I was able to reclaim my craft table and have a play. I only have a couple of shares today as I have been busy making some DT cards, but those will be here on the first Sunday in January.
So, here are my cards. First is a sunset using the Lakeside Cabin set.

I used Adirondack inks in Peach Bellini, mountain rose, purple twilight and denim. I coloured the rocks in the foreground with weathered wood and frayed burlap distress markers. I even tried making a few stars with white gel pen and a little bit of white ink on a cotton bud. The sentiment is from Inkylicious.

For the second I tried a scene with the Country Chapel set and added a tree or two from the Lakeside Cabin set and some sky from the Light and the Sea set. I didn't manage to capture the light and dark very well on this one, but it isn't bad for a first go. I absolutely love the sedge filler, as you can just create hills with it!
Today I took my Dad for his first appointment for a hip replacement. It looks like it will be done by Easter! They confirmed it was very worn and that it was just the left hip, and not his knee as well, which is good. The surgeon said that he would be extremely pleased if he had my Dad's mental fitness at the age of 83, and seemed even more impressed when he heard about his gardening, walking and table tennis! Not one to sit around, my Dad! Hopefully a new hip will keep him going for a good while longer too. Well, I'd better go and get on. Stamps to play with and all that, lol!
Thanks for looking, and I hope Santa was good to you too!

Merry Christmas!

Can you spare a minute or two? pull up a chair then, grab a plate and help yourself to a mince pie...

or a piece of ginger cake - it is still warm....

Incidentally, I haven't eaten all of that bit! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I will see you again after all the festvities. I will leave you with the card I made for Steve.

 I used a set of stamps from Little Claire and coloured with promarkers. Steve loves ducks and geese, so I stamped the geese twice and added another row at the front. I am entering this into the Twelve Days of Christmas challenge at Heck of a Challenge, although it is probably more like six geese a playing in those scarves and wellies!
Thanks for looking and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Yet more Christmas cards

I've spent the last couple of days finishing off the Christmas cards. I'd done all those that needed posting and had a few to make that needed delivering by hand.

 by this point I had reached the very CAS stage and they were in envelopes before the ink was properly dry! This first one was just done with masking, ink dusters, adirondack inks in purple twilight and pool. I stamped the trees and sentiment (Inkylicious) with Stream Adirondack. The 3 stickers at the top have been in my stash for years and I haven't a clue where I got them. They were perfect for hiding a little tear where my low tack masking tape wasn't low tack enough!

 My second card used a penny black stamp coloured with promarkers and the backing paper is from an Artylicious cd. Again the sentiment is from Inkylicious.

My third card was a first inking of a Kanban stamp that I had forgotten I had bought! I ink dusted the background and then coloured the trees with grey promarkers - I think it is a bit too subtle though. I will go one shade darker next time. A bit of glitter glue and the same sentiment finished it off.
At this point I received a gorgeous card from Lisa, and that provided the inspiration for a few more. Thanks, Lisa!

 I used purple twilight and pool adirondack inks again for these, with the freebie from the front of craft stamper a couple of months ago.

Finally I used the Penny Black wreath of leaves, Visible Image Gaudette background, and Distress inks in Iced Spruce, Antique linen and festive berries, along with some flat backed pearls, iridescent gold glimmer mist and tulip paint. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.
Thanks for looking!

And there's more...

Here is another card I made with the Inkylicious Christmas tree flourish, this time in black and cream with red highlights.

I also used the Inkylicious damask background on the base card. The red glitter is applied over red tulip paint, so is 3d. The poinsettia on the corner is a Marianne Die and is just the right size to disguise an inky fingerprint! I am entering this into this week's Allsorts challenge where the theme is 'Oh Christmas tree' and this months Joanna Sheen challenge where the theme is With love at Christmas.
I also made a card for a dear friend who is leaving her job very soon.

  For this card I took my inspiration from the very talented Cath Wilson who made this card a few weeks back. I fell in love with it and had to have a go. The stamps are from Inkylicious set called Moonlight foliage, and the Music Background behind the plants is also an Inkylicious stamp, stamped in versamark before creating the background with adirondack inks and ink dusters. I managed to mount it on two Fleur de Lys squares which I cropped to make fit together as a rectangle. the embossed panel is made with a cuttlebug folder. Thanks so much for looking and for the lovely comments you leave. Only two more days before we break up - woohoo!

Winter Scenes at Craft a Scene

Hi There
At Craft a Scene this month our theme is Winter Scenes, and for my mid month post I have create a scene using Lindsay Mason's Build a Snowy Scene set from Personal Impressions.

I stamped the scene first in Memento Black and then masked off the lower part of the card whilst I used my ink dusters on the sky. I added colour to the foreground images with promarkers and then added a bit of shading with my ink dusters and some blue ink. Finally I added a bit of sparkle with diamond stickles.
You still have another week left to make those snowy scenes and join us. Pop over to the challenge blog to see some more of my teamies wonderful creations! Looking forward to visiting you.
I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Penny Black and More - It's your Choice
Stamping for the weekend - Let it snow 
Thanks for looking!

More trees!

Well, it is Mid Month at Stamping Sensations so here are a few more trees to inspire you.

This first one was made using the largest of the trees from Visible Image's tree trio and the Gaudette background stamp. The tree is embossed with a mixture of metallic green and gunmetal embossing powders. The layers of card are all coloured and stamped with Distress inks. The music on the base card and the pattern on the green card are both Inkylicious stamps.

Next up is another card made with the Christmas tree Flourish stamp from Inkylicious. The sentiment comes with the set too. Here I used Pool Adirondack ink, creating the border around the edge with the edges of the christmas tree. Whilst the ink was still damp I added a little bit of wow brass sparkle embossing powder. A few gems and pearls finished it off

Another December Birthday

I made this card for one of my colleagues who has a birthday next week. The stamp is from Penny Black, and was coloured with promarkers. I added a few prima flowers, some die cut leaves (Marianne designs) some very old paper from my stash and a snippet of ribbon. Lots of snippets on this one, so I'm entering Di's crafty snippet challenge for a second time this week! I know, I am a bit like buses. Don't see one for ages then two come along at once, lol! Thanks for all your well wishes. I am definitely feeling a lot better than I was on Saturday. I managed nine hours sleep into Sunday, and I think it did me the world of good! Still got the cough, but I am not coughing half as frequently as I was. Thanks for looking!

A Tree-mendous Reminder

Just a quick reminder that the theme at Stamping Sensations this month is trees, and if you are like me, you are making quite a few Christmas cards with trees on at present. This one features the Woodware Tipsy trees set and some downloaded papers. We have also made a couple of changes to the rules, so now you can enter as many challenges as you like, and enter each challenge up to three times. There is also some follower candy for when we hit 1000 followers too. Looking forward to seeing your entries!
I am entering this into Di's Crafty Snippet Challenge, Fairy Tale Challenge blog -Oh Christmas Tree and Moving along with the times - Clean and Simple Thanks for looking!

Some Birthdays in December

I seem to know lots of people with Birthdays in December, so I am taking a break from making Christmas cards to catch up with birthdays!

The first is for my dear friend Kate, and is a bit of an in joke as we both call each other Dragons at work! The stamp is from Wild rose studios and coloured with Derwent Aquatone pencils. The paper is from Pink petticoat.

This next one is for another friend at work. This is the 5th 40th birthday on our staff this year! This is a chocolate Baroque stamp coloured with promarkers, with the papers from the Artylicious Essence of Nature cd rom.

 

This is another Artylicious papers and chocolate Baroque stamp, but this time I used  Flitterglu and Brighton Peer flakes, which I think go beautifully together!

Finally I have made a card using a Peerless designs cd called Word Play. I bought this cd at Doncaster as I immediately thought of our friend Mark, who loves the Beatles and Formula 1, and it has design sets for both! There are also several other designs suitable for men. This is his birthday card for this year. Well, a rather eclectic mix I think you will agree!

  Sorry I haven't been around much this week. I have been feeling very under the weather with an upper respiratory tract infection. The hacking cough, which is in it's third week, is leaving me exhausted. I have been at school though as I couldn't desert them for Panto week. The sickness bug hit some of the cast too, and there was one night that staff had to take over the role of the town crier and Baron Hardup mid performance, as they sat round the back with a bucket! After all the Drama and coughing I have fallen into bed about 2 hours before I would normally go, so computer time has been minimal. I will try and catch up with you over the next few days, when hopefully I will be feeling better.

Thanks for looking, and I hope your Christmas preparations are going well!

A few Christmas Cards

Well, I've only been home for half an hour, as it is Panto Week at school (Oh yes it is!). We just have two matinees to go now, so the late nights are over. I made a few Christmas cards at the weekend, but just haven't got round to posting them until now. These are all using stamps from Little Claires, which I bought or had bought for me (Thank you, Lynne!) at Doncaster.

The first two feature the Christmas Owl tree (so cute!) and some rather old Dovecraft papers. I added a ribbon and a sentiment from Craftwork Cards. The image is coloured with promarkers, which I tried to match to the papers. The first one here is for Crafty Cardmaker's challenge where I used the photo inspiration (Tree and colours).

For the next two cards I used Robin Redbreast and more old papers! I coloured again with promarkers, and then went a bit mad with stickles!

The border on these two is a tonic punch.
Challenges:
Little Claire's Monthly challenge 27 - Christmas
Thanks for looking!
 I hope to catch up with you very soon x

Winter Scenes at Craft a Scene

This month at Craft a Scene our theme is Winter Scenes and we are being sponsored by Robyn's Fetish. The child sledging is one of their images, which I coloured in Promarkers. I made the simple background with Ink Dusters and Adirondack inks in Pool and Sunshine Yellow. The trees are from an Inkylicious set called Winter's Tale. Why not pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the gorgeous creations of my teamies, and then have a go. It would be lovely to have you join us this month. Thanks for looking!

Tree-mendous December at Stamping Sensations

It is the first Sunday of the month and time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations. Our theme this month is Tree-mendous, and yes, I did pester to have this theme!

 I thought it would be a good one for December, as it could be a Christmas card, or it might be a card for virtually any other occasion! I created a scene using a tree stamp from our sponsor this month, Visible Image and although I put Christmas Greetings on it, I think it  would be suitable for most occasions. I used my ink dusters and my current favourite set of Adirondack inks (Peach Bellini, Mountain Rose, Eggplant and Denim) I also brushed  a few blobs of glitter glue over the water.
I also made another Christmas card, this time featuring a rather gorgeous tree from  Inkylicious.

I used distress inks in Bundled sage and Tea Dye for the background, and stamped the tree in Vintage photo. I added a mixture of gems, pearls and blobs of copper tulip paint. The sentiment is also from Inkylicious.
Of course, if you are super organised and have finished your Christmas cards, then you could do a tree card suitable for a birthday or other occasion. When you have just pop it on the challenge blog and we will pop over and visit you. Check out the makes from my DT buddies, and the huge bundle of gorgeous stamps from our Sponsor, Visible Image, also on the challenge blog! Thanks for looking!