White Snowflakes

Hi there.

Are your houses all looking festive with beautiful decorations now? Many of us put our decorations up a little earlier than usual this year, didn't we? It's lovely to see the warmth and cheer from some twinkling lights and they are much needed at the end of this crazy year.

I have a festive card for you today featuring some of the Christmas stamps by Visible Image. This one is for those people that are allergic to glitter because there is no sparkle, yet it is still very festive.

Here's how I made it:

First, cut a small panel of white card and stamp the snowflake onto two of the corners, making sure that it is slightly off the edge of the panel.

Colour in the snowflakes with a clear ink embossing pen and heat emboss them with a clear embossing powder. This will create a resist for the ink blending.

Take three coordinating shades of distress ink and blend from the snowflake corners towards the middle of the card, keeping the darker shades at the edge. Set the panel aside to dry.

On the card blank, stamp some small snowflakes from the same stamp set all around the edge in the same distress inks.

Now stamp the 'snow' from the snow is falling stamp set around the edge with the same colours of distress ink.

Finally, stamp the 'Christmas' word into place on the panel and heat emboss it with white embossing powder and add some more of the 'snow stamp' around the snowflakes. 

Then mount the panel onto the card front with fun foam.

Stamps Used:

(please click on the picture to be taken direct to the stamp set in the online store):
 

     

     

Other Supplies:

Distress Inks (tumbled glass, shaded lilac, peacock feathers), Prism ink (french navy), Versamark clear ink, Versamarker pen, WOW! embossing powder (clear gloss, opaque bright white), fun foam, white card 

Visible Image social media and other links (just click on the words in capital letters):

SHOP where the fantastic stamps are sold
BLOG with all the latest news and posts
FACEBOOK PAGE with info, inspiration and giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us
INSTAGRAM
PINterest


This is probably the last card that I'm going to share with you this year because I'm taking a complete break over the festive period. It's been a crazy year and I think that many of us are feeling the strain now so we're all looking forward to some time off, aren't we?

With that in mind, all that remains is for me to say thank you for all the support and lovely comments that you have left me this year, and to wish you all 

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

and  I really hope to see you again in 2021.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Heartbeat

 

Heartbeat. Hmmmm, I bet a number of you may have the song going around in your heads now, either the Buddy Holly version or the Nick Berry version (that was the theme tune to the 1990s British TV series of the same name). Or... others in the UK may even have the 'Casualty' theme tune (a TV drama about a hospital) in their heads because that featured a heart rhythm in the opening credits.

Hee, hee! Now I've set those ear worms off, I suppose I should say that they were probably the inspiration behind this card. 

I love using some of the smaller stamps in the  Visible Image sets as the main feature of a card because they are just perfect for a CAS design. The small stamps in the fabulous Follow Your Heart set are great to illustrate this. I can see this card being made for Valentines day and, as it isn't too 'fussy', it would be great for a male recipient.

Here's how to make it:

The first thing to do is decide where you want the red heart and the sentiment to be placed. You need to make sure that you leave a space for the sentiment, then ink up the heart beat stamp as follows. First mask off the 'beat' and stamp the heart in red ink, then mask off the heart and ink the 'beat' in black ink and stamp that onto the panel. Repeat this until you have a line of heart beats across the bottom of the panel (with the sentiment gap)

Next ink the sentiment and stamp that into place so that it looks like it is part of the heart rhythm, then heat emboss it with gold embossing powder. 

On a piece of scrap card, stamp the heart and colour it with some alcohol ink pens, leaving a couple of white highlights as you can see in the picture, before fussy cutting it out. Use alcohol inks because they will not run together or change colour quite as much as a dye based ink pen when the glossy accents are added in the next stage.

Now very generously add a layer of glossy accents and whilst they are still wet sprinkle in some glitter. I chose to use up some distress glitter that I still have because it is more of a 'sugary' look than full on bling. Leave the heart to dry completely (I left mine overnight, just to be sure) then glue it to the front of the card.

The final step is to mount the panel onto some gold, red and black mats so that those colours only show on the opposite edge to the heart rhythm, and attach everything to a slimline (DL) card blank.

Stamps Used:

(please click on the picture to be taken direct to the stamp set in the online store):
 

  

Other Supplies:

Card (white, black, red and gold), Prism Inks (midnight black and red chilli), Versamark clear ink, WOW! metallic gold rich embossing powder, Promarkers (lipstick red, berry red, crimson), glossy accents, gold glitter (Distress Glitter antique linen), DL card blank.

Visible Image social media and other links (just click on the words in capital letters):

SHOP where the fantastic stamps are sold
BLOG with all the latest news and posts
FACEBOOK PAGE with info, inspiration and giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

Thanks for stopping by and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Less is More #433 - OLC Festive

 

So, it's time for the last challenge of 2020 at Less is More today and we're saying goodbye to this crazy year with a one layer card challenge that has the focus of 'Festive'.  

I decided to make my card using only a stencil because I often overlook the stencils in my stash in favour of stamps. I was pleased with how this one turned out. I just used 2 coordinating colours of distress oxide for each bauble, masking the green bauble before blending the lilac and the pink baubles. Once the ink was dry I used the stencil again to add shapes onto each bauble with versamark ink and then heat embossed them with a clear sparkle embossing glitter. Super-easy!

STENCILS:   Visible Image Iconic Christmas
INKS:   Distress Oxides (cracked pistachio & evergreen bough, shaded lilac & wilted violet, spun sugar & worn lipstick), Versamark clear ink
OTHER:   WOW! clear sparkle embossing glitter, white card, post it notes for masking

Head on over to the challenge blog for some fantastic inspiration from the design team and to see the superb card made by our September winner (and founder of the LIM blog) Chrissie.

Cue Card

Sponsor https://www.cas-ualfridaysstamps.com/

That's it from me for now. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Romantic Vellum Heart

It's launch day of the November release from Visible Image today and I'm delighted to show you this romantic glittery heart card that I made with the Follow Your Heart stamps. I've paired these gorgeous stamps with the entwined butterflies stencil for a soft and romantic look. I can't wait to use these stamps on a Valentines card too; I bet they will look amazing.

Here's how I made this one.

Cut a panel of card and add the Entwined Butterflies stencil over the top, making a hinge with some low tack tape. Lightly blend some distress inks through the stencil, working from one corner towards the opposite corner.

Remove the stencil and now stamp some small hearts over the panel using the pumice stone ink. This gives a subtle interest to the panel.

Add masking tape around the edge of the panel, then use the outside edges of the large heart to add some splatters to edge the inked panel.

Stamp and heat emboss the full heart in white embossing powder onto a strip of vellum.

Stamp the heart again, this time onto the panel and heat emboss it. Cut a heart from a scrap of turquoise card to glue into the middle of the heat embossed image on the panel. 

Add some sparkle to the vellum strip with stickles glue and set aside to dry. Once dry wrap the vellum around the panel, making sure it lines up with the image stamped underneath.

Attach the vellum wrapped panel onto a turquoise card blank.

Stamps and Stencil Used:

(please click on the picture to be taken direct to the stamp set in the online store):
 

  

     

  

 

Other Supplies:

 Distress Inks (antique linen, pumice stone, peacock feathers), Versamark clear ink, WOW! opaque bright white embossing powder, Stickles (stardust), white card, vellum, turquoise card, masking tape.

Visible Image social media and other links (just click on the words in capital letters):

SHOP where the fantastic stamps are sold
BLOG with all the latest news and posts
FACEBOOK PAGE with info, inspiration and giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

That's it from me for today. Thanks for stopping by and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Less is More #432 - Blue and Silver OR Red and Gold

 

Well, it is the penultimate challenge for Less is More in 2020 and it's a choice of colours for everyone - either blue and silver or red and gold.

I took the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and select the Red and Gold option and I'm really glad that I did. I am always drawn to blues and silvers, so to make a card with rich, warm colours made a lovely change. I also challenged myself to use a non-holiday season stamp and make a holiday card with it. I hope you like it.

The Mon Ami flower was repeat stamped and heat embossed before being coloured in. The gold frame and leaves were first die cut, then covered with versamark ink before being heat embossed with the lovely sparkly embossing glitter. An easy card to make!

Cue Card

Sponsor https://cas-ualfridaysstamps.com/

STAMPS:    CAS-ual Fridays (Mon Ami), Papertrey Ink (Signature Christmas Collection)
DIES:  Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations (Festive Greenery), My Favorite Things (Inside Out Stitched Rectangle)
INKS:   Versamark clear
PENS:   Promarkers (Lipstick Red, Poppy, Cardinal Red, Burgundy, Blender pen)
OTHER:   WOW! Metallic Gold Sparkle embossing glitter, Red and white card, fun foam

The fabulous Guest designer at Less is More is Kathy K from Purple Princess Diaries blog, the August winner. Please pop over to the challenge blog see what a fab card she made for the challenge for some fantastic inspiration from the design team too.

Stay safe everyone and hopefully I'll see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Mixed Media Butterfly

 

Hello there. Did you catch the incredible mixed media show that Visible Image had on the Create and Craft TV channel on Tuesday? There were some amazing stamps and stencils on the show and Mark was totally awesome with his demonstrations. So inspirational! It made me want to go out to my craft room and play for the rest of the day. Seeing all the DT samples on the TV screen made me so proud to working in amongst such a talented team of designers. Honestly, I need to pinch myself quite regularly because I can't believe how lucky I am to be on the DT.

Ahem....especially when I make mistakes, like I did on this card. (Read on to spot what I missed)

I decided to have an inky play day with some pastes and stencils recently as part of my 'how do I incorporate mixed media into CAS designs' aim. Getting full on with ink will hopefully allow me to understand what will and won't work in a CAS design. Well...that's the idea anyway. This card is one of the results of that inky session and here's how I made it:

First, take a piece of card that is slightly smaller than the size of the card front and spray it with a green spray and let it dry. Now lay the Collision stencil over the top and spray again with orange.

Mop up the excess sprays with another piece of card that is the same size as the card front. This needs to be done at both spraying stages in the above step so that you get some green and orange on the card.

Once all the ink is dried, take the butterfly stencil and smooth some distress grit-paste texture paste through it. Remove the stencil and wash it immediately so that you don't ruin it with paste that dries on it.

Before the texture paste dries on the panel, sprinkle on some white glitter then let it all completely dry. Add a little gilding wax to the outside edges of the panel when it is dried.

Stamp and heat emboss the sentiment onto a strip of vellum that you have given a ripped edge to the top and bottom. 

Mount everything together using some additional white and black card to mat the central panel and add that to the larger panel with fun foam. Doodle some dots around the outside. 

Those with eager eyes will spot the black Nuvo drops in this photo (wait! you're all going to spot them now, groan). The reason they are there is because I was going to add some large enamel type dots onto the butterfly wings.....but I forgot to stick them on, and the card was sent off for the TV show on Create and Craft before I spotted the omission. We all make mistakes now and again, eh?

So, here's a close-up of the sparkle to make up for the omission. I love that glitter - it looks just like you've spilled some sugar onto your card.

Stamps And Stencils Used:

(please click on the picture to be taken direct to the stamp set in the online store):

  

 

  

 

  

Other Supplies:

Distress Stains (twisted citron & abandoned coral), Distress grit-paste, Distress glitter (clear rock candy), versafine onyx black ink, WOW! clear gloss embossing powder, Creative Expressions cast bronze gilding wax, Vellum, white card and black card, fun foam, black pen.

Visible Image social media and other links (just click on the words in capital letters):

SHOP where the fantastic stamps are sold
BLOG with all the latest news and posts
FACEBOOK PAGE with info, inspiration and giveaways
FACEBOOK GROUP come share your work with us
INSTAGRAM
PINterest

That's it from me for now. Thanks for stopping by and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx

Less is More #413 - More Than One Type Of Foliage

 

There's a new challenge at Less is More where we want you to use more than one type of foliage. As I'm trying to get ahead this year, I used the opportunity to do another quick make Christmas card. Mine is just a few die cut leaves, which is a great way to batch make cards, but there is some fantastic stamping inspiration by the rest of the design team over on  the challenge blog so I recommend that you pop over to see those.

DIES:   Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations dies (festive greenery and spring greenery), 
OTHER: Black card, gold mirror card, silver mirror card

Cue Card

Sponsor

That's it from me for now. Thanks for popping by and I really hope to see you again soon.

Hugs,
Sharon xx