Vintage Christmas

As Christmas seems to be drawing ever closer I decided to create a few more Christmas cards and this time around I have used the Snowy Woods plate from Artistic Outpost.

I was in the mood for more of a vintage feel to my Christmas makes this week and the Santa from the Snowy Woods plate is perfect for my focal image on this card, the detail is fabulous and I love the traditional feel to him, just how Santa should look!

My background is created with Distress Stains antiqued bronze and tarnished brass, this is the first time I have used these and I have to say I love the colours and the sheen you get. I applied my colours to a non-stick craft sheet and mopped the beads of ink up with my card, spritzing with a little water. I also added a snowflake rosette, cut from Kraft card, colouring the edges with a little vintage photo Distress Ink. I also added two rusty stars to the top of my snowflake and added both to a lacy bow.

I added rusty stars to the top and bottom corner of my card along with two wonderful ornate corners to my Santa (the rusty stars and ornate corners are from Linda's Funkie Junkie Boutique) I also cut a banner from Kraft card and added the Happy Christmas sentiment from the Snowy Woods plate.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x

DECK THE HALLS

I have another wintery Christmas card for you today using the fabulous Let It Snow A5 Stamp Plate from Creative Expressions.

I stamped Deck The Halls with manganese blue archival ink randomly around my background and then coloured with broken china Distress Ink to give that icy frosty feel. I have added a few step by steps below to create my UTEE tree.

Stamp the tree onto greyboard/mountboard and cut out.  We are simply stamping here to get the shape of the tree.

Apply VersaMark ink to the tree shape, simply press the inkpad onto the shape.

Sprinkle the tree with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel, tip off the excess and then heat with your heat tool to melt.

Once you have melted the enamel with the heat tool, apply a second layer and heat again to melt.

Continue to apply enamel until you have a glass tile like finish as shown in the picture. Sprinkle Lapis Black Ultra Thick Embossing Crystals into the enamel whilst its hot along with some Perfect Pearl powders and then heat once again to melt.

This is what the enamel will look like once you have added a little colour.

Place the stamp into the hot enamel, leave for a few seconds and then remove. This does not harm the stamp in anyway.

Once you remove the tree image you are left with the pattern impressed into the enamel, I love this effect and never tire of this technique, it adds wonderful texture and interest to a project.

To add a little more interest and to add highlights to the raised areas, rub over with a little silver Paint Dabber, using your finger.

The silver really lifts the design and adds a little sparkle to the dimensional tree.

I also added two small baubles to my card using the same stamp set and a Spellbinders Heirloom Ornament die.

Stamp the tree image onto white card using archival inks, place the Spellbinders die over the tree and then run through the Grand Calibur machine.

Whilst the die is still in place, colour with broken china ink, to tone down the white areas.

I matted the baubles onto a coordinated piece of card to lift from the background and added Bakers Twine to each bauble and to the base of my tree.

25 has been added to the top of the card cut from white card and again stamped with the background from the tree stamp.  I have also cut 25 a second time and offset a little against the stamped 25 to add a contrast against my background. I have also added heart buttons to the top of each bauble for added interest and dimension.

To complete I have also added Chitchat stickers.

Creative Expressions are also launching a new project book which should be available sometime next week and will have a total of 21 projects in total and I am thrilled to say I have a project showcased in their first edition. Keep your eye on the Creative Expressions web page HERE for more details soon.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x

A Seasonal Canvas

Simon Says Stamp and Show challenges you to create WITHOUT INK this week. There are so many possibilities here from Paint Dabbers, Multi Medium Matt, Distress Markers, Claudine Hellmuth's Acrylic Paint etc. We would love to see how you think outside the box this week.

Paint Dabbers were the obvious choice for me this week, inspiring me to create an inky seasonal canvas.

I always find it a challenge to work on a larger scale and without using my trusty Distress Inks too, so this week was really thinking outside the box for me. My inky canvas has been coloured with Dylusions Ink Sprays Postbox Red, Cut Grass and Melted Chocolate, and has even been showered with a little rain to give me those random splatters. Tim's background stamp from the Season's Silhouettes stamp set came to my aid for the background stamping using Paint Dabbers Snow Cap and Pitch Black. I think this is destined to be my son's alternative Christmas card.

Before any stamping I sprayed the canvas with several layers of colour, drying between each application, to give me a good depth of colour. The next step was to add the trees using the Dylusions Oh Christmas Tree stencil adding Liquid Pearls white opal through the stencil. I did not want my tree images to appear flat so using a spatula I added a little texture to the Liquid Pearls, giving a little more interest to the background of the trees.  I left my canvas to dry overnight.

To give a little more interest to my canvas I added Stampendous aged gold embossing enamel to the outside edges, this framed my piece perfectly and gave the perfect finishing touch.

To stamp the wording in the background I used the background stamp from the Season's Silhouettes stamp set, applying snow cap and pitch black Paint Dabbers to each word and then stamping onto my canvas.  I did not place my stamp onto an acrylic block I used as is, it made stamping so much easier on a canvas.

For a touch more interest and dimension I also added some Idea-ology Festive Foliage to the top of each tree, adding a little colour with gold Alcohol Mixative.

For more great ideas please pop over to the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog and take a look at my fellow team members they have created some inspirational projects. Remember there is also the chance to win a $50 prize from Simon Says Stamp.  I always look forward to seeing your creations each week.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, much appreciated.  Enjoy your week. Tracy x x  

Products Used:

Paint Dabbers - Snow Cap and Pitch Black

Dylusions Ink Sprays - Postbox Red, Cut Grass and Melted Chocolate

Tim Holtz Season's Silhouettes Stamp Set 

Dylusions Oh Christmas Tree Stencil

Liquid Pearls - White Opal

VersaMark Stamp Pad

Stampendous Aged Gold Embossing Enamel

Tim Holtz Idea-Ology - Festive Foliage

Alcohol Ink - Gold Mixative

NOEL

Once again I am showcasing the fabulous Teresa Collins CHRISTMAS COTTAGE designer pad and coordinating STAMP SET from The Stamp Attic.

I am back to a more traditional card this week creating my background using a piece of the paper from the designer pad.  I have then stamped the music notes and mini joy stamp in the background using maroon archival ink.

My cards never feel complete unless I add a little dimension, this time around adding four layers to my tree image, stamping onto papers from the designer pad.  I stamped the image with maroon and olive archival inks, adding a little of each colour to my stamp.

I cut 25 and NOEL from one of the papers from the designer pad using the Vintage Noel Bigz die adding to the top and bottom corners of my card. The papers used here are a few of my favourites for my Christmas cards this year.

For further interest I have added some Festive Foliage to the top of my tree, coloured with gold Paint Dabber to act as a star along with a few Christmas Dew Drops to the top of the card.

I have added a pot to my tree cut from more of the fabulous papers from the designer pad, adding a little gold Paint Dabber to the edges. Three Christmas Dew Drops have been added for decoration.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x

MIDWINTER POP UP

I love using the Pop 'n Cuts and decided to create a winter pop up card using the Tall Conifer from 100 Proof Press.

This is the front of my pop up card. My background panel has been embossed with the snowflurries texture fade and coloured with broken china and faded jeans Distress Inks, spritzing with a little water to give that snowy winter feel.

I created a dimensional snowflake using the snowflake rosette and mini rosette dies, adding a little colour with broken china ink. I also added 25 to the top of my snowflake for a little more interest.

I showcased the wonderful Tall Conifers in a circle cut using a Spellbinders die, colouring once again with broken china and faded jeans ink.  I also added two small wooden birds for further interest along with a sentiment to the bottom corner. I also added faux stitching to my card for a further layer of interest.

This is the inside of my pop up.

I have added the Tall Conifer to the pop up, colouring with Distress Inks and spritzing with water. I love the sentiment Enjoy The Beauty Of The Season, perfect for my Winter card.

I added a little embossing once again to echo the front of my card, coloured with Distress Inks, adding faux stitching to the edges.  I have cut another circle from white card added the Tall Conifer stamped with black archival ink, colouring with Distress Inks, adding MIDWINTER to the top.

The Tall Confier has also been stamped to the bottom of my panel, adding a little broken china ink to the bottom of each tree to ground them.

If you would love to see more creative pieces each week, why not pop along to the 100 Proof Press Facebook Page and click LIKE (http://www.facebook.com/pages/100-Proof-Press-Rubber-Stamps/118852458185585?ref=ts&fref=ts).

Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x

A Memorable Christmas

I decided to create a wintery Christmas card this week using the Umount Let It Snow A5 Stamp Plate from Creative Expressions.

My background has been created with Distress Inks broken china and faded jeans, spritzing with a little water adding stamping using the Heartfelt Ornamental Medallion stamp set using manganese blue archival ink.

I showcased the snowman in the Spellbinders floral ovals die to add a feminine touch, blending a little broken china ink to the bottom and around the edges of the die cut.  Frosty has been added using Chitchat stickers.

I stamped the sentiment with manganese blue archival ink, added to coordinated card and added to the top of the card. This would also be a perfect sentiment for the inside of a card too.

For further dimension and interest I added two wooden snowflakes coloured with broken china ink, adding gems to the centre of each for a little sparkle.  I also added gems to the snowman's body.

To complete I added 25 cut from white card to the bottom corner of my card and matt and layered my decorated piece onto coordinated card coloured with Distress Inks.

Creative Expressions are also recruting, looking for a Regional Account Manager all the details of which you can find HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x 

Inspiration Francais

Time for another fabulous challenge from Simon Says Stamp and Show and this week we would like to see your French inspired pieces, what images come to mind as soon as you think of France?

For Tracy inspiration comes in the form of an altered French sardine tin.

My husband helped the cause this week, eating plenty of sardines for my creative endeavours. Inspiration began with the PARIS film collage stamp, a perfect backdrop for my tin. Colouring my tin was made so easy with the use of the Vintaj Patina Inks Weathered Copper, giving wonderful coverage. A little ageing was needed so StazOn timber brown and Alcohol Inks ginger and rust came to the rescue. This piece has pride of place in my craft room.

The PARIS film image has been stamped with black archival ink and aged with vintage photo Distress Ink.  To give a little more interest I used a water brush and removed some of the colour to give some highlights and further interest to the stamped image. I also added Ranger's Queen's Gold embossing powder to the edges.

To give my tin some stability I adhered a bracket purchased from my local DIY store, coloured with Alcohol Inks ginger, rust and pitch black, applying a couple of layers of colour. I added two pieces of film strip ribbon to echo the film strip in the stamped image. Imagine from Chitchat stickers has been added to one piece of the ribbon as I was imagining being in PARIS whilst I was creating my piece, so many memories came flooding back from my visit many years ago.

To give a little height I also added a Kaiser Eiffel Tower wood flourish piece, coloured with walnut stain Distress Ink , adding a little Queens Gold embossing powder for a little texture. This wood piece gives fabulous height and dimension to my piece.

I stamped the PARIS text once again from the background stamp, cut out, coloured with vintage photo ink, added gold Paint Dabber to the edges and added to the edge of my tin adhering with Glossy Accents.

The fabulous Mona Collage has been stamped onto shrink plastic, coloured with Distress Ink and embossed with clear embossing powder, adding gold Paint Dabber to the edges.  I also scratched the surface a little with wire wool to age. To complete I added two mini Eiffel Tower charms for further dimension and interest.

For more great ideas please pop over to the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog and take a look at my fellow team members they have created some inspirational projects. Remember there is also the chance to win a $50 prize from Simon Says Stamp.  I always look forward to seeing your creations each week.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, much appreciated.  Enjoy your week. Tracy x x  

Products Used:

Tim Holtz PARIS Film Stamp

Tim Holtz Mona Collage Stamp

Vintaj Patina Inks Weathered Copper

StazOn Timber Brown

Alcohol Inks - Ginger, Rust and Pitch Black

Black Archival Ink

Tim Holtz Detailer Water Brush

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Film Strip Ribbon, Chitchat Stickers

VersaMark Stamp Pad

Queen's Gold Embossing Powder

Kaiser Effel Tower Wood Flourish

Distress Inks - Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain

Gold Paint Dabber

Glossy Accents

Shrink Plastic

Clear Embossing Powder

7 Gypsies Dangle Charms PARIS