Not politically correct Coo.

Good Afternoon. 

A quick disclaimer. I was a uncertain about posting this card using this stamp. I am "woke" to the problems of using this set. Although it seems you can still legally use this stamp set, it also appears the Sheena Douglass did not own the copyright to sell it. Thus I will not be using any of her stamps I already own on cards for sale, nor will I be buying anymore of her products. I purchased this stamp along time before the issues with her copyright theft were raised. If you don't know anything about this issue and would like to learn more here is a link to the first article I read about it and you may like to do your own research. 

Link here

If I could find a link to the original artist I would include it, alas a reverse image search doesn't appear to go to the original source.  If you do know, please pop me a message, it would be nice to include it.

So here is my card using "Highland Dinner" from the "A little bit sketchy" set by Sheena Douglass. 

It's a Z-fold card and pretty large, so super hard to get a nice photo of!  I used white Hero Arts Unicorn Ink and then heat embossed them using Stampendous Opaque White embossing powder. I then used different coloured Brushos, in various layers and with a heat gun, to get a few different effects. These were the three results that I liked most.

I layered them onto black card and printed out some white on black text to add some greetings to each cow.

I then created a Z-fold card blank and stuck each cow onto one side. I also printed out an area to write on and attached that to the middle back.

I actually enjoyed making this up, despite the political problems with the stamp set. It seems such a waste of resource to just bin all my Sheena stamps but I can confidently say I will no longer be buying any Sheena or Crafter's Companion products. If you have an opinion, you are very welcome to share it with me here, no offence taken if you don't agree with me using this set.

Tropical Fish

Another Commissioned card for Father's Day with a tropical fish theme. I made the background using Distress Oxides, flicked with water. Then stamped the elements directly on to it. I then re-stamped the fish and snails onto white paper and coloured them with my Zig Watercolour pens. Then fussy cut them out and attached them on to the card.

I know if you are a fish head, you might be bothered about this guppy and betta living together, but it's ok, they worked out their differences and are now firm friends. :D

Distress Oxides: Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio. ( I think!)
Snails are from Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Scenic - SeaShells SD-LBS-SHELL
Betta is from Sea Creatures 2 (UM-L4) Designs by Ryn
Guppy, Plants and Bubbles are from Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Scenic - Underwater Angels SD-LBS-ANGELS
Fonts are Just the Way You Are and Hermes Manero.

I popped some glossy accents onto the bubbles because I couldn't resist and some tiny spots of white posca pens onto the bubbles and seaweed to add dimension.

Flowery 80th!

Happy Monday to you all! Blogging a commissioned card today that was for an 80th Birthday. The lady likes flower arranging and bowling, so I thought I would make a flowery bowling card. (Genius huh?)  I am hoping that the bowling is Crown Green, not Ten Pin! lol.

You might recognise the flowers from some Sympathy and Thank you card I made last month, they are from Sheena Douglass's Bloomin Beautiful set. I stamped them in white onto watercolour paper, then heat embossed them in white. Then used my Gansai Tambi Watercolours on top.

The image was a vintage photo online that I recoloured and cropped. I also used some papers that were free from "Making Cards" magazine, quite old and from the stash.  Around the 80 flower I used some spare wings I had over from making the Bee get well soon card - such a hoarder :) The cork numbers are from Papermania. Bling, Stickles, Washi and Nuvo Jewel Drops to finish. Also right at the end I decided to add a butterfly top right, I don't remember where they came from :/

Font is Lobster Two, for those fonty obsessed people out there. I love a good font :)

Simple watercolour flowers.

Had to make a few sympathy and thank you cards, so opted for something light and floral that would be fine for both.

I added some diecut cats to this sympathy card as I know it's intended for a cat person. (Die is Leabilities Cats).

The stamps are from Sheena Douglass's Bloomin Beautiful set. I stamped them in white onto watercolour paper, then heat embossed them in white. Then used my GT Watercolours on top.

I didn't try and do it as a one layer card this time, I 3D mounted some of the flowers onto the card.

I added a few simple sequin and some lavender stickles to lift them a bit.(They seemed a bit flat). I had an extra couple of flowers to add to the thank you card too.

I want to aim for something respectful but not gloomy when it comes to sympathy cards. In the past I have been more than happy to receive something a bit more uplifting when I've felt sad. I hope other people feel the same way.

Simple Sympathy Cards

Two more commissioned sympathy cards. This time I used Sheena Douglas, A little bit floral - Magnolia as the main flower on the card after previously trying ideas using the Iris version.

I stamped the flower in Dewdrop Moonlight White Ink and then heat embossed using Stampendous White Embossing Powder. I coloured the flowers using my Gansai Tambi Watercolour paints.

In black ink I stamped the greeting which is from Hero Arts "Messages With Flourish" set. I then used a black pen to draw in a black frame around the card.   I actually made one with the flower raised using 3D mounting foam, and the other where the flower is actually single layer along with the other elements. I added a little shadow to give it some dimension too. Sequins added at the end.

A few more sympathy cards

Made a small batch of sympathy cards using a few of the stamps Helen has passed to me. These two were made using the Sheena Douglass, A little bit floral, Iris Set. ( SD-LBFL-IRIS ).

Both are heat embossed in white on white card stock. To make the one on the left I made a mask of the stamp so I could print them infront of each other.  I then used my new Gansai Tambi watercolour paints to colour the images in, very loosely.  The sentiment is printed directly onto vellum and is Maiandra GD Font. Added simple enamel bling to finish.

With Sympathy...

A rather sad end to the week as I spend time making sympathy cards for the death of a close family friend. She will be much missed.

I heat embossed in white one of the flowers from Sheena Douglass, A Little Bit Sketchy, Blooming Beautiful Set. (SD-LBS-BBEA) And then blended distress inks around the edge. I printed the message, in font - Maiandra GD onto vellum and wrapped it round the topper. Added some enamel bling to finish. I made a couple of versions of this in slightly different colour schemes. It was an easy  make.

BB8Bauble.

I had a few commissions this christmas (2016) for cards for young men, so I did a Star Wars themed card! (This was also suitable for my friend Grace, so she got one too!)

For the backdrop I used distress inks over an embossed image - Sheena Douglass's Beautiful Bauble. I added some green stickles to the fir tree fronds.

I printed out an image of BB-8 in different sizes and then paired tops and bottoms to make a more bauble shaped version of the astromech droid. I put glossy accents on his lens and a white Posca Paint shine so he looks more spherical. This was actually a pretty quick card, simplest ideas are the best :) The Font is Chi Town NF.

Pair of black, red and white kitty cards.

This started as a commissioned card for a 60th birthday, but I eventually made a pair of cards using two backgrounds I had created to compliment the image and colour scheme.

The central image is using an Inkylicious  stamp called "Cat - Toby".. which I picked up in a Craft Fair some time ago and had not used before. I really like it! And I was able to edit it to use as a black and white cat and as a black cat for the commissioned card. The butterfly stamp came with the image and I used a grass stencil to give the cat a base to sit on.

The two backgrounds were made by first blowing (distress reinker) inks with a straw! I love the look of it, and discovered if you blow really hard, you can make quite a thin network of veins! On the one version I then used normal distress inks to colour the cardstock, and on the other left it white.

Distress Ink Base layer - Ripe Persimmon, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade and Fired Brick
Reinkers - Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin and Candied Apple.

Stamps in background, using Versafine Onyx Black  - La Chat Noir from Craft Stamper Magazine, "We Love Cats" from the Apple Blossom Craft Collection and Poppy Paint Fusion Set from Sheena Douglass.

Glossy Accent on eyes, bling and ribbon from stash to finish.

I scanned and reused the backgrounds so I could  make matching inners for the cards.

Combo of three great products!

These cards use a combo of three great products -

• Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Sketchy, A6, Stamp Set - Falling Feathers.
• Hero Arts Cling Stamp, CG244 - Large Fabric Design
• Brushos (on White Embossing.)

And here is the result -

Add added some enamels dots and banners to turn them into birthday cards :)

Brusho Resist Cards

Back in May I posted some pictures of my results using brushos and emboss resists.

So I've now made these into a set of cards, using the results as my backgrounds and adding text banners and watercolour feathers using the same Sheena Douglass Falling Feathers set. I really enjoyed making them and I love embossing and the brushos, so I think I shall probably be trying the same theory with different stamps and colours!

The four cards I made, A5 size. Matted onto black card, with a few sequin/enamel embellishments.

Think this one was the most successful, colours and layout wise.

 A close up pic of some of the details in the background.

Brushos!

Just wanted to update you with some images from my initial foray into Brushos! I wanted to make some background images to use on cards, using white emboss resists and watercolourish backgrounds.

So this is a shot after the heat embossing, adding dry brushos and then spraying water on top. The droplets can be dabbed away from the embossed areas afterwards. Stamp: Sheena Douglass, A little bit sketchy, falling feathers.

Same stamp set but this time I sprayed with water first and then dropped the brushos in tiny amounts on top! I like this better but it is hard to control the amount of powder you drop!

Also tried a more careful measured approach using this Hero Arts CG248 Large Solid Flower, and I think it works fine with a less intense look too.

Really happy with them, going to watch some more tutorials on how to use them now I grasp what they are about! :)

Condolences.

Sad news meant making a sympathy card for a friend.

Background made with distress reinkers on glossy card. Silhouette images stamped in Staz-on. Stamps by Sheena Douglass -  A Little Bit Sketchy, Sihouette Wildflowers. Added stickles in purple and used my white posca pen for the spots.

Red Red Wine.

Commission card featuring a red wine element and a chance to use a set of stamps by Sheena Douglass, A Little Bit Scenic Collection - Provence!

I really like this set, but haven't had the chance to use it much before now. I stamped the images and then coloured them with copics. I glossy accented the grapes. I mounted them onto the background image with 3D foam. The wooden texture paper is a set from Joy! Used Seedless Preserves Distress Ink to colour the cardstock around the edge.

You are just my type. She said boldly. ;)

Just a quick post today! This is the card I made my partner for Val's day. Heavily inspired by Pinterest! :)

The typewriter stamp is by Sheena Douglass, part of the  "A little bit sketchy" collection. It is from the set called "A Village Mystery -  Mystery author."

More Christmas Cards.

Some of these I made to send myself and some were commissions.

It's getting super hard on line to track down whether images are copyrighted or not. I suppose I should say if I am claiming the artwork as my own, because I would happily credit an original artist if I could find out who it was....and as I only make one card with it, the lack of mass production and making money from it would probably influence how an original artist would feel about it perhaps?
I don't know though, I'd be pretty cross if my artwork was on line with no watermark and anyone could use it. Hopeful I have found images safe to use - I'm saying this because I couldn't track down where the Scrooge Silhouette was from, anywhere!

Die cut window and snowflakes. Hero Arts stamp background behind window. Fussy cut dog silhouettes. Blue pearls.

Hunkydory frames and papers. Die cut icicles. Hand drawn Church scanned and put into grey scale. Green pearls. The church is Trinity Methodist Church in Shifnal.

This was a special card for one of my bezzie's Mum's to give her daughter. They've just had a baby and the wall paper in the picture is the same as the paper in their nursery. Die cut window. Hero Arts stamped scene behind window. Greeting from Hunkydory. Bottle, chair, bear and box all stickers from the Royal Doll's House Sticker Book by Usbourne 2013.

These ginger bread/cookie toppers and papers were all freebies in a magazine and I've been saving them forever. The main ginger bread men were stamped and coloured with copics.

I've been loving the kraft card this Christmas. This was a combo of two stamp sets for the bunnies and the base of the snow globe. I used two circle die cutters to make the right size snow globe outline. Stamped bunnies coloured in with  polychromo pencils.

I promise this was appropriate wording for the sender/recipient! :) I printed out the Scrooge silhouette and masked off the writing, then cosmic shimmered the background and added some bling. I like the effect.

Sheena Douglass Stamps painted with watered-down distress inks. Snowy night sky made by flicking water onto a dark distress ink background.

Final card for the post. Just made me chuckle :)

Dance like no-one is watching.

So the customer didn't state what kind of dancing their sister-in-law was in to so I took a punt on a type of dancer we all can recognise. :) I'm really enjoying this new trend in erm...sunken toppers? lol! The sakura blossoms are from the "Little Bit Oriental" collection by Sheena Douglass. The central piece of white card is 3D foamed onto the sakura paper, and the dancer is cut out to reveal the sakura paper beneath.

One layer black silhouette cards!

Bonjour! (Cross posted to Crafty Magic)

I've been really inspired by the "Keep-it-simple" and "One Layer Only" trends in card making at the moment. It's been very evident on Pinterest in the last few months. I wanted to have a go at a masked distress ink background directly onto the card and then black silhouette stamping on top of it. This is my first effort using distress inks blended in the background square (using a 12cm x 12cm mask) and then stamping on top with Versafine Onyx Black.

Stamps: Woodware JGS300 Going to Seed and Crafty Individuals Cl - 231 (Butterflies)

So as I was finishing off this set I remembered I had a rather nice unused set of Sheena Douglass " A Little Bit Scenic - Underwater Angels" I could use, and wouldn't this be ace with some water droplets or splashes on the distress ink background?? So... I carried on to this set.

I'm really happy with these, especially the two guppies on the left. ( The other fish on white are the envelopes for the cards.)

You might have spotted that the one fish card is not on one layer, but two. I found it super hard to keep the card clean! No blodges, marks, scuffs or... mess! To save a couple of the cards I remounted them onto a new card blank. And since they were no longer "One Layer" it meant I could justify adding some sequins -  I find it really hard to not use any embellishments. Although the seed head cards were more successful (at being one layer) I added some sequins to them too. I know... I think I have an addiction. lol!