Halloween card

Hi and thanks for visiting my Blog :-)

I thought I would make a Halloween card just for something different after I saw the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple Challenge CAS89 of a Sketch inspired by kstamper's card here which I loved - so this is my take on the Sketch.

I have had this old spider and web stamp for years and years and forgot I had the stamps until today when I was looking for some inspiration among my stamps for a Halloween card. I must admit: I hate spiders. I am the sort of person who would jump out of a moving car to get away from one, or abandon my car in the middle of the freeway. One of my recurring nightmares is hundreds of spiders dropping down from a ceiling on top of me - it seems so real that I usually jump out of bed in my sleep - which then scares poor DH.....anyway, enough waffle and onto the card.......

The black embossed background was made with a newly released Sizzix Textured Impression embossing folder called "Winter Set #3" (comes as a set of 2 folders). The spider and web were stamped with black pigment ink and heat-embossed with clear embossing powder which makes them stand out alot more than just using dye ink. Then I inked all the edges with the same pigment ink and added embossing powder to that too. Can you see that little spider lurking at the RHS side ready to jump out at you (insert scream here!)? Thought I would do that just for a bit of fun! I stamped him on a scrap of black cardstock, heat embossed him, then cut him out and glued him under the terracotta panel. I coloured the eyes with Cadmium Yellow Acrylic paint to make them look really bright - like they are looking right at you.

The EEK sentiment was done with an alphabet foam-mounted stamp set I bought from KMart years ago - don't know if it's still available. I don't have any Halloween sentiments, so came up with this instead - I thought I would stamp the letters at any angle for a bit of interest - wish I had had an exclamation mark to add to it. These letters were also heat-embossed.

Challenges:

I am entering this card into 2 Challenges - both with Halloween themes: The first is Crazy 4 Challenges C4C60 and the 2nd is Dutch Dare Card Challenge DDCC #89 which also has the alternative colour theme of purple, black, orange and green if you didn't want to make a Halloween card).

Thanks for stopping by - it was lovely to have you come and visit :-)

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps: All Night Media Spider 612A and Corner Web 407B (both c1994 and most likely retired), Alphabet foam stamp set - name unknown (K-Mart)

Ink: Versacolor black pigment

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Winter Set #3, cadmium yellow JoSonya acrylic paint, clear embossing powder, Cardstock: Colormates Deep Terracotta and Black

Penny Black: Message from above - a Thank You card

Hello and thanks for popping in :-)

I made this 'Thank you' card for a friend in the USA who has taught me so much about cardmaking and specifically, how to colour using Prismacolor pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits aka Magic Coloured Pencil.

It is a simple, one-layer card (OLC) which are my favourite type of card to make.  The image was coloured (as you would have guessed) with OMS and Prismas plus Derwent Coloursoft pencils, and I added some pink glitter to the flower petals, the bird's tummy (bit hard to see in the photo) and there is lemon glitter around the edge of the letter.

The dry embossing was coloured lightly with pearlescent chalks using pink, lemon and blue, and I added these same colours around the image as well so it all ties in together.  They look so pretty IRL as they are shimmery.

The tiny pink hearts next to the sentiment are my all-time favourite little leftover punchies from my Arrows Border punch which I use all the time; I glittered these with Kindyglitz Crystalina.

I am entering this card into the My Time to Craft Challenge #113 of 'Quick and Cute' - where they want you to make something that is quick and easy.

I am also popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers Ways to Use it Challenge WT286 of  'Just One' where you are to stamp on a single sheet of cardstock.  There's nothing I love more than just getting back to basics with a card and having no layers.

That's about it for me - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black 'Message from above' 2617J, Sentiment from Wendy Irving Expressions J6412.01 clear set

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder from Hello Kitty® Spring Set #2 (656149), Odourless Minerals Spirits, Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, I-Kan-dee Pearlescent chalks, Art Institute pink and lemon glitter (Shabby Chic set), Art Institute Designer Dries clear adhesive (for glitter), Kindyglitz Crystalina, Cardstock: KW Doggett 'Knight' white, pink (for tiny hearts)

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border

Sympathy card using Cuttlebug and Sizzix embossing folders

Hello and welcome :-)

I found myself needing to make a Sympathy card during the past week for a lady whose husband passed away.  It's never easy making a Sympathy card and I like to keep things simple.

I corner-punched the cardstock first (if you do it after the embossing, it squashes and marks the embossing - maybe that's a 'no-brainer' but I have often done it after, and then wished that I hadn't!!) - then used one of my narrow embossing folders from my Cuttlebug 'With Love' folder set.  I added the Scor-pal line so I could butt my Sizzix Textured Impression embossing folder up against the line - that way, I knew the embossing would be straight.  I have found that if I do the embossing first, then add the Scor-Pal line afterwards, it is almost always crooked.  Even if you squash the Scor-Pal line a little, you can just re-do it.

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  The sentiment panel is up on 1mm mounts.  I only had really wide organza ribbon, but folded it in half and it turned out looking OK - though it was a bit fiddly to hold it folded in half while I was putting it through my Bow Easy!

I added some very fine white glitter to the flower centres as well as the punched hearts on the sentiment panel.  It's a really white glitter which I prefer for my Sympathy cards - this glitter is not like Kindyglitz Crystalina which has the pinky-blue hues in it.  Adds that bit of "something" but still understated and not over-the-top (well, that is what I hoped to achieve).

I'm popping this card into this week's Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge IC253 where the inspiration for your card comes from the John Lewis Department Stores website.  While I was thinking about what to make for this card - and thinking of a bunch of white flowers - I came across this image of beautiful white freesias.  As soon as I saw them, I thought of my Cuttlebug 'With love' narrow bunch of flowers folder and my Sizzix Floral Flourishes folder - the stems and unopened buds on the freesias reminded me of this Sizzix folder: hence my combination of the two folders.

Thanks for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Wendy Irving Expressions J6412.01 clear stamp set (I believe this set is retired but is still in stock at a few stores - bit hard to find though)

Ink:  Stazon Jet Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, With Love embossing folder set, Sizzix Textured Impressions Floral Flourishes and Vines #656259 (comes as a set of 2 folders), Scor-Pal, 1mm mounts (dimensionals), Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities, Designer dries clear adhesive (for glitter), Bow Easy, white organza ribbon, Cardstock: white

Punches:  Carl CP8 Heart (has 2 different-sized hearts), Stampin' Up corner punch

Crafter's Companion Bunches of Love for my niece's birthday

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I made this card for this week's Ways to Use it Challenge on Splitcoaststampers WT278 Yellow sunshine where you are to use yellow in a card.  See this link for the deets.  Yellow is not a colour I use very often, so this challenge gave me the perfect excuse to ink up this cute little duck.

This clean & simple (CAS) little one-layer card is going to my niece for her birthday.  Not a whole lot to explain really - the duck is from an unmounted 'Popcorn the bear' set by Crafter's Companion - and was coloured with Odourless Mineral Spirits and Prismascolor pencils, then I added some little strokes with watered-down acrylic paint to add some feathers (you will probably need to click on the piccy to see them), then blended the feathers in by adding a wash of watered down yellow paint over the top.  I did a similar thing with the centre of the flower too.  I love how you can combine the pencils and paint to create some "extra" texture to an image.

Because I am the Glitter Queen, I added pink glitter to the duck's heart and purple glitter to the flower petals and around the edge of the sentiment tag.  The tiny little purple and lemon hearts underneath the birthday sentiment are the leftover punchies from my Arrows border punch.

I chalked around the image for the sky and ground and lightly chalked the dry embossing.  I attached the ribbon in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

Thanks again for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Bunches of Love set by Crafter's Companion, Impression Obsession Sentiments 1 WP16

Ink:  Stazon Jet Black (for the sentiments) and Memento Tuxedo black (for the duck)

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions 'Hello Kitty Spring Set' #2 embossing folder, Odourless Mineral Spirits, Prismacolor Pencils, paper stumps, Kaisercolour chalks, JoSonya Acrylic paints, paint brushes, Bow Easy, yellow button, yellow sewing thread, 12mm-1/2" wide ribbon, Art Institute Transparent Glitter - pink and purple from Shabby Chic set, Art Institute Designer Dries clear adhesive, EK Success Arrows border punch, Cardstock: white, purple, lemon