Don't you just love Versatility ? (by Doreen)

  Don't you just love Versatility ?

Hello everyone, for todays blogpost I have included several different makes all from the same wonderful set of stamps along with a couple of other stamps from other sets.

The stamp set is one of the brilliantly designed word strip sets A4 Slim Word Strip 2 the other sets used are Rejoice! and A Tomte Christmas. I have used several different techniques which I am fairly certain you are familiar with they are Distress Inks applied with blending brushes mainly either to use on their own or through stencils or to colour Chocolate Baroque Black and White printed DL card. Versafine Clair Inkpads are also used throughout in Black, Dark Blue, Versamark with White Embossing powder.

If you have any questions on any of the above card do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you for looking in today

Love Doreen

Tree of Knowledge ( by Doreen)

  Tree of Knowledge

Hello everyone, welcome to the second blog of the month for me, which gave me the opportunity to use one of my favourite dies in conjunction with this beautiful stamp set. If you were not already aware I love trees no matter of size shape etc I am just fascinated by all of them !!

   The Tree of Knowledge I feel lends itself to this die not that I can remember where I purchased it from it just lives on a magnetic sheet waiting for me to put it to use.

I have used the largest of the dies for a base and the next size for the image. I stamped the image using Versafine Clair Morning Mist, then coloured the edges with Distress Inkpad Olive applied using a blending brush. The sentiments were also stamped in the Versafine Clair Morning Mist ( I really do like this grey) and then I coloured the image using

 Derwent Chromaflow Pencils.

I made my own stand for the back of the card as I didn't want to mount this on a blank and wanted it as a stand alone card in its own right. I simply scored a piece of card applied it to the back of the card and cut off an angle at the bottom to make it stand with a bit of a tilt.

Below is another sample made on watercolour card using Brushos and stamped in Black.

Thank you for looking in today

Love Doreen

Hint of Autumn ( by Doreen )

Hint of Autumn 

Today I would like to share a simple but very effective card.

 

 The leaves are from the Nature 2 set of stamps, using a Multi Coloured Dye Inkpad of which there are in mine colours of Autumn but I also think it would look lovely in purple, pink and blue..... The stamp used is the largest in the set and I used second generation stamping to fill in the background. The bolder images have had their colour dragged out using a fine paintbrush that was wet but not too wet enough to flood the image. The sentiments and numbers are all stamped using Versafine Clair Acorn.

I mounted the topper onto a card blank which I made myself using Chocolate Baroques Kraft Card it really does make a sturdy Card Blank.

Here are two more samples using the Nature 2 stamp set

Thanks for looking in today

Love Doreen

 

Harebell by Doreen

 Harebell

Hello everyone, today  I would like to share a quick but effective card with you using the Harebell Butterfly stamp set. I had the background left over from a previous make but it just uses the original Distress Inkpads applied and blended with brushes.

This card is quite simple already having a spare background or you may have some printed papers that you would like to use.

I  decided to stamp in a different colour as normally I tend to stick to my old faithfuls Grey, Black or occasionally Blues. With this card I have used Versafine Clair Purple Delight.

Stamp your main image almost centrally and stamping off the edges using other images from the set plus using the silhouette stamp for your foliage at the bottom of your images.

I have coloured the images using Inktense Pencils blending the colour with water.

I simply mounted this onto a blank white card as I really didn't think it needed anything else. If you do not have the Inktense Pencils, Watercolour Pencils or paints will work equally as well if painting my go to paints are the Koh - I - Noor watercolour paints which Lesley tries to bring to the shows as regularly as possible and are worth their weight in gold.

Thank you for looking in

 

Love Doreen 

Butterfly Blue by Doreen

Butterfly Blue

Good Morning everyone, today I would like to share this card with you very simple but to my my mind, pretty card.

This card does not use the hero image from the Briar Rose Butterfly A5 set of stamps but just two of the worker stamps.

I first cut a square of smooth stamping card and marked the centre just for guidance.

Then using the Versafine Clair Paradise stamped the beaded image at four opposite angles on the card. It does not need to be perfect. Do the same again with the Versafine Clair Twilight and then for the centre I inked just the tips with the Versafine Blue Belle and stamped the image just twice opposite one another. Then with add some ink in the centre with a stencil brush.

Using a scrap of card stamp the Butterfly and cut out, then colour with the stencil brush which should have enough ink left on from colouring the centre. Shape the butterfly and just add some glue to the thorax, if you have some glue gel add a little to under the wings and then position onto card. If you don't have the gel some double sided foam tape will work just as well.

The next thing I did was add some seed beads to the Twilight stamped images which believe me take quite a while but is worth the effort, I had these in my stash and they just seemed perfect to finish this image. Then my final thing was to add some glossy accents to the markings on the Butterfly which I did using a cocktail stick as I didn't want to risk squeezing the bottle to hard and ending up with a big blob on my Butterfly.

Thanks for looking in Today 

Love Doreen 

 

F is for Fabulous by Doreen

F is for Fabulous

Well hello everyone and welcome to August a little late I know but better late than never. Today I would like to share a card with you that uses the F is for.... and the Small Graph Paper stamp set.

Firstly using Masking Tissue stamp in Versafine Clair Nocturne and cut out the image, then using the stamp again stamp onto a piece of card ensuring it is larger than necessary so as it can be cut to size later.

I heat set my image simply because of impatience and then cover with the mask, then take the Small Graph Paper stamp the image over the top of the masked area. Cut the card to size leaving a little border around the F is for and Small Graph Paper.  To add some depth to the image I used a graphite pencil. Then apply to the Black Card.

Once card has been mounted I decorated the envelope with a stamp of random dots and the word from the F is for .... set

Thank you for looking in today 

Love Doreen

 

Christmas in Mind by Doreen

  Christmas in Mind

Hello, today I would like to share some simple but effective cards for Christmas (yes I realise it is only July but it is almost August and I find this is when the months until December usually just fly by with me ending up in panic mode realising how little time I have to make cards for Christmas)

These stamps all come from the really useful Christmas Flourish set just using a variety of techniques.

In this first card I chose a background printed paper and I am sure we all have plenty of those in our stash. Then I took 2 blue shades of inkpads stamping alternatively.

So simple to add a subtle amount of colour with a sparkle gel pen, mount and your card is done.

This second card is even simpler if that is at all possible. Again I have used a background paper. Use an anti static pad over the paper and then a Versamark Inkpad stamp the image and sprinkle the whole of  the image with White Embossing Powder, heat emboss. Mount onto card and your card is complete.

This third card has a little more work than the previous cards. Take a piece of watercolour card sprinkle with Brushos I have used Prussian Blue and Orange, not too much a little goes a long way, spritz with water or a clear sparkle if you have one it is for Christmas after all.

Leave to dry naturally for the best results, when it is dry use an antistatic pad over the brushos then stamp with Versamark and sprinkle with embossing powder of choice, I used White as it seems to be my go to powder at the moment for some reason. I stamped little sprigs in black in the corners and mounted on black card for the best contrast to the colours I used.

My fourth and final card for today is simply using Gold Embossing on Black Card which gives a striking contrast, I also used a Gold Posca Pen to give a frame just around the inside edge of this card.

There ends a month of a variety of card using our wonderful Retired Selection of Stamps.

Mine will certainly still get an airing as once they are in your head I think they just pop in when you are trying to think of the perfect stamp for someone.

Thanks for Looking in again Today

Love Doreen

Monochrome Beauties by Doreen

 Monochrome Beauties 

Hello, well here I am with my second post of our retired sets of stamps, I have to say I absolutely love Monochrome Cards.

The only things to remember when making them I find is check your hands for traces of ink regularly. Use a fairly new Inkpad or reink it but not to liberally and let the ink settle into the pad before use.  I find the best inkpad to use is the Versafine Clair Nocturne it is a really nice inkpad to use and does the job well. A good quality smooth card is essential for a perfect finish. Luxury Smooth Card by Chocolate Baroque is my choice of card for this type of card. The only other advice I can give is to practice your ideas on a piece of copy paper until you are happy with your result.

Here are two of my cards using Fly Away With Me in the first card and the second card contains stamps from the Baroque Corners set and The Dawn Chorus set.

Many Thanks for Looking in Today

Love Doreen

Spring Flowers by Doreen

 Spring Flowers

Hello everyone, now here we are into July can you believe how quickly the months are flying by this year ? My Mum always used to say the older you get the faster time goes and I would laugh at her and say it can't possibly go any faster but maybe there was something in what she said after all.

Today I would like to share one of my favourite stamps 

the Snowdrop Script which has been retired and as you are no doubt aware so were many others and all blogs during July are focused on giving some inspiration on your bargain purchases last month.

Such an easy card to make using only a few products ;

Chocolate Baroque Luxury Smooth Card, Versafine Clair Nocturne Inkpad and Derwent Chromaflow Pencils although any medium of choice will be fine.

I chose to stamp and mount the text in the stamp set separately after finishing the colouring which does not need to much fuss.

Such a classic and useful stamp set with many uses open to it, if you managed to get one yourself you will find it is a go to set especially during the spring months.

Thank you for looking in Today

Love Doreen

 

Not Just For Cards by Doreen

  Not Just For Cards

Hello everyone, I would like to share a very useful set of stamps with you today and although I have only used the stamps for cards and quite simply used them too, their potential is endless.

Slim Word Strip 1 is the stamp set I am talking about. They can quite simply be stamped onto printed backgrounds, onto plain card with clear inkpads and apply any colour embossing powder to give a subtle or elegant effect, or perhaps an inked background then stamped with any contrasting colour inkpad. But then of course they could be stamped as a background or even used in a journal page. Cover with relief paste leave to dry until it peels off with ease and use as part of a mixed media piece, honestly the uses are endless.

Well enough of my waffling I will be back next month with more posts for you but until then do take care

Love Doreen

 

Your Card Has Been Marked !! by Doreen

 Your Card Has Been Marked !!

Hello everyone I hope you are all well and welcome to my second blog of June.

Today I would like to share this rather randomly stamped card which was intentional of course.

Using the stamp set Making More Marks which I have to say is very versatile and leaves itself open to interpretation.

I think this card is definitely one for the men in our lives, nothing soppy in this is there ?? even my hubby likes it and he does not like cards and can't see the point in them. (How  rude).

Using Distress Oxide Inkpads colours I used are Crushed Olive, Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Squeezed Lemonade, using the bubble wrap and herringbone looking stamp I stamped some structure lines then added the squares randomly turning the stamp as you go.

I next used the Versafine Clair Nocturne to add not only straight lines but some string like images along with the exclamation marks  and some randomly stamped words.

Finally a few bits of Zentangle to enhance the shapes that the images of the stringy stamp gives us.

Here is another couple of cards using this set and the background of the final one also uses the Blank from the Slim Word Strip 1 

Thanks for looking in today

Love Doreen 

 

Delicate Dragonfly by Doreen

 Delicate Dragonfly

Hello everyone and welcome to my first post of June.

Today I would like to share this sample from our May shows using the Fragile Wings stamp set. A fabulous A5 stamps set which is just amazing.

Using a piece of card which I had previously mopped up inks from my work station for use at a later date, I often do this as you just never know when it will come in useful.

I stamped using a Versafine Clair Nocturne Inkpad, covered this with Clear Embossing Powder then stamped up a piece of Heat Resistant Acetate and embossed this as well. I only  wanted to use the wings from the acetate image so there is no need to stamp the whole image dust with a sparkle clear embossing powder but be quick Stazon dries very quickly.

I used a Black Marker to go around the edge of the topper and then mounted onto a blue piece of card from my stash.

Here are three other cards using this beautiful Dragonfly image and a glass bottle which I made just for a change.

Thanks for looking in today, until the next time, keep well 

Love Doreen

Clean and Fresh by Doreen

 Clean and Fresh

Hello again, well here we are at the end of another month already, where does the time go ??

Today I would like to share a far softer kind of card from me using the Canary Bird Rose Stamp such a pretty stamp used by itself it looks perfect just stamped on its own.

Using the Versafine Clair Nocturne I stamped the image onto a smooth piece of white card waited for it to dry before colouring it with the Clean Colour Brush Pens.

Then mounted onto black card before putting onto a white card blank.

Fairly quick to make depending on how long you take on the colouring, then below is another version a bit grungier but just showing how good the stamp looks no matter how you decide to use it.

Thanks for looking in today and until next month take care and enjoy the late evenings with the beautiful sunsets.

Love Doreen  

Purple Pleasures by Doreen

Purple Pleasures

Hello everyone, welcome to my second post of the month, today I would like to share one of my makes using the Floral Weave stamp set. 

 This is a detailed stamp and so versatile it could easily make a nice little set of thank you cards by simply stamping onto a round or square blank and then mount onto to card, even half and half if you make 6 cards make 3 with round images and 3 square images. Even stamped in monotone they will look fabulous.

With this card I used a Brusho background using Yellow, Turquoise and Green. Leave it to dry naturally and then I stamped using Versafine Clair Purple Delight.

To bring out extra detail in the stamp I used a Black Fineliner Pen and a White Gel Pen, using the detail of the stamp to guide me. 

After looking at the finished piece I felt it needed something else so using a Clear Sparkle Brush Pen I decided to paint over the floral features of the stamp.

I mounted the topper onto a piece of Cerise Mirri Card from my stash of card. Then I cut and folded a piece of black card to make a card blank to mount the topper onto.

Here are a couple of other samples using the same stamp.

Thank you for looking in today and until the next time enjoy your crafting and hopefully some lovely weather too.

Love Doreen 

Super Sunflowers by Doreen

 Super Sunflowers

Hello all, here we are into May, hopefully heading for bright and sunny days, hence my first card for this month.

A bit of fussy cutting with this make but it is simple they are clean and easy lines to follow.

The ribbon which is white and from my stash is dyed using the Brushos too.

I took one piece of the A4 Drawing Cartridge and stamped 5 of the images in a zig-zag fashion to be sure to make the best of the A4 sheet using a Tuxedo Black Memento Inkpad.

Leave to dry or heat set with your heat gun. 

With three colours of your own choice from the Brusho range sprinkle over the page and spritz with water, set aside to dry naturally which will help retain the colour.

For the Ribbon I used two small pots to dilute some red and yellow Brushos then using a wide paintbrush soaked the ribbon allowing the colours to bleed into one another. ( This is best done on a cellophane bag as it makes it easy to put to one side to dry and won't stain anything else.) 

When everything is dry fussy cut your flower heads and shape them slightly with either a large ball tool if you have one or a bone folder but even with your fingers if you have neither of these. Take care to remember Brushos will stain your fingers so you may wish to wear some gloves to do this. 

Once cut out using a 9" x 7" Card Blank apply to card using a Glue Gel of choice. To apply the Ribbon I have used wide Red Liner Double Sided Tape.

Then to finish off I used a Gold Gel Pen to add some sparkle to the centres of the sunflowers and a White Gel Pen to enhance the detail of the petals.

Thank you for looking in today

Love Doreen

Butterflies are Phenomenal ( by Doreen )

 

Butterflies are Phenomenal 

For my final post of April I would like to share with you this fabulous stamp.

Phenomenal Butterfly Is most definitely a beautiful stamp which includes the most beautiful Dragonflies as well as the Butterflies, it lends itself to any number of techniques, too many to mention but if you do have this and did not get the Elements that go along with this stamp I would definitely recommend purchasing them , you will not be disappointed they are a different size to those you see stamped here.

I first dusted the card with an anti static bag and then used the Versafine Clair Nocturne to stamp the image, using clear embossing powder and then heat setting the powder I coloured the image with Sakura Glaze Pens.

 Then using a selection of seed beads, sequins and a few small keys from my embellishments stash I added them and finally mounted the piece onto a black offcut of mountboard from my scraps box, surprising what you come across when you are searching for something else isn't it ? A scrap piece of cord and the sample is finished. 

Thanks for looking in today 

Love Doreen

April ( by Doreen )

                                                                            April

For this post I would like to share a month from the calendar I made for last months shows.  I have used a partial print from the Floral Paraphernalia stamp set. These stamps make it very straightforward to select an area to stamp without much fuss. Simply ink up the are you want, making sure with a damp cloth to remove any ink from areas you don't want to stamp out. I used a Memento Tuxedo Black Inkpad to stamp the image. 

When it came to colouring the image it was a case of being spoilt for choice but my Grandchildren had bought me some pencils for Christmas so I decided to have a play with them they are new to the market I believe and I love the brightness of them. Derwent Chromaflow pencils are quite soft even waxy to colour with and blend well either with paper stumps or fingers. I sealed the image with a fixative for my own peace of mind. 

I do have to add that with these stamps the possibilities are endless and there are so many areas to take out and stamp that the stamps are definitely excellent value for money and with the elements added well the skies the limit to my mind. As you may have guessed I am more than a fan of this release of new stamps. 

Thanks for looking in today 

Love Doreen 

Hope ( by Doreen )

  Hope

This is the first of my posts for April and carries a message everyone needs or at least I believe that we do.

This tag uses The Tagtastic stamp, easy to use and to cut out. The tree is from the Trees a crowd stamp set and the cute owl is to be found in the Country Reflections Elements stamp set. I find all these sets to be really useful. 

The tree is stamped using Versafine Clair Acorn and again to stamp the broken circles and the Owl.

The solid circles are stamped using a mix of Distress Oxide Inkpads .... colours Abandoned Coral and Fossilised Amber. To colour the own I used Koh-I-Noor Pencils. 

To finish this tag I Mounted it onto Black Card and some random coloured ribbon from my stash of ribbons.

Thank you for looking in today

Love Doreen

Butterflies by Doreen

 Butterflies

Today I would like to share this card with you.

Using the Butterfly Mind stamp set I first took a piece of card larger than I intended using for the finished topper. Stamp the open film strip from the set down one side of the card using Versafine Clair Nocturne Inkpad using clear embossing powder heat emboss the strip.

I then used a Distress Inkpad Tea Dye applying with a blending brush to colour the strip. Trim this away from the rest of the card and cut the strip in half,  leave to one side. then take the  piece of remaining card and use an anti static bag to cover the area, Take the  Butterfly film strip, the Inkpad and have your clear Embossing Powder ready stamp and emboss the image.

Colour the filmstrip with the Distress Inkpad, use Watercolour Brush Pens to colour the Butterflies. Using the random spots stamp in black ink around the image.

With the outer edges of the film strip pieces facing inwards glue these to the main topper.

Stamp the sentiment at a slight angle then with a clean blending brush not worrying too much about whether or not the ink on the butterflies is properly dry brush around in a circular motion, this will probably carry any damp ink around the image adding a little movement. I finally added some gems from my stash to the thorax of each of the butterflies.

  

Thank you for looking in Today 

Love Doreen

Tile it With Flowers by Doreen

 Tile It With Flowers

Hello everyone, today I am sharing a simple quick make all it needs is some preparation before either going to bed or the day before making the actual card, this will give the paste time to dry properly.

To start this card I just used a background from my stash which I wiped over with an antistatic bag. I used  ' Have A Magical Day ' from the Say it Vertically stamp set of various useful sentiments. Stamped using a Versamark Inkpad and heat embossed with a Copper embossing powder.

The Mosaic Flower which I prepped the night before peeled away easily from the stamp but where I had been a bit too frugal with the paste left areas behind that hadn't fused together properly but I think it adds to the effect.

To make the image pop I used a Permanent Black Fine liner Pen.

To mount I used a silicone gel.

Thanks for looking in today 

Love Doreen

 

Double Delight by Doreen

 Double Delight

Today I would like to share with you this card, I do like long slim cards. 

This card uses the Floral Delight  stamp set which is a single floral image. If you like one half of the photo above.

The background was coloured first using Distress Inkpads and blending brushes.

I then stamped onto Masking Tissue but not stamping the sentiments.

I splashed the background with water and then blotted with a tissue, quickly check this is dry by a brief heat gun dry.

Take a Black Inkpad to stamp one side of the card ( I have used Momento Tuxedo Black) then apply your cut out mask to the image and re-ink your stamp and line up as well as is possible with the image on the card slightly overlapping the stems this will not matter if it doesn't line up as well as you would like if you use an embellishment or stamped butterfly, maybe a a bow if you wish.

I used coloured pencils to colour the images.

With some of the card cut from the initial coloured card stamp your sentiments and cut them out, using a Black chisel ended permanent marker edge the card and sentiments. Apply to card separately on foam tape.

Thanks for looking in today 

Love Doreen

A Trio of Lilies by Doreen

A Trio of Lilies

Hello everyone well here we are almost at the end of February such a short month I always find but that's probably because I usually find myself very busy what with one thing and another.

Today I will be sharing another DL set with you namely Lily not at all like any Lily I have ever seen but I really do think it is beautiful.

This may seem a little bright for some but I really felt they called for something a little different.

Firstly stamp out two of the large images onto Masking Tissue these need to be fussy cut and can be used more than once do not throw away the clear film as it will keep your mask safe. 

I used a half an A4 piece of card stamped two images of the Lily at a slight angle, cover these with your masks and stamp another Lily in the centre, peel away the masks. 

Stamp the smaller images and then the silhouette image to fill in the gaps this also adds depth to the card.

Colour using pens or pencils of your choice these were coloured using a vibrant selection from my Koi colouring Brush Pens.

Thank you for looking in Today 

Love Doreen 

 

The Lovely Breath of Spring by Doreen

 The Lovely Breath of Spring

Hello to everyone here is the second of my posts this month a truly beautiful stamp it is the Breath of Spring DL set of stamps and obviously contains more than those featured in the photo below.  

Firstly I stamped the main image using Versafine Warm Breeze and Verdant, let dry. Once dry using a anti static pad  over card before stamping the corners using a juicy Versafine Clair Nocturne, then stamp the sentiment quickly before covering all the images with Clear  Embossing Powder, use a heat gun to set.

I used Koi Colouring Brush Pens to colour the image putting the colour down on a mat and picking it up with the blender pen to colour.

Thank you for popping in today

Love Doreen