A French Heart For February by Doreen

A French Heart For February

Hello everyone and welcome to February, not sure I like what is happening with the weather at the moment but it's not something we can control so I won't dwell on it.

Today I would like to share a simple card with you using the beautiful French Heart which lends itself to some really easy decoupage.

 Firstly I stamped the full image using the Versafine Clair Fantasia, and then just a couple of extra images of the floral part of the stamp for colouring and fussy cutting to use for the decoupaging elements in this card.

For colouring I have used Chromaflow Pencils by Derwent bought for me by my Grandchildren for Christmas and I have to say I am really impressed with them. They are very easy to blend just using a paper stump.

Once coloured I used the Old Paper Distress Oxide just to take away the starkness of the white background. 

To mould and shape the leaves and the front floral image use a large ball tool and soft shaping mat, or any fairly firm foam to allow you to give your leaves and floral pieces their rounded shape. Apply to the card using a 3d glue medium of choice or foam pads if you prefer. 

As a finishing touch I added some clear glass gems.

Thank you for looking in today 

Love Doreen

 

Small But Perfectly Formed by Doreen

 Small But Perfectly Formed 

I really can not believe that it is almost the end of January already, but for today I would like to share my third and final post of the month.

These samples use four sets of mini stamps that are just delightful, they are perfect for ATC projects, making frames, bookmarks, art for keyrings and the list goes on. 

This photo contains 3 Bookmarks simply made using Mail Art and Curiosities with just Versafine Clair Shady Lane and Distress Inkpad Vintage Photo, plus a chisel tipped black marker to go around the edge of the card to give a border.

 

This next card uses The Teeny Weeny Meadow  Versafine Clair Nocturne, Distress Oxide Abandoned Coral and Old Paper Inkpads.

The last of these samples uses the Mini Script stamps, Alcohol Inks and Stazon Inkpad.

Thank you for Popping in today

Love Doreen

Lady in Hat by Doreen

Lady In Hat

Hello everyone, I hope by now we are all settled in nicely to our New Year and that you are all keeping well.

Today I have two cards using the Lady in Hat stamp which to me has a very sixties feel about it, as I am more than old enough to remember this era.

The first is more subdued with its colours but reminds me of the colours used then they were either bright and bold or a more subdued but colourful alternative. I have to say I like either. 

For the first card I have used  a piece of the Chocolate Baroque papers to stamp on which lend themselves to the colour palette I wanted to achieve, I used a clear sparkle brush pen to apply colour using Koh-i-Noor Watercolour Pencils, plus some embellishments from my small stash of gems using a gold colour to lift the background a little.

The second is a little brighter using only shades of blue and pink, I have used  Gloss Card and Stazon inkpad plus Koh-i-Noor Pencils to colour, plus some small donut metallic gems from my stash of little things that sparkle.  

Thank you for looking in Today

Love Doreen 

The Versatility of Damask by Doreen

 The Versatility of Damask 

Firstly I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, I do hope you all enjoyed a good Christmas too.

My first projects today use the Damask Panel perfect for using in its own right or as a background which is how I chose to use this background which I have taken from my stash of Brusho pieces. I also used one of the many beautiful butterflies from the Chocolate Baroque selection.

I stamped the butterfly using a Versafine Clair Nocturne inkpad and then covered the whole of the stamp in Versamark the colour comes from Salvaged Patina and Kitsch Flamingo embossing glazes sprinkled onto the Versamark and heat embossed.

The second is a heart shaped sample using Distress Inkpads on an acrylic block which is spritzed with a little water and a swiping action straight across the Damask Panel onto the  background. Then I stamped the Song Thrush onto  a piece of card and painted using the same Distress Inkpad colours used for the background, then I fussy cut the large flower to decorate the Panel. Shape the flower and apply using Silicone Glue Gel to apply to the heart. Use a light varnish or spray to give a sheen and then put ribbon through hole to hang.

The final sample shows a background using a Soft Form Copper and a Gold Relief Paste applied directly to the stamp and left to dry overnight. I also used the Song Thrush to decorate this card just cutting out desired elements and applying to the background using a strong PVA glue.

Thank you for looking in today

Love Doreen

Floral Fun

Floral Fun

Hello all, I hope you have now recovered from your Christmas meals and are all suitably satisfied having had a very enjoyable time.

Today I would like to share some of my floral makes from the November Shows. The first shows a simple card using The Snakes Head Fritilary taken from the Happy Flowers Day stamp set. I find it amazing how such a delicate flower can have such beautiful detailed markings, isn't nature just wonderful ?

I stamped this image twice firstly onto a piece of white card and then onto an oval piece of mountboard which I found in my stash.

I coloured just the leaves and some of the stem on the card and just the head of the fritilary on the Mountboard, with a few strokes of the pencil at the bottom of the stem to ground it with some blades of grass. Very easily lined up to mount with double sided foam tape to make a quick, simple but effective card. 

One of my favourite florals so beautiful and needing so little time to make for an effective and easily made card suitable for any number of occasions depending on how you decide to colour it.

Another of the Magnolias how could I resist this is quite simply stamped onto Chocolate Baroque designed card and coloured using Koh-I-Noor Brilliant Water Colour Palette these paints are such a delight to use and the card accepts the watercolour without a problem.

Finally for something a little different from the set, this beautiful Butterfly deserved to be showcased by itself, don't Chocolate Baroque do beautiful butterflies ? 

This is mounted in a small shadow box I have had hanging around for a while now but this stamp was the perfect size to fit it so I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the image and then mounted it into the box having stamped the dictionary explanation of the Butterfly onto a complimentary coloured piece of card. 

 

Many thanks for popping in today, may I also take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Happy New Year.

Love Doreen 

Have A Heart

 Have a Heart

Hello everyone, I hope today finds you all fit and well. Today I would like to share with you all some of the samples I made for the November shows using A Heart Full Of Love stamp set.

This first card is simply stamped and framed with the broken heart which is in the set which really gives a random look to the frame. For the stamen I have used a black fine liner pen. I chose not to colour the flowers as I didn't want to spoil the classic feel that I felt the frame had given to the card.  

All the cards I have made using this set are easily achievable and would look lovely in a variety of colour ways.  This card simply uses embossing powders to achieve a simple but attractive card. Both have been stamped using a Versamark inkpad plus gold and white embossing powders. 

This next card is more about the sentiment of the verse than anything else, gentle blending with inks and using a white gel pen, a red marker and some floral embellishments to finish the look.

Thank you for popping in today many good wishes for a Very Happy Christmas,

Love Doreen

 

For The Love Of Trees

                                                             For The Love Of Trees

Hello everyone well December already and the days to Christmas are flying by. I am nowhere near ready and not quite sure I will be, but I dare say by hook or by crook I will get there somehow.

Today I would like to share some of my samples using the fabulous variety of Tree stamps featured in the November shows. I have to admit tree stamps are a huge weakness of mine, so versatile and useful in all sorts of different ways.

The first card shown below uses 

Frosty Trees

Versafine Clair Acorn and Pine Cone.

 A White Gel pen.

Masking Tissue.

Country Views

After stamping the Cottage and the Trees using Masking Tissue to give added depth the colour added was applies using soft brushes. The White Gel Pen was used to give the illusion of snow on the roof and in the air. The sentiment was stamped and applied to the card using double sided tape.

This is so simple, it uses stamps from the 

                                    Trees a Crowd Rubber Stamp sheet

MDF plaque and stand, Masking Tissue, White Gesso, Grey Inkpad, apart from the stamping all inks were applied with a soft brush gradually building up the colour.

This sample is rescued from the bin, simply stamped using Versafine Inkpads and a gold gel pen to add a little sparkle and mounted onto Kraft Card.

 

The next sample is fairly easy to achieve it just takes a little thought before stamping. I have used just an Archival Colbalt Blue plus a Promarker and Ruler.

This next sample uses a Plywood Postcard Stamped and enhanced with Pyrography and inks to colour.

This sample is not difficult and again uses the stamps from the Trees a Crowd stamps. I used a light pencil to help with the designing of this. Two different shades of green to stamp and a fine liner to draw the circles around the images. A green pencil has been used to ground the image in the centre of the card.

Thanks for looking in today 

Love Doreen 

Beautiful

  Beautiful

Beauty is in the Eyes  I absolutely fell in love with this stamp the moment I saw it, so very versatile and lends itself to no end of ideas. The first of mine today is a fan which I bought a month or so ago.

I used acrylic paints and stamped on them using Versafine and Versamark and White Embossing Powder. The Red and White Dots are also Acrylic Paint using a flat ended cocktail stick, the lipstick was applied with a very fine paintbrush.

 

                    

This card incorporates the use of a circle dome and some lacy odds and ends from my stash. Although I did use an antistatic bag to help the glitter not to coat the dome it didn't really work out that way but now I quite like the affect it gives, lets just call that a happy accident. I stamped the image using a Stazon Gothic Purple Inkpad.

 

This card uses a really old stencil from my stash for the background and inkpads, plus some watercolour pencils to colour the image which I activated using a shimmer spray instead of water.

A very simple envelope, made using the  Tagtastic stamp and a section of the the Beauty is in the eyes leaving a section of the tag to allow the name and address to be written in, be sure to use an inkpad that will withstand a rainfall as poor postie can't be held responsible for the weather. I would love a stamped envelope to drop onto my doormat I would open it carefully and keep it and perhaps make a bookmark with it.

Thank you for looking in today 

Love Doreen xx 

Autumn Leaves

 Autumn Leaves

Hello once again everyone, well I can hardly believe we are already into the second week of November, did someone fast forward the clocks since the end of August because it certainly feels that way to me !! 

Today I would like to share my four samples using the From Nature 1.Such a beautiful set of stamps.The first is such a simple card simply made using a multicoloured inkpad, masking tape, fineliner pen and a gold gel pen.

Mask off the area you want using the tape making sure that there is enough tape either side of the area for stamping, if the there isn't simply use another strip of tape. Stamp using a multicoloured ink pad or if you haven't got one use a few autumnal coloured pads to get the effect desired.

Remove the tape carefully once the ink is completely dry, using a ruler outline the stamped area with a fineliner pen, I added a second line a few millimetres away from the first one as I felt it added more dimension. The word Nature was stamped on an offcut of card and the lines added to tie in with the faux panel. I used the Gold gel pen to highlight the veins on the leaves and to outline the word Autumn.

This card uses a selection of inkpads and gilding flakes plus Versamark and White Embossing powder, to apply the gilding flakes you will need a glue suitable to apply the gilding flakes to. Apply the inks using either a make up sponge to achieve the Bokeh technique. A dark ink used around the outside of the card helps to frame the design.

This card uses some printed card as a background and then the leaves were stamped and coloured using ink sprays, left to dry naturally and then cut out. Shape the leaves and apply to the card using glue gel.

This card also is stamped on to a printed card stock. I used a mask that I had stamped onto 

Masking Tissue fussy cut the image out, stamping the centre image first and then applying the mask before stamping the other images.

Thank you for looking in today

Love Doreen xx

 

Alliums in Blueprint

  Alliums in Blueprint

Hello to you all, here we are and October is almost over, how scary is that ?

Today is my last post of the month and although this first sample may look tricky it's not as bad as it seems at first.

Using the Allium Blueprint and a Blue Inkpad of choice, Stazon may be a good choice as it dries very quickly and is unlikely to smudge.

Firstly I cut a square piece of white card 8"x 8" and marked the centre point on the north, south, east and west of the card, align the stamp with the points and stamp the four points and then fill in the gaps, the base of the stamps will overlap slightly but I didn't mind this although I did take the little pieces on either side off the stamp but if you prefer not to just remove the ink carefully with a damp cloth. I have used another blueprint stamp in the centre or you could just as easily replace it with a sentiment.

I mounted the topper onto a square piece of pearlescent card from my stash the same size as my base card. Trim the topper before adding to the base card, I always find this easier if I turn the topper away from me and cut along the matt card.

Simple but perfect card for men who will appreciate the Blueprint detail and it will look good in whatever colour you choose to use. 

A few more samples from this stamp set which no matter how you choose to use it will look good. 

It has been good to re-visit the Blueprint stamps this month, I hope you have enjoyed seeing them all.

Thank you for looking in 

Love Doreen

Enchanting Echinacea

Enchanting Echinacea 

Hello all, today I will be sharing samples of the Echinacea Blueprint stamp set. The Echinacea has to be one of my favourite plants so pretty and they do last a lot longer than you would think if you deadhead them regularly.

For this first sample I made a mask of the heart and cut the Masking Tissue the same size as the topper which really helped when making both the heart itself and for masking the outside when using the stencil to make 'sunrays' inside of the heart, these masks can be kept for future use and will be used many times more yet.

I used Distress Inkpads to colour and Promarkers to add extra detail.

Here are a few more samples for you the Echinacea is a very easy flower to cut out so although you may not like fussy cutting this is not too fussy.

Thank you for looking in today, take care

Love Doreen

 

Rainbow Chrysathemums

 Rainbow Chrysanthemums 

Hello everyone and welcome to October .... a way in now I know but where the months are going since July I really don't know. 

Today I would like to share some of my makes from the September shows, firstly the Chrysanthemum Blueprint. Using a tag from my stash I painted the tag with White Gesso and then once dry colour randomly with Distress Inkpads of choice using either blending sponges or brushes. Stamp using VersaMark and Black Embossing Powder.

Use a black marker around the edges of the tag and Clear Gems to decorate and finish with a piece of ribbon.

Here are a few more of my September samples using the same stamp set.

Thank you for looking in today 

Love Doreen