Creative Expressions DT call

 This card is my DT call entry with Creative Expressions, the requirement is to show Texture in any form.
The stamps used are from CE called Art Nouveau Peacock. I began by using Perfect Medium to stamp the beautiful peacock feathers in a random pattern on black card. Then I used Cosmic Shimmer mica powders to dust over the stamping and because the Perfect Medium is so sticky it clings very well. Once I dusted off the excess powder with a big fluffy make-up brush I gave it a light spray with hair lacquer to fix it.
The wording is from the same stamp plate, again I used Perfect Medium but this time I sprinkled Cosmic Shimmer Bright Gold embossing powder on it and heated from behind.
The heart is cut from greyboard using a Sizzix die, I have punched a small hole in one side before beginning to decorate. The board was coloured with acrylic paint that I happened to have near by. When that was dry I used my faithful Perfect Medium again to ink all over the heart before adding a layer of Ultra Thick clear embossing crystals which were then melted with the heat tool.

This process was repeated twice more but on the last layer I also added some of the mica powders so that I would get a faux enamelled effect. While the last layer was still very warm I embossed the smaller feather into the soft enamel. To get this to work well you need to have your stamp inked (in this case with black) and ready to use before you heat the last layer so that you can stamp it as soon as you've put the heat tool down.
I found some teal coloured ribbon to thread through the hole before mounting it on foam pads on the background. I was lucky enough to find a teal mirri card to use as my matting layer before mounting onto a black card.
I am fast becoming a fan of triple embossing, I have found a lot depends on the ferocity of your heat gun. I'm looking forward to making some Christmas decorations using this technique.

Triple Embossed Tree

 This weeks Christmas card is made with traditional colours and basic theme.
The red and green theme is for Winter Wonderland's challenge so I began with a red card, when I matted the green onto it it looked like something was missing so a small layer of textured gold card has been added.
Then it was time to follow Christmas Card Challenges sketch and cut three red patterned papers and lay them on the green. At this point I chose to add a red ribbon with trees in it to tie in with Jingle Belles holiday bingo challenge.
The tree is for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown's challenge this week, use a chipboard embellishment. The tree has been stained green with Distress stain and then triple embossed with clear embossing powder. On the last layer of clear I added some green mica powder which shows a little better in the small photo. Before the last layer could dry I embossed it with a rubber stamp inked up in Archival green.

I recently invested in a different heatgun, it's a Sheena Douglass heat tool, which has made triple embossing So much easier, it doesn't blow the powder away like my other gun.
The tree is mounted on another piece of gold card and stuck on with foam pads.
I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Embellishment, chipboard.
Jingle Belles - Holiday bingo, emboss, tree, ribbon
Winter Wonderland - Red and Green
Christmas Card Challenges - Sketch

Quick note

Warning : this post contains the H word.     Just a quick note to say I'm feeling much better after spending yesterday morning doing some housework, now I know I shouldn't use certain words on a craft blog but I did warn you, that's it for this month!!!!
There are a few things in the pipeline so please bear with me and all will be revealed, including what happened to this tatty old boot.
Happy Crafting, afterall it's too hot to be outside so stay indoors and craft!

Poinsettia sparkle

 This amazing stamp is from Stampendous, I fell in love with it the moment I saw it on a day out at Stamperama in Stevenage last sunday.
The image has been stamped on white card and embossed in black. The flowers are coloured with a red watercolour marker and a little sparkle has been added to the centres with some Cosmic Twinkle silver glitter glue. The largest flower has been stamped again on a small piece of card and coloured the same red before cutting out all the petals. I used a black Promarker to touch around the edges so there were no white bits showing.
The centre of the large flower is covered with white gems to give extra sparkle. I used some Glossy Accents on the petals but when it dried it left wrinkles, didn't put enough on maybe, but I rather like them as they look like veins so that was a happy accident.
The whole image is cut into three strips and mounted on black card, which is then mounted on red followed by silver mirri card and finally black again.

 In this picture I hope you will see the veins on the flower and the shine of the black embossing.
I think there will be much more done with this stamp,  it lends itself to many more ideas including the ones shown in the last picture. These are pictures made by my son and his friend who were watching me while I made the challenge card. They used a stamped image which they coloured in and mounted on some fabric bits I had hanging around, then they mounted that on cardboard and made a stand on the back so it would stand up by itself. I was so impressed by them that I promised to blog their efforts for them, well done boys!

 I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown  -  Black ,White, Red and Silver

Jingle Belles  -  Sketch

Christmas Card Challenges  -  Texture

Snowman shaker card

 This weeks challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is a sketch. I then decided to see how many other challenges I could enter using the one card. It was a 'challenge' but that's what it's all about isn't it and it has been fun.
I made three little shaker boxes with three stages of snowman construction stamped in them. The images are from The Snowman stamp set and Archival Cobalt ink was used. The snow in the shaker is a mixture of white glitter flakes, Polar White Flowersoft and my new purchase - Clear Micro Beads, the beads help the flakes to keep moving around.

The backing paper is a scrapbook page from stash. The lace is paper lace and there is a little ribbon bow on top of the bakers twine. I have chosen to use punched snowflakes instead of stars and put small blue gems in the middle of each one, they are mounted on small foam pads to give a little height. The card has come out almost 8 inches square so I think this will be a hand delivered one.
I would like to enter it in the following challenges:
52 Christmas Card Challenge  -  Sketch
Winter Wonderland  -  Lace & Ribbon
Christmas Cards All Year Round  -  Children's
Christmas Card Challenges  -  Use something new
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge  -  Favourite Colour
                                          Sparkles Christmas Challenge  -  Punch It
Does anyone know where I can get star shaped brads? I've been looking for a couple of weeks but found nothing yet, your help would be appreciated.

Christmas greens

 This weeks Christmas card was inspired by an inspirational photo shown on Christmas Stampin'  All Year Round, all that was needed then was to join it to the other challenges I wish to enter.
I began with a white background, masked off a small circle and then used Distress Ink Iced Spruce to create the sky and snow drifts. I left the moon mask in place while I spritzed the card with water to create snowflakes, I have also spritzed with a pearl mica spray to get a subtle shimmer.
The tree was die cut using a Memory Box die and then placed on sticky film before sprinkling with green glitter.

Ultra mini brads in pale green have been added to the tree before it was stuck in place on the background. The reindeer was die cut with a Sizzix die from the Merry Christmas Set in textured gold card and then mounted on foam pads onto the background. The card was matted onto dark green card before a ribbon greeting was added to the top corner. The next mat layer is the same gold textured card as the deer and finally matted onto a card of the same green as the tree.
It may be August 1st but there are only 145 days to Christmas!!!
I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
52 Christmas Card Throwdown  
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long
Jingle Belles 
Christmas Card Challenges
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge