I Spy With My Little Eye #21

Hi everyone, the past month has flashed by and it’s the third Wednesday in the month again, so it’s time for a new I Spy With My Little Eye... challenge over at Ellibelle's Corner.  Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last time … please do check over on Ellie’s blog to see if you are one of our top picks. 

This is our last challenge of 2024 as we will be taking a little break over Christmas - it will end at the usual time but then we will be back in January. Please see the end of this post for full details.

I chose the challenge theme this month, and it is

I Spy With My Little Eye 

*** Something for Christmas ***

This gives you the perfect opportunity to crack on with your Christmas makes …. and if you’re in the fortunate position of having finished all your Christmas cards already, you could always make a start on them for next year! Please do pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here.

This month we are delighted to have Helen as our guest designer, so please click on her name to visit her blog and see her fabulous Christmas creation. 

Here’s my project for the challenge. Speaking of next year, I am currently working through designing pages for my 2025 Lavinia calendar, and here is my page for December - it is an extended version of a Lavinia scene on a card I published here.  The fairy village is getting ready for Christmas - snow sparkles on the roofs of the cottages, and fairies decorate the Christmas tree on the village green while Annie and Edward watch on. One of the mice has gotten over-excited as he clutches a bauble, swinging from the nearby lamp post … perhaps he’s imbibed a drop too much mulled wine!!

I cut a piece of stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5cm and  started by stamping the little cottages and lamp post, adding paper masks as I went along. I then added a torn paper mask to the bottom half of the card to form a snow line, and created the night sky and light around the lamp post by blending Elements and Spectrum Noir dye inks. With the masks still in place I then stamped a variety of fir trees behind the cottages using 1st and 2nd generation VFC. I removed the paper masks and added more blended Elements snowdrifts by blending Elements, then stamped the central Christmas tree, Annie and Edward and my naughty mouse! I added a gold embossed star to the top of the tree, then positioned the fairy foragers  to look as if one was placing the star on the tree. I drew baubles  in the hands of Edward, the mouse and one of the fairies (I masked the lantern she usually carries), using a black fineliner pen and my White Orbs stencil

I coloured the Christmas tree using fine brushstrokes of watered down Olive Elements, and coloured the baubles with Sakura Stardust pens which I also used on the fairy wings and Annie and Edward’s lanterns. I watercoloured the cottages and street light with Zig pens, then added Wink of Stella to the Christmas tree and street lamp. I stamped a fence and gate in brown and perched a little robin on top (no it’s not one of the latest robins!) which I coloured with red and white Posca pens, then added holly in 2 corners to frame the scene and coloured the berries with red Uniball and Stardust pens. I added snowy accents everywhere using a mixture of Signo and Posca pens, and added Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to give it some twinkle. 

Finally I added Posca snowflakes (no spatters!), blended dark blue Elements around the edges to add depth, and edged the finished piece with a dark blue marker pen.

Stamps: Lavinia Meadow Cottage, Woodland Cottages, Small Dwellings, Christmas Joy, Fairy  Fir Tree 2 (Small), Red Pine (Small), Small Pine Trees, Street Light, Annie & Edward, Tilly & Tango, Fairy Foragers, Gate & Fence, Holly, Bird Collection, North Star Mini; 

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Della Blue, Violet Chalk, Dark Denim, Sundance, Olive); Spectrum Noir Harmony dye ink (Pink Tulip); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone, Acorn, Portobello, Shady Lane, Rainforest); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Versamark; WOW metallic gold embossing powder; Sakura Stardust pens (Red, yellow, blue, turquoise); Signo pens (white red); Posca pens (white, red); Wink of Stella; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear);

Tools: Lavinia White Orbs stencil.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #116 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown (November theme) - Sparkle (2nd entry)

ABC Christmas (November) - W is for Watercolouring (3rd entry)

Allsorts #807 - Anything Goes

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards - Holiday Themed (5th entry)

Classic Design Challenge #11 2024 - Anything Goes with option Bells and Baubles

Country View Challenges (November) - Winging It (3rd entry)

Craft Rocket #120 - Christmas and/or Winter (3rd entry)

Daisy Chain #91 - Christmas and/or Winter (3rd entry)

Double D - Get Ready For Winter

Dream Factory #134 - Christmas Again?!

Heart’s Quest Fantasy Challenge #11 2024 - Anything Goes Fantasy (3rd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #172 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (November) - Time to Sparkle (5th entry)

LeighSB Designs #34 - Anything Goes with option Falling Into Winter

Outlawz (November) - Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone

Moving Along With the Times #172 - Sparkle (4th entry)

Peace On Earth #76 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Emboss It

Sisterhood of Crafters - Landscapes (2nd entry)

Stamping Sensations (November) - Make It Magical (3rd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Sparkle All the Way (2nd entry)

Unicorn #104 - Christmas and/or Winter (3rd entry)

I am really enjoying decorating my calendar - each page takes several hours (this one took about 4!) but it’s very satisfying when a page is completed. I definitely need to start speeding up though if it is to be finished by the end of the year! 

Don’t forget - this is the last I Spy Challenge for 2024. It challenge will end at the usual time on Sunday December 15th at 23:59 US Central Time, but there will be no new challenge in December so we will be back with you on Wednesday January 15th 2025, when we will also announce our December top picks.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Woodside View

Hi everyone, here I am again with another Christmas card using the new Lavinia release. After my previous effort I started thinking about using the little cottages with the gate and fence …. and lo and behold Jo Rice published a Youtube tutorial for a lovely simple design featuring exactly those things! I really liked Jo’s layout so I basically followed it, substituting a different fir tree as I don’t have the new one, changing the colours a bit and adding some framing mistletoe and a heart. 🩷

I cut a square of stamping card and stamped the cottage, then masked it and created the moon, sky and snowdrifts using blended Elements inks with circle and mini hill masks. I stamped the fence and gate and the fir tree, then removed the mask and coloured the cottage with watercolour pencils which I blended out with a water brush. I stamped the little heart dangling from the eaves of the cottage, then added Posca and Signo pen snowy highlights which I also topped with sparkle pen to add some glimmer. I stamped the sentiments which I also topped with Posca “snow”, added some sprigs of mistletoe to frame and added white Posca snowflakes before matting onto a dark blue frame and card blank.

Stamps: Lavinia Woodside, Fairy Fir Tree 2 (Small), Gate and Fence, Fairy Charms, Mistletoe, Christmas Greetings;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Della Blue, Violet Chalk); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Acorn, Rainforest, Grass Green, Hawthorn Rose, Medieval Blue); W H Smith watercolour pencils; Posca pen (white); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear);

Tools: Lavinia circle and Mini Hill masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown (November theme) - Sparkle

ABC Christmas (November) - W is for Watercolouring (2nd entry)

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards - Holiday Themed (4th entry)

Creative Moments #264 - Winter (3rd entry)

FarmQuest Country Christmas #14 - Anything Country Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #172 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Krafty Chicks #742 - Christmas (2nd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (November) - Time to Sparkle (4th entry)

Little Red Wagon #782 - Wintertime  (2nd entry)

Peace On Earth #76 - Anything Christmas Goes

Sisterhood of Crafters - Landscapes

Word Art Wednesday #673/674 - Anything Goes (6th entry)

I think I’m going to make a little batch of these … according to the weather forecast this could be the view from our windows I the UK when we get up in the morning!

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Winged Things

Hi everyone, today I would like to share a birthday card I made for a friend who is very artistic so I thought I would try an arty grungy kind of look, using mostly stamps by Tracy Evans…. I hope she will like it!

I cut a 6 1/4” square of stamping card, brayered Elements inks onto my round gel press, spattered with more watered down Elements inks and took a print. I stamped my images inside the circle using Portobello VFC for a vintage look, then stamped again onto separate small snippets of card and heat embossed. I coloured the large moth and small butterfly using watered down paint from Posca sparkle pens, fussy cut and set aside. I sponged some Distress Oxide inks around the circle to give a more vintage look, and added some background stamped flowers and script in 1st and 2nd generation Sand Dune VFC, and a little birdie in the corner. I stamped a sentiment onto a snippet of kraft card stock, cut out and attached. I distressed the edges of the panel with my Tim Holtz distressing tool and matted onto a frame of brown linen card stock cut from a larger snippet which I had also distressed, and then onto a 7” square card blank. I then attached the fussy cut moth and butterfly, outlined my gel press circle with gold Posca pen, and added gold spatters with a circle mask in place.

As my friend makes such gorgeous cards I also made the effort to decorate the inside of the card and the envelope.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE27 Insect, TE30 Garden Elements, TE11 Background Elements; sentiment - Visible Image Birthday Wishes;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Sahara, Russet Orange, Olive); Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Antique Linen, Old Paper); Versafine Clair (Portobello, Sand Dune); Posca sparkle pens (orange, yellow); Posca pen (gold);

Tools: Lavinia Roland gel press; Tim Holtz distressing tool.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #481 - Make Your Mark

Creative Crafters #82 - Anything Goes

Dream Valley #325 - Anything Goes

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #11 2024 - Birthdays

Love to Craft #83 - Anything Goes

Love to Scrap #170 - Anything Goes

Mix It Up #74 - Anything Goes

Snippets Playground #493 - Use Snippets

Triple B (November) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #673/674 - Anything Goes

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Robin and Holly

Hi everyone, today I would like to share a card I made with my favourite AALL & Create robin by Tracy Evans - I really love this image. I have made a few cards previously encircling him within a festive wreath, but I always used Lavinia foliage stamps for that. This time I decided to try creating a wreath using Tracy’s festive foliage stamps - it was a bit challenging as the main holly branch stamp is quite long and does not bend around a circle, so I just inked up part of it. Here’s the result.

I cut a square of white stamping card and created a central circle by blending Olive Elements ink around a circle mask. I then created the circular wreath by stamping a variety of 1st and 2nd generation holly, berries and foliage in various shades of green and red Versafine Clair. I stamped the robin in the middle and coloured him with Zig pens and white Signo pen on his tummy. I added white Signo highlights to the holly leaves and berries, then stamped the Robin wording and sentiment onto black card and heat embossed white before cutting out and attaching. I added some white Posca snow to the branch and topped it with sparkle pen to add some glimmer. I edged the finished piece with black marker pen (diagonal corners cut to disguise a slight slip of the pen!) then matted onto green card stock.

Stamps: AALL & Create #690 Robin and Nuthatch, #806 Fallen Leaves; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE21 Holly and Berries, TE18 Decorations;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Olive); Versafine Clair (Pinecone, Shady Lane, Avocado, Strawberry); Versamark; WOW Opaque white ultra fine embossing powder; Signo pen (white); Posca pen (white); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear).

Challenges I would like to enter:

ABC Christmas (November) - W is for Watercolouring

Allsorts #806 - Christmas (3rd entry)

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards - Holiday Themed (4th entry)

Colourful Options (November) - Red

Creative Inspirations (November) - Christmas Animals

Creative Moments #264 - Winter (2nd entry)

FarmQuest Country Challenge #63 - Feathers

FarmQuest Country Christmas #14 - Anything Country Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #172 - Anything Christmas Goes

Krafty Chicks #742 - Christmas

Little Red Wagon #782 - Wintertime

Tracy Evans FB Create, Share, Inspire (Nov/Dec) - Christmas or Festive Project (2nd entry)

Triple B (November) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms

Unicorn #104 - Christmas and/or Winter (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #673/674 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

The pile of Christmas cards is looking quite good now, I think I’m further ahead than I normally would be at this point, but not quite there yet! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Li’l Cottages

Hi everyone, I mentioned in a previous post that last weekend I took delivery of a few of the new Lavinia Christmas stamps, and today I’m really excited to share my first card where they are the primary focus. I didn’t like all of the stamps in this release but I have concluded that I am totally in love with the little cottages.... they really make me think of Alpine lodges and are are just adorable for making Christmas scenes. I also think the lamp post is wonderful for scene building, and Annie and Edward have definitely grown on me … so for once (fairly unusual for me) I’m  actually thrilled with how a card has turned out! Here it is.

I started by stamping my little cottages and lamp post, adding paper masks as I went along. I then added a torn paper mask to the bottom half of the card to form a snow line, and created my night sky and a halo of light around the lamp post by blending Elements inks. With the masks still in place I then stamped a variety of fir trees behind the cottages using 1st and 2nd generation VFC - I already own a number of Lavinia fir tree stamps so didn’t feel it necessary to buy any of the latest ones. 

I removed the paper masks and added more snowdrifts by blending Elements inks, then coloured the cottages and lantern with Zig pens. I stamped holly in 2 corners to frame the scene and coloured the berries with red Uniball and Stardust pens. I added white Posca highlights to the holly, lamp post and Annie and Edward, then added snow to the cottage roofs, windows, trees  and lamp post using Posca pen topped with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. I also added Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to the snow drifts, and Wink of Stella to the lantern and its halo, Annie and Edward’s lanterns and the cottage windows. I find that the 2 sparkle pens are different shades which have different uses - the Spectrum noir pen is more silvery and “frosty”, whereas the Wink of Stella is a warmer, more golden shade which is ideal for twinkling lights. 

Finally I added a little shadow shading beneath my figures, stamped sentiments, dotted Posca snowflakes in the sky (no random spattering on this one!) then edged the piece with dark blue marker pen and matted onto silver mirri card and a card blank.

Here’s an angled picture but sadly it doesn’t capture the sparkle at all … probably down to the miserable grey weather we’ve been having!

Stamps: Lavinia Meadow Cottage, Woodland Cottages, Street Light, Annie & Edward, Fir Tree 1, Christmas Tree Group, Small Pine Trees, Christmas Greetings;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Dark Denim, Violet Chalk, Della Blue, Sundance); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Rainforest, Twilight); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Signo Uniball pen (red); Sakura Stardust pen (red); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Wink of Stella (clear); Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #116 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Allsorts #806 - Christmas (2nd entry)

Aud Sentiments #319 - Glitter and/or Christmas + a Sentiment

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards - Holiday Themed (3rd entry)

Craft Rocket #120 - Christmas/Winter (2nd entry)

Creative Moments #264 - Winter

Daisy Chain #91 - Christmas and/or Winter (2nd entry)

FarmQuest Country Christmas #14 - Anything Country Christmas Goes

Festive Friday (November) - Christmas

Lavinia Creative Challenge (November) - Time to Sparkle (3rd entry)

Little Red Wagon #781 - White Lightning (weather related) - FEATURED

Merry Little Christmas #59 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Moving Along With the Times #172 - Sparkle (3rd entry)

Peace On Earth #75 - Anything Christmas Goes

Try It On Tuesday - Sparkle All the Way

We Love Stamping (November) - Christmas (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #673/674 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

I think I’ll have to make a scene along these lines for my December calendar page, and I’ve also got one or two ideas for simpler designs featuring the cottages so I can crack on with completing my Christmas cards. Until then, take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Snow Globe

Hi everyone, yesterday a delivery dropped through my letterbox of some of the new Lavinia Christmas stamps, plus a couple of older stamps I had wanted (Holly and Fairy Foragers) and my first ever set of sticker stencils. I was keen to play straight away, and wanted to try making a snow globe scene inspired by a Jo Rice tutorial. 

My snow globe was quite a bit bigger than the original as I used my own circle stencil rather than the Lavinia sticker stencil circle, plus the scene I wanted to create needed more space. Here’s the result, using a mix of new, new to me and existing stamps.

I cut a square of white stamping card, and created the snow globe by blending Blue Atoll Elements ink through a circle mask. I added a moon and snowdrifts using more Elements and masks, then added the snow globe base using my new sticker stencil and blended Scorched Timber Distress Oxide. I stamped the Christmas tree in Shady Lane and Portobello VFC, then Annie and the Fairy Foragers in Nocturne. I stamped some holly on the snow globe base, then coloured the tree baubles, fairy wings, holly berries and lanterns using Sakura Stardust pens, and also outlined the snow globe to add sparkle. I added some white Posca highlights, then stamped a sentiment and matted the panel onto a blue frame and card blank. I replaced the circle mask and added Posca spatters for snow inside the snow globe … as usual my spattering went a bit awry with 2 large dots landing on Annie’s head and legs so I had to do a bit of remedial work with a black fine liner! 

Finally I stamped, fussy cut and attached a teeny sentiment tag and added a tiny bow … I had a bit of trouble with that as I don’t now use ribbon very often, and the glue dots I always used to use to attach bows were MIA, then I thought I’d use a drop of silicone glue (also rarely used) and it was solid as a rock! However I got there eventually! Here’s an angled picture to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Lavinia Christmas Joy, Annie & Edward, Fairy Foragers, Holly, Christmas Greetings; tag sentiment - LotV (retired);

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Blue Atoll, Violet Chalk); Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Scorched Timber); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Shady Lane, Portobello, Twilight); Sakura Stardust lens (purple, turquoise, yellow, red, clear); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Lavinia sticker stencils set 9 - Moon Jars, Circle Masks, Mini Hill Masks;  Press To Impress Circle stencil.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #480 - Die Cuts and Stencils

Allsorts #806 - Christmas

Art Impressions #391 - Under the Dome

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards - Holiday Themed (2nd entry)

Country View Challenges (November) - Winging It (2nd entry)

Craft Rocket #120 - Christmas/Winter

Crafter’s Cafe #313 - Anything Goes with option Fantasy (3rd entry) - TOP 3

Crafty Catz #682 - Anything Goes with option Add Some Ribbon or Twine

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (November) - Use a Stencil with option Make It Sparkle or Shine

Heart’s Quest FantasyChallenge #11 2024 - Anything Goes Fantasy (2nd entry) 

Lavinia Creative Challenge (November) - Time to Sparkle (2nd entry)

Let’s Craft and Create #213 - Anything Goes + Use a Bow

Moving Along With the Times #172 - Sparkle (2nd entry)

Paper Funday #71 - Anything Goes with option Tag(s)

Stamping Sensations (November) - Make It Magical (2nd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Make It Magical (3rd entry)

We Love Stamping (November) - Christmas

Word Art Wednesday #673/674 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

I’m hoping to get a few more Christmas cards made using the new stamps in the near future, so watch this space!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Dancing Till Dawn

Hi everyone, today I would like to share another page for my 2025 Lavinia calendar. Having started last week with the Witching Hour for October, I decided to go back to the beginning and start with January. My scene is based on the concept of the dawn of the New Year - the fairies are having their New Year party in the wintry fairy glen, dancing ‘til dawn while music plays and fireworks erupt in the night sky!

I cut a piece of stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5cm and first created my landscape hills and sky by blending Distress Oxide inks whilst using a circle mask and various hill masks. I then stamped the fairies in the centre using Nocturne Versafine Clair, and built up the scene with the small dwellings and various fir trees stamped using Medieval Blue VFC, masking the hills where necessary. I added Basil & Bibi and Tilly & Tango dancing and playing the flute, then used various dandelion heads and teeny snowflake stamps to make some fireworks in the sky, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with various WOW embossing glitters. I coloured the fairy wings and house windows with Sakura Stardust pens, added clear Stardust pen highlights to replicate the moon’s reflection, and added white Posca highlights to the fairies, houses and trees. I then added a few more finishing touches, shading my silhouette figures with a Stabilo white pencil, adding Spectrum Noir sparkle pen highlights to the snow, and grey grounding to the figures. Finally I blended graphite Elements ink around the edges to frame the scene, ready for attaching to my calendar page. 

Typically for me I messed this up near the end as my Zig pen grounding didn’t blend out well for some reason, and the Elements I applied round the edges smudged at the bottom so I had to cut a few mm off the bottom edge and the blending still isn’t great …. but having spent over 3 hours on this project it’s going in the calendar now!! 

This scene is exceptionally sparkly, not least due to the glitter embossed fireworks - here’s an angled picture.

Stamps: Lavinia Dancing Till Dawn, Fairy Fir Tree, Fairy Fir Tree 2, Red Pine Small, Christmas Tree Group, Small Pine Trees, Small Dwellings, Basil & Bibi, Tilly & Tango, Fairy Dandelions, Dandelions, Snowflakes;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Della Blue, Dark Denim, Graphite); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Medieval Blue); Versamark; WOW embossing glitters (Petalicious, Fruit Tingle, Midnight Dream, Metallic Silver Sparkle, White Twinkle); Sakura Stardust pens (yellow, pink, purple, turquoise, clear); Posca pen (white); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Stabilo pencil (white);

Tools: Lavinia acetate Hill Masks, Mini Hill Masks, Circle Masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Allsorts #805 - Magic of the Season (2nd entry)

(Magical New Year party during the 12 days of Christmas)

Alphabet challenge - P is for Party

Classic Design Challenge #10 2024 - Anything Goes with option Anything but a Card

Crafter’s Cafe #313 - Anything Goes with option Fantasy

Crafty Catz #681 - Anything Goes

Country View Challenges (November) - Winging It

Daisy Chain #91 - Christmas and/or Winter

Dream Valley #324 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Heart’s Quest Fantasy Challenge #11 - Anything Goes Fantasy

KraftyChicks #741 - Stamps

Lavinia Creative Challenge (November) - Time to Sparkle

Moving Along With the Times #172 - Sparkle

Stamping Sensations (November) - Make It Magical

Try It On Tuesday - Make It Magical (2nd entry) - TOP 5

Unicorn #104 - Christmas and/or Winter

Word Art Wednesday #673/674 - Anything Goes

That’s all from me for today, take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Iridescent

Hi everyone … wow, it’s November already - where is the year going to??  Christmas is now looming pretty fast and the Chrimbo cardmaking rush is definitely on! As luck would have it, Tracy Evans has launched a Christmas challenge on the Tracy Evans FB group with a wonderful prize of £50 to spend in her shop … a fantastic incentive (as if one were needed) to play with her Christmas stamps. 

Based on my previous posts you may be asking the question how many different ways can Tracy’s bauble stamps and stencils be coloured?? I can’t really answer that, but I can say that I haven’t done experimenting just yet!  I know it’s usual to create using as many different products as possible, but I hope I’m showing here it’s possible to achieve a number of different looks with the same stamps. So here’s one I made a couple of days ago but hadn’t published yet due to Hallowe’en.

This time I stamped my baubles with Distress Oxide ink which I spritzed to create a more marbled effect - I chose the colours to suggest an iridescent effect. I cut a 5” square of stamping card and stamped the baubles using three colours of Distress Oxide ink dabbed onto the stamp and then spritzed with water. I then coloured round one side of each bauble with more Distress Oxide, gradually building up the colour and then dragging out with a water brush. I filled some of the white space by dabbing more spritzed DOX with a piece of acetate, then added more depth to each bauble by adding shadow with a grey Inktense pencil.  

I stamped several mistletoe branches in two tone green VFC then added some background wording stamping in 2nd generation Bali Blue, and heat embossed the word “Joy” onto the largest bauble in white. I stamped the sentiment onto separate card and cut out, then placed to help me identify where to stamp the birds. I then added bauble strings and highlights using Sakura Stardust pen, white Posca highlights and spatters, then matted the finished panel onto aqua glitter card and my card blank. To finish I attached the sentiment and added a teeny coordinating heart gem.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE18 Decorations, TE19 Mistletoe, TE22 Christmas Wishes, TE23 Winter Delights, TE30 Garden Elements;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Salvaged Patina, Cracked Pistachio, Wilted Violet); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Grass Green, Green Oasis, Bali Blue); Sakura Stardust pen (turquoise); Inktense pencil (Neutral Grey); Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #116 - Anything Christmas Goes

Allsorts #805 - Magic of the Season

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards - Holiday themed

Double Trouble #178 - SomeThing, AnyThing, EveryThing (2nd entry)

Incy Wincy (November) - Anything Goes with option Christmas Card with a Hand Made Background

Krafty Chicks #740 - Anything Goes

Merry Little Christmas #59 - Anything Christmas Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Simon Says - Celebrating 20 Years of Distress #SSS20YearsofDistress 

Tracy Evans FB Create, Share, Inspire (Nov/Dec) - Christmas or Festive Project

Word Art Wednesday #671/672 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,