Mica Powder and Stencils

Hello

I am just popping in quickly with a couple of stencilled cards. I bought this set of stencils by Uniko recently and have been meaning to use them. So when I saw that the group of cardmakers were using mica powders with stencils, I thought I would give it a go as I haven't used my perfect pearls for a very long time.

I made 2 cards in 2 colourways. I hope you like them.

Using Catherine Pooler inks in spruce, polished and seafoam with silver perfect pearls added over the seafoam ink. You can see the shine in the standing photo.

This rime I used seafoam, rose petals and shea butter, with gold perfect pearls over the shea butter. See the shine below. The tiny heart covers up an ink spot! I was pleased with the colour match.

I am way behind with my cards. I still have around 20 to make and that's despite the fact that I am not sending so many this year.

I am sharing these at:

Christmas Kickstarter #105 - if it's Christmassy link it up. Card 1

Stencil Fun December Challenge - Winter related. Card 2

Group of Cardmakers - Stencilling with mica powders. Card 2

Addicted to Stamps & More - Christmas Card 1

Inkspirationa Challenge #356 - Use Stencils. Card 2

NBUS #81 - The stencils are NBUS

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping December Challenge

Today is the first Sunday of the month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping. Where we love to see you showcase your stamping.

Anesha has chosen our theme again this month:

**Red and Green**

OR

**Anything Goes**

This waffle flower postage stamp die cut has been sitting on my desk waiting to be used for a while. It was a gift from a blogging friend. She sent several and this is the last one to be used. I recently bought a stamp set by Karine called 'collect moments' and thought the little flowers included with the lovely sentiment would work well.

 

I started by masking the die and then used a little melon ice ink to provide a little colour to my background. I then stamped and clear heat embossed the images and coloured the images with red and green felt pens. 

Unfortunately I made a little blunder with my masking and missed a bit. Of course I didn't realise until after I had inked it. Another new purchase is a set of tiny labels from Craft Addiction UK. The set includes little sentiments that are pressed into the labels with a die. I tied it to my panel with a piece of ribbon and it covers up the error perfectly. Does it look odd? I decided it looked OK. I found a tiny heart to add to the label and also a larger one that I cut from gold foiled card. After mounting the panel on green and then a red card base, I finished it with a few tiny red gems.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month there are is a stamp and die from Visible Image, plus a surprise second prize of an A4 stamp set. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 31st December.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

I am also sharing this at:

NBUS 81 - The stamps and label die are NBUS

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

November Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Today is 2nd of the month so time for the Card Chain Challenge big reveal. This month 25 card makers took part and I sent my card to Ellie in IL. USA.

From all the options this month I have chosen to use the colours, friendship and abstract.

When I saw the abstract option I immediately thought of this stencil set by Uniko. I really like it and haven't used it in a while so the first challenge was to find it, as it wasn't with my other Uniko stencils. Sometime later after going through all my stamps and stencils more than once, I decided to go through my Uniko stamp collection packet by packet. Finally I found it in the packet with the Bauhaus Blocks stamp set!

I have used my Catherine Pooler inks in slate, drive in and cranberry fizz. The little flower stamp is from a set by Concord & 9th and the sentiment stamps are also Uniko. I had a little bleeding under the bottom edge of one of the stencils so I masked it by using a little strip of peel off. I haven't used that for a long long time, but am pleased how it worked, a little bit of extra interest and you are none the wiser about the error.

I was very lucky to receive this gorgeous card from Pia in Norway. Pia is very organised, it arrived on the 6th November. Isn't it beautifully autumnal? Thanks Pia.

If you would like to take part in the next card chain challenge, you have until 6th to sign up here

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping November Reminder

Today is the 18th so time for a reminder for the current challenge over at We Love Stamping. The challenge where we love to see you using your stamps. 

Anesha has chosen our theme this month:

**Anything Christmas**

OR

**Anything Goes**

I followed a tutorial by Christina Werner to make this card. You can find it here. My tree stamp is called Christmas Forest by Phill Martin for Sentimentally Yours. The sentiment is a Uniko stamp.

I quite like the moody sky look that this technique gives. You just wipe a juicy ink pad directly onto the paper. My splatters went a bit wrong in a couple of places. You will notice if you look carefully! I used a white gel pen to add some highlights in the foreground. I used a small scalloped edged die to cut the panel and then mounted it onto some navy card and then a white card base.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month there are  2 prizes each of two stamps/sets from Stamp Addicts. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 3rd December.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

October Card Chain Challenge Reveal

This is my second post today as the 2nd November is also the first Sunday in November so scroll down for my November we love stamping post.

Right now it is time for the October Card Chain Challenge big reveal. This month 26 card makers took part and I sent my card to Chris in Illinois.

From the choices this month I have used the options of trees, friendship and splats. I used 2 dies to create this. The trees are a die by craft addiction UK and the reindeer scene was a gift last Christmas. I cut the trees 3 times and stacked them to give some depth. I chose a square kraft cardbase to showcase the trees and masked the edges before I made a paper stencil with the die and used a brown ink to add the illusion of depth to the forest. I used white acrylic paint for the splatters and heat embossed the sentiment with a dark brown ink. It was a bit too dark as it came out looking black, which is not what I intended. The reindeer were cut from the same white card and added behind the aperture.

I suppose this design would work as a Christmas card, but I hope Chris doesn't see it like that. I intended it just to be a wintry scene.

I was very lucky to receive this gorgeous card from Pat in Texas. This little fairy has very sparkly wings, which don't show in the photo. It is very pretty.

If you would like to take part in the next card chain challenge, you have until 6th to sign up here

I am also sharing this at:

NBUS #80 - the tree die and sentiment are NBUS

Moving along with the times #183 - A winter wonderland

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

November we Love Stamping Challenge

Today is the first Sunday of the month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping. Where we love to see you showcase your stamping.

Anesha has chosen our theme this month:

**Anything Christmas**

OR

**Anything Goes**

To make this card I started with a piece of hot pressed water colour paper and covered it with a water colour wash made using a blue and a red. I only wanted to use a small strip so I cut my panel into 3. My stamp is by Uniko. I used Catherine Pooler something borrowed blue ink to stamp all the elements, but it looks darker on the reindeer and trees because I had to repeat stamp several time to get a good impression. I then heat embossed it with clear powder. I did that several time too as I wanted a good coverage and shine.  The snow was stamped in embossing ink and embossed with white embossing powder. The let it snow strip was also embossed. I mounted the strip onto a mat that I had coloured with the same blue ink.

As I had 3 pieces from my panel I made 2 more using black versafine and CP mardi gras ink. I didn't think the snow showed up terribly well in the first one so I stamped it in white pigment ink and then embossed with white powder. That made quite a difference. I must try and remember that!

Which is your favourite?

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month there are  2 prizes each of two stamps/sets from Stamp Addicts. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 3rd December.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

I am also sharing this at:

Merry Little Christmas #64 - Anything Christmas goes

Moving along with the times #183 - A winter wonderland

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping October Reminder

Today is the 18th so time for a reminder for the current challenge over at We Love Stamping. The challenge where we love to see you using your stamps. 

This month our theme is:

**Anything Autumn**

OR

**Anything Goes**

I chose to go with autumnal colours again for this challenge and got out one of my Concord & 9th turnabout stamps. This one is called harvest wreath.

I really must work out a strategy for recording the ink colours that I use. I tend to write them on the card I have stamped, but of course they get lost when the card is made up. Anyway, after searching my colour swatches I think I used the following Catherine Pooler colours: rockin red, sauna, orange peel and martini. In retrospect the 2 orange colours are quite similar, but I still like the look.

I have used 2 dies to showcase my panel. The scalloped circle is by Craft Addiction UK and the inner cut out is a Clarity Fresh Cut Die. I also used this set to cut into the insert, which you can see on the first photo. The sentiment is stamped in rockin red and clear heat embossed. The panel was mounted on a square kraft card base

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month there are two prizes of Lavinia Stamps and stencil. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 29th October.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Of course, as you will know by now,  I didn't just make one. Once I have spent the time lining up a turnabout stamp I will generally make several cards and as a bonus this particular set has 2 turnabouts in it.

The colours used here are macchiato, rockin red, buttercream and martini.

The second stamp in the set creates a wreath. The colours here are macchiato, sea breeze, merlot and lilac. I was able to use just the leaves on this stamp to decorate the inserts and envelopes.

This time I inked a second panel, cut with the scalloped die, with 2 of the colours so they show through. The colours are bellini, mandarin spice, hot tub and shea butter.

Mandarin spice, green tea, ginger and sauna.

Thank you for sticking with me to the end.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We love Stamping October Challenge

Today is the first Sunday of the month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping. Where we love to see you showcase your stamping.

**Anything Autumn**

OR

**Anything Goes**

I used my colour cubes to choose the colours. I love the brown and orange, very autumnal. This stamp is called Island Blooms by Creative Expressions. I stamped it in a golden brown ink and then coloured it with Polychromos pencils. The sentiment was stamped and clear heat embossed and the image was fussy cut.

The image was mounted onto a dark brown panel that I debossed using an Altenew debossing plate and cut with a scalloped edge die. That panel was matted onto coloured card before attaching it to a white cardbase.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month there are Two prizes of Lavinia Stamps and stencil. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 29th October.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

My session with this stamp resulted in 2 more cards. I am pleased with how different they all look.

This one was coloured with my Zig watercolour pens and mounted onto an embossed background.

This one was stamped in black and heat embossed before watercolouring.

I am pleased with how different they look considering the card design is the same.

I have been quite busy recently, so my apologies if my visits to you are a little sporadic.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

September Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Today is 2nd of the month so time for the Card Chain Challenge big reveal. This month 32 card makers took part and I sent my card to Jo in the UK.

I have used the options of foil, silhouette and friendship and created my card with a Spellbinders BatterPress plate called bloom wildly. It is quite large so this card is 7x5 as I didn't want to cut off the image. I used some rose gold satin foil onto some white coated card. I find that coated card takes foil much better than ordinary card. I get it from Papermill Direct and it comes in different sizes and 2 different weights.

I didn't want to detract too much from the image so I just roughly blended some ink round the image and finished it off with a few sequins and a foiled sentiment. Even though the foil isn't really shiny, it does still glow nicely as you can see in the picture below. I also used the plate to press the image onto the insert and the envelope. I don't think I use blue like this on my cards normally, but I am rather liking it today.

I was very lucky to receive this gorgeous card from Lucille in the USA. Love those colours, thanks Lucille.

If you would like to take part in the next card chain challenge, you have until 6th to sign up here

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.