Throwback Thursday Gingerbread and Peppermint suite

 Last night was fab! We held our first in person event!!! It was so nice to actually be in the same room as fellow crafters 😀 That isn't to say that we're not so very grateful for the technology that has allowed us to keep in touch virtually!! I think that going forward we will be using all different ways to get together and craft.... more ways to craft has got to be good!!! So what have I got to share with you today? Well it's all about the paper today 🙂 not just cardstock but also the Gingerbread and peppermint pattern paper . 

This 6" x 6" paper pack contains lots of fun patterns in traditional red and green with highlights of white and a lovely toasty shade of brown called cinnamon cider 😋 

The pack also has some sheets that have images that are just calling out to be cut out. The images look like baked and iced gingerbread shapes. And it was this that inspired today's card. 

When you bake you have to leave the biscuits,  cookies, gingerbread to cool on a rack. So I set about creating a rack using cardstock.  The technique that I thought I'd use to create the cooling rack is called paper weaving.  It's how we made trellises and woven backgrounds before the intricate dies made it super simple.

Making a woven background isn't hard and kind of therapeutic.  All you need are strips of cardstock and some repositionable tape or sticky notes. First layout as many strips as you need horizontally with equal distances between them onto the tape. 

Next you take one stip and weave it over and under the horizontal strips vertically. Continue until you have a piece that is the size you need.

Once I had a piece the size I needed I cut myself 4 frames the size of my rack. I took one of the frames and adhered it over the woven piece. Next it was time to add another frame on the reverse. This sandwiches the woven parts and secures it. 

Next I trimmed it on all sides and had my cooling rack. And added the other 2 frames on the back of the rack to give it some dimension.  I also used a little ink and blending tool to add a little shading around the edges. 

I then took one of the check papers from the pack and covered the front of my card. I then cut out 2 of the stars and a Christmas tree to be the gingerbread on my cooling rack.

I then chose to stamp my sentiment in versamark and used white embossing powder on cinnamon cider cardstock.  Once heat set and cooled I took a deeper shade of brown called soft suede and "toasted" the edges 😋 

I decorated then inside with a stip of patterned paper and a snowflake gingerbread that I fussy cut out.

I hope you enjoy my scrummy gingerbread christmas card 😋

Watercolour Wednesday Gingerbread and Peppermint suite

 I do like to create backgrounds do you? Maybe it's because they are always unique 🤔 maybe it's because you can create something that is just what you want 🤔 or is it that the randomness of it all? What ever it is making a watercolour background is a fun,if mess , way to start a project or 2. I used the stamps from the Gingerbread and   Peppermint suite called Frosted Gingerbread . 

So to create the background I took a piece of Fluid 100 watercolour paper and spritzed it thoroughly with water. I then chose a watercolour reinker. I chose a lovely shade of blue called pacific point. I dropped the reinker over the watercolour paper and added even more water to get it to move the colour around.

It's great fun watching the colour move around the paper. A few tips from my experience place your work on either scrap paper or kitchen paper or a wipe clean one. Also having kitchen paper to hand can help with those little spills 😉 . Now you can let your work dry naturally or use a heat tool. If you use the heat tool remember not to get too close as you might scorch the paper. Also if you use the heat tool it can push the water around and give your work a different look. 

Next I had to  decided what to do with my gorgeous background.  For my first card I used a large piece and took the bell stamp and heat embossed it in silver all the way up and down . I also stamped some onto the left over background for a later project.

Next I decided that I wanted to create a coordinating piece of paper to make mats from. I took a piece white cardstock and dabbed versamark all around it , applied silver embossing powder then heated it up.

So I kept card 1 simple just matted and layer a sentiment and created a simple insert with scraps.

 I enjoyed it so much I made a second card! But this time I cut the bells out and placed them onto a piece of white cardstock that I had dry embossed to give texture.

I really like the way the colour peeps out behind the detail of the bells.

And as with the first card I created an insert using scraps.

Embossing over the watercolour background was a great way to make a card that popped.

So which do you prefer the watercolour background all over? Or just peeking througj the stamped image?

Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Gingerbread and Peppermint suite

 Do you like to use masks? And no I don't mean face masks 😷 but the kind that you use in crafting 😅 The masks I'm using for today's project are a part off the Gingerbread and Peppermint suite.  They are called Adorning Designs Decorative masks.

I love all the designs but really like the stripes one. So that was an easy decision to made !! Now what to do with it? 

There are many way's to use masks blending ink through them, using embossing paste through them are two that spring  straight to mind . I decided to go with ink blending for my card today.

Now I have a tip for when you're using the strip folder and blending tool. Usually I always work is circles when blending but with this mask I found it easier and gave a far better finish to work in straight lines.  I would also recomend that you start off the mask and work lightly and build up the colour.

I started with a piece of white cardstock.  I used a little repositionable tape behind the cardstock and secured it to my scrap paper. Then I taped the mask over the cardstock so that nothing will move when I'm blending the ink through the mask.

I started blending with a lovely red called real red. Once I had  laid down a good layer of colour  I decided to add a deeper shade of red called cherry cobbler to give the stripes a bit of depth. 

Once I was happy I carefully removed the mask and washed it in warm soapy water. Now when your washing masks, especially intricate ones, be gentle and don't rush or you may tear or streach the mask.

So now I had a red and white background but I wanted something that was more tone on tone so I decided to use my blending brush and add some more real red all over. I then used some cherry cobbler to deepen the colour around the edges. 

Next I took my wink of stella and splattered it across the cardstock.  In real life it shimmers beautiful 😍 

I then used the Gingerbread dies that coordinate with the Frosted Gingerbread to create a focal point. 

I also stamped and then cut apart one of the cute sentiments from the Frosted Gingerbread stamps. I then stamped and die cut some of the fun peppermint sweets and sprinkled them around.

I was really please with how this project turned out. My other tip is when using real red ink and blending either wear disposable gloves or go wash your hair after. So that you don't look like have had a really bad accident 😜

I also created an insert for this card using the stamps and pretty ruffled ribbon from the Gingerbread and Peppermint suite. 

This card wasn't the quickest I've ever created, nore was it the cleanest 😉, but it certainly is one that gave me a great deal of pleasure making. 🙂

Make it Simple Monday Frosted Gingerbread

 So with only 75 day's till Christmas is  your Christmas card making in full swing? Are you a last minute dot com? Or do you start in January?  Me I don't begin till September... well maybe October .. or sometimes the 24th of December 🤣🤣🤣 What makes it possible at all is the great selection of stamps, dies and pattern paper that is available in the Stampin' Up! July to December mini catalogue.  And this week I'm going to be sharing projects I've made with the first suite of products in the catalogue.  CalledGingerbread and peppermint suite .

Now as it's Monday that means it's Make it Simple or #simplestamping here. So that means I get to play with the super fun Frosted Gingerbread stamp set.

 I decided that I was going to create some cards that were #simplestamping in a bright and bold look using the bauble stamp.

I  choose to use ink in a bold purple called gorgeous grape, bright turquoise called bermuda bay and magenta madness a bright and bold shade of pink.

I then made my card bases and decided that would make one version in a portrait orientation so I made that first.

 Next I made one in a landscape orientation using the same layout, colours and stamps.

 So the question is which do you prefer 🤔? Me I can't decide 🙃 

As this is Make it Simple Monday it also means that I shall be doing a Facebook Live over on our page at 4pm BST.  Now last week was a bit of a disaster due to  Facebook crashing but fingers crossed it will all be good today 🤞. 

So please join me and see how I made today's cards and let me know which you prefer Portrait?  Or Landscape? 

Oh and if you can't join me live I'll add a link to it Here 😉 

Fun Fold Friday - Peaceful Deer

Well we are at Friday again this week already. I have really enjoyed playing with the Peaceful Deer stamp set so much that I will be making many more ready for my Christmas card collection. I always make so many cards and often send loads to the charities too. It's pointless me keeping them if someone else can make use of them, why not! 

Today's is a sort of gatefold card but it has a bit of an extension on. I had this idea in my head and played with lots of printer paper to eventually get it to work out. Now that I have the plan, I will be making many more in the coming weeks. I started with the gorgeous red of Real Red card. I cut the piece of A4 card in landscape position at 14.85cm by 29.7cm. Then another piece of red 11cm by 14.85cm. The smaller piece was scored along the 11cm width at 5cm and 10cm. The longer piece of card was scored from the left at 9.9cm, 19.8cm and 24.75cm. One of the smaller sections was adhered to the front of the 1cm section on the other, smaller piece of card. You now have a very wide card base. I have reversed mine so that the larger panels, the 9.9cm one are to the right of the card. They really can be either end. Then it was down to the decoration. As this is like a concertina folded card, I ended up covering all of the panels on both sides. My choice but not totally necessary. The deer paper is from the Peaceful Prints DSP from Saleabration. I added the stag and the doe over another half of the deer on the papers.  The mesh panel on the inside right of the card is from the called Gingerbread and Peppermint Memories and More card pack. There really are some gorgeous cards in that pack!

 I hope you have been found some ideas for your own cards this week. Please do let Cary or me know if you have made something based on our ideas as we would always love to see or hear about them. 

For more information on the products that I have used this week, please follow the link HERE and it will open up in a new page. It will at first take you to the Peaceful Deer stamp set and punch but you can have a really good browse around there without being pestered. 

If you live in the UK, please shop with us and we would love for you to join our Stampin' team of demonstrators too. We have a really great diverse bunch of people. They are all wonderful.

 

 

Above and below is the front of the card which has been joined using the beautiful Real Red Sheer Ribbon. 

 

Above is the front of the 4 x 5cm panels that you would see on opening the card.

Below is the 4 x 5cm wide panels as you would see on the reverse of the card. I haven't as yet decorated them but may do in the days to come.

 

 Above is the left hand inside main panel and below is the right hand panel.

 

 Above is the last panel which could act as a message panel and below is the stamp set and the punch which goes with the leaping deer.

 

 Below is the instructions for the panel layouts of the card. I hope the instructions are clear enough and that I don't confuse you too much.

 

Above is the large main panel of the card and below is the extension of the card.

 

Thank you for stopping by this week to see my creations. I do hope that you have some inspiration to make your own projects as a result. 

 

Cary will return on Monday with some of her amazing creations to show you so please stop by. 

 

Until I return in a week, please take care, stay safe and well but most of all....

KEEP ON CRAFTING :) 

😍😍😍

Throwback Thursday - Peaceful Deer

Today's card is another of the technique type of card that I always love to make. Using Peaceful Deer stamp set, I have matted and layered this card once or twice! I started with a Deep Gray card base called Basic Gray then added a soft, silvery grey in the Smoky Slate. On top of that, I added the gorgeous piece of Double Sided Paper or Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! The papers are called Peaceful Place. They are all shades of grey, black and white and on one of the sides are silver foiled patterns and designs. They are simply stunning. Well worth buying. Please click HERE for the link to see these stunning papers.

Then I started with the deer. I stamped several of them using the Memento Ink pad and coloured them in using the Ivory Stampin' Blends. I also added a strip of the gorgeous sparkly silver mesh ribbon. 

The disc for the message is made up of 2 silver foiled circles and 2 smoky slate circles. It was fun trying to get them all in different sizes but I managed it!

 

Watercolour Wednesday - Peaceful Deer

 Today's card is one that I had great fun making. a little fiddly but it was great fun to make. I started with a piece of White card and took a large acrylic block and stamped it onto the soft blue of Balmy Blue. This enabled me to get lots of ink onto the block. Using the large waterbrush in the set, I dropped a few drops of water onto the ink on the block....picking up the ink with the brush I literally spread it from the outside of the white card mat to the centre from left to right and repeated it until I had the colour that I was happy with. Yes, I could have used a piece of Balmy Blue card, but there wasn't any mixed texture showing on the mat which I have now.

For more information on the products that I used on this card, please click on the link HERE and it will open a new page for you. 

 

I took a piece of the Stampin' Up! white velvet paper and cut to half a C6 mat then ripped the edges of it to soften it and make it into the background. Stamping the deer and trees onto scrap white card then using Stampin' Blends, I coloured them in. 

Yes, it had to be done. I fussy cut the trees and deer. I then fixed them onto the card using dimensionals to add more texture. A piece of the cotton ribbon and a message inside and out completes this card.