Hello

Another Bugaboo image from my latest digi stash acquisition.  I kept the rest of the card simple. I think it works. (?)

A nice change to make a non-Christmas card :-)

Gingerbread man

A couple of weeks ago I won a few Bugaboo images from the Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge.  I couldn't resist printing 6 of the 7 off immediately (would have printed off all 7 but they wouldn't have fit on the paper in one go!).  Thought I would use this gingerbread man one for a card to enter into the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge.

I seem to have a bad habit of using the 'wrong' colours (or pink for male images like this and vice versa).  I guess I just don't like gender stereotyping! (a good excuse at any rate ;-))

 

Something a bit different

Mum asked me to do a scrapbook for a special family friend who is 60 in January.  The only problem is that I don't have any photos, so I suggested we make it a joint project- I would do the arty stuff and she could do the photos.  I have been playing around with mixed media lately and decided to decorate the pages like I would prepare an art journal page.  I have done about half of the scrapbook and now it is in Mum's hands to do some of her side of the project!
Since gesso-ing and painting gets a bit messy I have only used one side of the pages and stuck alternate ones together, back to back.  I punched a shape out of the top and made this into a little pocket with another sheet of paper inside (hence all the ribbon loops you can see).
First double page (credit card gesso and acrylic background, stencilling in white, paint splats and stamping):

 More of the same, with a different colour scheme:

 And more again.... (also added spray of fireworks mica ink to each of the pages for shimmer)

 Went for baby wipe application of paint and gesso on this one:

 Actually a double page spread but only shown half:  This is a simple gesso background, spray and stamping:

 I played around on this background and melted oil pastels!  Next stamping with acrylic paint and finally with black Stazon.

 Put my water colours to the test here (gesso primer and then stamped in StazOn before colouring):

 Acrylics applied with a brush in spirals with stencilling, spraying and stamping on top:

 Same again, but this time striped rather than spirals for the first layer:

 Back to the credit card method:

 Tried to accentuate the texture on this by stamping with my wood effect stamp:

 And finally just lots of stamping and a few paints splats on a gesso-ed background:

 

Teenie Reindeer II

This time I used two images from the DigiStamp Boutique teenie reindeer set.  I know they are probably more male (Rudolf for instance), but somehow this card ended up very pink!  The layout is from the current Mojo Monday challenge.

 

Bert again!

Another card featuring the DigiStamp Boutique Bert character.  This time I have followed the current RetroSketches layout.

PS. did you see my card was chosen as a rock star for challenge 187?  I was very chuffed :-) 

Christmas Bert

I didn't have much of a play with this DigiStamp Boutique Christmas set last year and so thought I would print it off again.  This is the first 'Bert' card I made.  It follows the current Sketch Saturday layout.

 

Teenie Reindeer I

I made a little card for this little fellow.  The image is from DigiStamp Boutique and the card follows this weeks Sketch Saturday layout.

Lots of glitter ;-) 

A pressie for youuuu!

A found this DigiStamp Boutique image on my hard drive the other day and printed him off. Seem to be making quite a few Christmas cards at the moment!

 

Pengiun garland

Using the second image in the DigiStamp Boutique Christmas garland set I made this card.

Like last night's version, this card also follows the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday layout.

Santa garland

I have been looking through my digis and falling in love with some (a lot) of the images for a second time.  Not sure I made many cards last year with the DigiStamp Boutique Christmas garland duo set and so printed it off again. This is the first card, using the Santa version of the image.  I have used the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday layout on this card.

 

Christmas Sid

There are some cute new Christmas images at DigiStamp Boutique at the moment.  I got this one as part of the Pip and Sid set (the Pip image was used on a card published on my blog on Sunday).  This card follows the current Mojo Monday sketch.

 

Second 50th card

As promised, this is the second birthday card I made for a cousin who is 50 at the end of the month.  Like yesterday's card I have also used a DigiStamp Boutique image and added the number '50' in tiny gems.  The card follows the current Retrosketches layout.

 

First 50th card

I made two cards for a cousin's 50th birthday the other day and this is the first of them (the second will be on my blog tomorrow).  I thought I would make a couple and then Mum would have a choice in which one she wanted to give later in the month.
For this card I have used a DigiStamp Boutique Alistair image and this weeks Sketch Saturday layout.

 

Arty ATC

I saw this quote on Facebook on 5th November and liked it.  There are some good quotes around (and bad ones) but it has made me think that I should try and remember the good ones and do some art journaling.  This is an ATC made from some of the background paper I decorated a couple of weeks ago now.  The image is an old digi from Pollycraft (I was thinking scientist making fireworks and explosions in chemistry if you think the image is a bit random for the quote!).

 

Teenie Reindeer

There are lots of 'teenie' sets available from DigiStamp Boutique at the moment and I thought I would test out the reindeers.  Really pleased with the way this card turned out.  Tried my best not to go over the top and I think it worked!

 

Christmas Pip

This is a new image from DigiStamp Boutique that I bought last weekend.  I have used the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday layout on this card.

Yet more 'arty' Christmas cards!

Another two cards I made from some mixed media backgrounds.  I went for a main image paper pieced from an old book page again, highlighted in a neutral colour with a Promarker.  The layouts are simple, as not to detract from the backgrounds.

 

Girls just want to have fun

This is the third canvas I have made (spread over a few months) using one of Clare Llyod's PaperArtsy girls.  I just love this image in particular.

 I started with some texture paste (aka polyfiller) through a stencil.  Next came gesso and acrylic paints (applied with a babywipe).  I added a bit of sparkle with a spritz of Fireworks ink and then stamped in acrylic (white and pink) and charcoal ink.  And, oh yes, I splashed some yellow paint around too (much more difficult to get it to 'splash' than I thought!).

 The background stamps are also from PaperArtsy and designed by Clare.  The main image was coloured with Promarkers.

 

Express delivery!

I saw this in a flyer from Hobbycraft a few months ago and decided I wanted a little project to do while my parents were away.  The truck looked perfect for my friends two sons.
After ALOT of paint and many, many hours, my little truck is almost ready for delivery (the all important little gifts just have to be bought and added).

 

Shining Star

Trying something a little different, I went way out of my comfort zone to make this card.  The background is mainly washi tape and a spritz of Fireworks ink.  I added a sentiment from Clare Llyod's Paperartsy stamps and the embellishment is a diecut topped with a snowflake gem.

The card follows this weeks RetroSketches layout. 

25th December

While I have run out of ink in my printer (more has been ordered and is on its way!) I have been playing with making a few more 'arty' cards using some backgrounds I prepared last week (as you can see from my blog the last two days).
This is another.

The card follows the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday layout.

 

Merry and Bright

This is the second card I made using one of the mixed media backgrounds I prepared last week.  Again, I stamped the image on a book page and paper pieced it together with the bauble stamped on a different background paper.  I have used Clare Llyod's PaperArtsy Christmas stamps in the background, along with the sentiment.

The card follows this weeks Sketch Saturday layout. 

Christmas Fairy

I as playing around last week making some 'arty' backgrounds (acrylics, wet wipe, inks, stamps...).  I decided to make this one into a mixed media card.  The image was stamped on an old book page, cut out, stuck on and coloured.  The Christmas tree 'backing paper' is actually part of an old cereal packet covered in washi tape!

Ok, she didn't end up quite as I had in my mind's eye but it is all a learning curve and I enjoyed making the card.

A smaller batch...

...well, is it a 'batch' when it is only two cards (and really the only thing they have in common is the same stamps)??

 

Batch making

After admitting the other day that I had only made one Christmas card so far this year I thought I'd best make a few.  (Rest assured though that I have *boxes* of them I made in previous years which I didn't need and so strictly I don't *need* to make any this year.  But.... why not add to the supply for future years and an excellent reason to give my Christmas stamps, papers and digis an airing.)
Hence, I used sketch 355 from a past Sketch Saturday challenge and made four cards.