Penny Black - Hidden Lane

All three of the cards below were made using the Penny Black Hidden Lane stamp as the background.  Two were on the same card stock with the middle one being stamped on a piece of paper from my stash.  The ink I used was Staz On Stone Gray.  I do not normally use Staz On ink but I did not have any other suitable grey ink and I felt the Staz On worked well in this instance.

The stamp used on the card above is from the set Hobby Art Stamp Horses coloured in using aqua pencil crayons and a blender pen.  The head collar green is done with a Spica glitter pen.  Santa hat is from a Cottage Cutz die and, yes, I know the horse should have a rug on out in the snow but this is how the stamp came.  Will have to see if I can paper piece on a rug next time I use this stamp in a winter setting !

Lili of the Vally sentiment (I think as it is not named)

Snowman is from the Penny Black Jolly Follies set coloured in using aqua pencil crayons and a blender pen.

Cottage Cutz - Old Fashioned Phone

Thought this would make a good birthday card for my brother.  We often chat on the phone and I thought this was more of a masculine card.

The telephone is a Cottage Cutz die called Old Fashioned Phone, the background papers are from my extensive Creative Memories stash and the sentiment is from the Lili of the Valley Simply Sophisticated set.  I also used Distress inks for the shading on the die cuts.

Art Impressions - Up, Up and Away

This is a stamp I have had for a long time and never used.  I do love Art Impressions stamps as they are so different.

The background to this card is from a Stampin Up Designer Series pad called Welcome Neighbour.  I stamped the Art Impressions Up, Up and Away stamp onto watercolour paper and coloured it in using an aqua painter and Distress inks.  The sentiment is a Lili of the Valley one from the set called Sentiment tags.

Gift box using One Sheet Box technique

For the one sheet box technique I went onto Splitcoast Stampers to have a look at the tutorial and get the scoring measurements.  I did adapt the measurements as my sheet of card stock was a slightly  different size.  I would recommend you use a sheet of normal printer paper first to practice on.

All the paper used was from my stash.  On the pink background I used a Martha Stewart border punch Doily Lace Edge.  The apron is a die from Marianne D called Apron and the ribbon used is a Stampin Up one.  On the reverse side of the box I used MFT Gift Card Pocket Vertical, inserted a Hero Arts Long & Cute tag and embellished the outside with a sentiment from Lili of the Valley die cut with a Spellbinders Circle.

When using the box as a gift I intend popping in 2 small glass jars with either homemade spice mixes or jams.

Internet gift wrap

It is DH's birthday and part of his birthday gift is a 1 day art course which I booked online.  The problem was how to package it so I printed out the course details, found an A4 patterned paper (I would have used gift wrap paper but could not find any in my stash) and, laying down the patterned paper first then the sheet I had printed out, proceeded to roll it up.

I then walked around the house trying to remember if we had any elastic bands - you get rid of so many items when you move countries  most of which you find you need months later.  Eventually, I decided to go the string route and topped it with a large Ellison Tags Scallop die complete with a Lili of the Valley Set 61 Quotables Celebrate sentiment.  The tag I found in my stash and suspect it was one I had experimented on using Distress inks.

Lili of the Valley - Sprinkled with Sugar

This is a rather cute stamp from Lili of the Valley.  I stamped the image onto watercolour paper using black Archival Ink and coloured it in using a variety of markers, Distress inks, Stampin Up crayons and Liquid Pearls mixed with water (on the icing sugar box).  For the most part I used an aquabrush with the colouring in.  I then sponged Antique Linen Distress ink around the edge and popped it onto a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis rectangle.

The background paper is Creative Memories and I think the sentiment is from a Hero Arts set - not certain on that.  The sentiment is on a Spellbinders Ribbon Banners die.

Square Envelope made from Template

I don't think I have ever made an envelope first then the card to suit it.  I wanted to try an idea with my new envelope templates and thought I would make a birthday card for my niece later. 

This is a 5" square envelope decorated on the front using a Spellbinders Labels 21and a Magnolia Doohickey Leaf & Swirl die for the flourish.  The name was cut out using a Cuttlebug alphabet.

On the back of the envelope I used the same Magnolia die to cut out the flourish and backed it with gold vellum.  The seal is a stamp from Lili of the Valley called Mixed Circular Sentiments.

Lili of the Valley - Feathered Friends

I keep on asking myself why I am attracted to images with lots of colouring in especially when I struggle to match colours.  Anyway, I stamped this dear LOTV image onto watercolour paper and used a combination of Aquamarkers, Marvy Le Plume II, Stampin Up and Tombow makers plus a SU blender pen.  I also used Copics (very carefully) for the faces and little girl's legs.  I find if I stamp the image and leave it for a couple of days it is easier to use the Copics.

The Spellbinders die used to frame the stamp is Wonky Rectangles edged with Antique Linen Distress ink.  It is a new die for me and I think one which I will get a lot of use out of.  Behind that is a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Rectangle matted on Xmas paper.  The Poinsettia is a Magnolia die on which I edged the petals with a gold pen and the leaves are from a Cottage Cutz die called Holly Berry Mini.  The sentiment is from a Clear Dollar set called Charlie Reindeer Games and it was stamped onto a Go Kreate Concentric Tag.