Starry Stag

Merry Christmas!  I hope it was a fabulous one for you.

My last card for 2019 ..... where on earth did this year go to?  It's been a hectic year, that's for sure (either that or I'm way older than I think I am!) 😂

I hand cut star shapes from white card to make the base for today's card, then cut out different sized stars from the Cozy Winter 6 x 6 Paper Pack from Whimsy Stamps.  The colours are so pretty.  I layered the stars up with foam tape and added the stag from the Forest Majesty Die Set.

I added some handmade paper poinsettias and some die cut and copic coloured leaves from the Christmas Branch Die set, and finished it off with a sentiment from my most used sentiment stamp set - Holiday Mini Sentiments.

I'll be back on the 1st January with the newest Whimsy Stamps release.  Until then, Happy New Year, I hope 2020 brings health, peace and happiness.

Whimsy Stamps products used:

Cozy Winter 6 x 6 Paper Pack

Forest Majesty Die Set

Christmas Branch Die set

Holiday Mini Sentiments

Polar Bear's Christmas Tree

Ah man, when I saw this stamp Polar Bear's Christmas Tree (both in rubber and digital formats)  I fell hook, line and sinker.  I mean, will you just look at that FACE!!

I immediately thought icy blues with a touch of lilac and this card practically made itself.  I sketched in a horizon after stamping and masking out the bear, then coloured the snow.  I masked off the horizon and snow and then inked the sky using Distress Oxides in Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass and Faded Jeans.  Once the sky was dry I drew in some tiny stars, shooting stars and dotted the white gel pen for even smaller stars.  For a girl who only ever used patterned paper I am LOVING making my own backgrounds!

I die cute the image panel with the Zig Zag Stitched Rectangles Die Set.

I used the following copic markers for to colour the image:

Bear: BV21, E41, 40, 0000, C9, 5 (** see note below on the inspiration for the bear's colours)

Foliage: BG78, G99, G94, YG67, white Gelly Roll pen

Star: Y28, YR23, Y15, Y11

Bauble: R46, 35,14

Snow C1, 0, 00, BV21, BG0000, Blender Pen

  (** The colours of the bear are totally inspired by Elaine Hughes (Marker Geek on You Tube) - I could spend days watching her videos, they are just that good.)

I finished off with a snowflake border die and a computer generated sentiment as well as a few clear sequins.

Tweety Pies on Ice ❄️

Something a bit different from me today, just blending and colouring and a bit of die cutting.  I really need to make more cards like this, I love the clean/icy look!

I started off by pressing Versamark ink through the Twinkle Stencil then heat embossed with white EP.  I shaded the sky with a soft blend of Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide.  I also did this to the layers of snow banks die cut from the Stitched Border Trio Dies and the tree/house scene from the Mountain Majesty Die Set.  I layered them on to the background with foam tape for a bit of dimension and added glitter in places for some bling.

I coloured the die cut trees from the Evergreen Trees Die Set then coloured them with copic markers - BG78, 75, G0000. then added some glitter to the lightest parts.  I just love the shape of these trees, and colouring them with copics just takes them to a whole other level.

I wanted a small pop of colour and the Tweety Pie Stamp Set fit the bill.  Aren't those birdies just the sweetest?

I used copic markers again - W1, 0, 00 and E41, 40, W0 for the birds and YG63, 03, R35, R32 and YR16 to colour them.  I added some detail with a white gel pen because .... polka dot boots!  Just saying.

I added some die cut snowflakes and added a tiny touch of bling in the centres.

I finished off with a computer generated sentiment.  I wanted something small but with a bit of pop so did a negative print again for the white on black look.

Victorian flowers - no line colouring with copics

I've only ever attempted no line colouring once, on this card, and that was with pencils.  Trust me to pick a busy image to try this technique out with copic markers. I was a little intimidated at first .... all those petals .... but by breaking it down to one petal at a time it ended up being really easy to colour.  And, I love how it turned out.  

I stamped out the Floral Oval stamp from Whimsy Stamps with Ink on 3 Fade Out ink and coloured with the following copic colours:

R46, R27, R24, R32; YG67, YG63, YG03, YR23, Y11

I also coloured the holly leaves from the Christmas Branch die set with the same greens I used on the image.  I've done this before on my previous card and think it makes the die cut leaves look fab, definitely worth the few extra minutes it takes.  The white leaves are frm the same die set.

The poinsettia flowers are handmade from paper using the Lily Flower die set that I first coloured with distress inks and watercolours to get the shade that matched the coloured flowers.  Once everything was adhered in place I added some crushed glass glitter to the flowers and leaves, some Platinum Stickles to the border of the top layer and some pearls.  

The sentiment is a digi one from the Christmas Sentiments set, and the papers are Prima from a few years ago.

And now I'm off to hit the shops to do some Christmas shopping, gulp.  Wish me luck!

Ellie's Snowman

Back to my frilly and foo-foo cards with this cute new Ellie's Snowman stamp from the latest release by Whimsy Stamps.  Isn't it just too skinking cute?

I used the delish papers from the 6 x 6 Cozy Winter Paper Pack and coloured the image with copic markers, picking out some of the colours in the papers.

Ellie: C3, 1, 0, 00; R30

Snowman and snow: BG10, 0000

Red: R37, 35, 83

Green: YG67, 63, 03

Hat: C9, 7, 5

I added a sentiment from the Christmas Ellie-ments clear stamp set and finished off with some poinsettias that I made from a piece of the aqua cardstock and the Lily Flower Die Set.  I used a copic marker to draw in the veining on the flowers before wetting and shaping them.  I also tried something different with the holly leaves from the Christmas Branch Die Set, I die cut them from white cardstock and coloured/shaded them with my copic markers to give a more realistic effect.  I LOVE how these turned out, well worth the extra few minutes they took.

Products used from Whimsy Stamps:

Ellie's Snowman

6 x 6 Cozy Winter Paper Pack 

Christmas Ellie-ments clear stamp set

Lily Flower Die Set

Christmas Branch Die Set

Stained Glass Ornaments

Wow, where has this year gone?  It's the last release from Whimsy Stamps for 2019, starting with this phenomenal Stained Glass Ornaments Rubber Stamp.  Oh man, I loved every second I spent colouring this beauty, I really did!

I stamped the panel in my Misti with antique linen ink, then coloured the card using my copic markers.  I started with the background, and kept that in warm grey tones so the baubles would really pop.  Once I'd finished colouring I popped the panel back into the Misti and over stamped with embossing ink then applied gold detail embossing powder and heat embossed.  That way I didn't spoil the gold embossing with my copics when I got carried away (and I definitely do haha).

Copic colours used:

Background: W3, W1, W0, W00

Red: R59, RV25, R35

Copper: E37, E08, E97, E21 (Colour combo from Jennifer Dove's Color of the Day) 

Gold: Y28, YR23, Y15, Y11

Green: YG67, YG63, YG03

I'll be back tomorrow with another card from the new release.