heat embossing

Snowflake Kisses

Hello once again. The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge has finished their summer break and we start another challenge. The theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas’. Here is my card:

The blue star background was created using a new product from Uniko. An ink and flip stencil. I did have to watch YouTube videos made by the owner – Bev – to get my head around it.

I used one shade of blue Distress Oxide, and by flipping the stencil and ink blending again, you get the different tones, and the snowflake shape. I still have no idea how it works – but it does. There are a few of the ink and flip stencils on the web site, and I did buy a couple of them, so I’ll be playing with them at some point.

Once the background snowflake was done, I decided to heat emboss some snowflakes on top. I did make sure the inked panel was completely dry before doing this, of course.

I randomly stamped the snowflakes in the background – no rhyme or reason – and used a silver embossing powder.

The snowflake panel was cut with Gina K Master Layouts, a black layer added, and then adhered to the card base.

The foiled sentiment was also layered with black, and adhered flat to the panel.

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas themed creations. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Peace On Earth – anything goes Christmas

Daring Cardmakers – Christmas in July

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Creative Fingers – anything goes

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Crafty Gals Corner – anything goes – option of Christmas taken

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Christmas (or not) Bingo – the column – free/rectangle/stenciling

Christmas Lantern

Hello once again everyone. ABC Christmas Challenge has reached the letters ‘L’ and ‘M’. The themes this time round are:

L is for Lanterns

and

M is for Music

Here is my card for the Lantern theme:

This card was made from the products received as part of the Pinkfresh Studio ‘Create and Connect’ February 2024 virtual event.

The background panel was created using a stitched panel, and glued down to the card base.

I then die cut the frame out of gold glitter card stock, adding it with 3D foam so I could tuck some elements beneath it.

The lantern and foliage were stamped and gold heat embossed, and then ink blended using the matching layering stencils.

A gold foiled sentiment then added to complete the card.

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas creations following one or both of our two themes. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Love To Craft – anything goes

Mix It Up – anything goes – option of inlaid die cut not taken

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Craft Rocket – no designer paper

Sparkles Forum Christmas – Christmas and use dies

MAWTT – early Christmas

Stencil Fun – use stencils – option of birthday not taken

The Magic of Baubles….

Hello – after a little hiatus, the Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge is back with a new challenge. The theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas‘. Here is my card:

I used a stamp and stencil set for the baubles – heat embossing the outline with gold, then using the matching stencils to colour them in. I wanted a soft look to them, as I knew I was going to add quite a bit of gold.

Once the baubles were coloured and die cut, I also heat embossed, coloured, and die cut the foliage, adding some shading the the leaves by varying the pressure when blending.

The background is a piercing cover plater, and added the frame with some strategically placed foam strips. I then added the foliage and the baubles, tucking them into the frame, and lastly added the heat embossed sentiment.

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas creations. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Cut It Up – die cuts – add a sentiment

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Ellibelle’s Corner – anything goes

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Floral Birthday

Hello once again. Billie A is hosting the new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz, and she has chosen the theme of ‘use some green‘. Here is my card:

I stamped this image from Pinkfresh Studio using a lighter brown ink so it had a soft outline. Once this was dry, I then used all the layering stencils and ink blending to colour the images.

I then die cut this panel to allow for a green layer on the white card base.

Once layered, I added some iridescent gems to the centre of the flowers, and a white heat embossed sentiment.

I hope you can come and join us with your projects which include green. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Beautiful Blossoms – flowers – optional mood board

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Here Is A Place To Start – anything goes – option of squares not taken

Stencil Fun – anything goes with stencils – option of Easter/Spring not taken

Merry & Bright

Hello all. I had some time to play to create using a stencil and die set I have had for a few weeks – if not months – to create this card:

The stencil and die set are from Waffle Flower, and I used the colours from the current Color Throwdown Challenge. This took a little creative thinking, but I am pleased with the result.

There are four layering stencils, and I chose an aqua blue and darker blue from Pinkfresh Studio, a light brown Distress Ink, and decided to gold heat emboss some of the elements.

This did involve using some of the stencils a couple of times for the different layers, and masking some of the smaller parts off.

I remembered to ensure the ink was dry before trying to heat emboss, and to apply the embossing ink through the stencil I used a dedicated blending brush. This is a technique learned during a previous virtual event – and it works a treat, especially for those little dots – just use the brush, the embossing ink, and pounce through the stencil……

Once gold heat embossed, I used the matching postage die, matted it with a black layer, then added it to a top folding A2 card base.

The sentiment is a hot foiled and die cut one from a previous hot foiling session.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Color Throwdown – blue, aqua, gold

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – use dies

Peace On Earth – anything goes Christmas

Mix It Up – anything goes – option of stamping not taken

Make My Monday – Christmas tree or forest tree

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

We Love to Create – anything goes mixed media (heat embossing, ink for blending, hot foiling)

Creative Artiste Mixed Media – anything goes mixed media (heat embossing, ink blending, hot foiling)

Stencilled Floral Birthday

Hello. I have created a card using some Taylored Expressions products from the March 2023 Crop & Create:

The background stems are stamped and heat embossed with brass embossing powder.

I then used each of the four stencils to ink blend the flowers and leaves using a light yellow and a light orange ink from Pinkfresh Studio.

The layer for the darkest part of the flowers are on one stencil, but I used an itty bitty blender brush – also from Pinkfresh Studio – and blended a darker orange and a darker yellow onto the respective flowers. This wasn’t as daunting as you may think – those teeny tiny blending brushes worked a treat.

I then cut down the panel and mounted onto a white card base, adding the heat embossed sentiment – layered three times for extra thickness – and added some green gems which has some gold on them. I think these are from Spellbinders, and another virtual event – but I may be wrong…..

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Color Throwdown – orange, yellow, green

The Flower Challenge – anything goes with flowers

Pinspirational – birthday and orange

Stencil Fun – use a stencil, option to use orange taken

Beautiful Blossoms – anything goes with flowers

Crafters Café – flowers

Slimline Holly Christmas

The ABC Christmas Challenge has reached the letters ‘U‘ and ‘V‘. We want to see you Christmas/festive creations with the themes of ‘U for Use It Up’ and/or ‘V for Vertical‘. Here is my card:

Onto a black slimline card base I placed a piece of black glitter card, added a white frame, then a narrower black frame.

The holly was die cut from a piece of card created when playing with some techniques. I used a green mica spray and when that was dry, I stamped with a red rubber stamp and heat embossed in gold. You can see the detail of the gold heat embossing here:

I then used a slimline holly die from Sue Wilson, and arranged as you see – some hanging over the edge. That did take a while to adhere to the black glitter card, but I put something heavy on top and left it overnight.

I wanted a sentiment which would stand out from the background but not take over from the holly and the glitter background, so chose a gold foiled sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio.

I resisted adding even more bling with sequins as I think this card has enough shine and shimmer.

I hope you can come and join us with our Christmas/Festive projects following our themes. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Love To Craft – anything goes

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Christmas Bingo – 3 items from one column – ‘B’ column – black/free/no stamping

Sparkles Forum Christmas Challenge – Christmas flowers/foliage

Christmas Florals

Hello again. The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge has started a new challenge. As always, the theme is ‘anything goes Christmas’. Here is my card:

For the main images, I used an older Concord & 9th stamp set, and heat embossed in gold. I then Distress pencils to colour the image, and added some gold marker to the berries for more detail.

I then used the matching outline die to cut it out, and layered this image onto the black panel to ensure it stood out, then onto a white card base.

I die cut the ‘merry’ with gold card stock, and layered that a couple of times with black – a little off-set.

I hope you can come and join us and add to your Christmas stash – I look forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms – anything goes with flowers/florals

Love To Craft – anything goes

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Mix It Up Challenge – anything goes – option of aperture not taken

Crafting Happiness – anything goes

Hope Your Birthday Is On Point…

Hello once again. The Alphabet Challenge has reached the letter ‘H’ and Billie has chosen the theme of ‘H is for Humour’. Here is my card:

I decided to use a Tim Holtz die set to create the cactus, and Concord & 9th card stock in various shades of pink. I made the flowers more colourful for some contrast.

The background was created using a Clearly Besotted stencil and Lost Shadow Distress Oxide.

This was attached to a grey slimline card base, and the cactus attached with 3D foam.

I found some pink heart embellishments in my stash and added them around the heat embossed sentiment.

I hope you can come and join us with your humorous creations. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

MMM Challenge – birthday

Addicted To Stamps and More – die cuts and/or stencils

A Perfect Time To Craft – anything goes

Crafting Happiness – anything goes

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Mix It Up Challenge – anything goes – option of aperture not taken

You’re So Sweet……

Hello there. I have created a slimline card to share:

I used Pinkfresh Studio ‘Fruitalicious‘ washi tape and matching die for the images. I received them as part of a Pinkfresh event quite a while ago, and still have loads of the washi left.

I adhered the washi to some white card, then die cut with the matching die.

The background triple aperture layer was created using a slimline die from Pinkfresh, and the gold scalloped border from a Time 4 Tea Designs die set.

Once they were adhered to the card base, I stamped and gold heat embossed the sentiment, die cut with the matching die, and adhered to the centre circle.

I then played with the arrangement of the fruit washi images, and adhered them with 3D foam and/or glue, tucking some under the gold border.