Month: December 2020

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!! Although Christmas might have been different this year, I hope it was filled with love, light, and peace!

There have been so many challenges this year, but soon we’ll be leaving 2020 behind. As I write this, there are two approved vaccines for Covid-19, which in itself is a miracle.

This year, I feel that we’ve seen the worst in humanity, but we’ve also seen the best…doctors, nurses, and essential workers who have taken care of us at their own peril; people who have stocked the store shelves, only to be emptied again the next day when the store opened; truck drivers who continuously brought us supplies because they knew they were urgently needed; neighbors who brought food to the elderly or to families who couldn’t leave their homes because of the virus; and countless other amazing people who have selflessly brought us to this point in time.

The Christmas Star appeared in the sky this year, I believe to give us hope for a better future in 2021! A quote in my favorite Cinderella movie (Disney, 2015) says it best. “Be kind, have courage, and always believe in a little magic.”

Materials Used:

• Multifarious Card (Lavinia Stamps)
• Park Lane Paperie, 65#, Solid Core Smooth, Black
• Park Lane Paperie, 110#, White Core Smooth, White
• Lavinia Stamps: Floral Wreath, Red Pine Large, Red Pine Small, Magnus, Wild Hares Set Small, Brodwin and Maylin set, Small Dwellings, Keeping Faith (Tracey Lavinia Dutton is the artist of the Lavinia stamps.)
• Stephanie Barnard ColorBox Dye Ink: Sky
• VersaFine Clair Inks: Nocturne (to ink the stamps); Twilight (around the circle)
• Colourcraft Brusho Crystal Colour: Turquoise
• Tim Holtz Layering Stencil, Rays
• Gel Press Gel Printing Plate, 6” Round
• Speedball Pop-in Soft Rubber Brayer, 4”
• Lavinia Stamps Blender (I really like these blenders!)
• Art Palette with 12 containers with lids
• Picket Fence Studios Life Changing Blender Brushes
• Fan Paintbrush
• Nuvo Gilding Flakes, Radiant Gold
• IndigoBlu FlitterGlu (the adhesive for the gilding flakes)
• Spin IT WeR Memory Keepers, Ice Queen (to add sparkle)
• Stardust Gelly Roll Pen, Sakura, Clear (sparkle)
• Folk Art Glitterific Acrylic Paint, Berry Neon (sparkle)
• Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat
• Tim Holtz Stamp Platform
• Scor-Tape: 3/8”
• Baby Wipes/Paper Towels

Have a wonderful holiday season! Stay safe, be well, and we love you!!!

Diane

I created this card using a Lavinia Stamps stencil and stamps, a gel plate, Distress Oxide, VersaFine Clair inks, and ColorBox Dye inks.

To begin the card, I used a brayer to apply Green Apple and Grape ColorBox inks horizontally on a gel plate; placed a sheet of Multifarious cardstock on top; smoothed it with my fingers; and pulled off the print.

I positioned the Ivy stencil on the print and secured it with Washi tape. Using a Picket Fence Blender Brush, I applied Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide over the entire stencil. (In retrospect, it would have been better to sponge the ink only up to the purple/green circle. When I stamped the foxes, the stencil pattern showed through them. To remedy this, I used a small paintbrush, dabbed it onto the Nocturne VersaFine Clair ink pad, and covered the pattern on them.) Next, I stamped the Lavinia Stamps images using Nocturne Ink.

Next Step: The snow. I made masks out of transparency film for the foxes, the Believe sentiment; and around the circle. This protected those areas from the paint spatter when I took a paintbrush and flicked white acrylic paint over the print to create the snow. (Experience has taught me to protect my craft space when I do this.)

I removed the masks and realized I should have masked the fairy hives because they had disappeared in the snow. My goal wasn’t to make this card look like a Minnesota blizzard, so I stamped the fairy hives on a sheet of paper; cut out the pod parts; and secured them on the cardstock using pieces of 1/8” Scor-Tape and Multi Medium Matte as the adhesive.

To make the grass more dimensionaI, I used a small Picket Fence Blender Brush, along with Morning Mist VersaFine Clair ink, and added some random lines on the grass. I did the same with IndigoBlu FlitterGlu, only with a small paintbrush, and sprinkled WeR Memory Keepers glitter over those areas instead. The picture doesn’t really show it, but I also put some FlitterGlu on the Believe sentiment; then sprinkled Ranger Black Sparkle Embossing Powder on it. A clear Gelly Roll pen added sparkle to the card.

To finish the card, the print was attached to black cardstock, followed by Vineyard Core’dinations cardstock.

Materials Used:

• Multifarious Card (Lavinia Stamps)
• Park Lane Paperie, 65#, Solid Core Smooth, Black
• Core’dinations Cardstock, Vineyard
• Lavinia Stamps: Rufus, Fox Set 1, Fox Set 2, Fairy Hive Set, Floral Wreath Set, Believe, Mini Berry; Lavinia Stamps Stencil, Ivy (Tracey Lavinia Dutton is the artist of the Lavinia stamps and Lavinia stencil.)
• Stephanie Barnard ColorBox Dye Inks: Green Apple and Grape
• Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide: Shaded Lilac
• VersaFine Clair Inks: Nocturne and Morning Mist
• Anita’s Permanent Acrylic Paint, White
• Gel Press Gel Printing Plate, 6” Round
• Speedball Pop-In Soft Rubber Brayer, 4”
• Picket Fence Studios Life Changing Blender Brushes
• Sakura Gelly Roll Pen, Clear
• Sakura Gelly Roll Pen, White and Copic Multi Liner, Black 0.3 (for touch-up)
• IndigoBlu FlitterGlu
• Ranger Embossing Powder, Black Sparkle
• Washi Tape
• Spin IT WeR Memory Keepers Polyester Glitter, White
• Tim Holtz Stamp Platform
• Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat
• Scor-Tape: 1/8″, 3/8”
• Ranger Multi Medium Matte
• Baby Wipes/Paper Towels

Thank you for stopping by my website! Be well, stay safe, and we love you!!!

Diane