Christmas cards

I have been on a stamping hiatus for quite a while. My hobbies seem to have changed as happens to many. But this lovely stamp has never had the kiss of ink and I thought I would like to make some cards with it. Here are a couple of quick pics of the cards that I made using the Holly stamp from the Stampsmith. Have a wonderful Christmas.

Lucy Vacation Book

I submitted this ages ago to Stampington and now that it has been returned, thought I would share it with you. This book uses images from the Stampsmith Lucy plate and I thought it would be fun to see if I could turn them into a story.
















Hope you enjoyed the trip.


The images were stamped on glossy cardstock, and coloured with water based markers applied by paintbrush.

Cupid

This card uses a wonderful image from the Stampsmith. The image is coloured with waterbased markers, used as paint. The heart was cut with a cuttlebug die in my Wizard. The word phrase is done with a dymo label maker. Does Cupid have you in sight?

Blessed

These images are from the Blessed Are plate of stamps from the Stampsmith. I am fascinated by the different art interpretations of the Madonna and child image and in the case of the first picture, of Joseph. These stamps make wonderful cards for friends of faith. All are stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock, and coloured with water based markers used as paint. The metallic background for the blue madonna was done using a gold paper, run through a cuttlebug folder and coloured with alcohol inks. I like to keep these fairly simple, with few embellishments to make the main image pop. It also makes them easier to mail.

Supplies used - Stampsmith stamps, cuttlebug folder, wizard, distress inks, alcohol inks, various cardstocks and fancy papers

Who we are

This card uses an image from the Stampsmith. It is stamped on glossy cardstock, coloured with waterbased markers used as paint. All the mounting layers and the edge of the image are distressed with vintage photo distress ink. The phrase is computer generated. I wish it wasn't so true for so many.

Supplies used- Stampsmith stamp, distress inks, various papers and cardstocks

Star card

For those of us who enjoy the hunt for new craft supplies, I thought this might be a fun card. Both the Betty Davis image and Joan Crawford quote are from the Stampsmith. Rumour has it that they were not the best of friends, so I don't think they would really have quoted one another, but since this is my card, I get to ignore that detail. I also chose to give Bette brown eyes instead of blue in my card universe. lol She is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock, and coloured with water based markers and chalks. The image is edged with vintage photo distress ink. The phrase is stamped on ivory card, overstamped with a small flourish in teal and grey and mounted with other papers to make a paper ribbon. The image and phrase are mounted onto black cardstock, then decorative paper then onto black and a card base.
For those playing along with the Gingersnap Creations challenges, with the opportunity to win a stamp from the Stampsmith, good luck!


Supplies used: Bette and phrase stamps from the Stampsmith, small flourish Inque Boutique, waterbased markers, chalks, glossy cardstock, various cardstocks and papers, brads, inks

Bling

The current Gingersnaps Creations challenge is to use bling. This Stampsmith image, appropriately named Bling, fits the bill to a tee. She is stamped in Memories black on glossy cardstock, coloured with waterbased markers applied by paintbrush and with chalks. She is mounted on a navy layer, then a white panel coloured with Brilliance inks, direct to paper, then onto a mirrored card layer and finally onto a navy card base. The word phrase is from the Stampsmith as well. I had to play a bit with the camera angle to show the sparkle of the crystal embellishments and the effect of the mirror card.

Supplies used- Stampsmith stamps, mirror card, various cardstocks, Memories black ink, Pearlescent sky blue and Pearlescent purple Brilliance inks, crystals

Pirate Prince

Estelle at the Stampsmith and Gingersnap Creations are teamed up this month, featuring movie stars and with the chance to win a stamp by the Stampsmith on the Gingersnap blog. This card uses the Stampsmith's image of Errol Flynn, the original swashbuckler prince. He is stamped in Memories black on glossy cardstock, and coloured with waterbased markers applied with a paint brush. He is mounted on black card. This is layered onto a scrapbooking paper with a nautical theme, which was aged with distress inks, teal splatter and stamped compass in grey in bottom corner. The pirate quote was computer generated on paper, and distressed. The prince quote is printed onto gold vellum and embossed with detail powder.
What a smile he had!

Supplies used- stamp from the Stampsmith, scrapbooking paper, card stock, waterbased markers, SU splatter stamp, Judikins compass stamp

America's Sweetheart

I really like some of the new pendant dies from Spellbinders and felt that the renaissance heart one would be perfect for this Stampsmith image of Shirley Temple. She is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock and coloured with watercolour markers, used as paint. I cut out 8 of the hearts from the incandescant white paper from the Paper Temptress, airbrushed them with a Copic marker, then applied them to the central pendant. This is mounted on a green parchment panel with dimensionals. I cut the border out of the same incandescant paper, airbrushed it and applied it to the base which was cut with the border. The words were done with vellum in a dymo label maker and accented with Copic marker. The edges are inked to add depth.

Supplies used- Stampsmith stamp, glossy cardstock, waterbased markers, Spellbinders renaissance heart pendant and borderabilities, Copic marker and airbrush, vellum, pearls, all other papers from Paper Temptress, SU dye ink

Road Trip

I really like this image from the Lucy plate from the Stampsmith. I'm sure most of us have memories of similar car trips, with special friends or family. The image is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock and coloured with watercolour markers, applied with a paint brush. The travel scrapbooking paper is aged with vintage photo and walnut stain. The edges of all layers are antiqued with Ranger distress inks in walnut stain, vintage photo and black soot. The word phrases were cut on my Klik N Kut electronic die cutter.

Supplies used- Stampsmith stamp, Memories black ink, glossy cardstock, scrapbooking paper DCWV, various cardstocks, Ranger distress inks, KNK, font used- thwack

3 Versions

These cards show how different the same image (in this case, a Marilyn image from the Stampsmith) can be, depending on the colouring and the presentation of the card. All were stamped with Memories black ink on glossy cardstock. This one has parts of the image coloured with waterbased markers used as paint and with chalks. It is mounted on a scrapbooking paper, a black cardstock layer, then on a purple card base, edged in black ink. The words are done with a dymo label maker (which is unfortunately reflecting the light . It really is smoother than it appears).



This image could have been considered a mistake. It was the first image stamped and the black areas of the dress were a little blotchy. By colouring those areas with marker applied by paintbrush, the dress appears to have a lace top. So before you pitch an imperfect image, play with it and see if colouring it brings a new dimension to it.



This image is very striking on its own and works well in black and white, with small shots of colour. The only areas coloured in the stamped image are the lips and I coloured them lightly. This one is mounted on white, then black with white embossed swirls, then burgundy and onto an off white card.

Supplies used: Marilyn stamp from the Stampsmith, Swirls by Inque Boutique, Memories black ink, waterbased markers, chalks, various papers and cardstocks, ribbon, brad, dymo label maker, distress inks

Lucy birthday card

This image is from the Stampsmith's Lucy plate. I just had to do this one for my girlfriend. Lucy is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock, coloured with water based markers and chalks and mounted on a textured paper. The word phrases were done using green vellum in a dymo label maker.

Supplies used- stamp from the Stampmith, green vellum, dymo label maker, paper, cardstock

Friends cards

Both of these Stampsmith images make great cards for those special girlfriends. The backgrounds on both cards use a variation of Tim Holtz's compressed air and alcohol ink backgrounds. I used Copic marker refills and the airbrush in my version. It is great fun and you never know exactly what you are going to get.

This stamp comes as a single in this size and there is also a smaller version. It is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock and coloured with waterbased markers applied with a paintbrush and with chalks. I outlined both the main image layer and the background one with copic markers. The embossed lines on the bottom of the card were done with a Scor-it and then accented with distress inks. I used a label maker for the phrase.

Additional background stamps are from Oxford Impressions, texture stamp Judikins

This stamp comes from the Those were the Days plate. It is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock, and coloured with waterbased markers and chalks. The blue layer is distressed and edged with distress inks. The label is made with green vellum run through a dymo label maker.

Mesh stamp is from Stampington and Co. Cardstock from SU

The Joy of Making

This card was inspired by a discussion on one of the groups I belong to. So many very talented and creative people have been made to feel second rate and that their work is somehow inferior by unkind comments or by the arbitrary use of labels. One of the group's members signs his name as Owen, Maker of Small Things. When asked about his signature line, he explained that it came out a discussion he had with a friend after a recognized person in his art world told him that he should not consider himself an artist, that he was an illustrator. "But a friend of mine in Wichita, KS gave me a hug, a smile, and some words of wisdom:"Hon, you're a Maker. You make things. It's other people that make them Art." Owen went on to say "She's a Maker, too. She has almost no money at all, so she makes beautiful things out of nearly nothing. Paper, glue, paint and Love. Twigs, autumn leaves, wire and dried flowers from her garden. Cast-offs no one else wants, she turns into beautiful things. She sends me drawings and brightens my world. She makes me proud to be a Maker.
Bottom line: I'm a Maker. I have a driving need to believe, to create, to do. I'll try anything. Who knows where it will lead?"

Owen Wolf - Maker of Small Things
(quotes used with permission from Owen Wolf)

I take great joy in making stuff. I can lose myself for hours during the process. For me, it may be more important than the finished product. That others enjoy what I create is an enormous blessing. I am proud to say that I am a Maker.

Card Details: The main image is from the Ooh Baby plate from The Stampsmith. It is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock and coloured with waterbased markers applied with a paint brush. The spin art background is made with acrylic paints , cut out with a Spellbinders die and edged with a Krylon gold pen. The mesh background stamp is from Stampington and was stamped on the base card using Versamark , the dots are SU and were stamped with green versafine. The white vinyl Joy sticker was made on my KNK electronic diecutter -font is PassionsConflictROB

Another spring card

This spring card features one of the Flapper images from Estelle, the Stampsmith. She is stamped with Memories black on glossy cardstock, and coloured with chalks and watercolour markers used as paint. The flourish from Inque Boutique was stamped onto the background paper with grey Memento ink. The green panel was embossed with a cuttlebug folder. Distress inks were used to edge the card and to make the embossing pop. A pink ribbon and brad finish the card. I love the soft effect the greens and pinks give this card.

Supplies used - flapper stamp the Stampsmith, flourish by Inque Boutique, Memories black ink, Memento ink london fog, waterbased markers, chalks, ribbon, brad, glossy cardstock, various SU cardstocks, cuttlebug folder