SHC - Christmas in July 3 ....

... Wow! Summer has finally arrived, it's been baking here in North Wales. And I've been continuing with my theme of Christmas in July for my Seven Hills Craft blog post. I have three more cards to share with you today. Here's the first:

Stamps: Altenew - Majestic Mistletoe, Beautiful Inside, Warm Blessings

Inks: Gina K - Innocent Pink, Dusty Rose, Key Lime, Jelly Bean Green, Grass Green, Christmas Pine; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax Set 2 #9

Accessories: SU Card - Shaded Spruce; White Card

I'm submitting this card to Cardz 4 Galz - C4Glz#151 where the theme is Christmas in July - check!!

This card started out as a one-layer card. I used my MISTI to stamp the multi-layer mistletoe leaves in shades of green at the corners of the card. One of the leaves has spaces for berries, so I added them with pink inks. I then filled in the gaps with the smaller mistletoe leaf and some berry images in pink. I stamped the greeting in the centre of the card. I then decided to use a stitch edged die to cut out the panel and adhered it to the front of an A2 dark green note card. Inside the card, I used the stitch edge die to cut a piece of white card onto which I stamped a scripty greeting and a verse in black ink. I also added another small mistletoe leaf in green ink.

My next card is cleaner and simpler and has a non-traditional colour theme:

Stamps: Altenew - Majestic Mistletoe, Beautiful Inside, Warm Blessings; Concord & 9th - Mistletoe Messages

Inks: Gina K - Peach Bellini, Tangerine Twist, Sea Glass, Turquoise Sea, Tranquil Teal

Dies: Gina K - Master Layout 2

Accessories: SU Card - Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo; White Card

I'm submitting this card to Sunday Stamps Challenge - SSC#261 where they have these gorgeous colours, and to Less is More - LIM#447 where their theme is Christmas in July.

I used the MISTI to stamp the multi-layer mistletoe leaf and berries. I used shades of teal and orange for a non-traditional look. I used a stitch edged die to cut out the panel and adhered it to a mat layer of dark teal card. I finished the panel by stamping the word 'noel' in bright orange. I adhered the whole panel in the centre of a side opening A2 light teal card. Inside the card, I cut a mat layer of dark teal card and on the white panel I stamped another mistletoe leaf, along with a scripty greeting and a verse in black ink.

My last card features a big bunch of mistletoe leaves:

Stamps: Altenew - Majestic Mistletoe, Beautiful Inside, Warm Blessings; Concord & 9th - Mistletoe Messages

Inks: Gina K - Dusty Rose, Red Velvet, Key Lime, Jelly Bean Green, Sea Glass, Ocean Mist; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax Set 2 #9; C&9 Mistletoe Messages

Accessories: SU Card - Pool Party, Island Indigo; White Card; Vellum; C&9 - Summer Glitter Pack Lime Green; Red Glitter Card

I'm submitting this card to Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies - HLSAGD#07 - where the theme is Anything Goes.

I started by making a top folding A2 white note card. I stamped a selection of mistletoe leaves, berry branches and small poinsettia over the front to make my own background. I then used a stitch edged die to cut out a piece of vellum which I adhered over the front of the card. I used the large mistletoe leaf die to cut three pieces - dark teal, light aqua and lime green glitter card. I adhered these pieces to the front of the car. I finished the front by adding a red glitter bow and a greeting which I adhered with dimensional pads. Inside the card, I cut a piece of dark teal card for the mat layer and on the white panel I stamped a leaf and scripty greeting.

That's another three cards ready for Christmas. I'm really enjoying making these cards.

When this post goes live, we will be at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park. My mum loves flower shows and, as we're now back in the UK and things are opening up, we thought it would be a great day out. That's all for now. See you soon.

SHC - Shine Like a Diamond ....

... Good morning! I hope everyone is well and coping with all the changes in lockdown regulations. Here in Wales, we still have to stay at home - but that might change next week! So I've been making good use of all my at-home time. I got a new stamp set from Altenew - Shine Like a Diamond - it's fabulous and I've stamped so many different backgrounds with it. Here's my first card:

Stamps: Altenew - Shine Like a Diamond
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Tim Holtz Water colour Card; Zig Clean Colour Brushes; Clear and White Embossing Powder; Vellum; Gems

I'm submitting this card to Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - HLSWC#06 where it's anything goes with the option of layers, done!

I stamped the large geometric background on white watercolour card using Versamark and heat embossed with white powder. I then covered the image with plain water and added a rainbow of colours to create the gradient background. Once dry, I cut the panel to size. On a strip of vellum I stamped the greeting in black Versafine ink and heat embossed with a clear powder. I wrapped the vellum strip around the rainbow panel and adhered the whole lot to a black mat panel, and attached it to a card. I finished the front by adding some gems. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel I stamped a greeting which completed the sentiment. I also added a strip of the watercolour card.

My next card is being submitted to Inkspirational - INK#215 where they have a photo for inspiration. I took the colours yellow and grey for my card.

Stamps: Altenew - Shine Like a Diamond; Concord & 9th - Shine On
Inks: Versamark; Gina K - Jet Black Amalgam, Wild Dandelion, Lemon Drop
Dies: C&9 - Shine On
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Grey Granite, Basic Grey, Crushed Curry; Silver Embossing Powder; Vellum; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush; Copic Markers; Sakura Stardust Pen; Glossy Accents

I used my MISTI for this card. I stamped the background image in pale grey ink, took it out and coloured with Copic markers and a Sakura Stardust glitter pen. I repositioned the image, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with silver powder. I cut the panel to fit a side opening 5½" x 4¼ grey card. I made the 'shine' embellishment by adhering two of the diecut shine words, covered with shimmer and glossy accents and layered them onto the vellum shadow. I attached it to the front of the card and finished with a simple sentiment on a white strip. On the inside, I cut another white panel onto which I stamped a greeting and some diamond shapes.

My last two cards have a Christmas theme:

Stamps: Altenew - Shine Like a Diamond, Majestic Mistletoe; Concord & 9th - Joyful Noel
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Fruitcake; Gina K - Jet Black Amalgam, Sandy Beach
Dies: C&9 - Joyful Noel
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Basic Black

I'm submitting the Noel card to Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - HLSXMAS#06 where it's Anything Goes, and the Joy card to Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies - HLSAGD#06.

I stamped the geometric background using Kaleidacolor's Fruitcake pad - I think this works perfectly for festive cards. I used Concord & 9th's Joyful Noel dies to cut out the wreath and letters, and used them to make both cards. The background of the Noel card was made using the text image from Joyful Noel, while the leaves on the Joy card came from Majestic Mistletoe. I kept the inside of each card reasonably simple:

Thanks so much for sticking around to the end of the post. That's all from me today. Take care and I'll see you soon.

Making Spirits Bright ....

... Morning! I hope you've all had a good weekend. We've had a good one - stayed in for most of the time as it's been really cold, but at least no fresh snow!! I was in my craft room finishing off some much needed Christmas cards. I got this idea from the wonderfully talented Jennifer McGuire - thank you!! I made a card last week for another challenge using the Concord & 9th Christmas Cheer turnabout stamp and I had such fun with it, that I made some more:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Christmas Cheer Turnabout; Altenew - Majestic Mistletoe
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx; Distress Oxide - Salty Ocean, Candied Apple, Lucky Clover, Wilted Violet
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Shimer Spritz - Frost; Signo White Pen

I used distress oxide inks to stamp the image, using lovely bright colours and lightly spritzed with a shimmer spray. I added a touch of white pen to highlight some areas. I cut the panel into two and adhered on part to the top of a white card, and the other part to the bottom. I finished each card by adding a greeting in black. I have left the inside of these cards blank for my own messages. I'm submitting the cards to a few challenges - Happy Little Stamper Christmas challenge - HLSXMAS#12, City Crafter's Challenge Blog - CCCB#392, and to CAS on Friday - CASOF#123.

It's Kat's last week at school - she's so looking forward to her Christmas break. I've got a busy week to get us all ready for our trip back to the UK. It'll be so nice to see the family. That's all for now! Bye!

Layering stamps ....

..... Hi, good afternoon! Today is simply flying by. I've been busy tidying in my craft room - seem to be doing that a lot at the moment!! However, I did find time to play with some of my new stamps from Altenew. I've made a very clean, simple sympathy card:

Stamps: Altenew - Majestic Mistletoe, Heartfelt Sentiments
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx, Christmas Pine, Fresh Asparagus, Jelly Bean Green, Applemint, Lemon Drop
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Gina K Card - Fresh Asparagus

I'm submitting this card to Less is More - LIM#352 where they want to see Stamp Layering, and also to Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#181 where the theme is Sympathy/Thinking of You/Remembrance. I need a few more sympathy cards for my stash and I always find it easier to make them in advance of actually needing them!

This is about as easy as it gets. I started by stamping the sentiment in black. Next, I built up the layers of this lovely mistletoe branch - so easy in my MISTI. Actually, it would be easy even without the MISTI, the stamps are so easy to line up. I used several shades of green to make the leaves and the berries are made from lemon, pale green, and black. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark green card and stamped another branch and greeting on the white panel.

That's all for now.