Surprise for Liz!

At the start of the month when we launched our Christmas stamps, I did make a passing reference at the end of the post to a giveaway.  I may have been too subtle because not many people responded, but we do have a winner.

Congratulations to Liz who wins one of the new Christmas stamp sets.

liz 19 August 2012 16:59

 

Hi Christmas is not a good time for me - my husband left me with three very small children and I could never afford much for presents. However now I've got grandchildren and a good job, I am trying hard to make it special again. I used to love Christmas when I was young with the presents round the tree and the excitement of what was in them. I was always the 'postman' and my children and grandchildren have carried on the tradition. I think tradition is the best thing about Christmas - that and giving. x

Hope our little prize makes the run up to Christmas a bit more fun too Liz.  Please can you get in touch with your details and we'll get your prize out to you.

 

Winter Cottage by Debbie

For this card I worked on smooth card rather than glossy. The image is stamped with black memento so it could be coloured with alcohol pens.

I stamped again onto a post it note for a mask and applied. I brayered the sky with Stormy Sky distress ink then added dots of white with an Inkssentials pen for snow and edged around the branches. The cottage, trees and bushes were coloured with pens. To finish I layered and added to a square card that has been stamped with the snowflakes. Debbie

Christmas Gifts by Debbie

I'm sure when we all know the feeling that when we have new stamps ideas flow, well I knew these stamps would really work well with bright colours.

I coloured the parcels with a mix of Copics and Flexmarkers, cut out and matted onto silver mirri card then trimmed around it.

For the background I used Salty Ocean Distress Ink with the snowflake (mistletoe) from the Gift of Christmas Stamps. A gem was added to the centre of the flakes and to finish I put on the sentiment. Thanks for visiting. Debbie

Blue Christmas (by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with another Christmas project using stamps from 'The Gift of Christmas', this time with a cool blue colour palette. 

The snowflake background was a quick and easy one using Chipped Sapphire distress ink to stamp the snowflakes onto white card and then using tumbled glass and a little more chipped sapphire around the edges. The next layer was made using a mask, embossed with my cuttlebug and distressed using the same distress inks, this time with the addition of a little broken china distress ink too. 

To create the focal image I inked the snowflake stamp up with all three colours of  distress ink and stamped onto some white card, die cut the shape and then triple embossed. I added a sprinkle of clear holographic embossing powder to the middle layer of embossing powder, this gives a beautiful shimmer. Its hard to capture in a photo but hopefully you can see it a little better in this photo

I've matted the triple embossed image on another die cut shape, this time inked with chipped sapphire distress ink and added some beautiful periwinkle Maya road ribbon and added some tiny dots of stickles for some extra sparkle

Thanks for visiting today, 

I hope you're getting some inspiration to make a start on your Christmas projects

Claire xx

Christmas Candle (posted by Claire)

Hello, today's card is a very traditional Christmas card using one of the beautiful new stamps from 'The Gift of Christmas'

The backing paper is from Seasons Greetings CD and the image is stamped on kraft cardstock and coloured with Derwent Coloursoft pencils. I've added some glossy accents to the baubles and tiny dots with a pearl ben for the mistletoe berries. You can see the image a bit more clearly in this pic

To finish the card off I've added some ribbon and a couple of die cut pine cones

Thanks for popping by, have a great weekend

Claire xx

Waiting Patiently for Christmas (by Debbie)

I love the idea that this christmas tree will stay intact and upright when the owner takes their eyes off the pets for a moment. I have alot of friends who are animal lovers and I'm sure they will love this image.

I decided I wanted the tree green, the dog and cat different colours. I coloured the stamp with Distress Markers, black soot, forest moss and walnut stain. Remember to huff on the stamp. I used water and a brush to shade the tree and it also gives the animals a more defined colour. I rubbed the edges with Antique Linen and mounted onto brown card. The background paper is from the Seasons Greetings CD and over stamped with the mistletoe flake. The Design Team have been busy so stop by again for more beautiful cards. Debbie

Christmas Cheer (posted by Claire)

Hi there, it seems a bit strange thinking about cold winter evenings in summer but isn't it bliss to close the curtains and sit in front of the fire on a cold dark evening? This beautiful cottage image from 'The Gift of Christmas' made me think of those cosy evenings in front of the fire

I've created the background with black PanPastel and used the same mask to add the background to the stamped image. I've coloured the image with promarkers and added stickles to light up the Christmas tree and lots of glitter to give the snow a frosty sparkle. I used a white gel pen to add some snow to the night sky. The sentiment is from the same themeplace.

Thanks for visiting today, I hope you're getting lots of ideas for your Christmas cards

Claire xx

Deer at sunset (posted by Elaine)

I love silhouette stamps, so this deer image from the new Christmas Creatures stamp plate was one of the first stamps I had to play with.

I stamped the image in Onyx Black Versafine ink. I masked the image and then used strong Adirondack dye ink colours with my leafy background technique to make the sunset. I then added some transparent glitter to the tree and snow and a couple of amber transparent stars.

I framed the image with gold  and black matts, die cut with arch shaped dies and a gold embossed sentiment.

Thanks for looking and I hope you are enjoying the inspiration from the girls in the design team.

Elaine

Village Gate at Christmas (by Clare)

Hello!  Welcome to Santa's Village Gate!  Come on in! 

These stamps are going to be favorites of mine!  The "gate" is from the Chocolate Baroque Christmas Creatures stamp set, and colored with Copic markers.  I added the stepping stones at the base of the gate.  I found the perfect paper to use in the background, complete with the words to the song, "Oh, Christmas Tree".  I used my sewing machine and added some stitching, a little bit of sheer ribbon and some bling.  The door is brown cardstock run through my die machine with a woodgrain embossing folder.  It just makes me want some snow to go with it, some cookies, and a jolly fat man!  (I have that in my darling husband!)

A Festive Bookshelf (by Debbie)

I look forward to the summer holidays as I usually start my Christmas cards and this year I've decided quickly which stamps I'll use for my own cards that I'll be sending out. The bookshelf stamp colours so well and is so detailed.

I stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and embossed with Clear Wow powder. The colouring is done with a mix of Copic and Promarker Pens. The edges have been softened with Antique Linen Distress Ink and I left the Die in place so it kept a white edge. I layered onto red, cut the base card and folded to make an easel card. Thanks for stopping by and if you leave a comment Thank you. Debbie

Mistletoe pearls (posted by Elaine)

I love to work in clean colours and there is nothing better than crisp white and green for a Christmas card. These mistletoe stamps are from the lovely new Pears and Baubles rubber A4 plate

I stamped and heat embossed the mistletoe image four times, watercoloured them with Forest Moss distress marker, carefully cut them out, cut some into pieces and made them into a nice shaped bunch. I added pearls of different sizes for the berries. I mounted them onto an oval panel, with a green scalloped backing. This was mounted onto a dry embossed white snowflake panel. I finally added a sentiment embossed in silver detail powder, mounted with green and white gingham ribbon and matted onto more dark green for definition.

Elaine

Gingham gift set (posted by Claire)

Hi there, I love kraft with red and white for Christmas projects and thought I'd showcase the beautiful snowflakes from 'Gift Of Christmas' for this project

It was a very quick and easy project, the snowflakes were stamped on to kraft card with versamark and embossed with white EP, I stamped the 'Christmas Cheer' Sentiment in red and then added little dots of red stickles and left it to dry. I matted on some red card, adding gingham ribbon and popped it on a kraft card blank.

I did the same for the tag, this time stamping 'A gift for you' and then recycled some brown wrapping paper by stamping the snowflake with white stazon and adding some stickles

I do love spending ages on projects but there isn't always time particularly at Christams so its good to be able to make a quick card or two.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you're enjoying all the beautiful artwork from the DT

Claire xx

Clean and Simple quick card for Christmas (posted by Judith)

As I was making some of the cards using these new stamps, I was considering the ever rising postage costs. Lots of the cards that I make these days are either large, or very dimensional. So I decided to make a smaller, flatter card for this sample. I chose to use the pile of gifts from the 'Gift of Christmas' stamp plate, which fits onto a DL sized card really well. I stamped the image onto a piece of white card slightly smaller than the finished card, and embossed the image with clear embossing powder. I coloured the image with H2Os in a vibrant red and gold, using a waterbrush. I stamped the matching sentiment underneath the image.

I used a co-ordinating mat of red and black card to finish.

This card would be great for making batch cards in your favourite colour scheme.

Keep popping back to see what my Design Team mates have created using these fabulous stamps. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Gift Tower (by Clare)

Hello, all of you Chocolate fans out there!  Welcome!

It's never to early to start thinking about Christmas, and this is one stamp set that really inspired me to start thinking about what could be in those gifts (or what I should put in them)!  I had fun coloring them and imagining what could be in them, and whether or not they were for me, or if I was giving them to someone else.  I prefer to think about what I could be putting in them for others. 

I found some Christmas paper from a DCWV Christmas stack in my stash, and it was perfect with the presents and snowflakes on it.  All of the designs went together well - the spots, stripes, swirls, solids, plaids, and they were glittered up with Spica Pens, after coloring with Stampin' Up and Copic markers.  The gift tower and the "A Gift for You" sentiment are from Chocolate Baroque's new stamp set, The Gift of Christmas, released this month.  You can see the whole set below my sample.

I hope you're inspired!

Christmas Spirit (posted by Claire)

Hi there, I'm really enjoying working with the fabulous new Christmas stamps, and I couldn't resist using this beautiful silhouette and tree stamp from The Gift of Christmas to make an altered bottle

Here's another photo to try and show the detail a little better.

It was a really easy project to make and hopefully will make a Christmas decoration with a difference, If you'd like to know more, pop over to my blog

Thanks for visiting, I hope our projects are getting you in the Christmas Spirit

Claire xx

Tri-fold Pastel Scene (posted by Judith)

Well it seems a little bit strange to be looking ahead to Christmas with the lovely weather that we are having at the moment. However, it is a pleasure to work with the lovely new stamp sets that are now available on the website. My sample uses a large gate stamp from the Christmas Creatures stamp plate, which I have stamped onto a 5" x 7" card. I masked the image, using Eclipse masking tape, and created a background using Pan Pastels. I used a second card the same size, and stamped a house from the New England Winter stamp plate onto the opposite side of this card, so that it would face the first image. I also masked this image, as before, and created a background with Pan Pastels. I then watercoloured both images with Distress markers and a waterbrush, adding more colour to the images directly with the pens for shading, and drawing it out with the waterbrush, until I was happy with the finish.

I cut the aperture out of the centre of the gate, added some gems to the large tree and some glitter to represent some snow.

I added some smaller gems to the tree on the second picture and more glitter.

I had quite a limited colour selection of blue Pan Pastels, so I put white Pan Pastel over my card first, so that the blue did not appear too dark. It gives quite a Wintery feel to the sky as well, I think.

I then trimmed a little piece from the inner edges of each card, and stuck the two cards together.

So now you can see the house through the arch of the gateway. Keep checking back to see the lovely samples that my Design Team mates have made with these stamps over the coming days. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Getting ready for Christmas

I know it's far too early for many people, myself included if I'm honest, but we have just launched two fantastic Christmas stamp sets.  If you are one of the many who make cards for yourself, for charity or school fundraising, or even to sell, then you will be all too aware that you can never start too soon.

I hope these delicious designs give your creativity a boost and get you in the mood for some Christmas crafting.

First up we have Christmas Creatures. When I first revealed this on our weekly chat, there were choruses of "ooh, the owls" from which I infer that owls are as popular as ever!  I've just sent off a lovely card to Craft Stamper magazine featuring stamps from this set, which I hope they will publish this autumn.

Then we have  The Gift of Christmas, a very versatile set - especially the tower of gifts which is deliberately designed to be usable all year round and would work for birthdays and with the right colours you could possibly turn it into a wedding cake rather than a pile of gifts.

And of course, we love to make sure you have the chance of a bargain, so both of these sets are priced at Stamp of the Month introductory prices (for trade too) and there's a super duper multi-buy deal in our Stamp Promotions department.

(All these introductory prices go up on September 1st, so don't miss out.)


The card featured above has been coloured with Copics and Promarkers and sits on one of our printable downloads from the Spirit of Christmas collection.

And talking of Christmas Spirit, here's a flashback to 2007 when we had a bit of fun at one of our open days!

If that doesn't bring a smile to your face, then perhaps our little giveaway will.  Just leave a comment and tell us what the true meaning of Christmas is for you.

PS - it brings a huge smile to my face - that last picture really shows how much weight I've lost - woohoo!

'Let the sun shine with the sunny flowers' (by Miranda)

Hi there,

Here is my first creation with the 'Sunny flowers' sheet of Chocolate Baroque. Those flowers and leaves are really smashing , aren't they?

I've used the Tim Holtz doily die and embossed the flowers with WOW brass emboss.powder and coloured with waterbased markers. I've made an inlay with Basic Grey paper, stamped and masked it with the sunny flowers and coloured with the Derwent pencils, still my favorite colour pencil. I have some other brands like Polychromos and Prisma Colours and Bruijnzeel but still keep reaching out for my Derwent Soft colours next to the former Karisma's. I think they are softer, richer......and better with blending and creating layers
here from some different angles.....

And here a creation which I did not finished yet......but just showing you the results of my play with these great stamps, some crafters too templates......and distress inks

Sunny Flowers Chocolate Baroque