Blue and Gold Snowflakes by Glenda

Here's a simple and quick card with the Snowflake Shadow background.  I stamped with Majestic Blue Versafine onto a pale blue card and embossed with holographic embossing powder (trust me on that, the photo doesn't show it at all).  The greeting is from Gothic Angels and is stamped in the same ink onto a strip of card that I then used a large corner rounder on.

I added some gold stickles to the snowflakes and a snowflake embellishment to the centre of one.  I found some gold glitter card in my stash so used that behind the background and sentiment, added a piece of ribbon (which I have been hoarding for about 10 years) and layered the whole thing onto an old gold 7 inch card.

If I was doing this again, I don't think I'd bother embossing the background stamp, the colour combination is striking enough and the stickles and glitter card adds enough bling to be eye catching.  Leaving out the embossing would speed up production of a batch of these too.

How are you getting on with your Christmas card making?

Different Christmas colours by Miranda

Hi there,

It's strange to work on the Christmas designs while the Summer is very hot here....but I've enjoyed working with these stamps, they are beautiful and the Big bold backgrounds are very versatile to use. You can use them with more difficult stamping techniques but also with very simple and quick ones. Glenda has already showed them in the Monday Mojo which can give you much inspiration.

Here is the first one, I've used Distress inks and Distress markers.(Bundled sage-Forest Moss-Tattered rose-Victorian Velvet and a bit of dried Marigold)

First I've used the Big bold shadow snowflake background with the acrylic bloc technique (look at the Monday Mojo post) with Distress inks and water misting on aquarel paper. After drying I've used the Big Bold Outline snowflake background partially and coloured them with colour pencils.

I've coloured the ribbon with the same colours. The angel is from the Gothic angels sheet and has been coloured with Distress markers and blending with water. 

The 2nd card is more simple, only using the same background and technique and adding some fibers, an embellisment and the word Noel.

Hope to have inspired you and keep watching the DT blog for more inspirations!

creative greet

Miranda

Blue angel (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with my first sample using the gorgeous new Christmas stamps. As its been so hot, I went for a cool blue colour palette for this card which uses the Snowflake Shadow Big bold background stamp and one of the beautiful angels from Gothic Angels

I created the background by applying shades of blue distress inks to Southfield pearlescent card, I really love the delicate sparkle of this cardstock for Christmas projects. I stamped the Snowflake Shadow with versamark and embossed with white embossing powder before matting on some dark blue card.

I stamped the angel on some smooth white card with versamark and again embossed with white sparkly embossing powder, die cut with a bauble die and applied distress inks around the edge. I stamped the angel again in Memento tuxedo black and coloured her with Graph'It markers, cut her out and popped her up on the bauble with silicone glue. I added some tiny gems to her jewellery.

Hope you're getting in the mood for starting those Christmas cards,  if not I'm sure all the beautiful artwork from my teamies will help you get in the festive crafting spirit

Claire xx

Christmas already?

I know it's hard to think about the season of snowflakes and festive cheer when there's a heatwave outside, but like all businesses, we have to think ahead. We have customers who make cards to sell, who design for magazines or who simply want to be organised enough to have all their hand made cards finished in time to relax and enjoy what Christmas is really all about.

So we always launch a range of Christmas stamps around the middle of the year to meet those needs and we have a beautiful selection for you this year.  First up is Gothic Angels.

Click on the image for more details

You absolutely loved the Big Bold Background stamps we launched earlier this year, so I'm delighted to launch these beautiful Christmas versions.  You'll see we have four different snowflake variations, baubles, holly and poinsettia.  You can save money by buying them as pairs as shown below, but they are also available individually.  Click here to see all the options.

Each bold background measures 14cm x 14cm (about 5 and a half inches) and they are stunning enough to use on their own or with just a simple greeting.  You will need a 6x6 inch acrylic block for best results and I recommend Cling-a-ling with large stamps as it helps to even out the pressure and minimise the risk of accidentally printing inky bits of background rubber.

The cards below are simply stamped onto 12.5cm square cards with Versafine. 

And of course they combine really well with our other Christmas designs.  The card below features a greeting from Christmas Cheer.

 

Then we have the simply stunning Gothic Angels which is already proving to be a big hit with the girls on the Design Team. You can read more about how I created this tag over on my own blog glendawaterworth.com.

So, I hope you like these and as always, keep an eye out for the beautiful artwork coming up from the rest of the Design Team.

Wild Purple Rose (by Clare)

Hello, everyone!  I hope you are well, and warm!

Here's a card made with the new Chocolate Baroque stamps, Wild Rose Sprig, Big Bold Background Belle Flowers and the Words of Gratitude set. Very detailed, yet very easy to use.  You'll love 'em!

I heat embossed the Belle Flower background in white, then sponged some ink over the flowers. Thanks for stopping by!  Take care, and Happy Stamping!

Leafy Brocade and some recycling (posted by Claire)

Good morning everyone, Claire here with a project featuring one of the beautiful new Big Bold Bacnkground stamps, Leafy Brocade and some recycling

I began by dry brushing gold paint on some corrugated cardboard. My next layer was created by stamping the Leafy Brocade stamp on acetate with black stazon and layering that up over some textured card coloured with the scrummy paints from the Vintaj Patina 'Weathered Copper' set and attaching with some brads.

The large flower was made by cutting open a pop can and die cutting the metal with my tattered florals die, I used the same paints to colour the metal and the button in the centre. I also stamped with the gorgeous Leafy brocade background stamp. I curled the petals and layered them up over a flower i'd cut from a scrap of black funky foam. This was the first time I'd made one of these flowers and although the metal is very sharp when you cut the can, its not too bad once it has been die cut. I've added some ribbon and lace from my stash and a couple of flourishes, die cut with a Dienamics Flourish die. Here's another pic to show the dimension of the flower:

I used ranger memo pins glued into the top of the wall hanging and some chain from my stash to create the hanger

I hope you're enjoying the new stamps, as you can see I had a lot of fun with them

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

An Indian Theme (posted by Elaine)

I have always loved the richness of the damask themed Chocolate Baroque stamps, so the big bold background stamps are right up my street!

I used four shades of metallic EP for this background in shades of green, teal and blue. I then shaded with Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire Distress inks. I added the fan from the Paisley Elephant plate, one of my all time favourite CB sets. This was embossed and inked, with highlights added with pencils. I added little gems, flower sequins around the edge and a little elephant charm in the centre.

The flowers are made from sari ribbon, stiched into flowers with beaded centres. I saw a textile supplier at the NEC trade show recently, using the ribbon in this way and felt inspired to get out my needle and thread and have a go myself!

I made another similarly embossed and shaded card with this stamp, this time in a green colour scheme.

You can read my recipe for this card over on my own blog here.

There is plenty more inspiration coming from my DT team mates very soon!

Elaine

Stamp of the Month - Going LARGE!

In more ways than one we're going LARGE with this month's new stamps.  I'd like to introduce you to the Big Bold Backgrounds - each one is a hefty 14 x 14 cm - that's 5.5 inches, otherwise known as huge.

They are all available as individual stamps, but as you can see, we are doing a super duper multi-buy on all six - click here for details.

They are also available as multi-buy pairs too if you don't want all six - click on any of the images below for details of that multi-buy, or visit our New Stamps this Month department to see them all.

Then we go from one extreme to the other with some petite and decorative little clear stamps with a fresh spring feel to them.

I've been running around after broken down cars this week and haven't had much time to create, but I did manage this card with the Leafy Trails.

I coloured the leaves with inktense pencils, the sentiment is from Fly Away with Me and the butterfly is from Butterfly Poppy Collage.  I also used Wild Meadow to create a faint image behind the text (which appears darker on the photograph for some reason).  I used the new Ornate Scroll clear stamp with Archival Sap Green to create the border around the edge of the white card.

Now we really couldn't choose a single stamp of the month from all those big bold backgrounds, so guess what?  All six are on special offer this month so you can pick and choose.

Have a great weekend!