Snowy Cottage (posted by Claire)

Good morning and Happy Boxing Day everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas break and now the big day is done hopefully we'll all have time to relax and enjoy some crafting time.

For my project today I've made a Christmas card using one of my favourite stamps, this one is 'Snowy Cottage'. I stamped the image onto glossy card using Black Memento Ink, the glossy card gives a lovely crisp image and is perfect for brayering. I masked the moon and brayered the sky using a dark blue dye ink. Next I added some shadows by misting the blue ink on my  brayer with water and applying the diluted ink with a paint brush. I added a little dark green to the trees and bushes and then lots of glitter. I used a white pen to add some falling snow. I die cut an aperture in a linen card blank and outlined it with a black pen and to finish off I stamped the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting, keep checking back as my teamies have lots of inspiration for you 

Claire xx

When is a Winter Church not a Winter Church? (by Lesley)

For my post today I want to show the versatility of one of our latest individual clear stamps, Winter Church. When this stamp was launched at the end of July, alongside Snowy Cottage, Glenda designed two beautiful samples which showcased both stamps all set for the festive season. As you can see here, a change of colours and 'Hey Presto' it's Summer!

 

Stamp the image using Versafine Vintage Sepia onto a piece of A6 watercolour paper. Sepia gives a less harsh outline, which especially useful for watercolours. Colour with Aquamarkers by scribbling on an acrylic block and picking up the ink with a water brush. This allows you to blend from strong to pale wash shades. Aternatively, use water colour pencils/paints or whatever medium you feel comfortable with..  As this is meant to be summer, paint over the bare tree branches to give the illusion of foliage.  Colour wash the sky and extend the areas either side of the image to make a complete picture. Tip: Allow each colour to dry before starting with the next to avoid 'bleed'

When all the watercolours have dried thoroughly use coloured pencils to add shading and definition, plus a white pencil to bring out subtle highlights. Take as much or little time on this process as you want; it can be very therapeutic.

Once finished you have a unique watercolour painting that you can either mat and layer onto cardstock or mount in a frame to display in your home. Better still give as a gift for something a little different.

(This is a cheap wooden frame that I have colour tinted)

 

I'm thinking that I may make three more of these, change the colours and have the four seasons.

Please keep checking in to see the girls' wonderful interpretations of the Thistle Butterfly and Honeysuckle Butterfly sets; as always they have managed to come up with some inspiring creations.

Have a butterfly ball with our August Stamps of the Month

Well here we are at the end of July ready to launch brand new stamps for August and this month we have two gorgeous A5 sets. First there is Thistle Butterfly

then we have Honeysuckle Butterfly,

and, of course, our usual money saving multi-buy.

Both sets are packed with stunning botanical images and fluttery butterflies and will have you grabbing your inkpads and colouring mediums in an instant. Those keen eyed stampers amongst you will notice that these are a wonderful complement to our Briar Rose and Harebell Butterfly stamps. So don't forget to visit this blog regularly as I know you will be blown away by the wonderful samples that the Design Team girls have come up with. And here is some beautiful artwork from Glenda using the Honeysuckle Butterfly

 Aren't those colours dreamy?

We are also releasing two individual clear stamps today. Snowy Cottage and Winter Church are available as singles or a multi-buy

These beautifully detailed stamps are a good size and could easily be the focal point on your Christmas cards, thus allowing quick and easy batch card making. You just need to add a sentiment from our Christmas Magic set and you're done. And the versatility of these stamps means that if you change colours you have images that can be used all year round. That church would be gorgeous for a wedding card wouldn't it? Glenda has produced some more stunning cards with these little beauties, I think the Scottish air is really working on her creative mojo!

To find out how Glenda made all three of these fabulous samples please keep checking out her blog, where she will be giving you more details about them.

Ok folks, have fun and enjoy our new stamps and all the inspiring artwork that is to follow.