In the sun (by Maria)

Hello everybody,

I have made some more samples with some of the small stamps from the Spring Birds multi-buy rubber stamp set, and I hope you like them.

To make these cards I first covered  the top and bottom of the card with post-it's. I cut out a small circle from another post-it and placed it where I wanted the sun to be. I took some inks: Adirondack Eggplant, Memento Grape Jelly, Mustard Seed Distress Ink and Ripe Persimmon, and with some brushes and some of the inks I started to create the sky. When I had finished creating the sky I took away the circle post-it and with some Mustard Seed Distress Ink and Ripe Persimmon and the negative side of sun post-it I coloured it! Then I stamped my flowers and with some bleach I took away some of the colours from the flowers and when everything was dry, I coloured them in with some alcoholic markers.

Then I stamped my sentiment with some Versafine ink, and with a very fine black marker I placed some black lines above and below the sky. I hope you like my samples and have fun creating some of your own.

Greetings,
Maria

In the early morning (by Maria)

 Hello everyone, these Spring stamps are so lovely, I especially love the bird stamps, aren't they sweet?

Here some samples from me, a bit dark with these blue and brown colours but it's to show you some pictures early in the morning, just before the sun comes up. I hope you like them!

I made my backgrounds with my favorite Dylusions. I took some blue and brown and put some salt on some areas of the card. I let everything dry and then stamped my images with Versafine Onyx black ink. With some bleach and a very small paint brush I removed the colours from the design. With some watercolour paint I painted the image again with the colours I wanted. Then I took some Tyvek envelopes, cut out some triangles and coloured them in with Distress Inks in the colours of the Dylusions Ink. I took my iron and placed it for a few seconds on the Tyvek to have these beautiful shapes.

I placed the card on some cardstock, arranged my Tyvek underneath it and glued it under my card as you can see on the samples.

I hope you like my cards, and I really hope you will try it one day, these stamps are so beautiful, you really need to have them, I'm sure.

Have a nice spring time!
Greetings,
Maria

Spring bird Daffodil and Spring bird Crocus (by Maria)

Hey everybody! Here some more samples with the Spring stamps:

To make this card I took the two small flower stamps from the new Spring Birds multi-buy stamp sets and on kraft paper I have stamped them the way I like them to be, using black ink.
I coloured them with pencils, in yellow, orange and some greens. I took a smaller piece of kraft paper, stamped the flowers once and coloured them again. In the middle I placed my "Thank you". I put some   dragonfly embellishments next to each flower, and placed some orange ribbon at the top and bottom of this piece of card.  I placed the small card with some 3D foam pads underneath on my main card. I placed everything on my black cardstock.

This card I made with some Brusho. I used a white card (14cm x 9cm). I just took a very tiny bit of Brusho, spread some water on it and dried it with my heat tool.
Then I cut out an oval of white card, I stamped my tulips on it and coloured them in with some watercolour markers. Then again I took a tiny, tiny bit of Brusho to colour the oval card. You do not need to spread too much water because the flowers can 't be touched by the water! I've placed a orange bow with a glue pad
on the tulips.
I placed my card again on a black cardstock card as usual, (15cm x 11cm).

Have a lot of fun with your stamp sets!
Maria.

Springtime Flowers on Kraft (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a couple of cards to show you today using the Spring Birds multi-buy stamp set. These stamps are so versatile and you can use them to make cards suitable for occasions across the year, which hopefully my first card will demonstrate.

I hand cut a circle from the front of a kraft card blank, by drawing around a circular die with a pencil as a guide. I then stamped the small motif using Versamark and white embossing powder around the edge. TIP: I stamped the four main points,  top, bottom, left and right, as if I was making a clock, to start. Then I filled the rest of the spaces in afterwards, it was much easier that way.

I stamped the flower image seven times, starting at the bottom, masking them as I went along, so that I did not stamp over the previous one. I then used a couple of sprig stamps from the Briar Rose Butterfly/Harebell Butterfly multi-buy stamp set, which I coloured with water based markers. I stamped these a couple of times, before re-inking so that some of the images are less defined, giving the impression of the images being in the background. I added a couple of butterflies, and coloured all of my images with waterbased markers and a waterbrush. Finally, I stuck the card behind the circle aperture.

My second card uses a piece of scrap card left over from another project. When I was colouring some seam binding recently, I used some watercolour paper to mop up the excess moisture from the ribbon, and the background on this card is the result. It provides a perfect match to the ribbon that I have added to the card.

I stamped the tulips onto the card, masking one set, before adding the second. I then stamped two rows of the small motif along the top and bottom of the background using black ink. I also added a sentiment from the stamp set, before matting the background onto black card. I stamped the tulip images onto spare card, and coloured them using watercolour pencils. I cut them out and added them to the card.

I stamped two rows of another small motif onto orange vellum, using Versamark and white embossing powder to create a lacy border effect. I cut this out, and attached it to my panel, before sticking the panel to a kraft card blank.

I hope that I have given you some inspiration for using these lovely stamps, particularly some of the smaller motifs, which are often overlooked on a stamp plate. They make great borders and edges for your cards. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Spring Birds (posted by Judith)

Hello everyone, I would like to show you some cards made using the Spring Birds multibuy stamp set. These stamps are perfect for this time of year, as our thoughts are turning towards the Spring time, and the warmer weather.

I started my first card by making a wrinkle free distress background; placing some Distress Stains onto a craft mat, and spritzing them with water. I also spritzed a piece of watercolour paper with water and then placed it onto the craft mat, ensuring that the paper was covered with colour. I dried the paper with a heat gun, and then patted it randomly onto the droplets of colour left on my craft mat, creating a second layer of colour on the background. I also dried this with the heat gun.

 I stamped some dog roses and a bird from the Pretty Birdcage stamp set along with a bird taken from the Spring birds stamp set onto the background. I masked the main dog roses before adding the birds and extra roses. I coloured the images with pencils. I added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set to finish.

I decided to create an easel card for my second project, and if you would like the full instructions for the assembly, you can check out the details on My Blog. I stamped the Leafy Trails Big Bold Background stamp twice onto plain card, and coloured this with waterbased markers. I edged the card with Distress Ink.

I die cut two circles, and whilst the dies were still in place, I added some colour with Distress Ink. Once I had removed the dies, I then stamped the bird image onto the larger circle, and a sentiment from the Amazing Birthday stamp set onto the smaller circle. I hand cut the mounts for the circles, by drawing around the dies onto some card left over from the easel card. Some toning ribbon completed the card.

   

My Design Team mates have been very busy this month making some beautiful projects with these stamps, so be sure to keep checking back to see what they have made. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx