I know that Labour Day was only yesterday, but we also know that Christmas is going to be in our face before we get turned around. These cute stacked mittens die is just the right size for an adorable winter card centerpiece. The silver Mirri panel has been embossed with the Frosted Stripes folder. (What you're seeing in the picture is my reflection in the silver Miri while taking the picture.) The mittens can be die cut from any colour and you can always fit in an underlay of a different colour in the openings. In this sample we have used a silver metallic pen to quickly colour in the open spaces left in the die cut. The "Merry Christmas" sticker is lovely and tiny to fit into tight spaces in any card design.  Even though Christmas is only one day out of 365, winter lasts 89 days! This card would be perfect as a winter birthday card, etc. 

There are just a few elements at play in this Happy card. The Balloon Die set from Richard Garay has a wonderful selection of five different sized balloons. The largest balloon is approx. 3" tall and the smallest approx. 3/4" tall. The Happy Die cut has come from the Hero Arts Stamp and Cut set. I love the mixed fonts in this set. This is also where the small "birthday" stamp came from. 

The splatters shown in the card sample is done with the new Distress Oxide inks mixed with some water. The balloon strings were made with a Micron Pigment pen at a .005 nib size. The balloon dies would be a great way to use up your leftover card scraps. The colour combinations are endless. 

Time for Tea

The card has been designed using the tea pot set from Joy Crafts. As an added dimension the die cuts have been embossed to invoke a Victorian feel. Although the background is hard to see, we have used Pearl embossing powder and a Swirl Lace background stamp from Impression Obsession. The background panel was cut into three pieces and affixed to a brown cardstock layer. 

The Tea Party Dies from First Edition is a set of ten pieces including a two tiered dessert stand as well as cupcakes, a slice of cake and a sweet little pennant border which you are not seeing in the photograph. A cup of tea is a perfect way to end your day!

This little garden stamp from Impression Obsession can easily by lined up to make an entire garden if you are looking for a wider image. In this card we have used it as a single stamp and die cut it to a fancy shape. When you are trying to frame a die cut and the border created when you use the next size up is too heavy, you can always use the same size and cut it in half creating a side shadow both left and right.  To create the embossed image on the white layer we used six nesting dies ridge side down to the card and we used a tan embossing mat.  Refer to Jennifer McGuire's Youtube video. Click Here.
The "Get Well Soon" die from Impression Obsession is a lovely size to fit into most of your card designs. We coloured the flowers with Tombow markers and added some glitter for effect. The finishing touches are tiny butterfly stickers from Starform

This is a fun technique card. We used the new Distress Oxide Inks in Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio and Wilted Violet. Using a finger dauber we added areas of colour on the underneath layer. When you cut your die, you will save the waste piece to fit back into the puzzle. This protects all the excess colouring from showing through. White emboss the Magenta Wildflowers on a bright blue layer and add this layer to the right of the card. 

Daisy Delight

We have a lovely blue sky, warm summer day outside which brings to mind summer flowers.  Leane Creatief  is the manufacturer of this sweet die set and matching embossing folder. In the card sample we have embossed the front of the card with the daisy embossing folder.  There is a strip of printed paper just wider than the white raised panel.  The flourish die is from Cheery Lynn Designs ($13.95), and I consider it a staple in my die assortment.  The daises have been die cut from white and distressed with picked raspberry.  Don't forget to die cut an extra daisy to decorate your inside verse panel.

June 29, 2017

There is something very magical about this lovely foil embossed Penny Black background paper. The Tim Holtz flowers were inked with Wendy Vecchi's mini archival pads and stamped directly to the paper. I choice the archival inks because these oil based dies remain more vibrant on the printed paper than the markers would.  The flowers will appear as if they are under the gold foil script.  To continue, I die cut some of the wild flowers from the set shown out of white cardstock and used Tombow markers to colour.  The final touches were a bit of chunky clear glitter on the die cut flower heads and a "Happy Birthday" sticker from Starform.

June 22, 2017

Although there have been a number of dragonfly dies previous to this one, I love the size and shape of this new die from Impression Obsession.  The background paper is double sided from Magenta. We added Stick-It tape to the top of white card stock before we cut the dragonfly.  Once cut, you can peel off the backing and simply dip the dragonfly into the Seahorse glitter from WOW. The rounded rectangle pierced label is from a set of nesting dies from Nellie.  I think you'll have a lot of fun with tape and glitter technique.  It lends itself to so many varied die cuts; there are no limits.  This technique makes for quick and snazzy cards.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

I know it's been a while, but we're going to get back at it.  Things have been going very well at the store; at times too well. When you own a small business, wearing so many different hats can allow for time restraints.  We are presently working a new web page and hope to have that up and running soon. Also, check out our facebook posts at stampart london.

The die set featured is a fun grouping of flowers, stems and a mason jar from Ken Oliver.  Using your Ken Oliver Color Bursts or Magenta's Nuances, you are going to add bright colours to your water colour paper. This colourful background allows for great colour combinations when you die-cut the flower heads.  In this card sample, the white layer has been lifted with foam tape to create a shaker opening in the mason jar.  There is a piece of acetate attached behind the mason jar cut out to hold the glitter, sequins or micro-beads.  If you find that the die-cut stems are too difficult to work with, you might want to just stamp some stem lines in your mason jar instead.