'What you do speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday 16 September 2007


I can't tell you how much I hate Christmas card stamping. With having the business, it seems to take over for half of the year and I get so fed up of it. Having to think of ideas for quick and easy cards destroys creativity and I end up not making any myself, other than for a couple of really close friends. But I need samples and ideas for workshops, so needs must!
I just made a couple of cards - one quick, stamped over my favourite colour combination of the moment - Adirondack Cranberry and Eggplant - and clear embossed Versafine Onyx Black. I've used Prismacolour white for the beard and a touch of pale blue to add shading. My friend, Jacqui (I use the term very loosely, LOL) says this looks as if it's 'run in the wash'!!!!
The other one not so quick, but I like that one much better. I stamped the image twice, cut out the Santa and masked the first one, then sponged Adirondack Butterscotch and Red Pepper and added black shading around Santa and on the edges. I then coloured Santa with Prismacolour pencils, using 3 shades of red and lots of white, with a little blue, then a touch of flesh colour and some green. This one was really fun to make. I really must clean this scanner bed though - the dirty marks are on the scanner - not on the cards!
I've used the Tim Holtz Believe in Santa set.



I got to stamp - not too inspired, but I did do a little bit......

I need to make some show samples for the art boards for the Harrogate show, so I stamped a few of the new Pam Bell images on some of my inky backgrounds for speed - you wouldn't believe how long it took me to put the cards together and find the right colours and yet they are really simple. Still, I did it!

Friday 7 September 2007


Just a quickie...... I was playing with Lumieres last night and tried stamping on black card with them - not bad, but a bit dark. So I tried another way, inspired by a discussion on Katy's Corner UK. Freyja sent a card made with Stewart Gill paints to Legs and she sent one back done in a similar way, but using Lumieres instead.

I'just sponged Lumieres onto black card, heat set (hence the bubbles) then overstamped in Black Acrylic (dabber). It was a bit lacking, though nice, so I overstamped in Snowcap dabber as before - I really like doing this at the moment - using the Time to Stamp Art text stamp from Leo's plate. I like it cos it's really shimmery but unfortunately, it doesn't work for what I wanted it for.............still, it was fun.

Sunday 2 September 2007




I really envy those who seem to make lots and lots of cards so quickly - it's taken me all afternoon to do these and they still seem to be lacking.......... But at least they're done. Now I have to decide which ones to upload. I'm afraid the Gesso came out again - I love that stuff - and the main images are over a Resist effect on Glossy card. It's worth pointing out that the glossy card was the coated encaustic kind, so the images aren't quite as crisp as they would have been on hi gloss. The only reason I used it was cos it was lying around and was already cut - I couldn't be bothered getting the other stuff - wish I had now! Just realised on looking that there's no 'C' on one of these pages - duh!
Now to get my Words ATC swap sorted out and find out which ones I need to scan before I swap them out. Then I need to draw the winner of the August Challenge and to draw letters for the new Alphabet tag swap we're doing. I'm excited about this one, as we're doing an Imaginary People swap and each person has to give their image an imaginary name and an imaginary life, describing him/her in as much detail as they can fit into one paragraph on the back of the tag.

I have a REALLY good friend in Germany, Melanie, who's very patient with me, but who won't be speaking to me if I don't get a move on and get my swap done. Mel runs regular swaps called 'Bookie Joints' for which she asks for eight pages from each participant. She then, very kindly, makes up the most gorgeous books, bound in different ways each time - one for each participant. This time the theme is the letter 'C' and the due date was mid August and yes, I'm only just starting mine............. sorry, Mel!! I'll get them in the mail tomorrow!
For speed, I thought I'd play with Distress reinkers and the Non-stick craft mats, so I added drops of inks, misted with water, then put the pages (ivory matte card) in the inks, mopping up as I could, while trying not to muddy the colours. As the inks dried up, I misted with a bit more water. These are just some of the results - you can see how they get progressively lighter as I added more water. The last one was done on glossy card and you can see how the colours stayed much more vibrant. I also mopped up with kitchen roll on that one and you can see the marks, which make it all the more interesting for me!