Elzybells Blog

A baby boy card....

I don't think kraft card would immediately spring to mind for a new baby card, but with my love of this versatile cardstock, I thought I'd see what I could come up with and I think I pulled it off!

My wonderful sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy this month. It's the first baby of the family and I'm taking my new auntie role very seriously with lots of kisses and cuddles! Baby Mark has slipped right into my heart like I never thought a baby could, I just adore him!

So, I pondered on which baby stamp to use on my card and as soon as the baby moon sprang into my mind I knew I wanted to re-create the star trails that I stamped on my most recent challenge card.

Unfortunately it was very gloomy while taking the pics so you can't see very well, but I used my yellow sakura pen again on the stars for some lovely shimmer.

I coloured with chalks and added some diamond glitter glue to the moon.
The blue paper has tiny white dots all over it, I thought it would give it a soft quilt-like feel so I drew stitches along the border and along the edges of the card. 
I couldn't resist re-creating the star embellishment too.

The alphabet sets are always fantastic for creating a personal message. I always do a practise run on some scrap paper first so that I know how much space each word will take up - that way I can ensure the greeting will be evenly balanced.

I hope you like!!
Elizabeth x


Stamps used:
13-009 Baby moon
20-041 Everyday alpha
20-042 Bold alpha
20-052 Seasonal sentiments (star trail)

Winter lantern

Following from last week's krafty creations, I have one more kraft card to share. Although not a single layer card, it has a similar feel to last week's cards.

I coloured with chalks and also shaded with koh-i-noors for extra depth. I used my white gel pen for the snow to really make it stand out, as well as for drawing the borders.
A little trick when colouring the lamp is to smudge a tiny amount of chalk in short straight lines just to subtly give a reflective feel to the glass. I also smudged some green chalk to give the effect of some blurred foliage behind the lamp. 

I've had a few questions about which chalk I use on kraft and whether it needs to be fixed so that it doesn't smudge.

 
I use this set of decorating chalks.
Don't waste your money on those foam applicators though as they don't last long at all and the chalk transfer isn't the greatest. The trick to getting the best coverage is to use blending stumps to colour with. It doesn't matter if they've been used with OMS before, so long as they're dry they work brilliantly.
Our kraft cardstock really lends itself well to chalks as it has a slight grainy texture to it making it the perfect surface!
I haven't really found a problem with the chalk smudging but if you want to be sure, simply spray your coloured image with a light mist of hairspray. It's a cheap and effective alternative to the fixative spray you can find it art shops.

Elizabeth x


Stamps used:
10-019 Holly lamp
20-055 (holly background & sentiment)

Winter fun

It's a little late in the day, but here is my final krafty single layer card of the week!
It's a very simple but sweet note card :)

I used copics again for this card and I love how it turned out, especially how striking her winter coat is.
The skin colour was a little tricky as with even the lightest colour on kraft, it'll look like she has a deep tan in the middle of winter! So what I did was use a very pale yellow for a warm tone and then once it dried I went over lightly with some white chalk to lighten it. 

You know, I can always have a play with kraft cardstock and never be disappointed with what I come up with no matter how simple or intricate I decide to go... I hope that a little of my affection for kraft has rubbed off on you this week!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone - I hope it's a krafty one! ;)
Hugs,
Elizabeth xx


Stamps used:
10-080 Ice skater
20-052 Seasonal Sentiments (little snowflake)
20-005 Tags - Christmas (sentiment)

brrrrrrrr

Here's today's krafty single layer Christmas card!
I coloured the igloo with white chalk, highlighting with a white koh-i-noor pencil. I wanted the igloo to be quite soft. You could colour with a koh-i-noor entirely for a really striking effect.

The Christmas tree has also been coloured with chalks (chalks are fast becoming my favourite colouring medium on our kraft) and I dabbed my white gel pen on the baubles.

The snowflakes and sentiment have been stamped with our Sugar Candy inkpad and overall, I think it's a sweet little winter card!
I've really enjoyed reading your comments from yesterday's post about what food gets you in the mood for Christmas! Also, if you liked the copic effect on kraft as I did yesterday, my final card of the week also uses copics so be sure to pop back tomorrow!

Elizabeth x

Stamps used:
10-061 Igloo
10-033 Tiny snowflake
20-053 Mini Messages - Winter (sentiment)

Christmas pudding

Good morning! Here's my next krafty card of the week!
Making this card has really got me looking forward to Christmas, it's got such a warm feel and makes me think of all the delicious food we'll be having and I just love my mum's Christmas pudding!!

 

Again, I've kept it single layered. I thought I'd see how copics work on our kraft cardstock and I think it looks pretty good, really gives some nice, deep colours :)
I used a little white chalk here and there across the background just to highlight a little.
What food makes you really look forward to Christmas?

Elizabeth x

Stamps used:
10-018 Christmas pudding (main image)
20-054 Mini Messages - Christmas (pudding b'ground & circle sentiment)

A krafty Christmas

Ok, I *love* kraft - that's a fact! So I've been playing around with some single layer Christmas cards and kraft is just perfect for this, not least because our white Sugar Candy ink works so beautifully with it giving a lot of scope for creating interesting backgrounds.
If you've got a lot of cards to make this Christmas, you want to give as big an impact as possible - let's face it - with as little work (and cost) as possible.

I'll be sharing all my krafty single layer creations throughout the week.
First up - I'm SO pleased with how this card turned out because from start to finish I made it up as I went along, at each stage not sure if it was looking right, until it was finished. Don't you just love that!

For a single layer card, this looks pretty complicated doesn't it?
I started by drawing two circles on the kraft card with my Inkssentials white pen. I did this by taking two circle nestability dies and drawing around them for perfect circles.
I stamped the Christmas wreath and coloured with chalks. I also smudged red chalk around the edges of the card and and just inside the circles.
I then dotted along the inner circle with the white pen.

To create the background, I first cut a circle from scrap paper and placed it over the drawn circles. This masks off the main image while I stamped the swirls border all over the card.
I still wasn't quite sure if I was happy with the card but what really finished it off is stamping the 'Season's Greetings' text in rows between the swirls in red ink.
I love it!
...and considering the low cost of creating this card, there's no way the recipient would think a lot of time and effort hadn't been put into making it :)

Elizabeth x

Stamps used:
10-023 Wreath
20-045 Surf's up (swirly border)
20-055 Tags - Christmas (season's greetings text)

Peace & joy

 Release Day!
  
The DT and I have one more sneak to share with you today using our new Christmas stamps and it won't be long now until you can get your hands on them! All the new stamps will be available from 2pm today :)

For this card I used the stamp "Winter Friends". It is a single rubber stamp with four cute pals (one boy and three girls) which I trimmed down and rearranged three of them on my card.

I've used the mittens stamp from the Mini Messages winter set again for the background - I just love it!

I mentioned on Tuesday's sneak that we have a 'Christmas Tags' clear set being released. This is one of the images from the set.

You have a variety of sentiments you can stamp onto the tag - not only that - many of the sentiments from the mini messages sets fit perfectly too, so you really have a lot of versatility with these new stamps!


So... you've not got long to wait to see all the new stamps and why don't you tell me which is your favourite??
Just leave a comment on this post and I will randomly pick one person to win ALL the stamps from this release!! You have until Monday to add your comment.


IMPORTANT INFO: Members of the Communication Workers Union are staging 24 hour strikes today and tomorrow. Royal mail have some contingency plans in place but we are very likely to suffer disruption and delays.
I think it would be wise if all orders received today and tomorrow are sent on Monday when the service should be nearly back to normal.
I do not know how they operate when there is a backlog of mail, whether they clear that first or if they prioritise more recent mail. So rather than me worrying about all your orders sitting in a pile somewhere, I hope that by sending them on Monday there is a better chance of you receiving them in good time. I expect that even by sending orders on Monday, the strikes will have an impact and delay the delivery so please be prepared for this.

* * *

I also want to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to Carly Robertson for standing in as design team member for this release. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Carly's fabulous creations and I hope you have too! :)

EDITED TO ADD: The blog candy winner, randomly picked by random.org is Renee, who wrote:
I have really enjoyed your sneak peeks this week, Christmas is my favorite time of year. I would have to say the Christmas tags are my favorite, there have been some really cute creations this week using them. congratulations on yet again more great designs.

Please email me your postal address Renee and I'll have these goodies sent asap! :)

Happy release day!!
Elizabeth xx

Pretty poinsettia

There's only one more sleep until release day...!
Today I have a card which isn't my usual style, using a sweet poinsettia image from the new Mini Messages Christmas set.

I stamped the poinsettia twice, coloured with copics and trimmed the second image, sticking it down with a foam sticker to create a 3d effect.

The die cut shapes are the nestabilities Label One dies. I created a border inside the shape using Copper Stickles glitter glue. It's very easy to do if you slowly follow the embossed line.
Before adhering the top layer of the poinsettia I curled several petals just slightly.

I'll see you tomorrow for my final sneak and I'll whip up some BLOG CANDY for you!! If you want to see see more samples using the new release stamps, be sure to pop by the design team's blogs!!

Carly
Frances
Jeanne
Michelle
Steph

**Also, just a quick note for those people that were waiting, the large storage binders and panels are now back in stock!

See you tomorrow!!
Elizabeth x

Little winter wishes

 

It's the second day of sneak peeks today as we countdown to our new Christmas stamp release on Thursday!

Today I have two sweet winter note cards to share, using our new clear sets; "Mini Messages - Winter" and "Christmas Tags".
I intentionally kept these cards simple with minimal colouring and fuss.

 

The images can just as easily be used to make little tags for gifts and treats as well as for cards. In fact the Christmas tree and snowman images are both part of the new 'Christmas Tags' set, which is a mixture of images and sentiments designed to fit perfectly with the circle nestability dies.

I really love this simple little tree. I coloured it with chalks and it really stands out on our kraft card.
You may recognize the merry & bright sentiment and the little star from last month's release. It's from our 'Seasonal Sentiments' clear set; a collection of long sentiments, which being clear, you can easily manipulate into wavy shapes so it's very versatile :)

Have you popped by the DT's blogs yet? If not, you must. They're all sharing sneak peeks each day until release day on Thursday!!

Carly
Frances
Jeanne
Michelle
Steph

See you tomorrow for another Christmas sneak!!
hugs,
Elizabeth x

You keep me warm

 

Good morning!
Today is the start of a fun week as we have a fantastic collection of Christmas stamps being released this Thursday and the sneak peeks start today, YAY!!

We have three new clear sets coming and a collection of rubber singles. I want to start with my most favourite image from the release "Winter Couple" - aren't they just the sweetest?!!

The mitten / snowflake background was created using a stamp from our new winter mini messages clear set. The 'Winter Couple' is a rubber single, as is the sentiment which I think suits it just perfectly :)
 

The background has been stamped using our sugar candy inkpad and the main image has been coloured with koh-i-noors, blended with OMS.
When you use OMS on kraft for the first time, you would be forgiven for thinking uh oh, you've just ruined it with too much OMS - don't fear, the OMS evaporates in no time so you are just left with the colour. I would suggest, until you are used to using OMS on kraft that you add a little colour at a time and let it evaporate before seeing if you need to add more.

I'm really excited about these new stamps and I'm off to check out what the DT have come up with today... be sure to pop by their blogs!
Unfortunately, Charlene couldn't take part in the countdown to this release but we have a great replacement, the very talented Carly Robertson, so be sure to visit Carly's blog too!!

Carly
Francis
Jeanne
Michelle
Steph

See you tomorrow for more sneaks!!
Elizabeth x