And another, just for fun!
stamp: Snugglepot & Cuddlepie – Having Fun 17322 by Paper Rose
Just because… they are so darn cute!
I have been trying to rearrange and tidy my craft room for the last few weeks, but it seems I don’t have enough cupboard space (or maybe just too much crap!). A slow and frustrating process, so I took some time out today to play. Just because… I spotted amidst the chaos, a small clearing on my tabletop:)
stamp: Snugglepot & Cuddlepie – Hanging On 17313 by Paper Rose
I added Vintage Photo Distress Stickles to his cap and Sunshine Yellow Flowersoft to her skirt and cap, with Yellow Liquid Pearls for dots.
I found this fabulous stamp on marketplace being sold by a local lady who was no longer crafting. It’s called ‘Wren on Banksia’ 382L by Annaleey Crafts in South Australia. I tried to find them, but like so many companies, they seem to have disappeared.
These inky backgrounds were left over from some of my Christmas cards. I had put them aside as I felt they were a bit dark. Perfect for these cards though! They were done with variations of Distress Stain Sprays: Weathered Wood, Bundled Sage, Dried Marigold, Victorian Velvet and Spun Sugar.
The wrens and banksia were coloured in using watercolour pencils. I then added some lines of thin glue to ridges of the banksia before applying Ultrafine Flowersoft ‘Sand’ to create texture. Glossy Accents were used to highlight seedpods and birds eye and beak.
The Australian bush background and wording with above card are both by Stamp-it. Rather than stamp the bush background as a whole, I stamped the left and right sides of the image onto the opposing sides of the card (hope that makes sense). I first masked off the bird though so as not to have unwanted lines going across it when stamping the background on top. To do this just stamp the bird onto some scrap paper, cut it out, then sit it over stamped bird image to protect/mask it.
The Ancient Proverb wording with bluer card below is by Penny Black.
Finally back in my little house again after being away for the last month, but not for long, so taking the opportunity to have a play with this silhouette grass tree by Ultimate Crafts to make a few simple cards.
Bright pink would not be the obvious colour choice for a grass tree, but I like to do things differently sometimes. I sprayed the background paper with yellow, orange and pink Dylusion ink sprays first, before running the bottom half (which would be the tree trunk) through a Fiskars hand held corrugater. I then Magic Mounted the black card over the ink sprayed one, before assembling the remaining card layers.
This ‘Kookaburra on a Branch’ die (by Paper Rose) is my latest acquisition, though personally I feel his beak is not long enough. I have matched it with their “Gumleaves #2” die. The purple/blue background is from my reject box, a shaving cream experiment gone wrong. I never throw anything away, even if it’s ugly, as it could be just what I’m looking for one day.
2 x Gumleaves cut out 
Seedless Preserves sponged over any white leaves. Liquid Pearls added to gumnuts. 
Kookaburra & branch coloured in. Blue Liquid Pearl splotches highlight wing. 
White circle sponged with gold, then spritzed with Perfect Pearl spray. 
I chopped the leaves up a bit to position around
I couldn’t put my koala die away until I had at least attempted a Christmas card with it!
(Note: I have finally worked out how to post my cards at a larger size once again, hooray!)
Firstly cut out whole koala die in dark brown card, then cut out koala only in lighter grey card. I sponged around the koala body with Coffee Archival ink then Magic Mounted him over darker counterpart.
I stamped Santa Hat onto white card, coloured it in, then cut it out. Attach to top of koala’s head.
Run a pigment ink pad around edge of circle, then emboss with gold embossing powder.
Fold backing card of dark moss green. Attach white square card onto front.
Cut a circle of white card slightly larger than koala circle. Sponge this with Shabby Shutters Distress ink. Glue into middle of card front.
Stamp Santa & kangaroos in black ink across top third of circle, masking off where needed in order to elongate design. I used a T-grid to help me line them up.
Stamp Christmas wording in black ink at bottom right. 
Glue koala circle over green one – and your card is finished!
die: Koala in Tree by Paper Rose
stamps: Kangaroo Sleigh, Christmas Hat and wording – all by Stamp-it
To colour or not to colour ? Hmm, that is the question…
die: Koala in Tree by Paper Rose
stamp: Gumnut Flower 4851E by Stamp-it
‘Koala in Tree’ 17730 by Paper Rose
I loved having a play with this new koala die I bought at the craft fair last week! The koala is actually just a solid shape, ostensibly his back view, but I drew some features on him to make it look like he was facing forwards.
To colour – I mixed some black & white acrylic paints together and applied to koala body with a stipple (flat ended) brush to create that mottled look. When dry I added some features with a black pencil, 2 dots of Black Accent for his eyes and used a white Sharpie pen for lines over ears. The remainder of die I coloured with watercolours, sponging sepia ink around edges of everything when finished.
I love snowflakes, but with the heat waves we’re normally enduring during that period here in the southern hemisphere, they are hardly appropriate decor for our Christmas cards. But with a little imagination I have schemed some ways to incorporate them. Cool huh?! (pardon the pun).
I stamped out the wording in Coffee Archival ink onto kraft card, before running it through a snowflake embossing folder, then rubbed a white ink pad over the raised areas to highlight pattern.
I cut the sizzix 657838 Vintage Fan out in silver foilboard (cutting out paddles twice). The base and surround I coloured with brown alcohol inks then pushed a silver brad through fan paddles to secure them together onto kraft card. I added some extra snowflakes punched from white card and glued in position.
I sponged the edges with sepia ink, layering onto darker brown card which I deckle edged before attaching to white folded backing card.
The card below is one I made previously using a 12×12 glitter card as background:
Below are a few more Aussie themed Christmas cards I found in my box of projects to finish off. I used dark green Ultrafine Flowersoft on the grass trees (at right) to add texture.
I’d like to share with you once again one of my favourite techniques, as it is so simple yet effective, quick, easy and colourful! And I have chosen this ‘Boab Tree’ image (by Stamp-it) as it’s nice to add a little Aussie flavour to our Christmas cards, especially if they’re being sent overseas.
Stamp out chosen image in black Archival (water-proof) ink onto watercolour paper. Use small Distress pads in your preferred colours, to ink up a small acrylic block. Lightly spritz the block with water, then lay block ink-side down over stamped image. Press block down with fingertips to push inks into paper, then lift off.
You can now spritz image with more water to help blend inks together or use a wet paint brush/waterbrush to pull inks into desired areas. Once you are happy with the results, dry with a heatgun before adding further embellishments.