As I was rummaging through some boxes of old cards, I came across these two made many years ago with wizard stamps from one of my favourite companies ‘Visual Image Printery’, (the wording is from Penny Black). I wish, wish I had been into stamping a few years earlier and could have got my hands on some more of their images! The company is sadly no longer in operation but you occasionally find some of their stamps on ebay.
I used white Liquid Applique for their beards, which puffs up when you heat it. Very hard to get these days, but I’m sure I still have a tube lying around here somewhere…
Lots of birthdays this month. It was my husbands on the weekend and it’s my grandson’s 4th birthday today. When given this card he asked me what sort of dinosaurs they were. “Well the big one is a tyrannosaurus rex I’m sure”. “No, it’s not!” came the quick response. “They don’t have spines down their back.” So what do I know? Maybe it’s a girl one? See, look at all the glitter…
As usual I was making it at the last minute. I had already slapped the first sticker on before realising how much white was showing around each dinosaur. The stickers are made of paper and beautifully embossed (and glittered) so I ended up using some green watercolour around them to better blend them into the background. The background is alcohol ink, so luckily didn’t have to be too careful with my painting. Not a great job, but at least not the stark white of before (see right). Might have to fussy-cut out the remaining stickers.
Kids whose birthdays are still in the single digits, are the ideal candidates for this type of card.
stamp: Fun Times 3826H by Penny Black
dies: Antiqua Numbers siz658338 by Brenda Walton; Lovely Happy Birthday #99778 by Memory Box
We all need someone to look up to in life.
stamps: Big Shoes 1623 by Stampingbella; Roses by Stampin’ Up
inks: Jet Black & Sepia Archival Pads; Clear Versamark Pad; Aqua & Juniper Adirondack Pads; Spun Sugar Distress Pad
papers: White Matt Card; Blossom, Pear & Jetstream Bazzill Cards
accessories: Clear embossing Powder; Flamingo & Dark Chocolate Liquid Pearls; Yellow Stickles; Watercolour Pencils
adhesives: Two-sided Tape; Magic Mount; Glossy Accents
tools: Water Brush; Sponging Block; Heat Gun; paint Brush and
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Stamp girl in black ink onto white card.
- Stamp Roses around perimeter in clear ink and emboss with clear embossing powder. Heat set.
- Sponge Aqua & Juniper inks lightly over embossed white roses pattern around perimeter of card.
- Colour in with watercolour pencils and blend with waterbrush.
- Sponge sepia ink around edges of card and adhere to pink (blossom) matting, then attach to folded green (pear) backing card.
- Stamp wording out in black ink onto scrap of white card. Sponge around with sepia ink, then matt onto pink, then aqua card. Adhere together , then Magic Mount onto front of card.
- Squirt Liquid Pearls onto scrap of paper. Pick up pink with paintbrush and smear over hat ribbon. Use Dark Chocolate to highlight hair curls. Place dots of Stickles into flower centers on hat and bag. Use Glossy Accents over heart on pants and smear with paintbrush over shoes. Set aside to dry.
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alternative:
This is the first card I made. I stamped the roses around the perimeter in clear Versamark ink and then sponged the dye inks over the top. Versamark is supposed to be a resist ink, so the rose pattern should have stood out in relief from the ink being sponged over the top, but it didn’t. So that was a FAIL. I can only assume maybe my pad was too dry (though didn’t seem to be). So I re-did it, adding clear embossing powder to roses and heatseting as I went. The roses did show up, but I would have preferred them to be a little more subtle. Apart from this one aspect then and the colours, the technique for both cards was mostly the same.
stamps: Moon & small Dragon by Lavinia stamps; Timepiece Collage G-3570 by PSX
dies: Cityscape Metropolis siz661804 & Halloween Shadows siz658253 both by Tim Holtz; Gothic Gate 51-146 by Penny Black; Dragon YCD10045 by Yvonne Creations;
inks: Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet & Pumice Stone Distress Stain Sprays; Victorian Velvet, Frayed Burlap & Stormy Sky Distress Pads; Jet Black StazOn Pad; Sepia Archival Pad; Cement Antiquities Pad; Silvery Shimmer Delicata Pad; Perfect Pearl ‘Perfect Pearl’ Mist
papers: White & Ivory Matt Cards; Fawn & Pinecone Bazzill Cards; Fig Bazzill Smoothie Card; Lt & Dark Grey & Brown Prismatic Cards; Magenta Mesh; SLove Notes – ‘Always’ Cosmo Cricket Paper
accessories: Silver Ball Chain; Lavender, Crystal & Silver Stickles; White Chalk
adhesives: Two-sided Tape; Magic Mount; Glossy Accents, Tombow Liquid Glue
tools: Big Shot Machine; Circle Punches; Notebook Fiskars Border Punch; Sponge Blocks; Water Spritzer; Heat gun; Paper Trimmer; Scorer; Metal Ruler; Awl
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Lightly spritz your white card with water, then with the Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet & Pumice Stone Distress Stain Sprays
. Dry with heat gun. - Cut out multiple buildings from Cityscape die in this sheet and some from the Cosmo Cricket patterned paper. Keep in mind that you are trying to replicate an ancient city, so some of the building shapes may not be suitable as they look too modern. Cut out matching rooftops in light grey or brown card. Sponge around each piece with sepia ink and glue rooftops on.
- Stamp out moon in silver ink. Cut out with circle punch. Spritz with Perfect Pearl PP Mist. Heat set. Sponge around edges with sepia ink.
- Cut out Gothic gates in dark brown card. Sponge silver ink over randomly. Place lighter brown card behind gates and cut to same size. Glue together.
- Cut out dragon shape in dark grey card. Highlight with white chalk and purple Stickles. Fill his eye in with crystal Stickles. Set aside to dry.
- Cut an A4 sheet of ivory card lengthways. Score into thirds. Find center points for 2 right panels and cut between them, then score down. Pull bottom part outwards (mountain fold – this is where the gates will be attached) and top part backwards (valley fold). See picture for layout. Cut 1st panel height shorter than others. Create decorative edge with Notebook border punch along top. Sponge with Victorian Velvet and Frayed Burlap Distress inks.
- Meanwhile play around with your layout, the order
you want your buildings in, the position of the moon & dragon. I attached my gates into place first, then worked from the front of the card to the back. 
- Start gluing your buildings into place, overlapping in places.
- Stamp the small dragon onto moon with black StazOn ink. Decide where to position moon and glue into place. Add accessories: – I stamped a clock from Timepiece collage stamp in sepia ink and cut out with small circle punch. Glue into place and cover with Glossy Accents and set aside to dry. – I cut a section of mesh off sheet to use as ladder up to clock. Glue into place. – Cut out fence from Halloween Shadows die in light grey card, sponge with Frayed Burlap ink and glue into place. – Using an awl, pierce 2 small holes near gate handles and insert silver ball chain.
- Cut another piece of ivory card, same length but taller than previous folded one. Score into thirds and sponge with Cement and Stormy Sky inks for sky. Glue into place behind decorated one. Decorate sky with stars using silver Stickles. Set aside to dry.
Little mermaids love water, but swimming around in sea water all day can turn their hair a horrid seaweed green, so occasionally they like to spoil themselves with a lovely big bubble bath and a blonde rinse!
stamps: Mermaid Bath 40-457 by Penny Black; Ducky B1998 by PSX; Fish #?; Picture Frame 200D by All Night Media
inks: Jet Black & Sepia Archival Pads; Clear Pigment Pad; Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough, Antique Linen, Mustard Seed, Spun Sugar & Victorian Velvet Distress Re-inkers
papers: Watercolour Card; White Matt Card; Hazel & Starmist Bazzill Cards; Gold Foilboard; Clear Film
accessories: Trellis Embossing Folder siz661369; Lumiere Metallic Olive Green Paint; Gold Embossing Powder; Stardust, Crystal & Diamond Stickles; Orange Tombow Pen; Olive Brad; Green Ribbon
adhesives: Two-sided Tape; Magic Mount; Glossy Accents
tools: Waterbrush; Sponge Block; Scissors; Big Shot Machine; Heat Gun; Circle Punches; Awl
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Place piece of white card into Trellis embossing folder and run through Big Shot machine. Pour some of the metallic green paint onto plastic palette and dip sponging block into it – you don’t need much, so be sparing! If you haven’t got a sponging block, make sure you use a fairly firm sponge. The idea is that the paint only touches the top embossed pattern and doesn’t seep into the hollows between. Once covered, set aside to dry.
- Stamp your mermaid onto watercolur paper in black archival ink or some other permanent ink (if you use dye ink, it will bleed when you add the wet watercolours). Colour in with Distress re-inkers with the aid of a waterbrush/paint brush. I often use re-inkers for colouring as they are a nice, thick concentrated colour. (Note: when using watercolours, you have to make sure each section of colour is dry before trying to add another colour next to it or they will leak into each other. Sometimes you want this, as I did for the waves, but sometimes you don’t. Problem with me is I get so excited playing with a new stamp that I forget this little fact until the damage is done. It looks like my mermaid is dying her hair blond and all the dye is running down her face and arms. Well, maybe she is!). Cut out mermaid and bath together. Sponge around lightly with sepia ink. Apply Crystal & Diamond Stickles to tail. Set aside to dry.
- Stamp duck on white card with black ink and colour with Mustard Seed re-inker. Add shading with orange texter. Cut out and put square of Magic Mount behind.
- Stamp frame onto white card with clear pigment pad and pour over gold embossing powder. Heat set. Stamp little fish inside frame in black and colour in both. Sponge with sepia ink. Cut out frame and adhere to slightly larger piece of gold foilboard. Attach short strip of green ribbon behind and secure with Magic Mount. Pour Glossy Accents over fish and set aside to dry.
- Assemble card layers, placing embossed card towards left side of blue one. Position mermaid with two-sided tape over 2/3 of embossed card with part of her tail and bath hanging over onto blue card beneath. Place duck and fish frame where desired. Using an awl, pierce small hole at top of card to secure middle of ribbon with olive brad.
- Cut out various sized circles in clear film with punches. These are for the bubbles. Position where desired with Glossy Accents (or some other glue that dries clear). Squirt a little Stardust Stickles over them. Set card aside to dry.
I have been having a play with Lindy’s Stamp Gang ‘Moon Shadow Mists’. When you purchase them, they only have a small amount of powder in the bottle. You need to boil the kettle and add hot water to the fill line at the top right of the bottle label. Let them cool. Place the lid back on and give them a good shake.
When you spray them out, the liquid comes out a dirty brown colour, it is not till it dries that you see the shimmer colour coming through. I found the larger the droplets, the darker the colour. It is a very unpredictable science and to be honest I found it a bit frustrating. In the end I resorted to using a pipette to drip larger droplets about strategically. ( – as there are no rules in art, I don’t classify that as cheating, haha).
FOSSIL FISH
stamps: How Old? by Stamp-it
inks: Tawny Turquoise Moon Shadow Mist; Jet Black and Sepia Archival Pads
papers: Kraft Bazzill Card; Dark Green Mulberry Paper; Natural Corrugated Card 
accessories: Mini Fish Fossils stencil 497s by The Crafters Workshop; Snow White Colour Blast Paste; Gold Eyelts; Kraft Cord: Metal Spinner Charm
adhesives: Two-sided Tape; Magic Mount
tools: Palette Knife; Sponge Block; Eyelet Setter; Circle Hole Punch
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FAIRY LIGHTS
stamps: Fairy, Mushrooms and Vines by Lavinia stamps; Fireworks (flower) 3948K by Penny Black
inks: Bluebeard Blue Violet Moon Shadow Mist; Jet Black and Sepia Archival Pads; Antique Linen and Peeled Paint Distress Pads
papers: White Matt Card; Forget-me-Not and Wisteria Bazzill Cards
accessories: Glossy Accents; Crystal Glitter; Star Dust Stickles; White Opal and Orchid Liquid Pearls; Green Pencils; Black Zig pen
adhesives: Two-sided Tape; Glue Pen
tools: Fiskars Butterfly Punch; Sponging Block
What the background looked like before stamping.
Flying about in the fairy zone at the moment.
stamps: Zinnia by Crafter’s Companion
I didn’t make this card for anyone in particular, just felt the desperate need to create something ‘girly’ to re-balance the air after all the multiple makings of ‘boys stuff’.
stamps: High Spirits 4047K by Penny Black; For You from Cameo Ovations set by Fiskars
A card for our grandson’s 3rd birthday – he is mad about dinosaurs!
Dinosaur Birthday 4006E from Stamp-it