Fly, Blackbird Fly

Had this stamp for ages, loved the image, not got around to using it before. I'm very big on crows, ravens & so on.




I stamped the image in Versafine Onyx Black, then started sponging on Red inks- I used a mix of DI & Adirondacks.  I started with Festive Berries, working in from the edges, letting it fade out towards the centre.

At this point, I punched a circle out of a Post-it note, and placed it in the central pale area. I didn't want a completely white moon behind the tree. I followed on with Barn Door, then Red Pepper.

After these inks, I trimmed my image down to size, so I wouldn't lose the darker edges later.Then I carried on, adding darker reds- Cranberry, Raisin and finally Aged Mahogany. The two types of ink blend together without any problems, which greatly increases possibilities.

The finished image, with the mask removed, to give me a pale red moon, and some area of lighter colour behind the main bird.
 Matted this onto black card, then I wanted a red matt for that. The only red to hand was far too bright, so I cut my mat to size, and sponged the outside with Red Pepper & Aged Mahogany to bring it closer to what I wanted.

I thought that it needed a background, so I took a sheet of black pearl paper & stamped the image again, randomly around the outside in Versamark. I heat embossed this with Black detail powder.





I stuck this to the card front with DST, and mounted the image onto it.

I took a phrase that fits the image from another stamp set, Dark Boundaries, stamped it in Black Versafine onto paper & inked it with reds again.









Final addition was a Bird embellishment,  from Riverside Beads,which I coated in Versamark & Black glitter embossing powder, and stuck down with a little Pinflair Glue gel.







Supplies:
Stampendous Cling Stamp Crowscape
Cherry Pie Artstamps,  Dark Boundaries, De Stempelwinkel.
Adirondack inkpads, reds
Distress Inkpads, reds
Versafine Onyx Black
Versamark Pad
Black detail embossing powder

Spooky Pair, or Gruesome Twosome.

Both tags have been sponged in Citrus, Lettuce & Meadow Adirondacks. In the first, a couple of the Butterflies from Tims Papillon stamp set were coloured with DI Markers, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo  & Wild Honey and stamped randomly.

Another stamp from The Stuff To say set inked with the Di markers too. I used Walnut Stain for most of the words, adding Black Soot for the two 'solid' words. I also stamped the words in two sections, just masking over the other half on the stamp with a Post-it, so I didn't get ink on the bit I wasn't using.
The Spooky Tree is from a Chocolate Baroque set, Halloween Raven, and stamped in Black Versafine. Some spooky branches added at the edges from another set, Howling Moon..A few flying birds added with a  second stamping too. The dragonfly is one that I'd glittered in the previous post, and the Skull embellishment is from Riverside Beads, added with a brad so it still moves.
The second tag is stamped with images from a (fairly) recent purchase I loved, but haven't used until now. The stamp set is called Dark Boundaries, Cherry Pie Artstamps.

All the images, the clouds/moon,Crow on a branch, railings and Bird flock are stamped in Versafine Onyx Black. Its the same Bird Flock I used to stamp on the tag above.
 Supplies:
 Adirondack inpads in  Meadow, Lettuce, Citrus.
DI Markers, Vintage Photo, Black Soot,Fired Brick, Wild Honey, Walnut Stain.
Tim Holtz Stuff To Say stamp set
Tim Holtz Papillon stamp set
Halloween Raven, Chocolate Baroque
Howling Moon, Chocolate Baroque
Dark Boundaries, Plate 52, Cherry Pie Artstamps, from De Stempelwinkel
Skull embellishment, Riverside Beads

Asian Panels

Three more cards, this time using the glittered Asian Panels. This stamp is available from Non Sequiteur, which can be bought from De Stempelwinkel. It also used to be available on a plate from Tanda Stamps, but having just been looking, I see they are no longer trading.
I started off by matting the glitter panel onto some silver mirror paper, then onto Red glitter card.

I used an assortment of oriental papers, the one with the lettering is a print off a Joanna Sheene cd, and the one on the left, which is the same image as the panel, was from a block of Kimono papers, from Arts & Crafts Direct. I remember buying these from a Hobbycrafts NEC show, and having searched the Internet, they only seem to be on e-bay, with a few items of cardstock!

I added a triple embossed Kanji letter to one, and a Kanji letter stamped & heat embossed onto an alcohol ink background to the other two,with some cord wrapped around the spine as a final touch.The Kanji letters were bought a long time ago, and don’t seem to be available now, although Judikins do have 2 large Kanji cubes, and I’ve linked to that below.


Links for the products:
 Samurai Plate 67, Non Sequiteur,De stempelwinkel
Kanji Cube 2
Kanji Cube 3, both at Blade Rubber Stamps.

A few new stamps

 A few new stamps this week, first ones are from Crafty Individuals. Along with a pad of their 6 x6 papers, this is quite an old one of theirs, Book 1. i loved the rich colours of this one, and it may come in for Christmas cards, I think. The Star stamp is a new one of theirs, and it was free with orders over a certain amount for a while. Lovely people, at Crafty Individuals.









These next two are Stampendous Cling stamps, I got these from Cheddar Stamper. Snowy Postcard and Raven Background.I have seen some lovely cards done with both of these, I think the Snowy postcard will be for my main Christmas cards this year.
      








 I love the Raven stamp, I adore anything Gothic, and Edgar Allen  Poe!    This is one of the clingmount stamps, its also available as a woodmount, but that version is more of a landscape format, like the snowy postcard, whereas this one is portrait.
                                                                             







 
 

Final stamp set,keeping with the Gothic theme, from De Stempelwinkel, Cherry Pie artstamps, Plate 52, Dark Boundaries.

Craft A Scene- A Little Sand & Sea

Back to using digi-stamps, this time from Make It Crafty. Called Tropical Beach, the image is the shoreline, palm trees, sea & clouds, with a couple of shells on the beach. The Ship in the background is a ‘real’ stamp, as is the Travel,Explore, Discover phrase. Most of the colouring on the image was done with Promarkers, with a little sponging on the sky.
The torn map is a stamp by Stamp & Go, called Antique Maps, SIFS65, a sheet of u/m stamps that has 3 large maps, 3 small and some ships.
To give you an idea of size, the largest map is just under 6"x4". Its a really good set for mens cards, I find.



  The map was stamped onto an alcohol inked background with Black Staz-on, then torn & the edges inked with Distress Ink Vintage Photo. The starfish charm is a jewellery embellishment, and the compass was cut out with my Silhouette and patted with Vintage Photo and a Copper Embossing ink, then had some Copper Embossing powder and some Black embossing Powder sprinkled randomly on before heating. I covered a base card with some vintage travel themed paper, then added the Sea & sand image. The map was matted on with some foam tabs and the two embellishments added with silicone glue. I added the phrase with Cracked Sapphire Distress ink, then added the dots either end with the Distress Marker in the same colour.

Some of my favourite stamp plates.....

Mystic Dreams,72C

This is just a little follow on from the post below, I think the 'Mystic Dreams' plate from Non Sequiteur is gorgeous, and  thought I would share a few other plates I have of theirs with you. These are mainly pagan/celtic/mystic images, perfect for those who want something a little different, or who have friends & relatives these images would suit. I have made the title under each stamp set a clickable link, so they will take you straight to the plate on De Stempelwinkels site. This link will take you to Non Sequiteurs site, where you can view all the plates,as well as the individual images.

Celtic Mythology,75C

Winter Solstice, 71C.

Water myths & Fantasy, 53C

Forest fantasy, 90

Enchanted Forest, 91

Faeries & Flowers, 95

                                                                                                                                                                               

Samurai plate, 67

This one has some lovely 'different' Christmas stamps.

Winter Holidays, 64C

This one features the Butterfly Screen I have used on cards before.

Massive apologies if I have caused anyone to go and spend more money, :) - I know I could spend a fortune there if I didn't retsrain myself!

Mystic Moon(light)

  Here is the second of my DT pieces for Craft a Scene's March challenge, Moonlight.
It uses a couple of Stampscapes stamps, and a couple from Non Sequiteur.
The background is also a little different this time, created using oil pastels. If you go to this page, you will find instructions on how I did this. Its a really simple technique, but can produce some interesting results. The important thing is that you will have to stamp in Staz-on, or it will wipe off, Versafine will work, but you need to spray with a sealant to make it permanent, I use cheap hairspray.
I created the background on white pearl card, an A5 piece,leaving a white area where I was going to place the moon. The oil pastels I used were a mix of blues with a little black for the night sky, browns in the centre for the mountains, another layer of blue where the lake would be, then greens for the foreground.
     Another bonus with the oil pastels is that when you have your images stamped, if areas are too dark, or just to make  areas of light & shade, you can remove some colour using tissue/kitchen paper/cotton buds.I did this in the water area to simulate the reflected moon.
The first image I stamped was the mountains, Rocky Peaks,188F, roughly in the middle of the background. Next I added the Cloud with Crescent Moon Lge, 202G, placing the moon in the white area. A Stamp Positioner helps here.

72C, Mystic Dreams

At the base of the Rocky Peaks I stamped Lakeside Cove Lge, 049G. To finish the scene, I used a stamp of Standing Stones, from Non Sequiteur plate 72C, Mystic Dreams. These stamps are now available from De Stempelwinkel. You can see the full range of images here, at Non Sequiteur,. They have some fabulous stamps, images you won't find anywhere else, all u/m.
 Finally, some white gel pen was added to give highlighted areas. I trimmed the image down, then matted onto black, then silver card. Before mounting onto the front of a Black base card, I stamped the words MYSTIC MOON, also from the Mystic Dreams plate, in Silver Encore pigment ink, added Silver Detail embossing powder, and Heat embossed. Then I mounted the image above it.
 So, to recap what you will need:

Stampscapes stamps

 188F, Rocky Peaks
202G Cloud with Crescent  Moon
049G Lakeside Cove

Non Sequiteur stamps
72C Mystic Dreams

Oil Pastels
White pearl card
Black card
Silver card
Black Staz-on
White gel pen
Silver pigment inkpad
Silver Detail embossing powder
Heat gun