Other cards this year

I like to post photos of the cards I make, as a reminder of what I sent to whom, as well as a record of what I have been making, so here are some more from this year.  Above is a simple stamped and watercoloured card. These clean and simple cards are often more tricky - all it takes is an inky finger print and you have to start all over again!

Easter cards are enjoyable to make and these were made using stamps, dies and stencils with pastel coloured backgrounds.

I made a couple of these for my cat-loving friends, using stamps and dies.

As this stencil and dies set from America cost me a fair bit in tax, I am determined to use it as much as I can.  It is a good one for using scraps and here there are embossed bits as well as scrap book paper.  

This one used some of the slow drawings I do on a Wednesday evening. I have amassed quite a collection of these little pieces, so it is good to use some of them.  

This one used embossing folder for the background, and some die cut flowers which I watercoloured.  The recipient is a teacher, so the letters and vintage book page number strip seemed appropriate!

I enjoy looking for themed supplies - hearts are a good one.  Here I used an embossing folder and a heart which had metal foil applied to it.  Simple, but effective, I think.

An embossed frame and stencilled image made this card.

I saw this inked technique demonstrated on TV and knew I wanted to try it.  I think it worked really well. The image is stamped onto watercolour card with Distress (or other water based ink) and then sprayed gently with water, just enough to react the ink and start it spreading.

Another simple card with a gel printed heart in the centre of the embossed background.

Finally (and well done for making it here!) is this card which uses one of the pieces I made in an online course I did in the summer. Lots of layers of paint and ink in this piece with a stamped butterfly as the focal point.   I have a couple of birthday cards to make for male family members and I find cards for men are a little more tricky but I have ideas of what to do, so watch this space.

Another art journal

 I've been working on another little journal as a spin-off from one of the lessons from the art journal course.  It's something I work on every now and again.  

The cover is a 'ghost print' from a gel plate printing session.

This page started as a pastel watercolour background which was decorated with drawn flowers.  The rest of the background was painted with dark blue acrylic paint.

On the right hand page I cut some flaps and added a stamped image.

This page started as a gel print, which was stencilled over, adding paint pen marks and gold squiggles. 

On these pages, there is a collage and a page with a pocket.

Here is the pocket page without the folded paper.  I really enjoyed drawing all the different lines within the circles as it is a very meditative activity.

Cards so far this year

As you know, I enjoy making cards, so here are some I have made this year.  Above is a stencilled one and I have made this at least three times now, with different colour ways.  It works really well.

Another stencilled one but with the sentiment in a 'spotlight'.  

Here it is a bit closer.

I like to have lots of thank you cards at the ready.   The stamps, 'Linocut mini sampler' from Clarity Crafts, are created from the artist's own lino cuts which were shrunk down.

A collage card inspired by an online course with Laly Mille, called Naturalist.  This was for my colleague at work who enjoys nature, entomology etc. 

A new stencil and die combination from an American company.  The extra tax made this an expensive purchase, but I have used it several times, so it is worth the money.  I used a paper pad for the shapes.

A hyacinth card for my mum-in-law.

This was for my sister-in-law who likes butterflies. 

A card for a friend using the stencil and die combo from America. Lots of different scraps from paper pads were used here.

Finally for now, a card for my nephew and his fiancée, using gilding flakes. 

It's so nice to be able to create personalised cards and posting about them here means I have a good back catalogue to refer to!

Cards and cake

My nephew has just bought a house and was saying he needed some art for the walls, so my sister suggested some of  my slow drawings.  He looked through the many patterns that I have drawn (since joining the slow drawing group in 2023) and decided on nine.  I got them done for him and have since sent them to him.  Here they are above, in one formation, but it will be interesting to see how he chooses to put them together.

This was a card for my sister-in-law, using the Sizzix stencil, which I first mentioned here.

I sent this card to my nephew, with the nine drawings.

This was for a colleague's birthday.  She has several cats, so I often make her a cat based card!

This is the inside...

...and the back.

Here is a card for my husband's big birthday.  I put the numbers on balloons on the inside, just in case he didn't want to be reminded of his age! He loves 'Snarky Cats' stamps by Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous, so these usually make an appearance on his cards.

Here's the back.  Yes, I did mention cake, didn't I?

This is the 'Russian Roulette Revels Cake' which I make as a birthday cake, as it is a great recipe that is moist and keeps well (if you can stop yourself eating it!).  This is the very indulgent version with chocolate fudge icing, but the butter cream icing version is just as good.  

Revels are a chocolate covered sweet, with various fillings, such as toffee, Malteser, orange, chocolate, raisin and the dreaded coffee (I really don't like that one and often seem to get one on a slice!) There was an advert about Revels from 2001, when there was also a peanut one, but these were then removed due to allergies - the advert sums up my dislike of the coffee one!

I have made myself feel hungry now, so am off to have something to eat!

More cards and some new stencils

Here are a few more cards which I haven't posted about.  Above is one for a friend who appreciates animals and...

... a pun or two...or more.  I really like the stamp set I used here, which is by Josh Griffiths' Beyond Stamping range.  His animal stamps are so cute.

I added a final pun on the back!

This one was for a friend who really likes the slowing drawing patterns I make.

This was for my niece and I tried out a stamp which had lots of images on it, by Lynne Perella for Paper Artsy. Lynne Perella's stamps are full of collaged images and detail.

A ruby wedding anniversary card for one of my sisters.

A card for my mum-in-law's birthday, with a die cut heart which I watercoloured.

Another friend's birthday and some lino cut stamps from Clarity Crafts, again watercoloured.

Here are the new stencils I treated myself to. I like the retro feel and I think these geometric patterns will work well, especially for men's cards, which are always trickier.

They are rotating stencils, which means you apply the first colour, then rotate 90 degrees and apply the second and so on until you have the four colours.

This one is my favourite so I tried it first.

This is what it looked like once I had finished applying the inks and then it became this...

...a birthday card for a friend's daughter. I saw the idea when the stencils were being demonstrated and knew I needed to make my own version!

I really enjoy making cards and getting inspiration from others. There are so many talented people who generously share their skills and ideas.   (The only trouble with this hobby is that there are too many lovely stamps, stencils and dies out there and news ones coming all the time!)

New gel printing techniques and other projects

For my sister's birthday card, I took inspiration from the new collage book I bought.  There is a post about it here.  I used some of my painted papers, cut the shapes out and decorated them.  I hope she liked it!

I have also been enjoying Clare Cosens Designs on Youtube. Her videos are clear and easy to follow and she is a great teacher.  I watched her video on layering using stencils and had a go myself.  My paints beaded up a little on the gel plate, rather than being a flat layer, but I like the end result. The secret with this technique is to let each layer dry thoroughly, before adding the next.

Here is my other experiment with this technique.  It is one I will use a lot, I think, although waiting for the paint to dry takes patience, especially when you want to add the next layer!

I really enjoyed the Gel Printers Summit where every day, a different gel printer presented a different technique.  Some really appealed to me, especially one by Sarah Jane Gordon.  She used seaweed,  stencils and fossils to create a layered print, and by using printing inks, which stay wet for a long time, you could work directly on the plate.   I had some printing inks which I use for lino printing, but I hadn't used them on the gel plate. They wash out with water so are much better than the inks I had to use at school and college, which could only be cleaned using white spirit.   

Here are some of my first attempts, using stencils and stamps. 

I do like the layering effect and I wasn't waiting for layers to dry, so it was a less time-consuming process.  Again, I am sure I will get better with practise.

The ghost prints were still rather nice too.  Gel Printers Summit gave me a lot of information and I shall revisit some of the videos as they were packed full of tips and techniques along with the projects. While gel plates are very forgiving and a beginner printer can make some amazing images, I hope that as I improve, I will make more considered decisions and end up with some lovely prints.