Time for another a Celtic card

Yet again I could not resist to play with a Celtic stamp. I just love the possibilities these stamps open up and that they can be used for female as well as male cards.

And it is perhaps also time to say about more about Crafty Stamps, as many of you might not yet have heard of them. Crafty Stamps is an Edinburgh based family business. The owners also run the craft shop Stampers Grove, which has always been a great source for Scottish and Celtic stamps. I have always loved Scottish and Celtic designs, but it is especially nice for me to use images from a local business for my cards.

Today I had a play with the stamp CT138D, which is available from Crafty Stamps or from the Stampers Grove website. I stamped it in black Memento ink and coloured in the ribbon sections using a ProMarker pen in 'Burgundy'.

I used Southfield glass-smooth cardstock for the stamped image, white linen textured cardstock from Southfield for the card blank, black textured cardstock and also Moondust card in 'Mars'.

I framed the die-cut circles using a Crealies doily elements die (CL DE 05), which also provided the decorative corners. Adhesive pearls finished the look.

Playtime

This week I got some of the new Crealies Doily Elements dies and doily templates. And today I just had to have a good play with them to try them out and see how the system works.

For the above card I used a Celtic stamp by Crafty Stamps (CT113Q) and coloured in the image with ProMarkers in Sandstone, Caramel, Duck Egg and Turquoise. I created the frame with the Crealies Doily Elements die CL DE 08 and added black adhesive stones as embellishments.

Something is telling me that I will get more of the doily dies, as I am already hooked on them ...

I hope you like this Celtic card. Have a good Sunday!

And already the start of another week ...

What is it with weekends that they always seem to be over as soon as they have begun ... Now it is already Monday night and the working week has taken over yet again.

Today I would like to share another Rabbie Burns card with you. But this time his songs provided the inspiration, so I combined the rubber stamp SC125HF by Crafty Stamps with a music sheet embossing folder by Darice. For the ornamental die-cut shape I used a Marianne Design die.



The second card features the famous Greyfriars Bobby. This time I used the stamp SC118B by Crafty Stamps. I combined the image with an embossed background, thistles, ribbon roses and die-cut leaves created with a Crealies die CL CS 16.

I hope you like the cards and are looking forward to more Scottish and Celtic cards.

Rabbie Burns

The main season for Burns Nights might lie behind us, but Rabbie Burns is always a good choice for Scottish cards. And Rabbie Burns images are also brilliant for the often so tricky male cards.

I created the card above with the Rabbie Burns stamp SC125HF by Crafty Stamps, a cling-mounted rubber stamp. The image is coloured in using Spectrum Noir pens.

The book is created using a QuicKutz die. Marianne Design dies took care of the tree and the fence. For the background I used a vintage word background stamp by Heartfelt Creations (sorry, it is not a poem by Rabbie Burns), which I used with a VersaFine ink pad in 'Vintage Sepia' on parchment paper by Crafter's Companion. For the ageing look around the edges I used a 'tea dye' distress ink pad.

Celtic Impressions II

Here are now two more Celtic cards.

Do you remember the Cletic knot stamp that I used for yesterday's card? For the card above I used again the Celtic knot CT133Q by Crafty Stamps, but this time I cut the image into pieces. I stamped the image and cut it then into quarters using a metal ruler and a craft knife. I avoided cutting through the entire cardstock surrounding the image, so that the pieces stayed together and to make it easier to cut equal sections. Then I cut the newly created corner pieces out and coloured the lines with ProMarkers in 'Mustard' and 'Honeycomb'.

For the background I used a piece of Gemstones cardstock that I ran through a Darice embossing folder. The embossing folder is roughly A6 and therefore narrower than the square card blank, but by centering it I could work around that.



For the second card I used the Celtic knot stamp CT107D by Crafty Stamps and gave the card a floral touch. A Crealies Creative Flowers die CL CF 05, Heartfelt Creations Perfect Petals dies and Heartfelt Creations Elegant Single Leaves stamp set took care of the flowers and leaves. For the centre of the flowers I used a Paper Pen, but Liquid Pearls will do the same job.

This time I used ProMarkers in 'Soft Peach', 'Peach', Pastel Beige', 'Umber' and 'Ice Grey 1' (for a bit of shading) to colour in the Celtic knot. For the border strip I used a Tonic Studios Celtic Border Simplicity Pattern Punch.

I hope you like these cards and will keep an eye out for the next Scottish and Celtic cards, which will follow very soon.

Celtic Impressions I

After the Scottish card yesterday it is now time for a Celtic card that is suitable for all occasions. This card is also created with one of those brilliant cling-mounted rubber stamps by Crafty Stamps.



I used:

• Crafty Stamps stamp CT133Q
• Textured cardstock in white, black and light blue
• Neenah card
• Black Memento ink pad
• ProMarkers with ultra-fine nibs in 'Cornflower' and 'China Blue'
• 'Royal Fleur 2 in 1 Corner Punch' by Tonic Studios
• Light blue adhesive pearls
• Adhesive (incl. 3D foam)
  
• Toolbox essentials

I hope you like this card. More Celtic cards will follow very soon.

From Scotland with love ...

One of my resolutions for 2012 is that I want to dedicate more time to Scottish and Celtic cards. So you will see a lot more projects with these themes going forward.

A recent blog post by the lovely and talented Louise provided me with inspiration for some crafty playtime and experimenting with a more simplistic style. It is just always so tempting to try something different.


For my take on the technique, for which I did not follow the one-layer principle, I used:

• Thistle stamp SC113HF by Crafty Stamps
• Sentiment stamp
  
• Textured cardstock in white, light purple and dark purple
• Neenah card
• Dovecraft adhesive gemstones
• Heart cutting dies
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink in 'milled lavender' and 'dusty concord'
• Black VersaFine ink pad
• Adhesive (incl. low tack masking tape)
• Stipple brushes
• Sticky notes and pencil
  
• Toolbox essentials

This is how I created the main section of the card:

Initially I used a sticky note, drew a pencil line along the inside of the heart cutting die and cut the heart shape out to create a mask. In the next step I stencilled the heart in 'milled lavender' onto the piece of Neenah card with the heart die held in place by small pieces of low tack masking tape. Then I masked this heart after a short drying time, re-positioned the heart cutting die and applied the 'dusty concord' distress ink. Eventually I stamped the thistles in black ink, so that they overlapped both hearts.