Gel plate and foil

Netta's last challenge as host of the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this month is a technique - she's chosen foiling.

This is another Plan B card!

I don't usually do foiling, but my daughter got a foiling craft kit for her 5th birthday, so we had a joint crafting session.

For the first attempt I die cut a Christmas Tree from black card, and kept the waste outline. I put a double sided adhesive sheet behind it and foiled through the aperture.

Unfortunately, the card was quite thick so the foil didn't take too well. And there was a bit of glue from the tape that attached the die to the card, that also picked up some foil.

So it's a bit of a mess! Maybe I'll find a way to use it one day!

Instead, I pulled out a background I made ages ago with the gel plate and acrylic paints.

I stamped with versamark and added micaboss, which picked up the foil. I also used an embossing pen on the "Joy" stencilling in the centre of the background, and around the edge, then micaboss and foil.

I edged with a black ink pad and used a black pen around the "Joy" to highlight it.

I'm not sure I'll be getting into foiling now, but I do like the richness of this.







To share your foiled card, visit the 52CCT blog - there's more inspiration from my design team colleagues as well. This challenge is open for 2 weeks, you have until Friday 6th March.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Just as we emerge from the Christmas festivities, 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is back, with challenges to start creating cards for Christmas 2020! We wouldn't want you to get Christmas withdrawal now, would we?

Andrea hosts for January, and starts us off with a sketch.

I have to admit my mojo is a bit AWOL after a spell of poor health. I looked through my stash of backgrounds for inspiration, and found this one - which sort of has the panels (I've rotated the sketch) and comes from this session from last year.

I cut it to size and edged with ink.

The cabachon is from a Craftbox set. I wrapped embroidery thread round, and cut the tag from a card scrap. The JOY stamp is a set I got in a charity shop recently - it's terrible quality (silicon not ploymer I guess) but did the job.

Not my most creative card ever, but a lovely background, and my 2020 stash is started.






To join in, head to the 52CCT blog, and enter your card. You have until Friday 10th January to play.

A new year and a fresh start

As we start a new year, I'm back to contributing to the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.

Our first challenge for 2019 is, as always, a sketch.

I decided to get my groovi parchment kit out - I haven't used this for so long! (Possibly since I did the same thing at the start of last year?)

Here's the line art, using snowflake, poinsettia and a couple of framer plates, plus a lace background and a piercing grid for the dots.

I added colour using sharpie pens - I find these work best for me, maybe as I don't have much patience for blending with pencils.

The background came out of the stash - I have no idea how I made it, I guess it's a mop up of distress inks. I cut it to size and edged with a bit of chipped sapphire distress ink.

It's less green and more purple than the photo shows!

The parchment was attached with tiny pieces of super sticky tape.

So there we are, off the mark for 2019 Christmas cards!!

Very delicate and pretty, every time I do some groovi I resolve to do more, we'll see how that works out this year!



To join in with our first challenge of the year, go to the 52CCT blog. You have until midnight on Friday 11th January to enter!

Grungy gelli layers

It's time for my second layers card, for the first of the two challenges I'm hosting on the Christmas Card Throwdown.

This one came from a completely indulgent play session with the gelli plates - my big 8x10 one, and the rectangle from my petites.

I got together a load of acrylic paints in Christmassy colours, Christmas stencils, my brayer and several pieces of stencil card (7x7 and 8.5x11), then went for it! I built up patterns with the big plate first, with and without stencils, and also using what was left on the plate. I pulled prints on parts of the card mostly, rather than the whole sheet. I then used the little plate to fill in details. To start with it all looked a bit disappointing (I didn't take photos, I was just playing!), but as I added more variety and built up the images, some really lovely combinations emerged.

I like some pieces more than others, of course. Some will be cards basically as they are, others will be cut up or die cut, or I may add to them with stamps and who knows what else?

I also got this piece, which was on scrap paper from cleaning the gelli plate.

This is the one I used for this card.

I like elements but wasn't sure about it overall, so perfect for cutting up to make layers!

I chose my background first, and cut the piece down to fit onto a 7x7 card blank. I then looked at what was left - the "Joy" stood out to be a topper, then the rest formed strips to lay across. There was some white on the topper when I cut it, so I coloured it with vintage photo distress ink - but that looked so dull - so I added gold gilding wax - but that looked odd with the gold layer - so I added blue gilding wax, and was happy!

Each piece was layered up onto black then gold - and yes, I did remember to gut the big piece!

I put it all together with tape pen - there are 12 layers in all, so I didn't want too much more dimension.

And the finished card again. It's not perfect - I'd highlight the "Joy" more if my white pen had been working and it hadn't been so late!

But the overall grungy, busy, mixed feel of the card I am so happy with!


To join in with the challenge, pop over to the Christmas Card Throwdown page. You have until midnight BST on Friday 19th May to enter. Enjoy playing!

Vellum Circles

Another week, another 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. It's a colour challenge this week, white and metallic gold.

It's an easy challenge in some ways, it's obviously Christmassy, but then you have to narrow down the options, and try to find something interesting to do.

I tried to get my card done early this week, as I've been away at my mum's since Wednesday - I nearly managed it!

I decided to use a pack of vellum sheets, with gold Christmas patterns on, that I've had for ages. I selected sheets with small designs on, some were mostly gold, some mostly white. Then I cut circles (again - must do a different shape at some point!) with dies. As the vellum is so thin I could cut through all the sheets at once, so it was nice and quick.

I then arranged them over the card - I was trying to achieve a bokeh type effect, using translucence on the vellum where they overlapped.

The first layout was on a white background, with another sheet from the vellum pack. It didn't quite work, so I tried a gold background - which I liked better.

I started with a layer of the more gold circles, attached with glue dots...

...then added the white circles over the top, overlapping.

You can see I also added the word "Joy" to one of the circles, to give a focal point. I stamped in gold pigment ink then heat embossed in gold.

I thought about leaving the circles overlapping the edge, but in the end decided to trim it back.

This is where I got to on Tuesday night, before coming away. I like it, but have the usual issue with vellum or parchment, that the glue dots show!

So, I scoured the local shops here in the New Forest for something to add. I was going for white gems, but didn't find any big enough. So instead, I got gold sequins - maybe not what I'd have used at home, but actually, I quite like the effect - adds to the glittery, out of focus feel.

I'm not sure I've quite pulled off the bokeh effect, but I'll live with that. I think the design is attractive nonetheless, a bit different but undeniably Christmassy. Maybe one for a man's card (despite the sequins!).

Joyous Gelli Plates

This week's 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge is colours - blue cream and gold.

I thought this would be a good chance to play with one of my new stencils (part of a lovely crafty bundle for Valentine's Day!) and my gelli plate. The stencil is a holly wreath from That Special Touch. I made a collection of different prints, trying out different techniques - with varying success! I've put them here, partly so I can remember what I did.

This was placing the stencil onto the clean gelli plate and brayering the paint (cobalt blue acrylic) over it, then removing the stencil and pulling a print on stencil card I'd already painted cream (linen). I like this effect.

Next I tried the other way, covering the gelli plate in paint then placing the stencil on as a mask.

I tried this a couple of times, one with cream card, the other with white.

This left the paint under the stencil on the plate, so I brayered on a layer on linen and pulling another print, giving these lovely results - such a pity I tore one of them.

I tried doing this with the colours reversed, but it didn't work at all!

I made use of the card by putting the stencil onto it and sponging the linen paint through. Sure I can find something to do with this one.

Next up, I covered the gelli plate in blue paint, laid the stencil on, and left it to dry. I then removed the stencil, the paint under it was still wet, and I lifted it off. The first time (top) I just used copy paper, thinking it'd be waste, but it was so pretty I used cream painted card the second time (bottom). The latter was less clean as the paint wasn't completely dry, but I still think it's so pretty.

This was the print I was going for with this technique - I brayered linen paint over the dried paint on the gelli plate to reactivate it, and pulled the print. This one tore a bit, the second was better but I don't seem to have a photo of that.

So, now I have a choice of blue and cream backgrounds, which to use? Some I don't think will work well with gold, so they are put aside. I play with a couple, the one I have used is using the stencil as a mask to create a void.

To add gold, I inked up the stencil with gold pigment ink and lined it up with the void, then ran it through the grand calibur to emboss (or deboss, strictly speaking). I then added gold mica powder to the transferred ink. One of my favourite techniques, such a reliable option.

So now I have a blue, cream and gold background, what to do with it? I don't want to detract too much, so I go for something very simple.

I sponged linen paint onto some more stencil card and die cut the letters J O Y twice. 

One set I add pigment ink and gold mica to, the other is for a drop shadow behind them.

I trimmed the card back a little, and blended blue distress ink round the edges to give a bit more balance.

I use cream zeta hammered card to mount the card. I cut one piece with a very narrow border, then use a versa mark pen around the outside and add gold mica. The base piece is larger for a cream border.

The whole thing is added to an 8x8 card, trimmed down slightly so it fits exactly, with no white border.

Done! Just need to photograph it and write a blog. And then disaster - I manage to knock my camera off the side and break it. The lens won't extend any more. So I have borrowed hubby's camera, which I'm not used to, so apologies if the picture of the card is a bit off. Although the slightly fuzzy look comes from the softness of the technique, not the picture quality! I'm just not that happy with the way the colours look. Ah well, time to get this posted and get myself off to bed.