Blended Trees with Perfectly Plaid

April 22, 2021 Claire Taylor

Over the last few videos I have been sharing cards with my favourite sketch. It is a gorgeous simple sketch which creates a super pretty card, without too much faff. I like that it is super super simple and that you can add extra bling if you like. I also like that it works with DSP and also plain card.

For todays card I have gone back to using blending brushes to add ink to the Perfectly Plaid stamps. I think that this can make the stamp image pop more and especially with the Tartan tree, make the colour differentiation more obvious. I also love that there are a number of trees and sentiments to choose from.

The sketch is above. The Measurements are:

My Metric

10.5 cm x 14.5 cm (10.5 by 29cm scored at 14.5cm)

Panel – 14.5cm x 9.5cm

Inside White Panel - 10cm x 14cm

Metric

10.5 cm x 14.8 cm (10.5 by full length scored at 14.8cm)

Panel – 14.8cm x 9.5cm

Inside White Panel - 10cm x 14.3cm

Imperial

4." x 5.5" (4” by full length scored at 5.5”)

Panel – 5.5” x 3.75”

Inside White Panel - 3.75” x 5.25”

The video of me making the card in Shaded Spruce is above. But I think that it would work in any Christmas colours. You can also change the bling to suit your tastes. I love the holiday rhinestones, as they work perfectly on the trees. I do think I need to dig out some star embellishments or may be my retired star punch or dies.

I think I love the card in Night of Navy. Which is your favourite?

Simple Copper Tree Cards

April 4, 2021 Claire Taylor

I love watching different channels on Youtube. Sometimes the ideas on the videos inspire me to create a card. This card was inspired by a card by Brandy Cox, an American demo whose cards are amazing, but quick and simple. I loved the simple circle aperture and I also the layering of the circles.

I have teamed a number of items together to create a card which uses simple techniques, blending brushes, punches, created backgrounds, stamping and heat embossing. The snowy background is the one from a previous video using white craft ink and water to ‘flick’ snow, it is super messy but my favourite.

The video below shows how I made the card. Although the circle punches are retired, you could use any that you have, you can also use dies. My slight boo boo with dies was due to using tape which was too sticky.

Measurements:

My Metric

10.5 cm x 14.5 cm (10.5 by 29cm scored at 14.5cm)

front panel - 10cm x 14cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.5cm

Metric

10.5 cm x 14.8 cm (10.5 by full length scored at 14.8cm)

front panel - 10cm x 14.3cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.8 cm

Imperial

4." x 5.5" (4” by full length scored at 5.5”)

Front Panel - 3.75” x 5.25”

Inside White Panel – 3.5 x 5”

You could of course use any stars that you may have and use an embossing powder to match. I think it would look fabulous in gold. Gold or Copper which is better?

Sparkly Perfectly Plaid Trees

March 28, 2021 Claire Taylor

I am like most crafters, sometimes I require a bit of inspiration to create a card which I love. Usuallly this inspiration comes from a Video, Facebook post or Pinterest Pin. I can spend hours scrolling, watching and pinning. Sometimes though rather than be inspired by other peoples cards, I look through old cards I have made and try to recreate things with a different twist.

When Perfectly Plaid was released, contained in the same catalogue was a chunkier glitter than Stampin’ Ups! Annual Catalogue glitter. But alas, both are now retired. Around that time (september 2019? maybe along time ago) I made a snow scene card using the pine trees. I used that card as inspiration and created another one.

I used my blender brushes on the stamp to make the mossy meadow softer. Using blender brushes on the sky to create a blended background which I think looks like a dark sky. I ensured that I used the darkest colour at the top and then blended down lightly to the trees (no masking required) and then addded ‘snow’ using the detailed glue and I pulled the glitter out of my stash but lots of places sell glitter and you can choose any you like!

Measurements:

My Metric

10.5 cm x 14.5 cm (10.5 by 29cm scored at 14.5cm)

front panel - 10cm x 14.5cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.5cm

Metric

10.5 cm x 14.8 cm (10.5 by full length scored at 14.8cm)

front panel - 10cm x 14.8cm

Inside White Panel – 9.5cm x 13.8 cm

Imperial

4." x 5.5" (4” by full length scored at 5.5”)

Front Panel - 3.75” x 5.5”

Inside White Panel – 3.5 x 5”

I forgot to clean my stamps and my second version ended up an interesting purple colour! whoopsee! But a handmade card is appreciated by everyone and it just makes it individual. The video below shows how to make this gorgeous simple card.

So the moral of the story is always clean your stamps! So embarassing! I do love the random colour though, what do you think?

Special Kangaroo Delivery

March 25, 2021 Claire Taylor

I have been playing with my favourite card layout rather than using the snowman, I decided to play with presents.

I loved the Kangaroo the moment I saw it. I love that it can carry flowers, a joey or presents. I have seen some gorgeous gorgeous cards using the different stamps and dies.

I thought that the presents would be perfect for a Christmas card and had decided that the Perfectly Plaid sentiments would work well. I have adored the sentiments since the stamp set was released, I was not sure if I liked the trees, but have used the sentiments previously on cards and tags. The tree stamps were not used on this card, but they will be featured in the next few cards,