A Simple Christmas Card

Work and other things have taken over my last 6-8 weeks, leaving almost no time or energy for card making or other creative endeavours.

This morning I rose early to make at least one seasonal card.  I've had this stamp (made by A Stamp in the Hand) for several years now and I never could figure out what to do with it.  It just didn't seem to combine well with any of my other stamps, and it felt too simple just to stamp it (and possibly layer it) on a card.  

As it turns out, simple is exactly what I needed.  It's probably what I need every year, in terms of how long it's been since I've managed more than one or two hand-made seasonal cards.  

I did edge the top layer with white pigment ink and subtly whitened the snow with white pencil -- gel pen and paint  were too prominent and disrupted the coherence of the image.  

It was nice to get the sleeves rolled up and briefly dip into a bit of creativity.  Maybe I should make a couple more and send a few belated season's greetings...

Last Cards from First Masterboard

My intention with this first masterboard was to stick with it until I made cards from all of the pieces.  Too often, my attention is drawn to something else before I really learn what I've set out to learn from the current project or technique.

I played with pieces of paper, card and masterboard and got stuck for awhile (my normal pattern).  Got unstuck today and put these last three together:

I'm still debating whether or not to add anything else to the one below.  Maybe the textures and colours can stand alone...

Not really keen on how this last one (below) turned out.  I tried a variety of things, and nothing really seemed to work.  Still, happy to have completed the exercise.

And the last three together. I've not made envelopes yet, and I actually don't have any gelli prints from my overflowing folder that would work.  So...must get out the gelliplate!

All in all, I like the masterboard approach.  I'll definitely be doing it again.

Card 4 from First Masterboard

Card 4 has involved stamping and painting over the top.  I received a Tim Holtz Stamping Platform as a belated birthday gift a few days ago, and it made this effort possible. 

I did learn something from my first attempt, which I'll pass along.  The stamp stuck to the paper, possibly from the amount of pressure I applied combined with the multiple layers of paint on the base page (from all that masterboard activity).  This resulted in pulling the paper out of its original position and the second stamping wasn't perfect (which is the point of the platform).  For the flower's stem (a separate stamp), I applied more ink to the stamp and less pressure, which meant I had to do a couple of pressings, but that was fine.

So I'm in the zone of using up old Gelli prints.  The size of this card required a larger size of envelop than could be made with a single piece of standard size paper (A4 here), and so I had to extend the top a little bit.  The brown is a little warmer than it looks, on my screen anyway, and the little butterflies are more visible.

And here are the two together.  The brown on the envelope is the same hue as the base of the card (the lovely colour of dark chocolate).  The two will be winging their way to the bearer of the stamp-platform gift.

The flower and stem stamps are from PaperArtsy -- JOFY Stamp Set 51 (also a birthday gift 😊).  

Card Number 3 from First Masterboard

Card Number 3 from First Masterboard

A  design similar to the last one, but with different coloured card layers, a wee effort at calligraphy, and an envelope made from a different Gelli-print.

A bit of edging and detail using a gold Uniball Signo gives it a bit more zip, the photo doesn't really pick it up. 

The colours of the card and envelop are far more similar than how it appears in the photos. 

Masterboard -- First Attempt 

Finally experimenting with a masterboard approach to card making.  I was particularly inspired by the Paper Artsy video tutorial on the technique (you can see it here).

So I picked out a gelli-print from several years ago, one that I liked but that felt incomplete.  I've got a tonne of these that I don't know what to do with, and so I was hoping that a masterboard approach would get me unstuck.  

Unfortunately, I neglected to take a photo at this stage.  I brayered on a few more layers of paint and then stamped and stencilled flowers, lettering and butterflies on top of that:

I've included a few close-ups as well:

I then cut it up into various pieces:

I pulled out a few different colours of card to get a sense of what to do next -- a bit like trying on clothes (but so much more enjoyable).  

I sometimes stumble on the colour that feels like the perfect fit.  I can't say that happened this time, but I'm relatively satisfied with the first two cards:

The rest of the cards made from this masterboard can be found here, here, and here. 

Utmost Happiness -- Bright and Black Gelliprinting

Simple Birthday Cards

A couple of simple birthday cards -- 

one using gelli printing 

and the other rubber stamps and markers.

Circles & Dots

Gelli printed cards with Glaze and Gelly Roll pens

Gelliprint Card Using Ferns

Gelli Card and Envelope

Inspired by the cold weather...

New Year Cards for 2017 -- variations on a theme

 A series of cards that all started by gelatin printing directly onto folded card (white).

 Each has several layers of printing, some using stencils and others using wooden star ornaments.

Some, like the next four, were given a layer of gesso before doing the prints.  The card starts out more textured and the paint doesn't adhere as uniformly, giving even more texture but making the colour a little less vibrant.

They all have stamping and ink highlights added after printing.

A selection of cards

Various handmade cards 

using watercolour, gelliprint, and/or collage.