Christmas Vermillion

Gosh, I'm late blogging today.  I have had a very personal battle with a petrol lawnmower, but I'm pleased to say I won although I was covered in grass by the end of the afternoon.  It has been gloriously sunny up here in Lancashire today, and I hope it has been where you are.  It's days like today that make me feel so much more upbeat!  Spring is here!

Today's card features Young Vermillion again, but this time as part of a Christmas card, which I'm entering into the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown Animals (& Birds) challenge.  I've not got any Christmas sets from SU (YET!) so I wanted to make the most of being able to enter a Christmassy card!  I also note that the ABC Christmas Challenge this fortnight is F is for Furry &/or Feathered Friends, so it will fit in nicely there too.

I inked up Young Vermillion with Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler markers before stamping him where I wanted onto my Very Vanilla card stock.  I lengthened the branch a little so it went off the panel... I didn't want him floating in space!   I added more colour for depth using markers and my blender pen, as I wanted him to look more like a robin than a Vermillion Flycatcher.  I'm not quite there yet, but getting closer!

The rather lovely pine cones are from Autumn Days which I inked up with Early Espresso and Always Artichoke markers before stamping around the edge, not always inking up each time, again for depth.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, but I split it onto two lines using my Stamp-a-ma-jig... if you don't have one of these yet, I would heartily recommend one.  Not only are they fantastic for making sure you stamp where you want to every time, but you can also divide up your sentiment stamps, meaning you get even more use out of them!

This panel was then mounted onto Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke card, then more Very Vanilla and the card blank made from textured Early Espresso card.  I wanted to mount on all these colours because I'd used them in my stamping.  Here's a closer look:

Supplies
Stamps: Young Vermillion, Autumn Days, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Card: textured Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig

Don't forget that you have just over 1 week left to benefit from Sale-a-bration, where you earn free stamp sets and designer paper for every £45 you spend.  I also have a prize draw running for a set of Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper and free P&P for my first three customers.  Please do not hesitate to get in touch either by email or by phone on 07977 141605 if you have any questions or if you would like to order some Stampin' Up! goodies.


Many thanks as always for visiting,

So many new toys, not enough time!

I have been naughty.  Mr UPS man delivered me some more Stampin' Up! goodies (yes, more goodies!) yesterday as I couldn't resist the loveliness of everything in the catalogue.  I have so many exciting sketches scribbled on the back of envelopes that I intend to transform into cards this week.

As a birdwatcher, how could I not buy Young Vermillion?  An absolute bargain of a wood mounted stamp at just £6.95!!  First of all, I had to look up a Vermillion as I'd never heard of one.  Well, first off it's spelt with one 'l', they are very brightly coloured birds, and they are part of the flycatcher family.  So with my intellectual curiosity satisfied, I set about colouring this little one in entirely differently!

I based the layout of the card on this sketch from the new challenge blog Retrosketches.  (They have the coolest blog design!)  I flipped the sketch 90 degrees, but other than that, kept pretty close to it.

I inked up Young Mr Vermillion here with Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede markers.  He is stamped onto the most gorgeous Confetti Cream card... I absolutely love its natural look.  A couple of lengths of linen thread finished off the topper.  The card base itself is also made out of Confetti Cream, with a couple of embossed lines across the bottom for detail.  The corrugated cardboard was rescued... my husband was going to put it in the recycling bin... can you imagine?!

Here's a closer look:

Supplies
Stamps: Young Vermillion, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede & Chocolate Chip markers
Card: Confetti Cream... and recycled corrugated cardboard!

Getting your mitts on these for yourself couldn't be easier.  Just send me an email or give me a ring on 07977 141605.  Don't forget that you earn free Sale-a-bration stamp sets and designer series paper with every £45 spent!  Not only that but I am offering free P&P to my first three customers and you have the chance to win a set of Everyday Enchantment paper with my prize draw!


I'm sitting here listening to the Brandenburg Concertos.  Heaven!  Now I know Bach didn't write them specifically as background music for card making but I could be fooled into thinking he did...


Thanks for visiting,