Best Wishes Deer

This is something a bit different for you.  I have the pleasure of doing an Inspiration Post for Sheena's Ink-ttes facebook page this week, and I'm sharing it here with you as well.  I'm blogging this a little bit differently in that I'm showing step by step photo's as well as written instructions.  So let's get started.  I decided to make a quick and easy card  combining new and old Sheena products to shown how well they all work together.  For this card I have used a die, a stamp, a stencil, Aqua tints and Distress Inks.  I start by die cutting some Sheena stamping card with the Perfect Partners Christmas Deer die.

I then put a colour wash over another piece of card as a background, using several colours of Aquatints.  I used water to help blend the colours, I wanted an 'early morning' feel to the background.  

When the background was dry I placed the In the Forest stencil over it and applied Vintage Photo DI to create the effect of a forest.  I used a blending tool and sponge to apply the ink lightly through the stencil.  

I set the background aside so that I could work on the die cut card.  I used Vintage Sepia Versafine ink on the deer stamp from the Perfect Partners Wishes of the Season stamp set.  I then placed the deer die cut card over the stamp and pressed down, a small area at a time, onto the stamp.  This is the easiest and most effective way to get the stamped image onto the die cut card.  I then used Aquatint to colour the trees.  

Next I painted the stag with Aquatints, and edged it with Walnut Stain DI.  

I added the slightest hint of gold gilding wax to highlight the trees.  I attached the die cut card front to the background with dimensional glue, then matted the panel onto black card.

I took a white card blank (7"x 7") and edged it with Vintage Photo DI.  I then stamped a sentiment from the Christmas Notes stamp set at the bottom of the card using Versafine. 

  

Finally I layered the panel onto the base card.  I love the stag stamp and die, I think they can be used in various colour ways to suit a variety of occasions for male or female cards alike.  I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial  :)  

Christmas Canvas

                                                I have some exciting news!! 
I recently became a member of the design team for Sheena Douglass - I'm so thrilled and excited!  :)  This canvas is one of my samples for my first DT call out, and I was lucky enough to see Sheena show it live on television last week!  So now that I have calmed down a bit and the shows have aired I can share my creations with you  :)  So for this piece I have used Sheena Perfect Partner stamps and die - Holly Jolly Christmas and Holly Berries; Dyna paints; Aqua Tints; black Versafine; black EP; Gold Gilding wax; Icicle Stickles; black Gesso.  I took an 8"x 8" canvas and covered it with a coat of black Gesso.  When dry I sponged 3 colours of Dyna paints all over the surface.  These paints are duo chrome acrylics, which means that they change colour when the light hits them.  I wanted to still see the texture of the canvas, while also creating a lovely shimmering background.  Using a piece of white card I cut and dry embossed several branches of Holly, then painted them with Aqua Tint.  I also cut the same number of Holly branches from black card.  When the first leaves were dry I added gilding wax and polished.  I then stamped a corner swirl onto acetate in black ink, and heat embossed with black powder.  On the reverse side of the acetate I painted the tiny Holly leaves with acrylic, then cut the images out.  I attached the corner swirls to the canvas with strong glue.  I attached the green Holly to the black Holly, slightly offsetting it so that the black created a shadow.  I then arranged them along one edge of the canvas, having shaped them all to make them look realistic, and attached them with dimensional glue.  I added the berries and highlighted them with a gold pen.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment onto a piece of white card in black, then edged the panel with red Aqua Tint.  I matted it onto a piece of black card which was edged in gilding wax.  I wasn't really happy with it though as it looked a bit messy, so I painted the panel red and added Stickles  around the edges.  I then attached it to the canvas with dimensional glue.  I wanted to create some artwork for Christmas that would grace any home each year, and I'm so pleased with the result.