Christmas stamps by Donna Ratcliff

Hello crafters!

I knew it wouldn't be long before we saw some more amazing creations from Donna, our chief Inkoid! This time she has turned her attention to Christmas and bought us a beautiful collection of classic and timeless images.

Firstly, I adore this gorgeous stag! It's the first card I had to make!....And we see as this beautiful creature makes his way to the top of the snowy slope and pauses to survey his surroundings, lit by a full moon, which seems to emphasize his majesty... I felt like I was channelling Attenborough whilst making this. 😉

I wanted him to be the focus, he seemed quite pagan with this holly antlers, therefore, I wanted him to look a bit magical and spiritual and thought creating a full moon, as a halo behind him, would achieve this. 😊 The background was created by flicking drops of Pebeo drawing gum on to it, to make snow later. I used a die cut circle as a mask for behind his head, I wanted a really bright moon.
Then Distress Ink was blended on to the background, paler in the centre. The stag was stamped and fussy cut. I didn't need to cut out some of the very tiny bits, around his antlers, they were white so would not show up against the moon and would blend in.  To create the glow around the moon, I removed the mask after inking, watered down clear sparkle pen and sponged it round the edge of the orb, it bleeds and becomes feathery, which is perfect. Coloured the moon with clear sparkle pen and then applied a little 3D foil glue with my fingers to add texture here and there, added the silver foil when it was dry. Rubbed away the drawing gum and positioned the stag which I coloured with Aquablend pencils.

This is another evening scene I created with the trees. I wanted to do something fairly simple for this one and a bit cleaner, so just a snowy landscape and a pretty sky, again, inspired by my love of the Northern Lights, something which I hope to see in real life one day.

Also, with this collection by Donna, comes this lovely cosy cabin. It teams up perfectly with the trees from the stamp set in the Aurora Borealis card above, so you can create a real scene. For this one I stamped the trees on the background and then stamped the house on a separate piece of card and cut it out. This is a decoupaged card but doesn't show up on the photos, it's comprised of three layers and then the decorated tree at the front is also decoupaged. There are lots of companion stamps with this set that allow you to create your own backgrounds and papers. 

Not just for cards as you can see, home decor too! 

Where would we be without a cheery little robin at Christmas? Donna has drawn us some cute little birds to play with. You can have them realistic or they also come with hats and stockings for a bit of fun. This Robin was decoupaged in the foreground as you can see they "play nicely" as Sheena would say with the other images.

I've got a soft spot for this little chappy, he's a real sweetie pie. I think he's hoping someone will throw him some crumbs whilst he's waiting for Santa to arrive. As Hayley and Sheena have just discussed on Hochanda, you've guessed it, this little bird is decoupaged! I know, shocker! lol.. He was fussy cut, shaped and placed on the background. He was stamped a second time and then I cut out his wing, the top portion is glued flat and 3D glue is placed under the middle of the wing to raise it and make it realistic. 

And now for something warm and cosy.. for these poinsettias I decided to go a bit vintage.

The moment is finally here...Santa Claus is coming to town!... He really is a lovely Father Christmas and because of the way he is drawn, he is really easy to decoupage ( not at all obsessed, actually yes I am! lol.) There is no hope...none at all... 

And finally, this is a door hanging I created with Saint Nick. I thought this would be nice to hang on a child's door, or the door of the room where the presents will be found... complete with jingle bells too! And I'll let you guess the other technique I used.. 😉

I had such fun making these and I am sure you will love playing with this collection too! So many things you can achieve with it. Can't wait to see what you make. I'm sure it won't be long before we see something else from our Donna. 

T.T.F.N peeps

Adele

xx

Christmas words with Sheena Douglass

Hello lovely crafters!

So, are you still feeling Chrismassy? I know we are having worked on such lovely stamps and dies of late. 😊 Sheena is launching her new range of Christmas dies and stamps today on Hochanda. The team have loved playing with these and have made some amazing creations! They are absolutely stunning, just wait till you see them on the telly! 😍

Some of them can be used for more than Christmas. The inspiration for this was brought to you by unicorns and rainbows! Everywhere I go I see them! There is no escape..lol..And anyway, we all need rainbows and sparkles in our life don't we... and unicorns if truth me told! 😉

Another with twinkle... a Christmas themed one, using a previous Sheena folder. 

Jingle bells, jingle bells... I love a jolly Christmas song.. I've combined Jingle with one of Sheena's previous Christmas stamp launches, the bells went perfectly with this. 

Brrr... it's getting cold out there. I love to see a pure white blanket of snow across a landscape, so used another die from my stash to help create this.

In this one I used the word itself as the focal point and just complimented it with a Distress Ink sky with foil highlights.

I adore snowflakes, so anything with them on is good with me. 😊 For this creation I wanted to use a limited colour palette and give the feeling of a blizzard and then snow melting, so gave the background a watery feel.

This one is a shaker card.

And another teamed with Sheena's previous snowflake embossing folder. 

And finally back inside to warm ourselves by candlelight.  This is Distress Ink and Aquablend pencils. 

I've really loved working with these, there is so much you can do with them. They will work perfectly with many other things from your crafty stash! So what's not to love? 😊

crafty hugs

Adele

x

Christmas concept folders and stamps with Sheena Douglass

Hello peeps!

Hope you are all well, as promised updating this post with Sheena's Christmas Retro concept folders. These innovative embossing folders work in conjunction with stamps for an amazing collaboration! How fabulous is that! This has never been done before, but as we know with Sheena, she really likes to push the crafty boundaries and develop new things for us to play with!

So we have a cute little deer which you can stamp and then emboss with your folder! Love this little sweetheart, really enjoyed making this card. 

I recall my Nan having baubles just like these on her tree, so these bring back memories.

You can go full on colour with this collection and gilding wax will also work perfectly with them. Here I also used a VersaMark pen to add embossing powder highlights and make the words stand out more. 

You can also decoupage the folders. So many ways to play with these. 

If you love all things retro, these are the crafty beauties for you! They will help bring back memories of Christmas past. 

T.T,F.N 

Adele

xx

Teatime stamps by Donna Ratcliff

Hello lovely crafters!,

So, we've been super busy here at Sheena HQ with lots of lovely crafty things to play with! As promised though, I am starting to update with the collections we have been working on.. and here is the second launch by our chief Inkoid Donna. The last set of steampunk inspired stamps was so well received, and rightly so, that we knew she would be back with more amazing designs! 😊

These beautiful stamps have a very vintage feel, making us think of summer fetes, tea shops and treats with friends! What's not to love? 

Ooh Strawberry cupcakes! Yummy! Loved making this creation, and what a surprise, it was all decoupaged too! lol.. Can't help it.. but Donna has drawn them so brilliantly this is so easy to do. 

Macaroons! Pretty and colourful! 

And let's not forget cake! 

The collection would not be complete without a cuppa tea would it? Also very easy to decoupage.. 

Just thought I would also share with you a couple more makes I made with Donna's first collection.

So who is for a second helping? I'm sure there will me more on the menu from our Donna very soon! 

Crafty hugs 😊

Adele

xx

Christmas stamps by Stacey Barras

Hello crafters!

So, team Inkoid, were invited to make some samples for Stacey Barras, a new designer with Crafter's Companion. These are a lovely set of Christmas stamps and we had fun playing with these. If you like anything vintage you will love these as they have that feel but are also perfect for modern cards too, it's all about what you do with them.  You will most probably know that vintage is very much my thing, so that is the direction I went in..

I love this little car, laden with pressies! I set it on a snowy lane on it's way to spend Christmas with loved ones. It's decoupaged on to the background. I used glossy accents on the headlights and added texture with Dovecraft puffy paint. This is a fabulous new find, I adore it, you apply it to where you want it and they heat it with your gun and it expands and goes 'puffy' as it says on the bottle. Stocked up on this! lol.

For this one I created a background which would give the impression of twinkling lights and then decoupaged the baubles in the foreground. I love the brush lettering sentiments with this collection too.

It wouldn't be Christmas without poinsettias would it? Love these, although sadly can never keep them alive! I'm good with other plants but somehow these always give up, they seem to like particular conditions, none of which I seem to provide, however much I try.  The best way to enjoy them at Christmas seems to be in art form, so you will have the perfect chance with these stamps.  You get a main feature stamp and then smaller stamps to complement them in the range. For the full collection see Crafter's Companion. 

T.T.F.N 

Adele

xx

Mockingbird Hill tutorials

Will update soon :)

Mockingbird Hill with Sheena Douglass

Hello crafty peeps!

I hope you are all well out there! Wow, what a busy time it has been at Sheena HQ! Sheena has launched some amazing collections and our chief Inkoid Donna has brought us another fabulous collection of stamps too. 😄We've had such fun on the team and it's been an honour as always to work on these collections.  So I am now catching up with you. 😊

Firstly...Mockingbird Hill is a stunning collection of dies and stamps recently launched by Sheena. They are perfect partners so match each other exactly just as their name suggests. The team were super excited to work with these. Sheena has captured wonderfully an idyllic village, one most of us would love to live in! Sign me up, I'm moving in now!

The great thing about these, they're not just for Christmas! They have cleverly been designed to use all year round, so providing endless opportunities to play!

So, these are the samples I made for Sheena and the shows.

'Our House' is a beautiful town house. The stamps and dies come with an extension, dog kennel and Christmas trimmings, so all you could possibly need for all the seasons. I combined them with the adornments and landscape dies from the collection to make this diorama card.

If you are not sure about colouring you can always just play with your gilding waxes and foils and still get effective results. Don't throw that old chocolate box away, one day it may come in handy! 

This is one I created in Kraft card, which I thought would have a gingerbread feel about it. Again, not always the need to colour in. See how many different looks you can get with one set? These are so versatile. 😊

And now for cosy cottage! I love this house.. ahhh I want to live there..  For this sample, I wanted to create real depth, the impression of travelling over hill and dale, through snowy landscapes to get home for Christmas. The thinking behind it was, something like this could be brought out every year as part of the decorations and it was lovely when Hayley the presenter said the same. 😊As you can see I combined all the elements across the collection again. 

I also teamed it up with a previous die and stamp of Sheena's, from last years 'Scenic Winter' collection. 

Also, as previously mentioned, not just for Christmas. For this one, I turned up the temperature and brought summer into the mix, again, adding many of Sheena's other dies and stamps from my stash. 

There is a lovely little church in Mockingbird Hill, which would also be good for wedding cards throughout the year too but I used it here in a winter setting. 

Part of the collection is made up of a cute little snowman, a Christmas tree and a lamp post to mention a few things. Loved making this, I wanted to capture the atmosphere of a magical snowy night in the park, just waiting for Santa. 

For this one I tried something different, I like to play and try new things, so I made a bendy card. These are good for creating depth but fold flat to post. 

And finally I thought they would make a nice image on a bauble. 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing these, I loved playing with this collection.😊And I am sure I will continue to do so. I have fallen in love with this place as many of you have also done.

crafty hugs

Adele

xx