Northern Lights

Funnily enough, I have never seen the Northern lights, although I'm from Finland. They are primarily visible in Northern Finland, and I have only spent short holidays up there, and been unlucky in never happening upon them.

I have seen the lovely Northern Lights technique here and there in the Blogosphere though. Most recently I found this amazing card from Heidi over at Running With Scissors Stamper, one of the DT for The Friday Mashup. In the same post there is a link to this tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. Just google "northern lights" and you will find the most amazing inspiration photos. Seriously, the colours are just unbelievable! I was particularly inspired by the below photo from the National Geographic web site, which acknowledges it as "Photograph by Alaska Stock Images". 

I haven't been trying out this technique as it looked quite difficult, and I thought I wouldn't get it right. But I was so inspired by Heidi's card that I thought I would just give it a little test, so I got my Distress inks out for a play. Mostly it resulted in disaster after disaster, my fingers were black and I was losing my patience. But then somehow I managed to produce two panels which weren't completely horrible. I thought after putting all that effort in, I might as well make them into cards although they are far from perfect.

These cards were inspired mainly by the card I referenced above, and two challenges: The Friday Mashup where the theme is "It's all about weather" and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is "To the moon and back" or use something from space or the universe. 

For my first card I used the sketch over at My Favourite Things. I die cut the letters for Merry from one of the failed attempts at the northern lights, so at least the failed attempts didn't go completely to waist. I used the deer from the Stampin' Up White Christmas stamp set. I'm also entering the card at Clear it Out where anything goes, and Winter Wonderland where the theme is to Add a Sentiment.

I also made a second card using the current Freshly Made Sketch and the Lawn Fawn Critters from the Arctic die along with a DSP from Stampin' Up called Sweet Sorbet. I'm also entering this card over at Crafts for Eternity where the theme is "Furry Friends".

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, coloured 240 gsm kraft card black, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Joy to the Woods, Stampin' Up White Christmas

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, Pine Needles, Seedless Preserves, Worn Lipstick

DSP: Stampin' Up Sweet Sorbet

Other: Lawn Fawn dies Critters in the Arctic, Stitched Hillside Borders, Cole's ABC, Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Ranger Ice Stickles Crystal Ice, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper String, White Gel Pen

Block stamping technique

I'm glad there has been some challenges around lately encouraging you to try new techniques. It's easy to get stuck in the same old "stamp and colour" routine. Not saying there is anything wrong with it at all, but it's fun to try something different from time to time. Recently I tried the "galaxy technique" which you can see here. And today, inspired by the Just Add Ink challenge I have used the clear block stamping technique. It's pretty much what it says on the tin, you ink up your blocks and use them as stamps. 

For this card, I looked for inspiration from two images that both gave me a very similar feel. The colours for this card are inspired by the image from Just Us Girls - vibrant and warm yellows, oranges and reds. Warm colours are so not my thing, but this is all about challenging yourself (and using those ink pads and cardstock that you don't usually use!!). The roses and blacks were inspired by the image from the Fusion Challenge. The black, shiny glass on the table was my inspiration for the intense black sentiments and for the glitter added to the roses. I also used the sketch from the Fusion challenge for the layout of the card, luckily I had a stamp block which was just the right size.

I inked my clear block using Stampin' Up Summer Starfruit, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red. After inking it generously, I spritzed the block with Perfect Pearls water mist (just mix a bit of Perfect Pearls with water in a spritzing bottle). I stamped off some of the ink onto scrap paper and then stamped onto the card. The Perfect Pearls leave a subtle shine and stamping off some of the ink ensures that you don't just get a solidly coloured square, but a watercolour type effect. I think it's really cool, and it's great to see how it will turn out as the ink just spreads around as it wants. You also get different effects depending on what cardstock you use and how it absorbs the water and the ink, so it's fun to experiment. The background squares need to be completely dry before stamping on the sentiments and roses - a heat gun is an impatient girl's best friend. I used Memento black ink for the roses and sentiments. Lastly I added some stickles to the roses. Quick, clean, simple and very easy with a bit of an artsy feel to it.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie card
Stamps: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler, Inspirations Flowers Clear Stamp set
Ink: Stampin' Up Summer Starfruit, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Tim Holtz Distress stickles Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade, Ranger Ice Stickles Coffee Ice

Galaxy technique

I'm a bit early with tomorrow's blog post. So if you read this on Wednesday, close the browser and come back tomorrow as this is meant to be Thursday's post. Just kidding, just kidding, read on. The reason I have to publish this post a bit early is that I just received some paint, just a few hours before the end of a challenge deadline that I really wanted to create a card for. The story goes as follows.

When I saw the galaxy technique challenge on The Friday Mashup last Friday, I immediately watched the linked technique videos as I just loved the look of the DT inspiration cards. This is the great video I used to help me get to grips with the technique. And then I immediately headed up to my craft room to play with my Distress paints. Only to discover that I actually don't have black paint. Ever so often I do this, I see a product used so much in blogs and videos that somehow my brain has convinced me that I have that in my stash. Very disappointed, I had to wait for several long days until my paints finally arrived today, only a few hours before the challenge deadline. So off I went into the craft room like greased lightning, and after a bit of playing around with the paints I managed to put together this card. 

For the layout I was inspired by this week's Freshly Made Sketch, and for the colours I used the amazing palette over at Colour Me...! I'm also entering the card over at Simon Says Monday Challenge where Anything goes.

I created the galaxy according to the instructions in the video using the Distress paints. I stamped the stars in Versamark and heat embossed using white powder. I stamped the sentiment using Versamark and heat embossed using white powder. I then coloured the white embossed parts using a Copic marker to match the colours in the galaxy.

Card: Daler & Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper, coloured 240 gsm kraft card in black and purple
Paints: Tim Holtz Distress Paints Black Soot, Dusty Concord, Picket Fence, Spiced Marmelade and Seedless Preserves
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters Ever after, Stampin' Up Just Sayin'
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Copic YR04
Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder