Creative Expressions

New Stamps and some Inspirations .

Hi there , after giving you a little taste of my new stamps from Creative Expressions last week , I thought that I would show you some finished cards over the next few days .
All the cards were created using the new sets of stamps that I designed for the nice people at Creative Expressions. They are all hand drawn .
I'm not going to give long descriptions of how they were made , just show them to you as inspiration for what you could do with the stamps .

Firstly , Creative Expressions Clear Stamp Set , Waterlily , CEC885.

Secondly , Creative Expressions Stamps , Mixed Posy , CEC889 .

I hope you like these and  maybe want to have a go with these new stamps .

Over the next few days I'll share some more designs with you .

If you would like to see what other members of the DT are doing go to Creative Expressions

Creative Expressions

Hi there , today I am going to tease you with some sneaky peaks at some of the cards that I have made . They are all made using six new sets of floral stamps just released by Creative. All the designs have been hand drawn by me and I hope that you like them .
So , here are a few pictures , more soon .

If you want to see all the sets look on the Creative Expressions website . 

I'll be back with more pictures soon .

Creative Expressions

ALittle bit Vintage .

Hi there , this is rather late but finally here is my latest offering for you . I have a tendency to use cool colours because I like them , but today I have gone for some soft vintage colours .
The project is a deep frame which I painted inside and out with a mixture of Clotted Cream and White which made a soft cream colour . I also painted a piece of card cream .
To create the background for the inside of the box I used my favourite technique of patting various colours onto the card using a wet wipe . Just dab the paint randomly onto the card . Use the different colours and allow them to blend together until you like the effect . I started with Cocoa Praline and added Clotted Cream and Flushed Cheeks, finishing with more of the mixed cream colour .

For the frame I stencilled texture Paste through a stencil and once dry I painted a layer of the cream paint over it . I finished with some gilding polish onto the raised areas .

The stamping on the background was done with Potting Soil Archival ink .

I used Clear Stamps , Watch the Birdie for the words and Portraits for the leaves and flowers . I added a few leaves from Rustic Birds .

Instead of using this for the background of a frame a similar effect would make a good background for a card .

On another piece of painted card I stamped the leaves , dragonfly ( from Beautiful Wings ) and create ( from Woodware stamp Vintage Inspiration ) with the same ink . I triple embossed the Create and framed it . The other two designs were attached behind Tim Holtz Fragments, but they could also be triple embossed.

I cut a piece of hessian and rubbed the Gilding Polish over it .

Finally I put all the elements I had made into the frame along with some lace and flowers .

The project when finished looks like this .

Here is a list of Creative Expressions products that I used in this project:---

CE Acrylic Mixed Media Paint, White , Clotted Cream Flushed Cheeks and Cocoa Praline. 

CE Gilding Polish, Chocolate Bronze and Red Bronze .

CE Stamps , Beautiful Wings, Portraits, Watch the Birdie, Rustic Birds, Wild Flowers. 

Woodware Stamps  , Vintage Inspiration.

That Special Touch Mask, Peacock Mask .

Ranger Archival ink , Potting Soil.

Cosmic Shimmer Ultra Thick Embossing Crystals, Clear .

Creative Expressions, Pearl Topped Stick Pins , White .

If you want to see what other CE Design Team members are doing go to Creative Expressions

Creative Expressions

A card with some happy Toadstools .

Hi there , today I am going to share a pretty card with you . It only uses two stamps and some lovely Irridescent watercolour paints .

Before I start I'll just list the Creative Expressions products I used . 

Stamps , Woodware Clear Singles , Three Toadstools and Countryside Stems. .

Cosmic Shimmer Irridescent Watercolour Palette of your choice and 

Foundations Card Coconut White and Gold Mirror .

You can use any of the Watercolour palettes that you have or other colouring mediums . As I tend to mix my colours they are never the same as the original palette! 

I stamped the Three Toadstools with Archival Black ink to avoid smugging when watercolouring . I also stamped it onto some paper and cut the design out to act as a mask .

I used some of the stems to add some more depth to the design . You can see where the extra stamps have gone onto the mask and not the design .

So here is the final result .

I used the same stems to stamp randomly around the edge of a larger piece of card which will act as a border for the  main design .

After this I coloured the design with the Irridescent Watercolour paints before assembling the card in layers as shown .

The quote is from the Toadstools stamp set and is embossed with gold powder.

I think this is a happy gentle card that could be used for lots of occasions. 

If you want to see what other members of the CE design team are doing please go to 

Creative Expressions

Creative Expressions

Christmas Cards .

Hi there , here are a few Christmas Cards that I made , and then decided to show them on my blog .
They are all made the same way despite the fact that they all look different.

On a piece of either white or black card approximately 61/2 by 41/2 inches I created  a coloured area by dabbing Distress Oxides through a paper aperture , either rectangular or circular . To make this , draw the shape onto paper and then cut out the aperture. Instead of trying for a neat line I made the edges of the shapes irregular . Much easier than keeping perfectly to the line ! 

This can be placed over the card and used as a stencil  . I've blended several different colours within the area , any of the blues , greens or purples will work .

After the coloured area was dry I stamped the images with either archival black ink , or where I have used embossing powder I have used an Embossing ink .

I then mounted the decorated card  on silver or black card and then onto a card blank .

The  words were embossed onto a small piece of card then mounted onto contrasting card before attaching to the card with foam pads .

These don't take long to make and look nice so I hope they help if you need to make last minute cards . 

Creative Expressions products I used :-

Creative Expressions Clear Stamps -: 

Winter Scene, Snowflake Kisses, Winter Wonderland and Festive Traditions.

Cosmic Shimmer Detail Embossing Powder, True White and Silver Shine .

Foundations Card , Black and Coconut White .

Foundations Pearl Card , Steel.

Various Distress Oxides.

If you want to see what other members of the CE Design Team are doing please look at Creative Expressions

Creative Expressions

A Festive Arched Window .

Hi there , here I am back again with a post for Creative Expressions.
This is a mixed media piece using the MDF Free Standing Arched Window which I stuck together before painting the whole thing with Black Gesso. When this was dry I stamped ivy leaves from the stamp set Festive Traditions Carol Singers randomly over the frame and embossed with silver powder  .

To create the backgrounds in the windows I used Distress Oxide inks onto white card ;. Dab some of the oxides onto a craft sheet , spray with a little water and swirl the card over the ink . The main colours  I used were Wilted Violet , Cracked Pistachio and Faded Jeans . I then dabbed the same or similar colours through stencils with cut and dry foam to add some interest . The top right is interesting because I used a die cut piece from a Sue Wilson Die , Twinkle Star Frames , as a stencil .

I used some of the coloured card left over from making the windows to die cut some foliage from Sue Wilson dies , Trailng Ivy and Berry Bough .

I stamped and embossed with black powder each of the Window pieces :

Top right , Reindeer and Stars ,

Top left , Branches ,

Bottom left , Trees , all from stamp set Winter Wonderland.

Bottom right , Mistletoe, from stamp set Festive Traditions Carol Singers .

I then attached the backgrounds into the windows before adding the decorations . In this picture I'd already added the Poinsettia before taking the picture , sorry .

The holly leaves , from the Grab Bag of MDF pieces were triple embossed with silver powder  . The berries were covered with glib and glitter . After I stuck the holly leaves in place I added some of the ivy .

I added dots of glue to the front tree and added more glitter ( actually although I rarely use glitter there's a lot on this piece ! ) . I put some glue inti the bottles which will eventually dry clear revealing the glitter that I also added to the bottles ! More ivy and some bits of bling were then added .

The Poinsettia was cut from another Sue Wilson Die , Classic Poinsettia . I only cut the two smaller flowers and then applied Pearl Lustre Gilding Polish before sticking the flower together . I tucked some of the Die cut Berry boughs under the flower There are three tiny pine cones, glittered , in the centre of the piece.

Here is more of the ivy and Berry boughs here . The silver rail is a silver embossed piece of Die cut frame from the Twinkle Star Die . I've added a painted pine cone and a tree Bauble and beads .

Of course you could easily change the colour scheme and use different embellishments to create something unique . So I hope this has inspired you to create something wonderful .

I've used various Creative Expressions products, here are a few of them , the whole list is on the CE website :- 

Dies by Sue Wilson , Festive Collection- Twinkle Star Frames , Classic Poinsettia and Berry Bough .

Finishing Touches - Trailing Ivy .

Creative Expressions Clear Stamp sets - Winter Wonderland and Festive Traditions Carol Singers .

Creative Expressions MDF Free Standing Arched Window and Christmas Mega Grab Bag.

That Special Touch Mask Chicken Wire .

If you want to see what other members of the CE design team have made please go to 

Creative Expressions