Stampin' Up! Hearts Come Home (my cards, part 1)!

Hello, I finally finished my own Christmas cards last week using an image from the Hearts Come Home stamp set (amongst other things)!  This project will be split over two blog posts as there are rather a lot of photos ...

Of course I used two of my favourite Stampin' Up! products ... can you guess what they are (one of them is now sadly retired)?

I used my favourite framelits to cut a square and then used a sponge brayer and some Old Olive ink to create a background.

The photo above shows the first 'swipe' with the brayer.  It looks a bit of a mess but trust me, keep going and it will get better!

Once the green section was complete I used the same technique to add some Dapper Denim ink.

Again, you have to keep going - the more 'swipes' you do the better the effect!

I left a narrow gap between the two colours to create an horizon.

I love this technique as it is possible to vary the intensity of the ink to create lots of interesting effects.

The photo above shows how you can create both a 'night' and 'day' effect by varying the amount of ink used.  The panel on the right was created with the ink that was left on each brayer after I had finished all my panels!

I then stamped a single house from the Hearts Come Home stamp set using Black Archival Ink as I wanted an intense black image.

Next I wanted to create a snowy effect on the panel.  I tried using White Craft Ink with a background stamp but did not like the end result.  Then I remembered a technique I had used at a C & C session 2 years ago.

Squeeze a few drops of White Craft Ink onto a stamping block.  Add a couple of spritzes of water and mix with an old paintbrush.

Load the paintbrush, hold over the background panel and tap the brush near the bristles and voila - its snowing!!

(I did a couple of panels at a time as I had a lot to do).

Top Tip
Make sure you have something on your work surface to protect it as the splatters seem to go everywhere!

The water that has been mixed with the ink also reacts with the sponged ink on the background panel as the ink is water based.  

Once dry you get an interesting chalky snow effect that I really like.

I will leave this post now and come back on Friday with details of how I finished off my cards.  In the meantime, here is a sneaky peak!

Details of the products I have used so far can be found below.

I posted the last batch yesterday, phew - why do I always leave things until the last minute?  Why don't I keep addresses all in one place?

I promise (again) that I will be more organised next year ...

Don't forget to come back soon so you don't miss anything!

Susan xx

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