...say hello to Big Blooms - Poinsettias

ED - we've been doing some work to the store regarding payment options. We are setting it up to take credit card payments, via a secure process. There may be the odd disruption to our service there wile we do that, so please bear with us if you have had any problems in store this evening, I am hoping all will be smooth by tomorrow. Thank you.


Good morning and welcome to the second day of previews! On Thursday we'll be releasing 5 new clear photopolymer stamp sets!! Between now and then we're showing samples!!! Today we also have a wee competition - it's at the bottom, you gotta scroll all the way down...LOL!

Before I get into my samples for today, here are the links to the DT ladies also previewing today:

Lisa
Anya
Bonnie
Belinda
Joan
Julia
Mona
Jennifer
Lynn
Sandie
Laurie

Today's first card features a 3D poinsettia. I made it using a medium sized Poinsettia outline stamp from the new Big Blooms - Poinsettias set. Directions are below. I mounted the flower on a Spellbinders Label 14 die cut which I had stamped with one of the frame stamps from Holiday labels No. 14, also due out Thursday.

The sentiment is from another new set, Compliments of the Season. I love vintage Christmas greetings! They are hard to find so I made some to suit myself! Gorgeous old fonts set in interesting layouts these sentiments are quite suitable as focal points in them selves.

I used versacolour inks for this, burgundy and pinecone on the label, sponged with a little antique linen...lol

This flower is so easy to make with the medium sized Poinsettia stamp from Big Blooms - Poinsettias, here's how:

Stamp the image 3 times onto coloured paper, I used Basic Gray, I think it was from the fruitcake collection...loved that line, but any red will do. trim out one whole flower, a craft knife is fast for this. Trim out two partial flowers, one with only the front 3 leaves/petals and one with a little more.



Take a deep red copic marker and add a wee bit of shading, you don't need to spend ages on this, mine was very rough.


Gently fold the leaves along the main centre line, you won't be able to do them all the way down, but that's ok, also maybe bend them a little as you fold. You're aiming to give a little body to the flat paper cut outs.


Layer the 3 cut outs on top of each other, I made sure mine were in the same position, on top of each other. When you're happy you can glue them.


At this point I roughly rubbed a little glue along the cut edges and sprinkled on some glitter. What you can't see is the step where i put some wee wooden beads in the centre and poured glue liberally over them, I left it to set for a while. Once set you can stick it to your card.


For my next card I used a technique I saw in blogland recently, I'm sorry if it was you, but I forget where exactly! The largest of the Poinsettia outline stamps was stamped in versamark and clear embossed onto the front of a large square card, this card is 5.5 by 5.5 inches. The large poinsettia is a really BIG stamp!!

Once dry, I lightly sponged white ink into the flower shape, I used versacolour white. Once it was dry I went back over with a little Barn door red distress ink, just a smidge.

I used two scraps of post it note to shield the side of my flower while I stamped the square frame from Frame-it, (Also due Thursday). Versamark and clear embossing powder on the frame and again for the sentiment, which comes from Teeny Trees. Rubbed a wee bit of white over the sentiment just to bring it out. Oooh and a wee smidge of honey distress ink in the centre of the flower.


This little quick card uses the small square frame from Frame-it to surround the smallest Poinsettia outline stamp. I stamped it 3 times in 3 different reddy, pink shades, one of which was Rhubarb memento Ink. I use the rhubarb to stamp the flower and then I used copics to colour. I love how this turned out, I especially wanted a brighter version of the flower after the rich dark red of the first card! This one and the next card really pop!

Big Blooms - Poinsettia contains 3 sizes of Poinsettia outline stamps that you've seen here but also lots of little stylized versions of poinsettias for more graphic projects, there are a total of 14 stamps in this set.

The sentiment comes from Frame-It, it is one of 18 interchangeable sentiments for year round use. All sentiments fit both the square frame you see here and the rectangular frame. The Frame-it set also contains a couple of little mini motif stamps, cupcakes and a little graphic leaf stamp, a total of 26 stamps.


I love the Frame-it set but I can't claim the idea! The concept came to me from Joan Bardee way back earlier in the year!! Joan is adept at spotting trends, I think she picked a cracking idea, I have had so much fun and one of the best things bout the Frame-it set is how easy it is to produce simple CAS finished cards in record time! No ruling!



My last card today is just a simply stamped and coloured card. I love the drama of the largest poinsettia stamp and once I had stamped it in Memento rhubarb I set to with the pink copics! I loved the wee tiny flower from the previous card so much I wanted to see what it would be like on the larger flower! LOVE it, such impact!!

A poinsettia flower has many, many veins and I drew them all in on this flower, it adds such a lot of detail, and I have found that the more detail there is in a large stamp, the easier it is to colour. You don't really need to worry about much except for obvious shading. I do like to colour but I don't want to spend half a day on one image, so I'm happy to report that this takes mere minutes!!


The little sentiment was from Compliments of the Season.


Hope they tickle!

The Competition

If you're still with me, pat yourself on the back! Then, leave a comment telling me which sorts of stamps you like best, stamps to colour in, or stamps that don't require colouring, I have days when I prefer one more than the other, I bet you do too, but let's just go with what you fancy today!! LOL!

I'll draw a random winner on Wednesday night! You could win a set from the new release!