The kiss with dreamy dots

This time I made a card with a very special stamp .... it's the couple depicted in the famous painting 'The Kiss' by Gustav Klimt. 

On the one hand it's very easy to make a very beautiful card with this stamp, I mean, it's one of the most decorative paintings in the world. On the other hand, what on earth can I do to do it better than the master himself? I decided to stay close to the original but to add elements that are really me. 

I stamped the couple bottom left with black Versafine on a double white card, and masked it. I sponged the background with Versamagic ink and made sure it was not too 'perfect'. The lines are added on purpose, it's a reference to the background of the painting. I used a stencil and -again- Versamagic ink to fill in the entire background with dots: big dots, medium dots, small dots, tiny dots .....  It creates a dreamy effect.I added even more dots with stamps

I stamped a kind of big circle of lace with Brilliance Galaxy Gold on the top right. It gives a wonderful effect but capturing thjs with the camera is not easy. 

I colourized the couple with a combination of Coloursoft and Metallic pencils. I used a little trick. I start with adding colour, eg pale orange, and add a layer of gold to it (with the Metallic pencil). This way I can create different shades of gold. I used more or less the same colours as in the painting.

I added an extra picture to show you how the couple really pops out.

Materials:
- stamp 'the Kiss': Cherry Pie (De Stempelwinkel)
- stamp circle of lace: Stampinback sheet 135
- stamp small dots: Hero Arts, Lots of Dots 
- stencil: ?

Challenges:
- Allsorts Challenge - #780 spots and stripes (or AG)
- We Love Stamping - Vintage or AG

****The Allsorts Challenge is celebrating their 15th Birthday next week, please help them celebrate!****

Thank you for watching!

Birthday Lilies

 A lot of birthdays are coming up in May and June, and Mother's Day of course, well, a lovely excuse for someone addicted to stamping .....

This card is for a good friend who is going through a rough time. She loves ships, sea and flowers, so I wanted to combine these things in one card. And what a happy coincidence, I had already more or less figured out what stamps and colours I wanted to use for her birthday card, when I saw the themes of favourite challenges ...... a perfect match!

I stamped the lilies with Brilliance pearlescent Rust on PainOn Lisse paper. This paper is a bit smoother than PaintOn paper which makes it sponging ink easier. I masked the Lilies and put a stencil on the paper. I sponged with Versamagic ink, I used 3 different colours. 

My stencil was too small to cover the entire area, so later on I stamped some dots on the upper part of the paper. I also stamped the sentiment a couple of times (with the stencil still on the paper!). I removed the stencil, and sponged the entire card with Versamagic Aloe Vera.  This softens the edges of the parts I sponged before. 

I stamped the boat with black Versafine and colourized it with pencils. I also extended the lines of the water with a black Faber-Castell Pitt pen. I added the sentiment. Now it was time to colourize the lilies! I used Inktense and a water brush.

The lilies really pop out of the card irl, sorry I wasn't able to catch the wonderful effect of the brilliance ink on my photo.
The inside of the card and the envelope are also decorated with the lilies.

Stamps:
- Lilies: KiCoStamps (plate 5)
- Ship: Katzelkraft KTZ079 - Bateau en Mer
- sentiment and dots: StampinBack sheet 135

Other Materials:
- stencil: unknown (there was no brand name of other info on it)
- pencils: Derwent coloursoft and Inktense

Challenges:
- Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything Goes Flowers/Florals and an optional Mood Board 
- Stamping Sensations - May challenge: mood board or AG

Thank you for watching!

Special stamp, special card

 A couple of months ago, I was the very lucky winner of the 31 Days of Halloween challenge on Lost Coast Portal to Creativity. I was allowed to spend $10 on stamps from Lost Coast Designs or Carmen's Veranda. Well, that wasn't easy. All these beautiful stamps and I had to pick just one or two of them ... I fell in love with a fabulous stamp of a tree with birds in it. I love trees and I love birds! 

A couple of weeks ago, my stamp finally arrived. By now, it must be the most admired stamp of The Netherlands because I have showed it to my family, my friends, even the teachers at my children's school. My mother asked me if I could make her a card with it. Of course! 

The tree with birds from Carmen's Veranda is a big stamp, it's full size if your card is standard size (A6). I decided to make a XL card with it. After all, it's a special request with the first stamp I have ever won with a challenge. 

I started with stamping the girl (an old stamp from Stampin'Up) with black versafine on both PaintOn paper and masking tape. I colourized the girl with my Polychromos pencils. The pencils are oil-based and resist watercolour and Inktense (to a certain degree). I added the mask and stamped the sentiments ((Darkroom Door - 132 Gum Trees) with Versamark. I colourized the background with Inktense pencils. I used a lot of water because I wanted the pigment to spread unevenly. It turned out very well this time, you can see the 'clouds' in the sky. I stamped the flowers in the background with Brilliance Moonlight white. It gives a wonderful special effect. The bold flower is also an Stampin'Up stamp, the other one is from KiCoStamps. 

Background finished, time for the tree with birds to make this picture complete! I stamped the tree with black Versafine and removed the mask. The rest can be seen on the picture. 

My mother hasn't seen the card .... yet. Please, don't worry about her seeing her card on this blog, she spends very little time on the internet. 

Challenges:

- We Love Stamping - January Challenge - Something new: I have used new stamps, ie the tree with birds and both of the sentiments. 

- Let's Craft and Create - Challenge #203 - AG & a penny for your thoughts.

- Lost Coast Portal to Creativity - Challenge #181 Anything Goes: Due to technical difficulties, I use my Dutch blog to play in the challenges of Lost Coast. Both of my blogs are updated more or less simultaneously. 

Please note I do stick to all the rules of every challenge. 

Thank you for watching!

decorating the trees

What would Christmas be without decorated trees? Whether it be coloured lights, baubles or other beautiful ornaments, we have to decorate everything to brighten up the long, dark days. This little penguin decided it was time to decorate this almost leafless tree!

This time, I started with stamping a frame of Christmas baubles. I used 2 very old stamps of Ready2Stamp (SiriusHobby), they were still on loop tape but I had to take it off because the hook tape doesn't stick to the acrylic block anymore. So now the stamps are on EZmount. I stamped them with Brilliance pearlescent Beige. I really love using this colour if I want a golden touch, but nothing to shiny and/or yellowish. 

I putted masks on the Christmas baubles on the lower side of the card and stamped the Penguin (KiCoStamps) with Versafine. I moved the masks to the upper part and stamped the branch (Stampinback), also with black Versafine. 

I colourized the penguin and Christmas baubles with Derwent Coloursoft pencils. I used Derwent Inktense pencils for the background. I added some Inktense around the borders, and started working from the inside to the outside with a water brush. This way it's easy to solve all the pigment and spread it evenly with a bit more pigment around the borders. I think it gives a wonderful accent.

Challenges:

- Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Challenge #82 - The Midas Touch

Thank you for watching!