Christmas in July with Visible Image

Now don't shoot the messenger as I know that a lot of my regular blog readers do not like the "C" word until 1st December but in the crafting world Christmas in July is very important to get the new Christmas releases out. Visible Image launched theirs on Friday on Hobbymaker TV and if you missed it do catch up with the shows. There are lots of mine and my UK teamies design team samples and Mark gave some fab demos. The new release is called "Sketched Christmas" and very different to  Mark's usual grungy, drippy designs. These are hand sketched by him and they are totally delightful.

Here they are, 6 new stamp sets available here on the website. 

The set I am using for my first blogged design team project is the beautiful

Sketched snowflakes

And this is the card I made

This is a very quick card to make and you can use any colourway. I chose to use blue using distress stain and mica sprays. These are always a good option for a quick frosty background. 

I used these colours;

It is very important to allow your background to dry before adding any embossing powder, I leave mine overnight at least. I stamped the sentiment in the bottom right quadrant of my background and white heat embossed it. 

I then stamped and white heat embossed the rest of my design. 

I added some touches of glitter pen

I also added a sequin in the centre of the larger snowflakes plus a few more dotted around for some extra detail and texture. As a finishing touch I matted it on to white glitter paper and then onto a deep blue card blank I made from an A4 sheet of card. 

So here is my finished card again.

With a close up.

and one final shot. 

Do check out this gorgeous new release. You can really quickly batch make with them too. I will be using these for all my Christmas cards this year. I will share some more of my design team samples over the coming month. Stay tuned! 

All the Visible Image links are listed below;

 Our kind, friendly and supportive customer Facebook Group is here ...it would be lovely to see you join us.  You will be warmly welcomed and see lots of inspiration from the DT and customers to inspire your own creativity. 

 I also organize a monthly artist trading card swap in the group. Whether you are a new stamper or a seasoned one you are most welcome to join us. Over 150 members, worldwide, have taken part since it started over 3 years ago. It's been such fun and it's so lovely to receive a unique piece of art from your partner in the post. The details and sign up for each swap are posted in the group on the 23rd of the month. So the July sign up will be in the group on 23rd June. There is no "monthly" commitment, just join in when you have the time and if you live in the UK can you choose to post to the UK only if that suits you best.

The main Visible Image Facebook business page is here

Visible Image also has its own You Tube channel here where you can see videos and Lives to give you lots of inspiration and ideas. 

Their Instagram page can be found here 

Pinterest here

and their website is here 

Bye for now,

Jane x

Christmas in July

Hello it's Billy here, Jane's cat and yes we have arrived at that mad day of the year when she has that Christmas in July moment. 

Summer is in full swing my garden is looking lush with so much new growth. I have been amazed at the new sprouts that have appeared on Baby Choc. He is Jane's little Christmas tree she bought last year to replace Old Choc who went to the Tree in the Sky land. I think he actually found a new home locally as he disappeared from the grass verge the day before the Christmas tree collection van came.  Baby Choc holds  her vintage Christmas ornaments and Christmas chocolates. If you are not a regular reader of my blog you can read all about  my first meeting with him here.

You can spot him in the far right of this photo below, just outside Jane's studio. 

Just look at all his new growth. He told me he loves his new branches. There will be more room to hang things from. It was hard to keep him still as he kept dancing around showing off all his new greeness.

These will turn darker green as the season goes on. 

He is also sporting a rather spiffing new hair style, just look at that. He really is looking most handsome.

So while Jane drove me mad humming Christmas tunes from her studio I had a little snooze in the shade but I did manage to snap these photos before my doze when she went indoor to make her cuppa.

Jane made these alcohol ink tag backgrounds on embossed foiled card a little while back. (You can see that I am very well informed for a cat on all things crafting. I have had years of practice). She made up and the botanical tag which she shared here

I noticed that she had taken out the lumber/wood effect tag and made some Christmas bits and bobs including a stamped coloured image of none other that Father Christmas in his original green outfit. This stamp is from one of her favourite Christmas Tim Holtz stamp sets, called Yuletide.

She had also die cut some greenery too, some in foil and some card. She used alcohol inks again on the foil and distress inks on the card.

So I left her to it and after dinner time I asked if it was safe to pop into her studio and take a peep at what she made. She said yes!

This is what I found; ho ho ho!

with a close up 

she added a sentiment at the bottom....yes Jane will always believe, will you?

one last shot

Jane says she would like me to enter her tag into some challenges..here goes.

Simon says stamp Wednesday early bird

Lil patch of crafty friends 1/3 anything goes

Pixie's snippets playground #381

ABC Christmas N and O I have gone for O for over the top! Jane loves adding lots of extras to her work, she is definitely not a CAS girl.

Die cut Divas Christmas in July

So after all that excitement I found myself a nice shady patch on the lawn for one more doze.

I will be back again in early December with my annual Billy and the Trees post. Baby Choc and I will be rapping together in the garden until then. We also look forward to seeing the Man in the red suit (or will he revert to the old green, who knows?) on the 24th December.  Goodness me this typing is hard work, time for me to go now.  Jane will be back again soon with a new post. I am also going to have a little think about what I will be doing to celebrate my 12th birthday on Friday...gulp...how did that happen!

Until then,

Bye for now,

Billy x

Still snowing on my blog in August

Wow what amazing weather we are enjoying again and it might be the hottest August bank holiday on record today. Temperatures are predicted to reach 32c. I hope you have enjoyed a great bank holiday weekend if you are in the UK and that today finishes it off perfectly. We spent Saturday on the beach at the south coast with our daughter and family. It was splendid.
We took our grandbabies to the beach for a paddle and shell collecting so that Mum and Dad could do some clearing ready for their building works.
There is nothing quite like grandparent time...

Well my Monday make could not be a greater contrast to the current weather as I am still sharing some samples using the new Visible Image Christmas stamps.

Today I am showcasing 2 sets.

Snowman Jack 

and 

Christmas backgrounds

This is what I got up to.
 I made a background on watercolour paper using Brushos and added some yellow Pixie powder for some sparkle.

Once dry I stampedt and red embossed the words stamp.

I also made a background using Sleigh blue Infusions.

I then cut the backgrounds to size and cut out an oval from the top layer using an old Marianne die.

Next I stamped snowman Jack and gave him a little colour with watercolour pens. I stamped his hat and scarf on paper for paper piecing.

Here he is

such a handsome chap!

I also stamped and cut out some of the sentiments from his set.

Here is my finished card

and a couple of close ups

and one final shot

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Lil patch of crafting friends 3/3 anything goes
Rudolph's days  anything goes 1/1
Crafty hazelnut's Christmas challenge  anything goes
Christmas at sweet stampin 2/2  anything goes/snowpeople
Christmas cards all year round 1/3 add a tree

All the new release are available here now.

All the Visible Image links can be found here;

Visible Image group page on Facebook. Our friendly Group is here ...it would be lovely to see you there. You will see lots of gorgeous makes by the DT and customers to inspire your own creativity.

The main Visible Image Facebook page is here; there are regular giveaways...open world wide.

And the shop web site is here; where all their gorgeous stamps and stencils can be purchased.

 Thanks for stopping by,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

A blue Snow Queen

Good morning, wow what a glorious weekend it was here. The sun shone from dawn to dusk in a clear blue sky and on Saturday we enjoyed a trip to the seaside. Blue is my favourite  colour and it was in abundance during our family walk.

 The tide was right in lapping at our feet

People were out sailing, making the most of the unexpected weather.

My DD and Daisy enjoyed watching them.

There was a gorgeous pair of swans with their cygnet

a lovely blue door

blue (and green) beach huts

and even a "Blue" boat aptly named "Blue Monday"

So all these awesome blues and the swans inspired my weekly Visible Image inspiration project which I have called "The Snow Queen".

I used some of the gorgeous new Visible Image Christmas stamp sets
Peace, love and hope

and a sentiment from the Go to Christmas words

and teamed them with one of my all time favourite sets..
Face It!

I also used the mask with my card

I stamped the face and added some Distress glaze to seal the lips.

 I very roughly blended some blue distress inks...making them look quite swirly to look like snow swirls.

I added some shading with Broken China distress ink around her face and gave her some blue blusher too. I stamped and white embossed the small snowflake accent stamps from the Peace, love, hope set. I also added some glitter lipstick and eyeliner

Here she is

I stamped the sentiment with Versafine and added the sweet reindeer and star. The little accents in the Peace, love , hope set are very sweet and I have used them on lots of my Christmas cards.

I also added some DecoArt snow-tex around the edge of my card and sprinkled glitter on top for a really frosty effect.

I love these new Christmas stamps Mark has designed...all the sets work so well together. I have been busy making some other designs too which I will share very soon.

All the Visible Image links can be found here;

Visible Image group page on Facebook. Our friendly Group can be found here ...it would be lovely to see you there. You can add work to the "Show and Tell" album where one randomly chosen winner each month wins a £25 coupon to spend on the website.

The main Visible Image Facebook page is here; there are weekly stamp giveaways...open world wide!

And the shop web site is here; where all these gorgeous stamps can be purchased. 

You can also follow via:

 Pinterest

Twitter

 Instagram

I would like to enter my Snow Queen into the following challenges;

The Ribbon Girl 3/3 any image
Creative Inspirations 2/3 Seasonal my season is winter
Rubber Dance favourite stamp Face It! is one of my favourite Visible Image stamps.
Penny Black and More 1/3 get ready for Christmas
Artistic Stamper 3/3 take a little colour

Thanks for stopping by today and for the kind comments you take the time to leave. We are rapidly approaching October now and it's time to get those Christmas cards started....only 91 days to go...ho ho ho!!

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x