Welcome to my crafty blog. I was asked by a friend to make a Christmas card with robins for her mum, and so went for this stamp and wreath from Claritystamp.

I started with the ‘Olive branch’ stencil, which is one of Clarity’s Christmas wreaths set. I first ran it through my Gemini to emboss the wreath onto a piece of card. Then, with the stencil still in place, I blended brown and green inks onto the leaves using a make up sponge. Embossing the stencil first gives it a lovely 3D effect, although not all stencils are robust enough to go through a Gemini!

The birds are from the ‘bird and flowers rows’ stamp set. I didn’t want to use the whole row of birds, as they are wider than the centre of the wreath, so I made a mask by cutting a circle out of a piece of copy paper. I then lined the birds up and stamped them across the centre of the wreath, using Archival ink in ‘potting soil’.

I watercoloured the birds using Distress Inks and a water brush, adding some shadow across the branch as well

Finally I added the sentiments by stamping them in clear ink and heat embossing with copper powder, before mounting it onto a piece of copper metallic card and attaching it to a 7×7 card blank. I was worried that the robins didn’t look very Christmassy, but using the copper really lifted the card.

Thanks for dropping in. The weather’s turned a bit colder here now, but it’s thankfully stopped raining and I’ve managed to get my new garden shed put up, so the robins that arrive have got somewhere to perch!