A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Saturday, 4 July 2026

Mum and Baby Polar Bears

One of the images on the new Peace on Earth mood board is the sweetest picture of a mother and baby polar bears.  It reminded me of a stamp I have of a sweet baby polar bear riding on its mother's back.

I stamped and watercoloured image, trimmed with a square die, bordered with gold shimmer paper to match the gold paint I used for the stars, and then dotted on a few snowflakes with a white Posca paint pen (not sure they show up in the photo).

Here's the mood board:

 

Head over to Peace on Earth to see the rest of the Design Team's interpretations. 








Supplies:
Stamps - Crafters Companion
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs, gold shimmer paper
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, gold paint, white Posca paint pen, Spellbinders square dies

Friday, 3 July 2026

M is for Mice

The ABC Christmas Challenge wants "M is for Mice".  And Christmas Cards All Year Round wants things that start with "M, N, or O" so my mice count for that, as does my sentiment "no peeking".

I cut three squares out of my top layer and stamped the mice with their Christmas gifts inside each square.  They are coloured with coloured pencils.  

  








Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment, Colorado Craft Co. Anita Jeram mice
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - Spellbinders square die, coloured pencils


Thursday, 2 July 2026

M is for Mistletoe

Christmas Cards All Year Round, wants something starting with "M" card.  I went with mistletoe - die cut, dry embossed, and a mistletoe sentiment.  It's also for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown technique challenge "Embossing Folder".

I used a narrow mistletoe embossing folder across the lower part of the linen cs card base.  I die cut the mistletoe out of white shimmery cs and out of scrap cs and glued them together for more dimension.  And stamped the sentiment in grey ink.

 









Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Smokey Grey
Paper - white linen cs, white shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - narrow mistletoe embossing folder, mistletoe die


Sunday, 28 June 2026

Acrylic Block Stamping

The Group of Cardmakers are revisiting an old background technique - Acrylic Block Stamping.  

First up, a very basic way of doing it:

This is the original way I learned to do this - inking up a block with ink (in this case, with Distress Peeled Paint), spritzing with water, and stamping the block onto mixed media cs.  I used a block with a curved edge and grid lines on it to add extra interest.

I trimmed the panel, added a white die cut branch, popped it up on fun foam on a white card base, added a red sentiment, and embellished the branch with red Smooch for the berries.

For my second card, I used a different medium to colour the acrylic block - Twinkling H2Os watercolour paints.

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I spritzed the acrylic block with water, and then added my favourite shade of blue Twinkling H2O paint. I pressed it onto watercolour paper and let it dry. I then stamped the dragonfly and used a sparkly embossing powder, the colour of which is "marcasite" - not quite black, but darker than grey or silver, and with a lot of sparkle in it. I used the same powder on the sentiment. I added a shimmery black border and mounted it on a cream card base.

For the third one, I used a technique I found on SCS (see here) that uses a coordinating colour of spray for the spritz instead of plain water.

I used two Oxide inks - Broken China and Tumbled Glass - and smeared them randomly on a large block. I spritzed with Distress Blueprint Sketch spray and that started the two inks blending and moving. I wanted more movement so also spritzed with some water. Then I stamped the block onto watercolour paper. I love the blend of the blues and the variation in intensity!

I die cut two reindeer out of off white cs (cutting each twice and gluing together for more substance). I trimmed the background panel, added the reindeer and a sentiment.

There are lots more examples over at The Group of Cardmakers

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Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - A Muse sentiment
Ink - Distress Peeled Paint, Memento Lady Bug
Paper - white and mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black Winter Branch die, red Smooch accent ink, fun foam, acrylic block

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. dragonfly, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - Gina K ivory cs, watercolour paper, shimmery black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Stampendous Marcasite embossing powder, Twinkling H2O Blue Flame, acrylic block

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Simon Says Stamp sentiment
Ink - Distress Oxide Broken China and Tumbled Glass
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - acrylic stamp block, Distress Blueprint Sketch spray, MFT reindeer dies

Saturday, 20 June 2026

Birds and Berries


I could make nothing but bird-themed Christmas cards as I love them so much.  So I was very happy to see the new Peace on Earth mood board.  I was inspired by the top left image of the birds with the berries.


The image is stamped and watercoloured.  I used gold watercolour paint for the oval border that is part of the stamp to reflect the lovely golden light in the mood board image.  Then I fussy cut around the border, popped it up on fun foam on the card base, and added a sentiment die cut with a banner die.

Here's the Peace on Earth mood board:


Please go to Peace on Earth and check out the beautiful bird-themed cards by the rest of the Design Team.

I'm also adding the card to the CAS Christmas Challenge "Bird".









Supplies:
Stamps - Northwoods birds, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, fun foam

Thursday, 18 June 2026

Summer Cottage Garden and Dove Flying High

A card for Shopping Our Stash's "Summertime" challenge and Allsorts "Garden" challenge:

Stamped, coloured with coloured pencils, trimmed with a pierced dot rectangle die and layered over a pink rectangle so that the pink shows through the pierced dots.  Then bordered with some floral dp, and added to a yellow card base.

I used the same floral dp to line an envelope:

 
It's going to a friend who just bought a new house.
 
Try It On Tuesday's challenge is "Flying High" - something that flies high in the sky.  I made a peace-themed Christmas card with a dove flying high among the stars.
 
I sponged silver ink through a star die, leaving space on the bottom right corner for a stamped heat embossed sentiment.  I covered a piece of scrap cs with double sided tape and added blue / silver gilding flakes.  Then die cut the dove out of it.
 
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Supplies for card 1:
Stamps -
Ink -
Paper -
Size -
Accessories -

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - silver
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix Delicate Wings dove die, Cosmic Shimmer Blue Ice gilding flakes, star stencil, silver embossing powder