Hello everyone, Katy Norgate here with you today, great to be back again. As I write this blog, it is beginning to feel decidedly autumnal outside. I always feel a little sad that summer might be coming to an end, saying goodbye to the warmer weather, but then once I get my jumpers and wellies out and acclimatise, I love the cosiness and beautiful colour palette that autumn brings. Having said that, here I am jumping into a Christmas themed blog with some sparkle and brighter colours!! Boy am I getting my seasons confused LOL!
It has been my pleasure to play with these new Christmas themed mini stamps designed by Jo Firth-Young. Here we have a great mix of cute images, sentiments, as well as background stamps, making the whole set so versatile, whatever your favourite crafting desires are!
. 
Here is a look at some of my finished cards, before I talk you through my process. It must be said that the idea for these cards is not my own, but that of Jo herself. She featured the process for making the masterboards and cards in a live video back in April, over on her facebook group 'JoFY Jamboree'. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1157026247969625 If you are not a member of this group, I can highly recommend it. I loved the design so much, I wanted to give it a go, and I felt these stamps, along with a couple of stencils, were perfect for the job. I hope you agree?
Here are the supplies I have used:
The 8 new mini stamp sets are JM89, JM90, JM91, JM92, JM93, JM94, JM95, and JM96 All now available from PaperArtsy Stockists
In addition I have used the border stamp from the new Christmas release JOFY144 (available from PaperArtsy stockists), stencils PS438 and PS477 (also available from PaperArtsy stockists) and the heavy weight PaperArtsy Smoothy Card stock (SCA4H). For a touch of Christmas bling I have used Fresco Finish Metallic Acrylic in Pewter (FF21)
I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks to create the masterboards choosing villainous potion, speckled egg, and pumice stone. I stamped images with Ranger Archival jet black ink. I heat embossed some sentiments with VersaMark ink and silver embossing powder. I used watercolour paints to colour the stamped images.
Firstly, using stencil PS436, the villainous potion ink and a stencil brush, I gently applied the ink, concentrating on the large stars, onto the cardstock (SCA4H). In places I went over the edges, but I wasn't too concerned about that .... Once all the other images are applied you really don't notice these minor imperfections!
I inked the small open stars JM93, using the pumice stone ink. I didn't use a stamping block so that i was able to just stamp sections of the stamp.
Then it was time for the open star from JM91, the 'noel' from JM90 and the snowflake from JM96. For all these are mini stamps, Jo has packed in so many fabulous little additions.
Finally I added touches of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Metallic Acrylic Pewter (FF21) through the small star, just for the obligatory touch of shine at Christmas!
Needless to say I didn't finish there; I had to try the same process in different colourways!! Here I have also used some PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Metallic Acrylic in Gold (FF20) through one of the stencils, on top of Tim Holtz distress inks twisted citron, salvaged patina, as well as a combo of worn lipstick and carved pumpkin. I really love each combo.
I have used the border stamp from stamp set JOFY144 to make complementary papers for piecing the papers together. I could have just as easily used JM92 or JM93 to be honest.
For the next step, I stamped and fussy cut the tree from JM94; the festive heart from JM90 and ‘Festive Fred’ from JM89. I used the regular weight PaperArtsy Smoothy cardstock (SCA4) for this, and then coloured them with my watercolour paints.
. 
Now it is time to bring all the elements together. I gathered complementary coloured card for mounting. I began cutting the masterboard to size for various card shapes; and then started arranging and building my layouts.
I stamped and heat embossed the stamp JM95 with silver powder onto the coloured card stock. See also, in the image below, how i have made the tree taller by combining 2 cut out images.
I utilised some of the smaller leftover pieces to collage together strips of masterboard and coloured card for this card
And so there you have it, after obligatory additions of stickles glittery magic, several Christmas cards are made. I have really enjoyed making cards using these mini stamps, they are so adaptable. Jo has clearly thought very carefully about these designs and how they complement previous releases so well too. For this reason alone I think they are such great value to have in your stash. I could easily make all my Christmas cards with these since the process is so simple, and condusive to batch making, and with many options for colour combinations too.
Here are some closeups of the cards I have made so far, including some of the additional colour mixes. I hope you like them, and many thanks for looking x
Facebook: Katy Norgate
Instagram: katy_norgate
Pinterest: Katy Norgate
