Featured Artist: Amy Wanford

Today on the Paper Crafter’s Library blog, we’re continuing our weekly featured artist spotlight whereby each week we spotlight a different artist/designer in the paper crafting & mixed media world and introduce you to their fabulous work.

Today we’re thrilled to welcome back – Amy Wanford

Amy was featured on our blog back in April and we are so excited that she has returned.  Before we show you her fabulous projects, let’s get to know her a little bit more…

Hey! I’m Amy Wanford, also known as Aimes. I’m a tea, toast and paper-crafting addict from England and currently live in Sheffield with my fiancé. I’ve always loved getting my craft on with various mediums and I discovered the joys of stamps and ink in 2008 and started my blog, Crafting Confessions in 2009. I’ve been lucky enough to have my projects published in magazines such as Paper Crafts and CARDS and serve on design teams. I currently design for Clearly Besotted Stamps, Uniko Studio and the challenge site, CASE Study. The highlight of my crafting adventures so far has been designing stamp sets and seeing them being manufactured for purchase.

When it comes to creating, I’m a card maker and one that gravitates towards a clean and simple style (CAS). CAS and graphic designs make my heart skip a beat. I love to think outside of the box and use a product for a purpose it maybe wasn’t intended for, or use items around the house and incorporate them into my designs. I also get a real kick out of creating interactive cards: it’s like creating magic before the recipient’s very eyes!

I’m delighted to be featured here on Paper Crafter’s Library and hope you’ll like my projects.

So, let’s get straight to it!

Card Projects

It’s no secret that I’m a procrastinating crafter. I leave everything until the last minute. I’m the one that’s been known to be stamping Christmas cards on Christmas Eve! But this year is different. This year I’m going to be organised. Well, organised in so much as having my Christmas cards prepared well in advance! 🙂

This year I’ve been inspired by poinsettias. Not only are they so pretty and festive, but they also feature my favourite colour combination when it comes to celebrating the season: red and green. I’m here today with some Christmas cards that are totally inspired by this pretty Christmas flower.

When I think of poinsettias, I immediately grab and ink up my Pure Florals: Poinsettia stamp set by Uniko Studio. I love the detail of the huge poinsettia stamp in the set! This first project is easy peasy and so quick to mass produce. Don’t ever be fooled into thinking that you need to use/show the whole of a stamp on a project. I really like the effect of stamping off the focal point. I kept it extremely graphic and CAS, and by simply using layers of white cardstock the red ink of the poinsettia really ‘pops’ against the crisp, clean white (almost like a poinsettia in the snow!).

My second project demonstrates how you can get a totally different look/style by using the same stamps, but different colours and techniques. For this card I created a mask of the Poinsettia stamp from the same set, and covered a panel of cardstock with the flower with Versamark ink using a masking technique. I then dusted gold Perfect Pearls on top to create this delicate, shimmery background. A simple stamped sentiment and a row of bling finishes the card off. Tip: by the way, I always like to buy clear bling and colour it with an alcohol marker to make it coordinate with my project. For this card I used a yellow marker to make my clear bling turn to gold.

Now you may be thinking that you don’t own any poinsettia themed stamps, but please don’t let that stop you from being inspired by them. My next project features no actual poinsettia themed supplies, and features basic crafting supplies that I (and you may have) already!

Most stampers/crafters have a flower stamp or die in their stash somewhere. For my next project I simply used a flower die from Clearly Besotted Stamps Flower Arrangement Die Collection and die cut flowers from red cardstock, adding a cluster of yellow bing to the centres of each to make them resemble a poinsettia. So simple and so easy to achieve the same result with flower stamps too as well as dies.

So there you have it. My Christmas cards will mainly feature poinsettias I think – and fingers crossed that I won’t be creating Christmas cards on Christmas Eve again! Ha!

Thank you so much to Paper Crafter’s Library for having me on board for today, and thank you for checking out my poinsettia inspired projects! 🙂

Project Supply Deets
Graphic Poinsettia
Stamps: Pure Florals: Poinsettia (Uniko Studio)
Ink: Red Pepper (Adirondack Dye Ink)/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Card: Stamper’s Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Clear Gems (Hero Arts)/Yellow Promarker (Letraset)

Happy Holidays
Stamps: Pure Florals: Poinsettia (Uniko Studio)/Sentiment from Stocking Prints (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko)/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Card: Ripe Avocado, Scarlet Jewel, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Gold Perfect Pearls (Ranger)/Clear Gems (Hero Arts)/Yellow Promarker (Letraset)

Poinsettia Wreath
Stamps: Sentiment from Modern Christmas (Clearly Besotted Stamps) Coming soon *wink*
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Card: Stamper’s Select White, Pinefeather, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Material: Dark Chocolate Felt (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Flower Arrangement Die Collection (Clearly Besotted Stamps)/Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)/Cuttlebug (Provo Craft)

We hope you have enjoyed today’s projects courtesy of Amy Wanford. Also, be sure to stop by Amy’s blog to see even more of her beautiful work (and let her know we sent you).