STAMPlorations - It's a wing thing

Spring has sprung and the grass is riz! 

Please excuse the Yorkshirism, you can take a girl out of Yorkshire but not Yorkshire out of the girl!

The grass is now growing strongly away and silage cutting going on on the surrounding fields. Our fields are looking lush, except where the sheep are grazing then its just about keeping pace!

Any way, over at STAMPlorations we are celebrating for the whole of May with our wing themed blog hop and linky party. We've already had parts 1 and 2 so now here is my contribution to part 3.

This spring has seen so many different butterflies fluttering over the fields and garden, must be down to the fabulous summer last year. I was even buzzed by a dragonfly yesterday whilst out walking the dog!

For my card I used one of Shery's new digi images, Fluttery Garden coloured with Copics, fussy cut and mounted over a panel of subtle text. The sentiment, my fave from Balloons and Banners was stamped in black on a white card banner.

So if you would like to join in, here's what to do:-

Comment on the DT and then when you've finished hopping and commenting, share your own projects in the Things with Wings linky party! You've got until 4th June and winners will be announced on June 10th. 

Here are the rules to the linky party.

• Create a new winged-themed project (any kind!).
• Post it on your blog (or Flickr, Instagram, SCS gallery, etc.) and then link up below.
• Display our event graphic in your blog post and link back to this post to qualify for the prizes.
• You may enter as many projects as you want, but each project must be in its own post (1 project = 1 blog post = 1 entry) 
• Use whatever product(s) you have; STAMPlorations products are not required. 
• Link up by Tuesday, June 4, 11:55 p.m. Pacific (GMT-7). 

Prizes:

• FIVE (5) winners of $10 gift code - randomly drawn from all comments left on the blog and participating designers blogs
• THREE (3) winners of $15 gift certificate - randomly drawn from all Things with Wings linky party entries

Note: Gift codes and gift certificates are different. It’s all explained here.

May store promotion: All throughout May, products in the THINGS WITH WINGS section will be 15% off instantly + with your DT code, customers can get up to 35% off.

So what are you waiting for?

Well its been quite awhile!

Hi folks.

It's been quite awhile since I've been posting at this time of day, but after an enforced absence I'm back with a new card for the new challenge at ATSM.

This week it is -

MAKE YOUR MARK

So we need to see some for of mark making as the focus of your project.

Here is my, sorry are my cards.

I made the first then decided to add some Pretty Pink Posh sequins, now I can't decide whether I made a mistake, what do you think?

My starting point was the image for May's Altenew challenge. I used their Extra Special flower spray and watercolor stripes cover die but embossed it instead of cutting with it to create the suggestion of a textured wall for my blooms to cascade across.

I used a no line technique, stamping in a pale ink before colouring with Copics and then fussy cutting out. I stamped the sentiment from Altenew's Beautiful Day with black on a white card strip.

For more inspiration, please bob along to the ATSM blog for more DT inspiration.

I'm joining in over at:-

     

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.

Have you booked your jollies yet or are you waiting until pesky Brexit has been concluded?

We've not booked anywhere, truth betold, since we moved down here every day seems like a holiday. Sometimes I even struggle to tell what day of the week it is. So my blog serves as a calendar as well as a record of my creations!

Over at Cardz4Guyz, its time for a brand new challenge for you :-

BY THE SEASIDE

Here is my interpretation.

I started by creating the background panel. I took a small panel of card and masked off sections with a Post it note to create a horizon and then inked in the sky using Salty Ocean DI and my new MFT cloud stencil. Moving down, I masked off the sky and added the sea and sand. A few scribbles and lines in white gel pen suggest the waves on the beach and the sun glinting off the waves.

My little guy is from Paper Pretties, coloured with Copics and fussy cut. The top panel had a circle cut from it with a die, then the beach added behind and the little chap added. A Uniko sentiment completes.

OK, that's all from me but please check out the rest of the team here for some more fun ideas.

I'd like to join in over at:-

      
                                                      No twist for me

Uniko May Challenge

It's time for a brand new challenge over at Uniko. Here's my inspiration for you.

This time our theme is Anything Goes with the twist of Masculine. 

Now some of you may quake at the thought of masculine cards but being out numbered by boys in our family, I've got quite used to them!
I find that a CAS approach works well as well as the choice of colours. This card uses a panel made my combining two recently released sets, Mid Century Florals and the Mid Century Stencil.
To be honest the design of this card was dictated by the fact I smudged the stencil so had to hide it under the die cut plain top panel!
The stencil was inked through with Altenew black ink onto white card, then over stamped with the solid oval from the floral set in masculine colours, Altenew Parrot, Aqualicious and Memento Tangelo. The starburst from the floral set was then stamped randomly over the panel. The greeting is one from Simply Said Blocks, a couple of black pearls complete.
Voila, CAS and masculine!

Check out the rest of the DT here for some more inspiration and you'll also find all the Ts and Cs there too.

Bev's 40th

Good morning.

Today is a special day at Uniko, it's Bev's birthday, but it's not just an ordinary birthday she's, whisper it quietly, 40!

To celebrate the DT are holding a birthday party over on the Uniko blog and you are invited to take part with your birthday cards.

Here is mine which I gave to her on Saturday at the Happy Stampers Festival in Port Sunlight.

Not wishing to push the actual age to the fore, I tucked the silver die cut numerals between two of the leaf clusters after mounting the water coloured and embossed Pure Florals Peony largest bloom over a die cut silver frame. The die cut sentiment is from Poppy Stamps and the stamped one from the peony set.

If you would like to celebrate with us just pop along and add your card to the Uniko blog here, where you'll also find all the details. Thanks to Jane for organising this surprise party.

I'd like to join in over at:-

Heat Embossing

Feminine with AG option

It's a man thing

Good morning folks.

I thought I better make a comeback for the latest challenge at Cardz4Guyz as it was my choice of theme. So after an enforced absence of a couple of months following a broken arm, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things.

For this week's challenge I chose the theme of -

MAN CAVE

A bloke isn't happy unless he has his own little retreat in my experience. Big or small, indoors or out, a man cave is where they go for some relaxation away from the OH!

My OH has grown his man cave with each subsequent house move, 6' x 8' shed at the top of the garden to single attached garage to a tractor shed as well as a brick built outhouse the size of a small bungalow. I even bought him a sign for for it for his birthday a couple of years ago! 

So your card needs to show something that blokes do in sheds, gardening, pigeons, somewhere to tinker or simply a place for their toys!

There is a programme here in the UK about the wonderful world of sheds and their owners, its amazing what fantastic ideas they come up with, not all of them by blokes either! Check this link to see some of the bizarre themed sheds and outbuildings.

Here's my card based on a rather typical use of a Man Cave I think.

This LOTV digi image was coloured with Copics before being fussy cut and added to the base card.

Sentiment from Uniko and some MFT small numbers added in black over a scrap of DP on a A6 card blank.

Simples.

Please check out the rest of the team here for more inspiration on the theme, but don't forget to make it masculine.

I'm joining in over at:-

   

CUTplorations - May challenge

Hi and welcome to a brand new challenge over at STAMPlorations. 

It's the first Monday of the month so it must be CUTplorations, so focus on those dies folks.

Here is my inspiration for you.

This the photo that we have to work from this month.

image source: Ellen Giggenbach

I was intrigued by this image, so I clicked the link to see where this fab image that Maria chose came from. It took me to an Esty page with other similar pattern images all along with a similar theme of panels of colour and over laid images. It took me back to my O level Art exam a long time ago where I was influenced by a poster on the back of the Sounds music paper, which I read on the way to the exam. The essence is that the colour of the object or shape changed colour when it passed over a straight line. So to cut to the chase that's how I was influenced to create my design. I ignored the bird element and just used the shapes and colours as inspiration.

To start, I cut some gift panels using the one of the dies from the  Gift Builder #2 die set, the one with the cut away centre. To get some added interest, I chose some textured card from my stash. The centres of the die cut were laid together on a scrap of paper and glued flat before adding the non bow outline to the edges. To create the large fronds I used the frond die from Trendy Spring Blooms and cut them from scraps of green and blue card. Using the two daisy dies from the same set I cut some flowers in shades of orange to match the picture and two petal shapes from another of the flower dies for extra leaves.

Where the leaves and flowers crossed the horizontal and vertical lines in the background, the die cuts were cut and matched with a contrasting part to complete the picture.

The completed panel was popped up on pads and the sentiment from Hello You, was stamped in matching dark teal ink.

OK, that's all from me. For more inspiration though, check out the rest of the team here and there you'll also find all the Ts and Cs for entering the challenge.