Muse #95

Hi, hope I find you well.

This morning the sun is shining and there is even a little warmth in it. It's such a pleasant change from the grey and foggy days we've been having lately. It makes you feel so much better with a little bit of sunshine!
I've been staring at the MUSE challenge since it went live on Monday. I loved the card that Caroline (@ KISS, this weeks guest Muse) made, but was unsure where to go. Then I remembered a stencil that I hadn't used of birch trees and went from there.

I hunted around in the stash and found a freebie stag stamp from ages ago, but I couldn't find any red card that went with my SU Serene Silhouette fussy cut birds. In the end I stamped a tag with some Versamark, using a stamp I bought after a class I went to ages ago, and embossed in white before inking the tag with the same Versacolour ink as the birds. I rubbed away the ink over the embossing with a baby wipe. I masked off the center of the card and inked the border in DI weathered wood before sticking the tags down. I'm still thinking of the postman and trying to keep the weight and thickness down!

This is Caroline's fab card.

They are also having a DT call over at MUSE. It's sad because it means that one of the DT is leaving namely Therese. She has made some beautiful cards and I will miss her inspiration. At MUSE, if you didn't know, the members vote for their favourite cards each week and they are also going to choose their new DT member the same way. Ardyth has asked interested designers to showcase their best work new or old, so I'm not sure what to do. 

First what is my style and secondly what is my best work? I love using die cuts, but I also love stamping and colouring in both Copics and watercolours.

So for the moment it's an impasse.

Here are three of my favourites.

What do you think? 

Anyway if I don't get a wriggle on I will miss the deadline so nothing ventured, nothing gained so I will toss my hat into the ring and hope for the best!

Thanks for calling around, hope you like the cards.

Colour Me

Good evening, I hope I find you well.

I've been to the local garden center with Ben and Co to buy a new Christmas tree for their new home, as the old one looks a little lost with the new high ceilings! The place was absolutely packed by the time we got there just after lunch and we were surfing the car park trying to find a spot! Anyway it was a successful trip, so they will be putting it up sometime next week.

So that's partially the reason why I'm only just getting around to posting this card I made last night, the other being it was too dark to take a good photo! I'd been making a table runner for the festive season earlier in the day while there was a hint of daylight!

It's based on the colour choice over at  Colour Me.

Now these are all SU colours and I don't have any so I used DIs of similar colour to create the central panel and border by masking off the areas to be inked. I think I got the blue a bit wrong as when mixed with the pinky red it turned purple and got lost in the grand scheme except around the edges! After blending the inks I stamped the snowflakes in Versafine Onyx Black and adding some teeny tiny sparkles to the centers. I added the sentiment (free with a magazine) to the bottom right corner.

I shall also enter it in at - 

Creative Inspirations - Season's Greetings

Thanks for stopping by, see you back soon.

Jingle all the way @ ATSM

Good evening, this is a scheduled post as this is way past my bedtime!

Its time for another challenge at Addicted to Stamps and this week our theme is -

HOLIDAY

With Christmas just around the corner it was a no brainer as to which holiday I went with, with this card -

The latest challenge over at Less is More is 'Jingle all the way' so this card was made with this in mind. The stamp is one I bought from a bargain bucket a couple of years ago and its called 'Jingle Bells' by Sugar Nellie. I stamped the image,  coloured it with Copics, then fussy cut the top half and left the bottom half as a snow drift. I added stickles and drew the reins on the embossed background (Cuttlebug Snowflakes) after I had stuck the image down onto the white base card.

I ummed and ahhed over adding a sentiment added one then took it off.

What do you think?

This week we are sponsored by Rick St.Dennis,

who is offering 3 digis to the lucky winner. 

As they say you have to be in it to win it, so get your skates on, pop over to see what the rest of the fab DT have made for your inspiration and join in.

I shall enter the following challenges:-

Christmas Cards All Year 'Round - No Patterned papers

Less is More - Jingle all the way

Without Words - Preparing for Christmas

Thanks for reading to the end and for your comment if you left one. 

See you around here again soon.

Cardz4Guyz

Morning folks, I hope I find you well. 

It has been a little chilly these last couple of mornings, payback for the sunnier days we've had around here. Still I prefer it to all the rain we've had.

As its Tuesday its a new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz. This week our theme is -

FOOD or DRINK

So it could be Christmas pudding or turkey but it could be a pint of beer or lager as in my card for the DT. Its coming around to one of our old neighbour's son's birthday so I thought I would make a card for him. Birthday's before Christmas are a bit of a non event I think, so hope he celebrates in style!

I'm still using LOTV stamps, but this one is one I stamped a while ago when Di came around, thanks Di. It's called Cheers Bear and is now sadly retired. I used Copics to colour, choosing the colours off this DP from a retiring pad from LOTV, Candles and Cakes. Sentiment is also from LOTV.

The top panel was embossed with a NEBUS Sizzix folder then mounted onto a panel of Bazzil. The white panel had a circle cut slightly larger then the blue and both were glued together then mounted on pads above the square of DP and the base card. The sentiment was stamped on a strip of white and mounted flat.

I  used the sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch for the layout of this card

and I shall also enter the challenge at:-

Penny Black and More - AG

OK, that's about. If you haven't been to the Cardz4Guyz site already pop over to see who I chose in the top 3 of last weeks challenge. See again you soon.

STAMPlorations GD

Good afternoon, and it really is a sunny autumnal one.

Today I am so pleased to join the fabulous team over at STAMPlorations for a GD spot. I won one of their sketch challenges for my Daisy card and this was part of the prize!

So without further preamble here is my card.

and this is the sketch for the challenge which I used -

I only have one set of STAMPlorations stamps at the moment but hopefully my next club set will be winging it's way over the Atlantic shortly, so for this card I used a free Penny Black stamp I got with a magazine and a Stampendous cling 'Christmas background'

I stamped the poinsettias in a grey Memento, London Fog, as I wanted the outline to disappear into the image to give it a more authentic w/c effect and used various red DIs to colour the bracts then masked them when dry to over stamp the word background in Versamark and heat embossed with detailed white. The foliage was washed in using various green DIs and feathered out to give the soft effect. I left off a separate sentiment as there was one from the background which was more or less in the right place, any more would have been too much I think. After it had dried I added a cluster of bugle beads to represent the flowers, poinsettias are strange in that the bright red bracts aren't the actual flowers, although they look like it! The panel was then mounted on a red base card.

OK, that's it, I hope you like the card and it inspires you to take part. Pop over to the STAMPlorations blog and check out the fab inspiration from their very talented DT.

I shall enter the following challenges:-

Time Out - Embossing with the added twist of sparkle

Allsorts - No design papers

Thanks for taking the time to visit and please come back again.

Cute Christmas

Good morning, hope you have a great weekend lined up despite the rain which we have here at the moment!
I'm back to share my card for the new challenge over at Fantasy Stampers. This time Jan has picked the theme of

CUTE CHRISTMAS

OK you rubber stampers out there, get your stamps out and join in with us in our penultimate challenge before Christmas. Don't forget we cannot accept digis in our top 3!
So without further ado here is my contribution to the DT inspiration.

This uses the stamp 'Teddy with Robin' from LOTV, isn't he cute. I must admit I do prefer cute Christmas cards over the traditional Victorian style, I find them a bit old fashioned.
The layout is based on the latest challenge at Addicted to CAS and the panel behind the teddy is from a NitWit set, which slips my mind at the moment! The robin and bear were coloured using Copics then fussy cut. The sentiment was from a Woodware set and the trusty Cuttlebug folder 'Snow' was pressed into use yet again for the top layer.

I shall also enter the following challenges:-

As You Like it challenges - Christmas, Traditional or modern ( definitely modern)

LOTV - Merry Christmas

Time Out Challenges - Embossing - option of sparkle (I chose not to twist!)

( I mirrored the sketch)

OK that's a wrap for now, so get your traditional  cute stamps out and join in at Fantasy Stampers.

MUSE #94

Afternoon folks, hope you're keeping well.

The afternoon's are getting shorter as the year moves towards Christmas. I needed the lights on in my craftroom before 3pm, but it is a bit misty out there today.

As regular followers may know, I love to take part in a couple of challenges on a regular basis, namely MUSE and Less is More.

This week Less is More want more than one tree on your project and and at MUSE the designer is Marion. So without further ado here is my card.

and here is Marion's card.

I love this built up technique and I've tried it once before but I wanted to have another go.

However a couple of problems-

1. I don't have many large script dies, well one actually and it wasn't appropriate!

2. I don't have a balloon stamp or die

So what to do? I had a bit of a think and decided to go with a Christmas theme and link to the Less is More challenge, hence the trees and use my 'Happy Christmas' die. This posed a further headache as it is an old one that cuts out a sentiment but you can't separate the two words as they are a solid plate die and leaves an imprint of the edge of the die if you are not very careful! Go with the full phrase was the decision. Anyway you can see the result. I used more or less the same colours as Marion and moved the focus to the bottom of the card as befits a tree! 

Here is a close up of the raised sentiment.

I also made one with a smaller tree but left the white embossed 'to you' off and mounted it on a black base card.

If you look carefully you may see a line where the die plate was!

OK, that's about it. Thanks for calling around.

I shall enter the following challenges:-

Less is More - More than one tree

MUSE - #94

STAMPlorations - Stamps and lots of layers ( there are 4 Happy Christmas layers)

Christmas Stocking

Good morning peeps, hope I find you well.

The weather seems a bit drier today and it seems it will be for most of the week. That will allow the huge pile of soil at the end of the garden to dry out so that Al can move it without the whole garden being a horrible muddy mess!

Before I go on to today's card I would like to do a little happy dance as I got Top 5 at LOTV for their October challenge with my retirement card for Cardz4Guyz. Trying for over a year then two wins in two months, whoop whoop. It's sad that they are stopping their monthly challenges after this month's challenge so I will be sad. Hopefully they have other ideas to encourage the use of their fab stamps.

As it's Tuesday it means another challenge at Cardz4Guyz. This week I'm choosing the winners as it's my choice of theme and I chose -

CHRISTMAS STOCKING

Now you could just include a stocking like I did or perhaps go off piste with what the man in your life or a little boy would want in his stocking. Any way here is my card.

This a new stamp from LOTV, called Pup with Stocking. I used Copics to colour to match the backing paper, always a good idea I think to get your backing paper sorted before you start to colour.

I steered away from traditional Christmas colours and went with a green and pale blue vibe, using NitWits Polar Pals paper with a little bit of silver embossed with a snowflake folder.

I shall enter the following challenges -

Sketch Saturday

I flipped and rotated it 90'

LOTV   Merry Christmas

Without Words - Preparing for Christmas

Stamping Sentations - Christmas

OK, that's about it for the moment. Pop over to the main blog to check out the rest of the DT's inspiration and get making your Christmas cards!

Embossed Ombre

Afternoon folks.

Just sitting here typing, listening to Sounds of the 70's on the radio and generally relaxing after a busy day yesterday. We went over to my daughters and then Nich and I went for a walk around Wilmslow's Artisan market. All I can say is I'm glad we had lunch before we went, as the gorgeous smells coming from the food stalls was mouth watering. There were some very good crafty stalls as well as choccies and cakes. In fact I couldn't resist the #brownie stall, the sour cherry ones were sumptuous, v tasty! Shame the next one isn't until 20th December.

I also bought a few other bits and bobs before we went to look around the rest of the town center. 

Anyway, it was good to see all the family together, as my son popped over to see their new house now they have settled in.

I have been finishing off a card I started a while ago, the idea was in my head but couldn't quite make it work so I left it and came back to it this morning. Here it is -

It was made with the latest challenge at Fusion in mind.

I sort of used both in this design. I started by cutting strips using my MB Tessatina border and mounting then on a piece of white card with low tack tape. I used DI in Peacock Feathers to create the ombre by sponging through the stencil. The panel was then wrapped with a piece of dark turquoise organza ribbon and the vertical panel was a MB Amira Flourish in white. The flower I created using a Sizzix daisy die and copy paper with a pearl brad for the center. A white embossed Congratulations from LOTV was stamped in the bottom right hand corner.

That's about it I suppose as I ought to take the dog out before it gets too dark!

Thanks for stopping by, see you again soon.

One Layer Christmas

Afternoon folks, thanks for calling round.

I hope you haven't been washed away or snowed in by the extremes of the weather we are having at the moment. Blog friends in central US appear to be freezing or under feet of snow while here the rain continues to fall, well actually as I write the sun has come out so hopefully we are past the worst.

After the hectic Tuesday and a trip to my son's on Wednesday I'm pleased to say that -

a) Chris has gas even if the road and drive look like the Somme battlefield.

b) He has internet after the nice young man from Virgin checked the system out and proclaimed the gasmen hadn't cut him off it was the new box that was more sensitive to the pile of wire spaghetti under our floor than the old one.

c) We have electric after a very dark Tuesday!

So I've been busy catching up on my commenting and only just got around to making this morning.

There is definitely a festive feel around blogland at the moment. As I checked my card stash I realized that a lot of my cards were too thick to post so I better embrace the  OL theme and get some made pronto.

I made this with a few challenges in mind -

Over at Muse Therese's card was the main inspiration. This is her card.

I went with the shape of the tree, and as Therese herself says went with my inner Ardyth with this paired down CAS card.

The triangle from a Sizzix leafy tree set was stamped on black with Versamark then embossed with gold fine detail powder. I was thinking what to do about a pot and/or greeting when I remembered my little Woodware greeting - perfect I think.

I shall  enter the challenges over at -

Muse

CASology 

City Crafter Challenge - CAS Christmas OLC

That's about it, thanks for stopping by, come back soon.

Anything goes at ATSM

Evening all. 

Yep it's triple post Tuesday! Since the clocks have gone back my post for ATSM is scheduled for a Tuesday instead of early Wednesday mornings. I am hoping that I will have internet when I visit my son on Wednesday for my evening out to craft class with Di, but it doesn't look good as the gas men look to have damaged his cable connection while digging the road up. They are due Wednesday am so perhaps I will get online before I head home. If not I apologise in advance to the rest of my teamies for my lack of prompt commenting!

This week our theme over at ATSM is 

ANYTHING GOES

It means you can let your imagination run riot but that also means so many ideas run around in my head that I find it difficult to come down on one idea!

Anyway here is my card.

I took my inspiration from a couple of challenges, always a good way to focus the mind.

Over at Less is More it is their one layer challenge, Inkspirational's cue word is shine and One layer simplicity is Home sweet home.

The stencil for this was made by cutting out the frame using MB Calm Countryside (without the clouds) and part of MB Country Landscape. The sky was inked using DI Chipped Sapphire then the stars were added using a steady had and a bottle of silver Stickles! The greeting is from a set that came free with a mag.

OK that's about it. Please visit the rest of the team for more inspiration if you need it and then join in.

I shall enter the following challenges -

Less is More - OLC Starry Starry Night

One layer Simplicity - Home Sweet Home

Thank You

Morning, here I am back with my second post of the morning.

This time its to announce the new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz. 

As our American friends are preparing for their holidays, this week our theme is -

THANKSGIVING / THANK YOU

So even if you aren't about to celebrate the seasonal holiday then you can also join in.

Here is my DT inspiration.

This is a little bit like the card I made for our CAS challenge a while ago but I used a panel of vertical leaves this time. The background panel was created using Brusho then placed flat on the base card. The top layer was punched using an old leaf punch then stamped with SU woodgrain  and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I know it doesn't show up very well on the photo but it is a very subtle effect even in real life! A SU Sassy Salutations 'Thank You' was stamped in Versamark Vintage Sepia, then it was glued flat on to the Brusho panel. Voila.
Hope you will find the time to join us with your MALE ORIENTED projects this week. For more inspiration check out the rest of the DT over at the main blog.

I shall enter it in the following challenges -

Simply Create Too - Thanksgiving/ thanks

The Male Room - Wood (the woodgrain on the top panel)

Thanks for popping by, come back soon.

Snowflakes at Cards und More

Good morning Peeps.

I hope I find you well. It's double post Tuesday as it's time for a new challenge over at Cards und More. This time we would like to see your projects that have the theme of -

SNOWFLAKES

Hopefully we wont have any around here for a while but they do look good on a Christmas card!

Here is my card for your inspiration.

I'm afraid the Brushos came out again to create the background after I'd stamped the snowflakes with Versamark then heat embossed with white. The snowflakes (newly purchased!) were placed with reference to the sketch over at STAMPlorations. 

There is another tale to tell about these snowflake stamps. As regular readers may remember I couldn't find my stash of snowflake stamps as I'd tidied them up and put them in a safe place, you know one that's so safe you can't find it! Anyway after checking out a couple of retail outlets, I found the perfect set on Amazon and placed my order for next day delivery. When 7pm arrived and still no sign, I checked emails and it was still out for delivery. Anyway I went to bed still without the stamps but on checking my emails in the morning, found one that said they were supposed to arrive Friday afternoon but another said that because they didn't have my name it couldn't be delivered! However as we were off to my daughters for the day I couldn't follow it up, but on Monday a new email said it was out for delivery that morning and sure enough it arrived in the allotted time slot. The driver said when I commented on their none arrival that it was a different driver on the route and he probably couldn't find us! I know we are down a long  rutted country lane but there is a temporary sign at the top pointing down. I think the first driver didn't fancy his vehicle going down the rutted trackway!

Anyway back to the technicalities.

The sentiment was die cut using a very old die, think its Go Create, then triple embossed with silver to make it look like metal. (See technique here)

I mounted it on dark blue then flat onto an A6 base card.

 Check out the rest of the DT to see what they have made and hopefully, if you are inspired join us over at Cards und More for this challenge.

I shall also join in at the following challenges -

Loves Rubberstamps - Cool Colours

Virginia's View 

Thanks for calling by and hopefully see you in an hour for the latest challenge at Cardz4Guyz.

SEA

Afternoon all.

I hope I find you well. The weather has just spoilt what was up to 3o'clock a really gorgeous autumnal day by a heavy rain shower. So much rain has fallen these last couple of days that the yard is a boating lake and the soil hubby was moving is so sodden its not worth working with. Still it pales into insignificance with the inconvenience my son is experiencing. His gas supply failed sometime on Thursday and has been without heat or hot water since. Apparently, the old spur from the main to the street has corroded and has to be replaced. I'm just pleased that the boiler sensed the drop in pressure so he knew something was wrong and the leak was discovered in time. Isn't technology great?

Anyway I'm here to share a card for this week's challenge over at CASology. I haven't played over there for a while so was keen to join in but puzzled as to what I could do with the cue word of SEA. 

Then I remembered my Woodware 'Sailing by' stamp set but how to go about it. That was earlier in the week and it was only yesterday while sorting through my dies I came across my MB large circle burst and thought porthole. I've used this versatile die in a couple of different ways before (here and  here) and I'm sure I've seen it used as a frame before but where I've no idea, its age you know! I think it softens the image and is not as stark as a simple circle die.

I coloured the image using Copics then mounted the diecut on pads to frame the image.

Thanks for popping around, see you back soon.

Red Alert

Good morning folks. 

Its Saturday and its time for a new challenge at Fantasy Stampers. This challenge is entitled -

RED ALERT

We would like to see something red on your stamped project. Don't forget it must be stamped, any style is welcome BUT we do not allow digis.
Another week nearer to the festive celebrations so I could go down that route but today I'm sharing a card I made for my dear friend Di whose birthday it was on Wednesday. She has now received it so I can share it with you.

It is a big birthday but it wouldn't be ladylike to shout it abroad so I decided to leave the image free and just add a sentiment phrase as a stopper for my easel card.

Poppies are her favourite flower and very appropriate at this time of year. The Stamp is SU's Pleasant Poppies and the phrase is from a set from LOTV. The poppies were first stamped with Versamark then heat embossed in white before I coloured them with DIs in Weathered Wood, Festive Berries, Fired Brick, Shabby Shutters and Bundled Sage. The background of wheat stalks was watercoloured with  washes of Scattered Straw and Tea Dye.

OK, if you need more inspiration pop over to the main blog and check out the rest of the DT's creations then join us this fortnight.

Penny Black and More - AG
Love Rubberstamps - AG
Creative Inspirations - Easel Card
Allsorts = Poppies/Remembrance Day

Thanks for calling by, come back soon.

Toys for the boys

Morning all.

 Hope I find you well and not too chilled. I think the Indian summer has finally bit the dust and we are back to more typical temperatures in this neck of the woods.

As its Tuesday, its time for a new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz.

This week we would like to see your creations along the theme of

TOYS FOR BOYS

Yep, we would like to see your projects that have modern technology as the main focus. So TVs, smartphones, laptops, computers, Xboxes etc.

Here is my card for the DT inspiration.

This is a stamp I bought from LOTV the other week when I had a trip out with my friend Di.

I think its called James with laptop. I used Copics to colour and the background paper was some NitWits in the stash, not sure of the collection as its been in the stash for a while! The scalloped green section was cut using a Magnolia edge die.

The layout is based on the sketch over at Retro Sketches.

James looked a little pensive so the sentiment strip was made to match. I used a two line sentiment stamp from Personnel Impressions, I masked off each line and stamped them to make a strip instead of the original.

OK, now its your turn. Check out the other fab inspiration over at the main site and have a go, you never know unless you try.

I shall also enter 

Allsorts - Masculine

showCASe your style - Tic Tac Toe

I chose twine / die-cut / sentiment

Thanks for popping by and come back soon.

Orange Roses

Evening all.

I'm sharing a card I made for the challenge over at FUSION.

Its based on the photo section of the challenge.

I was inspired by the orange roses on the table and took the opportunity to have a play with my Glorious Gardenia die. 

I've been thinking of ways to use this fab die and I know its supposed to be a gardenia but it also looks like a rose to me. I wanted to change the look of the die as I have used it quite a few times since I bought it, so I looked at making it a trio of flowers by cutting a second flower and placing it where the double leaves were originally. I nudged the extra die close to the two other flowers after cutting off the leaves which I placed either side of the extra flower.

I water coloured the flowers and leaves on the panel, not quite as orange as the photo, before sticking the dies over the top and added a bit of splatter and sequins. I added a panel of black spotty paper to one side of the base card before popping up the panel onto pads.

I shall also enter the challenge over at AAA Cards

Thanks for calling by, come back soon.

Muse #91

Afternoon, just, and thanks for calling around.

Warning this post contains an overload of photos!

I saw the latest challenge over at Muse this week and simply had to play along.

This week the Guest Muse, the talented Michele Ferguson,  has asked for not one card but three using one sheet of design paper. Well , that was a bit of an ask as I couldn't choose which paper from my copious stash to use! A little bit of retail therapy even came into the mix, but in the end I decided to use a sheet of paper that came free with a magazine which I squirreled away, too good to use!!! I think its a Do Crafts Forever Friends paper from Simply Cards and Papercrafts.

Here they all are.

Actually it is a set of four as those sharp eyed followers will recognize the same paper in a card I shared on Friday. I was inspired by this card to carry on and create a set. I used my scene dies as the focus for my trio.

Here is a closer look at the three cards

This one uses a new Marianne die I bought when I had a trip to LOTV in Farsley with my good friend Di and a freebie sentiment.

The second is a shaker card made using another freebie sentiment and my Calm Countryside die. I've certainly got my monies worth out of this little die.

Here is a close up of the beads I used.

The last of my trio is based on that Friday design but I used my Country Landscape die and coloured one of the cottages with Copics.

The top was embossed with the snow folder and I stuck a punched circle for the moon together with  a branch die cut. 

I had toyed with using my Chistmas candle die but decided to stick with a landscape theme.

I shall enter these cards in the following challenges

Muse -  #91 A Trio of Cards

Less is More - Non traditional Christmas colours

Thanks for stopping 'til the end!

See you back here sometime soon.