Smile!

Have you ever made a card for a DT then realised that the challenge that inspired you is about to close before you need it to? Well it happened to me this week. I know many of you are having trouble getting inspired for one reason or another at the mo and look for inspiration in challenges, I was too. I saw the sketch over at the Paper Players and thought I could use it for a DT card but then realised it wouldn't work in my time frame, I also saw the colour challenge at Sunday Stamps and forgot to check the cut off. However by that time, I had already coloured my image, so waste not want not here is the card.

The sketch reminded me of this polaroid die cut from Kaisercraft I've had for years and only used the once til now. The happy smiling ladies are from AI, called Crazy Friends. The sentiment is a composite from a couple of Uniko sets. After colouring the ladies with Copics to match the colour swatch, I replaced the panel back into the frame and glued the lot onto a scrap of white copy paper before adding it to the A6 card with foam, simples.

Joining in over at:-

    

Bleaching Brusho

Morning folks.

I'm over at Uniko with some springtime BA inspiration.

As some of us are all spending more time in our gardens because of lockdown, I thought I would take the opportunity to use some flowers in my cards too.

The technique I used was inspired by the challenge over at CAS Mix Up, I'd never tried it before but I love the effect it gives.

Starting with a panel of white card and using the top half of the Tulip stamp, I stamped, heat embossed with white EP and masked as I moved across the bottom of the card panel. 

Once I was happy with the amount of stamping and embossing,  I sprinkled Prussian Blue Brusho across the middle, then Leaf Green across the bottom third. I didn't worry about any overlap, just wanted 2/3 of my panel covered.

I then spritzed the bottom 2/3 with water and put to one side to dry.

Once dry I took a small amount of concentrated bleach in a dish and added some water to dilute. 

After it had dried I added some colour with pink Zig watercolor brush pens, this is the result. I chose pink so that it wouldn't matter if the pale blue left from bleaching showed through. Some green was also added to the stems and leaves.

I loved the finished panel but decided to make it go further by cutting it in two and trimming each panel down to size.

The first just uses the left hand strip glued flat on an A6 white card after adding a sentiment from the Simply Said set on a strip of card. A couple of slivers of silver mirror card down each side complete.

The second uses the cut down right hand panel, close cropped with a die cut frame.
The same sentiment was stamped on the frame and the whole panel was popped up on some funky pink foam.

Two cards from the one panel and two totally different looks.

I'm joining in over at:-


                                                         Brusho, heat embossing and a die cut

                                                             Flowers and/or showers

Die cut number background

Good morning crafters.

I'm back again with another masculine card for the new challenge at Cardz4Guyz.

This week our theme is -

DIE CUTS

So we would like to see your masculine cards that feature die cuts as the main focus of your card.

Here is my card design using nothing but die cut elements.

This uses die cut numbers and a layered Happy Birthday die and that's it!

I took a panel of white card and using my STAMPlorations number die plate, I cut two sets of numbers. I then arranged them over a card made from the same white card and glued them down, trimming any overhang off. 

My happy birthday was cut twice first in green card then from blue fun foam. I chose a contrast colour for this layer so that the blue would show slightly from behind the green. You could mix up the design by choosing a different background colour and die cut sentiment, you could even change it into an anniversary card by adding a different sentiment. 

A simple design that could easily be replicated for different recipients.

Who said masculine cards were difficult!

For more die cut inspiration check out the team here.

I'm joining in over at:-

STAMPlorations April Challenges - a reminder

We are halfway through the month so it's time to remind you that there's still time for you to join in with us over at STAMPlorations for the Theme and Photo prompt challenge, as well as the other STAMPlorations challenges.

Here is my take on this months theme.

Waste not want not, I found this panel of pink butterflies in my to use box, I can't remember when I made it but it fits the theme for this month perfectly.

The panel was made by layering up stamped and embossed images then inking after each layer, here I used Picked Raspberry DI and Trendy Butterflies, the large ones in reverse!

The technique called embossed layer resist, is shown in detail here.

I went one step further with the finished panel by die cutting a couple of the solid Flutter Zen 1 butterflies and some small punched butterflies from it.

I then cut some pink craft foam and mounted the large butterflies on top before replacing them in the panel. I tried to do the same with the small ones but the foam was too thick so I used a couple of layers of punched card instead. I also added a little wink of Stella over the tiny popped up butterflies for more interest. The panel and popped up butterflies were then glued to an A6 base card.

The sentiment was made by die cutting from black card the Magical word die and two sentiment dies from the Everyday Sentiment set. The larger element I popped over the two large raised butterflies and then added the two halves of the small elements to a strip of white card. Where the letters of Magical missed the raised areas, I added a small section of the die cut in  black craft foam to pop it up. A little bit of the Wink of Stella over the Magical completes.

More details on all the challenges and prizes can be found over at STAMPlorations.

I'm joining in over at:-

Spring has sprung, the grass is ris!

I wonder where the daisies is.
Spring has definitely arrived here. The last few weeks have been very pleasant, the lambs are frolicking and the blossom is out in the hedgerows. Birds are twittering and the flowers in the garden are starting to break their winter sleep. Yet there is no sign of daisies, I was only talking about this with the OH a few weeks back, where have the daisies gone? As a child and even when our own were young there were lots of daisies around to be picked and made into chains on warm days whilst sat on the grass.
Anyway, enough of questions I here to share a card for the start of this month's Perfectly CAS challenge.

As most of the daffodils are past their best and the tulips are starting to show some colour, I thought I would look out my 'Tulips' stamp from STAMPlorations. It is already a group of tulips but I decided to create a sweep of them by masking the first image and adding extra blooms to the left and right but altering the height.
As I wanted to use watercolour to colour, I added some semi dull EP to the stamped image before heat embossing and then masking.
I was going to create a rainbow of tulips but in the end kept to just pink for the blooms, greens for the stems and leaves, with blue for the sky. When my watercolouring was dry, I trimmed the panel down and mounted it on a top fold note card.
A simple strip sentiment from Mama Elephant completes.

For more masking inspiration, please check out the rest of the team here.

I realized I hadn't shared any of this years lambs so here are a couple the OH took.

Update:- I found some daisies!!! They were 4 little heads on the hillside where sheep have not been for awhile so perhaps that is the reason, they must taste too good to the sheep. Still that doesn't answer why the lawn is bereft.

Joining in over at:-

    

Altenew's April Challenge

Morning all.

Hope you've had a good Easter so far, the weather has been great, even if we have to stay home to enjoy it. In fact the sun has been so hot here that I had to escape into the house to shelter from the strongest of the mid afternoon rays. 

I don't know about you but my craft mojo has been missing recently and I couldn't settle to anything but I made the effort to get messy after seeing the latest challenge over at Altenew.

I watched the video by Nicole on how the background for the inspiration was created and decided to have a go, mixing Copic refill inks on Yupo paper with isopropyl alcohol and adding some platinum fine EP whilst still damp. I loved the way the EP left a textured look, very reminiscent of the lava rocks in the photo.

So here is my take on this month's theme.

On top of my panel I used the largest poppy bloom from Poppy Garden and the smaller sprays from the set, coloured with Copic markers. I stamped and embossed with platinum EP some sprays of foliage from Wildflower Garden, fussy cutting all the elements before arranging them in the corner of the panel which I attached to an A6 note card. The sentiment Hello, free in a mag, was stamped and embossed with clear EP before being fussy cut and then added above my sentiment strip.

The photo of the stacked rocks put me in mind of some the OH took on the beach near Brid a good few years ago. He got very artsy with this example!

Mine was a bit more prosaic!

On another note, the swallows arrived in the farm yard last week, only 3 so far but they are certainly making their presence felt, chattering as they fly around. We have a pair of wagtails nesting in the planter by the patio doors and the birds are singing in the hedgerows, so nature is getting on with business as usual. We are so lucky to be able to wander our fields but if you aren't, please enjoy your gardens or window boxes and stay safe!

Joining in over at:-

    

                                                     AG

Fisherman's Wharf

Good morning all.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

With so much time on my hands these past few weeks and the mojo not particularly functioning, I had a tidy up of my stash and it reminded me of a couple of stamp sets that had sat there unloved for nearly a year.

One of them was perfect for the new challenge at Cardz4Guyz.

ON or BY THE SEA

Here is my card using the NEBUS stamp Fisherman's Wharf by Creative Endeavours.

I spotted the stand at last years Port Sunlight Happy Stampers fair. The samples were stunning, more like paintings than other stamps and I was immediately drawn to them. I could have blown the bank but instead I kept it to just three stamp sets!

This example is a really large scene one and I decided to take a leaf from the ideas at the show and kept the design very simple, allowing the stamp to shine.

First I took a square panel of watercolour paper and stamped the wharf with black ink and then quickly embossed with a semi dull clear EP. I then masked the edges with painter's tape and added the sky and exposed sand with washes of DI. To give a sense of depth, I added Tea Dye to the foreground and then washed in some Mustard Seed over the top.

For the sky I first added plain old water and then washes of Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch to the top. The clouds were lifted out with a piece of kitchen roll to soften the edges.

I left the busy row of houses and quayside plain as I quite liked the look. Once dry I removed the tape, added a black border and mounted it on pads over a large 8 x 8 white base card, that has been in my stash since I started card making over 10 years ago.
There is no sentiment as I didn't want to detract from the image but the inside could be stamped with one for all sorts of occasions, birthday to retirement. It would also looked good framed and mounted as a gift.

So what will you find in your stash to use for this theme, we'd love to see, so why not join us here.

Joining in over at:-

     


Something Old - the card base
Something New - the stamp
Something blue - the sky!

Don't let life ruffle your feathers

Good evening peeps.
Hope you are all well and keeping cheerful in these troubling times.
As a crafter, I tend to retreat to my room and immerse myself in making to take my mind off all the negative news.
I know it might be considered trivial compared with what is going on out there in the world at the mo, but it gets me through the day!
How about you? Why not escape to your craft room and join us for this month's challenge at HLS CAS. Here's my card.

Sorry about the photo but the sun was too bright and casting shadows in my usual spot!

This month our theme is -



I combined a coupe of challenges for my inspiration, AAA Cards and Time Out.
This is a quick one layer card made by stenciling and stamping.
I first stenciled a few feathers using a free stencil with Wilted Violet DI, then added some texture to the foreground feather by stamping the matching feather with Versamark and clear gloss EP.
The photo doesn't really show it but in reality there is quite a bit of texture there.
A simple sentiment from the set was added to complete.
So how will you interpret the challenge, there's more inspiration by the rest of the DT here.

Joining in over at:-

   

STAMPlorations' April theme and photo prompt challenge

A new month is here and it's time for a new challenge over at STAMPlorations' Theme and Photo challenge.
Here's my card for your inspiration.

I had thought of going literal but I don't have the Citrus set, so I went through my stash and decided that the Bloomdala Bliss dies might work.
Rifling through my scraps box, I selected a few pieces of coloured, textured card. They are mainly leftovers from other projects, some are inked and stamped some just inked, it didn't matter really just that they needed to be citrusy!
From a panel of kraft card I die cut four large dies and then using  the daisy dies from Trendy Spring Blooms, I cut the rest. I cut them all again from white card and glued the large die cuts to pieces of cooured card, trimming them down to size before adding them to the kraft panel, which I had darkened by inking with some Vintage Photo DI. If you pop the sections through from the back you can secure them temporarily with tape before gluing the finished panel onto a white A6 card base.

The daisies looked a little plain in comparison to the mandelas, so I added some white gel pen detail.

The sentiment from Art Expressions seemed apt and I die cut the panel using the small square from the Basic A2 nesting panel die set, before adding a slightly larger piece of the same scrap card and glued it onto my finished design.

Inspired by the theme or photo? Please just keep in mind these simple rules:

• Link up any type of project(s) based on the theme, the photo, or both.
• You must use stamps in your project(s) -- rubber, clear, or digi from any company. Non-STAMPlorations stamps are OK.
• Link up to 6 entries and link up to as many other challenges as you want.
• You must display the challenge graphic in your post (if linking from your blog) and link back to the challenge post (not just the main blog) in order to be eligible to win (and receive the corresponding prize).
• Link up by April 30, 11:55 p.m. Pacific time

Prizes:

• The winner will receive a $15 gift certificate.
• The runner up will receive a $10 gift certificate
• Three (3) randomly drawn crafters will each receive a $5 gift certificate.