Pink Again

Good morning, good morning, good morning. I hope I find you well.

It's time for a new challenge over at Cardz4Galz. This week Amy has chosen the theme of -

Clean and Simple

Just down my alley! So without further ado here is my card.

I was inspired by a card made by my lovely friend Loll (Stamping with Loll), you can see it here.

I loved the squiggle in the center of the aperture and tried to work out how she did it, then read she use a cutting programme! So I improvised with a squiggle die cut by Tim Holtz as I don't own a Silhouette, stamped the leaves from SU's Summer Silhouettes in Weathered Wood DI and fussy cut them, the flower was one I had discarded from another project but coloured with Copics in the perfect colour (STAMPlorations Dee's Artsy Impressions Blooming Buds) and a little silver Stickles. 

The paler pink pearly background (sorry it doesn't really show up in the photo) was also inspired by Loll and was made by smooshing Inka Gold platinum wax with Picked Raspberry DI spritzed with water, see Loll's technique here. I made 3 panels using this technique, the first two were used for my DT inspiration last week here.

That's about it for the moment. Check out the rest of the DT's inspiration and why not join in.

I'm joining in over at:-

    

Across the middle colouring/spritzing/die cut

You are Amazing

Good morning all.
Winter seems a little closer after these last few days. Al has been stacking logs and lighting the log burner the last few nights and Max has been very reluctant to stay out for very long at all on his last outing before bed!
Anyway down to business, it's time for a new challenge over at Cardz4Galz.
This week we want to see your creations that are -

PINK and PEARLY

A very girly topic and super appropriate as October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. This is a subject close to my heart, having had a couple of brushes with it over the last 20 years. So I made this card to say to all BC suffers and survivors YOU are AMAZING!

The inspiration for the layout is the challenge over at CAS(E) this Sketch, think I will just get there in time and the sentiment fits well with the cue word 'YOU' at CASology.

I used some Inka Gold wax to make the background and butterflies. My lovely friend Loll (Stamping with Loll), got me into this but I was having some problems using it at first so she gave me some advise and sent me some mixed media paper to play with, thank you.
However, I have experimented with some Daler and Rowney Aauafine 300gms HP w/c paper and that works fine but not as well as the MM paper which I haven't managed to source yet.
Anyway here's how I went about making the card.
I didn't have any pink Inka Gold so after putting some silver on my craft mat I dropped in some Picked Raspberry DI and spritzed them both with water and used a bit of cut n dry foam to mix, then smooshed the w/c paper over it to pick up the colour. Left to dry the paper has a wonderful pearly marbled finished. Hope you can see it in the photo.
The central panel was cut away from the pink and replaced with a white one using a MFT die and the butterflies were punched using an ancient punch of unknown origin!
The greeting from Stampin Up 'Painted Petals', thanks Di, was stamped in the same DI then embossed with fine clear EP. Pearls from the stash.

OK, sorry that was a bit long winded but there you have it!
Check out the rest of the DT's fab inspiration then why not join in?

I'm joining in over at :-

       


Clean and Simple

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Wedding Brad

Morning all, hope you are well.

Just a quick post to show you a card I made for a few challenges.

I love it when I can combine them, it gets the creative juices flowing and ideas bounce off each other and the challenges focus the design.

It was really muggy yesterday afternoon so I came in just before tea and spent a very pleasurable hour playing with some ideas for a card and here is the result.

Over at Less is More they would like to see some METAL, CASology's cue word is Wedding and Inkspirational's cue is Purple with the twist of wedding or love. 

My starting point was this metal brad I've had in the stash since I did my daughter's wedding scrapbook nine years ago! The next problem was how to frame it, well going down the wedding theme I chose a heart which I die cut from a Spellbinders panel with a Little B die and then inked it in purple before adding the brad and gluing it down on the base card before stamping the greeting in black and popping the top panel up on pads. I must admit I struggled with finding a greeting, must stock up on some new ones that include wedding ones!

Job done.

I would like to join in over at:-

                

Use some metal

Blossom

Good afternoon. 

I've not been in my craft room much due to child minding duties this weekend. What with the lovely sunny weather we were out and about with our Grandson, so no blogging or making for me until late yesterday afternoon then it was for DT duties. I did try to do something for the challenge over at CASology but it didn't work to my satisfaction so abandoned it only to see something similar posted, so couldn't go down that route!

Anyway for a better late than never post, I managed to develop my original idea and came up with this -

When I saw the cue word early last week I thought of cherry and apple blossom but couldn't find any stamps small enough in the stash, so went down the die cut route but as I said it didn't work. So looking at my branch stamp I saw my palette with DI still on it so started splashing some v watery ink over the stamped branches but thought it a tad flat so added some chunky embossing powder over the top and the stamped a sentiment from a freebie set to match.

I used the layout over at Less is More where the theme is 

CASe the DT.

I chose Chrissie's card for my CASe.

I kept the layout roughly the same but put the sentiment panel at the bottom and made the panels slightly larger. I used a phrase sentiment and a 'flower' image same as Chrissie. So that was it, quite quick in the end and a good job too as the 'Blossom' challenge closes today!

As there is so much white on this I am entering it at-

and also at Uniko's - Anything Goes

OK, that's a wrap. I better get some lunch ready for the workers!

Photo Inspiration

Good evening, time for another late night post for Addicted to Stamps and More.

This is the card I made for this weeks challenge.

This week its come around to our photo inspiration.

For my card I took inspiration from the cake stand full of cupcakes in brightly coloured cases.

The stamp I used is yet another I picked up from a bargain bucket on holiday in Norfolk last year. Its a Docrafts stamp called 'Bellisima Cupcake Stand'.

I coloured the image with brightly coloured Copics and then set behind the frame which I cut using my MFT pierced rectangle die. The extra cupcake was stamped from a freebie set and then fussy cut and mounted on the corner. I stamped a Woodware happy birthday then doodled a border in a fine liner.

That's it then, pop over to check out the rest of the DT's fab inspiration and join in.

This week we are sponsored by 

Deedee is offering a $15 coupon to the store for our winners.

I would like to join in at-

CAS on Sunday - Girl Power (What girl doesn't love a cupcake!)

A Gem of a Challenge - Clean and Simple

What makes you happy?

Good morning all.

Just a quick post to show a card I made last night and get it entered into the latest challenge over at Less is More.

The theme this week is- What makes you happy.

This had me stumped until I had a bit of a lightbulb moment, which in itself makes me happy. 

I have planted some bulbs at the side of our back track but the pesky rabbits have eaten the crocus that had bloomed :( , but it reminded me that the daffodils and other spring flowers really make me smile. While feeding the lambs I noticed that the first blackthorn was in flower and the catkins were on the hazel, signs that spring is not far away. My pots have escaped the ravages of the pesky rabbits so there will be some colour soon.

I then thought of the stamp I bought on my last trip to Farsley, to visit Lili of the Valley. I stamped it and sat happily colouring away totally oblivious of the time last night, that really does make me happy!

when it came down to the actual card design I decided to go with the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch but I did have a few doubts about the backing colour of the card. I liked the white which shows off the rather complex image but I also liked this version,

I'm still not sure which I like best, the purple really makes the yellows sing. Take your pick.

Thanks for calling by. 

You're a classic

Just a quick post to get this card posted and entered in the latest challenge over at CASology before I'm timed out.

This week they have the cue word

When I first saw this I was a little stymied but then had an idea if only I could find some images I knew I had stashed away in a box. After a hectic weekend of getting a load of DT stuff done, I eventually found the sheet of Mini images, the classic car of course! I'd only been talking about the old Mini with my friend the other day. She had one of the new Minis a while ago but we were behind a Mini on steroids at the traffic lights at the time and we both said that they weren't proper Minis and they should just give these steroidal cars a new name.

Any road up, this is my card, Mini car fussy cut, a circle of an old map and computer generated sentiment, extremely quick and easy.

Here are a couple of lamb photos to help brighten your day. Felt sorry for them this morning as there were snow showers but the sun is now out if the wind is a little cutting.

I think I better take the dog for a walk now that the sun is out before we get some more snow showers!

On the edge

Evening folks. 

After a dodgy start it's been a lovely spring day today, we will probably count the cost of it tomorrow with a touch of frost.

There is definately spring in the air as our first lambs have come down from the lambing pens this afternoon, 12 ewes and their lambs all frolicking in the sun, such a happy site. I didn't take my phone when I went to look so no photos. :(  Must remember to get a photo or two tomorrow.

Any way I have been in te craft room having a play as I was inspired by the card over at Muse by Shona. I loved the soft stamped circles with the tiny hearts. I had it in my mind to use butterflies as the challenge at Less is More is 'Wings'

After a couple of false starts I ended up with this.

I loved the soft embossing Shona used and it was a little tricky to photograph on mine, so I took a few others to show it off better, not sure if they do!

This is Shona's lovely card

In the end after trying various butterfly stamps I went with some punched butterflies mounted on Silver Pearl embossed discs and diecut circles. The greeting is from Clearly Besotted and the stamped butterflies from Do Crafts. I kept the colours roughly the same, colouring the outlined butterflies with matching Copics.

Here are some more views of my card.

              

The first shows the pearly embossed background discs and the second the diecut front.

OK, it's getting a tad late now so I will finish and get off to bed, early start in the morning as AL will have to go check on the lambs.

Little Boy Blue

Good morning folks, and welcome to the new challenge at Cardz4Guyz.

This week DT member Jan has chosen the theme:-

LITTLE BOY BLUE

So what can you come up with?

Here is my card for this weeks challenge.

I apologise for the quality of the photo, I tried lots of angles but it was either too dark or too bright, this was the compromise!

I found this little stamp when moving some stamps to a new storage trolly. It was one I bought years ago on my first trip to the Harrogate Craft Show. I think it was from a bargain bin at the Stamp Man stall along with some holly leaves, a star and a couple of key stamps!

I stamped in Broken China DI then embossed in clear embossing powder, The squares were die cut using my MFT pierced squares and mounted on the background panel which I made from scratch by inking a Darice EF in Broken China, spritzing with water then closing the folder over a piece of card and pressing firmly. The stitched ribbon and buttons from the stash were glued across the bottom third of the striped panel. The sentiment is from a Molly Bloom set.

That's about it, why not pop over to the main blog to check the DT's inspiration out and join in.

I shall also enter the following challenges:-

The Male Room - Make your own background paper

Creative Inspirations - Buttons

Thanks for popping by, see you back again soon.

Masking

Good morning, an unusual extra post because we didn't go to our Son's this week as hubster is a little under the weather as am I. So no craft class for me but I do get extra time in the craft room.

It's my friend's birthday in a few days and I have made a card for her. She loves red flowers so I had to include some here. She retired from work at the same time as I was ill many years ago and has been a great support over the years. I don't know how she fits all her commitments into the day. As well as looking after her Mum, she is converting a bungalow with her husband, babysitting for her youngest, taking me out for lunch, housekeeping for her Son and Daughter in law in Italy and even walking the dog for her middle son! I don't really know how she had time to fit work in!

Anyway here is the card I made for her.

There are a few challenges around that I was thinking of when I made this.

It is One Layer week over at Less is More with the extra theme of Love, OLS has the theme of blend

and ATCAS is masking!

To make the card I stamped my first daisy in red DI then masked it before stamping the second then again with the 3 leaves, I overstamped all the masks with script greetings in black before removing  them and colouring using Copics.

That's where the blending came in as I used 5 reds to get the dimension right on the petals and 4 greens on the leaves.

That's about it then, thanks for calling by and see you again soon. Don't forget to leave a comment then I can reciprocate!

Bonsai Tree

Good morning fellow crafters.

Today, as it's Tuesday, means a new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz.
With Chinese New Year around the corner we have gone all -

ORIENTAL

Now again I was a bit stumped but then I thought of a card I made way back in September (here) but that was too girly but I thought I could do something along those lines, you know not flower arranging but similar. There a few challenges out there that have the same theme and they inspired me to create this card.

Bonsai. I think this is blokey enough, I know girls do it too but it seems to be more of a male thing.

I did think of stamping and I swore I had some green flower soft in the stash somewhere but sadly not so I used cloud die cuts in green Core- dinations card scraps and a couple of branches cut in brown using my MB die, which I layered up to give a twisted bow look to the trunk.

The base is a Spellbinders Label 25 die with the top cut away and a strip of red card added.

For added interest I used textured card and cut a square panel using my MFT pierced square dies. Sentiment simply stamped in black is from the stash, of unknown origin! It could be Molly Bloom.

I shall enter a few challenges with this such as-

I went with the tree branches and the Oriental theme

Simply Create Too - Anything Goes

My Time to Craft  - Oriental

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - For the Boys

OK, that's about it from me. Pop over to check out the rest of the DT's inspiration and have a go.

Thanks for stopping by, come back again soon. 

Less is More 4 year anniversary

Good afternoon bloggers.

Unusual for me to be posting on a Wednesday but I made this card earlier in the week and only just got around to posting.

Over at Less is More they are celebrating their 4th year with their challenge blog. 

It was one of the first challenges where I felt I was at home. I was trying to find my style, many cards at the challenges I had come across in the early days were very busy. Now I'm not knocking that style but I was never happy layering it all on and it costs the earth to post a card like that! So when I found Less is More it was a relief to find a home from home so to speak. So I just had to play along to say thanks for inspiring me to bring forth my inner CAS!

The theme for this challenge is -

PINK and GREY

I have seen lots of cards over the last couple of years that have used this colourway, especially dark grey and vibrant pink. So this is my version -

I stamped a Dylussions background stamp in Versamark over the grey card panel then embossed in clear. The HAPPY from my STAMPlorations Boxed Bloom set was stamped then embossed in white and the BIRTHDAY was die cut using my MFT alphabet dies in bright pink Bazzil. To feminize it a little I added a few beads and crystals before mounting it onto a plain white base card.

I shall also enter the challenges at :-

Thanks for calling around, hope to see you back again soon.

Puppy Love

Morning all and welcome.

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz. As with a lot of other challenges in blogland we are getting romantic but with a little twist. This week our theme is -

PUPPY LOVE

Well when I saw this I couldn't get Donny Osmond out  of my mind, LOL, it did give me a few headaches but of the design nature!

My mind was blank. I had lots  of ideas but non really suitable for a fella. I did a bit of browsing on the internet and saw a T-shirt with a logo on that just made me smile so I borrowed the words and came up with this.

The words were printed onto some wooden plank dp then I added a red punched heart and some spoon bowls from a MFT die with the handle cut off to finish the paw print. I was rather proud of the end result.

Pop over to the main site to check out the rest of the DT's work and join in.

I shall enter the following challenges:-

The Male Room - Valentine

I took the panel background from the photo and the red heart.

Creative Inspirations - Love is in the Air

Sweet 7 Designs Challenge - Puppy Love

Thanks for calling around, see you again soon. :)

Stamps and Hearts

Hi folks and welcome.

Today I'm posting a card for the new monthly challenge over at STAMPlorations.

This month our theme is -

Prizes:

Winner
(voted by the design team)
prize: 2 stamp sets (3" by 5") if she used our stamps, 1 stamp set if she didn't
+ guest designer spot in the April Challenge

Top picks

prize: 3 digi stamps 

+ the option to be a guest designer too in the April Challenge if they will use their winnings OR if they already have our clear stamps

All winners and top picks will receive a personalized guest designer badge that they can display on their blogs, as well as a STAMPlorations guest designer watermark.

Frequent Players Spotlight. Play in all 3 challenges for the month for entries to the random drawing. Prize is always going to be a stamp and stencil pack valued at $10.

Now I'm sort of overdosing on Valentine's cards at the mo, so this is very understated and needn't be for Valentine's at all. It's so romantic to receive a single red rose at any time, hint hint!

This uses the stem rose that Shery posted for us to use in our DT application, it's gorgeous to colour, I used Copics because  it is a very crisp image and I thought it deserved a graphic approach to the colouring. I softened the OL image by adding a bow made from georgette ribbon. I added the LOTV greeting tags with added hearts with a little bit of chord and left it at that. 

Pop over to the main blog to check out the rest of the wonderfully talented DT and our fab GDT of Kim, Loll and Karen.

I shall link up to the following challenges -

PINspirational - Photo

I thought about the chord around the bag and the heart

Rather appropriate I think!

CAS on Sunday - flower/s (just the one!)

Thanks for calling around ,see you again soon.

Anything goes @ Cardz4Guyz

Good morning, good morning, good morning!

Hope I find you all fine and dandy.

As it's Tuesday it's another challenge over at Cardz4Guyz.

This week I have chosen the theme of -

ANYTHING GOES

So let yourself go wild! Any style, any format so long as it's for a guy we don't mind.

Sorry if your entry isn't for a guy then it wont be eligible for the top 3!

So without further ado here is my card for your inspiration.

It looks like I'm going down the CAS and humour route this week.

The idea came to me while looking through my stamps for a couple of challenges. 

I used my Die-namics pierced rectangles to frame the phrase which I stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, using a set from DoCrafts- Nostalgia Out of Bed. The cat with ear defenders is from the same set. The paper was in the stash, I think a left over from some NitWits papers but not sure which one.

OK, that's a wrap. Pop over to the Cardz4Guyz site and check out the rest of the DT's inspiration and join in.

I shall enter this card into the following challenges:-

     

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - It's a Guy Thing

The Paper Players