Tuesday 28 January 2020

Pink Carnation ...

Good evening ... I've be lucky enough to spend the afternoon crafting ... after a morning of washing and ironing I decided to treat myself to just crafting.  I'd like to share one of the cards I created (you'll have to wait a while to see the others):- 

The colour is more vibrant in real life but I just couldn't get the photograph to reflect the vivid magenta


I was inspired by the current challenge at TIME OUT where the theme is to be inspired by an item in your wardrobe!  I decided to take one of the colours from a dress that I wore to my daughters wedding:

This shows the detail of the dress
I mostly wear quite muted colours and certainly rarely wear anything (especially a dress) as vibrant as this dress  ... I first bought a navy dress which would have allowed me to blend into the background.  With encouragement from my daughter I then bought this dress which was both colourful and vibrant ... there was no blending in with the background for me! 

The sentiment I added was exactly what  I needed to do to wear the dress ... I couldn't have done it without my family's support.

These are the challenge details:

TIMEOUT Challenge #153




I have had a bit if a giggled today thanks to Pinterest ... if you use Pinterest you will know that they are forever notifying you of 'pins' that you might be interested in ... today they sent me a selection of 15 handmade cards that I might like ... so I popped along to check them out ... surprise, surprise all 15 were cards that I had designed and made!!!

Enjoy!

Sunday 19 January 2020

One layer ...

Good morning ...  the sun is shining and the sky is blue ... everything looks promising for a nice day. 

Yesterday I was inspired to create a couple of one layer cards but ran out of time to blog about both of them ... so here is the second card:



This proved to be a difficult design to photograph ... I stamped the card across the middle with a variety of flowers and leaves and then die cut 'Mum' out and then adhered the letters through the holes onto the inside of the card ... so when the card is closed the word is hidden.  I hope this makes sense!!

I used:
Distress Inks - Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron, Carved Pumpkin, Candied Apple, Ripe Persimmon, Festive Berries and Dried Marigold.
Versafine Onyx Black
For the Love of Stamps - Floribunda
Simon Says Stamp - Sketch Ranunculus and Lots of Dots
Visible Image - Go To Words
Cardio Majestix - Sweet Birdhouse and Gerbera Garden
Dienamics Alpha Dies

I'm going to enter the following challenges:

AAA  Cards #157 - without the optional twist


Perfectly CAS #5


Enjoy!

Saturday 18 January 2020

Corner flowers ...

It has been a beautiful day today ... blue skies and sunshine ... a bit chilly but at least it hasn't been raining.  After a morning of chores I've spent the afternoon messing around with card and ink.  I've created a couple of one layer cards ... they certainly require concentration, no room for inky errors!!

This is the first:



I'm not sure about the sentiment or its position but once the stamp hit the card I no longer had a choice!!  It is the first time I have used coloured pencils on a card ... I treated myself to a set of Faber Castell Polychromos Colour Pencils at Christmas and wanted to see if I could successfully colour an image.  I'm quite happy with the result but I do need more practise.

I used:
STAMPlorations Dee's Artsy Impressions Blossom Sprays #1
Polychromos Colour Pencils
Versafine Onyx Black Ink

I'm entering the following challenges:


Before I finish I need to say a big 'thank you' to the team at Perfectly CAS as they honoured me with a TOP 3 award for my entry last month. It is so exciting to start the New Year with such an honour ... hopefully 2020 is going to be a more positive year than 2019.

Enjoy!

Wednesday 15 January 2020

STAMPlorations January Reminder ...

Two weeks into the New Year - I hope your year has got off to a flying start and that you are still holding strong on any of your New Years resolutions!!

It is time to remind you about this months STAMPlorations Theme and Photo challenge:


I am here to inspire you to join in with the challenge, my project is more subtle this time and is not a literal interpretation of the photograph - I've taken individual elements and combined them for quite a different look:



I used:
STAMPlorations - Bloomful and Mixed media elements
CUTplorations - Love; clustered hearts, art edges
Distress Inks - Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Victorian Velvet
WOW White embossing powder
Versamark Ink

I hope that you will join in with the challenge.

Enjoy!

Sunday 12 January 2020

Birthday and Anniversary ...

Today I've created two cards for the Twofer Challenge the theme of the challenge is Hearts - the key to the challenge is that you have to use the same product for two cards for two separate occasions.  This is what I came up with:


First,


I stamped and heat embossed the background adding colour using distress inks to create a watercolour background.  I added a few splatters before adhering the heart with foam pads on top of some thread to add a little more interest and texture.

Second:



This one was created using a background print that I had created using acrylic paints and my gelli plate a couple of dies and sentiments.  I used the background die to cut the panel first and then adhered this to the card front before cutting out the heart from the centre - this created a window in the card.  I then adhered the heart to the inside of the card and added two sentiments - one on the front and one inside.

I used the following:

Sizzix Hearts #2 - this has been used on both of the cards

Distress Inks - Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin, Twisted Citron, Squeezed Lemonade
Indigo Blu - Honey comb background stamp
WoW White Embossing Powder
Gemini - Happy Birthday die
Gemini - Thorn Swirls
Ranger Archival Potting Shed Ink

As I said I'm entering the Twofer Challenge:


Enjoy!

Monday 6 January 2020

Hearts, stripes and bricks ...

A quick post to share this card created for the new challenge at TIME OUT challenges.



The card has been created using die cuts only.

I used:
Tim Holtz Wildflowers
Lawn Fawn Stitched Heart
Joy Hearts die
Cut and Make 'Love'
Brick die - I've no idea where this came from but it was accompanied by an embossing folder.

TIME OUT Challenge #152



Enjoy!

Wednesday 1 January 2020

Happy New Year ...

New month, new year, new decade ... and, hopefully, a new me! 

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will be aware that I 'retired' at the end of November ... an unplanned retirement but I hope it will prove to be a good decision!!  I'm starting the year with trepidation about this change ... it may take me sometime to 'get in the flow' ... there is much that I am looking forward too but equally there is much that worries me ... only time will tell.  Watch this space!

I have started a bullet journal ... I need to be more focused and I thought this would be a good way of keeping on top of stuff as well as being a fun project ... this is the title page:



... and this is the first page ...


2019 was year of extreme emotions ... from the lowest point in the Spring when my father passed away to the highest point at the beginning of November when my beautiful daughter got married ... and then I resigned.  My mental well-being has taken a bit of a battering ... I thought if I created a mind map of 'positive thoughts' it would help me keep me on track ... (the 'lose weight' is an annual quest not really a positive thought!). 

I hope 2020 brings you all good health and happiness.

Enjoy!

STAMPlorations January Theme and Photo ...

New month, new year and new challenge!!!  It is time for the first STAMPlorations Theme and Photo challenge for 2020:



If you are busy making New Year's Resolutions why not add joining in with the Theme and Photo Challenge!!  Here is the first project to inspire you:



I started with the heart shape and colours in the photo - I'm not too good with uncontrolled splatters but fortunately I have a number of 'splatter' stamps so all is good.  I used the splatter stamps to create the outline heart shape before adding the die cut flowers and leaves.  The images have been die cut from a piece of a print I created using a gel plate, acrylic paints and stencils.

I used:
STAMPlorations - Art Marks and Mixed Media Elements
CUTplorations dies - Trendy Spring Blooms
Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry
Versafine Onyx Black Ink

Pop along to the blog and check out the amazing designs from all the design team - you will not be disappointed.

Enjoy!