Saturday 31 October 2020

Star ...

As October draws to a close I wonder what November will bring ... I'm hopeful that we might get some clear dry days so I can get the garden sorted before winter ... I don't hold out much hope though as we have and another wet, windy and overcast day.  I have taken the opportunity to create some more cards so I thought I would share this one with you:



This is a very simple card ... just a die cut and a clear sticker.  Lots of white space and no embellishments.

I was inspired by the current challenge at AAA Cards


I love CAS cards but sometimes it feels like cheating when I create such a simple card.

Stay Safe!

Saturday 24 October 2020

Time ...

 ... and it is still raining as it has done most of this week ... not my favourite kind of weather but it does mean that I can justify spending a lot of time crafting!!  So I thought I would share one of the cards I made today:



This card was inspired by The Male Room Challenge (see details below) using the colours from the current Color Hues Color Challenge of Blue and Orange.

I used:
AALL and Create Lotza Dotz stencil
Tando Creatives Cogs Group stencil
UNIKO Simply Said and Today, Tomorrow and Always:TIME stamp sets.
Tim Holtz Scribbles and Splats dies
Distress Inks - Carved Pumpkin and Faded Jeans

The challenges are:




I hope you are all keeping well.

Less is More ... Recipe ...

 Back again for the second challenge of the month at Less is More this time it is a recipe challenge:


I've used stamps from UNIKO (this month's sponsor) to create a couple of cards to inspire you to get out your supplies and join i with the challenge.

First up I went Christmas:



I used the following:

UNIKO - Jingle Bells, Winter Foliage and Festive Sentiments Stamp Sets

Stampin up - Granny Apple Green and Shaded Spruce Ink

Distress Inks - Crushed Olive, Pine Needles and Festive Berries


Second card is a general one which I seem to need more and more.



I used quite a few stamps sets for this project but only selected stamps from each one - these are the supplies:

UNIKO - Big and Bold Hello, Nature Treasures I, Originally Organic, Fun Flowers,  Beautiful Blooms II and Flower Power #6

Distress oxides and inks - Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, Candied Apple and Carved Pumpkin

Memento - Dandelion ink

So there we have it two projects using more than one foliage - the first one using recognisable leaves and the second using primarily stylised leaves.

If you need more inspiration check out the blog for more beautiful projects from the rest of the design team.  I look forward to seeing your projects.

Take care!

Friday 23 October 2020

STAMPlorations Birthday Party Day 5 ...

This has been one long party, I hope you have enjoyed yourself ... so today is the final day of the STAMPlorations 7th birthday celebrations.


It seems fitting to finish the Birthday celebrations with a best wishes card and back to my usual CAS style.




Although a CAS design this card involves lots - texture paste through a stencil, heat embossed image, water colouring on the blooms and die cutting - quite a combination of techniques!  I'm not sure whether you can see in the close up but there is a hidden butterfly die cut out of the main image and adhered to the card with extra foam tape to add dimension.

I used:

STAMPlorations - Bloomfully Wonderful, The Birds and the Blooms

ARTplorations - Make Marks I stencil

CUTplorations - Flutter Zen I

(This post contains affiliate links. When you click on them and place an order, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

I hope you have had a fun week joining in with the Birthday Celebrations - you have until 8th November to join in and be a contender for the prizes.

Stay Safe!

Thursday 22 October 2020

STAMPlorations Birthday Party Day 4

I hope you are hanging in with the amazing STAMPlorations birthday celebrations ... we've made it to day 4.


I do hope you are having fun and enjoying all the amazing projects that the design team have put together.




This is an exciting project for me as I have used the new Flexi template - the square ones.  This is the first time I've used templates and I'm sure it will not be the last time, I love them!

I positioned the templates and then ink blended the 'frames' to act as a back drop to the main focal image.  I only stamped and heat embossed the image and added not colour - I think the detail of the stamp alone is enough. I finished the card by adding the sentiment before matting and layering the panel on to the card base.

I used:

STAMPlorations  - Flexi-template Squares, Hope Blooms, Lotus Love

(This post contains affiliate links. When you click on them and place an order, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

Remember to check back tomorrow for Day 5 the final day of the celebrations.

Stay safe!

Wednesday 21 October 2020

STAMPlorations Birthday Party Day 3

The party continues ... Day 3 of 5 days celebrating STAMPlorations 7th birthday - lots more amazing projects to inspire you.



I hope you are enjoying these celebrations, today's project:


Today we have a trio of ATC's.




I began with a large sheet of card and heat embossed snowflakes using a stencil before colouring the background using distress inks and oxides.  I die cut the ATC's and then added more colour and stamping before die-cutting the trees, stamping and heat embossing the sentiments before combining the elements together.

I used:

STAMPlorations - Joyful
CUTplorations - ATC Tag Builder and Trendy Christmas Trees
ARTplorations - Snowflake Stencil

(This post contains affiliate links. When you click on them and place an order, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

Remember to check out the other designers and join in with the fun!

Tuesday 20 October 2020

Blue and Orange ...

 Now this is an interesting colour combination for me and one that I don't think I've ever considered for a Christmas card!!  I was inspired to try this combination by the current challenge at Color Hues: the color card challenge:  I was stuck for ideas especially as I need to concentrate on Christmas cards so just 'went with the flow' ... I cannot decide whether I like the end result or not but here it is:



I heat embossed a background stamp before colouring with a water colour wash using distress inks and oxides.  The geometric stag was also created in the same way before fussy cutting it out.  The blue panel is flat to the card base and the stag is adhered with foam tape to add dimenson.

I used:

STAMPlorations - Yuletide Deer
Tim Holtz - Stripes and Holiday Type
WOW Clear Embossing Powder
Distress Inks and Oxides - Spiced Marmalade and Salty Ocean
UNIKO - Simply Said II

These are the challenge details:

Keep creating ..

STAMPlorations Birthday Party Day 2

 Another day, another party!!  This is Day 2 of 5 days celebrating STAMPlorations 7th birthday - lots of amazing projects to inspire you.



Today's card features stencils and stamps:



This card is a 6 x 6 square card and I used the large wreath from the Christmas Wreath Stencil.  Rather than blending ink through the stencil I drew around the leaves with Inktense pencils and then blended the colour with a water brush before stamping additional images on it.

The stencil also has a small wreath so I created this card that is only 4 x 4 square card.



I used:
ARTplorations - Christmas Wreath Stencil
Inktense Pencils

(This post contains affiliate links. When you click on them and place an order, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

Remember to check out the blog for more inspiration and as always get involved and you could win a prize.

Stay Safe

Monday 19 October 2020

STAMPlorations Birthday Party Day 1

Get your 'glad rags' on it is time to Party!!!  For the next five days we will be celebrating a Belated STAMPlorations 7th Birthday -



My project for today uses one of the new products from STAMPlorations - it is a textured cover plate - I used it on the background card.



Versafine Onyx Black Ink
Faber Castell Polychromos Colour Pencils

(This post contains affiliate links when you click on them and place an order, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

Check out the blog for more amazing projects from the design team and remember there are prizes to be won!

Keep Safe!


Sunday 18 October 2020

Autumnal Thanks ...

A dark and dreary day ... what else is a girl to do other than create and craft ... I've been quite productive today creating quite a collection of cards but I'm just going to sahre one with you this afternoon:



To start I used my gelli plate, stencils and acrylic paint to create the background panel - using autumnal colours.  I sponged paint through each stencil onto the gelli plate allowing each level to dry before lifting the whole print in one go using a buff coloured paint.  Once dry I die cut the panel and added it to a card base.  The sentiment was die cut 4 times and stacked and adhered together to achieve a chunky feel. 

I used:
CUTplorations - Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangles and 'Thanks' dies
ARTploration stencils - Leaf Print mini, Leaves I, Autumn Falling and Leaf Print 4

I'm entering the following challenges:
UNIKO #61

CAS Mix Up October Challenge

Stay Safe and Keep Crafting!

Thursday 15 October 2020

Christmas Stencil ...

Have you made all of your Christmas cards?  I always plan to have mine completed early and yet again I haven't!!  So my plan now is to only make Christmas cards ... I'm not sure how long this plan will last!!!

So today's contribution is:



I was inspired by the current challenge at CAS Mix Up card challenge:

I began by creating a water colour wash down one side and across - just a light wash with water colour paint in two shades of blue.  I then took a stencil of Christmas words and using some distress ink I selectively added just some of the words over the top of the wash.  I used an off cut of card and colour washed it with the same water colour paints - I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and used the rest to die cut some snowflakes.  

I used:
Funky Fossil Designs - Festive Words stencil
UNIKO - Simply Said II
Distress Ink - Tumbled glass

Stay Safe and Keep Creating!


STAMPlorations October Theme and Photo Reminder ...

Have you joined in with the Theme and Photo challenge at STAMPlorations this month or do you need more inspiration, the details of the challenge are:


How about this clean and simple card:



The background papers are some I created using a gelli plate ... I thought they provided a fun background for the focal point.

I used:

STAMPlorations - Bloomfully

CUTplorations - ATC Tag Builder

                        - Basic A2 Panel Nesting Dies

(This post contains affiliate links. When you click on them and place an order, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

Keep well!





Saturday 10 October 2020

Less is More ... CASe

 It's time for a new challenge at Less is More and this time we have a CASe challenge:


The idea behind CASe is to copy and share everything ... you take a card designed by someone else, in this case Sharon from the design team and create your version.  I've included Sharon's awesome card at the bottom of this post.

This is the first card I designed using Sharon's card as a sketch to follow but for Christmas rather than a birthday!!



UNIKO are our sponsors this month and I'm delighted to be able to showcase some of their amazing designs.

For this one I used:
UNIKO - Background Blocks Falling Snow; Pure Florals Poinsettia and Snowflake Dies
Distress Ink - Blueprint Sketch, Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon
STAMPlorations - Snowy Hill die

My second card, again uses the sketch but this time picks up on the floral focus.



For this one I used:

UNIKO - Background Builders Scattered Hearts,  Pure Florals: Peony, Today, Tomorrow & Always: Time

Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Spun Sugar, Peeled Paint and Twisted Citron

This is the card we would like you to CASe:


(There are lots of things you can use e.g. stars, flowers, foliage, gold, yellow, orange, red, repeat stamping ( or making a designer paper), heat embossing, die cutting, banner, Happy Birthday, the layout)

I hope you will be inspired to get your supplies out and join in with the challenge.

Stay Safe!