A Colourful Goodbye ...

No I'm not going anywhere!!  I was asked to create a goodbye card ... so that's exactly what I did!  A colourful one at that ...

I began by stamping the panel with the stars in all the colours of the rainbow.  I then die cut 'Goodbye' from the centre of the panel and three more times from scrap card - these I adhered on top of each other to add depth before placing them back into the main panel.  The panel was then adhered to the card base on some fun foam to add further dimension.

I used:

Clearly Besotted - Super Star stamp set.

Distress Inks - Festive Berries, Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Chipped Sapphire and Wilted Violet

Dienamics High Rise Alphabet Dies

I'm going to enter Virgina's View Summer Challenge

and

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge #28 Anything Goes

Enjoy!

One design, two Dads ...

It's Father's Day in the UK this coming Sunday and I was short of ideas!  Eventually I managed to come up with one idea and made two cards - it feels a bit like cheating making two of the same!  Hopefully the Dads will just be pleased to get a handmade card.

I'm currently obsessed with creating background papers - the first card was made with shaving cream (apt for a male card!) and shades of blue ink to create a marbled effect and the second card was created by brayering chalk acrylic paints in shades of green onto card.

The top panel was attached using foam tape to add additional dimension

When I finished the first card I was very happy with it so decided to make the second one but now I'm not sure whether I like either of them!  As I'm unlikely to come up with another idea any time soon I guess they will just have to be OK - it is the thought that counts!!

As they are monochromatic I'm going to enter the current challenge at Virginia's View



Enjoy!

Happiness is ...

This week seems to have passed by so very quickly and as for February - where did that month disappear to??  The year seems to be speeding by but at least it means that Spring is on the way - lots of sunshine today but it is very windy.

I started my weekend by creating a card for this week's challenge at "Less is More"  where the theme is 'This makes me happy'.  There are many things that make me happy - my family, my friends, sunshine and lots more.  However there is one other thing that makes me happy and that is having the time to craft, time to try out new techniques or revisit old ones. So this card combines my love of getting messy with inks, one of my favourite stamp sets (Uniko Studio - Gerbera) and for once mastering the 'ironing-off' embossing technique.  You can't help but be happy using these vibrant colours!

My original plan was to create a card using the Bokeh effect which seems to be 'on trend' but the image I chose was too large (and my dream was greater than my skill level).  So this is what happened:

I stamped the first gerbera and heat embossed using clear embossing powder and then coloured the whole of the panel with Dried Marigold distress ink.  Once the first layer was dry I stamped and heat embossed two more gerbera and then covered the panel with Spiced Marmalade distress ink.  When this layer was dry I stamped and heat embossed two further gerbera and then covered the panel with Ripe Persimmon distress ink.  When all was dry out I ironed off the embossing between pages of a telephone directory.  This is how the panel looked:

All I needed to do then was to decide how to use the panel - I can't tell you how long it took me to decide what to do with it!!  I think I'm happy with how it turned out!

I'm going to enter it in to the following challenges:

"Less is More" Week 213, This makes me happy

Uniko Studio Challenge 18 - Birthdays

Virginias View Challenge  #13 - All things embossed

Enjoy!

New home card ...

Sunshine and deep blue skies ... a great start to a Sunday, a bit misleading though as there is also a strong wind that is cold .. but who cares!

I continue to be sidetracked by the lure of wool - I'm trying to master the art of crocheting, with limited success at the moment but I remain determined to conquer the skill.  Today I thought I would start off on a more positive note and create a card for the "Less is More" - it is back to One Layer week with the theme of New Beginnings.  I decided to create a new home card.  Using a die and some distress ink this is how it turned out:

At least the beautiful sunshine improves my photography skills!!

I used:
Sizzix Tim Holtz Die
Distress Inks: Festive Berries, Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimon, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Dusty Concord.
Clearly Besotted Many Messages Stamp Set

I will also link up to Virginia's View Challenge 11 - Clean Slate.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year ...

Happy New Year to all my followers and visitors to my blog.  May the New Year be full of fun and happiness for you all.

My card making has been taking a bit of a back seat for a while - Christmas and family visiting play havoc with crafting!!  I have managed to make quite a few pom poms - I need a quite a few for the plan that I have in mind and it could take a while, they are a great way of using up oddments of yarn!

Today is my last day off from work, I thought I would treat myself to create a card which fits a number of challenges.    Here it is:

I stamped and embossed the images before using distress ink to coloura them.  Then selected parts of the image and cropped to a small square.  I took some gold metalic thread and made a 'scribbled' circle, arranged the squares, added a sentiment and then stopped!!

One card for three challenges:

"Less is More" - Week 205, Colour Challenge - Black, Metallic plus one of your own choice.

STAMPlorations - January Challenge - Stamps and Inks

Virginia's View Challenge - January Challenge - Clean Slate.


I used the following:
Versamark Ink
Distress Ink - Spiced Marmalade
STAMPlorations Stamp Set - Bloom Sketches

Enjoy!

Snowflake Joy ...

It's a quick post to share a card I made this afternoon - well I put it together today but it is made with pieces of leftover inked and distressed card stock. This week's challenge at "Less is More" is a colour challenge and how lucky am I? it just happens to be my go to colours for this year's Christmas cards - turquoises, ice blue, teal - see below for the details.

Here is the card, simple in design with just a little colour.

It is not the most exciting or imaginative card that I've ever created but ideas are in short supply at the moment.  I've been busy making stock for a couple of craft fairs as well working on some Christmas presents and my brain can nly concentrate on a limited number of things at once!

This is the Design Seeds picture showing the colours for the challenge:


As well as the "Less is More" challenge I am going to enter this month's challenge over at Virginia's View Challenge where the theme is "Distressed".

I used the following:

Distress Inks - tumbled glass, peacock feathers, evergreen bough
Impressions Holographic embossing powder
Sizzix snowflake die

Enjoy!

Circles but not quite round...

I've managed to create a couple of cards this afternoon - same design, similar techniques just different colours.

The first one was created with the monthly challenge at STAMPlorations in mind where the theme is Stamps and Layers.  Although I like the idea I'm not happy with the execution of it as the overall shape is not really wreath like - I even drew a circle to work around!

I used:

STAMPlorations Joyful Stamp Set
Penny Black Wonder Collection
Stampin Up Inks Mossy Meadow and Riding Hood Red

I then started again and still managed to create a wreath that is not quite round! I wonder if I need new glasses!!  This time I've added silver embossing  as a metal element as this is the theme for the November challenge over at Virginia's View Challenge - I'm not sure whether this is enough metal but I thought I would give it a go.

For this one I used:

Penny Black Wonder Collection
Personal Impressions Silver Dollar Embossing Powder
Versafine Onyx Black.

Unfortunately the silver doesn't shine so much in the photograph.

Enjoy!

Pick up a penguin or two ...

Another card for my Christmas stash!! Two cute little penguins balanced on a sentiment.  It is one layer time over at "Less is More" with the theme to include two of something - this is it:

I water coloured the penguins using distress inks - having photographed the card it does look as if the penguins are floating on thin air!!

I'm going to enter the card into these challenges:

"Less is More" - one layer and two of something.

Addicted to Stamps - Anything Goes

Virginia's View Challenge - CAS

Enjoy!

Mixed Media ...

Most of the cards I create are Clean and Simple mainly involving stamping of some sort.  I have, over time, bought lots of "stuff" that I just look at and admire - from designer paper and coloured cardstock, from grunge paste to gelatos .... and the list goes on!  I dream about creating mixed media art but struggle to know where to start!  Tonight I decided to take up the challenge and see if I could create a card using different techniques and materials. 

Shery Russ, owner of STAMPlorations has launched a new challenge blog - The Mixed Media Card Challenge - so this provided me with the motivation to have a go. The challenge is to create a mixed media card with Nature - so here it is:

I seem to have ended up with clean and simple but have used more products to create interest and texture.  I created a stencil using a trellis die and then squidged grunge past through it. Then I die cut some trellis from a piece of card stock that I had previously stencilled using distress inks and water.  I added a strip of card and a piece of ribbon.  I then stamped and watercoloured a beautiful daisy, layered it all together and mounted it on to a 7" by 5" card blank.

I like to enter the Virginia's View Challenge and this month the challenge is to use dies.  I have used a die but it is not the main component so I hope this still meets the criteria.

I used:
STAMPlorations Boxed Blooms stamp set
All Occasions Die - Trellis Trio Part 2
Distress Inks - Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean, Shaded Lilac, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough and Spun Sugar

Enjoy!

Teeny tiny card ...

Evening!  Popping by for a quick chat and to share tonight's contribution to the card crafting world.  I've combined a couple of challenges to create a very small card - a task I thought would be relatively easy, how wrong could I be!

This month's challenge at Virginia's View Challenge is to create a Tag or Scrapling (I wasn't sure what a scrapling was but basically it is a very small card!) incorporating something that you've recycled.  I also decided to have another go at the Bleach Blocking challenge at Craft Stamper Magazine - I love this technique for adding texture to the background.

This is the card - not a brilliant photograph!

The colours are a lot cleaner in real life, my photography skills seem to have left me this evening I guess it doesn't help that I've had to use artificial lighting.  The card is approximately 1.5 inches by 4.5 inchies.

I used:

Distress inks - Shaded Lilac, Spun Sugar and Seedless Preserves
PaperArtsy - JOFY 11 stamp set
Recycled string from a clothing tag for the bow.

Enjoy!

In stitches ...

As well as papercrafts I love working with textiles - cross stitch, embroidery, sewing, knitting and other textile crafts - so I was delighted to read on Virginia's View Challenge that the theme is 'Stitches'.  This was going to be a chance to combine two of my loves and also a new challenge, so off I went to find inspiration card and threads.  Looking through my stash I came across a circle that I had already hand stitched and so a plan came together and this is my card.

I've left the layout very simple just adding a sentiment and popping the circle onto some dimensional adhesive.  All there is to do now is pop over and enter the challenge.

Enjoy!