Change in style ....

Today I've been crafting outside of my comfort zone trying out a new style.  I'm not sure what you would call the style - Vintage, Steam Punk, Shabby Chic or just plain shabby!!  I wanted to try something different and this sure is different.  I'm not sure what I think of the final card but thought I would share it with the world to see what kind of response it provokes.

 

It certainly looks distressed!  A bit like I felt when I was making it!!

The challenge over at retro sketches involves the following sketch:



As my card is based around a tag I am going to enter into the challenge.

If you've popped over for a peak I would love to know what you think - please leave a comment I love to read them all.

Enjoy!

Take two cans ...

It's back to work on Monday - half term is over so back to school!  It's a real shame that holidays seem to pass so quickly but it will soon be the Easter Break, I really shouldn't wish my life away!

The sun has been shining today so maybe Spring is just around the corner - it sure helps to lift the spirits and bring a smile to your face.

This week the challenge at "Less is More" is to use METAL.  I wanted to try and use something more than just a brad (which is the only metal embellishments in my stash) but didn't really know where to start.  To cut a long story short I decided to use two soft drink cans, a Tim Holtz die and an embossing folder- this is the result:

Close up of the flower to show the embossing

I used the following:

Coca Cola can

Fanta Can

Tattered Flora Die by Tim Holtz

Versafine Onyx Black

Woodware Clear Magic Sentiment stamp

Paper Piercing Essentials from Stampin Up

Enjoy!

Masculine card.....

This week seems to be disappearing quicker than normal - I guess that's because I have a week off work!  I've been away for a few days visiting my parents in Lincolnshire which means no crafting but lots of buying of craft supplies!  My mum is a card maker so it's always fun to chat about ideas and see the cards she has been making.  We also managed to fit in quite a lot of shopping - mainly stamps, dies, inks, adhesives, card, paper, foam for making our own stamps, and lots more besides.  All essential, of course.

I have managed to find time today to create a card for this week's challenge at "Less is More" the theme is Masculine.  I've spent days thinking about this - below is what I came up with (using some of my new dies).

I used the following:

Uniko Studios Background Builders, Round in Circles stamps
Ranger Archival Black Ink
Creative Expressions Metallic Gilding Wax - Cast Bronze
XCut dies Chronology Cogs
Clearly Besotted Geometric Style  Sentiment Stamp.

Enjoy!

Dandelion dreams......

Another day, another one layer card to enter in the challenge over at "Less is More".  This is really unusual card for me because I've owned the stamps for less than a week!!  I usually buy stamps full of good intentions to use them immediately but I seldom do - these stamps from Clearly Besotted  were only released this week and I love them.  I could wait to have a go with them and now I'm really pleased I bought them.

I've tried another new (to me!) technique of embossing using a square cutting die to create an embossed square in the card adding texture to it.  I like the effect that it creates and how it adds to the one layer design.

Dandelion dreams ..

I used the following:

Clearly Besotted Stamp Set - Dandelion Dreams
Distress Ink - Rusty Hinge
Stampin Up Ink - Bravo Burgundy
Nestabilities Square Dies

Enjoy!

Dahlia delight .....

Another stormy Saturday .. at least I have a good reason not to sort the garden out!  We have been lucky to have some blue sky and sunshine but the dark dreary clouds are now back and the wind is blowing a storm.

On to crafting .. this week's challenge at "Less is More" is  for a One Layer Card with the theme of Anything Goes.  I love one layer cards but I struggle with anything goes!  In the end I've spent more time thinking about what I could do and less time actually doing it.

I've tried out a new technique (new to me!) of using household bleach to "colour" an image.

From the close up you can see the effect of the bleach!

Inside the card

I used the following:

Stampin Up Baked Brown Sugar Card and ink for the inside image
Ranger Archival Ink
Clearly Besotted Many Messages sentiment
Heartfelt Creations  Blooming Dahlia stamp
Household bleach!!

Enjoy!

'Wish Big' Rainbow ....

I thought I would try out another design using the rainbow tiles I made yesterday.  I've taken the sketch from the challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch! and combined it with the colour challenge from "Less is More".  I was determined to make sure that I had lots of cards ready for birthdays this year so this one will go into the stock ready for when I'm short of time.

Holographic embossed colour tiles

A single layer black just helps the colours pop!

I used the following:

Cream and black card from my stash.
Clearly Besotted sentiment stamps from the Geometric Set
Clearly Besotted die from the Geometric Set
Stampin Up Inks - Lucky Lemonade, Not Quite Navy
Spectrum Noir Pens
Letraset Promarkers

All I need to do now is enter the card into the challenges at CAS(E) this Sketch! and "Less is More"

Enjoy!

Rainbow ....

Evening! 

Today got off to a great start - the sky was blue and the sun was shining!  It made a great change to the rain that we've been experiencing for days and weeks.  I appreciate that it is winter but the sun was a welcome relief it made it easier to work out when the day ended and the evening began.

I've struggled with my card making today - I thought I would use the "Less is More"  challenge theme as a starting point.  It's a colour challenge this week and the key word is RAINBOW.  I had quite a lot of ideas but I do not have enough different coloured inks to be able to use most of the ideas.  So it was back to the drawing board and a rethink - then inspiration hit me!  My family bought me a set of Spectrum Noir markers so that was the starting point for my design and here it is:

The sentiment panel is set on dimensional foam pads

I embossed the coloured 'tiles' with holographic powder to make the colours pop!

For the sentiment I die cut the letters from a piece of card coloured with markers and then embossed with holographic powder.  I'm going to keep the 'waste' piece of card because I think I will be able to use it to create a quick simple birthday card.  As you can see I took care when lining up the letters - actually it was more luck than judgement!

Enjoy!