Poinsettia ...

First day of a week's holiday has been a flurry of housework and still left time for crafting - work in the mornings and play in the afternoons!

This card picks up on the recipe at "Less is More" of using newsprint and uses the sketch from the current challenge at STAMPloration

Apologies for the photograph but the natural light had disappeared before I was ready to take the photograph.

I used:

Pages from an old French Grammar book
Festive Berries distress ink and Versafine Onyx Black ink
Penny Black Stamp set - Wonder Collection.

This is the sketch:


Enjoy!

Flowers and Newsprint ...

A quick post this evening to share a card for this week's "Less is More" challange - it's recipe week you need to include newsprint on your card whilst keeping it clean and simple.

I used the following:

Creative Expressions Newsprint stamp
Eclectica from PaperArtsy EEV10 stamp set by Ellen Vargo
Distress Inks - spiced marmalade, picked raspberry, seedless preserves, peeled paint, pine needles, mustard seed.
Versafine - Smokey Grey

Enjoy!

Bee Happy ...

When I started my blog I didn't realise that I would "meet" so many different inspiring, supportive and friendly people and that I would become one of the "card crafting blog community".  I have met some amazing designers whose work is so fabulous that it makes me want to keep trying to achieve and create such wonderful art.  

One of my favourite designers is Shirley at Shirley Bee's Stamping Stuff and it's her birthday!!  Maria (another great designer, rieslingmama.blogspot.com ) invited me along with others to join in with a blog party by creating a card just for Shirley.  I'm honoured to be invited and it is a real pleasure to create a card, this is the card:

I've coloured the flowers using a new (to me) product called Brusho - it is only by following Shirley's blog that heard of this paint.  Having seen it I just had to get some!  I think I need to practise more on how to get good results with it but it sure is a fun medium to use!

Have a very Happy Birthday.

Enjoy!

Cross stitch creature ...

A busy weekend followed by a hectic week at work - no crafting and too much driving!!  At last I've managed to create a card but only one!

This week's theme at "Less is More" is Little Creatures and this is my contribution to the challenge:

Simple design with a cross stitched image.  That's all I have to say today.

Enjoy!

Vintage ... ?

I'm doing an evening course at the moment on Printmaking and really enjoying it!  The last two weeks we have been trying out dry point etching and I think I am hooked!  My problem now is to find the money to invest in a printing press otherwise it is going to be a short lived adventure!

I created two designs - a beautiful robin and some Christmas decorations. The prints have a vintage feel to them, largely because I used sepia ink and cream paper.  I decided to cut up one of the prints to create a card for the current challenge at Mixed Media Card Challenge - the theme is Vintage with the optional element of incorporating a key.  I haven't used a key and now I've finished the card I'm not even sure that it is vintage! (apart from the look of the baubles).  I'll leave the challenge designers to decide whether it fits the theme or not.

I'm really not sure about this one but when I started my blog I promised myself that I would show all my cards - even the ones that I wasn't sure about.

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!

Guest Design post! ...

I was lucky enough to be chosen as a winner of a sketch challenge on the STAMPlorations blog part of the prize was to guest design for the first of the October sketch challenges (there are two each month).  As always I was excited but nervous - I tend to jump at such opportunities and then spend days worrying about whether I will be able to come up with a design.

This is my design for the challenge - I hope it inspires you to have a go and join in with the challenge at STAMPlorations.

I used the beautiful poppy stamp from STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches and coloured the flowers with Inktense pencils and created the background sing distress inks.  

If all goes well this post should go live while I'm at work and also at the same time as the challenge goes live - all this is dependent on blogger working correctly and me working the time out correctly.

Enjoy!

Autumn colours ...

After a very wet Saturday, it's been back to beautiful sunshine today - ideal weather for weeds!  Signs of Autumn are all around short days and falling but colourful leaves.  It therefore seems appropriate that this week's challenge at "Less is More" is Autumn Bounty to use the beautiful colours of the season.

Sorry about the tilt of the card!  I promise it is straight just a bad photo!

Hopefully you can see the texture of the grunge paste.

I firstly spread grunge paste through a stencil and once dry I have placed the stencil back and coloured the paste using distress inks.  I cut a smaller panel of card and stamped it with a 'ticket' sentiment before mounting it with foam tape.

I used:
Ranger Grunge Paste
Distress Inks - Mustard Seed, Dired marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries and Fired Brick.
Papermania Urban Stamps - Happy Days

I will also enter it in the monthly challenge at STAMPlorations where the theme is Stamping and Embossing.

Enjoy!

Christmas (Winter) word 4 ...

A quick post this evening.  Another entry for the "Less is More" challenge - Mostly Words.

I love words so this challenge is right up my street!  I started by creating a mask for the word and then stamped different snowflake images around the letters, mounted the layer onto some coloured card stock before layering it on the card blank.  This is it!

I seem to be in Christmas mode at the moment as I need to getting making ready for posting.  I try to come up with a couple of designs that I can make lots of times quite easily. 

I used the Uniko Studio stamp set Stunning Snowflakes.

Enjoy!