Bright or what! ...

This weeks seems to be whizzing by ... I don't recall the weekend arriving so quickly when I'm at work!  I've had a packed week ... the usual housework, add in some gardening, sanding and stripping varnish from an old sewing box, playing with my gelli plate creating lots of "interesting prints", upcycling a glass bottle into a single flower vase (I'll show you this when I manage to get photos) and lots more including quite a bit of procrastinating!!

Less waffle and on with the reason for this post ... a card!  Take one gelli print and some inspiration from Jennifer McGuire and this is what you end up with:

This is more vibrant and has very little white space compared to most of the cards I create but I thought it was an interesting way to showcase one of the prints that I created.  I think it is also the first time I have created a card with a moving sentiment!  It also uses an idea from Jennifer McGuire on the Background Check course currently running on onlinecardclasses.com . Jennifer clear embossed a large floral background stamp onto some designer paper and the blended ink onto the background.  I liked the idea and thought it might work well with one of my prints.  I do not own any large background stamps so I used a floral mask instead.  I also wanted to be sure that the black ink was solid so rather than blending it through the gaps I used a Pitt artist pen from Faber-Castell and coloured the spaces by hand! This is the print before it hit the guillotine, black marker and Big Shot!

I still need to practise with the gelli plate but have come to the conclusion that it is hard to predict what your print is going to look like!

Enjoy!

Birthday wishes ...

Week two of the holidays!!  I was determined to start the week by taking time out to create, so in between loading and unloading the washing machine I have created a card and played with a new piece of equipment - more of which later.

Let's start with the card ... a clean and simple card created using scraps of card that I previously coloured using the shaving foam technique along with a bit of stamping.

I've made the card for this week's "Less is More" challenge - it is recipe week and the main ingredient is Snippets (I have a whole box of bits that need using so this is an ideal challenge!). It is Chrissie's (owner of the challenge) birthday week so this card is also to celebrate the occasion.

I'm also going to enter the challenge at Addicted to Stamps where the theme is Clean and Simple.

I mentioned earlier that I had a new piece of equipment ... in fact I have two new major pieces of equipment.  You see it was my birthday last Friday and my son and daughter gave me some new crafting kit.  

My son made me a printing press ...

It is designed to use for relief printing - linocuts and wood cuts - I haven't had a go with it yet but I love it!

My daughter gave me a gelli plate!  I've wanted one for months but just couldn't justify buying myself one so it was really exciting to be given one as a gift.  So I've had the paints and stencils out today to have a play - these are my first two prints>

I clearly need to practise!  Hopefully I will be able top create some nice background papers and maybe even a work of art!!!

Enjoy!

Thanks ...

There are times when life can be very frustrating ... you have ideas for a card and no time to make anything and then there are times when you have all the time to create something and absolutely no ideas!  Today has been a day of spare time but few ideas!  I did manage to create a card after much procrastination, this is it:

Simple stamping with an inlaid die cut - not the most inspiring of designs but quite satisfying and an opportunity to use a new stamp set and die.  I stamped the image and then die cut Thanks out of the main panel and four times out of some turquoise card.  Layered up the die cut and the placed it back in the gap!

I used:
Uniko Studio Pure Florals: Cosmos stamp set
Lawn Fawn Thanks die

I am going to enter this month's challenge at Uniko Studio where the theme is Black and White with the optional twist - a splash of colour.

I'm also going to enter the challenge at Addicted to Stamps where the theme is Clean and Simple. Enjoy!

Time to chill ...

It's holiday time for me ... I work in a school office and we closed on Friday for the six week summer holiday!!  So for me it sure is time to chill ... a time to catch up on chores at home but also time to craft without feeling guilty.  My plan is - I have no plan, no timetable and no deadlines!!

This is my first card of the holiday:

I was inspired by the challenge at "Less is More" where the theme is 'Life's a Beach' this combined with the start of my holiday led to this card.  I love deckchairs and empty ones left on the beach always make me smile ... they are like footprints in the sand!

I'm also going to enter the challenge at Addicted to Stamps where the theme is Holiday!

I used:
Distress Inks - Scattered Straw, Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean
Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Dies
Lawn Fawn Milo's ABC Stamp Set
Simply Homemade Magazine Free Stamp set.
Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers

Enjoy!

One Layer Wonder? ...

We've had a change in weather today - the blue sky and sunshine have been replaced with overcast sky and rain, at least Wimbledon is over and not going to be affected by the change.  I spent the weekend with family in Lincolnshire and managed to include a trip to the Summer Crafting exhibition in Doncaster ... I didn't manage to get all the items from my list but I did get some new dies that I didn't even know that I needed!!

On to more important things and the reason for your visit ... my first card of the week.  This was inspired by this week's challenge at "Less is More" - it is One Layer Week with the theme of Masculine.  This is my contribution:-

A quick and simple design - just some masking and stamping. 

I used:
Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, Tumbled Glass, Evergreen Bough.
Clearly Besotted Geometric Style II stamp set
Lawn Fawn Milos ABC stamp set
Die-namics High Rise Alphabet.

I also need to say thank you to the "Less is More" Designers as they decided to ShowCASE one of my cards last week ... I'm honoured to have been chosen when there are so many talented card makers entering the challenge.  Thank you so much ... this is the card:



Enjoy!

Happy Birthday ...

It is my brother's birthday this weekend and this is one of the cards I've made that I may send to him ... I might try and make another one this evening to see if I can come up with something better.  As he doesn't check my blog I'm pretty safe sharing it!

I have a thing at the moment about using negative die cutting and tonight's card is no exception. Here it is:

I couldn't capture the true colour of the inks I used as they are a lot bluer in real life and more vibrant.

I used:

Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Tumbled glass and Festive Berries.
Clearly Besotted Geometric Style II stamp set
Lawn Fawn Milo's ABC Stamp set
Die-namics High Rise Alphabet Die Set

As I have used red, white and blue I am going to enter this week's colour challenge at "Less is More".

Enjoy!

Red, white and Blue ...

Once again we have a super sunny day but with the added bonus of a lovely breeze!  
I was inspired to create this card for a couple of challenges and having completed it I think the design might just work for simple quick Christmas cards - with a change of colour and sentiment!

I used:

Clearly Besotted Superstar stamp set
Distress Ink - Festive Berries
Crafter's Companion Watercolour card
Zig Blue marker.

I'm going to enter the following challenges:
"Less is More" - it is a colour challenge - Red, White and Blue
Addicted to CAS


Happy 4th of July to all American followers!

Enjoy!

Butterfly spotlight ...

It was time to try out my new markers again last night ... 

Apologies for the white spots but it started to rain as I was taking this photograph!

I coloured the image with Zig water colour markers and then sprayed the finished image with perfect pearls - it is difficult to see in the photograph but it has created a shimmer effect to the image.

I also used:
Uniko Studio English Country Garden Butterflies.
Crafter's Companion Watercolour card
STAMPlorations sentiment from the Rosebuds stamp set.

I am entering the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge 151 - Anything Goes
"Less is More" Week 230 Sketch Challenge:


Enjoy!