A special card for a special lady ...

So who is the special lady ... my mum!  It's her birthday on Tuesday (it's safe to show this card here as she doesn't 'do' the internet) and this is the card I made:

My mum is a wonderful lady and my best friend ... for me, she is the best mum in the world!  She is also a card maker but our styles are very different although she always wants to learn how I make my cards.  I do share my design secrets with her as she did teach me to knit and sew!

I stamped and heat embossed the peony before water colouring the image.  I added the sentiment with foam adhesive for added dimension and a few enamel dots for added interest (and because my mum would have added them!!).

I used:
UNIKO - Pure Florals:Peony
Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry
Versafine - Onyx Black ink
WOW Clear embossing powder

I'm entering the following challenges:

UNIKO Challenge  - my card was made with love but I'm not sure it fits the optional twist!


Addicted to Stamps and More #324


Enjoy!

AAA Cards ... up to one third

Good morning!! As January whizzes by it is time for our second challenge of the year at AAACards - here are the details:

Sometimes it can be difficult to decide whether a design is CAS or not ... one way is to limit the area covered by your design. This challenge is designed specifically to help you to keep your design CAS as we want you to use up to one third of your card front this automatically means that there will be lots of 'white space'.  Remember that you do not have to use the optional twist but your design must only use up to one third.

My card is very simple and is also a one layer card except for the sentiment but this week I haven't used the optional twist.

I stamped and heat embossed the line of gifts using Versamark ink and light blue embossing powder.  The sentiment was stamped and then adhered to the front of the card using foam tape to add some dimension.

I used:

STAMPlorations - Gift Row stamp

Ranger Light Blue Embossing Powder

UNIKO Simply Said Blocks

I hope you have time to join in with the challenge - don't forget Keep It CAS!

Enjoy!

STAMPlorations new release ...

Today I'm sharing a card that I created using one of two a new stamp sets being launched today at STAMPlorations - "It's a girl thing: Sunshine" and "It's a girl thing:Kindness" - these are two simply lovely sets.  Both sets contain encouraging words as well as beautiful images of flowers, hearts, borders and butterflies.  It will be well worth your time popping across to the blog to see the sets in detail as well as some fabulous projects from other designers.

The focus of my card is the words ... I like to create encouraging cards for friends and family ... and by choosing neutral colours my card is suitable for all sexes.  The stamps used are from the "It's a girl thing: Sunshine" set.

I decided to go with the graffiti style with a simple design plus a few messy splatters!! - not really my style but the finish still seems to be Clean and Simple.

There is a prize to be won linked to this release - all you need to do is comment on my post, visit and comment on STAMPlorations blog and visit and comment on the other designers post as well.

The prize - $15 coupon to each to three commenters randomly drawn from comments left on all the blogs

Commenting closes on January 31. Winners will be announced February 10 in the January winners post.

Pop along to STAMPlorations for more examples and full details of the stamps.

Enjoy!

STAMPlorations CUTplorations January Challenge ...

As the New Year begins it is time for a new challenge at STAMPlorations CUTplorations - this month we are looking to the catwalk for inspiration ...

This image has been chosen to inspire you to create a project from an element that catches your eye... is it the colours? the layout? the ladies? ... we need your projects to involve die cutting and one STAMPlorations product.   I was inspired by the colours and the small detail of the black and white stripe down the sides of the third model.  This is the card I created:

I created a panel to die cut the 'Happy' and '2019' using alcohol inks and foil on yupo card - I love the vibrancy of the colours you get from using alcohol inks.  I stamped the 'graffiti style' background using distress inks and a mixture of STAMPloration stamps.  I adhered the panel to the card base using foam tape to add dimension as well as the strip of black and white washi tape.

I used:

STAMPlorations Stamp Sets:

Art Marks, Mixed Media Grunge,

CUTploration dies:

Happy, Numbers Plate Die

Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron

I hope you will be inspired to join in with the challenge and look forward to visiting your blogs.

Enjoy!

AAA Cards ... Sketch challenge

Good morning ... time for the first challenge of the year at AAA Cards.  This year we are still looking for CAS cards (see below for the definition that we work to) but we have added an optional twist for each challenge ... for the first challenge the details are:

For this challenge you need to use this sketch (flipped, rotated or as it appears above) and you have the additional option of using pastel colours.  I've used the sketch as it is and have used pastel colours.

I failed to create enough Christmas cards so am now trying to catch up by sending New Year cards to friends!  This a simple design using dies, some coloured card (created using the shaving cream method) and a stamped sentiment.  I die cut the stripes out of a panel of card and mounted it on to the card base using foam tape for dimension and to lift it off the coloured panel.  I finished by die cutting 2019 multiple times in black car, adhering the stack together to add shadow to the numbers and stamping the sentiment.

I used:

Dienamics High Rise Numbers

Sizzix Border dies 662672

UNIKO Simply Said sentiment

Versafine Onyx Black

I hope you will be inspired to get out your crafty supplies and join in with the challenge.  I look forward to seeing all of your creations.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year ...

... a new year brings with it new challenges and opportunities.  For me, January can be the longest and hardest month to deal with ... a time for reflecting back on the year that has gone and looking forward to the year to come.  One thing I've been thinking about is my blog and how I can improve it ... I seem to get less visitors as time passes. Part of the problem is that I haven't been posting as often as I did so I plan to rectify this (of course this means I need to find more time to be creative!!).

So here we go ... my first post for the New Year ... 

I was inspired to create this card by two challenges:

Time Out Challenges #126


Inkspirational Challenge #177
 

It seems strange to be asked to CASE one of my own designs for a challenge ... this is the original card:

Enjoy!