Month: August 2019

Copic Coloured Ocean Scene

My intensive therapy crafting continues, and here I have a card to share for several challenges:

This is the first time I’ve attempted a background using Copic markers, and chose 3 or 4 colours for the sea, the sand, and the rocks – just basically playing around with colour and shadow. I didn’t mask anything off – just went for it.

The fishes, crabs, whale and octopus are all from the stamp sets listed to the side, using bright and vibrant colours for a cheerful looking card – just what I need currently.

I used my Scan’n’cut to cut all the little images out, which makes things so much easier and quicker, instead of putting each individual die on each stamp – and if you have stamped multiple of the same image – going through the die-cutting machine again, and again, and again.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Colour Crazy Challenge – anything goes

Daring Cardmakers – underwater life

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – ‘S’ is for……starfish, sea-weed, shellabrate…..

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – anything goes

Addicted to Stamps – anything goes

Coloured Vellum Strip

A quick post today, for the new challenge beginning at Cardz 4 Galz. The theme this time is to use vellum on your project – lots of choices of where to go with this, and I look forward to seeing your creations:

I used The Ton ‘Fab Day Peony‘ stamp set on some Lawn Fawn vellum – heat embossing with gold, coloured the back of the images with the colours you see, die cut the edges with Lawn Fawn ‘Stitched Scalloped Borders‘, and stuck down.

I’m trying to keep my Design Team duties and responsibilities going, and crafting is helping me get through losing my dad a few days ago – very therapeutic and healing to create – it is helping me deal with things – but my blog posts will be a little shorter than usual.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

INTAAS – flowers

Happy Little Stampers – CAS only one third

Color Throwdown – orange, pink, yellow, green

Allsorts Challenge – feminine

Red and Sparkly Christmas

Hi there. There is a new challenge starting at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. The theme is anything goes – as long as it’s Christmas. I went with a very sparkly background to my deer and other small images:

It seemed very strange taking the photo when it was very hot and sunny outside, but I could get some of the sparkle in the photo quite easily.

This card actually took me quite a while to make, and took quite a lot of thought behind the placement of the images, but the main thought process was the actual frame!

I didn’t think about the frame initially – I really should have done. These images are actually cut from a design on my Scan’n’cut – resized of course. The actual design is about 12 inches square…….until I had a play.

It was a little fiddly – some double-sided sticky sheet onto a white card base, then each of these individual pieces stuck painstakingly down – piece by piece – with the sheet sticking to my arm, my craft mat, my pricking tool, my pick-up tool…….finally I figured out that the backing to the double-sided sheet could be used to cover the part not being worked on! Doh!

Anyhoo – each piece added, then some Cosmic Shimmer glitter pressed into the sheet – obviously it didn’t stick to the die-cut elements. Then to the frame……

I don’t have any rectangle dies the shape of this card – which is why I should have thought of that first! I used my ‘O’ level maths – only 40 years ago!! – and managed to use the Misti cut-a-line, a blade, and figured it out. Then I embossed the frame for some more detail.

Gosh this card was challenging!

I hope you can come and join us for this challenge – I look forward to seeing what you create. 🙂 🙂

Challenges I shall be entering:

Crafters Castle – atg

Simon says Stamp Monday Challenge – ‘S’ is for – (Sparkle)

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – Christmas with option of embossing

Meadow Motifs

Hi everyone. A very short post for this card for a few of challenges. Therapy crafting today:

and one with a cat in the background – because I could:

The stamped images coloured with Copics, then die-cut and arranged as you see.
Challenges I shall be entering:

Color Throwdown – purple, blue, turquoise, yellow

Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge – use only one third

AAA Cards – CAS along the edge

Craft Rocket Challenges – atg

Funky Floral Hello

Hello. I’ve been doing some more crafting – and yes – despite all the die cutting from the other day – I did more for this card:

I used the colours from the current challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches to colour the white die-cuts from using the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Funky Floral 3 die set. This time, I forgot to use double sided sticky tape on the back, so the flowers are constructed with glue – not my favourite way of sticking little bits together – but I was patient…..kinda!

I used the Hero Arts ‘Wood Grain Infinity dies‘ again to create the frames so I could mimic the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches

A little close-up of the flowers and frames:

The sentiment is from Altenew, and I also used the teeny tiny dimensionals I received recently behind the frames – a little dimension. The flowers aren’t completely stuck down – I do like to create some movement when using flowers like these, and so I tend to tuck them inside a frame like this, or just stick the stalks into some 3D glue behind other images.

I even took a photo – slightly dark I’m afraid – against some flowers which almost seemed to match the colours:

As well as the flower colour, and the photos with my garden in the background – there is a lot of green around at the moment. We have had quite a bit of rain, and I am looking forward to the promised sunshine and warmer temperatures for this Bank Holiday weekend in the UK.

The challenges I shall be entering are:

CAS Colours and Sketches – Gorgeous Grape, Crushed Curry, Highland Heather (attempted matching with Copics)

Freshly Made Sketches – sketch

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – CAS

Try It On Tuesday – In my garden is…….

Also – I’m trying to link photos from challenges to their challenge site – and not just write down the challenge and theme etc …..can you let me know if it does or doesn’t work? I’m playing a little here………. 🙂 🙂

CAS Colours & Sketches

Freshly Made Sketches

Try It On Tuesday

Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog

You’re Amazing…..

Hello again. After working the past few days, I have found time to craft, and played with the new Altenew ‘Polish Papercuts 3D die‘. There are a lot of dies in this set, for layering and creating many different lay-outs, and it is indeed a labour of love to cut them out time and again – it took a while……especially when using more than one colour card:

I die cut all of them with card double-sided sticky sheets – that way I could use every nook and cranny on the piece of card, and they would be easier to stick together than using wet glue – I always get into a mess using glue with such small die-cuts.

I played around with the lay-out and moved things around, changed the layers sometimes too, until I came to this design.

I am thinking of doing this using just one colour – maybe white, or even black and white – I think that would look stunning too………..if I can push myself to do all that die-cutting again!

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Hand Stamped Sentiments – Pretty Peacock, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – CAS

INTAAS – flowers

Cow Birthday

Hi there. I have a card to share to day using a stamp set from a company I hadn’t heard of – until the craft show in Doncaster a few weeks ago.:

The stamp company is ‘Time For Tea Designs‘ and they seem to have quite a few quirky stamp sets, and matching quirky sentiments – just up my street.

This stamp set is called – appropriately – ‘Moovellous‘, and I am loving that cow stamp. This set comes with the cow, the birds, the flowers, the fence, the trees, the grass stamps – in fact the only thing not from the stamp set is the background light blue paper, (I did say I was going to try and use paper from my stash) and the grass edge die set.

Once I had stamped all the images, I coloured with a selection of Copics, and then die cut them with my Scan’n’cut – with baited breath as I had already coloured everything…………..

I managed to take the photo during daylight hours outside – and caught one of my cats in the background – that black and white blob thingy………!!

Another close-up of the card and colouring:

Once I had die-cut the grass, I thought it looked a little plain, so I stamped some of the grass images from the stamp set in a green which shows only slightly – I think an Altenew green – but it does give a little more interest.

Challenges I shall be entering:

Aud Sentiments – animals and a sentiment

Freshly Made Sketches – sketch

Color Throwdown – green, yellow, light blue, Kraft

Cut It Up – die cuts and a sentiment

Welcome Baby Boy…

Hello there. I have a simple card to share today, using an old Altenew stamp set:

I have had this for ages, and maybe used it a couple of times, and it was only when I saw the colours for one of the challenges that I thought this would be perfect to use the set again.

I used a light blue Altenew ink, along with a grey for the animals. The background yellow piece is a piece of Stampin Up card I received from my local Stampin Up demonstrator (thanks Shell) when I placed an order last week. She also sent me a few packets of the teeny tiny dimensionals – will definitely use them, and I thought this yellow background was perfect for some added interest.

I don’t usually use background papers and card, but I have so much of it – I’m going to have to start and use it more often. That way it will create more space in my craft room – which I can fill again! 🙂

Challenges I shall be entering:

Dara and Diane – Double D challenge – jungle

Inspire, create, challenge – basic grey, mango melody, pool party (substitute colours used)

CAS Colours and Sketches – sketch

Watercooler Challenges – occasions

Kind Thoughts…..

Well hello again everyone. I have been crafting so much since the builders finished their work on our bathrooms that I have a card to share today – and – I have joined another Design Team! I have been accepted to The Alphabet Challenge DT and have created a card for the new challenge beginning today. The letter is ‘K’, and for our challenge it stands for ‘Kind Thoughts’.

Such a great theme, with so many possibilities. This is my card:

I stamped the new Altenew ‘Playful Plumeria‘ in orange, purple, and red – using all four layers for the flowers, and then used some green for the three layer leaves.

Once I had stamped all the images, even though I have the matching die set, I used my Scan’n’cut again – I had to put it through twice – without moving the card – as I needed it to cut a little deeper for this thicker Neenah card-stick.

I raised the flowers with 3D silicone gel, as I like to move them around a little before settling on position, and just pushed the leaves underneath. Lots of flowers, lots of leaves, and all coming from the one branch….

I had some left over so made another card – just because I could:

The sentiment is from the same stamp set, and I feel fits perfectly with the ‘;kind thoughts’ theme for our challenge. I do hope you can come and join us – remember the theme though, as I think there were some entries last time that didn’t meet the challenge theme – and I look forward to seeing you in our gallery.

Be sure to visit the Design Team too – there are some fabulous cards on their for inspiration.

Challenges I shall be entering :

Lemon Shortbread – atg

A bit More Time To Craft – atg

Happy Little Stampers die cut challenge – atg with die cuts

Brown Sugar Challenge – atg

A Butterfly and a Tulip…

Hello everyone. Did you imagine I was going to tell a joke about a butterfly and a tulip, walking into a bar……. 🙂 🙂 hmmm – I might have to think of a joke about that.

It’s my turn to host at Cardz4Galz and I chose the theme of ‘Wings’……….I thought that would create a lot of varied creations and I hope you can come and join us this time.

By wings, we mean exactly that – birds, butterflies, dragonflies, fairies, dragons……such a wide interpretation, I can’t wait to see what you create. The Design Team has some interesting and varied inspiration, so I hope you have a look and see how they have each created their projects.

I decided to go CAS – very clean, very simple – well, once I had decided where I was going with this………. 🙂

I used the Simon Says Stamp ‘Sweet Tulip‘ wafer die, and cut it out four times from card with double-sided sticky adhesive, so I could stack them all together for dimension.

The butterfly die is from Spellbinders – very old, very much used by my mum in the past.

I used some Distress Oxide in Carved Pumpkin and Barn Door on a piece of card stock, blended, then cut out the back of the butterfly. The inner butterfly cut from black card-stock to create some drama.

The sentiment is from a stamp set from Crafters Companion, and stamped in Altenew Obsidian pigment ink for the crisp letters.

I look forward to seeing you in our gallery……….. 🙂 🙂

I shall also be entering this into the following challenges:

AAA Cards – CAS and made in minutes with option of summer

Uniko challenge – flowers

Addicted to Stamps – CAS