Amazing you…

Hello again. I have a card to share, taking inspiration from a couple of challenges:

I actually have no idea how this card came together! I was sat in my craft room, having just received a delivery from Seven Hills Crafts, holding the Altenew ‘Leafy Garland’ die, wanting to use that die for the card, and trying to decide how to use it.

I cut it out of white card, just to get a feel of it, and this card just kinda happened……

I took the Concord and 9th ‘Blooms Fill-in’ stamp set, and after stamping the background of the stamp in red, I then used ‘Rockin Red’ embossing powder on top to give some shine and glimmer:

I used pink to stamp the inner part of the flowers, not adding any of the extra detail for the images – though there are loads provided with this stamp set. The colours for this challenge are red, white, and pink.

I then cut a white tag, die-cut a smaller tag from the stamped ‘Blooms fill-in‘ piece of card, played with a placement of three of the die-cut leafy garlands – and there we have it.

I decided on a black background because it highlighted the garland die-cuts, so for the sentiment – using a Uniko sentiment – took a piece of black card, and white heat embossed it.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Just Us Girls – red, white, pink

Try It On Tuesday – powders (embossing powder used)

Happy Everything

Hey there. One card to past today – but that doesn’t mean that I won’t have more to share later in the week – they are in the process of being created. This is a card in contrast to the most recent floral, cute cards:

I recently received the Uniko release package – that darned ‘buy it all’ button just got pressed – somehow – someway – not sure how it happened – but I was pleased when they arrived very, very quickly, and took them to my craft table, actually tidying my table and clearing stuff away – just so I could concentrate on these little beauties.

I used the colours from Color Throwdown – dark pink, grey, black, and the current challenge at Daring Cardmakers absolutely fits the bill – letters, words, numbers as the main feature.

Initially, I was thinking floral with these colours, but when I saw these dies, and that one die cuts the word out, and another cuts out the word but slightly larger to get a shadow – I just had to use the word and the colours for this card.

I also used the new Uniko geometric stencil to emboss the white piece of card – I think you can tell (ish) – just for some added detail which wasn’t too intrusive and certainly didn’t take away from the two words.

Embossing a stencil – well, that took a few attempts! I cudda gone to the internet, but I kept putting it through the machine in all ways until it worked. If you ask me which way now – I couldn’t tell you! Something I can never remember, and usually takes me a few attempts – but it works in the end.

I hope you are feeling well today, and I’ll catch you soon. :)

Robots and Bears

Hi again. I have had a crafting marathon today, and made several cards, inspired by several different challenges.

Here is my first card for the current challenge at CASology, with the cue word being ‘wave’:

I used the new stamp and die set from Heffy Doodle called ‘Bots of Love’ stamped, then coloured with Copics, then die cut. The word is die cut from a spare piece of water-colour card I had from a previous card posting, using the Altenew Bold Alphabet dies. Using this spare piece of water-colour card, meant I matched the colour of the robot – an orange robot? I think it works..

This second card is taking inspiration from the current challenge at The Card Concept and the large red cushion, and the colours of red and grey; using the layout from the current sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches; and the cue word or theme from Inkspirational – ‘Text‘:

The background text heart is stamped in a Simon Says Stamp grey ink using the stamp from Concord and 9th ‘Cuddles and Hugs‘ stamp set – I’ve had this for ages, and never really used it that much, but I think it works for the text in the heart, and as a lovey-dovey background.

The bear is from MFT ‘Joyful Heart Bears’ from Stacey Yacula – again, a stamp and die set I’ve had for a while and never used, coloured with Copics. The sentiment is from Uniko, and their latest release.

This third card is using the same stamp set, again coloured with Copics, with the stripey background another Uniko recent release:

This card will be entering the following challenges:

As You See It Challenge – when I think of simple I think of………..’CAS card’

Addicted to Stamps – anything but a square

It seems I’m on a roll here, so I am sure I will be back soon…….. :)

Orange Wild rose

Hello again everyone. I have spent a lot of time in my craft room today, as an escape and a ‘take your mind off’ kinda day. I mentioned I had a poorly cat a couple of weeks ago – Spike – well overnight I took him to the vets, and had to make the decision to let him go. :(

He has been with us for almost 15 years, a humongous black cat, but the time was right. We lost his brother last year, after a short illness, so at least we can put them both together when we get dear Spike back. We do have two other cats, which we bought to keep Spike company last year, so they are getting really, really spoiled today!

Crafting for me has always been a release, an escape, and a time for me to relax and concentrate on what I am doing at that point. I use crafting as a stress reliever, and sometimes just going and splashing some water-colour down on some card, colouring a little small image, adding some double-sided sticky sheet to some card ready for when I might need it again, is all it takes.

These cards are made using Brusho crystals on water-colour card, and die cutting the Altenew ‘3D Wild Rose‘ die set – once it had dried, of course:

Before I stuck the layers together, I splashed a little Winsor and Newton black water-colour onto them. I have splashed in the past, but this time I wanted actual ‘blackness’, not too watered-down. I also added some black Nuvo drops too.

The background is the Altnew ‘Cozy Flannel Cover Die‘, removing the larger white squares, but leaving the smaller pieces in the die cut. This was a little easier than thought it was going to be…….

The sentiment is also from an Altenew stamp set, and kept on a plain white strip so it doesn’t take away from the rose and leaves too much.

Here are the other versions:

and two waiting for me to add a sentiment:

I shall be entering one of these cards into the following challenges:

Watercooler Challenges – all about occasions

Altenew February Challenge – picture inspiration – inspired by a single flower

Angelique Happy Day

Hi everyone. I have a card to share which looks simple, but took me quite a while to decide on my design:

I combined a couple of challenges for inspiration. The colour scheme is from the current challenge at Less Is More, to use navy and yellow, and the also the current Flower Challenge, to use my latest stamps and dies.

I bought this Altenew Angelique Motifs stamp and die set from Seven Hills Crafts, and stamped all the images, which included the flowers, stems, and separate leaves. I was going to use the most gorgeous stems for this card, but went with the flower itself, and added some of the individual leaves as you see here.

The yellow stripes are a cut down piece of card using Concord and 9th Sketched Stripes Background stamp, and Catherine Pooler Limoncello ink. I am sure I will be using this stamp set again in the near future, and like how the blues came out with this flower.

The sentiment is from a Uniko stamp set, and I like how this sentiment can be used for many different occasions, especially when you need a card for no special reason in particular – a just because card.

I was looking through my Uniko stash, as Bev has some fabulous sentiments and stamp sets, and currently has a brand new release going on for the company’s 7th birthday.

And – yes – I bought it all! Couldn’t resist! Her design team really have come up with some brilliant cards………..

Now, I know this is an early posting, and not a scheduled posting either – just up early, getting ready for work, and decided to put this together now instead of later today.

Isn’t crafting fabulous that way? Any time, any place, anywhere……!!

:) :)

Birthday Raccoon

Hi there. I have a confession to make – I think I’m addicted to raccoons……

I don’t suppose it’s a really, really bad addiction, but this is the second card in as many days I’ve posted with a raccoon as the main image.

This is for the Seize The Birthday Challenge, with the theme of birthday with the optional twist of black and white:

I recently received this die set from MFT called ‘Raccoon Cutie’ – and isn’t it named appropriately? I actually made two raccoons – as I cut everything from white, then everything from black, and stuck everything together – but I did have to go to MFT web site to figure each piece out!

The sentiment is also from an MFT stamp set, and I wanted a big and bold sentiment go go with the big and bold raccoon. And – you guessed it – I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on top of the embossed background, which was the Lawn Fawn ‘Quilted Backdrop‘.

Oh well – it certainly adds a certain something – just not sure what! I did think of doing a banner strip, but it just didn’t look right, so I left it as it was.

The other addition – googly eyes. I have had these for a while and just never got around to using them – here was my chance……..you can see on the white raccoon version where I put the eyes in a different place to what is outlined on the actual die – but I didn’t see that until I took the photo – who knew? :)

Friendly Raccoons

Hi again. Another weekend ahead for me to look forward to. I made a card today to enter some challenges:

I wanted this card to be quite simple, but the actually design took some figuring out. I tried colouring some of the hills, ink blending some of the hills, but in the end went with a clean look leaving the background white. I did emboss the little piece which came out – again – but otherwise the only colour is on the little images themselves.

I used MFT ‘Friendly Raccoon‘, coloured simply with Copics. I don’t have the exact colours for the CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge, but I tried to match my Copics to what was wanted. I used Lawn Fawn ‘Stitched Backdrop‘ die as you see, with the little heart being from Concord and 9th ‘Triple Step Thank You‘, and the sentiment from a stamp set sat on my desk, but I’ve no idea who it’s from!

I recently received this stamp and die set, and a whole bunch of goodies, from Justine Hovey. She was selling some of her stock off, and took the opportunity to grab some goodies. The postage was only a little extra to come all the way to the UK, and it only took one week to get here.

When I opened the package I was absolutely gob-smacked with the amount of stuff she had put in there. Blinking heck! Concord and 9th, MFT, Spellbinders, Gina K, Gerda Steiner……….and I have not got a single one of them already. Even one of my cats was impressed:

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Always Fun Challenges – anything goes

CAS Colours and Sketches – lovely lipstick, gray granite, powder pink

Watercooler Challenges – anything goes feminine

Addicted To Stamps – make your mark

Santa Kitty and Candy Canes

Hello again everyone. Welcome to this posting and the second challenge for my Design Team position at ABC Christmas Challenge. This month, the alphabet runs to ‘C’ for Candy, and/or ‘D’ for Decorations.

Here is my card:

and another view:

I took the opportunity over Christmas and New Year to order from Simon Says Stamp, when they were having quite a sale on their products, as I have liked the look of these Picture Book dies for ages…….

This cat is black and white because my cats are black and white. I thought this would stand out from the coloured background too, and show the Candy Canes in his hands. I decided to put the head on the body with a little tilt – looks like a cheeky chap to me.

Those candy canes are from a Tim Holtz set – never used before.

The background green and red striped DSP from Stampin Up, and the glitter on the hat is from Crafters Companion.

I enjoyed the die cutting, but I must admit to checking out some You Tube videos for hints and tips – those little pieces do get away from you, let me tell that now!

It’s a good job I have plenty of scraps of card, as these little scraps were ideal for all the die cut pieces. Placing them and gluing them were a challenge – but I like how this turned out.

The body is a die cut from the same group of dies, and I like how the arms have a cut part to them so you can put things in them, as though the cat was holding them – hence the candy canes.

If you enter this challenge, you are in with a chance to win some stamps, dies and washi tape from this months host Wilma, and the rest of the Design team have some amazing projects to share with you – A-maz-ing! We all seem to have different styles of cards to share, but all great inspiration, so I hope you can join us…….. :) :)

CASology Bouquet

Hello everyone. I have a card for you today that is for the Guest Designer position this week at CASology: (little jumpy dance!)

The cue word is ‘BOUQUET’, and let me tell you – I actually struggling with a stamp set and design for this card………..

I hunted through my stash and took out several stamps to consider, but as you can see – I finally settled on Altenew ‘Celebrations‘ stamp set and this little bouquet image, along with a sentiment from the same stamp set.

I stamped it on a separate piece of card first and tried several variations of colour with my Copics, then decided on this layout, and these colours. The stamp itself is quite sketchy – so I went that way with the colouring too – no shading, and not quite filling in the leaves and flowers.

It ended up being a one layer card – very, very unusual for me – but I am really pleased with how this looks.

I hope you can play along this week, and I look forward to seeing what you can create. :)

Love and Best Wishes

Hello again. It seems crafting is a good distraction for me today, and I have been able to create a couple of cards. My puddy tat is still doing alright, and in fact seems a little better with moving around as he is on an anti-inflammatory…….he even jumped onto my craft desk this afternoon. He’s not been up there for weeks!

Here is the card he interrupted, so it took me much of the afternoon:

The scribble is a Tim Holtz die and the tags are from MFT. The card stock is Stampin Up. The little stamps are from Uniko, a set I have had for a while, and like to use when I am trying to fill some space, and there are lots of little stamps in these sets.

The layout AND the colours are the double trouble (!!) challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches this week. I shall also be entering this into the current challenge at Crafty Gals Corner, asking for a CAS card, and Just Us Girls – asking for a card with the word prompt being ‘Love’.

This second card:

is based on the colours from Color Throwdown, to use Aqua, saffron, brown, and yellow; the layout sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches.

The stamp set is a new one from Altenew – courtesy of Seven Hills Crafts (again!!). I buy most of my American stamp and dies sets from there, as the price is always good, and the delivery is 99% within a 48 hours time frame. (I think I need to take shares in that company………..!!)

Anyhoo – I used the set of brown Altenew inks for the Primrose – why?, I hear you ask – well, because I could, and because I like brown flowers…..I was in a floral mood today, but not a bright flowery colourful floral mood, but I am definitely going more vibrant with these flowers in the very, very near future – the detail is a good as one has come to expect from Altenew, and I can’t wait to see these flowers in the purples and the reds and the pinks and the yellows and the……well, you get my drift.

The first layer of the leaves was stamped in yellow, the second layer in Saffron, and the third layer in one of the browns – who knew that would work as good as this for leaves?

The aqua you can see, is Aquatini from Catherine Pooler, blended onto the base rectangle, and the sentiment strips are from a Sue Wilson die set and stuck down after putting them through my Xyron.

I hope you are getting some crafting done yourself – have a good one, and I’ll catch you again real soon. :)