Fall leaves and a teapot

Hello there. I have a few cards to share, so I won’t go into too much detail with each. It’s very wet and cool here at the moment, and though  we certainly need some rain, I also have my Aga turned off – problems with Aga and engineer coming to fix it!!!!! It does mean I can craft a little more than usual.

This first card is using the Concord and 9th ‘Thankful Leaves Turnabout Stamp‘ and matching die set:

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This stamp set is simply gorgeous, and so forgiving for a turnabout stamp. I stamped it on several different pieces, using different colours, but this one is using the colours for the current Color Throwdown Challenge. Don’t these colours work well together? I used Stampin Up ‘eggplant’ and ‘lemon lime twist‘, Catherine Pooler ‘Aquatini‘ and ‘grass skirt‘. Definitely going to do more of this…..

I will be entering the following challenges with this card:

Color Throwdown – lime green, green, eggplant, aqua

Addicted to Stamps and More – anything goes 

QKR Stampede – anything goes 

This second card:

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is using the colours from CAS Colours and Sketches and stamps from a previous Catherine Pooler Stamp of Approval collection. I didn’t have the specific Stampin Up colours, but substituted Catherine Pooler inks, which I think match quite nicely. Lining these stamps up for the different layers and colours was challenging, I must say…………

I shall be entering the following challenges with this card:

Pinspirational – photo inspiration

CAS Colours and Sketches – Mango Melody, Merry Merlot, Poppy Parade 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – food and/or drink 

and this third card:

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is what I put together after watching the Altenew ‘Watercolour Basics and Beyond – lesson 2′.

Using the Altenew Water-colour pan set, putting colour onto wet water-colour card, spritzing, then laying down a stencil – weighting it down with acrylic blocks – letting it dry – hey presto.

I shall be entering the current challenge at AAA Cards – use a stencil.

I then added a layered die-cut sentiment as you see.

I did do another piece but I’m not sure what to do with this one – maybe use to die cut something, as I don’t really like it as it is:

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Now on to lesson three of this course………… :)

 

 

 

Kitschy Kitchen

Hello again. I have a bright card for you today:

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The theme for this card was inspired by the current challenge at Daring Cardmakers – theme of cooking or kitchen; the colours were inspired by Hand Stamped Sentiments, with the dominance of the yellow for Time Out Challenges and their theme of Bright.

I took the MFT Kitschy Kitchen stamp set and created my own background. I don’t have the colours listed by the colour challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments, but I used Catherine Pooler inks which I hope are a good enough representation. I even used the smaller dotty stamp from a Catherine Pooler set to fill in some of the spaces.

You can see they all inked very well, and I didn’t even use my Misti for this as the images needed to be randomly placed.

I then hunted around for a suitable sentiment, and put one together from a previous Catherine Pooler Stamp of Approval, die-cutting it with the MFT stitched rectangles.

As it is the Bank Holiday weekend coming up for us in the UK – I am sure I will be doping some more crafting. I have even bought some alcohol inks, which are very difficult to get hold of here, and some ceramic tiles as well as Yupo paper……watch this space!!

 

 

Floral Frame

Hi there. I have been stamping and die-cutting AND colouring for this card:

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Here is a close-up of the way I coloured the flowers and leaves:

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Not solid colouring, just flicked from the bottom of the petal, then flicked from the top and left some white in the middle to try to create some dimension. I thought I;d give it a go, and I must say I like this technique. I am a novice when it comes to colouring and blending, but I am certainly enjoying my journey.

This card has been created for the current Just Us Girls Challenge – to use light green, aqua, and pale yellow.

I knew I wanted to use this new stamp set – Seven Hills Crafts yet again! – and set to it! It is the Neat and Tangled ‘Floral Frames‘ and I bought the matching die-set too – much as I usually do! I am not a fussy-cutter-outer kinda person!

I stamped many of the flowers and leaves, and even several of the main frame – just in case! I made sure the Versafine black onyx was well and truly dry before I went anywhere near it with the alcohol markers. I used one of the blues which I felt more closely represented aqua.

Once die-cut, I arranged as you see – tucking the additional flowers and leaves under – and even on top of – the main frame. The postage shaped background is a Catherine Pooler die I have used before, ink splattered with the same three colours, and then layered onto another piece of white card, then layered again onto a card base.

The sentiment is from the same stamp set, and die cut from an MDT Die-namics ‘Trad Tags Stax‘ which is the first time I’ve used them. I didn’t want a huge sentiment, and I didn’t want a die-cut sentiment, so a small tag tucked into the centre seemed right to me.

See you again soon…….. :)

 

Water-colour sunflower

Hi there. I have a card to share with you using a clean and simple design and layout, and also using my Altenew water-colours.

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I stamped and heat embossed the flower outline, then took yellow first and sketchy water-coloured the petals, then added a darker yellow once dry, another orange, then the lighter yellow again.

I am exploring all different techniques with water-colouring, and find I like this flicking and sketchy look when doing flowers. I even like this look when using the Altenew Artist Markers too. I coloured the centre is a couple of the brown/dark grey colours, and added the black artist marker dots after it was all dry.

I did think about fussy-cutting the flower out, but instead went for the MFT wonky squares

The sentiment is from a stamp set from paper Artsy.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks – anything goes with option of sunflower

CAS Watercolour – water-colour and sunflower

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge – anything goes with optional flowers

 

 

Get Well Soon

Hello everyone. I have been crafting some cards as an escape from doing my mum’s Ebay stuff.

I was inspired by the current challenge at Twofer Card Challenge, and also using the sketch from Crazy 4 Challenges for one of the cards:

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The ‘feel better soon’ card is another one layer card, with no smudges again – maybe I’m getting the hang of it? We shall see………

I took the Altenew ‘Get Well Soon’ stamp set and stamped the main image onto a card base. I then stamped again onto a post-it note and masked it off, stamping the honeycomb images over and around it, lining up the hexagons  as it was several different hexagon shaped stamps I used.

The main image I coloured with Altenew Artist Markers.:

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I have no idea what is supposed to be in the bottle behind the mug and honey, but I just coloured it a matching colour…..maybe maple syrup…..who knows!

The second floral card is using the same honeycomb stamp, but this time I stamped and heat embossed it in a random pattern, and used my Distress Oxides over the top for an emboss-resist. It’s quite dull here in the UK at the moment, but the honeycomb is white and shiny:

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I used Altenew inks to stamp the main flower and the leaves, but coloured the two little sprigs of flowers with the Altenew Artist Markers, then using the matching dies to cut them all out.

The die cut frame is from Sue Wilson – Noble dies – for the main background, die-cutting the middle and inserting the ink-resist panel into it. I knew the flowers and leaves would adding dimension, so I stuck this flat to the base card.

I arranged as you see for another vibrant card – but a totally different feel.

The sentiment is a cobbling together of three stamps from Concord and 9th ‘Wonderful Floral‘ stamp set – lined up using my Misti corner set…………..invaluable when there are different stamps you want lined up to ink and stamp together.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Twofer Card Challenge – geometric (honeycomb stamps)

Crazy 4 Challenges – sketch

QKR Stampede – anything goes

Aud Sentiments Challenge – anything goes with a sentiment

Have a good day, and I’ll hopefully see you next time. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Butterfly and flowers

Hello again. I’ve had a busy few days……mum has decided not to craft again :( and so she wants me to sell all her stuff on Ebay. When I say all her stuff…..I mean absolutely everything. There is a lot of stuff, and many of them haven’t even been opened or used. It reminds me to use my own stash!

Over 500 photos later, and I still haven’t scratched the surface…..guess what I’m going to be doing for the next few months….

I did manage to find time to craft today, and even played around a little.

This first card is for the current challenge at Color Throwdown, to use the colours aqua, peach, light grey, and white:

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I played around with these colours for a few stamping moments. I tried several variations on the theme, but still using the same Altenew ‘Build a flower: Cattleya‘ stamp and die set.

This card was doing a sort of fast water-colouring – as per Jennifer McGuire – using Catherine Pooler ‘Aquatini‘ ink – one of my all-time favourite colours, after heat embossing with clear embossing powder on white water-colour card.

I then took a piece of water-colour card and added some Altenew grey ink –  I forget which one – and did a smooshing technique – wet water-colour card onto the wet ink. I did the smooshing several times, drying between each layer – I didn’t know until I tried this that the Altenew inks layer quite nicely.

I then used the Altenew ‘Leaf Frame Cover Die‘, die cut it, but left all the pieces in. I didn’t mean to do this, but when I took the die off the card, they all stayed put – so I went with it instead of pressing each piece out.

I stuck and layered as you see, and the sentiment is stamped in Stampin Up ‘Peekaboo Peach‘ – though it actually looks quite orange to me here…..supposed to be peach!

I had a play making some other variations:

 

The first image is using the three colours and the layering stamps – grey for the base, then the peach, then the Aquatini – kinda liking that look and effect. The top right is using the Peekaboo Peach for each layer, giving a little dimension, and the third card I used my Altenew Artist Markers to add more definition once stamped.

This second card is for the current challenge at CAS on Friday with the theme of butterflies, and also the current challenge at AAA Cards, with the theme of friendship.

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I used Altenew Artist Markers and scribbled onto some Neenah card, then die-cut the butterfly itself, then took a spare piece of the grey water-colour card and die cut the butterfly outline. I only stuck down the middle of the butterfly, so the wings have dimension:

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I then embossed the MFT ‘Rectangle Peekaboo Window’ die onto the card base – not cutting, just embossing – and stuck my butterfly down. Hey presto! Sounds easy…..but it took me a while to figure out what to do!

The sentiment is cobbled together from Altenew ‘Folksy Florals’ stamp set. There is a great variety of sentiments with that stamp set, and you can make virtually any kind of sentiment for anyone.

Phew – this turned out to be a longer post than I planned – you let me waffle on a bit – so I did!

Have a good one – catch you later.

:)

Floral and Sweet

Hi there. I managed to create a couple of cards over the past couple of days, completing them last night. The first is for the current challenge at Time Out Challenges with the theme of food and drink with the option of one layer:

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I went for one layer, and used the Altenew ‘Hand Made Tags’ stamp set to stamp images in a Catherine Pooler ink. As I created a background card using tropical leaves last time and loads of different colours, this time I stuck to one colour for the multitude of images, and then Altenew inks for the three layer stamping chocolate cookie thingy…..I’m not sure what these are called, but ‘chocolate thingies‘ works for me!

The sentiment is from Altenew ‘Way Too Sweet‘, highlighting the one chocolate thingy that is made to stand out.

I usually get a lot of smudging when I try to make a one layer card, but I am pleased to say I didn’t on this card – yay!

The second card is completely different, well – cards really:

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I used the inspiration and layout from the current challenge at Fusion Card Challenge. The flowers are Altenew ‘Floral Fantasy‘, stamped using Altenew inks, then die cut. The leaves on the first card are from the same stamp set using a variety of green inks, and the leaves from the second a card are from another stamp set I messy water-coloured as a contrast with the bright flowers.

The wood grain is from a piece of Stampin Up DSP I have had for absolutely ages, and found again recently, and the striped card is stamped from Concord and 9th ‘Sketched Stripes Background’.

I decided to go with a small and unobtrusive sentiment, as the card itself has bold colours and large bright images.

I made two cards, as I stamp more than I need so I can play with layouts side-by-side, and usually vary them slightly.

Have a good day, and I’ll speak again soon. :)

 

 

 

Jungle inspired background

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Hello again. I have been creating a background using some of the stamps from the latest Catherine Pooler Stamp of Approval box, and using some of her Spa inks.

The inspiration for this came from several challenges and meant I could stamp and ink and stamp and ink for ages…..

I tried to keep the larger stamps in odd numbers – I’ve heard somewhere that is more pleasing to the eye, but a lot of the smaller stamps – and there are many – I just stamped to fill the gaps.

These stamps sets have lots and lots of smaller images I could have used, and I had to restrain myself a little – not that you can tell! Here is a close-up of some of the stamps and inks used:

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I shall be entering the following challenges:

CAS-usual Fridays – stamp a pattern

QKR Stampede – anything goes

Cards In Envy – flat and use something new (the stamps are new to me)

The Library Craft Challenge – The Jungle Book

 

 

 

Card for hubby’s birthday

Hello everyone. I have made this card for hubby’s birthday, which is today – and just given it to him five minutes before his mates came for him to go out…..so he still has three hours left to celebrate……Does anyone else do things like that? When the card is for a particular family member, I go by the skin of my teeth!

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As it’s so late here in the UK, I had to take the photo inside, with a little lamp at the side. So I apologise for the lighting, but I went with what I had…..

I recently received this stamp set from Seven Hills Crafts – Hero Arts ‘Country Fair Pig’ – and knew it would fit in perfectly for hubby’s birthday. I also used the colours from the current challenge at Color Throwdown – pink, teal, grey.

I also used my Altenew Artist Markers to colour the piggies and tried to concentrate on the shading on each of them.

The background circles is a die from Avery Elle, and behind the circles I added some grey ink through a stencil from The Crafters Workshop – ‘Mini Microbial‘. The sentiment is from Concord and 9th ‘Laurel Frame‘ stamp set.

My thought on the balloon piggie – the balloons are carrying him away from his circle! Just a little added fun.

I also added some clear sparkle pen to the balloons:

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I shall be entering the following challenges:

Color Throwdown – grey, teal, pink

The Male Room Challenge – male birthday

Addicted to CAS – CAS masculine

Addicted to Stamps and More – CAS

 

 

Basket and floral hugs

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Hi there. I have a card here for the current challenge at Daring Cardmakers, and their inspiration picture. The challenge is to choose three elements.

I chose the basket effect, flowers, and glass containers – the blue glass to also match the Bombay Sapphire bottle……love that drink!

The stamp set is from Altenew – Garden Silhouette – as I wanted solid flowers, which didn’t require any layering. I did make it a little more difficult for myself, as I stamped the images in two colours, masking off the flower to stamp the stem and leaves in green, and masking the stem to stamp the colours of the flowers. I don’t know why I bothered, really, as I covered the stems anyway…….behind the glass…..oh well. Lesson learned.

The glass containers were stamped off, then stamped again as the original colour would have been too bright for my taste.

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These embossing folders really do give a fabulous 3D effect, don’t you think?

I chose a smaller sentiment in the corner, as opposed to a larger one so it didn’t detract from the card, but also added a little something extra.

I feel some more crafting and card making coming on for the weekend, and I am not at work all next week…….can’t wait to try my Altenew Artist Markers a little more…

:)