ink blending

ABC Christmas Challenge – W and/or X

Hello again. The ABC Christmas Challenge has reached the letters ‘W’ and ‘X’, Fabiola is hosting, and the Christmas themes are:

W is for Wings and/or X is for X-stitch – any stitching

Here is my card for the theme of ‘wings’:

The birds were created first, and by using the ‘Birdie Friends in Winter’ combo. The birds were die cut, then ink blended using the matching layering stencils. Two of the birds have hats already, but I also die cut and ink blended another couple so I could clothe all of them with those cute hats.

The background panel was put through an embossing folder and attached to a card base.

The five scalloped pieces were die cut then ink blended with a couple of pink tones – I thought these pinks would be good for the background of each bird – allowing the blue and red on the birds to stand out.

These pieces were attached to the background in a jaunty fashion, the birds attached with thin 3D foam, a gold foiled sentiment added, and some gold gems also placed around and about.

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas creations following one or both of our themes. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – anything goes with a critter

Die Cut Divas – die cuts and critters

Sparkles Forum Christmas Challenge – Christmas and festive wear

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Crafts Galore – anything goes

Bauble & Wreath

Hello again. The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge has started a new ‘anything goes Christmas’ Challenge – here is my card:

I started by creating the background panel – a dark blue piece of card – and embossed using a Spellbinders embossing folder, then a white pigment ink pad swiped over the top to highlight the dimension.

Whilst this pigment ink was drying, I stamped and glitter silver heat embossed the bauble image from Pinkfresh Studio, and used the matching stencils to ink blend the one central detail. I juts wanted the bauble to stand out from all the surrounding colour. This was then die cut with the matching dies, and set to one side.

The leaves were die cut with a piece of previously created panel which I had used a green mica spray, and also die cut with some silver glitter card stock. This die set is also from Pinkfresh Studio – ‘Tied With Cheer’. There are three wreath layers in this die set, and I think I cut them all, and maybe a few extra.

The blue panel was adhered to a white card base, the wreath leaves layered and attached, then the bauble added.

I hope you can come and join us in our challenge – remember – Christmas cards only….. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

CYHTP – embossing folder, option of pumpkins or orange not taken

Tic Tac Toe – top left to bottom right diagonal – leaves – free – die cuts

Peace On Earth – Christmas anything goes

A Perfect Time To Craft – anything goes

12 Months of Christmas Link-Up – Christmas – option of sleigh it like you mean it not taken

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Fill Your Heart With Joy

Hello. I have certainly been having some crafty play this weekend. I have another card to share using products from yet another virtual event from 2024 – I really need to organise the products from these events and play more with them.

The tree image was stamped onto white card stock and white heat embossed – all the white on the tree is from this embossing. I then used three tones of green from Pinkfresh Studio and ink blended – light at the top, going darker further down the tree.

After wiping excess ink from the white embossing, I then used the matching die to cut it out.

The background panel was dry embossed using a cover-plate, then using my green blending brush – no further ink added – I then lightly went around the edges to create a subtle halo effect in the centre of the panel.

The sentiment was heat embossed in silver, and cut out with a circle die. I used the same silver embossing powder to create a panel out of which I die cut some foliage. I also ink blended a smaller panel in the green, and used that to cut out more foliage.

After sticking the background panel down, I die cut two more trees from white card stock and layered them together, adding the coloured tree on top. This was stuck down to the panel, the foliage added, and then the sentiment added to the top of the tree – I didn’t want it obscuring too much of the tree – hence the placement at the top.

The final addition were three clear drops – just three – I restrained myself…..

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Crafters Café – anything goes – option of Christmas taken

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Peace On Earth – anything goes Christmas

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Thanks For Everything

Hallo. Cardz 4 Galz has started a new challenge. Pamela is the host, and she has chosen the theme of ‘colouring‘. Here is my card:

For the floral images, I decided to colour them using ink blending. This die and embossing set is from Altenew, and I think it was part of a virtual event. I must have ‘filed’ it somewhere safe, because I cannot find it again at this point….

I first used the die set to cut the images out, but taped them back into the card it had been cut from to make ink blending easier. I then used the matching stencils to colour each of the images, using some shading and certain places for added dimension.

I then placed the die cut in the matching embossing folder and ran it through my machine – this certainly adds even more dimension and detail.

The background panel is using Spellbinders ‘sage’ card stock and also ran through an embossing folder.

The final touches were to add the gems for the centre of the flowers, then a gold foiled sentiment.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations following our theme – there is a lot of scope to be able to include colouring on your projects. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Stencil Fun – use stencils – option of Halloween related not taken

CYHTP – embossing folder – option of pumpkins or orange not taken

Ellibelle’s Corner Garden Party – anything in or from the garden

Beautiful Blossoms – florals

Harvest Thanks

This card was firstly inspired by the current challenge at Inspiration Station. I was looking at the colours with the basket full of harvest goodies.

I took the opportunity to raid my stash of pre-prepared papers and card from ink smooshing and spraying and spritzing, using Brushos – generally from one of my play sessions.

I found the orange piece and die cut some pumpkins using a die set from The Greetery. I also found a piece of yellow card from playing with some mica sprays – the smaller pumpkins were die cut from that. The sheaves of wheat were die cut from more mellow orange and yellow pieces.

The basket is also from The Greetery – ever used – and that was just from some plain light brown/Kraft card stock – letting the other elements shine.

The background panel was created using a piece of paper I had gel printed on – I was obviously playing with some light green or lime inks and paints, and that piece was cut down to an A2 size panel, then a Spellbinders pumpkin embossing folder used on it, after which I took some bright ink and lightly blended over the top – catching the details subtly in some areas.

Now all my elements were ready, I glued the background panel onto the card base, played around with the layout, then added some 3D foam pieces to the back of the basket, inserted the sheaves of wheat, then stuck down.

The pumpkins were added with a mixture of 3D foam and glue.

The sentiment is gold foiled – again from a previous crafting and foiling session – black strip to make it stand out amongst all that colour.

I had fun creating this card – so many mediums I have previously played with, creating a stash I forget to turn to – but I was also inspired by one of my Design Team buddies who had recently produced a card using stuff in her ‘bit box’ – and so reminded me I had a stash of papers and pieces of card from all my sessions playing with inks and paints and gel plates etc… I really must remember I have them….

I shall be entering the following challenges:

We Love 2 Create – anything goes mixed media

Inspiration Station – photo inspiration

Creative Artiste Mixed Media – anything goes mixed media

Tic Tac Toe – middle row – thanks sentiment – free – Kraft card stock

Ellibelle’s Corner – Garden Party – anything in or from the garden

Feathers Appear

After my die cutting saga yesterday, I decided to try my hand at a more CAS card today:

You know that CAS is not my usual style, and I actually find this style more challenging, but I was inspired by the current challenge at CAS on Friday, as their theme was ‘feathers’ and I just love this die and stencil set from Waffle Flower Crafts.

The card base is an A2 side folding – my choice is asked – and into that I embossed a rectangular frame using Clarity Crafts embedders. I really, really need to practice this technique, as I failed on the first card base – a couple of panels to use later – but I do like the effect. It adds a little something-something without adding too much detail or dimension.

I then stamped the sentiment from a Clearly Besotted stamp set directly onto the card base, at the bottom of the embedded rectangle.

The feather was die cut, placed on my grip mat, and the colours from the Color Throwdown used – lime, pink, then orange – using Pinkfresh Studio inks.

The two layers for the stencil set first does the lighter details, whilst the second layer does the darker details, and after those two were blended, I went back over very, very lightly with the same inks to make the background white on the feather less harsh.

I decided to keep the nib of the feather pen on there, but did ink down a little with the orange, then glued directly into the embedded rectangle.

So – no gems, no jewels, no 3D foam tape – my goodness – I must get back to doing that tomorrow…..!

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Color Throwdown – lime, pink, orange

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – CAS

Just Us Girls – stencil week

CAS on Friday – CAS feathers

Stencil Fun – used stencils – option of anything Halloween related not taken

Making Spirits Bright

Hello everyone. The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge has started a new challenge – anything goes Christmas. Here is my card:

There’s a lot of glitter and shine with this card, and I’ll try and show you on the following pictures.

To begin, I started with the Pinkfresh Studio ‘Whispers of Poinsettia’ die and stencil set. I started by using the stencil and ink blended all the layers with different coloured inks, then used the matching die to cut it out.

To add more drama, I used a black panel and cut to an A2 card base size, then used another Pinkfresh die set to cut the frame out of black, and used an embossing folder for the cut out portion of the frame. The poinsettia panel was also die cut with the larger of the frame dies, placed behind the frame, the black embossed panel added behind, and then I added some splatters that with some gold shimmery acrylic paint from Liquitex.

When I say ‘some’ splatters – I kinda went to town with it….

A gold glitter card stock panel was cut, and all the layers added with wet glue.

I added a foiled sentiment and them some ombre glitter gems for the centre of the flowers.

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas creations xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Inkspirational – seasonal

A Cut Above – anything goes with a die cut

We Love 2 Create – anything goes mixed media

12 Months of Christmas Link-up – anything goes Christmas, option of snowfall not taken

Triple B – birds and/or butterflies and/or blooms

Creative Artiste Mixed Media – anything goes mixed media

Crafters Café – anything goes – option of Christmas taken

N is for Night

Hello everyone. The Alphabet Challenge has started a new challenge. We have reached the letter ‘N’, and Pamela has chosen the theme of:

‘N is for Night‘ with some ideas such as clouds, moon, sleeping image, stars etc

Here is my card:

I decided to break out my Copics to colours this scene – I’ve not used them in a while.

The images is from Clearly Besotted, stamped with alcohol friendly black ink. I use Gina K Designs Amalgam for this.

I then used a range of tones for the colouring of the image, before stamping again and fussy-cutting around the sky line – yes – me – fussy-cutting!! – to create a mask. This mask was placed over the image and another small circle of the masking paper created for the moon.

I used some Distress Oxides and ink blended the sky, darker at the top edge. The moon mask moved during one of my swiping of the blending brushes, and some of the ink got into the moon area – but that was certainly a happy accident as it made the moon look more realistic….

Once ink blended and the masks removed, I used a heat tool to dry completely ( so I thought) and used the star detail stamp and used a white sparkle embossing powder……another happy accident was that I hadn’t actually full dried the moon area, so some sparkle landed on there – again, I liked the look of that so left it as it was.

I created a rectangle frame using a couple of dies, one with a stitching detail, then glued the coloured image and the frame to a white crad base.

The sentiment was stamped as you see.

So – a card with a couple of minor hiccups – but all came out good in the end….

I hope you can come and join us with your creations following our theme. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Crafts Galore – anything goes

Ellibelle’s Corner – anything goes

Crafters Café – anything goes – option of Christmas not taken

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Believe In Yourself

Hello again. The Alphabet Challenge has started a new challenge. We have reached the letter ‘M’, and Tee has chosen the theme of :

‘Mythical Creatures‘

Here is my card:

For this card I used products from Waffle Flower Crafts, utilising some die sets, and layering stencil sets for the open book and dragon and castle images. The book was die cut first, then the layering stencils used with Pinkfresh Studio inks to create the scene.

The background panel was also using a Waffle Flower Crafts older die set, the Cloudscape Panel Die.

The cloudscape was die cut, then each of the cloud layers were ink blended individually, the brown lower piece also ink blended. This frame was glued to a card base, then each of the cloud layers were inlaid back into their respective places, the brown layer glued in, then the book attached.

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted.

I also added some opal glitter drops for extra interest.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations following our theme, and I look forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Mix It Up – anything goes – option of fancy folds not taken

Love To Craft – anything goes

Die Cut Divas – anything goes with die cuts

Crafts Galore – anything goes

Purple & Green Hugs

Hello there. A new challenge has started at Cardz 4 Galz, Helen has chosen the theme of:

‘Purple & Green’

Here is my card:

For this card, I chose to go with products from Concord & 9th, and The Greetery.

The first thing I did was to use the ‘Bitty Botanicals‘ stamp set for the green foliage, then added the various tones of purple for the flowers using the matching stencils.

I then added the ‘Diamond Ribbons‘ stencil and die set combo to create the trellis and attached that with glue so each diamond framed each of the floral images.

Onto that, I added a word die from Concords & 9th, with the shadow layer being from vellum.