Stamping

Congratulations

Hello again. It is my turn to host at The Alphabet Challenge, and having reached the letter ‘I’, I chose the theme of ‘ink blending’. Here is my card:

I chose to use a stamp set from Pinkfresh Studio ‘Pretty Blooms’. I stamped all the florals in a light grey ink, then used the layering stencils to ink blend using Pinkfresh Studio inks. I wanted bold and bright colours for the flowers. Once ink blended, I then stamped the images again – I hadn’t moved the stamp from my Misti. This is a technique learnt from one of the Pinkfresh Studio virtual events, it certainly gives a bolder outline when stamped after ink blending.

I then used the matching dies to cut them out.

The background is a smaller than A2 panel, die cut with a postage edge die, then run through with a background panel with stitching on the create more interest.

This was adhered to the card base, the floral images adhered with 3D foam, and then the gold foiled sentiment added. The final touch – as usual with me – was adding some gold gems

I hope you can come and join us with your ink blended creations. I look forward to seeing all the variations to our theme. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms – flowers

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Ellibelle’s Corner I Spy – something to celebrate

The Flower Challenge – flowers and add embellishments

A Cut Above – anything goes with die cuts

Never Stop reaching For The Stars

Hello everyone. Cardz 4 Galz has started a new challenge. Dawn is hosting this time round, and has chosen the theme of:

Scenic – create a scene or use a scenic topper or paper

Here is my card:

I started by creating the background panel. For this I used water-colour card stock, and sprayed some Hero Arts shimmer spray – quite liberally – to create a vivid and shimmery background.

Whilst this was drying, I created the mountain scene using stencils from Pinkfresh Studio and the recent ‘cards for him‘ event. I wanted purple mountains against the blue background, so used a selection of Pinkfresh Studio inks for the ink blending on the layering stencils. then used the matching dies to cut them out.

before adhering the blue panel to a card base, I took some stamps from the same event and heat embossed the shooting star in a silver glitter embossing powder – a subtle effect but there none-the-less.

The panel was then glued down to the card base. the mountains glued flat also, the the sentiment stamped and die cut with the matching dies, also adhered flat.

The final addition was some facetted gems.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations featuring a scene. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Tic Tac Toe – middle row – any colour – free – sentiment

Mix It Up – anything goes – option of mixed media taken (shimmer spray, ink, embossing powder)

Hope Your Day Is Purrfect

Hello there. I have had a busy few days out and about, but managed to find time to play with some products from my stash bought from a UK Facebook live sale they have every month:

The theme for this card is from the current challenge at As You Like It. They want to know if you are a cat or dog person – and why……. As most of you know, I am currently owned by four cats. We have never had dogs – both working full time for forty years – and therefore cats are what we started to homing 18 years or so ago.

These products from AALL & Create were an impulse buy, purely because they are cats, and the colours in this creative box sang to me.

I used one of the background cards which came in the box, and die cut the black layer from another AALL & Create die set. To get everything on the background I wanted, I die cut the black twice as it wasn’t quite long enough and just layered it behind. I then used a piece of paper from my stash to put behind the black, and then added to a 5 x 7 inch off-white card base.

The sentiment was stamped onto a piece of the background paper, then I used a smaller die from the frame set and angled it around to get the same edging.

I added the sentiment first, then arranged four of the cats as you see. I chose cats which would stand out a little from the gorgeous background, added the word ‘LOVE’ as well as the heart – ephemera from the same creative box.

I am not one for using lots of ephemera, but I have quite a lot from previous crafty events which I may just have to play with.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

As You Like It – cats or dogs and why

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Congrats On Your New Home

Hello again. There is a new challenge starting at The Alphabet Challenge. Dawn is hosting, and she has chosen the theme of ‘H is for Home’. Here is my card:

I chose to use an older Lawn Fawn die set for the house – ‘Build-a-House’. The main part of the house was die cut, then I used a small Tim Holtz ‘Mini Brickwork‘ embossing folder to create the brick effect.

All the other layers and elements were die cut and assembled, with some light grey textured card stock for behind the windows.

Once the house was completed, I used a Hero Arts mica spray received as part of an online event, sprayed the top of normal white card to create a less intense look – sprayed finely to not damage the card stock of over-wet it, and let that dry. I like the effect of the solid top and the flecked bottom part of the card, and I simply adhered the house to the centre.

I stamped the sentiment from a Scrapbook & cards today stamp set, die cut with the matching dies, layered a couple of times for stability, and glued that down.

The final step was to add three facetted gems….

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

I shall be entering the following challenges:

A Cut Above – anything goes with die cuts

Crafts Galore – anything goes

Here Is A Place To Start – anything goes – option to use vellum not taken

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Happy Birthday to a True Classic

Hello everyone. I have a card today to share as Guest Design Team member for the new challenge at Christmas (or not) Bingo.

This is the board for you to choose a column, and use at least three items from that column. I chose column I – masculine – free – stenciling:

The products I used for this card are from a recent online event by Pinkfresh Studio. I generally attend their virtual events, but wasn’t sure about this one. It was called ‘Cards For Him’ and as I rarely make masculine cards I wasn’t sure – until I saw the sneak-peeks and the range of products for the event.

I used the ‘dotted nested deckled rectangle‘ dies to create the grey frame – layered a couple of time for dimension. I took a white piece and die cut again, and this time I stencilled some light blue clouds onto it to create a background for my little scene. I then stamped the sentiment.

The car was stamped and ink blended using the matching layering stencils, then die cut. This stamp set is called ‘True Classic‘.

The houses behind were ink blended with their matching stencils, then die cut. I didn’t stamp them first as I wanted less defined outlines for those. It did make the layering of the stencils more of a challenge, but thankfully as they were all straight lines it wasn’t a major issue.

The frame was attached to the card base, the inner cloud area inserted, the car added, then the houses tucked in behind.

Hubby and I have had quite a few sports cars in our time, never a blue one though, but when you are grunting every time you try to get out of them low slung things – knees, back, hips – we decided it was time to move to cars which were higher. We have some fabulous memories though.

I hope you can come and join the team and I with your creations following one of the columns. xx

Let’s Crab Lunch Sometime

Hello. I have in my craft room again, taking advantage of the air con in there to cool down a little. I was inspired by a few challenges to create a summer/beach themed card and took the opportunity to use some new products.

The scene die cuts are from Waffle Flower, and the waves themselves also have stencils which you can use to colour them. Once the waves were cut and coloured, I used the additional die which creates the same shape as the wave die at the bottom in a light brown card for the sand. I also used the top of the wave die to create a light blue sky, so they would inlay and slot in together when backed by a piece of white card.

The dark blue frame was die cut from a Pinkfresh Studio die set and glued around the scene. I did cut the scene down around the edges to keep it within the square.

I die cut the crabs from two slightly different orange card from Spellbinders, then layered them together. Die cutting dark grey for the eyes, onto which I highlighted with white gel pen.

When placed onto a white card base, I felt it needed something extra, a little more detail on the plain white, so I also used the Waffle Flower ‘Seashell texture’ plate – no blending, leaving it white.

The framed scene was added, then the two sentiments were stamped using a Heffy Doodle set, then cut using a couple of strip dies, adhered with 3D foam.

I then added the two crabs with 3D foam.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Double D Challenge – beach

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – vacation

Aud Sentiments – fun fold and/or summer and a sentiment

Addicted To Stamps & More – die cuts and/or stencils

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

The Sisterhood Of Crafters – fun in the sun

Feathered Birthday

Hello again. I have a card to share for the new challenge which has just started at The Alphabet Challenge. Vicki is hosting, and having reached the letter ‘F‘, she has chosen the theme of ‘feathers‘. Here is my card:

This card turned out to be very technique based. I didn’t plan it that way, it is just the way things happened – and I quite enjoyed the process.

I started by creating the ink well, a layering stamp from The Greetery. This was die cut, and the label for the ink well stamped then die cut, layered on top of the ink bottle.

The feather is a die cut from Waffle Flower, then ink blended the layers to create the mottled effect on the feathers – then going over very lightly to take some of the whiteness off. The nib as die cut and glued down.

The wax seal is from Spellbinders, using their wax, then the flowers and sentiment on the seal was coloured with gold using a gold paint pen from Crafters Companion.

Then I turned to creating the background panel. I thought a postage die would fit in with the quill and pen, so I used an old Catherine Pooler die for that panel, die cut out of a light grey card stock. I added another layer of light grey card stock on top which had been die cut with a stitched detail around the edge.

The written details were added using a slightly darker grey ink and a Spellbinders press plate. I cannot remember how I did the darker grey rim around the edge of this panel………

All layers were added to the white card base using either glue or 3D foam when I was happy with the layout.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations featuring feathers. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Addicted To Stamps & More – die cuts and/or stencils

Inkspirational – use stencils – option of geometric not taken

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Ellibelle’s Corner – anything goes

Hello Friend

Hello everyone. I have been a little remiss in posting, but I have been creating behind the scenes. I have been enjoying playing with products from some virtual events this past few months, and I have a card to share using products from the recent Simon Says Stamp and Gina K designs collaboration:

I used the colours from the current Color Throwdown challenge to create this card.

The images of the flowers and leaves were stamped, then coloured those using Pinkfresh Studio inks and the matching stencils. I used a heavier hand towards the centre of the flowers and the bottom of the leaves for a little more interest.

The sentiment was stamped in black, then all the images and the sentiment were die cut with the matching dies. The sentiment I layered three times for more dimension.

I took a smaller white panel and used a Pinkfresh Studio Letterpress plate to create the subtle detail in that small white panel, layered that with a black panel, then adhered to the card base.

I then arranged the flowers and leaves, attached the flowers with 3D foam, and the leaves with glue, before adding some enamel dots. The turquoise and yellow dots attached the the centre of the flowers were from Time 4 Tea Designs, and the three small green dots are from Concord & 9th.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Color Throwdown – yellow, green, turquoise

Stencil Fun – stencils – option of summer fun

Craft Rocket – no designer paper

Addicted To Stamps & More – dies cuts and/or stencils

Inkspirational – using stencils – option of geometric

Floral Thanks Gatefold

Hello everyone. It’s been a few days since I posted – I was out and about in the gorgeous weather we are having currently in the UK. Cardz 4 Galz has started a new challenge. Billie A is hosting, and has chosen the theme of ‘flowers‘. Here is my card:

I decided to do another fancy fold, this time a gate fold, and used the last of the previously prepared washi panels from a Pinkfresh Studio suite.

I first created the gate fold base card, and used the stamps from the suite all over the front.

The washi panel was created using an embossing folder on the background, then adhering all the washi images, cutting away the overhang, then matted this with a dark blue panel. The gold foiled sentiment was added, then the panel attached to the left opening of the base card.

I also completed the inside of the card using a white panel, some of the washi floral off cuts, matted with another piece of blue card stock, then adhered to the centre.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations featuring flowers. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Ellibelle’s Garden Party – anything goes garden related

Tic Tac Toe – top row – die cut, fun fold, flowers

Beautiful Blossoms – anything goes floral/flowers

Ally’s Angels – anything goes

Ellibelle’s I Spy – April showers and/or May flowers

Owl I Want For Christmas

Hello once again. You may be pleased to know that the card I am sharing today does not contain washi tape – no washi tape – none, at all, anywhere…….

I decided to break out the Copics and create this mixed media CAS kinda card:

I was inspired by one if the challenges below to create a Christmas card featuring owls. I searched the Color My Life app – fabulous cataloguing system if you don’t have one – and this cute stamp and die set from Clearly Besotted popped up. Bingo. Perfect for what I wanted.

I started by stamping the images in Gina K Amalgam ink, and heat setting before colouring using my Copics. Once coloured, I used the matching dies to cut them out.

The background is a landscape card base, and onto that I adhered a blue strip for the night sky. This strip was created by ink blending two Distress Oxide blue tones, then I used Liquitex white acrylic paint to create the splatters.

This was put aside to dry whilst I stamped the image – also from the same stamp set – directly onto the card base, ensuring it would be just below the blue strip.

Before adhering the cute little owls, I did die cut another blank one to layer behind for a little more stability, and then glued directly down onto the blue piece.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

12 Months of Christmas link up – Christmas with option of owls taken

We Love 2 Create – anything goes mixed media

Daisy Chain Challenge – animals

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Die Cut Divas – die cuts and critters – real or imaginary

Creative Artiste Mixed Media – anything goes mixed media

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas