All that glitters...

Svenja has set the challenge for us over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see us sparkle - add some glitter! Any kind of glitter is fine!

I used some glitter cardstock and some Glamour Dust on my slightly minimalist-looking Christmas card! The loose glittter is on lines of PVA glue to make some sparkly ground for the deer.

I sponged the edge of the moon with some blue ink for a bit of depth, I think that's just about visible on the photo. I used my cereal packet "diffuser" to emboss the card and leave a smooth area at bottom left for the sentiment.

Stamps:
Noel (mine is the original Waltingmouse Stamps set, the same is now available from Gina K)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Blueprint Sketch)
Versfine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Reindeer Flight die (Time Holtz/Sizzix)
Confetti die (Mama Elephant)
Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinder)
Softly Falling embossing folder (Stampin' Up!)
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Apple day!

It's my turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers and as October 21st is Apple Day here in the UK, I'd like to see us celebrate the humble apple! If you don't have apple-themed stash, show us some other tree fruit instead (pear, plum, peach etc).

Although nobody likes to find wriggly critters in their apple for real, these little guys are cute enough to raise a smile on a card, I think!

These are stamps from a clear set - they're separate so it's easy to combine them in different ways. I thought the raised face of the big catapillar made it look like he might be greeting his friends in the apple.

Stamps:
Hetty's Garden Animals by Marianne Designs
Paper:
Bristol board
Chocolate brown
Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Other:
Copic markers
Tracing wheel
Phrases set 1 dies by Spellbinder
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas cat

Shabneez is setting this week’s challenge over at Daring Cardmakers and she'd like to see pets featuring on our cards - cats, dogs, goldfish, guinea pigs... any domestic pet will do!

I’m playing for the first time at Retro Rubber too - the idea is to use stamps that are at least a year old. Challenge #rrcb97 is a tic tac toe; I’ve used the bottom row of the grid - animal, window, circles. The cat was one of my early stamp purchases (about 11 years ago) and the sentiment is even older!

I wanted the stone wall texture in the corners of the card but the folder wasn't wide enough to send it through the Big Shot and have it cover the whole width of the card front and use "diffusers" so I used a rubber mallet and did one corner at a time.

Stamps:
Festive Cat (Tanda Stamps, long since closed its doors - stamp is 11 or 12 years old)
MSE sentiment set

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Memento markers (Lady Bug and Rich Cocoa)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Christmas Window die (Die’sire)
Dry stone wall embossing folder (Crafter’s Companion)
Confetti die (Mama Elephant)
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Gold gel pen
Corner Chomper
Misti (a great help in getting the cat in the right place!)
Pinflair glue gel
Rubber mallet!

Thanks for stopping by, we'd love to see you at Daring Cardmakers with your pet-themed cards!

Hello pumpkin!

It's the first Friday of the month so of course that means an "elemental" challenge over at Daring Cardmakers. Dawn has chosen the lovely inspiration picture this month, you'll find it at the end of this post if you didn't arrive here from DCM. Just choose at least three elements from the picture to kick-start your project.

I chose the colours, pumpkin, woodgrain and script style hello sentiment.

The pumpkin and splattery colour was done before I decided I wanted some woodgrain texture on there. Because the pumpkin is quite detailed, I didn't want to emboss the texture over it and risk obscuring the detail. I tore up some cereal packet and glued together a couple of layers to make a sort of "diffuser" for the embossing folder so I could get the impression on just part of the square.

Stamps:
Vintage Seed Packet (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Pool and Stream)

Other:
Copic markers
White paint pen by Posca
Pine Planks embossing folder (Stampin' Up!)
Hello die (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)
Tracing wheel
Corner Chomper

Here's the lovely autumnal inspiration Dawn has for us this week:

Are you inspired? We'd love to see you over at DCM if so!

Thanks for stopping by!

Food chain!

I’m joining in again at the Card Chain Challenge which had plenty to choose from this month. I picked two elements again: the sketch and the theme of food. My circle element is a wee bit smaller than I would have liked but I couldn’t resist using this cute stamp once the idea popped into my head!

“Table cloth” and pizza are all one layer, masking and shading with marker give it a bit of depth.

My card has gone to Betty in Nebraska this time, I hope she likes it even if she doesn't like pizza!

Stamps:
Discover Italy: Food (Scrapberry)
Fine Gingham Backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms, sadly no longer with us)
Say It All (Hero Arts, retired I think)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Memento by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Posca white paint pen
Memento marker (Rhubarb)

There are a few days left to sign up for the October chain (closes 6th October) if you fancy joining in!

Beady fish!

Miri has set the challenge for us over at Daring Cardmakers this week - she'd like to see us using a bead or beads on our cards.

I found some tiny seed beads in my stash and this background was lying on my desk and the colours seemed to go. To me it said "seascape" so that's what happened. The beads are providing a bit of texture and sparkle - they're just sprinkled onto some Glossy Accents.

The fish have glittery scales if you get the light right - courtesy of clear Wink of Stella pen. I've left it with no sentiment so it can be an all-purpose card!

The background is one I made for a mixed media challenge at Splitcoast a few weeks back that's a slight twist on the old shaving foam marbling technique. Details here if you fancy a go!

Stamps:
Under the Sea (Darkroom Door)

Paper:
Smooth white
Oxidised shaving foam background (on premium weight copy paper)

Ink:
Brilliance (Graphite black, Pearlescent Ivy)
Distress Oxide (Cracked Pistachio)
Distress reinkers (Broken China, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch - for the background technique)

Other:
Seed beads
Glossy Accents
Wink of Stella (Clear)
Fineline marker

Thanks for stopping by!

Emboss it

Ruth has set the challnge for us over at Daring Cardmakers this week - she'd like us to use any sort of embossing on our projects.

I decided to heat emboss rather than use a folder, using white powder on a kraft base.

The clear Wink of Stella has made the petals look a bit murky on the photo but it's a pretty effect in real life - a bit of shimmer over very simple shading.

A very simple card, even the embellishing dots are stamped/embossed (there are three sizes of circle stamp in the Hero Arts set) and the tiny ones added with a white pen - light, flat and easy to post!

Stamps
Rose Bloom by Stampendous
Happy Stamp & Cut by Hero Arts

Paper:
Kraft
White

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukninko
Brillance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Detail white embossing powder
Copic markers
Clear Wink of Stella pen
White  paint pen by Posca
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the chain

Visiting the lovely Jo's blog a while back I noticed a post about the Card Chain Challenge. It struck me as a such a lovely idea I signed up for the August chain.

From the options for the month I chose fruit and stencilling. I've recently got hold of an old Stampin' Up! set called Sun Ripened, primarily for this lovely rapsberry image. Raspberries have always been a family favourite and my folks have always grown them so when I saw a card made with this stamp, I just had to have it!

My card has gone to Janet in Mauritius - I have no idea whether raspberries seem very ordinary and pedestrian there, I'm thinking fruit might be quite different!

I’m not sure you can tell from the photo but the berries and leaves are slightly raised - I put the card on a piece of craft foam and used a fine tipped stylus to draw round the image then flipped it over and used the line to show me where to push the image out with a bigger stylus.

Stamps:
Sun Ripened (Stampin' Up! - long retired)

Paper:
Ribbed kraft

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Adirondack pigment by Ranger (Snowcap)

Other:
Copic markers
Prismacolor pencils
White paint pen by Posca
Cressida stencil (Memory Box)
Phrases 2 dies (Spellbinder)
Corner Chomper
Charcoal pencil

Thanks for stopping by! The sign-up for the September chain is open for a few more days - details here if you fancy taking part!

Travelogue

Kathy is setting the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week - she’s sending us on a travelogue! Anything to do with travel whether that be aeroplanes or suitcases, cars or compasses - what does “travel” say to you?

I’m sharing a card I actually made for an event at Splitcoast Stampers recently since my skills of organisation have gone to pot! I can’t tell you what the challenge was there but I thought it fit the travel theme so here it is!

I think my adventurer has gone for a swim in a beautiful lake - let’s hope those boots are still there when he gets back!

There’s a useful tutorial here to help if you fancy stretching your stamps and putting them into watery or icy settings!

Stamps:
Combat Boots by Deep Red Stamps
Sentiment from Essential Messages by Hero Arts (I think it's retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint)

Other:
Copic markers
White paint pen by Posca
Corner Chomper
MISTI to help me get the sentiment straight!

Thanks for stopping by!

What’s cooking?

It’s my turn to set the challenge over on Daring Cardmakers this week. I’d like to see images of food or see you use something from the kitchen to make your project. Extra brownie points if you manage both, a food image and use of a kitchen item!

I raided the kitchen for food colouring and washing up liquid and had some fun making bubble backgrounds. I guess I could count the disposable plate, too!

I had some black food colouring that has been in my pantry forever (it had a best before date in 2003!) and I guessed it might look either grey or brown used for this technique. I think it turned out quite a stylish colour and I made a little stack of prints on different sorts of paper so I've got some to use in future projects.

The pear I chose for my food image is one of the very first stamps I bought and is a “no name” design. I used neutral Copics to keep the colour palette quite masculine, cut it out and stuck it down with gel glue so the leaves are a bit raised. A die cut and stamped sentiment and a doodled frame finish it off.

If you fancy having a go at bubble backgrounds you just need a colouring medium with plenty of pigment (ink, watercolour or acrylic paint, or food colouring should all work). Add it along with a bit of water and a generous squirt of washing up liquid onto a plate (I used a disposable one so I didn’t have to worry about staining) and stir it up. Use a straw to blow into the mixture and make plenty of bubbles - be careful not to suck! Then gently swipe paper over the bubbles so that they pop against the surface. You can repeat the blowing of bubbles as many times as you like and keep layering the prints until you have the effect you want. Every piece will be unique.

Stamps:
Pear (unnamed maker)
Happy Stamp n Cut and Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Black food colouring
Washing up liquid (that’s dish soap to my American friends)
Copic markers
Brown fine liner
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!