Floral inspiration

Inspiration is everywhere but not always when you want it!

We have free rein for the postcard swap on UKStampers this month and I always find that the hardest challenge of all as I don't have a starting point! So I chose a challenge to give me a kick start - Indigo Blu are on their third monthly challenge and the theme is Flowers (details here).

This lovely Anemone Corner stamp has rarely seen ink so I thought I'd give it an outing. The word Inspire and the script I used to give the background a bit of interest are both from the Sarah's Choice set. Colouring with waxy pencils means there's a resist effect when you stamp with dye ink (as I did with the script stamp) which saves a masking job!

I finished with a tracing wheel and faux stitching on the white layer. As ever, the cards go through the post as genuine postcards with no envelope for protection so steering clear of embellies is a good idea!

Stamps:
Anemone Corner (Indigo Blu)
Sarah's Choice (Indigo Blu)

Paper: smooth white and black

Ink: 
Onyx Black (Versafine by Tsukineko)
Antique Linen (Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger)

Other:
Prismacolor pencils, Sansodor and blending stump
Tracing wheel
Fineliner

Thanks for stopping by! Why not come and join us in the postcard swap if you fancy some handcrafted happy mail?

Dragonfly birthday

It was my dad's birthday earlier in the week and this is the card I made for him. A little bit different for me but it was fun!

I spritzed my cardstock with water first (make sure it's something that's happy with plenty of moisture if you
do this) and dripped a little ink onto it, letting it pool and tilting the card to make it run. I used three inks and let them mix a bit where they met. I also flicked some ink from a paintbrush for some splatters of more concentrated colour.

Once dry, I stamped the dragonfly, used a wet paintbrush to lift some of the colour from his wings and used Spica glitter pens to give them a shimmery finish. A sentiment and simple white on white layering finishes it off. I actually mounted the white panel on black before sticking it down so if you view from the side there's a very thin black margin round the panel.

I think that Hero Arts "Happy Birthday" is fast becoming my favourite birthday sentiment - maybe because I wish my handwriting looked like that!

Stamps:
Wings (Darkroom Door)
Sentiment from Say It All (Hero Arts)

Paper: Cryogen White

Ink:
Distress reinkers by Ranger (Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Bundled Sage)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Spica glitter pens (turquoise and green)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a lovely weekend!

Modern art?

There's a "mixed media" challenge every Friday over at Splitcoaststampers. I'm very much of the mind that mixed media is not a style, despite the predominance of a certain artsy, grungy, eclectic look that springs to many people's minds when you say the phrase. To me (and to the ladies who set the challenges, I suspect) mixed media is exactly what it says on the tin - using more than one medium!

The very talented Birgit set this week's challenge - make some modern art using at least two colouring media and doing something different than your norm.

I usually treat images pretty literally so my "difference" is to use a rose image with non-flowery colours and crop it to make it look quite abstract.

I heat embossed in black on black card and then used metallic markers and pencils to colour the sections. Some sections are just pencil so they're a matt finish, others are metallic marker shaded with pencils so those have a sheen.

I  cut it out with a Nestie and kept the setting very simple as there's a lot going on in that twinchie!

Stamps:
Rose Bloom by Stampendous
Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper: White and black

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Other:
Metallic markers (blue, green and silver)
Prismacolor pencils
Detail black embossing powder
Fineliner
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

She sells sea shells...

It's my 15th wedding anniversary today. It's only just occured to me that I could have looked at the gifts associated with it for inspiration for DH's card. It seems to be crystal (not easy for a masculine card) or, if you're modern and American, watches! I guess I could have done something with that but the thought came after the card was made - never mind!

I went clean and simple with these lovely detailed shell images. I stamped them on kraft card so they have a different look than if they'd been stamped on white. Even when you colour with an opaque medium like pencils the base colour does make a difference, I find.

A bit of torn kraftcore provides a splash of colour and I've sanded the torn edges for a more natural feel - reminiscent of weather-worn paint on beach houses, perhaps. I used scraps of cardstock to raise a couple of the shells just very slightly from the card as I stuck them down. A simple stamped sentiment and one rounded corner finish it off.

Stamps:
Antique Engravings by Hero Arts
Sentiment from Script Essential Expressions (Cornish Heritage Farms)

Paper:
Smooth white
Kraft
Tim Holtz Kraft Core

Ink:
Espresso Adirondack by Ranger
Vintage Sepia Versafine by Tsukineko

Other:
Prismacolor and Lyra pencils
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!