Resist if you can

Nat has set the challenge for us over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like to see a resist technique on our cards.

I’ve been meaning to have a go at Debossed Die Resist for a while so I pulled out a Hero Arts die I thought might work and got busy with a wax crayon and a couple of Brusho powders. I think it looks kind of like batik fabric.

I did an extra resist as well - after my fern and background were dry, I rubbed some microglaze onto the leaves and then spritzed and splattered Dylusions spray for some extra speckles.

Supplies:
Fancy Fern die (Hero Arts)
Watercolour paper
White crayon
Sentiment from Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Brusho (Leaf Green, Turquoise)
Dylusions spray (Vibrant Turquoise)
Judikins microglaze (now rebranded as Distress microglaze)

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiling snowmen!

Today, I'm delighted to be Guest Elf for the lovely Jo's Christmas Kickstart challenge! Each fortnight a new challenge launches and this time around we're getting inspired by the challenge blog's header:

Lots of things to work with there - snowman, mittens, hat, scarf, baubles and streamers, the colour scheme, stripes...

I sort of stuck to the overall colour scheme and then chose a jolly snowman, pearly circles inspired by the baubles and a glittter one as the texture made me think of the pompom on the header snowman's hat.

I have a piece of acetate with various circles die cut out of it tucked in to a container on my desk that's really useful for things like this - I just sponged Versamark and brushed on Perfect Pearls in various shades of green and blue. A pearl pen and some sequins added a bit of texture.

Stamps:
Dancing Snowman (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Merry Stamp 'n Cut (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board
Glitter card

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Versamark by Tukineko

Other:
Perfect Pearls by Ranger (Blue Raspberry, Turquoise, Sour Apple, Mint)
Copic markers
Pearl pen by Viva Decor (Ice White)
Sequins

We'd love to see you over at Christmas Kickstart - why not add a card or two to your stash?!

Under the sea

It's Svenja setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she's sending us under the sea. There are extra virtual brownie points for an octopus. As I can always use extra brownie points I used it as an excuse to pull out this colour layering stamp that's only been used once or twice.

I liked the idea of an eight limbed creature sending hugs so this sentiment seemed perfect!

I stamped dark to light on the octopus (Dusty Concord first for the detailed layer and then a mix of the other two on the solid layer), using the MISTI so that I could clear emboss the whole octopus as a final step. That means it resists the ink for the stencilled water and the stamped weed/coral without having to worry about any masking.

This fits today's Free For All challenge on Splitcoast Stampers too - why not come play in both?!

Stamps:
Layering Octopus (Hero Arts)
Truly Appreciated (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Milled Lavender, Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Versamark by Tsukineko

Other:
Fibres stencil (Visible Image)
Clear embossing powder
Sequins
Corner Chomper
MISTI

Thanks for stopping by!

Splish, splash, splosh

My turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and I'd like to see everyone gettting loose and unstructured with inks, watercolours or paints - sploosh, spray and splatter to your heart's content for a focal point, background or accents on your project.

I smooshed my DOX pad onto a piece of acetate, sprayed with water and used it to add drippy ink to my card base. The mistletoe is coloured with Copics, cut out and popped up with a bit of gel glue. The berries have some Glossy Accents for dimension.

And look - I used washi tape! Not sure I've ever used washi tape with anything like success but my local Poundland recently had tubs with six different rolls in each and I couldn't resist a couple of tubs - I think this striped one from the silver/grey/white selection goes well with the stripes in the mistletoe leaves.

I'm playing at Retro Rubber as well where the theme is "anything goes" as long as it features stamps more than a year old. Festive Foliage has been around since 2010.

Stamps:
Festive Foliage (mine is the original Waltzingmouse Stamps set with 2010 copyright, the same design is now available from Gina K with a few minor differences)
Sentiment from an ancient Skipping Stones set 

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Cracked Pistachio)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Washi tape
Corner Chomper
Glossy Accents
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!

A Lost Coast Christmas

Visiting Jo's blog a few days back I noticed a link to the Lost Coast/Carmen's Veranda challenge which reminded me I haven't played with my Loast Coast Bubble Border stamp in an absolute age.

This is Challenge #81 and while there's no requirement to use Lost Coast or Carmen's Veranda stamps that's the way I roll!


I've been making Christmas cards recently so that I hopefully have a few on hand before the festivities themselves so that's the way my mind went.

I used detail gold powder to heat emboss the border and sentiment on a die cut black rectangle and then filled in some of the circles with Perfect Pearls mixed with some water. I also used clear Wink of Stella on a few and added some Glossy Accents - it has incredible galaxy-like depth in real life! Tiny nail art gems were the perfect size for a bit extra twinkle on a few circles, too.

Stamps:
Bubble Border (Lost Coast)
Sentiment from Compliments of the Season (Claire Brennan at Gina K)

Paper:
Bristol board
Smooth black

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko

Ohter:
Detail embossing powder (gold)
Prfect Pearls by Ranger (Copper, Gold, Pearl)
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Glossy Accents by Ranger
Nail art gems
Stitched r3ectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)

Thanks for stopping by!

One. two, three, four, five

Kathy has set a slightly fiendish challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week. She’d like to see one of something, two of something, three, four and five of something.

I thought this stamp I got recently might fit the bill as a starting point since it gave me my “three” for a start. So...

• One layer
• Two words
• Three baubles
• Four ink pads - used for both stamping and colouring
• Five tiny gems

I did use a silver gel pen as well but I don’t think the challenge police will be after me for using an extra item!

Stamps:
Ornament Collage (Impression Obsession)
Sentiment from an old Cornish Heritage Farms set

Paper:
Watercolour

Ink:
Hero Arts (Soft Granite, Charcoal)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Fired Brick, Peeled Paint)

Other:
Silver gel pen
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the Chain - July

It's time for another reveal at the Card Chain Challenge. My card has gone to Gail this month. Gail is part of the team that does a fabulous job organising the Chain each month so it's a particular pleasure to be able to send her a card.

From the options on offer this month I chose the theme of faces and also the product options of watercoluring and stencils.

I have to confess to a slight cheat this time - Molly was already watercoloured and mounted on another card that I had never used so I pulled it apart and made a new one since I liked the way she turned out and it seemed a shame not to have sent her to anybody! She's stamped in a very light ink so I could do some "no line" colouring.

I had a stencil out on my desk that was cut with the Spellbinder fancy lattice die - I used that to add a bit of background with Tumbled Glass ink and then ran a glitter pen around the edge of a few shapes and smudged it for some shimmery shading.

Stamps:
Molly (Beeswax Stamps)
Sentiment from Journaling Words 3 (Artistic Stamper)

Paper:
Cold press watercolour
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Black Soot, Pumice Stone, Tumbled Glass)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Circle Nestabilities and Fancy Lattice die (Spellbinder)
White paint pen by Posca
Turquoise Spica glitter pen
Charcoal pencil
Corner Chomper

There are still a few days to sign up for the August chain if you fancy it - just make one card using one or more of the challenge options, send it out and get a handmade card from the next person in the chain.

August elements

Kathy has chosen a lovely inspiration mood board for the August “elemental” challenge over at Daring Cardmakers. As ever, just chose at least three elements from the picture to kickstart your project.

I chose a shell, waves, random sparkle, book text, turquoise blue and a single word in a handwritten style.

I used the square from the Gel Press Petites to add brayered turquoise paint to a card base. I then sketched lines with a Spica glitter pen on the gel square, spritzed with water and pressed it over the paint. Just take care not to press too hard with the pen if you do this so the nib doesn’t damage the surface of the gel. I used the little white imperfections in the paint impression to guide where I put dots of Glossy Accents and poured on some clear glitter. As usual with a still photo the glitter doesn’t show up too well but it’s there and it’s pretty in real life!

Stamps:
Antique Engravings and Say It All (Hero Arts, both retired I believe)

Paper:
Bristol board 
Old book page

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Gel Press Petites
Fresco Finish acrylic paint by PaperArtsy (Mermaid)
Spica glitter pen (Turquoise)
Glossy Accents
Glamour Dust by DecoArt (Crystal)
Washi tape
Corner Chomper 

Here's the inspiration picture if you’d like to join in and didn’t arrive by way of the DCM blog!

Thanks for stopping by!