Squash and snip

The first cards I've found myself in need of post-Christmas are not necessarily the ones you want to be making - a thinking of you for a friend and a sympathy card.

I used the current Let's Squash It challenge as inspiration for both of them. The challenge is to use a folder and die cutting or fussy cutting. I actually did both for the Thinking of you card - die cut the oval panel and fussy cut part of the embossed design so I could tuck the oval into the flowers and foliage. My dad bought me this folder as a Christmas gift - it's a beauty isn't it?

I embossed some grey cardstock, highlighted the texture with some gilding wax and used a gold gel pen in the flower centres for a bit of subtle variation. 

Stamps:
A very old HOTP sentiment set

Paper:
Grey
Bristol board 

Ink:
Hero Arts shadow ink (Soft Granite)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Flower Frame 3D folder (Nellie Snellen)
Silver Rub n Buff
Oval dies (Spellbinder)
Gold gel pen

For the sympathy card, I wanted just a little bit of embossing on a clean and simple design - I put the card in the folder and bashed one corner with a hammer (I think this was the first embossing folder I ever owned ). Then I  rubbed a tiny bit of microglaze on the raised bits and washed over with watered down Distress ink. I left the die cut feathers simple white and added a few tiny gems as it looked a bit unfinished somehow but as it’s a sympathy card I didn’t want anything too in your face.  

Stamps:

Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:

Bristol board 

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Feathers dies (Spellbinder)
Textile Texture embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Microglaze
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by - there are a couple of days left if you fancy joining in at Let's Squash It.

Tags, label and toppers

Our theme for the final week of our Christmas Countdown over at Daring Cardmakers is tags, labels and toppers - thing to decorate your parcels with.

These would have been quick and easy but those die cuts ain’t half fiddly - it took ages to get all the little bits to pop out, even though they’d cut cleanly. Dad picked up a few dies for me when they were on sale at The Works, back before the world went wonky, and this was one of them. It’s pretty, with a sort of vintage vibe, and looks lovely cut in glitter cardstock - I just need to remember it’s not one to use if I’m in a rush (or try the waxed paper trick next time)!

The glitter card is super-sparkly in real life - I bought a pack in the local pound shop ages ago and it’s a good weight for die cutting. A little bit of ink applied to the tag edges with a brush, a simple stamped image and a knotted ribbon complement the die cut.

Stamps:
Festive Foliage (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Mixed media by Hannemuhl 
Silver glitter

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Limen)

Other:
Merry Christmas die (The Works)
Tags dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by, after this challenge DCM is taking a break until January 8th - hope you can join us! Wishing you a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and New Year. 

Animal antics

It's Countdown to Christmas number six over at Daring Cardmakers and today our theme is "animal antics" - make anything you like as long as it features a Christmas critter or two.

When I saw the Cool Yule set on sale a while back I knew I had to get it for the reindeer head. A friend has a felt and fabric deer head on her wall year-round (he has a Libery print fabric nose) and I couldn't resist the idea of making a Christmas card for her although I didn't go for the ditsy floral nose in the end! I cut all the pieces from white card and added colour with markers. He's a bit fiddly but it's satisfying to see him emerge as you assemble the individual bits. 

His leafy wreath is not really a Christmas stamp but I figured if I gave it red ribbon and red berries it would make a reasonable festive stand-in. I used a glitter pen on the berries for just a touch of sparkle.

Stamps:
Queen Bee (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)
Noel (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Bundled Sage)
Momento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)

Other:
Cool Yule dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Copic markers
Gel glue (Pinflair)
Spica glitter pen (red)
Corner Chomper

 

Thanks for stopping by!

December elements

It’s the first Friday of the last month of 2020! First Friday always means an “elemental” challenge over at Daring Cardmakers - choose at least three elements from the inspiration picture to kick start your project.

I chose the mittens, a square, some of the colours and little scattered circles. The mittens are from a digital image and I wanted a matching pair (the two mittens in the original have different patterns on them) so before printing I copied and flipped the snowflake mitten to get the other hand. I pressed a Distress Oxide pad directly onto the card base to get a slightly “shabby” background square.

Stamps:
Mittens and Merriment  (digital stamp by Power Poppy)
Sparkle All the Way (Crafter’s Companion)

Paper:
Bristol board
Premium weight copy paper to print image

Ink:
Momento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Cracked Pistachio)

Other:
White Enamel Accents by Ranger
Copic markers
White Prismacolor pencil
White paint pen by Posca 

Here's our advent inspiration this month! Thanks for stopping by.

Link in the chain - November

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge - mine went over the Pond to Jutta in Canada this time so once again, light and flat for airmailing was a good idea. 

From the options on offer this time I chose the colour palette (frost, blush and silver - pretty but not the easiest to pick up on camera) and two of the themes in that I combined an ungulate animal (that’s one with hooves if, like me, you’d never come across that word!) and stars. I also managed the product option of glitter to give the reindeer a little snowy drift to stand in.

Stamps:
Stars from Hello Baby Vol 1 (Darkroom Door)
Sentiment from an old Cornish Heritage Farms set

Paper:
Bristol board
Black

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass)
Delicata by Tsukineko (Silvery Shimmer)

Other:
Corner Chomper
Reindeer Family dies (Paper Rose)
Star Framelits (Sizzix)
Crystal Glamour Dust (DecoArt)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping well.

Boxes and bags

The theme in this week's Christmas countdown over at Daring Cardmakers is “boxes and bags” - make something to present a gift in.

I hope Kathy will forgive a slight stretching of the brief - I used a little tin and prettied it up with some paper crafting supplies. The tin originally contained travel sweets and came from a car showroom as a freebie. Die cutting a circle to exactly the right size hides the car branding quite nicely!

I'm afraid my camera battery died just as I needed to take my last minute photos so I had to made do with my phone - apologies for the photo quality!

I made a coordinating card as well so I’m playing again at Let’s Squash It. The challenge is totally to blame for this embossing folder in any case - I saw it on a couple of earlier entries and thought it looked lovely and then found it on a well known auction site for under three quid. Since you can pay that much for a single greeting card I decided I could justify buying it!

 

Stamps:
Festive Foliage, Compliments of the Season and Noel (all Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger  (Evergreen Bough)

Other:
Pine Needles embossing folder by Richard Garay
Circle Nestability by Spellbinder
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size by Paper Rose
Corner Chomper 

 

Gorgeous gifts

It’s the second week of our Christmas countdown over at Daring Cardmakers and this week we’re all about gorgeous gifts. It could be a card featuring images of pretty packages, a gift card holder, a paper crafted gift for a friend...what can you come up with?

I always check out the Christmas Kickstart challenge (although I don’t manage to play very often) and owner Jo has teamed up with Gail in Let’s Squash It, a challenge dedicated to embossing folders. I’d been thinking recently I don’t play with my EFs nearly enough so perhaps this will give me a push! They have a joint challenge going on at the moment so I’ve made something to hit three targets - go me!

The sunshine is bright in Northumberland this afternoon so apologies if the photo looks washed out - just imagine understated sophistication! 

I die cut squares and rectangles for my packages, brayered ink onto my folder and embossed two of them. The third has stamped snowflakes. A bit of glitzy silver thread, a doodled border and a stamped sentiment and call it done. 

Stamps:
Flurries and Noel (both Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Delicata by Tsukineko (Silvery Shimmer)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger  (Tumbled Glass)

Other:
Moonlit Berries embossing folder by Couture Creations
Silver thread
Silver gel pen
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by, keep safe!

Come visit one (or more!) of these challenges!

     

 

November elements

It’s the first Friday of a new month (and alarmingly that month is November!) so it’s time for an elemental challenge at Daring Cardmakers. Today, Kathy has chosen our inspiration picture (it's at the end of this post) and as ever, just choose at least three elements to kickstart your project. We’re starting our run up to Christmas this week so all the challenges between now and late December will give you a chance to really get going on the festive crafting.

I confess the busyness of that tree induced a sort of brain freeze for me! I eventually chose a five point star, colours and silver circle (inspired by the plate) for a one layer card. One of my trusty acetate sheets with die cut holes got used as a stencil to brush on silver ink as the first element and I doodled a bit round the edge of the circle with a silver gel pen. I coloured the stars with Copic markers then added Perfect Pearls in similar shades to give them the pearlescent sheen of the baubles in the tree.

Retro Rubber has an “anything goes” challenge at the moment, as long as you use a stamp that’s at least a year old, you’re good to go. My star was the cover mount stamp for Craft Stamper magazine in September 2011. A larger version is still available in the Stampotique catalogue as Jo’s Star.

Stamps:
Star by Jo Capper Sandon  (Craft Stamper magazine, September 2011)
Sparkle All the Way (Crafter’s Companion)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Delicata by Tsukineko (Silvery Shimmer)

Other:
Corner Chomper
Nail art gems
Copic markers
Silver gel pen 

Here's our inspiration picture this month:

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well. 

Link in the chain - October (and September!)

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge. Mine has gone to Annerieke in the Netherlands this time. From the options on offer I chose the sketch, the theme of food and the colour palette (pumpkin, cherry, chocolate).

It’s a single layer to keep it easy for airmailing, I used some low tack tape to mask off the edges before inking. I didn’t have three sizes of the red gems so for the largest size I used a die cut “sequin” that was on my desk, coloured it red and added some sparkle pen then stuck a gem in the centre.

Stamps:
The Cafe (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:

Bristol board 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Spiced Marmalade)

Other:
Strobe stencil (Visible Image)
Red gems
Copic markers
Spica glitter pen (red)
Corner Chomper 

I realised I forgot to blog September’s card so I’ll do that here as well so I have a record if I want to look back. 

This one also went to the Netherlands, to Gerjanne, and I chose the sketch and the theme of birds from the month's options.

Stamps:
Layering bird (Hero Arts)

Paper:

Bristol board 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Denim, Stonewashed)

Other:
Rubber bands stencil (Crafters Workshop)
Sequins

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are staying safe and well. 

Fright night

We're fast approaching Halloween and Rizwana would like to see spooktacular makes for our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week.

I don't own any stamps or other supplies that are spooky so I found a way to improvise and made a postcard! I used a cheesecloth background stamp and torn edges as masks to create a "wrapped bandage" effect  and a longer word ("KABOOM!") with selective inking and a marker pen to fill in missing lines for the sentiment. The eyes are drawn using circle dies as templates.

This year may have gone wonky in many ways but Lost Coast Designs have their usual 31 Days of Halloween going on so I'm linking up there, too.

Stamps:
Cheesecloth backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Kaboom (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Black fineliner 
Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinder (to draw round)
White paint pen by Posca
Microglaze

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well.

Dictionary day

It's my turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and as today is World Dictionary Day and I need very little excuse to celebrate words I thought we could focus on them today - a dictionary definition, book or dictionary page, or make words the focal point of your project.

After a couple of false starts (why your own challenges are always hardest is one of life's mysteries up there with single sock syndrome) I came up with the idea of combining with another challenge to help kickstart and made this.

Retro Rubber has a tic tac toe challenge and I used that to give me the extra push. I chose a diagonal of rhinestones/pearls/dots, die cut/punch and metallics. The whole card front is die cut with a stitched rectangle, the sentiment is cut with another (modified to make it a shade longer to suit the stamp).

This background is designed as a texture plate for use with a gel plate, polymer clay etc but I could see no reason it couldn't be used as a regular stamp and indeed it worked just fine! I stamped on black cardstock and used metallic Perfect Pearls in a couple of autumnal shades before doodling some details with copper and gold gel pens and adding dots of gold dimensional paint to finish.

Stamps:
Sarah's Choice (Indigo Blu - had mine since 2011)
Texture Plate 3 (Art by Marlene line at Studio Light - around April 2019 I think)

Paper:
Black
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Perfect Pearls by Ranger (Perfect Gold, Copper)
Gel pens (gold and copper)
Dimensional paint by Dylon (gold)
Stitched Rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose Studio)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well.

Mail art in the time of Covid-19!

Svenja has set our challenge this week at Daring Cardmakers and as it's world post day, she'd like to see some mail art (or anything inspired by the phrase). 

I decided to have a go at some actual, on-the-envelope mail art using a business size envelope.

I hand drew the mask which is where the address will get written. The stamp will fill in the space top right between the airmal sticker and the pencils. I bought the Face It stamps on sale quite a while ago but must confess I haven't got round to using them until now. I did some basic colouring with Copic markers since they should be pretty weather-proof if the envelope gets caught in a shower en route! The envelope paper is not great for blending so I kept the coluring pretty simple.

Stamps
Face It (Visible Image
Pencils border (Lost Coast Designs)

Paper:
Business envelope

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers

Thanks for stopping by, I hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

October’s elements

Dawn has chosen a lovely picture for inspiration for our ‘elemental’ challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week.  As ever, just choose at least three elements to kickstart your project. 

I picked the cable knit, book page, twine, autumn leaf and airmail envelope stripes for a collage-style card.

We recently had a good clear out prior to getting our dining room plastered and there were a couple of books that were too shabby to donate to a charity shop so I “rehomed” them in the craft room and used a page here. I embossed a torn piece of kraft cardstock and layered up with a stamped leaf and some twine. I’d just finished a book of airmail stamps and there’s a little sticker strip along the edge of the book so I used that to underline the sentiment. 

Retro Rubber’s current challenge is “anything goes” and as I’ve had the leaf set for five years or more, I’m playing along there too. 

Stamps:
Falling Leaves (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous - I’ve had mine five years or so) Sentiment from Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board
Kraft
Old book page

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Crochet thread
Copic markers
Cable knit Dynamic Impressions embossing folder (Stampin Up!)
Airmail stripes from book of stamps

Here's the inspiration picture if you would like to join in with us at DCM this week:

Thanks for stopping by!

S is for...

Well, Kathy over at Daring Cardmakers thinks S is for September - our challenge this week is to include at least three things beginning with S on our cards. Extra brownie points if you can manage six or even seven things!

I decided S was really for Santa so I could use the opportunity to add another Christmas card to my barely-started stash. I managed Santa in Silver Specs, a Stamped Sentiment with Snowflakes and some Sequins so I earned the extra brownie points for seven Ss while still managing to keep it CAS!

The Cool Yule dies were on sale recently and I found myself unable to resist, mostly for this Santa and the fabulous reindeer head in the set (which will make a debut soon, I'm sure).

The sentiment comes from a set I was lucky enough to win in Rudolph's Random Raffle over at Christmas Kickstart a while back - thanks Rudolph (and Jo!). 

Supplies:
Cool Yule dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Fine frames circles die (Altenew)
Bristol board
Silver mirri card
Copic markers
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)
Memento Luxe ink by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Sequins
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Masculine makes

Our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers today is set by Dawn. She says she always struggles with masculine cards so she's looking for ideas so that she can have a stack at hand - show us your masculine makes!

The men I make cards for tend to like clean and simple, no frills designs. In fact, while I was snapping this card, my hubby walked past and said "Oh, that's a nice one!" So, ink, stamps and an aperture cut with a die to use as a stencil and that's as fancy as this got. I have a couple of acetate sheets with various size circles cut in them that live on my desk ready for use as stencils.

Stamps:
Teasels (Bee Crafty)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Fired Brick)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
"Stencil" cut with circle Nestie
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well and managing to carry on as near normal as possible with whatever restrictions you have in place for your area.

Link in the chain - August (and July!)

It's reveal time again over at Card Chain Challenge. My card this month went to Kath so it didn't have too far to travel.

From the options on offer, I chose the themes of summer and friendship. Summer seemed like the perfect excuse to revist this sweet image. I thought simple pencil colouring might work (although not so well for the photograph, it turns out!) and used the Toned Grey paper again as a nice neutral, slightly sandy base.

Stamps:
Seaside (Craft Secrets, no longer with us)

Paper:
Toned Grey by Strathmore

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)

Other:
Stitched rectangle dies (Paper Rose Studio)
Coloured pencils

I realised I forgot to blog July's chain card so I'll do that here too, just so I have a record if I check back on my blog! This one went to Helen and I chose the underwater theme, the colours and the sketch (mirror image as my octopus faces right).

I used the MISTI and stamped dark to light so I cold heat emboss the solid layer of the image so the octopus would resist the inking for the background circle - sure beats trying to mask those fiddly tentacles!

Stamps:
Color Layering Octopus (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
I don't remember but Distress and Oxides in Wilted Violet, Milled Lavender, Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean probably went in there somewhere! I do rememeber the sentiment is Charcoal by Hero Arts.

Other:
Detail embossing powder (clear)
Sequins
Stickles (Frosted Lace)
Stencil (Fibres by Visible Image)
MISTI

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well. There are still a few days to sign up for the September chain if you fancy making and sending a card and getting one from another chain member. sign up here.

Say cheese!

Miri is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she's given us a "picture perfect" theme, so a camera, picture frame, polaroid layout or a real photo would all fit the bill.

I needed a card for a 50th wedding anniversary - this camera is pretty much exactly what a 1970 one would have looked like and one of the recipients worked in the family’s camera shop so this seemed just right for the job. I added the 50 by hand in the blank part of the image and stamped the anniversary sentiment on a second Polaroid cut out and stuck under the first.

Stamps:
Say Cheese (digi by Dr Digi)
Sentiment from a Waltzingmouse Stamps set (no longer with us)

Paper:
Copy paper (to print digi image)
Bristol board
DCWV textured

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Black fineliner 
Stitched square frames dies (Paper Rose Studio)
Fine Frames circle dies (Altenew)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well.

August elements

It's the first Friday of a new month so over at Daring Cardmakers that means an "elemental" challenge - just use at least three elements of the inspiration picture to kickstart your project.

It’s my turn to provide the picture this time and I put together a little montage of objects to photograph. I intended to make something light and summery but my supplies had other ideas!

In the end the elements I chose were white line art on a black background (from the book at the bottom), leafy stem, two circles (inspired by cup and saucer) and rectangle (inspired by the books). The leafy stem is die cut from a piece in my scraps pile that had Brusho colour on it. 

Stamps:

Sketchy leaf from a set by Sheena Douglass

Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:

Black

Bristol board 

Brusho coloured scrap

Ink:

Versamark by Tsukineko 

Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:

Embossing powder by Wow (Bright White)

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Wildflowers 1 dies

Altenew Fine Frames circles die

Fineline marker

Here's the inspiration picture, we'd love to have you join us over at DCM!

Power of three

It's my turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week. As it’s the anniversary of the birth of Alexandre Dumas, I thought we might celebrate The Three Musketeers by featuring threes on our projects this week.

I opted for three circles and three dots of Enamel Accents on a masculine birthday card. I got some toned grey paper for Christmas having seen some lovely pencil colouring done on it and I’m ashamed to say I’ve only just had a first play with it! I’ve opted for more of a simple sketch book look, too.

Embossing adds some textural interest for a limited colour palette. I inked the folder so there’s a bit extra shading going on, too. I still had the pearlescent watercolours out on my desk from last week's card so I spattered some gold on the panel before sticking down the elements.

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

Paper:
Toned grey (Strathmore)
Bristol board 

Ink:
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Smokey Gray)

Other:
Coloured pencils (white and two greys)
Charcoal pencil
Circles dies by Spellbinder
Fine frames circle die by Altenew
Stitched rectangles A6 dies by Paper Rose Studio
Shell Beauty M-Bossabilities by Spellbinder
Metallic gold pen
Metallic gold paint
Enamel Accents by Ranger

Thanks for stopping by, please do continue to take care as we ease out of lockdown and, if you’re in England, don’t forget your mask from today if you’re heading out to the shops!

Let’s go to Mexico!

It's Svenja's turn to set our challange over at Daring Cardmakers and she’d like us to be inspired by Frida Kahlo and/or Mexico. I guess we won’t be travelling for a while so we can craft our own vacations instead!

There’s a fabulous portrait of Frida Kahlo with hot pink lilies in her hair and looking at it reminded me of one of the very first stamps I bought (I’ve had it since at least 2007). It’s an unbranded grey rubber stamp, I believe the same image turned up later in a Graphic 45 set. I did doctor the eyebrows a little with a fineline marker, just to up the Frida factor!

I’m afraid the foil and metal flakes made this a horror to photograph but you probably get the idea. The sentiment was cut from double sided tape and foiled with a little roll I’ve had for over 25 years! I wish I’d placed it just a bit higher, closer to the image, but you live and learn. The ginkgo leaf was just hanging about on my desk and seemed to fit the sort of opulent feel so got added.

Actually, this turned into an older supplies fiesta, the gold paint splatters are made with pearlescent watercolour paint I bought years ago as a cheapo version of Twinkling H2Os - from The Works if I remember rightly.

Stamps:
Woman with flowers (unbranded)

Paper:
Bristol board 
Black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Ginkgo leaf die (Impression Obsession)
Phrase Set 2 (Spellbinder)
Gold gel pen
Pearlescent watercolour paint
Double sided tape
Gold foil
Mega Flake by Indigo Blu (Chariot of Fire)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are all safe and well.

Deckchair stripes and sunny spots

Kathy is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers today - the theme is deckchair stripes and sunny spots so of course my mind turned to... Christmas! Anything with stripes or spots or both works for this theme, you can make your own or use something already striped or spotted!

I got these penguins in the same package as last week’s tentacle die and since their hats and scarves are striped and spotted I thought they’d fit this challenge nicely and bag me my first Christmas card of the year! As I’m pushing my luck with Kathy in any case since it’s a Christmas card in July I thought I ought to up the stripe factor with a background stamp.

Jo’s Christmas Kickstart has just moved into the phase of the year where it becomes fortnightly and the theme is “hats” so I figured the bundled penguins worked for that, too.

Stamps:
Bundled Penguins (Stampendous)
Canvas Stripes (Hero Arts)
Sentiment put together from a couple of sets (Hero Arts and Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Momento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Tracing wheel
White enamel accents by Ranger 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well.

July's elements

It's the first Friday of a new month so it's time for an "elemental" challenge over at Daring Cardmakers - just choose at least three elements of the inspiration picture to include in your project.

The lovely Svenja provided a fun and quirky mood board for us this month, from which I chose a tentacle, tickets, sequin waste circles (and the implied sequins!) and some of the colours.

I'd been tempted by this tentacle die in the past but seeing Svenja's mood board this month finally made me cave in and get it - it was cheap and it makes me smile!

Stamps:
Ticket Counter (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Watercolour
Black
Orange
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Pool and Stream)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mustard Seed)

Other:
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose Studio)
Twisting Tentacle die (Memory Box)
Stencil (Memory Box)
Sequins

Here's our inspiration photo this month:

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well.

Link in the chain - June

It's reveal time at Card Chain Challenge - mine is winging its way to Dawn in New Zealand this time.

From the options for June I chose the theme (beach) and sort of followed the sketch. As the card needed to go half way round the world it’s a single layer to keep it light and flat for airmailing - masking is always a useful technique when you want a “layered” image without actually using layers!

I used a stiff stencil brush to stipple various light brown and yellowish inks to give the sandy strip the appearance of some texture

Stamps:
Antique Engravings and Color Layering Waves (both Hero Arts)
Seaside (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Tea Dye, Tumbled Glass)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Latte)

Other:
Copic markers 
Brown fineliner 
White paint pen by Posca

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe.

Let's go 3D

It's Dawn's turn to set our challenge this week at Daring Cardmakers and she's asking us to go 3D - make a bag or a box!

I always find myself wanting different ways to present gift cards come Christmas so I had a go at a pop up box and made it Christmassy!

I particularly liked the idea of adding a little extra, so I used this tutorial. I found a stash of Bazzil cardstock recently so picked out Limeade for a slightly brighter take on Christmas colours.

I did tweak the the tutorial as I added an extra bit so there's a divider towards the front to tuck the little extra into. I love her idea of the tube of Rolos but you could substitute other chocolate or sweets or something like a lipstick or mascara for a girlie gift I reckon. I also punched a half circle thumb hole to make the lid easier to open and clipped the back corners of the lid into a slope.

Slide the ribbon off, open the box and ta-da! (An old NT membership card is standing in as body-double for a gift card here).

Stamps:
Noel (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)
Holly (Freebie magazine stamp)

Paper:
Bazzil (Limeade)
Deep red
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Crimson Red)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Labels die by Spellbinder
Circle punch by Fiskars
Red Spica glitter pen
Stitch tags dies by Waltzingmouse Stamps
Red gingham ribbon

Thanks for stopping by, take care and stay safe if you are somewhere where restrictions are easing.

A little glamour

We could probably all do with a little glamour in our lives right now, I suspect there's a lot of leisure wear, pyjamas and quite a few bad hair days going on! Ruth has set today's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers and the theme is glamour - whatever makes you feel like a movie star!

I made a card for a friend who is a musician. She sometimes plays for shows so a stamp called "Show Girls" seemed like a good idea - I was lucky enough to win a Lost Coast challenge a while ago and chose this stamp as part of my prize, I think these girls are great fun! My friend loves purple and although she's unlikely to be caught in this sort of outfit, she does love a bit of glamour (more usually in the form of nail polish, make up and a shiny or sparkly dress).

The girls are stamped and masked then a couple of purple inks smooshed on using a piece of acetate. A bit of simple copic colouring, a few sequins and a doodled grounding finish it off.

Stamps:
Show girls (Lost Coast Designs)
Birthday (Letter It range by Ranger)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress and Oxide by Ranger (Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet)

Other:
Copic markers
Sequins
Black fineliner
Corner Chomper

Hope you are keeping safe and well, whever you are. Thanks for stopping by!

June Elements

As it’s the first Friday of the month it must be an “elemental” challenge over at Daring Cardmakers. Kathy has chosen our inspiration picture this time and it’s very summery indeed! Just chose at least three elements to include in your card.

I picked a drink with a slice of lemon and mint leaves, gingham pattern, a handwritten-style sentiment and yellow/green.

Although this stamp come with dies, I decided I didn’t want the white “halo” round the image this time so cut it out with scissors as it’s a reasonably easy shape.

Stamps:
Cocktail Time (Crafter’s Companion)
Birthday (Letter It range by Ranger)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Gingham ribbon
Corner Chomper 
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose Studio)

Inspiration picture:

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well.

Keep it in the family

It's my turn to set this week's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers. It's World Family Day today so I chose the topic of "family". When I chose the topic I had no idea that it would have extra poignancy as many of us are not able to see our families at the moment because of the lockdown restrictions.

I chose a stamp that has “family” in its name and I reckoned that maybe we could all do with a bit of owlish wisdom to help us through the tough times.

Stamps:
Owl Family (Crafty Individuals)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Watercolour 

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Vintage Sepia)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn, Spiced Marmalade)

Other:
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose Studio)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you are staying safe and well.

Inky!

Rizwana is setting her first challenge for us over at Daring Cardmakers this week - she'd like to see some inky backgrounds.

I have two quite different projects to share for this one but they both use the same basic technique - add some ink to a sheet of acetate, spritz with water and add to a sheet of heavy cardstock or watercolour paper.

For this bird card I stamped the image first and masked it, then added the inky background in a pale blue for a subtle effect. I painted the berries in green in the hope they'd look more like leaf buds for a more spring-time feel.

Stamps:
Blue bird with branch and berries (Crafty Individuals)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Tim Holtz watercolour

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Tumbled Glass)

Other:
Stitched Rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose Studio)

The second project features more postcards for my dad and brother.

I added three different blues to some watecolour paper, building up layers using the acetate technique. Then I stared at them for ages trying to figure out what to do with them. I finally settled on a VE Day theme and added some bunting and stamped numbers since we're commemorating 75 years this year.

The blues lifted quite well from the open flag areas just with water but I decided I wanted a cleaner white so those are painted with a bit of gesso.

Stamps:
Artsy Banners (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)
A&P Numbers (Ma Vinci's Reliquary, no longer with us)

Paper:
Watercolour

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocen, Blueprint Sketch, Barn Door)
Mid tone ink by Hero Arts (Charcoal)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Gesso
Microglaze

Thanks for stopping by, if you fancy getting inky to distract yourself in lockdown why not come join us?

Card chain - April

I'm late for reveal day at Card Chain Challenge again - I'm sure I'm not alone in finding the days blurring into each other at the moment! Hope everyone's finding ways to cope and stay as sane and happy as possible.

Our options for April included the colour scheme of plum, lilac and black and the theme of hats. I couldn't find the stamp I originally planned to use so I revisted an old favourite from the long-defunct Tanda stamps.

My card went to Suzanne in Pennsylvania this time so it's a single layer to keep it light and flat for airmailing.

Stamps:
Retro Ladies (Tanda Stamps, no longer with us)
Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord)

Other:
Momento markers (Sweet Plum, Lulu Lavender)
Copic marker (Eggshell - used for skin)
Black fineliner
Stencil cut with Spellbinder Fancy Lattice die

Thanks for stopping by, may you and yours stay safe and well.

May's elements

It's Dawn setting the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week - as it's the first Friday of a new month it's an elemental one, just choose at least three elements from the picture to kick start your project.

A neighbour across the road was celebrating a big milestone birthday this week. We popped a bottle of champagne into a gift bag for him so I took inspiration from the tall glasses in the photo and made a card to tie in with the gift.

Other inspiration elements are yellow and green from the colour scheme and stacked squares. I used gold emobssing powder for the sentiment so that it's opaque over the stems of the glasses. There's some clear Wink of Stella going on so the champagne has some sparkle.

Stamps:
Champagne Celebration (Crafter’s Companion)
Birthday (Letter It by Ranger)

Paper:
Bristol board
DCWV

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Versmark by Tsukineko

Other:
Copic markers
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Square dies (Spellbinders)
Giold gel pen
Gold detail embossing powder

Here's our inspiration picture this month:

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and well.