Stencil it

Nat is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see us using stencils. All the details here.

I decided to try out some Oxide ink on a black background. I'm not sure the colour survives particularly well if you apply them with brushes — it may be better if you stamp — but I quite liked the effect, I think this would be a good masculine card.

Supplies:
Bristol board and smooth black cardstock
Alphabet Sprinkle stencil (That Special Touch)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxides by Ranger (Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough)
Happy Stamp n Cut and Essential Messages stamp set (Hero Arts)
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Bright white embossing powder by Wow!
Versamark by Tsukineko

Thanks for stopping by!

Black, white and...

Shabneez is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like to see cards that are black and white with just one other colour.

Perhaps because there are lots of “Christmas in July” things happening in blogland, the first thing that popped in to my head for “black and white” was penguins. They’ve made the sartorial choice to colour coordinate their hats and scarves with their beaks and feet!

A fairly wide black mat and some Enamel Accents dots help to up the quota of black and I have another card to add to the Christmas stash. 

I’m also playing along with the lovely folk at the Lost Coast Challenge blog who have a Christmas in July event going on.

Stamps:
Bundled Penguins (Stampendous)
Sentiment from a magazine freebie set

Paper:
Bristol board
Black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Stitched rectangles A6 size (Paper Rose)
Enamel Accents by Ranger 

Clean and simple in the snow!

Enfys is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like to see clean and simple designs, lots of unpatterned, untextured white space. 

When I saw that the challenge this month at Let’s Squash It is “keep it CAS” I couldn’t resist combining. As I decided to cool off a little by imagining snow, I’m entering Jo’s Christmas Kickstart challenge too where snowfolk are the order of the day. 

I did start off with a (homemade) embossing diffuser to emboss the snowflakes directly onto the card base but things didn’t quite work out as intended so I ended up with a die cut circle that I embossed and stuck on. The little dancing snowman is stuck on with gel glue and his banner has the tiniest sliver of cardstock for an upright. I drew a silver gel pen circle round the embossed area, rounded a corner and called it done.

Stamps:
Dancing snowman (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Sentiment from a magazine freebie set

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Ice Crystals embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Corner Chomper
Circle Nestabilites

Link in the chain - June (and May!)

It's reveal day at Card Chain Challenge — mine is still en route to Lou I think, mail to Australia is being very slow at the moment, apparently! 

From the options on offer I chose the themes of fluffy and friendship. This little guy was the fluffiest thing I could think of in my stash! 

It’s my usual one layer card for CCC, just stamps, ink and some Enamel Accents for a finishing touch. I used my trusty piece of acetate that has various sized circles die cut from it to add the backdrop for the chick. 

Stamps:
Farm Chicks (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)
Sentiment from Layering Octopus (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Hero Arts Shadow ink (Soft Granite)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean)

Other:
Copic markers
Enamel Accents

I realised I forgot to blog last month’s so I’ll do that now. It went to the lovely Jo and from the options on offer I chose the theme of desert and the colour scheme of pineapple, peach, terracotta. I sort of regretted that choice after I’d mentally committed to it since I didn’t really have ink colours that matched and ended up doing lots of blending with various inks to get somewhere close! My memory has probably failed on exactly what went in there but never mind, I’m sure nobody really cares!

Stamps:
Way Out West and Back in the Saddle (both Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Sandal, Mountain Rose, Rust)
Jenni Bowlin dye ink by Ranger (Lemon Drop)

Thanks for stopping by!