Spell it out

Nat is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — she'd like to see us use alphabet dies or stamps to spell out a sentiment.

I made this to congratulate my nephew on his GCSE results, using an old alphabet stamp set in a font style that contrasted nicely with the big numbers. The little fill-in numbers tie in with his mathematical interests.  

I masked the strip for the sentiment with a piece of low tack tape, stamped numbers to reflect the grades he achieved, added some background stamping and brushed on a bit of ink before removing the tape and stamping the sentiment. I added just a tiny bit of shading to the lettering with a Copic and defined the edge of the strip with a doodled line.

Stamps:
Journal Letters (Hero Arts)
A&P Numbers (Ma Vinci's Reliquary, no longer with us)
Numbers (Katzelkraft)

Paper:

Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Fineliner
Copic marker

Fun and Games

It’s my turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and I'd like to challenge you to a game — indoor games, outdoor games, whatever sort of game you like!

I chose chess and used another of the Katzelkraft bargains I scored a while ago. I picked this set because hubby and eldest grandson sometimes play chess when they get together — the tables have turned and grandad’s experience doesn’t always mean he wins these days! 

This needed to go airmail so my preferred one-layer aesthetic was perfect, a bit of masking to place the pieces on the board and protect them from the inks (smooshed on with acetate), a doodled border and a few glossy dots keep it all light and flat. 

Stamps:
King’s Gambit (Katzelkraft)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Shadow Ink by Hero Arts (Charcoal and Soft Granite)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress and Oxide ink by Ranger (various blues, I lost track)

Other:
Pearl pen by Viva Decor (Anthracite)
Fineliner

Thanks for stopping by. 

Link in the chain - August

It's reveal day again at Card Chain Challenge. Mine has gone to Daja this time.

From the options on offer I chose the colours, the sketch, the theme of fruit and the product option of stencilling.

It’s my usual one layer aesthetic for CCC, simple stamping with a layering stamp set and a bit of masking, a stencilled background and my trademark rounded corner.

Stamps:
Lemon Blossom (The Greetery)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Bundled Sage, Mowed Lawn, Spiced Marmalade)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Sunset Orange)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Strobes stencil (Visible Image)
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by! There are still a few days to sign up for the next Chain, all the details are here. 

All taped up

I'm setting this week's challenge at Daring Cardmakers — I’d like to see tape used somewhere in the creation of your project.

I used the Magical Masking Tape technique to introduce some subtle variation in my background — I think the camera has picked it up enough to see. I did red, orange and two yellows striping up the card and then lightly brushed on some of the yellow all over (mostly to disguise inky fingerprints!). 

I was aiming for “summer sunset”, given the current situation in many northern hemisphere countries I hope it’s not too “wildfire”! The current challenge at Lost Coast Designs is Summertime so I’m linking up there, too.  

Stamps:
Shrubbery medium (Lost Coast Designs)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed)
Jenni Bowlin ink by Ranger (Lemon Drop)

Other:
Nail art gems
Fineliner
Corner Chomper

Elements for August

It's my turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week. As it’s the first Friday of the month, that means an “elemental” challenge — just choose at least three things from the inspiration picture to kick start your project  

I thought it might be fun to revisit the first ever August Elements picture. It turned out to be a very eclectic mix of stuff with lots of scope.

I chose the deer head, woodgrain, white text on black and a little pop of green and red and made a Christmas card. I die cut all the parts for the deer from white card, coloured most with Distress ink and just the antlers and inside the ears with Copics (also used for foliage and berries). I used a pearl pen for his eyes to give them a bit of sheen and put some Glossy Accents on the berries for the same reason  

Stamps:
Merriest Christmas Wishes (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board
Black

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Cool Yule dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Festive Greenery strip die (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Pinewood Planks embossing folder (Stampin Up!)
Copic markers 
Glossy Accents
Pearl pen by Viva Decor (Anthracite)
Bright white detail embossing powder by Wow!

Link in the chain — July

Another month gone so once again we’re round to reveal day for the Card Chain Challenge. Mine went to Brenda this time.

From the options on offer I chose the themes of fish and circles. This is not the card I set out to make but all my crafting mojo seems to have left the building so I just had to go with whatever happened. 

Background is smooshed Distress inks with the weed and bubbles stamped with Distress Oxide over the top. I used a pen cap to stamp some slightly larger “bubbles” as well. Some are filled in with white pen and have Stickles for sparkle. Extra sparkle comes from some silver thread looped behind the fish which is left uncoloured to contrast with the background and has some scrap card behind it to raise it just slightly.

Stamps:
Under the Sea (Darkroom Door)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol Board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (various blues)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink by Ranger (Blueprint Sketch, Twisted Citron)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Silver thread
Stickles (Frosted Lace)
White paint pen by Posca
Corner Chomper

There are still a few days to sign up for the next chain if you fancy it - make one card and send it, receive a lovely handmade card for yourself. Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the chain - June

It’s reveal day once again at Card Chain Challenge, my how the months fly by! I had the pleasure of being the filling in a sandwich of new players this month.

My card has gone to Alice who is not only a new player but, much to Gail’s excitement, ticks off a new country for CCC — Finland. Welcome Alice!

From this month’s options I chose the sketch and the colour palette and stuck with my usual one layer aesthetic for CCC, using another of the bargain Katzelkraft stamps I got a while back. I thought the cat looked like she might be about to spring a surprise so the sentiment seemed an appropriate one to go with the image! 

I used a fineliner to extend the line of the stamped image and make a “curtain” that goes all the way to top and bottom of the card. The circles are inked through apertures in my trusty piece of acetate and have doodled edges and white pen highlights. A bit of Copic colouring, a rounded corner and call it done.

Stamps:
Les Gros Chat 09 (Katzelkraft)
Joy (Carabelle Studio)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Cranberry)
Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Rosebud)

Other:
Copic markers
Black fineliner
White paint pen by Posca
Corner Chomper

There are still a few days to sign up for the next chain if you fancy it — just make and send one card, get a lovely handmade card just for you, spread some crafty love around the globe!

What's the (typewritten) word?

I’m mixing fonts and challenges today! Nat wants to see typewriters or typewriter font for this week’s Daring Cardmakers challenge and the current Hero Arts challenge wants the focus on sentiments.

My typewriter font is taking a bit of a supporting role but it is there! I know Father’s Day was a couple of weeks back but I was holding off on blogging this until this week’s DCM went live!

I used several shades of blue ink and repeatedly stamped the word to make a background and then used the matching die to cut one that got coated in Glossy Accents and tucked in around a little label with the rest of the sentiment. 

Stamps:
Happy Stamp n Cut (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (I lost track!)

Other:
Glossy Accents
Stitched rectangles dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Corner Chomper

Make it masculine

Dawn is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like to see some more masculine makes.

The Tim Holtz lumber folder makes a good base for a masculine card, I think. I cut an extra “plank” to extend it for the proportions of the card. As there’s a join between each plank in any case, it’s not too difficult to make it look fairly seamless.

I rubbed a Neocolour water soluble crayon over the embossing (keeping it on the folder so it has support underneath is a good idea) and then smudged with a damp finger. 

Simple white die cut foliage tied with a tomato paste dot and a scripty sentiment finish it off. 

Supplies:
Tim Holtz/Sizzix embossing folder (Lumber)
Tim Holtz/Sizzix Wildflower dies
Poppystamps die (Happy Birthday Poe Script)
Neocolour crayons
Bristol board
Kraft card
Brown fineliner
Tomato past tube

Everything’s coming up roses

It’s my turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week. As one of June’s birth flowers is the rose I thought we’d go that way but with an option of using yellow (with a rose image or with any other image/technique) as yellow roses represent friendship. 

I went for vivid yellow roses against a green backdrop. The flowers are stamped with some masking and coloured with pencils. A bit of inky stencilling for the background, a bold sentiment and a few nail art gems to finish. I haven’t made a square card in ages, it was nice to use different proportions for a change.

Stamps:
Jumbo Rose (Stampendous)
Say It Loud (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mowed Lawn)

Other:
Black fine liner
Coloured pencils
Corner Chomper
Nail art gems

Link in the chain — May

It’s time for this month's reveal at Card Chain Challenge. There were 32 players and my card went to Joanne in California this time.

From the options on offer I chose the theme of hats, the colours and (sort of) the sketch. Owen’s hat was originally going to be on a wobble but I couldn’t make it look right so in the end it just got some cardstock scraps underneath so it’s a little bit raised. Heat embossing for the gold of the colour scheme made it perfect for adding some watercolour as the raised lines make little “cells” to contain the colour. 

Stamps:
Owen the Owl (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Versamark by Tsukineko
Hero Arts Shadow ink (Soft Granite)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass)

Other:
Watercolour paints (Winsor & Newton)
Strobes stencil (Visible Image)
Gold detail embossing powder

There are still a few days to sign up for June’s chain if you fancy spreading some crafty joy around the planet. 

She sells sea shells...

It's time for a new challenge at Daring Cardmakers and this time Rizwana would like to see shells on our projects.

I was away on holiday last week so of course I suffered the usual syndrome of a couple of false starts on your first crafty session but I eventually managed something half way decent by sticking to clean and simple.

Shells from one of my all time favourite stamp sets, a bit of basic masking, watercolouring with Distress inks and my usual rounded corner and call it done.

Stamps:
Antique Engravings (Hero Arts, retired)
Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Watercolor

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black, Vintage Sepia)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Peacock Fathers, Tumbled Glass, Black Soot)

Other:
Corner Chomper

Sea shells make for a great summery projects - why not check out the rest of the design team's ideas and come join us?

 

Link in the chain — April

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge once again! There were 28 links in the chain this time and my card has gone to Imke in Germany.

From the options on offer, I chose the sketch, the colour palette (charcoal, lime, bumblebee) and the theme of umbrellas. 

That’s Crafty had a sale recently as they’re on the move and there were lots of lovely Katzelkraft stamps at bargain prices. I may have treated myself to a few! This chap with his umbrella seemed perfect for this month’s theme. 

It’s my usual one layer card for CCC. My original intention was for rather less grey but I managed some fairly significant smudges in areas that were going to be white so I just rolled with it and added more ink! He looks as though he might be emerging into a rather gloomy April day to brighten things up with his umbrella!

I used skinny strips of low tack tape to mask off the lines from the sketch while I added ink and then drew in some yellow, deliberately trying not to fill in all the white so there’s a bit of a “halo” round the colour. There’s a gold gel pen line along the bottom of each as well, just for some glitz! A rounded corner, doodled border and some dimensional paint dots finish it off. 

Stamps:
Les Gros Chat 03 (Katzelkraft)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Charcoal)

Other:
Copic makers
Gold gel pen
Fine liner
Pearl pen by Viva Decor (Anthracite)
Corner Chomper

There are still a few days to sign up for the next chain if you fancy spreading some crafty smiles around the planet. 

Bunches of...

I'm setting this week’s challenge at Daring Cardmakers and I’d like to see something that comes in bunches featuring on your cards this week — flowers, grapes, bananas…

This wasn’t what I set out to do but that ended up in the circular file, I’m afraid. So I decided I should finally get round to playing with a set I got on sale some time ago (ahem, think years rather than months!) and that has been reproaching me each time I look for something else in a particular box. 

Monkey is having quite the feast! All the animals in this set have separate heads and bodies so you can align them different. His head is actually on a wobble here so you can get him to do a cute head shake. 

I stamped the body directly onto the card base so I just cut a little slit to poke the banana into. If you use the coordinating dies, the tail actually gets cut in the little spiral so you can thread his treats through. 

I ended up being in a rush so the colouring is a bit rudimentary but it’s quite cute, I think. 

Stamps:
Jungle Friends (Stampendous)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black, Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Wibbly wobbly die (Jane Davenport)
Phrases set I (Spellbinder)

Birds of a feather

Nat is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week — she’d like to see feathers or something feathered.

Birds are probably second only to florals in my stamp collection so that seemed to be the way to go. I decided to play along at A Blog Named Hero as well and use the HA colour layering stamp for my bird, making her a restful combination of blues. As April is their blog birthday month, HA want to see birthday cards this time.

Going white on white for the sentiment seemed right for a light and airy feel. The lovely die was gifted to me — thanks Margot! — and gives a beautifully crisp cut. 

Stamps:
Bird and branch colour layering (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black, Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Twisted Citron)
Momento by Tsukineko (Bamboo Leaves)

Other:
Happy Birthday Poe Script die (Poppystamps)
Strobes stencil (Visible Image)
Corner Chomper

Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero — They Say It’s Your Birthday

Bloom and grow

Dawn is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — she’d like to see what we have planned for the garden as we move in to spring and then summer. 

We have a glorious poppy patch just at the front of our house, I look forward to them bursting forth each year (usually early to mid May so not too long to wait now, the leaves are up already). That made me chose this lovely Indigo Blu stamp to make a card for my aunt who has a round number birthday coming up. I stamped once, masked and stamped again for extra abundant poppies!

A base layer of Copic colour got topped up with pencil shading and a few pearl dots to finish it off.

Stamps:
Poppycock (Indigo Blu)
Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Coloured pencils
Copic markers 
Pearl pen by Viva Decor (Ice White)
Corner Chomper 

Elements for April

 Dawn is setting our first challenge of the month over at Daring Cardmakers — as ever with our “elemental” challenges, just choose at least three elements from the inspiration picture to include in your project. 

I chose a hedgehog, spotty toadstools, colours, woodgrain and leaves. I haven’t used pencils on kraft for ages, it was nice to revisit that and I’ve always thought the combination of balloons and hedgehogs has a delightful optimism about it! I got this set ages ago from someone who was clearing out and haven’t got round to using it until now. I don’t think this stamp has ever been off the backing sheet, I had a real struggle to peel it off without damaging it. Got there in the end and hopefully it will be a bit easier next time.

Here in the UK hedgehogs will be coming out of hibernation around now, if you have local ones you could make sure they have access to drinking water (put out a shallow dish) even if you don’t want to risk attracting other critters by putting food out. If you do want to put food out, apparently the best choice is a meaty (as opposed to fishy) cat food or kitten biscuits — no matter what we were told as kids don’t be tempted to put out bread and milk as hedgehogs are lactose intolerant!

Stamps:
Critter Party (Penny Black Transparent)
Spring Trees (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Kraft

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Coloured pencils
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Phrases I dies (Spellbinder)
Festive Rose dies (Sue Wilson/Creative Expressions)
Pinewood Planks embossing folder (Stampin’ Up)

Link in the chain — March

It’s reveal day once again at Card Chain Challenge. My card has gone to Brenda this time so it didn’t have too far to travel. 

From the options on offer I chose the theme of birds and the colour palette. Of course the product option of stamps was pretty much a given for me! I intended to use proper watercolours but somehow got sidetracked into using Distress inks instead. 

This beautiful bird stamp is one of Maria Kitano’s designs for Crafty Individuals, I don’t use him nearly enough. He makes a lovely robin with some orangey red for breast feathers. I added some leaf shapes to the twiggy bit of the stump — it seems in springtime anything with even a bit of life in it will push out optimistic leaves!

The sentiment is from a very old set but it fell in to my hands while I was looking for something else and this sentiment seemed right — we often associate robins with winter and Christmas time but they’re around and singing loud and clear to herald spring, too!

Stamps:
Perching Bird (Crafty Individuals)
Scene It Sentiments (Hobby Art)

Paper:
Watercolour

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Rustic Wilderness, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door)

Other:
Corner Chomper 

There are still a few days to sign up for the next chain, why not come and join us — it’s a lovely way to spread crafty happiness around the world!

Think of a number

Shabneez is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like to see some numbers — they could take a starring role or sit in the background as long as they’re there!

The young lady this is for is very maths and science oriented so it seemed appropriate to add a numbers background and DNA code as well as her age. 

The inky flower is coloured with a single ink — the colour breaks down a bit with water to produce some interesting variations. I gave the big numbers some drop shadow with a grey marker and doodled a border.

Stamps:
Creative Chaos (Visible Image)
Numbers border (Kaisercraft)
A&P Numbers (Ma Vinci's Reliquary, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Mint Julep)

Other:
Black fine liner
Grey Copic marker

Little ones

Miri is setting our challenge today at Daring Cardmakers with the theme of “little ones” — make a card for the little ones in your life or think small in other ways!

I’m also playing along with Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero — this month’s theme is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. I really got the Beach Please set for the umbrella image so of course the first thing I use is the cocktail glass! I don’t often get matching dies for stamps but I’m glad I had them here — these little glasses would have been a horror to fussy cut and the option to cut them out and pop them up is great. 

I’ve gone for the slightly lateral interpretation at DCM as I don’t have any babies or small children to make for. I lined up some little cocktails in rainbow colours, courtesy of Distress inks, for a clean and simple card. The glasses are stuck on with gel glue for a bit of lift and there’s Wink of Stella on the ice cubes, only obvious if you catch the light just right!

Stamps:
Beach Please Stamp & Cut (Hero Arts)
Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn, Wilted Violet, Weathered Wood, Black Soot)

Other:
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Pinflair gel glue
Corner Chomper

Hero Arts — Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Stripy scarves!

Kathy has set our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — she wants to see spots and/or stripes. Mr Mojo has taken a holiday and I was feeling distinctly uninspired so went searching for extra inspiration (I often find that figuring out a way to combine a couple of challenges helps get things moving). 

I haven’t played in Jo’s Christmas Kickstarter for ages but I always look to see what the month’s challenge is. This time around it’s all wrapped up with scarves. That combined with the stripes theme in my head to steer me to use these adorable bears with their striped scarves. 

The bears are stamped and masked, edges of the card covered with low tack tape before blending in some blue Distress inks. A little Copic colouring and just a few dimensional paint dots along with a sentiment finish off a simple one layer creation.

The rest of the team have created a lovely spring vibe with their creations, it’s just me reflecting the weather outside the window at the moment! Do check out the DCM blog for a breath of something warmer (link from the graphic below) and why not get the stash of Christmas cards under way with a visit to Christmas Kickstart too?

Stamps:
Polar Bear Pals (MFT)
Sparkle All the Way (Crafter's Companion)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch)

Other:
Copic Markers
Pearl pen by Viva Decor ((Ice White)
Corner Chomper 

Elements for March

Miri has chosen our inspiration picture for the "elemental" challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — as ever, just choose at least three elements from the picture to kickstart your project.

The spiral shape of the caterpillar made me think of this lovely shell stamp and I ended up going down a sort of naturalist’s sketch book route (after quite a lot of playing with ideas that didn’t work out). Other elements are flower, butterfly and some of the colours. 

The butterfly is stamped directly on the panel, the other images are cut out and stuck on with gel glue for some differences in height. I had intended more muted colouring, not quite sure what happened there!

Stamps:
Antique Engravings (Hero Arts, retired)
Magnolia (Stampendous)
Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass)

Other:
Copic markers
Square dies (Presscut)
Fineliner
Pinflair gel glue

Link in the chain - February

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge. There were 33 players for February and my card has gone to Mia in Greece this time.

From the options on offer I chose the theme (hearts) and product (gauze) ones. I wanted to do something a bit different with my gauze so I used black acrylic paint to stick it to some card, let it dry and then highlighted with some gilding wax. 

I think my Delicata ink pad has started to separate out, or maybe it was the painted surface, either way I couldn’t get the little hearts to show up clearly so I used a gel pen to draw round the inside of the stamped shape.

The butterfly is stamped, coloured and cut out and glued on along with some die cut rings and a sentiment strip.

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

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Delicata by Tsukineko (Golden Glitz)

Other:
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Copic markers
Fine frames circle die (Altenew)
Acrylic paint
Gauze
Rub n Buff (Gold Leaf)

There’s still time to sign up for the March chain if you fancy it — just make one card and receive one from the next link in the chain, it’s a lovely way to spread a little hand crafted love around the world. 

Waxing Lyrical

My turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and I’d like to see wax incorporated somehow, further details on the blog.

As ever when you set a challenge, it proves to be harder than tackling somebody else’s! To help me along a bit, I looked for extra inspiration and found it in the current Hero Arts challenge where the theme is “animal crackers” — use any sort of creature. That gave me the perfect excuse to pull out the lovely detailed octopus and make a watery scene. 

I started by splashing melted candle wax* onto my paper and giving it a minute to harden. Then I brushed on a few shades of blue and scraped off the wax (an old credit card is perfect for this) to reveal the splashy resist pattern. It was only after stamping the octopus I decided I’d like something extra so I stencilled carefully to avoid going over the white bits. 

*It probably goes without saying but if you’re doing this, do be extremely careful with a lit candle in your craft space — all those papercrafting supplies are very flammable!

Stamps:
Layering Octopus (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Hero Arts (Soft Granite, Charcoal)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean)

Other:
Tea light
Fibres stencil (Visible Image)
Enamel Accents by Ranger
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)

Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero — Animal Crackers

All loved up

As Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, Dawn has set us a challenge with the theme of "all loved up" at Daring Cardmakers this week. 

I’ve gone for hearts and made a fairly masculine card. I’ve also tied in with a couple of other challenges — Lost Coast Designs where the theme is love and hearts along with stamping and Die Cut Divas who would like to see some gold along with using your die cutter. 

I was lucky enough to have my name come out of the LCD challenge hat recently and chose the fabulous Perspective Floor stamp as part of my prize. Of course, being me the first thing I did was something other than use it as a floor! I’ve stamped in a vertical orientation, turned and matched up the pattern (there’s actually a stamp in the LCD catalogue that would do the job for you — it’s called Fourth Dimension — but I’m never one for making things easy for myself, am I?!).

I haven’t used these primitive hearts for ages so it was nice to revisit those. The design sort of evolved a bit, I messed up what I originally planned for the smaller heart and then remembered the Die Cut Divas challenge and covered it all up with gold leafing! I used a two way glue pen and deliberately tried to introduce some texture. It's very shiny and reflective and difficult to photograph!

Stamps:
Perspective Floor  (Lost Coast Designs)
Everyday Petites (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

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

Other:
Mega Flake by Indigo Blu (Chariot of Fire)
Zig two way glue pen
Primitive Hearts Bigz die (Sizzix)
Stitched rectangles dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Fineliner

 

February’s elements

It’s the first Friday of a new month and at Daring Cardmakers that always means an “elemental” challenge — just chose at least three elements from the inspiration picture to kick start your project. 

Nat has chosen a very pretty picture this time but I must confess to “brain freeze”, I’m nearly as bad with pastel colours as I am with patterned paper! Using the colours isn’t necessary but I just couldn’t see past them for some reason. In the end I focused on just two colours (the pale green and blue from the stack of what I suspect are socks), the heart shape and knitted texture. 

Unusually for me, there’s no stamping other than the sentiment. I stuck the die cut hearts to a white panel and then ran it through an embossing folder to embed the hearts for a seamless kind of look. I got the knitted pattern embossing folder as a Christmas gift and it’s a beauty, gives a lovely deep and detailed impression.

Stamps:
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board
Scraps of pale blue and green
Textured black

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko 

Other:
Heart dies (Waltzingmouse, no longer with us)
Confetti die (Mama Elephant)
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
White detail embossing powder by Wow!
Knitted 3D embossing folder (Sizzix)

Link in the chain January

It’s time for the reveal of January’s Card Chain Challenge. There were 25 links in the chain and mine has gone over the Pond to the lovely Linda this time. The cyber “incident” at Royal Mail May have slowed its progress somewhat but it will get there eventually, we hope!

From this month’s options I chose the theme of cocktails, the product option of Distress inks and the colour palette (candyfloss, bubblegum, mulberry) with the addition of green — although I might have been able to argue for a pink citrus slice (pink grapefruit, perhaps?) I couldn’t bring myself to do pink mint leaves! 

It’s a very simple one layer creation, just stamping, colouring and a few tiny gems. The cocktail and background are Distress inks used as watercolours, the leaves and lime slice are Copic coloured. The Seedless Preserves Distress ink gave an impressive range of shades, depending on how dilute it was and using the Misti to stamp the sentiment a couple of times made it extra dark there — I thought it looked nicer in the same shade as the background rather than using black ink.

Stamps:
Cocktail Time (Crafter’s Companion)
Birthday sentiment set (Letter It range from Ranger)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves)

Other:
Copic markers
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper

Around the house

It’s my turn to set our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and we’re looking “around the house” this time. Either use something from around the house to help in making your creation (e.g. foil from the kitchen, scrape a design in paint with the prongs of a fork) or feature a household object (e.g. TV, food mixer). You could even do both if you’re feeling brave!

I went for using something from around the house and used dry wall tape to stencil a patterned stripe on my card base. I used a bit of low tack tape as well so I could create solid borders and then added a fineliner edge for even more definition. The hearts are simply stamped, fussy cut and the front one is stuck on with gel glue for a bit of dimension.

I’m also playing along at A Blog Named Hero where this month’s theme is “crazy little thing called love” since my trusty HA hearts came out to play.

Stamps:
Unnamed Hearts (Hero Arts, maybe retired?)
Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board
Textured black

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves)

Other:
Dry wall tape
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
White Enamel Accents by Ranger
Fineliner