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.