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!

Flag pole

Kathy has set the challenge for us at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like us to take inspiration from the flag of a country other than our own (we used this site for a guide to flags of the world).

I chose the flag of Estonia and in finding out a litte more about it, I discovered that the national bird is the barn swallow. I'm not sure mine is exactly the right type but it is a swallow so I thought it should see the light of day.

Representing a white stripe proved a bit difficult - I ended up doing a very, very light wash of colour underneath so hopefully the eye sees blue, black, white above the sentiment. The image is stamped on the card base and then again separately on Bristol and just the bird cut out and stuck on with gel glue for a bit of lift.

Maybe I was drawn to the Estonian flag because I've been listening to some Arvo Pärt recently (I'm in good company, he's apparently the most performed living composer). Spiegel im Speigel is just beautiful - if you have a few quiet minutes to spare, this version has the string part taken by cello rather than the more usual violin and I think it has a lovely, haunting almost hypnotic quality.

Stamps:
Joy (Carabelle Studio)
Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Watercolour
Scrap of Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Watercolors (Winsor & Newton)
Pearl pen by viva Decor (Ice White)
Copic markers
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!

February elements

It’s the first Friday of the month so it must be an elemental challenge over at Daring Cardmakers - my turn to host and I’ve taken inspiration from the month to put together our inspiration photo.  Violet and amethyst are February’s flower and gemstone, it’s usually cold and wet so curling up with a book is a good option but thoughts are starting to turn to gardening or beach walks if you’re lucky enough to live close to one. 

As usual, choose at least three elements from the picture to kick start your project. I chose a shell, book text, amethyst colour gems and a “hello” sentiment. 

I stamped the shell on the book page (taken from a book that was too shabby to give to a charity shop when we did a cull recently), painted over with gesso then stamped again once dry and shaded with Copic markers. I did try a version without the gesso but the detail of the stamp didn’t work well with the text showing through. 

Stamps:
Coquillage #2 (Carabelle Studio)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board
Old book page

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Wilted Violet)

Other:
Copic markers
Gesso
Cressida stencil
Nail art gems

Here's the inspiration photo for February:

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

Hello and welcome!

It’s Svenja’s turn to challenge us over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like us to focus on welcomes - a new baby, new colleague, new neighbour etc.

I’ve gone clean and simple with a scrapling (I’m determined to make a dent on the pile of scrapling-sized trimmings I have!). We live right on the edge of an area that still has red squirrels even though the greys are making inroads into the territory. We’re encouraged to report sightings of greys and one of our neighbours is a squirrel warden!

All of which made this stamp a perfect choice for a card to say “hello, welcome to the neighbourhood”! I’m sure he’s a red squirrel as he has those lovely little tufty bits on his ears and the greys don’t have those! Sadly I don’t have a die to cut the word welcome so I settled for stamping it on the inside.

Stamps:
Squirrel by Carabelle Studio

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Black fineliner 
Phrases 2 dies by Spellbinder
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Forever Young

I very nearly forgot the Craft Barn song title challenge this month but remembered just in time to sneak in before the deadline. This month's song is Forever Young.

Sticking with my format of making postcards for this challenge, I took inspiration from the lyric

May your heart always be joyful

May your song always be sung

May you stay forever young

I know Bob Dylan wrote it but for me, the only voice I hear in my head for this song is Joan Baez so I hand wrote her name inside the balloon and used Dymo tape to add the song title.

Nothing complicated here - just a hand cut heart mask, stamping, sponging, smudged charcoal pencil and a few doodled lines.

Stamps:
Joy by Carabelle Studio
Musical Backgrounds by Waltzingmouse stamps (no longer with us)

Paper: smooth white

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Pool)

Other:
Zig Clean Colour marker (pink)
Dymo labeller
Fine line marker

Thanks for stopping by!

That's torn it

It's DCM day and this week Dawn is asking us to "tear it up" - add something ripped or torn to your project.

I still have pages from an ephemera pack I bought ages ago from a local outfit that put them together from books that were beyond rescue. I tore a strip from a page featuring a children's story and used it to anchor the stamped image. I used a charcoal pencil to smudge underneath it to give it a bit more heft.

It's ages since I used bubble wrap to stamp with - I thought it would suit the style here and used the same ink to add a touch of colour to the balloon.

Stamps: 
Joy by Carabelle Studio 
Essential Messages by Hero Arts 

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

Paper: 
Bristol Board 
Torn book page

Other:
Charcoal pencil 
Corner Chomper 

Size: 7 x 5"

Thanks for stopping by!