Believe

It’s Friday so it must be time for a new challenge at Daring Cardmakers — it’s our last before Christmas and follows our previous one word prompts. Today’s word is BELIEVE.

I couldn’t resist tying in with Let’s Squash It where the theme is snowflakes and stars. Sadly, LSI is calling it a day, at least for the time being. I’ve been really honoured to be chosen as Empress three times. Gail and Jo have been fabulous challenge hosts and all the regular players will be sad to wave farewell. Thank you Gail and Jo!

For today’s card I used a sentiment that includes the DCM word of the week, stamped and heat embossed on vellum with torn edges and laid over a background of sanded embossed snowflakes. The stars are die cut from silver card and I added glitter to the largest one for a bit extra festive pizzazz. I haven’t used the confetti die that produces the little stars for ages — it was nice to “rediscover” that!

It’s wintery and festive with plenty of die cut action so I’m linking up at Die Cut Divas, too.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and peaceful festive season.

Stamps:
Sparkle All the Way (Crafter’s Companion)

Paper:
Bristol board
Textured blue (came with the folder)
Vellum
Silver mirri 

Ink:
Versamark  by Tsukineko

Other:
Glamour dust by DecoArt (Crystal)
Stitched rectangle dies, A6 size (Paper Rose)
Snowflakes embossing folder (Darice)
Stars Framelits (Sizzix)
Confetti die (Mama Elephant)
Bright white detail embossing powder (Wow!)

White out

It's time for a new challenge at Daring Cardmakers and we have another in the series of one word prompts in the run up to Christmas. This week’s word is WHITE. 

I’m combining again with Let’s Squash It (any embossing folder on a Christmas card) and Die Cut Divas (where this month anything goes with a die and/or embossing folder). 

My mostly white card features embossed snowflakes and Snowy Sophie who has just a touch of colour. I had some white on black computer-generated sentiments left on my desk from last week’s card so I used another one here. 

I've lent most of my Christmassy embossing folders to my dad but forgot about this one as it was in my pile of "not yet used stuff" rather than in the Christmas box - sorry Dad!

I ran a line of pearl paint pen round the outside of the die cut embossed rectangle and poured glitter on it. Sophie is cut out (I redrew her arms onto the card with a fineliner so I didn’t have to cut out the fiddly bits) and given a sparkly snowdrift to nestle into using the same paint and glitter. 

Stamps:
Snowy Sophie (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Stitched rectangle dies, A6 size (Paper Rose)
Snowflakes embossing folder (Darice)
Glamour Dust by DecoArt (Crystal)
Pearl Pen by DecoArt (Ice White)
Black fineliner 

Holly jolly

It's time for a new challenge at Daring Cardmakers and we have a series of one word prompts in the run up to Christmas. This week’s word is HOLLY. 

I’ve combined with the new challenge at Let’s Squash It which is asking for any embossing folder on a Christmas card. I stamped the holly on a die cut square and then used the folder to emboss it so that all the grungy detail and the wording is on that layer. To get smooth leaves, I stamped again on a scrap of card, coloured the holly and cut it out. It’s stuck on with gel glue so the leaves are lifted off the embossed layer a bit. A wonky border doodled with a gold gel pen, some sparkle on the berries, a computer-generated seniment and some enamel dots finish it off.

The Die Cut Divas have an “anything goes” theme this month, I used an embossing folder and a die here so I’m linking up there too. I wanted a square that was bigger than the Nesties I have so I used a square frame die but placed my top plate so that I only cut one outer edge, then turned it to cut the next and so on — a bit fiddly but it worked! Of course I then obscured the stitching effect by embossing the piece so I should probably have just used a knife and ruler to cut a square!

Stamps:
Inked Holly (Visible Image)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Stitched square frame dies (Paper Rose)
Pine planks embossing folder (Stampin Up)
Clear Wink of Stella pen
White Enamel Accents by Ranger
Gold gel pen 

Autumn leaves

Time for a new challenge at Let's Squash It  and I’m delighted to be joining Jo and Gail as Guest Designer again this month. 

The theme this time is trees and/or leaves. I did a bit of both with trees on the embossing folder and die cut leaves for good measure. This little chap had a wintery adventure at this woodland spot last year, padding through snow between the trees — I thought it might be fun to give him some crunchy autumn foliage to kick up this year! I inked a piece of card with a few Distress inks then die cut the leaves to put under his feet.

Stamps:
Pointy Hat Gnome (Lost Coast Designs)
Sentiment from Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black, Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade)

Other:
Woodland embossing folder (Stampin’ Up!)
Leaves dies (Impression Obsession)
Stitched rectangle dies, A6 size (Paper Rose)
Fineline marker
Copic markers
Gel glue

Why not break out an embossing folder and something with trees or leaves and come join the fun, there’s always a little prize on offer for a randomly chosen winner at Let’s Squash It and it’s always a lovely bunch of crafters taking part!

Oh, and with his drift of autumn leaves and backdrop of tree trunks, Gnomie thought he should enter the Four Seasons October challenge, too!

Changing seasons

Our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week is being set by Dawn and she’d like to see something influenced by the changing seasons.

I’ve opted for the obvious autumnal feel and also combined with the current challenges at Let’s Squash It (emboss two thirds of your card) and Die Cut Divas (autumn). 

On my daily walk up the lane I pass lots of interesting dry stone walling, some of it a little tumbledown, some of it mossy or supporting brambles as well as keeping the cows and sheep where they should be! I haven’t used this folder for ages and I thought it would be nicely rustic with the autumn leaves. I added a bit of ink to the folder before embossing to accentuate the lines.  

Unusually for me, there’s no stamping (other than the sentiment). 

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

Paper:
Bristol board
Kraft

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Vintage Sepia)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Dry stone wall embossing folder  (Crafter’s Companion) 
Pan pastels
Leaves dies (Impression Obsession)
Corner Chomper 
Nail art gems

Cake and candles

I’m combining challenges again today! Shabneez has chosen our theme at Daring Cardmakers and as she has lots of family birthdays to celebrate in August, she’d like to see birthday card ideas featuring candles and/or cake.

Let’s Squash It’s challenge of a shaped card combined with any embossing folder is ongoing so I decided to play again there — the cabinet card shape I made last week was looking very lonely in the challenge gallery until the lovely Robyn joined me on Wednesday but I'm sure Jo and Gail would love to see a few more shaped cards!

I kept the shape really simple this time, using the largest die from a really old Spellbinder set, but it still looks a bit different than your regular straight edges. Wafer thin dies tend not to want to go through two layers of base weight cardstock — I ran the folded base through the machine once which cut the top layer and made a good indentation in the bottom one. You can then flatten it out and use the indentation to reseat the die and place your top plate so it lines up along the fold of the card to make sure you don’t cut more than you intended. I then die cut a full front out of black cardstock, embossed it, dry brushed with metallic acrylic paint and stuck to the card base. 

The cake is stamped, coloured with Copics and fussy cut then stuck on with gel glue with a glittery gold frame to spotlight it. The sentiment is cut with a small rectangle, modified make it longer.

I realised when dry brushing the card front that there is even a cake with candles (top left) in the embossing so it’s double cake all round!

Stamps:
The Cafe (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Sentiment from Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board
Black
Gold glitter

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Birthday embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Copic markers
Labels 8 dies (Spellbinder)
Fine frames die, circle (Altenew)
Stitched rectangles A6 size (Paper Rose)
Espresso metallic paint (DecoArt)

Pearls of widsom

It's my turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers and as one of June’s birth stones is pearl I thought we’d take our inspiration from all things pearly.

I started with a piece of pearlescent cardstock in a pale silvery grey, embossed and sprayed it with some ink and then polished some of that off the high spots of the embossing. 

I decided I wanted to stamp a sentiment round the curve of the shell which was a bit fiddly but made possible with the MISTI. I couldn’t get it quite as dark as I wanted though so I ended up going over it (very carefully) with a very fine marker.

I gave the whole thing a bit extra pearliness by adding some dots in different sizes along the bottom with a pearl pen and finished by drawing a wonky frame round the square with a metallic pencil. 

I’m guest designing with Let’s Squash It for the month of June and took inspiration from the challenge there too — hop over to see what it is! The sample I made in advance is here.

Supplies:
Shell Beauty embossing folder (Spellbinder)
Pearlescent silver and black cardstock
Adirondack dye ink spray (Stream)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Sentiment stamp from Seaside set (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)
Viva Decor pearl pen (Ice White)
Fineline marker
Metallic pencil (Lyra)

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Make it Manly

It’s time for a new challenge at Let’s Squash It and I’m delighted to be joining Gail and Jo as guest designer for this one. You can use any embossing folder you like as long as your card is manly! All the details are here.

My hubby is a bit of a wine buff so when I saw this stamp and die set at a bargain price a few months ago I knew I had to get it! Several other family members and friends will likely be seeing it too. There’s a die as well but I actually cut the row of corks out by hand as I wanted to make it shorter by cutting one off the end - it's an easy shape to cut. The word is die cut from tomato paste tube and has come out very shiny on the photo! 

The embossing folder seemed appropriate as I thought the circles might be a bit reminiscent of cork ends and the optical illusion of them bulging in the centre might be an indication of a glass too many!

I find keeping a limited, neutral colour palette is always useful when you’re trying to make a more masculine card.

Stamps:
Wine corks (Spellbinder, stamp and die set)

Paper:
Bristol board and smooth black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
3D Circles embossing folder (cArt-US)
Stitched rectangles dies, A6 size (Paper Rose)

Thanks for stopping by - we'd love to see you over at Let's Squash It with some manly makes!

Celebrate

We're celebrating at Daring Cardmakers this week - create a card for any occasion and include the word "celebrate" in your make.

I've combined with the current challenge at Let's Squash It which wants geometric or repeating patterns in our embossing.

I embossed a piece of engraving board (scraperboard when I was a kid!) in an old Spellbinders folder then sanded away the black coating to reveal the copper foil. Some white die cut flowers, a heat embossed sentiment and a little dome made from tomato paste tube metal and call it done.

Supplies:
Bristol board
Birthday (Letter It stamp range by Ranger)
So Trendy (Mbossibilities by Spellbinder)
Wildflower Stems I (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Copper engraving board
Versmark by Tsukineko
Detail embossing powder (copper)
Tomato paste tube

 

Textured holly

Last day of the month and I'm just managing to squeak in with a card for the current challenge at Let's Squash It - emboss/deboss. Jo and Gail want us to use any embossing folder and use both sides of the pattern on our cards.

I cut a full cardfront and then die cut two smaller rectangles from the centre. I ran the big piece through to get the debossed texture, the smallest through to get the emobssed texture and left the skinny one as a frame in between. I've added a tiny bit of colour to a couple of embossed holly leaves and berries, a stamped sentiment strip and made my first Christmas card of the year!

Apologies that the photo's not great, bright sun and snow glare in Northumberland today! Being a last-minute-minnie I can't wait for better conditions, I'm afraid. I hope it's still possible to see the two sides at play!

Supplies:
Moonlit Berries embossing folder (Couture Creattions)
Bristol board
Stitched rectangle dies, A6 size (Paper Rose)
Vintage Christmas Expressions (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Ivy)
Copic markers
Spica glitter pens (red and green)

Word Play

It's my turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week. We're playing with the letters FEB as we wave goodbye to the month - use something beginning with each of those letters on your card.

I've combined with the current challenge at Let's Squash It which wants us to use green and an insect with our embossing folders. I think that bit's self-explanatory and I was lucky enough to win this lovely folder a couple of challenges back so I thought it would be appropriate to use it here. My FEB elements are Frame (and Flowers), Embossing folder (and Enamel Accents) and Bee.

I brayered a couple of green inks onto my folder before embossing and added Enamel Accents and fine glitter on the flower heads before stamping the bee, colouring with a white paint pen then restamping and adding a touch of colour with Copics. 

I've left it with no sentiment as an all-purpose kind of card.

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

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukinko (Graphite Black)
Distress Oxide (Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough)

Other:
Stitched Frame dies (Paper Rose)
Ball Flower embossing folder (Hobby Solution)
White pain pen (Posca)
Copic markers
White Enamel Accents (Ranger)
Glamour Dust glitter by Deco Art (Crystal)
MISTI

Fish in the frame

It's Nat's turn to set our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like us to put something or someone in the frame.

My crafty mojo seems to have taken a holiday and even my trick of combining with another challenge didn't really seem to drag it back. I combined with the current challenge at Let's Squash It which has an under water theme. I'm not all that happy with this but thought I'd share it anyway. Maybe it's the lack of white space bothering me. What do you think?

I don't have an embossing folder with a watery theme. I did consider using a woodgrain folder turned sideways and done in blues but in the end plumped for something that would echo the fish scale patterning on the stamped images. There's some shimmer on there courtesy of Perfect Pearls but of course that doesn't really show up on a still photo. The fish are shimmery too (Wink of Stella).

I scored the corners of the die cut frame to get the diagonals, stamped wood texture on there and accentuated the mitres with a few Copic pen strokes.

Stamps:
Under the Sea (Darkroom Door)
Weathered wood (Cornish Heritage Frams, no longer with us)

Paper:
Mixed media
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Wink of Stella pen (clear)
Stitched frame square dies (Paper Rose)
Scales embossing folder (Marianne Designs)
Leaves dies (Sizzix)
Water colour paints
Perfect Pearls by Ranger (Turquoise)

Thanks for sopping by!

Raise a toast

It's the last day of the year and I'm just managing to squeak in with an entry for December's challenge at Let's Squash It!

Gail and Jo gave us free rein this time - any folder, any technique. I went back to May's challenge to find a way to create white space alongside the embossed texture. I did it this time by laying my top plate part way up the folder so I didn't get the full impression. Then I turned the paper and did the same the other end, leaving a clear strip across for stamping the sentiment.I used a score board to create more defined edges for the embossed areas.

This folder is intended as snow but it's always made me think of champagne bubbles so I used some ivory pearlescent paper and teamed it up with champagne flutes to make a card that could toast the New Year.

Stamps:
Champagne Celebration (Crafters Companion)
Birthday (Letter It by Ranger) 

Paper:
Stardream
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Softly Falling embosing folder (Stampin' Up!)
Scor ItCopic markers
Copic Spica glitter pen (gold)
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by - whether you're raising a glass of champagne tonight or celebrating some other way, cheers! Let's hope 2022 is a bit kinder to us all.

New home

I needed a new home card with a masculine vibe and thought the current challenge at Let's Squash It would provide a good starting point.

Gail and Jo would like us to double emboss this time - use one folder over another or heat emboss a piece that's been squashed in a folder or squash a piece that's been heat embossed. 

I used a brick folder to emboss a piece of white cardstock and then ran that through another folder to get the keys. I thought bricks and keys made the perfect combination for a new home! 

The bricks squashed a bit flatter than I would have liked but they're still there enough to be picked up with some Rub n Buff for a subtle dackdrop. I did beef up the silver of the keys a bit with a gel pen.

Supplies:
Bristol board
3D Brickwork embossing folder (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Great Babette embossing folder (Couture Creations)
Silver Leaf Rub n Buff by Amaco
Silver gel pen
Black fineliner
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)
Versafine by Tsukinko (Onyx Black)

Thanks for stopping by!

Got your number

The current challenge at Let’s Squash It wants us to use an embossing folder featuring numbers or letters and then sand the embossed surface. 

I went back to an offcut of the heavyweight disposable aluminium platter I used for the last challenge, embossed a square of it in the part of the folder that has numbers (and the Roman numerals on the clock face, too) then painted it with gesso.  Once it was dry, I added drops of alcohol ink in various greens and blues and spread them into all the nooks and crannies. More drying time and then bring out the sanding block to expose the silver metal of the high spots. 

I did a bit of stamping on the card base, messed up the sentiment and so added a separate strip to cover the booboo. Finished with some Enamel Accents dots and I have a masculine birthday card to add to the stash.

Stamps:
Numbers border (Kaisercraft)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Aluminium platter
Patchwork embossing folder (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Gesso
Alcohol inks
Black Enamel Accents by Ranger
Black fineliner
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by!

Fearless and powerful

I’d been meaning to play along with the current challenge at Lost Coast Designs which is asking us to feature a human face. A couple of projects got started but ended up in the circular file. Then Gail, who facilitated me getting him as part of my recent prize when my name came out of the hat on a Lost Coast challenge, suggested using Frankie. It was an idea I’d already considered but got no further with, but something about her suggestion made this idea emerge and refuse to go away. 

I guess some might argue that Frankenstein’s monster is not human (I’m sure Mary Shelley would approve of the philosophical debate arising from that) but I think it’s easily countered in this case by arguing that it’s Boris Karloff playing Frankenstein’s monster in any case. Of course the English Literature graduate in me balks slightly at the fact the stamp is called “Frankenstein” but others might use the word “pedant”!

Let’s Squash It is currently asking us to emboss something other than paper or card and I decided to combine challenges by putting Frankie on a backdrop made from a thick aluminium tray (the sort you might get to serve food at a big party - remember those? Your local pound shop probably has the trays if you’re in the UK). I dabbed a thin coat of black acrylic paint on there and wiped back over the high spots to bring out the design. As the novel has unease at industrialisation as an underlying theme, I thought this folder would be appropriate. 

The quote is actually from the novel, done with a Dymo label maker. 

ETA - I've corrected an earlier "oops"  where I stuck the words down in the wrong order, changing the meaning entirely. Why don't you see these things until you're looking at a photo of the finished project?! Apologies to Shelley and to the monster (and to you if you saw an image with an incorrect quote!). I'm afraid that means there's now sun glare off one corner but I'm happier to live with that!

Stamps:
Frankenstein (Carmen’s Veranda)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko  (Graphite Black)

Other:
Aluminium tray
Uber embossing folder (Couture Creations)
Black acrylic paint
Copic markers
White paint pen by Posca
Pinflair glue gel
Dymo label maker

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Ten green bottles

Ruth is setting the challenge for us at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see bottles - any sort, any quantity!

I decided to go not only for 10 green bottles but the wall as well! The bottles (eight of them) are all in a row on one stamp but I decided it would be fun to have them a bit more random so I cut them out individually.

The current challenge at Let's Squash It wants us to emboss something other than paper or card to include on our cards so my wall is made of the metal from a tomato paste tube, I painted it with gesso and then wiped back to leave white "mortar" and slightly glamorous bricks! Gel glue is pretty much essential here as the 3D embossing folder leaves such a deeply textured impression you need something that will stick securely despite all the cragginess.

Stamps:
Hot Picks 1109 (Paper Artsy)
Letter It range Birthday (Ranger)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Pitch Black)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Tomato paste tube
Brickwork 3D embossing folder (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Gesso
Copic markers
Pinflair glue gel
Black fineliner

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Squash, shimmer and shine!

I'm not sure where this month has gone but I am managing to play before the deadline for the current challenge at Let's Squash It - any embossing folder plus shimmer and/or shine.

I ended up having a bit of my "patterned paper syndrome" here - I made my embossed piece and then  dithered for ages suffering brain freeze on what to do with it! In the end I decided whimiscal foliage might suit a whimsical image and picked up Pointy Hat Gnome.

I got my shimmer by applying Rub n Buff over my embossed piece using the universal craft tool (my index finger). I did then use a silver gel pen on some of the finer lines to make sure they were properly highlighted. I also coloured a few of the low sections with a Copic marker just a shade or two darker than the cardstock.

Stamps:
Pointy Hat Gnome (Lost Coast Designs)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
DCWV textured
Bristol board
Dark chocolate brown

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Grand Fubu embossing folder (Couture Creations)
Rub n Buff by Amaco (Silver Leaf)
Copic markers
Silver gel pen
Circle frame cut from mirri card with Fine Frames dies (Altenew)
Ultra white embossing powder (Wow!)
Tracing wheel

Thanks for stopping by!

In the garden

Nat has set our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week. As gardens and outdoor spaces became so important to so many people over the last year, she’d like to see us celebrating the garden.

My garden at the moment is a riot of flowers and foliage so I went down that route. I could also have opted for molehills but I figured that would make a less attractive card! Looking out of my lounge window, most of the flowers I can see are blue, hence the colour choice.

I’m playing again at Let’s Squash It where the current challenge is to combine a nature themed folder with a watercolour medium. I embossed my piece and then painted the raised areas and gave the background a very light wash of green, fading out to nothing in the middle.

Supplies:
Flower frame 3D folder (Nellie Snellen)
Watercolour paper
Winsor & Newton watercolours
Happy Stamp n Cut (Hero Arts)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)

Thanks for stopping by.