Blended

Nat is setting the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see some ink blending going on.

I've resisted the lure of the new Distress Oxides so I reached for my trusty old Distress inks and a sponge, splattered some water and then sat and looked at it for ages, completely at a loss what to do with it. I ended up going very simple with a stamped image and a "hidden" die cut sentiment. The word is intended for Christmas cards but I thought it would suit a peaceful image, too!

Stamps:
My Island by Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer with us but this set is now available through Gina K)

Paper:
Smooth white

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

Other:
Die from Peace Stamp & Cut by Hero Arts
Corner Chomper
Black marker

Thanks for stopping by, hope your weekend is a peaceful one!

City or country?

It's Friday so it must be challenge day over at Daring Cardmakers. Miri is setting this week's challenge and she'd like to know: city or country? Which are you?

I'm very definitely a country girl. I have done city living (Manchester being the biggest) but I'm now firmly back in a rural location.

As well as the obvious trees, fields, wildlife, birds etc, one of the things I love about where we live is the dark skies. Northumberland International Dark Sky Park has gold tier status from the  International Dark Sky Association, making us "officially the best place in England for people to go to enjoy the heavens" according to the Northumblerand National Park website.
 
So I wanted my card to reflect something of the night sky we enjoy in the country, hence the dark background and the splatters of "starry" light behind the glowing autumn oak leaves.

I did the thing of overstamping the coloured image with Versamark and clear embossing to resist the watercolour - I gave it the tiniest of offsets to get moolight glints along the top edges of the leaves. A MISTI makes this easy to do! I actually broke out the iron and ironed off the clear embossing once I'd done with the rest of the card.

Stamps:
Oak Branch by Beeswax Stamps
Say It Loud by Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Versamark by Tsukineko
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Blueprint Sketch, Black Soot)

Other:
Copic markers
Watercolour pencil
Detail silver and clear embossing powders
White paint pen by Posca
MISTI

Thanks for stopping by!

Parisienne Walkways

I'm squeaking in at the last minute with an entry for the Craft Barn song title challenge this month.

Mickie has chosen "Parisienne Walkways" for us - as usual, the song title and artist should be included and I've stuck with the postcard format I've been using for this challenge.

There are things I would do differently if I was doing this again but it's the last day of the challenge and I don't have time to do a re-make, I'm afraid! I'm reluctant to miss a month though so here it is, even if I'm not 100% happy with it!

I took the lyric

"Oh, I could write you paragraphs
About my old Parisienne days"

as the starting point, stamping a paragraph in the centre of the card. I added the song title and Gary Moore's name in my own handwriting then stamped the Eiffel Tower, the number 49 and some art nouveau style detail before sponging the edges with blue ink.

Stamps:
Haute Couture (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
19th Century Script (Hero Arts)
Paris Nouveau (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper: smooth white

Ink:
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Versfine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Delicata by Tsukineko (Golden Glitz)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Stonewashed)

Other:
Memento makrer (London Fog)
Fine line black marker
Charcoal pencil

Thanks for stopping by!

October Elements

Can you believe it's the first Friday of yet another month?! Of course that means it's an "elemental"challenge at Daring Cardmakers - just choose at least three elements from Leo's picture to kickstart your project.

I didn't consciously set out thinking that the overall feel of the picture was quirky but maybe it was bubbling under since what I made is definitely on the quirky side!

From the picture I chose the strawberry, a hand (it's even a left hand!) and some black and white stripes. Although I didn't go for the colour scheme there is a wee bit of kraft, like the box of washi tapes.

The striped frame is hand drawn onto a scrap of kraft cardstock and cut out to make a focal point in the middle of a white card with the images layered on top.

Stamps:
Past Times by Hero Arts
Vintage Garden - Produce by Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Kraft

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Black fineline marker
White Posca paint pen
Pearl pen by Viva Decor (Anthracite)
Pinflair Glue Gel

Here's the inspiration picture Leo chose for us this month. We'd love to see what you're inspired to make if you get chance!

Thanks for stopping by!

Harvest Home

Another Friday, another challenge from Daring Cardmakers. Shabneez is setting this week's theme and she'd like to see fruit, vegetables or grain on our projects as it's harvest time.

I'm easing myself back in to crafting after a couple of weeks' holiday. I'm never quite satisfied with the first thing I make after a break from my crafty stash but doing a bit of colouring was relaxing so I'll just settle for "hmm, that's OK".

I've combined digi and rubber here and pulled out the kraft cardstock for a rustic base with a bit of scuffing, tearing and wonky piercing done with a tracing wheel.

The kraft means it fits this month's challenge at Power Poppy, too.

Stamps:
Fall Haul digi by Power Poppy
Vintage Flourish by Indigo Blu
Sentiment from old CHF set

Paper: kraft

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tea Dye)

Other:
Coloured pencils (Prisma and Coloursoft)
White Posca pen
Tracing wheel 

Many faith and community groups use their harvest collections these days to boost their local food bank - do consider dropping something off if you possibly can, it will be hugely appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by!

International Literacy Day

It's International Literacy Day today according to UNESCO - since reading and literacy are close to my heart it seemed the perfect coincidence that it's my turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers. So the challenge is to celebrate the written word - images of books or readers, a favourite literary quote, an author portrait... where will your imagination take you?

I've gone ultra clean and simple with this sweet little image and -eek!- my own handwriting.

The quote is from Neil Gaiman and I've just repeated it to make a circle round the little reader who is, I hope, lost in the world those words are creating.

I'm really happy with the Bristol card I found from a seller on eBay - it's a really good heavy weight for card bases (it's 335gsm) and even the strong shades of Copic marker didn't bleed through so this is a truly one layer card.

Stamps:
Story of Me by Crafty Secrets (no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Black fineline marker
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

September elements

Unbelievably it's September - eek! Kathy has chosen our "elemental inspiration" picture at Daring Cardmakers as it's the first Friday of the month and she found herself unable to resist one last mood board of soft, summery shades. As ever, just choose at least three elements from the picture to kick-start your project.

I'm afraid pastel shades are always difficult for me and I struggled more than usual with this one - the circular file in the craft room saw quite a lot of action!

From the picture, I chose the overall colour palette (making it a bit deeper because, well, pastels!), a frilly flower (I don't have a ranunculus stamp so I went for a poppy instead), the herringbone tiles and a splash of shiny gold.

I raided my scraps folder for bits of cardstock in soft mauve, pink and blue-grey and cut little rectangles to stick onto a chocolate brown base - fiddly but quite satisfying! They're 4x1cm and yes, I really did study the picture to figure out those rectangles were four times as long as wide!

I ended up painting the die cut leaves with acrylic paint because they were already out on my desk but not the right shade of green at all. I could have just cut another out of a different cardstock, I know!

The dots are "waste" circles from various die cuts that were lying about on the desk - I covered them with Zig two-way glue and then added gilding flake before doming them with an embossing stylus. Adding them with glue gel is a good idea as it stops them flattening if you put pressure on them (inevitable if you're posting your card).

Stamps:
Poppycock by Indigo Blu
Sentiment from Say It Loud by Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Chocolate brown
Scraps!

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

Other:
Copic markers
Palm Fancy Die by  Hero Arts
Acrylic paint
Chariots of Fire Mega Flake by Indigo Blu
Zig two-way glue pen
Pinflair glue gel

Here's the inspiration picture

Thanks for stopping by!

Fast Frankie!

Our challenge today at Daring Cardmakers is "Fast food and coffee to go".

I reckon pizza is perfect food for a party and so this happened!

Fast Food Frankie is a digital image. I printed him on Neenah cardstock (because that will go through my printer OK!)  coloured with Copics, cut out and stuck onto an inky background on a DL card. I went dark with the blues to make it look like perhaps night is falling and Frankie is keen to find the party before it's too late!

I'm not sure whether he's pulling a wheelie because he's setting off at speed or whether the weight of all those pizzas is to blame!

Supplies:
Fast Food Frankie by Dr Digi - printed on a laser printer
Neenah cardstock
Copic markers
Posca white paint pen
Tim Holtz Distress inks (Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire)
Triple Thick glaze by DecoArt (on his goggles)
Typeset strip die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix
Fineline black marker
Nail art gems
Pinglair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer in the City

I managed to miss last month in the Craft Barn song title challenge so I've tried to be more organised and get it done in plenty of time this month!

This month's song is Summer in the City. I've stuck with my postcard format for this challenge and I seem to be developing a bit of a thing for image transfer!

The background is shaving foam marbling done with alcohol inks in hot colours to go with the theme of the song. Twiggy was the Face of 66, the same year The Lovin' Spoonful had a hit with Summer in the City and I think she'd definitely have been the kind of girl to dance all night. I used one of Andy Skinner's threshold graphics (you can find them all here) and did an image transfer over the background.

The number stamps are already a bit eroded/grungy in style so when they didn't stamp absolutely perfectly first time I decided I liked the way it looked and left it alone. Sadly, the handwritten song title and band name did smudge a little when I added a final coat of satin glaze but I decided they're still legible so I'll grin and bear it - waiting for an image transfer to dry is not my strong point so I didn't want to start again!

Supplies:
Bristol board
Copic reinkers (Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Orange)
Laser printed image
White acrylic paint
Satin Glaze by DecoArt
Fineline black marker
A & P Number stamps by Ma Vinci's Reliquary (sadly defunct)
Stazon ink (Jet Black)

Thanks for stopping by!

Action and exciting news!

Kathy has set today's challenge at Daring Cardmakers and she's given us a word prompt: Action! Interpret that any way you choose - an action image, a card with an action element etc.

A quick newsflash first though: I'm excited to have been asked to do a six month tour of duty with the Dirty Dozen (the design team at Splitcoast Stampers). This is my first month and although content is exclusive to SCS fan club members, one of my cards was chosen for the sneak peek artwork so you can see that here if you'd like to!

For the DCM action prompt, I chose to make a yo-yo spinner card, partly because I thought it would be a cute use for the goldfish stamps I bought recently. When you pull the ribbon, the fish swim round in a circle, following each other as they go.

I used this video tutorial as a guide. I found narrow ribbon worked better than string for me, probably because my circle is a bit bigger and the extra surface area of the ribbon creates a bit more "pull" to get it moving.

The background piece was made using the watercolour imprints technique that the lovely Dina demonstrates here - I used various circle dies to make a ring pattern on a piece of watercolour paper with Peacock Feathers Distress ink.

I might try for just a bit more contrast in my ink layering next time but this kind of set is fun for images with areas of fine detail, I think.

Stamps:
Layering Goldfish by Hero Arts

Paper:
Watercolour
Bristol board

Ink: 
Adinrondack dye ink by Ranger (Sunset Orange)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Habanero, Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress reinker by Ranger (Peacock Feathers)

Other:
Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Sequins
Ribbon
Fun foam
Acetate

Thanks for stopping by!