happy birthday

 hello lovely stampers!

Today I'm joining in at CAS colours and sketches for their colour challenge #492 this week. They have chosen lovely colours which really go well together.

The background uses Sizzix Mini Foundry 3D embossing folder. This was embossed on a white card panel then swiped with pumice stone distress oxide ink, then rubbed with Tim Holtz Sterling foundry wax. This gives a lovely subtle shine while the neutral colour still shows through. 

The panel was mounted behind a die cut Hero Arts Infinity square with foam tape for dimension. The Gummiapan twigs and birdies were die cut and inked then adhered in and around the square aperture. The sentiment from paper rose tiny forest was stamped and clear heat embossed for more shine.

Such a pretty colour combination. Thanks so much for stopping by!

*Edit: Thanks so much for choosing my card this week!

drunk

 hello stampers!

I'm joining in today with the sisterhood - it's been a while and I felt like a good bit of snark was just what the doctor ordered. Edna has decreed challenge #219 D is for drunk.

I couldn't resist.

The background uses the darkroom door honeycomb stencil dipped into different watered distress oxide inks. The paper rose martini glass was die cut from inked card. Sentiment printed on my computer.

Here's to you - thanks so much for stopping by! 

**Edit: Thrilled to be crowned Princess for this card!

merry christmas

 hello crafters!

I'm joining in with the justusgirls challenge #653 this week where the theme is CAS. My favourite type of card, how could I not?

I began by die cutting the Gummiapan merry christmas circle. Then I cut out an inner circle using Hero Arts Infinity Circle dies. More larger and smaller circles were die cut with the circle edges stacked up 4 high then topped with acetate then topped with the merry Christmas circle. 

I used Kaisercraft mountains embossing folder with a swipe of weathered wood distress oxide ink then cut out the smaller circle to form the interior background scene.

The little tree from the Sizzix arctic bear die set was cut several times from inked card as well as the little house, and also some arrows from paper rose arrows die set. I love how the tree and house seem to float!

Another one to add to my christmas stash. Thanks so much for stopping by!

**Thanks to the lovely team at JUGS for choosing my card as the weekly winner. I'm thrilled!

for you

 hello stampers!

I am playing along with the talented team at CAS colours and sketches this week where they have a colour challenge #470.

I wanted to use a new embossing folder from Sizzix along with some Tim Holtz distress foundry wax in Sterling silver. Totally new to me and I found it pretty amazing! I began by embossing a small card piece with Sizzix 3D texture fades embossing folder Mini Foundry. Then I added some foundry wax in Sterling to make it look industrial. The foundry wax is highlighted by heat embossing. It really brings out the texture and adds a lot of shine!

I used MFT In Focus Florals and MFT Fab Foliage die sets to die cut some leaf sprays from some card roughly inked up with 2 colours from Altenew Cerulean Skies ink cubes. The flowers also got a little coating of foundry wax for the silver look. I used MFT Bitty Banner Alpha die set for the sentiment.

I'm also linking this card with Darnell's NBUS blog as the embossing folder and foundry wax are new. So happy to see you're back in the swing of things, Darnell!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

      

thank you

 hello lovely stampers!

I have been trying out a new to me technique I learnt from Chris Stokes on my cards lately and thought I'd change it up a little for this card made for the card concept challenge #175. The talented team chose such a gorgeous pic for inspiration!

The inspiration pic reminded me of some scraps of glossy paper I had left from a previous project. Aren't the soft and romantic colours just to die for? I was inspired by the colours, the rose, the circle shapes and the twine to make my cas card.

I die cut a circle from the paper using Hero Arts Infinity Circles, and then fussy cut a couple of the central rose. The circle was adhered to the card base so that the main rose was in the exact centre of the card panel, then I adhered one of the roses to the circle so it peeked out the side. The final rose was adhered to scrap card and I die cut the leaf sprays using MFT In Focus Florals die set.  The die cuts were adhered (perfectly) in place over the rose. The sentiment was stamped using SU Loyal Leaves with 2 colours of distress oxide ink. To finish, some linen twine and a few dew drops were added.

Thanks so much for spending some time with me today!

hello

 hello stampers!

I have been inspired lately by the cas cards of Shayne Eddie and Chris Stokes and have been trying out some of their techniques on my cards recently. This weeks cas colours and sketches challenge #469 provided the perfect opportunity to practise some more.

I began by die cutting a square from a panel I had from a previous project where I used the leftover ink on the stencil, sprayed it and smooshed it onto a card. This gives such wonderful, soft forms and gentle colours. The seahorse was stamped in my Misti 3 times - onto scrap card, onto the inked square and onto the card panel. The scrap card was die cut with the coral shape.

The edges of the square were inked then it was adhered in place over the seahorse, the die cut was popped up on thin foam squares to allow the shape to sit up over the twine, with the other die cut tucked under the twine. The sentiment was stamped in a coordinating colour and the panel was finished with a few droplets.

I do love this Chris Stokes eclipse technique where the die cut is stamped and laid in place - it gives such interest and dimension!

Thanks so much for spending some time with me today! 

• stencil: paper rose small drops
• stamps: darkroom door under the sea, altenew ornamental bliss
• dies: mft flower silhouettes, hero arts infinity squares
• inks: tumbled glass, blueprint sketch, shaded lilac distress oxides

crazy

 hello lovely stampers!

I have a sweet card for you today. I'm playing along with the sisterhood and their latest challenge #209: U is for Underwater.

I've had this stamp set for a little while now but this is the first time using this meece stamp. And yes, it was more than a little fiddly to stamp cleanly 😏. I ended up stamping the meeces in 3 different colours in my MISTI finally settling on black soot oxide ink for a slightly washed out black look (they are underwater after all!). 

The background is ink smooshed with 3 different blue hues of oxide ink. I think it was about 6 layers of inking and drying! I watercoloured their hats with abandoned coral oxide ink which really popped against the blue. The sentiment was popped up on tiny foam strips. The panel edges were ink blended with black soot and also chipped sapphire.

I'm entering this in Darnell's fabulous NBUS blog too! Hope you're doing well, Darnell! x

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

• stamps: stampendous birthday splash, darkroom door under the sea
• inks: tumbled glass, chipped sapphire, blueprint sketch, abandoned coral, pumice stone, weathered wood, pine needles, black soot distress oxides
• sentiment: Tim Holtz snarky small talk sticker

especially for you

 hello lovely stampers!

I stumbled upon a new challenge for me and thought I'd give it a go! The card concept challenge gives an inspiration pic and 7 different styles of design to make a card of your own. Fantastic information on the different styles as I've never seen them laid out so well before. I never really know which style I prefer as it does change from time to time, but I think this one I made is clean and layered? 😀

I was inspired by the flowers, the colours and the black and white details. The weave is a nod to the fabric on the cushion!

I began by using Altenew Beautiful Day stamp to stamp the flowers with distress oxide for the first layer, and distress oxide heat embossed for the detail layer, for some lovely shine and to bring out the gorgeous red colour. The leaves from the same set were also layer stamped. The coordinating dies were used to cut them all out. I stamped Darkroom Door Flourish texture stamp with memento tuxedo black on 2 separate card panels, cut them into 1/4" strips and weaved them with a basket weave, adhering it to a black card square. The sentiment is from Penny Black Grown with Love stamp set.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Thank you to the team at the card concept for the Honorable Mention - I'm thrilled!

donut

 hello crafty stampers!

I'm playing along with the paper players challenge for this week PP585 where the theme is 'laughter is the best medicine'.

I'm always one for a witty line and couldn't resist this challenge. I toned down the snark and made a very sweet card (get the pun there?) lol

I began by masking off a section of the card panel and ink blending with dye ink, then used Paper Rose Stripes stencil to ink blend the top part. Using the donut stamp from Stampabilities Trendsetter stamp set and scraps of coloured card, I stamped many donuts in coordinating ink colours. They were die cut using Hero Arts Circle Infinity die set and the centre punched out. The mug was paper pieced using MFT Cool Day stamp and matching die, some ink blended for a shadow, and popped up on foam squares. The sentiment from Tim Holtz small talk stickers was adhered to a pink card scrap. Lastly some white gelly roll pen was used for the shine on the donuts and mug.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

snarky ATCs

 hello stampers!

The awesome sisters at snarkystampers have put out their latest challenge which is #207 A is for ATC. I do like the idea of smaller card space and I certainly have lots of little stamps so it's a win-win for me! lol

I couldn’t resist making more than one - they are soooo cute. I think I could have ended up with a whole box if I’d kept going! And of course I had to make it a red-back spider - a morning's gardening here is not complete without coming across at least one of those little buggers!

I decided to showcase little blueprint stamps from Tim Holtz - bunny and web. For bunny, the background had Altenew Color Block Triangle stencil inked with salvaged patina distress oxide ink, dried then Scrapmatts 5080 stencil inked along the side. Kaisercraft Script stamp and several small random stamps were also stamped in the same colours and water splatters were added. For web, the background was an offcut from a gel print, inked over the top with Scrapmatts 5080 stencil. 

Bunny and web were stamped in black on a scrap of card and clear heat embossed, then watercolored. They were cut into a tight rectangle, edges inked and adhered to the card panel. The Tim Holtz small talk sticker sentiments were edged in ink and adhered. The cards were then mounted onto black card base 3.5” x 2.5” in size. Here’s closeups of each card.

Thanks for stopping by!

feel better

 hello crafty stampers!

I just love the colours for the current challenge at color throwdown #685. They actually made me think of autumn rather than spring but I guess that's what makes life interesting!

I wanted to show the changing of the seasons with orange to signify autumn, bare limbs for winter, green for spring leaf and summer for flowered greenery. I'm sure trees feel much better when they're looking their glorious best 😉

I used MFT Tall Trees die cut with kraft and coloured card for the trees, the flowers being orange sparkly gems. The sentiment is from Altenew Sentiment Strips.

Thanks for stopping by today!

here for you

 hello lovely stampers!

Playing along today with the addicted to cas challenge #216 - Water.

I've wanted to use this splash stencil from Paper Rose for a while and thought it would be perfect this time. The stencil was inked with distress oxides and splattered with water. The fish from Darkroom Door Under the Sea were stamped on ink blended card, fussy cut and popped up on foam. The sentiment is from Altenew Sentiment Strips.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

adulthood

 hello crafty stampers!

I'm playing along today with the talented sisters at snarky stampers where their theme this fortnight is: #205 V is for Vibrant. Edna is sporting somewhat of an Andy Warhol throwback look and she pretty much carries it off! 

Here's a warning - put your sunglasses on!

I found this pic I had of jellybeans (is your mouth watering too?) 😋 and couldn't resist using it. Such VIBRANT (!) colours, such sweet yumminess, such childhood delights. I wanted to curl up on the sofa and scoff a whole bowl of them. But... I didn't. I adulted.

I made a card using scraps of the brightest matching colours I could find and adhered them together random-like on a red card base. The sentiment is a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

*Edit: thanks lovely sisters for my crown!

especially for you

 hello stampers!

I'm outdoing myself, I know - 2 posts in as many days! I might have to lie down for a bit! I've done a lovely little card for the addicted to CAS challenge #213 Hearts.

I'll give it to hubby who loves my cooking 😉 so a warm steaming bowl of love is on the menu for Valentines Day! lol

The bowl was stamped on red card using Hero Arts DC236 stamp and cut, and fussy cut. The hearts were die cut using a Recollections tiny heart die from strips of card adhered together in a rainbow design and also red card. The sentiment from Penny Black Grown with Love was stamped and white heat embossed on a scrap of dark grey card ink blended with distress oxide Black Soot. This was then die cut using Paper Rose Stitched Rectangle die. A white gelly roll pen was added for some interest and the card panel was popped up on foam strips on a white card base.

Thanks for stopping by!