Just To Say

As it's reached its recipient, I can now show you the card I made for the very lovely Kate of I Love Socks and Cards fame. She very kindly sent me some lovely crafting goodies including the gorgeous Crafter Companion 3D embossing folder, Country Garden, which I used for this card to say thank you.

It embossed beautifully and is 5x7, so a good size. I should have taken a side view of it so that you can see the depth of the embossing. I cut it down though to fit on a 6x6 card. I coloured the flowers and leaves with my copics and added either tonic nuvo drops or glossy accents dusted with glamour dust to the centre of the flowers. I layered the card up on some co-ordinating card to give it more impact. I wanted to add a sentiment, but didn't want to detract from the flowers. I cut a strip of vellum and stamped the lili of the valley sentiment in black stazon so it wouldn't smudge. I taped the vellum in place on the back of the image using red liner tape and added it to my card blank. Simples.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend x

You're Remarkable

Thank you all so much for your kind words about Bramble, they really do help. 

Whilst not feeling like crafting too much at the moment, The new sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch spoke to me this week, although I went a bit off piste with it in the end, so feel free to delete my entry if I've gone too far. 

I had three left over Hunkydory Misfit Monsters left on my desk, and thought I could use one for this sketch. I had a rummage through my pixie powder backgrounds and found this one that had been made with a hexagon stencil. I trimmed it down to fit on my 5x7 card blank and glued it in place. I cut a strip of black paper and stamped the sentiment from a Woodware set and heat embossed it in white and added it to the card. I doodled borders on the card in black and white gel pens. Originally, I intended to just add one monster to the card to represent the circle in the sketch. I added him with foam tape, but the two monsters left on the desk kept staring at me. I ended up with a monster pyramid! I added some glossy accents to their eyes and horns to finish. A final photo to show you the shimmer from the pixie powders.

Heartbroken

Heartbroken today when I discovered that my beautiful little Bramble had fallen asleep for the last time aged 10 years and one month. Sweet dreams little one xxx

Monster Hugs

I finally got round to inking up the Misfit Monster set by Hunkydory. It has a variety of mix and match bodies, limbs and monster facial features. I orginally stamped my monsters directly into a card blank, but managed to drop the inky acrylic block on it! Never mind, I rescued my monsters after colouring them in with polychromos pencils by fussy cutting them to save them. I added some extra detailing to them with copic spica pens, a black fineliner and a white gel pen.

On a 6x6 card blank I used a "That Special Touch" mask called "Splats" and inked through it with broken glass, cracked pistachio and wilted violet distress oxides. I moved the mask around a few times to get the coverage I wanted. I spritzed the card with water and blotted it to give more interest. Once dry I drew in a border. I masked off part of one of the sentiments from the monster set and just stamped the word monster in black archival ink. I die cut Lawn Fawn's Scripty Hugs and glued it in place. I used foam tape to adhere the monsters to the card and added some glossy accents to their eyes and a touch of stickles. To finish I added some purple nuvo glitter drops to the corners, they're paler and more sparkly in reality honest! 

Are You Sitting Down? I Actually Made Two Christmas Cards!

I know, I can hardly believe it myself. My first Christmas card of the year. Two down, lots more to make!

I stamped the cute Penny Black Snowy in black archival ink on white card. My email records show that I bought him in December 2015. I think I had a quick play when I first got him, but since then he's been  languishing on his wooden block on my kitchen window. Poor Snowy. I scribbled my zig clean colour pens on a plate and used a paint brush to loosely colour him in, before fussy cutting him.

On my 6x6 card blank I stamped some snow flakes from a papermania set with versamark and then heat embossed them in clear embossing powder. Using my Rare Earth ink dusters I blended broken glass and wilted violet distress oxides to create a resist effect.

I doodled a border with a fineliner pen and added a die cut sentiment in black card. To finish I added some stickles to his hat and to ground him. Simples!

Sweet Stampin' - Doodling

Gosh, Saturday has rolled round again. I know I say this every week, but where is time going? I'm going to have to start making Christmas cards soon!
This week over at Sweet Stampin' we want to see your doodles. Whether you're only comfortable doodling a border or if you want to create and entire card of doodles, we'd love to see them. Just remember to include some stamping on your work to be eligible for our top three.

I used Clearly Besotted's Simply Succulent set, which has a mix and match set of succulents and pots. I stamped the elements on different coloured cardstock and fussy cut them. I then arranged them on my 6x6 card base and glued them in place. I'd cut the spikes off some of them (no way, was I attempting to cut round them!) and so I drew them in with a fine liner.  I also used this to doodle a border on my card. I did sneak in a bit more doodling too, I added some more patterns to the pots - see below for the before picture! I think these succulents would be great for men's cards, must make some more! I hope you all have a great weekend and have time to get some crafting done, hopefully you'll manage to get some doodling done too!

More Background Stamping

I had a spare panel of background stamped card left over from making my Flower Challenge DT cards and decided to use it up rather than leave it languishing in the box of bits for once. I die cut the Tattered Lace Sweet Stems flower out of white card several times and used my dinky inkys to colour one of them using the same colours from the panel. The pink seems a bit off compared to the background, but I think it must be because I blended the colours rather than layered them. I then glued the layers together to give some height and definition to the flower. I glued the panel to a 6x6 card base with a pink mat and then added the flower on top. Simples!

The Flower Challenge Reminder - Background Stamping

Blimey, we're practically half way through August, where is the time going? As it's halfway through the month, it's time for our reminder post over at the Flower Challenge, and this month our focus is on "Background Stamping".

For my reminder card I used a background that I made at the same time as my original card, only this time I used Memento London Fog, rather than tuxedo black to stamp the line drawing. I then die cut several of the Tim Holtz wildflowers out of the panel and built them up on several layers of card to add dimension, before inlaying them back in place. I die cut the Clearly Besotted Hello die several times out of pink card and layered them up, trimming off the squiggle at each end before adding them to my card. I simply layered the panel up on green and pink card on a 6x6 card base to finish. 

We're loving all the cards you've made so far for the challenge and are looking forward to seeing what else you create. Just remember to include flowers as the main focus of your card, do some background stamping - if you could include our cue card in your post that would be great and submit your project before 24th August! 

Have a Magical Day

Yep, there were more of those Lawn Fawn Fairy Friends, fairies and accessories lurking in the bit box! I used an unnamed die from eBay to cut the frame out of Hunkydory's mirridazzle card and backed it with some purple card. I stamped the sentiment from the stamp set on a 6x6 card blank and job done. Simples!

Happy Birthday

It was my Dad's birthday yesterday, my neck has been playing up this week and so I rustled up this quick card for him as he loves steam trains.

I used the All Occasions Flying Scotsman die and cut it out according to the instructions out of glossy black and green card and also out of silver and gold mirri card. It doesn't show well on the photo, but it also embosses some details into the card, as the card was 300gsm, these showed well without using an embossing sandwich. The die also includes the train numbers for the Flying Scotsman and the rails to sit it on, but I decided not to add them this time. I have to confess that the train is bit fiddly to assemble, but with the help of a bit of tape holding things together on the back and a cocktail stick with glue on the end it came together. I stamped the sentiment from Clearly Besotted in black archival ink and added mats of the leftover green and back to finish on a 6x6 card base. Simples!

Allsorts Challenge - Colours of Your Flag

Over at Allsorts Challenge they want to see projects based on the colours of our flag, as I'm in the UK, that means red, white and blue. Coincidentally, those colours were also the theme for a monthly card swap I participate in, so I got double value for money with this card!

I started off by stamping Edna at the beach by Stamping Bella and colouring her in with my zig clean colour pens. I masked her off with a post it note and added clouds using the MFT cloud stencil and versamagic chalk inks. I die cut her out with an oval and added some faux stitching round the edge. 

I used a 5x7 card blank and added some blue card and some patterned paper that was in a magazine freebie Christmas paper pad of all things! Using the same blue I added a mat behind the image. I used two of the oval dies to cut a frame in both blue and red. I added then to the card overlapping them and added some die cut hearts to match. I added glossy accents to her glasses and buttons and glitter to her wings.

The card should have been finished at this point, but it was on the table near me whilst I worked on another card... My grip isn't brilliant these days and somehow I managed to drop an inky stamp on it! Fortunately, there was quite a large sentiment included with Edna and so I stamped this on white card, die cut it with an oval, added faux stitching and a mat behind it and covered up the inky mess. I die cut a couple of extra hearts to finish it off. Phew!

Hello

Blimey, six posts in six days! Just don't expect one tomorrow! I was having a tidy up of the crafting table of doom and decided to use up a few bits. I had some left over fairies, flowers and houses from the Lawn Fawn Fairy Friends set, so I added them onto a snippet of pixie powder and cloud stencil background. I added a mat of dark blue card behind it and die cut the Memory Box hello from the same card. A little faux stitching to finish and job done!
I'm currently home alone, well apart from the bunnies, as Hubby is at the World Goldpanning Championships in Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The championships are running all week, so if you can get there I'm sure you'll enjoy it and they'll teach you to goldpan free of charge! The event has a website if you want to find out more.
Hubby was interviewed on BBC Radio 2 last night in their "how to" slot about the championships. If you're interested you can listen to it on iplayer for the next month. He's about 20 minutes in.  I think he came over really well, but then I am biased! After his interview, they asked people to text in about precious things they'd found. Well, of course I had to text in to say that I'd found hubby and that our wedding rings are made out of gold that he'd found, and they read it out, so I'm claiming that I'm as famous as hubby now!

MFT Colour Challenge 74

I found the MFT Card Challenge blog and they have a colour challenge running at the moment. 

Well, any excuse to use my new MFT Seaside Gulls stamps again is good. I wanted to create the idea of looking out to sea on one of those binocular machines that they have on the seafront. I drew two overlapping circles out of white card using circular dies as templates and then did the same using the next size up to create the black frame and fussy cut them out. I stamped two of the gulls from the set on the yellow/green card and cut them out and then repeated the stamping on the green and purple/blue card, but cutting out only the beaks and wings. I then paper pieced the gulls together and added a drop of black enamel accents to eye. I also added glossy accents to the beaks, but unfortunately it made the colour look darker, it is a deep purplely blue, not black as it looks, honest! 

I used the MFT cloud stencil and my Rare Earth ink duster brush to add the clouds using Ocean Depth Versamagic chalk ink. I decide to use the grey cardstock to create the sea - it matches the colour of the North Sea off the coast of England! I stamped multiple times the waves from the stamp set and cut them out to create layers of waves between which I could tuck the gulls. To finish I added some stickles to the waves. I assembled the card on a 6x6 card base and added a sentiment from the set in black archival ink.

Less is More - Tropical Fruits

I was sorting through some of my stash yesterday and had at the side of my mind (it hadn't reached the back of my mind yet), that this week, Less is More have a colour challenge of "Tropical Fruits". I came across this die from a Chinese seller on eBay and thought that I could colour her in to resemble the inside of a tropical fruit. My initial thought was the inside of a dragonfruit with pinky/red skin and white flesh with tiny black seeds dotted in it. When I retrieved the die though and realised that the butterflies were bigger than I thought, I remembered a post that Ruth had made earlier this year about "melonizing" images. I thought that the butterflies cut out of the dress would make perfect seeds and so, only about 9 months behind the trend, I decided to "melonize' her dress.
I die cut the image and coloured it in using my copics. I left the flesh of the watermelon quite patchy as that replicated the photos of slices I looked at. I stamped the sentiment from Clearly Besotted on the rectangle of white card, before gluing it onto the green mat on a 5x7 card blank. I glued the image on the card and inlaid the butterflies from the die cut at the bottom of her dress and coloured them to match. I die cut the dress again in black card and inlaid the rest of the butterflies in black. To finish I added glossy accents to the black seeds/butterflies. Simples!

Sweet Stampin' - Summer Fun

It's time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin', and this week our theme is "Summer Fun". Mind you, given the current weather the theme might be rainy days!
I decided to use the fab new Waffle Flower set, Stay Cool. I stamped the bear in versafine then masked him off and stamped his towel and bird on his tummy. I masked them all off again, before adding the beach using a blending tool and Fossilised Amber distress oxide, using a torn piece of paper to define the edge. I then used the paper to mask off the beach and used a straight edge of paper to define the horizon and used a mix of broken glass and cracked pistachio distress oxides to form the sea. I them used my MFT cloud stencil to add the sky in broken glass distress oxide. I flicked and spritzed water over the scene , blotting some of it off until I was happy with the effect.

I removed my bear, towel and bird mask and painted them in with wilted violet, worn lipstick, spiced marmalade and walnut stain distress oxides. The only reason I see them wad that they were on my table and I couldn't be bothered to get up! As the oxides have an opacity to them, once dry I went over any areas of black stamping that had been dulled by the oxides. Using my misti I stamped the sentiment twice to get a good black impression. To finish I added glossy accents to his sunglasses and stickles to the sea, along with a little faux stitching around the edges. I then mat and layered it up on a 6x6 card base. Simples! I'm looking forward to seeing your entries this week, just remember to include some stamping to be eligible for our top three. Have a great crafting weekend x

The Flower Challenge #11 - Focus on Background Stamping

Wow, isn't time flying? Over at The Flower Challenge where we celebrate wonderful florals, it's time for our latest challenge and this month, we want to see your wonderful background stamping.

I created my background using the layering stamps that came free with the September edition of Papercraft Essentials. I used my misti to get a good impression from the block layer as it was a bit patchy at times. I used my Dreamees Dinky Inky ink pads to stamp the flowers and my memento black to stamp the line drawing layer. As you can see my stamping wasn't very accurate at times, but this technique is very forgiving.

Once dry I die cut my Elizabeth Crafts Warm Thoughts die out of the panel. I glued the panel onto a mat and then onto my 6x6 card blank. I die cut the sentiment several times out of white card and glued them all together with the patterened one on top to give dimension. I also die cut an extra one in white and inlaid this into the background, I find doing this is the easiest way to slot back in the patterened paper that has come out of the centre of the letters etc. Finally, I glued the built up sentiment back in place. The sentiment doesn't show up brilliantly on camera, but is easy to read in real life.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for our challenge, just remember to check our rules regarding how many challenges you can link to and that the focal image needs to be flowers, not just one stuck on as an embellishment. If you can include our cue card in your post, even better! 

Roll me in fairy dust...

So, we won't mention the stash diet. Naughty Clearly Besotted had their new release on 1st August and a couple (okay four) of the fab new sets fell into my basket. I was suprised, but happy to find that they arrived the very next day. After stroking them for a couple of hours, I just had to ink up one of the cute platypus (platypuses?).

As I wasn't in the mood for colouring I decided to paper piece the platypus. To make the card base I used the left over bit of blue card and then trimmed down a 5x7 card blank to fit it. I then created a smaller white panel to sit on top of the blue. Before gluing it in place I stamped the sentiment from a Woodware set and die cut the MFT Peekaboo square.

Using the square from the die cut I inked some clouds using the MFT cloud stencil and some versamark chalk ink. I normally use a mini blending tool to do this, but in an uncharacteristic moment of tidiness had thrown them all into the washing machine on a cold wash. This however gave me the chance to try out my Rare Earth ink dusters, that had been sat in the packet since Crafting Live at Bolton. If you've not seen these before they are similar to the brushes that Clarity sell, but in miniature. The bristles are super soft and so I spent a while stroking them to start with! I found that they allowed me to apply a much lighter layer of ink and build it up as opposed to my tendency to be heavy handed with the mini blender tool. Their small size makes them easy to hold and allows you to be more in control of where you are putting the ink. In my opinion, definitely a good buy.

To finish the card I glued the square back into place and then added the platypus on foam tape. I added stickles to the tail, belt and unicorn horn and glossy accents to his (or her) bill. 

I'm taking this card over to the Snippets Playground as I raided the bit box to paper piece the platypus. Hope the roof on the treehouse is watertight!