Flowers everywhere!

A few days ago I posted a card I was asked to make by my friend's husband for his wife.  This is the card I made to give to her from me and my hubby.  The colours are the same as the last card, because I know she loves turquoise.

I decided to make an easel card.  The main image is a Sweet Poppy Stencil 'Honeysuckle Circle'.  I put the white card and the metal stencil through my Big Shot with an embossing mat to get an embossed design.  While the stencil was attached to the card, I used a dauber to dab blue Distress ink over the embossed design, before die cutting into a circle with a Creative Expressions 'Double Pierced Circle' die.  The blue mat is SB Scalloped Circle die cut and the blue, embossed background was done with a SB 'Dainty Dots' embossing folder. I made the flowers using Sue Wilson, Creative Expressions 'Striped Nasturtiums' and 'Petite Vinery' dies. I added a few pearls, the blue ones were coloured with Promarkers to get the colour I wanted.  The sentiment is raised up on foam pads to enable the card to stand up.

This is the side view of the card.  

The stencil and Striped Nasturtiums are NBUS, so I'll be off to Darnell's NBUS Challenge with my third card.  

I am joining in the following challenges:

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #12
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Tuesday Throwdown #362 ~ More Than One Fold
Bizzy Bec's September Challenge
Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge #261 ~ Anything Goes

I Saw Three Ships........

The Less is More Challenge this week is a sketch, a nice easy one I thought. However, although my card was quick and easy to make, it is 'Mark 3' after making a card on a portrait card, then a square card and finally deciding I liked the layout best on a landscape card.  I thought this would be a suitable masculine card for my box of ready made cards.

The yachts and waves are from a Poppystamps 'Marine Sailboats set of dies.  I stamped the sentiment using Versafine 'Onyx Black'.  The green yacht is attached with foam pads to add dimension.  

I am joining in the following challenges:

CAS on Friday Challenge #117 ~ Use a die cut

HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Less is More Challenge #347 - Sketch 21

Rennie Mackintosh Candle

It's the 25th of the month, so time to join in the Rudolph Days Challenge again.  Usually I have a card ready a few days in advance, but somehow the date has crept up on me without me noticing!   So, I decided to use a stamp today which I bought at the Craft Fair on Friday.  It's not a Christmas stamp, but it IS a candle and we use candles especially at Christmas, don't we?  It's a fairly simple design and I think I may do some batch making of this one - I have LOTS of red and white snippets to use up and the image is easy to colour!  The challenge runs until the end of the month, so there's plenty of time for you to join in.

I found the stamp in a bargain bucket for £2.  It's an old wood mounted Stampendous, Francoise Read stamp.  It's got the date 2001 printed on the side and although it's new, looking at the state of the stamp when I bought it, it's probably been knocking around, getting neglected, for the past 16 years. I wasn't even sure it would stamp cleanly, but it actually stamped perfectly first time.  I do love Rennie Mackintosh style stamps, so it was worth taking a chance for £2.  I stamped the image with Memento 'Tuxedo Black' and coloured it with Promarkers.  I die cut the image with a SB 'Arched Window' die.  I'm not sure of the make of the e/f I used, I just remember it was another bargain buy for £1 several years ago.  I finished of my card with a peeloff sentiment.  Does anyone else have boxes of peeloffs gathering dust?  Well..... I couldn't believe how many stands were selling peeloffs at the craft fair on Friday, so perhaps they're making a comeback! 😉

Darnell has her NBUS (never-before-used-schtuff) Challenge #12 running to until 4th October, so I'm entering this as my second card.  The challenge is to use something new you've never used before, or some 'old virginal schtuff'.  I guess the stamp ticks both boxes as it's new to me and also old and virginal. 

I'll be off to play in The Playground too, as I used a red and a white snippet.

I am joining in the following challenges:

September Rudolph Days Challenge

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #12

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 299 and 300 ~ Use snippets

Love Birds and a little rant!

I'm going to start with a little rant, so feel free to scroll past this paragraph.  I went to the craft fair at Westpoint in Exeter on Friday with a friend.  There weren't too many papercraft stalls,  but we still managed to stock up with a few bits and pieces and somehow spent three hours browsing!  The day was marred by witnessing a loud bang caused by someone, who I assume was a crafter, leaving the car park as they reversed straight into a parked car.  There wasn't any major damage, but there was a nasty scratch down to the bare metal on the stationary car and the driver left some of their orange paint behind!  When the driver saw that my friend and I had witnessed the accident and were walking toward them, they sped off without getting out of their car to inspect the damage.  So, if you were the owner of the stationary Nissan X-Trail car, parked in the disabled section of the car park, I hope you found the message left on your windscreen saying that I'd left the registration number of the car that hit yours, together with my details, in the office in the Westpoint building.  If you were the driver or the passengers in the orange Suzuki SX4, SHAME ON YOU for not stopping!  Hopefully Karma will do its job.  Rant over!

Today's card is another monochrome card, I'm not sure why I've been making a lot of card lately with only two colours. 

I love this NBUS little die, which I purchased from eBay recently.  It was perfect for the anniversary card I made to send to friends.  The background is embossed with an X-cut 'Small Polka Dot' e/f.  A strip of red ribbon with small white hearts finished off my card. 

I am joining in the following challenges:
Darnell's NBUS Challenge #12
Allsorts Challenge - Week 434  ~ Things with wings
Crafty Friends Challenge #67 ~ Use Ribbon and/or Lace
Monochrome Magic Challenge #5 ~ Anything Goes Monochrome
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

65th Birthday card request

What do you do when the husband of one of your best friends asks you if you have a special card, big enough for 14 people to sign at her birthday meal, with an appropriate sentiment for a 65th birthday and if not he could count on me to sort something out?.......and he needed it in 24 hours time, despite the surprise birthday meal being planned months ago!  As I was out yesterday evening until 11pm and out all day today, the only choice I had was to start it at 11pm last night or tell my friend's husband to go to the local card shop and buy one.  So, what did I do?  I said I'd sort something out, will I never learn?!  I don't know why it seems to take me much longer to make a card when I'm under time pressure, but this card took almost 2 hours to make, the design evolving as I went along and with a couple of mishaps on the way.

For the background I used Sue Wilson Creative Expression 'Scalloped Lattice Frames - Set B'.  The stitched circles and rectangle are from Memory Box and the butterfly is two of the dies from the Spellbinders 'Les Papillons 2' set.  Five tiny clear gems for the butterfly's body finished off my card.

I am joining in the following challenges:

That's Crafty Fly Away Challenge
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Monochrome Magic Challenge Challenge #5 ~ Anything Goes Monochrome or Monochrome with a Twist of Add Gems/Pearls

Thank Whoo!

A second post today, another CAS card with a few challenges in mind.

The owl, coloured with Promarkers, is from a freebie set of stamps that came with a magazine several years ago.  I stamped it with black Archival Ink, as I couldn't get a good impression using my usual Memento ink pad.  I think it's to do with the quality of the stamp.  The sentiment is from a Woodware set of owl stamps.  I made a frame using MB 'Stitched Rectangle' dies and added some tiny punched leaves to the corners. 

I am joining in the following challenges:

Less is More Challenge #346 ~ Take Flight

Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge #259 ~ Clean and Simple

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ~ Clean and Simple

That's Crafty Fly Away Challenge

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge # 178 ~ Nature

Easy as 1,2,3 Card

I've been AWOL for a while as we've been away for a few days with limited internet access.   I'm trying to catch up on my blog visiting!

Today's card is a card I made using a Darice 'Floral Whimsical' embossing folder, which I won recently over on the Butterfly Challenge. It's such a lovely, detailed e/f,  I didn't want to add too much to it.  The butterflies are punched with an X-cut punch and positioned on some of the embossed flowers.  So.... a very quick and easy card today.  I was going to enter this card for the both parts of the current Butterfly Challenge, but I think the colour is more purple than indigo.  I'm hoping the butterflies count as a silhouette.  

I am joining in the following challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #85 ~ Butterflies + S is for Silhouette and/or the colour Indigo
Cards in Envy Challenge ~ Easy as 1, 2, 3 Card Challenge
That's Crafty Fly Away Challenge

Happy 43rd Anniversary!

I can't believe that my hubby and I are celebrating our 43rd Wedding Anniversary today.  How time flies!  This is the card I made for him.

I used a Just Inklined digi stamp, 'Titanic', which is coloured with Promarkers.  The top part of the background is embossed with a Creative Expressions 'Love Hearts' e/f.  The border at the bottom was punched with a Fiskars heart border punch.  Because I didn't want the embossing to show through the heart aperture in the border, I used the punch again with white card and used the waste hearts to inlay into the red border.

 I am joining in the following challenges:
Ooh La La Challenge Challenge #237 ~ Happily Ever After

Little Hedgie

A birthday card today for a blogging friend.

The cute image is from Digi Stamp Boutique, which I've coloured with Promarkers.  I've used MB 'Stitched Rectangles' for matting and layering.  To make the panel, I used and old X-cut punch in a strip pink card and backed with the same green card I used for backing the image.  The bottom part of the card is embossed with a Creative Expressions 'Checkboard' embossing folder. 

I am joining in the following challenges:
Digi Stamp Boutique September Challenge
Tuesday Throwdown #360 ~ Happy Birthday

Thinking of You

❤️ Thinking of everyone caught up in the hurricanes. ❤️
Stay safe! 

A 'White on White' sympathy card made recently for a blogging friend.

Lots of dies used on this card.  

Creative Expressions: Ornate Pierced Rectangles, Double Pierced Ovals, String Flowers, Petite Vinery
Memory Box: Stitched Ovals, Pippi Butterfly, Isabella Butterfly
Cheery Lynn: French Lattice Small

The sentiment is grey, as black was too stark. I added tiny white pearls for the butterfly flight path and slightly larger ones for the flower centres. 

I am joining in the following challenges:
Dies R Us Challenge #80 ~ Die Cut Handmade Flowers
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Anything goes with die cuts and/or embossing
Crafty Friends Challenge #66 ~ Use dies and/or punches
Crafty Cardmakers #195 ~ Monochrome

Flying high!

I can post this birthday card, now that I know it's been received by my friend's husband.  There's a little story behind this card, as it's not the one the recipient was supposed to receive!   We were on our way down to our caravan in Devon for a few days, when I suddenly remembered the date and realised our friend's birthday was before we came home.  I'd bought a caravan stamp to use especially for his card, which I intended to make after we got home, but didn't have it with me.  So, a little creative thinking was needed as I had a couple of hours to make a card before I needed to post it.

I had taken a few new dies I'd bought from eBay with me but, apart from fairies and a unicorn, the hot air balloon was the only other die I had.  I die cut the balloon in black, stuck double sided tape over the back, covering all the apertures, and inlaid all the coloured die cut pieces.  I had no patterned paper, embossing folders or inks to make a background, but then I found an old brochure for the caravan site we stay in, which had a map of the site in the middle.  It was perfect for the background as our friends frequently stay at the same caravan site too.  I attached the hot air balloon with foam pads to give the impression that it's flying over the site.  A sentiment peeloff I happened to have in the craft box I keep in the caravan finished off my card.  So the card was posted on time......although I discovered later that they were on holiday for his birthday and so I would have had plenty of time to make a card when I got home and post it!

I am joining in the following challenges:
Die Cut Diva's September Challenge ~ Masculine/Men/ Boys
HLS September Anything Goes with Dies Challenge
Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Anything goes with die cuts and/or embossing
MIUCB #5 - Anything Goes + Inlaid Die Cut
Crafty Friends Challenge #66 ~ Use dies and/or punches

Follow Your Dreams!

A masculine card today for a young man off to university soon. 

 I die cut a dreamcatcher with a die I bought from  eBay, using silver mirror card, which was then layered on MB 'Stitched Ovals'.  The embossing folder I used for the background is 'Feathers' by Crafts Too. I die cut the edge of the black card with a MB 'Stitched Country Border' die, before attaching it to the right hand side of my card.  The sentiment is layered on a black die cut, although it doesn't show up very well in the photo.  Both the sentiment and the ovals are raised up on foam tape.  I added three punched feathers, using a Fiskars punch, to finish off my card.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge - Week 431 ~ New beginnings  

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Anything goes with die cuts and/or embossing

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #177 ~ Something Beginning with the Letter 'D' ( Dreamcatcher)

Crafty Cardmakers #195  ~ Monochrome

Shopping Our Stash #319 ~ On Trend (Dreamcatcher)

Back in my comfort zone!

In total contrast to yesterday's post, a CAS card today. 

I thought of the idea for the square frame after using the Cheery Lynn 'French Lattice Small' die recently, which left lovely little shaped waste.  I used the die today on snippets of lime green and royal blue card with the die and used the waste to create a frame.  (I'll use the green and blue lattice frames on future cards.) I marked out a square with a pencil to make is easy to line up the pieces.  The sentiment was matted and layered on snippets of the green and blue card.  

   I am joining in the following challenges:
Less is More Challenge #344 ~ Lime Green / Royal Blue
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 296 and 297 ~ Use Snippets
CASology Challenge - Week 264 ~ Square (Square frame)

Totally out of my comfort zone!!

Back in February, I saw that quite a few of my crafty friends were signing up for 'Industrial grunge clock workshop' with Mark Gould, a member of the Decoart International Design Team, which was being held a few miles from my home.  As I'm more of a CAS crafter, I knew this would take me WAY out of my comfort zone, but that can only be a good thing to do occasionally.....right? So I clicked the button on my iPad and booked myself in, wondering what I was letting myself in for.  I went along yesterday and had the most amazing day, with Mark being a fabulous teacher.  

This is my finished project.

 

We started with plain chipboard pieces....

.....and painted the segments in our own choice of colours, before stamping them using Archival ink.  That was my first challenge, choosing the colours, stencils and stamps to use!

When all the segments were decorated, we set about making the circle in the centre look like rust.

 I couldn't believe that knowing what colours and paints to use, chipboard could be made to look exactly like rusty metal! 

Finally, the segments were distressed and assembled, before fitting the clock mechanism.

So that was my most enjoyable, 'totally out of my comfort zone' day!  I just need to work out how to get the acrylic paint out from under my nails!! 

I am joining in the following challenges:

That's Crafty Rustica Challenge

Country View Crafts September Challenge ~ Metal