Going Dotty

Greetings to my cyber visitors - it is beginning to look as though this blog is a case of feast or famine!!  I seemed not to be able to get to the computer last week, and this week I have the computer with me, but I am away from home and quite busy with my DD and Granddaughter. Not that I mind that.

I made this card shortly before I left home - it is basically quite a simple card, but because of the busy background paper, I would not call it a "clean and simple" card.

The elephant image is from the Layers of Color Polka Dot Parade set of stamps.  I stamped it onto watercolour paper (hence the slightly thickened edges to the image as the paper absorbed the ink rapidly) with Memento tuxedo black ink, and painted it with watercolour crayons. 


I then cut the image out using my nestabilities classic ovals (petite #5), embossed it and sponged ink onto the top and bottom of the image before removing the die,  then mounted it onto a yellow scalloped oval.


The card base was a lovely bright yellow card, the origins of which I do not know, over which I layered some some Warehouse (think Michaels in USA) design paper.  I stamped and embossed the greeting (from Kiwistamping) in gold, mounted the feature panel and it was complete.


A lovely bright card for a child's birthday done in about 30 minutes!


I am linking this to 

Crazy4challenges #47 - Inspiration Challenge

Stampin' Royalty Challenge #30 - KISS-_ Keep it Simple Sweetie

Thank you for calling by - I love it when you leave a comment - it makes my day.


May your day be blessed.

Pink butterfly

Greetings - Yes I am back again for a fourth time this week - it must be just about a record!!  Thank you for bearing with me and continuing your support.


I have had a wonderful week crafting, and I must admit I am making the best of it, as in a weeks time I will be with my DD and DGD for a short stay - not that I am complaining.


Yesterday I decided that I wanted to experiment with a background that I saw here called Ink, Spray and Smash... I was quite pleased with the result, but looking at the original, I could have used more water, but one lives and learns.


Here is a small close-up of the background.


After the card had dried, I used the Layers of Color Botanical swirls stencil to apply embossing ink, and then embossed it in silver.  It made for a busy base,  more so than I had anticipated!!


I mounted the background onto a blue base card, after trying various colours to see which complemented the colours. 

I decided to go with pink for the sentiment and butterfly base. 


The butterfly is from the Layers of Color Joyful Noise stamp set, and was embossed in silver, and a touch of colour was added with some metallic pens, and the rhinestones. It was mounted on some dimensional tape.


The sentiment is from Montarga, and gain embossed in silver, with rhinestones added for an extra touch of bling.


So without further ado - here is the final result!  

I am quite pleased with it and feel it is quite feminine, for the lovely lady it is intended for.

Thank you for calling by - I love knowing that you have visited, and thank you for any comments you leave, they are very encouraging.

I am linking this to the following challenges

Stampin Royalty Challenge #28 - Stenciling

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge #92- Garden Creatures

Tea Stain teddy

Greetings to all my lovely visitors :-)  It is always humbling to know that people visit and enjoy my art.


This card is one I made for a child, using a sketch challenge, and I broke the mold and used a digi stamp!!

The stamp is by Designed 2 Delight and was a freebie over at Crafters Digital Art Centre, a new web 'community' - and it is really challenging to branch out!


I ended up printing this image out twice as one corner of the paper bent over the first time through, but this turned out to be advantageous, as I cut the bear out of the 'spoilt' copy and used  the balance as a negative stencil to sponge the Tea Stained ink over him.  I was not pleased with the result, so sponged some gold ink down his tummy, and then use water colour paints to add some dimension and shading.


The flower was painted with water colours, and then I masked the flower to sponge the sky, which did not work as I wanted, so then I added the clouds which redeemed it somewhat.


This panel was mounted with dimensional tape on to the corrugated card, and then added the spellbinders 'doodles' before mounting the whole on the patch-worked background.  


This looked flat, so I added the gold kindy 
glitz which lifted the whole .




I added the sentiment embossed with gold to finish the card. 


 I don't usually work with quite so much yellow, or quite such a strong yellow, but it was also intended for a colour challenge.... I am not sure that I completed that one successfully, but I gave it a go and stretched myself!


I am linking this to 


Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #62

Thank you for calling by - may your day be blessed with much joy. 

Peace montage

Greeting to all my cyber visitors - yes two posts in two days again this week!!  

I made this card, as my contribution to the Stamping Sisters In Christ Challenge #47, and then decided that it is for me, and I am going to frame it and hang it in my craft area!!

The challenge was this : 

Make a card that symbolizes what brings you rest or peace. For example, it could be flowers, an ocean, music, mountains, sitting with a friend, or just reading a book., and is based on the Scripture - Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

This is way off my 'normal' style - (actually I am not sure what my 'normal' style is anymore!!)  When I thought about what brings me peace, and in many instances that peace is found in God's presence, quite a few things came to mind, hence why this is a montage type of creation.

Firstly music has always played a large part in my life - not that I can sing, as I find that the tune in my head does not always come out of my mouth sounding as it ought - just ask my family!!  But I did learn the piano for years and there was always music in my home when growing up, and even now the radio is tuned to the local Christian station, and going a lot of the day.

The music is from a hymnal, a purchase from a local secondhand shop, and I sponged the edges with Tea Stain distressing Ink, and pleated it onto the corner of the card.

Secondly I find peace in reading my Bible.  The Bible scrap is actually from a second hand New Testament I picked up in an "opp shop" locally. Again the edges were sponged and some of the ink was smeared across the words. Thirdly I often find peace in my crafting, be it lace making, knitting, card making, sewing.....  

                                                Fourthly, I garden a lot and often find                  myself meditating on God while in the garden - we have a lot of birds in our area, and they are always there when I am gardening - the bird in the stamp also, to me, represents the Holy Spirit, the giver of Peace, the gold (Kindyglitz) representing God's Sovereignty.

I mounted all the elements on the white card and sponged and pierced the edges - The corners are a small element from the Layers of Colors Architectural Blocks set of stamps, stamped in Adirondack espresso ink on plain white card and then cut in half. I sponged the edge of the base card with the same ink before mounting everything on it.

As mentioned, I am entering this is the 

       Stamping Sisters In Christ challenge #47 - Peace

I trust you have enjoyed my meditations and ruminations on this card.

Thank you for calling and your comments give me much pleasure.

May your day be blessed.

Blue and White

Good Evening to my visitors, thank you for calling by.

I want to build up a 'stash' of sympathy cards to have something on hand for those moments that often occur so unannounced, so when I saw this CAS card by Jessica at iEmbellish I was inspired!!  Thank you Jessica. 


A short time later I saw the challenge over at Our Daily Bread Designs and combined the two for this card.

I loved the simple white on Jessica's card so decided to use white on this card, but chose to add blue as well.  I started with the background paper (just ordinary copier paper) being put through the cuttlebug hounds tooth embossing folder.


The center panels were cut with spellbinders oval Nestibilities, and I also embossed them both and sponged them with Brilliance Mediterranean blue ink before removing the dies.


The sentiment was simply stamped (and not embossed) in the same ink - the stamp is by Our Daily Bread Designs "Praying for You" sympathy set.

The blue ribbon in the center is actually adhesive backed and is very easy to work with, but I have noticed that it is showing the pattern of embossing underneath it.  


I added flat backed pearls either side of the sentiment panel and under the sentiment itself for finishing detail.


I am very happy with this card, and may well make some more, possibly using different colourways but the same basic concept.


I am linking this to
Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBDSLC#20) - Sketch challenge
and
Practical Scrappers Challenge - embossing


Thank you for calling by, and your comments 'make my day'.


May your day be blessed.

More Purple

Greetings - yes, I did two purple cards yesterday!!  


This one came together quite quickly, and the most difficult part was lining up the stencil to extend it to the edge of the card.  Again it is a Layers of Color art stencil, this is named Brocade, and I stenciled it with violet ink on the purple base.

I then cut the layers, and sponged the violet ink around the edge of the larger white layer after embossing it, and all over the small one, before I removed the die.
The image is again from Layers of Color, from the Royal Birds set, stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with chalks and a blender pen, and then I added some Kindy Glitz to the wings of the bird for some sparkle.

I assembled the card adding a wee ribbon and bow to soften the whole, and decided that I would use a scripture reference (Isaiah 40:31) in the small panel rather than a greeting.


So in just on an hour I had another card made, and I was feeling very pleased with myself - today was another story altogether, as I mowed lawns and generally stayed out of the studio!   Tomorrow, well who knows what it will bring. :-)


Thank you for calling in - I love it when you leave comments - they are really appreciated.


May you day be blessed.

Not winter blues, but purples .....

Good morning from a frosty, but sunny, winters day, and we have just heard a weather forecast that says there is snow falling not that far south of us - brrrrr!!


Yesterday I had the afternoon crafting and worked mainly in purple - a colour I like, but don't normally use as my main colour.

When I first finished this card I found it almost too busy, but since then I have come to like it, especially under electric light later in the evening.  No accounting for some folks :-).


I started by sponging Versacolor Violet ink over my Layers of Color Botanical Swirls art stencil.  I have discovered that I need to use a dense make-up sponge for best results with these stencils.


I then put the stencil through my cuttlebug and embossed the purple sheet of card, it was then sanded it lightly to emphasis the design with  the white core of the card.   (shhh, don't tell, but there was a boo boo on the stenciling side of this that was covered by the centre panel - we stampers believe in waste not want not!!).


I placed various colours against the background, but eventually went back to my first choice for the colour of the main oval - green.  I cut it out with the Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic oval scalloped small #5, and then used the plain #4 for the white. 

The white oval was embossed and then sponged with memento bamboo Shoot ink before I removed it from the die.  I stamped the flower from Hero Arts fashion Flowers set in the violet ink and clear embossed it before painting it with Twinkling H2O's Sweet Thistle.


As I was following the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #61 I then had to think how I would finish the card, and decided that the lace would be the side feature.  This was folded into three pleats, which gave a lovely dimension to the card, but which I wanted to emphasis, so then I stamped, embossed, painted and cut out another flower and then layered that over the original image.  

To finish the centre of the card I used purple rhinestones for the final details.


By now I had all the completed elements on my desk and needed to assemble them, I pondered, and then decided to mount it all on a black base.  This done it looked somehow a little lonely, so out came the cuttlebug again and I made the vintage corners out of the black and presto, it all looked complete.


One note -I was struggling to figure how to attach the corners to the card and was about to smear glue on the backs with a toothpick, when inspiration struck and I realised that the xyron machine was sitting beside me, so a quick crank of that and they were all ready to adhere :-). no fuss, no sticky fingers.


I am linking this to

 Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #61

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge #91 - To use a Doily and or lace and embossing
Magical Crafts Fortnightly Challenge #18 - Flowers
Dutch Dare Card Challenges - Flowers

Thank you for calling by - I hope you enjoyed this journey, and thank you for your comments - they are treasured and very much appreciated - in fact they make my day :-).

Natural Flourish

Thank you for visiting - it has been a week since I wrote anything here, but I have been busy making cards!!  
Can't do everything at once.... well that is my excuse - I can multi-task, but with the computer in one room and my craft area well away, it is a little difficult :-)

I chose to feature this card this week as Stamping Sisters In Christ have a challenge to use red and/or blue in a card this week.  

The challenge is is based on  

2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 

This is a scripture that applies to all nations, as we all fall well short of what is godly, both as individuals, and those who lead us, and we as Christians need to pray for our nations, no matter where we live.

I had made this card using blue inks and the Layers of Color stencil, Natural Flourish - I have been experimenting with these stencils and love what you can do with them - before I saw the challenge, as I wanted to send a card to a family who have just welcomed a son. 

The crib stamp is one from my daughters stash, but it is unmarked.  The full stamp has a star suspended over the crib, but I masked that part of the stamp for this card.  The crib was coloured with chalks and blender pen.

The edges of the main panel were distressed and sponged and the corners pierced before it was mounted on a pale blue base.  A simple card, but quite effective, I felt.

I then went on to make this card, using the same stencil but different inks.

The anniversary it is for is a Ruby one, hence the touch of red on the butterfly (from Layers of Colors, Flutterescent set) and the pearls - one for each decade.

I stitched the main panel, as well as distressing and sponging the edges, then mounted it on a dark green base.  Not quite as quick and easy as the description may imply, but I enjoyed my time and was pleased with the outcomes.

Thank you for calling by again, and I trust your day is as lovely as our day is today, here in the middle of an antipodean winter.

Silver hearts

Greetings again - I am back again as I managed an afternoon in the studio - and I must say I really enjoyed it, so I hope you enjoy this post.

We were very excited to hear yesterday that a young lady from our church has become engaged - the proposal was all very romantic with the gentleman going down on one knee to ask her hand in marriage!!

I had something slightly different to this in mind when I started out, but I am pleased with this result.  The black, red and silver is quite dramatic, and are colours that my friend wears a lot.  

I had decided from the outset to make an easel card for the Cuttlebug "Be Inspired" challenge.   I  wanted to use this stamp from the Layers of Colors Joyful Noise set, and ended up using it this way, embossing it in silver on the black, rather than how I first thought.  The random hearts and the greeting are from stamp sets from The Warehouse (think Michaels in the States).  

The black layer of card was then mounted on a layer of thin silver metallic shim, and then onto a red base card.

The base of the easel is in white card, and I used a punched boarder as the 'stopper', and added silver rhinestones for a bit of bling.

Three silver embossed crosses from the Layers of Color 'Gothic Crosses' set were added  to remind them to keep Christ as the pre-eminent partner of their relationship.

This section was finished off with a red ribbon and bow.

To add a wee bit of bling to the front of the card I put silver rhinestones on the ends of the curls of the flourish, and on the dot of the 'i' 

This card was a real pleasure to make, and I do hope you have enjoyed the 'story' of it's construction.

I am entering this in these challenges


               Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge #90 - Easel Card
       Practical Scrapper - Border  Punches and Decorative Edge Scissors

Thank  you for calling in, and may your day be blessed.

Note of thanks

Greetings - I have been MIA for a few days, as we have had our Grandson and parents visit, and I even got into the garden today - I had to lift some tubers before they disinteregrated in the wet cold soil!!


I made this card a week or so ago, but have not been able to get back to my card making, so decided that I would post this project.

I wanted to make a card to thank some friends for some assistance they gave while I was away from home.  


The friends are a very musical family which did affect my choice of stamp - the images are from the Layers of Color set Joyful Noise.  I also wanted to use a technique that I saw on Stamp TV that is called  "Reverse Nestabilities", which gives dimension to a project, and potentially uses off-cuts from other projects.


I started with the warm red base, and decided to use the limey-yellow piece that had been used previously to cut out a scalloped oval from - I then took the piece of green which had had a plain oval cut out of it, and layered that behind the scalloped layer. 

The main image was then stamped and embossed on a piece of white card, and carefully positioned it on the main card base, while lining it up under the top layers.  A bit of a fiddle, but worth it. 


Once this was adhered, I then popped up the top layers on dimensional tape after attaching the bow. 


This card is has a Clean and Simple look to it, but the dimension gives it a special feel - the recipients also appreciated it.


Thanks you for calling by - I trust you have a day full of joy - we have, as we have had our first sunny day in nearly two weeks :-)