Mr Turtle

Hello to all my cyber visitors - it's good to 'see' you here!

I have made a habit of not reading some of the challenge 'rules' recently and have managed to 'disqualify' myself from a couple as a result - not that I am unduly worried, but I thought that this card filled the criteria for two challenges, so I would leave it at that.

I had an order for a card for a youngster, and started with this stamp 

from  Bugaboo Stamps, and thought it would be good to use on the sketch from the Stampin Royalty challenge, and this is the result.

I coloured the turtle with Stampin' Up pencils and then water brushed them. Added crystal and gold KindyGlitz, and mounted the panel on some metallic blue paper.  Embossed the sentiment (from Hero Arts) , and mounted it on scraps from my stash, cut to size.  The stitching in the sketch was replaced with ribbon, and the buttons with more metallic paper cut into circles.

This is a very cheerful card and I am very happy with it as, perhaps surprisingly, I struggle with cards for children.

I am linking this to:

Stampin' Royalty Challenge #64 - sketch

Southern Girls Challenge - Add an Animal

Thanks for calling by - may your day be blessed. 

Simply Masculine

Greetings once more.

 Yes, another masculine card - this time it was made with the Less Is More challenge in mind.

It was quick and easy to make - a sentiment from Kiwistamping, a flourish from Stampin' Up, some Pearle thread (no string on hand) and a button.

The stamps were embossed with gold embossing powder which added a lot of drama to the card.

I somehow think this really epitomizes the Less is More ethos. 

This is being linked to:

  Less is More - A Masculine Card

Crafts and Me challenge #27 - anything Goes

Sisterhood of Crafters - Lets hear it for the Boys

Stampavie and More Challenge #134 - Masculine

Clear it Out Tuesday #2 - buttons

Everybody-art-Challenge#134- Happy Birthday

Totally Ladybug Tuesday Challenge# 20 - Monochrome

Thanks for visiting - I really appreciate the fact that you visit!

May your day be blessed

Twice inspired by Card Patterns# 107

Greetings to you again - I so appreciate your visits.

I also appreciate the fact that I have been spotlighted this week by 

Pink Paper Paradise

Thank you ladies for the vote of confidence!!

I am showcasing two cards today - the first I followed the sketch at the 

Card Patterns blog quite closely...

The butterfly is a digi from Priscillastyles Store and I love using it - I coloured it with chalks, and then sprinkled gold embossing powder over the image and heated it to give some sparkle to it.

It was mounted on some green 'marbled' paper that I was given from a friend - the texture of the paint on this is amazing!!  This was then mounted on a lacy square.

The centre panel was some pale green paper, punched on either side with a Fiskars punch, and sponged with Adirondack Bottle green ink, and the gold dots are a dimensional glue.  The ribbon is a multi-coloured pastel which was part of a fibre pack given to me by a friend - it was very slippery to tie the bow with, but we got there!!

The base of the card is a very dark bottle green and I puzzled over how to lighten it, when I came across the piece of textured 'paper' with sprinkles of gold over it - they can just be seen in the top photograph - it lightened the appearance of the card and added some more interest.

The next card is really and adaptation of the sketch, and was also inspired by the technique challenge on Splitcoast Stampers, to use newspaper on your card.

I sponged the edge of the newspaper with Tim Holtz distress ink - tea Stain, then went over board and screwed it up and applied the ink direct to paper, balled it up again and then wiped over Whisper Mossy Stone ink. After all the "messyness", I flattened it out and used it as a background.

I stamped the scripture (from Our Daily Bread Designs, Scripture Collection 1) and greeting (by Hero Arts) onto white card using Adirondack Espresso and Versamark inks, and clear embossed it.  After cutting the ovals with spellbinders classic ovals I embossed them and sponged the edges with the mossy stone ink, then the very outside edges with the tea stain.  I then mounted it using a variation of the sketch :-).

I am linking this to:

Card Patterns #107 - Sketch

Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight Challenge - make your own paper (card 2)

Our Creative Corner - Don't throw it away (card 2)

Really Reasonable Ribbon#20 - One for the boys (card 2)

Creative Card Friends - Spring (card1)

Incy Wincy Designes #86 - Embossing (both cards)

Thanks for visiting - may your day be blessed

More sponging.

Greetings, and thank you for visiting.

Yes, I am on a roll with this technique!!  

Not only is it very effective, but it is quite simple, and thanks to the family crises we have experienced recently, I needed to make up some time with my card making to get some orders delivered in plenty of time.

  I turned this card sideways and sponged three greens into the frame - Memento Cottage Ivy, Bamboo Leaves and Pear Tart, by Tsudineko.

The poppy stamp is by Kiwistamping, and is coloured with my Stampin' up pencils and a white gel pen.

The greeting was stamped using a scarlet ink from a three coloured pad I have had since starting stamping!!  The final embellishment was the ribbon.

I have another card made using this technique here on my Splitcoast Stampers gallery.

Thanks for calling by - may your day be blessed.

Off the Edge

Greetings to you all once more - I am home again and finally back to blogging - it has been a very eventful week, but life is a wee bit calmer now.

I have been fascinated to try the challenges from the Less is More blog, where this weeks challenge is "Off the Edge" - to make a single layer card with the focal point going off the edge (of the card).

I have taken a  liberty with the challenge - that my focal image is off the edge of the sponged background I created - maybe I have just disqualified myself...

The sponged square technique I learnt from the Less is More blog several weeks ago, and the effect here is to look as though the butterfly is flying in front of a cloud.

The butterfly is from the Layers of Color Flutterescent set and I embossed it with gold - loved the look of it as it is so I did not try to colour it at all.

I finished the card by stamping the sentiment in Tsudineko Memento Danube Blue, the darker of the two inks I used to sponge the square with - the other ink was Summer Sky from the same company.

The only embellishment was some narrow gold ribbon and a bow.

I am linking this to:

Less is More - Off the Edge

Kaboodle Doodles - Birthday Card

Make it Mondays - Anything Goes

There's Magic In The Air - Monochromatic

Paper Sundaes #60 - Keep It Simple

Thanks for calling by - may your day be blessed.

Red and Brown for Him - C4C77

Welcome once again, and thank you for visiting. 

I did not think I would be blogging again for a while, but as I live by the motto "have computer, will travel" I thought I would write up this entry while away from home for several days.

I had this card photographed and ready to go, so here it is.

The sketch challenge this week at Crazy 4 challenges really inspired me. I had a card to make for a man, so found it a great starting point.

.

The cad base I used is a lightly grey speckled cream card that I got from the local printer.  I used a metallic red fibrous 'stuff' for the left triangle - it has a real sheen to it IRL, but the camera does not pick it up particularly well.

Here is a close up shot of it, showing some of the sheen

The top triangle is cut from an old dictionary page - the dictionary was found at a garage sale by a wonderful friend!!  

The centre circle is white card on which I stamped a world map on using tea stain distressing ink and cut using a Spellbinders lacy circle, and then sponged with Adirondack Espresso ink.

The verse was  stamped and embossed in copper.

The sentiment was also stamped and embossed in copper, and distressed with the espresso ink.

The ribbon is a dark brown and the brads just gave it the finishing touch.

I am linking this to:

Crazy4Challenges #77 - sketch

Craft Your Passion #48 - Anything goes

Oh La La Creations #75 - It's a Man Thing

Simon Says Stamp and Show - some metal - copper embossing

Aly's Sunday challenge - Anything Goes

Card Cupids challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Pad #111 - Use ribbon

Lets Ink It Up #10 - Show us your embossing

Thanks for calling by - may your day be blessed.

Christchurch Relief Auctions

Thank you for calling - it is just a quick post today.

 I made some cards for the Handmade for Christchurch  project on facebook - all the items are donated and then auctioned on the NZ/Aus auction site Trade Me, with profits going to the designated charities. 

I used the Cottage Rose Cling Art Stamp  from Layers of Color, after stamping the front edge was cut back, and a punched border in a co-ordinating colour was adhered to the back layer of the card. 

The punch is the lace border from Martha Stewart

There was no sentiment stamped either the on front or inside, so the cards can be used in many ways - for letters or specific occasions.

This is the full set - envelopes included.

Thanks for calling by - may your day be blessed.

Orange Flowers

Thank you for visiting again - I am humbled by the fact that so many of you  choose to visit my blog regularly.

After a rather chaotic February, with very little crafting time for the last two weeks, I managed to have all Sunday in the studio and made five cards then and another yesterday - it is this latter that I am sharing today.

The base of he card is a creamy card stock, which was stamped with the flourish from the Nature Walk Set by Layer of Colors in Galaxy Gold ink by Tsukineko.

The feature panel was layered with a piece of music from a hymnal and cut with a Spellbinders Labes 14 die, then sponged with Tea Stain Distress ink.

It was over-stamped with a Scripture from the Scripture Collection 2 by Our Daily Bread Designs and embossed in copper.

After mounting this on the card, three flowers from the Nature Walk set were stamped in Whispers Orange ink and coloured with chalks and a blending pen.  These then had a button stitched in the centre and were mounted using glue dots.

The band at the bottom was white card sponged with the orange ink used in the flowers.  The sentiment was again embossed with copper. I then pierced two lines either side of the sentiment and stitched them with a variegated metallic thread that I had used to secure the buttons with.

The buttons were inspired by the Stamping Sisters In Christ Challenge, which was based on

 Psalm 9:10 "Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."

The thought shared was that God is our unfailing security, and the challenge was to use three buttons, as representing something that holds securely.

I am linking this to the following challenges:

Stamping Sisters In Christ #70 - Use three buttons

Crazy 4 Challenges # 76 - Use Flowers 

Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge #50 - sketch

Bunny Zoe's Crafts Challenge #9 - Flowers Everywhere

The Crazy Challenge #56 - Here Comes Spring

Critter Challenge#54 - Use a Sentiment

Cupcake Craft Challenge#131 - Anything but Square

Incy Winsy Designs Challenge # 83 - Spring is in the Air

Lexi's Creations Challenge #34 - flowers

Polly Craft challenge #82 - three circles (the flowers or buttons)

Stamps R Us Challenge - For the Girls

WoodwareUSA #16 - Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting - May your day be blessed