Crocus in Focus

Welcome

Today's card was made for a dear couple who were celebrating their 50-something Anniversary.

I started by cutting the die, and discovered it didn't quite cut how I envisioned it.. 

So I decided the negative would be the main panel, and the die cut was sponged with some light blue ink and placed onto the blue base.

The negative panel was mounted on foam tape over the background die cut. The crocus, (part of a prize from Uniko Stamps) was stamped in grey ink, coloured with Polychromo pencils, and fussy cut, before being mounted on foam over the edge of the design.

A few light blue flatback pearls (a very old part of my stash) were added, and 

the sentiment was a magazine freebie, stamped in the same light blue ink as used on the die cut. 

Some bright blue floral washi tape finished the inside

The envelope was stamped with the crocus also,  using markers on the stamp, spritzed and stamped to get a two coloured impression.

I am linking this to:

Dream Valley Challenge #295 - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2321 - Bingo

I used the centre, vertical row - Die cut, image and sentiment

Polka Doodles Challenge Week #21 - Anything Goes

A Gem of a Challenge Week 11 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Weeks #597 +598 - Anything Goes

Aud Sentiment Challenge #301 - Watercolouring and/or Spring

I used the spring option

Crafting Happiness Challenge #142 - Anything Goes - Optional Flowers

Get Creative Challenge #121 - Floral frenzy

Cup Cake Inspirations Challenge #570 - Anything Goes

613 Avenue Create May Challenge - Anything Goes Optional Use Flowers

Rainbow Bird

Welcome

I had fun making this card - and I was very happy with the result!!

It started with the centre panel, a snippet from my desk that I had sponged, so long ago I cannot remember the colours/inks I used!  I stamped the bird from 

Lots of Birds, a set from Studio Light, by the artist Marlene

using  Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

I then coloured the 'comb' and feet with an orange pen, and the bobbles on the tail with gold

The sentiment was split and gold embossed on two snippets of purple card, cut into banners and mounted on gold, as was the focal panel and main panel.  All edges of the coloured panels and banners were wiped with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink.

The background was a 'mop up' piece of card, splattered with gold paint.

The  inside was finished with some sparkly Washi tape

I am linking this to:

Arty Divas May Challenge - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz Challenge #639 - Anything Goes

(Floral twist not used)

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2320 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #597 + 598 - Anything Goes

The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Birds

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday May Challenge - Anything Goes

Addicted To Stamps and More Challenge #446 - Make Your Mark

(Both backgrounds are hand made)

Krafty chicks Challenge # 655- All Occasions

Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #199 - Backgrounds

Pressured Flowers

Welcome

I had fun making this floral embossed card. 

I started with a piece of card I had 'printed' with the back of a stencil after using it and spritzing it lightly with water - it is subtle but 'there' 

I embossed it using an old S/B M-bossibilty folder - the start of the 3-D folders, then used a finger dauber tapped onto Comic Shimmer Lemon Sherbet Lustre Polish to highlight the flowers.

The flower was one I had diecut the layers for ages ago, then didn't like them for that project.  The layers were  held together with a brad. I also cut some leaves from green snippets, sponged them in the die, and arranged them under the flower (again, an old S/B set)

The sentiment, a magazine freebie from Rare Earth, was stamped in Catherine Pooler Grass Skirt ink.

The gold trim under the sentiment panel, and also around the edge of the embossed panel, were   coloured with the Lustre Polish, which as you can see has a great shimmer to it.

The inside was finished with a simple strip of gold dotted Washi tape. 

I am linking this to:

Can You Handle the Pressure Embossing Challenge - Anything Goes, Opt Twist, Floral

Snippets Challenge # 454 - Use your Snippets, Anything Goes

Flower, leaves and banner and edging, were all cut from snippets

Bizzy Becs Store May Challenge - Anything Goes

Polka Doodles Challenge Week #20 - Anything Goes

Allsorts Challenge #729 - Anything Goes

paper munites Challenge #796 - Embossing

Digi Choosday Challenge Week #20 - Anything Goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #206 - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2320 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #595 + 596 - Anything Goes

Alcohol Inks and Die Cuts

Welcome

This card was inspired by a video - I thought it was a Natasha Foote one, but cannot find it now... if anyone recognises the technique and can let me know where it came from, I would appreciate being able to give the original artist credit!

I started with an alcohol ink background in blue, red yellow and a wee bit of silver (think lego colours) - rather bold and brash on it's own, but....

I used my Hero Arts Hexagon Infinity set of dies to cut some apertures in a piece of white card by taping the six smallest dies together and cutting them all at once. 

I then mounted the die cut white over the AI panel with foam strips, and added alternate cut outs of white, also on foam tape.  Fiddly, but effective.

The sentiment was stamped in Memento Ladybug ink, cut into a banner and adhered.

The feature panel was then mounted on red card as a base

The inside of the card was finished with an offcut of the A.I. panel

As was the envelope. 

This was made for my older grandson's 13th birthday, and he loved it. 

I am linking this to:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Masculine

Crafty Catz Challenge #638 - Anything Goes - Opt of Summer Colours

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #595 + 596 - Anything Goes

Pammie's inky Pinkies Challenge #2319 - Anything Goes

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #209 

Decorated envelope, free, banner

Cardz 4 Galz Challenge 199 - Backgrounds

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #678 - Anything Goes

Craft Rocket Challenge #103 - For The Boys

Crfeative Inspiration Challenge #2 - Anything Goes

Creative Knockout Challenge #494 - Anything Goes

Daisies. Brushos and Shaving Foam

Welcome

This is my post for the mid-month of the We Love Stamping Challenge, where the current optional theme is "In The Garden",

This card started with a sheet of shaving crème print - for this print I used Brushos to colour the foam.

I cut it to the shape of the base and mounted it onto the white card, having coloured the edges of the card using the direct to card technique with Catherine Pooler's Aquatini ink .

The daisies were stamped and cut with the Newton's Nook Dainty Daisies stamp and die set.

The flowers were painted with Twinkling H2O's, and a few sequins added for extra sparkle

The inside set of flowers were adhered toward the top of the card section, and the sentiment stamped in Memento London Fog ink, to match the stamping in the flowers

The outside sentiment (A magazine freebie) was stamped in the Aquatini ink to match the edges

The centre inside panel was left blank for a hand written note.

I am linking this to:

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2319 - Anything Goes

Digi Choosday Challenge Week #19 - Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenge #294 - Make it Sparkle

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #595 + 596 - Anything Goes

Addicted To Stamps and More Challenge #446 - Make Your Mark

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #243 - Flowers For Mum

Double D Challenge - Flowers

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday May Challenge - Anything Goes

The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Flowers

The Crafty Addicts Challenge #1 - Anything Goes

Monochrome Prim Poppies

Welcome

This card has used embossing, debossing, letter press and die cutting techniques!

I started with the debossed, letter-pressed panel as my background, as a class project.

The ink was Memento orange, and the folder an old, floral  Brutus Monroe one.

The next layer was embossed using an old SU folder

over which I layered a die cut, Prim Poppies by Memory Box, a very old die, but still a firm favourite.

I added some pencil shading to the base of the blooms for dimension

The sentiment was a magazine freebie, and the panel popped up on foam dots.

The inside was finished with a strip of dotted washi tape. I used two layers as it was fairly pale with just the one.

All edges, both inside and out, were edged with the orange ink.  The card base was a cream toned piece of recycled card.

I am linking this to:

Can you Handle The Pressure - Anything Goes with twist of Floral

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #595 + 596 - Anything Goes

A Gem of a Challenge Week #10 - Anything Goes

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #5 - Anything Goes with Blossoms

(Twist not used)

Polka Doddles Challenge Week #19 - Anything Goes

The paper shelter challenge #553 - Add Some Texture

Crafty Girls Challenge #243 - Flowers for Mum

Simply Create Too Challenge -#190 - Ladies First

Creative Knockouts Challenge #494 - Anything Goes 

We Love 2 Create Challenge #4 -Anything Mixed Media Goes

In Honour of the Coronation

Welcome

Thank you for popping to visit - I appreciate it.

This month's theme for our small New Zealand swap group was 'crowns', in recognition of the Coronation of King Charles the 3rd. 

I started by randomly stamping crowns from three different Layers of Color (now defunct) stamp sets in Delicata Golden Glitz ink

The die cut is a Hero Arts one, and I die cut it once from gold card, three times from white and once from black.  I made the black layer the base layer, and off set it just a tad.

The crown was cut from glitter card from an old Spellbinders die and set above the l's of the hello

The inside was decorated with gold tape ,

And the envelope stamped with all three crowns down one side.

I am linking this to:

Ally's Angels Challenge #70 - Anything Goes

Digi Chooseday Challenge Week #18 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday challenge Weeks #595 + 596 - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2318 - Anything Goes

Jan's Digi Designs May Challenge - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Inspired by Music

(God Save The King)

Polka Doodles Challenge Week #18 - Anything Goes

Addicted To Stamps and More Challenge #445 - Dies Cuts and/or Stencils

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday May Challenge - Anything Goes

The Crafty Addicts May Challenge #1 - Anything Goes

Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat..

Welcome

Yes, some more cats - this time they are the stars of the card.

The card was made for a friend who dearly loves her cats. 

The card I used for the background panel has a very fine speckle, and I am not sure if it was some that was inadvertently sprayed, or came like that.  I don't recall ever having card like that in my stash, so think it may be the former!!

The cats were diecut from a snippet of black card, , and sat over the sentiment panel, which was popped up on some foam tape.

The stamp is from Hero Arts, and was silver embossed over a snippet cut from some 'mop up' card.  The edges were also embossed.  The front was finished with some silver faux stitching.

The inside was finished with a couple of foliage die cuts from Gummipan, cut from green snippets, to reflect the recipients interest in house plants.

I am linking this to:

Paper Minutes Challenge #794 - Silhouettes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #205 - Anything Goes

The Alphabet Challenge - C is for Cats

A Gem of a Challenge Week #9 - Anything Goes

Challenge Up Your Life #158 - Clean and Simple

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2318 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #593 + 594 - Anything Goes

Jan's Digi Stamps May Challenge - Anything Goes

Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #453

Di's Digi Stamps Challenge - use Your Scraps/Stash

In the Garden

Welcome

Today marks the start of the May challenge at We Love Stamping, where the optional theme this month is In The Garden

I started with the green, lightly textured cardstock, and stamped the one stamp I used (from a now defunct company) randomly over it to form a background, using Versa fine Clair ink in Rain Forest

I then stamped the image on some grey/blue card I had smooshed in leftover inks, this time in the Pine Cone ink of the same brand.  This I painted using Twinkling H2)'s

The sentiment, part of a Hero Arts set, was gold embossed onto the background

Butterflies were added to add some movement - they were cut using an old Memory Box die

The final detailing of the card was the same stamp stamped 'off the page' on the insert

I decorated the envelope very generously as the card was hand delivered.

I am linking this to:

The Crafty Addicts Challenge #1 - Anything Goes

The Paper Funday May Challenge #53 - Anything Goes Twist - Emboss it

Bizzy Becs May Challenge - Anything Goes

Polka Doodles Challenge Week #18 - Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2317 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #593 + 594 - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers Challenge #254 - Anything Goes

Patties Creations Challenge #206 - Anything Goes

A Gem of a Challenge Week #9 - Anything Goes

Hero Arts May Challenge - Dance of the Flowers