Rudolph Days June Challenge

Hi there everybody.  It is that time in the month when Mo has her Rudolph Days Challenge and it goes on until the end of the month.  My card today is a very quick one with some recycled bits which have been sitting  in a bag waiting to be used.

This is a 6" square white base card and I added the partridge which I thought had nice bright colours and the large sentiment in glittery gold complements it perfectly I think, and the ribbon was on the sentiment anyway so left that on too.

Hope you are all enjoying the lovely hot and sunny weather at the moment and certainly not the weather to be thinking Christmas which is why I opted for  a quick and easy card this time.

I am also entering the following challenges:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 32 Anything Christmas Goes.
Sweet Stampin' Christmas Challenge - June - Anything Christmas.

Watercoloured Jellyfish

Hi there everyone.  I am back with my entry for the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge, and the theme this time is Ocean so I have used these fun Funky Fish, part of a set from Chocolate Baroque.

I started by making an underwater background using Brushos in Turquoise, Emerald Green and Ultramarine, well watered down to give a nice washy look.

I then stamped the Jellyfish twice onto a piece of white card.using Versmark Ink and heat embossed the images in WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder.  I watercoloured them with my Distress Inks using Fossilized Amber, Carved Pumpkin and Blueprint Sketch and fussy cut them out.

I cut a white overlay and die cut a circle from it using a set from The Works, and placed the watercoloured background behind it before fixing it down on a 6" square white base card.

I added a sentiment from a Crafty Individuals set called Seaside Treasures which I thought went well, again using Silver EP, and then mounted the two Jellyfish either side of  it letting them overlap the white layer a little bit.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers June Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (no twist).
The Artistic Stamper June Challenge - Colour it Blue (I hope this is considered to be enough blue with my ocean background).
Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Seaside.

Birds in Circular Frame Anniversary

Hi everybody.  I did this anniverary card quite a while ago but for some reason I have never shown it.  I used a Chocolate Baroque set for the birds called Fluttering Hearts and a Sue Wilson Orange Blossom Leaves die for the foliage.

I started with a background for which I think I used Brushos and which had been sitting on my desk awaiting an opportunity to be used.  I then embossed it with a Cuttlebug folder which I have had for a long time and sadly is not available any longer.

I cut a circle with a set of dies from The Works using a snippet of white card to frame the background, and before adhering I tucked the white die cut leaves cut from snippets under the edge of the circle.

I then stamped and embossed the birds, again using a snippet of white card and Versamark Ink, and heat set them with WOW Gold Metallic Embossing Powder.  After gluing the leaves to the background I added the fussy cut birds letting them overlap the edges of the circular frame.

I finished by adding the sentiment again using the Gold Metallic EP.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 328 where we use our snippets of paper and card etc.
Uniko Challenge - No. 47 using a photo inspiration ( I have got green and gold in the background and there is some white on the suitcase which is my other main colour so I hope this works for the challenge)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anniversary/Wedding.
Happy Little Stampers June Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.

Vintage Bicycle

Hi everybody.  This is a card I made for one of our good friends, a few weeks ago now, and just haven't got around to showing it before.  We went for a visit to the Isle of Wight  and whilst out and about passed this craft shop, well, who can resisist going in for a quick look round, and I found this Memory Box Vintage Bicycle die which had to come home with me, but have found it on line with the link above, much cheaper too so should have waited, but was too tempted at the time.

I decided to do a technique which I have done a few times which is to cover the raised parts of the die with Versamark Ink, lay this on to your piece of white card inked side down, place your embossing mat, then the card with the die on top, and use your usual sandwich of plates, though sometimes it does require shimming, and run it through your machine. Then add your embossing powder and heat emboss.  This should give a debossed image with your chosen finish, in this case WOW Metallic Silver.   I die cut this using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle Die and used Distress Oxide in Salty Ocean having left the centre lighter, and then used Squeezed Lemonade which mixed with the blue to make a bit of green too.  I added several layers of the yellow as it is quite a pale yellow.  I then finished with a bit of Blueprint Sketch DI around the edges.  When dry I mounted this on to a piece of white card a little larger.

Unfortunately after adding the colour the silver embossing was very faint so I decided to add in a die cut bicycle over the top of the outline and die cut it in white card and then using Versamark Ink heat embossed with the WOW Silver EP.  I did this two or three times to get good coverage.  I did question myself afterward as to why I didn't just cut it from Silver Mirri.  I think I had it in my mind that it would match in better if it was embossed but really it made no difference and would certainly have been a whole lot easier..lol.

I then used the die as a stamp in the background on to a piece of blue card which I had cut with the largest Crealies Pierced Rectangle.  Instead of running it through my machine I inked the die with the Versamark Ink and just pressed it on to the card with my hands quite firmly.  I did this randomly over the blue card and then heat embossed again with the Silver EP.  It just left a nice random pattern on the background, not a strong outline but enough to see the bicycle shape, although it doesn't show up well here.

I finished by die cutting a sentiment using some Silver Mirri card and added it after layering the other elements on to a 7" x 5" card. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - All Things Bright and Beautiful.