Flying High

Hi there everyone.  I made this card for a family birthday using Couture Creations - Ascension embossing folder.  The embossing folder is 5" x 7"  so a good size.  I used a snippet of white stamping card and inked it up with some Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Walnut Stain, Peacock Feathers and Memento Bamboo Leaves .  When embossed I found the ink hadn't totally covered the card so I spritzed with some water to help merge the colours a bit more, and then I dabbed on some extra ink until I was satisfied with the result.  I highlighted the balloons and other impresssed bits with the Walnut Stain to give them more emphasis, and I also highlighted part of the larger balloon with the Peacock Feathers just to make it stand out a bit more.

I decided to back the image with black card, and before doing so I trimmed it back very slightly, then I mounted that on to an 8" x 6" card leaving a bit of space at the bottom for the sentiment.  I decided to mount the sentiment on to a punched strip of black card made using a punch from Tonic called Doily Border which had a piece of grey satin ribbon down the middle, but when I experimentally placed this at the bottom I wasn't sure that I liked it.  After thinking for a bit I decided to sit it over the image itself and change the shape so that one end was cut in a 'v' and the whole thing wasn't quite from edge to edge.  This left a bare piece at the bottom which I ended up cutting off.  The sentiment plate itself I cut using one of the smaller dies from a set of Spellbinder - Scalloped Ovals.  I left the die in place and used a very small amount of DI - Peacock Feather to highlight it.

Well I hope you are enjoying your weekend, and thanks for looking at my blog today.

Pat x

Yellow and White Butterfly

Hello there everyone.  The basis of my card today is a Marianne Butterfly Die which is quite large for the main focus of a card.  I found a card on Pinterest which had tiles with rounded corners, but I'm afraid to say that I am not sure which Pinterest site it was now, but anyway it gave me the idea for this card.

To make the tiles I started with some yellow card which I cut into 1 3/4" square pieces with two of the opposite corners rounded off.  I ran them through a freebie EF with grasses and wild flowers just to give them a bit of a pattern.  I highlighted the embossing with black Memento ink rubbed on afterwards very lightly using a piece of blending foam.  The yellow card was rather an acid yellow which I wanted to soften a bit, so I used a little Memento ink - Bamboo Leaves.  I made sure the ink was perfectly dry before using the UTE Powder.  I rubbed the Versamark all over the tiles and then coated them with the EP and then heat set.  I repeated this process to make sure there was a good thick even coverage.  I layered these tiles on to black card.  The finished tiles have quite an irridescent finish but it doesn't show up very well in the photo.

The butterfly has three layers.  The bottom layer is just embossed and cut, then a die cut layer, these are both in snippets of black card, and then the top layer is a snippet of nice thick yellow vellum.  Originally after cutting the vellum layer I decided to darken up the yellow and aded a little bit of orange, but I didn't like the finished result very much.  I decided on a radical change and rubbed some Versamark on and used WOW EP - Sparkling Snow which is quite opaque, and then added the yellow Promarker round the edges.

After completing the layout of the card, I added a sentiment using a snippet of the yellow card and a    S/B Labels Thirty Three  die, the third smallest.  I stamped the sentiment with a Creative Expressions stamp, and added two little flower shaped button decorated with a little twine.

After messing about with the butterfly rather a lot with the different colouring techniques, I found that one of the fancy shapes at the bottom had broken off, so to even it up I cut the equivalent bit off the other side.  When I had taken the photo I wasn' t too sure about the look of the finished card.  The colour on the tiles looks more green than yellow because I hadn't accounted for the fact that colours become darker and brighter after using the UTE Powder.  Anyway I am entering the card in the following challenges:

Butterfly Challenge - Springtime at Last, which must include the colour yellow.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge which is Anything Goes with Buttons.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop where we use up our snippets of card and paper.

Thank you for stopping by today,
Pat x

Crowning Glory

Hello there.  I made this card for a friend's birthday which was a couple of days ago, using a set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque called Lily.  To be a bit technical for a minute, this is a type of Fritillaria, the most common of which is the Snake's Head Fritillary which has purple flowers with dark checkerboard markings and several flowers up one stem.  This one here is called Crown Imperial, which presumably is because it has that crown of leaves on the top and lots of flowers in a circle underneath.  Anyway, thats enough botany for today, so here is what I used to make the card:

                                               

A5 Pink Card
White Stamping Card                                              
Pink Coredinations Cardstock
Freebie Papers Set - Jennifer Ellory
Spellbinders Die - Decorative Labels Eight
Tonic Punch - Doily Border
Craft Concepts EF - Woodgrain
Chocolate Baroque Stamp Set - Lily
Memento Ink - London Fog
Adirondack Ink - Pink Sherbert, Lettuce, Bottle,
Sunshine Yellow
Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry and Walnut Stain
Creative Expressions Sentiment
Green Gems




I stamped the image on to a snippet of white card using Memento London Fog and then coloured using the various inks as above.  I didn't want the flowers to be too dark so I did water the Picked Raspberry down a fair bit.  I then cut the flower out and layered it on to the embossed Coredinations cardstock which I had sanded down so the colour core showed through.  Over this I used a frame which I made using the S/B Decorative Labels Eight and some Dovecraft green paper which I had cut a while ago but not used. It is the largest die from the set with the middle cut away.

I don't very often use papers for the background of my cards as I tend to leave them plain or use my stamps and inks, but I have had these for a while, and it is good to ring the changes and use things which have been tucked away and forgotten about.  So these, along with the punched strip in a snippet of the coredinations pink card left over after the embossing was done, make up the background.  Once all was layered I cut the sentiment mat using a snippet of the same Dovecraft green paper and the smallest S/B Labels Eight die, on which I stamped the sentiment using Adirondack ink - Bottle.  I then finished with a few green gems.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today, and I hope the upcoming weekend is good!

Happy Crafting,
Pat x 


I am entering the follow challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop  where we use up our snippets of paper/card.  I used snippets of white card and green paper.
Cuttlebug Mania  where they are celebrating their first birthday by asking that we go 'dotty'.

Monochromatic Seascape

Hi there everybody.  I started this card over a week ago intending to enter the then current Simon Says Challenge - Tag It, but as I ended up being too late to enter, I put it to one side and made another card instead.   Anyway, there is a male birthday coming up soon so I decided to carry on and finish it.  I had already decided to keep the colours monochrome as there was another challenge for which I thought this would fit, and as this is still running I decided to keep it that way.  This uses a couple of sets of stamps from Sheena Douglass called A Little Bit Scenic - Sea Scape and Sea Shells.  I love Sheena's stamps, and I have already used the puffin and some of the shells, but I thought it was time to give some of the others an airing.

I started with the topper/tag fashioned myself using a scrap/snippet of white stamping card, and placed the puffin which I stamped using Memento Nautical Blue.  I stamped it again on a piece of copy paper to use as a mask, which after cutting out I sprayed with Crafter's Companion Stick & Spray to fix temporarily whilst I stamped the boat behind.  The boat surround is actually dual purpose so it could be water or sand.  I did intend it to be on the beach, but as it is coloured blue it does look like water, but anyway I decided this is a bit of artistic licence.  I then placed the sea thrift to the left and the sentiment above with three gulls.  I coloured the scene using the Memento Nautical Blue and Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers and a waterbrush.  I then decided it would look better with a few random clouds, so I cut a shape from copy paper and blended carefully with blending foam using Adirondack Stonewashed .  If you work outwards from the paper it minimises the risk of getting dark blobs, and you can always add more ink if necessary.  I finished the tag with some baker's twine.

For the background I used two of the shells and a crackle stamp.  I stamped the large conch shell randomly over a snippet of light blue card using the Memento Nautical Blue, second generation ink, to give it a softer look.  When perfectly dry I glazed them using WOW Clear EP and a Versamark Pen.  I then stamped in between with the Crafty Individuals - Crackle Background using Adirondack Stonewashed ink.  The beauty of glazing the shells is that any excess ink will wipe off.  I finished the background by stamping the small cockle shell in the gaps over the crackle background just to add a little more interest.

I mounted the background on to a snippet of mid blue colour card, and then on to a white square card.  After placing the tag I stamped two of the small cockle shells on a snippet of white card and coloured with the Nautical Blue and Peacock Feathers ink and a waterbrush.  I cut these out and mounted them, using Pinflair Glue Gel to give them more shape, on either side of the sentiment which is on another snippet of light blue card.

Thank you for looking and leaving me such lovely comments which I always enjoy reading.

 I am entering this in the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop where we use our snippets/scraps of paper and card, and I have used snippets of white, light blue and mid blue card.
Crafter's Companion - Monochromatic.
Everybody Art Challenge - Non Cute Cards.

Springtime is Daffodils

Hello everyone.  Well, another weekend is looming, and I am only just in time for this challenge over at Less is More to make a one layer card with Spring flowers,so I will keep this brief.  Well, as brief as I am able.  Some of you are probably laughing now as I am not good at being minimal.

 I used a set of stamps by Sheena Douglass called Floral Fantasy - Bluebells and Daffodils.  This has to be a one layer card so I stamped one of the daffodil flowers three times using Memento London Fog ink, and then I stamped three more and cut them out to use as masks.  I used Crafters Companion's Stick and Spray to temporarily stick them over the stamped images.  I then selected three of the leaves and stamped them again using the London Fog ink.  I decided to colour using some inks and a watercolour brush .  The inks I used were Adirondacks in Sunshine Yellow, Butterscotch, Lettuce and Bottle, and Distress ink Spiced Marmalade.  I stamped the 'Daffodil' stamp using Memento Tuxedo Black, and then finished by adding some Adirondack in Stonewashed to give the impression of a nice blue sky having first masked the flowers.

I must admit to finding one layer cards quite difficult, and when I had finished I wasn't totally sure that I liked the result, but decided to go with it.  After taking the photos the finish wasn't as tidy as I would have liked as some of my brush strokes were a bit wayward but close ups are never very forgiving, and I am rather a perfectionist. Anyway, I hope you all like it.

Thank you for dropping by and have an enjoyable weekend.

 

Birthday Daisies

Hello All.  I do love my flowers, and today's card is from a stamp set by Chocolate Baroque called Lily.  I actually used the small Daisy head which is part of the set.  I have sent it to someone in my family whose birthday is this week, so hope she likes it.

I am a bit boring with my card shapes but I really like square cards.  Behind the main image I used a piece of white card which I embossed using a Cuttlebug EF called D'Vine Swirls.  After embossing I inked this using Adirondack Sunshine Yellow, Memento London Fog and Distress Ink Spiced Marmalade.

For the focal point I used black card and a S/B Nestabilities Labels Thirty Two.  I also used a S/B D-Lites Fantastic Flourish One  and die cut one flourish (cut into three pieces) using a snippet of   white card.  Also using another snippet of white card I stamped the Daisy three times with Memento Tuxedo Black.  I coloured with a little water and a fine brush using the three inks I used on the background and then cut them out.  I wanted a sort of monochrome effect but with a hint of colour.  After mounting I stamped the sentiment with the Memento Tuxedo Black.

Thank you for stopping by today, and as our weather here has improved somewhat,  perhaps we will be able to enjoy some time outdoors this weekend.  I hope wherever you are you have a good weekend.

I am entering the following challenge:

CAS-ual Fridays - Shades of Grey

Welcome Baby

Hi there everyone.  Today I thought I would do a baby card with this cute stamp from Lilli of the Valley called Little Acorn which I was lucky enough to win.  I have to admit that I don't actually have a reason for making this card, but thought it could go in my box of cards and wait an occasion.

I started with a cream square card.  I cut a scrap/snippet of yellow paper approximately 51/2 " x 21/2" and embossed with Tied Together EF from Couture Creations.  I embossed another scrap/snippet in green paper and cut out the little sections and stamped 'BABY' with an alphabet by Claritystamp using Memento Tuxedo Black.

For the topper I stamped the LOTV Little Acorn stamp onto white card using versamark and WOW Black EP.  I coloured using watercolour pencils then cut it out, and using Pinflair Glue Gel mounted it on to a green mat which has been die cut using S/B Decorative Labels Eight, the second size die.  I finished it off with some little pearls in the corner.

The yellow and green papers are from a  6" x 6" pad of plain colour papers 120gsm by Dovecraft.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Week 114 where we use up our snippets of paper/card.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes with Pearls.
Less is More - Week 161 - Colour - Yellow and Green.
Addicted to CAS - Challenge 33 - Baby.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today, and I really appreciate all your comments.