Framed Silhouette Sympathy

Hi everyone.  Unfortunately I have had to make a sympathy card for a more distant family member.  I decided to use some silhouette flowers using a stamp from Crafty Individuals called Ornamental Grasses Silhouette and made an embossed frame around it.

I used a piece of card just a little smaller than my go to 6" square white card and embossed the sets of triple lines on three sides equally but making the bottom set of higher up to allow for the sentiment.  I used Versafine Clair Nocturne ink for both the flowers and the sentiment and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then added some soft colouring with a brush using some Fossilised Amber distress ink for the setting sun sweeping it in a tight circle before covering with a mask and added the Stormy Sky and a little Victorian Velvet Distress Ink to the bottom.  I finished with a sentiment stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and decided that in this particular case  a 'thinking of you' sentiment was better and  I didn't want any strong bright colour so used a more subtle colour palette, not my normal..lol.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 316 All About Occasions. 
Crafty Creations May Challenge - No. 421 Anything Goes.
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Frame It.
Stamplorations May CAS Challenge - Anything CAS Goes (no twist).

  

Bold Blooms Birthday

Hi everybody.  I have a card today using one of the Woodware Bold Blooms stamps called Isabella, which I was lucky enough to win recently over at The Playground, coloured using Distress Inks, and don't faint with the shock, but I used a slimline card for a change.  I have a few 8" square cards and I cut it down to 4" wide.  I have decided as an experiment to follow the trend to display a card in a slightly different way and will see how it goes but I still think there are occasions when having a photo of a card square on is better.   I showed hubby several different presentations of this card in my photos, and hubby thought this was the best, so the jury's out as they say.

I used one of the off cut pieces from the side of the card which were the same width as the card and stamped using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I decided on the purple and teal colour scheme so that I could enter the present Colour Hues Challenge.  I didn't have teal so I used Peacock Feathers and also some Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet for the purple tones and mixed in some purple into the blue for shading on the leaves, and applied the inks from my mat using a waterbrush.  I think it would have been better to put some more blue into the mix as in the daylight today the tones are definitely more green than I thought they were but I will go with it.  I finished with some washy Peacock Feathers around the image and added some splatters using Dusty Concord and added the sentiment with the Nocturne ink and again heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss EP. 

Before I go I just wanted to say that I recently had two of my posts taken down and I was informed by e-mail that these two posts violated guidelines, but subsequently were in their words reevaluated and reinstated and restored to my drafts, and I have put them back up where they were, luckily still with comments and links so all OK.

It is a mystery to me why these two posts were picked out but really I am suggesting that everyone does a backup because there is a chance that instead of a couple of posts it could be the whole blog, and for me personally, and everyone else I'm sure, this would be extremely upsetting.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 25 Happy Birthday (congratulations on their 2nd Birthday).
Happy Little Stampers May Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes.
Stamping Sensations May Challenge - Beautiful Blooms.
NBUS Challenge - No. 26 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Colour Hues Challenge - No. 18 Purple and Teal.

Tall Ship Birthday

Hi everyone.  I recently got the latest Creative Stamping Magazine with the Message in a Bottle set of stamps and a stencil with waves, hearts and shells, and made this masculine card with them for a family birthday using the waves on the stencil and the sailing ship, shells and starfish, but there are also some bottles in which you can place different images and lots of other sea related ones and also some flowers for more feminine cards.

I started with the background using Turquoise and Ultramarine Brushos and Peacock Pixie Powder sprinkled on to my glass mat and spritzed with water before laying the stencil card over and moving it around to cover it.  I then added the stencilled waves using Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink added to the card applied with a blending tool.

I then inked up the tall ship stamp using Versafine Deep Lagoon ink on to a stitched die cut circle and ink blended the clouds with the ink left on the blending sponge using a small cloud mask I made myself, and then added the water with a bit of the Deep Lagoon ink and also coloured the hull of the boat with it, sponging very carefully.  I also added the little birds in the sky with the inked end of a pokey tool.   I then stamped the different shells from the stamp set again using the Versafine Deep Lagoon ink and fussy cut them out, and gave them some soft colour with the inked blending sponge before adding them around the left hand edge of the circle.  It is amazing how far the residue ink on the sponge goes.

I finished by adding the 'Happy Birthday' from the set on to the banner which actually comes with a different sentiment on it, but I inked just the banner and in order to fit the birthday sentiment on to  it I inked and extended the straight edges to the length I needed and then added the end pieces.  I wasn't sure this would work as I did it with an acrylic block but luckily it was more or less OK and a bit of ink blended over the top hid most of the imperfections.  I then added this all on to my 6" square white card as you can see.  

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers May Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes.
Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 404 Any Occasion.
NBUS Challenge - No. 26 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge - No. 270 Monochromatic.
The Male Room Challenge - No. 150 Water/Beach.

 

Card for a Sewer

Hi everyone.  I have a card today made with some freebie stamps which came with a magazine bought recently for me by hubby.  It was my birthday earlier this month and he surprised me on the day with a couple of magazines and one of them had sewing themed stamps, dies and an embossing folder, and perfect timing as a friend of ours had her birthday yesterday and she is a keen sewer/quilter so I made this card with some of them.  In case anyone is interested they came with Love Cardmaking Issue 7, and after checking it out it doesn't appear to be a current issue but he did buy it from a high street chain which sells magazines, so not sure why they were selling it there, and obviously I don't know if copies are still available. 

I started with a smooshed background using Salty Ocean and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks.  I then used the pretty pinked edge die which was one of the freebies, and cut three of the squares using some snippets of LOTV papers which I have from way back.  I stamped the images using Versafine Deep Lagoon Ink and also used it for the sentiment.  I extended the straight stitch/zig zag border which did join fairly well but luckily it is hidden under the bottom square.  I also used some more snippets from the LOTV paper pad to paper piece the tape measure, scissors and buttons which I thought made them stand out more.  I then added this to the white card and positioned the squares as you can see with the middle one as the sentiment plate.

Thank you for dropping by today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 401 Where we use up our snippets of paper and card etc.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Addicted to Stamps and More - No. 404 Any Occasion.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - All About Occasions.
NBUS Challenge - No. 25 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
 

Two to Tango

Hi everybody.  The saying says it takes two to tango and I thought as the tango is the dance of love then this would make a good anniversary card.  I used this Art Journey stamp called simply Dance and paper  pieced using some Craft Consortium Grunge Light papers which are double sided and I used the other side of one with these red/orangy pink tones, although the same sheet did have some bluey purple too.

I started with a piece of white card just a little smaller than my 6" square card and stamped the image using Versamark and heat embossed with WOW Metallic Platinum Embossing powder.  It does look as though the finish is patchy on the dancers' bodies, but it is script which doesn't show up as well as it might.  I then stamped again on the paper the areas of the stamp to be paper pieced using the same EP, and then fussy cut around the clock faces and added them to the card.  The colour is lighter and brighter than it looks here and I went for the less busy side of the paper because I didn't think the clock faces would show up very clearly otherwise.  I finished by adding a sentiment using Versafine Crimson Red ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss EP.

Thank you for visiting today and I will see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

CAS Mix Up April Card Challenge - Mixed Media.  On my card I have used stamping, heat embossing and paper piecing. 
Kraft Chicks Challenge - No. 555 CAS.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Clean and Simple.
Alphabet Challenge - A is for Anniversary.
   

Snowy Sunrise

Hi there.  Well I am rushing in again at the last minute with a card for the Rudolph Days Challenge run by Mo of Scraps of Life by Scrappymo.  I seem to be making a habit of last minute entries lately.  I made this card using a stamp set from Chocolate Baroque called Robin the Spruce and also a stamp set by the Colorado Crafty Company called Big and Bold Winter Wishes Snowflake.

I started with a piece of kraft card and stamped the wintry scene in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and heat embossed it using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then coloured it used my Derwent Inktense Pencils without any water for good coverage which isn't always easy on kraft card, especially the white.  I then matted this on to red card.  

I decided to use a 7" x 5" white card and stamped the snowflake with my Versamark and heat embossed it with WOW Bright White Opaque EP, which just gives a bit of extra interest on the base card, and then stamped one of the sentiments from the set again using the Nocturne ink and heat embossed it with the Clear Gloss EP.

Before I go I have a new follower called Ellen whose blog you will find here and I'm sure she would love you to give her a visit.

Thank you for dropping by today and I hope to see you again soon. 

I am also entering the following challenges:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 91 Anything Christmas Goes.
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - No. 535 Anything Christmas Goes.
Addicted to Stamps and More - No. 402 Christmas.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 312 All About Occasions.

Wild Blooms

Hi everyone.  I am cantering in at the last minute with entries for challenges which both finish today.  The first is the Twofer Card Challenge which this time is Your Choice, so any two cards using a stamp, stencil and/or die of your own choice making two different cards for two different occasions.  The second challenge is CAS Mix Up Challenge which this month is a watercolour challenge the theme of which is Print Making with Die Cuts.  The challenges I have entered the black and white card into are not finishing for a while, so still time for an entry if you were wanting to.  I decided to go with a set of Sizzix flower and leaf dies which I bought recently called Wild Blooms No. 2.  So here are the two cards.

 
I am entering both cards in the  Twofer Card Challenge. 

 The first card has a background made using the die cuts themselves.  I used two of the flowers and two different leafy branches from the set and in several more neutral shades of Distres Ink I inked them up and spritzed before laying them down on the card to leave the print behind.  I did this several times until I thought the depth of colour was right.  I then used two of the flowers shapes in shades of purple to add to the background.  I then used a stitched square die to make a topper with it and adhered it to my 6" square white card.

I then cut two more of the flowers and coloured them with a waterbrush using the same two purples for the flowers and one of the greens for the stems and leaves and arranged then over the top.  I finished with my favourite birthday sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

CAS Mix Up March Watercolour Challenge - Print Making with Die-cuts.
The Flower Challenge - No. 54 Shades of Purple.
NBUS Challenge - No. 24 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

 

For the next card I decided to use some of my much neglected papers and paper pieced the flowers using some very old Papermania black and white designs.  I die cut the same two flowers from three snippets of patterned papers and added the flower centres using black.  I also cut the two different pieces of foliage from black and white and also dry embossed a piece of card using a woodgrain embossing folder from Tim Holtz Texture Fades range from Sizzix which I have had for years.  I then cut a stitched circle from it and using a size larger die cut another from black.  I layered the two circles on to my square card and added the flowers and foliage and die cut a 'thank you' sentiment and placed it on the circle.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 399 Where we use our snippets of paper and card etc.  I used snippets of black, white and patterned card.
Happy Little Stampers March Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies.
Colour Hues Challenge - No. 14 Black and White.

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