CAS Mix up Challenge - Watercolour Sunflower

Hi everybody.  This month the CAS Mix Up Challenge is featuring Watercolouring with the theme of Sunflower hosted by Bobby, and our Guest Designer is Barbara (My Creative Room).

I used an old set of Papermania stamps called Build a Sunflower, and I also used a stencil which came with a Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine No. 284 with stamps and a double stencil from Indigoblu, both have never been used before.

                            

I decided to use a 5" x 7" card base and I cut a piece of white card to fit this.  I stamped the largest sunflower in the bottom right corner using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink, going off the edge slightly and then I stamped it again onto some masking paper and cut it out.  Having masked the image I then used the mandala stencil in that corner using a brush to apply the Distress Ink Mermaid Lagoon, and then I decided to add a smaller bit of the mandala on the top left hand corner using the same ink.  I also added four of one of the tiny sunflowers stamped in the same ink around the edge of the stencilling in just that corner.

I removed the mask and then watercoloured the sunflower with Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade DI's on the petals and Walnut Stain DI for the centre using a waterbrush.  I finished with a bit of pencil smudged around the edge of the flower to give it more definition and added the sentiment also using the Mermaid Lagoon ink.

I hope you will come and visit us over at CAS Mix Up and take a look at the beautiful work from our Guest Designer Barbara and the rest of the team.  There are also a few videos you can watch for more inspiration and the challenge is open until the end of the month so you have plenty of time to play along with us.  I love sunflowers which are always so bright and pretty and can be seen quite late into the summer which is lovely, and if you ever see a field filled with them it is a spectacular sight.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Stamp It.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 525 Die Cuts and/or Stencils.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Sept. '26 Anything Goes/Yellows.

NBUS Challenge - No. 90 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I.D.E.A.S. Challenge - Week 5 Stencils.

CAS Christmas - Woodland Critters

Hi everyone.  I am so pleased to have been asked to be a Guest Designer over at CAS Christmas after being the winner of last month's challenge, and the theme this time is Woodland Critters.  

I have used a mix of a Card-io set of stamps called Oriental Blossoms, using just the twiggy branch and a small leaf, and then some silhouette stamps from Crafter's Companion called Festive Foliage from which I think I may have used the holly in the past, but not the berries or pine cones, so these are getting their first outing, and I think the twiggy branch and leaf have not been inked before either..both sets were bought a long time ago so great to get some use  at last.  The fox and bird came from two different magazine stamp sets from Highlight Crafts Two Red Robins Box Kit 4 which had the fox, and Creative Stamping No. 129 had the little bird, and both sets have lots of other lovely Winter/Christmas images, and neither set has been used very much so I must endeavour to use some of these for festive cards this year, and the two I used had definitely not seen ink before...tut tut!

I cut a piece of white card to fit a 6" square card base and then decided how large it needed to be in order to stay CAS and for the little fox to fit inside it.  I made small pencil marks where the perimeter of the circle would be in each direction and then started at one side and continued round to aim for the marks to keep it reasonably circular which luckily worked OK.  I did add one or two more branches where I thought they were needed, but didn't do any second or third generation stamping which if I had kept it plainer I probably would have done to fill it out more.  I then added the holly leaves at intervals with the berries over the top..perhaps the bunch of berries was a bit large but I didn't have a lot of choice and they do make a statement.  I then added the pine cones, and in two other gaps I added a couple of small leaves.  I used Distress Inks except for the red which was an Adirondack ink pad in Cranberry which I thought would be darker and therefore have enough ink coverage to push the holly and twiggy branch into the background, although close up you can still see both beneath.  The pine cones being brown stand out fine, as do the little leaves.  I was very happy with the result as I don't think I have attemped this sort of wreath before.  I meant to keep a note but I think the Distress Inks were Brushed Corduroy and Walnut Stain, and the leaves were a combination of Twisted Citron and Pine Needles over the top

The next step was to add the sky and snow slope within the wreath and I kept it simple using one of a set of stencils from Lavinia and using Tumbled Glass DI brushed very lightly.

I then found a small offcut of white card and stamped the fox coloured with my Lyra Pencils and then cut it out, and similarly with the very small bird.  I did also use my pencils to add a bit more definition to the the holly leaves and berries and the pine cones, and I added a white Posca pen highlight on each of the berries.

Finally I added the sentiment using a mix of Versafine Satin Red and Crimson Red inks.  The Satin Red was a bit too bright and the Crimson a bit dark so this just made it about right to match with the red of the berries, and after cutting the piece of card down slightly as the wreath wasn't totally central and adding this to the card base, I added the fox and little robin using Pinflair Glue Gel to give them a little dimension.

I hope you will visit CAS Christmas and see what the Design Team have made to inspire you, and hopefully join in the challenge which is open until the end of the month so lots of time to take part.

Thanks for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 70 Anything Goes.

Peace on Earth Challenge - No. 118 Anything Goes Christmas.

NBUS Challenge - No. 90 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

All Creatures Great and Small

Hi everybody.  I am so pleased to have been asked to be a Guest Designer over at Allsorts for their latest challenge which is as you can see All Creatures Great and Small.  I chose to use a couple of fairly recent purchases both being used for the first time.  The hare image is from Indigoblu Magazine Box Kit 11 and for the background I used a 3D Embossing Folder from Funky Fossil called Oak Leaf Cascade.  

I started with a piece of white card cut to fit a 6" square card base and I placed the folder in such a way that it would leave some space at the bottom for the hare and foliage.  I did have the card and just the edge of the embossing folder beyond the plates but unfortunately it did leave the impression a little but in real life it hardly notices and so I left it but can see that the photo is less forgiving.  I then ran a Twisted Citron Distress Ink Pad over the raised areas of the leaves trying more or less to miss the acorns, followed by a Bundled Sage DI which brought out some of the lines and detail, and then I used a Brushed Corduroy DI on the acorns.  I then used a waterbrush and washed over the leaves to move the ink around and also added more of these colours as well as a little Pumice Stone DI.  I then added some sky around the leaves and acorns using Tumbled Glass DI.  

Then I moved onto the hare which I stamped onto a spare piece of white card using Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink and then coloured with the browns I had already used on the leaves and after added some depth with my Lyra coloured pencils.  I then cut this out minus the foliage discarding the whiskers..cutting those out was an impossibility..lol.  I then just inked up the foliage around the hare using Bundled Sage DI and stamped it in the position where the hare would be place on the background, and I then inked it a few more times to fill the entire bottom of the card.  I did add a little of the Twisted Citron DI using a watrbrush to fill it in.

I finished the card by cutting down the background slightly to allow room for the sentiment beneath which I stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink and then added the background and I gave the hare more dimenson by adding some Pinflair Glue Gel and placed it on the background.

Thank you for coming to visit today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering this into the following challenges:

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Bees.

We Love Stamping Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Summer Blooms.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 524 Any Occasion.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

As You Like It Challenge - Favourite Wild Animal (They are fun with their long ears and legs, and the males have a boxing match in the spring).

NBUS Challenge - No. 89 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
I.D.E.A.S. Challenge - Week 4 - Anything Goes.

Flourishing Hearts

Hi all.  I needed a quick anniversary card and remembered seeing somewhere a card using flourishes behind a heart aperture and I haven't used any flourishes on a card for ages.  I decided to use a set from Honey Doo bought ages ago called Flowers for Design which has a flourish which I have never used, and I also used my Torn Edge Hearts and a couple of different mica powders.

I started with a piece of white card just a little smaller than the 6" square card and I roughly found the middle and started down one of the sides by about 1/2" using Versamark ink.   I stamped the flourish and then from the other direction did the same thing so the long straight edge of the flourish joined up in the middle.  I then heat embossed using WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder.  I decided where to cut the heart..a little above the centre using one of my Torn Edge Hearts. 

Moving on I decided to use Brushos to colour the slightly smaller heart with, i.e.Violet and Ultramarine and spritzed to get them moving.  I then decided to add some mica powders whilst wet so that they would set, and I chose a silver and a pinky lilac and using the tip of a piercing tool I put some of each on and moved them around and then dried the heart on the low speed of my heat tool.  Wow, some great sparkle and I wiped it over with some kitchen towel to remove any that was likely to come off which wasn't much.

At first I had thought that I would add the coloured heart into the torn heart aperture but thought on reflection that I would place the heart back into the aperture to show off more of the flourish and then I added the sparkly heart over the top, and finished with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment using the same Silver EP.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS Challenge - No 315 Anniversary.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 856 Embossing (dry or heat)/Anything Goes.

Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Nature.

Try it on Tuesday Challenge - Inspired by a Song (Anyone Who Had a Heart - Cilla Black).  If anyone fancies a bit of nostalgia find it here.

A Cut Above Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Fall Flowers.

Stencilling over Patterned Paper

Hi everyone.  Here is another card using the technique over at CAS Mix Up this month.  I used a Tim Holtz Flourish stencil and a Creative Expressions mini stencil called Shabby Harlequin, and a set of Creative Craft Products DL Torn Edge dies and also the Oval Torn Edge Dies.

I started with a piece of quite plain dp from my stash and cut it with a DL Torn Edge die  to fit a DL card, and then using the Flourish Stencil I chose one portion of it to fill a corner by masking off around it so that I wouldn't ink up bits I didn't want, and added it to each end of the piece of paper using Wilted Violet Distress Ink using a blending brush.  I then decided to add another pattern as I felt it was a bit too plain in the centre and used Spun Sugar DI quite lightly to the centre with the Shabby Harlequin stencil, but then decided to do it all over the piece.  I wasn't sure about the colour so I then put the stencil back over and worked my way over the whole piece with Picked Raspberry DI, again quite lightly but it did brighten it up slightly but was still quite a peachy pink but thought I would leave it there.  Although this second stencil is small being a regular pattern it matched up fine.  

I finished by cutting two of the Torn Edge Ovals and the larger one I coloured with the Wilted Violet using the blending brush, and then on the smaller white one I just used what was left on the brush to take the whiteness down a bit.  I finished by stamping a sentiment onto it again with the Wilted Violet ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and layer it up onto the card in a landscape format. 

I hope you will give this a try as if you are like me you have lots of patterned papers which perhaps don't look so great on their own but used as a background they are perfect and my stencils get a bit neglected too.  We would love to see what you can do so do come and join us.  There is still a couple of weeks before it closes at the end of the month.  Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Embossing Wet or Dry/Anything Goes.

Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Nature.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Aug. '26 CAS Design Style/Anything Goes.

Time Out Challenge - No. 319 "Pick 2" ( I have Birthday and CAS and an extra Geometric (diamond stencilling and oval mats).

CAS Mix Up Challenge - Auig. 26 Stencilling over Patterned Paper.

Take Time to Smell the Flowers

Hi everyone.  I have a card today for a birthday and I know by the time it reached her it will have been very late...I had a few to make when that spell of hot weather hit and I just could not get my head round doing any of it in that heat, even with a fan on in the room.  I am using a recently acquired set of stamps which came with Creative Stamping Magazine 162 designed by Françoise Read, with a sort of mixed media/ephemera look to them and they are a bit different to any other stamps that I have and the set also comes with two stencils which work together for a postage collage look which I haven't used yet.  This is one of the four big stamps.  

I needed to keep it relatively simple as time was of the essence, so I did an acrylic block background using Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink and luckily I had a block which was exactly the right size.  I lay the inks down on it and then spritzed and added it to a piece of white card to fit a 5" x 7" card base.  I did it several times varying the amount of each ink to get good coverage although I think there is still more of the blue then the green but still OK.  I then stamped it using Versafine Smokey Gray ink and then I used some of my Lyra pencils to colour the flowers and leaves and also to add a bit more blue to some of the images.  I then added the sentiment which is also one of the stamps in the set again using the Smokey Gray ink and heat embossed it using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.   When I had mounted it on the card I decided to give the flowers, bird and hands on the two clocks a bit of sparkle with my Clear Wink of Stella brush pen as a finishing touch, the recipient will appreciate this touch I think...lol.

This card has been waiting for its turn for rather a long time but better late than not at all..lol.  Thank you for coming to visit me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - Aug. '26 Summer Blooms/Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 855 Colours of Summer/Anything Goes.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 523 Birthdays.

AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 88 Flowers.

Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes.

N.B.U.S. Challenge - No. 89 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Trio of Trees

Hi everyone.  This was a quick card made this evening to enter the Addicted to CAS challenge which only has a few hours left.  I have been wanting to enter this challenge the last few times and for one reason or another I have left it too late, but I was determined not to miss it again this time as I do love trees.  I used this Crafty Individuals stamp which I have had for some time, and also a leafy stencil which came with an Indigoblu Mixed Media Magazine Issue 11 and being used for the first time.  Being good I didn't get it when it first came out but when I had a closer look later on I was wishing I had, but by waiting I managed to get it for half price which was great.

I decided to use a 5" x 7" card and cut the mat to fit it..I did cut it down more when I was ready to add it to the card.  In my rush to take the photo and get it up I forgot to cut a bit of excess card from the bottom as it is a little unbalanced but too late now...lol.  They are actually winter trees but I wanted to make them in leaf.

I inked the piece of card using the stencil and two Distress Inks - Stormy Sky and Bundled Sage keeping it light, and then used my stamp positioner and some Staedler Watercolour Brush Pens straight to stamp and added a little water but lost quite a lot of the detail.  I then stamped over it with a Versafine Sepia Ink and then added a bit more of the water colour pen straight to the paper, and using a waterbrush I moved it around and softened it by removing some of the ink with a piece of kitchen towel.  Not sure that it totally works but it was a quick card.  I finished with the sentiment which came with the magazine stamped with the Vintage Sepia Ink.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS Challenge - No. 313 Trees.

We Love Stamping Challenge - Aug. '26 Summer Blooms/Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 855 Colours of Summer/Anything Goes.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Anything Goes/CAS Design Style.

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Happy Birthday.

NBUS Challenge - No. 89 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I.D.E.A.S. Calendar - Week 1- Ink/Color Mediums.