Life's Journey Birthday

Hi everybody.  Hubby celebrated his birthday recently and I won't say how many years, and I didn't put it on the card, but I will say that he has clocked up a few more than me..lol.  I saw a video recently by Gina K in which she masked to create boxes in which she placed her stamping and I liked the look of it so thought I would do something along these lines.  I decided to use a freebie set of stamps which came from a magazine a few months ago called The Great Outdoors and produced by Hunkydory.  I thought these would be good for masculine cards especially for those that like hiking and camping.  Hubby and I do enjoy walking and he is also a keen photographer so I included these things from the set.  We don't have a dog but the silhouette walker looked a bit lonely without it..lol. 

I decided to do a large 8" square card as I didn't have to post it, so made the piece of card to mat on the top about 1" smaller and found the centre point and cut the six strips for the masking about 1/2" wide using masking sheet as it sticks well without taking the surface of the card off when you remove it.  When I had placed it on the card I ink blended with Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistacio Distress Inks, keeping the Cracked Pistachio in the centre.  I then placed all the items using my Misti and stamped them using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink.

I was so frustrated because at this point I managed to get a couple of bits of ink on to the edge of the two left hand boxes.  I tried the sand eraser which did fade it out but of course also took the ink off, so I put the masks back and reinked but the edge was not as clean as the rest so I decided to use my black micron pen and outline all the boxes. Against my better judgement I did it freehand and the result is a little rustic I think with some lines a bit thicker than others in places, but I had left it late to make the card and was not feeling like starting again.  For some reason the photo makes the boxes look quite out of shape, but in real life they don't look that bad.   I also grounded the walker and dog and the haversack, but wasn't sure about the camera so left it alone.  I then took some more Salty Ocean and a waterbrush and brushed some ink over the images to shade, and also water bleached to highlight, especially on the boots and camera.   I also ink blended a bit of the Cracked Pistachio around the edges so when glued down there is just the hint of colour.

Hubby did seem pleased and did say how different it was so a good result I think which made up for the earlier frustrations.  Thank you for taking a look today and I'll be back soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge - Week 580 I spy with my little eye something beginning with 'B'.
Craft Rocket Challenge - No. 72 For the Men/Boys.
Crafty Creations July Challenge - No. 411 Anything Goes.

Our Anniversary

Hi there everyone.  It was our 38th anniversary recently and this was my card for hubby.  I utilised the leftover negative heart shape, the positive of which was used on my recently shown green anniversary card, and ink blended through it onto a piece of white card using Fired Brick Distress Ink.  With the mask still in place I stamped using a recently acquired Crafty Individuals image called Baroque Splatter Script using my Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink.

I then cut this down to fit a 6" square card and added little bubble hearts using the Floral Heart set and second generation Nocturne Ink, and also a small splatter stamp from Freedom Flower using Fired Brick DI, again second generation ink.

I then finished with the sentiment using the Nocturne Ink and added a bit of the Fired Brick on the two little hearts and ink blended this around the edges too.

Before I go I would like to introduce a lovely lady called Mervi, thank you for becoming a follower, and you will find her blog here.  I'm sure she would love you to go and visit her if you don't already know her.

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







I  am entering the following challenges:

Crafty Creations July Challenge - No. 411 Anything Goes.
Crafter's Cafe Challenge - No. 246 July 1st Anything Goes. 

Painted Flowers

Hi everyone.  Here is a recent card I made for a lovely blogging friend Darnell whose birthday was a couple of days ago and which I hand painted, and now I know she has received it I can show it here.  I have seen several people lately doing their own flowers and so had a look on line to see how to make them and so mixed it up a bit and this is what I came up with.   I used some very old watercolour tubes that I have as I thought the pigment would be stronger, and after experimenting with them and also with my inks I thought that the tubes scored better.  I used my Bristol Smooth watercolour paper to work on and two or three different sized brushes, and when I had finished and cut it back slightly to fit the 6" square card I ink blended with a complementary shade of Distress Ink and added a sentiment using Versafine Imperial Purple Ink.

I was fairly pleased with the result but perhaps a bit more practice is need to get the strokes a bit smoother although it works better if you don't overwork the paint.  The person who has done this style of the all over flower look is Heather Telford and there is a link to her blog on my side bar...she is very skilled with a brush and her laying down of colour is something I aspire to.  I did enjoy this and may try doing some more along the same lines.

Thanks for visiting my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge - No 46 Summer/Winter.
Country View Challenges July 2020 - Do What Makes You Happy.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Bright and Cheerful.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 278 Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist.
Elliebelle's Crafty Wednesday July Challenge - Summertime.
Allsorts Challenge - No. 579 Summertime.

Scrap Anniversary

Hi all.  Here is a recent anniversary card for a family member.  I had a piece of scrap copy paper on the table which I had rolled some inks from my brayer on to and I thought it was a shame to waste so I die cut it using a Sweet Dixie die and after backing it on to a piece of white card to make it the same thickness as the card base I die cut the same sized heart aperture into the card  and backed it with another piece of card.

I placed the card itself with the heart in the aperture into the Misti, and work out where to place the Pinkfresh stamp so that some of it was over the edge.  I then removed the heart and using Versamark Ink stamped on to the card itself and then placed the heart back in the aperture and stamped the whole thing again.  I then heat embossed both the heart and the card with the WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder, and did the same process again with the sentiment.

I was going to leave the flowers with just the line work but I didn't think they stood out enough so I coloured them using a white gel pen, but wasn't quite happy with that and finished up by going over the whole thing again with a Sakura Silver Gelly Roll Pen which has lots of sparkle which I hope shows up better in this close up photo.  I'm still not sure about it but some you win and some....you don't win...lol.  I hope the couple I have sent it to like it OK.

Before I go I have two new followers, so thank you ladies for joining me here and I'm sure they would love you to visit them.   They are Chana who has her blog here, and Maria whose blog you will find here.

Take care everyone and thank you for your visit which is much appreciated and I hope to see you again soon. 
 

I am entering the following challenge:

Country View Challenges July 2020 - Do What Makes You Happy.

Twofer Card Challenge

Hi there everyone.  The Twofer Card Challenge this month is Circles/Bubbles and the two cards must use the same stamp, stencil and/or die but in a totally different way and for a different occasion.  My common element is a stencilled circle made using a piece of copy paper and a couple of different sized circle dies.

The first card was made using the circles with Distress Inks in Chipped Sapphire and Fossilized Amber and then the flower silhouette which is a Crafty Individuals stamp over the top using Versafine Majestic Blue ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and finished with a sentiment using the same ink and embossing powder. 

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:

Stamping Sensations June Challenge  - Make It Colourful.
NBUS Challenge - No. 15 (Never Before Used Schtuff).
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Got The Blues.
Addicted to Stamps and More - No. 394 Clean & Simple.
613 Avenue Create Challenge -No 234 Anything Goes with Optional Twist: Create a Blended Background.  (Lovely to be chosen as one of the Top Rockers)


The second card incorporates the smallest circle and I also used a new stamp which I was lucky enough to win from Lost Coast Designs called Cityscape.  I also used the Santa's sleigh and a sentiment image from a set by Indigoblu called Here Comes Santa, a lovely set which I have had for a long time and doesn't appear to be available from Indigoblu any more though you may find it elsewhere.

I started with a piece of white card just a little smaller than the base card and stamped the Cityscape using my Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and then heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then die cut the centre panel out and masked with the cut out circle used on the first card and ink blended the background sky using Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink and a little Seedless Preserves over the buildings at the bottom.  I then added the sleigh image using my stamp positioner I stamped it on the outer piece first, and then put the centre panel in place before removing the outer piece and stamped the rest of the image on to it.  I then heat embossed both pieces with the Clear Gloss EP.  I finished by adding the sentiment using Versamark Ink and WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder and added a few white highlights to the buildings and also some stars in the sky, using a gel pen, before putting it all together.

The Twofer Challenge is open for another couple of days so still time to get an entry in.  Thank you for coming to visit today and I hope you'll be back soon.

I am also entering the following challenges with this second card:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 74 Anything Christmas Goes.
Lost Coast Portal to Creativity - Challenge 101 Background Forward.
Happy Little Stampers June Christmas Challenge (Optional Deck The Halls).

Birds and Flowers

Hi everybody.  I am back today with a floral card made with Crafty Individuals stamp Spring Flower Garden bought recently and used for the first time here, and a square birds and flowers frame die which I  bought some time ago and have only just got around to using, and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available anywhere now.

I die cut the frame from white card and being quite intricate it did take several goes to get it to cut properly.  I then stamped the flowers on to my base card using Versafine Olympia Green and coloured them with Distress Inks and a waterbrush, also used a bit of blue for the background.  I then stuck down the frame over the top of the flowers using wet glue.  As I had placed the flowers so that the base of the stamp was hidden beneath the frame, some of the flowers were rather hidden by the leaves and flowers on the frame, so I did snip one or two away from the bottom part so that the flowers were much more visible.  I finished by adding white gel pen to the flower centres, and a sentiment banner strip again using the Olympia Green ink, and then heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge - No. 15 (Never Before Used Schtuff)  Both the stamp and die.
Happy Little Stampers June Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (optional Layers).
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Diecuts & Punches.
Country View Challenges - Summer Fields.
Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday June Challenge - In The Summer Garden.
Crafty Calendar June Challenge - Flowers.

Embossed Vellum Floral Heart

Hi all.  I decided to get going on the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge quicker, and  instead of being late to the party I should be reasonably early this time..lol.  The way the CAS Challenges work has been changed and the Mix Up, Watercolour and Stencil Challenges have been amalgamated into one and will rotate, so this month it is a Mixed Media theme which is embossed vellum plus stamping and at least one other mixed media technique.  Mine has alcohol inked vellum on which I have stamped and heat embossed, and then die cut mats and dry embossed on the background layer.

I put the AIs on my glass mat and added some blending solution and covered a piece of pink Vellum.  The colours were Watermelon, Butterscotch, Lemonade and Flamingo.  When dry I inked the Chocolate Baroque A Heart Full Of Love stamp with Versamark and then heat embossed using WOW Opaque Bright White Embossing Powder.  The embossing powder did take up a bit of the AI colour when I heated but I do quite like that.  I die cut the vellum with a stitched square die.

I then moved on to the background and cut the square with a Tonic Scalloped Edge Die and then dry embossed with an XCut Hearts and Kisses Embossing Folder extending it to cover the square white background.  I finished by putting it together and then stamped and again heat embossed with the Opaque Bright White EP on to a leftover piece of vellum cut into a fishtail banner shape and adhered it to the card.

Thank you for joining me here today and I hope you will visit again. 

I am also entering the following challenges:

Penny Black and More June Challenge - Favourite Stamps.
Stamping Sensations June Challenge - Make it Colourful.
Uniko Challenge - No. 59 Anything Goes + optional twist Bright and Happy.