15 Minute Cards for March

Hi all.  Here are three quick cards that I made for the 15 Minute Card Post over at the Chocolate Baroque DT Blog.  The first was made using the The Sewing Room set of stamps.

I made a background with Cracked Pistachio and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks spritzed and the card laid over to pick up the ink, doing this several times to cover.  I then added the borders using the Blueprint Sketch DI and stamped them twice joining them up, which luckily worked quite well using my Misti, and trimmed the background and added some extra blue ink using the blending tool.  I then stamped one of the mannequins with the same ink and watercoloured it lightly with the two inks using a waterbrush being careful not to be too heavy handed so that I didn't blur the outlines as I had used water based inks to stamp and colour, and I also added the sentiment with the same blue.

This next card features stamps from the Haberdashery set.  I started with a gelli plate background using a mixture of white acrylic paint and some Scarlet Brusho mixed in and brayered on to the plate and then the coloured transferred to the piece of white card.  I then covered the plate with Aquamarine Brusho mixed in to the white, and using the four buttons from the set I laid them in a row on an acrylic block and using the same blue paint I stamped them on all four sides of the gelli plate before laying the card over and adding this new colour to the print.   The paint dries so fast that by the time I pulled the print again a lot of the blue was dry and it only left patches and a faint impression of the buttons, but I thought the finish was interesting, so I left it like that.  I added one of the mannequins, three of the buttons in each of the corners and the sentiment using Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.  I then stamped the smaller of the scissors across each corner and randomly stamped the sentiment all over the background using Twisted Citron Distress Ink, and I also added some of the same colour blended around the edges.  I finished by colouring the mannequin with pink, and the scissors and buttons with pink and green pencil, and mounted it on to a 6" square card.

My last card was made with a piece of white card stamped with another of the mannequins from the Haberdashery set of stamps, and the background stamped using the Floral Mannequins and for both Faded Jeans Distress Ink, and then smooshed using Leaf Green and Emerald Brushos.  The inked image did fade a little with the addition of the water but held up surprisingly well.  I then layered it on to a piece of blue card and added it to a 7" x 5" white card on which I stamped both the frilled and floral lace pieces as a background to the topper, and finished with a sentiment, all stamped with the same blue ink.

Thanks for looking at my blog today and I really appreciate all your visits and comments, and if you would like more inspiration you will find new posts most days from members of the DT and GDT over on the Design Team Blog.

Perching Kingfisher

Hi there.  Here is a recent birthday card for one of the chaps in our extended family, and I decided to use this Kingfisher from the A Little Bit Sketchy range by Sheena Douglass.  There is nothing so beautiful as seeing that flash of blue and orange as it swoops over the water, not that I have actually seen one myself, but I would love to one day.  This is its first inking and I have to admit I more or less followed the picture on the packing for the colours, but I'm quite pleased with the result.

I started with the background which is alcohol inks on Yupo paper.  I wanted water and sky so I used a mixture of Stonewashed and Pool in the sky and more of these two plus Clover and Limeade for the water, and also some Blending Solution.  I also added a little white Posca pen smudged with the finger to look like spray on the water, but may be it looks too faint to see it.

I then stamped the Kingfisher on to a piece of white card using Versafine Smokey Gray ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and coloured with my Distress Inks using Carved Pumpkin, Abandoned Coral, Blueprint Sketch, Lucky Clover and Brushed Corduroy applied with a waterbrush from ink put on to my glass mat.  I then fussy cut it out.  I thought I would add a little Wink of Stella on the wings and the head to add a bit of iridescence, not sure that it did a lot and it definitely doesn't show in the photo.

I decided to make a window for the background which I die cut from some more white card, cut using my square dies from The Works cut just a little bit smaller than my 6" square white base card and I added the sentiment using more of the Smokey Gray ink heat embossed with the Clear Gloss EP.  I fixed the alcohol ink background behind the aperture and fixed the bird to it too.

This was not trouble free as I forgot that the card had to fit into an envelope of just over 6" square.  There was a little swearing at this stage when I realised the bird was stuck not to be removed and it was sticking out over the edge too far, so after a little thought I decided to trim a bit of the left hand side of the aperture layer and also the side and bottom of the white card.  This made the card a bit smaller,  and also with a bit off the poor bird's tail feathers it just fits...what a palaver...lol.  I then adhered this piece to the white card.

Sorry for this rather lengthy discussion on how 'not' to make a card, but thank you for joining me today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
The Male Room Challenge - No. 105 Anything Goes/No Designer Paper.
Seize the Birthday Challenge - No 160 Anything Goes.

Rose/Butterfly/Floral Perfumery

Hi all.  Here are my cards which were part of last month's shows on Hochanda.  The first is a Brusho background and the pretty stamp from the Rose Perfumery set was white embossed first before the Brushos were added.  I moved the inks around and added a bit more where needed using a waterbrush.  Scarlet over the flower head, Lemon and Orange for the scent bottle, and Emerald for the foliage.  I then cut the rectangle using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle die and finished the edges with a bit more Distress Ink in Broken China to give it a good contrast to the white background card.  Finally I added a sentiment from the set using Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink.

The second card uses Butterfly Perfumery.  The background was made using Distress Oxides in Salty Ocean and Squeezed Lemonade.  I then added the corners using WOW Gold Metallic Embossing Powder, double embossing to build up the finish.  I then stamped the butterfly border on to spare white card again using the Gold EP and cut out the butterflies.  Where some overlap I chose which ones to cut and obviously had to waste one or two, so had to do two lots to get this amount of butterflies.  I then coloured them using Distress Inks in Fossilised Amber, Blueprint Sketch and Cracked Pistachio overlapping the colours, finishing with some Wink of Stella to give them a lovely bit of sparkle.  I then stamped one of the sentiments from the set heat embossing with the Gold EP, and placed the butterflies around it glueing them just by the bodies so the wings could be bent upwards.

The last card was made using some of the smaller stamps from Floral Perfumery stamped on to a piece of watercolour card using Hickory Smoke Distress Ink as I thought it would probably be a bit paler and I didn't want the lines to show too much after colouring.  I coloured with a waterbrush using more Distress Inks in Shaded Lilac and Dusty Concord with a small amount of Wilted Violet on the central flowers, and Adirondack Sunshine Yellow and Fossilized Amber for the other flowers.  All the leaves were coloured in Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint Distress Inks.  I then applied a background using Broken China Distress Ink first making sure that the flowers and leaves were thoroughly dry I wetted the card a little with the waterbrush and then added the ink on the brush first well watered down on my glass mat and working fairly fast to get round the whole thing before the ink and card dried.  I then finished by adding another of the sentiments from the set using Versafine Smokey Grey Ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and the matted it on to dark green card. 

Thank you for visiting today and I'll be back again soon.

CAS Watercolour Card Challenge

Hi everybody.  Here I am again running out of time to enter Loll and Bonnie's CAS Challenges, but I do at least have this one ready and time to put it up as there are only four days left to go.   The theme for the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge is to use pink and red which I think are two quite difficult colours to use together.  Anyway I chose to make a background using Docrafts Cable Knit Embossing Folder which I have had for quite a while and have never got around to using, and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available now.  I thought this would go really well with another NBUS item the Woodware Ball of Wool stamp which I have also had for quite sometime and which I have only just inked...tut tut!

I decided to ink up the positive side of the folder with some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink, spritzed with water and laid the piece of white card over it pressing to  transfer the ink.  The pattern is quite small and to be honest it didn't look very interesting so I smooshed some of the same pink ink on to it to give it a bolder background, and then did the same with some Abandoned Coral DI with a bit of added Gold Mica Powder mix into it, and again smooshed to add a bit more interest, and actually the gold just shine out in place but isn't really visible in the photo.  I then added red ink to the folder and trying to line up the pattern which actually proved reasonably easy, I added some Festive Berries DI to bring out the pattern.

I then stamped the Ball of Wool stamp on to a piece of white card using Dusty Concord DI and coloured with a waterbrush using the Festive Berries with just a little of the Picked Raspberry, and then mixed some of the Gold Mica with some water and painted the needles again using the waterbrush, and this flies in the face of all the rules but luckily the background stamping didn't move, and when dry I fussy cut this out.

I made a circular aperture in another piece of white card to place over the background, and cut it with a circular die from The Works, and to give it a bit more interest I embossed it with the same Cable Knit EF.  I finished it by layering it on to a  6" square white card and added a sentiment using Dusty Concord DI, and using my Misti I was able to ink it twice to get a good dark image.  I then heat embossed it using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder on to a strip of white card tucking the strip under the ball of wool before attaching it to the card.  I was quite pleased that I managed to match up the cable pattern on the background piece and the embossed piece over the top, but it probably doesn't notice that well in the photo.

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

The Lovebirds

Hi there everyone.  I made a Valentine's Card for my hubby using a set of stamps by Sheena Douglass called The Lovebirds.   I bought this and two other sets of bird stamps recently.  We were going to some gardens in the area to see the snowdrops but the weather changed on the way and as it was pouring down we ended up at a craft centre instead and I found this and two other sets of Sheena's bird stamps at a knock down price.  There are so many craft shops closing now, and it is nice to go to a shop and buy as well as getting things on line, but there is so much competition now, the lady there said that they can't afford to stock dies especially but that they would try to keep essential cardmaking supplies and perhaps some stamps, so I will have to see what happens next time I go there.

Anyway, here is the card.  As well as the Lovebirds, I also used a freebie embossing folder which I got quite a while ago, and I made a Brusho background background on glossy card.

I started with the Brusho background using a snippet of white glossy card.  I used Bright Red, Scarlet and Orange.  I have never tried using glossy card with them before but it worked well, and actually the colours moved easier I think.  I did spritz the card before sprinkling the colours and then spritzed again.  I kept adding colour until I was happy with the result.  I cut this layer to fit my square white card.

I then stamped the birds on to a snippet of white card using Versfine Smokey Gray ink and then heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then coloured with my Distress Inks using Mowed Lawn, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Brushed Corduroy, Hickory Smoke and Candied Apple.  I then fussy cut them.

I embossed the hearts freebie folder on to a snippet of white card about 5" square and die cut the heart from the centre using a Sweet Dixie die.  I then laid this over the background to see where to place the sentiment, and stamped it with the Smokey Gray ink using my Misti so that I could stamp it more than once.  I did put some talc over the background before stamping and it still slipped a little, but I decided that it looked OK after stamping it twice.  I finished by layering it up and added the birds over the heart aperture.   

I thought my hubby might think this a bit bright, but he was quite complimentary and when asked gave it 7 out of 10, and said it reminded him of parrots we've seen in Australia, so I think he liked it..lol.  Thanks for looking at my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 346 where we use up our snippets of card and paper etc.
Stamping Sensations February Challenge - All Things Bright and Beautiful.
Penny Black and More February Challenge - Anything Goes.
The Artistic Stamper February Challenge - Heart It.
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes/Use a Critter.

Quick Cards for February

Hi there everybody.  Time for the Chocolate Baroque 15 Minute Card post on the Design Team Blog, and here are my two cards which you will find together with many more examples from the DT and the GDT to give you lots of quick cardmaking inspiration.

This first card is made using a pretty rosebud from the Rose Perfumery stamp set.

I found a piece of one of the papers from My Floral Soul which was just the right size, so I stamped the image on to it using Versafine Smokey Gray Ink.  I coloured it using some coloured pencils, two pinks, two greens and a brown.  I then inked up the edges, keeping it light around the image, using Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink, and then spritzed it with water to remove some of the ink.  I then stamped the sentiment using the Versafine Ink and layered it on to a piece of blue card and a piece of white which I cut using my go to Crealies Pierced Rectangle set of dies, and added it to a white card.

For this second card I heat embossed the largest image from the Floral Perfumery stamp set on to glossy card using WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder and then used alcohol inks applied using an applicator and felt pads.  I used Indigo, Watermelon, Clover and Pool and some blending solution to help move them around.  I then die cut it again using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle, and added it to a slightly larger piece of white card.  I then cut a strip of vellum and heat embossed a sentiment from the set on to it using the same Silver Embossing Powder and wrapped it round and attached it to the underside of the matted image before adhering this to the white card.

Thank you for stopping by today and visit Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog for lots of great ways to use their stamps, as there are new cards to look at most days.

Thank You Blog Hop for Di

Hi there.  As the title says this is a Blog Hop which has been arranged by our great friend Darnell over on her blog to say a big thank you to Di for her seven years of running Pixie's Crafty Workshop, or to us regular players The Snippets Playground.

She is the loveliest lady and so generous too with the great prizes she provides for each of the challenges which run for two weeks and which she oversees with the help of Parsnip and Dudley.  When I first started blogging over five years ago she was one of the first people to come and say hello and she helped guide me through the gates of the playground, where I have been having fun ever since.  For the uninitiated the idea of the challenge is to use up those scraps or snippets of card, paper, ribbon or suchlike, or any of those things that have been lurking at the back of a cupboard and which need to be used.  So thank you Di for all your hard work in making The Playground a great place to be and for being so patient with such an unruly mob to keep in order...lol.   I have never met Di in person but I hope to one day as we do at least both live in the south of the country.

For this card I decided to use a set of Inkylicious stamps Mini Flower Blooms and a Gina K Wreath Builder Stencil which were part of a prize I won there back in January, and in addition an XCut Deco Scallop Embossing Folder, and a sentiment which comes from a set of Stamping Up stamps called Painted Petals which I also won in The Playground several years ago.

 I started with a snippet of white card cut in to a 4" square.  In effect the stencil, when used in conjunction with a stamp positioner, has 8 indents into which you place the card, and as you turn the card the stamp which you have placed in the position on the square where you wish it to be is stamped eight times in a circle, and if you use just 4 of the indents you can get an image in each of the corners too which is useful.  For my wreath I have used three of the little stamps, and then to finish it I also stamped another flower with two leaves in each of the corners.   I used Distress Inks - Cracked Pistachio, Candied Apple, Twisted Citron, Abandoned Coral and Peeled Paint.  I added a sentiment using WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder and then matted this on to a snippet of Silver Mirri card.

 I then embossed the background on to a snippet of turquoise card using the Deco Scallop EF.  I don't use coloured card all that often so I have always got some bits in my drawer and this picked up the colour in the topper.  I then mounted this on to a 6" square white card and added the topper.  Job done!

I'm sorry I am a bit late to the party but the Blog Hop is open for another day, so there is still time if anyone else wants to join in.  A big thank you is also in order to Darnell for organising this.  Thank you for your visit and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 345 where we use up our snippets of paper and card etc.
The Flower Challenge - No. 29 Use your latest Stamps or Dies.
Penny Black and More February Challenge -  Anything Goes.
Addicted to Stamps - No. 327 Make Your Mark.
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Add Some Red.