Born Wild

Hi there.  Another masculine birthday to make for and I decided to use my NBUS stamp from Penny Black, won a good while ago and, shame on me, never inked until now, and called Born Wild, and I am entering my card over at Darnell's NBUS Challenge.  I expect most of you know that NBUS is a phrase coined by our friend Darnell and means 'Never Before Used Schtuff', and I'm sure that most of us have got lots of things in that category..lol.  My mojo is a bit variable at the moment and I wasn't totally happy with it but I needed to get it in the post rather quickly as I had the day wrong in my head.  Every day seems much like the last at the moment and I was a day out..lol.

I used an embossing folder on the bottom section to give the idea of a road.  It's a Sheena Douglass one from the Textures range called Distress.  I used the ink straight from the pad and rubbed it over the embossing with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and then blended Pumice over the top.  I then stamped the image using Versafine Smokey Gray Ink and watercoloured with my brush pens using a waterbrush.  I also added some ink just below the bike to ground it better, and a bit of blue in the background.   I finished by adding the sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink, and think it might have been better in grey as the black is a little strong I think.

Before I go I would like to say thank you to Mariann, a new follower to my blog who you will find here.  As well as cards she does some wonderful book folding and takes commissions I think. 

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

I am entering the following challenge:

NBUS Challenge  - No. 14.
Penny Black Saturday May Challenge - Anything Goes/Inspired by a Song (Born To Be Wild)
Penny Black and More May Challenge - Boys and Men.
Happy Little Stamper May Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes/Emboss (I used dry embossing).
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Animal Fun.
Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 389 CAS.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 271 All About Occasions.

These Boots Are Made For Walking

Hi everybody.  I thought that this was an apt title after the song by Nancy Sinatra, way back in the 60s I think, showing my age now..lol.  This is a birthday card for hubby's brother who has always been a very keen walker, and when I caught sight of these freebie stamps with Creative Stamping Magazine about a couple of months ago, with the theme of the great outdoors, I decided to get them with this birthday in mind, and there are lots of other stamps which will come in useful for other male birthdays throughout the year.  I particularly love the walking boots and there is a scenic background in there, but I had a yen to use this Clarity Woodland stencil as a background.

I started with the stencilled background with a snippet of white card left over from another project, and using some Clarity brushes to apply the Adirondack inks in Stonewashed, Lettuce, a small amount of Bottle and Sunshine Yellow.  I have a set of Clarity mask which have gentle hills on one side, and more dramatic mountains on the other, so I used the hills for my scene.  I also have some sun/moon masks which I used to make an appropriately sized sun.  I then stamped the boots on to another snippet of white card using Versafine Majestic Blue, and then coloured them using more of the Stonewashed ink and also Faded Jeans and Black Soot Distress inks, watercoloured using a waterbrush, and then fussy cut them out.  I finished by adding a sentiment from the set using Versafine Smokey Gray ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and when layered on to the card base I adhered the boots using Pinflair Glue Gel to give them some dimension.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 377 where we use up our snippets of card, paper etc.
Penny Black and More May Challenge - Boys and Men.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Not Just Cards April Challenge - Anything Goes.
Mix It Up Challenge - No. 37 Anything Goes + Masking.
NBUS Challenge 14 - (Never Before Used Schtuff) - the walking boots are a NBUS item.

Flower Cut Out and Hearts

Hi everyone.  An anniversary card this time and using a NBUS item.  I recently treated myself to a Tim Holtz Multi Media Die (No. 5) which I got for half the price so I couldn't resist..lol, and used one of the flower cut outs which comes as part of the set.

I decided to back the cut out section with an ancient piece of soft gold glitter card which has a sort of holographic glitter to it.  I made this big enough to give an edge around the white cut out layer.  I then gold embossed one of the cut out pieces which is the stem of the flowers with a leaf at the top, and I embossed it several times to build up the shine of the gold using WOW Metallic Gold Embossing Powder, and placed it back.  I also embossed some hearts which came from the white die cut heart I used as a stencil here which I had saved just in case they might come in useful, and as you can see they did.  I then finished it with a gold embossed sentiment.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today and I hope to see you again soon.  Take care.

I am entering the following challenges:

NBUS (Never Before Use Schtuff) Challenge - No. 13.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 269 Anything Goes.

Let it Snow for Rudolph Days Challenge

Hi everybody.  It is time for the April Rudolph Days Challenge run by Mo over at Scraps of Life by Scrappymo, and once again and I have used one of the Studiolight stamps which I bought and used for a few cards before Christmas.  I also used a freebie embossing folder which I have had for several years.

I dry embossed the poinsettia EF using a snippet of white card and then stamped the tree and the sentiment on to a snippet of red card using WOW Gold Metalic Embossing Powder.  I backed this with  a snippet of gold mirri and mounted it all on a 7' x 5' card.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope to see you again soon.  The Rudolph Days Challenge is open until the end of the month so still plenty of time to get an entry in.

I am also entering:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 376 where we use up our snippets of card and paper etc.
Christmas Craft Creations April Challenge -  Use A Stamp.
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 70 Anything Christmas Goes.

Spring Flowers

Hi everybody.  This is a card for the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge the theme of which this time is Spring Flowers.  I chose this Penny Black Magnolia called Summer Dream, but despite the name they do actually come into bloom during the Spring.

I decided to use my water brush pens inking up the stamp with the different colour pens, spritzing and then stamping in one go.  I added the branch to the left and then some to the right and decided to fill in the area top right with a little more but second generation.  It actually didn't stamp as well as I wanted so I used some of the pen with water on my glass mat and added the colour.  I have to say my flowers are a bit brighter than your average magnolia but I'm using artistic licence here..lol.  I added a little background blue for sky again using a waterbrush to apply the brush marker, and then I finished with a sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink clear heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

There are a couple of days left for the challenge so still time to enter.  Thank you for taking a look at my blog today and I hope to see you again soon. 

I am also entering the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge - No 43 Spring/Autumn.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 568 Flowers and/or Showers.
Addicted to Stamps and More - No 386 Anything Goes.
Penny Black Saturday April Challenge - Anything Goes - optional 'Use Ribbon or Twine'.
Penny Black and More April Challenge - Anything Goes.
Happy Little Stampers April Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (optional Stars).
                                                               

(So pleased to be chosen as one of the Outstanding Designs at CAS Watercolour Challenge)

Park Bench Affair

Hi there everyone.  I hope you are all doing well.  This was made for some friends who I think have been married for 30 years, and I decided to use this Penny Black Stamp.

I stamped it on to a snippet of white card using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and then coloured it with my Staedtler Aqua Brush Markers using some straight from the pen and others diluted with water using my waterbrush, and then I fussy cut it out.   The little ladybirds which are part of the scene were coloured and fussy cut and added separately.  I had to add the feelers and legs with Black Micron Pen once mounted on to the card as I could not possibly have fussy cut round those..lol.  

I found another snippet of white card and made a background using a Leonie Pujol Embossing Folder called Dotty Heart.  I opened up the folder and rubbed the Festive Berries DI over the raised side, spritzed with water and pressed the piece of white card on to it.  I finished by adding the image over the top and also a sentiment stamped with the Nocturne ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

Thank you for joining me today and take care everyone.

I am entering the following challenges:

Penny Black April Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes/Use Ribbon or Twine.
Penny Black and More April Challenge - Anything Goes.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Where we use up our snippets of paper, card etc.  (snippets of white card).
Happy Little Stampers April Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes (optional Stars).

Celebration Bubbly

Hi there everybody.  I am back today with an anniversary card for one of my cousins and husband who are celebrating their 55th anniversary.  I thought this digital image from Beccy's Place called Girls' Night, was appropriate for a big celebration.

I don't generally use digital images but I thought that I would give them a try.  I think probably I need to find some thicker card to print on to as this was just 160gsm and with my Staedtler Watercolour Brush Pens and a waterbrush which I used it was perhaps a bit too much for it.  I tend to use 250/300gsm normally which my printer is not keen on.

I started by adding the colour to parts of the image using the waterbrush to spread it, and I then scribbled colour on to my glass mat and picked it up with the water brush, neither of which were working well, so I ended up adding colour straight to the image which made everything a bit dark, especially the champagne, more like orange juice..lol, and the carnations which I hoped would dry a bit lighter.  I had limited time to post it so had to go with it.  I finished by fussy cutting it.

I then made a stencil from a Sue Wilson Heart of Hearts die and inked through it on to the card using Adirondack Shell Pink, and Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord Distress Inks blending quite lightly.  The numbers were cut using a set of dies from The Works and coloured using the two DIs before being added to the heart.  I then added the sentiment stamped a couple of times with Versafine Smokey Gray ink using the Misti.  Lastly the image was stuck down flat with wet glue, easier for posting.

You can tell I am very self critical..lol, and at the moment Mr Mojo is playing up, but I suppose we all have times when things don't go too well, so hey ho...as my hubby would say, it is what it is.  I hope you are managing to stay positive, and of course keeping well, through this difficult time.

Take care,

I am entering the following challenges:

Beccy's Place April Challenge - Anything Goes using one of her images (opt. Flower or Foliage).
Watercooler Wednesday - No. 265 Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist.
Dutch Card Lovers - No. 328 Any Drink (alcoholic or non alcoholic).