Brayer Inked Anniversary

Hi everybody.  Another anniverary card made with a slightly different technique.  A came across a lady called Joan at Dear Paperlicious who did a couple of cards with hearts made with a piece of inked card on which she had swiped lots of different colours of ink randomly to fill the piece and then cut the hearts.   At the moment she is have a blog break but you will find these cards on her instagram @dearpaperlicious.   I loved the look and decided to CASE her card but with some changes obviously.

I started with a leftover piece of cream pearlescent card used for the golden wedding card I made recently.  I decided instead of swiping the colours on I would use my brayer inked just at the left hand end to keep the strips of colour regular and quite small.  I used Distress Inks in Blueprint Sketch, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and also Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink.  I decided to cut five hearts and then for more interest and texture I dry embossed them using a freebie floral embossing folder from way back, and also cut a white square stitched mat to mount them on to which I inked round the edge with Spun Sugar Distress Ink.  I die cut the sentiment and couldn't decide which colour to use of the four already mentioned so added one over the top of the other until I came up with this combination which I thought looked the best, and cut three of the sentiments to mount on top of one another to add more dimension.  I then heat embossed using my WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and did this a couple of time to build up the shine.

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

I am entering the following challenges:

As You Like It Challenge - Favourite Colour to Pair With Pink and Why (I love purple with pink as they complement one another)
My Time To Craft Challenge - No. 439 Clean and Simple.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 385 Where we use up our snippets of card, paper etc.  (I have used snippets of white card for the hearts, three layer sentiment and the background mat).

Tropical Sunset

Hi there everyone.  This is a card made using a Crafty Individuals stamp called Tropical Sunset which I got fairly recently.  I found a piece in my stash created with Brushos a week or two ago and which I hadn't got around to using, and the colours seemed perfect to use as a background for this image.

I managed to place the image so that the setting sun came within the yellow area, and I stamped it using my Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and cut it out using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle die.  I watercoloured the sun and the area below using Adirondack Sunshine Yellow ink and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and some Broken China Distress Ink for the darker parts of the sea applied using a waterbrush.   I then blended some Stormy Sky over the top portion of sky to darken it a bit and added some more Spiced Marmalade and Sunshine Yellow around the sun using a blending tool, and also inked around the edges to finish.

I backed the piece with another piece of card to raise it up a bit and added it to a 7" x 5" card and added the sentiment using the Nocturne ink and heat embossed it with WOW EmbossingPowder.

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

Note:  Before I go I wonder if anyone has had the same problem I have had with the new Blogger format.  I have done one or two posts successfully, but this one went wrong at the bottom where I put the list of challenges, and for some reason it would not let me single space them.  I tried for ages to fix it and thought I had when I followed a second challenge title on the same line as the last and pushed it forward until it all dropped down on to the next line, and did this each time until I had everything looking like it looks now, but when I checked on preview it was completely all over the place.  I didn't like the look of it double spaced and so I have gone back to the old Blogger.  I would love to know if anyone else has had this problem and if so if you managed to fix it.  

                             

I am entering the following challenges:

CAS Mix Up Challenge - August Watercolour Challenge.  (So pleased to be chosen the winner)

CAS On Sunday Challenge - No. 186 Nature.

AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 16 Tic Tac Toe (Bright, Embossing, Masculine).  

Stamping Sensations Challenge - Make it Masculine.  

Allsorts Challenge - Week 585/6 Summer Fun.
NBUS Challenge - No. 17 First time of use for this CI stamp.
The Artistic Stamper August Challenge - Anything Goes.
The Male Room Challenge - No. 141 Our 7th Birthday. (Congratulations on this milestone!)
 

Golden Wedding Anniversary

Hi everyone.  Some friends of ours have just celebrated their 50th anniversary.  They were supposed to be going on a cruise but sadly it was not to be.  I made this card and decided to use something other than hearts so for a change I used this flower stamp from a set by Chocolate Baroque called Floral Perfumery. 

I found a piece of cream pearlescent card and stamped this group of flowers three times using Versamark Ink and heat embossed with WOW Gold Metallic Embossing Powder.  I then cut the numbers and a fancy stitched rectangle shape from gold mirri and then the computer generated sentiment cut with a size smaller die to fit on top.  I found a piece of sheer ribbon with a fance gold edge in my box of bits and put a strip of it across the centre of the card before layering it up, and then made a bow from another piece to decorate the side of the sentiment mat.  A quite straightforward card and I think the thing that took the most time was trying to get a good gold colour for the words and choosing a font off the computer..lol. 

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

I am entering the following challenges:

The Paper Players - PP502 Wedding/Anniversary.

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Weddings/Anniversaries/Love.

Mistletoe Magic

Hi there everybody.  A Christmas card today with the Rudolph Days Challenge in mind, and I made it a one layer card to enter the Less is More Challenge too.  Note:  unfortunately I realised after publishing that you are only allowed to enter up to five challenges including theirs so my entry is not valid.  I will be in touch with them in the morning.

I started with a Penny Black stencil which I decided to use a pencil with to transfer the outlines to my base card so I could watercolour it.  I used Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks for the leaves and stems and then used some White Pearl Liquid Pearls for the berries.  I then finished by softly blending some Tumbled Glass and Shaded Lilac Distress Inks randomly over the background about three quarters of the way down the card, but unfortunately it doesn't show up very well in the photo, and added a sentiment stamped using Versamark and WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder.

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

I am also joining in with the following challenges:

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - No. 75 Anything Christmas Goes.

ABC Christmas Challenge - "N" for No Fuss and "O" for Over the Top.  Mine is 'No Fuss'.

Winter Wonderland Challenge - Hip to Be Square.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Christmas in July.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes Optional: Nature.

Twofer Card Challenge

Hi everyone.  I am just in time with my entry for the Twofer Card Challenge where we have to make two cards with different designs for two different occasions but using the same stencil, die or stamp on both.  The theme this time is butterflies, and here are my cards.

This first card was made using a Claritystamp stencil called Leaf Wreath and butterfly die from The Range.  I cut a piece of white card to just under 6" square and stencilled the wreath onto it using my blending tool and  Distress Inks in Crushed Olive and  Mowed Lawn.  I then removed the stencil and outlined the leaves using a green Lyra Aqua Brush Marker, a little bit of shake but not too bad, and decided to darken the colour to shade a bit more using one of my Spectrum Noir Pencils in a similar green.  I coloured some white card using Brushos in Scarlet, Brilliant Red and Orange before die cutting the butterfly from it.  I stamped the 'thank you' sentiment using Versafine Olympia Green and heat embossed it using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder in the centre and added the butterfly.

I am entering the following challenge:

CAS Mix Up July Stencil Challenge - Stencil Tracing.  (I used stencilling with outline tracing, die cutting, Brusho watercolouring, stamping and heat embossing).  I am only just in time for this too, so apologies to Loll and Bonnie.   (So pleased to get a Top 3 placement for this challenge)

The second card was made using a Crafty Individuals stamp called Baroque Splatter Script Background and the same butterfly.  I cut a 4" square mat using a stitched die and then using the same size and one size smaller die I cut a frame to go over the top.  I also cut a much smaller stitched square to place the butterfly on to, all cut from snippets of white card.  I then stamped the Baroque Splatter Script on to the background white mat using Broken China Distress Ink and then heat embossed it using the WOW Clear Gloss EP.  I then layered up the background with the frame and small central square and cut the butterfly from a snippet of Brusho scrap from my box which toned in nicely.  I then added the 'Happy Birthday' Sentiment underneath again using the Broken China and Clear Gloss EP.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Sieze the Birthday Challenge - No. 195 Anything Goes (no optional topping)
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - No. 382 where we use up our snippets of card and paper etc.
Butterfly Challenge - No. 144  'A' for Aquamarine + Butterfly.

Thank you for visiting me here today and hope you will come back soon.

Birthday Roses

Hi everybody.  This is another experiment at making my own handpainted watercolour card.  I tried something different using a wet in wet technique but I don't think it worked as well as my last card and looks a little dark and muddy.  I ended up with a rather splodgy background so did go over it a bit to get better leaf shapes, and consequently it doesn't look as fresh as the last one.  A definite learning curve.

I added a sentiment using Versafine Olympia Green and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and ink blended around the edges with Adirondack Sunshine Yellow Ink.

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

I am entering the following challenge:

The Flower Challenge - No. 46 Summer/Winter.
Uniko Challenge - No. 60 In my Garden (optional twist hot summer colours).
Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday July Challenge - Summertime.
Country View Challenges July 2020 - Do What Makes You Happy.
A Vintage Journey - Watercolour Wonders.
Allsorts Challenge - No. 581/582 Flowers All Over.

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' (blue, boots and birthday).
Craft Rocket Challenge - No. 72 For the Men/Boys.
Crafty Creations July Challenge - No. 411 Anything Goes.