Happy Christmas

Good morning.
Here we are, Christmas Eve. We are just about ready for the big day. It may be 04.30ish but the gammon is on the stove for the next 2 hours before being baked in the oven. The mince pies need to be baked and relatives need to fight their way through the snow from Yorkshire to get here this evening.
I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and an excellent New Year for another year of crafting, challenges and blogging!
See you soon,
Hugs,
Shirl xx

Pink Roses

A second post today to catch up on another challenge. This is for the Crafty Creations Challenge #98 - Photo Inspirations. From the photo I took the colour pink and rose elements from the fabric.

On a 6" cream base card I layered up some very pretty pale pink and cream paper which is a very old design from Joanna Sheen. It is very delicate and features roses and hearts.

The rose images, both the spray and the individual corner flowers are from Creative Expressions stamps. The spray and 4 single blooms were stamped onto slightly textured cream card with Versamark and embossed with Platinum WOW powder. These were coloured in with two shades of pink Twinkling H2Os to give a slight sheen.

For the main image, once the paint was dry, the shape was cut out with a square scalloped Nestability. The edges were then tinted with Tattered Rose and Worn Lipstick Distress inks using a blending tool. The four individual blooms were cut out, just outside the embossed line.

The main image was bonded in place with double sided tape. The leaves, which were part of a prize for winning a challenge, were mounted in place with Pinflair glue as were the 4 roses.

Challenge link: http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-98-photo-inspiration.html

Spring Card

Good morning. I seem to have nothing but clear snow for the last couple of days so it is good to find some time for some crafting again.

This card is for the Critter Challenge #44 - No pattern paper.

I really enjoyed this one. I got right away from Christmas, Christmas colours etc and went for a spring theme.

The stamps are from Sheena Douglass' A Little Bit Sketchy range - Poppies and Daisies.

The base card is A5 in size in a very pale yellow hammered card. The flower strip is fabric and a very old part of my stash that I just knew would be needed one day.

A dark yellow linen card was embossed with a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and then Spiced Marmalade Distress ink was applied on the raised areas to highlight the embossing. This was matted onto gold mirror card and applied to the base card.

The main image was stamped onto cream, slightly textured card and embossed with Platinum WOW powder. The image was tinted with Aquamarkers. Once trimmed to size, the edges of the card were coloured with Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink. The small daisies were stamped, embossed and coloured in the same way. The lovely sentiment was stamped and embossed on another piece of cream card which had been cut out and embossed with a square scalloped Nestability. The edges were tinted with the same Distress inks again. The image was matted onto a piece of gold mirror card which was the waste from cutting out a frame with a Shapability. The sentiment was matted onto a slightly bigger square scalloped gold mirror matte.

All of these elements were then added to the base card. As a finishing touch the individual daisies were added to the sentiment.

Challenge link: http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-44no-pattern-paper.html

Peacock Feather Card

This is a card for the Totally Papercrafts Challenge # 46 - Paper Piecing.

The base card is dark green hammered card A5 in size. Two contrasting green cards were given a pierced edge using a Borderability die. These were embossed and Pine Needles Distress ink highlights the embossing. The same coloured cards were cut with circular Nestabilities to continue the pieced theme.

An A4 piece of white card was sprayed with Glimmer mists in various greens and lilacs in a random way. Once dry this was over stamped with a Peacock Feather stamp from Elusive Images. The eye of each feather was painted with blue and lilac Twinkling H2Os.
This was trimmed to the required size and the sentiment applied in the corner with a Clarity stamp - Birthdays are a Feather in the Wing of Time.

The two sheets and the stamped sheet were applied to the base card with double sided tape. The peacock feather was cut down to the required size and boded in place with Pinflair glue. The layered discs were bonded together and then more Pinflair glue applied before bonding in pace over the end of the feather.

Challenge Link: http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-46-paper-piecing.html

Bear Card for 3 Challenges

Good morning and welcome to another cold and frosty one.

This card is for three challenges, the links for which are given below. Two challenges and a Bear Theme on the other other was anything but a Christmas card.

I am a great bear lover, having a collection of about 60 of them. Therefore I was horrified to realise the I had nothing about bears in my craft collection. Consequently I had to make do with what I had got i.e a lot of stuff bears. So it is my pleasure to introduce to your Spencer Bear.

I took a photograph of him and imported it into Digital Scrapbook Artist 2. I put the photograph through Cut Out Studio and removed all the background. Then in Photo Lab I removed the colour and gave it more of a sketch look. Once printed on Super Smooth paper, he was recoloured using Promarkers and then the edges aged with 2 different colours of Distress ink.

The background was a piece of white card that I was using to mop up excess Glimmer Mist sprays last week when I was making a large batch of A4 decorated card up for future use. When the masks got too much spray on them I put them upside down onto the sheet and the excess spray was transferred. Do this enough times and you get some quite interesting patterns! This card was trimmed to size and then any white areas covered over with distress ink and the edges aged with ink too.

A ribbon was wrapped around the card and then it was bonded to the dark brown A5 base card.

Mean while the picture and a backing mat was cut out with some Nestabilities. These were mounted onto the card and the three flowers, which I made a few weeks ago, were attached with Pinflair Glue.

Challenge Links:

http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge97-beary-project.html

http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/12/craftycatz-birthday-bear-challenge.html

http://ceschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-16-anything-but-christmas.html

Purple and Teal Card

Here is a card for the purple and teal sketch challenge for the Critter sketch challenge blog # 43.

Teal was a very difficult colour to find, I can tell you. In the end I had to resort to My Craft Studio and just try and concoct the correct colour so I hope that I am not too far off!

The base card is a dark purple 6" x 6" card. This was layered with Teal paper and a gorgeous lilac textured card. The stripe across the middle is more of the dark purple card with a 6mm lilac ribbon.

The image is from an Elusive Images Paisley stamp which I think is absolutely gorgeous. It was stamped with Versamark and embossed with Obsidian Teal Moonglow embossing powder.

The flowers were painted with Purple Twinkling H2Os and the leaves with Teal H20s. Therefore I managed to get at least two teals into the card. The image was cut out with an oval Nestability. The edges of this were tinted with Dusty Concord Distress ink. The image was mounted onto a Purple Mirror card scalloped oval. This assemble was mounted onto the base card.

A bow was tied, from the same ribbon as used on the strip across the card, and secured in the top right hand corner as a finishing touch.

Challenge link: http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/challlenge-43sketch-and-color.html

Morning Glory

Good evening to you all. Welcome to another cold December evening. Still, there is nothing like a bit of crafting to make you forget the cold outside.

This card is for the Sketch and Stash Challenge #50. The stash used was the textured lilac card used for the base card which I have had for years and the beautiful stamp from Elusive Images.

The lilac A4 card was folded in two to make the A5 base card, The edges were tinted with Dusty Concord Distress ink to give some contrast.

The image was stamped onto plain white card and coloured in with Promarkers. A second image was also stamped and only the two blooms were coloured in and cut out. The edges of the first image were tinted with the same Distress ink that was used on the card base.

A ribbon was wrapped around the image and secured on the reverse side. A bow was tied, using the same colour of ribbon, trimmed and bonded in place with Pinflair glue. Four border strips were cut from lilac paper using a Borderability die. Two of the border strips were carefully bonded in place with double sided tape along the long sides of the image. The other 2 strips were trimmed to the required length and secured in place along the top and bottom edges. This whole assembly was then bonded to the base card.

A short strip of the textured lilac card was cut and some ribbon stuck along the centre line. One end of this strip was cut to give a forked end. This was stuck at a jaunty angle in the top right hand corner and the extra flowers bonded in place with Pinflair glue.

Challenge link: http://sketchandstashchallenge.blogspot.com/2010/12/sketch-n-stash-challenge-50.html

Spotlight on Tags

This tag is for the Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight on Tags.

This is a cream standard size tag. It was coloured with Distress inks using a blending tool.

All the stamps used are from Sheena Douglass' new range of A Little Bit Sketchy stamps.

The sentiment was stamped on the tag with Adirondack Espresso ink.

I coloured a piece of plain white card with distress inks and water. When dry the leaves and acorns was stamped in Versamark and embossed with Brass Regular powder from the WOW range of embossing powders. The leaves were cut out by hand.

All of the embellishments were positioned using Pinflair glue.

A mustard coloured organza ribbon completed the tag.

Challenge link: http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/2010/12/spotlight-on-tags.html

Seeing Triple

Three cards for one challenge. Well that is a bit different. Here are my entries for the Die Cut Dreams Challenge #77 - Seeing Triple.

The cards feature the same stamp from Creative Expressions on scalloped squares, cut using a Nestability, made from card that was coloured by myself by splodging different colours of Distress inks onto a non-stick mat, spraying with water and then dipping the card onto the ink, drying the card, dipping again etc until I was happy with the results. Each of these cards were made with a slightly different colour mix of inks.

The base cards are made from commercially produced pearlescent card all featuring the same pattern but one is pale pink on cream, one mustard yellow on cream and the last one pale blue on cream. They are A5 in size. It also uses a sheet of gold embossed cream vellum.

A 21cm square was cut from the A4 card and this was folded to give the A5 size. The short part became the front of the card. Using my Ultimate Pro, the scalloped edge was embossed and trimmed back to the embossed line. One third of the vellum sheet was embossed and trimmed in the same way and layered under the front fold. A piece of A4 cream pearlescent card was cut in half to make an A5 piece which was also embossed and trimmed in the same way and bonded under the vellum layer. The piece that was left after trimming the first piece of A4 down to a square was bonded on the inside of the back of the base card to give the pattern down the right hand edge.

A slit was made in the spine of the card to pass the ribbon though which was then knotted in the centre of the card and trimmed.

The main images were all produced in a slightly different way.

The one on the left was white glossy card which was dipped in the same way as described above to give a soft colouring. The image was stamped with black Stazon ink and when dry was trimmed to size.

The middle one was made using plain white card. the image was stamped using a Big 'n' Juicy rainbow ink pad. When dry it was trimmed to size and a layer of Versamark ink was applied over the whole image and embossed with clear powder. This was repeated to give a very glossy finish.

The right hand one was stamped on plain white card in black ink. This was then hand coloured with ink with touches of Twinkling H20s.

The images were mounted onto the three different coloured scalloped squares which in turn were bonded to the base cards.

Challenge link: http://diecutdreams.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-77-seeing-triple.html

CES Challenge #15 - Sketch

My entry for the CES sketch challenge this week.

All stamps - the poppies, trees, flourishes and sentiment are from Sheena Douglass' new range - A Little Bit Sketchy.

The base card is A5 in size and dark brown.

The background is a piece of kitchen roll which has been used over many week to mop up ink and glimmer mists from my non-stick mat. Never waste a thing is my motto.

The dry kitchen roll was backed with card to make it more robust and trimmed to size. Gold ribbon was wrapped round it before it was mounted on the card.

For the poppies: A piece of plain white smooth paper was coloured with 3 different Distress inks. Water was splashed onto the paper and lifted off again with a tissue to remove patches of the colour. The whole thing was then sprayed with Glimmer mist and allowed to dry. The poppies were stamped with Timber Brown Stazon and the poppy heads coloured with Aquamarkers. These were then cut out with Circular Nestabilities and mounted on Gold Mirror card also cut to shape with scalloped Nestabilities.

The sentiment was stamped onto watercolour card in the same Stazon, coloured over with Distress inks, trimmed to size and mounted on gold mirror card.

The flourish layer was simply stamped with brown ink, coloured with Distress inks and trimmed to size.

The main image was stamped onto watercolour card with Adirondack Espresso ink and a damp brush was used draw the ink into the picture to tint it.

All the individual elements were mounted onto the card either with double sided tape or Pinflair glue.

Challenge link: http://ceschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-15-sketch.html

New Year Card

A card for the Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge #61 - Happy New Year.

I decided not to go for the Party theme but to remind people that Spring is just around the corner once Christmas has come and gone. I like to look on the optimistic side of life!

The card is 7" x 7" - it's not often I make a square card but this seemed to suit the embellishments.

Layered onto the dark green base card is a mat of holographic card. On top of this is a layer that I made consisting of a piece of white card that I splattered with Purple and Green Glimmer Mist sprays. The splatter was created by spraying the mists onto a some twigs of a fir tree from my garden and then just slapping it onto the card - messy, but fun! When dry and trimmed to size two pieces of organza / satin ribbon were wrapped around it and secured in place with tape. This layer was then mounted onto the card.

The Happy New Year sentiment is from a Clarity stamp. The full stamp had more text that this so I just inked up the text that I wanted with Versamark and it was embossed with Platinum Sparkle powder from WOW. This was trimmed and layered on silver mirror card, green card and another layer of silver.

The main image of snow drops, another Clarity stamp, was embossed with Platinum Regular powder from WOW. I did not colour it in as I felt that the white card suited the stamp. This was layered up on Silver, green and silver again with shapes being cut out with Nestabilities.

The flowers and leaves in the bottom right hand corner were cut from a sheet manufactured by Klever Konstructions. They were warmed with a heat gun and before they cooled the flowers and leaves were shaped to the desired positions. These, and the green bow, were bonded into place with Pinflair glue.

Challenge Link: http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-61-happy-new-year.html

Christmas Punches Challenge

Good morning. Well, after about 3 inches of snow yesterday, it is now raining here in South Wales and hopefully washing it all away. I just hope that it does not freeze tonight!

Here is a card for the Totally Papercrafts Challenge #45 - Christmas Punches. I thought, to start with that I did not have any. But trawling through my memory to the dim and distant past I remembered some Sizzix Paddle Punches and one border punch from Fiskars that I got years ago.

Consequently here is my holly based card that I hope you like.

A pale blue A5 size card provides the base and layered onto this are three layers of paper - two of silver pearlescent and one blue that have been punched along the edges with the holly border punch and mounted onto the base card.

The image, from Creative Expressions, which features holly, was stamped with black Stazon and coloured with distress inks. This was cut out with the small scalloped Nestability and was mounted onto a large scalloped Nestability cut out, which is made from the same material as the base card.

This was mounted onto the card with foam tape to create a gap under it. The green holly leaves were punched out with a Paddle Punch and bent up along the spine to give them some shape. These were then bonded in pace with Pinflair glue. A light blue double bow was added as a final embellishment.

Challenge link: http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com/2010/12/challenge-45-xmas-punches.html

White and a Splash of Colour Challenge

Good morning. Here is my entry for the Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #35 - White and a Splash. i have to say that this was not an easy one. What constitutes a "splash"?

So I started with an A5 sized plain white card for the base.

An A6 piece of silk art card was run through my Cuttlebug using Swirls embossing folder. This was trimmed to size and then I followed over the raised pattern with Frosted Lace Glitter glue from Ranger and allowed it to dry.

The central image is a stamp from Creative Impressions which was coloured with Twinkling H2Os and edged with distress ink once the oval shape had been cut out with a Nestability. Double sided tape was applied all the way around the underside of the oval and a white fabric ruffle added. For the strip at the bottom of the card a strip of navy blue card was edged with the ruffle in the same way. The Ivy Leaves were embossed on white card using a Crafter's Companions Embossing board which fits the Ultimate Pro. Once cut out, a very small amount of distress ink was applied with a blending tool to define the edges.

The swirly card was layered onto a piece of navy card to define the edges and this in turn was bonded to the white base card. The central image was mounted onto this using Pinflair glue.

The ruffled strip was bonded in place with double sided tape and then the ivy leaves added with Pinflair glue to ensure that they were at different heights to give extra depth to the card.

Challenge link: http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-35-white-splash.html

Card for the Critter Challenge #42

Good evening. Here is my entry for the Critter Sketch challenge #42.

It is based on a 7.52" square navy blue card. The first layer was white card which was sprayed using two colours of Glimmer Mist using pieces of fir tree as masks. This was trimmed to size and mounted onto the base card.

The vertical and horizontal strips were made from silver mirror card which were cut out with Borderabilities and mounted on strips of white card which had their edges tinted with blue distress ink.

The main image was stamped with black Stazon ink and coloured in with Twinkling H2Os. It was cut out using a scalloped circular Nestability and the edges tinted with Distress inks applied with a blending tool.

The sentiment was stamped (Clarity stamp) and embossed with platinum WOW powder, cut out with a circular Nestability and mounted onto a scalloped circular silver mirror card layer.

The large circle is a paper doilley which had its edges tinted with Distress ink.

All these elements were layered onto the base card and three silver mirror card snowflakes were added in the the top right hand corner.

I hope that this meets the challenge sketch and that you like the result.

Challenge link: http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-42sketch.html

Christmas Food

My second post of the day is for the Critter Challenge #41 - Food.

To stay with the Christmas theme and to added another card to my stash for sending out next month, I chose the good old rib-sticking Christmas Pudding, or Plum Duff as it used to be known.

Both of the stamps are from Elusive Images, from their Christmas 2009 collections. They were stamped in Timbre Brown Stazon Ink to give a softer effect than black. The large pudding and sentiment along with a larger gold mirror card mat were cut out using Nestabilities.

The edges of both images were aged with three different colours of Distress ink to give a vintage look to match the main image.

The back ground was created from white card, coloured with various Distress inks, Versamark ink added directly from the pad randomly across the surface and gold embossing powder sprinkled over and heated. Finally I cut a mask from a design created on my Gypsy and cut out with a Cricut machine which I laid along first one edge, and then the other, dabbing through with Distress ink to create a bit of a border.

The large Christmas pudding was matted onto the Gold mirror mat. The main image was also matted onto gold mirror card.

The background was matted directly onto an A5 Gold mirror base card, the main image applied with Pinflair glue, the pudding added with foam pads to give depth and finally two sprays of holly, cut with a Sizzix die were positioned and the red berries created with a Pearl pen.

Challenge link: http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-41food.html

Vintage Christmas

Good morning on a another very cold and frosty morning.

This card is an entry for the CES Challenge - Vintage Christmas.

A dark green, A5 size card base is the starting point for for this one. The background is white card which has been distressed around the edges with various colours of Distress ink, using a blending tool. All around the edges has been stamped a lovely Holly branch stamp from Creative Expressions These were then coloured in with ink from distress ink pads. Using a rule and a Versamark Pen, a gold embossing powder border was added all the way around the edge.

The main images (also Creative Expressions stamps by Sam Poole - Christmas Post and Christmas Sleigh Ride) consists of the bird on the branch, Post Card Label and the flourish for the border. These were stamped on white card, coloured with Distress inks and when dry, the edges of the card aged with more Distress ink.

The holly leaf spray is a Sizzix die cut.

To assemble, the main image was matted onto gold mirror card which was then trimmed to size. Green organza ribbon was wrapped around the mirror card and held in place with tape on the back. A bow was manufactured using my Ultimate Pro and bonded in place with Pinflair glue.This was layered onto the background sheet, which, in turn was assembled onto the base card.

The holly spray was added above the bow and the holes cut by the Sizzix die for the berries were filled using a red pearl pen which dries leaving a raised surface.

Challenge Link: http://ceschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-14-vintage-christmas.html

Untraditional Christmas Card - for 5 Challenges

I am having a crafty type of morning to make up for the lack of crafting over the last few days! Besides which, it is too cold and snowy to go outside.

This card started off from the Totally Papercraft Untraditional Christmas Challenge where no Red or Green was to be featured. Therefore I have gone for golds, oranges and a touch of yellow. There are then 4 other challenges so I will enter those too: Sketch and Stash Challenge #49 gave me the design for the card, Crafty Creations # 95 - Christmas is coming and CraftyCatz - Christmas, Cards for Men challenge #24

The base card is A5 in size and is extravagantly made from a sheet of gold mirror card.

The yellow, orange and white flourish background was made from white card, a Tattered Angels mask and yellow and orange Glimmer mist.

The next layer was white card. A non-stick mat was splodged with distress ink which was sprayed with water and the card dipped in, swirled around and dried. This was repeated until the card was covered satisfactorily. Versamark was dabbed, straight from the ink pad, in random fashion, and the gold embossing powder applied and heated to give highlights on the sheets.

The main image was made by the crystal technique (I believe it is called). The delightful Stag stamp from Elusive Images was added to the front of a sheet of acetate using Stazon ink and allowed to dry. This was then turned over and some clear, runny floor polish was added over the surface, some glitter and alcohol ink added for colour and sparkle and then a piece of white, scrunched up tissue paper was applied which soaked up the polish. This was all moved around until a suitable covering had been obtained and the whole thing was allowed to dry for over 24 hours. Once dry it was trimmed to the required size and the layers applied to the base card with Pinflair glue.

The 3 tabs were cut from and off-cut of the yellow, orange and white layer, trimmed on the diagonal and added to the card.

The three small stars and the snowflake were cut using a snowflake Shapeability (the stars are the centre of three of the snowflakes, waste not, want not, you understand! These were added as the final embellishments.

This card has been entered into the following challenges:

http://sketchandstashchallenge.blogspot.com/2010/11/sketch-n-stash-challenge-49.html

http://cardsformen.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-no-24-christmas-cards.html

http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-95-christmas-is-coming.html

http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com/2010/11/totally-papercrafts-untraditional.html

Fancy Box

Good morning. My 2nd post of the day to catch up with Challenges from this week. This is for Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight on Containers and Fancy Envelopes.

This box started out as two pieces of flat white card. These were coloured using Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and masks and then left to dry thoroughly.

Th top and the bottom of the box were made by trimming the card to give two squares, one slightly smaller than the other and they were then folded up. Amazingly, these keep their shape without the need to use glue, although I do line the lid, with a square of card, to neaten it up.

The 4 hearts were cut using Nestabilities - a wonderful invention - where would we be without them. The largest one was left in the die and coloured with Fired Brick Distress Ink leaving a white border once the die was removed. The three smaller hearts were coloured with the same ink and them over stamped and embossed with gold embossing powder.

These layers were decoupaged with foam pads to give depth and then mounted onto the box with double sided tape. A heart shaped crystal was positioned on the smallest heart for a bit of bling.

I think the end result will be great for next Valentine's Day for a small momento of the occasion. The finished box is about 3" square.

Challenge Link: http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/2010/11/spotlight-on-containers-fancy-envelopes.html

Secrets and Dreams Picture

Good morning one and all.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week but I have been in Slovakia for work. I don't know, how dare work get in the way of crafting! Consequently I have a few Challenges to catch up with.

This project is for Die Cut Dreams Challenge #75 - Anything but a card. So here is one of my canvas board pictures. It is A6 in size.

The white board was painted with acrylic paints in yellows and browns, lightened in places with a bit of white.

For the background, I took a piece of calico fabric, coloured it with patches of Stazon ink, just by pressing the ink pad to the fabric to give random rectangles of colour. This was then stamped with some texture stamps from Elusive images in pumpkin, mustard and brown, layering them up but stamping one image over another. The final layer was made by stamping the key hole and sentiments onto tissue paper in brown. When dry, these were applied over the top using watered down PVA glue. The slight wrinkles giving texture and character. When dry a coat of the PVA was applied over the whole sheet and allowed to dry. This gave a fairly stiff piece of fabric. Note: Stazon ink had to be used for all of this work or else the PVA glue would have made Distress or other dye based inks smudge and run.

For the embellishment, I took another piece of fabric, coloured it with Adirondack ink and stamped the keyhole (again from EI) in a dark brown. No liquid was going near this piece so it did not matter that dye based ink was used. This was cut from the fabric sheet and edged with blanket stitch, in a rusty coloured cotton, to stop it fraying.

The background sheet was trimmed to size with a metal edged rule and knife. No fraying here because of the amount of glue used on it! This was then bonded in place with more PVA glue and allowed to dry. The embellishment was mounted on top with double sided tape and the small pearls and crystals added to complete the effect.

A ribbon was adhered to the back to hang the picture and the back was covered with brown card to tidy everything up!

Challenge link: http://diecutdreams.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-75-anything-but-card-no-cards.html

Get Well Soon Card

For my second post of the day I have a Get Well Soon card for the CraftyCatz Challenge #59.

The flowers were cut from red, pink and yellow card with a Cricut having set up the design sheets for the various flower shapes on my Gypsy. They were then stamped randomly with a Judikins pattern stamp with black Stazon. The flowers were then coloured with distress inks and a blending tool to age them a bit. Each flower was then constructed by layering up 3 different layers using Pinflair glue gel.

Although it is difficult to tell from this photo, the flowers are stood in a vase which was made from a rectangle of pink card with some acetate wrapped round it. Ribbons were tied around it to make a bow.

The base card is A5 in size and made from pale pink pearlescent card. Immediately behind the vase of flowers is a woven panel of cream and pink patterned card. Once woven, this was matted onto a darker pink card - the same colour that was used for the vase. This assembly was then bonded to the base card with Pinflair glue. The flower heads were arranged and bonded in place with the same glue.

Another panel of the darker pink card was cut and the Get Well Soon Letters, which were taken from a pre-printed sheet, were added. This was mounted on the base card to complete it.

Challenge page: http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/11/craftycatz-get-well-soon-challenge.html

Butterflies and Lace

Another challenge card for you this morning. This is for the CES Challenge #13 - Lovely Lace.

The butterflies were stamped on cream card and embossed in silver using stamps of my own design that I had made for me. They were cut out and coloured with Twinkling H2Os.

The delightful light blue lace paper is one of Joanna Sheen's designs. 2 rectangles were cut from this paper - the smaller one was layered onto cream card, then onto the larger lace panel and finally onto a patterned grey card. On the back of the grey card, double sided tape was run all around the edge, the backing pealed off and the lace ruffle was bonded to it. This had an elasticated edge to it which helped it to go around the corners. More double sided tape was run over this and the whole assembly was bonded to a cream pearlescent A5 size base card.

This is a very different card to the type I usually make so I hope you like it.

Challenge page: http://ceschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-13-lovely-lace.html

Snowflake Christmas Card.

Good afternoon to you all. Here is my offering for the Totally Papercrafts Challenge #43 - Snow and Snowflakes.

The tree baubles are from the delightful Mouse stamps from Crafters Companions. There were stamped onto white card and coloured in with Twinkling H2Os and over sprayed with Crafters Companion glitter varnish.

A non-stick craft mat was splodged with several different colours of distress ink and water was sprayed on it. The card was applied in a random way and dried and then re-applied and dried until a pleasing effect was obtained. Whilst still damp a small amount of cosmic shimmer mica powder was applied to give a bit of sparkle.

A fir stamp was applied at the top and bottom of the card in green ink and then over stamped with Versamark and gold embossing powder applied and heated.

Two different sizes of snowflake stamp (Judikins) were randomly stamped with Versamark and Sheena's White Wow powder applied and heated to give bright white snowflakes.

To assemble: The card was trimmed to size and layered onto gold shimmer paper. The green ribbons were positioned and bonded into place and then the whole thing bonded onto an A5 dark green base card. The baubles were bonded in place over the ribbons and the matching bows attached.

That's it. The entire story. I hope that you feel that it fits the challenge.

To find the challenge, follow the link: http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-43-snow-and-snowflakes.html

Matching Card and Present

Good evening.

Here is a card for three challenges plus a matching present for one of them. The challenges are as follows: Crafty Creations #94 - Beautiful Insides, Critter sketch Challenge Blog #40 - Texture and Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #34 - Card and Matching Gift.

The base purple hammered card (for texture) is 5.75 inches square.

The swirly panels started life as 2 A6 white silk cards which were coloured with purple, blue and red ink. They were the run through a Cuttle Bug inside a Swirls embossing folder (to give more texture). Very carefully, by hand, the glitter glue was added to the top of all the embossing for added bling. I had very sore fingers by the time I had done all that!

The tissue paper that is used inside the card as the background (it is also used inside the gift box - scrunched up inside to keep the craft tools in place) was spayed with blue, red and purple Glimmer Mists.

The large and small purple hearts were cut with Nestabilities and the Cuttle Bug from the purple hammered card.

For the front of the card:

A glittered, embossed panel was cut down to a 4 x 4" square which was mounted on a panel of blue card. This had a piece of blue ribbon wrapped round, secured in place with tape on the back. This, in turn, was mounted directly onto the base card. A large purple heart was positioned, with foam pads, slightly overlapping the ribbon. A small bouquet of paper flowers and leaves was made up and this was attached inside the heart, after trimming the stems so that they did not show below the point of the heart.

For the inside of the card:

The back surface was lined with the scrunched up glimmered tissue to give a bit more texture. A small panel of the glitter and embossed card was added, followed by another large heart. One of the pink flowers was broken down, flattened out and a few layers added inside the heart shape.

Once all this was done, more of the blue ribbon was tied around the spine with a bow as a final embellishment.

For the present:

An 8 x 8" square of card was scored on my Ultimate Pro, 2.5 " in from each edge. The corner squares were then scored diagonally so that the corners would fold inwards. The corners were then punched with a Cropadile to give holes for the ribbon to pass through.

The second embossed and glittered panel was cut into four equal pieces, each of which were bonded onto blue panels. These were then bonded into place on the side panels of the gift box. Small purple hearts were added with foam pads and a small paper flower was placed in the centre of each. The end of each flower stem was twisted around a small diameter embossing tool to give a spiral extending below the point of each heart.

Glimmered tissue was scrunched up and place in the centre of the box and ribbon was threaded through the holes and tied in a bow to keep the box in shape. Various crafting tools were added to make the perfect gift for a Crafter!

The links to the challenges are as follows:

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-34-card-matching-gift.html

http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-40texture.html

http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-94-beautiful-insides.html

Look Mum, No Glue!

Good morning. Happy Monday - and it is happy too as I have a day off work!!

Here is a card for the Die Cut Dreams Challenge #74 - Use staples on your work. Well, I have gone to the extent of only using staples to attach items to this card.

The tag - started off as a plain white tag and it was coloured using two different light blue Distress Ink pads. The flourishes are two of Sheena Douglass' new stamps applied using Versamark ink and embossed with clear powder so that you can see the colours beneath. A darker blue ink was applied over the top and wiped off the embossing. The sentiment (also a Sheena stamp) was simply stamped in the same dark blue ink. Pieces of light and dark blue ribbon were knotted through the hole of the tag and three pieces of ribbon were added to the end of the tag using a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to staple them in place.

The layer under the tag is a piece of pale gold pearlescent paper which has been hot foiled, in silver, by myself. This was torn, aged with blue ink and the edge rubbed across the ink pad to give contrast against the layer below.

The next layer is another piece of the pale gold paper which has been punched at both ends with a punch from Fiskars.

To assemble the card, the tag was attached to the foiled layer. The foiled layer was positioned onto the gold layer which was in turn was positioned onto the base card and all three were attached together with 4 mini staples.

Well, that is it. I hope this fits the bill for this challenge at:

http://diecutdreams.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-74-use-staples-on-your-work.html

Card for Cool Cats

Good morning to you all. Happy Sunday and I hope that you are enjoying your weekend.

Here is a very different card from me as I am not a "pink" girl. This card is for the CES Challenge #12 - Think Pink! Well, this is about as pink as I could get it. Also for the Craftycatz challnge for paper tearing.

The base card is a pink A5 size and this has a wrap of very pale pink pearlescent card which has had the bottom edge embossed on my Crafters Companion UltimatePro and the square edge cut away so that you can see the base card.

The pink floral ribbon was a freebie from a crafting magazine from years ago. I knew it would come in useful one day!

The images are are from a set of stamps that I designed and had made for me. If anyone is interested in these, drop me an e-mail and I will send you the details. The images were stamped onto white card, embossed in silver and coloured in with Twinkling H2Os.

The image was layered onto pink vellum and onto pink card which has been torn and had its edges inked with a dark pink ink. These layers were held together with 4 pink heart shaped eyelets so that adhesive did not show through the vellum. This assembly was attached to white card with torn edges. This did not have an inked edge as I wanted it to show up against the pink ribbon.

A pink bow, made from ribbon with a silver edge was added to complete the card. I hope it is a fitting entry to the challenge.

Challenge address:
CES: http://ceschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-12-think-pink.html
Crafty Catz: http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2010/11

Christmas Card

Good morning.

Here is my card for today - a Christmas Card with a slightly traditional feel. It is A5 in size with the base card being very dark blue.

The background layer is made from watercolour paper. It was coloured with two colours of blue distress ink and then over sprayed with two colours of Glimmer Mist which was deliberately done to make splatters rather than a fine mist. Once dry, the edges of the panel were stamped with Denim Adirondack ink using one of the new stamps by Sheena Douglass.

The second layer was white glossy card that was stamped using various snowflake stamps using Versamark ink and embossed with white powder. Ink was applied with a blending tool and the ink on the snowflakes rubbed off to leave the flakes white.

Two colours of organza ribbon were wrapped around this layer and tied in a bow at the side.

The image is a stamp from Creative Expressions which was stamped on plain white card with black Stazon Ink and coloured with Twinkling H2Os. It was cut out with a scalloped Nestability and the edges highlighted with Distress ink.

As a final touch the large snowflake was made by using a Shapeability, coloured with Distress ink and over sprayed with silver glitter varnish by Crafters Companion.

To assemble the card, all the layers were attached with double sided tape and the snowflake with foam pads.

Art Nouveauv Lady in Black and Purple.

This is for the Totally Papercrafts Challenge #42 - Black and purple.

The background for the stamped image was created by splodging various colours of Distress ink on a non-stick mat, spraying with water and then dipping the white card into it, drying in, dipping it some more etc until a pleasing effect was obtained.

The stamp - from Art Nouveau Ladies by Creative expressions was stamped with Black Stazon and when dry her hair and the plinth and flowers above her head were painted with Twinkling H2Os.

The purple embossed background - a commercially produced piece - was coloured around the edges with Dusty Concord and Black Soot Distress Inks applied with a blending tool. The colours have picked up on the embossing quite nicely.

The base card is a dark purple hammered effect card, A5 in size. Layered onto this is glossy black stripe embossed card, followed by the purple embossed card. The image was layered onto plain black card which was torn at the bottom and a length of purple ribbon added around it. An off-cut of the purple embossed card was added on top. This assembly was added to the card before three black crystals and the purple bow were added to complete the effect.

I do hope that you like this card. Please feel free to leave your comments as I love receiving them.

The card has been entered into the following challenge: http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-42-black-purple.html

Oriental Button Card

Good evening.

Here is my entry for the Crafty Creations Challenge #93 - a card featuring buttons. I had great messy fun making this one.

The card is based on a very dark green A5 size card. I made the background paper, tag and buttons.

The background paper was really cheap card which did not like water much. I added rough splodges (a technical term) of various colours of Distress ink, then added lots of water and screwed the whole thing up into a ball. Very carefully this was flattened back out, extra ink added where required and then screwed up again. Once roughly flattened out it was left to dry thoroughly. Although not too easily seen in this photo the resulting card has great texture. This was then over stamped in black Stazon with a beautiful stamp from Inkadinkado.

The tag was made by putting splodges of three colours of Distress Ink - Spiced marmalade, Worn Lipstick and Fired brick on to a clean non-stick mat and spraying them lightly with water. The tag was dabbed onto them and dried off with a heat gun and the process repeated until the tag was fully coloured with a pleasing design. This was dried thoroughly before the wonderful poppy stamped from Sheena Douglass was added using Versamark ink and Wow Gold Sparkle Embossing Powder. After the embossing powder was heated to set it, extra colour was added to the poppies using Red and Orange Aquamarkers with not too much water to blend them as the tags don't like water much either!

The 3 buttons were made from Fimo clay, rolled into balls and flattened into discs and holes punched through with a ball tool. These were coloured with mica powder before being baked to set the clay.

The card was assembled after organza ribbon was added to the tag and the buttons. The hand coloured background was applied to red glossy card which was layered onto the base card. The tag was bonded in place with thick foam tape. The buttons were positioned with Pinflair glue.

I do hope you like the finished result.

The Challenge website is: http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com

Christmas Card for Three Challenges

Good evening.

Here is a card for the following challenges: Cards for Men Challenge #23 - Animals, Sketch and Stash Challenge #48 and Crafty Cardmakers - Spotlight Dry Embossing. See the links at the end of the blog.

For the animals we have penguins, for the dry embossing we have the snow flake background and the card is made to the sketch with the new stash being a Snowflake Impressibility and snow flake Shapeabilities to revitalise plain white card.

This is based on a dark blue A5 size card. Plain white card was embossed using the Impressability and my Cuttlebug. On the debossed side, three colours of blue Distress ink were applied very gently using the blending tool to tint the raised portions. A quickie glue pen was used to highlight the snowflakes with Glamour Dust which is more subtle then glitter. This was then trimmed and attached to a piece of Silver Mirror card. The trimmings were used to make the two arrow shaped pointers which were also matted onto silver mirror card.

The snow flakes were cut out using some Shapeabilites from white card. These were tinged with blue ink and and over sprayed with silver glitter varnish from Crafter's Companion.

For the main image: The penguin stamp from Encaustic Arts International was stamped onto glossy card and thoroughly dried with a heat gun. A moon shape was cut from a Post-It note and some roughly shaped mountains were torn out of paper. The moon and mountains were positioned onto the card and ink was applied with a brayer to give the sky. More mountains were added using the paper and a make-up sponge to dab the ink into place. Snow was added in the form of a snow writer which had Glamour Dust added whilst it was still wet to add just a touch of sparkle.

I hope that you like my challenge entry. Here are the links to the challenge pages:

http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com

http://sketchandstashchallenge.blogspot.com

http://cardsformen.blogspot.com

Dragon Challenge Card

Here, I hope, is a different card for the Critter Sketch Challenge #39 - Dragons. See below for the web address) This card incorporates several of my favourite crafts - rubber stamping, encaustic art and Friendly Plastic.

For the image, the two dragons (Stamps by Encaustic Art International) were stamped with Stazon ink onto glossy card and allowed to dry. An encaustic art scene was then built up around the images in red, purple, dark blue to give a scene of mountains, plains and an unusual sky.

The card was then mounted into an aperture card which had been inked around the border with Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concord Distress inks. This in turn was mounted onto some purple embossed mirror board and onto a dark purple a5 size base card.

The friendly plastic embellishment was made by lining up some thin stick of plastic, warming them with a heat gun until molten and then dragging a special comb though to give the feathered pattern. This was then cut out with a small cookie cutter and whilst still warm it was domed inwards to give the finished shape. This was bonded in position with several thicknesses of foam pads.

Challenge website: http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-39dragons-winner.html

Autumn Tag Card

This is a card for two challenges - "Forever Autumn" for CES Challenge #11 (http://ceschallenges.blogspot.com) and Totally Papercraft Challenge #41 - Tag It (http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.com).

This is an A4 size card with a brown base. The next layer is from a photograph that I took this autumn of masses of various wet leaves on a compost heap! It has been dulled down a bit with Forest Green and Frayed Burlap Distress Inks.

The three tags were coloured with Distress Inks. With the 3 tags carefully aligned the stamped images, both by the wonderful Sheena Douglass, were added in Timber Brown Stazon Ink. Water droplets were splashed around the outside edge, which when moped up with tissue gave some lighter patches of colour in the background inks. A Tattered Angels mask of a branch was applied top and bottom of the tags and sponged over with more Distress Inks. Lengths of autumnal coloured ribbon were added to the ends of the tags using a Tim Holtz Tinny Attacher.

The three flowers used at the end of the tags were made by cutting various layers out on a Cricut Create machine. These were then stamped and coloured with inks, shaped and bonded together to give the completed flowers.

The tags and flowers were bonded into place to give the final look.

Flower Corner Card

Clarity stamps come to the fore on this one. This is a nice delicate card with a lovely sentiment. Three stamps have been used - the floral corner, the sentiment and the circular star burst type one (I can't remember what it was called.

I have worked on a base card A5 in size. All 3 decorated layers have been created on glossy card.

The bottom layer was created with various light colours of glimmer mist splattered onto the surface and allowed to dry.

The middle layer was created using a resist technique. The white glossy card was stamped around the edge using the star burst stamp and Versamark ink. Once dry, this was brayered over using a Big'n'Juicy ink pad to create the colour variation.

For the top layers the floral corner stamp was used 4 times to create the floral motif and the sentiment was centralised underneath. The corner flowers were coloured with Promarkers. The centres were glittered in gold

To assemble, the layers were matted onto the base card with double sided tape. Fine line peel-offs were used on the edges of the lower layer and the base card to add some clear edge lines. A bow was made from ribbon that matched the colour of the flowers and bonded in place with Pinflair glue. Finally gold thread was knotted on the spine to a touch of texture and movement and to match the gold glitter on the flowers.

Flower Decoupage

I love flowers and and the colours and textures of nature. They all add up to make the world a brighter place.

The frame and flowers stamps were designed by myself which makes it all quite exciting. Should anyone be interested in these stamps, please contact me and I will send you details.

A dark green A6 card base was the starting point. A sheet of navy card was sprayed with a silver mica spray and left to dry. A panel was cut out to suit the card size and the bottom edge ripped to give texture. Dark green ribbon was wrapped round the sprayed card and bonded in position before the panel was attached to the card base.

The frame and central bouquet were stamped on a piece of white card and three more bouquets were stamped separately. These were all coloured using Twinkling H2Os to give a subtle sheen. The separate bouquets were cut out to give elements to use for decoupage.

The frame, the base of the decoupage design, was mounted onto another piece of the dark green card, using double sided tape, and this, in turn, was mounted onto the base A6 card with foam pads. The decoupage was then built up onto the frame to give the finished bouquet of flowers.

Christmas Card for 2 Challenges

A lovely, cheerful card for Christmas.

The stamped image of the snowmen - from Creative Expressions - was stamped onto white card and coloured with Twinkling H2Os. When dry it was cut out using a circular scalloped Nestability and this was mounted on another scalloped circle cut from silver mirror card.

The background was made following a session of using Tattered Angels masks and Glimmer Mists. The mask was covered in liquid so rather than just wash it off I turned it upside down onto a clean piece of card and was left with the impression of the mask in amazing colours. This was trimmed down to the required size and the edges coloured with some distress ink to give a slightly aged look.

The background was layered onto some blue card and a ribbon and bow was wrapped around it before it was secured to the A5 white base card. Faux stitching was added around the blue boarder in a Silver Marvy Metallic pen. Finally the the scalloped image was added using foam pads.

This has been entered into 2 challenges: Critter Sketch Challenge Number 38 - Christams at http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com and Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 33 Stitching at http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com

Hearts

Good morning to you all.

Here is an A6 size card constructed from 3 stamps that I designed and had made for me - the heart, the square and the rectangle stamps.It is actually a very simple card but I love the combination of the gold on the glossy black card.

The heart was stamped with Versamark ink and embossed in gold. The two other decorative panels was stamped with Versamark ink and then Perfect Pearls gold mica powder was stippled onto the design and gently worked into the ink until the whole pattern was visible.

The heart was closely trimmed around the edge as were the two panels. The panels were then matted onto white gloss card to give an extra bit of contrast. The panels were layered onto the glossy black base card before the heart was added, raised on foam pads for dimension.

Multiple strands of gold thread, knotted at the top of the card spine adds the finishing touch to give quite a luxurious looking card.

This card has been entered into the Heart challenge at http://diecutdreams.blogspot.com/

One card for 2 Challenges

Here is a very autumnal card for 2 challenges - see the end of this blog for details

The completed card is A5 in size. The background was created from a piece of wood effect paper which was coloured with Adirondack Inks - Espresso, Rust and Butterscotch.

The main image and the sentiment are from the new stamps from Sheena Douglass. These were both stamped with Espresso ink and water coloured with the same three inks already mentioned. The autumnal leaf images were from some wood mounted stamps that I have had for years but I cannot tell you the manufacturer as they are unmarked. These were also water coloured with the inks and cut out when dry.

The three buttons, I made myself from clay (Fimo). They are imprinted with designs from various rubber stamps and coloured with Perfect Pearls mica powder before baking. Each was threaded with a piece of copper coloured organza ribbon for added texture.

The sentiment was cut out using a Nestabilities Label design as was the bronzy coloured mirror card for the backing.

Everything was assembled using double sided tape or glue with the sentiment being mounted with foam pads for depth.

Challenges: The Critter Sketch Challenge #37 - Sketch and Buttons (http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com) and the Crafty Creations Challenge #91 - Autumn (http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com).

Feather in the Wing of Time - A Man's Card

I know this uses the same stamps as my last post but I wanted to make a card that was suitable for a man. I love the way that this one turned out.

The base card is a in dark brown and is an A4 sheet scored and folded to make an A5 size card. Approximately an inch was cut off the front portion so that the inside back face can be seen.

The coloured backing was a piece of cream card that was painted with walnut stain which contained some mica powder for a bit of shine. While this was still damp quite a bit of another colour was added along the top edge of the card and allowed to run down the paper causing the long run lines. This was then allowed to dry naturally as a heat gun would have blown the liquid colour around.

A panel was cut and attached to the front of the card and another panel attached to the inside back surface of the card. The vertical edges of both panels and the right hand edge of the front of the card were lined with fine gold peeloff strips.

The main panel is actually made of a very thin veneer of pale coloured wood. This was spayed with various tones of glimmer mist to give the same sort of colouring as the background paper and again it gives a bit a a sheen to the surface. This was allowed to dry overnight as heating would have caused the wood to bend.

For the stamping the feather and sentiment were stamped first and then parts of the feather were used to create the border.

This card has been added to the Cards for Men Challenge No. 22 - Anything goes (as long as it's male). http://cardsformen.blogspot.com

A Quick Note

Hi, I just wanted to say that I am away for all of next week on a business trip to Belarus. For those of you who haven't a clue where that is (I had to look it up on a map) it is just the other side of Poland. I don't know what the Internet access will be like so if you do not hear from me for a while you know why! I am taking some images with me so if I do have access I will carry on blogging. See you soon, Shirl xx

Feather. in the Wing of Time.

I love this stamp and sentiment. They are by Clarity stamps.

The A5 background was made with a resist technique on white glossy cardstock. The images of the feather were stamped using versamark ink and when it was dry, the colour was brayered on from a Big'n'Juicy ink pad. This was trimmed down to the size I required for adding to an A5 size card. The right hand edge was the trimmed using a Borderability to give a pretty edge.

The Main image was done on A6 glossy card. The white card was masked off to give a panel that was the correct size for the feather stamp. This was then brayered using the same ink pad. When dry the feather was stamped in black Stazon ink and the masking removed. The sentiment was added using Stazon too. Fine peel offs were added to the edge for extra embellishment.

The ribbon was wrapped around the background card and tied with a bow before being layered onto a dark brown card blank. The main image was then added with double sided tape to complete the card which I think would be suitable for a male or female.

1 Card for 3 Challenges

Here is one card for 3 challenges. The first time I have entered more than one challenge in one go. The Challenges are:Critter Challenges - #36 Hip to be Square, Crafty Creations Challenge - #89 Show a Number and Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #32 - Using a freebie. See the end of this entry for the links to the challenges.

The Hip to be square was a sketch challenge so the card follows that idea. To show a number - it is in the sentiment. Use a freebie - this was the central stamp that was free with Craft Stamper magazine a few months ago.

The card is based on a 6 inch square. The dusky pink coloured layering card was hand made by me from a piece of cream card, sprayed with Glimmer Mist and covered with crinkled cling film until it was dry. This concentrates the mica powder to give silvery highlights. Hmmm, maybe not too evident in the picture, but they are there, I can assure you!

Various Shapabilities were used to cut out the background square shapes and also the sentiment which was created in DSA.

The image was stamped on to glossy card with Black Stazon ink.

The card was then assembled having cut a slit in the spine so that the ribbon could be threaded through.

Challenges:
http://critterchallengeblog.blogspot.com
http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com
http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com

Bunch of Roses Card

Here we are with another flowery card. Again, I hope it is something a bit different that you will like.

A green A4 sheet was folded in 2 to make an A5 base card. A piece of glossy A5 white card was trimmed back a bit to show the green border of the base card. This was then masked off and green distress ink was added round the border using a piece of Cut'n'Dry foam. When this was dry it was over stamped with a small bunch of roses from U-Mount stamps using black Stazon ink.

The main image, the larger bunch of roses from the same stamp set, was stamped with black Stazon and embossed with clear powder. This was coloured in with Cosmic Shimmer mica powders mixed with water and green ink from a Big'n'Juicy pad. When dry, a frame Shapability was used to cut out the centre section and the frame. Note, some of the image is included on the frame so this was an aid to lining it all back up again later when the card was assembled.

For the centre section, the edges were coloured with two tones of green Distress ink so that there was no white card left showing. The frame was also coloured with the ink so as to achieve a good contrast between the frame and the white of the backing card.

The centre was placed back into the hole in the frame to ensure good positioning on the page. The centre was bonded in place with double sided tape. The frame was then lifted away and mounted onto the card with foam pads to give some depth to the card.

Blue Flowers

Here is another of my digital scrapbook pages which combines my encaustic artwork with digital techniques. The artwork was scanned into the computer to give the digital image along with another piece which was very swirly and abstract.

The abstract was used for the background and this was blended with an image of a piece of creased denim. The Blue flowers artwork was then layered on top and made slightly transparent so that the swirls and the denim can be seen.

The "bling" flourishes and the glass drops were added for embellishment to give the final design.

Oriental Fancy Fold Card

This one took a lot of work. A combination of stamping and oriental papers from a Create and Craft kit of many years ago.

The Poppy image is the front of the card and the second photo shows the two inside surfaces and the back.

For the front the beautiful poppy and script stamp was stamped onto white card and embossed in black. It was then painted using Twinkling H2Os. When dry this was matted and layered onto black and red card before being mounted onto the base card red card which had already had gold and red layers added to it.

The 2 inside surfaces were layered with the oriental design papers and were embellished with tags, a cut down card front and some oriental symbols.

The back was a stamped image, again stamped and embossed in black, painted with H2Os and mounted in the same way as the front.

I do hope you like it. This card has been entered into the Spotlight on Fancy Folds challenge with Crafty Cardmakers.

Dragonflies Over Water.

This is an encaustic technique that I have not featured before (I don't think so anyway. This is called and indirect technique. Instead of applying the wax directly to the base glossy card, it is applied to a piece of tissue (as in the type you blow you nose on).

Three colours are added to the tissue - in this case brown, green and blue. This is then laid onto the card and heat is applied to the tissue with the tip of the iron which transfers a bit of wax to the white card. The design is built up from scratch just by adding little dabs of the different coloured waxes to make the picture. The fence posts and grasses were created by running the edge of the iron along the tissue.

The water line was shown by adding some of the dark blue wax to the bottom of the rock and then rubbing it vigorously with the tip of a finger. This generates enough heat to partially melt the wax again and smudge it around.

The dragonflies were added at the end using a stylus tool which is needed to crate the fine lines.