Blue as the Ocean

Hello my friends and fellow bloggers.  I'm here today to share a card with you that I've made:

I started by using a sheet of copy paper to mask off the sea and sky and used Ink Dusters and Distress Stormy Sky to create the background. I used Memento Desert Sand for the sand and Memento Rich Cocoa for the grass and sentiment. I finished the scene by adding Woodward Fluffy Stuff to create the waves on the sand. The grass, birds and sentiment are all by Inkylicious.
Unfortunately, I will be taking a break from card challenges over the next couple of weeks as I have some special family birthday cards that I need to make. I will share these with you as a later date. I will still be visiting your blogs though so that I don't get total withdrawal symptoms!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x

Funky Snowmen

Hi there.  I'm here today with my first card of the week which is another one to add to my Christmas collection.  I've taken colour inspiration for this card from the Merry Monday challenge. I wouldn't ordinarily use lime green on a Christmas card as I tend to do more traditional cards but I like the finished product and it will be great card for a young person.

I started by stamping the snowmen with an Anita's stamp and then created a mask out of copy paper for them before stamping the large Christmas tree behind them.  I stamped the tree with Impress Emerald ink before water colouring it to give a fuller effect. The sky was Ink Dusted with Distress Broken China and I then added three punched out snowflakes to give some contrast. I used Woodware Fluffy stuff to give the snowballs dimension and then sprinkled them with silver glitter to give a snowy appearance, I also used Ice Stickles in front of the snowmen and on the Christmas tree for a sparkly effect.
I've had to take the photograph from a side angle as this was the only to show the glitter and snowballs to their full effect.  Unfortunately, because I've taken a close up, the sentiment looks a little out of focus which it isn't in reality.  Hope to be back with you all soon but until then, enjoy the rest of your day x

F is for Flowers

Good morning.  I'm here today with a card that I've made for this week's Butterfly Challenge.  Their letter this week is 'F' for Flowers:

I've used a peach frame that I cut out with a Spellbinders labels one against a 6 x 6 cream card. The butterfly is one that I printed out on the computer and then cut out.  I cut quite a good way into the wings so that I could bend them to give dimension and a more realistic look.  The flowers were bought ready made but I've curled the ends with a cotton but, rather than leaving them straight,  I think this works well. The flowers and butterfly were stuck on with silicone glue and I completed the card with a Happy Birthday peel off.
I'd like to say a very 'Happy Father's Day' to all you lovely Dads out there, you do an amazing job and  I wish you all a wonderful day with your loved ones.  Blessings to all those whose Dads are no longer with us and may your happiest memories be with you today x

A Touch of Stencilling

Here's my third and final card of the day that I've made for the Less is More challenge, their theme this week is Stenciling:

I've used a brass stencil to create the image and I've used make up sponges to stencil it. The inks that I've used are:

• Distress - Tea Dye
• Distress - Worn Lipstick
• Impress - Emerald

I cut out and mounted the image on purple card and gave some dimension to the white background card by running it through my Big Shot in a Creative Expressions embossing folder to give a brick effect.  I think it works quite well with the flowers and Humming Bird. I've left lots of white space to keep Chrissie at LIM happy :)

Wings

Hi there, I'm here again with my second card of the day.

I started by colouring the background with chalks.  I used a make up sponge and scrunched up cotton wool to give the delicate subtle tones that I wanted.  I dusted some Distress Fired Brick ink on the bottom of the card to give it more depth as I felt that it looked too pale with just the chalks. The stamps that I've used are from the 'Wetlands' set by Stampin Up.  I haven't had the set for very long but I'm absolutely loving them as they're so versatile. I stamped the goose on the base card and then cut out a second one which I placed over the top and then gently coloured with a beige chalk.  All black stamping is done by using my favourite; Versafine Black Onyx.
Take care and enjoy your weekend :)

Red and White Christmas

Hi there,
Just a quick post with a card that I've made for the 'Merry Monday' Christmas challenge.  Their theme this week is 'Red and White.'

The card that I've made is quite a simple one but a great card if you've got a few to produce and not a lot of time to do them in. I started by mounting a piece of red card on a white A6 card  and then I added vertical white strip to signify Santa's fur down the front of his coat. I then added a horizontal black strip for his belt and gold buckle cut out with a Memory Box die. The Merry Christmas stamp is from Inkylicious and was stamped with Versafine Black Onyx.  I finished the card with diamond buttons and a red bow. Bye for now :)

Father

Hello all.  It's been another really busy week here but I've had a couple of hours this afternoon to get a little crafty. It was a hard card to make as I lost my wonderful Dad twenty five years ago and I still miss him so much. I have a picture of him next to my desk, so my Dad has been my inspiration for this card, I'm sure he would have loved it!

I took an 8 x 8 cream card and sprayed it with bronze Cosmic Shimmer to make a distressed looking background.  The stamps that I've used are from the Stampman's Nautical Set which are fabulous for any masculine cards. I coloured a sheet of cream card with Starburst Stains and then I stamped over it and cut out the images before mounting them on the base card. I had a piece of paper that I'd previously stained and I used this to create a strip down the left hand side. I added a strip of gold card down the middle just to break it up a bit but this looked too bare and so I added four brass fasteners which I thought worked quite well.  I finished a adding a 'Father' stamp which I cut out using a Spellbinders Die. The stamp is by DENAMIDESIGN.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Hello my friends and followers, I hope that you've all had a lovely weekend.
I've enjoyed visiting your wonderful blogs but due to family commitments, I've had very little time or chance to do any crafting of my own at all this week :( ...............  As I could feel myself starting to get withdrawal symptoms, I've just made one CAS card today for this week's Less is More Challenge.  Their theme this week is 'Home,'  so here's my contribution:

The stamp is one that I've had for many years which I bought from 'Make Your Mark' in York.  I think the stamp lends itself perfectly to a winter theme and so I've made it as a Christmas card ........... I'm sorry, I know it's only June but it's never too early to start!
I stamped the main image using Versafine Black Onyx and then used just a light touch of Ice Stickles Silver Ice glitter glue to give the appearance of snow around the house, although I'm not sure this shows up too well in the photograph.  The holly in each corner was stamped and then water coloured  with Impress Emerald Ink and I've coloured the berries with red glitter.
I was lucky enough to be one of the winners at the Allsorts 'Vintage' challenge; and I was voted in the Top 3 of the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge when their theme was 'Birds.'   I'd like to say thank you so much for the votes and I'm really sorry that I haven't had chance to join in with this week's challenges but I'm hoping that things will be back to normal next week and I'm looking forward to finding out what your new challenges are.
I also have a few new followers and so I'd like to say "Hello and Welcome;" and many thanks for joining my blog.
Enjoy the rest of Sunday evening and I hope to be back with you soon x

Serene Sunset

What an amazing weekend. It's been lovely to have so much sunshine.
I'm here with a card that I've made for this week's Less is More challenge and their theme this week is 'Sunset.'

I started by gently brushing over the left hand corner with Adirondack Lemonade ink. I then used a cut out circle to mask off and create the sun.  To do this, I brushed around the circle using the same ink to start with and then I gradually built up the colours of the sunset with Adirondack Peach Bellini and then Mountain Rose. I used a very light dusting of Paris Dusk to finish the sunset.  I stamped the silhouette image of the Daydreamer by Inkylicious with Versafine Onyx Black over the sunset. As always with LIM, I've left lots of white space on the card to keep it clean and simple. I hope you like it :)

Guest Designer at Stamping Sensations

I was more than surprised and absolutely thrilled to find that I had actually won the April card challenge over at Stamping Sensations with my 'Pretty in Pink' entry.  I have since been asked by Brenda if I would like to be a guest designer for June and of course, I didn't even have to think about the answer.  There's nothing I enjoy more than using inks and good old fashioned stamping and so I jumped at the chance.  Their theme for this month is 'Dies and Punches,' with stamping being the focal element and so here's the card that I've made:

I started by using a Spellbinders Radiant Rectangle die.  I used this to cut into my background card to give my image a detailed border and I left the die in place whilst I coloured the rest of the background using Ink Dusters  This gave me a white border that contrasted nicely against the black card that is was being mounted on. The inks that I used were Distress Peacock Feathers and Adirondack Lemonade and Impress Lemon Yellow.
For the main image, I masked off the sun before colouring around it with the same inks that I used for the background.  I added more ink onto the main image to allow it to stand out from the background. The stamp used on the main image is one from the Meadow Breeze set by Inkylicious. I stamped this with Versafine Black Onyx to give a nice, clear impression.

 

To finish the card, I used  the 'Vivienne' die cut butterfly by Memory Box and used two butterfly punches to create the smaller butterflies.

For the sentiment, I used one from a set by Personal impression called Tattered Butterflies, designed by Lindsey Mason. I felt this tied in well with the smallest butterflies dancing around the sun.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you've enjoyed viewing this post as much as I've enjoyed creating it.  Take care and I hope to be back with you all soon x

Birds

Hi there, I hope that you've all been making the most of the sunshine, despite the wind!  I'm just here with a quick post with a card that I'm entering in the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge which is 'Birds.' I bought quite a few new stamps recently from Inkylicious and this was one of them:

I started be stamping the birds using Versafine Onyx Black as this always gives a lovely clear image.  I coloured the birds using chalks.  The colour looks deeper in reality but I think the flash on the camera has bleached it out a little. The leaves were coloured using Marvy LePlume marker pens and then the colour was drawn out using a paint brush. I used Distress Tea Dye around the edges to give a vintage look as the name of the stamp is Vintage Birds. The card looked quite plain and so I added some leaves made with a Spellbinders die to echo the leaves on the main image.
I look forward to being back with you tomorrow morning with a post that is very special to me so I hope that you get a chance to look in :)