Butterfly Spray

Hello again my blogging friends and visitors.

I'm here with my second post of the day with a card that I've made for this week's challenge at 'Less is More.'  Their challenge this week is: Sprays/mists and here's my contribution:

I started by dabbing different shades of pink inks onto my craft mat and then spritzing it with water. I then took a piece of pale pink card and soaked up the mixed colours.  After drying the card with my heat gun, I then used punches and dies to create my various butterflies.
I took a paintbrush and dipped it into my Starburst Stains (Sweet Violet Purple Teal) and then splattered it onto a piece of white card to create a spray.   The butterflies were then placed in their required positions and the card was finished with a Stampin Up sentiment. The card was originally just mounted onto pink card but didn't look quite right and so I mounted it again on a piece of white card which did the trick.

Beside the Seaside

Good morning on this lovely sunny Sunday.

I'm here today to share with you a card that I've made for the latest Fashionable Stamping Challenge and their theme this time is 'Seaside or Beach.'

I was lucky enough to win the Stamping Sensations challenge in April and as part of my prize, I chose a set of stamps by Crafty Individuals called 'Beside the Seaside' I though that they would be just right for this latest challenge.

I started by stamping; and then masking off the lady before masking off the sea. I used Ink Dusters to colour the sea using Impress Sky Mist and then going over it with Adirondack Lake mist.  I then sprayed my Ink Duster with a fine spay of water and dragged it across the sea to add movement.
I Gently coloured the sky with Adirondack Lemonade and then masked off the sun before dusting and sponging around the edges with more yellow and Peach Bellini. The rest of the sky was then dusted with Impress Lavender. As I wanted to give the effect of the tide rolling in, I coloured a separate piece of card with Memento Desert Sand and then tore it ruggedly to leave a white edge.  This was then glued to the bottom of my card. The grasses and shells on the sand are all stamps by Inkylicious.  The card was then finished by adding the two seagulls and the Seaside sentiment stamp at the base of the card.  I'm always really nervous at this point as I've ruined more cards than I dare to mention by a wonky sentiment or a smudged bird! I'm happy to say that on this occasion, it all went to plan. I then coloured the seagulls with a a Brownish grey Marvy marker.

Tree of Wonders

Good morning my crafty friends.

Still no news on the baby front I'm afraid, so I'm still waiting here patiently but I know that he'll be well worth the wait.

When I saw this weeks card challenge on Cardz 4 Guyz, I loved the theme which is Myth & Magic' but I was a bit stuck for ideas as I don't have any stamps that are suitable.  I got to thinking about any images I might have and I then I remembered a Josephine Wall CD that I bought from Joanna Sheen.  Most of the images on the CD would be suitable for feminine cards but the was just one image which I thought would work perfectly for a masculine card and it's called the 'Tree of Wonders.'

I printed the image out and then wondered what I could so with it to make it more interesting. As we are moving into Autumn, I knew that I wanted to use Autumnal colours; so I started by taking a piece of orange card and stamped extensions of the tree branches using my Inkylicious Bare Trees stamps with Memento Rich Cocoa.  Once I had mounted the image, I then dusted around the edge of the card with Memento Northern Pine to frame the card. The card was finished by adding some green leaf stems that I had cut out and using some ready made leaves.

The thing that I love most about card challenges is that they will often take you out of your comfort zone and I have to say that this challenge has done this for me!

I'm hoping to be back with you over the weekend but if I'm not, then I hope that you all have a wonderful, relaxing weekend.  Thank you for stopping by x

CAS Thinking of You

Hello,

I'm here today with a quick post with a card that I've made for this week's challenge at Less is More.

The ivy is coloured with Impress Olive Green ink and the stamps are by Flower Soft. The sentiment stamp is by STAMPS HAPPEN and I've used Versa Fine Black Onyx to give a nice clear impression.
The butterfly is one that I've printed and then cut out.  The card is CAS and I hope that you like it.

Here's a picture of the LIM sketch:

Roses

Hello my crafting friends.

The main focal point of my card is a stamp that I've used by ALLNIGHTMEDIA which I believe is an image by Anna Griffin. I stamped the image with Versa Mark and then embossed it with a fine black embossing powder. The Rose itself was coloured with Spectrum Noir markers and I've coloured the leaves by starting with a pale water coloured Impress Olive Green and then I've gone over it with Marvy LePlume markers to vary; and to give a greater depth of colour. I then dusted around the edge of the image before mounting it on various Spellbinder dies, alternating from red to white to give the card contrast.  I finished by creating a bouquet of Roses.  I created the largest Rose and the leaves myself and the other Roses we ready made. The birthday greeting is by Stampin Up.

I look after my Granddaughter through the week and we spend a lot of time at our local park which has quite a large Rose garden.  Here's a photograph of a 'Peace Rose' that I took last week, it's definitely one of my favourites. I took the photograph as I hope to replicate the colours with my Spellbinder Rose Creations in the near future.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope to be back with you soon with some exciting news as our Grandson is due to be born this week :)

Added Later
Here's my attempt at a 'Peace Rose.'  I'm happy with the Rose but I need to work on the colour.  I used Lemon and Pink but it's turned out more peachy!  :)

Summer Flowers

Hello my friends.

I hope that life's been treating you kind.  I've been lucky enough to have a few spare hours today and so I spent them in my craft room doing what makes me happy :)

The card that I want to share with you today is one that I've made for this month's Penny Black and More challenge which is 'Summer Flowers.'  I've pondered over this one for the last week or so as I have so many flower stamps and wasn't really sure where to start.  When I think of Summer, I think of Summer colours which are the sunshine colours......yellows, oranges, and reds; and so this is where I started..............

I started my card by using Ink Dusters to colour the whole of the white matt card with Impress Lemon Yellow.  I then masked off the sun and dusted yellow and orange ink around it.  I pinched the Ink Duster to make shadows across the sun and in the rest of the sky.  I knew that I wanted to make a statement with the red poppy and so this was the first flower that I stamped.  I then replicated the stamp using fine detailed black embossing powder and coloured it with Spectrum Noir markers. Once I was happy with the colour, I then glued it on top of the original Poppy stamp. I then went on to stamp various wild meadow flowers in Memento Rich Cocoa along the bottom of the card. I thought that stamping in brown, rather than black would give a more subtle effect and blend in better with the yellow and oranges. Once this was done, I dusted orange and red ink along the base of the card to give it some depth.  I finished the card by adding a Tortoiseshell Butterfly which I printed off and then cut it out to give a more realistic effect. I also stamped on orange card and cut out a stamped image to make the words 'Live, Laugh and Love' which I think are perfect Summer sentiments.  The base card was cream and so I mounted the image onto a vibrant orange card to match the butterfly.  I'm really happy with how the card turned out and for me, it does conjour up images of Summer; and of Summer flowers.
Stamps used are by Inkylicious and Lavinia; and inks are by Memento, Adirondack and Impress.

Orange and Brown

Good Morning to all my crafting friends on this lovely sunny day.  I hope that the sun is shining wherever you are.
I'm here today with a card that I've made for the 'Cardz 4 Guyz' challenge and their theme this week is 'Orange and Brown.'

I started by taking some peach card and masking off the water which I then coloured with Adirondack Lake Mist. I then masked off the sun and sponged round it with Impress Tangerine ink. Once the background was finished, I then stamped the boat, grasses and birds with Memento Rich Cocoa. I used Ink Duster to add orange around the edge of the card to frame the card.  All the stamps that I've used today are by Inkylicious.  The card was mounted on orange card and then on brown.

Sewing Mends The Soul

Well, I can safely say that it's been a lovely relaxing weekend for a change and I've had chance to get my stamps and inks out again today :)
The card that I've made today is for a favourite of mine, the 'Stamping Sensations' challenge.  Their theme this time is:

August challenge - Anything Goes with a stamp and a die and here's the card that I've made:

I started by stamping the main focal image and then coloured it with Spectrum Noir markers. The image was then cut out with a Spellbinder Labels Eight die and then mounted again on a Spellbinder Decorative Labels Eight, which I coloured around the edge with the same colour as the corset.
Next, I stamped border of thimbles and stamped the other elements on the card.  As the corset had red flowers on it, I decided to ink round the edge of the card with a similar colour and I think this works quite well as it seems to give the card more dimension. I still felt that the card was missing something and so I made a rose using Spellbinder Rose Creations. This tied in nicely with the red on the main image and the red around the edge of the card and I'm happy with the end result.

Stamps used:

• Stampendous - Corset
• Thimbles and Sewing mends the soul - IndigoBlu
• Other three stamps - Inkylicious

Inks used:

• Memento - Rich Coccoa
• Distress - Fired Brick Red
• Black Onyx - Versafine

I hope that you've all had a great weekend and I look forward to seeing your wonderful works of art. Take care, stay happy and I'll see you again soon x

Cats Just Want To Have Fun

Hello and good afternoon to all my lovely blogging friends and visitors. I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately but it's been a really busy couple of weeks with one thing and another.  Although I haven't made many new posts myself, I've still enjoyed visiting your blogs. I've had some free time today and so took the chance to go straight to my craft room and get my inks out :)
The two cards that I've made them are for a brand new card challenge blog called 'TWOFERS' Their very first theme is 'Cats,' and here is my contribution:

All stamps with the exception of the cat on the first card are by Inkylicious.

I've masked off the sun on the first one before colouring the background using Ink Dusters and then stamping the various different elements:

The second card was created in the same way and then the birds on the wire were water coloured using inks.

I've enjoyed making the cards this morning and I wish Jane, Christi and Zoe well in their new venture.
Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day x