Happy Birthday to my Daughter!

Today is my Daughter, Becky's 24th birthday, oh it doesn't seem 5 minutes since I had her........

I got my Pan Pastels out for this one, the first time I've actually used them for a card, I've only messed around with them, think I been a bit scared of them...... I don't know why, because they're easier to use than inks!.....lol.  First I used the negative of the moon mask, and sponged on some of the yellow Pastel, then I swapped over and used the positive of the mask and added the rest of the colours, blending them in to each other.  I then removed the mask and blended some pink over it to 'soften' the sun.  Before stamping, I set the Pastels with some cheap hairspray.  Once it had dried I started with the stamping.  I used a mix of stamps from Inkylicious - cat, butterflies and grasses, Lavinia - the stars, and the tree bough is a Stampscape stamp, I added a sprinkling of glitter to the stars to give it that magical feel.  The text border was done on the computer.

Pan Pastel colours I used are -Bright Yell. Green Tint, Bright Yell. Green Shade, Orange Tint, Magenta Tint, Magenta Shade and Phthalo Blue Tint.

Thanks for looking.

xx

That's Crafty - ATC's

The challenge over on That's Crafty is 'ATC's'.  I used to make loads of these for swaps, years ago and not made one for such a long time.  So here's what I came up with.

For the first one, I blended just one Distress Ink, Abandoned Coral and gave it the 'Ombre' look.  Then first I stamped the lantern in Black Versafine, stamps from Lavinia Stamps, then stamped over this with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I've seen a similar technique done by Eileen Godwin, but she used a stencil and texture paste for the white image.

For the second one, I blended two Distress Inks, Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord, stamped the skyline with black Versafine, the stars and heart were stamped with the Dusty Concord.  Once the inks were dry, I highlighted parts with a white pen and added 'New York'.  All stamps used are from a Tim Holtz set called City Central.  I just love New York, so if I get the chance I do something New York themed..... lol.

For the third ATC, I used stamps from Altenew, Peony Bouquet, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I used Distress Inks to add colour, Abandoned Coral and Peeled Paint.  I didn't realise till I'd finished this one, I'd used the same colour as the first one..... lol.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Two Cards.......

...... From one piece of A5 cardstock.

I love to see techiniques done by Eileen Godwin and she's just added a new one to her YouTube channel, so I thought I'd give it a go, it's Eileens version of the Master Board Technique.  If you've got some white Gesso, and inks then you can do this technique too. I've added the link to the tutorial for you, it was easier than me explaining it all..... lol.

I had an A5 piece of card handy so thought I'd use the full piece, that why I've got 2 cards.

Distress Inks used are Picked Raspberry, Evergreen Bough, Wild Honey and Vintage Photo.

I love this technique and will be doing it again.  Why not have a go, I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Christening Card

My niece had her second son, Archie Stephen, just over a week ago and this is the card I made for them.

I love this die for baby cards, it's perfect!  The die is one of Mariannes, you also get stamps with it.  The blue part is embossed with the die, then cut round by hand then attached back of  the cut layer.  I think this give the impression of the bottom layer being quilted.  The printed border was done on the computer, then all layered up to finish of.

Male Card

Most of us crafters find making cards for the men in our lives, difficult, and I'm one of them.  Unless they have a hobby then it's nice and easy.....lol

It's my hubby's 60th in a couple of weeks and here's what I came up with for him.

I started of with a stencil by Memory Box for the background, which is called 'Texture Scraped Paint'.  I inked through this with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Next I used Fired Brick, Distress Ink Reinker, dripped a couple of drops onto my mat, mixed in a little water, dipped a paintbrush into it and flicked it over the stenciled area till I was happy with the splashes.  While this dried, I got out the Letter Box stamps by Clarity and stamped up my wording, using Red Brick for the lettering and Vintage Photo to stamp the boxes.  Before cutting them out, I used Versamark ink to cover all the lettering and heat embossed with clear embossing powder, giving it a lovely shine.  I'd have used a glittery one if it had been a female card.... lol.  I used sticky pads to stick the wording to the card.

I Won!!!!!

.... the last challenge at Lavinia Stamps, how thrilled was I.  My prize was a £40 voucher to spend in their store.  I finally got time to play with some of the stamps.

I made the background by putting some Adirondack Inks, Purple Twilight and Pink Sherbet, onto a stamping block, spritzed it with some water, and used it like a stamp onto some cardstock.  When that was dry, I splashed it with water and dabbed it with some tissue to get the white patches.  I stamped the images with Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder, I then painted the images with the same inks and added some sparkle to the loopy bits..... lol.

Thanks for looking.

xx

That's Crafty Challenge (22.1.16)

The challenge over at That's Crafty this week is 'Winter But Not Christmas', so I thought I'd make a tag rather than a card, just for a change after making so many Christmas cards.

I went for wintery colours with some snowflakes.  I used stencils for all of this tag apart from the sentiment which is by StampRite.   I used Distress inks in Dusty Concord and tumbled Glass, and used black Versafine for the trees.

Thanks for looking.

xx

More Layering Stamps

I'm loving these stamps very much.  I've been playing with them alot, but this is only the 3rd card made using them..... I've been stamping them and deciding which colours work best.  I'd reccommend anyone new to these stamps to do the same, and to keep them for future reference.

This card uses stamps from Altenew Vintage Rose set and the small flowers and leaves are from the Beautiful Day set.  Colours used are Juniper, Meadow, Pink Sherbet, Raspberry, Currant, Cloudy Blue, Stonewashed, Denim - all Adirondacks and Chipped Shapphire Distress Ink.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Less Is More

The theme for the challenge over on 'Less Is More' this week, is One Layer Card with a Flourish.

It's very rare that I stamp straight onto the card base, always worried I mess it up, but I went for it on this card.

This stamp is from Viva stamps, I stamped it with Imperial Purple, Versafine.  The sentiment was in a freebie set.  I cut the butterflies with a Cheery Lyn die, and added a bit of sparkle with Glamour Dust, and finished of with gems. 

A closer look at the butterflies.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Sunshine....... what's that!

Well I know sunshine is something we've seen very little of here recently in the UK, but more than enough rain..... :/

I've been playing with layering stamps again.

The stamps are from the Vintage Flowers set by Altenew.  I think these stamps are just amazing and so clever, and relatively easy to use.  Once you've used them a couple of times, you get to know how to match each layer up with the previous layer.  All inks used are Adirondacks in the following colours, Willow, Juniper, Meadow (Leaves), Lemonade, Sunshine Yellow, Butterscotch, Mountain Rose, Watermelon and Cranberry.  The sentiment is a stamp from Inkylicious and is stamped with Versafine ink.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Beautiful Day.......

........well is hasn't been here, but that's the name of the stamps I've used on this card.

I've been eyeing up these layering stamps for quite a while now, so thought I'd get some.  They're from Altenew Stamps and these are from the Beautiful Day set.  I used Adirondack ink in these colours, Lake Mist, Pebble and Mushroom.  I stamped up the flower first, then masked it off to add the leaves.

I'm entering this card into the present challenge over on Less Is More (end 8th Jan).

Thanks for looking.

xx

Flowers at Clarity

This months challenge over at Clarity Stamps is 'Say It With Flowers'.  I don't have an awful lot of Clarity stamps, yes I'm working on that..... lol, so didn't think I'd be able to enter this one.  So out came my Clarity box, and found I did have the items needed, so here goes.

I made some basic stencils a few months ago and used one of them for the center of this card.  I used Distress Inks in Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers applied through the stencil with a brush. Then I used a Clarity stencil for the flowers, inked in the same colours as the background.  The stamps are from the Wee Fairies set (I think) which were stamps in black Versafine and heat embosed with clear embossing powder.  Finished off with the sentiment and a little sparkle to the image.

The challenge ends on 31st January.

Thanks for looking.

xx

No one likes to make Sympathy cards.......

My sister in law lost her father in law earlier today, so I felt the need to make a couple of cards.  He was a lovely man, who along with his wife, always made us feel welcome whenever we visited my sister in law.  We have daughters the same age, so we saw a lot of her in laws when they were young. So here's the cards, one for my sister in law and one for her mother in law.

For the background panel, I applied 2 shades of Adirondack inks - Stonewashed and Cloudy Blue to an acylic block, spritzed with water and stamped it onto my cardstock. Then stamped image with Majestic Blue, Versafine and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  This stamp is from Lavinia Stamps and the sentiment is by Personal Impressions.

The background panel on this one was made by blending Seedless Preserve Distress ink to the cardstock with a duster brush.  I then stamped the image, stamp from Inkylicious, in Versamark Imprerial Purple, and heat embosed with clear embossing powder.  I used the same ink to ink up a scrap of card which I also heat embossed with clear embossing powder, then cut out the sentiment with a die.

I think sympathy cards should be 'clean' looking and simple, but that's just me..

Thanks for looking.

xxx

Messed up turns good

Well this almost went into the bin!

This was another background I'd made months ago.  My friend KathyK showed me this technique, Faux Mother of Pearl, last year at the Craft Bubble Craftathon, thanks Kathy.  So as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm working my way through backgrounds I've made.  I stamped with Distress Inks and Adirondacks in various colours, but I made a booboo when I stamped the largest stamp, the colour turned out far too dark, it looked as if it was black and was far to 'hard' looking.  Then I had a brainwave..... lol, got out my Misti and re positioned the stamp exactly over the images I didn't like, and stamped with Versamark, then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Misti is just great for doing this. 

All the stamping was done with one set of stamps by Inadinkado, Cirlcles & Dots.   I added the sentiment, a stamp from Inkylicious, to finish off.  Not bad for a card that was destined for the bin is it...... lol

I've added a tutorial for Faux Mother of Pearl on the 'Tutorials from around the Web' tab at the top of the page.