Freshly Made Sketches #233

I was playing with a stamp a girlfriend gave me (which I believe is Penny Black) and a piece of card stock I had made using Epsom Salts to get a crystalline effect. The two just went together as the little mouse is skiing on a leaf. There are two mice on the stamp but I masked one off.
The circle and the rectangles were cut using MFT dies Stax set #1 and Blueprints #24.
The sentiment is by a now defunct Australian company 'Stylish Images'. I used a clear glitter Wink of Stella brush to paint the mouse's scarf and the leaf it is on. A few tiny crystals finish it off.

I am going to enter it in  Freshly Made Sketches #233.

Mother's Day Butterfly

For our monthly craft group yesterday we played with the concept of pleated skirt fold cards  as seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRfISWzNJyY 
Using some double sided paper from my stash, stamps from Winnie and Walter and dies from Memory Box I made this card for my mum.
The Paper Players challenge #291 is all about butterflies which made me think this card would be suitable.

Freshly Made Sketches #230 version 2

I had to make a second card, just could not help myself, actually I had quite a few ideas once I got started on this challenge.
So here is version 2 of Freshly Made Sketches #230

The stamped image is by Lucy's Stamps (a now defunct Australian company) and was coloured with my Tombow markers and a silver Wink of Stella Glitter brush on the flower. The banner was cut using SSS 'Folded Banner' die and the words also by SSS from the 'Banner Sayings' set.

Freshly Made Sketches #230

Freshly Made Sketches has a lovely simple sketch this week.

 

My interpretation was simple and dictated by a piece I had lying around on my desk, the Memory Box die 'Musical Interlude'. 'Thank you' is a Spellbinders In'spire die from the 'Celebration Two' set. The background was stamped with Vivid yellow dye ink yellow using Hero Arts 'Raindrop Background' stamp then run through  a Cuttlebug embossing folder. After I had placed it on yellow card stock I used some Wink of Stella clear glitter pen on the thank you.

Lime Love

I had two challenges in mind when I made this card The Paper Players Sketch 288 by Leanne and The Color Throwdown 386.

I started with some free digital papers I had printed out on photo paper yonks ago from Mel's Stampz. She does not seem to be blogging these days but her site is full of wonderful resources. I cut these with a fishtail die MFT Blueprint #24. The cross bar is from MFT Blueprint #2 and the little heart from MFT Blueprint #8. The bird cage  by Memory Box and 'With love' by Spellbinders .

More Sharing the Love at Winnie and Walter

I could not go to sleep last night until I had completed this card inspired by an example on Winnie and Walter's blog by Shay. At 0200 my husband suggested it was bedtime..."just sticking down the sequins says me". I did leave it and go to bed so the sequins were well and truly stuck when I woke up this morning:)

I had cut out a piece of patterned vellum with SSS Coverplate die 'Mighty Bloom'. Before sticking it down I used Distress ink 'Spun Sugar' to make a watercolour wash on my card stock. I masked off and stamped 'Thinking of' from a SSS stamp set called 'Handwritten Borders'. I cut it out and layered it on some hot pink polka dot paper. Next I used the 'You' die from the Papertrey Ink 'Wonderful Words' set and cut it 4 times (I could not decide which colour pink matched best). In the end I layered them one on top of the other with the polka dots on top. I added the sequins which are actually an iridescent sequin on top of a coloured one to soften the brightness to match the vellum better. Voila all done.

Share the Love Week with Winnie and Walter.

Over on Winnie and Walter's blog they are having a Share the Love Week featuring 'Felicity' by Pinkfresh Studio. Looking through the examples by Shay and Heather I was inspired to make a card for some friends who are having their 40th (Ruby) wedding Anniversary next month. The background is a digital print out available in Winnie and Walter's shop under 'Freebies'. Never having used a digital file before I thought I would give it a go.This particular one reminded me of the facets on a gem a'la Heather's card. I sponged it ombre style with Impress dye inks 'Old Rose and Poppy Red' and Distress ink 'Fired Brick'.  The cutaway word Shay used inspired me to use 'Happy Anniversary' from 'The Big, the bold and the Happy' stamp set. The banner is by Taylored Expressions and the flourish unknown. I used gold rub-ons for the initials on the banner and numbers on the flourish.

Morgan's Artworld #6 Anything with Wings

The starting point of this card was the little birds on a wire (Tim Holtz 'Life's Possibilities' set), it was leftover from a previous project as was the small background behind them. I hate to waste anything so I mounted them and then pondered on ideas to complete the card. Rummaging through my vintage stamp collection I found the 'Butterfly and Topiary Tree' by Stamps Happen. I made a background by spraying Dylusions (Cut Grass, Fresh Lime, Lemon Zest and London Blue) inks through stencils by TCW -'Mini Climbing Vine' and 'Mini Climbing Vine Rev'. Then I stamped the image in Brilliance black pigment ink. The image is very delicate and it fades into the background so I needed a focal point and I thought of the Bluebird by PSX which I stamped onto blue paper added a little shading with my Tombow markers on its wings and fussy cut it out. He is attached with some foam tape behind his wings.
I thought this little guy would be perfect for Morgan's Artworld Challenge #6 Anything with Wings.

Shopping our Stash #244 Clocks

While I was cleaning up my desk of all the bits and pieces left over from recent projects I came across this piece with the shell (Design's by Ryn -Spiral Shell) and a circle frame that fitted over it. Only the top of the frame was missing no worries I cut out a tab using MFT Blueprints #24. Then I found the bits out of the film strip from MFT Blueprint #2  now to incorporate them as well. A long thin stitched strip from the same set to hang them on sorted that issue! It was looking more and more like a clock but what to use as hands? Time to dive into my 90 litre storage tub of embellishments and near the bottom (always the way) I found some wooden spindles. A Kaiser Craft clear stamp 'Tic Toc' was perfect as a background so I stamped it in Versamark for a watermark effect.
I knew I had seen a 'Clock" challenge some where and sure enough Shopping Our Stash's weekly challenge SOS #244 - Cuckoo For You - Use Clocks. was it.

Color Thow Down Challenge

A new challenge woohoo, this looks like fun.Totally inspired by the teams efforts at Color Throw Down  #385 I got out my water colour paper and a stencil (Memory Box 'Texture Wave') some dye inks (Impress Teal and Soft Aqua) and gold drawing ink...first effort hit the bin, second effort got turned over and I used the other side before I was happy with the result. Next step to add some depth with a stamp (Designs by Ryn 'Rising Bubbles') in the aqua then the teal...not happy so a a quick spritz with water made it all run and in my mind it got a dreamy look. I wanted an image to centre it all so rummaging through my vintage stamp collection I found 'Bruce' he is from 'Mostly Animals' (now defunct). I so wish I had more of this companies stamps such high quality and such lovable characters. The sentiment is from Hampton Art Stamps-'Sweet Dreams' I gave it a bit of a rubberectomy and removed the sweet.

The Paper Players Challenge #287

The Paper Players challenge this week is 'Clean and Simple with a Spring theme'.

I did some test samples of 'ink blending over heat embossing' for a different card and hate to waste anything so I cut up the sample to make my flower border and umbrella feature. I used 'Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon' Distress inks and embossed a Kaisercraft stamp 'Hessian' in gold . The border die is Memory Box 'Spring Border' and the umbrella Spellbinders in'spire 'Umbrella Trio'.
The raindrops are an old stamp called 'Drip Drops' by Posh Impressions using Impress dye ink 'Sky Mist'.
The sentiment I printed on my computer and cut it out to fit.
We are hoping for some rain here later in the week as my husband has recently planted a winter crop of vegies. We are going to have purple and orange carrots as well as beetroot and peas.

TE Share the Joy Challenge #27

Over at Taylored Expressions weekly Share the Joy Challenge I chose to use the Tic-Tac-Toe as inspiration.I went with flowers, pink and ribbon.

The layout was inspired by a card I saw on "ilovestamping's"  Flickr site. I have so much pink ribbon and lace in my stash it took me about an hour just to decide what to use and which order to lay it out in! Some friend's and family look and think how simple but have NO idea the time it takes to get the idea out of your head and onto the card stock! I am not whinging I love making cards and I have so many friends who are card makers all around the world who totally get it when you say it took hours to make one card:) The flower die is out of a Spellbinders Celebrations set called 'Just Because'. The little label at the bottom was cut using a MFT Blueprints #8.  I used a Wink of Stella clear glitter brush to add a little sparkle to the flower on the label. A friend is about to become a grandmother for the first time so this card will be perfect for her.

Another MFT Sketch Challenge 272

I realised that I had not used any MFT products in my first attempt at this sketch...oops...you don't have to but it is nice to showcase them. I had another idea come to mind after looking at a video at Papertrey Ink about 'Ink blending over heat embossing'. So I have blended the 2 ideas.

I used Kaiser Craft 'Hessian' clear stamp embossed with gold and blended Distress inks 'Spiced Marmalade' and 'Ripe Persimmon' over it. I used the negative after cutting out a strip with MFT Blueprints #6 in gold card. The bird is of course one of Tim Holtz 'Crazy Birds", just love these little guys. I used a scrap of background paper I had made and found in my stash which is really shimmery in real life. "Stop!! my husband says don't add anything it is perfect the way it is."...LOL It is so hard sometimes to pull back and not over do it. I am lucky to have him take an interest and express an opinion.

MFT Sketch challenge 272

Another good sketch challenge at My Favourite Things this week.

For some reason this bird sitting on a wire jumped into my head when I saw the sketch.

The background was made by spraying Dylusions inks London Blue, Cut Grass and Fresh Lime over some stencils (can't remember what as this is a piece out of my stash...just lucky I had written the names of the inks on the back!) The bird is cut from the same piece of background. He is a Scribbly Bird by Dina Wakley.
Ooo I have just seen a new set of Scribbly birds, small ones...another thing for the ever growing wishlist! The birds on a wire are from Tim Holtz 'Life's Possibilities' set. The sentiment is from a set by Queen's Dresser Drawers. (Stamp Diva was the only place I could find any of these stamps so not sure what their availability is.) A couple of black gems and some black gel pen on the bird's eye to finish him off. He is actually attached with foam tape so pops off the page better in real life.

Pals Paper Arts Sketch challenge 292

Over at Pals Paper Arts there is a challenge by Beth Beard which I thought I would have a go at this afternoon using goodies from my stash again....this could take forever!   

The background was made using Heidi Swapp Color Shine 'Mint Green' Iridescent Spritz. Then I stamped 'Large Nautilus Shell' by Hero Arts in 'Teal' Impress dye ink. The piece was put through a Cuttlebug embossing folder.
Using MFT Blueprints #2 I cut the frame and stitched strip both of which had been stamped with Designs by Ryn 'Sea Bubbles set . The strip I embossed with Stampendous Pearl Lustre EP in 'Alexandrite'. The centre piece is an image by Designs by Ryn 'Spiral Shell' which has also been embossed with the same EP on a background paper I made by smooshing Gelatos with wet fingers which left behind my fingerprints...I plead guilty to getting messy and enjoying it:) The sentiment is from Paper Smooches 'Sentiment Sampler set'.

Another card for the house of Cards March Challenge

This second card is another background out of my stash which has been through a Sizzix embossing folder 'Checkerboard and Cracked set'.  It bought to mind under water to me so I used Designs by Ryn's -'Coral set'. Which I stamped with black Brilliance ink before cutting out the 3 pieces by hand and then sponging with black Impress die ink.  I matted this on black before putting it on a lavender coloured card. The sentiment is by a defunct Australian company called 'Dream Mode'.

House of Cards March Challenge

I found a new challenge today at House of Cards- 'Silhouette'.
 

The background for this card came out of my stash and has been put through a Cuttlebug embossing folder.
The die cut is 'Spring border' by Memory Box. The sentiment is from the 'Gentleman plate 4' by Paper Artsy in their Ink and Dog collection. I stamped it on gold card and embossed it with black EP, then cut it out with a circle punch.

Freshly Made Sketches #228

I saw this sketch and immediately thought of a background piece that I had made ages ago that I was waiting for the right inspiration to use.
 

I spent quite some time trying to fit the curve onto my background but it always came back to looking like a sunrise so I just went with the flow.
The background card stock is black with metallic paints smooshed on it, not sure exactly how I did this but I did put it through a Sizzix embossing folder (Texture Fades Rays and Retro Circles set) which I appear to have put white paint in to emphasize the embossing.
The circles are cut with a nesting set by Photo Continental (sold by Craft Giraffe). The sentiment is from a Penny Black set called 'Hooray'

Fab Friday Challenge 83

This is the sketch at Fab Friday this week.

I first thought no worries I can use that sketch but it became quite a challenge to fit it all on a card! I started with the flower stamp by Alota Stamps which I coloured with a wet brush then sprinkled Brushos on the wet areas. A little moving of the colour with a small paintbrush achieved the look I wanted. The Tim Holtz crazy bird had been waiting to be used for a little while, he had been stamped on some card that was sprayed with Dylusions then die cut and a gold embossed bow tie added. The background was made by spraying some Dylusions on paper then stamping the dots and embossing with white EP. The little banners and the large square were cut using MFT Blueprint #8.
The sentiment is by 'Timeless Images' another stamp company gone to the wall:( Hmm I have just realised the words are rather hard to read on the scanned image...they say "Happy are those who see beauty in hidden spots where others see nothing".

CAS(E) this Sketch #164

I received my weekly email from CAS(E) this Sketch today and could immediately see possibilities.
 
I started rummaging through my stash of ribbons because I was sure I had something that would give me the wavy effects I was looking for. I found the cream coloured bag of lace and ribbon which had this wiggly braid in it then I had a  light bulb moment as I was trying to decide which shades of cream to put together that I could add some peacock blue and make this card for my daughter and SIL who celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary soon. These were the colours and papers I had used on their wedding card!

The lacy border, hearts and arrows were from MFT Blueprints #6 & 8. The sentiment by Elizabeth Craft Designs. 
There are 13 little hearts on the strip across the centre and 5 above to signify the date they were married.
I guess I had better explain this when I give it to them.