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Monday 30 June 2014

Dotty

I had a super time at Portsmouth papercrafts show yesterday with my partner in crafting crime (purchasing over and above the call of duty I mean!!) Chrissie.  For a long time I have looked at the Julie Nutting 'doll' stamps and yesterday I decided to stop looking and get one - so here she is - Dotty for obvious reasons when you look at the papers she is pieced from!  The soft, summery papers are by Pink Paislee and the sentiment is from Kaiserkraft.
I'm entering Dotty for the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps - polka dots
Allsorts Challenge - summer girls (I wish lol!)
Stampin' with the Dragon - clean and simple
As You Like It - favourite die and why - second entry with the very useful Die-lusions bow
Hanna and Friends - paper piecing
Simon Says - anything goes

Saturday 28 June 2014

Less is More - Week 178 - recycle an item

 This week our Less is More Challenge is to recycle an item on a CAS card.  I found this quite a challenge, how is this going to reduce my stash mountain lol?!  My first card uses beads from a cheap and cheerful, broken necklace.  I've made the beads into flowers on stems from an Artemio set and added a Clearly Besotted sentiment.  My first idea was to use the oval beads to make fish with fins and tail added but that didn't work...

I get dried dog food delivered by Amazon, which is much cheaper than buying it anywhere else.  Time was, the plastic sack it is sold in had an address label on and it arrived just fine.  These days it is delivered in a huge cardboard box, padded around with yards and yards of brown paper, how wasteful!  I scrunched up some of the paper and used a Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die to make a flower.  An old shirt button with gold thread finishes off the centre and I've added a gold embossed Kaiserkraft sentiment and some textured gold card to make a Christmas card, I do like the contrast of kraft and gold.

Looking forward to getting some ideas and inspiration from the LIMettes!  I will be at the Papercrafts @ Portsmouth Show on Sunday with Chrissie, would love to say Hello to any other LIMettes who are going along...



Friday 27 June 2014

Wood you Believe?

I've a really hectic weekend coming up, all sorts of fun going on.  I escaped for a little while tonight to make this serene card for CAS-ology's Wood Challenge.  I used the de-bossed side of a woodgrain embossing folder for the background, framed two Memory Box silver birches and added a tiny Memory Box bird.  The sentiment is Technique Tuesday. 
I'm also entering Southern Girl's diecut challenge and Stampin' with the Dragon's CAS challenge.

Thursday 26 June 2014

Blue Butterfly

This CAS card was cut with my Portrait and given a blue insert.  The Clearly Besotted sentiment and the gems are a good match IRL!
I'm entering my card for:
Crafty Creations - things with wings
Simon Says - anything goes
Sisterhood of Crafters - for love of monochromatic
Incy Wincy - things with wings
Dragonfly Dreams - things with wings

Monday 23 June 2014

Let them eat cake! - Ooh La La Challenge #159

 This week's theme at the Ooh La La Challenge Blog is such fun that I had to make two cards for it - can you tell I like cake?!  First card is from an old favourite, the Shawn Jenkins Collection CD.  I've gone very stripy here, with DP from the CD, baker's twine and even stripes on the image.  If you click on the photo you can see I've added lots of pink Stickles to the image, it shows up well in real life.  The card was edged with a Memory Box die.  Silly really, I've only ever thought to use it horizontally before until I saw an entry in LIM that used it this way.

Second card is from the new release CD, which combines Marie Rayner's artwork with fab quotes and sayings, called, appropriately enough, Say it with Words.  I've used Stickles on the flame, that lovely tonal check and the dotty paper are both from the CD and this time I've used a Die-namics bow die.

I'm entering my cards in:
 CD Sundays' Dies with Jenny challenge.
Crafts4Eternity - fabulous food
Brown Sugar - dots and/or stripes (got 'em both!)
Aud Sentiments - two word sentiment (Happy Birthday card)
As You Like It - favourite die and why - hmm, I use both of these dies a LOT and love them both but if I really have to choose then it has to be the bow which can be used for pretty much anything, Christmas, wedding, anything really

Sunday 22 June 2014

Colour Challenge


It's been a while since I've taken part in a colour challenge and I decided it was time to get back into doing some.  I chose Colour Throwdown's lovely summery shades and came up with this card.  I'm also entering making this a second entry to Darnell's NBUS Anything Goes Challenge - The papers are Stampin' Up digital downloads that I have never printed and the gorgeous flower is a Hero Arts cling that was still in its packet.  I remember wanting it last year and the lovely Wendy at Stamp Attic got it in stock for me.  So why on earth have I not used this fab stamp before now???  I really have no idea...  The stamping and the mat are both grey, not black, to fit the theme.  I paper pieced the centre and added some Cosmic Shimmer dots.  Sentiment is from Simon Says.

Saturday 21 June 2014

Less is More - Week 177 - use watercolour


 
 There have been some amazing watercolour creations around Blogdom lately, partly thanks to a very popular online class and the challenge this week at Less is More is to use watercolour for your CAS creation.  I am very much in awe of those who create stunning watercolour effects, not least because at the moment I'm not really a 'messy' crafter.  I began with the idea of creating a night sky, perhaps for a Christmas card, using Distress Inks and some sea salt that was meant to give a snowy effect.   It was a bit wishy-washy so I used it as a background for Memory Box Chloe stems.  They were meant to be a really elegant white on the white card but it didn't look like much of anything, so I cut some more from bright yellow/orange card, also using it for the sentiment, which was cut with my Portrait.

 
The Distress Inks came out again for my next card, which uses some masking fluid, NBUS bought in my early days of stamping.  I used it to write my sentiment, let it dry and then painted yellows and oranges across the card.  I found some really quite chunky gems in old stash and added them to my card.  I saw this technique on Pinterest, though the card I CASEd had rather better handwriting than mine!
 The third card maybe doesn't have as much white space as it could...  I used a Hero Arts triangle die, more NBUS, isn't it fab?  It is on top of watercoloured card that uses a metallic paint, in real life it really shimmers.  I left the tear-off edge from the pad in place and added a Waltzing Mouse sentiment.
I'm entering  this card for the Week 100 CAS-ology theme of Celebrate.

Looking forward to seeing some amazing CAS watercolour creations :)




Thursday 19 June 2014

Paper pieced sheep

 Having used my digis from Pink Petticoat (Just for ewe) earlier this week I am feeling sheepish (groan, sorry) not to have used them before, they are really fun!  This time I've paper pieced them onto Swiss Dot paper to enter the CAS on Sunday Challenge.  I have used my own sentiment for the pink and kraft card, which has lines dry embossed above and below the panel,  and the other ovine offering is used with its Pink Petticoat sentiment, with a bunch of tiny brown and cream pearls added.
I'm also entering my cards for:
Hanna and Friends - paper piecing
Crafty Little Fairies - spots and stripes (counting the lines as stripes!)
Ruby's Rainbow - flora and fauna
Crafty Sentiments - CAS or full on
Digi Choosday - in the pink (first card)
Twisted Tuesday - a bunch of spotted animals

Sunday 15 June 2014

NBUS - ewe inspire me

 I've been whingeing all week about not getting into the craft room, so of course today I got in there and my mojo promptly left.  I've been seeing lots of fab cards for the amazingly talented Darnell's NBUS (never before used schtuff) challenge and decided to use that to kick start the cardmaking into action.  My main NBUS is Just for Ewe, a Pink Petticoat digi set that I bought ages and ages ago but have never even printed, never mind used!  I needed a Thank You card for a friend who enjoys having sheep in the paddock beside her house so I came up with this very simple effort, based on the layout at Sketch Saturday.  The stamping is also NBUS, from an Inky Doodles set.
   
 Next card came about as the images print four to a page and I fancied making a girly card along the same lines.  Delightful Challenges has the theme Tickled Pink this week.

Mojo was creeping back by now and the next card has the sheep mirror imaged and my own text beneath, using Problem Secretary font.  The little hearts were cut with a Silhouette files for a stencil, this is an NBUS.  I added some Glossy Accents to them, mainly because a tiny bit of GA seeped out when I stuck them down!
This is an entry for CASology, where the key word is Anniversary.

 Final card in the set has no sheep, but uses the stencil that I cut out for the anniversary card.  To enter the Simon Says Challenge this week of stencil it I used some Grunge Paste, an NBUS that I have never tried before, though I've seen some wonderful creations using embossing paste.  I was quite pleased with this, my first effort, but the next one I tried was far too thick and looked silly!  Sentiment is from Inky Doodles.  Added a few of the red hearts to the paste, mostly where the hearts were a bit blotchy.

Darnell what a wonderful challenge idea and thanks for inspiring me to get crafting!


Saturday 14 June 2014

LIM Week 176 - off the edge - one layer

It's One Layer week at Less is More and the challenge is Off the Edge.  I hope to add to my one card blogged here, hope you'll call back later to see :)

This is a case from the very talented  Debby Hughes who provided the tutorial for this week on Splitcoast Stampers.  I've used both solid and detail Memory Box butterfly dies.  The solid one cut out the 'off the edge' butterfly and I then used the detail die to emboss before inking through a PostIt mask.  Sentiment and inking are both Salty Ocean and in real life they match well with each other and the gemstones.

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Unlucky number?

 Needed a quick card for a chap and used a Stamp by Judith that I must have had for at least five years!  I just stamped and masked candles until I filled the card, I have just noticed that there are thirteen candles on here, hope no one is superstitious...
Stamped onto textured card and coloured with Copics, Glossy Accents and Cosmic Shimmer added.  Sentiment is from Visible Image.  The mat is coloured with a Copic to match perfectly to the flame.
I'm entering my card for:
Make it Monday - male theme
2 Cute2 Ink - Happy Birthday
Card and Scrap - clean and simple
Visible Image - man oh man

Monday 9 June 2014

Ooh La La Challenge #158 - Father's Day/ masculine card

The challenge this week at Ooh La La is to make a Father's Day/masculine card.  Dad died four years ago now, he was a Master Mariner, his leisure time when he retired was spent on a small yacht and the sea was in his blood.  Dad, this one's for you xxx.  Image and DP from the "From Boys to Men" CD by Ooh La La, anchor and word cut with Portrait, a bit of nautical looking cord (I hope!) added.
I'm also entering my card for:
Simon Says - Father's Day/masculine
CD Sunday - at the sea (a second entry)
That Craft Place - men
Ladybug Crafts - something for the boys
Always something creative - men
Polkadoodles - men on our mind
QKR Stampede - Father's Day

Saturday 7 June 2014

Less is More - Week 175 - the colours in your bedroom!

This week's Less is More Challenge is to make a CAS card using the colours in your bedroom.  This made me realise how much I dislike the colourscheme in mine, as and when I move home I will look forward to updating it!   The colourscheme is lots of cream, some pale pink and a touch of green.  I've used a heavy textured cream cardstock and cut my daisy from this too, using a Sizzix Bigz die that I've had for years and years.   The leaf is cut from a scrap, using another Bigz die, Tattered Leaves.  The sentiment is Clearly Besotted.  I've used Distress Ink in Picked Raspberry and Spun Sugar on the flower and cut into the petals to make them a bit less uniform.  The centre has Glossy Accents on it.

Looking forward to picking up some colourscheme ideas from all the Limettes this week!

Friday 6 June 2014

Halcyon Days - if only!

This has not been the best of weeks and it has been hard to take refuge in my crafting due to many house viewings.  Even my new printer has  been on strike, so printing pages to craft with was out too...  Hence the lack of finished cards or blog entries.

I have managed to print and put together a quick card for CD Sunday Challenge, from the Halcyon Days CD, which has Abigail Mill's textile art on it.  This CD just had my name all over it, it is gorgeous!  This was printed from a single sheet, I matted onto a sandy coloured card and added some raffia to the very realistic buttons that were on the sheet.  A real button was added to the little tag.  Having looked through the CD I LOVE all the images on here, though I'm not a big fan of the layout for CC CDs.

Here's hoping for a better week ahead :)