One of the small wall decorations on our boat was looking quite ratty so I threw it away and was searching for a replacement. Of course when looking for something specific it can never be found, but during my search I suddenly wondered why I was shopping when it was possible to make my own.

Here is what I came up with … I had die cut a lot of seahorses recently as I had an idea for another card, but hadn’t had time to use them. I spent some time pencil colouring them using some gamsol to blend. I also fussy cut some stamped shells from a GKD set. Using this same set and another with a nautical theme I stamped various images over the watercoloured background. I used the wreath builder template to get this result. Popped up the seahorses and added the whole panel to a darker blue piece of CS. Added this to a small canvas that is quite thin and light which I had painted black first.

This canvas is the kind that you can make a postcard out of and I purchased a few at a local art store and then only used one piece. As always I store something and then forget I have it for a while so it was fortunate that I had both the idea and remembered I had the canvas. It looks great in the bathroom of my boat.

I had seen this technique a long time ago on StampTV and never gave it a try until earlier this year. I didn’t post it until now probably because I forgot to it but when searching other photos I found it again.

On Black CS I stamped the butterfly all over with VersaMark and then heat set them with white embossing powder.

Then I hand coloured all of them with different pencils to get this effect. I used a tiny word die here and there to finish the card.

Decided to continue with the Christmas card making so here are two more I finished today.

On the first one I wanted to use up both the card base left over from another project as well as the sparkled circles that came from the porthole I did yesterday. I had die cut 2 more small ornaments from the black and silver scrap and I added them onto the circles. Also had the bow so I added some sparkle to it and popped it on top of the last circle. Added a strip of glitter foam and the die cut sentiment done with mirror CS at the top to finish it off.

The second one was done when I tested out cutting the background using a scrap of mirror cs. It didn’t cut well so I ended up cutting it down and used washi tape to cover up the rough edges. While away on the boat I had coloured in the Poinsettia and holly using Prisma pencils and I fussy cut them out and popped them up on top. I also used a circle die for the sentiment (GKD winter flower set) but it was too big so I cut it down on 2 sides to get this label effect. Added some gems to finish.

Made for the Double D challenge Pearls, Gems or Rhinestones I started with some Silver CS for the card base.

I had this piece of flocked Black and Gray paper left over from a store bought card that I tore apart, so I cut it down to size and adhered to card front. I added a strip of glittery washi tape underneath and then a strip of small gems onto that. Using a scrap piece of black and gray I cut out the ornament and decorated it with some glitter and some gems. I popped this up over a tiny strip of washi tape. Using a sentiment from a GKD set called winter flower I stamped onto another scrap piece of CS and then fussy cut around it. I used a Sakura glitter pen over the sentiment to give it some shine and then popped it up on an angle at bottom of card base.

I’m sure you have all had one of those … I wonder what would happen if I tried this thoughts. So I had one the other day and ended up with this …

I was looking to make something to fit the Modsquad challenge and thought about using a sailboat image. So obviously I needed a water background or waves. On a scrap piece of CS I sprinkled color burst powder in 2 colors and here is where the what if I tried thought came in. Instead of spraying the CS with water I sprayed the brush and just dabbed it about the paper. I kind of liked the look so I also took a much smaller brush and did the same thing. Once it was dry I cut it up with a wavy border die and layered it onto card front. Talk about inky fingers – I’m still cleaning up as each time I touch it I get inky even though it is dry. Using a porthole die by Cottage Cuts I die cut the porthole in sparkly CS and glued it to card front up above the waves. I printed off a free digi stamp found on Pinterest and hand coloured it with Prisma pencils and an ink pen for the red sail. I fussy cut this out and paper pieced the waves over the hull of the yacht. Added the sentiment from a GKD set and a few gems to finish it off. Am quite pleased with how it turned out.

My stamp buddy made me the stencil I used here and I love it.

Before I left for our boat trip I had stenciled out the stones using gesso and then left it to dry on my desk. On my return I brushed in some colour using Distress Oxides and after cutting it down a bit I mounted it onto the silver background. I had already stamped the flowers (GKand leaves using versamark and rose gold embossing powder so I fussy cut them out and arranged them and glued them to the panel. In between all this I had also been messing around with some color burst powders and of course managed to get some of the color onto the panel by accident. I used a Sissix die and some scrap PP to cover up the worst of it at the side. For the sentiment I used a word die and some scrap PP from an old purchased Christmas card. It is flocked and was silver and black. Glued this onto the bottom to finish the card.

Before we left for our boat trip I had stenciled out the stones using gesso and then left it to dry on my desk. On my return I brushed in some colour using Distress Oxides and after cutting it down a bit I mounted it onto the silver background. I had already stamped (GKD Fancy Flowers) the flowers and leaves using versamark and rose gold embossing powder so I fussy cut these out, arranged and glued them to the panel. In between all this I had also been messing around with some color burst powders and of course managed to get some of the color onto the panel by accident. I used a Sissix die and some scrap PP to cover up the worst of it at the side. For the sentiment I used a word die and some scrap PP from an old purchased Christmas card. It is flocked and was silver and black. Glued this onto the bottom to finish the card.

I had two seahorses left over from my little project the other day and so I decided to use them on this …

The frame was an extra from a card I made earlier in the year and the circle was a tag from a gift bag that came off. I adhere the frame to the Turquoise sea card stock slightly offset and then popped up the circle on top. I die cut the bullrush reeds from a Cheapo die I recently purchased using up a scrap of paper. I had a shell already precut from my last project and I tucked it at the top to hide the small hole in the circle. Then I added the seahorses twisting their tails onto the stalks. Sentiment is from an Idea-ology book.

This past week I’ve made 3 items ready to post but didn’t have the opportunity to actually post them. Basically this one was just using up the foiled butterflies which I took off another card. I think they came from StampinUp but I’m not sure.

Thanks to Golda, I have some lovely PP that she sent as a small gift and this background is cut from that. I added the butterflies by popping them up in several places. Added the sentiment and also the bow. I pushed the ends of the ribbon in and out of the butterflies gluing it in place here and there. A very simple card but I think it is an effective one.

My cousins daughter had a little girl recently so I needed to send a congratulations card to her. This is what I came up with …

Using some leftover GKD PP I added it to the card base. On a small piece of CS I created a centre panel using Die Cuts and a sentiment. I then adhered this to the main card. I just used up small scraps of left over PP for the diecuts. Set is by LIttle B and is called Baby. It’s a cute set and came with it’s own storage magnet.

This was made just after our return from a trip and before we left to go boating. Never got the chance to post it on my blog until today.

I finally managed to get a background done using colour bursts that gives the idea of what I saw on screen during my Echocardiogram. What I tried to didn’t quite work but I still liked this result and came up with this card using it.

I added a small amount of perfect pearl powder on top to give some additional shine and somehow during the process of making the background some sparkles got into the card in spots. Doesn’t show here but it is interesting in R.L. I cut the piece down to 5″ by 3 & 3/4″ and added a gold border using a pen. Cut out the heart piece using a Simon Says die. I cut the outline several times and built it up so the solid hearts look inset. I left the larger one empty. In gluing the outline I made a mistake and added glue to the wrong side – what to do? Honestly my mind works in mysterious ways sometimes, as I had the brain wave of using white embossing powder over the glue and then heat set it. Looks great and no one would know that it was a mistake. Then I added the glue to the correct side and adhered it properly.