The new challenge for February at http://cardz4galz.blogspot.com/ is to use red, white and pink. I decided to use butterflies and a technique found here by Natasha Foot that she calls double masking. I used an old stamp from CTMH and a sentiment stamp from an incentive set by GKD. Although I chose a butterfly stamp, mine is quite different from the one that Natasha used and I coloured mine initially with Prisma pencils and blended with an alcohol blender. I used two tones of red and two of pink and to jazz it all up I added some shimmery watercolour in Garnet and Chiffon Pink by ColorArte to sections of the wings on the upper and lower images and white perfect pearls on the middle one. The shimmer is quite apparent in reality, but isn’t great on the photo and on the bottom image the red looks a bit orange, but is definitely red. I added a few pink embellishments from my stash. I also used a foam pad to give some dimension to the layer.

We hope you will join us and participate in the challenge. Many thanks for stopping by.

This stamp set is from Joy Clair and I’ve only used it a few times. I thought it was time to pull it out and use it again. The penguin is from the Cats Pajamas and the sentiment is computer generated. PP is from StampinUp and I used a Heffy Doodle heart border die along one edge.

Once I had stamped the image in black, I stamped it again in Versamark so I could heat emboss in clear. Then I used Distress Oxides and basically water coloured each cup until I was happy with it. I cut the panel down and then die cut the border before adhering it to the PP and then to the card front. As I didn’t have an appropriate sentiment stamp I made my own and added the penguin as decoration. I used Sakura glaze pens to colour the penguin. I don’t make many slimline cards in general but this stamp is perfect for that style of card.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day everyone.

A while back I saw a picture that really intrigued me, so I saved it in case I could make something similar. This morning I came across the picture and realized that if I could create it, it may work for two challenges and this is my version.

After cutting the CS to a 5″ by 5″ piece, I made a mask for the larger circle. Before adding the mask I went over the panel lightly in Spun Sugar giving the whole thing a hint of pink. Then I added the mask and inked with Shaded Lilace and Shabby shutters. Before removing the mask I stamped the village house using a new stamp set from MFT called Seasons Greetings. I also stamped the sentiment from the same set. Then using 2 different handmade stencils (made by friends) I stamped 3 more circles using the same inks and each time adding an image before moving the mask. Those stamps come from older GKD sets. Then taking the graduated polka dot stencil added more circles in various places and different sizes. I wanted it to have some shine so I took some Perfect Pearl powder and went over the entire piece. I added foam tape to the back and adhered it to a 5 and one quarter inch card base.

I have surprised myself with how this card turned out as I was truly experimenting and playing with ideas as I went along. I like that this is so different from anything I’ve ever done in the past and getting it to work for 2 challenges is a bonus. I hope you like it and thanks for taking a look.

The box card I posted yesterday that was made for my sister, was in a way inspired by this one. I started this Z-fold with a friend’s birthday in mind and as he owns and loves horses I used the old rubber stamp of the horse. I added him to the frame background which was stamped using an old GKD set and I water coloured the sky and ground. DSP is from StampinUp, the fence and gate are MFT. I swiped an ink pad over these to give the wood look. The other stamps are from Lavinia and GKD respectively.

When I began the card I knew I wanted a Z-fold, but it took me 2 tries because I had already stamped the focal image and background and it didn’t seem to fit how I imagined it. I ended up cutting off the back portion of the card and adding a new section so I wouldn’t waste too much card stock. Then when I finally had it right with the Z-fold part also added, I realized the centre section looked empty, I decided to make that section into a box. After several attempts I was about ready to give up when I found a tutorial that looked like it would work without me having to take the card apart. As you can see it worked, but in the attempt I realized that I had better make another box card to try to fix the ‘how to’ into my memory. Hence my sisters card was born.

At the time of creating this, which took me over a week, I hadn’t intended it for a challenge and I hadn’t posted it either. This morning I thought maybe I would post it and in checking a few challenge blogs realized it would work for the Make my Monday challenge. And I’ve added it to the Creative Creases challenge as per Debbie’s suggestion. Thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is going well.

I had all these circles on my desk from playing around on a different project. I never throw them away as I know I will use them for something at some point. Then I saw the AAA challenge and hey presto, I’ve used some of them for the challenge.

My circles are cut using Infinity Dies from Hero Arts and I had several frames sitting around in both white and gold. The blue dots were fall outs from a card I did the other day and the scripty love heart is an unbranded die that I quite like. I cut 2 used one as you see with the word and one I just cut the heart for the solid circle. The frames were glued flat except for the gold one which I carefully added foam tape on the back so it would pop up slightly. The solid gold circle sits almost popped up because it is resting on the frame.

When I first began the card, I wasn’t sure where I was going with it, but when playing with the shapes it all sort of flowed together and I’m pleased with the end result. It is CAS and has an elegant feel to it too.

We have family day holiday tomorrow and I am hoping the weather is nice so people can get out and about easily. Thanks for taking a peek.

I like lime green and Cyan together as a colour scheme and decided to try a box card for a change. The stamp set + dies are from A.I. mainly, although the little bird is from MFT and the numbers are from a Recollections stamp set and an alphabet die. DSP is from StampinUp and the single balloon is from Spellbinders.

At first I couldn’t remember how to do the box so I followed a tutorial found on Pinterest. As it happened one of the finished cards shown, featured a sheep stamp set by another company, and my card was born. I had been looking for ideas on how to use my new set and the example really helped me with mine. This stamp set from A.I. really amuses me.

As I was working I was thinking about who I should give the resulting card to and I remembered it is my sister’s 70th birthday this year. I figured I would have some fun rubbing in the fact she is 70 as she always has a go at me for being older and this is how the numbers came about. I added some sparkle to the heart, the numbers at the front and on the balloons. Her birthday isn’t for a while but having this ready nice and early is a good thing. It folds flat so I can store it for a while.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

Sometimes a challenge sticks in my head and results in a 2nd entry. This weeks challenge at AAA is one of those times. In searching for a particular stamp, for another card, I came across an old set from CTMH that I’ve not used in a long time. I decided that one of these stamps would work for my 2nd card and I also used one of the sentiment stamps from the set too.

I stamped it with Versamark then heat embossed in gold. I cut some small sticky strips and laid them out so I could add paint in the openings and for this I used a Distress Oxide in Broken China. I also added a bit of colour to the center of the paisley image. When I removed the sticky strips I wasn’t totally pleased with how it looked so I took a ruler and a Sakura Gelly roll pen and added a line of sparkle down each stripe. I liked this much more but I can’t make up my mind whether I should have stamped the image with the tail end up rather than down as it is here. Too late now but one of you may have an opinion.

It is close to supper time for me. I made a spaghettis sauce the other day and hubby said he wanted homemade pasta. This has been an ongoing small bone of contention between us. Since we were in Tuscany, where we had a cooking session as part of our stay in a local villa, he has wanted homemade pasta. I told him there was no way I’m doing it at home, too time consuming, too messy and I can’t be bothered. Nevertheless he purchased all the equipment (not really needed by the way) and has bugged me to make pasta. I’ve resisted each time and even considered getting rid of the equipment. He announced this morning that he wants homemade pasta and he would make it himself. I said good luck and went off to my yoga class. He has basically spent most of the morning working on it and most of the afternoon rolling it out and cutting it, so we get homemade pasta. I didn’t do the work although from the state of the kitchen there will be some floor cleaning to do. I’ll let you know if I liked it in my next post. LOL.

Thanks for stopping by.

A tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers this week showed this Style of card and I wanted to try it. It is called a Corner Tuck Card. The author shows a couple of versions, 2 in the landscape format and one in portrait and this is the one I decided to try. For the most part I didn’t worry too much about her measurements, but eyeballed my own once I had the card front cut and scored. My papers are from StampinUp as is the stamp set I’ve used. Dies are from Hero Arts and I used water colour pencils and Sakura glaze pens.

My first attempt at the focal image didn’t quite have enough impact as you can see from the photo above. In that one I had stamped in Versamark and heat embossed clear then coloured it. It seemed very insipid with no definition to me and I left it overnight so I could think about what to do. This morning in my yoga class I suddenly had the thought of restamping the image in black, colouring it and then fussy cutting the entire image and gluing it over the original. As you can see the result is much better and I am happy I thought of this fix. Lucky for me the image was an easy one to fussy cut. The inside of the card is also from the same stamp set. I like that the flap tucks into the corner, but if I do another one I will figure out an easel for the back as the card doesn’t stand up. It was fun to try something different and to also figure out a fix for something I wasn’t happy with initially.

Have a nice evening everyone and thanks for taking a peek.

These are new stamps for me, purchased in a recent sale and each set can be mixed and matched so I thought they would be really useful. The sentiment stamp is from a Hampton Art set as it worked better for my card design.

I started with stenciling the teal waves at the bottom of the card base using a Dina Wakley stencil. Then I stamped the rest bit by bit using Versamark and gold heat embossing. I even remembered to make sure the waves were dry before adding the powder, something I’ve been known to forget. I coloured it all with a combination of water colour pencils and Sakura pens. To finish the card I added some teal gems. As each part of the image is a separate stamp it took a bit of playing to get things where they needed to be. I need more practice at using these stamps. This style is a long way from my comfort zone but I really wanted to try cute. Hubby liked it.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Valentine’s Day has been pleasant and fun.

It’s been a while since I entered into one of the As You See It challenges so I decided to do a card for this weeks fill in the blank challenge. There are so many things I love about spring, taking just one thing was hard. I love the new fresh colours, the flowers, the sunshine and even the spring rain if it isn’t heavy. So my fill in the blank is daffodils, as well as some of the colours. I took a strip of vellum and stamped the daffodil in Versamark and then heat embossed in gold. When it was cold I turned it over onto a sponge and using a stylus gently rubbed into the open areas so they would turn white. Hopefully you can see that in the image. I folded the vellum over a strip of the yellow CS and glued it at the back. The green CS was embossed using a 3D folder from Tim Holtz which I then cut down a bit and glued to the card front. The vellum strip was added on top with 2 thin gold strips down each side. I had tried unsuccessfully to add the sentiment above the daffodil, but it kept messing up so I wiped it off and cleaned up the mess. Instead I stamped it onto a small scrap piece of vellum and heat embossed that and this time it worked. I cut around the sentiment as it was a bit bigger than I liked and then added it to the side. The birds are from a sticker set that a friend gave to me recently. Stamps are from StampinUp and gems are from Studio Katja.

All in all, I’m happy with the result and pleased to be well enough to sit in my studio for an hour or two. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend everyone.