One of my good friends is a huge bird lover and of anything to do with outdoor naturalist type activities. She is also a pretty good artist in her own right so I’m being quite brave in doing this card for her. She appreciates all my creations but making one that is kind of painted or watercoloured is very different to the ones I’ve done in the past. The challenge at JUGs this week is CAS and I thought this was a good example of CAS to enter. I stamped the image which is from an old set called Wetlands 2 from GKD, heat embossed it and masked off the oval and the bird so I could add the background ink. I used tumbled glass and speckled egg Distress Oxides to do this. I added a hint of colour to the bird and also some silver pen to the feathers for added interest. The sentiment is from MFT, IttyBitty Basics set. I also added some pencil colouring to the rocks and the bird legs. Using the same silver pen I added some silver to the edges of the layer to create another frame. It was popped up on foam to the card front. I really like this image as it is such a serene picture and lends itself to many types of card designs. The silver really glistens in the light but the photo never picks up shine and glitter.

The weekend is almost over and I hope you’ve had a good one. Thanks for stopping by.

For some time now, I have been wanting to try a card like this one. With the new challenge at Cardz4galz and it being a shaped card challenge, chosen by Claudia, I thought now was the perfect time to try. So this is my version of one seen on Pinterest and I followed the tutorial as the demonstrator had a modified version I liked. You can see the tutorial HERE. My paper comes from StampinUp and I just love how they all coordinate. The die cut star is done with a Metallic CS using a Hero Arts Infinity set and I chose the star because I thought the points would fit nicely with the rest. I fussy cut the owl from a piece of the PP, added foam tape and the gold thread then popped it up on the star.

Blowing my own trumpet may seem crass, but I’m beyond thrilled with how this turned out and my hubby thought it was great too. Thanks for spending time with me today – it is truly appreciated.

I took a leaf out of my stamp buddy Gayle’s book and in a way CASE’d her card for this same challenge. I really wanted to use this particular stamp set which is still very new to me and I also wanted to add dragonflies somehow. Firstly, I stamped the panda’s, coloured them with pencils, mostly watercolour type but added Sakura Glaze here and there as well. Then I fussy cut them out and set aside. Then I had the idea of using a dragonfly stamp in different colours over a white layer instead of using either a confetti EB or looking for something that would look like confetti. Initially I used a larger stamp but after adding a few realized it was going to be a bit too big. Fortunately the same set had a much smaller one so I continued with this one in different colours. Stamp set used is Vertical Greetings & things by GKD and the pandas, plus sentiment, come from an A.I. set I got in a sale. The way my mind works, I figured that the pandemonium being created by the bears made the dragonflies a better option than confetti. The card base has a glitter layer CS purchased in our local dollar store. The bears are having so much fun, one cannot help but think of party time. I’ve added a little glitter here and there using Sakura Gelly roll pens and quit while I was ahead.

It’s a fun card and was fun to make as well. Have a good day and thanks for stopping in to take a look.

One of my favourite type of designs is white on white as I find it so elegant. Somehow it always looks CAS without any major effort. Anyway when I saw this challenge I remembered an unbranded die that cuts hearts on stems and decided it would be perfect to use. Before I even had a card in mind I die cut the hearts and grouped them. I thought about how I would continue and decided on another small heart cut using Hero Arts infinity dies and I used a SSS heart die as a way to emboss it. I glued the bunch of hearts on top and added a small bow. For now I am leaving it sentiment free as I’m not sure how I will use the card yet. It works for more than just Valentines Day and I’ve already done most of the cards I require for that occasion.

I’m off to my yoga class in a minute but wanted to upload this before leaving. I hope you have a great day everyone and thanks for popping in.

It is fun using Moodboards for inspiration, as they allow for a fair amount of scope. Having been wanting to try using Simon Hurley’s stamping foam for a while this moodboard seemed the perfect occasion to try the technique. I used an older GKD stamp set called Daisy Delight and stamped the daisy image onto the foam. I tried a few times before I was happy with the impression. Then I swiped Distress Oxide over the foam using Hickory Smoke and Twisted Citron inks. I added a hint of yellow to the flower centers with a brush and then stamped the sentiment, from the same set, at the bottom. I didn’t get a good impression of the sentiment but saved it by using a Sakura Gel pen carefully over the top. Had I used my Misti this wouldn’t have been an issue. I also realized that I need to reink my pad before I use it again. All in all, I’m not unhappy with this card. I like the simplicity of it and the almost resist technique look of the daisies.

With two challenges featuring winter I made a card that works for them both. I kept the card fairly stark as that looks more wintery to my eyes and used a light gray base with a stencil purchased in an art store a few years ago. To get the definition over the light gray I used Hickory Smoke Distress Ink. Then I used a die from Taylored Expressions and cut the popped up layer, going over it with a bit of the ink as well. The deer is cut from another die that I’ve had for a long time but don’t know the brand. I added some shading with a pencil to give him some definition and used a Sakura Glaze pen for his hooves, eye and nose. I glued him mostly flat but popped up his head a little so his antlers weren’t stuck beneath the tree branch. Sentiment stamp is an old favourite from CTMH and is probably discontinued now. I added some sparkle with a pen. For the snow I used Cosmic Shimmer Fluffy Stuff.

I’m pleased with how this turned out and my hubby likes it too. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a great weekend.

One of my Dutch cousins sent me a card similar to this one and I wondered if I could do a design of my own. The one I received had a large cut out star and two smaller stars on either side that were printed but not cut. As well the design for the big star was on the inside back of the card so it remained visible and flat for mailing. I pulled out the Star infinity Hero Arts dies and chose the size I thought would work so after I had added a band of PP from an old pad, without thinking I cut all three apertures. Not quite what I was supposed to do, but you know me, I’m not going to waste the card so I changed my design plans a little and the result is as you see here.

At first I thought to do the stamping on the inside for all three stars, but wasn’t happy with how that worked so in the end I added a popped up panel behind and stamped on the die cut stars before gluing them to the popped up piece. The stars at the top were stenciled using a gifted hand made stencil and gold ink. I also added some glitter to them and strings to the stars using a gold pen. Stamps used are from various sets – the little bird is from CTMH, the holly is a very old stamp as is the swirls in the smaller hearts. I have no idea by whom as it was long before I started to keep this kind of info. And the sentiment is from a Kaiser set. I coloured the bird using pencils. The images needed something more so I cut the frames using some gold metallic CS from Recollections and popped them into the openings.

Changing the idea actually worked quite well and I like how it turned out. I think it is nicer than what I originally thought I would do. I am entering it into the Peace on Earth challenge and I appreciate your stopping by to take a look.

As I was putting away some dies I found the one I’ve used above among the others. It is an unbranded die and was actually a disappointment, as it wasn’t what I expected when purchasing. As well it doesn’t cut perfectly but I decided to use it anyway. I guess you get what you pay for. Using a pink scrap piece I die cut the panel and as you can see some of the dots didn’t cut properly. Instead of trying to cut them out by hand I decided to use the panel with them there and added it to another scrap piece of darker pink. Using Hero Arts infinity heart dies I cut the frame of one heart along with another smaller full heart and then a smaller one still using a left over piece of dry embossed CS. I added them to the card front and added the sentiment which is from a Divinity Designs set. I stacked the stamp and curved the corners. I finished the card using some Pops of Color in a different pink. The embossed folder used on the small white scrap is a Gemini folder called Celebrate.

My back pain was not so bad this afternoon giving me the chance to create for a short time. I managed to finish a card for my hubby’s upcoming birthday as well as this one so not a complete waste of the day. Thanks for all the wishes and for stopping by.

This is my last post today, although I have several other cards on the go I think its time to take a mini break.

For this card I used a Crafters Companion cut and emboss folder that I haven’t used for a long time. Once it was cut and embossed I trimmed it smaller to allow a border when attached to the card front. The small fallout hearts were attached in the center space and I added some glossy accents to them. The main panel was popped up with foam tape and the sentiment strip was done using a stamp from Divinity Designs. I kept this simple as the embossing is busy. It was made with the Word Week challenge at JUG’s in mind but as it also works for the Anything goes challenge at CYHTP without the twist of dots I thought I’d add it as 2nd entry there.

My dog is sitting looking forlorn so I guess it is time to take her for another walk. We both can use the fresh air even though it is very gray and misty outside. Thanks for stopping by.

The challenge at CYHTP is an Anything Goes With A Twist of Dots and this is what I came up with. The die is from Spellbinders called Floral Hi and the EB folder is by Lifestyle crafts called Lace and dots. I started with the folder but the edges got cut in a few places so I decided to cut them all off to leave a border. I added this to the Ocean Mist card base and using a glitter Sakura pen went over all the dots. I cut several layers of the die and glued them together but only in the center not at the edges. The Hi is separate piece of the die and was cut using the same colour as card base as were the additional flowers and leaves. Attached everything and was about to add it to card front when I realized it needed a background. My original intention was to cut the sparkly background and offset it behind the rest, but I simply couldn’t get a clean cut and I tried 4 times. In frustration I decided to trace around the die and hand cut the shape. It worked but I would have preferred the original idea. That said I’m not unhappy with this card and it works for the challenge.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.