Inkspirational has a designers choice challenge and wants to see an envelope that matches the card and Seize the Birthday is asking for Lime Green and Hot Pink colours. Having a few new products to play with, I decided to combine the two challenges with one card. Firstly, I die cut card stock, from GKD, in the colours using my new Spellbinders Modern Oval dies. I graduated one die smaller each time. Each layer was popped up with foam tape. On the white oval I stamped the image using a new Altenew stamp set called Inspirational Quotes. I used one of the sentiment stamps from here too, heat setting it with clear embossing powder. Using Distress Oxide inks in Picked Raspberry and Twisted Citron I water coloured the image. Using some pencils in the same tones I added a bit more depth here and there. I added the same floral image on the linen envelope using only pencils to colour it, because I didn’t want to add water to the envelope. My embellishments are from Trinity Stamps.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. We have a storm rolling in, but at least most of the exterior painting is now finished and things are put away so we should be fine. Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

A friend requested a new home card and this is what I came up with for him. The little banner was part of his request as he wanted his niece’s nickname on the house. I did a bit of research to see what was out there and found this fun fold. As I don’t have any of the dies that the person showing the fold had and I don’t have much in the way of new home stamps and dies, I basically created this by hand. To do the windows I used a scrap piece of yellow CS and a window die that cuts 9 windows. I then cut the whole thing up so I could have window frames but I did have to glue some bits together to get the center piece down the middle. I fussy cut the holes into the background CS and added the frames around the spaces. Before I did that I also used an EB folder from Sizzix, to give some brick texture on the card front and I added a small amount of ink here and there for a more realistic look. I have a new die set from Spellbinders that does modern ovals and I used the smallest one for the door and simply cut it to the length I needed. A little embossing on it for dimension and a white pen gives it a decent look Gold pen for the handle. I added some packaging behind the windows to make it look like a pane of glass and some MFT die cut bushes for underneath the lower windows. The added benefit here was they hid some poor cutting edges. For the roof I die cut some copper and used a border die from Heffy Doodle to cut the edge. I then tried to add the same border die in other places without cutting but it still cut through in places so I taped it all back together on the backside before gluing it on. The inside used a Kitchen Sink stamp set which is very old, I think I won it in a Mod Squad challenge, and I took 2 sentiments and added them together.

I’m quite pleased with how it turned out and my friend is thrilled so the effort was worth it. Thanks for stopping by it is appreciated.

I’m sharing this with Can You Handle the Pressure Anything Goes with a twist of spooky. I didn’t take the twist with this card.

The challenge says choose two, and I believe that I have both a door and a window here, but I also have a flower so one way or another this should count for the challenge. When I first saw it I wasn’t sure what I might make, and then I remembered this older Hero Arts Christmas kit set and decided it fit the challenge well. I die cut the panel out of cream CS and carefully inked the bricks using a small brush. With Prisma pencils I coloured the rest as you see. I ensured the hinge fold for the door was burnished so it would stay slightly ajar and added a white piece behind it. The dog and the welcome were stamped inside all from the same set. I paper pieced some gold CS into the lanterns and added the same CS behind the half window above the door. Added the same CS to the handle and mail slot and a poinsettia flower to the door. I did cut the panel down a bit to ensure it would fit a normal size card base as normally there would be a welcome mat at the bottom. I had just finished the card when our friend, who is currently painting our exterior, asked me if I would make a New Home card for him. He wanted something specific on the house and had I known beforehand I would have used this card for him. That said I’ve seen a fun fold that will also work for a New Home so I shall be doing that for him tomorrow. At least I have one more Christmas card for my stash.

Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated. Oops, I just realized that I missed the challenge time frame. We had a neighborhood power outage today and even though our generator helped to keep many things going our computers weren’t working. We couldn’t take the chance on the power fluctuating on and off based on the work being done by hydro.

When I saw this diamond stamp (from Spellbinders) on a tutorial, I knew I just had to have it and as a sale came up on Scrapbook.com I bought a bunch of things with this being one. I wanted something simple but different for the challenge at JUG’s and it seemed the perfect time to ink it up. The ink used was Distress Oxide Tea dye which was the closest I could get to a tan colour, then I added tumbled glass and the flowers were done with Spiced Marmalade and a Prisma pencil. The flower stamp and leaves are from 2 different Altenew sets that are also new purchases.

While the ink was still wet on the lines I added some clear heat embossing and then I watercoloured the diamond centre. I fussy cut the flowers but the leaves had their own die which made it easy. Popped up the sentiment so the rest could be added slightly behind. Added some sparkle with a Sakura gelly roll pen to the sentiment and the flowers. The Kraft card base is from GKD.

I quite like how this one turned out. Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

When I saw this challenge, I remembered that I had this gorgeous copper metallic CS and I thought it would be great to use. I decided to die cut it with the largest frame from a Recollections set and cut the card base so it would fit. During a recent sale at Scrapbook.com I purchased a few new stamp sets with matching dies and this is from one those sets. It is by Altenew and I really like the set. I chose a CS from my stash that was close in colour to the challenge and stamped my image with Blueprint sketch to get some depth. I deliberately didn’t season my stamp first knowing I wouldn’t get an absolutely great image because I really wanted it to look a bit smudged and not crisp. I added a bit of clear embossing powder and heat set it so it had a tiny amount of shine. Once it was die cut I played around with placement but before gluing it I decided to step it up a bit using some copper Nuvo Drops. The idea for doing this came from a tutorial by Natasha Foote only she used a pen to add lines to her leaves. As well I didn’t do all the leaves. When it was dry I once again played with placement and marked where I wanted my sentiment to go. Stamped this directly to card front and of course smudged it. Oh no! Starting again I stamped it on a scrap piece, die cut it then die cut another piece out of copper and offset the two so I could cover up my mess. Adhered the leaves, added a few more copper dots and declared it complete. I’m quite pleased with how this one turned out.

We have much needed rain today and most likely it will continue tomorrow. I’m sure I shall be complaining about dreary weather as the months progress, but for now I am accepting it. Thanks for stopping by it is appreciated.

Having seen this technique done by Natasha Foote, I wanted to give it a try. I also needed another Halloween card, requested by my neighbor for someone who likes owls. As my buddies know, not my go to type of card usually. Seeing the pink challenge at DD gave me the opportunity to combine the new technique and a Halloween card so here it is. I watched the video a couple of times and then came up with this background. Tash used fine embossing powder but I used Ultra Thick as I wasn’t going for a smooth finish here. I did apply several layers of UT though. I added it to the black card front and set it aside. Using an Infinity circle die from HeroArts I die cut my circle and stamped it with a few images from 2 holiday sets. I added some silver sparkle to the stars and to the owl. It seemed a bit empty so I took the face stamp and used it to fill in a few areas. I managed to smudge them a bit and was going to start again but decided that ghostly faces may be a bit smudged so I left them alone. Then using an alcohol pen I went around the edge of the circle so it had a thin pink border. The sentiment is flat but I added the fussy cut spider to the bottom just for fun. The background is very shiny but the photograph makes the colours look more coral than pink. In reality it has 3 different tones of pink and one dark shade that is kind of burgundy. Stamp sets used are from GKD.

Thanks for spending time with me today and for those living in Canada, Happy Thanksgiving.

Autumn Colours is the theme for the current Make My Monday challenge and we look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery.

My card features two new items, a background plate die that cuts autumn leaves and acorns and 2 stamps all from Your Next Stamp. The panel behind the vellum die cut piece is a smooshed watercolour paper layer. I was a bit disappointed with the vellum die cut as it disappeared and the leaf openings didn’t show up well. To combat this I added additional colour through it along with some copper and gold Perfect Pearls which improved it a lot. The focal image is done with pencils and a little Sakura glaze on a cream scrap piece which I then die cut. I added it to a slightly larger oval. The leaf outlines are from some I found in my stash and had forgotten I had. They are sticker leaves (from the Netherlands) and I thought adding them behind the oval layers adds some extra interest. The sentiment as popped up with foam tape and I added a few gold embellishments too.

I think the focal image is cute and hope you do too. The squirrels are busy in my garden and likely planting things I don’t want – more weeding Sigh! Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

The challenge for the next two weeks at https://cardz4galz.blogspot.com/ is to use green and cream on your creations. I have used a technique found on Natasha Foote’s Youtube channel that gave me two for one with only the orientation of the stripes being different. It is a great way to use up scraps and is an easy card to make. After choosing the greans I wanted to use I proceeded to cut them into strips and following the tutorial added them to a thin piece of CS. I die cut the heart one by one after I had marked the placement with a tiny pencil mark. Then I cut the heats in half. Each piece was backed with foam tape before being added to the card front. In both cases I turned the cards into a get well message using stamps from a Joy Clair set. I added green embellishments to one and gold to the other along with a tiny gold bow. I like them both, which do you prefer?

I hope to see your creations in our gallery and look forward to viewing them. Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

It’s colour challenge at Sunday Stamps this time round and I chose not to do anything specific to Autumn, but it is at least a thank you card. Hopefully I managed the colours with this effort as it is challenging to match colours. My stamp order from Your Next Stamp arrived last week and this was one of my choices. Sadly they are closing down, which for me is a shame, as they are located in Canada and therefore Canadian dollars and less postage.

Using a scrap piece I stamped the bird and then coloured him with pencils trying to use the challenge colours as much as possible. I fussy cut him out and added some foam tape before carrying on. I had a cream scrap piece of CS so I stamped the sentiment at the top using two ink shades and then I added the bird underneath. Gave him a small amount of shading underneath so he was grounded. Using some shimmer CS from SSS I cut 2 panels, slightly larger each time, from gray and a darkish pink similar to the shade next to the gray swatch on the photo. It looks a bit darker here but is actually a fairly close match. I added each layer and then decided on a Kraft card front (neutral) but felt the smaller layers were not quite right. I remembered that I had this shimmer CS which is close to the swatch on the left side, second one in, and die cut it using an unbranded rectangle scalloped edge die. I thought about bling but decided to leave as is for now. I can always change my mind.

I quite like the result and appreciate your stopping by to take a look and comment. Your time is precious and I am always happy if you spend a little of it with me.

This image is a Kaisercraft stencil from a set I got at a long ago card crafting day in a local store. I made it weeks ago and hadn’t decided how I wanted to use it so it sat on my desk. Because of its size I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make a smaller slimline or keep to my regular size card. In the end I cut it down so it would fit onto a regular card front because it seemed to work best for the challenge at As you See It. It also fits the anything goes Peace on Earth challenge too. Once the ink had dried after stenciling I went over the lines with an embossing pen and added in the Cosmic Shimmer gold embossing powder which also has some red dots in it. This powder gives it all subtle sheen as well as dimension. I used a silver pen to complete the chain and the hanging portion of the bauble. The die is a new one from Scrapbook.com and is in two parts so I used mirror card for the back and red for the rest.

I was just about to post this when I took another look at the photo and realized there was a bad mark on the hanger. How it happened is anyone’s guess but it needed fixing. I went through some odds and ends and found a few small leaves and these were added to cover up the error. Hopefully it hasn’t spoiled the card too much.

We have one of those crisp fall days today, so it is pretty outside although a bit chilly if one is in the shade. Tomorrow we are supposed to get rain, which we still need, so no complaints about the weather for the time being. I hope you are all enjoying some decent weather wherever you are. Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.