ink-blending

lavenderhousecreations

get well soon note

Our 3-2-1 recipe for the current challenge is to use 3 colours, 2 layers and 1 image. The optional twist is to add ribbon, twine or cord and the double dare is to use the sketch #684 at TSOT. You may add more layers etc., but keep in mind the basic requirements. As well be careful not to backlink when entering into the TSOT challenge.

My card has 3 layers and 2 images. The stamp sets used are from GKD and MFT, the border die is from Crafters Companion Gemini and I used bright yellow, an orangey red along with some blue and a brown for my tree branch. My ribbon is also from GKD. Starting with a layer of 5X5″ CS I added colour by sponging and then sprayed it with a sparkle shimmer spray. While this was drying, I cut two border pieces using the border die. After stamping my bird I fussy cut it out and then coloured it adding a touch of sparkle along the feather edges with a pen. He was popped up on foam tape. I played with placement before stamping my tree branch and the sentiment. Then I added the ribbon which is see through so everything is still visible although softened. Last was to add my little bird. This panel was then added to the silver glitter piece giving me a pretty border and in turn this was added to a 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 note card.

I’m quite pleased with the end result and had fun putting it together. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery soon.

Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

colour blocks

Challenge #204, here at Double Trouble is called ‘Its a Tall Order’ and if you’ve guessed its about creating a slimline or a mini slimline card you would be right. If you follow the sketch at TSOT #683 then you get an extra chance to win, but be careful to ensure you don’t backlink. My card follows the sketch but I can’t add it to the challenge because it would definitely be backlinking. The recipe calls for 3 colours, 2 images, 1 Slim line or mini and the twist is to use something beginning with T.

First I masked off a section of my card layer and then using a mask I could move up and down easily I proceeded to sponge ink in colour blocks similar to a paint chip. I used 5 different greens . My focal image is from a GKD stamp set that I’ve had for a long time and I stamped it with Versamark and then heat set in gold. Using another GKD set I chose 2 stamps that I could use in the top right hand corner. These were stamped in yellow and I added a green Pop of Colour dot to their centers. The sentiment is from Hampton Arts and my added twist, which I almost forgot, is a twine bow. Before adding the layer to the main card I used a yellow distress Oxide to colour in my daffodils and I went around this layer with a black marker to give a border.

Thanks for stopping by, your time and your comments are always appreciated. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and hope you have fun coming up with your own ideas.

lavenderhousecreations

hand painted baubles

Having seen something similar to this on Pinterest, I wanted to try a version of my own, but I’m no painter. In the end I created a stencil, pulled out my trusty TomBow markers and came up with these. They were so easy to do that I made about five of them. I added some sparkle elements with a Sakura pen and filled in a few areas, then I took a gold pen and free handed the top of the ornament and the cord.

With another marker I went around the edge of the white CS before adding it to the card front. My sentiment is from a Woodware set. I never would have thought I’d be free handing this kind of thing, and I’m pleased with how they turned out. CAS and pretty at the same time.

I don’t believe I’ve entered into the Holly and Ivy Christmas challenge before, so this is being added to their current challenge.

lavenderhousecreations

alcohol inks on Kitchen foil

Our Cards4galz challenge has been chosen by Pamela, and she has a theme of colouring. Lots of scope with this challenge so I’m sure you will all enjoy playing.

In my case I decided to play with alcohol inks and crumpled kitchen foil. I adhered the foil to some heavyweight CS but I didn’t try to smooth it out as I wanted the texture. Then I picked out my colours and dropped them on top with some additional alcohol to move them around. This is what I ended up with. I wanted to die cut a leaf shape from this, which I used on an earlier post. The process of die cutting meant that the top part flattened somewhat, but I still liked it. I had a piece of schmoosed ink CS that I added behind the opening and then I attached the entire piece to a black note card. The sentiment is from GKD and the ribbon is from my stash. I added some colour to the sentiment piece to soften it as the white was too white.

A messy, but fun process and I liked the end result as the colours blended quite well. We hope to see your creations in our gallery and enjoy the creating process. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

Fall birthday

Seize The Birthday is asking for Favourite fall treats which leaves quite a lot of scope for your designs. As an invited guest DT I came up with this card.

As an Ex-Pat Brit, we didn’t have all the hoopla that is part of living here and I’ve never quite gotten used to the N. American way of celebrating it. Asking me what my favourite treat is, is a hard question for me to answer. I’m kind of boring, as I only like regular coffee, so all the flavours available aren’t something I would go for, and although I enjoy pumpkin pie, I can’t say I’m mad for it. Likely because of this I don’t have a lot in my stash that pertains to this theme. I do however enjoy the fall colours and seeing pumpkins stacked up in a store, or watching kids at a pumpkin patch, choosing the one they want to carve up as part of the upcoming Halloween fun.

All that to say making a card for this challenge was somewhat of a real challenge for me. In the end I chose to do a fall scene. I pulled out a Birch/Aspen tree stencil and added the blue sky and some grass to show between the trees. Then using a fine brush and some ink I shaded the actual trees with Lost Shadow and some Hickory smoke to give them some definition. My gate and the small topper are dies from Gummiapan and I stacked a bunch together to give the gate some dimension. I cut the topper in green as well as yellow and stacked them so that there was some green showing after I cut off some of the yellow bits I didn’t need. I also went around the wood edges with some ink, but the actual wood grain is from a dollar store paper pad. A Tim Holtz stencil was used for the pumpkins and I moved the stencil around to try to get a stack. Once it was dry I added some additional colour for definition and then fussy cut. After adding the main layer to the card base I placed the gate and the pumpkin stack where I felt they looked best and glued them down. The sentiment came from Hampton Arts and I used foam tape to get it to sit over the edge of the gate frame.

I’ve had a lot of fun being the guest designer here and there is one more to go before my stint is finished. I sure hope you have fun creating your own favourite fall treat cards. Thanks for stopping by, your time and any comments you leave are highly appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

harvest moon

I’ve been puzzling over the challenge at As You See It – Challenge #358 – My Favourite Autumn Things for a few days and eventually come up with this card. A few of my favourite things about fall are the Harvest moon, the crisp mornings and evenings, as well as beginning to see the skeleton shape of the trees. Lately I’m in a creative slump and have been avoiding my craft room except for keeping up with my duties as a DT.

Yesterday I saw a card by Frenchie Stamps that actually gave me an idea and I decided to CASE the design. I found some paper and created the base of my card, but when I created the die cut circle scene, I realized it didn’t work for the background part. After setting it aside, I decided that instead of doing the scene in miniature I would create it on a larger piece.

First I created a scrap piece I could use as a stencil to do the moon and I used the die cut as a mask, so I could ink the background fully. I also added a little brown and gray ink to the moon to make it look more realistic. Taking a Design by Rynn stencil I sponged through it with a gray ink to do my tree. Using another die cut circle, a sentiment and a leaf, from a Gina K set, I stamped the sentiment and then inked the circle some what to take away the starkness of the white. I used this to cover up a mark made during the inking of the background. After adding a few Nuvo Crystal Dots I stamped the leaf randomly three times and called the card complete.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

splish splash

The challenge this time is basically splashy – interpreted anyway you like – rain, puddles, swimming, bath time, splashy drinks or just getting splishy splashy with inks. That said if you create something that isn’t totally obvious do make a point of letting the team know what it is in your post.

As you can see, I’ve chosen bath time as my theme because I wanted to revisit a technique learned a long time ago and not used much since. First I decided on a square shape and cut my layers accordingly. Then taking the main background layer I scored it in both ways at half inch indrements giving a tile effect. I stamped a leafy branch silhouette image from Crafters Companion randomly in Broken China ink to created patterned tile look. Setting it aside to dry I proceeded to stamp and die cut the other elements from a Hero Arts stamp and die set. Before cutting them I coloured the images using a combination of alcohol markers, inks and pencils. I also added some Nuvo Glaze to the bubbles and the water edges. After die cutting I played around with placement and added different thicknesses of foam tape where needed, but it required something more so I traced and fussy cut a shelf shape, coloured it and popped it up to give it more dimension. I found an image on the Internet that had bathrobes hanging and cut one out after I added some colour. This too was popped up with foam tape. The sentiment is from the same set and I used it above the shelf after fussy cutting around it.

Although I liked the finished card, I felt the background leaves were too strong in colour, because I obviously forgot to stamp off when doing the images. I needed to find a fix and I settled on using white pigment ink and a water brush to soften the colour. It took several layers but it worked and because the leafy image wasn’t too defined I didn’t have to be too careful doing it either. I have to say my artist friend was really helpful in trying this as she suggested trying to lift some of the ink. The problem with her suggestion was that the card was already assembled and I wasn’t prepared to pull it apart. So instead we tested it out on some scrap before actually doing it on the card.

Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate you and your time. I had a lot of fun creating this card and look forward to seeing what you come up with in your own designs. Have fun creating.

lavenderhousecreations

just enough spookiness

Most of you know generally I am not into Halloween, but occasionally I’ll make one or two just for fun. This card is one of those and came about because of the challenge at Double D – Make Your Own Background Challenge. And while I was at it, I thought why not add it to the https://twooldbatshalloweenchallenge.blogspot.com/ as well. Their mood board features a cat, but I confess only checking that after the card was complete.

In going through my stamps the other day, I rediscovered some Concord & 9th Turnabout stamps and this marbling is using one of those stamps. It has been so long since I used these stamps I had to consult old videos by J. McGuire to remember how to do it.

After deciding on my colours I proceeded to ink up the background and added some shimmer spray to it because I felt like it. When it was dry I added it as you see to the card front. My cat is also ancient and is from the Crazy Cats and Dogs by Tim Holtz, the witch hat is from the same sets. The little ghost and sentiment come from GKD and my additional background piece is from a photo that a friend had printed and didn’t like. She reprints and I get to use the poor ones if I think I can. Using a WeR cutter, which allows me to choose the blade I like, I trimmed it the size. The ghost and hat were fussy cut. I used pencils to colour the images and did the hat buckle with a silver sparkle pen. Googly eyes finished the cat and I added some highlights using a Posca pen. I’m not good at this but our artist friend is going to help me develop my skill once she has gotten my hubby and his upcoming exhibition sorted. They have been working really hard on this and it is an eye opener to learn just how much work goes into preparing for an exhibition on a bigger scale than just one or two pictures.

I think I like the result, but even if I’m uncertain, I do have a friend who will enjoy receiving it as she is nuts about cats. Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate it.

lavenderhousecreations

skeleton leaves

It always puzzles me as to why the colours in a photo don’t look quite the same as in reality. This photo is a case in point. Here at home it isn’t as yellow as it shows here and is in fact more like the colours needed for the challenge. As You See It has a colour theme and a photo for inspiration this week.

My card started a while back as a mop up piece from some inking I had been doing. I set it aside for a few days and then stamped the skeleton leaves, an incentive set from GKD, setting it aside once more. I had intended to use it, and had already cut the piece using the unbranded die set I’ve just acquired, but in the end, went in a totally different direction. So once again it languished in my waiting to use pile.

It seems it was waiting for this challenge so I cut another piece using the next size die, using CS similar in colour to the one in the challenge and put the two together. My card front is dark gray but is CS from GKD. The sentiment strip is also GKD and I edged it with a black pen and added some copper glitter to the words before attaching it on top. Two Waffle Flower enamel dots completed the card.

Thanks for joining me today. I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

not a flower in sight

As you can see from the above graphic, the challenge specifies no flowers at Seize the Birthday.

Having seen something like this on Instagram recently I wondered if I would be able to create something similar and this card is the result. Prior to adding the angled masking strips I used some tape to mask off an area that would become the sentiment space. Then using Gina K masking strips I masked off each section in angles. With some additional paper to mask as I was sponging, I proceeded to add colour in each space. Even with masking carefully I still managed to mess up a couple of edges, but not badly enough for me to have to begin over. The card I saw, had the artist using markers to fill in colour and then different colours in circles over each area creating a kind of Bokeh effect. In mine I used inks and sponges and then a stencil from TCW called crazy waves and sponged white pigment ink through the sections. Although it was visible I felt it needed a lift so I brushed Perfect Pearl powder in white over the top and the ink caught the shimmer really well. My butterflies are from Scrapbook.com and I used a pale lavender shimmer piece for the bodies with gold mirror for the pattern pieces. I also used a small body die from StampinUp to create the bodies for the butterflies as to my eyes they needed it. I used a Hampton Arts stamp to add the sentiment, masking off the unwanted word before stamping as the sentiment was too long and I didn’t want to cut the stamp. I backed the rainbow layer with foam tape and then added it to the card front. A few small clear gems and my card was finished. The most work was creating the masked off areas before adding colour.

I’m quite pleased with the end result and because I had inks and sponges out I did another slim line piece for a different card you will see in a future post. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.

We’ve had 48 hours of rain, which has lessened the fire danger dramatically and enabled fire fighters to keep a handle on a bad one burning up island. It has also ensured a lot of the smoke has dissipated which is good for all of us, but in particular people with chest conditions. I feel a sense of relief and although more sunshine is coming it isn’t likely to be as hot as the past couple of weeks have been.