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lavenderhousecreations

3-2-1 Recipe – “Its going to be a long day”

It is once again time for our Double Trouble Challenge #219 and your challenge is to make a slimline card, regular or mini. Recipe is: 3 – layers and the card base can be included, 2 images and 1 slimline. Thing 3, twisted sister is to add some sparkle or glitter and thing 2 is for you to use the sketch and enter it at TSOT #698. Be careful not to back link.

Quite some time ago and I can’t quite remember where, I saw an artist colour some images just using brush strokes with different colours. I decided I would give this a go myself and I created the cup panel where it languished on my desk as I couldn’t decide, first whether I liked it, and second how I might use it. The cup stamp is from Joy Clair. My effort isn’t terrible, but I now realize that the artist was using a special shaped brush which I don’t have. Funnily enough my hubby saw this and said he liked it, which helped me to use it.

Anyway because this panel was already done, I decided it would make a decent slimline card. After cutting my card base I took some glitter CS and cut a piece for the front. Then I added the cup panel on top. Right there that gave me 3 layers plus the sparkle requirement. Then I cut another piece of white CS to the size I required for the bottom and stamped the sentiment heat embossing it for a bit more definition. Stamp set is from a dollar store brand Forever in Time and the cake image is from the same set. I stamped it, coloured with pencils and some Sakura glitter pens and then fussy cut, giving me my second image. If I don’t count the card front there are three layers but with the card front I now have four. Once this was added to the card front I called the card finished.

In the end I quite like the result, but without this challenge, I’m not sure I would have used the cup layer at all. Now it is your turn and we look forward to seeing your ideas and cards in our gallery. Have fun creating.

Thanks for stopping by, your time and comments are always appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

Huey Chameleon

I started this card mainly with Seize the Birthday in mind, but it sat on my desk for a couple of days because I didn’t have enough time to continue with it. In the meantime a second challenge began at CYHTP and I realized it would work for that too.

The printed acetate sheet is the last of a bunch I purchased many years ago because I thought they were pretty. Then I couldn’t think how to use them due to my lack of knowledge and skill. These days I wouldn’t have kept them so long unused.

The challenge at Seize the Birthday is to use acetate or vellum and the one at CYHTP is always an Embossing Folder, but with an optional twist. The twist this time is Boys to Men. My card fits both challenges, although I acknowledge that Huey would work for a woman as well.

Using my latest folder from Spellbinders and some watercolour CS I embossed the background and then used ink in two shades to add colour. I like the texture on the watercolour, it takes ink well and it seems to work great for these leaves. I wondered about adding dimension around the sides of the acetate, but it showed through too much so that idea was clearly not going to work. I already knew I was going to use the chameleon die set, and I set the acetate to one side giving me time to think about it and proceeded to cut and build Huey. Once he was built I took another 2 dies from a different set in this kit and cut the branch and the vine fronds.

I added Huey and the fronds to the branch and then placed him on the card front laying the acetate piece on top. Deciding this would work I glued him down and added a strip of scortape to the acetate at the top only. Using the sentiment and matching dies from the kit, I stamped the sentiment and heat set it clear. The It’s your Day was placed underneath the acetate at the top and the other part was added on top of the acetate at the bottom.

The card size is slightly larger than I would normally do, but I wanted to be sure the acetate would fit nicely and making an envelope for it is pretty easy. Although making Huey was time consuming, it wasn’t difficult and I was smart enough to print out the explanation for each piece which I’m keeping with the set. The hardest part of this card was taking the photo and it took several tries to get this one, which is still not that great. No matter where I put the card there was a light source that glared on the acetate, which is why you can’t see the entire sentiment at the top. All in all, I’m pleased with how this turned out and I have a few coloured stripes left to have the next Huey partially prepared.

Chellenges entered:

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate both your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Seaside Fun

Lynda has chosen the current challenge theme here at cardz 4 galz, and she wants to see seaside/coast style cards for challenge #278.

I decided to let some of my paper do the work on this card and used a patterned paper that looks like water. I also used some old fine sandpaper to create the beach sand look. Using some Kokorosa dies I added the foamy water at the join of the two papers. Then with another die set I cut the umbrella tops and coloured them as you see, adding a couple of striped beach towels among them. The die set has tiny people so I cut three, two as sunbathers and one who is body surfing.

This umbrella scene was inspired by a graphic in a TV show which is set in Mallorca. To give the umbrellas some dimension I shaped them a bit and added foam tape in the centers so they pop up. My hubby commented that this looks like an arial scene taken by a Drone.

As I’m not certain how I shall use this card, I’m leaving the sentiment off for now. Many thanks for stopping by, I do appreciate you and your time. We look forward to seeing your cards in our gallery and hope you have a lot of fun creating.

lavenderhousecreations

3-2-1 Recipe My Guy

Welcome to challenge #218, here at Double Trouble. The current recipe is as follows: 3 – Washi Tape or paper scraps, 2- die cut elements, 1- Masculine project, Thing 3 is the option to use any element pertaining to your guy and Thing 2 is the usual Double Dare to use the sketch and enter into TSOT. Note that entering here means you need to take care not to back link your project.

As you can see I used a combination of inked paper scraps and Washi tape for my background. My Washi tapes are really old and why they are still around, is because I find they don’t stick well and often peel. As I type I can see some of it is lifting so I shall have to glue the ends in a minute. My die cut tool elements double as both masculine and the my guy option, because this card is intended for a friend who is always playing with tools and handyman work. As well there are 2 other die cuts with the glitter circle and speech bubble.

The tools come from a die set from MFT, and I cut them twice to have enough to glue around the circle. The sentiment is from GKD and the heart stamp is from Simple Stories. I used a scrap piece of gray CS and some silver scrap to cut the tools. I used Black Soot ink for the sentiment and then heat embossed it and the hearts were added almost as an after thought.

Now it is your turn and we look forward to seeing your makes in the gallery. Above all have fun. Many thanks for stopping by, your time and comments are greatly appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

Challenge #217 – 8th Anniversary

Welcome to our 3-2-1 recipe challenge and in this case you are to choose your Celebratory Raffle ticket and create a card using the theme that is part of your ticket. Thing 1 – choose your ticket colour, Yellow -anniversary/wedding, pink – birthday, Blue – masculine/ fathers day and green – graduation. Thing 3 is the option to use Kraft paper or like Thing 2. Thing 2 is a double dare to play along in the TSOT sketch #696. Take care not to back link when adding to TSOT.

As I need a card for a little girl who loves cats, I chose a PINK raffle – birthday theme and made the one shown here. The little cat is cut from some Kraft paper using a Kokorosa die set and I enhanced it with a bit of shading using ink. I added colour for the eyes, ears and nose using pencils. The rabbit was stamped using a Penny Black set, coloured with pencils and then fussy cut. The heart piece is from a store bought card that I received and saved. The blind uses another Kokorosa die and was cut from some scrap blue CS. The die didn’t cut well so I had to use a knife in a few places which meant it isn’t as clean cut as it should be. It is disappointing when a die doesn’t cut well and I tried on several pieces of paper and all had the same problem so it wasn’t the card stock I was using nor the pressure on the machine.

I added a lighter blue gray card layer to hold the blind and then added the cat as you see. The rabbit was added with some foam tape as was the heart. To hide the rough edges at the side of the piece I added some StampinUP embellishments. This was then added to the card base.

Now it is your turn and we look forward to seeing what you do. Above all have fun creating. Thanks for taking a look and also for any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Splatter

In many ways I had no idea what I might do for the latest Double D challenge which is a SPLATTER Challenge. I looked at a lot of different card ideas, but nothing really spoke to me. In the end I decided to just fool around a bit and this card is the result of playing.

I used several stamps from my Crafters Companion set that is still on my desk. Choosing the floral silhouette image, I decided to ink it half way in green, stamped along the bottom of the panel, then I cleaned the stamp and using a purple ink I stamped the top part of the flowers. This looked okay to me so I chose another of the small stamps in this set and stamped the butterfly twice. Using a splatter image stamp which I tested on a piece of paper first, I then stamped in various places above the flowers. While doing this I remembered an incentive set from GKD that was also about paint splotches and splatter and I pulled out the splatter one testing it first on a separate scrap piece to make sure the yellow was the right tone. In my head I was thinking it might look a bit like sunshine. The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed clear. I added a little Distress spray and some shimmer on top. I also used a sponge around the edges of the layer before adding it to the card base.

This ended up being better than I expected considering I had no clear plan in my head when I started. It’s a lot like a mixed media card and I quite like the look that occurred. Easy to mail as well because there are no dimensional pieces to it.

We had a crew of people here earlier as they were scheduled to pressure wash the outside of the house and then do the windows inside and out. The back of our home is all windows and mostly they are 10 feet tall. Makes the house beautiful but too much for me to clean myself and I detest cleaning glass anyway. We also have 3 ceiling fans and the blades on those were quite dusty, so they kindly cleaned them for me. Not really their job, but they did it anyway as a favour. I’m now trying to catch up on other chores like laundry which was delayed due to the pressure washing. Being on a well, means we have to ensure that the pump can handle the load. Next year I shall try to schedule for a day that isn’t a laundry one. It is quite amazing to see clearly outside now the windows are sparkling.

Thanks for spending time with me today, it is appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

Seize the Birthday #326-Feature an Animal

I sure hope my sheep image is front and center enough for this challenge. The image and sentiment came from Art Impressions and I used watercolour pencils after heat embossing it. I did stamp the image on water colour paper in order to be able to use water colour pencils.

The oval aperture was cut using a CraftAddictions die set and I added some watercolour to the die cut oval, but then decided to add a rub on transfer from 49 and Market on top. All the leaves came from an older Hero Arts kit and were water coloured as well. I couldn’t find the die set I originally planned on using, which would have been more in keeping with the transfer, but in the end I quite like the quirkiness of having jungle leaves with a sheep and pine branch image. Its ridiculous but amuses me. And the sheep image is in itself quirky and fun.

Foam tape was used on the top layer to lift it from the oval shape below and to allow room for adding the jungle leaves. The stitched oval was added flat, but I did add dimension behind the sheep so the card has a 3D look and feel.

The card will be added to Seize the Birthday for their current challenge. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave for me. Hope you all have a great weekend. It is Victoria Day here in Canada, with many families enjoying an additional day with family.

lavenderhousecreations

“It’s a Wheelie Cool Day”

Welcome to challenge #216 here at Double Trouble and the recipe this time is as follows: Thing 1, 3-layers, 2 shapes and 1 image. Thing 3 is to include at least one wheel, Cam and/or gears. Thing 2 is a double dare to use the sketch at TSOT and to enter your card there. If you are entering into the TSOT challenge be careful not to back link.

To make my card, I pulled out a Spellbinders set that came in the Weekender kit last year and using various coloured bits of scrap card stock I die cut everything. Once the pieces were cut I assembled my sun. To give my sun some eyelids I cut the image twice and turned the other piece upside down and glued it behind. Then I added all the other pieces. It is fiddly work and needs tweezers but is fun nevertheless. I set my sun to the side and stenciled my background using an older stencil (can’t remember the brand) using 3 different inks. Initially I wasn’t sure what to pair it all with and then I remembered that I had some golfing images shared with me, from a stamping buddy. The golf cart and the sentiment seemed to fit the bill so these are the ones I chose. The sun is big and detailed so I didn’t want to add anything too much as I felt it would be way too busy to look at. The sentiment appeals to my weird sense of humour.

Due to the timing of our challenge my card cannot be entered at TSOT. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and trust you have fun creating. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate that you do as I know how busy people can get.

lavenderhousecreations

Under the Sea Birthday Greeting

Although the Inspo board is more about florals it is also about watercolouring at Double D Watercolor Challenge and I chose to make mine an underwater scene.

Firstly I took a piece of watercolour paper and some pretty ColourArt blue and green shimmer water colours and I added the colours in a kind of gradient. When it was dry I took a Memory Box 3D folder and ran it through my machine. I then took some different gold and silver pastes (no idea of the brand) and highlighted the little fish and the octopus to make them stand out more. I decided to use some gilding wax on the bubbles and on the octopus and heat set it. I felt it needed a bit more so I used a couple of mica sprays but I think I went overboard as I have more than I really wanted. The little turtles are on canvas and were already fussy cut so I added some foam dimension on the back and placed them. To my dismay, I realized I had added them both upside down and getting them off was quite the challenge. Luckily no serious damage to the card, but their placement isn’t quite what I envisioned as I was stuck with putting them back to cover up the original glue spots. As well, I had no idea that canvas frays in a similar way to fabric, so playing around with them more than necessary was going to ruin them altogether. Oh well, such is life on occasion. The foiled sentiment is from Open Studio. I kind of like the end result but what I imagined and what I got is quite different.

Thanks for stopping by, you, your time and any comments are appreciated.




lavenderhousecreations

APRIL SHOWERS or LOVE IN THE RAIN

Welcome to a new challenge here at cardz 4 galz, and the theme for this one is about April Showers. As you can see I have used a cover plate die that looks as if the rain is pouring down. It did have a cut out umbrella, but as I wanted to use this particular stamped image, I have covered up that section with the stencil/die word.

My image is from an old Inspired by Stamping set and I coloured this with pencils then fussy cut it. Before attaching this to the card front I turned it over and using a shaping tool made the umbrella look more dimensional. To ensure it wouldn’t collapse when being mailed I doubled up on some foam tape and added more to the bodies. After die cutting the word and stenciling in some colour I added it over the gap and then added the image below it. My stenciling skills need some work because my edges aren’t as crisp as they could be. It isn’t my go to technique, and I really ought to use it more than I do.

I’m not unhappy with the end result and I learn a lot during my process so it is time well spent.

Many thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you taking the time and any comments you may leave for me.

We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and of course wish you fun in the process.