ink-blending

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.

lavenderhousecreations

linked together decorative

Having recently purchased these Decorative masks from StampinUp, they’ve been languishing on my desk waiting for me to use them and I finally got around to playing with them yesterday. For some reason the colours at As You See It were stuck in my head so this first piece was the result of using the first 3 masks and colours. I hadn’t planned on a second entry but as it works it will be added and it will also be added to the April 2025 Stencil Fun Challenge at Crazy is our Fame – Stencils are our game. Quite by accident it meets the pattern twist, which is fun for me. As I don’t do a lot of stenciling I wasn’t too sure if I liked the result at first. I had some fall outs on my desk from a previous project and thought I could use them but they kind of disappeared initially. After a bit of thinking I pulled out an Altenew stamp and die set and used one of the leaf stamps, which I stamped in green, and then heat embossed clear. After adding some foam tape to the back I placed it on the stenciled piece but didn’t like it much. More thinking and I cut a panel of vellum and then added the leaf to that. The fallouts were added on top and I attached it all to the stenciled piece. I stamped the sentiment, heat embossed that, then added it to a black piece and attached as you see. As I didn’t have the colour Peach Pie I used Tea Dye ink and edged the card front with it before adding the other piece on top. Stamped the sentiment in the same colour ink and heat embossed clear. The vellum mutes the background just enough for the rest to work and I’m happy with the solution.

For a card that I didn’t plan this turned out much better than I expected. I still have several other stenciled pieces to make into cards when I feel like it. Thanks for joining me today, your time and comments are appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

you hold the key

V is for Vintage is the current theme at the Alphabet Challenge blog. In general, vintage isn’t a style I use so this was a challenge for me to achieve. However, I had this gold layer on my desk as a leftover from an Altenew Art Deco die I used elsewhere. I liked the edges so decided to use it here. Then I took a piece of thick vellum and dry embossed it with a StampinUP folder called Starstruck. I went over the larger raised parts with a coppery glitter pen and this was also used on the the label and fussy cut stamping pieces. The stamp set is from Crafters Companion and was a freebie of vintage style stamps. I took the key and the feather pen, stamped them with Vintage photo ink and then fussy cut each one even getting into the scrolling on the key with a small craft knife. The sentiment was computer generated and I used a font that looks as if it was hand done with the feather pen. The embellishments are from my stash. The label is a die from Penny Black.

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

lavenderhousecreations

Wishing you …

There is a collaboration between Inkspirational Challenge #334 – COLLABORATION with Color Hues Challenge #103 – RED AND PINK and Color Hues #103-Pink and Red Collaboration and as my hands are reasonable I decided to join in.

The products used are mainly new to me with couple of oldies along with them. Cake die cut is from Memory Box, Candles are GKD as is the sentiment, EF is by StampinUP and the label die is from Spellbinders.

Using some PP from my stash I die cut the cake and added the frosting. Added thin foam tape to the back of the both pieces. I embossed the pink background piece and used a matching red strip that I had from the same folder. These were then added to the card front. Once the label die cut was done I added some thicker foam tape to the back and placed it as you see. The cake was then added to this piece. I don’t have any small candle stamps or thin dies (have made a note to get some) so I used what I did have and cut the length off. Perhaps a little too big still, but I made it work. Added the sentiment after stamping and heat embossing.

It is a snowy weekend where I live and as the temperature drops the road is going to be icy. We are glad not to have to go anywhere until Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by, your time is appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

Stenciled thanks

With the holiday and having guests, I haven’t been spending much time in my craft room, but I did do a lot of clean up prior to Christmas Day. I found quite a few scraps and have since spent some time using them as well as trying out some new supplies. I have a few ready and will likely start posting them over the next weeks.

The card here is using both a scrap frame as well as a new stencil from Crafters Companion. It’s also using an old word die set that came with my Gemini. I used a part of the new stencil over the top of my ink blended piece using water on the stencil, waiting a moment and then lifting it off. It worked quite well and I liked the end result. Decided to use the frame to highlight the nicest part of the stenciling and added the word and small scroll top and bottom.

Its a very simple card and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. I shall be entering this card into the challenge at Inkspirational.

Thanks for spending time with me today. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year too.

lavenderhousecreations

dragonfly sympathy

As I mentioned in a recent post, it seems as if I shall be making a few sympathy cards over the next few weeks. Several people we know are losing loved ones or are about to lose one. This card has been made for a club member of my hubby’s photo group as she lost her husband on Saturday after a long illness.

At Krafty Chicks it is an all occasion challenge at the moment so I shall add it there if I can get this post done in time.

I started with inking a small scrap piece of white CS and then die cutting the dragonfly from this piece. Die is from PaperRose. I cut a second one in black so I could offset the inked top one slightly for more definition. I also sprayed the inked piece with some sparkle. Using a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die set I cut the pattern into some blue CS and added it to the gray card front. I added some sparkle using a Sakura pen on the diamond shapes within the pattern. My sentiment is from GKD and once this was stamped and dry I glued the dragonfly leaving the wings free.

Thanks for spending time with me, and any comments you may leave are much appreciated.