stamping

lavenderhousecreations

Bird of Paradise

Using my new kit from Spellbinders and thinking this particular die set would be perfect for a colour challenge, I set about creating this card for Sunday Stamps – SSC387 Garden Grandeur. I think I’ve managed to use all the colours in this card although only 3 are truly required.

There is quite a lot of fiddly work to create everything here and my shading of various pieces isn’t brilliant. It takes time and practice to get this 100% right, but I’m sure my next card will show improvement. I picked out the various colours from my scrap pieces and die cut what I wanted to use. Laying them all out on a sticky mat I tried to add the shading, but one of my inks was too dry and I don’t have a reinker for it so it didn’t go as well as I needed it to. Then I proceeded to build the bird of paradise flowers and added the stems to the various leaves. My background was embossed using the folder from the kit and because I used a textured CS the raised pieces ended up white. I went over them with some ink so they turned a light shade of pink. I played with placement until I had something I thought would work and glued everything in place. It needed a bit more so using another set from the kit I cut a few flowers and added them as you see. The sentiment is from Open Studio because I was too lazy to use one from the kit and the tiny opal embellishments came with kit and are exclusive to the Weekender. The embellishments are truly pretty at Spellbinders so I’m sure crafters will be asking for them. I also added some Nuvo Crystal glaze to the flower centers.

I think I will pick a day when my hands are not as painful and die cut all these pieces again so I can practice putting things together and get better shading results. Actually I may do this with the other sets as well. It will help me to create some of the other ideas I have floating in my head.

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

lavenderhousecreations

Jungle Blooms

If I am honest, I’m not at all sure I like this card although as often happens it may grow on me. I’m not sure why I feel this way about it, maybe it’s the splatter or my less than stellar stenciling? Oh well, it’s an entry into a colour challenge – Color Hues # 134 Pink and Turquoise and I did my best.

To make it, I used a few dies from my Spellbinders Weekender kit, most of them coming from the Tiki Toucan set. The slatted arch is from Craft Addiction and the sentiment is another Spellbinders as is the die that cut it.

I used the stencil set from the kit, first time I’ve done any layering stenciling and although far from perfect, it’s not a bad effort. When the piece was dry I cut it a little smaller and then added to the pink card front. Before I added it I used a little of the Picket Fence splatter paint but I think I went a bit mad. The flowers and leaves were cut from bits and pieces of scrap CS in close tones of the colours after which I inked each of them to give more impact. I played around with placement before adhering anything and managed to wind the little hanging vine pieces in between the flowers without messing it all up. I stamped the Hello with VersaMark ink and heat embossed white, but now I think I should have done it in black as it would show a little better. Using some embellishments from my stash I added a few here and there.

Now that I have opened up all the different die and stamp sets, I am about to put them away properly. Already I found a die I used yesterday underneath my machine instead of with the set and if I delay any of this I could lose some of the small pieces. Thankfully I have magnets and envelopes to put them in so I can label and add the graphics that show what each set contains and how they layer.

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

lavenderhousecreations

Untamed

My hubby gave me an early birthday gift, which allowed me to take part in the Weekender Retreat held by Spellbinders. This exclusive kit is an amazing one and I enjoyed the 15 hours of participation, although I didn’t actually create anything during the tutorials. I did this retreat last year and by accident my kit was late, meaning that I couldn’t prepare die cutting for the event. That experience made me realize that for me, it is better to watch, learn and create later. Therefore this year I made no attempt at homework and just watched to learn.

One of the things I noticed when reading some of the chat, was that so many participators seemed to get hung up on following exactly what the demonstrator showed that they forgot to be creative in their own way. Some even complained that the kit didn’t have all the colour card stock shown in the booklet. The booklet clearly states that not every thing used in the tutorials was available in the kit.

I already knew I wanted to create the jungle cat, but I also didn’t want to be cutting up my new and beautiful card stock to do it. So I went to my scrap envelopes and pulled out various bits to use. My cat uses a shiny dark brown background piece with a muted but metallic gold overlay and some cream shimmery scrap for the chest, stomach and face. I was just curious to see how he would turn out and I cut and put him together during a break between sessions. I was quite pleased with how he turned out. In the next break period I went searching for the leafy frame die which I thought was from Hero Arts, now part of the Spellbinders family, but is in fact from MFT. I decided to use this although I could have used quite a lot of dies from the kit and got something similar in design. Once it was cut I added some foam tape along the edges and underneath the leaves. The white of the foam tape was showing in a couple of places so I used a black sharpie and went around the edges that showed and then I attached it to the card front. With two dies from the kit I cut a cloud and the sun and added them behind the frame. And I had the little flowers made in a tray and decided to use them rather than cut others. These flowers come from last years Weekender kit and all I had to add was the flower centers which I did with enamel dots. The sentiment is from this years kit which includes the stamps and matching dies. Once I had this done all I needed to do was situate my Cheetah and foam dimension helped me get him to look good. A couple of tiny black gems for the eyes and the card was complete.

My card fits the masculine challenge at Inspirational – Challenge #368 – Word Prompt – For the Guys so I am entering it there.

lavenderhousecreations

Pocket Card with Tag

Welcome to challenge #277 here at Cardz 4 Galz and Billie A has chosen the theme of Brown and Green with twine/ribbon.

For my card, I have used some patterned CS from CTMH that I have had for a very long time. I scored diagonally so I could fold the corner as you see in the photo. And I also added another strip of the PP. This layer was then added to the Kraft card front. Using some beige paper and a Kokorosa tag shaped die I cut the piece to place inside the pocket. The die was for cutting a more rounded shape, but I only wanted the top portion. I only partially cut it and then used scissors to cut the rest. Using my new stamp set from Simple Stories I added the film strip to the tag and used the additional stamps in each section. There is space on the back for me to add a more personal message. The organza ribbon was added at the top.

Using a scrap of dark green CS and a stamp/die set from Spellbinders I stamped the sentiment, die cut it and added as you see. I finished the card with some green embellishments. This card is intended for one of my B.I.L’s who always enjoys my makes.

We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and hope you have fun as you create. Many thanks for joining me today, you and your time are 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

Beside the Sea Vacation Time

It seems a couple of challenge blogs have a water or beach type scene as their challenges at the moment. When I first created my post for the As You See It challenge, my original intention was to do something similar to this post, but my brain went in a totally different direction that day. In the meantime the Card Concept came up with a new challenge that was nautical in nature and my brain went back to this idea. I think my card fits into their Clean and Layered definition. And because I used a stamp set from GKD that I’ve had forever and not used in recent years, I dragged it out to use here and that qualifies the card for the challenge at The Neglected Stuff. Believe it or not, the sentiment stamp had never seen ink until today.

The small gold squares were leftover pieces from a post I did a while ago and my new Memory Box nested squares arrived the other day, so I chose one slightly smaller than these and using some scraps I die cut the next layer. I added them together and set aside while I did the next few steps. Taking a wave folder from StampinUp I embossed the white layer and cut it down so it was slightly smaller than the card front. Then I carefully added the squares doing my best to keep them centered and straight. Once ready I added it to the card front. Then using a few stamps from the set, I stamped the fish and star fish using Black Soot ink and heat embossed clear, doing the same with the sentiment. I coloured these images with Prisma pencils using an alcohol blending pen to smooth out the colours. Once fussy cut I added them as you see. I felt the fish needed a bit extra so I die cut some seaweed using another Memory Box die set. I matched the sentiment piece to the others using a scrap piece of the same gold CS. The tiny embellishments were added and the card was complete.

When taking the photograph I had some issues with how the light was on the card and I can see here that the embossing isn’t as visible in the picture as it is in reality. This 3D folder has quite a visual impact usually.

Thanks for spending time with me today, I appreciate that you take the time to look and comment.

lavenderhousecreations

3-2-1 Recipe

Welcome to the new challenge here at Double Trouble recipe #215. The recipe is as follows: 3-Layers and card base counts here, 2 shapes or images, 1 stenciled and/or embossed element. Thing 3 by twisted sister is to include flowers if you wish, and Thing 2 is the double dare for you to add your creation to the TSOT Sketch #694 challenge. When you do this, be aware of the backlinking rule.

My card has the 3 layers, one of which is also a stenciled layer. I used a Color Box stencil and some TCW Stardust butter in champagne for this. I bought 2 containers of these butters earlier this year and when I opened the rose gold one, I discovered it was as hard as rock. I no longer have the receipt for the purchase so cannot take it back to the art store. Anyone with any ideas of how to soften it please share.

The PP was on my desk as I had used it recently for something else so I decided to put the two together and then add them to the card base. The image is from Wild Rose Studio and I stamped it then coloured with Prisma pencils. This was then fussy cut. I did two of the flowers and shaped a bit when I put them together. As well I used an alcohol blending pen to smooth out the colouring. The Scrapbook.com sentiment was another stamp I still had on my desk and I quite like it so decided to add it to a Hero Arts die cut heart giving me my second shape. The heart was coloured with the same pencil I used on the flower. It was at this point that I realized I hadn’t quite gotten the edges accurate when I added the layers and it bothered me. To fix it, I used a border die (can’t remember which company) and using a scrap piece I cut the hearts. Instead of using the actual border, I used only the tiny hearts and glued them down the side.

All in all I’m quite pleased with the end result. It is loosely based on the sketch, but I cannot enter there due to the backlinking rule. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and above all hope you have fun creating. Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate you and your time.

lavenderhousecreations

Primarily Pink

After I had posted yesterdays pink card, I realized that it may have worked for this one here at Seize the Birthday #325-Primarily PINK! The challenge with that would have been trying to say Happy Birthday with only one word. So this morning I set about making one specific to this challenge and this is what I came up with.

In my searching for items yesterday, I came across this stenciled background piece that was left over from a long ago project. I remember using an unbranded die to make the stencil from some cardboard which was then discarded after use. I took some glitter CS and cut a layer for the base and added the heart layer on top. Using a new die from Uniquely Creative and some scrap pink CS I die cut the postage stamp layer. I found a floral stamped piece of vellum that I had left over from a while back and cut the vellum to fit the top and bottom spaces. The florals are from Crafters Companion. Then I took a die set from Altenew called Sunlit Butterflies and cut the base butterfly in a darker pink and a vellum topper. I added them together in the middle space leaving the vellum loose in the wing section.

The sentiment is from Hampton Arts and was stamped in Picked Raspberry ink and then heat embossed. I cut the sentiment into two pieces and stacked them as you see.

I spent 30 minutes outside weeding in my garden, which is sadly a bit of a mess. To avoid getting stupidly overtired and sore I actually took a timer along and when it beeped I stopped. This worked quite well so I may do this again throughout this week. Even if I only get a tiny section done it will be better than nothing at all and it is rather nice to be outside at the moment. We have beautiful weather. We are going with friends for Sushi later so I don’t have to be in my kitchen at all, Yay!

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