Cards

 I've made a few cards this week, all for reasons you'd prefer not to have for making cards.

First, a card I made for a friend who's due to go into hospital for surgery:

I used a Sizzix die set for the owl, and an Elizabeth Craft set for the oval. The papers are from a magazine. I cut an aperture out of the paper-covered front of the card and placed the mounted owl into the space.

And the inside of the card. Paper is the reverse of the piece I used on the front of the card. Excuse my fingers in the top photo. I couldn't get it to lie flat enough!

And then, a couple of sympathy cards.

In both cards, the focal image is from Lavinia and the sentiment is Woodware. I've also used a couple of Aall and Create stencils, and in the top card, also a Woodware background text stamp. I masked the sentiment panel with removeable tape before adding Distress Ink. The top image was stamped in Versamark and embossed with clear powder. The lower card has the image stamped in Versafine Clair, as were the sentiments in both cards.

International Art and Soul Challenge 133

 The challenge for this fortnight was set by Jane, and she wants to see projects where there are three of something. That could be three embellishments, three images, three ribbons, whatever you like.

I've been working on backgrounds a lot of late, and after some inspiration on You Tube, I came up with this:

The background started with Distress Oxide inks which I blended together, Then I added some more detail with Pan Pastels before stamping the Lavinia fairy, foliage and words. I added some further detail with a glitter gel pen, a white gel pen, and some Posca pens.

It's not obvious from the photo, but the black background is quite twinkly. I embossed it using a Crafter's Companion folder, then applied some Versafine Clair ink with a brayer too the very fine leaf detail. I had hoped for more colour transfer, but when it didn't happen, I heat embossed using some clear holographic powder.

To finish, I added three flower gems and three tiny clear gems I've had in my stash for a very long time. I suspect it's about three years since I last even opened the box where I keep sticky gems, so it was nice to get them out.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 99

 The theme for the first fortnight of the year is Landscapes. I'm hosting the challenge, and I'd love to see a landscape for any season. With that in mind, I made some Christmas cards using a range of stamps and stencils from Inkylicious, Creative Stamping Magazine and John Next Door. The background shading was done in Distress Ink, while the darker parts use Versafine Clair.

I did several of this style for last Christmas, and I do like the results, although I have to say I have a significant failure rate with several attempts going into the bin!

The trees here use stamps from Circa Design that I've had for many years.

And finally, for this one I added some heat embossed foliage.

I'm looking forward to seeing your landscapes, so please join us!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 258

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is Weddings! Now, most years, this would be a hard theme for me as almost no one I know ever gets married. But this year, a former colleague is getting married to her long time partner, and I made this:

I started with a Brusho background in blues and purples. However, they were too bright for a wedding card, so I added a layer of tracing paper which I heat embossed in silver. If you've never tried this, let me tell you, it's brilliant! It worked better than I could have expected.

Not a great photo, and of course I covered up a lot of it! But I was very impressed.

Edited: Of course, the wedding has had to be postponed due to the Covid19 Pandemic. So, there'll be another wedding card to do when they fix the date!

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 79

The theme for this fortnight is to use green as the main colour.

I decided to go for something that seems quite spring-like, and came up with this:

I first heard of Susan Tierney Coleman when she published a book showing how to make realistic flowers out of punched shapes. I then followed her when she turned to die cutting - first with Sizzix, then Elizabeth Craft and most recently with Tonic, and I've used mainly her dies to create the arrangement above.

I started with some card which I tinted with Distress Oxide ink in a variety of green shades. Then, I stamped a floral trio repeatedly and heat embossed.

The dies include the Japanese Fern and Galvanized Tub from Susan's most recent Tonic collection, along with Dogwood and Gerbera Daisy from the original Sizzix range. I've also used a few leafy sprigs that came from The Works. I shaded petals in a pale blush pink using Pan Pastel and added a slightly stronger colour to the edge of the dogwood petals using Promarker. To complete the flowers, I dabbed some glue on the stamens and sprinkled some magenta shaded glitter.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 78

The challenge for this fortnight is one I found hard: Use a Photo. I found it hard because I don't like to post photos. I use them when crafting, but since they're normally of people, I don't then put them on my blog. So, I had to do some thinking.

And here's the photo I chose. Not at all personal!

When I got a new laptop, I decided to say goodbye to Photoshop Elements which I've used for many years and try Gimp instead. Let's say the learning curve has been rather steep, and I've barely scratched the surface of its capabilities. But I've tried hard to work out how to do some of the things I used to do regularly, and one of my favourites is making a background out of an area of an image. I often do that when I want a background for a digital image, but I've never used one of my own photos before. So, I digitally cropped a small section of the flowers above, shrank the cropped image, mirrored it so that the edges all matched, and tiled it to make a background. And this was the result!

I printed the result on to photo paper, and with the addition of a stamped image and some matting, this was the final result.

The background to the image was shaded with Distress Oxide inks, and then I stamped the image (stamp from a recent issue of Creative Stamping) and embossed it in white. I added a little green to the leaves, brown to the trunk and red to the pendants using Promarkers and completed the card with a little lace.

And that's it. I hope you can join us this time. So long as you use a photo, it doesn't matter how you use it!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 251

As I said in my last DT post for Crafty Cardmakers, I recently did a session on rubber stamping for my crafts group. And this time, I've got another card that I made as a technique sample.

I wanted to show how you can combine watercolour with heat embossing. I embossed two sizes of the image (a very old mounted stamp from Hobby Art) in clear, then created a coloured background using Promarker water based pens. I used the same pens to give a bit more definition to the butterflies. The three foreground butterflies were stamped with Versafine ink and embossed in gold. I added colour to them, again, with Promarker water based pens.

The sentiment also uses a very old stamp. A long time ago - I'd estimate around 15 years - there was a craft show at Olympia which started out s a knitting and stitching show, but also covered papercrafts. And one time when I visited, someone was selling pre-inked stamps. They're a strange design. I call them stamps, but it's more as if there's a slit in a plastic layer in the shape of the wording. Anyway, they are filled with black ink, but it's slow enough to dry to be embossable. And that's what I did here.

And that's it. I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 250

250 challenges! Where has the time gone? My first challenge for this design team was challenge 25. That was way back in 2009. The amazing thing is that so many of my craft supplies date from then. (A lot are more recent, of course. But things do last!)

Right. on to the challenge. The theme is All You Need is Love. And I've made a Valentine card.

 I recently did a session for my crafts group on rubber stamping. Now, I definitely don't consider myself to be an expert, despite having been trying since well before 2009, but the group is very mixed in terms of experience, and none of them had tried stamping before and they were particularly interested in heat embossing. So, I put together some stamps, inks, and samples of different techniques and let them play. I made a point of looking out all my old mounted stamps as if you've got lots of people trying things out, it seemed like a simpler option than having to have a lot of acrylic blocks. This card was one of my samples - showing heat embossing on coloured card. The stamp I used here is very old, and, unusually for mounted stamps, doesn't have a manufacturer's label, so I don't know who to credit. Despite the rose, I've tried to keep it from being too 'girly' as it's for my husband who, as I've mentioned many times on this blog, prefers things uncluttered and plain.

The background paper is from a pad I bought second hand from someone who was getting out of cardmaking. It's a strange size, and the paper is a lot rougher than most commercial pads, but it's got some lovely patterns, and this is one of them.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 75

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is Recycling. Other than having a recycled element to it, your project can be anything you like.

I decided to make a card using some recycled crafty packaging in the mix.

The main image is from Woodware, which was stamped and heat embossed in gold. I coloured the image with my very elderly Twinkling H2Os. (I had to throw another one away today as it had gone mouldy inside. But then, I have had them for many years.)

The paper is from a magazine freebie pad. The clear layer under the half-front was cut from the packaging of some Crafter's Companion mirror card. It's quite thin, but kept in place between the image panel and a plain white panel on the inside.

You can't really see the clear layer, but you can see the backs of the two sticky gems!

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 239

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is It's a Bug's Life. So anything goes so long as there's an insect of some type playing a starring role.

For this card, I used a stamp from an issue of Creative Stamper magazine. These stamps were designed by Crafty Individuals which just happens to be one of my favourite companies.

I first created a background with Distress Ink on watercolour paper, and once dry, I stamped and embossed the dragonfly in white. For the central image, I used the same stamp, but this time I embossed it in dark blue, before I coloured the wings and body with some Promarkers. And apart from matting and layering, that was it.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 65

The challenge for this fortnight is an easy one, on the theme of  flowers. So, you can share any project you like, so long as there are some flowers somewhere on it.

I''ve made a baby shower card.

I must say, I don't really get the concept. Yes, people have always given gifts for a new baby, but the idea of having a party for that purpose seems a bit odd to me. I remember my mother being shocked when we actually had the pram for our firstborn delivered before he arrived as she considered that very unlucky. So, I suppose things change, and my sister is doing a shower for my nephew's girlfriend who's expecting a little girl next month.

Nothing too complicated: dies from Marianne, Sue Wilson and Spellbinders, a stamp from Creative Expressions, some embossing powder, Pan Pastel, paper from Lily of the Valley and a few sticky gems. (I don't have a single stamp or die that refers to a baby shower. (Or a bridal shower if it comes t that.) So I had to improvise!

I do hope you'll join us this time, and share your floral creations!

International Art and Soul Challenge 64

The challenge for this fortnight is to use embossing - either heat or dry.

I've done some heat embossing on a Chocolate Baroque stamp I've had for a long time. It's fair to say it comes out most years as I get into making Christmas cards, and I'm always searching for a different look.

I stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with gold detail powder. I added some colour to the diamonds using a Spectrum Noir Glitter marker. The background was made using stencils and a gelli plate with distress oxide ink and gilding wax. Even though the script in the background isn't the same as on the image, I do like this combination. Some gold mirror and white matting and that's it!

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 57

The challenge for this fortnight is an easy one if you're a card maker. Apart from, perhaps, Christmas, I make more cards for birthdays than any other reason and that's our theme this time: Birthday!

I was inspired for this card by an issue of Creative Stamping magazine - the one that was out in February. I started by using Distress Oxides on the backround, daubing them on to card which had been spritzed. When that was dry, I stamped several of the elements from the stamps included with the magazine using Distress Ink and Memento ink. When all that was dry, I stampped another of the stamps from that issue in embossing ink and added white embossing powder. To complete, I used the Happy Birthday stamp which was also part of the set.

I hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 28

Our challenge this fortnight is two-fold. Use a Die and Emboss You can either emboss using a folder, or use heat embossing - the choice is yours!

I decided to use a stamp I haven't used for a while.

The stamp is from the Animal Spirit range. I stamped it in Versamark ink and embossed with gold detail powder. It turned out remarkably well, although embossing means there's very little left to colour! I used Crafters Companion Glitter pens for that, and completed with a border around the image in gold, before cutting the image and mounting it on black card. I've then framed the black using a Spellbinders die cut. The background paper and lacy ribbon are from my collection. I rather like the drama of the final result.

I hope you can join us.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 203

For our first challenge of 2018, Bling's the Thing here at Crafty Cardmakers. So, we want to see some shimmer, shine and glitz!

For this, I decided to do some stamping, but wanted to come up with a shimmery background first, so I got out my Twinkling H2Os which have been gathering dust for a while.

I recently bought some really cheap watercolour paper (from either a Pound shop of possibly The Works; can't remember). And while it has an unattractive greyish tone, is really really good at taking a lot of water without distorting much. So, I started by getting it fairly wet, and added some Twinkling H2Os both by brush and by pouring excess off the top, mixing and blending the colours as I went. When this was dry, I got out my stamping platform and some magazine freebie stamps, and stamped and embossed some flowers. I used Versamark ink and a bronze coloured embossing powder.When I'd done that, I coloured the flowers with more of the same shades of Twinkling H2Os. As a central image, I stamped and embossed more of the flowers onto a die-cut octagon of white card, and finished with a sentiment.

I completed the card with bronze mirror card and some green sticky gems.

I hope you can join us this fortnight.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 187

It's my turn to host the challenge at Crafty Cardmakers, and I'd like to see your gem-studded creations! Anything goes so long as there are gems or pearls on the project somewhere.

For this challenge, I've used a new die from Hobbycraft which was branded Intricut. It's really pretty, and cut somewhat more easily than other large lacy dies I've bought in the past. (It still took multiple passes and a metal shim, but it did cut. I had hoped that this sort of problem would be no more when I bought my Big Shot Pro a few years ago, but I suspect all machines have problems with some things. At least with the BSP, you don't feel like it's going to break as you crank through a difficult sandwich.)

I've backed it with a contrasting mat, and then added pearl gems to various parts of the cut. I completed the card with some ribbon and a stamped sentiment which I embossed in white. (Sorry, don't know whose stamp that was. I keep text stamps together on a couple of sheets and don't often have a record of the manufacturer.)

I'm really looking forward to seeing all those gems and pearls this fortnight!

International Art and Soul Challenge 4

Here we are, ready for the fourth challenge at International Art and Soul. This time, we want to see embossing. Any type of embossing is fine, as is any type of project.

I decided to do something I haven't done much lately - I stamped and heat embossed an image.

The stamp I used is a recent purchase, and it comes from Woodware, I think. I stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with gold embossing powder. Then I coloured the image using Derwent Inktense pencils, although I admit that the very fine 'berry' effect I coloured using a fine liner. I matted the image onto gold card, and rounded the edges. Then, I stamped the sentiment - sorry, no idea whose stamp that is - I keep all my sentiments together on a couple of sheets and didn't think to record who made the stamps. Again, I stamped with Versamark and embossed in gold. I cut the sentiment using a Spellbinders die, and threaded some ribbon through it. I finished the card with some gold beads around the image.

I hope you can join us this fortnight!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 177

This time, at Crafty Cardmakers, the challenge is to use embossing: heat or dry - it's up to you!

Of course, if you're like me, you get a word in your head: embossing and you have to try all of them, and about now.

So, the image has no embossing! It's a stamped image using a Debbi Moore stamp I've had forever, and I've coloured it with Sharpie markers. It was really just an 'I wonder' moment, and there's no finesse in the colouring at all, but I liked the vibrant result. I've added a little glitter to the butterfly using a Spectrum Noir glitter marker.

For the background, I first dug out a Spellbinders Impressability plate. I inked it using a Kaleidoscope ink pad, then ran it through my Big Shot Pro. The result is techinically debossed, but it definitely adds some texture. Then, I embossed some green card using an embossing folder, then applied some of the same ink to the result with a brayer.

I've triple embossed a chip board flower. The main part uses UTE powder, and the centre is standard, both Cosmic Shimmer. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with the same standard embossing powder.

I hope you can join us this time!

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 223

This time, at One Stitch at a Time, our challenge is, 'Anything Goes with Distressing'. So, lots of scope for you. Our sponsor for this challenge is:

And the prize is a pack containing images and papers.

This time, I worked with an image from Hope Jacare called 'Snowman Wreath'. Of course, the first card I made, I forgot the 'distressing' requirement. But first, the one I remembered to 'distress'!

A very simple design. I embossed the Coredinations card in the background with an Embossalicious folder and sanded it so the pattern stands out more clearly. The image is coloured with Promarkers, and I finished the card with a couple of bows made with my new Creative Expressions dies.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Sisters of Craft where anything goes,
Crafter's Companion where the theme is Christmas,
Creaine where they want red/green themes,
Doodle Pantry where 'any digi goes',
Always Something Creative where they want red/green,
Bearly Mine where they want Christmas Cards,
Crafts Galore Encore where anything goes,
Christmas All year Round where they want 'no patterned paper'.


And here's the one where I forgot the distressing requirement.

This time, I used a background I made using the acrylic block technique with Distress Ink, and I stamped and embossed a greeting over that. Again, the image is coloured with Promarkers, and the card is finished with some die cut bows.

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 121

This time at Crafty Cardmakers and More, the challenge has been set by Lin whose theme is, 'A World of Fantasy'. So, whether it's fairies, dragons, mermaids or unicorns, any fantasy creature is allowed.

Our sponsors for this challenge are:

See the challenge blog for details.

Anyone who visits my blog regualrly will realise that I love fantasy images - especially by Sara Burrier and Ching Chou Kuik. Unusually for me these days, I went the rubber stamp route rather than going digital, and chose a Ching Chou Kuik image from my collection.

I stamped her using Memento ink and coloured the skin tones using Promarker, before doing the rest of the colouring with Spectrun Noir pencils and blending with Zest It. The background is one I made ages ago while having a play. It uses stamped and heat embossed swirls along with some distress ink. The effect is fairly subtle, and not that obvious in the photo. The various flowers were all hand made using die cuts from a range of manufacturers including Sizzix, Memory Box, Spellbinders, and Cheery Lynn with shading by Pan Pastel.

I hope you can join us this time.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Creative Card Crew where they want embossing (wet or dry). I've got both - heat (or wet) embossing in the background and a little dry on the Spellbinders die cuts,
Crafty Sentiments where anything goes,
I Love Promakers where anything goes Promarkers used for skin tones,
Crafty Creations where the theme is 'Flower Power',
Miriam's Crafting Blog where the theme is 'Fantasy',
Nutcrafters where anything goes,
Paper Shelter where the want punches or dies,
Penny's Challenge where anything goes,
Scrapper's Delight where they want die cuts,
Natalie and Amy's Challenge where they want die cuts and flowers. (My flowers are made with die cuts.)