One Stitch at a Time Challenge 219

Yes, after a very long summer break, OSAAT is back! I must admit, it seems odd, after such a long break, sitting here while the schools still have a fortnight of holiday, posting for September. But here we go.

The challenge to start us off is 'Anything Goes with a Die Cut'. So, nice and easy, yes?

We're sponsored for this challenge by

and the winner will get this package of images and papers:

This time, I worked with a beautiful image from Scrapper's Delights called, Genie.

I've used quite a few dies on this one! I added the sentiment in Photoshop Elements then cut the image with a Sizzix nesting die and coloured with Promarkers (skin tones) and Spectrum Noir pencils. Although it doesn't show well on the picture, I edged the image with gold ink, and spattered the background with the same ink using an Ink Duster brush. The paper is from Papermania, and I've added a little gold to it - around the edges and with occasional stamped flowers which again don't show well in the photo. The embellishments use dies from Spellbinders and Sizzix's Susan's Garden range. I added a little Pan Pastel to the insides of the various petals and some more gold ink to the outside edges of petals, greenery and stamens, finishing the purple flowers with liquid pearls.

I hope you can join us this week.

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

Crafts Galore Encore where they want us to make a card,
Doodle Pantry where 'any digi goes',
Kreativeinkauf where anything goes,
Ladybug Crafts where anything goes,
Sisters of Craft where anything goes,
Crafting by Designs where anything goes,
Penny's where anything goes,
Crafty Girls where anything goes,
My Heart Pieces where they want us to 'use a digistamp'
Sister Act where anything goes.

Crafty Cardmakers and More Challenge 122

This time at Crafty Cardmakers and More we're challenging you to 'make an impression'! We want to see dry embossing on your creation.

Unusually, I had free rein of my image stash for this challenge, so I dug out my box of stamps - something I do rarely these days. I picked out a stamp from one of the earliest I bought - from Debbi Moore. I think I got a bad batch of the stamps - they always smelled very strong and seemed inclined to bend in unexpected ways, but since I didn't have much confidence in my stamping ability and since I bought them at a show at Olympia, I didn't take them back. However, now, many years later, they finally seem to have got over their problems! I think the excess solvent has finally evaporated and they're a lot less smelly and the stamped results look ok to me too. So, a happy ending to this rather long-winded story. So, on to what I did!

The stamps were a set of butterflies on various backgrounds, and this one is probably my favourite. I stamped with Memento ink and coloured with Spectrum Noir pencils. I did a little blending with Zest It, but tried to leave some of the pencil-work visible. The background was embossed using two small folders. (I'm so pleased manufacturers have finally realised how limiting the so-called A2 folders are - too short and wide for a small A6 card, but not big enough for anything else unless you use several pieces. But I've got quite a few so it's good to use them.) The folders are from Craft Concepts (the butterflies) and Sizzix (the grid.) The butterflies were emphasised using some Versamark Ink and some Pan Pastel in Pthallo blue. The lovely background card is a new one to my stash. I normally buy from Craft Creations, but since we were on holiday in the Lake District for a few days I popped in to somewhere that stocks Papermill Direct card. I was disappointed with the range available - there used to be a much wider range in the now-closed shop in Hatfield which I occasionally visited. However, that dark teal-green shade was definitely worth the visit since I haven't seen anything similar elsewhere.

I hope you can join us this time.

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

Art by Mirian where anything goes,
Brown Sugar where anything goes,
Creative Corner where anything goes,
Sister Act where anything goes,
Crafting at the Weekend where anything goes,
Treasured Times where anything goes,
Inky Impressions where anything goes,
Crafty Girls where anything goes,

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.)

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 120

This time, the challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is set by my team mate, Sharon, and she wants to see 'fancy folds'!

Our sponsor is Stamping Boutique.

See the challenge blog for details of the prize.

I used a lovely image from our sponsor called Audrey at the Well. I do like the Audrey character - she's so sweet!

I'm not a huge fan of fancy folds - several that I've tried over the years seem very impractical when it comes to putting the finished result into an envelope and posting it, so I went in search of something new. I spotted a tutorial for a Joy Fold card and liked what I saw, but the measurements given didn't work! So, once I'd worked out what I needed, I made one which will go into a standard six by six envelope, and here's the result.

and open

and again

I flat-coloured the image with Promarkers then added some shading with Spectrum Noir pencils. The papers are from the DoCrafts Tilly Daydream collection, and I created the sentiment in Photoshop Elements, mounting it onto s Spellbinders die cut.

So, not a terribly fancy fold, but the result is practical while still looking 'different', so I'm happy!

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

Doodle Pantry where anything goes,
Crafting at the Weekend where anything goes,
Crafty Calendar where anything goes,
Inkspirational where they want us to use pencils or markers (I used both Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pencils),
Suzy Bee's where anything goes,
Sister Act where anything goes,
Stempelsonne where anything goes.