Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 35

This week on Crafty Cardmakers, the theme is 'White and a Splash'. To make it even better, we're sponsored by Joanna Sheen who will give the lucky winner a voucher for £10 to spend in her shop.

For me, this challenge means lots of texture and sparkle. I cut the edge of some white card using my Craft Tonic Border system using an edge punch and a snowflake one,  embossed it with a Papermania embossing folder, and matted the result with my 'splash' colour. Then I cut the largest part of the Spellbinder Lattice medallion and I added one of the Labels 3 set for the hand-written sentiment, and cut a mat for it by hand using the same label die as a template. I cut several Spellbinders snowflakes and some smaller Cuttlebug ones and added some irridescent Glamour Dust before layering the larger snowflakes with sparkly brads.

 

So, put away your Promarkers and join us for our 'White and a Splash' challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. 

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Stampin' for the Weekend whose theme is 'Winter'. 

Crafty Catz whose theme is 'Christmas'

Fussy and Fancy Friday whose theme is 'Christmas, no red or green',

Crafty Calendar Challenge whose theme is 'Winter/snowflakes'

and If the Shoe Fits whose theme is like ours, 'White and a Splash'!

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 41

This week on One Stitch at a time, we're sponsored by Digis with Attitude who are offering the lucky winner of this challenge a voucher for $10 (Canadian) to spend in their shop. To be in with a chance, you need to 'Celebrate in Style' - bring out bling, shine, glitz!

 

My card this week features 'Grumpy Gretchen' from Digis with Attitude. I thought she would look at home in a sixties style background, so I found a lovely, colourful background from a CD Rom from Crafty Computer Paper. In photoshop elements, I added a lilac layer on top of the inner part, and then placed Gretchen and her cake on top of that. I added the two sentiments - the first is also from 'Digis with Attitude' and the second was done in PSE.

I coloured Gretchen with Promarkers, then added some layering, and some background paper from MME. To finish, and to add some bling, I added some flower gems with round gems at their centre, some flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, and a butterfly.

Hope you can join us this week, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Pear Tree Designs whose theme is 'Colourful',

Karber Weekly who want us to use two or more papers and a digi,

Charisma Cardz who want 'For a Girl',

A Spoonful of Sugar where 'Anything Goes',

For Fun Challenges where 'Anything Goes'.

An Anniversary Card

I had to make an anniversary card for a friend's parents tonight - at fairly short notice. Fortunately, I had an ideal image, and today I got a CD in the post from Crafty Emma called Flower Power which provided some ideal backing paper.

The image is by Stitchy at Stitchy Bear Stamps and it's coloured with Promarkers. The embossed card is from my stash, as are the multi-layered flowers while the single flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Sketch and Stash,
Crafty Purple Frog  whose theme is 'flowers'
Top Tip Tuesday whose theme is 'Layer upon layer' (hope I've used enough)
A Spoonful of Sugar whose theme is 'Anything Goes'.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 40

This week at One Stitch at a Time the theme is 'Pick a season  or event'. So, nice and easy, isn't it?

Not surprisingly at this time of year, I chose Christmas, and was delighted to work with two images this week. The first is from Card Mad Fairy - Tina's 1st Nativity . In fact, I liked Tina so much, I made a choir of little angels ...

I put together a 'starry night' background in Photoshop Elements then added a choir of Tinas (uncoloured). I printed on my usual Ryman ink jet card and coloured the choir with Promarkers then added some sparkle with white glitter. I printed a separate sheet of the background for the front and cut an aperture with Spellbinders Labels 3, and framed it with the same set.  I added a larger Tina on the front, and finished the card with some Wild Orchid Crafts flowers and letters which were a magazine freebie ages ago.



As an experiment, I printed the same files again, but this time used some cream pearlescent paper I've had for a while. The colours appear much less saturated, but you do get a slight shimmer. This card was put together like the one above, except that here, I decorated the front of the card with punched stars, die-cut swirls and a verse from a Christmas carol.

I was also able to work with one of Stitchy's images - this one's called Lite Brite. I've had a hankering to do this one for a while.

I added a background to the image before I printed it. I wanted to give the effect of the tree lighting a darkened space, so I used a grey gradient from pale to fairly dark. The tree itself, I coloured with Promarkers. The background paper and border strips are from Papermania, and the snowflakes were cut in my Wizard with a Cuttlebug die (which I've finally worked out how to use in my machine. It's only taken a couple of years ...) I added a little gold Glamour Dust to the snowflakes, and coloured a few sticky gems with Promarker.


Since I'd printed off several of the trees, I decided to do another card in completely different colours.

This time, the backing papers are from Craft Creations and the snowflakes one was a magazine freebie. The embossed card is from PayPer Box from a visit to Olympia a couple of years ago. I finished the card with a little white ribbon and three clear sticky gems.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 34

At Crafty Cardmakers this time, we're challenging you to make a card and matching gift. And this week, we're sponsored by The Stampman who're offering a £10 voucher to the lucky winner.

I don't often do gifts, preferring to stick to cards, but I'd had an idea for my sister who's got a big birthday coming up, so I went with that. Because she doesn't know about this and therefore can't give her permission for photos of her to appear, I've blanked out any that might be recognised. (And no, I don't think she knows my blog address.)

I printed out copies of various photos of my sister. (One includes our dad, but he's been gone for twelve years, so I don't think he'd mind featuring here!) I cut them with my circle nesties, and framed them in gold with my new set of eyelet circle nesties. The background paper is a dark brown flecked with gold that I've had for a long time - can't even remember where it came from.

The box came from Hobbycraft. I stained it with Moonglow ink in Ethereal Emerald, added the photos, and then varnished it in clear. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and I dipped them into the same Moonglow ink, and when they were dry, sprayed them with Crafters Companion Spray and Shine.

I aim to get something to put into the box, but haven't found anything suitable yet!

Hope you can join us at Crafty Cardmakers - and remember, although we have a new theme every week, they're all open for two weeks! So you've got plenty of time.

I'd like to enter these for the following challenges:
Fab'n'Funky challenges who want us to use circles and
Paper Playtime whose theme is P.S. I love you ... (made for my sister, using my nesties and Wizard which I love!)
Fairytale Challenge where 'Anything Goes',
AI Factory who want die cuts or punches (nesties and eyelet nesties)

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 39

This week on One Stitch at a Time, we're challenging you to use your favourite colours! This week, we're sponsored by Robyn who's offering a $10 voucher.

I've got a lot of favourite colours, but shades that I love, especially together, are peachy/coral colours with pale turquoise. And this week, I got to work with a gorgeous image from Beary Dust whose images are available at the Stichy Bear shop. It's called 'Precious'.

I coloured the image three times with Promarkers, and layered it - that hat just cried out to be layered! The background papers are from Papermania. The rest of the card shows off some of my birthday presents! The border is a Spellbinders border die which I cut in both colours. (The lower layer was cut through the middle so I could offset it.) And the flowers were made with a new Marianne die, which to my relief, cut really well in my Wizard. (I'd heard comments that they weren't compatible, but they worked fine for me.) I coloured the flowers with Promarkers to match the image, and finished them off with some brads.

So what're you waiting for? Make something in your favourite colours!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Fairy Fun Friday who want us to make our own flowers,
Stamp Challenges who're having a 'Digi Day'
If the Shoe Fits who're looking for DIY embellishments (the flowers)
AI Factory weekly who're looking for die cuts/punches (the flowers and the border)

Something with Wings ...

I made a card for a colleague this evening.

The image, of course, is from Ching Chou Kuik, and it's coloured with Promarkers. I used my nesties to cut an aperture in the front of a brown card and then framed the opening. The paper is from MME (on the front) and, Papermania (inside, I think). I finished it off with some flowers.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
The Crazy Challenge who want 'Things with Wings'
Daring Cardmakers whose theme is 'Topaz'.

Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight on Dry Embossing

Trust me to take things literally! When I read 'spotlight on dry embossing', i thought I'd try pretty much all embossing.

Having said that, I have used a couple of different dry embossing techniques. The background is embossed (and debossed) in my Wizard using both the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and one of their border folders. I used some lovely low-sheen metallic blue card I've had for ages for that.

The main flower and the white layer behind it were embossed using one of the Glitter Girls Keepsake board - can't remember the name of it, but it's teal in colour! It's one of the few they do that's great for square cards, but even so, it's been a while since I used it.


I added glitter to the space between embossed lines in the white layer, and to accentuate embossed lines in the flower layers. One of the things - especially about the Glitter Girls boards, but also true of embossing in general, is that you get a much bigger effect if you use expensive, pearlescent or mirror type card. The white and the dark blue have a gold sheen to them, and the pale blue is ordinary pearlescent. I cut the layers out with scissors. I'd love to get good enough with a craft knife to use one instead, because the scissors tend to stretch the card a bit so that you lose some of the depth of the embossing when you cut. (Although I did go back around the embossing after I cut the shapes out.)

To finish, I added a couple of silk flowers (can't remember where I got those - Mad About Cards, perhaps?) and a brad with a gem centre.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
The Creative Cottage whose theme is embossing,
C.R.A.F.T whose theme is dry embossing
The Crafty Purple Frog whose theme is 'sparkle'

Silent Night?

For this card, I used a new (to me) Sarah Kay stamp. Look at those choir boys. You can almost believe they're angelic ... It's stamped on Ryman ink jet card and coloured with Promarkers. The edging is Cardinal Versamark ink applied with crumpled climg film. The backing is the same card, but embossed in a Cuttlebug folder in my Wizard with the same Cardinal ink applied to the background. The ribbon and sentiment are from my stash, and the poinsettia was made using a Marianne die set. I cut and embossed four layers in my Wizard, then applied Glimmer Mist to the layers and edged with stickles.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 38

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're challenging you to do some Christmas crafting, and giving you the chance to win some fabulous images from Di's Digi Downloads! The theme is 'Anything Goes/Winter Wonderland'.

I was lucky enough to get one of Di's images to work with this week, and this is what I came up with.

This was a lovely image to colour. And I don't know about you, but I think he's pretty much a perfect Father Christmas!

The image is mainly coloured with Promarkers, although I've added some Sakura Stardust pen in silver for the aeroplane and Santa's buckle, and in clear for his beard. I glittered the fur trim on his suit. The background is silver mirri-board embossed in my Wizard with a Papermania embossing folder, and I finished it with some ribbon, a couple of flowers and a sticky gem. The silver metal flower came from a local bookshop and the green one from Craft Creations. It orignally had a gold glittered centre, so I covered that up with the sticky gem to keep from introducing yet another colour.

I hope you can join us at One Stitch at a Time this week.

I'd like to enter the following challenges.
Charisma Card Challenges - whose theme is Christmas,
Creative Cottage Challenges whose theme is embossing
Lexi's Creations whose theme is 'Anything Goes'
Craft Your Passion whose theme is 'Anything Goes'
Critter Challenge whose theme is 'Christmas'
Top Tip Tuesday whose theme is 'Christmas'.

All White!

There're a couple of challenges around at the moment which call for a card that's all white except for the image - Simon Says Stamp and Crafting Your Days Away. I had a birthday recently, and since my OH won't buy me craft things (in case he gets the wrong thing, he says), I ordered myself a few bits and pieces - among them a gorgeous stamp from Gillian Roberts and Stampavie.

I stamped the image on Ryman ink jet card in Memento black and coloured it with Promarkers. I mounted the image, and cut the border in a lovely white sparkly card I've had for a long time and almost run out of! The background is the same Ryman card, embossed using a range of Cuttlebug and Papermania embossing folders. I finished it off with some ribbon threaded through the border.

I'd also like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Charisma Cards which is looking for Christmas,
Sir Stampalot who are looking for Christmas Traditions (and what could be more traditional than the school Nativity play?)
I Love Promarkers who are looking for snowflakes (embossed in the background)

And, since I mentioned Sir Stampalot just there, I'd like to compliment them on the fastest order delivery I've ever had. I ordered a new trimmer from them after work on Tuesday and it was waiting for me when I got home on Wednesday! That's pretty amazing, I think.

An Anniversary Card

This week, Creative Craft Challenges is being sponsored by Stitchy Stamps. It's their first anniversary, and as a result, the theme this time is anniversaries. Now my oh and I are due to celebrate a 'big' anniversary next year. Unfortunately, the date's at the end of a really busy cardmaking period, and I often end up leaving it to the last minute and struggling to do something I like. So, seeing this challenge, I decided to get ahead of the game!

The image is from Stitchy Stamps and it's called 'The Raggedies'. Very appropriate, really, since both my oh and I could be considered to be 'past our best'! It's a lovely image to colour, which I've done with promarkers, and mounted it on mirri-silk type card. The background paper was designed in Photoshop Elements, as was the sentiment, and the hearts were punched.

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

Creative Card Crew who are looking for punches,
Sketchy Colors whose sketch I followed,
Incy Wincy where 'Anything Goes',
One Stop Craft Challenge where 'Anything Goes'
The Stamp Man who want 'Cards for Men' (It's for my husband.)
Crafty Purple Frog where 'Anything Goes'

And if you've started your Christmas crafting, don't forget that this week's One Stitch at a Time challenge is ... Christmas!