Crafty Cardmakers and More Challenge 126

This time at Crafty Cardmakers and More, the challenge has been set by Sonia who wants us to 'Cut it Out!'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

with this prize

For this challenge, I used one of my favourite images - a Crafts and Me digi of a Sara Burrier image.

I printed the image onto watercolour paper and coloured it with Promarkers. For the background, I embossed a piece of glossy yellow card using an Embossalicious folder. I added a little distress ink to the background to bring out the embossing. The panel at the bottom uses a fabulous Sue Wilson die that I treated myself to recently. I cut the panel in violet card, and again in white, collecting various cut out shapes which I coloured in the greens from the image before placing them into the apertures. I backed the whole thing with more of the yellow card.

I hope you can join us this time.

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

Craft Room where they want us to make our own background,
Crafty Girls where anything goes,
Inspiration Destination where anything goes,
Brown Sugar where anything goes,
Sister Act where anything goes,

Another Attempt with Watercolour Paper

Yes, I've been having another go. Well, the sheets of watercolour paper are A4 sized, so I printed out four images at once. This time, I've used an image I've used several times before but which remains a favourite. It's another Crafts and Me digi - this time from Sara Burrier.

I've combined several favourites into this card! First, there's the image which I do love. Then, there's the colour scheme. I love blues with peaches and golds. And then there's the punched background. one of the reasons I like die cuts is because of their clean, hard edges. There's nothing woolly about them. But before I invested in my first die cutter, I used punches. This punch is one of a pair I bought at a show at Olympia before they decided to switch to just stitching and knitting. They came with a little bracket which allows you to do repeat patterns. It's much simpler than the more recent Tonic device (which I've also got).

I coloured the image with Promarkers on some Clas Ohlsen watercolour paper. I managed to create a stippled effect in the stonework which i think worked fairly well, and I added a background in shades which (I hope) are reminiscent of a beautiful sunrise (or sunset). I finished with a little Sakura Stardust pen on her dress, wings and hair.

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

Sister Act where anything goes,
ABC where 'V is for Vibrant',
Emerald Faerie where they want 'things with wings',
Sisters of Craft where anything goes,
Crafting at the Weekend where anything goes,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 222

This time at One Stitch at a Time the challenge is: Anything Goes with a Butterfly! So, not too hard? I know I love using butterflies on my cards - next to flowers they're my favourite embellishment!

I used a lovely image from IKEsART called Japanese Lady Colour, which, as you might expect, comes ready-coloured!

The image is so lovely that I didn't want to overpower it with lots of embellishment (apart from a butterfly, of course) so I simply matted it onto yellow card and embossed some shiny black card for the background using an Embossalicious folder. I added some ribbon and a Spellbinders butterfly, and that's it.

I hope you can join us this time.

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

Crafting at the Weekend where anything goes,
Kitty Bee where they want die cuts/punches,
Sister Act where anything goes,
Sisters of Craft where anything goes,
Divas by Design where they want texture,
Inspiration Destination where anything goes,
Penny's where anything goes,
Whimsy where anything goes,
Hiding in my Craft Room where they want embossing,
Allsorts where the theme is embossing.

A Little Bit Oriental

I've finally got enough Christmas cards done that I can turn my attention to other things for a while, so I decided to try something a little different. Recently, I've watched a couple of videos from Letraset showing shading techniques with Promarkers, and the artist whose name I didn't catch, claimed that he preferred to colour on watercolour paper. So, I decided to have a go.

I used a Crafts and Me digi - from artist Meredith Dillman called Jade. I used a fairly lightweight watercolour paper that I got from Clas Ohlson which goes through my printer easily. (I've got some 300gsm Bockingford watercolour paper that won't although I can use other 300gsm cards.) I've got to say that it's easier to blend on this paper than it is on others I've tried; Crafter's Companion Neenah, Ryman Ink Jet coated card, Joanna Sheen. I suspect I used a lot more ink that I would have with the other cards, and I doubt it'd give a good result with pencils, but I must admit I'm fairly impressed. Colouring's not my strong point, but I was fairly happy with the result - especially the skin tones.

As with most of the Crafts and Me digis I've bought, the image is very detailed and hard to colour if you print it at the size I normally do for a 6 by 6 card, so I printed this a little bigger and used a 7 by 7 card! (I do like that size - 8 by 8 seems a little over the top sometimes. I kept the design fairly simple, although I did do quite a lot of matting and layering. The background uses some paper from MME I've had for ages and a Sizzix die cut. I finished with a couple of lace flowers that I coloured to match with my Promarkers.

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

Kitty Bee where they want die cuts/punches,
Sister Act where anything goes,
Wags 'n Whiskers where they want stripes,
ABC where 'V is for Vibrant',
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge where anything goes,
Doodle Pantry where anything goes (with a digi),
The Crafting Cafe where they want pink,
Sisters of Craft where anything goes,
Crafty Girls where anything goes,
Inspiration Destination where anything goes.

Crafty Cardmakers and More Challenge 125

This time at Crafty Cardmakers, our challenge theme is, 'It's Only Words'. So, we want a sentiment to be the focus of your creation.

Now, I'm not a big fan of wordy cards. In the days before I used to make my own, I used to hate it when I chose a really lovely card only to find it had been spoiled by insincere saccharine inside. If there's something I want to say, I prefer to do it in my own words and my own handwriting. So, you won't find a lot of words on my card. The main exceptions (other than simple 'Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas' things) would be when I'm asked to personalise a card for someone and when the image is quirky enough to make a jokey sentiment necessary. So, I had a think and finally settled on a condolence card.

I made the card for my 'ready box' because it's always a useful type to have, and since it doesn't have a specific recipient, I've kept it neutral in terms of religious references.

I created the sentiment in Photoshop Elements and cut it and its frame with a Sizzix die. The background is another Sizzix die - a beautiful lattice rectangle which always cuts really well. The flowers are again made using Sizzix die cuts - from the Susan's Garden range, although the extra greenery was cut using a Crealies die.

I hop you can join us this time.

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

Eclectic Ellapu where the Pink team want to see anything floral,
Pile it On where they want us to use  two or more die cuts,
Crafting at the Weekend where anything goes,
Kitty Bee where they want die cuts/punches,
Aud Sentiments where anything goes with a sentiment.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 221

This time at One Stitch at a Time, we're challenging you to use the colour orange! That's it - otherwise, you can do whatever you want.

Our sponsor for the challenge is:

See the challenge blog for details.

I chose a sweet digi from My Heart Pieces called Sleeping Santa. An odd choice of digi for an 'orange' theme, but by this time of year, I usually need to get on with my Christmas cards!

I first added the sentiment and orange frame in Photoshop Elements before colouring the image with Promarkers, adding a little extra shading with Spectrum Noir pencils. The background paper is from a CD Rom I bought recently - the Joanna Sheen/Ivory Cats one. It's definitely got more cat images than I'll ever use, but the backgrounds are fabulous - lace and patchwork being just two examples. I altered the shading of this background from green shades to orange to match the theme. To finish, I added a couple of die cut corners which used a Joy craft die.

I hope you can join us this time

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

Crafter's Cafe where they want die cuts,

Crafty Creations where they want us to 'use orange',

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge where anything goes (so long as it's Christmas),

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge where anything goes (with patterned paper),

Doodle Pantry where any digi goes,

Anything Goes with a Twist where anything goes,

Sister Act where anything goes,

That's Crafty where they want us to 'keep it simple',