International Art and Soul Challenge 38

Our theme for this fortnight is Christmas Traditions. So, I suppose, anything you consider to be a tradition, is fine! It would be lovely if you could tell us what the tradition is, if it's not obvious!

My card is pretty obvious: Rudolph! He and his red nose are definitely a Christmas tradition to many people.

Isn't he cute? The die is called Baby Rudolph and it's from Tonic. I do wish there was a solid shape part to this die, but there isn't, so I've had to hand-cut a background to keep all the bits in place!

The paper is from Dovecraft, and the aperture and circular frame were cut using Spellbinder dies. I've got two more of this style ready to go, but I'm steeling myself. Cutting the aperture for this one proved hard work, as I attempted to cut through two layers of card and one of paper in one go. I won't be trying that again!

I do hope you can join us!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 216

June is hosting this fortnight's challenge, and the theme is Holidays. (That's in the UK sense of the word, not in the Christmas sense.)

I made a card using a variety of die cuts and a little stamping and came up with this - depicting someone off on their holidays.

The landscape was created with dies from Creative Expressions. The rest of the elements (except the lines on the road) used a die and stamp set that came with Die Cutting Essentials magazine a while ago. quite fiddly to do, but I do like the clean lines you get from die-cutting. I've given the trees and car some separation by using foam tape.

I do hope you can join us this time!

International Art and Soul Challenge 37

Our challenge for this fortnight is Summer Fun!

I got out some dies from Joanna Sheen I've had for a while but never used, and came up with this.

The beach huts and deck chair are Joanna Sheen dies, the landscape was cut using dies from Creative Expressions, and the clouds and sun were a mix of Creative Expressions and Die Cutting Essentials magazine.

The sentiment was stamped using one of a set from Creative Expressions and it was cut using a Sizzix die.

Quite fiddly in some respects, but also quite satisfying to try something different.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 215

The challenge for this fortnight is hosted by Jackie, and the theme is to use at least two dies, or two punches, or one of each. Otherwise, your project can be anything you like!

At the time of scheduling this post, we have just put our house on the market. Prior to that, we did some re-arranging in our kitchen, and the pictures we've had on the wall for many years no longer worked, but we were left with an expanse of wall that needed to be filled. So, I headed into my craft room with three Hobbycraft box frames and set to work

The Final Result

I started with some mixed-media paper, and added acrylic paint in black, white and silver which I brayered on in varying proportions. When that was dry, I stamped some background fragments, and finally, stencilled on some embossing paste in silver.

I made a range of flowers using dies mainly from Sizzix, but also from Cheery Lynn, Tonic, and, I think, Joanna Sheen. I stamped, die cut and coloured a Crafter's Companion butterfly,

I don't know how the whole moving enterprise is going to go. There definitely seems not to be much on the market, so we might end up deciding to stay if we can't find anything we like enough. It's definitely going to put a cramp on my crafting activities. As it is, the woman who came to take photos refused to use the one of my craft room (even though it was uncharacteristically clean and tidy) because it looked 'too busy'! It's all changed since the day we bought this house (32 years ago) when the only photo was one taken of the outside, and visits accompanied by estate agent personnel were pretty much limited to empty properties.

I do hope you can join us this time!