International Art and Soul Challenge 63

The challenge for this fortnight is Monochrome. That can be any one colour, and for the purpose of this, black and white don't have to count as colours.

I fancied doing something while watching a series, and decided a little paper weaving fitted the bill.

I used a Creative Expressions die for this - the one with the narrowest strips. I used two offset layers of the darker yellow and wove in bits of the paler lemon colour. It took a while, but I think the effect and texture is wort the effort. To complete, I cut a frame and sentiment in black. I like the simplicity of the design - it's definitely plain enough for one of the men in my family!

I do hope you can join us.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 238

The theme for this fortnight is Here Comes Summer.  This means that anything that means summer to you is perfect, although if the connection isn't obvious, it'd be great if you could mention the reason!

Although the idea of sitting on a beach in high summer doesn't appeal to me at all, there's something about the idea of an old-fashioned deck chair on a sandy beach that just seems to me to mean, 'summer'.

I started by masking most of the card, leaving just an oval in the centre. I applied some distress ink for the sky, and used a scrap of paper to give an uneven edge to the bottom of that. Then, I created a sandy lower half in the same way. Of course, I forgot to mask off for the sun, so I added that after using Pan Pastel.

Once that was done, I masked the oval, and stamped a selection of seashells and starfish from the Card-io Majestix range using Memento ink. When that was done, I added a little Memento ink to the background.

To complete the card, I cut the deck chair using a Joanna Sheen die, and completed the scene with a few more images from the Card-io set.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 62

The challenge for this fortnight is Christmas in July. So, here's your chance to get started on your Christmas cards or gifts, if you haven''t already done that.

I've been playing with a technique for a while - using Tapestry or Majestix stamps or other small stamps from my collection.

And this is another one! The main tree stamp is from Crafty Impressions and I'm afraid I've got no idea who made the bauble stamps. They've been in my collection for years, and I suspect they came from Hobbycraft when I was first trying my hand at stamping.

I've used a Kaleidacolor ink pad for all the stamping. I was lucky enough to find some on sale at Ally Pally in April, and this is one of the new ones  - Fruitcake.The background shading uses Distress Ink.

To finish the card I added some sticky gems to the tree, and ran a clear Sakura Stardust pen around the dotty outline.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 237

The challenge at Crafty Cardmakers for this fortnight is to use a die or punch. Once you've done that, there are no restrictions on what you produce!

For this card, I started with a background which I created using my gelli-plate, some Distress Oxide ink and a stencil. The die cuts were cut using a die from Tonic's Sew Pretty range. I stitched them with metallic gold thread. The sentiment was stamped with a stamp from John Lockwood/Creative Expressions, and I highlighted the pretty flowers with a little glitter using Crafter's Companion glitter pens in yellow and teal. I completed the card with some sticky gems.

I do hope you can join us this time.