A New Home 'Card'

 I decided to make a 'new home' card for my daughter and her partner, but it had to be bigger than the average card, and as a result, it ended up in a 300mm box frame! 

I started with the letters, and given the town they're moving to, and one of the names, it was never going to be small, so I went a bit crazy. I've blanked out the names, but left the rest.

The background was coloured using Distress Ink in a variety of autumnal shades and using a couple of stencils for some texture.

The flowers are from Susan Tierney Cockburn's Spellbinders collection - the button chrysanthemum and daisy chrysanthemum. All the pieces started as white card, and I shaded, again with Distress Ink before shaping and assembling.

I really wanted a natural wood frame, and Hobbycraft used to do one, but I couldn't get one in the largest size so had to compromise on white. I assume they'll put something else in the frame in the future, but that's fine..

International Art and Soul Challenge 119

 The challenge for this fortnight was set by my team mate CG and she wants us to use mainly yellow and orange. That seemed like an ideal opportunity to make something bright and cheerful, and this is what I came up with:

First, the background is stencilled using Crafter's Companion layering stencils and Distress Ink. The main image was stamped in Versafine Clair ink using a Woodware stamp. I coloured the image with Promarkers, added layering as shown. I used a corner rounder on the image and mat - with a wider corner on the bottom than the top, as I thought that worked for the image. The metallic orange band is an offcut I've had for many years - I originally had a few sheets in a 'Payperbox' selection I bought, I think, at Olympia when there used to be an annual craft show there, before it became just for knitting/and sewing. So, a long time! The flowers are from a length of floral lace I bought, also many years ago.

I do hope you can join us this time.