International Art and Soul Challenge 139

 The theme for this fortnight was set by my team mate Hazel, who wants projects on the theme Happiness.

I started with what makes me happy. Well, that would be a whole range of things - family and friends, crafting, colours, flowers. So, this is what I came up with:

So, we've got flowers and pretty colours, and of course, the card will go to a friend or family member, so that covers quite a few things.

The floral image comes from a book called Embroidery on Paper for Every Occasion by Joke and Adriaan de Vette. It's one of the best books on paper embroidery I own (and I have several) but I'd never used this pattern before. And, technically, I haven't used it now, as I wanted something a bit squarer than the original, so I added an extra flower - the one on the right is a repeat of the other pink one. I used machine embroidery thread throughout.

Having competed the embroidery, I added a purple line around the card using a Sharpie, then added a shallow matt in pink.

To complete the card, I added some embroidery to the base card as you can see. This time, I used a brass stencil to prick out the pattern of ovals, and then I filled them, using stitches 2, 4, 6, and 8 holes 'long'. I've always been fascinated by the way you can make curves with straight lines, and I remember as a child, my dad making me a board with nails evenly spaced along two axes so I could do some thread art, so that's another reason for happiness.

And that's it. I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 138

 The challenge for this fortnight was set by my team mate Maggie, and she wants projects which are Masculine.

I decided to use one of the Tonic stitching die sets I bought a while ago, but haven't used a great deal. But, once I'd done one card, I carried on until I had three - one with each set for my husband, my son, and my daughter's partner on their birthdays.

Colours were chosen for the different recipients. I cut three layers for each, stitched the top two together, then added the third, and that's about it! (The blue one has an extra square mat because the light blue didn't give enough contrast to the white card.) I've used Sulky varigated thread throughout - greys for the black/white and blue cards, and gold for the green one.

These make very easy cards - a little time-consuming - but I stitched the layers while watching TV, so it didn't seem that way.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 137

 The challenge for this fortnight was set by my team mate Chriss, and she wants to see projects in Red, White and Blue!

I've gone way out of my comfort zone for this, and produced a card with a lot of white space. I was inspired by a video from Eileen Godwin. My version is much simpler and doesn't use Lavinia stamps!

It's a single layer image, stuck directly to a blank greetings card. I've used four inks - Distress Ink in Blueprint Sketch and Festive Berries and Versamark Clair in Tulip Red and Mediaeval Blue. The only other colour is from Posca pens in metallic blue and red.

I began by using Distress Ink and a ruler to create the inky lines. Then, I masked an area and spattered the rest with diluted Distress Ink. I then stamped the flowers (from an issue of Creative Stamping Magazine) and the sentiment (from Spellbinders) using Versafine Clair. I used diluted Distress Ink to fill in the flowers, and a Sharpie pen to add a blue border to the whole sheet. The Posca pens, as an afterthought, provide an edge to the panel.

So, way out of my comfort zone. But, while I have things I'd do differently next time, I'm not unhappy with the result.

I do hope you can join us this time!