International Art and Soul Challenge 106

 The challenge for this fortnight is Winged Creatures chose and hosted by my team mate Christine. I normally immediately go for butterflies for this sort of challenge, but not this time. Two cards, and not a butterfly in sight!

I have been inspired recently by some Lavinia Stamps videos, and this has resulted in both the cards in this post. This first one, started with a second gelli plate impression with distress oxide ink and a stencil. (The first impression will be used elsewhere!) The result was very understated, but I liked it, and added some more detail. First, I used a circular mask and Victorian Velvet distress ink. Then I added the foliage and added the raven using stamps from Lavinia stamps. I coloured the blossoms with pencil. I wanted a bit more texture in the background, so I used a couple of stamps from Creative Stamping magazine - some text and another small one with a 'cracked' appearance. And that, apart from some silver mirror card to matt, is that.

The second card used very similar techniques:

This card used similar techniques, although the gelli print was first generation, and a lot bolder as a result. I added some trees, and the fairy on a toadstool image. The fairy was from my first ever set of Lavinia stamps - I think they were a subscription gift for a magazine some years ago. The toadstool isn't opaque - so I added some colour using coloured pencils. And again, some mirror card to finish, and a fairly simple card.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 105

 The challenge for this fortnight has been set by my team mate CG. She wants us to make a shaped card, and is especially looking for creativity.

Now, this is something I struggle with. I think I have a fairly good sense of colour, but I'm not good at shape and dimension, and that's even worse when we move in to three dimensions. But, with the aid of a die set or several, I came up with this:

The main card shape uses a die set from Marianne Creatables. You need three of the die cuts to get this shape. I added patterned paper which I bought from The Works. 

I decorated the inside with a variety of die cuts. I'm honestly not sure about the dies used for the vases. I suspect they might be Spellbinders (definitely bronze coloured). The flowers were made using dies from Printable Heaven. The sentiment here (and the one on the front) are from a set which I think was Spellbinders too.

As you can see better in this picture, the vases and sentiment are designed to 'pop up' slightly when the card is open.

But everything folds together for posting. The hinges you see are part of the Marianne die set, and they definitely add to the strength of the design.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 104

 The theme for this fortnight, chosen by my team-mate Craftygirl is 'Bunny'. Obviously a good theme for spring and Easter, but also for new babies and young children, so lots of scope.

I don't often do 'cute', but I do have a couple of CDRoms with suitable images, so I used them.

The image and paper on this one are both from a Crafter's Companion CDRom - Bebunni Floral. I think this was a magazine version of the collection - ie not a complete collection, but it's rather pretty and suits the theme well. I combined the image and paper in Photoshop Elements, adding a border to the image before printing.

But on my trawls through my CDRoms, I also found a suitable image on Everyday at Hollypond Hill.

That's another Crafter's Companion CDRom - this time, it's a complete collection. Again, I combined the image and paper in Photoshop Elements, adding a border and a bevel before printing.

Both images were matted after printing, so really quite simple cards, but then most of the work was done pre-printing. Inserts for both cards use the same papers as the card.

I do hope you can join us this time!

International Art and Soul Challenge 103

 This fortnight's challenge is hosted by Sall, and the them is Natural World at Christmas without robins! I know that last bit caused be a bit of consternation, as every time I thought of an image, there was a robin somewhere. And then I thought of a CDRom I've had for years but rarely used. It's a Debbi Moore CD, and I can't actually remember if it was from a magazine or bought direct from her site. I combined a couple of backgrounds, borders, a sentiment, and an image in Photoshop Elements, and this was the result.

I added some silver mirror card to create a border to the printed image, and that's it.

I do hope you can join us this time.