Smile

Hello,
Two posts in one day, I am not sure what has happened, but I am on a roll!  I am sharing this card at
Casology Week 328 Smile and at Crafty Calendar January Challenge make it flowery.

Here is my card:

 I have decided that in 2019 I want to improve my watercoloring skills and realise that the only way to do that is to practice. So here is my first practice of the year. the stamp is from Woodware and I painted it with my Zig real brush pens after stamping with gina k amalgam ink. I am pleased to say that there was absolutely no bleed.

To give the flower a little bit of bling I used a sparkly gel pen on the inside, see close up:

Once the flower was finished I masked it and splattered the background with black and red watercolour.



Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate.
Hilary
xx

Masking and stencil

Hello,
Today I am sharing my card at Less is More Challenge #387 and AAA Cards CAS Game 132.

Here is my card:

I saw the sketch at Less is More and really liked it but it took me a while to come up with my take on it. There are some wonderful interpretations in the gallery which are quite inspiring.

 To make my card I masked the shape and then spread a transparent gloss texture paste through a stencil. Once it was dry I used metallic Faber-Castell Gelatos to add the colour. I have only just got these and I love them already, they are so easy to use and they blend wonderfully.

I used a bit of coloured string that I found in my stash to make the bow and stuck it down following the line of the mask, added the sentiment (heat embossed in white) and placed a tiny heart on the bow to Finnish. The string proved to be very furry so I had to give it a trim! The blue frame is made with blueberry metallic gelatos on the base card.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate.
Hilary
xx

Heart Tree

Hello,
Today I am sharing a card that I made with the My Favourite Things Die-namics Heart Tree. I bought this die on the spur of the moment and just love it. You can make 2 cards with every cut and it lends itself to the simplest of CAS cards.
Here is my card:

I have used the cut out pieces for this card, It was very fiddly but with the help of some Press'n Seal it is possible to remove the cuts from the die. I cut it from ivory card and then added some colour to selected elements with my alcohol markers. I stamped the sentiment and then added the frame.

Here is a close up:

I am entering this card in Addicted to CAS #151 Codeword Friends.



Here is the card I made with the negative space:

To make the background I embossed a piece of thin card with the die, coloured some elements and attached it behind the dicta space. The finish isn't as clean on this one so I am not entering it in anything.

I think I will use this die to make some note cards to give as presents.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate.
Hilary
xx

Twofer #12 'Birds"

Hello,
Today I finally have 2 cards ready to enter the Twofer January challenge, the codeword is birds. I do enjoy this challenge but I always struggle to decide what stamp/die/stencil to use, and then to come up with 2 designs, and then to execute them successfully. But then I suppose that's why I do it, it is a true challenge.

Anyway here are my cards:

I have used the Ranger Dylusions stamp and stencil set that came with issue 186 of Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine. I have included the set in this photo:

For this first card I wanted a kind of mixed media feel. I put down a layer of watercolour and then dabbed colour through the stencil before spritzing it, once it was dry I stamped the images and added a bit of additional colour to them with my Zig real brush pens. I also spritzed cosmic shimmer over the finished card. It is a birthday card, here is a close up:

My second card is for Valentines day:

I created the mirror image of the bird using a gel plate, then coloured them with colouring pencils and fussy cut. The background behind the heart is alcohol ink on yupo paper, of course. I can't get enough of that, just love the effect. I propped the panel up on craft foam and added the small hearts because I managed to smudge red ink on the panel!

Here is a close up:

I have 2 days to go before the deadline so that's not too bad.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. I would love to hear what you think about my cards.
Hilary
xx

AAA Cards Game #131

Hello,

Today I am sharing my card at AAA Cards CAS #130, I think I am just in time for the deadline. It is a sketch with an optional twist of pastel colours. This card took a long time to come together and I am not desperately happy with it but I thought I would share it anyway as it all helps me improve.



Here is my card:

The flowers are cut with a Lawn Fawn die and the centres have been filled with enamel accents. This didn't work as well as I had hoped but the overall impression is OK I think.

Here is a close up:

I lightly inked the edges of the panel with wilted violet Distress Oxide to give a little definition and tried to curve the sentiment to match the flowers - it almost worked!

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx

Bokeh

Hello,
Today I am sharing my card at CAS Mix Up January Challenge, the three elements this month are bokeh, stamping and your choice. This is the first time I have attempted a bokeh effect and I am quite pleased with the finished result. It is a very effective technique and some of the examples in the gallery are quite stunning.

Here is my card:

I created the background by blending distress inks and then adding white pigment ink through different sized circle masks. The flowers/seed heads were stamped in versa fine  onyx black, as was the sentiment. My choice for the third element was die cut and I added one tiny gold dragon fly.

Here is a close up:

I think I shall have to practice this technique a bit more, it is very effective. I really like the different looks you can get with it.



Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary xx

Thinking of you

Hello,
Today I am sharing a card at Lost Coast Portal to Creativity Challenge #67 Anything Goes.

Here is my card:

The background was inked with distress inks, then splashed with water and splattered with black ink. I then stamped the seed heads repeatedly and spritzed the panel with cosmic shimmer once dry. The sentiment was stamped with StazOn black ink onto vellum. I added the coloured frames and mounted it on black paper. The 3 little dragon fly die cuts finish it off.

It took a while for this card to come together but I am quite pleased with the end result.



Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary xx

Stencils 1

Hello,
Today I am sharing this card at January CAS Stencil Challenge and CAS on Friday #149 Flowers. I have a growing collection of stencils but am not generally very good at using them, so the new stencil challenge is an ideal opportunity to try and correct that.

Here is my card:

The stencil is from Funky Fossil,  the rose and leaves where a free gift with issue 179 of Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine and the thanks is from Lawn Fawn. I sponged the stencil through an oval aperture with Dew Drop Pearlescent lavender ink so it has a rather nice shine to it.




Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate.
Hilary
xx

Snowflake

Hello,
Today I am feeling slightly nervous as this is my first ever guest designer post. I was lucky enough to be chosen as CAS Perfectionist for this card at Addicted to CAS #148 so I now find myself trying to come up with a suitable CAS design for Challenge 150 with codeword Snowflake. Thankfully you do get several weeks to plan, I think I may have been lucky and got some extra time because of the Christmas Holidays.

 Anyway here is my card:

Products used:

• Snowflake die from The Works
• You die from My Favourite Things (bought with my prize)
• Matching sentiments from My Favourite Things (also bought with my prize)
• Alcohol inks

I created an alcohol ink background on yupo paper and added some blue foil whilst it was still wet to create some shine. The snowflake die was cut 3 times, the first from the front of my panel and then I turned the die round and cut it from the bottom part of the panel. This was to ensure the gap in the panel had the right curve on it. I then stuck the stacked dies on the edge of the top part of the panel and stamped the sentiment with pigment ink and heat embossed using clear embossing powder. The you is also cut 3 times and stacked. The 2 pieces of the panel were propped up with double sided sticky foam sheet to give the dimension.

Here are some more pictures:

I have to admit that I made this card several times before I got it right. I had a clear image of what I wanted in my head but somehow it didn't want to go right when I made it. I am quite pleased with the end result though.

I hope you like it, do please tell me what you think.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today
Hilary
xx