A little Embossing

Today I thought  would pop in with a card for this months Let's Squash It challenge where we are being asked to keep it CAS. 

I had a look through my folder of cards that I haven't posted yet and found this. I thought it was perfect:

This was very quick and easy to do. I embossed my panel and cut it to size before swiping ink randomly over it in 2 colours. I also inked the edges in the pink.

The little heart was stamped and heat embossed in green and painted with my zig clean colour real brush pens.

The sentiment was heat embossed and the strip cut to size and the edges inked. i was quite happy with this one. Hope you like it too.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hunky dory adorable scorable coated card for the base; white stamping card

Ink: Catherine Pooler

Stamps: Tonic Studios Happy hibiscus and matching die

Embossing Folder: Sizzix 3D texture fades lumber by Tim Holtz

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

A Special Birthday

Today I thought I would pop in quickly before the current challenge at Seize the birthday closes. I made this card a few weeks ago for my neighbour who was celebrating his 90th birthday. I think it qualifies for the metallic theme.

The swirly stamp by whimsy was stamped in versamark and coated with gold perfect pearls so it has a lovely shine to it. I mounted it onto a gold metallic mat, cut a flower out of a piece of left over alcohol inked yupo paper and added the numbers. The sentiment from Uniko was heat embossed in gold.

I really don’t enjoy making cards for men but I was quite pleased with this one.

I am also sharing this at:

Cardz for guyz: they are celebration their 300th challenge with a theme of congratulations. I hope my 90th birthday card qualifies, I certainly congratulated him with this card on his special day. Congratulations to the whole team.

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

We Love Stamping July Reminder

Today is the 18th so time for a reminder about the current challenge over at We Love Stamping. The challenge where you can showcase your stamps and your skill at using them.

This month our theme is:

**Anything stamped with the option of hot sunny colours **

The background for this card was made using my gelli plate and distress oxide inks. I really like the look you can create and I think I have now used all the ones I created in my last session, so time for another I think. I stamped the image in sage ink and clear heat embossed it before adding colour to elements of the stamp. I added the butterflies to the background with a stencil for a little extra interest.

As I have used a succulent stamp for this card I thought it was an opportunity to show you a few more pictures of my succulents. These are current pictures taken recently.

There are a variety of different succulent pots on the wall in the photo above and a few smaller ones in the photo below. They are in a ceramic bird bath, which the birds never used so I repurposed it as a succulent stand. It works quite well.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month the prize is a mixed media bundle from Oakwood Archer. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose one entry to join us as a guest designer for a future challenge.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is follow the prompt and ensure stamping is the main focus on your card. The challenge will close at noon on Wednesday the 3rd August.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Supplies:

Cardstock: white stamping card; Hunky Dory adorable scorable coated card

Ink: Distress Oxide spiced marmalade, dried marigold, twisted citron; Catherine Pooler sage

Stamps: Uniko happy succulents; Sentiment Concord & 9th triple step autumn leaf

Dies: Lisa Horton tatty layers tickseed panel

Stencil: Funky Fossil (butterflies)

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

CAS Mix Up July Reminder

Today is the 15th March so time for a reminder about our current challenge over at CAS Mix Up. This month we are using watercolour and Linda is our host. She wants us to place things with wings on our cards.

I hope I can get away with calling this card CAS, I really wanted to use the flower background die as I thought it matched my flower quite well. Is there enough white space? 

The hardest thing on this card was making sure the central die was in the right place. I coloured my flower and bee with my zig watercolour pens and then mounted them with foam pads. The hi came with the flower stamp and was stamped directly on the panel which was mounted on a coloured card base.

I am loving all the watercoloured cards so far this month

You have until 24th to join us and don't forget to visit the blog to get more inspiration and some links to technique videos to help.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Supplies:

Cardstock: White 250gsm card; Hunky Dory adorable scorable coated card

Ink: Zig clean colour real brush pens

Stamps: Altenew wonder flower and die; Tonic Studios sunshine and sunflowers stamp set (bee)

Dies: Creative Expressions Canadian collection - background; Lisa Horton tatty layers lily rose panel

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

A Special Box Card

Hello

After a few days away in sunny East Sussex I am back catching up with what I have missed. I do love the south coast and the rolling countryside. I am so used to the flat lands of East Anglia that the rolling hills of the South Downs seem like mountains to me! Plus, I love the seaside and the English Channel actually looks turquoise and not muddy brown like the North Sea. The sun shone for our visit so the sea was lovely and sparkly too.

I have a special friend whose birthday is the day before mine, but, she is 4 years older than me and so it was a special year for her this year. Reaching 70 is quite a challenge I think, she was certainly in shock about it for a while.

If it is a special birthday I quite like to make box cards as they are quite straightforward to make also pack a punch, I think. You can see another box card using the same dies that I made for my daughters 40th here.

Lots of photos on this post to help you get a feel for the details in the box. The flowers were all die cut from snippets of left over backgrounds. Mainly watercolour but some gelli prints.

Once the box was made I cut the Crafters Companion floral delights die set 3 times using different scraps for the flowers. these were arranged before glueing into the box. I added some little hearts and numbers onto clear acetate and arranged them in the box too. The medallion on the front is made using the pretty posy die also by Crafters Companion. I used part of the die to decorate the sides of the box and stamps on the 2 side flaps.

I added a little tag with some embroidery floss to one of the side flaps.

You can see the numbers and hearts in this picture.

I used some tiny gems for the centres of some of the flowers.

And finally a view from the back.

I am pleased to say that my friend was very impressed with this one. She said she couldn't stop looking at it, that's a good sign I think.

I was waiting for the new snippets challenge before publishing this post only to realise that Di is asking for Christmas cards this month! Never mind there is always a next time.

I am sharing this at:

Do-A1 Creatives #67 - box card

knutselsenkadootjes - summer flowers

Supplies:

cardstock: Adorable scorable coated card, various colours

Ink: Versamark and wow gold embossing powder

Stamps: Concord & 9th

Dies: Crafters Companion, floral delight and pretty posy double sided dies; Creative Expressions, from me to you; with love was free from a magazine; Concord & 9th numbers; Tiny heart flowers by Positively Papercraft

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

We Love Stamping July Challenge

Today is the first Sunday of the month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping. The challenge where you can showcase your stamps and your skill at using them.

This month our theme is:

**Anything stamped with the option of hot sunny colours**

My lovely sunflowers were stamped onto watercoloured paper and coloured with watercolour pens. This set came with matching dies, but the die for this stamp only cut the inner edge of the flowers. As I didn't stamp it close enough to the edge, I used a stitched rectangle die to cut the corner down. I decided the background needed some interest so I used this pinpoint leaf die, which I also cut down with the stitched rectangle die. The sentiment was stamped onto some adhesive backed vellum and clear heat embossed. The 2 ladybirds are part of the sunflowers stamp set and I added them to provide a pop of colour and some contrast.

This is the same stamp set that I used for my CAS Mix Up card on Friday.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month the prize has been kindly donated by Oakwood Archer  and is a fabulous mixed media bundle. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner will be selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose one entry to join us as a guest designer for a future challenge.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is follow the prompt and ensure stamping is the main focus on your card. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday the 3rd August.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

I am also sharing this at:

Allsorts week 683 - Flora & Fauna

The four seasons challenge - Anything Summer goes

NBUS #40 - the sunflowers and ladybirds are NBUS

Supplies:

Cardstock: Hot pressed watercolour card; Gina K heavy base weight white card

Ink: Versamark onyx black

Stamps: Tonic Studios sunshine and sunflowers and matching dies (stamp club set 10)

Dies: Memory Box pinpoint leaf plate; stitched rectangle dies

Other: Zig clean colour real brush pens

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

June Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Today is 2nd of the month so time for the Card Chain Challenge big reveal. This month 28 card makers took part and I sent my card to Linda in Minnesota. 

This month I used the sketch option, slightly modified. I really tried to do the wonky horizontal stripes behind my image using washy tape but I just couldn't make them work, so I used a sheet that I had created from waste strips that I found in my stash.

My central panel was stamped in versamark and then coated with copper coloured perfect pearls, so it has quite a nice sheen to it. I then used copper coloured metallic card to cut the mats, the flower and the sentiment.

I used a stencil to decorate the envelope and insert that you can see on the first picture.

This month I was lucky enough to receive this gorgeous card from the one and only Gail in Norway. I love the quirkiness of her cards and am very grateful for all the work she does to keep this wonderful challenge running. Thanks Gail.

If you would like to take part in the next card chain challenge, you have until 6th to sign up here

Supplies:

Cardstock: White stamping card; XCut adhesive metal effect sheets

Dies: Flower by Creative Expressions; sentiment by Lawn Fawn; Stitched rectangles by Create a Smile

Stamps: Whimsy Stamps, curly Q's background

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

July CAS Mix Up

It is the first of the month so time for a new challenge at CAS Mix Up, I do hope you will be able to join us. This month we are using watercolour and  Linda is our host. She wants us to add things with wings to our watercoloured CAS card.

I am quite proud of this card because I actually used splatters and they turned out OK. I do love splatters on cards but rarely use them on my own cards because they never turn out how I want them to. I have decided to stop fretting and just do it and it worked. This time anyway!

This is one of Tonic Studios stamp club sets which have loads of stamps and matching dies. My collection of these sets is growing slowly as I wait for the offers before buying and really like the flower ones.

My sunflower was coloured with my Zig water colour pens, cut with the matching dies and stuck to the card, simple. The little bee and sentiment are also in the set.

You have until 24th to join us and don't forget to visit the blog to get more inspiration and some links to technique videos to help.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Watercolour paper; Hunky Dory adorable scorable coated card

Ink: versamark onyx black

Stamps: Tonic Studios Stamp Club set 10, sunshine and sunflowers

Dies: Create a Smile stitched rectangle

Other: Zig clean colour real brush pens

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