February Card Chain Challenge

Hello,

Today is reveal day for the February card chain challenge. I sent my card to Greta in Oregon.

This is what she received:

I used the colour option and the theme option of birds.

The background is blended with distress oxide inks, I masked off the white strip before I started inking and then I stamped the little bird, which is from My Favourite Things, with versamark and heat embossed it in white. The sentiment is from Hero Arts which I also heat embossed onto black card. I drew a fine line at the edge of the ink with a fine liner pen and added the little birds in the sky with an opaque paint pen. I was surprised and quite pleased with how they turned out as I was worried that I would mess it up.

Here is a close up:

I really enjoy this challenge as it is so nice to receive wonderful handmade cards in the post.

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

One Corner

Hello,
I am feeling very honoured and happy today as I have received a mention for outstanding design on February CAS Stencil Challenge, I can't quite believe it so thanks to everyone that visits me and leaves such encouraging comments. It must be proof that my card making skills are improving.

Today I have a card that I made a couple of weeks ago but have only just found the time to do the post. I made it specifically for AAA Cards CAS game 134. When I saw the prompt, one corner, I immediately thought of this Tutti Designs die that I really like but haven't used much.

Here is my card:

I cut the die from 2 different pieces of cardstock and inlaid the pieces. The inlaid pieces actually have a really nice sheen to them which the photo doesn't really capture. Looking at the picture now I wonder if I should have been more selective with the inlaid pieces, just putting them in the flower shapes. Perhaps I will try that next time. The thanks die is from Lawn Fawn. Here is a close up:

I made this card in 2 colour ways, here is my second one:

Unfortunately I lost one of the pieces so had to cover the gap with an enamel dot. I can guarantee that I will do that with at least one piece however careful I try to be!

Anyway, I am entering the purple and pink card in this challenge.

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

Brushos

Hello,
Today I am sharing my card at the Feb CAS Stencil Challenge, where we are asked to use brushes with stencils. I have had some brusho powder paints for a while but I have never used them with a stencil, so this was a learning curve for me. I ended up spending an afternoon getting a bit messy and making a number of backgrounds. Then, of course, I have to work out how to make them into cards. I always find that the hardest bit!

I will show you the first card I made in a minute because once it was made I realised it was a CAS challenge and my card wasn't CAS. So I started again with a different stencil and I made this:

The stencil is from the crafters workshop, it has always been my favourite. I cut a section of the image to create the panel and used gold coated card to make the highlights. I think this is still CAS but it may be borderline, not sure.

My second card is definitely CAS but I don't like it so much so am not entering it in anything. Here it is:

And here is the first card that really isn't CAS:

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

Stars

Hello,
Today I have my Twofer #13 entry ready to share with you. The prompt this month is stars, so as is usual for me I spent some time trying to come up with my designs. I usually try and have a design in my head before starting but more often than not it is not until I actually sit down to make a card that the design comes, or I find that what is in my head simply won't work in reality.

Anyway here is my star Twofer:

The star stamp is from a set that came free with a magazine. I haven't used it before and I found it lends itself quite nicely to heat embossing because of the detail within the star shape. I therefore used heat embossing on both cards. The background on both crds is done with Faber-Castell Gelatos, which I am busy experimenting with since they joined my supplies. I found them in TK Maxx at a really good price (you just never know what you will find in that shop). I think I am going to use them a lot as they are very forgiving, you can just keep on adding colour and blending and they are water soluble.

Here is my first card:

I used versa mark ink and white embossing powder for the star and I stamped it a second time after rotating the paper by 90 degrees. I spent some time trying to decide whether to mount it square or not! The sentiment is die cut from mirror card and the inside of the card reads 'on your birthday'.

Here is my second card:

This card reads congratulations inside and was made in a similar way to the first card. I wanted the stars to look like they are shining, not sure if I have succeeded. They are embossed in white on the background and the mounted one is gold. The sentiment was written with my Scan N Cut machine.

Well that's my Twofer for this month. Hope to see you again next month.



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

Bouquet

Hello,
Today I have have a card I made from a set of Bo Bunny Flower Garden stamps. I have been trying to get round to using these since I got them a few weeks ago. They remind me of the flowers that Johanna Basford draws in her colouring books, I do love her books, I have them all but don't spend nearly enough time practicing my colouring skills. There are some simply amazing colourists out there.

Anyway this card helped me practice:

I started by stamping the flowers I wanted to use onto all over sticky post it notes and then fussy cutting them out. Then I just masked and stamped building up the bouquet as I went. I received some Faber-Castell Polychromos colour pencils for Christmas so I used them to colour my flowers. I also used some gel pens to add highlights and a bit of sparkle. After spending ages trying to decide how to use it, I eventually fussy cut it out (not very well) and mounted it on a card front that I had lightly stencilled with a petal pattern.

I added the tag when I saw the CAS on Friday challenge title of tag it, although I am unsure if this is truly a CAS card, perhaps you can tell me.

I am quite pleased with the finished card but because I faffed about so much I missed the deadline for the casology bouquet challenge that inspired it (also because I am a little unsure of it's CAS credentials).

I am entering it into the following challenges:
1. Snippets Playground #345 - my snippet is the tag. This is my first time entering this challenge, not sure why!
2. The Flower Challenge 29 - use your latest stamps or dies
3. CAS on Friday #151 - Tag it





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