A Special Thank you

Hello, 

Today I have something that I have been meaning to share for a while and have finally found the time to do it today. I am not entering any challenges, but I want to say thank you to a very special crafter who you all know well. I am talking about Darnell of djkardkreations.

Here is the reason why - on June 3rd 2019 Darnell published a post that used the Altenew mega-succulent stamp and I left her  a comment saying how I loved that stamp and it had been on my wish list for a while. Quite an innocent comment I thought, so imagine how surprised I was when a couple of weeks later, not 1, but 3 envelopes arrived in the post each containing 2 stamped and heat embossed impressions of the stamp. She would have sent me the actual stamp if the postage hadn't been extortionate. Anyway, I vowed to use them and share the result with her.

It has only taken me 18months but I have now turned them all into cards, which I share with you today. I am sure you know what it is like, they sat on  my desk for a while, then they got put away and then they would come out again and finally, they got converted into cards.

Here goes:

This one was water coloured with my zig clean colour real brush pens and then sent back to Darnell for her birthday in July last year.

This one was a spur of the moment idea after I saw someone (can't remember who) use this dotting technique. I used alcohol markers.

My final 4 blanks were made into a set of note cards that will be a Christmas present this year.

I used brusho paints to colour them. Here they are before mounting.

And here they are after mounting:

Thanks Darnell, you're a star. I am so grateful that I have found this wonderful community as it has helped keep me sane this year. Thank you all for your part in that.

And finally here are a couple of picture of one of my succulent arrangements taken in the summer when they were in full flower.

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

xx

For a child

Hello, 

Popping in quickly to share this birthday card.

This is an unusual card for me as I don't often make scenes, but I did enjoy this. The stamp set was free with a magazine. The card base is a deep plum colour and not quite as dark as it looks in the photos.

 

I am sharing this at:

AAA Birthday #19 - for a child

Seize the Birthday - Anything goes

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

 Hilary 

xx

Christmas Reindeer

Hello, 

Today I am sharing 2 Christmas cards that I am entering in this months Twofer Challenge. I am so pleased to see that the 2 cards this month can be for the same occasion as long as the design is different, as it means I have 2 cards ready. The prompt this month is stars and my stamp is by My Favourite Things. If you look closely you will see that the reindeer is made up of lots of stars. This set also includes a Christmas tree and a dove in the same style.

Card 1

The starry reindeer was stamped  and heat embossed in gold onto some cream card and cut with the co-ordniating die. This was mounted on a panel that was stamped (Catherine Pooler peppermint stick background) and heat embossed onto white card and that panel was mounted on a cream die cut panel that was mounted on a textured white card base. The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the reindeer.

Card 2

My light grey panel was embossed with a Darice snowflake embossing folder and the reindeer stamped and heat embossed in silver along with the sentiment. I finished it off by heat embossing the edges with silver and mounting it on a blue card base. I used a grey alcohol marker to give the reindeer a bit more definition.  The blue insert was stamped with the reindeer in Brilliance silver ink (that paper is white on the inside).

You can see the embossing better here:

These are two pretty simple cards but easy to replicate as I tend to make multiples of my Christmas designs.

I am also sharing card 2 at:

Let's squash it #2 - use a Christmas themed embossing folder and stamps

Christmas Kickstart #42 - embossing folder and a stamp

Casology week 378 - Stag

 

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

 Hilary 

xx

CAS MixUp Reminder

It's time for a reminder for this months challenge over at CAS Mix Up where our host is Bonnie and the theme is off the edge. It is a watercolour month so do make sure that watercolours have prominence on your card.

I have two cards to share today.

I started by taking some watercolour paper and doing a light yellow wash. Once that was dry I spritzed with some Altenew warm sunshine metallic shimmer ink spray. I do struggle to spray this evenly but decided that it doesn't really matter. The flower stamps are by Clarity Stamp, I painted them with my Gansai Tambi watercolours and coloured the centres with a gelli roll sparkle pen. I finished it off with a bold sentiment heat embossed in a chocolate pearl embossing powder.

I used the rest of the watercoloured panel for my second card but this time I painted the leaf type shapes down the edge of the card  and then added the die cut leaf (inlaid into a circle of card) to the corner.  The sentiment (by Altenew) is heat embossed in gold.

I used the die cut as a stencil to decorate the envelope and the insert.

You know what it is like when you make some cards but don't really like them much, well that's how I feel about these. Kind of meh....

That's just the way it goes sometimes.

Anyway I hope that doesn't stop you from having a go, I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

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

xx

Embossed Christmas Tree

I have just seen the challenge at The Sisterhood of Crafters and have the perfect card ready, so I thought I should waste no time and get a quick post done.

The theme is embossing, wet or dry so here is my card:

This embossing folder was free with a recent edition of Simply Cards and Papercraft. I used a brayer to ink the folder before running it through my machine. I think I did it more than once to get good coverage. Some of the ornaments are on the embossing folder and some are little tiny dies that came with it. I coloured them with a purple sparkle pen.

I enjoyed making this, I hope you like it.

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

 Hilary x

x