Project 92: Steampunk challenge

A while ago I tried to conquer the steampunk trend and I'd say the results are mixed. This was before I became obsessed with KennyK and before I decided to start playing along with multiple challenges. The result? A card that took over an hour because I laid it out a dozen times and changed my mind at every opportunity. Oh and I decided to throw caution to the wind and make it OTT busy. LOVES IT.

No really, I do love it. Normally I stop at an embellishment or two but this time I thought I'd make an occasion-free card that I can use at my whim.

I used Jetpack Jayne for the KennyK steampunk challenge. It's the first time I've used her and I love her. I glittered up her goggles to match the orange, grey and black theme as she was a bit peachy compared to everything else.

The black lace doily was from the original $20 challenge from Claire and I think it works perfectly with the theme and the Mojo layout (above). I tried so many different ribbons to match the sketch but it just wasn't working for this already complicated card. Sometimes that's the way it is.

The papers are Chronology and the little paper embellishments (goggle lady, compass and pointing finger) were all cut out of one of the other papers by hand. The black flower with the orange stone adds a bit of bling to balance the goggles on Jayne and I aded three candies in the corner to make an imaginary line from the top right hand corner down to her foot so all of the details are taken in.

So even though it's more complicated than I would usually go, I'm loving it. Must be my crush on Jetpack Jayne.

Project 91: Knocked Up and fabulous

Back to my friend Hannah. This is the second card that was commissioned when I posted yesterday's card. The brief was roughly to make a "congrats your knocked up card" that wasn't too soppy. I won't use the words she described the lucky lady but they ended in ...-show. Which is a fun brief. Han is good for a fun brief.

So I made the card above. It's modern, it's not cutesy, it celebrates the woman, not the baby. I hope the colors are ok, I didn't really get a steer on that. But I think it's fabulous.

I used my nesting die scallops to get the layers. To make it more textured I embossed the bottom layer and then used that to make the banner. The centre image is some free clipart I found online.

I used the block letter stamps I have to spell out the greeting - I love the effect. It's baby-ish yet because it doesn't say "new arrival" or something twee it still fits.

I love it. If she doesn't, I'll keep it and hope someone I know gets knocked up soon.

Project 90: Mojo for an MBE recipient

My friend Hannah commissions the most unique cards from me. And I love her for it. She always comes to me with personalised briefs (see this Christening card or this new home card or this wedding card). So when she asked me to make a congratulations card for her mom's friend who had been awarded an MBE I was delighted. (She also commissioned another card but it's not finished so 'll post that on a different day.)

I looked to Mojo Monday for inspiration and found it. I liked the simplicity of the layout and thought it would work for this more serious occassion. This was the sketch:

The papers are Latte by  DCWV and I haven't used them for a while but I love the patterns and colors. Green strip is embossed with polka dots (I tried a damask embossing folder but it was way too busy) and I used a purple flower with a button to give it the embellishment. I tried adding a mini banner as per the sketch but it didn't work.

The brown paper is usually hard to use but I think by making it the feature it works. I used a long and complicated peel-off for the greeting as I thought it suited the occasion.

Will post the other card later this week when it's finished!

Project 89: New stamps for a new home card

This is a quick post but I was really happy with a new home card I made this week for my friend Palo.

I stopped in to my local craft shop this week when I had half a day off and found this awesome stamp set:

Owls, hearts and houses: what's not to love?!

I used the complicated house stamp to make the headline card using purple ink and grey paper so it wasn't too stark against the busy background. It was a beast. I think this is the 7th atempt? It's so complicated and getting even pressure to get a full image was a nightmare. So this has quickly become a special-occassion-only stamp.

The far left strip is embossed using a new Sizzix embossing folder I bought in a sale and the hot air balloon papers are from the steampunk Chronology set. I glittered these to give a bit of lift. And added the gold candies for the same reason.

I've not posted for a while as I've been so busy coloring in my KennyKs but expect more posts in the next few days as I've been starting to use them!

Project 88: KennyK cards and challenge

A while back I posted about a naming challenge over at KennyK and I am delighted to say that Ginger Gem was a winner!

This week's challenge from the KennyK blog was to use one of their teenage images so I  used her as my feature. Really simple card to be honest, maybe not a challenge-worthy card but she makes me smile. And as it's been so hot and sunny here lately I thought I'd make a summer card for Claire as part of our card exchange that we do as penpals now that she's like a gazillion miles away.

My parents gave me the summer tape (We R Memory Keepers if you're interested) which is a real challenge to use but I thought she was cheerful enough to make it work. For reference: This is an A5 card as "summer" doesn't fit on A6. Thus it being a bit of a challenge. 

The backing paper is from a Martha Stewart punch pad and because of the big glittery dots I don't always have the right card. I added some punched and pressed flowers and bling to add some texture. Very pleased with the result even if it is a bit simple.

Actually that isn't quite fair as KennyK cards require a lot of hand-coloring and as a result they take more effort than even a complicated Mojo layout card or something. Anyway, I digress.

I thought I'd show a few more here as I've been coloring these stamps for the last week while I was on vacation and wanted to make sure I showed off some of the effort!

 

This one is a 4th themed card for my friend Jules - she sent me a load of 4th of July goodies and I thought I'd give her a card back to say thanks! Admittedly she'll get it weeks late but it's the thought that counts, right? The stickers are from the set she gave me and the greeting is a hand-colored digi stamp greeting from Claire. Backing paper is from this month's LittleClaire club.

The next two are for two of my colleagues who have birthdays this month. It's funny, when I joined the company 10 months ago (holy cow! feels like years!) there was one other female employee. We have grown and grown and now ther are 6 besides me. More chances to make cards! Both feature colors that remind me of the recipients though obviously they're a bit more glam than I usually see them.

For the green "blonde bombshell" on the right I added some bling to her earrings and added the flower on the right to balance it out. I wanted the super close cut so I went over the outline in a sharpie to make it easier to cut. I chose purple in the background to help give it some depth. I didn't really have space for a greeting. Oh well.

The "showgirl" on the right is on a blue glitter strip against a paper that I have honestly never liked but really spoke to me here. I love it. I used random little glitter blobs aroundt he greeting to add some texture. Love both of them.

Finally is a card made well in advance of my wedding anniversary. I made the cupid purple as that was our wedding color. I love purple and grey together, I think it's a great combo. Instead of a greeting I just used gold letters to spell out "3 years" though you can't see that, nor can you see the fact that I glittered her wings and the heart arrows.

So a holiday full of coloring has paid off I think!

Project 87: Celebrating 300 mojo challenges

I have been crafting seriously for about 2 years now and from the beginning Claire has pointed me toward blog challenges that are flexible, fun and genuinely inspiring. Mojo is one of my favourites for layouts because even when it looks a bit complicated it is a good challenge to try and test your skills and push your kit to the limit.

I found the challenge this week a bit busy but as they are celebrating their 300th blog challenge I wanted to get involved.

The headline is my entry and the image above is my card following the sketch I kept the background simple though now I'm wishing I had embossed the salmon card. Oh well. I used the scallop punch to get the circle and added the little banner to the button-topped flower to be true to the sketch.

All of the papers are Boho Chic by First Edition Papers, which I got in a bumper ordering spree at Craft Superstore.

I will be posting loads this week so please come back - I know I've gone a bit quiet as I went on vacation to Scotland for a week (lovely, if a bit rainy and windy!) but I took some stamps with me to color so I could hit the ground running when I came back. I have about 3 posts' worth I think so that shuld fill up the week!