Project 402: Playdate fun

Claire and I had a great playdate on Sunday and I wanted to show some of the random cards I made while we were playing at our desks a few thousand miles apart.

The headline card was fun as it used a could of scraps on my desk. The background is a printed card that Claire got me and I layered a grid paper that is from an ancient pack I got years ago. The tag is also a scrap - if you believe it - as the back had something on it that I didn't use. The flowers were glued and pinned using a mini clothes pin. The sentiment is a Recollections stamp from a mini set that I absolutely love.

This one is a bit of an art piece! The zebra was from a birthday card I received and loved so much I saved it to use as scrap. I die cut a square out and then used the grid paper features above but tore a scrap to give it a more interesting border. I used black Distress Ink around the edges to give it streaks and a messy finish. I added a black twine, sequins and a small blue punched bow (Sizzix/Tim Holtz) and a sentiment that I recently got second hand.

Finally this one used a scrap from another card I made (it's too personal and weird to share!) and I used two scraps in blue and yellow (see the same blue of the bow above) and die cut the Hello from a Sizzix set. A few little enamel dots and that was it. I kept it really simple after a number of fussy creations previously.

Project 401: Stamped background challenge

I saw the challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch and it reminded me of something I used to do a few years ago, repeating a stamped pattern and then raising the layers so the pattern bled from one panel to the next. I decided to give it a go when Claire and I had a playdate this weekend.

I used the Flower Patch stamp set from Stampin' Up as they have great little details and layers. I chose greens and yellow and did the design on water color. After stamping I went over the image with an aqua brush to blend the colors and create a bit more dimension. I left space in the middle for a sentiment and then die cut the oval out. I raised it on thick foam against a yellow card so you might see a peak of the background from the side.

It has a slightly retro feel that I like, and it's a technique that I like and hope to revisit again soon.

Project 400: A rainbow layout challenge

There is little I love more than a rainbow. Fact. When I was in high school I drew them everywhere and was attracted to anything from stationery to bags and clothes that featured them. I recently got a second hand rainbow stamp set and thought it would be fun to play with Freshly Made Sketches' challenge this week:

I decided to keep it really simple and enter CAS-ual Fridays One Layer Wonder challenge as well.

I masked off the borders of the card and blended the central panel using Distress Inks in Peacock Feather, Cracked Pistachio and Blueprint Sketch. I heat embossed the sentiment and then used Enamel Accents to create the rainbow. I made a pretty big smudge and decided to cover that with some die-cut clouds that I edged in Cool Grey 1 ProMarker. I hope that still counts as 1 layer!

I am super pleased with the result, it really speaks to my teenage-self (many years ago) and I think I will have to hold on to it for a while before I send it to someone.

Project 399: A cute little sketch and baby card

Since Christmas I've been struggling for mojo at my craft desk and dipping in and out of challenges less frequently than my usual behaviour. But I really liked the layout at Sketch Saturday and tasked myself to use paper scraps as I wanted to see what I could come up with.

The whole idea came out of the heart paper, I just love the color combos and how sweet they are. It was a gift from Claire this summer and I've been a bit precious about that set - but as this is a scrap I used a fairly big piece guilt free. The green piece is also a scrap and I embossed him using an ancient diamond folder, one of the very first embossing folders I ever got. The sweet hello is from a set that I bought off of Jenn Shurkas who was selling off her old stash and I got in there lightning quick! I punched a little heart and covered it in Enamel Accents to give it a bit texture as all the paper looked a bit flat. 

This one doesn't work to the challenge but as I used the same scraps (hearts and pink border) I thought I'd showcase it here as a freebie. The elephant is a stamp/die from Sizzix that I got in the Black Friday sale, and the sentiment is the same set. The backing paper is a scrap from the Neapolitan stack from Recollections that I have been so precious with but as this is for a colleague I decided to get over myself and just use it! The little white enamel dots add a bit of lightness. 

As I was struggling this weekend I wanted a craft session to be super simple and not too fussy and I'm happy with the result of both of these :) 

Project 398: A collage wedding card

A good friend asked me to make a wedding card for a couple he has been friends with since high school. They have been together since they were teenagers and decided to get married to make things easier as they buy houses, move countries and generally change their lifestyle by the year!

He gave me a brief of things that would mean something to them - they travel a lot as a group of friends and so he requested a number of things to represent their adventures. Plus booze and food that feature regularly - it's something I can certainly relate to!

I started cutting out everything from plain card stock, I didn't want to have to draw too much (mainly because I'm terrible at drawing) and paper cutting always looks a bit different. People tend to be more forgiving as well!

The bicycle is a stamp that I die cut out (and then cut out a few pieces more), and the ham, beer stein, cheese and lime slice feature some pen detailing. The little grapes on the cheese board (hard to see) and the tulips are a punch (I colored the leaves green to avoid pink stems and leaves). The gin and tonic and champagne glasses are filled with glitter glue to look like liquid (I was pleased with that detail, I'm doing that again). Finally I made a Malta flag to represent her heritage and a destination they often return to.

It's in the post to go to my friend now, I think he'll like it and more importantly I think the couple will like it!

Project 397: A card for a guy at MAWTT

This week at Moving Along with the Times we have a masculine theme: a card for a guy please!

For my card, I decided to use my DieVersions robot die that I love so much and layer him up over two stitched rectangle dies. In stead of punching out all of the internal little holes on the robot I tried something different and added enamel accents to make him bit more toy-like. I think the effect is really fun and plastic-y, I'm pretty happy with the result. Finally the sentiment was stamped using a  little set that Claire got me this past spring.

Hope you're having a fun craft week, looking forward to seeing your entries!

Project 396: A starry pink birthday card

I saw the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch this week and thought it would be fun to play along and make a birthday card for a girlfriend. She loves pink and so with that color in mind I set out to make something fun for her that could also incorporate some of my new craft toys.

I chose a starry stencil and used Picked Raspberry Distress Ink for the pattern. I embossed a strip of card with little Swiss dots and then added a black frame to make it pop out. The butterfly is die cut using an X-Cut die and the message is heat embossed in white powder. It's very girly but I think she'll love it!

Project 395: Feather birthday card challenge

I haven't been crafting much lately but with so many great new craft treats I have been spending more time at my desk this weekend than the whole of January combined! I wanted to get my mojo running so I turned to two challenge blogs for inspiration: Sketch Saturday for the layout and Color Throwdown for the colors. The combination was perfect and after a bit of planning I came up with my card.

The background was created using a Tim Holtz stencil and Carved Pumpkin Distress ink. The circle was die cut out of corrugated card. I tried a rectangle but it just wasn't working for me so I hope I'm forgiven for breaking the sketch a bit! The feather is a die that was half heat embossed with black powder - it was in my pre-cut die box and I think Claire gave it to me or I did it with her...the little bit of string completed the sketch and I added a sentiment from Stampin' Up BalloonCelebrations.

I love this color combo and know just who to give this card to, it was a great combined challenge to get the weekend going.

Project 394: Animal birthday and valentine cards

I got so much lovely stash for my birthday from Claire that when I got home I wanted to play with everything. My mojo hasn't been up to scratch lately and I thought it would be fun to make just a few things and not get too stressed about it.

The headline card is a birthday card for a friend who shares my birthday (today!) featuring Bugaboo pigs, stitched dies from Claire's Christmas present and a gorgeous background stamp that I inked in Salty Ocean Distress Ink and spritzed. The pigs are colored with ProMarkers.

The second card here features a new Valentine set. I embossed the little paws in white, blended over it in Candied Apple Distress Ink. I fussy cut the stamp and then stamped a sentiment combining three of the messages together. There are so many little sentiment options with this set, it's really sweet. I added the little strip of red gems, I'm not sure it's in keeping with the rest but oh well!

It took me a while to get back into the swing of things but I had a lot of fun with these two. hopefully the inspiration will come back as I play with all my other new things!

Project 393: A very pink baby shower

I have been unable to craft and blog at my usual pace these past few weeks because I have been working non stop on a baby shower for my sister.

So many things made for this shower! So MANY THINGS.

Here's the run down:

• Game boards (I got a template online for a prom invite - yes really - and manipulated it to get the arrangement I wanted. I hated the Baby Shower game boards I found and thought this worked way better for what I wanted) 
• Labels for champagne bottles that say 'About to Pop!' that were printed, die cut, layered over a pink scallop and punched to become a tag 
• Signs for craft stations 
• Tiny folded napkins to look like diapers that hold snacks 
• Ribbon rosettes for the mom to be, x2 grandmas and me, the aunt! 
• Decorated hair bands - there was a station for all the guests do decorate some but Claire and I made x2 testers and then I decorated more with the spares

Plus a bunch of games, prizes, etc. It was all a bit hectic to organise but the final day was beautiful and fun and my sister had a great time which is what really matters. Can't wait to have that little baby in our lives!