Project 463: A country-walk inspired card

A colleague asked if I would make a card as a thank you for a weekend stay in the country. Specifically they wanted a card that was country-inspired without featuring too many flowers or animals.

The headline card was the one inspired by the brief. I used two magazine freebies to create the tree and fence scene which I heat embossed in black. I blended the background after die cutting the rectangle to make it a bit more atmospheric, I added the sentiment and birds using dye ink instead of embossing as I wanted the textures to be different. The touch of string was to add texture though truthfully I don't love it now!

This was another card I was just playing around with on my desk and it doesn't really work with the brief (too flowery) but I do like the simplicity. I die cut the tree and used distress ink to get the color and texture. I added these sweet little flowers that I got at Michael's just after christmas. I was going to add them to a square but decided the hexagon was a bit more modern. The thank you is also a magazine freebie.

A fun little session and a good mid-week brief.

Project 462: A celebration sketch card

I saw the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches this week and thought it would be a fun one at my desk.

I remembered the champagne bottle die and thought it would be a good one for the big shape. Gosh I forgot how fussy that die is! I used thicker card, a black glittery stock that I had a final scrap of in my stash. I ended up having to use a fair amount of scalpel cutting to get it to come away, and I put it through the machine a good few times. Still. It makes an impact.

For the left hand side I used a diamond stencil that was new from my birthday present from Claire. I used distress ink to get the color variance. The little oval tag features a sentiment that is ancient in my stash.

With the fussy cut of the die, this ended up taking a lot longer than expected. But never mind, it's still a fun card for the challenge!

Project 461: Masked blending animal cards

I had a play at my desk this weekend and decided to make a very card for a good friend. They both feature some masked blended features and fussy cut components. The headline features two stamp sets, the sentiment and rocket are from one set that is over 4 years old. The planet admittedly  was a new gift from Claire this Christmas. I heat embossed them, coloured them using Gelatos and a water brush and then fussy cut them out. I masked a circle and used Distress Oxides in two colours to get the space sky. I splattered it with water drops to give it bleached stars and then added actual stars to make it a bit more bright and cheerful.

Because of all the little dots and circles I thought I would enter it in the Retro Rubber blog challenge this week.

I had the chance to make another little card so I include this here as a bonus. I saw this Pinterest post and even though I lacked a panda stamp I thought it would be simple enough to try and draw. It's not my best freehand work but I think it's playful enough to be ok. I masked a stripe and used Picked Raspberry Distress Ink to make it nice and bright. I used a sentiment from Stampin' Up that is a couple of years old now. Maybe 3? The banner was stamped and then fussy cut out. I added little stars from the same Stampin' Up set. The little detail on the border of the die actually makes it fit the spots and dots theme as well which is a happy accident!

Project: A little Valentine sketch

Happy Saturday -another day at Sketch Saturday! This week we have one of our favorite sponsors joining us this week, Just Me Digital Stamps. 

I thought the sketch was fun but I decided to rotate it and put it on its side, and that opened a world of possibilities. I colored the image using Spectrum Noir pencils and then die cut it out. I added little colored hearts to match the flag that I punched ages ago, I have a giant collection of pre-punched shapes that I always forget about. I added a little star to one to match the sketch, loved working with it. 

Can't wait to see what others do with it! 

Project: A frog pile up sketch

Welcome to another week at Sketch Saturday!

We have an amazing sponsor joining us again this week: 

Scrap N'Dipity

I saw this great image, a little totem of frogs called Frog Pile Up and I thought yes, that's perfect. I used a backing paper that I have had for ages and thought it would be perfect for the green and blues I wanted to feature. I colored it using colored pencils and then, unhappy with it I went over it in Promarkers. I added a scallop circle to give it a touch of cuteness. The stitched banner is from Recollections and has been in my stash for ages, I thought it worked really well here. 

Can't wait to see what other people have done with the sketch this week! 

Project 460: A contemporary valentine

It's the start of February which means we're all rushing to get some Valentines done for our friends and family - so a great time to play with our Moving along with the Times Love challenge! 

We're looking for any card that features love: Valentine, Wedding, Engagement - if you're loving someone we're all about that. 

For my card I went very untraditional. I wanted to make something fresh and hip. I used some beautiful patterned paper from Studio Calico (I'm trying to clear out my paper stash and I keep finding lovely stuff that I really should be using!) and used a green card blank to make the colors stand out. The diagonal bias makes it even more unexpected I think. I used a die cut heart that I stole from Claire years ago (I have a big box of them - also trying to clear that!) and then die cut out the letters and hashtag in green card stock. The letters are Tim Holtz, the hashtag is a Sizzix 'insta' die set that I bought thinking it'd be great and then struggled to use...but this works I think. 

Super different from some of the other cards but hopefully you'll find inspiration to suit your taste. Can't wait to see what others come up with! x