Project: Colorful penguin 30th card

This week I'm celebrating a colleague and friend's birthday with a really playful card for his 30th. I loved the bright and kraft recipe challenge at Bugaboo and the colors at Color Throwdown this week were perfect for a masculine (yet also silly) card: 

I started with a Bugaboo image and colored it using ProMarkers. The background paper was perfectly on the money for the swatch of green and it's actually a washi paper sheet I found lurking in my desk all on its lonesome. I added a touch more yellow for a border. The letter and number stickers are all from a Black Friday sale - I haven't used them much but I love how much texture they bring. 

Loved playing along this week, glad to be doing more challenges. 

Project: A lovely little bee fairy for Sketch Saturday

When I saw our sponsor at Sketch Saturday this week I absolutely fell in love with this Bitsy Bug Jane image. Oh how cute is she?!

The sketch is fun too, really easy to put together. I die cut the image into a tag and then used ProMarkers for the colouring. The sentiment is stamped using a magazine freebie die cut into a circle, layered over a stitched circle die. I used the scrap of a sheet that I've always loved and this is my last little piece. It was an American Crafts pad that was all my favourite colours and it came in handy with just the right amount of detail and texture. It looked a bit simple so I added white as a border and like it so much more. I added two little enamel dots and oh. I'm just so happy with it! 

Hope you have fun playing along. 

Project: Feature florals at MAWTT

This week at Moving Along with the Times we have a fun (and hopefully easy!) challenge for you: use florals as the feature. We all have so many flower stamps it's fun to make them the hero. 

I decided to use a set from Creative Stamping magazine - I think this particular set is from 2015? 2016? - and I heat embossed it to make it really pop. I used Distress Inks and an aqua brush to make it stand out against the watercolour paper. The background is lovely - my last precious sheet - from a Trader Jane set I got years ago as a gift. And then the sentiment is Penny Black - I decided to put it on an angle to give it an unexpected modern twist. I love the gem tones and overall effect - hopefully it provides some inspiration to you this week! 

Project: Smooshed paper wine cards

Last week two of my colleagues put together a wine night for our office and, honestly, I don't think I've had that much fun in the office...ever. It was an absolute hit. We went on until 11pm, just laughing and seeing where we could get a restaurant to deliver us wine when we went beyond what was originally catered.

I wanted to make thank you cards for the two who organized it and I have this great Simon Says Stamp set that works so well. I started with a small square card blank and used Distress Oxides to create a smooshed pattern for the background. I then used my I-wish-I-were-a-Misti to get a super crisp black impression from the stamps. It was quick and easy to get two done and I think they are spot on. I just hope it inspires them to do another wine night!

Project: Blended texture paste star card

I loved the layout at CAS(E) This Sketch this week, I had so many ideas but ended up going with one of the simplest:

I started with a piece of graph paper and blended it with Distress Oxides for a chalky finish. I then added silver Nuvo glitter paste through a star stencil for an irregular spray of sparkly stars. The sentiment is from a Lawn Fawn set that I got second-hand from a demonstrator.

I love playing with a few techniques in one go, and getting to sneak in glitter and a rainbow will always make the exercise a bit more fun!

Project: A blended rock and roll sketch card

It's my father-in-law's birthday this week and I wanted to make him a music-related card to reflect his favourite hobby. I found the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches perfect as I have a record stamp that works brilliantly for the layout:

I started by blending the card base with Distress Oxides and giving them a splash of water for a splattered effect. I then masked off a central panel and then stamped the Happy Birthday records over it. I got a really neat dissolve effect from the mask that was technically an error but I love it. I then added a sentiment that is perfect for the rock and roll theme. It's really CAS and masculine and I think my FIL is going to love it. 

Project: Raincoat dolly and ducky for Sketch Saturday

Another happy Saturday to join in the fun at Sketch Saturday! The sketch this is week is SUPER flexible:

I love this image from our sponsor The Paper Nest Dolls and I decided to color it to look like one of my friends. I used ProMarkers to color the image and then die cut it into a circle. I embossed a turquoise sheet with dots to tie into the raincoat.

I then added enamel accents to the raincoat and dots to the sentiment, which was from a magazine freebie. I kind of wish I had added them to the boots and not the raincoat. That was a mistake. Oh well. I added glitter to the duck bill and the barrette in the girl's hair and I like that as a feature.

It's a simple little one and I hope you are able to follow along!

Project: Blended giraffe with a stamped border

I got this freebie set of wild animal stamps and it came with a border stamp that I loved but couldn't figure out how to use. I have so many like this and I never know what o do with them! In the magazine there was a card made using the border and I thought, you know what, let's give that a go.

I blended the card using Distress Inks and then stamped the border on top. Quite tricky at times to line it up but I was happy with the result. I think next time I will be really meticulous and measure the space to fill it out. But it's ok for now. I added the giraffe from the set to the middle as I had kept the panel quite narrow and thought it fit the space perfectly.

I've left off a greeting - for now - as I couldn't make up my mind about what to use this for. But I love the colors and way it came out, some good learnings for next time.