Project: A dino-mite sponsor for Sketch Saturday

Happy new year everyone! 

First post of the year and I'm delighted to be playing along with this week's post on Sketch Saturday, a layout designed by the one and only Claire Grantham! 

Our sponsor provided this adorable dinosaur hatching image and so I coloured him using Spectrum Noir pencils then used a mix of patterned spotted papers from my stash for the background and banners. The sentiment is one from my collection that I wanted to use, I thought the big text worked really well in the space. The strip of half beads is from Poundland, I love how toy-like they are, the matte-effect I think makes a good alternative to pearls or bling. 

Hope you enjoy playing along this week! 

Project: Monster card for Sketch Saturday

Hello and happy Saturday. The sketch for today's Sketch Saturday has a couple of components but I hope you find some inspiration in our Little Miss Muffet sponsor:

The little monster was just too much fun, I decided to play with him in greens and yellows. The sentiment is an old one from my stash, I love how it works with the silly image. The spotted paper has been in my stash for ages and the colors worked so well. The strip along the side is blended with Distress Inks and I used the same Peeling Paint color to stencil some spots on the die cut circle layer. 

I hope you have fun playing along! 

Project: Masculine typewriter card for MAWTT

I love challenging myself to use some of my older stash, or things that I forgot I had, or things that I loved once but haven't used in some time...and today's card is a perfect example of rediscovering the joys of my craft room. 

Our challenge at Moving Along with the Times this week is to make a masculine card. While I have plenty of 'traditional' stamps and images I decided to make this for someone specific and tailor it to him. A really good friend is turning 30 and he's a writer so I decided to make his card featuring a Stampin' Up typewriter. 

I made the background card with an alphabet stamp that came with the typewriter and repeated it down a piece of white card, which I then die cut with a spotted border die. There are some awkward edges from the alphabet stamp but I actually kind of like it. I sort of wish I'd inked the edges for extra distressing but I didn't think of it. Oh well. 

I heat embossed the typewriter image in white against a black card to make it stand out and then I added a 30 in a white gel pen. It's a fun little card and totally meets the brief. Can't wait to see what everyone else comes out with this week! 

Project: Age is irr-elephant card

My dad loves a corny 'dad joke'. He cracks himself up, even when nobody else finds it funny. For his birthday this year I decided to use these silly animal pun sentiments to honour his sense of humour.

The layout at Freshly Made Sketches was perfect for this:

I started by stamping the elephant stamp directly onto a woodgrain patterned paper. I tried a few versions on plain paper and it was really lacking something. The woodgrain gives it depth and a bit more masculine I think.

The sentiment on its own was missing something so I added the black background. Smallest things make the biggest difference. I tried adding candies and other things but it was really best plain so I took off all the extras and stuck with it as it is. I had already been through a bit of detail drama as explained below...

Originally I stamped the elephant on this paper. The test I did was fine but when I finally committed it using my stamp platform it was way too busy. But because I was going for a one-layer look I couldn't get rid of the image and decided to cover it up. I used a Hero Arts sentiment and rainbow image stamped onto a circle die cut and then I found an orange paper to match the backing paper. 

So this oops got fixed pretty quickly - often these things kick around my desk for months waiting to be corrected and I decided to find something to fix it straight away. Glad I did, even if it is a bit ofw-center for my liking! 

Project: A simple anniversary card

This week it is my 8 year wedding anniversary and I wanted to make something fun but simple as a card for my husband.

I love these Gorjuss stamps, I have about 4 or 5 of them and they are so lovely but I find them a bit hard to use sometimes. Maybe I just don't try hard enough. Anyway, this one is a personal favourite, I think she was my first Gorjuss stamp and I love the little heart card she's holding. I decided it was perfect for the anniversary card.

I colored her using Spectrum Noir pencils and tried to make her hair a bit like mine (but hers is glossier and shinier as I'm too lazy to blow dry) and then I fussy cut her out as she's a simple shape. The heart is a giant punch and I stamped over it using a love stamp set that I got at a craft fair earlier this year. I added the sparkly 8 for our 8 year anniversary as it's the same color as the heart.

It's simple but sweet and I think it's perfect for the occasion!

Project: Masculine blog challenge

I was catching up on making some birthday cards for friends this weekend and the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was too much fun, I knew it would be great for making a card for my friend Nick. 

 The featured sentiment is a favourite one of mine, I've had it for about 3 years and the bow tie stamp is about the same though it may be older - maybe 4 years? Either way I thought it would be fun to play along with the Anything Goes challenge at Retro Rubber: 

 

I liked how the sketch challenge had the sentiment called out so I decided to heat emboss it as white on a charcoal stock. I used a red ink on red textured card for the bowtie and fussy cut it out. The background is a fun paper that Claire gave me with fun little definitions and sketches. One was poking out under the sentiment strip and I thought it was a bit awkward so I added a little strip of a scrap paper that I had on my desk that I thought kind of went with the colors. 

All in all I'm really happy with how sharp it is, my friend Nick is very dapper and will get a kick out of it. Fun to get back from my vacation and get back into the blog challenge game. 

Project: Unicorns and dinosaur new kit

Claire gave me some amazing new stamps this week and I had to play with them straight away. The hero is this dinosaur on roller skates and the funniest little sentiments came with it. I tried a few layouts but decided the one you see here was the best. I blended a scrap of white paper with Distress Ink and them stamped on top in Distress Oxide for a chalky finish, and die cut him out.

The graph paper is actually a scrap and I thought it was perfect to give this a bit more masculinity. The 'Roar!' works well on the graph as you can see it through the text and to enhance the look I did a hand-drawn border around the card to make it look more intentional and not like it as too small a background sheet (which is kind of what it was...)

Now for some unicorns. This sentiment is too much fun - it actually says 'I am a unicorn (for reals)' but I masked that because I thought it was stronger without it. For a sense of scale, this is a 3x3 mini square and I wanted to make sure the unicorn die fit above the sentiment. The image is a Lawn Fawn Christmas set (if you'll believe it) and I had already stamped and die cut a few from last year's Christmas assembly line. I colored the accents and added a Wink of Stella.

The background is blended Distress Oxide. I tried a few variants as you can see in these, I think I like the pink and yellow the best. I also tried colouring in the letters of the sentiment or accenting them with shimmer but decided that the plain version was the best.

These are such fun additions to my kit, I'm kind of surprised I was able to do anything else as I stayed at my desk nearly the full weekend!

Project: Wild animals for MAWTT

I love an animal card so the theme this week at MAWTT was right up my street. I decided to use an old favourite, the marching band animal set from Avery Elle. It's so cheerful it works for kids and adults alike and every time I make one it gets used straight away.

I started by stamping and die cutting each of the animals. I then dug in my paper stash for a suitably bright and cheerful background paper - I have a paper amnesty this year where I'm only buying plain stock, no patterns as I just have so many! I coloured the animals using ProMarkers and then layered them against the bright papers. I chose to keep them all in greens and browns - sometimes I go nuts and colour them whatever colour I feel like but this time I kept it simple. 

The little characters bring me so much joy - hopefully they inspire you to take part in this week's challenge! 

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 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: 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.

Project: Masculine sketch birthday card

I saw the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch and loved it. I had a lot of ideas to use stamps and punches and stencils but I decided to keep it really simple.

I masked off two stripes and used Distress Ink to blend in the stripes. I used Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch to make it really vivid.

The sentiment and texture stamps are from Studio Calico. I added Enamel Accents in white to the Y on both lines to add extra texture.

It's masculine and fresh and I'm giving it to my boss for his birthday on Monday. Maybe it'll be good enough for a bonus. Ha!

Project: Fantasy at MAWTT

This week at MAWTT we have a fantasy challenge - a really fun way of getting to use some of my lovely dragon stamps from Bugaboo!

This guy is an old favourite. I colored him with ProMarkers and then die cut it in a circle, layered over a scalloped circle. I added touches of enamel accents and glitter glue. The sentiment tag is ancient, I've had it for years. I thought it worked though I wish my little enamel dots were straighter! Oh well, not always perfect when you do things by hand.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else does this week.

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 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 451: A kid's card for Sketch Saturday

Welcome back to another Saturday with Sketch Saturday! This week's sketch is going to be a fun one, the possibilities are pretty endless.

This week's sponsor is Di’s Digi Stamps

and the winner's prize: $12 Voucher to Di's Digi Stamps Shop

I had so many ideas it took me ages to finally commit to this Mama Elephant dog stamp and die set which will be my godson's 6th birthday card. I used a green card blank and then used some bold colored papers die cut into squares for the background. The dogs were die cut and then colored using ProMarkers to match the little boy's two favourite dogs: Einstein on the left (our friend's border collie) and Zippy on the right (my cowhide-coloured Jack Russell Terrier).

I added some baker's twine in turquoise to match the sparkly 6 and added a puffy peel-off sentiment. I haven't used these in ages but I thought it would add a bit of texture.  Finally I added some tiny glue dots to the corners to complete the sketch. If it were an adult card I probably wouldn't have bothered but kids love texture, they don't care about things matching!

Hope you have fun playing with the sketch, looking forward to everyone's creations!

Project 449: Blending fun with new stamps

Happy New Year everyone!

I got a bit off my blogging game end of last year but I want to start this year off with a bang. I had an AMAZING exchange with Claire and she gave me the most excellent bounty for Black Friday and Christmas. Plus with all my sale goodies I wanted to sit and play for a few hours after coming home before coming back to work.

I decided to do some really good blending fun so I could get exactly the colors and textures I wanted while showcasing some of the new toys. The headline card was too much fun. I embossed a big woodblock peacock feather stamp and then blended with a trio of inks. The sentiment is a lovely big one that I haven't used yet. I had to use the 'I wish I were a Mr Misti' tool a few times to get the dark ink to come through but that is exactly what that tool was invented for.

This little trio featured a new stencil. I used the same Broken China distress ink with the same Paper Source thank you stamp. I played with different adornments, from a little rose stamp, a big wreath and a few tiny little bird and flower stamps that I combined to make a pattern. I think the roses are my favorite. I added glitter glue to all of them just to give a tiny little pop.

This one features some paper smooshing and x3 scraps - the background, frame and die cut are all from scraps on my desk and I am thrilled to have them come together on this little 4x4 mini card. The thank you is from a second hand set I bought a while ago and I don't think I have used this one previously. More NBUS gets an outing! 

This one features blending with a watermarked chevron, a dark thank you banner stamp (that you can't really read) and a giant anchor die cut from the stash. It's so bold and watery, I love it! 

Finally this guy is just great. The little squirrel was from a BF sale and I decided to have him hold a balloon. Why not? The giant sentiment is new from Claire, another major win. And I'm using it for my husband's birthday as he loves squirrels and I think it works perfectly for the occasion. A great return to crafting for 2018. 

Project: Using at Tag for MAWTT

This week at Moving Along with the Times we have a fun challenge: use a charm or tag. I can't remember us ever having a challenge like this so I was pumped - hope you are too!

I decided to use this for my dad's birthday card. He's a keen wine buff so I thought this would be a great way to incorporate a die into the tag. I started with a big kraft tag and then used Vintage Photo distress ink to give more texture to the tag. I die cut the wine bottle, the burst at the top and the 'Cheers' sentiments and then layered it all on top of an old text card stock that I had held on to for years. It came together really quickly, I added some glitter to the star burst bit I don't love it. Oh well!

Looking forward to what everyone else will do!

Project 444: A simple 30th card

My buddy at work is turning 30 and we'll be celebrating at the pub after work. He's a keen cyclist and I wanted to incorporate that into the card while keeping the rest very minimal and masculine.

The sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was a bit of fun and so I thought I would give it a go:

I took an old Sizzix stamp and repeatd it across the card to incorporate the bike. The Green, yellow and blue circles were cut out and then I added the die cut 30 on top. I thought it looked a bit like a speed sign which was nice. It's super simple but I think it will go down a treat.

Project 440: A foxy shaker card and train silhouette

My buddy Dave at work always asks me to make him funny cards for his family. He asked me to make his girlfriend a fox card and his dad a train card.

For absolutely no reason, I decided to make the fox card a shaker. I just thought, why not? I haven't made a shaker in a while, this will be fun! And then I saw that CAS-UAL Fridays was hosting a shaker challenge so that confirmed my commitment.

Plus, while it looks simple, there are about 6 uses of dies on this card (the background square with circle removed, the acetate circle, the scallop with the ring cut out, the foam ring) so I'm entering the CAS On Sunday challenge of 'Use a Die'.

I colored a Unity Co stamp directly on the card blank and then die cut a piece of paper around it. I die cut a foam ring in red to hold the sequins and then layered on top a scalloped circle with a die cut out as a frame. I added a hand drawn border and a little printed tag that Claire had given me as a sentiment. Really pleased with it as I struggle with shakers and I was patient enough to wait for all the glue to dry on the foam and the lid before shaking it so I didn't get the sequins stuck around the edges like usual!

Now for the train. I tried my hand a paper cutting one from sight and it came out a bit sloppy and un-train-like. So I cheated a bit, printed out a train image, glued it to a black card and then cut it out as a stencil and then flipped it over. Still, I had to do it by hand so I think it's ok! The paper is an ancient one from my stash (I think it's Recollections a few years ago). I cut the tag and used Distress Inks to blend over it to give it the vintage leather feel. The stamp is a really new one from Paper Source (I indulged when I went to the US recently!) and I think it may be it's inaugural use. I added some black bling and a gold glitter dot for the train's light.

Really happy with both of them and can't wait to give them to my colleague.