Project: A heart challenge for Moving Along with the Times

Hello and welcome to another fun challenge at Moving Along with the Times! We have a heart theme this week so it should be fun to play along with. 

I decided to modify one of my favourite Bugaboo images. Normally the mouse is chasing a balloon but I used a stitched heart die instead. Look at his little face! Such joy! 

I used ProMarkers to colour him in and then die cut him out into the circle so he could pop out a bit against the background. I used a giant background stamp to get the irregular dots using a splash of water over distress ink to make them a bit whispery. 

The sentiment is an ancient one and I kind of wish I had made it pop out more but never mind! 

Hope you have fun playing along this week! 

Project: Anything Christmas for MAWTT

This week at Moving Along With the Times we are doing an anything Christmas challenge. Great brief right. 

I decided to make something of a collage card as I've been doing a lot of CAS lately and I wanted to make something with a few more textures. I started by blending a green card and adding a text stamp that works really well for background. I die cut it using a stitched rectangle die and then added a few stamps from a Christmas vintage Recollections set. The newsprint card is a scrap that I've had for a while and I thought it looked better on kraft card than on white. I added some olive green enamel triangles for texture and balance on the layout. 

I'm really thrilled with it, I may just make a few more like this as it was a lot of fun to do the layout. Hope you have fun playing along!

Project: 2 takes on a teapot card for Sketch Saturday

This week's sketch for Sketch Saturday was a bit tricksy for me but I did two attempts all the same featuring an image from our sponsor LeAnn's World. 

I colored the image using ProMarkers and then die cut it using a scalloped and stitched square. I thought it was a good way of getting the edges on the sketch. I used a bright striped paper and then took some white scraps from my scrap pile for the diagonal stripes. I struggled to make it not so twee, I was hoping the colors would lift it a bit. 

This is my second take on it. I tried to get a watercolour effect on the teapot but I don't love it. The colors don't work as well but I do prefer the grey textured background paper. 

So a bit of variety with the same sponsor image and sketch! hope you have fun playing along! 

Project: Birthday card with all the skills

The trouble with one of your best friends being a card maker is that you really have to pull out all the stops for their birthday card each year. It can't be some 'threw it together this morning as I forgot' nonsense that I get away with on other friends. Nope. For Claire, I have to make it technical and complicated!

So this year I was thinking what to do and I was reminded of a technique we did when we first started out - stamping over a few layers and splitting them out in the layout. We used to do this literally over multiple sheets but I wanted to feature dies so instead I did a layout over one sheet that I could cut out with nesting dies. 

I used a Studio Calico sentiment in the middle and then used some big graphic flower stamps from a magazine freebie arranged around the edges. I heat embossed everything in black, then blended using Distress Inks. I layered up the spotted rectangle dies because I liked the little dot details that it brought to the layout - makes it feel a bit more contemporary and tropical. I layered them up using foam tape and over a black card to make it stand out and tie back with the embossing. 

Happy birthday to my dear friend for life, Claire, who is crazy and loving and generous and brilliant. Love you man. The dog loves you most. x

Project: A fun skating girl for Sketch Saturday

I love when I see Claire's sketches in our Sketch Saturday challenges and I thought this was a really fun one to play along with:

The image is one that Claire gave me, she stamped a bunch of images for me from her stash and this is one I've been holding onto for a while. I decided to give her bubblegum pink hair when I colored her with ProMarkers. The balloons were originally part of the stamp but I decided to trim it down and have the balloons go off the card with a Stampin' Up balloon punch (and a felt tip pen to get the strings off the edge!). I decided to double down on the pink sweetness and use a pink chevron paper that I've had in my stash for a while. 

Because the image is so central, I used a tiny little sentiment just above the wrapped pink twine. I love the finished product, it brings me such joy and I know the perfect recipient. 

Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up 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: Monster unicorns for Sketch Saturday

Hello everyone and happy Saturday, another chance to play with Sketch Saturday. I LOVE our sponsor, Oddball Art Co, every time I go on their site I fall a bit more in love with their collection of quirky but sweet images. 

I mean, look at these weird little unicorn monster guys and tell me they aren't just amazing. Impossible. And they went so well with this week's sketch: 

I rotated the sketch on its side so I could have the border not he bottom. I colored the image using ProMarkers and then die cut it using a spotted border die, adding a pop of pink. I used Distress Ink to blend the border and punched it with a Martha Stewart punch. The bottom is a bit frilly but never mind. Because the border is a bit fussy I decided to use the a Tim Holtz sticker sentiment. I usually cut these up and use them stacked but I like how it spans the full thing. And it's perfect. 

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else does with it! 

Project: Fairies and bugs for Sketch Saturday

This is one of the first times I've played along and got to play with my own sketch. Hilariously it's one of the hardest sketches I've ever played. Oy vey.

So this is what I came up with - after a few attempts I should add! I kept the sketch the same but played on a landscape layout as I struggled with the portrait approach. The image is from Paper Shelter, our sponsor this week, and I colored her with ProMarkers. Because she's a bit ethereal and sweet I decided to play with that and use some fun bug stanps. The bugs are from a little stamp set I got in a sale years ago, and I love how much color and weird perspective they bring. I added a little Tim Holtz sticker for the sentiment. and then die cut it so I could get a little dotted border.

Hopefully you like playing along with it as well!

Project: Texture cards for MAWTT

This week at Moving Along with the Times we have a fun challenge featuring texture. I played a lot with this but ultimately decided on a really fun (and girly!) card featuring three types of texture: foiled paper, layered dies and a big pop-up embellishment.

The foiled  spotted paper was a freebie from Crop on the Cape this year and I layered it against hot pink. The die cut sentiment is a Sizzix set and I thought the pink on its own wasn't standing out so I layered it over a black die cut and really like the shadow effect. Finally these incredible flamingos are from Claire from Paper Source. Aren't they too much fun?! This card is making me smile with how sweet and yet weirdly sophisticated it is.

Hope it provides some inspiration for you this week!

Project: Strawberry girl scrap card

I often color two images when I'm doing a DT make because I like to be prepared if I need to try something different after I've committed something down. I loved the image from Star Stampz and wanted to use the duplicate I had colored for Sketch Saturday.

I used a scrap of gingham paper as it's super summery and cheerful and fit with my spirit of using the duplicates/scraps on my desk. The blue background was already die cut so I cut the image in the smaller nested circle so it would work.

I chose a green background paper to pull the color out from the colouring and I love the way the gingham looked against it. And it's extra pleasing as everything was a scrap so it feels almost like recycling.

Project: Patterned paper simple thanks set

A really simple post today! I am going to be seeing my sister and mom soon and I like to give them little card sets when I see them, trying new or different things each time as they are happy guinea pigs of my designs!

I have all of these gorgeous busy-patterned papers that can be hard to work with in cards unless you make them the hero. I decided to pick some of my favorite prints from a set I got at Crop on the Cape and cut out 4 papers for each set. I used scraps on my desk and blended them in Distress Ink to get the rich mustard color that I could cut the sentiment from.

I die cut the sentiments and realised that the busy candy print needed a strip of white to support it against the busy paper. But otherwise these are super simple and modern and I think they will love them.

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: Summery strawberry card for Sketch Saturday

I have to say I absolutely love the sponsor this week at Sketch Saturday, Star Stampz. This strawberry image just filled me with joy. And I knew it would work brilliantly in this week's sketch:

This lovely image got colored with ProMarkers and then cut out in an oval. The sentiment is an old one and I thought it would work well with this cheerful little image. I went for a gingham paper as I thought nothing is like a summery gingham - and it reminds me of a strawberry jam top. I didn't do much else - I added a lovely little flower for texture to complete the sketch -I tried a button but it was too twee. This is just right. I hope you have fun playing along!

Project: Love bug dragonfly sketch card

The sketch this week at CAS(E) This Sketch caught my eye and I spent a ridiculous amount of time going through my craft stash finding the right combo of papers and objects for my layout. Honestly, sometimes the brain is just too full of ideas!

I wanted something that would be fun and modern, feminine but not too girly. I decided a dragonfly was the perfect object for the central feature and I die cut it using a great mustard color stock. It's actually two dies - sometimes I do contrasting colors but since I knew I'd be adding busy papers I went for both layers in the same color just for texture. The papers are from a little 4x4 paper set I was given and it's great because being the same set the turquoise colors are exactly the same.

The sentiment is from a little insect set I bought in a sale years and years ago - it's such a sweet little greeting that I thought it was perfect for the finished piece. Very happy with this layout, I may just use it as inspiration for a few more cards...

Project: Giant ring sketch engagement card

A friend at work just got engaged and I absolutely love his fiancé, she's a good laugh and someone I seek out at work events when people bring their partners. 

The sketch at Freshly Made Sketches looked like it would be fun to play along with so I did some sketching to see how I could make an engagement card work and it came together much easier than I thought! 

I started with a white piece of card and I die cut it into a rectangle with a spotted border die as I wanted it to match the spots on the sentiment. I then heat embossed the square stamp in a gold powder and then I really carefully blended the edges in Broken China distress ink. I just wanted a hint of blue as the white was really stark and I didn't love the contrast before I blended, it looked unfinished rather than CAS and the touch of blue evened that out. 

I die cut a piece of glitter stock paper into a ring using two circle dies and then used a big comedy heart gem stone from the pound shop.  All in all a really fun little card that stays playful and CAS. Job done :) 

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: A sparkly unicorn for Sketch Saturday

I love a unicorn so the Digi Stamp Boutique's collection of unicorn and fairy images was too much fun for inspiration for this week's Sketch Saturday:

I die cut the unicorn using a stitched square and colored it using ProMarkers, creating a rainbow in markers for the mane and tail. I used glitter paper to create a die cut sentiment from a Tim Holtz Christmas set and then using stitched circle dies to create a fun little rainbow and then cut it in half to match the sketch. I used a background paper from Hema, how lovely is that? It wasn't that strong against the white card though so I added a light purple border. 

I'm loving it. I hope you have fun with the sketch as well! 

Project: Two takes on animal cards

This weekend I had a playdate with Claire and she talked me through using a new pull-off die she sent me and I decided it would be perfect to play with my fun little marching band animal set.

I started by die cutting the white strip on a scrap so I could see how it worked. I chose far too small a scrap so that limited my ability to choose the rest of the components! I know this for next time...I then stamped, colored and die-cut the animals. I stamped the first part of the sentiment on the tab of the pull-off and then on the backing piece added 'happy birthday' so there is a good reveal. I mean, it's an obvious one but I think the big adult kids in my life will love it.

This one has nothing to do with the first but as I was playing with Claire I decided to do some stencilling over a stamped image. See this post of her's for the inspiration she gave me! I stamped the hummingbird first and then stencilled over it using a mosaic Tim Holtz stencil with Distress Ink. I used his range of stickers as well as a bit of fun. Then I went old school and added twine and candies - it's like the cards I used to make in layout but with some more contemporary techniques. 

Playdates always encourage me to use the newer and more challenging tools! 

Project: a Hamilton 30th and mega bling

So these cards are totally different but I made them at the same time and decided it would be fun to blog about them both at the same time.

The Hamilton card is for a colleague (and friend) turning 30 who - like me - is obsessed with the musical. We listen at work, discuss the characters, compare London and Broadway cast members...we're totally nuts for it. I decided too get out the scalpel and do a bit of paper cutting for the figure on top, then added the star die beneath. The background is blended using Distress Oxides as I wanted the same aged effect as the famous poster.

This congrats card is completely different! I used a great pattern paper and die cut a small square. I created a ring out of glitter stock using two different circle dies and added my mega bling on top. That is actually a rhinestone from a necklace that broke so it looks a bit rough in person but I liked the effect. The congrats sticker is from a big pack I got at Hema.

I had so much fun making them and as they're both for personal friends I'm sure they'll be thrilled with them as well.

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.