Project: A bee fairy for Sketch Saturday

Hello and happy Saturday! We have a great sketch for you at Sketch Saturday designed by the talented Mrs G! 

Our sponsor is Star Stampz and I just fell in love with this little bee fairy, I thought she was great. 

I decided to colour her with Spectrum Noir pencils and then cut her out and put her against a black background. The yellow card was stencilled with a honeycomb pattern and distress ink. The sentiment is an ancient one from my stash. I love how it came together, black, white and yellow are a favourite crafting combo and I think it works really well with the sentiment. Hope you have fun playing along! 

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: 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: Wedding cards for Sketch Saturday

This week at Sketch Saturday we have a fun sketch for you to play with and an amazing sponsor MMedel Illustrations. Here's the sketch:

I rotated the sketch so the band ran across the top, with the little sentiment box on the bottom left corner. The image was colored with ProMarkers and then I die cut it out. In the headline card I used a square and the card below I opted for a rectangle. I added a spot of glitter glue to the flowers and the veil and dress. The background for each uses a big rose stencil and Distress Ink.


The headline card features spotted ribbon but I made a big oops on the stencil on the card below so I had to cover it with a bigger strip of paper! I used paper hearts from my collection (I regularly punch or die cut hearts in paper scraps as they are so handy) and then die cut the initials of two couples getting married this summer on top.

They are pretty busy but I think the attention to detail is fun. And happily I have two personalised wedding cards to give! Hope you enjoy the sketch as well :)

Project: Black, white and color at MAWTT

This week at MAWTT I got to choose the theme which was really fun. I love doing a colour pop so I thought black, white and one colour would be a fun one - thanks for playing along.

For my card I stencilled a yellow hexagon pattern and then die cut a black hexagon that was embossed with dots. I stamped the bee and fussy cut it out, colouring the stripes with ProMarkers. The sentiment is an old Sizzix one that I kind of forgot I had - I think it works well to have some curlicue against the hard edges of all the hexagons.

All in all I am really happy with it and hope it provides some inspiration for everyone playing along this week! 

Project: A lovely Bridal Shower challenge entry

I decided to play along with some challenges this weekend to make a Bridal Shower card for one of my best friends. She's Beatle-mad and I thought this All You Need is Love sentiment + die set would be perfect - I just needed to make a card around it.

So the combination of colors at The Paper Players and the layout at CAS(E) This Sketch were a perfect combo as she loves pink and orange:

I made an umbrella out of pink and orange papers to go with the 'Shower' theme (it is tradition after all) and I used a heart stencil to add some raining hearts to the background paper. I die cut the 'love' sentiment in yellow and orange for texture. I added a lime green border of heart scallops to add the fourth colour.

So while it's a wedding card it is super summery and cheerful - not the usual white-on-white. I think she'll like it and it was a fun way to get some inspiration this weekend.

Project: 3 takes on a sketch challenge

Claire found this amazing sketch challenge this week and we we had a little Skype playdate to play with it. She just gifted me a full set of new stamps and some mini stamp and embossing folders sets and it was a perfect challenge to play with them. The sketch is from CAS Colours and Sketches: 

The headline card features this amazing Stamping Bella Rosie and Bernie stamp. I used an aqua brush and Distress Inks to color it and I love the watercolour effect. I used a Wink of Stella shimmer on the unicorn horn but it doesn't really come out in the picture. The grey paper is form the stash - I've sort of lost count of where papers came from which is a shame! - and the sentiment was from Claire earlier this year. Such a fun first play with that set.

 

Now for some texture! The palm leaf embossing folder was a mini set with the flamingo stamp. The folder was a bit more aggressive than I thought it would be but the impression is really crisp. The stamp was colored with ProMarkers and embellished with a little tag and some great little Recollections flowers. 

And finally I decided to play with some texture paste and die it using Distress Inks. I used a stencil to create the little arcs and decided to go for a color match using a yellow foam circle lurking on my desk. The wishes die was cut using a scrap which I layered over white paper. I think I'll add a 'best' or something above it but I haven't decided yet - so it's nearly done but I'll finish it when I decide what to use it for. 

So there we have it - three takes on a lovely little sketch!

Project: A rainbow texture paste card for MAWTT

I absolutely LOVE our rainbow challenge at Moving Along with the Times this week. I decided to do something a bit artsy and I loved where I ended up. I used a big block stripe stencil to create my rainbow with Distress Oxides.

I then used a cloud stencil with white texture paste to create the clouds. I went over them a few times and I liked the texture being a bit irregular. I had to be very careful to make sure the clouds were fairly consistent as the thin initial layers were too transparent and didn't look white enough. The sentiment is one I got second hand and I think it works so well with the layout.

I wanted to keep everything else simple - I tried bling and glitter and all sorts of things but decided clean was the best way.

Hope the challenge inspires your entries as well!

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 456: A masked heart valentine

I saw the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and thought it would be a a fun one: 

 I know it said any shape but the heart in the sketch layout inspired me. I also saw that Paper Players is doing a CAS Love challenge as well as CAS on Friday doing a Valentine's challenge. 

I started by die-cutting a heart from a scrap and I used the leftover bit as a giant stencil. I blended a heart in Broken China Distress Ink and then added some Seedless Preserves in a stencil of hearts. I then die cut a peephole heart in the bigger heart to reveal the stencil detail. I heat embossed an arrow from a stamp set I have had for ages and then fussy cut it out. I don't love it, I kind of wish I had left it as a strip. Oh well. I added some pearls and a strip of black bling to add more texture. Really happy with it, nice way to start my Valentine's collection. 

Project 452: A color sketch challenge

I saw the layout at Freshly Made Sketches this week and thought it would be a bit of fun.

I thought I'd add the colors of Color Throwdown to see if I could make it work:

I've been doing a lot of CAS-influenced cards and so I wanted to see if I could complete the sketch with just inks and no papers or stamps. Not sure why, just like making things more complicated for myself. I masked off a strip on the end of the card and blended it with Victorian Velvet and then did a second mask in Seedless Preserve. A bit trickier than I thought it would be but I'm happy it worked cleanly. I added a stencil on top in Broken China to make it a bit more edgy and I liked the effect.

I decided to add a big central embellishment - I don't normally use pre-made embellishments but come on, this is too funny! And this sentiment is Tim Holtz ideology and I thought it worked really well. Pleased to have had the time for a bit of a play at the desk as it was good to do a double challenge after a long time away from challenges!

Project 447: Some modern colored Christmas cards

I had a playdate with Claire this weekend and we were trying a few new techniques we found on Pinterest. We both had a few learning curves that I thought were pretty funny!

The first was not he headline card, where you mask off stripes and then blend in between. I decided to do a but and purple striped card and then heat embossed a reindeer to go over top in a matte gold color. The sentiment is from the same set as the reindeer, I think I've had him for about 3 years. I think the white stripes are a bit too wide so I need to try to get the balance right. I tried doing it with skinnier stripes but unfortunately that to extreme difficulty trying to blend in a smaller space so there are still some trial/error adjustments to be made!

This little guy was another little play, using a big snowflake stencil and then using Distress Oxides instead of inks on top. They are so chalky and a dream to work with. I don't love the blending work here but I think that is something I could get better at.

All in all a few fun techniques for a short playdate!

Project 438: Glitter paste fab birthday card

We're having a geometric shape challenge at MAWTT this week so please join us. Without even realising how perfectly it would work out, I made this amazing card for Claire's birthday - and I can't wait for her to get it.

I used Nuvo glitter paste with a Recollections hexagon stencil, and then heat embossed a sentiment from a Creative Stamping magazine on a die cut fancy label. I decided to keep this really simple, just adding a little flower and a stitched border. It's fancy enough and this leaves it to have more impact.

She taught me how to use glitter paste on our recent weekend away and I have absolutely loved playing with it. She is a great craft teacher, a great partner in crime, a great colleague and more than anything else a great friend. I hope she enjoys the present and card as much as I've enjoyed putting it together!

Project 426: Two takes on a sketch challenge

I saw the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch and thought it would be fun to try some different ideas:

The headline is a very CAS version. I inverted the sketch and used a Tim Holtz stencil to create a sunburst at the top. For the two panels, I used Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and used alternative brush strokes to create the effect of differrent sections. I added some little sentiments from the Tim Holtz Ranger collection and I know just the friend to send it send it to.

This is an alternative version that is a bit less CAS but I do love it more. I used the color inspiration from Color Throwdown as i thought they'd be perfect for my sister's 30th birthday card.

This looks simple but was in fact a labor intensive card. I heat embossed each panel. The green panel has a houndstooth embossing folder and added numbers from a new freebie from Creative Stamping magazine. The panel on the right has dots from a Stampin' Up set and I did an ombre effect using Victorian Velvet and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks. Iadded a little pink balloon with baker string. The bottom panel has a sentiment from another magazine but I can't remember which. I added some Avery Elle stencilled hearts to make it look a bit less plain.

All in all I am really pleased with both of these and can't wait to get them off to their recipients.

Project: Wedding, Engagement and Anniversary at MAWTT

I loved the theme this week so much that I decided to do a card for each of our category options at Moving Along with the Times this week.

The wedding card headliner was really fun, we have a wedding coming up and I wanted to make something colourful and different for them. The sentiments were from a magazine, I think Quick Cards and I embossed them in white powder and then blended over it using Mustard Seed and Peacock Feather distress ink. I used an Avery Elle stencil in Blueprint Sketch to stand out.

For the next two cards I decided to play with a Moroccan tile background stamp. I used a few different blues to get depth and then spritzed it with water. I covered the full background and then did two versions, all featuring the same sentiment stamp set as the headline. The Anniversary card features these great little felt birds I have had forever, I thought they were weird and kitsch and perfect for an anniversary card. The cake die is a bit fiddly so I only popped out the bigger spaces, not the little dots as they are so fiddly. Very simple but full of character. I like it, can't wait to see what everyone else makes!

Project 414: Special baby cards

A close colleague is having a baby and I wanted to make him something special for his wife to welcome their baby girl. Another colleague also commissioned a card for them so I thought I'd feature them both here.

The headline card is the one I'm giving them - I used a stencil Claire gave me and used Victorian Velvet Distress ink to get the subtle pink clouds. I punched a bunch of balloons using a Stampin' Up punch and stamped a 'Welcome Baby' sentiment on the biggest of them. I added some stamped strings, I kind of wish I had used real string but I like the bow.

This card is really funny. Our colleague's wife is Czech and they have this cartoon called Little Mole so I was commissioned to make a Little Mole card for her to give. I don't love the banner - I will keep trying it though. The top sentiment is die cut using an XCut die and the Little Mole is paper cut by hand.

Both really fun and different baby cards, I'm going to remember the balloon treatment for the future as I think that could have legs.

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 389: Playing with new dies

Claire and I had a great playdate over the break and I had held back playing with some of my new dies from Black Friday until she had them as we like to try new stuff together. So weird, so sad, I know.

The headline card is a little one that we made featuring these great little Monsters from Claire's BF haul and the new dies I got in the Simon Says Stamp sale. I blended the background of the circle in a few different Distress Inks and then colored the monster in ProMarkers and die cut him out. I didn't love my coloring but oh well, I can try to fix that later I guess if it really bothers me! The stars are stencilled on using an Avery Elle stencil and the sentiment came with the monster set. Love him, he makes me laugh.

This next one features a chevron die that I got from my BF haul and man is it a beast to work with. This guy went through the Big Shot about 10 times and I still couldn't get all of the little lines to pop out. Sighs. We decided it was good enough to use anyway! I added a few paper and fabric flowers from my stash and I added enamel dots in matching colors to make it a bit more colourful and cheerful. The sentiment is from Claire, last summer I think, and I like these ones with the brackets, they are nice and modern. 

Such a fun date, I think I have one more post up my sleeves featuring our output. 

Project 380: Stenciled succulent cards

I'm still experimenting with my Black Friday purchases and today's post features a new Spellbinders die set I got. Claire and I love succulents and I love her die set that she has so I went looking for something similar.

I decided to make small 4x4 square cards as the dies are fairly small and I wanted them to be prominent. I used Tim Holtz stencils and Wild Honey Distress Ink for both. The headline card also features Squeezed Lemonade as a background color as I thought it needed a bit more. I left the card below white but added Mowed Lawn as the die also works as a stencil. The sentiment is an old one from a Fiskars set courtesy of Claire. I thought it worked really well here as the style is both modern and a bit 70s retro. I topped them both with a metal candi as I thought it needed just a hint more. Could be masculine or feminine, I'm really pleased with how they turned out.