MONDAY BLUES AND YELLOWS

After the brief showing of the sun in the UK last week where we went from winter to Summer with no spring and now back to winter its almost like I've got the Monday blues.  The poor old blossom on the apple trees which tentatively poked their heads out when that lovely warm weather was here are now wondering what's hit them as its so cold again.  However, my Monday blues were blown away by finding out that my woven butterfly card has been chosen as this week's winner over at Inspired By challenge.  It's a real boost when our cards get chosen isn't it?  

My card today shows this lovely bird image from the lovely Cherry Blossom set from Clear Impressions - I do love this image and can see lots of uses for it.

I've inked it in Island Indigo and used some of the same coloured cardstock for the background and the little tag.  The ribbon is also Island Indigo Ombre which is just one of my favourite ribbons from Stampin' Up!  The background papers and cardstock are Crushed Curry.  There is a touch of Wink of Stella on the bird and on the water below him which softens it all and gives it a shimmer.

This card is going into the Paper Players challenge PP391 this week which is a Tic Tac Toe challenge and I went for the bottom row of Yellow, Bird and Circle.



My card for CASE this sketch this week is using the same stamp set but different images.  I've used SU inks here - Soft Suede, Regal Rose and a touch of Melon Mambo.  There is a touch of Dazzling Diamonds on the flowers just to make them sparkle.

Just Add Ink challenge #406  - A Sketch



Keeping with the theme of blues and yellows my card for Just Add Ink has added lots of ink.  I started off with some Whisper White and some post it notes and using a finger dauber I added SU's So Saffron at the top, Soft Sky for the middle and Pear Pizzazz for the bottom.  My Soft Sky ink is ever so dry and it was new last year - My So Saffron is over 10 years old - needless to say I prefer the old SU pads - I wonder what the very news ones will be like.

Anyway on to my stamping - I stamped the Lotus Blossom flower in the middle of the blue ink so that it looks as though its on water again.  This time I used slightly dark shades of the three colour choices - Crushed Curry, Island Indigo and Tranquil Tide.  The sentiments were also inked in Tranquil Tide.  I used some of the DSP from Daisy Delight to punch out the butterflies and sponged their edges with Tranquil Tide.  I wrapped some Copper Metallic Thread behind the stitched framelit and added some enamel shapes to finish off the card.  I layered it onto Pear Pizazz cardstock.

I'm also adding this card into the Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #325 - I've just found this new challenge and it was so nice to see that Diane who runs it lives near me - in a world where most bloggers are overseas its nice to see a fellow crafter less than 20 miles away!   And she is very generously offering a wonderful prize.  

 

TIC TAC TOE OMBRE INKING

The challenge over at Tic Tac Toe this week gives us lots of options as usual.  I was inspired by the bottom row of Yellow, Stripes, Thanks.





Yellow is not always my go-to colour so I decided to challenge myself and as I've been playing with the Ombre inking technique I thought I'd make the stripes myself. I used post it notes again and used three Yellows  from Stampin Up - a retired More Mustard and Summer Sun and current ink Daffodil Daylight.  I also used the More Mustard to stamp the lovely big sun stamp that comes with Kinda Eclectic.  The sentiment was inked in Basic Black and comes from SU Thankful Thoughts.  I used the butterfly punch for the butterlies and also the bold butterfly thinlets and some of the Color Theory DSP.

The thank you was colour washed with Wink of Stella and a touch of non SU thread tied around to finish off the card.



 

OMBRE COLOURWASH

I've been having a play around with some new colour techniques - this one is a colour ombre type wash using the colours suggested by Fab Friday 136  for their challenge this week





I loved these colours together - Grey is not a colour I often use or turn to so it was nice to include it in my card this week.  I used some post it notes to blank off the stripes and used an ink dauber to add the ink.  I haven't used Stampin Up's Beautiful You set in a while and thought she would go nice on these colours just simply stamped in Black and a touch of Wink of Stella on her dress.

I layered it simply onto a piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock and added the sentiments also in Bermuda Bay with a touch of Bermuda Bay ribbon.  I have someone in mind for this card - my darling daughter has to face surgery again in the next few weeks - this card will be for her once all the surgery is done.  Finger's crossed for her.


 

FOLD CARD

I love to play around with different fold cards and this one was inspired by the fabulous Dawn Griffith - love it!  As I've 'borrowed' this idea from Dawn I'm including this card in the As You See It challenge this week - their theme is Something Borrowed.

My Card is also going into the TGIF challenge #tgifc157  this week which is a Tic Tac Toe challenge - I love these challenges! - so much to choose from: I'm using the pink, pearls, flowers for the top row.



I've also used the colours suggested by the Color Throwdown challenge this week - this gorgeous image is apparently of a cafe in London - wow I've never been but as London is only an hour away from me it's definitely on my wish list now.






I've used Stampin Up Powder Pink card stock for the base along with some Very Vanilla and Perfect Plum for the cut out of the chair sponged with Perfect Plum round the edges. The chair has been layered on to papers cut with the Stitched Framelits.  The backing paper which is so pretty and has all of the colour choices in it is from a stack called Once Upon A Time by Craft Sensations.  Such a pretty paper.

I've used Colourful Seasons for the stamping and the sentiment is from Feather Together stamped in Pear Pizazz.  I've added some basic pearls to the flowers which are from the matching framelits for Colourful Seasons.

This is the inside of the card which has been stamped in Regal Rose and Soft Suede with the Sentiment from Beautiful You.  This card is winging its way to my sister-in-law for her birthday- I hope she likes it.

I'm also including this card in the Make My Monday #69 challenge which is In The Garden.


 

ALL THINGS WILD

A few cards from me today for a number of challenges.  The first are Butterflies Stampin on Tuesday challenge has a sketch challenge with the option of Butterflies  


I've gone for purple - not a colour I usually use - I've also used some old SU DSP for the background.  I've used Kinda Eclectic, Jar of Love and Beautiful You and some butterfly punches.

My next card is for a Facebook Goup called Colour Inkspiration #C132 - they gave us the following image and colours for our inspiration.

I've gone with Kinda Eclectic again but a completely different style.  I've added some of the sequins to the butterfly also - I find those sequins quite tricky to use so any chance to get them on there and I'll have a go.

My final card is for Time Out challenge and their word for this week is WILD.  I'm also including this in Try It On Tuesday for their challenge Nature's Beauty.

I went back to an old SU set - Autumn Days and the pheasant which I have inked up a lot over its life time.  It's always a great go to for male cards too.  I've used Watercolour Paper here and colour washed it with Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake and Always Artichoke.  

The pheasant was embossed in Gold Embossing powder and coloured in with SU marker pens.  The grasses are from the same set.  The sun is from Kinda Eclectic.  The Love sentiment is an old SU script stamp and was embossed in old SU Maize embossing powder.  Some ribbon and some coloured enamel dots finish off this card.

Thanks for stopping by and do please leave me a comment -I love to hear from you.  Happy Crafting.


 

LOTUS BLOSSOM CAS

I think this beautiful stamp of the lotus blossom really lends itself to a CAS card (Clean and Simple).  It's actually a three stamping flower from Stampin Up which is really easy to use.  I've kept mine really simple here - for the CAS Colours and Sketches #269 which gave us a sketch to follow. Addicted to Stamps also has a CAS challenge this week.





The three colours I used for my flower were Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point - all Stampin Up colours.  I used Stitched Framelits to cut the image out and the backing card.  The card was then simply stamped with the sentiments from the set in Tempting Turquoise. I added some glitter enamel dots and some Dazzling Diamonds to the flower.

 

LOTUS BLOSSOM ON THE WATER

Another new set from Stampin' Up I've been playing with today is Lotus Blossom - yes I'm late to the party again as this set is retired.  It's a lovely three stamping set - I just wonder why they gave us stems as Lotus Blossoms sit on water - and that's what I wanted my card to show.  So after lots of research and just a Let's Get On and Do It attitude I had a play.

I used lots of old SU inks in this one - inclding Ballet Blue, Bordering Blue, Island Indigo, and Bermuda Bay for the water.  It involved lots of colouring with ink pens and watercolour pencils, blender pens, a touch of white gel pen, Wink of Stella and some splashes of water.

The flower itself was inked in old Cameo Coral and Perfect Plum and then clear embossed.  I've used a Stitched Framelit to cut out the image.  The sentiment is from the same set popped on a tag with Island Indigo ribbon threaded through.  The background paper was made wavy with an old wavy tool I have - I can't remember what you call them - to give the feeling of more water.  A glitter enamel dot was added to the little tag and lots of sponging around the edges.  

The Wink of Stella gives it a really shimmery look and gives the water the feeling of movement.

I'm adding this to the SU Only SUOC198 challenge which this week is asking for Colouring.

I'm also adding this to Retro Rubber this week as they are looking for vintage - well my lotus flower is reminiscent of Monet's Water Lillies and you can't get more vintage than that!  My stamp is also three years old so is an old stamp.


 

SPRING

My card today uses some stamps from a new set called The Rural Springtime collection by Clear Impressions - a fabulous set of 18 stamps.  The flower stamp was actually too big for any clear blocks I had so I cheated a bit - I put it on the back of an SU stamp box - who knew?

I've also reversed the image of the little chick so he could talk to his friend the rabbit.  I've used acetate in the past to do reverse imaging but I found a fab video on Youtube by Chari Moss - she actually stamped the stamp she wanted to reverse onto another stamp and then used that as the stamped image.  Sounds complicated but was the easiest way of doing a reverse image I've ever done.  

As the wreath stamp was so big I've done a square card - not my usual size which makes a nice change.  I've used mainly old SU inks here apart from Pear Pizazz and have coloured everything in with a blender pen.  There is some Wink of Stella on the flowers to give it a bit of a shimmer.

I'm putting this card in for the following challenges

Dream Factory - Challenge of a rabbit on a card
Inkspirational  - Challenge of Play - which is what my little animal friends will do
Double D         - Friendship




 

KINDA ELECTIC - COLLAGE STYLE

So I have a new stamp set and am playing with it like mad - I'm late to the Kinda Eclectic by Stampin' Up! party as it's a retired set - it passed me by in the catalogue and it was only looking through Pinterest that I saw some cards made with it and realised what a lovely versatile set it is.

I've done a CAS card with it and thought I'd do more of a collage look to the set - my card is going in to the Global Design Project challenge this week which is Bring Me Sunshine.  You can't get much better than that huge sun stamp which is part of the set.

My colours on this card are all Stampin Up inks - I used Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Fresh Fig and a touch of Crumb Cake and Soft Suede for the edges and the sentiment.  I used the Banner Framelits to cut out the sentiment which comes from SU Thankful Thoughts, and you can just see the background of the stamped circles which come with this set.  I still have my SU butterfly punches which retired a while back but which fit these butterflies perfectly.  A touch of basic pearls and gold thread finish off the card.

I'm off to do some more playing with this lovely set....I hope you don't get bored seeing too much of it.




 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS -# IC288

I am loving being on the Design Team for Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge blog - and what a fabulous inspirational photo we have for you today for our Inspirational Challenge #IC288






I chose to go with the robin - one of my favourite birds, and not only around at Christmas time but all year round.  I have three very territorial robins in my garden - always flitting in and out of the apple trees.

I've used two sets here for my card - one is an old SU set Touch of Nature - the bird was stamped and then fussy cut out and the background is made from the leaf stamp from this set.  The rest came from Colourful Seasons and the matching Seasonal Layers Thinlets. A touch of Copper Metallic Thread is added to the side of the card.  The colours I've used are Melon Mambo, Pear Pizazz and an old SU colour Pretty in Pink.




 

KINDA ECLECTIC

One of the things I quite like about no longer being a Stampin Up Demonstrator is the fact that I don't have to use current stock all the time.  That's why I set up the Joy of Sets Facebook Group - to enjoy all the wonderful images current and retired.  So I think its safe to say I'm a little late to the party where Kinda Electic is concerned.  I can see a host of ideas for this versatile set.  Luckily I still own the SU punches which actually co-ordinate with these two little butterflies from this set which offers an extra element.

My card today is for two challenges- Case This Sketch 



and Sunday Stamps



One of the things we do on our Facebook Group is have a RAK group where people from all over the world are very generously sending cards out to other crafters within the group.  It really has made the world a smaller place and I have 'met' some very lovely people.  You really can't put a price on receiving a handmade card through the post and, after all, we make these lovely cards they should be seen and shared.  The challenge over at TGIF this week is exactly that, RAK's - so I'm adding my card to their challenge also and one of my FB members will be receiving this card.




 

PAPER WEAVING

I tried a new technique for my card this week - Inspred by the Inspired By challenge's image this week and the Color Throwdon's #CTD489, challenge I went for the stripes of the tea cloths and used up some old pieces of DSP.  The Paper Players gave us a sketch to follow which matches my card! 







I used a variety of about 6 pieces of DSP size 3/4" x 4 1/2 " approximately.  I wove them all together and was going to leave them just as a woven piece but then had a bit of an Eureka moment. I took one of the Bold Butterfly framelits from Stampin' Up and cut it out of the woven piece.  I loved the look it produced.

I used some of the retired DSP for the background and the stamped dots are from Watercolour Wings.  The summer sentiment is from retired set Season by Season and the days word is from a retired Project Life Date It set.  A button and some ribbon finishes off the card.



 

OOPS - WE SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE....BUT...

Ha I bet that title got you thinking! So let me expand.  I thought I would join in with Addicted to Stamps and their challenge this week was Holiday.  Spring was late in arriving in the UK and within a day went from winter to summer!  Seriously warm here now and we don't have aircon.  So when I saw their challenge I immediately thought of relaxing on a beach.

So - this is where the confusion starts - Holiday in the UK means Vacation in the US and I forgot this basic rule, even though I've lived there.  So my card does not really reflect holiday as such, but rather holiday lol!

I've also followed the Global Design Project's sketch this week.

So anyway my Holiday/Vacation card uses Lemon Lime Twist paper and ink.  Some old DSP in Melon Mambo - one of the stamps from a very old set A Little Love - I've been using this one lately and these little flip flops are so cute with their Relax sentiment - just right for a holiday lol!  And I've also used Colourful Seasons.

 

CHERRY BLOSSOM

Spring is finally showing its face here in the UK with sunshine and warmth.  Doesn't it just make everything feel better - crafting when its warm though is a challenge as I want to be out in the garden - I could take everything outside later and make the most of it before it leaves again.

So I think Spring was on my mind when making this card - and used some of the stamps from the Cherry Blossom set I've recently purchased.  

The challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches #268 is a Colour challenge this week and I thought this gorgeous cherry blossom stamp and the lovely vase suited these colours.




I've used all SU colours in my card and the Spring sentiment is an old SU one from Season by Season set from about 2005.  My Pool Party ink though is very disappointing - I've found that with all the inks I purchased recently - they have dried out very quickly - yet I have inks from ten years ago that are still going strong - sometimes change is not a good thing. 

 So as my Pool Party was so dry I used Versamark and clear embossing powder to stamp the vase.  I used a neutral of Crumb Cake for the stems and used Daffodil Delight as my base cardstock.