INKSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE - GARDEN

I recently found a new stamp company when I was at a craft fair called Card-io.  I have seen some lovely examples of how to use their stamps and managed to get a set to play with recently. It is perfect for the challenge over at Inkspirational which is Garden.

The set I've used is called Garden Hosedown.  I masked off the top and bottom of my card.  Using some Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Bundled Sage and Fossilized Amber I gently sponged the background.  I used various inks for the images and masked off a part for the sun.  The sun's rays are from a Stampin Up retired set Amazing You.  I added some flowers and leaves and the birds from SU High Tide.  The sentiment is from another retired set from SU called Cottage Greetings.  I added a few coloured rhinestones to the centre of the flowers.

I think I'm going to need a bit more practice with these stamps and maybe some more which include their lovely flowers and leaves, but it's a start!




 

A NEUTRAL CHRISTMAS CARD - WINTER POST

The challenge over at Inkspirational this week is neutral colours for a Christmas card. I really loved this challenge as I normally grab reds and greens and maybe blues and doing a neutral card was a revelation.

 I've used one of my favourite Christmas sets from Stampin Up which is an old one called Winter Post.  The image of the skaters is so nostalgic and it really lends itself to these neutral colours.  I've used a Holly Embossing folder for the Very Vanilla which had a circle cut out.  The skaters are behind it with dimensionals to give this an impression of a bauble.  The stamping at the top is another old set Autumn Days which had this stamp of fir cones to give the impression of a Christmas tree branch for the bauble.  The touch of gold thread just finishes off the card.


As I'm in a neutral mood I decided to do another neutral card for Addicted To Stamps challenge which is a CAS challenge.

I've used a very old stamp I dont even know where its from - I've added an old metal brad to the top of the tag simply layered it onto dark brown and used the Holly Embossing folder direct on the Soft Suede.  

 


 

COLOURS OF AUTUMN

Well I've gone from Winter and snow to back to Autumn again - two seasons in one day lol! 

This time I'm joining in with Retro Rubber challenge again and they had a picture for us to take our inspiration from with the colours of Fall or Autumn as we say over here in the UK. I'm also including this in Inkspirational Challenge this week whose theme is Trend.  Well I'm right on trend here with Autumn and I'm thinking retro stamps are trendy right now too!

I turned to my trusty Cherry Pie Art stamps again and some old rubber stamps I've had for over 10 years but they are still going strong.  I think the main image of the girl is called Flora - I've also used an old Hero Arts collage stamp called Love, Life, Beauty and a Cherry Pie stamp with the butterfly on it comes from a set called Art and Butterflies.


 I used some SU Island Indigo as the cardstock and embossed the sentiment from Beautiful You in Copper embossing powder.  Some copper thread wound round the cardimage also adds a bit of detail.  The stamping of the girl was done with an old SU spectrum Stampin Pad - its a shame you can't get these any more - its a great way of getting different colours on one stamp.


 

MEDITERRANEAN MOMENTS - INKSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE 127

I'm a cat lady!  There!  It's official I'e said it.  Although I have two dogs which I also love dearly I have two cats also and have cats since I was 9 years old.  I can always see me having a cat - not necessarily always having dogs as I get older!

So I was so happy to see a cat on one of the stamps from this lovely set Mediterranean Moments.  This cat actually looks a little like one of my old cats I lost last year  her name was Megan and she was 16 when we lost her.

I've given my cat on this card her colouring slightly.

The challenge over at Inkspirational Challenge 127 is polkadots and I had already made this card using some of the DSP Stacks.  I love these papers, they are so versatile.  I've used the same paper with the Itty Bitty punch to punch out the butterfly.

Stitched framelits were used and I used our Watercolour Pencils for the colouring in.  A touch of linen thread finishes off the card.






 

INKSPIRATIONAL CHALLENGE - BEST OF BIRDS

Best of Birds is a new set for me and I just love it.  I'm just waiting for my framelits to arrive to go with this set which I think will make it even more versatile.

I do love birds and their imagery, much better than insects which I just don't do.

So I was delighted to see that the challenge over at Inkspirational Challenge is Flutter.  I had already made this card for a friend's birthday soon and I think it will fit this challenge really well.

I used some of our think Watercolour White paper to colour in the bird and used our new Watercolour Pencils and an Aqua Painter.

He was first embossed in black ink and I used clear embossing powder to emboss him.  The branch was embossed with our Copper Embossing Powder.

I fussy cut him out and this will be a lot easier with the framelits when I get them.

I used some of the gorgeous Serene Scenery DSP for the background.  The sentiment was punched out with the banner punch and some enamel dots completed the card.

 All supplies can be purchased from me if you are in the UK.  Please click on the SU Logo below to be taken to my store.

 HAPPY CRAFTING

 

THANKFUL THOUGHTS

Well what can I say about my card today - I think I was having a bit of a lightbulb gone out moment.

My plan was to join in with the Inkspirational challenge - they had given us a photo inspiration as shown below.  With me so far?





There was some great inspiration from the Design Team - mainly with buildings.  I don't have any building type stamps but I thought I would do something quirky like use word stamps upside down
 ...... like this.....

 Something a bit different don't you think?  Not really conventional to have the words going up!  The Thank You sentiment is from Thankful Thoughts - the flowers stamped are from Jar of Love and Birthday Blooms and the flower in the middle is from the Botanical Framelits.  I've used just three colours here - Very Vanilla on Early Espresso card stock.  Early Espresso Ink, Peekaboo Peach and Pear Pizazz.

However - my lightbulb moment came when I decided to watermark my card and suddenly the card turned round and looked like this: Conventional.Doh!

 

 
 

LOVE AND AFFECTION DAY 3 - A TOUCH OF RED

Day 3 of my One Stamp Set for a week challenge.  The Challenge over at Inkspirational is a colour challenge with a touch of Red.  Click on the image below to be taken to their site.






Still using Love and Affection Stamp Set, Whisper White Card Stock, Pear Pizzazz Cardstock and Pear Pizzazz and Real Red Ink.

 A touch of some Enamel Shapes just finish off the cards.  The Flowerpanels have been added on dimensionals to give....well... some dimension lol!