FLORAL ESSENCE

It's a wet and windy day here in the UK and the summer seems long gone - although I do have some roses outside my window hanging on to show me their continued splendour.

My card today is for the Global Design Project #GDP210


I've used the very lovely Floral Essence Stamp Set and Perennial Essence DSP. My favourite SU papers for a very long time and I'm making sure I'm using them and not keeping them in their cover!  I actually used the pink side of the paper to stamp the images of the flowers and the leaves on - to keep that pink background going.  All the flowers and leaves were fussy cut out.  I used Old Olive ink for the leaves - and Blackberry Bliss and and Berry Burst for the flowers with a touch of More Mustard for the inside.  I then gave them a wash of Tri Spectrum Noir sparkle blender pen - curled their petals and popped some of them up on dimensionals.  The sentiment was cut out with the label banner framelit.

         

THE SECRET GARDEN

I've just found a lovely new challenge blog that I'm hoping to play along with often. It's called The Library Challenge and they choose book titles for their challenge!  How inspiring!   Their Challenge this week is :



I have a confession to make - I have never read this book!  I was a voracious reader as a child and still am - I prefer paper to digital and like to feel the books I read and I can't believe I never read this - I wonder if it's too late?  I was inspired by the gorgeous image to try my hand and some chalk colouring - I'm not sure if that's the technical term but it's what I'm calling.

I have these lovely Folk Art type stamps I don't know where I got them from but they have these lovely images of the hare and the flowers.  The little fox and hare came from another winter scene set I have.  I used some Archival Brilliance ink in Moonlight White to stamp my images.  I then used Derwent Metallic pencils for the colouring in.  I layered it onto a piece of Kaisercraft paper from their Enchanted paper pad.  The sentiment which I thought goes really well is from SU Animal Outing.


How lovely - mine was chosen as a winner.

 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - IC#325

A fabulous collection of images for you to get inspiration from for our challenge this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments.

I love autumn and am quite surprised I actually don't have any pumpkin stamps!  So I had to think outside the box and made some with a 1" punch.  They look pretty realistic don't you think?

My card uses an old set called Build a Bouquet.  I'm quite surprised there are not very many projects used with this set as I think it's really versatile and I love the sentiment that come with it.  I used it here to create my background.  I used Old Olive and Wild Wasabi Green Inks.  More Mustard and Really Rust together with a touch of Cherry Cobbler.  I cut the flowers out with the thinlet from Colourful Seasons and stamped on the leaves with the skeleton stamp.  Some autumn coloured rhinestones and a touch of Wink of Stella finish off the card.

I'm adding this into a few other challenges with a similar theme:

Pinspirational Challenge #249,
Cardz 4 Guyz - I've gone with Orange

 

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #TSOT429

A great sketch this week again at Try Stampin on Tuesday and I chose to go with the optional extra of the colours Orange, Green, Purple which spoke Hallowe'en to me.

I wanted to have another play with this mad bird from Tim Holtz.  I did stamp a couple of images of him before I was happy with this mainly orange one.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade but went over it with the Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen in Harvest Moon.  These colours Spectrum Noir pens are really good but they are quite dark so will change the colour of your ink.  Beware!!! 

For my background I've used a couple of papers from Stampin Up.  The leaves in the middle are from Some Sail Away - DSP - it is a black and white paper but I've used some inks to colour it - Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade, Bundled Sage and an old Memories Ink in Violet.  I added some of the gorgeous Noble Peacock DSP to the sides and layered it behind the bird and the sentiment.  This shiny paper is just so lovely to work with.  The sentiment is from a very old SU set Bitty Boos.

Now - who do I send this one to?  If anyone likes Halloween cards let me know and I'll pop it in the post to you!

I'm adding this into the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge also which asks for spooky  
as does Pearly Sparkles Challenge 

JOY OF SETS TIC TAC TOE CHALLENGE - #JOSTTT010

We are up to our tenth challenge already at Joy of Sets Tic Tac Toe - hasn't this year flown by?!!  Our grid this month has been designed by Angie McKenzie.  Each month one of our Design Team has had the opportunity to create their own grid.  I love autumn, it's my favourite time of the year and I just love the colours it offers.  I went for the Leaves, Watercolour Smooching and Emboss.

I started off with some Crumb Cake cardstock and sponged it with lots of brown inks from Tim Holtz and Stampin Up.  I used a lovely set from Clearly Besotted called Fall Flowers for the leaves - it comes with the die cuts also.  I used two of the die cuts for the flowers and embossed them with Copper Embossing powder from SU.  The background is made with an embossing folder from Kaisercraft.  I added some Copper Thread from SU and a few rhinestones.

I'm also adding this into the Simon Says Stamp challenge - Autumn 


 

SWEET STAMPIN CHALLENGE - WORLD ANIMAL DAY

We are celebrating World Animal Day today over at Sweet Stampin.  I've chosen to use this delightful little set by Clearly Besotted called Mischievous Mole.  It comes with some lovely sentiments but I added a sentiment from Stampin Up's Jar of Love which I thought went really well.  I'm at that stage of colouring where I'm deciding do I need Copics? I can't really warrant the cost for just a hobbyist and what if I got them and I still wasn't happy with the colouring?  Hmm!  Anyway for this little card I used a cloud stencil for the background.  I coloured them in with SU Watercolour Pencils .  I look forward to seeing what you all choose as your animal.

 

SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - MAKE US LAUGH

A fun challenge for you at Sparkles Christmas Challenge this month - make us laugh! I had to think outside the box on this one a bit as I don't have any humorous cards.  I do have a lovely new stamp set from Sunny Studio though called Holiday Style which has some fabulous stamps in it.  The main one for me is the gorgeous silver bell but for this card I used the ornaments and gave them a twist.

I used a fern style embossing folder on some SU DSP to make the background and then sponged over the ferns with some TIm Holtz distress ink.  I then stamped the fir stamp and cut it out.  The baubles were inked with two colours - SU Real Red stamped in full and then stamped off to give the two colours. I added the faces on with a black pen.  I added a touch of ribbon and some twine at the bottom and some rhinestones to the sentiment.

I'm adding this into the Christmas at Sweet Stampin Challenge which is Anything Goes with option of Decorations





 

SUOC223 - FALL/AUTUMN

I think I've mentioned that I love this time of year.  I also love it as a theme for crafting and love having the chance to make autumn cards.  Our theme this week at SU Only Challenge is Fall/Autumn.  

I used a piece of DSP and embossed it with the Basket embossing folder.  Now the eagle-eyed among you will notice my weave is back to front so that's something I'll have to make sure I'm aware of next time.  I think it still works though!  I used a label punch to punch out the three labels and used some images from Painted Seasons - the fir cone and the leaf - and Nature's Perfection - the little flower int he middle.  The Thank You sentiment came from Background Bits and I used a label framelit to cut it out.

I edged the labels with some Soft Suede lightly sponged.  I used some retired Washi Tape and then layered some Old Olive twine and tied an extra bow.  There is a touch of Wink of Stella on the images just to give them a bit of sparkle.


 

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #TSOT428

Another mixed challenge for you today at Try Stampin On Tuesday:

I've used both the sketch and the images for my inspiration.  The little tub of flowers is from a set by a new company I've recently found in the UK called Visible Image and this is from their Stay Weird set - it has some great sentiments which I'll use another day.  I used Spectrum Noir Tri Blends to colour them in and added a Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen in Harvest Moon which is a gorgeous russet colour for the flowers.  The little thank you sentiment is from a very old SU set - sorry I can't even remember the name of it!  I used a stitched framelit to cut all three out and sponged them with some Tim Holtz Barn Door.

I added some Stampin Up DSP and embossed the brown piece with an embossing folder from Kaisercraft.  I added a touch of SU twine in Old Olive just to finish it all off.



 

BOO!

Over at my Facebook Group The Joy of Sets we are running a Hallowe'en card swap. Hallowe'en is a much maligned festival - with the true meaning lost in the Hollywood hype.  It's only recently become popular in the UK as it is in the US but people still don't send Hallowe'en cards.  For me it is a time for remembering those members of my family who are no longer with me - and sadly I have quite a few.

My card for the swap though was a bit more of a traditional Hallowe'en style using a very old set from SU called Bitty Boo.  This is more than 10 years old but it is the only set I have with Hallowe'en style images so I thought it deserved an outing.

I started off with some samples of SU Designer Series Paper and cut them out with a small square stitched frame.  The Hallowe'en images were stamped onto white card stock in Memento Ink and SU Tangerine Tango.  The orange ones have a layer of Spectrum Noir Sparkle in Harvest Moon. I've just bought this set of three coloured sparkle pens from Spectrum Noir and they are perfect for Autumn cards.

I layered them onto some black card stock and added a touch of Washi Tape in the middle.  I cut out the bat and added some yellow rhinestones.  The black was then layered onto some Crushed Curry Cardstock.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Watercooler Wednesday #wwc240 - Occasions
Retro Rubber 120 - Anything Goes
Make My Monday - Shapes

 

SWEET STAMPIN - CELEBRATING PEACE DAY

Welcome to another Challenge at Sweet Stampin. Today, 21st September, is Peace Day and we are celebrating it. It is also my Wedding Anniversary - 34 years - and at the moment I am away in Wales celebrating with darling hubby.  

I have just found a new stamp company called Visible Image who also hail from Wales so it's fitting they have provided the stamps for my card today.  The set is called Mindful Moments.  I am also a Reiki healer and will be doing a selection of similar cards that I can give to me clients after their sessions.

I started out with some water colour paper and Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks building up the colour till I was happy with it.  I added a mask of the image of the girl as I was originally going to keep her white but it looked too start.  I embossed her first in silver embossing powder and then  used lots of dark ink to add texture and you can just faintly see trees stamped also to keep her grounded.  I added some Tim Holtz Fossilized Amber around her to look like an aura coming off her.  The stars were embossed with white embossing powder.

 

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY #TSOT426

A great sketch today from Try Stampin on Tuesday with the added challenge of adding some leaves! Right up my street as I love autumn!

I started off with some Very Vanilla and used a lovely stamp set from Clearly Besotted that has lots of lovely leaf images called Fall Flowers.  I chose to use all the skeleton type stamps.  The colours I used are SU Really Rust - A very old ink but still going strong - Crushed Curry and Old Olive.


I used the framelits from Colourful Seasons to cut out my two leaves and sponged the edges of the skeleton leaf with Really Rust.  I added it to a background of Crushed Curry that had been embossed with a Kaisercraft Embossing folder called Tiny Floral. I used the stitched framelits to cut both pieces of card stock out.  I added an extra leaf to stamp the sentiment on which is from the same stamp set.  I then added some SU Baker's Twine in Old Olive and a button from the Regals collection.

 

STAMPIN UP ONLY CHALLENGE - DESIGNERS CHOICE #SUOC232

We get to choose our own theme this week at Stampin Up Only challenge -would you be surprised that I was drawn to leaves and autumn again? I did warn you a few posts ago lol!  Anyway - it's a good way to show the diversity of various stamps and inks!

I've used the Seasonal Layer thinlets which co-ordinate with Colourful Season stamp set by SU.  I stamped in Versamark and then used the copper embossing powder to make the leaves.  I added this to some retired DSP and added a touch of bronze thread behind one of the leaves.  The inside includes a sentiment from Colourful Seasons inked in an old SU colour Really Rust.  I added some buttons from the Regals collection to finish off the cards.

We recently did a Joy of Sets Blog Hop with the theme of Tri-Fold cards and I think this was still on my mind when I made this one.

 

JOY OF SETS BLOG HOP - TRI-FOLD CARDS

I'm delighted we are holding another Blog hop for the Joy of Sets Facebook Group. My thanks to Andrea Parr for once again organising us all - not easy when we are all over the world!  If you would like to join our Facebook Group click on the logo above.  Our theme is tri-fold cards and, as is usual with Joy of Sets, we allow all products to be used - although a lot of members are Stampin Up Demonstrators.

I went for a slightly different type of tri-fold with mine and it just sort of evolved as I was doing it.  I started off with some black card stock which is unusual for me.  I wanted to use the lovely Mosaic DSP from Stampin Up - I adore mosaics especially Roman ones and we have a gorgeous one in our local Iron Age Museum which dates back over 2,000 years.

I cut the piece of cardstock 10" x 5 " and scored at 4" and 7 3/4" - I still work in inches and always will!  On the left hand side piece I used the framelit from Colourful Seasons to cut out the edging and added some of the DSP layered onto Mint Macaron.  I added some pearls just to define the edge.

I used the butterfly framelit from SU Watercolour Wings for the butterfly and used the same DSP.  I actually cut half of the butterfly out of the black card stock and this is what helps to keep the card closed as the left hand tucks in behind the butterfly's wing.  The little butterflies were cut out with the framelit from That's the Tag.  The sentiment inside is from Kinda Eclectic and I used a retired butterfly punch to cut out a butterfly in the same DSP.

Have fun hopping around the blog and visiting all the wonderful projects - do stop by and say hello - we love to read your comments.  Why not join in with our next one and be part of the group?

To go to Annette Ball's blog click on the button below:

 To be taken back to Andrea Parr's blog - click on the button below:

Here is a full list of all those who are participating in the blog hop including links to their blogs:

Fiona Whitehead - You are here

Annette Ball

Kaylin Krawczyk

Jane Allmark

Tricia Butts

Angie McKenzie

Libby Fens

Susan Simpson

Rebecca-Jo Unwin

Linda A Moore

Andrea Parr