Sketch Saturday #444

Hey,

Happy New Year's Eve to you!

I hope you have fun plans for tonight..I do :)

This week's Sketch Saturday sponsor is Bugaboo, who are offering a whopping 9 digis as a prize..

Here is this week's sketch -

Bugaboo make some of my fave digis and it was fun to play with Balloon Bundle for this challenge.

I printed the digi onto watercolour paper and coloured the balloons using Distress Inks and an aquabrush.

All the papers are by Lawn Fawn and Jen Hadfield.

The hardest part of making this card was figuring out where to put my sentiment..I was totally nervous about die-cutting it at the bottom of the paper pieced background - but now I am really pleased with the end result - phew!

Your turn to join in the fun - go over to Sketch Saturday and be inspired by the rest of the DT makes.

Have a safe and happy start to 2017, the challenge ends 6th January 7pm GMT / 5pm EST.

Cx

Flippin' Fabulous Playdate..

Hey,

Yesterday JT and I had an epic Skype playdate..we made a lot of stuff, which I will show you next week.

We decided that it would be fun to play along with a challenge and we chose Freshly Made Sketches 

The deal was that we had to use something new from our annual Black Friday $20 challenge haul - every year we spend $20 (well..maybe more this year) on buying things for the other person that they wouldn't buy for themselves. We always set a theme, this year it was 'Loft Art Inspired' 'Animals' and 'New to me this year'.

I love everything in my haul, I'll talk about it more next week.

I decided to flip the sketch and I broke out my new Summer Stickers (Crabs, Pineapples and Flip Flops) to use with the YNS Flippin' Fabulous stamp.
I coloured the Crab using Zig brush markers and die-cut him using a stitched square die, I die-cut a piece of scrap paper that felt like Sea and added them both to my card with a tan background that JT and I agreed on, as it looked like sand.

Final touch was to add the flip flop stickers, over the ones the Crab is holding in the stamp - they look like they were meant to be there!!

Love the whole thing, every time I look at it I smile - a lot.

I love playdates.

Cx

MFT Flower Stamps...

Hey,

Thanks to my friend and fellow cardmaker Richard I am totally obsessed with MFT Flower Stamps..

It all started because he made these amazing cards...

So... I have been slowly adding the stamp and die sets to my collection, I've been really well behaved and only buy them when there is a sale or if I have a coupon..it is TORTURE!!

Anyway, now I have 3 of the sets - Tropical Flowers, Large Desert Bouquet and Flashy Florals.

I thought to make a series of cards using each set and a bit of masking. To add a bit more variety to the cards, I also used a great set by Hero Arts. All the inks are Memento Dew Drops by Tsukineko and I added sparkly Nuvo Drops to each card, once they were done, for a bit of shimmer.

The main card today uses a circle mast and the Large Desert Bouquet stamp set. The sentiment is by Stampin Up.

The next card uses a painters tape mask and I decided that I wanted my card to be landscape, so worked with that in mind. This is the Flashy Florals set and the sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp.

The final card uses Tropical Flowers and also had a painters tape mask, but I went for a portrait card this time, as the flowers are quite big. The sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp.

It was fun to work with all 3 stamp sets with a loose theme. I think the Flashy Florals set is fast becoming my favourite.

Cx

OCC: Watercolouring for Card Makers Day 2..part 2

Hey,

So following on from yesterday here is part 2 of Day 2 of the Watercolouring class I bought forever ago over at OCC.

Again I did this part of the class over the Thanksgiving break

This part of Day 2 was taught by Jennifer McGuire and it was all about more backgrounds, masking with vibrant colours..

It was a lot of fun and I got to practice masking. I used Rubber Cement as my masking medium.

I chose to mask off 3 different images, which I watercoloured over. Here are my finished images (pre-card)

I made a bit of a boo boo with the Hello Beautiful, it was a bit wet when I went to take the rubber cement off, but I like the roughness.

I decided that as I had already made a set of cards as a gift for a friend, one of these should be her birthday card - the main card today (stamps by Unity Stamp Co and Penny Black). I really like the main card, simple stamping over the top of the mask onto the bright lime watercolour and then a simple mat and sentiment make the lady and the lime background really pop.

The other two cards I also kept simple -

A bit of a blingy mat for this one, I thought it needed to pop a bit more. Stamps are by Stampin' Up and Studio Calico.

I kept this one super simple to try and downplay the mistake I made. Stamp is by Simon Says Stamp.

Fun cards..need to do Day 3 now...

Cx

OCC: Watercolouring for Card Makers Day 2..part 1

Hey,

Hope you had a lovely Christmas..

I did and I am looking forward to a very relaxing week off.

Over the Thanksgiving break I FINALLY got to go and have a play with Day 2 of the Watercolouring class I bought forever ago over at OCC.

This part of Day 2 was all about using background stamps with watercolour and was taught by Debby Hughes.

This is already one of my fave techniques. Ink up the stamp, spritz with water, lay the paper on top..hope you get a decent impression!!

I made x4 backgrounds, using the same stamp (Hero Arts CG504), here is what I got..

The blue background got contaminated by the red ink, because I didn't clean my stamp properly, but I like it..

I decided to make x4 cards and make them a thank you set for a friend.

The first x2 use the entire background, as seen in the main card and this card -

Supplies for these 2 cards - Paper Source glitter heart stickers, Simon Says Stamp thanks on a line die, American Crafts glitter paper, EK Success mini heart punch, Tim Holtz Thank You word dies and glittery star and papers are from my stash.

The next x2 cards had a shape die-cut out of the background I created. I went for stars and hearts.

Supplies for these 2 cards - Lawn Fawn Scripty Thanks die, Sizzix Heart dies, xCut Star dies, Nuvo drops, Tim Holtz Distress Markers.

They were fun to make and it was good to start with the backgrounds giving me some food for thought.

Part 2 tomorrow...

Cx

Boxing Day thanks...

Hey,

Happy Boxing Day to my English / UK based peeps.

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

I thought it was a perfect day for me to share a 'Thank You' card.

Before Christmas I had a playdate with some friends and I stamped a bunch of the backgrounds that you can see on my card today, the stamp belongs to Jamey. I LOVE this stamp, it is by Taylored Expressions and I think I need it in my life..

This one I stamped with Picked Raspberry distress ink, spritzed and dried.

I die-cut the panel using my absolute all time fave Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle die and then stamped the sentiment, also by SSS.

The flower dies are shiny and new and this is their first outing, aren't they pretty! I ran a piece of black card through my Xyron before die-cutting them, making it easier to affix them to my card.

I added a few Neat & Tangled (freebie) sequins to the card to finish it off.

So pretty and simple, you'll see me using more of the backgrounds that I stamped over the next few weeks..

Cx

Happy Christmas..

Hey,

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas.

I hope you are having a great day with your loved ones.

Hubby and I will be pottering around today cooking, watching basketball and NFL and eating!

My card today is for Hubby..one day soon we want to live in Florida and the Newton's Nook stamp made me think of that.

So I paired it with the Lawn Fawn sentiment, coloured it with distress inks and stickles and voila! Card for Hubby.

Cx

Happy Christmas Eve...

Hey,

Happy Christmas Eve to you all.

Christmas Eve is my fave day of the whole Christmas season, it is the day that Hubby and I hang out, doing the food shopping, having a drink and a laugh as we prep for Christmas Day.

Tonight we are off to a lovely Italian restaurant to do the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes..cannot wait, I'm all about fish.

My card is a simple quick one, for Lemon..

I used a BF Unity Stamp Co purchase 'I tolerate you'. I really love the Bear and the Bunny all snuggled up together.

I stamped it along with one of the sentiments from the set and coloured it with distress inks.

I die-cut it using a MFT stitched scalloped frame die, you get the central rectangle and then the scalloped bit separately. I adore these dies, they are so pretty.

I smooshed the scalloped bit in some Mermaid Lagoon distress ink and dried it, I love the random effect this gives the frame.

The frame was adhered to the card blank and then I popped up the stamped piece and added Nuvo drops..

Simple.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

Cx

CASology: Toast...

Hey,

So it's almost Christmas.

I am already on Christmas break and I am already feeling relaxed.

Hard on the heels of another CASology Honorable Mention - for which I am extremely grateful for, it is so nice to be recognised in this way and has been a really nice way to round out a wonderful year of crafting.

This week's cue card instantly made me think of toasted bread...

I love Toast, I am a Toast connoisseur... so much so that Hubby bought me a toast rack (swoon).

Sadly there is not a single Toast stamp in my vast collection..soon to be rectified.

So I decided to go for humour and use my Your Next Stamp Holiday Martini stamp. I coloured it using a mix of Zigs and Spectrum Noir Sparkle Markers.

The sentiment is a mix of Lawn Fawn and Clearly Besotted.

So my little Martini guy popped a bit, I added a teeny touch of lime green ink to the panel - still keeping it all CAS.

I'm pretty pleased with this little card, sadly the Martini stamp came too late for my Christmas cards this year..next year there will be a ton of these being made.

This is the last CASology of the year for me..it has been so much fun, I have loved pushing myself to work cleanly and use the cue cards.

Happy Holidays CASology DT, you have been very inspiring, can't wait for 2017.

Cx

Hey Girl...

Hey,

Or should that be Hey Girl! hahaha

I had great fun on the Studio Calico site, during their sale in the run up to Black Friday, lots of bargains to be had.

One of the bargains was the great Hey Girl die that you see on my card today.

I had made a background that I didn't really love and thought I might love it more if I used it through an aperture.

As I was trying that out, it turned into a shaker, complete with the green die-cut stitched scalloped circle by MFT and the Hey Girl die-cut.

I'm pretty pleased at how it came out, especially as it was an unexpected make...

Here's a close-up so you can see the shaker and the background better.

I was thinking of saving this for my 2017 Lemon sends, but another need arose..

I basically send Lemon a random card twice a month, no reason, just because I make stuff and it reminds me of her :( I miss Lemon.

Cx

Congratulations...

Hey,

As it is the last day of work for me until Jan (whoop whoop), I thought I would share these cards that I made AGES ago, for my work colleagues that got promoted.

Unfortunately they didn't photograph as well as I wanted them to..they look amazing in person.

I went with my old fave trick, ink up a background stamp, spritz with water, press paper into it, dry.

I used the same colours for the congratulations die-cuts and in one way that was a mistake as they didn't pop out as much as they could have from the vellum, but I love the coordination.

Each of the promoted ladies are different, so I deliberately chose colours that would suit their personalities.

I kept the details to a minimum and let the backgrounds be the focus.

Here is the second card -

Here are two detail shots, you get a better view of the lovely die-cut word.

Next time, I think I will have a detailed word and a plain background :)

Cx

Supplies: Hero Arts, Deep Red, Simon Says Stamp Die

Shaker Snow Globe Tutorial...

Hey,

No Retro Rubber today, we are on our Christmas break, but we return on January 17th ready for a whole new year of fun, I do hope you will come and play with us then.

As it is nearly Christmas I thought I would share a tutorial with you..

I made this fun shaker as part of my Christmas card stash because I got a freebie snowglobe stamp and I wanted to play with it.

It was pretty straightforward.

Step 1
I stamped my globe and sentiment, using my MISTI. Then masked off my sentiment (by Clearly Besotted) using post-its.

Step 2 -

I inked up my snowflake background stamp (by Sizzix) added a spritz of water and then laid my paper onto the stamp. Remove the mask and this is the final stamped panel.

Step 3 -
I used a circle die to cut the aperture (badly..) for my shaker.

Step 4 -
No photo of this step, make your shaker pouch, affix to the back of the card and mount the card front using foam tape onto your card blank.

I added some Stickles here and there to make him shimmer a little bit more.

Super easy and look how pretty he is! Bar the dodgy aperture, but whatever, he is handmade and how many shaker snowglobe cards do you think the recipient will get? Ha ha.

Cx

CASE: Circle Mask Flowers...

Hey,

Happy Monday.

Only 3 more work days this year, then rest, desk playtime and hangs with the Hubs, glorious.

When I am a bit stuck for inspiration and want to play at my desk, I head over to my Pinterest ideas board..

I came across this -

Image credit - Therese Calvird for Altenew

Gorgeous right?

So, I decided to have a go. I had two scrap circles on my desk, so I used those as my centre masks - one is bigger than the other.

I used a great Artist Loft circle template to create my circles - if you don't have one of these, you need one, they are super useful. I used mini daubers to apply the colour.

I stuck with four colours for both of my cards - all distress inks - Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Peacock feathers.

Before I lifted off the circle mask I stamped all the details onto my inked circles, to create the flowers. For this I used three Simon Says Stamp sets and a Lawn Fawn set - Scribble Flowers, Favorite Flowers, Handwritten Floral Greetings (SSS) and Our Friendship Grows (LF).

Here is the other version.

To finish off I die-cut the panels using a SSS stitched die and added the sentiment. The sentiments are also by SSS Sketchy Banner Greetings and dies (they don't make this set anymore)

Sounds like a lot of work, but it really was very simple and I had a lot of fun creating them, totally doing this again.

As this is a CASE, it is only good manners to provide links to Therese's blog and the Altenew post.

Cx

CDT 423...A good day to be awesome...

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you.

I saw the great colours over at Color Throwdown this week and knew I had to play along..

I had a lot of fun making this card and the unusual colour combo really worked for me.

I decided I would put some Picked Raspberry distress ink onto my craft mat, spritz it and smoosh my watercolour paper into it, to create the hot pink background for my die-cut. I did this until I got the colour I wanted.

I used the Neat & Tangled Hexastar cover plate and boy is that hard to cut :) But It meant that I got some random triangles that didn't pop out and I actually really like it.

To enhance the hot pinkness I used a finger dauber and more of the ink around the edges.

I created the lime background using Lime Twist distress ink and a blending tool.

I used foam tape to pop the cover plate up and then die-cut the awesome from the Neat & Tangled set of the same name in red paper to fit the colour scheme. The rest of the sentiment is from the stamp set that goes with this die and I stamped that on a scrap of lime paper.

Finishing touch was to add a few lime and red sequins around.

It's bright and a bit in your face, but I love it, great make for a Saturday morning :)

Cx

Watercolour Splodges...

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

I can't believe there are only 3 more working days to this year..where has it gone?!

Hubby and I went to KTown (Korea Town) in NYC last night and ate a lot of amazing food. Today we are off to brunch with some friends from London who are in town for the weekend. I also have a skype playdate set up with JT for Sunday.

I'm sharing a simple card today.

I bought the stamp online at one of those random Chinese sites..I just loved it and it was $1..

The white panel was die-cut using one of my Black Friday embossed rectangle dies by Lil Inker - it's so pretty.

The watercolour splodges were a bit of a challenge, because I wanted to position them so that the Dandelions would look right when I stamped it over them. I could have stamped the Dandelions first, but I wanted it too look random.

I was pretty pleased that when I stamped the Dandelions they were perfectly positioned over the splodges.

Final touch was to add the sentiment and a few splashes of paint.

Simple and quick.

Cx

You Rock!!

Hey,

Happy Friday!

I thought this card was totally apt for a Friday :)

I made it last Friday when I had a mini playdate with some friends.

The YNS Silly Monster Rockstars stamps are mine and the background is actually a stamp that Jamey had - I LOVE it, it looks like a handmade background.

I masked off my Monster before I stamped the background and I coloured him/her with distress inks and an aquabrush.

Hope you have a great weekend, I am playing at my desk, brunching (in the snow?!), playdating with JT and watching NFL.

Excellent.

Cx

CASology..Bow...

Hey,

So I got another Honorable Mention over at CASology, isn't that awesome, so grateful and feeling pretty pleased with my CAS progression right now.

The cue cards over at CASology keep speaking to me.

For this I initially had a completely different idea, using a present and the same bow that you see on my card, but it kinda fell flat, so I started again..

What happened to create this card was that I was moving new stamp sets to get to something else and the Gerda Steiner Llama Tell You set fell on the floor.

Instant inspiration.

I feel that if I am going to send someone a card telling them they are weird, why not have a Llama in a bow..hahahaha.

As you can see it is a super simple very CAS card, I stamped the sentiment and the Llama, outlined the Llama and coloured his tongue and added Stickles 'hair'.

The bow is from Flying Tiger and was a gift from JT - they come in 2 sizes and 2 patterns and she bought me 2 sets (orange and blue). The blue ones have been used and the orange ones are precious..

Cx

Wakely Girl....

Hey,

So I did some serious craft damage over Thanksgiving / Black Friday...

Among my haul of plenty was this gorgeous stamp by Unity Stamp Co. I LOVE the Angie girls.

This one is called Wakely girl and I fell in love with her over the knee boots.

They are always such a pleasure to colour and I spent a quiet 20mins or so last week colouring her, using distress inks, zigs and an aquabrush.

I love the soft tones of her outfit, with a bright pop of colour for her bag!

The vertical sentiment is by Stampin' Up and I love the vertical stamp set, because sometimes your sentiment just needs to work that way!

Cx

Retro Rubber #53...Colour challenge..there is still time to play..

Hey,

There is still time for you to play along with the last Retro Rubber challenge of 2016.

This time we have a colour challenge for you, using the photo for inspiration.

Challenge ends on December 16th.  Don't forget to use a stamp a year or older and tell us about it that's part of the fun. Also, please limit your entries to 10 challenges including ours.

Cx

CASE: Monster Watercolour Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Monday!

You know I love anything to do with non-scary Monsters...stamps, pencil cases, notepads, etc..I can't resist Monster things.

So as I recently bought a few Monster stamp sets from Your Next Stamp, I have been playing with them in a variety of ways.

I saw this on Pinterest -

Photo by Wiebke Zander

And I thought that my YNS Monsters would look great against a watercoloured background.

I had planned for the cards to be straight CASE, but then I spotted a stencil on my desk and thought that would add a bit of interest to the background.

I used distress inks through the stencil, spritzed it with water and then dried it.

Both the Monsters are from Silly Monsters Two and are coloured with Zig Clean Color brush pens.

The balloons are from a MFT Pure Innocence set and are also coloured with distress inks.

The sentiment on the main card is from the YNS Silly Monsters set and the sentiment on the card below is from YNS Silly Monsters Two.

I added some Nuvo Crystal drops to finish off both cards.

I love them both and they make fun additions to my stash, that I think can be used for both kids and adults.

I like to provide links to the CASE sources - Weibke Zander.

Cx

CASology...Space..

Hi,

Today I am playing along with CASology again..I am SO loving the cue cards right now.

For me the word 'Space' always means Aliens!

So Alien's it is for my card.

Like Judy on the DT, I went with the wonderful Alien Invasion set by Gerda Steiner. I love this set, I overuse it and now I have the dies, it will get even more use.

First I die-cut the wonky stitched rectangle (Lil Inkers) because I wanted to stamp the sentiment before I coloured my little Alien.

I used a Blue Breeze Kaleidacolor ink pad to stamp the sentiment, so you get the variation of colour you see. This helped me to choose the colours for the little Alien.

I coloured him using distress inks.

I popped the wonky panel up and the alien, so you get a bit of dimension.

To finish him off I added a few stars and Nuvo drops.

This card is totally going to my bestie Lemon.

I'm also linking up with Gerda Steiner's current Share your Design challenge.

Cx