Green For Go

Green is not my favourite colour, well, it depends on the green I suppose- I do love lime green and teal (if that is green) but your average green is not on my list.  Strange, then, that I got the urge this morning when I sat down to craft for the Seize The Birthday challenge to make something with green. This week it is a masculine birthday card  using the same sketch as last week.

Green is one of my husband's favourite colours so perhaps I was thinking of him.  I'm not sure a VW camper would be his top choice but that's what I stamped.  It a Papermania stamp I think, I've had it a while,

I used some chevron DP to give the effect of the panels, I think chevrons are in at the moment, they seem to be very popular. I used Gumball Green and Pear Pizazz for the colour scheme.  You won't see many coloured images here, as I'm not very confident with my markers, I am in awe of anyone who can colour images ( as you will see from many of the comments I leave on other crafters' blogs). This is my best effort!

The circles are soft circle stickers - they look a bit like brads.
Back to the crafting table to make one or two more cards this morning, I think I'll make the most of my day off!

Punch Art Christmas Tree

Have you heard of punch art?  Well, I hadn't until a month ago or so, when I had to investigate it for the challenge this week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown I started where I'm sure most people do these days - I googled it and basically, it means using punched or die cut shapes to create something else!
The best place to go is probably Splitcoast Stampers and that is where I saw this idea

I have made the tree using inverted heart shapes, from a heart punch and from the heart shape from the SU Bird Punch, decorated it with gems and a thin organza ribbon. The pot is a cup cake base and I've used DP for the sentiment.  It was quite fun to do and there are hundreds of ideas on the internet, some of which the DT have had a go at, so do go and have a look.
As my card has a little ribon and bow I am also going to enter it into the challenge at Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge blog, where there are chances to win prizes and I think I can just squeeze into the April Crafty Hazelnuts Extra Christmas Challenge too!

Christmas Pudding anyone?

OK, so for CAS Colours and Sketches I've gone all Christmassy this week. Any card can be entered into the challenge, as long as it's CAS and, this week, takes it's inspiration from this sketch

and this week this is what I've come up with

The centre is a 'faux tile' or embedded image. I die cut a circle from mountboard, stamped and coloured the Christmas pudding image, sponging with distress inks and then added several layers of UTEE.  I then matted this onto red cs and added a glittery edge.  The paper is more from Summer Smooches (shows how versatile it can be!) and I chose kraft as my base.

I stamped this sentiment from Whacky Wishes in the inside of my card in Poppy Parade. The other ladies in the DT have also made fabulous cards for you to check out if you're not keen on a Christmas theme-may be it's too early for you!

A Bright and Sunny Birthday

It's a gorgeous spring day here in Herefordshire, in the UK.  The birds are singing, the garden is full of flowers and so I was inspired to make a bright and sunny card for this weeks challenge at Seize The Birthday. This is week one for the sketch and so a birthday card for a female is required.

 As soon as I saw this sketch I thought what a great sketch for showcasing paper and I just happen to have some that I wanted to try - Summer Smooches, even the name is full of sunshine! getting the strips just right took a little time.

The stamped 'buttons' are from a set called Bright Blossoms - it all goes together so well! The sentiment takes centre stage and is from Wacky Wishes. 

Fancy Folds

Fancy Folds - that's the challenge at Make My Monday this week. I love cards that are made this way, paper engineering, I call it, and there are so many different types of fold. At the monthly craft club I go to we are always making cards with crafty folds, thanks to our very talented leader, and this is one that I made a couple of weeks ago. It's called a folded frame card and you can find the tutorial here.

It's a great way to use double sided DPs as you get to see both sides.  The stamps I used are from a set called Madison Avenue, and I fussy cut them out before adding a few colour coordinating gems. This card is so dimensional and yet still folds flat to go through the post.  The sentiment is from Friendly Phrases and was perfect for the recipient of this card - My Mum! It was her birthday last Friday and we got to celebrate on Saturday, with a lovely lunch in the garden of a local pub - the sun was shining, it was a perfect spring day. Hope to have a  little more time to craft tomorrow too.

Four Santas and a Tag

Week 3 at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and that means a theme for you all to have a go with.  This month, Deborah has gone with my very favourite Christmas theme, the old man himself, Santa!

I took the inspiration for my card from this very traditional Santa image, but you can portray him however you like - cute, modern, traditional, we don't mind! However, having said my image was traditional I don't think my design is... take a look

I stamped and heat embossed the image four times onto kraft card, sponged the edges and layered onto burgundy card. I punched two holes in the centre of the card blank and threaded twine and added a coordinating button, and a 'tag' cut from Naturals White card, stamped and finished with some faux stitches in the same red. It looks a bit like a present, doesn't it?

Decorate a Daisy with Primrose Petals

It's colour week at CAS Colours and Sketches and this week we have a pink, purple and blue type combo, or to be more exact Primrose Petals, Rich Razelberry and Pool Party

Aren't they lovely! If you don't have the SU shades, (I had to borrow Primrose Petals as I had nothing like it) just use shades closest to these from your stash.
I made myself use this stamp set, as I am not quite sure why I bought it, it really isn't my style, but I do like this card

I stamped the flowers in the background first in Pool Party - they're from The Language of Friendship stamp set.  Then I stamped three large daisies in the challenge colours and fussy cut them out, finally stamping the sentiment direct onto the background in Primrose Petals ink. Originlly I had stamped the three daisiies usig masking and then added the background. I used this panel inside my card

Don't know which one you prefer - this way you get both! Finished off my card with a mat of Rich Razzelberry and a small gem.
Do have a look at the other cards from the DT over at the blog, and remember - keep it CAS!

Blue Snowflakes

As soon as I saw Deborah's colour challenge for this week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown, I knew  the card I wanted to make, although originally I had it in a square format, I've been making a few more of these rectangular cards lately.
The colours to use this week are

and this is my card

was going to clear emboss white snowflakes, but decided to go for the stamping in just the blues, leaving the white for the background and the highlights on each flake.  The sentiment is heat embossed and was placed first. I made the 3D snowflake (not so easy as I don't have a die cut so each one was cut by hand as closely symmetrical to the others as possible). It folds flat for easy posting.  

I will be entering this card in the challenge this week at Winter Wonderland - you can enter yours too as the theme is Red and Green shall not be seen!

Do have a look at the cards from the rest of the DT, as you might know, I'm not really 'here' as I'm away this weekend, but I will be back and posting comments early next week. 

Cycling in The Hills

Just had an hour free this morning and found a corner on the dining table (husband and son both working there) to make this card for this week's masculine birthday card challenge at Seize The Birthday.  Here's the sketch

and this is the card I made with it

I first made the banner, with Lucky Limeade and Indigo Island.  The clouds are made with a scalloped circle - aren't they lovely and 'fluffy-looking'? Then I stamped the bicycle from Pedal Presents, gently adding some colour and matting onto green CS.  I only have the one size oval punch, so I had to cut out by hand (don't look too closely!) I made the horizontal panel with two thin strips of black CS, stamped the greeting directly onto the card and punched out a scalloped edge using my edgelits die. 

Lime and Black Blossoms

This week at CAS Colours and Sketches the DT have a sketch for you, very clean and simple -

I have made a minor change in that I have used a rectangular card rather than a square, and I've added a sentiment but, apart from that, it's the same.  Feel free to make the sketch your own too, all you need to make sure of is that your card is CAS - not too many embellishments, layers, or inky techniques, and that it has a stamped image.  Enough of the rules, here's my card

I used the very modern colour combination of lime and black from the challenge this week at Less Is More and came up with this design, my three plants gradually bursting into flower on the windowsill - it took ages to get the three panels exactly level! Couldn't quite get the sentiment in the right place I feel, I've tried it all over the place! Oh well, went with what I thought was best.
I will be back on Saturday, but not too many posts from me this weekend, as I'm off to visit my in-laws in The Netherlands, and have to schedule everything to happen in my absence. Fingers crossed!

Let's Get Inky With It

So I did it! I rose to the challenge at Make My Monday and created my own background. I used three colours of distress inks, straw, denim and sage and a piece of tin foil.  I inked the foil, spritzed the white cs with water and rubbed it in! The foil gave some interesting texture to the inking and was the next best thing to a craft mat I reckon...

After leaving all that to dry, I stamped the large butterfly image in Versamark before dusting with purple mica powder. I used a peel off glitter frame to highlight the image, added some gems and a couple of layers. This is a kind of clean and simple inky background card, I'm useless at vintage, which is, I guess, what this background really cries out for, but I have to say I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I'm not saying that I will be doing this again in a hurry, but it was fun.

Chevrons, Flowers and Friendship

It feels like I've been making cards all day today.  First, I went to my local craft club this morning, we had a lovely time chatting, looking at some new stuff and making a fab card - it's amazing when everyone makes the 'same' card at how different they turn out to be. Anyway, I was introduced to a new colour there - Primrose Petals - don't ask me why it's pink as I thought primroses were yellow, but that doesn't really matter. This afternoon I used the fold we were shown this morning, with a twist, and the colour to make a card for two challenges CAS-ual Fridays, where the theme is Chevrons and Flowers and Addicted To CAS, where they want a CAS project inspired by the word Friend.

 I used the stamp set The Language of Friendship (perfect for the ATCAS challenge) to stamp the flowers, and, because I don't own the matching punch, fussy cut them out. I used Primrose Petals CS (thank you, Jacqueline!) to layer some SU chevron DP and make an inverted frame which makes a 'springy' base.  The leaves are made out of coppery coloured Fimo, rolled very thinly and scored with 'veins'. Then the leaves and flowers were stuck to the centre panel, which pops right off the card, but you can't see it all that well . Inside the card I have stamped some more little flowers.  The sentiment is also stamped in Primrose Petals and comes from the same stamp set.

Can you see the dimension a little better in this photo? I have made a few more cards, which I'll be sharing with you later, until then Happy Crafting!

Seize the Cup Cake

We're having a bit of a bake-off at our house this weekend, and I think it may have influenced my card making! My daughter, home from Uni, is baking chocolate -orange cupcakes, cappuccino chocolate eclairs and marshmallow muffins.  Here is my offering - much better for the waist-line.

 I have used the sketch this week from Seize The Birthday challenge blog, and, as it's week one, they would like to see feminine cards.  Here's the sketch, as you can see I've used a square card blank so I've had to change it a little, but isn't it fab - bet you can do all sorts with this one!

I used my cup cake builder punch to paper piece the little cake, and some pink and brown stripey paper from my stash - chocolate and pink is a favourite combination of mine.  I used Naturals White for the card base, as it reminded me a bit more of cookie dough than a basic white. I cut the lacy scalloped edge out of the striped paper.  Inside, I have folder over the 'ribbon' and finished it with a fish-tail (which you can't see) and added a border of coordinating paper which you can just catch a glimpse of in this photo

I think this would be a great card for any of my daughter's friends - they love cup cakes too!

Christmas Cheer

Here's another card using my latest stamp set from SU - Happy Hour.  This time I've used it to make a Christmas card for the sketch challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. It is great when you find a stamp set which can be used for lots of different occasions.

For my card I've used the traditional holiday colour combo

For my scalloped edge I decided to cut around the design in the DP, and it's made a very pretty edge, I think. I have popped up the red drinks,and added a little touch of shading with a Warm Grey Promarker at the base of the glasses to give some dimension to my card.  

Go and see what the other DT members have made with this sketch, there's bound to be something  which catches your eye ;)

The Drinks are on Me!

April's here! Blue skies and sunshine I hope (and not too many showers!). This is a card which I have made for the colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches, using my newest stamp set, Happy Hour

Aren't these colours gorgeous? Don't worry if you don't have the exact SU shade, use the closest you have, like me!

I think my Bashful Blue got a bit overpowered - a bit like me if I drank all this! I've made cocktails using each colour- a Screwdriver, a Strawberry daiquiri and a blue lagoon, matted and layered onto each colour too and finished off with a  Raspberry Ripple chevron DP.
Do go over to the blog to see the creations from the DT girls -they're fantastic.

Water Stamped Easel card

It's the first Tuesday in April and that means a brand new technique challenge at Technique Time Tuesday, Hop on over to the blog to follow the tutorial on water stamping. Now, if you have visited my blog before you'll know that I'm a CAS kind a girl, so this card is a little bit different for me.  My background started with blending inks from my Big and Juicy sunset ink pad and adding butterflies and field grasses stamped in water- you can just see them in the photo

I cut out the flowers (from the Reason To Smile set) and dragonflies, stamped on a similar inked background, and stamped some grass silhouettes in the corner. Two ribbons, black and purple to pick up the colours, run across the card and, as you can see, I've made it into an easel card, with this panel

The dragonflies all have bodies made from 3 black gemstones,two are popped up on dimensionals along with the flowers.
I am going to enter my card in a couple of challenges, the Heck of a challenge, where the theme is 'just add water'-well I sure did that, and Crafty Ribbons Challenge - can't believe I've not found this challenge blog before as I LOVE using ribbons in my cardmaking. Finally I found a challenge for pastel shades, Jellypark Challenge, and although I haven't used a Jellypark image, I did have fun looking at them (love the little sheep!)
Not sure if I will be developing my style in this direction, I find it so hard, but it's always good to have a go at something new.  It's a big DT at Technique Time Tuesday so there's bound to be something there to amaze and inspire you and you have the whole of April to make your project- go on- try water stamping!

Rose, Turquoise and Sand

Hello! I have two cards for you today and that's because they were both inspired by the colour challenge at Addicted To Stamps and More

combined with the CAS one layer challenge at Make My Monday. Why two? Well, I made the first one and added a small piece of turquoise twine , then I actually read the post at MMM and found that they want not only no layers but no embellishments either! I tried remaking the first card without the twine but then another quite different card popped out!
Here they are

I really like this colour combo.  For the first card I used Perfectly Preserved stamp set and for the second a set called Charming, both from Stampin' Up. The sentiment on the second card is from Friendly Phrases, a really useful sentiment set, the sentiments being just a little bit different.

Birthday Sketch for Him

I've had a ball this Easter Sunday, a whole day to craft and spend time with the family too.  I've made several cards that I can't show you yet, as they are future DT projects but here's one I can.  I have made it for the challenge at Seize The Birthday. If you haven't found this blog yet, check it out.

It's a sketch challenge, one week for a feminine card and the same sketch the next week for masculine cards and always for birthdays.  What a great idea to build up your stash of cards.  This week it's a male card and I really want to make more of these, I never have a male card when I need one.

I've made it very CAS, with a cafe au lait type colour scheme.  The large sentiment is one of my favs for cards for men/boys and I've stamped it in Chocolate Chip. I've added the dog, stamped and embossed in Crumb Cake, and popped up on dimensionals - here's a close up so you can see better

I've added a Choc Chip lacey scallop border and will also enter my card in this week's Less Is More, where the challenge is to incorporate scallops into your CAS project.