Background making.

 I recently watched this Jennifer McGuire video about making lots of backgrounds with a distress ink transfer technique.  Yesterday was a dull day so I got to work and made some backgrounds using this fun technique.

I used distressed oxides for the base  of Pickled Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade

applying them thickly to the base card, drying really well before stamping with a really old Hero Arts background stamp called "Leaf and Floral Background" and embossing in clear. I then spritzed with water and place a blank piece of card on top and ran through my embossing machine.

 

This background is the resulting print, I will show the other piece later as I haven't made it into a card yet. I really liked the soft look of this piece. Just then added some butterflies made with the SSS Adeline die also coloured with the same inks. and the thanks sentiment.

This was a great technique to do and now I have a set of backgrounds in my stash ready to use.

I will add this card to both  the current SSS Flickr challenge and SSS Wednesday Challenge both "Anything Goes"

Its a lovely morning here so I am off to the garden with a coffee.  Have a great week.

Hugs

Sally

In the Pink!!!

Spring has arrived in Surrey and I was inspired to use the lovely flower garden set by Tim Holtz again,  I have also heard some great news that my cousins daughter has just had a baby girl, so all things pink today !!!!

A similar card to yesterday but a much more subtle colour scheme, the paler flowers are much closer to the real blossom I think!  This is another card for the challenge at Simon Says this week, a Happy Birthday theme to celebrate their 7th Birthday!!

While Blog surfing this morning I saw this lovely card made by Dawn and immediately watched the video for the background technique and had to have a go.  I am really pleased with the effect and will be trying this one again! I used some scraps from my basket to finish off the card, and this is also for the challenge at Simon Says and the challenge at Die Cut Divas as I have used my Avery Elle dies for the panel.

Also linking this to the Butterfly challenge at "Creative With Stamps".

Off to play with this technique again.

More Flowers!

More time to play with my stamps today as we are having April showers!!  I decided to make another card with my Tim Holtz Flower Garden set, after stamping and embossing the flowers on water colour paper, I  coloured the images and decided that I wanted the colours to be subtle.  So I cut a panel of Vellum and stitched it to my coloured panel.  I then added a butterfly and the sentiment.

There is a new challenge blog set up by Monica and Lilian called "Creative with Stamps" Their first challenge is " Butterflies"  I love a new challenge so I will be adding this card.

 I am also adding it to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge. "Happy Birthday".

My next card is a very simple CAS Birthday card, I found an old Hero Arts stamp "Block of four sqaures" in my draw and had to ink it up again! I have just added a die from Simon Says, some pearls and a sentiment.

Hope you are having a great week.

Cards at Last

I have just noticed that its been three weeks since I have posted and weeks since I have looked at any blogs, I didn't realize that I would be so busy now I have retired, when did I ever find time to go to work LOL!!!

I have been looking on flickr for some inspiration and noticed a lot of cards with watercolour splashed so decided to have a go and its not as easy as it looks.  In the end I used a die cut as a mask and used my distress  stains for these two cards. I am pleased with the effect, especially the smudge on the second card.  I also used the masking die on the card for some texture in the background.  I am adding these cards to the Simon Says Anything Goes challenge. 

I have been busy making more cushions, I have re discovered my sewing machine and have really enjoyed making these.  The second cushion was a request from my daughter, she had seen all the amazing applique dog cushions on Pinterest and asked if I could make her one. It was quite fiddly but she is thrilled with it. 

Have a great weekend.

Note Cards.

Happy Mothers Days ladies!!

I have had time to play with my stamps today and created this note card, I plan to make a set of them for a friend.

This card uses some old favorite Hero Arts stamps plus the new Engraved Frame stamp.  The background is created from lots of distress inks water and the Classic Fabric Cling.  The butterflies are from the Antique Engravings set.

This card is for two challenges the Nature Challenge at Hero Arts and the Things That Fly challenge at Simon Says.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Spring is on the Way!!!

At last its beginning to get warmer and Spring is definitely in the air.  I am looking forward to brighter days and have made this card with Summer in mind. Lots of old Hero Arts favorites here, the lovely Hydrangea stamp and the butterfly from the Antique Engravings set.

This card is for two challenges, the "Nature Challenge" at Hero Arts  and the "Girly Challenge" at Simon Says.

A new challenge!

Over at the Hero Arts group Jacqueline has set a little challenge to get our card making kick started after the Christmas break.  The challenge is to case a card that you have been wanting to case and never got round to it!!  This is my card and its a CASE of this stunner by Iwona! I decided to go with blues as I have some new blue inks that I wanted to try, not really a summer colour as I would normally go with warm colours such as red, pink or orange. I am pleased with the finished effect though.

Summer Days!

We are having beautiful weather here in the UK at the moment and  I have noticed quite a few butterflies in my garden, so I have been inspired to pull out my Antique Engraving set again and make this card with paper pieced butterflies.  Here is a closeup of them attached by just the middle so I could lift the wings for more dimension.

At last I have found time for a little creating, life is so busy at work at the moment that crafting has taken a back seat, still School breaks for the summer in just over a week and I can't wait!!

Shabby Chic

I have been so inspired by all the beautiful cards Jacqueline has been making with the Postcard stamp from Hero Arts that I had to buy it and have a go myself.  I decided on the Shabby Chic look so that I could enter it into the current challenge overt at A Blog Named Hero.  I have used lots of new stamps on this one, part of my Christmas win over at the Hero Arts Blog.  The Tweed background has been stamped in  Old Paper Distress ink, I then stamped the Postcard in Wet Cement.  The flowers were stamped and fussy cut so I could lift some of the petal points for a little definition.  The butterfly is from the "Three Artistic Butterflies" set and stamped onto patterned paper in Dark Green ink.

I had fun with this card and feel as though my mojo is on the way back at last.
Hope you all have a great weekend.

I'm off on Holiday!!!

I was asked by a friend to make a card for his wife's 50th Birthday, I had a free hand in the design the only stipulation was that I used green.  I wanted to make something soft and romantic so the Italian Poetry background seemed perfect with the Heart Flourish.  Its based on this card that I made a while back and was really pleased with.  The butterflies have been lightly water coloured with distress inks and then covered with glossy accents.  I then added lots of pearls and then layered it up on a background made with the Leaf and Floral Background stamp.  The sentiment has been computer generated.

I am going to add this card to the challenge at A Blog Named Hero, the theme is freestyle.

This will be my last post for a couple of week as we are off on our holidays, we are going back to Nice in the South of France again this year, we all had such a great time last year and there are still places that we need to visit there.  Before I go I must thank all my visitors again for leaving such lovely comments, I really appreciate you finding time to stop by my blog.

Poppies for a friend.

Just a quick post today, my DD has just moved back home again after completing her Teacher training course, so we have lots of unpacking to do!!  Also I am addicted to the Olympics at the moment and its so exciting that its at home,   unfortunately we were not lucky enough to get any tickets, but on Wednesday we are hoping to go to the mens cycling time trials. They take place not far from here and we would be able to stand at the side of the road to cheer the men on.

Just one quick card to show today, my best friend Gina who I have known for over forty years celebrates her birthday tomorrow so I had to make a special card.  Her favourite flowers are poppies so I know she will love this card.  I am adding this card to the Simon Says challenge which this week is "Anything Goes"

Butterflies.

If you are looking for my Lily Pad Blog Hop post please go here!!

I have a box of butterflies cut out and ready for use on cards, I often sit in the evening cutting them out while watching the television.  Yesterday while they were spread across my desk I had an idea for this card.  The top three butterflies are pop dotted on the wings for more dimension.

This card is for the current Hero Arts Challenge for  "Shaped Cards",  The challenge over at "A Blog Named Hero" as I used my favourite  Antiques Engravings set and also the Simon Says challenge which is using your favourite tool (definately my Sizzix Big Shot!!!).

There's a new challenge Blog in cyber land!!!!

If you are looking for my Lily Pad Blog Hop post please go here!!

I am thrilled to say there is a new Challenge Blog called "A Blog Named Hero"  and as the name suggests its all do do with everything Hero Arts and a love for all there amazing products.  As you can imagine I became a follower straight away as I LOVE their products and an honestly say 90% of my stamps are Hero Arts. I have purchased a few other brands but always go back to my favourite company.

The first challenge has been set and its to use your favourite stamp or product on a card, this was a hard one as I love so many of their stamps but I realize that my most used set  is the "Antique Engravings" clear set.  The butterflies are so beautiful and I have used them in various forms on so many of my cards.

Here is the card I have made, sorry for the dark photograph but I had a little trouble with the shine on the butterfly.  The background is stamped using a variety of distress inks and The London Background stamp.  The central panel is the Meadow Silhouette inked with various Distress inks and stains and stamped onto a piece of music patterned paper, I have then layered it up onto some cream card and then purple card. Lastly I have added my Gold embossed butterfly, the pearls have been coloured with a gold Pilot pen.

As this card has flowers on the image I am also adding it to the Lily Pads "Flower Challenge"

I am on two weeks holiday from school now so looking forward to lots of crafty time.