Link in the chain — December

Happy New Year! It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge and having forgotten to sign up for November’s I made sure I was early in the sign up list for December. It’s the month that departs from the usual pattern of sketch/colour palette/theme etc and gives us a tic-tac-toe board to play with. 

 It’s a five by five board and even though I’m usually up for extra challenge I find 25 options a bit too much! So I played the “regular” way and chose the penultimate horizontal line — squares, deer, emboss, splats, Santa. I hope Rudolph counts in the “deer” category!

I used a square card base and embossed with a die for more squares before stamping the image, masking it and using low tack tape to mask off the edges, blending three shades of blue ink and splattering with metallic watercolour. The image is coloured with Copics and then came the scary bit! I thought it should work to do an eclipse style sentiment using an embossing folder rather than cutting out and sticking back the lettering. It was still a bit nerve-wracking putting the carefully coloured card into the folder and squishing it through the Big Shot. It worked pretty well I think, just like a “traditional” eclipse sentiment, it shows more at some angles than others.

All that embossing and masking means I managed to stick to my one layer preference for CCC. It’s gone to Arlene in California, hope she likes it!

Stamps:
Holly Jolly (Penny Johnson/Stampavie)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire)

Other:
Stitched square frame dies (Paper Rose)
Copic markers 
Sayings embossing folder (Darice)
Gansai Tambi Starry Colours watercolour paints

Link in the chain — April

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge — mine went over the Pond to Linda G this time. 

From the options on offer I chose the sketch (mirror image because my stamp faces right) and the theme of “wild” as it gave me the chance to use this lovely leopard stamp that hasn’t had an outing for quite a while. He’s from the Saturday Evening Post line that Cornish Heritage Farms had and is based on a cover from 1931. 

The sentiment in the sketch really is there, I chose to do an eclipse one and the leopard’s spots do an excellent camouflage job on it!

Stamps:
Leopard Profile (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Vintage Photo)

Other:
Rays stencil (Visible Image)
Copic markers
Hello die (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

There are still a few days to sign up for the May chain if you fancy it - you just need to make and send one card, get a lovely handmade card from the next person in the chain! Sign up is here.

Link in the chain - February

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge. Mine went to the lovely Gail in Norway this time. Once I saw that one of the themes was polar bears and my mind went to this stamp (which probably hasn’t seen ink for the best part of a decade) I couldn’t seem to work in any of the other options. Never mind, one is all it takes to play!

The bears are stamped on grey paper and coloured with pencils - I think I succeeded in making the edges of the image disappear somewhat (the lines of the water stop rather abruptly). There’s a touch of sparkle on the water courtesy of Wink of Stella and an eclipse sentiment and that’s about it. 

I’ve just (re)listened to the Philip Pullman Northern Lights trilogy on Audible so of course I was imagining these bears donning their armour as I made the card! Would have been totally appropriate for its destination since they’re Svalbard bears but I’m not sure I’m up to drawing armour made of sky iron so they remained unclad (apologies if that whole paragraph meant nothing to you!).

Stamps:
Polar Bear Pair (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Strathmore Toned Grey

Ink:
Hero Arts shadow ink by Ranger (Soft Granite)

Other:
Spellbinder Phrases 1 dies
Coloured pencils
Stitched rectangle dies, A6 size (Paper Rose)
Clear Wink of Stella pen

There are still a few days to sign up for the next chain if you fancy it - make and send one card, get a card from the next person in the chain. Details here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the chain - September

It's reveal day at Card Chain Challenge - my card has gone to Greta in Oregon this month. I often go with a one layer card if I'm airmailing it but somehow my brain didn't want to go that way this time!

As usual, we had lots of choice - I went with the sketch and the theme of "things with wheels".

Things are starting to feel pretty autumnal so I thought I'd pull out an old set and haul some giant pumpkins! The truck and pumpkins are separate images, I cut a slit along the line of the truckbed with a scalpel and tucked the pumpkins inside.

The green is part of a gel print that was out on my desk, the swirly sky is inked over a stencil and I hand drew the birds and grass tuft to fit the sketch. I did struggle a bit to get the word die to cut right through where the truck is stuck on to the background but got there in the end - I thought an eclipse sentiment would suit this!

Stamps:
Happy Harvest (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Premium weight copy paper

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black, Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass)

Other:
Stitched frame dies (Paper Rose)
Copic markers
Fibres stencil (Visible Image)
Phrases Set 2 dies (Spellbinder)
Fineliner
Momento marker (Bamboo Leaves)

Thanks for stopping by! There's still time to sign up for the October chain if you fancy it - make and mail one card, get a hand crafted card from somebody else!

Festive foliage

We have another of our challenges in the run up to Christmas over at Daring Cardmakers this week - we’d like to see winter flowers and foliage on your cards this time.

Of course the prompt made me think of my Festive Foliage stamp set so I’ve used that for a CAS design with an eclipse sentiment. I used markers to ink up the stamp and the MISTI to stamp multiple times to build up depth of colour. I used two shades of green and two of brown.

The sentiment has been given subtle sparkle with Wink of Stella and a few tiny gems add a bit extra festive glimmer.

As Retro Rubber has an “anything goes” theme for #rrcb99 and I’ve had this stamp set for at least six years I'm hooking up there and my card also fits this month’s Fan Club Christmas Challenge at Splitcoast - join us to find out how if you’re a Fan Club member!

Stamps:
Festive Foliage (mine is the original Waltzingmouse Stamps set with 2010 copyright, the same design is now available from Gina K)
Peace Stamp n Cut (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Memento markers (Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy, Rich Cocoa)
Zig Clean Colour marker (Dark Brown)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Die from Peace Stamp n Cut (Hero Arts)
Copic marker
MISTI
Nail art gems
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello and welcome!

It’s Svenja’s turn to challenge us over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like us to focus on welcomes - a new baby, new colleague, new neighbour etc.

I’ve gone clean and simple with a scrapling (I’m determined to make a dent on the pile of scrapling-sized trimmings I have!). We live right on the edge of an area that still has red squirrels even though the greys are making inroads into the territory. We’re encouraged to report sightings of greys and one of our neighbours is a squirrel warden!

All of which made this stamp a perfect choice for a card to say “hello, welcome to the neighbourhood”! I’m sure he’s a red squirrel as he has those lovely little tufty bits on his ears and the greys don’t have those! Sadly I don’t have a die to cut the word welcome so I settled for stamping it on the inside.

Stamps:
Squirrel by Carabelle Studio

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Black fineliner 
Phrases 2 dies by Spellbinder
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Wonderful world

Kathy has set the challenge for us at Daring Cardmakers this week - she'd like us to be inspired by the words of the song What a Wonderful World - pop over to the blog to see all the lyrics!

I've done a super-quick scrapling this week with inspiration from the blue sky and green trees mentioned in the song. I inked the trunk in brown and the foliage in green before stamping then added some Distress inks as watercolours - it really was a super-quick process since you can randomly dab in a couple of shades of green and get a lovely tree canopy in full summer leaf!

I die cut the word from the card front as well as a couple of extras from scrap card for an integrated look.

Stamps:
Lovely as a Tree (Stampin' Up)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Ivy, Coffee Bean)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain)

Other:
Hello die (Waltingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)
Zig Clean Colour marker (light blue)
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace on earth

I love to watch the birds that come to the feeder and shrubs outside my window - this handsome chap would be a very welcome visitor!

This is my first project with this lovely bird stamp, I think the woodcut style of the illustration is just gorgeous. Bloom Art Stamps has just moved its store to Etsy which should make things easier for international shoppers, too!


Because this kraft card has quite a bit of texture, I stamped with the MISTI so I could make sure I got good coverage in the more solid areas of the stamp. I added just a touch of white pen to the markings on his head, wings and tail.
I cut tiny slits each side of his body so I could thread the die cut branch through to give him a wintery perch. Nail art gems provide berries for him to feast on and a "hidden" die cut sentiment adds to the overall calm feel, I think. I went over the stamped snowflakes with a Wink of Stella pen to give them subtle sparkle which is just about visible on the photo but looks lovely in real life!

Stamps:
Bird Paradise by Bloom Art Stamps
Grunge Flakes by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous
Peace Stamp & Cut by Hero Arts

Paper:
Kraft
Scrap of dark brown for branch

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Branch die by Craft Emotions
Nail art gems
Wink of Stella pen (clear)
White Posca paint pen
Fine line brown marker
Glossy Accents by Ranger
MISTI

I'm afraid I failed with this week's DCM challenge - do check it out though, it's another in the Christmas countdown so a chance to get ahead with those festive projects!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blended

Nat is setting the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see some ink blending going on.

I've resisted the lure of the new Distress Oxides so I reached for my trusty old Distress inks and a sponge, splattered some water and then sat and looked at it for ages, completely at a loss what to do with it. I ended up going very simple with a stamped image and a "hidden" die cut sentiment. The word is intended for Christmas cards but I thought it would suit a peaceful image, too!

Stamps:
My Island by Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer with us but this set is now available through Gina K)

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Die from Peace Stamp & Cut by Hero Arts
Corner Chomper
Black marker

Thanks for stopping by, hope your weekend is a peaceful one!

True colours

It's Friday which can only mean one thing: a new dare from the Daring Cardmakers! Svenja's "True colours" dare is asking us to go monochromatic with our cards.

I decided to try the "hidden sentiment" thing with a word die, combining it with a loose watercolour swoosh and a stamped image.

If the hidden inlaid sentiment is new to you too, I used this video tutorial to make sure my imagining of the process was actually what I needed to do to get the sentiment right!

This could be a Christmas card or just a wintery greeting, I think.

Also new to me - I've finally caved in and got a MISTI so I had a first play with it here by first stamping the trees in Distress ink and spreading it out, stamping again and spreading to intensify the colour and then stamping a third time on the wet paper for a slightly blurry image. Once dry, I over stamped with Versafine which gives a sharper image on top.

I die cut the sentiment from the image panel and then layered onto a couple more cut from cardstock. It's a bit fiddly but I think it's a nice effect.

Stamps:
Lovely As a Tree by Stampin' Up!

Paper: 
Hot press watercolour

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Peacock Feathers) 
Versafine by Tsukineko (Deep Lagoon)

Other: 
Sizzlets die by Sizzix (Serenity set, retired) 
MISTI
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!