What's the (typewritten) word?

I’m mixing fonts and challenges today! Nat wants to see typewriters or typewriter font for this week’s Daring Cardmakers challenge and the current Hero Arts challenge wants the focus on sentiments.

My typewriter font is taking a bit of a supporting role but it is there! I know Father’s Day was a couple of weeks back but I was holding off on blogging this until this week’s DCM went live!

I used several shades of blue ink and repeatedly stamped the word to make a background and then used the matching die to cut one that got coated in Glossy Accents and tucked in around a little label with the rest of the sentiment. 

Stamps:
Happy Stamp n Cut (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (I lost track!)

Other:
Glossy Accents
Stitched rectangles dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Corner Chomper

Life's a beach

Miri is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — Life's a beach. Sea, sand, flip flops, surf boards, palm trees or a bucket and spade — what do you associate with the beach?

I made a masculine card with one of my all-time favourite stamp sets, some card that made me think of sand and a die cut net. 

The shells have the tiniest touch of sparkle, courtesy of Spica glitter pen.

Stamps:
Antique Engravings (Hero Arts, retired)
Father’s Day Centers (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Kraft selection pack

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Spica glitter pens (gold and turquoise)
Stitched rectangle dies
Netting die cut
Gel glue

Thanks for stopping by!

Leafy greens

I was feeling a bit lacking in inspiration for a Father’s Day card and finally decided to kick start using a challenge. Let’s Squash It is currently challenging us to use a nature-themed folder along with some kind of watercolour medium so that was my starting point.

I used Memento markers and coloured directly on the folder, gave it a very light spritz with water and ran it through the machine. 

This is a lovely dramatic folder - it’s called “fallen leaves” which might suggest autumn but I thought using greens would give it a lush foliage feel more suited to summer. Dad's a careful gardener though, I don’t think his garden would ever look quite as unkempt as this might suggest!

Supplies:
Watercolour paper
Scraps of black cardstock and Bristol board
Versafine ink (Onyx Black)
Fallen Leaves 3D embossing folder (Sizzix)
Happy Stamp and Cut set (Hero Arts)
Memento markers (Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy, New Sprout)
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)

ABW!

It's my turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and I'd like to see ABW - anything but white! I've fallen into the habit of using white as my card base so I thought I should challenge myself at least.

Of course, being a last minute minnie it had to be a father's day card. I was in the mood for texture so I decided to emboss rather than stamp this week.

I swiped charcoal grey ink onto the folder before embossing some mid grey cardstock and then rubbed silver ink and two shades of Perfect Pearls over the large shell.

The embossing is deep enough that it's really easy to reseat the piece in exactly the same place on the folder so I swiped the inkpad around the large shell area again and put it back through the Big Shot to redefine the inking after adding the pearl effect.

The die cut word has the same Perfect Pearls and silver ink treatment and the rest of the sentiment is stamped onto the torn vellum strip to finish it off.

Stamps:
Happy Stamp & Cut (Hero Arts)

Ink:
Delicata by Tsukineko (Silver Shimmer)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Charcoal)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Paper:
Stormy Medium (an ancient Prism papers one!)
Vellum

Other:
M-bossabilities folder by Spellbinder (Shell Beauty)
Perfect Pearls by Ranger (Blue Patina and Blue Raspberry)

Here's a close up that shows the depth and detail of the embossing a bit more clearly.

We'd love to have you join us with your ABW creations - just have a look at the lovelies the rest of the team came up with if you're looking for ideas to get you started!

Masculine Mechanical

Father's Day seems to be the same date on both sides of the Atlantic (unlike Mother's Day) so I'm guessing quite a few of us were making masculine cards last week!

 I was reminded by Sabrina's sample for the "Make It Masculine" challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers on Thursday that I haven't played with foil tape in an age so that's what I did for my dad's card.

I stuck die cut lettering and dry wall tape to a rectangular base and covered in a patchwork of foil tape pieces. I burnished it all with a paper stump to stretch the tape over the textured bits and added more surface texture with a ball point pen (for "rivets"), a stylus and a pin for fine scratches in one area. The whole lot then got a coat of black acrylic paint that was wiped back when almost dry. I added a tiny hint of colour with some Teal gilding wax on the lettering.

Perhaps because of all the texture on the foil panel, the cogs looked a bit "flat" stamped on the card base so I used a fine line marker and did some crosshatch shading on the cogs themselves and used a charcoal pencil and lots of smudging to shade around them.

Stamp: Mechanics by Indigo Blu
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black
Other:
Font One dies by Spellbinder
Dry wall tape
Foil tape
Black acrylic paint
Fineline marker
Charcoal pencil
Creative Expressions gilding wax (Teal)

Thanks for stopping by!

Camper van!

We had a camper van when I was a kid - not quite like this one (ours wasn't old enough to have the split screen) but near enough for this stamp to bring back some memories of family holidays in Devon/Cornwall and Scotland. I thought that might make it a good choice for a father's day card for my dad.

I went for clean and simple with just the stamped image (coloured blue since that was the colour of our van) and some stenciled chevrons.

I added just a touch of textural interest by using Grunge Paste through the stencil and then colouring over the raised bits with Copics once dry and cutting out the body of the van and raising it a tiny bit on some gel glue over the same image stamped on the card base. I added a tiny bit of doodled detail on the coloured chevrons, too.

Stamps:
VW Bus by Deep Red Stamps
Father's Day Centers by CHF (retired)

Ink:
Brilliance Graphite Black by Tsukineko

Other:
Hearts and Arrows stencil by The Crafter's Workshop
Grunge Paste by PaperArtsy
Copic markers
Fineline marker
Pinflair Glue Gel
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Dad - look away now!

I don't usually blog ahead of sending projects where they're going but I'll be too late to join in the current Pan Pastels challenge (One for the boys) if I don't get this blogged so Dad, if you're reading, look away now if you'd rather not see your Father's day card before you open the envelope!





I've just treated myself to a few masks from Caroline's revamped Bubbly Funk shop (bargains to be had as well on older stock as she clears out to make way for new things!). I used the Crafter's Workshop 6x6 Wood Grain here, spreading modelling paste through it with an old credit card.

Once the paste dried, I painted over with gesso using a coarse brush to add some extra texture in the more open areas. I then used Burnt Sienna Shade Pan Pastel to colour the panel.

I really must get a new Father's day sentiment stamp - this is the only one I have and I'm sure Dad will notice eventually! I just stamped it on a simple banner finished with some copper brads and added a single die cut to leave the wood grain as the star of the show as I loved the way it turned out. I did colour the die cut leaf with two shades of green Copic marker, just to give it a bit extra depth.

Here's a more detailed shot of how it turned out adding some gesso for that bit extra texture - I think it works well with the woodgrain!

Stamps: Sentiment from Father's Day Centers (Cornish Heritage Farms, retired)

Ink: Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate by Tsukineko

Paper: kraft, laid texture, scrap of DCWV blue

Other:
Pan Pastel - Burnt Sienna Shade
Spectrafix Degas fixative
Maimeri Light Modelling Paste
Copic markers
Gesso
Crafter's Workshop 6x6 mask - Wood Grain
Leaves dies by Impression Obsession
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Eagle for dad

I've just realised I meant to blog this at the start of the week and forgot to make the post live! This is the card I made for Dad for Father's Day. A quick one layer card but one that still has impact, I hope!

The handsome eagle head doesn't need a lot doing to it - just a touch of colour for the beak and eye and a few strokes of grey pencil to shade the head a bit. I masked him and stamped the script at an angle, added some smudged Pan Pastel and then stamped the sentiment (the only father's day one I could find in my stash, as it happens!).

Stamps:
Eagle Profile (Beeswax Stamps)
19th Century French Script (Hero Arts)
Father's Day Centers (CHF, retired)

 Paper: smooth white

 Ink:
Onyx Black Versafine by Tsukineko
Stonewashed Adirondack dye ink by Ranger

 Other:
Prismacolor pencils (yellow and a couple of greys)
Pan Pastel (turquoise)
Corner Chomper

The theme this week at Pan Pastels UK challenge blog is an open masculine theme so I'm hooking up there.

Thanks for stopping by!