Christmas Kickstart — mid month already!

My first card for this month’s Christmas Kickstart challenge featured a robin in snow. For my mid-month card I thought I’d keep the snow but switch to a rather different bird so may I present: penguins in snow! 

Cute as they may be, they presented a serious challenge when it came to photography — for some reason they absolutely did not want to be captured for posterity. I had four separate photoshoots with them and realised when I deleted all the photos off the camera having finally got a usable one that there were 84 pictures 😱 

The penguins were stamped on white, coloured with pencils and fussy cut. I stamped the image on the black panel as well and added heat embossing for the flakes above their heads and the snow around their feet. Some white pencil adds a bit extra snowiness and a die cut flake gives the sentiment a bit of a lift.

Stamps:
Bundled penguins (Stampendous)
Merriest Christmas Wishes (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board , smooth black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)

Other:
Coloured pencils
Detail white embossing powder (Wow)
Snowflake die (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)
Stitched rectangle die A6 size (Paper Rose, one die cut modified to fit a longer sentiment)

Thanks for stopping by! Jo and I would love for you to come and join us with your festive birds if you’re getting ahead with your Christmas cards:

 

 

Spring is in the air!

Nat is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers today and she’d like to see signs of spring! Anything goes that makes you think of spring as we head into a new season with longer days and everything coming to life. 

I’ve gone floral with a lovely magnolia. I’ve never had one but always admire them when I see them in other people’s gardens, they're a very showy sign of spring! I haven’t managed to play at Retro Rubber for a while and this seemed the perfect opportunity as the current theme is spring flowers. 

I stamped with very light ink and did “no line” colouring with pencils on the lovely neutral-toned Strathmore paper. Die cut with a stitched rectangle die and mounted simply with a wide border on a white card with a fineliner run around the edge of the image panel.

Stamps:
Magnolia by Stampendous (I’ve had mine since 2018)
Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Strathmore Tomed Grey

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Fade Out by Ink On 3

Other:
Coloured pencils 
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Brown fineliner

Everything’s coming up roses

It’s my turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week. As one of June’s birth flowers is the rose I thought we’d go that way but with an option of using yellow (with a rose image or with any other image/technique) as yellow roses represent friendship. 

I went for vivid yellow roses against a green backdrop. The flowers are stamped with some masking and coloured with pencils. A bit of inky stencilling for the background, a bold sentiment and a few nail art gems to finish. I haven’t made a square card in ages, it was nice to use different proportions for a change.

Stamps:
Jumbo Rose (Stampendous)
Say It Loud (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mowed Lawn)

Other:
Black fine liner
Coloured pencils
Corner Chomper
Nail art gems

Bunches of...

I'm setting this week’s challenge at Daring Cardmakers and I’d like to see something that comes in bunches featuring on your cards this week — flowers, grapes, bananas…

This wasn’t what I set out to do but that ended up in the circular file, I’m afraid. So I decided I should finally get round to playing with a set I got on sale some time ago (ahem, think years rather than months!) and that has been reproaching me each time I look for something else in a particular box. 

Monkey is having quite the feast! All the animals in this set have separate heads and bodies so you can align them different. His head is actually on a wobble here so you can get him to do a cute head shake. 

I stamped the body directly onto the card base so I just cut a little slit to poke the banana into. If you use the coordinating dies, the tail actually gets cut in the little spiral so you can thread his treats through. 

I ended up being in a rush so the colouring is a bit rudimentary but it’s quite cute, I think. 

Stamps:
Jungle Friends (Stampendous)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black, Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Wibbly wobbly die (Jane Davenport)
Phrases set I (Spellbinder)

Elements for March

Miri has chosen our inspiration picture for the "elemental" challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — as ever, just choose at least three elements from the picture to kickstart your project.

The spiral shape of the caterpillar made me think of this lovely shell stamp and I ended up going down a sort of naturalist’s sketch book route (after quite a lot of playing with ideas that didn’t work out). Other elements are flower, butterfly and some of the colours. 

The butterfly is stamped directly on the panel, the other images are cut out and stuck on with gel glue for some differences in height. I had intended more muted colouring, not quite sure what happened there!

Stamps:
Antique Engravings (Hero Arts, retired)
Magnolia (Stampendous)
Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

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

Other:
Copic markers
Square dies (Presscut)
Fineliner
Pinflair gel glue

Magnificent magenta

Rizwana is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — as the Pantone colour of the year is Viva Magenta, she’d like to see magenta featuring on our creations. 

I confess I was relieved to see Rizwana’s mood board features what I think of as magenta. The Pantone colour looks too red to me and when I first saw it several weeks back my first thought was “yuk!” (partly influenced by the choice of image on Pantone’s own mood board, I suspect). As it is, I struggled a bit to find an appropriate colour in my stash. I managed to find a Copic that was ok to lay down a base layer of colour and then a couple of pencils to shade over the top. The rose is stamped once, masked and stamped again. I gave it just a bit of green pencil “halo” for some contrast and a few nail art gems for some glitz.

Stamps:
Jumbo Rose (Stampendous)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic marker
Coloured pencils
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper
Fineliner

Black, white and...

Shabneez is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like to see cards that are black and white with just one other colour.

Perhaps because there are lots of “Christmas in July” things happening in blogland, the first thing that popped in to my head for “black and white” was penguins. They’ve made the sartorial choice to colour coordinate their hats and scarves with their beaks and feet!

A fairly wide black mat and some Enamel Accents dots help to up the quota of black and I have another card to add to the Christmas stash. 

I’m also playing along with the lovely folk at the Lost Coast Challenge blog who have a Christmas in July event going on.

Stamps:
Bundled Penguins (Stampendous)
Sentiment from a magazine freebie set

Paper:
Bristol board
Black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Stitched rectangles A6 size (Paper Rose)
Enamel Accents by Ranger 

Penguins in pink

It's my turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers - as October is breast cancer awareness month and today is "wear it pink" day I thought we'd focus on people or things wearing pink.

I've opted to try to get going with Christmas cards and dressed a couple of penguins in pink hats and scarves using several shades of pink Copic marker along with a couple of greys for shading and the obligatory orange for beaks and feet.

A pearl pen has given them some dimensional snow to stand in and I added it over the stamped dots above their heads, too. I used chalk to add a bit of cloudy background blue for the image.

Stamps:
Bundled penguins (Stampendous)
Sparkle all the way (Crafter’s Companion)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Pearl pen by Viva Decor (Ice White)
Chalk
White paint pen by Posca
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Link in the chain - September (and August!)

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge. Mine travelled around the globe to Suze in New Zealand this time and I chose the colour palette and the theme of flowers from the options on offer.

The first hollyhock stem was stamped and masked before stamping a second behind it. I coloured the flowers with Copics and then added some extra shading and detail with coloured pencils. It was one of those cards that doesn’t like having its photo taken, I did my best!

Stamps:
Jumbo hollyhocks (Stampendous)
Landscape quotes (HobbyCraft)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Spun Sugar)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Coloured pencils
Corner Chomper

I realised I forgot to blog August’s card which went to the lovely Jo. From the options on offer I chose the theme of the sea, the colour pallet and the technique of stamping (it’s almost guaranteed I’m going to hit that any time it’s one of the options, it’s rare indeed for me to make a card with no stamping!). 

Stamps:
Create Your Own Calm (Visible Image)

Paper:
Bristol board

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

Other:
Copic markers
Fibres stencil (Visible Image)
Stickles
Silver gel pen
Corner Chomper 

July's elements

It's the first Friday of a new month so of course that means an "elemental" challenge at Daring Cardmakers - just choose at least three elements from the picture to kick start your project.

Kathy has gathered supplies to make a lovely inspiration picture for us this month. From it I picked the Eiffel Tower, a daisy, washi tape, clear domes and the rich teal blue of the ribbon for a little collage of elements on a small card (this is 10.5cm square).

Stamps:
French Mail (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)
Build a Bouquet (Stampendous)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate, Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink (Peacock Feathers)

Other:
Copic markers

Glossy Accents
Washi tape
Corner Chomper

Here's the inspiration photo Kathy has put together for us this month, what inpsires you here?

Deckchair stripes and sunny spots

Kathy is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers today - the theme is deckchair stripes and sunny spots so of course my mind turned to... Christmas! Anything with stripes or spots or both works for this theme, you can make your own or use something already striped or spotted!

I got these penguins in the same package as last week’s tentacle die and since their hats and scarves are striped and spotted I thought they’d fit this challenge nicely and bag me my first Christmas card of the year! As I’m pushing my luck with Kathy in any case since it’s a Christmas card in July I thought I ought to up the stripe factor with a background stamp.

Jo’s Christmas Kickstart has just moved into the phase of the year where it becomes fortnightly and the theme is “hats” so I figured the bundled penguins worked for that, too.

Stamps:
Bundled Penguins (Stampendous)
Canvas Stripes (Hero Arts)
Sentiment put together from a couple of sets (Hero Arts and Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Momento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Tracing wheel
White enamel accents by Ranger 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well.

Link in the chain - March

It’s reveal day for the Card Chain Challenge for March. My card has gone to Arlene in California this time.

From the options on offer this month, I used the themes of flowers AND spring by choosing a spring flower! I’ve loosely followed the sketch as well. I decided to let the wording on the stamp stand in place of a sentiment so it’s an “all purpose” card. Since the product/technique option included stamping it was pretty much inevitable my card would fit that option as well!

It's a one layer card since it was going trans-Atlantic, I just masked the flower and used low tack tape to define the edges of the coloured strip before inking. I couldn't resist adding sequins for the three small flowers of the sketch though so it did get a piece of bubble wrap in the envelope!

Stamps:
Magnolia by Stampendous

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Twisted Citron)

Other:
Copic markers 
Coloured pencils
Corner Chomper 
Sequins 
Gold gel pen

There are still a few days left to sign up for the April chain if you fancy joining in.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emboss it

Ruth has set the challnge for us over at Daring Cardmakers this week - she'd like us to use any sort of embossing on our projects.

I decided to heat emboss rather than use a folder, using white powder on a kraft base.

The clear Wink of Stella has made the petals look a bit murky on the photo but it's a pretty effect in real life - a bit of shimmer over very simple shading.

A very simple card, even the embellishing dots are stamped/embossed (there are three sizes of circle stamp in the Hero Arts set) and the tiny ones added with a white pen - light, flat and easy to post!

Stamps
Rose Bloom by Stampendous
Happy Stamp & Cut by Hero Arts

Paper:
Kraft
White

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukninko
Brillance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Detail white embossing powder
Copic markers
Clear Wink of Stella pen
White  paint pen by Posca
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Getting to know you

Dawn has set the challenge this week at Daring Cardmakers and she’d like to know a little more about our crafting selves, asking: what is your favourite crafting style or technique? Where do you craft?

I found this quite difficult as I don’t really have a single style or favourite way to do things so I tried to zoom in on a few common denominators!

I  almost always use stamps when I craft and I like to colour in. Floral stamps are a favourite thing to use. I keep telling myself  “no more flowers, you have enough” and then something like this pretty magnolia shows up in a sale and I can’t resist!

Mum has observed in the past that I often go off the edge with images so obviously I had to do that here.

I tend to use minimal layers; even if something is not necessarily a clean and simple design it’s unlikely to involve more than a couple of layers and I’ll often use just a card base, as I have here. I often round a single corner of a card, too.

I really enjoyed using a single die cut word with stamps to complete the sentiment on my Christmas cards this year so I thought I’d try extending that idea to other occasions. This Hero Arts set has lots of options to go with the ‘happy” so hopefully I’ll get plenty of use out of it.

I’m lucky enough to have a room to craft in. On the down side that does mean that it’s often a complete mess because I don’t have to clear up after myself as a I go!


Stamps:
Magnolia by Stampendous
Happy Stamp & Cut by Hero Arts

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Wink of Stella pen (clear)
Sequins
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by!

Cosy home

Miri has set the challenge for us this week at Daring Cardmakers and she wants to see cosy homes featured on our cards.

There really is an explanation for a Christmas card in February! I’m trying to play along with the Dirty Dozen Christmas challenge at Splitcoast Stampers this year - the idea is to make at least one card per month to a theme set by our hostesses to avoid the mad dash at the end of the year. If you’re a Fan Club member at Splitcoast why not come and join us?

It seems I have a severe shortage of anything house-related in my craft room so when I thought of this stamp for Miri’s DCM theme, I was delighted to find a way to use it, even though it’s a bit unseasonal (and means I must apologise to Kathy, who typically shudders at the mention of making Christmas cards before about September!).

The central image was stamped on a separate piece of card stock, coloured and cut out then stuck on with some gel glue for a bit of lift - it means the card is still flat enough for regular postage but has a bit of something special about it. There's lots of Glamour Dust on the snow drifts and roofs too but as ever with glitter that's a bit difficult to see in the photo, I think.

Stamps:
Snowy Postcard by Stampendous
Grunge Flakes by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain)

Other:
Copic markers
Clear Wink of Stella pen
White Posca paint pen
Pinflair glue gel
Glamour Dust by DecoArt (Crystal)

Thanks for stopping by!

Atmospherics!

Lydia has set this week's Mixability challenge at Splitcoast Stampers - Through the Mist.

The idea is to clean a painty brayer by rolling on clean cardstock and use the resulting piece as the basis for something.  The brayered prints are often reminiscent of a misty landscape. Lydia's put together a great little video, you can check it out of the SCS thread linked above.

When I watched the video, I kept mentally filling in bare tree shapes on the prints so that's where mine had to go, I'm afraid! I stamped the tree over the brayered base and added a bit of white pen for some moonlight highlights. I smudged a little charcoal pencil along some of those higlights to soften them.

I helped the brayering along just a tiny bit with a pen line under the tree to define the ground a bit more and stamped and white embossed the sentiment. The moon is finger-painted with silver acrylic paint and I added some lowlights with a Copic fine liner once the paint was dry (again smudging with my finger).

I kept the setting really simple, just sticking it slightly offset on the cardbase and running the fineliner round the edge of the panel - I thought the simplicity went with the tranquil feel.

Stamps:
Winter Trees by Stampendous
Scene-it Sentiments by Hobby Art

Paper: smooth white

Other:
Lamp Black Americana acrylic paint by DecoArt
Shimmering Silver metallic acrylic paint by DecoArt
Graphite Black Brilliance ink
Copic fineliner
Posca white pen
Bright white embossing powder by WOW!
Charcoal pencil

Thanks for stopping by!

Warm hugs

I had such fun experimenting with Pan Pastels on canvas for my first foray into 2014 that I thought I'd have a go at something a bit bigger.

The weekly mixed media challenge at Splitcoast Stampers has been set by the very talented Dina who has asked us to concentrate on warm colours. As I'm usually drawn to the blue-green end of the spectrum it was fun to push the other way here! I combined with this week's PanPastels challenge again as I used something other than card as my substrate.

I played with PanPastels, acrylic paint, Posca paint pen, Versamark, pigment ink and Copic marker (on the sequins) to mix up the media. Colouring neutral embellishments with Copics (or other alcohol-based markers) is a great way to get coordinating elements without having to have every colour under the sun on hand!

Stamps:
Jumbo Rose by Stampendous
Truly Appreciated by Hero Arts

Paper:
Bitter choclate
Canvas (inkjet printer type from the £ shop)

Ink:
Pearlescent Chocolate Brilliance by Tsukineko
Versamark

Other:
PanPastels (Diarylide Yellow, Orange, Permanent Red)
Red acrylic paint
White Posca pen
Drywall tape
Sequins

Thanks for stopping by!

Modern art?

There's a "mixed media" challenge every Friday over at Splitcoaststampers. I'm very much of the mind that mixed media is not a style, despite the predominance of a certain artsy, grungy, eclectic look that springs to many people's minds when you say the phrase. To me (and to the ladies who set the challenges, I suspect) mixed media is exactly what it says on the tin - using more than one medium!

The very talented Birgit set this week's challenge - make some modern art using at least two colouring media and doing something different than your norm.

I usually treat images pretty literally so my "difference" is to use a rose image with non-flowery colours and crop it to make it look quite abstract.

I heat embossed in black on black card and then used metallic markers and pencils to colour the sections. Some sections are just pencil so they're a matt finish, others are metallic marker shaded with pencils so those have a sheen.

I  cut it out with a Nestie and kept the setting very simple as there's a lot going on in that twinchie!

Stamps:
Rose Bloom by Stampendous
Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper: White and black

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Other:
Metallic markers (blue, green and silver)
Prismacolor pencils
Detail black embossing powder
Fineliner
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!