Wheely good fun

I'm setting today's challenge at Daring Cardmakers— we’re having wheely good fun this week, featuring anything with wheels on our projects.

I’m still separated from my craft supplies so this is something I made earlier in the year. I hadn’t used my Copics in ages so I pulled out some shades of red and grey and went bright on this old CHF stamp (had to be car-themed to tie in with the gift of a driving experience!). Personalised registration plate is lettered with a fineliner and I did a little bit of masking so the car is coming out of the frame. 

Stamps:
Chevy Camaro Front View (CHF, no longer with us)
A&P Numbers (Ma Vinci’s Reliquary, no longer with us)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board 

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (various blues)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Time Tunnel Stencil (Visible Image)
Copic markers
Fineliner

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!

It's my turn to set our challenge at Daring Cardmakers and we’re raising our glasses to our shared hobby this week. Cocktail, mocktail, beer or orange juice — show us what you’re drinking!

My hubby is somewhat of a wine buff so this is the card I made for his birthday.   It’s one layer, no frills which is pretty much how all the men I make cards for like their cards!

Stamps:
Wine Corks (Spellbinder)
Ink Splats (Visible Image)
Celebrate (Letter It range by Ranger)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso, Cranberry)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Charcoal pencil
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Chain Callenge - May

It's reveal day at Card Chain Challenge where this month 30 participants sent and received hand made cards. Mine went to Karolina this time.

From the options on offer I chose the theme of men in hats and the product and technique options of stencil and scoring, sticking to my usual CCC aesthetic of one layer.

I masked the gent on the stamped image but not the background so the stencilling goes over that bit of the image and the rays come directly out of his head. There's a charcoal pencil drop shadow going on and some silver gel pen on the corner swirls in the image.

Stamps:
Dashing Gents (Darkroom Door)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

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

Other:
Strobes stencil (Visible Image)
Silver gel pen
Corner Chomper
Scor It

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's hear it for the boys!

Shabneez is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see some ideas for masculine cards.

I’ve gone for a teen boy card. He’s a guitar player (got his Grade 7 a few months back) and likes a bit of classic rock. It’s a one layer card, achieved with masking and reverse masking so the guitar could be stamped as a design on the shirt with ink blending and stencilling for the background. 

Stamps:
Nothing to Wear and Rock Out (Visible Image)
Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (various blues)
Hero Arts Shadow ink (Charcoal)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Corner Chomper
Play Guitar Stencil (Visible Image)

Thanks for stopping by!

Round and round

It's my turn to set the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week — our theme is "circles". Feature circles or something that is made up of or contains circles on your project.

My froggy has circular puddles and a circular eye. There are even little circle elements on the stencilled strobe lines. 

I got this stamp set because I really liked the frog, I didn’t expect to use the Spanish language sentiment. A friend who has recently retired is making a concerted effort to improve his Spanish and went to Spain just before his birthday so I made this for his return — never write off a stamp is the lesson here!

Stamps:
Cosmos Frog (Stamperia)

Paper:
Bristol board

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

Other:
Coloured pencils
Strobes stencil (Visible Image)
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Face the music and dance

It's my turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week.  I’ve chosen a music and/or dance theme — any type of music, any style of dance!

I’ve gone for the music bit of the theme. I wish I could claim my sketching skills were up to this standard but I actually did something different with a stamp! I used very light ink to stamp the image and then 2B and 4B pencils to turn it into a sketch. I think it’s worked to give a different sort of look. 

The fine frames circles die has always made me think of a vinyl record —clicking through for a bigger image might give a clearer impression why! I decided maybe she’s gone retro and raided her parents’ old record collection and placed die cuts to give her some background interest. With that thoughtful look I’m imagining she’s listening to some Joni Mitchell or maybe Carole King’s Tapestry.

Stamps:
Lost in Music (Visible Image)
Nothing to Wear (Visible Image, sentiment only)

Paper:
Bristol
Black

Ink:
Fade-out by Ink on 3
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Hero Arts Shadow ink (Charcoal, Soft Granite)

Other:
Fine Frames Circles die (Altenew)
Stitched Rectangles A6 size dies (Paper Rose)

Thanks for stopping by!

Birds of a feather

Nat is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week — she’d like to see feathers or something feathered.

Birds are probably second only to florals in my stamp collection so that seemed to be the way to go. I decided to play along at A Blog Named Hero as well and use the HA colour layering stamp for my bird, making her a restful combination of blues. As April is their blog birthday month, HA want to see birthday cards this time.

Going white on white for the sentiment seemed right for a light and airy feel. The lovely die was gifted to me — thanks Margot! — and gives a beautifully crisp cut. 

Stamps:
Bird and branch colour layering (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black, Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Twisted Citron)
Momento by Tsukineko (Bamboo Leaves)

Other:
Happy Birthday Poe Script die (Poppystamps)
Strobes stencil (Visible Image)
Corner Chomper

Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero — They Say It’s Your Birthday

Think of a number

Shabneez is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and she’d like to see some numbers — they could take a starring role or sit in the background as long as they’re there!

The young lady this is for is very maths and science oriented so it seemed appropriate to add a numbers background and DNA code as well as her age. 

The inky flower is coloured with a single ink — the colour breaks down a bit with water to produce some interesting variations. I gave the big numbers some drop shadow with a grey marker and doodled a border.

Stamps:
Creative Chaos (Visible Image)
Numbers border (Kaisercraft)
A&P Numbers (Ma Vinci's Reliquary, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Mint Julep)

Other:
Black fine liner
Grey Copic marker

Waxing Lyrical

My turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and I’d like to see wax incorporated somehow, further details on the blog.

As ever when you set a challenge, it proves to be harder than tackling somebody else’s! To help me along a bit, I looked for extra inspiration and found it in the current Hero Arts challenge where the theme is “animal crackers” — use any sort of creature. That gave me the perfect excuse to pull out the lovely detailed octopus and make a watery scene. 

I started by splashing melted candle wax* onto my paper and giving it a minute to harden. Then I brushed on a few shades of blue and scraped off the wax (an old credit card is perfect for this) to reveal the splashy resist pattern. It was only after stamping the octopus I decided I’d like something extra so I stencilled carefully to avoid going over the white bits. 

*It probably goes without saying but if you’re doing this, do be extremely careful with a lit candle in your craft space — all those papercrafting supplies are very flammable!

Stamps:
Layering Octopus (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Hero Arts (Soft Granite, Charcoal)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean)

Other:
Tea light
Fibres stencil (Visible Image)
Enamel Accents by Ranger
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)

Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero — Animal Crackers

Holly jolly

It's time for a new challenge at Daring Cardmakers and we have a series of one word prompts in the run up to Christmas. This week’s word is HOLLY. 

I’ve combined with the new challenge at Let’s Squash It which is asking for any embossing folder on a Christmas card. I stamped the holly on a die cut square and then used the folder to emboss it so that all the grungy detail and the wording is on that layer. To get smooth leaves, I stamped again on a scrap of card, coloured the holly and cut it out. It’s stuck on with gel glue so the leaves are lifted off the embossed layer a bit. A wonky border doodled with a gold gel pen, some sparkle on the berries, a computer-generated seniment and some enamel dots finish it off.

The Die Cut Divas have an “anything goes” theme this month, I used an embossing folder and a die here so I’m linking up there too. I wanted a square that was bigger than the Nesties I have so I used a square frame die but placed my top plate so that I only cut one outer edge, then turned it to cut the next and so on — a bit fiddly but it worked! Of course I then obscured the stitching effect by embossing the piece so I should probably have just used a knife and ruler to cut a square!

Stamps:
Inked Holly (Visible Image)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Stitched square frame dies (Paper Rose)
Pine planks embossing folder (Stampin Up)
Clear Wink of Stella pen
White Enamel Accents by Ranger
Gold gel pen 

Link in the chain — October

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge. Mine went to Imke in Germany this time. 

From the options on offer I chose the colour palette, the theme of mythical beasts and I used a brush when I created the background. It’s my usual one layer creation for CCC and I think the unicorn stamp is bold enough not to need much else. 

 

I brushed ink over a stencil to create the background, stamped the clouds and added some silvery shimmer to them and an ink "shadow" underneath to accentuate them. Oh, I used a second sort of brush for that bit!

 

A rounded corner, doodled border, grounding under the unicorn's hooves and a few dots of Enamel Accents in the centre of the sparkle stamp and call it done.

Stamps:

Believe in Unicorns (Visible Image)

Paper:

Bristol board 

Ink:

Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar)

Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)

Delicata by Tsukineko (Silvery Shimmer)

Other:

Strobe stencil (Visible Image)

Corner Chomper
White Enamel Accents by Ranger
Silver gel pen
Black fineliner

Link in the chain - September

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge — mine has gone to Tina in Slovenia this time. 

From the options on offer I followed the sketch and used the theme of something beginning with or containing the letter Z. Pizza seemed like a good fit all round!

It’s my usual one layer card for CCC — I stamped and masked the pizza then masked the edges with low tack tape, cut some very narrow strips of the same tape to divide the area in to four and another strip for the sentiment. I inked the central area then inked more heavily over a stencil to give the pizza some pizzazz! Remove all the masking, add a touch of Copic colouring, stamp a sentiment and call it done. 

Stamps:
Discover Italy: Food/Menu (Scrapberry)
Say It All (Hero Arts, retired) 

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger  (Peacock Feathers)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Strobe stencil (Visible Image)

Be Happy!

Shabneez is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — she’d like to see something featuring the word happy. I did have plans to make something with “happy” being a more prominent feature but things didn’t pan out that way.

This was made for a young lady who is very maths and science oriented (hence choice of background stamp) and whose favourite colour is purple. She’s not a girly girl so I thought this t-shirt might make a good base for her card.

I stamped the shirt, stencilled the swirl design and added just a bit of shading with a couple of Copics then cut it out. I masked the edges of the card with low tack tape, stamped the background and doodled a border. Die cut numbers and a stamped sentiment finish it off and the shirt is stuck on with gel glue to lift it slightly off the background.

Stamps:
Nothing to Wear (Visible Image)
Sentiment from Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)
Numbers border (Kaisercraft)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Wilted Violet)

Other:
Time Tunnel stencil (Visible Image)
Tim Holtz Alphanumeric dies (Sizzix) 
Copic markers
Fineline marker
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by!

May elements

It’s the first Friday of the month so that means an “elemental” challenge at Daring Cardmakers. My turn to set it and I put together something for inspiration that I hope has a late spring vibe about it. 

For my card, I chose a flower (it’s slightly tulippy!), smooshed Oxide ink for a background that I hoped might be a bit reminiscent of the wrinkles of the fabric, musical score, glassy domes and some of the colours. I stamped the flower directly on the card base and then again on a scrap, coloured and cut out the head to stick over the base, raising the top just very slightly with some scraps of card.

I decided I’d like my glossy dots to be green, as the glass pebbles are in the photo. Not having any clear green dimensional gunk, I drew dots with a green Copic then added Glossy Accents over the top.

Stamps:
Aged Sheet Music scrapblock (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Creative Chaos (Visible Image)
Happy Stamp n Cut and Essential Messages (both Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Memento by Tsukineko (Bamboo Leaves)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Cracked Pistachio)

Other:
Copic markers
Glossy Accents
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend!

Early bird

Miri is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week: it's the early bird that catches the worm! She'd like to see birds, worms, sunrises - anything to do with the saying.

Lost Coast Designs are currently asking us to "tweet this" so I'm linking up there too.

I thought I was going to have to miss the DCM challenge this week but I managed to make a super-fast one layer card with a stamp that does a lot of the heavy lifting to make a dramatic impact with very little effort. A little stencilling for a background, a few sequins and a simple stamped sentiment and call it done.

Stamps:
Spring bird (Bloom Art Stamps)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine
Tim Holtz

Other:
Rays stencil (Visible Image)
Sequins
Corner Chomper

 

 

Link in the chain - February

February is such a short month, those couple of days seem to make a disproportionate difference, don't they?! Anyway, we're round to Card Change Challenge reveal day once again!

My card flew across the Pond to Helen in Ohio this time (or maybe it's still flying, Helen hasn't got it yet, I don't think). I only managed one of the options on offer this time - the theme of mushrooms. OK, technically this is a toadstool but I figured I'd be forgiven for the slight mycological liberty!

It's my usuual CCC one layer preference, just with a die cut sentiment rather than a stamped one. The grasses are stamped with two different green inks for a bit of grassy randomness.

I think I'd have put this stancil and stamp together anyway but one of the Visible Image design team beat me to it so a shout out to Eileen Godwin is in order here!

Stamps:
Totally Toadstools (Visible Image)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black and Cottage Ivy)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass) and Oxide (Cracked Pistachio)

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

I recceived a lovely mixed media card from Mia and she added some extra little goodies including  a sweet beaded necklace she made herself - thank you Mia!

There are still a few days to sign up for the March chain if you fancy it - make and send a card, get a hand made card from the next player! Sign up is here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Think of a number

Over at Daring Cardmakers this week, Kathy is asking us to think of a number - it could be a big number for a birthday or anniversary, a background of numbers, even a number shaped card.

I opted to combine with the current challenge at Lost Coast Designs which is sending us to the Man Cave and made a one layer masculine card - suitable for one of those pesky in-betweeners!

I stamped and masked the T-shirt and then stamped numbers randomly to make a background. A sentiment and star on the shirt and a tiny bit of Copic colouring, some ink brused around the edges of the card and call it done. I don't know about you but I find most of the men (and boys) I send cards to tend to like them plain!

Stamps:
Nothing to Wear (Visible Image)
A&P Numbers (Ma Vinci's Reliquary, no longer with us)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

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

Other:
Copic markers
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Flying high

Daring Cardmakers is sending us Up, Up and Away this week - Enfys wants us to feature balloons on our cards.

I opted for a hot air balloon rather than the party sort and made a clean and simple birthday card. I stamped the image over the stencilled background and then stamped again on a scrap of card, coloured in the round part of the balloon, cut out and stuck on with a bit of gel glue. I could have just cut out the whole image but I wanted the background to peek through the strings!

Choosing a hot air balloon lets me play along at Lost Coast Designs who want us to fly high for their current challenge - use rubber stamps to feature something that flies.

Stamps:
Old Times (Hero Arts)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Speckled Egg)

Other:
Fibres stencil (Visible Image)
Copic markers
Sequins
Gel glue (Pinflair)
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

The last link of 2021!

It’s time for the reveal of the last Card Chain Challenge of 2021 — Gail and Jo followed the pattern they set last year by giving us a tic-tac-toe board to play with for December but a five by five one this time (so no way was I even thinking about trying for a full house!)  

My card went to the lovely Jo and I played with the right-most vertical line of the board — white, merry, Santa, circle, red. I figured Santa’s hat would be enough of an indication that “Santa woz ’ere”. I somehow got it into my head that I was supposed to have silver as an element as well but that was actually on a completely different line. Never mind, it made the circles nice and festive!

The hat is stamped, coloured and cut out, sentiment and circles are die cut and there’s a doodled frame to finish it all off. 

Stamps:
Ho Ho Ho (Visible Image)
Noel (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Silver mirror card

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Silver gel pen
Circle Nestabilities
Fine frames die, circle (Altenew)
Washi tape
Gel glue (Pinflair)
Corner Chomper 

Candy corn colours

Svenja has set the challenge for us at Daring Cardmakers this week - she's giving us sweet inspiration with either candy corn or peppermint fondant, extra virtual browine points if your card relates to sweets.

I didn't manage the confectionary theme, I just opted for candy corn colours of orange, yellow and white.

An acrylic block with curvy sides provided the "stamp" for my colour block base - I tapped the ink pads onto it, spritzed with water and pressed it onto the card base. I did give it a little help with a damp brush as the coverage was just a bit too hit and miss.

I stamped the sentiment then stamped the flower to grow out of it. I stamped again on a scrap of white and cut out the flower head, gave it a bit of shading with a couple of grey pencils and stuck it over the top. A tiny bit of detail stamped with yellow ink at the bottom of the card and call it done.

Stamps:
Creative Chaos (Visible Image)
Birthday (Letter It range by Ranger)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mustard Seed)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Carved Pumpkin)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Grey pencils

Thanks for stopping by!