simply Sketched Sympathy

I have a really clean and simple Sympathy card to share with you and CAS Colours &Sketches. Once I'd found the stamp which felt right with the sketch it was a simple matter of stamping and colouring, I've even kept it one layer, how's that for simplicity?

The two important elements here are the diagonal and the reducing size. I've used Simply Sketched and Perfectly Preserved to create my card, I hope you can see the sketch

I used Promarkers to colour the image and my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get the positioning just right.

I'm not in need of a sympathy card, luckily, but I like to have a couple ready. I like this design very much, funny how sometimes it all just clicks so quickly into place. Usually I'm still working on my cards hours after I start!

Tangerine, Melon and Daffodils

It is my turn to host the challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches and I enjoyed choosing colours and designing sketches with Spring in mind. My first week was inspired by the flowers in the garden, lots of yellows and oranges, with the daffodils, and pinks from the primulas and tulips, the hardest part was only being able to choose 3!

When it came to making my card no green was a challenge, but in order to be chosen for top picks only the three colours maybe used.

I used the acetate block print technique to add the colours and then stamped the image, from Simply Sketched,  in the matching ink

It needed a long, narrow card base for this design to look its best. I added the birthday sentiment from the same stamp set and a Melon Mambo mat to add a pop of colour.

Love the arty look of this card, which still manages to hold onto a CAS style with the lack of 

 Embellishments and the use of white space.

Autumn Retiform

Back to my roots this morning, with some good old-fashioned stamping.

I first saw this technique when a friend posted a card on FB and mentioned that she used the 'retiform' technique. I googled "retiform technique" and there were some excellent tutorials on YouTube. The theme this week at The Male Room is Autumn or fall, so I used my Autumn Days stamp set, which hasn't seen the light of day for quite a while. I added images from Simply Sketched, French Foliage and Lovely As A Tree.

 

I started by masking off areas of the card using More Mustard ink and in this way formed the 'grid'. Then by masking of the individual panels using post-it notes, I stamped the connected images using Tangelo Twist, Chocolate Chip and More Mustard. I made the sentiment attachment using an oval die and the birthday greeting from Simply Sketched. My biggest problem was keeping the ink in the
right place, stamping cleanly and selecting the images moor each panel. Other than that it was a breeze!
Going to link up with the challenge at Make My Monday, haven't played over there in such a long time and I see that they have an Autumn colours challenge.

Flowers in Art

Today I have a card to share with you based on a sketch which I chose for CAS Colours & Sketches, ...actually I have two cards. This is the sketch, kind of a classic layout for a clean and simple style

For the first card I used Simply Sketched stamp set, along with Work Of Art and Gorgeous Grunge. This is the one I made for CAS colours & Sketches. It didn't start off as a sympathy card, but the black border just kind of made me think that it would make a good one, although I hope I don't need one anytime soon. I moved the sentiment off centre and used Rose Red and Mossy Meadow inks, both stamped off twice before stamping over the image, using my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get the position of the colour just right.

I then saw the colour palette from Cupcake Inspirations and decided that with a little tweak of a cream coloured card base I could make a similar card for the challenge over there.

This time I used Best Of Flowers for the hydranger bloom and the sentiment from Work Of Art as it seemed to fit better. To keep in with the art theme I only used the watercolour swoosh from the same set to colour my image.

 
This time the stamping off gets lighter across the panel, I like that graded effect, and I used a raspberry colour mat for the flower panel.

Both cards are tent fold

Sponging and Sketching

It is recipe week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and we have a genius recipe for you. Guess you like one pot cooking ( quick, easy, less washing up and delicious), so do you like one layer cards (quick, challenging, no where to hide your mistakes and beautiful)? That's it for this week, one layer cards

I wanted to add the impression of layers so I opted for a sponging and masking technique. I have used the Simply Sketched stamp set, these branches do remind me of mistletoe. I stamped in black ink over the sponged blended colours and touched up the berries with a white gel pen.

The sentiment is from Season of Joy (again, it never goes out of fashion I think). I added a few droplets of water to bleed out the colour, like wet snow or a bokeh light effect and a swathe of rhinestones to echo the sweep of the silver heat embossed lanterns. These could be ornaments, another use of the Celebration set.

I enjoyed creating this card and am overall pleased with it, although for me the edges of the masked area could be a little crisper. I used post- it notes. Does anyone have a better idea? I always find masking tape rips the surface of the card.

Pretty Poppy Paper

At CAS Colours and Sketches we do insist on stamping, that and a clean and simple style to your cards. This time I will admit my stamping is minimal and centre stage is taken by a piece of DP. When it is as beautiful as this DP I make no apology. This paper makes a beautiful card with minimal embellishment. The challenge is a sketch challenge and this time we would like to see shaped cards- no squares or rectangles!

I have used the Top Note die, to make the shaped card base and some freehand cutting to allow layering.

The green card stock is textured and I've used the tag top punch to form the mat for the sentiment, from Simply Sketched. Inside the card I have stamped the poppy from the same set, in Lucky Limeade, to carry the poppy theme through, you can just about see it in this photo.

Welsh Poppies

Happy May 1st! Has the sunny weather arrived at last?  I hope so, it seems to have been a long winter to me. My card this morning is definitely not wintery, we have a new hostess this month at CAS Colours and Sketches, it's Lizy, from Lizy's House of Cards and she's starting off with a gorgeous colour scheme of Daffodil delight, Pacific Point and Smoky Slate.
Here's the card I made

I stamped the text, which is a Waltzing Mouse stamp set I was very lucky to have won a couple of years ago, in Pacific Point, adding the flower, from Simply Sketched on top. The ever useful Gorgeous Grunge adds a splash of colour and I've used the Smoky Slate as a mat. Here's a close up of the flower

Another way to use Grunge, I'm so addicted to this stamp set, it's so useful! Yellow poppies are called Welsh poppies around where I live, hence the title of the post, but I'm not sure if that's their true name.
Hope you have fun with this colour combo too.  Looking forward to visiting some blogs!

Triple stamped Wetlands

It's a new year, it's a new month so that means that Technique Time Tuesday Challenge Blog must have a brand new challenge. We've also had a face lift and you will I am sure love our new look. The challenge includes a full video clip to help you with the technique, if you've never tried it before - it's one of my all-time favourites-Triple stamping.I've had a sneaky peak at the other cards from the DT and there are so many different ways you can use this versatile technique. I've gone for a scene card, using the amazing Wetlands stamp set from Stampin' Up.

One of the advantages of triple stamping is it creates a dimensional focal point - in this case my pair of geese, which doesn't need to be central. It's a very 'birdy' card as I've also sneaked in the little bird on the reeds from another stamp set, Simply Sketched, which is where the sentiment also comes from. I hope you can see the sparkle on the refelections, made with silver Stickles and the lovely pearl brad which is attaching the tag.
Well and truly back in the mood for making cards again, although I have one or two other crafty projects on the go too.

Faux Frame Winter Card

Today there is a brand new technique challenge over at Technique Time Tuesday and it's a real good one! Faux frame is a sponging technique which uses nesting die shapes to create the illusion of a frame.  There's a full 'how to' tutorial on the blog and I think it would be a great technique for Christmas cards, if you still have lots of those to make.
For my DT sample I have made a wintery theme card, using a colour palette of Soft Suede, Sky Blue and Very Vanilla.

The stamp set is Simply Sketched. I stamped the foliage and added liquid pearls to the berries. I have used the blue ribbon as borders as well as adding the bow and the bird image from the stamp set was supplemented by some grasses from the Wetlands stamps. The sentiment is from Blooming Marvellous. If I glittered this up I guess I could use it for a Christmas card (as it is a happy day!) but I think I'm going to use it for a winter birthday card.
Here is a close up of the 'frame'

I see there is a frame challenge for November at Heck Of A Challenge - In The Frame, so I will enter my card over there,
Do have a look at the other creations from the DT at TTT, and check out the tutorial. I look forward to seeing everyone's beautiful faux frame projects.

Feminine Fall Card

I needed to make a birthday card for my mother-in-law and the challenge photo at Cupcake Inspirations gave me a great idea..

Don't they look delicious? Love those autumnal colours too and I must admit I usually use them for cards for men, so I challenged myself to make a card with a more feminine touch.

I love the pinks and oranges along with the brown and gold. I've used a few stamps, the small leaf is from Autumn Days, the sentiment is from Simply Sketched and of course my current top pick, Off The Grid is in there too, this time embossed in gold.The leaf is like faux cloisonne and I've matted it onto brown CS and fussy cut it out before using foam pads to add dimension. The papers are both from SU. This is the second card I made, you can see both cards in this pic below

For mre my first attempt, on the left, wasn't feminine enough but I love the rich fabric brad next to the sentiment and this time I've embossed in copper.  I'm sure this one will find a good home too.
As I've made birthday cards I'm also going to enter them in the current challenge at Seize The Birthday, as I haven't played along there for a while.