Tuesday 28 June 2016

Paper Players 301

Last week, The Paper Players had a birthday of sorts - they reached 300 fantastic challenges! This week, I was looking for inspiration for a birthday card and I found it at The Paper Players. No matter how many cards I've stashed, I never seem to have the one I want. In this case, I needed a  birthday card for a young man who likes music.





I certainly hope that someone turning 25 is not too young to remember vinyl!

Ingredients
Card: Whisper White heavyweight, Whisper White, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, unknown music DSP
Stamps: Crazy About You
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Tuxedo Black (inside)
Other: Circle framelits, Itty Bitty circle punch, Hello You thinlits, Darice Music Sheet embossing folder, white colouring pencil, dimensionals





Sunday 26 June 2016

JAI 317 and CAS(E) 178

Just Add Ink have an unusual colour challenge this week - or at least for me, since two of the colours I seldom use.

It looked both fun and floral. I decided to give it a go and to pair it with the sketch challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch.

I still have things in my box of new catalogue goodies that I hadn't even opened. I've been busy with a Catalogue Launch Extravaganza and had got a bit fixated with the Seaside Shore set, first out of my box of goodies. So tonight, I got out Playful backgrounds (which I think I'm going to LOVE) and the Swirly Bird bundle. And all of these things lead to this.....



Ingredients
Card: Flirty Flamingo, Whisper White, scraps of Rose Red, Crushed Curry and Pear Pizzazz
Stamps: Playful Backgrounds, Swirly Bird, Endless Birthday Wishes
Inks: Rose Red, Flirty Flamingo, Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz, Tuxedo Black
Other: dimensionals, Flirty Flamingo enamel shapes, Swirly Scribbles dies.


Inkspire Me 255

The colours in this week's challenge at Inkspire Me are just made for my new current favourite set, Seaside Shore.


As soon as I saw Seaside Shore in the catalogue, I wanted to make an aquarium card where it looked like the fish were in a tank. Here it is:





Update: Delighted to win this challenge at Inkspire Me!

Ingredients
Card: Dapper Denim, By the Shore DSP, Very Vanilla, Window sheet
Stamps: Seaside Shore
Inks: Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral, Soft Sky
Other: Lots of Labels framelits, dimensionals, Calypso Coral thick twine, Stamp'n'write markers - Soft Sky, Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral.



Wednesday 22 June 2016

Paper Players 300

Congratulations to The Paper Players, who have issued Challenge 300 this week! I've played quite a bit there and it was the first challenge site I ever entered into, and the first I got picked at, so I was keen to enter their celebration challenge.


Thank you, Team Paper Players for the wonderful challenges you put up each week and the kind, thoughtful feedback you provide to us. So ... a card for your big 300.



The word 'celebrate' is three layers but the top layer is offset to create the shadow which makes it seem much more 3D than it actually is.


I like the little firework burst backdropping for the balloons - very party-like!


Ingredients
Card: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Silver glimmer paper
Stamps: SU Balloon Celebration
Inks: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Versamark
Other: Silver embossing powder, W&W Big, Bold and Party die, star die from the Mini Treat Bag thinlit set, fine tip black pen, dimensionals.

All products Stampin' Up except the word die.






Saturday 18 June 2016

Pals Paper Arts 305

I saw the colour challenge at Pals Paper Arts before I went to work yesterday and I kept thinking about it in relation to an idea I wanted to try, so when I got home I celebrated the start of the weekend by getting onto a card for it.


I liked the idea that Pool Party and Island Indigo are shades of each other, so I wanted to use one as a ghost of the other. I started with stamping the flower image in Island Indigo, then using a Stamp-a-majig, stamped the same image in Pool Party just a millimetre or two off the original. The effect is quite subtle but the Pool Party 'ghost'  creates a kind of stereo-vision that adds some extra depth to the image. I added in a few little highlights with a white gel pen on both the flower and the butterfly.


The 'hello' is layered up for extra dimension. The butterfly has an Island Indigo shadow under him and is raised on a dimensional.


The ghost stamp is more visible in this close-up.


Earlier in the week, I'd seen beautiful card by  Shawn de Oliveira, which was the CASE challenge at The Global Design Project. It reminded me of the beautiful Butterfly Basics set with its gorgeous and versatile flower image which lead to my choice of stamp for this card. I think that the mood of the cards is similar too. So I'm also entering this card The Global Design Project too.


Update: Incredibly delighted to be a winner at The Global Design  Project this week!
Further update: So very happy to be a Top Pick at Pals Paper Arts too!


Ingredients
Card: Island Indigo, Island Indigo DSP, Pool Party, Whisper White
Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Papillon Potpourri
Inks: Island Indigo, Pool Party
Other: Hello You thinlits, white gel pen, dimensional, pearls






As You See It 137 - DT Card

It was great to see all the entries in the last Dad-themed challenge at As You See It. There were lots of fabulous entries to pick from - and it was a tough choice too! This week, we're back with a really quirky little sketch for you.


I've been having a bit of a love affair with my new set from the 2016 Catalogue: Seaside Shore.
The hanging elements in the sketch made me wonder what they'd look like with fish playing in out out of them, like a little fish party.

Here's how that idea turned out...




We'd love to see how you see this sketch. You've got the next fortnight to show us. Entries close at 11.55 p.m., Wednesday 29 June.

Ingredients
Card: Dapper Denim, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla, By the Shore DSP
Stamps: Seaside Shore, Endless Birthday Wishes
Inks: Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral, Mint Macaron
Other: Dimensionals.




Sunday 12 June 2016

GDP 39 and CCMC410

Yesterday, I watched an interesting video from Jennifer McGuire about creating faux dimensions. In my experimentation of her technique, I've taken inspiration from the theme challenge at Global Design Project and the colour challenge at Create with Connie and Mary.



The colours seemed so bright and cheerful that they'd be good in a Get Well card.


In this close-up, you can see the effect I was aiming at - giving some 3-D to the lettering, which is not so obvious in the above photo. The other technique that I used from the video was to remove the embossing with an iron after sponging to leave a smooth, matte area behind. It's quite a nice effect. The third thing that I tried out, and worked the best it ever has for me, is to mask off part of the stamp so the one stamp was used in two parts: the front and the inside. All in all, this card was a bit of an experiment but it still turned out to be cheerful enough to use. The twine is my touch of Kraft/Crumb Cake.



Update: Unbelievably delighted to be a Winner at Global Design Project.

Ingredients
Card: Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
Stamps: Wild about Flowers, Fabulous Four
Inks: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Tuxedo Black, Versamark
Other: Linen twine, Clear embossing powder, White embossing powder, sponges, iron.














Saturday 11 June 2016

CAS 177 PCCC 198

My box of catalogue goodies arrived during the week but I've had to wait until Saturday night to really get into it. The set I wanted most was Seaside Shore and I've used it with the inspiration sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches.


As it happens, the colours at The Paper Craft Crew work well with this set too.


The three colours from the four choices that I'm using are: Mint Macaron, Calypso Coral and the new colour, Dapper Denim.





I like the linen twine added into this mix. I think it's suitably nautical and was a little more restrained than the Calypso Coral twine I thought about using. The new Seaside embossing folder is a real beauty and I feel I'll be using it a lot.

Update: Delighted to be a Top Pick at CAS Colours and Sketches this week!

Ingredients
Card: Mint Macaron, Very Vanilla
Stamps: Seaside Shore, One Big Meaning
Inks: Dapper Denim, Calypso Coral, Mint Macaron
Other: Seaside embossing folder, Scallop Tag punch, Linen twine, Dapper Denim marker, dimensional, post it notes for masking








Monday 6 June 2016

Inkspire Me 252

A friend of mine texted me yesterday and asked whether I had a new home card in my stash - at which time, the answer was no. After looking at the sketch challenge at Inkspire Me, the answer is now yes.





I hope she likes it!

Ingredients
Card: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Clearly Besotted Home Sweet Home
Inks: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz
Other: Paper doily, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, Swiss Dot embossing folder, dimensionals



Sunday 5 June 2016

FMS 239 and PPA 303

It's a long weekend here, Queen's Birthday celebration. It's not turned out quite as expected between heavy frosts and my husband managing to break his ankle. But eventually, I managed to get into my craft room and recover some of my equanimity.

For inspiration, I've used the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and the really lovely colour palette at Pals Paper Arts.







Awesomely Artist is such a lovely set and in celebration of it being in the new catalogue, I got it out for this card. The panel is sponged with Mint Macaron in the centre and Night of Navy around the edges. The dragonfly is stamped in Night of Navy on Night of Navy. The Mint Macaron dragonfly has a coat of clear Wink of Stella and some pearls and a Night of Navy shadow dragonfly under her.

Update: Utterly delighted to be a Perfect Princess at Freshly Made Sketches

Ingredients
Card: Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Mint Macaron
Stamps: Awesomely Artistic
Inks: Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, Mint Macaron
Other: dimensionals, sponges, Wink of Stella (Clear), pearls.





Saturday 4 June 2016

As You See It Challenge 136 - DT card

Choosing a Top Pick and Featured Artist was a real challenge for us last time as there were so many awesome interpretations of the sketch. You obviously like the move to two weeks!

This time, at As You See It, we have a theme challenge for you.


My dad has passed away and my own dear husband absolutely does not have DIY in his DNA!
So tool cards were out in this house. 

Last year, I experimented a bit with faux metal finishes and so I've taken some of that on board with my play around with the World Traveller embossing folder. Here's how it turned out.





To make the map strip, I inked up the embossing folder with Lost Lagoon and embossed the paper strip. Then I sponged Sahara Sand and Soft Suede onto the country areas. Then I rubbed it lightly over the versamark ink pad and added gold powder. Before heating it up, I gently brushed off some of the powder so that it was mainly around the coastlines.

The compass I coloured with markers rather than an ink pad and I sponged the edge with Soft Suede. I added in some gold and the candy dot. The banner is lightly sponged with Lost Lagoon after I embossed the sentiment. 

The thing I like the most is the aged leathery book look of the base, created with using Timeless Texture and Soft Suede on Soft Suede.

I'd also like to enter this card into the sketch challenge at Stamp, Ink, Paper this week.


We'd love to see what you do with this theme, so join us. You have until the June 15 to show us what you've done.

Update: Delighted to be a Top Pick at Stamp, Ink Paper.

Ingredients
Card: Soft Suede, Whisper White
Stamps: Going Global, Timeless Textures
Inks: Lost Lagoon, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Versamark
Other: World Traveller embossing folder, gold embossing powder, Lost Lagoon marker, Soft Suede marker, sponges, dimensionals, candy dot