Soft Magnolias

Hello, crafting friends!

 

What a treat to have a bit of time to craft for the sheer fun of it! It was a beautiful frosty day today and I was inspired by the soft winter colours seen out on our dog walk - as well as some favourite challenges of course!

 

This card started with a bit of water colouring on a thick card base. I used Stampin' Up's Boho Blue, a lovely greyish blue, and added a few splatters while I was at it. While that was drying, I stamped some magnolias from MFT's Floral Focus on some white off-cuts of card, watercoloured them with blush and pink inks and left them to dry. When they were dry, I fussy cut them and added a deeper pink coloured pencil for a bit of detail.

 

In my designer paper drawer, I found a snippet of wood-look paper and trimmed off a thin piece. I attached it vertically on my card front, tucking the magnolias under it. To add to the ethereal look, I attached some curls of thin gold thread to the wood and popped up a sentiment label over the top, stamped with sentiment from a retired SU set and cut out with a Postage Stamp punch.

CHALLENGES

I loved Lisa's choice of colours at The Color Throwdown and combined them with Judy's fab sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It is a joy to see my golden girls playing together again after Lulu had to take it easy with her cut pad. 

 

Here they are taking a breather - they actually look terribly fierce when they are in the middle of a playfight, and I didn't want to scare anyone!! It constantly amazes me how clever they are at baring all their teeth and leaping about all over each other and yet there's never a graze or anything!

Sending hugs,

Valentine wreath

Hello, crafting friends!

I have always loved the creativity of crafting. Just because a product is designed to do one thing doesn't mean it can't do something else as well! 

My friend lent me Stampin' Up's Wreath Builder die set for the weekend and I've had so much fun with it! The set features two wreaths that you can use separately or layer together. But instead of looking for ways to step things up, I prefer to look for ways to pare things back and this card features one of the wreaths cut in half and attached to a thin circle cut with a circle punch and a circle die. I love the effect! I embellished the half wreath with some of the pretty flowers from the die set, that emboss as they cut.

To display my wreath, I masked off the top and bottom of a good thick card base and stamped Hardwood, a retired Stampin' Up background stamp, into the gap. I finished the card with a popped up sentiment from MFT's Floral Focus, stamped in dark grey ink and fussy cut, and a sprinkling of clear gems.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

I was so pleased that this card won Top Pick at As You See It!

CHALLENGES

It was Jan's colour palette at As You See It  and Karren's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches that started me off with this card, so I'm linking up there; I'm also joining in with Just Us Girls, where Valentine is the word prompt, and Allsorts, where Love Is... is the theme.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

We had dusting of snow last night but it has a very different feel from January's jolly, snowman-friendly snowfall. It is bitterly cold and you daren't take your gloves off for too long for fear of losing a finger or two (I may be slightly prone to exaggerating...!) I took mine off for long enough to capture this fair snow princess :)

Sending hugs,

Looking for flowers

Hello, crafting friends!

The sun was out today and my spirits soared as I watched Eva romping about on our walk and spotted all sorts of flowers and plants getting ready for spring. It inspired me to get a favourite floral stamp out and make a quick card this afternoon.

The stamp is a large one from Floral Focus by MFT and I find it is surprisingly versatile. Today I stamped it off the top of my card panel and again at the bottom, turning it at an angle for the second stamping so that it doesn't look like the same stamp. I coloured it with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and added a heat embossed sentiment from Altenew's Birthday Greetings in the channel between the flowers. The panel was cut out with a stitched rectangle die from Heffy Doodle, matted onto coordinating card stock and attached to a card base.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

I was so pleased that this card won a Librarian's Choice award at The Library Challenge!

CHALLENGES

The beautiful book cover at The Library Challenge was the starting point for this card so I'm linking up there; I'm also joining in with Stamping Sensations with one of my favourite floral stamps; and with Watercooler Wednesday, where Michelle is hosting the always popular Occasions challenge.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

There are snowdrops out everywhere on our woodland walks but this tiny clump was hiding behind a fence not far from where I live. The daffodils at the bottom of our road are looking hopeful too and I had to include the photo of those courageous little daisies! They made me chuckle.

There are always flowers for those who want to see them - Henri Matisse.

Sending hugs,

Healing with flowers

Hello crafting friends!

I've been invited to be Guest Designer at Just Us Girls for the month of March - how cool is that?! I am so thrilled! Let's dive straight in and see what this week's challenge is:

Yes, it's the perfect challenge for stocking up on your stash of get well cards! Here's what I came up with:

I began by stamping the beautiful flowers from MFT's Floral Focus, colouring them with pale pink alcohol markers and pushing the colour back with a blender pen to create this delicate 'barely there' effect.

This is a large floral stamp but I just fussy cut a section of it to use on my card. I actually like fussy cutting, but for those that don't, there are dies! My flowers were arranged on a card panel stamped with Stampin' Up's Hardwood. I used a soft brown ink so the background didn't overpower those delicate flowers.

That big, bold sentiment is from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments. I stamped it onto a strip of card stock and added it to the card panel, allowing some of the flower petals to overlap. A sprinkling of gems finished the card.

It's always useful to have a few Get Well Soon cards in our collection, especially at this time of year, so I hope you'll be inspired to join in with this challenge. Click here for some amazing inspiration from the team and to link your card up.

CHALLENGES
The Flower Challenge has an Anything Goes theme going on this month, so I'll also link this card up there.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
I won't be about in Blogland today as we're having birthday celebrations. My youngest son is 19 - and how on earth that happened I have no idea. It seems like only yesterday that balloons and ice cream would be the highlight of the day... and, in fact, I'm not sure much has changed!

See you soon,

A birthday frame of mind

Hello crafting friends!

I'm still in birthday mode but have turned up the temperature colour-wise! Come and see:

For this card I cut a hot pink frame using two of my stitched rectangle Heffy Doodles dies. I love that you get a double stitched frame with these dies :) The frame was positioned at an angle on a nice thick card base.

I wanted to create a strong horizontal to ground the angled frame, so I cut a birthday greeting using the Lawn Fawn Happy Birthday Border die.

The flowers tucked behind the sentiment are from MFT's Floral Focus. I stamped them in black Memento ink, coloured them with Spectrum Noir alcohol inks and fussy cut them. The card was finished with hot pink gems.

CHALLENGES
The monochromatic challenges at The Rainbow Challenge always get me thinking! I'm linking this card up with the current Fierce Fuchsia theme. This week's gorgeous sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches inspired my lay-out, and I'm also linking up with Happy Little Stampers Die Challenge where Anything Goes.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
No sooner have we got rid of Storm Ciara than another storm pops ups on the horizon. Storm Dennis will be making an appearance this weekend and I don't mind telling you that I'm fed up with him already and he isn't even here yet! My heart really goes out to those people that are facing more flooding and those that are struggling to repair damage from the last storm.

Hugs,

All you need is love

Hello crafting pals!

I read somewhere the other day that it's only relatively recently in human history that we've lived in the northern hemisphere. And, looking out at the leaden skies and cleaning the endless mud off my boots, I can certainly understand why! It's also clear to me why Valentine's Day turns up in grim February when we're all completely fed up, and I've decided to celebrate love a bit early! Come and see what I made:

I started this card by colouring through a brick stencil from Funky Fossil with pale alcohol markers. The berry bush from Enjoy Life by Stampin' Up was stamped over the bricks. I inked it up with Crumb Cake ink first, then went over the berries with a red marker before stamping.

After stamping, those berries all had to be turned into hearts with the red marker - which was quite the labour of love let me tell you! I do like the result though :)

The checked strip was an off-cut of white card that I stamped with a very useful background stamp by Kaisercraft called Gingham. I added a sentiment from MFT's Floral Focus, stamped on another snippet and cut out with sharp paper snips.

CHALLENGES
On my rounds in Blogland, I spotted a new-to-me challenge site called Time Out Challenges (thanks Stephanie, and sorry it's taken me so long to join the party!) My card was inspired by the fabulous inspiration photo so I shall link up there.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
I have to dash now as I have an appointment with my youngest son to watch Star Wars! We've watched all the films through the holidays and just need to catch up on episode 8 before seeing the last one tomorrow - so no spoilers please!

Thanks for popping in today. I shall be back very soon as all the challenges have been popping up in my inbox and I feel very inspired!

Hugs,

The Miraculous Maple leaf!

Hello crafting friends!

I've been wanting to join in the fun at the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge where Maple Leaf is the cue word. And (this is a recurring theme I know) I have no maple leaf stamp! But a lovely pal of mine mentioned that she's been dragging real leaves through ink pads and 'stamping' them onto card stock; and then, while I was out yesterday, a Maple leaf blew onto my coat! So, I took those things as A Sign! Come and see what I made with the leaf:

I started by washing a damp panel of watercolour paper with So Saffron and Old Olive inks. When the panel was dry, I pushed my leaf into a Soft Suede ink pad, using a paper towel to protect my fingers, and once I felt it was thoroughly inked up, pressed it onto my watercoloured panel. It made a vague maple leaf impression, not very pretty at all. But I was undeterred!

I got out Cajun Craze and Pumpkin Pie inks and watercoloured the leaf, building up colour gradually. Once I was satisfied, I allowed it to dry, then added detail with a fine liner pen and a gold Stampin' Dazzle pen.

The sentiment is from MFT's Floral Focus and I sponged Old Olive ink round the bottom left hand corner of the panel to add depth before attaching it to the card front. 

Really glad to be linking up with CAS Watercolour, where the challenges always seem to get me extra inky!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The maple leaf came from Waterperry Gardens near Oxford where a friend and I went to explore yesterday. It's a beautiful garden, open to the public, and has a series of inspiring smaller gardens within a garden. There's a tiny rural museum there and a really gorgeous gift shop as well as a well-stocked tea room where we partook of some delicious homemade cakes. There was also a pumpkin hunt laid on to entertain the children but which did a great job of entertaining us too. One of the pumpkins laughed ghoulishly at us as we passed, making us jump out of our skins - not just once but repeatedly! 

Thanks for joining me today. Have you ever tried 'stamping' with leaves? Do let me know in the comments below - and I've love to see if you have photos or a link!

Hugs,

Sending flowers with sympathy

Hello crafting friends.

Sympathy cards are not easy to make but it really helps if you have the right tools at hand. When all my stamp sets went, so did my ability to reach for the perfect images and sentiments when I needed them. I'm slowly rebuilding my collection now though, and I believe the set I used for today's card is a worthy addition to my stamp library. Come and see:

It's MFT's Floral Focus, a versatile set which I think could be used for many different occasions. It features a large floral image which I stamped here using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and coloured with a mix of Spectrum Noir and Stampin' Up alcohol markers.

I wanted to give the flowers just a touch of colour so I shaded only parts of them with a delicate pink, then used a colour lifter to fade out the colour.

Here's the sentiment. Floral Focus comes with six words in this beautiful font, so you can mix and match them. Once the panel was finished, I prepared a card base, attaching a piece of striped designer paper (retired SU) to the front. The floral panel was then trimmed and attached to the paper with dimensionals.

The beautiful sketch from Inspire, Create was the perfect inspiration for this card and is another new (to me) challenge that I shall enjoy joining in with :) I shall also be linking up with the fabulous Addicted to Stamps and More, where this week is a Make Your Mark colouring challenge.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
My youngest son has texted me to tell me that he needs a kettle. It seems that there's no need for me to worry that he's being caught up in a life of hard booze and wild parties - it appears he's more inclined to invite his friends round for tea and Magic The Gathering card games!

Thanks for visiting me today. I'm off on a long, muddy walk now with two keen hounds! What are you up to this weekend? Do let me know in the comments below :)

Hugs,

With sympathy

Hello crafting friends.

Here's my advice of the day: do not wait to make sympathy cards until you need them. It's hard to make them and you may find yourself making the same card over and over because you feel that every mistake is a mark of disrespect. This one is still not perfect but here it is anyway. Come and see:

I started with some (ancient!) Stampin' Up designer paper in a soft grey. I trimmed it, attached it directly to the front of a card base and added a strip of black card stock to ground it.

The topper is a circle of grey card stock decorated with a spray of flowers and leaves from Concorde and 9th's Enjoy it All. I stamped them in Stampin' Up Smoky Slate and Memento Tuxedo Black, then fussy cut them and popped them up with dimensionals.

The card was finished with a sentiment from MFT's Floral Focus and a sprinkling of clear gems.

A big thank you to Just Us Girls for starting me off with this week's Designer Paper challenge and to Just Add Ink where I used their beautiful sketch flipped upside down. I shall be linking up with both challenges :)

Edited to add: Actually, I won't be linking up with Just Add Ink, because - YET AGAIN! - I appear to not have any clue about Australian time zones! 

AND IN OTHER NEWS
Eva and I have just come back from a long walk by the river in the sunshine. She tried staying awake for tea time but she just couldn't quite keep her eyes open...

... and for two pins, I'd join her!

Thanks for visiting me today - always lovely to see you here :) Pleeeease tell me I'm not the only one who wants to hibernate!

Hugs,