Pine blossom - not just for Christmas

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I'm back with a reminder that you still have time to join us at The Flower Challenge with your floral thank you cards!

 

I've brought out The Greetery's Pine Blossom set to make a Christmassy thank you card which has a kind of folk art vibe about it :) 

 

I started with a kraft card base. Distress oxides are my current favourite inks and I knew they would look lovely and vibrant stamped directly on the kraft. Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Abandoned Coral all worked their magic - and I will definitely be using this technique more often! I stamped the flower cluster on the top of the card base using my stamp positioner, then flipped the card base round 180 degrees before stamping again for a perfect mirror image.

 

To create the illusion of layers, I held a smaller panel of card in the centre of the card front and sponged round the edges with brown ink. The sentiment is from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments, stamped on a snippet of kraft card, fussy cut and popped up with dimensional strips. To finish, I added details to the flower clusters with markers.

 

Now it's your turn! Do hop over to The Flower Challenge blog and admire the fabulous designs my team mates have come up with to inspire you. When you're ready to share your own card with us, you can use the blue Linky button at the bottom of that post. Have fun!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Allsorts and We Love Stamping where there are Christmas themes, and the Anything Goes option at Stamping Sensations. Also joining in with the Anything Goes challenge at Triple B with my blossoms :)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I'm delighted to report that Eva's paw is looking better and better and she is back to giving her fluffy sister a hunting partner to be reckoned with!

Here she is with an expression on her face that we like to call 'Noble Dog'!

Sending hugs,

The accidental card

Hello, crafting friends!

 

We're halfway through our challenge at The Flower Challenge and we'd love to see your card in the gallery! Layers are the theme this month.

My card was a total accident! For another project, I'd cut a panel with a cover die called Country Garden by Gemini. It needs a shim but I'd forgotten about that, so had ended up with an uncut version. My Arteza watercolour brush pens were (as usual!) out on the table so I amused myself by using some pretty spring colours with a little water and a paint brush to colour the image. It was just ordinary card stock so I wasn't expecting it to work, but I quite liked the result and it was just right for layering.

 

I used a small flower die to cut daisies out of snippets of white card. These were layered over the largest flowers and I found enamel dots in different colours and sizes to decorate the other flowers. The panel was then attached to a card base.

My final layer is a frame from the UFO box which had been cut from white card with a double stitched rectangle die. I backed the frame with foam tape for a bit of extra dimension. The sentiment is from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments, stamped on a snippet of white card, cut out and popped up on dimensional pads.

 

Okay, so it's your turn! My talented team mates have made some gorgeous cards to inspire you and you'll find them over on The Flower Challenge blog post. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post too and can use it to share your own layered floral creation with us. You have until April 25 and we can't wait to see what you make!

 

CHALLENGES

I'm off to The Snippets Playground with this card! Sorry I didn't take photos of my snippets because I didn't know it was going to be a snippets card but the floral panel was a rescued failed die cut, the frame was a left over, and all the other elements were snippets of white card.

AND IN OTHER NEWS 

Lulu is in the doghouse! We'd had a locksmith round and I asked him if he'd make a fuss of the dogs before I shut them in the kitchen while he got on with his work. Once Eva knows who is in the house she is fine, and Lulu took her lead from Eva so there was no barking at all. When the locksmith left, I released the dogs and praised them for their excellent behaviour. I then got on with cleaning the living room. I wanted to give it a good sweeping to get rid of any dog hair, so I popped the pups out in the garden so they wouldn't walk in the sweepings. But twice in a row proved to be a step too far for young Lulu...

 

... and she had started digging a hole before I noticed and was able to stop her! Very frustrating but totally my fault for pushing her further than she could cope with. She will now need to be supervised carefully in the garden so that behaviour is not repeated. Sigh!

Sending hugs,

After the flood

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Happy Saturday and welcome to a new challenge at Addicted to CAS! Nancy has chosen the code word for this coming fortnight:

 

Everyone likes the colours of the rainbow don't they! I've based my card on the actual rainbow. In the story of Noah in the Bible, it appears after a cataclysmic flood and is a sign of God's promise that the world will never again be destroyed by flood.

 

My rainbow was made by tracing around the tops of The Greetery's Nesting Arch dies. I coloured it with coloured pencils and partially covered it with storm cloud cut from a snippet of grey card with one of Lawn Fawn's Puffy Cloud border dies. I added a sentiment from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments, stamped in red ink on an offcut of vellum, heat embossed with clear embossing powder and trimmed with sharp paper snips. The card was finished with bright enamel dots to pick out some of the rainbow colours.

 

Okay, so now it's your turn! Do hop over to the Addicted to CAS challenge blog and check out all the fabulous cards my team mates have made to inspire you. You'll find the Linky Tool at the end of the post and you can use it to share your own creation. Don't forget we are a clean and simple challenge so do make sure you include plenty of clear space when you design your card. We can't wait to see what you make!

 

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Happy Little Stampers Die Challenge, where Anything Using Dies Goes; Also the Snippets Playground, where we go to share cards using our snippets and there are amazing prizes to be won too!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

My eldest son is staying with us at the moment. He wandered in the other day and my husband asked how he was. "Just ticking along?" he enquired. My son assured him that he was ticking along nicely thank you. This exchange made me laugh. "You're like a little clock aren't you," I teased. "What do you mean?" asked my son. "Only right twice a day?!"

Sending hugs,

A special challenge for Kath

Hello, crafting friends!

If you were here yesterday, you'll have already read about a special challenge starting at Allsorts today. Many of us were deeply saddened recently to hear of the death of Kath, who designed on the Allsorts team. Today, her friends in the crafting community are paying tribute to her by making cards in a theme she chose: Favourite Stamps. Allsorts have added an extra option of Paper-Pieced Flowers as this was one of her favourite techniques.

It really was a favourite of hers. I remember reading one of her posts where she'd written that she actually hadn't paper-pieced the image that day: "I don't know why," she wrote with her deadpan humour. For my tribute, I've delved deep into my paper drawer to unearth some ancient Stampin' Up papers. I know she would have approved as she had papers from even longer ago!

I used Pure Poppies from Clearly Besotted - a favourite stamp of mine for sure, and I know Kath loved poppies too. I remember her ending a post in which she'd used a poppy by writing "Thanks for poppying by!" which made me laugh out loud! My flower heads were stamped on a dark pink printed paper and fussy cut. I cut a panel out of a paler pink patterned paper using a stitched rectangle die from Heffy Doodle, stamped the flower stems directly onto it with black ink and attached the flower heads with glue.

To finish the card I coloured the bottom of the panel with a dark grey alcohol marker, used the same marker to colour the centres of the flowers and added a sentiment from MFT, stamped in dark pink ink, fussy cut and popped up on dimensional pads.

Everyone is welcome at Kath's special challenge today and I hope you will pay tribute to her whether you knew her well or would simply like to honour a fellow crafter who had a passion for the creativity we all share.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

So pleased to have been selected as a Rocker at Watercooler Wednesday with this card inspired by Kath's favourite technique.

CHALLENGES

I used Jen Brum's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for this card (I flipped it) so I shall link up there; I'm also joining in with Kath Ricks' All About Occasions challenge at Watercooler Wednesday. And of course I'll be linking up at Allsorts with the Favourite Stamp plus the optional addition of Paper-Pieced Flower.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It's a quiet (and crafty hopeully!) weekend here and after a hectic summer, that is lovely! I shall walk with my golden girl as always and perhaps settle down with a film. Any suggestions?

Sending hugs,

Feathery hugs

Hello, crafting friends!

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another fabulous challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches! We alternate colour and sketch challenges each week and Samantha, our host for this month, has come up with a great sketch for this week:

Plenty of scope there!

I chose to make a little scene with Love Birds, a anniversary set from Clearly Besotted that I got in the sale after Christmas. Those cute cockatiels could be used for any occasion I thought and also, it looked to me as if the one in flight looks as if he's coming in for a big hug!

I made a mask for each of the birds which I applied after stamping them in grey ink. The branch was stamped next and then I inked a sky in with a sponge. The masks were removed and I used coloured pencils to colour everything and add intensity to the sky.

The sentiment is a lovely bold one from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments which I stamped in dark brown ink. Finally, I trimmed the card panel to size with a stitched rectangle die from Heffy Doodle and attached it to a card base.

We'd love to see what you make with our sketch this week. The team has pulled out all the stops to inspire you so do hop over to the CAS Colours and Sketches blog to admire their samples and you'll find the Linky Tool there so that you can upload your own creation. Don't forget to keep your card nice and clean and simple - and have fun!

CHALLENGES

I loved Joanne's board at Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge and couldn't resist using it again - this time with the first column: Wings/Leaves/Nature. I'm also linking this card up at Stamplorations Theme and Photo challenge -  choosing the Wings theme. I've not used the Love Birds stamp set before so I'm sharing this card at Darnell's NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Sometimes you just have to sit and admire the view don't you!

You'll be glad to know we got home just before those rain clouds caught up with us and emptied out a whole load of hailstones! 

Sending hugs,

A leafy thank you

Hello, crafting friends!

I've had a card simmering away in the back of my mind for a couple of days and managed to transfer it into actual card stock and ink this afternoon!

I had brought my Reverse Confetti Fall foliage set out ready for some autumnal crafting but since we appear to have the summer back here, I brought the green ink out.

It's a very simple card: Two leaf stamps were stamped directly onto a thick card base above and below a central line, and coloured with water-based markers. I stamped a banner (from Winnie & Walter's Sugar Rush) in grey ink, added a bold 'thanks' (from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments) and snipped it out. To finish the card, I glued the banner over the leaves and added a few gems.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

So pleased this card was chosen as a Weeklyy Winner at CAS Colours and Sketches!

And it was picked as a Favourite at CAS(E) This Sketch - yay!!!

CHALLENGES

Those beautifully understated colours are from this week's colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches and I'm also linking up with As You See It because this my new favourite colour duo! The sketch is another beauty from CASE This Sketch.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Eva has had a great day! She got all excited playing with various dogs in the park and then (showing off!) headed for a grubby part of the river. I called "Not there!" but she became strangely afflicted with deafness and plunged in. She emerged dripping with muddy water so I took her straight home, enduring the pitying looks/smirks of the other dog owners. At home I rinsed her off while she cowered and gave me reproachful eyes. She wriggled like an eel while being towelled dry and then disappeared upstairs to collect up a selection of garments for the garden. After that she pretty well needed a snoozzle!

Here she is looking clean and wholesome in the afternoon sun. She is a minx but I love her dearly!

Sending hugs,

Golden hugs

Hello crafting friends!

In these days of not being able to see loved ones it's nice to be able to send hugs through the post. Since Eva misses her human family as much as I do, I thought she could join in today. Come and see:

This is almost a one layer card and is fairly unfussy, so I thought it would be good for the males of the species. I started by stamping the golden retriever (an ancient retired stamp) onto card stock and colouring her with a combination of inks and markers. I cut her out and gave her an elegant bow courtesy of WPlus9's Silver Bells that was out on my desk.

She needed a field of golden wheat to do some zoomies in, so I used the Scenic Borders stencil from Funky Fossil for that, with their Distressed Diamonds for extra interest. She was popped up on dimensionals to bring her into the foreground and I trimmed away her tail to make her look as if she was coming into the card from the right - do not try this with an ACTUAL golden retriever!!!

The sentiment is from MFT's You're Fin-tastic, which is a set of punny greetings based around fish. I'll happily use them with fishy stamps but I confess it was the 'You're Golden' one that really sold me! The solid banner is a very useful stamp from the Uniko Simply Said Blocks set. I stamped it in yellow ink and added the 'golden' over the top, then added the 'Hugs' from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments.

CHALLENGES
When I saw the Pets theme at Allsorts Challenge  I naturally had to join in! I chose the monochromatic yellow colour palette from Color My Heart Color Dare so I'll also link up there.

AND IN OTHER NEWS
The golden retriever in my card is a very golden girl but my own blonde bombshell is a pale cream colour and she is a beauty. She and I are very close - she helped me through a long illness and I helped her overcome her many fears. She is the friendliest of souls, both with other dogs and with other humans, and is a delight to walk with - we do a lot of that! I love her devotion to her family, the way she wags in her sleep, the way she politely asks to come up on the sofa, the way she plays with toys like a puppy when she thinks I'm not watching, the way she puts her head on one side when I ask 'Would you like...?', the way she takes treats so gently and delicately, the way she makes frantic little hen noises when one of us comes home after being away, the way she goes on scouting missions upstairs to retrieve shoes and items of clothing, the way she's so grateful when I groom her, the way she gets very excited when we do training, the way she 'helps' me with chores... I could go on and on but you are possibly already asleep!

Left, Eva at a couple of months; Right, Eva now at 5 1/2 years

Sending golden hugs to you!

Say it with Stencils

Hello crafting friends!

After the excitement of the birthday weekend I seem to have well and truly lost the old mojo :/ But today, I faffed about a bit in the Craft Square Metre and actually came out with a finished card - yay! *gives self a round of applause and a pat on the back* Come and see:

I used a couple of Funky Fossil stencils for this one layer creation.  Thistle was taped off the edge of a good thick card base and I sponged into it with Stampin' Up Pear Pizzaz and Highland Heather inks. An alcohol marker was used to add a little definition to the green areas

To ground the image, I masked off the thistle and the bottom of the card with sticky notes, leaving a thin line which I sponged with the Highland Heather ink. The bottom sticky note was removed and the top one adjusted to mask off the purple line as well as the thistle. This left the bottom of the card exposed and I sponged that with the Pear Pizzaz. The Honeycomb stencil was held over this and more Pear Pizzaz ink sponged into it to give a tone-on-tone look.

Finally, I stamped a bold sentiment from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments. I would have added some gold dots or sequins but this is going to someone who abhors such things, so I restrained myself!

CHALLENGES
I'm linking up with Time Out which has an inspirational quote by Marcel Proust to get us going: 'Let us be grateful to the people that make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.' How beautiful is that?! I chose the thistle because no-one has to be perfect to be loved in the garden of life :) I shall also link this card up at NBUS, where everyone shares their Never Before Used Schtuff, as this is the Thistle stencil's first outing.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I had the most wonderful birthday at the weekend. My eldest son surprised me by turning up for a visit, which was the best birthday present ever! We had a socially distanced party in the garden and my daughter and her boyfriend turned up via zoom, and we played games and sipped iced drinks and feasted in the sunshine.

Since then, the news has been increasingly hard to read and I don't know about you but it makes me feel frozen. I've not felt like crafting but have been out walking a lot though...

... just look at this poor baby girl - exhausted!

Hope you are all safe and well. 

Hugs,

Birthday star!

Hello crafting friends!

You may have noticed that when I'm not using florals for birthday cards I often bring out the stars. I love the celebratary feel they give.

I started this card with an inked banner that I masked off with sticky notes and blended out to a fade using distress ink. I first saw this on a card made by the talented Jan Clothier and had to borrow the idea - thanks Jan!

I've stamped a bold birthday greeting in Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay ink and I love the look! The sentiment is from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments and I masked off the dot over the 'i' before inking up so that I could replace it with a stamped star - I chose a tiny one from Holiday Home, a long-ago retired SU set.

To continue the star theme, I punched out a couple of different sized stars, popping one up on a dimensional and glueing the other. The card panel was cut out with a stitched rectangle die from Heffy Doodles for a neat finish.

CHALLENGES
I'm linking this card up at Seize The Birthday, where they want the sentiment to be the focus of a birthday card; also Less is More, where they want to see a contrast between Large and Small on a CAS card; and The Paper Players where I was inspired by this fresh colour scheme :)

AND IN OTHER NEWS
Do you remember that I left my hat on the train the other day? Well I replaced it with one that was just as comfy - that's nice isn't it? Except that I left it behind at the birthday celebrations on Sunday!!!  I'm making do with an annoying one that doesn't fit properly and is the wrong colour. But hey, one look at the news tells me that I am a very lucky lady and that a hat is not a big deal at all. My heart really goes out to all the people in the world struggling with illness.

Hugs,