Twofer Flower Challenge

As usual with the Twofer challenge I've left it to the last minute to enter. I always think of it as a monthly challenge, which of course it is, but is only a fortnight long!

I used a new stamp set from Visible Image that I have reccently bought ready for a workshop next month. For my first card I stamped the flower,vase and stalk in black then coloured it with polychromos coloured pencils.

I trimmed and matted it with some orange card, added a sentiment and doodled round the edge.

For my second card I used just the flower head and embossed it in silver. Then sponged Speckled Egg, Milled Lavender and Spun Sugar DI over it giving it a very subtle look.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment onto a piece of torn vellum and wrapped it round the panel. And here are the two together.

I'm also sharing at the NBUS challenge.

Hot Chocolate Anyone?

The CAS Christmas challenge is asking to see silhouettes this month. Easy peasy right? Absolutely not! I had a couple of ideas in my head, none of which worked. So I rescued a bit of my inked background card and die cut a small square. Who would have guessed that when Rustic Wilderness Distress Oxide is spritzed with water it would turn blue? But it did!

I stamped the mugs from a Gina K set that has been sitting unused since I bought it a couple of years ago, in laire Nocturne and added a scrap of gold glitter underneath.

 

The sentiment is from the same set. Having made the card the sentiment stamp had vanished of my desk where I had put it ready to use. Couldn't find it anywhere. Fortunately it turned up this morning exactly where I had been looking last night!

Perfectly Cas january

Welcome back to our first challenge of the year at Perfectly CAS and the theme is to use stencils.

Back in November I did an online workshop with Eileen Godwin which involved stencils. You can see the cards I made for it  here. So while I still had the stencils, inks and stamps out I made a cas card for this challenge.

 

Remember to make sure your card only uses 1/3 of the card space, and check out the fabulous makes from the rest of the team.

Rusty Splatters!

I've had this Penny Black stamp sitting on my desk since before Christmas. I was determined to use it at least once before putting it away

I stamped it in brown ink on a piece of cream watercolour card then coloured it with a Cajun Craze marker blended with a water brush.

Splatters were added using both Cajun Craze and Chocolate Chip using a blowy thing that the marker sits in. I can't think of the name for it. I'm sure one of you will be able to tell me!

I'm going to share this at CAS Mix Up, Colour Throwdown, and NBUS challenge.

Absolutely abstract

I’m about to do another of Eileen Godwin’s online workshops so thought it was time I posted my makes from the last one! 

These are the first two, both destined for a nephew and a niece later this year. We used Sweet Poppy stencils,Visible Image stamps and Distress inks. The numbers I used were from SU. 

 

And there were the second two, again using the same stencils and different VI stamp sets. As the stencils and VI stamps we’re new to me I’m going to share at NBUS challenge.

HLS Christmas January

Welcome back to the HLS Christmas challenge .I hope you'll join in with us this year. It's always good to get a headstart on those Christmas cards, even if you are just getting over the " festivities "!

As usual the challenge is Anything Goes with an optional twist if you want to use it. This month it is Stockings.

I used an old but unused embossing folder (Sheena Douglas I think) which I sponged over with Peeled Paint distress ink. The stockings are from a SU bundle of stamps and matching dies from a couple of years ago, and the tag is from my stash.

Do head over to the challenge blog to see what my fellow DT members have made this month.

Wattle I Do

Happy New Year to you all! Let's hope that this one will be better than last year.m

 

Welcome back to the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge after our six month break.  The theme is Anything Goes. No optional twist this time.

I have used a new stamp set from Paper Rose called Wattle I Do. I stamped it with Ink on 3 and watercolored the image, Once dry I added coloured pencil to add detail. It looked a bit bare so I sponged Antique Linen Distress ink lightly through a stencil. I've no idea what make it is as I've had it for ages.

It still looked unfinished when I put it on a white card blank so added a mat in Sahara Sand. I'll add a sentiment when it gets used. 

There's lots of lovely inspiration on the challenge blog and new design team members too who would love to have a visit from you.

Snippets challenge

Just popping in quickly with my snippets card for Miss Di's Christmas challenge at the Playground. Having cut out out four different colours of card with the SSS geometric builder die for my last card I had lots and lots of different coloured shapes to use up.

This time I made a DL card and mounted the shapes in a red frame. Again no sentiment till I decide who or what to use it for.. I think I like this one best. 

All that's left is to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year, I'll be back on 1st January with the first of the Happy Little Stampers challenges.

Santa

I have been doing a Zoom watercolour class run by the local library. Now I am definitely not an artist but have been pleasantly surprised at what I actually could do with instruction.The last two classes of the course were a portrait. Now I have never ever drawn or painted a portrait in my life before. The reference photo was of a man with a beard and glasses wearing a panama hat, black waistcoat and with a cigar. We had to turn him into Santa!

This is my attempt. To my surprise I did manage to at least paint something that was recognisable as a face.

I turned it into a Christmas card with Craft Artist but decide it looked too scary to send to anyone!

 

 

 

 

 

Geometric Snippets

I recently bought the geometric builder die from Simon Says Stamp, which I thought would be good for using up snippets and for masculine card. For my first play with it I selected four different coloured scraps of card and cut the die four times.

The came the fun bit, playing around making different patterns with the shapes. When I was happy I stuck them to a square of black card before adding to a white card blank. No sentiment yet till I decide who is going to get it. Obviously this is going over to the Playground. Rumour has it that Sarn is up to mischief over there! And as it was the die's first outing I can join in at the NBUS challenge.

I'm sorry I haven't been commenting much recently or indeed posting either. This is partly due to Christmas preparations, but also because I am having trouble with my wrists, possible tendonitis . I have an appointment with the Doctor on Monday, but I'm not sure how she is going to decide what is wrong with them as it is a telephone appointment!