Thursday 25 May 2017

May Showers

If you hadn't already worked it out, 
I enjoy playing along with challenges and swaps.
One of this month's swaps was entitled
"May Showers"
so after a bit of thought, this is what I came up with:



After a couple of false starts, which ended up in the recycling bin,
I decided to blend 'wilted violet' and 'worn lipstick' Distress Oxides together.
These inks blend seamlessly and are such fun to work with.

The next step is to take a stencil, lightly spritz with water
and lay it down on the blended card, mopping up excess water with paper towel.

I then stamped the image with 'jet black' Archival Ink, adding the puddles
and the sentiment.
I find stamping solid images difficult to get even coverage
and am beginning to think a Misti (or equivalent) would be very useful
for this type of stamp.


The last step in making this card, was to spritz the front with Perfect Pearls Mists in 'biscotti'.
Add a black mat for contrast and adhere to a white folded A5 card.

I hope my swap partner liked my "May Showers" card.
I was certainly happy with how it worked out,
especially after the first two attempts ended in the bin.

Stamps
Visible Image - Sparkle in the Rain


Happy Crafting!
  


Tuesday 23 May 2017

100 years young!

I know it's been a few days, but I'm back again.

Hmmm ...... so what can I show you today?
 
Last week, I had a phone call from one of my good friends,
asking if I would make a card for an elderly gentleman who is turning 100!

So, I went searching through my stamps to find something suitable
and came across this globe, along with the stop watch
[both from a magazine freebie].



I started by blending 'stormy sky' and 'broken china' Distress Inks together
on white cardstock and spritzing with water. 
I then stamped the globe in 'jet black' Archival Ink,
and with a craft knife, cut out all the inside pieces.


To add interest to the background, I found a piece of printed tissue paper
and glued it to white card.  I then glued the globe into place.

After colouring and cutting around the stopwatch, 
I aged it by adding crackle accents to its face.  
I put the watch aside for a few hours to ensure it had dried properly
before popping in onto a foam dimensional.

The happy birthday is a sticker, the 100 was cut from an alphabet/number die
and the tiny tag was also cut from a die.
 A black mat was added before adhering the front to a folded square craft card.

I gave the card to my friend last night and she was delighted with it.
Hopefully the elderly gentleman will be too!

Happy Crafting!
 


Saturday 13 May 2017

H is for Hatches, Matches & Dispatches


Last week, I was very surprised to learn that I had been crowned
Queen of Snark 

Quite an honour, indeed!

This week Edna and her friends have set a new challenge,
H is for Hatches, Matches & Dispatches
so I looked at various stamps, wondering what snarkyness I could conjure up, hehehe!!
 



What do you think?  Is is snarky enough?



I must admit to having a bit of a giggle when I realised that dear Mr Bunny 
thought the flowers were for eating - oops!!  Poor Miss Mouse!
(or perhaps, it's Miss Bunny and Mr Mouse?)

Oh well, with a bit of quirkyness and crazyness they should get on just fine!

Stamps
Impression Obsession, Inc - G17071
Stampendous - Hoppy Moments SSCM5001



   You can find all the details to join in the fun at
and you never know, you TOO could be crowned Queen of Snark!

Happy Crafting!

 

Saturday 6 May 2017

Coffee Time

Oops .... I'm a day late adding my last Fancy Fold Card,
but 'better late then never'!



This fold is perfect for a gift card or voucher as it has two pockets.
Don't look too hard at the 'coffee time' card as it would look SO much better centred!

 

It is made from one piece of double sided paper and can be made different sizes easily.

 Stamps
Whipper Snapper Designs, Inc. - Colby's Caffeine

Hmmm ..... must be time for a cuppa!
Happy Crafting!
 


Thursday 4 May 2017

Create your imagination

Good morning, as I said yesterday,
I would be back today with another sample of a 
Fancy Fold Card.
 

 


For something easy, an Easel Card in its simplest form is just that - easy!
Two folds of the card base and you're done, 
then it's just a matter of measuring up for the topper and a mat
so that when the card is flat, it looks like a regular card.
 
 


Starting with the background, I decided to have a play with the new Distress Oxide inks.  These inks blend together beautifully and once spritzed with water, create some lovely mottled effects.
 
This was also the first time this horse stamp had been inked up, hence why he's not quite as black as I would have liked, but that's ok, I like him this way.
 
I added the script stamp across the bottom to ground him, 
as otherwise he was floating in the middle of the card.
 
I then stamped the sentiment on some white card, 
and coloured the inside of the letters with more of the same colour inks.
 
Stamps
Visible Image - Revolution
Visible Image - Just be Happy
 

I'll return tomorrow with my remaining sample of a fancy fold card.

Happy Crafting!
 

Wednesday 3 May 2017

What's on tv?

It's my turn to host an event this month
and my theme is Fancy Fold Cards.
 
I used to make lots of fancy fold cards
but these days most of my cards tend to be more simple.
 
Anyhow .... for the header I needed some sample cards, 
so I looked in my book which has all sorts of bits'n'bobs written in it,
and the following is a Spring Card.
It doesn't actually have a spring, it's just the way it pops up when taken out of the envelope!
 

 


I thought I would take the opportunity to play with my new Stampotique stamps
which arrived last week.
 
 


Here is Mort hosting his own tv program, at least I hope that's what he's doing!
 
 I can see the tv stamp being used by lots of the Stampotique family.
 
Stamps
Stampotique - Mort had a pin curl
Stampotique - TV
Stampotique - Phrase Cube #2
 
I'll be back again tomorrow with another of my fancy fold samples.
 
Happy Crafting!