The Card Concept #136 - Bright florals

Hello

I love the stunning inspiration photo for this month's The Card Concept #136 challenge.

The gorgeous blue textured background & stunning colours in the bouquet of flowers was a feast for the eyes. For my card I went with a stenciled background for a faux textured look & tried my best to bring in similar coloured flowers for a clean & layered look.

I white embosssed Altenew Flower Garden stamp set on Fabriano extra white watercolour paper & coloured with Daniel Smith watercolours. Background is ink blended with Tumbled Glass distress ink.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit. 

Stenciled background

Hello

I made this background for The Card Concept #135 Red, white & blue

The colour scheme was my focus with I guess a clean & layered style.

I decided to use a layering stencil set that I hadn't tried before. The set is a digital download from the The Ton Stamps consisting of 7 layering stencils which I cut on my Silhouette Portrait using Silhouette stencil material. I was really pleased with how the stencils mostly lined up with the occasional adjustment. I recently invested in a Wendy Vecchi Mini Make Art Stay-tion & it has made my life so much easier. No more masking tape to hold down stencils & the magnets are very strong. It's a bit hard to see in the picture but the flowers are 2 shades of red using distress oxides. I'm looking forward to using these stencils with other colour combinations so stay tuned.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit. Stay safe & well.

Altenew May Inspiration Challenge

Hello

When I first saw the Altenew May 2020 Inspiration Challenge photo the first thing that popped into my mind was hibiscus flowers.

Not sure why but that's where I decided to go with my card.

Love this Altenew Build a Flower Hibiscus. Definitely one of their easier layering flower stamp sets. By staying with their ink sets as well it helped to eliminate the dreaded procrastination in choosing ink colours. Background was blended with distress oxides and splattered with metallic gold watercolour which is probably easier to see in the following pic.

Thanks for taking the time to visit. Stay safe & well. Have a great day!

Sweet Rose Bouquet

Hello

I made this card for The Card Concept #134 - Mother's Day

The first thing I saw in the inspiration photo was the lovely soft pink roses & gold accents. My mum passed away in late January & she absolutely adored roses so I made this card in her memory 

I kept it clean & layered using Altenew Sweet Rose Bouquet. Altenew inks & the gold frame is a Kelly Creates Foil Quill design. The sentiment strip was also done with the foil quill using Golden Rule Sketch Font.

Also sharing at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use Dies and/or punches

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit. Have a great day!

One layer

Hello

I don't often do one layer cards but this lovely stamp from Altenew is perfect for a delicate & pretty background.

Kept it simple with Altenew inks - Warm Grays, Peach Perfect, Pinkalicious & Rose Gold Embossing Powder. Altenew Dainty Bouquet stamp set.
I'm sharing this at Altenew April 2020 Inspiration Challenge

and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for taking the time to visit. Stay safe & well.

Just for you

Hello

It's been quite a while since I've posted. Last year ended in a bang when I was in a car accident. I was hit by a stolen car during a police pursuit on the highway which ended with lots of police with guns drawn. Not fun and was unable to drive for 7 weeks or do a lot else with lingering neck & shoulder problems. Then my mum passed away in late January and despite a 2 week delay for her funeral we all managed to attend before the lock down restrictions with Covid 19. Right now I should be on day 5 of a 2 week holiday in a tropical paradise in the Cook Islands. Everything is just so surreal & I feel like I've been on a rollercoaster but I'm thankful. Thankful that my injuries from the accident weren't worse, thankful that most of the family could be there for mums funeral and thankful that my family are all well & hopefully will stay that way. In the meantime I do what I can with my crafting & keep making even if it takes 2 weeks to finish something.
I've been going through my stash for things I haven't used (lots there!) and decided on the gorgeous Altenew Peruvian Lily set.

The inspiration for the colours was from a photo of some real lilies. Can't believe how many different colours this gorgeous flower actually comes in! The background is done with Altenew Halftone stencil & Nuvo Glacier Paste in Pineapple Delight. 

I'm sharing this at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Flower Power

Thanks for taking the time time to visit. Have a great day & stay safe.

Birthday wishes

Hello

I made the background for this card a few weeks ago but then got stuck not knowing what to do with it. Happens to me a lot when I'm creating backgrounds. I will really love the finished result but when it comes to putting into a finished card design I just draw a total blank. Usually I just put it aside and come back to it after a couple weeks and hopefully inspiration will strike. So this is what I eventually came up with ...

I swiped Tattered Rose distress ink in the Tim Holtz Botanical embossing folder before putting in the cardstock. Any areas that were missed after embossing were touched up with a water brush and ink afterwards. The raised embossed parts were sponged with Viva Decor Inka Gold in Old Silver which is actually a lovely champagne colour. A soft buffing brings out the sheen even more. The frame is from Pinkfresh Studio Pretty frames die set & the sentiment is from MFT. Some PPP jewels were used in each corner of the frame.

I am sharing this at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit.
Have a great week!

Just a note

Hello

Once again I raided my healthy stash of backgrounds to create this card for the Altenew August 2019 Inspiration Challenge

The Altenew Virginia Rose & leaves were made from Colorburst powders on watercolour paper. The main flower centre was painted with gold watercolour paint in two different colours. I used Altenew Sketched Lines stencil with Ranger Texture Paste & Weathered Wood distress ink on the main card front. To finish I added a few clear gems as water droplets.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit.
Have a great day!

Favourite flower

Hello

Trying to pick a favourite flower is nearly impossible but when it comes to stamped images I'm always drawn to peonies. There are just so many lovely designs out there & I was thrilled when I saw that Alex Syberia  had released some digital images. Her work is always so beautiful & these digi designs are just stunning. My first thought when I saw them was how beautiful they would be using the Foil Quill. With a few simple steps they came out just perfect! I tried the design on both Canson Mixed Media paper & Strathmore Bristol Smooth with near perfect results each time.

The flowers & leaves were coloured with Daniel Smith watercolours. I used the Altenew Bubble Wrap stencil for the background with Cosmic Shimmer Metallic Gilding Polish in Blossom. The sentiment was also done with the Foil Quill using Golden Rule Sketch Font from the Silhouette store.
I am sharing this at The Flower Challenge #35 - Use your favourite flower.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Have a great day!

Back again

Hello

Once again I've been caught up dealing with health & life issues. I have been trying really hard to keep creating in one form or another for therapy. Even it means just dabbling with creating backgrounds and just having a bit of fun. Taking the pressure off myself to try & make challenge deadlines and fully completing projects to post. As someone with perfectionistic tendencies this can be very challenging lol.
Anyway, I made this card to send to my 98 year old mum with a parcel of ginger goodies which she just adores.

I love this Memory Box die for its simplicity & I have no shortage of backgrounds to use it with. This one was an alcohol ink piece with gold detail.
I'm sharing this at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Die-Cut.
Thanks so much for taking the time to visit.
Have a great day!

SSS Wednesday challenge

Hello

For today's card I used Concord & 9th's Dahlia Turnabout die to create a stencil.

I blended with 3 different inks, die-cut the panel & added a W&W die cut sentiment.
Just scraping in for Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for taking the time to visit. Have a great week!

Plenty of sparkle

Hello

There is a bit of bling overload in this next card that I made for the Altenew March 2019 Inspiration Challenge.

For the background I used Altenew Halftone stencil with Altenew Frayed Leaf ink & Cosmic Shimmer Aurora texture paste. Both flowers were cut from a combination of watercolour, distress ink smooshed with Inka gold & glimmer mist papers. So there is lots of shimmer & gold accents!  Dies used were Altenew Fantasy Floral & Rose Flurries. The embossed sentiment on navy card is from Altenew Beautiful Lady set.
Also entering this into The Flower Challenge # 30 - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit. Have a great week!

Thanks for everything

Hello

This card started out as a simple one layer but I just couldn't resist the foil die cut word to give it a bit of a lift instead.

I used Winnie & Walter's Eva's Favourite Flowers for the simple but cheerful background & a W&W thanks die cut.
I am entering this into The Flower Challenge #30 - Anything Goes

Thanks for taking the time to visit. Have a great day!

Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Hello


Today I have a card for Altenew's June Inspiration Challenge.

I stamped the leaves from the Peony Bouquet set in Altenew Morning Frost to create a soft background. Unfortunately that also means they don't show very well in the photo. The Peony Bouquet flowers were stamped with distress inks (Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet & Aged Mahogany) & the leaves with Altenew Dye Inks in Moss & olive. All were fussy cut & adhered to the card front with Multi Medium Matte. I finished with some rose gold sequins & a sentiment from Altenew Birthday Greetings.

I am also entering into The Flower Challenge # 9 Anything Goes

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit.

With thanks

Hello

When I get frustrated with not being able to sit for long I'll often just dabble with making backgrounds. Something that I can easily go back to when I feel up to it without feeling pressured to make a complete card plus it gives me a supply of different backgrounds to use at a later date.
A few weeks ago I was playing with SSS Wide Stripes background & made a whole heap in different colours. The pretty colours in Cupcake Inspirations Challenge # 407 reminded me of one of those backgrounds so using that as my inspiration & the lovely florals seen behind the cupcakes I came up with this card -

I love the WPlus9 Freehand Florals as it doesn't really matter if you don't get an absolute perfect line up with the layers as the gorgeous flowers always look so pretty.

Also entering SSS Wednesday Challenge - A Bit of Sparkle

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit.

CIC407

Hello

Unfortunately card making hasn't been on the list of priorities lately & I miss it! I've had to put a lot of focus into dealing with my back issues so I could finally come off medication.
I made this card for my 96 year old mum & had to take a quick shot with my phone as I was lucky to get it into the post in time last week.

This is probably the most colouring I've done for a while & was done over about 4 sessions. I've invested in a desk top easel which allows me to sit on the lounge with it propped on cushions so I can colour to my hearts content without affecting my back. It's a bit strange learning to colour on a semi vertical angle but I think it turned out ok.
I used WPlus9 Beautiful Bouquets Dahlias white embossed on Fabriano Bristol paper & coloured with Zigs. The Mothers day was die cut using my Silhouette & although it looks dark purple in the photo it was actually more the colour of the purple flowers on the card.

I am entering this into Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #407

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit.