Thank You Flowers and the World is a Circle

Stamping Sensations wants to see Summer Flowers and ATCAS wants a thank you card, so I combined the two for this card.

 

 

I put the wildflowers stamp in my MISTI and inked it up with Tombow markers, spritzing with water, repeating as necessary. Added the sentiment, trimmed the panel, and popped it up on fun foam on the card base. 

 

The Paper Players' challenge is called "Round We Go" (feature circles - I've got an image of a globe and I die cut it with a circle die) and Time Out wants something to do with travel, and what better than an image of the world and all the places one could go.

  

I stamped and heat embossed the globe / dove image on a scrap of background that I'd made using watercolour paper and alcohol inks (using the technique in this video) and die cut it with a circle die. I die cut a leafy flourish from another scrap and entwined it around part of the circle. The sentiment is a TH metallic sticker, stuck on another scrap. Mounted it all on black cs and then on a white card base.

  

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Indigo Blu wildflowers, unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento Cottage Ivy
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tombow markers, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Deep Red World Peace
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders circle die and leaf flourish die, TH metallic sentiment sticker, clear embossing powder, alcohol inks

Christmas Decorations, a Tiny Snowman, and Sympathy

Christmas Craft Creations wants to see Christmas Decorations on our cards.  Here's mine:

To create the background for the ornament, I followed the instructions for the first technique in this video - it's basically a smooshing technique with alcohol inks.  Once dry, I die cut the inner part of this bauble and the sentiment. I die cut the snowflake border out of white shimmer cs, put the ornament together, and added it to a mint blue card base with a bit of gold cord to hang it from the top of the card.

Next up, for the Inspired By "Snowman" challenge, I went with a very tiny snowman and the lovely shade of blue of the snowman's coat in the image.

I trimmed a leftover scrap from a gelli print with a deckle rectangle die, added it to my card base, stamped a sentiment, and topped it with a die cut that includes a very tiny snowman.

For a totally different theme, My Time to Craft wants to see sympathy cards.

I masked an oval on my focal panel and shaded with a lighter grey (Memento London Fog) and a darker grey (Vivid Cobblestone). I stamped the image and sentiment in the darker grey, bordered with grey cs, and popped up with fun foam on the card base.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - coated cs, white shimmer cs, mint blue cs
Size - A2
Accessories - green and turquoise alchol inks, gold mixative, Memory Box snowflake ornament die, TH joy die, gold cord

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - various Distress blues for the gelli print, Distress Broken China
Paper - scrap from a gelli print
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders deckle rectangle die, unknown tiny snow scene die   

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - SU World of Dreams, unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento London Fog, Vivid Cobblestone
Paper - white and grey cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders oval die, masking paper, fun foam

Alcohol Inks on a Gelli Plate

Our Group of Seven Cardmakers' technique for this month is Alcohol Inks on a Gelli Plate.  See the Group of Seven post for full instructions.

 

 

I used a small round gelli plate and various blue and green alcohol inks.  I squirted them on the gelli plate, added blending solution to dilute them, and moved them around with my Tim Holtz air puffer.  I pressed regular white cardstock on top and pulled the print.

I stamped and heat embossed the wildflowers and sentiment on top, trimmed the panel, and popped it up on fun foam on a dry embossed background.

Using the same colours and more blending solution, I did a second print for this card:

I used different stamps but also heat embossed them.  Die cut it into a circle and popped it up on fun foam on the card base.

Head on over to Group of Seven to see more examples from the rest of the group and feel free to try it and link up your card.  It's not a challenge so we won't be moderating the entries.  But we'd love to see more examples using this technique.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Magenta Lunaria Foliage, SSS sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.5" square
Accessories - blue and green alcohol inks, blending solution, Spellbinders square dies, Nellie's Choice Writing embossing folder, clear embossing powder

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Magenta Thistle, PTI sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs
Size - 5" square
Accessories - blue and green alcohol inks, blending solution, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders circle die, fun foam

Pink and Gold, Glitter and Copper

A twofer of Christmas cards today!

For Less is More "Pink and Gold", I stretched my comfort zone of traditional Christmas colours and made a mostly pink ornament:

I used alcohol inks for the solid section of my ornament and the sentiment. I used a few shades of pink and some gold mixative. Then die cut the ornament and sentiment from it. The top layer of the ornament is cut from gold cs. I cut a very thin strip of the same gold cs to use to hang the ornament from the top of the card.

I thought of embellishing with some sequins but I couldn't figure out a placement I liked so left it plain (and I think that is better for the Less is More challenge anyway)!

Then I went on to play with glitter for the ABC Christmas Challenge where one of the options is "G for Glitter":

Years ago I bought some ClearSnap Design Adhesives - they are double sided adhesive patterns. I'd stuck a few on a very odd-sized card base and added gold glitter to them, and then done nothing with it. I also had a heated copper die cut reindeer I'd made years ago that I'd never put on a card. It fit quite well between the glittered adhesive patterns and I found a sentiment that fit space-wise with all of it.

The reindeer was made using this SCS tutorial - this SCS tutorial.

Not sure what I think of it now it's put together but it used up some things from my "UFO" (unfinished objects) box.

 Less is More

 

ABC Christmas Challenge

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - various pink alcohol inks
Paper - coated cs, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold mixative, Memory Box ornament dies, TH joy die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versamark
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.75x4.75"
Accessories - thin copper, Sizzix reindeer die, gold glitter, platinum embossing powder, ClearSnap Design Adhesives

Three Cards (None are Christmas!!)

Three non-Christmas cards from me today, for challenges I want to enter before the deadlines.

First up, for Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Love is in the Air":

A sweet little PB hedgehog, watercoloured, trimmed with a stitched circle die, popped up on fun foam on a red base, and finished off with Glossy Accents on the hearts.

Next is a birthday card for a very artsy friend (who loves abstract art) for the Seize the Birthday challenge.  It has an option called "Dichromatic" - use just two colours, other than black and white.  I think the pink and grey in my image qualify:

I took a small piece of black mirror cs and used alcohol inks on it. I added a drop of white to the centre and blew it outwards with canned air, then repeated several times, turning the cs each time to get it to go out in each direction. Then I repeated with a few drops of dusty pink alcohol ink on top of the white. I ended up with this beautiful abstract pattern that is somewhat flower-like (maybe a peony?).

I framed it with a narrow border of matching dusty pink cs and then a deckle-edged rectangle on which I stamped the sentiment.

This was definitely out of my comfort zone, but was a lot of fun!

And finally, the We Love Stamping challenge has an option of stencilling.  So I made a birthday card for a dear friend who loves knitting and who always has her hair stylist put outrageous streaks of colour in her white hair.  Right now she has streaks of purple and turquoise in the front!

I stencilled a subtle background with purple and turquoise through a stencil that looks like fair isle knitting.  I stamped the sentiment on top.  The knitter (who has a very similar hairstyle to my friend) is stamped, coloured with pencils, die cut, and layered so that the sentiment acts to ground her a bit.

Let me know in the comments if you prefer I post a few cards in one post less frequently, rather than more frequent posts with just one card!

Challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - "Love is in the Air"

 

Seize the Birthday

We Love Stamping - "Add Stencilling"

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black hedgehod, PTI sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, red cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Lil Inker stitched circle die, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU sentiment
Ink - white and dusty pink cs, black mirror cs
Paper - white and dusty pink cs, black mirror cs
Size - A2
Accessories - canned air, Spellbinders square and deckle rectangle dies

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Hero Arts Knitting, unknown "Sweater Weather" sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black, various shades of Distress purple and turquoise
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tim Holtz knitting stencil, Hero Arts Knitting Frame dies, coloured pencils

A Masculine Landscape

The Male Room is asking for a card with a landscape suitable to give to a male recipient.

I went with a simple fir tree die over a blue background.

The background is blue alcohol inks on Yupo. The trees are die cut in white with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment on the snowbank.

It's bordered with a white deckle edged panel and mounted on a shimmery blue card base.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Colonial Blue, blue alcohol inks
Paper - blue shimmer and white cs, Yupo
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box Alpine Trees die, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders deckle edge die

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

This week's SCS CAS challenge is asking for a card relating to our Christmas Eve traditions.  I love to sit by the fire and listen to beautiful Christmas carols, especially those by fabulous choirs like Kings College, Cambridge.

Here's a You Tube video of them performing Hark the Herald Angels Sing to put you in the mood of this card:

 

You might not be able to see it, but this stamp has the words "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" written across the top.

I used a snippet of Yupo coloured with blue alcohol inks from my box of backgrounds. With the stamp in my MISTI so it wouldn't smudge on the Yupo, I used black pigment ink and clear embossing powder.

Trimmed the image, bordered with a scrap of slightly shiny black cs, and popped it up on a shimmery white card base.

I'm linking it up at the following challenges:

Snippets Pixie's Playground (I used snippets of background and black cs from my leftovers)

52 Christmas Cards Throwdown (use a previous 2019 challenge - I used both May's Theme Challenge "Choral" and January's Technique Challenge "Heat Embossing") 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge "Last Minute Madness" - making a card on Dec. 24th is definitely last minute!

Supplies:
Stamps - Deep Red
Ink - various blue alcohol inks, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white shimmer cs, black cs, Yupo
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - clear embossing powder, fun foam

Lifted Snowflakes

A very last minute card for CAS Mix Up "Alcohol Ink Lift".

I bought the Alcohol Lift Ink a while ago but haven't used it much.  So was glad to use it for this card.

I started by dropping various blue alcohol inks onto Yupo.  As it was drying I rubbed a bit of turquoise foil onto the tacky parts of the AI - you can sort of see it in the photo.

When dry, I arranged three snowflake stamps in my MISTI and used the Alcohol Lift Ink to stamp them onto the Yupo.  I didn't get perfect impressions of the snowflakes but I quite like it.  I stamped the ink I'd lifted onto a piece of white cardstock and will create a card with those positive coloured impressions some time soon.

I trimmed the panel, popped it up on fun foam on an icy blue shimmer card base that matches the colour of the lifted snowflakes , and used the same cardstock to die cut the sentiment.

That's it for today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Tim Holtz snowflake stamps

Ink - various blue alcohol inks, Ranger Alcohol Lift ink

Paper - shimmery ice blue cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - Tattered Lace sentiment die, Ranger turquoise foil, fun foam

A Tree for the Sparkles Challenge

I'm behind on my Christmas cards that I need for my November sale so really must get going - and the various Christmas card challenges are a huge help.

Today I'm doing the Sparkles Christmas Challenge "Include a Tree".

I created a background of various green alcohol inks on Yupo.  Trimmed it down to leave a border from the white card base.

I die cut the Tim Holtz tree twice, once from white and once from gold cs.  I glued the outline to the background and then had the fun of getting all the little gold pieces into the right spots - good thing I love jigsaw puzzles.  The sentiment is cut out of the same gold.  The panel is popped up on fun foam for dimension.

Thanks for coming by on a July day to look at a Christmas card!

Supplies:

Ink - various green alcohol inks

Paper - white and gold cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz tree and joy dies, fun foam

Blue Dove

Time for February's CAS Christmas Challenge!

I always make several different cards each year using the theme of peace and doves, so this is one of my favourite challenges for the year.

I used blue alcohol inks on coated cs to create the piece from which I die cut the dove.  I stamped the sentiment in navy and bordered the panel with navy cs, then popped it up on fun foam.  It would be a wonderfully easy card to mass produce if you needed to.

Please head over to CAS Christmas and check out the other inspiration from our Design Team and our wonderful Guest Designer, Linda (Scrappin', Stampin', & Singin').  You have until February 24th to link up your card.  Please be sure it is clean and simple, and includes the theme of "peace".

Supplies:

Stamps - Paper Smooches sentiment

Ink - Vivid Inky Blue, various blue alcohol inks

Paper - white, navy, and coated cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - Penny Black dove die, fun foam

Monochrome

I haven't posted much lately as I've had my sister visiting from Toronto.  We had a lovely time and I was sad to see her go home.  I made today's card to send to her.  It says "Just to say" on the front and inside it says "I'm glad we're sisters".

This month's Flower Challenge inspired me.

I went with blues of course since they are my favourite colour (and my sister loves blue too).

My background used a technique inspired by this post by Magouille.  She also includes a video.  In a nutshell, here's what you do: 

Create an alcohol ink background on Yupo and let dry.  Place stencil over top and using a small sponge dauber, dip into blending solution.  Blot off excess blending solution and then pounce dauber over stencil to remove colour.  Make sure all areas are done before removing stencil.  You can dry off the stencil and move to another location and repeat.

I then stamped "Just to say" in blue Staz-On on the bottom corner that hadn't been completely covered by the alcohol inks, mounted it on a very narrow white border and then on fun foam, used a blue card base, and topped off with a white die cut.

Here's a close-up:

I love this technique and also the way the Tim Holtz wildflower stencil and dies go together so well.

Supplies:

Stamps - Chocolate Baroque sentiment

Ink - StazOn Midnight Blue

Paper - blue and white cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - various blue alcohol inks, alcohol ink blending solution, Tim Holtz Wildflower stencil and die, fun foam

Alcohol Inks Challenge

Just Us Girls are doing a trend challenge this week:

I must say I love playing with alcohol inks.  I love the wonderful textures and blends I get with them.

They make such a wonderful background for a simple die cut and sentiment.  I die cut the trees and then tore a snowy edge out of white cs so that I'd have a place to stamp my sentiment.

I often make a few winter / Christmas themed cards that say "thinking of you" as, at my age, there are always friends going through a first Christmas after recently losing a loved one, and "merry Christmas" is not really what they want to hear.

Supplies:

Stamps - Denami Designs sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Library Green, various green and blue alcohol inks

Paper - white cs, Yupo

Size - 5.5" square

Accessories - Tim Holtz tree dies

Happy Birthday, AAA Cards!

It's the AAA Cards Clean and Simple Challenge's 4th birthday and they are asking us to post a birthday card for their challenge, as well as participating in their birthday bloghop.

Here's my card:

It was done by putting Distress Oxide on my craft sheet, spritzing with water, and smooshing tissue paper into it, drying between colours.

I glued it onto a piece of cs then die cut the flowers. I went over the stems with a green marker.

For a background, I lightly sponged some of the Picked Raspberry through a stencil, added a sentiment, cut a second flower to layer under the first for extra dimension, and popped it up on fun foam.

Happy Birthday, AAA Cards!

Supplies:

Stamps - unknown sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry, Faded Jeans, and Salty Ocean

Paper - white cs, tissue paper

Size - A2

Accessories - Penny Black Field of Dreams die, Memory Box Texture Mesh stencil, green marker