DJ love

Only 1 card made this weekend as I've finally started my Harry Potter scrapbook and while I seem to be in the mood, I want to get as much done as possible!

Here it is...

A nice simple card using a fab Saturated Canary digi stamp.

I started by colouring my digi aiming to use the colours to emphasise what I see in the image- a very confidant woman and a shy man. I used very bright colours for her and quite muted tones for him. When I had finished the colouring of the digi, I mounted it onto some silver mirror card just to help it stand out.

I chose a piece of bright orange A4 card to make into the A5 base card that matched the orange colour used on the digi. I then took a piece of turquoise chevron patterned paper from DCWV Girlhood Stack and embossed it with Sheena Douglass 'splat' embossing folder. I then inked the paper with Spiced Marmalade distress ink to highlight the embossing.

I used double sided tape and 3d foam tape to attach all of the pieces together before finishing off with the turquoise jems.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
cards galore 'use a digi/stamp' 30/3
Daring Cardmakers 'colour challenge' 14/3
Graph'It 'male colours' 21/3
Paper Shelter 'DT call' 20/3
Penny's paper crafty challenges 'not square' 11/3
Paper shelter 'anything goes' 11/3
Creative Inspirations 'anything goes' 11/3
Craft room challenges '20th Century' 17/3 (records being used on the turntable)
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes' 4/4

Pretty Grunge!

Today's card is one that I absolutely love- this normally happens with my newest cards being my favourite, but this one more than ever. It's a mix of old & new stuff and uses some ideas that I've never done before.

Here it is..

I haven't done any colouring for quite a while so I went back to one of my favourite Saturated Canary digi stamps and coloured her using a mix of Promarkers & Spectrum Noirs. I stuck to a pallette of pinks & greys but glittered the boots with some doodlebug glitter (to make them like a pair I'm lucky enough to have!)

I used a Kanban die-cut mat to draw a template for the shape of the topper which I cut out by hand, inked gently with Black Soot distress ink, and then matted it onto a co-ordinating die-cut layer. It was originally black & white so I used my Picked Raspberry distress ink to tie the colour in with the digi image.

I wanted to go for a slightly grungy/distressed look, so for the background, I took a piece of grey & white striped cardstock (new 'Mambi'  (Me & My Big Ideas) cardstock pad- bargain from TK Maxx) and cut it as a mat for the topper. I then took an offcut and attached it to the bottom of the original piece of card with the stripes going in the opposite direction. I then inked around the edges with the same Picked Raspberry distress ink that I used on the topper mat. To add to the 'grunge' look, I used my ScorPal scoreboard to score & fold some lines across different parts of the card.

I then took a piece of A4 pink cardstock and again inked the edges with Black Soot distress ink before adding the cardstock & topper. I folded some of the lines I had scored on the striped cardstock so that they stood out and only put the double sided tape in the centre. I used 2 layers of 3d foam to attach the topper so that it didn't squash the edges of the cardstock.

Here's a photo to show how it stands out...

I'm really pleased with how the grungy/pretty look has worked and I think that I'll try the folded distressed background thing again!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Crafting Musketeers 'grunge' 29/1

Graph' It 'anything goes' 12/1

Cards Galore 'anything goes' 28/1

Polkadoodles 'anything goes' 12/1

Crafty Catz 'pretty in pink' 16/1

Polkadoodles 'girly, girly, girly' 19/1
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'anything goes' 14/1

Crafters Cafe 'anything goes' 14/1

Papertake weekly 'anything goes' 14/1

Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes' 31/1

Quoth the Raven

I always love to buy Halloween themed papers (esp. DCWV) but here in the UK we rarely give cards for Halloween. This means that I have lots of beautiful papers I rarely use and only one friend that would really appreciate a card of a gothic style. When I saw the Graph'It challenge for this week, it gave me a great excuse to use them.

I again started with an 8x8 white card blank. I cut down a piece of DCWV 'Midnight Spell' 8x8 paper to fit the card and then stamped around the edge of it with my Imkadinkado gears system and a new branch stamp from a set called 'Halloween'. I stamped with a versamark ink and then embossed it with a black glitter embossing powder. It is difficult to see in the photograph but in real life adds an extra dimension because the printed paper is flat black. I chose a Saturated Canary digi stamp and coloured it using my promarkers. I trimmed it leaving a small white border and mounted this onto the card. I used a star punch with some black glitter paper to make the embellishments for the card and then wrapped some black & white bakers twine around the edge of the card, adding the skull bead.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Smudgy Antics 'embellishments'
Creative Inspirations 'anything goes'
Paper Shelter 'sun, moon or stars'
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'anything goes'
Cute Card Thursday 'hip to be square'
Graph'It 'Halloween colours'
Daring Cardmakers 'signature style' (8x8 square card, CAS, stars)

Inspired by Pinterest

Over the Summer, I may not have been doing much crafting but I have discovered the fabulous world of Pinterest. I've spent hours finding all manner of both school and crafting ideas that I'm hoping to use soon. This card is inspired by one of the first ideas I saw using a page from a book and some tippex. I tried printing a digi image straight onto the book page which worked well but when I wanted to blank out the skin colours, I didn't really have anything that would work so I've kind of cheated to make my card below...

I bought a cheap copy of Twilight from a car boot (30p) as I knew I could use it when I finally get the Visible Image 'Edward' & 'Isabella' stamps (hopefully when I go to the NEC in November), but it came in handy for this card too. I said that I'd cheated slightly and that's because I printed my digi stamp onto plain card and onto a page from the book and then I paper pieced the skirt rather than working directly onto the book page. After I had coloured my image (using promarkers & spectrum noirs), I carefully cut around it and then drew around the image on another page from the book. I then used the tippex to highlight the edge so that my image would stand out when I stuck it on top. This meant that I didn't have to be too careful with the tippex as my image would cover any mess I made. I used a ruler to create a neat torn edge on the book page and then mounted this onto some dark red glitter card and then mounted that onto a dark red base card made from an A4 sheet. I finished the card by making some paper roses from 3 circles cut from 2 other pages of the book, cutting and spiral and then twisting it around my pokey tool. I secured each flower with some glue and added a dark red gem to the centre. I then dipped each flower into some glue and then dark red glitter to give them a glittery edge.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Catch the Bug 'anything goes'

Papertake Weekly 'anything goes'

Totally Gorjuss 'anything goes'

and

The Paper Shelter 'DT Call' (to see other examples of my colouring, click on either the 'digi stamps' or 'colouring' labels)

Soft Kitty

I've been busy in the craft room this week and my newest card is this pastel coloured beauty!!! I don't work with pastel colours very often but I think they suit this super cute Saturated Canary image.

I started by choosing my striped backing paper so that I could match all of the other colours to it. It's a paper from a Papermania 6x6 'spots & stripes' paper pack. I then had some Create & Craft pastel glitter card that was a bargain from Wilko's a few months/years ago and has never been used so I matched this to the colours of the striped paper. I cut the glitter card into 9cm squares and attached this into the corners of an 8x8 white base card using rulers to try and get them as straight as possible. I put 3d foam into the white spaces between the glitter card to attach the backing paper so that I didn't have to worry about it not sticking to the glitter. I then chose my Promarker colours to again match the papers, using Buttercup, Orchid, Pastel Pink & Mint Green as the main colours to colour the fabulous Saturated Canary image (I love every image on that site). After colouring the image, I trimmed it leaving a small white border and attached it to the card. I then added the double layered Prima flower into the mint green corner. I finished the card by stamping the bunting from Little Claire stamps onto some scrap card and then colouring with the same 4 promarkers. I glued it onto some thin white string and then hung it from the card, sticking it behind the pink glitter card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Saturated Canary 'set your creativity free'

Creatilicious 'I love my pet'

Polkadoodles 'birthday girl'

Crafty Catz 'pastel colours'

Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes'

Creative Card Crew 'banner/pennant'

Papertake Weekly 'anything goes'

Creative Inspirations 'something old & something new' (new bunting stamps, old glitter card)

Nevaeh- red, white & blue

Today has been a very exciting day here in the UK! It's taken 77 years but finally a British man has won the Wimbledon singles title- it seemed appropriate to make a patriotic card!

I started with an 8x8 card blank which I put through the Grand Callibur to emboss the star design. I inked the edges with Barn Door distress ink and then Salty Ocean on top. I coloured the Nevaeh digi stamp with my promarkers & spectrum noirs sticking to the red, white & blue colour scheme. I mounted her onto the card with 3d foam and then added the 3 paper flowers with the glittery centres to the edge of the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes'
Clear It Out 'make someone's day sparkly'
Creative Inspirations 'red, white & blue'
Cute Card Thursday 'stars &/or stripes'
Saturated Canary 'celebration'
Polkadoodles 'make your own background'
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes'

Purple Purple Purple!

Anyone who stumbles across my blog occasionally, will probably know that I absolutely love the colour purple so when the latest Polkadoodles challenge was posted, I knew that I'd have no problem making a card for it-

I chose one of my favourite Saturated Canary images as a starting point and used my promarkers & spectrum noirs to colour it using mainly shades of purple. I then mounted it onto a purple mirror card and put this onto an 8x8 white card blank mounted with a textured DCWV purple paper. I then added the 3 flowers & the gems to complete the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Stampin' for the Weekend 'monochrome'
Cutie Pie '3,2,1' (3 flowers, 2 textures & 1 colour)
Polkadoodles 'the colour purple'
Totally Gorjuss 'anything goes with flowers'
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes'
Paper Shelter 'flower power'

beautiful birds

My second card of the weekend uses one of my newest Saturated Canary images- I absolutely love Krista's designs and find them surprisingly easy to colour even as a relative newbie!

I folded a sheet of mint green A4 card in half to make an A5 card blank and then layered this with the backing paper which is from a Creata A5 paper pad. I then inked the edges of a Kanban 'cameo' die-cut with Tumbled Glass distress ink and then touched the real edges of it with a gold metallic brilliance ink pad. I coloured the topper with promarkers (except the skin which was my spectrum noirs) and then cut around the image carefully leaving a small white edge. I used 3d foam pads to attach my image to the 'cameo' die-cut and then attached that to the base card. I also punched 4 gold mirror hearts which I added to each of the corners to echo the scalloped corner punch I had used on the card & paper.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Saturated Canary 'all things bright & beautiful'

Stampin' for the Weekend 'punches &/or die-cuts'

Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'animals'

Cute Card Thursday 'come fly with me'

Crafting Musketeers 'anything goes'

Crafty Catz 'inspired by a song' (Flying Without Wings- Westlife)

Daring Cardmakers 'mint green, pale pink & gold'

Totally Gorjuss 'swirls' (backing paper has swirls on it but difficult to see)

love the dj...

I was lucky enough to win some Saturated Canary images a while ago in a blog hop contest and I had to get the 'dj luv' design. Here's the first card that I've made using it-

I printed the image so that 2 fitted onto an A4 sheet of thin card and then used my trimmer to cut the image with just a small border. I coloured the digi-stamp using mainly Promarkers but also Spectrum Noirs for the skin colours. I mounted the finished image onto some silver mirror card leaving just a small border. I then got an 8x8 square card and layered some DCWV 'generation tech' paper onto it. I mounted the topper onto the card and then used a template to cut the small star (for the message) from another paper from the DCWV stack.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Saturated Canary 'anything goes'
Songbird 'stars'
Love to Create 'for the guys'
Crafty Catz 'for the boys'

pretty in pastel pink

I was recently lucky enough to win 4 Saturated Canary digi-stamps as part of a blog hop. This is the first card I have made using the beautiful 'Double Take' image- if you love it as much as I do then you can find it here.

I started by colouring the 'double take' image using spectrum noirs for her skin and promarkers for her dress & hair. I couldn't decide whether to make her a blonde or a brunette so I ended up going pink instead! I trimmed the image and then mounted it onto a pale pink cardstock from a 12x12 'Sweet Owl' pad by First Edition. I then used another paper from the same 12x12 pad and mounted it onto an 8x8 square card. I attached the topper onto the top right corner of the card and then put the pearl swirl in the bottom left corner. I made this by drawing a swirl onto the card using a stencil and then attching individual Anita's mini-pearls using a quickie glue pen.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Saturated Canary 'pretty pastels'

Crafty Catz 'swirls & pearls'

Catch the Bug 'recipe challenge- cardstock & bling'

Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes'

Songbird Challenge Blog 'Five Colours In Her Hair!'

Saturated Canary 'walker girl' zombie with skulls

Here is another new card that I've made to enter the Digital Tuesday 'birthdays' challenge and Saturated Canary 'good vs evil' challenge. I'll let you decide if it's good or evil though!

I love all things a bit gory & gothic so while this card has images some people may find 'evil', I most definitely find it 'good' and it is perfect for a friends birthday, even though it's not until October! This is the first time I have used the 'walker girl' zombie image from Saturated Canary but it was one I bought when I first discovered their wonderful designs. I have also used 'Midnight Spell' papers from DCWV which I have had for ages but not really found a suitable project for them- now I have!

I started by folding a piece of A4 black card into an A5 base and then used one of the DCWV papers as a mat. There is a hidden element to the backing that can not really be seen in the photograph but I have added some very subtle skulls to it. I did this by using some new skull shaped post-it notes that I saw in Wilkos- I cut the eyes, nose & teeth out of the post-it and than stuck it to my card, inking with 'dusty concord' distress ink. As this colour is similar to the original background,  the skulls are not obvious when you look at the card from the front, but as the light shines on the side view, they suddenly appear. It's a bit like that famous painting of Henry VIII that from the front has a blurry splodge in the corner but from the side, it's a skull.

I coloured the SC image with my spectrum noirs and then mounted it onto another paper from the DCWV stack. I mounted this onto the card and then tied some black organza ribbon around the spine. Before tying the bow, I added the metal skull charm so that it would hang from the ribbon freely.

SC Purple & Black

My latest card is my absolute favourite- EVER! (I usually do like my newest card best but this is my MOST favourite...)- the reason is, I have used my 2 favourite colours so this card is perfect for me- Would it be a bit weird to send myself a birthday card?

This card also fits with lots of challenge themes this week so I am entering it into the following challenges:-
Saturated Canary 'Love' (as I love the digi image & the colours)
Creatalicious 'L'Amour' (for the reasons above)
Basic Grey 'Favourite' (as I've used my favourite 'eerie' papers)
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog 'favourite colour combo' (purple & black)
Challenges 4 Everybody 'Anything Goes'
Crafty Catz 'bingo' (embossing, flowers & punches)
Polkadoodles 'shabby chic' (distressed edge papers- this is as shabby as I'll ever get!)
Stampin' for the Weekend 'distressed' (sanding of the embossed star cardstock)
Cute Card Thursday 'an eye for detail'

I started with an 8x8 scalloped edge card, which I matted with Craftwork Cards purple star embossed cardstock (from a prize pack!) that I distressed slightly and Basic Grey 'eerie' 6x6 paper (that I punched a star corner into). The main image is a digi stamp from Satuarted Canary (Honey) which I coloured with both Promarkers & Spectrum Noirs. The 3 flowers came from a pack that I picked up cheaply after Christmas so I didn't mind putting 3 on the one card!

SC (Sparkling Chic & Saturated Canary) 'Jules'

Here is another new creation, that I've made to enter 4 different challenges. I am entering this card into the Craftwork Cards 'Anything Goes' challenge, Saturated Canary 'challenge #36 colour inspiration', Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge #113 'Ribbons & Bows' and Papertake Weekly 'Anything Goes'.

I started with a 6x6 scalloped card blank which I left plain. I then cut a piece of Craftwork Cards 8x8 pearlescent paper (which I was lucky enough to win in a challenge) which I embossed with 'mini star shower' template from Crafter's Workshop. The main topper is a Saturated Canary digi stamp (Jules) and I coloured her using my Spectrum Noirs. I finished the card with 2 Prima flowers which I layered and then finished with a star print Papermania brad which has been in my crafty stash for yonks!

Blondie (with a hint of pink)

This is my latest card inspired by, no less than, 4 different challenges! I started by aiming to make something suitable for the latest Saturated Canary challenge 'Movie Inspiration'. I decided to use the 'Nevaeh' image to make a 'Legally Blonde' inspired card where everything was a bit over the top pink. I then realised that the same idea would be perfect for the Creative Inspirations 'one for the girls' challenge too. The more time I spent thinking about how the card was going to be, the more I realised that it would also fit with the Card Makin Mamas 'clean and simple' challenge and Daring Cardmakers 'embossability' challenge. This is the first time I've made one card that can fit into so many challenges- I hope that hasn't made me lose my focus.

Anyways, enough chat. Here it is

I started with the Saturated Canary 'Nevaeh' image which I coloured using my Spectrum Noirs. I had already chosen the 'Legally Blonde' theme so went for pale blonde hair, a bright pink dress and sensible grey tights as a bit of a nod to her very sensible job. I was really pleased with how the hair turned out today as this is the bit that I always feels lets me down. The extra practice is obviously helping!

When I had finished colouring the image, I carefully cut around it leaving a small white border. I then got a 6x6 Craftwork Cards scalloped edge white card balnk and embossed it with the floral design using my Grand Calibur and a Crafter's Workshop 'flower frenzy' template. I lightly inked the eges of the card with 'Picked Raspberry' distress ink. I then mounted my main image directly onto the card using some 3d foam pads.

The flowers added the final touch, onto the edge of the card. I punched them using 2 different sizes of xcut flower punches and some plain DCWV cardstock. The large flowers are from a paler pink and the inner smaller flower from a slightly darker shade. I attached these to the card with some PVA glue, starting with the central flower so that I could get then evenly spaced along the card. I added a small clear crystal gem into the centre of each flower and also onto Nevaeh's dress.

Saturated Canary challenge #34- song inspiration! 'Star Girl' & '5 Colours in her Hair' card

When I found the Saturated Canary blog http://saturatedcanary.blogspot.co.uk/ just last week, I opened a whole new world of ideas and fell in love with the design style. I then found the challenge blog http://saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ and the current challenge seemed perfect for me. The only rule was to use a Saturated Canary digi stamp and link to the theme of 'Song Inspiration'. As soon as I saw one of the design team had made a card inspired by a Take That song- I was hooked!

I had a look at the Saturated Canary shop and ended up buying 8 digi stamps which came to just over £20 which I think is excellent value. These are the first digi stamps I've bought over the internet and can see that this will be something I'll be doing again. They are much cheaper than rubber/acrylic stamps and, I think, more versatile as you can print them off at whatever size you need.

Out of all the stamps I bought, I chose to use the 'Starla' image as it reminded me instantly of the McFly song 'Star Girl'. Here is the card I have made for the challenge http://saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/challenge-34.html

As well as 'Star Girl' I have also been influenced by another McFly song '5 colours in her Hair' and used this inspiration in the colouring of the image.

I started by colouring the image using my spectrum noirs and promarkers. I then added the star shaped self adhesive pearlescent & sparkle gems. I carefully cut out the image and set aside for later. I then got a 6x6 scalloped edge card blank and inked the edges with 'Peacock Feahers' & 'Picked Raspberry' distress inks. I then layered a Making Memories 8x8 paper that I randomly cut the edge of onto the card base. I then got a Kanban pre-cut white mat and embossed it with a star stencil using my grand calibur. I then used the same distress inks to emphasise the embossing. I layered the mat onto the card with double sided tape and then attached my 'Starla' image using 3d foam pads. I also used one of the messages that came with the didi stamp.