Fly Past

When I went to the NEC at the end of March, I got some beautiful stamp sets from Hobby Art. I ended up with 6 different sets as I couldn't make a decision on just 3 (they were £10 each, 2 sets for £18 or 3 sets for £25- so they HAD to be bought in multiples of 3!). I did buy with a plan in mind as I am going to a local steam rally to sell some cards later in the year so I bought farming themed sets that I could use to make cards along those lines. I also got a set that features old aeroplanes, one of which normally does a fly past at the event. I have used stamps from lots of different sets to make this card.

I started by creating the green and blue circle background of my card which I did using a Clarity stencil, Gelli Plate and Distress Inks (mowed lawn, tumbled glass). I placed the circle aperture Clarity stencil onto my Gelli Plate and used a brayer to roughly apply the green distress ink to the bottom half and the blue distress ink to the top. I tried to make it random rather than a straight line. I used a scrap of paper (screwed up) to remove some of the blue ink, hoping to create a cloud effect. I then removed the stencil and printed the ink onto my card. I was really pleased with how it had turned out- I luckily managed to create something that looked a bit like a hill which was good!

I then used the stencil again and the same colour of distress inks just to ink the edge of each circle aperture to create a little more definition as it was rather pale. It was then time to stamp. I was a bit scared about messing it up by getting the perspective wrong so didn't add too much stamping in case I messed it up!

I started by stamping the plane silhouettes (from Flypast stamp set) into 3 of the sky panels. I then used stamps from 'In the Country', 'Farmhouse Scene-it' & 'Old Barn' on the green 'hill' panels. All of the stamps were inked with Versafine black ink which shows the detail perfectly. I then used some more distress inks (leftovers on my blending mat) to colour up the house and define the hills a little more.

I simply mounted my artwork onto a black, then green, mat and attached it to an 8x8 card base. Took longer than some of my usual cards, but I really love it and I'm glad that I was brave enough to give it a go!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafting for All Seasons 'animal magic' 13.4
Crafting Musketeers 'man's world' 28.4
Craft Your Passion 'anything goes' 12.4
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes' 14.4
Clear it Out 'anything goes' 14.4
Crafty Cardmakers 'wings' 19.4
Penny's Papercrafty Challenges 'anything goes' 14.4
Creative Inspirations 'A trio of... planes' 14.4

Congratulations

I've been busy crafting today making a card to celebrate an engagement of 2 people I work with. It's a bit of a different card style for me but I really like it and think I will be making more like this. It was super quick too.

I started with a 6x6 white card blank and a circle clarity stencil. I placed the stencil onto the edge of the card and secured it with low-tack tape, making sure to cover the other parts of the stencil so I didn't accidentally get ink on other parts. The danger with this very simple kind of card is that any mistake would be really obvious!

I inked the circle using 'squeezed lemonade' distress ink and then inked only the edges using 'worn lipstick'. Where the 2 colours have blended, a really nice orange colour has been made. I used a Clarity Stamps 'Wee Folk' stamp to stamp the couple silhouette into the circle. I then used my Cricut Explore to cut the message from black card and stuck it onto the base card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
CRAFT 'CAS' 25.2
That Craft Place 'film inspired' 28.2 (the focus colour around the couple reminds me of the end of a rom-com just as the screen goes to the credits and turns black)
Craft Your Passion 'anything goes' 22.2
Daring Cardmakers 'L.O.V.E.' 20.2 (One Layer for a Valentines Engagement- O.L.V.E- spelling never is my strong point!)

Flower Power

I haven't managed to make many cards this weekend as I've finally got back into my Kit & Clowder colouring class and have managed to complete the first lesson on colouring skin. I can already see an improvement in what I'm doing and strangely seem to have found the advanced technique easier than the basic one- I never have done things the easy way!

After practising my skin technique, I decided to colour up one of my Polkadoodles Work & Play 2 images (florist) to have a try. I'm not overly happy with the hair but I haven't got to this part of the class yet!

Here it is made up onto a card

I started by colouring up the image using a whole host of Spectrum Noir pens. I hand cut the digi into the shape using a Kanban mat as a template and then used a slightly larger version to cut a mat from a 12x12 DCWV 'timeless textures stack' paper. I chose 2 different 'rose' patterned papers to pick out the roses in the digi. The dark one came from a 6x6 Papermania paper pack (freebie with the DoCrafts Creativity magazine) and the larger one is from a Creata A5 paper pack. I trimmed the papers slightly to fit onto the 8x8 card.

I tried out lots of different layouts before settling on this one- I liked the idea of making the smaller darker paper sit at an angle but my brain couldn't deal with it- it was much happier with a nice straight line!

The ticket sentiments also came from the Work & Play 2 collection so I simply cut them out, inked them with 'worn lipstick' distress ink and attached them to the card with a small piece of double sided tape. the top right hand corner looked a little bare so I added the 3 pale pink gems just to finish it off.

It's a bit more fussy than my usual style but still fairly CAS considering it's got 3 different papers on it!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
The Paper Shelter '3+ layers of paper' 3.2
Creative Inspirations 'roses' 3.2
Cute Card Thursday 'stamping mad' 4.2
Polkadoodles 'flower power' 13.2
Crafts Galore Encore 'stamp/digi' 28.2
Crafty Hazlenut Patterned Paper Challenge 'anything goes' 28.2
The Pink Elephant 'photo inspiration' 9.2
Craft Your Passion 'anything goes' 8.2
That Craft Place 'anything goes' 14.2

Beautiful Butterflies

I've made another new card this week, using a beautiful stencil from Clarity Stamps and papers from Craftwork Cards.

I started with an 8x8 white card blank to which I attached the heart/leaf Clarity stencil using low tack tape. I inked through (and around) the stencil using distress ink (lipstick?). I removed the stencil and then used thin double sided tape to apply gilding flakes around the border left by the edge of the stencil. The butterflies were cut out of a Craftwork Cards paper stack (Pretty in Pink) that has been in my stash for a while. I carefully bent the wings of the butterflies and then attached the body part using PVA glue.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafty Boots 'butterflies' 1.2
Crafting for all Seasons 'things with wings' 2.2
In the Pink 'pink & pearlie' (tricky to see but the butterflies are all pearlescent) 5.2
Pink Elephant 'anything goes' 5.2
Craft your Passion 'anything goes' 2.2
Crafter's Cafe 'make your own background' 4.2
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges 'anything goes' 3.2

hop hop hooray!

Here's another of my SWALK cards, this time using a topper that could be suitable for a whole range of occasions- new baby, exams, driving test, child's birthday, thank you etc.

I started with the topper which is printed from the SWALK cd and created my own message topper using the verse writer facility. I inked both of these pieces with 'salty ocean' distress ink and then mounted them onto a star print holographic mirror board. I then got a 6x6 white card blank and topped it with a Kanban star print paper. I then added the toppers and finished the card with 3 star gems.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Creatalicious 'new beginnings' 14.1
Quirky Crafts 'clean & simple' 17.1
Creative Card Crew 'for a child' 18.1
Digi Choosday 'thanks' 20.1
Crafters Cafe 'new' 14.1
Crafty Catz 'polka dots' 15.1
Cute Card Thursday 'what's new?' 14.1

Quad bike

I haven't had much time for crafting this weekend as I've been selling a few goodies at a local Vintage Rally. I made some tractor, train and car themed cards and they went down really well. I did manage to get in the craft room for a few minutes though and make this card.

It's a continuation on my plan to make at least 1card from each of my topper boxes (I think I've managed about 5 boxes now!)

I started with the circle Kanban topper of the quad bike, mounting it onto a mat I die-cut from a tread plate pattern DCWV paper. I wanted a background that reflected the muddyness of the topper but I didn't have anything suitable in my stash so I made my own. I cut a square of green card to just smaller than the 8x8 base card and then put some Walnut Stain distress ink onto my blending mat. I sprayed the ink with water and then laid the green card onto it to pick up the splattered ink. The damp ink caused the card to warp so I let it dry and then sprayed my table with a small amount of water and placed the back of my green card into the water. When it was slightly damp, I moved it to a dry spot and weighted it down with some paper pads. After a couple of minutes, it was flat again.

I attached everything to my base card, finishing with the speedo topper.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafty Cardmakers 'circles' 22/6
Digi Choosday '2 papers' 24/6
Papertake Weekly 'boys' 17/6
Cute Card Thursday 'so macho' 18/6
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges 'anything goes' 17/6
Totally Gorjuss 'dad' 21/6
Love to Create 'anything goes' 22/6

and also the Creatalicious CT call which closes on July 15th- check it out here.

All aboard...

Over Father's Day weekend, I am going to a local 'Town & Country Fayre' with my cards, bags etc., hoping to make a few pennies to buy some more crafty goodies with! With that in mind, I've been busy making some cards that I think will suit the kind of people that would attend that sort of event. There are going to be people displaying their vintage cars and tractors so I've dug out the 'men' box and gone a bit mad.

This is one of the cards I've made-

I didn't want to make anything too simple but the obvious rules of chucking glitter at a card can't really work here, so I had to think outside the box.

I started with the pyramaged train topper which is from a Kanban set and then chose the other elements to go with it. The topper is quite large so I went for an 8x8 square card that I covered with a piece of kraft cardstock. Before attaching the kraft card to the base, I stamped 2 corners with a Kanban gear stamp in Walnut Stain distress ink. I took a piece of Papermania vintage travel inspired map paper (from a set I believe is called All Aboard) and ripped the edge to give it a vintage look. I then also inked the edge of the map paper using the Walnut Stain ink. I attached my various items to the card, completing it with an old cigarette card and a piece of Anita's sticky ribbon.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafts Galore 'stamp/digi' 30/6
Craft Your Passion 'rip it' 9/6
Digi Choosday 'men' 17/6
Crafting Musketeers 'stamp/digi' 30/6
Crafters Cafe 'masculine' 11/6
CRAFT 'male' 11/6
Stampin' for the Weekend 'anything goes' 19/6

Muddy Mess

I made another card today using lots of old goodies but some of them haven't been used very much!

It's a card in my usual CAS style and was quite quick to create (apart from the colouring of the digi stamp). The digi image comes from an Angelica & Adam crafters companion cd-rom that I've had for a while but not used all that much. I coloured the image with a mix of promarkers and spectrum noirs. I then used walnut stain distress ink to dirty up the edges of the topper. I took two different colours of camouflage print paper from DCWV 'boys'A4 stack and cut them to mat the topper. I used a Sheena Douglass embossing folder to add muddy splats to the green paper and then inked it with the same walnut stain distress ink as the topper. I scrunched up the brown paper before teaching it to the card to add the dirty scruffy look and add another texture. I layered everything up onto a khaki green A5 card blank folded from a sheet of A4 card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
A blog named hero 'embossing' 28/5
Catch the Bug 'photo inspiration' 31/5
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes' 30/5
Crafty Catz 'embossing' 29/5
Digi Choosday 'day out' 3/6
Papertake Weekly 'cute' 27/5
Cutie Pie 'embossing' 7/6

Things with Wings

200th post!!!

I've been in the craft room again today busy playing with some more new goodies I got at the Newark Sincerely Yours show (and mixing them up with some old favourites!). I've also used my new Cricut explore again.

I'm really happy with how this card turned out and it's a bit different to my usual style.

I started with a card blank roughly 8x8 in size with a fancy edge. I wanted to create a layer for the card so I imported the shape into the Cricut and made my own cut file for it. I cut a mat from DCWV Latte paper and then another, slightly smaller, from pale blue card. I used 3 Imagination Crafts products to decorate the pale blue layer- new 'allium' stencil, new glitter paste and old stencil paint. I mounted all of my layers onto the card using double sided tape.

The card looked nice but it just needed something extra so this is where the Cricut came in handy again! I wanted a butterfly but wanted it to be very delicate and not take away from the stencil design. I found an image I liked from the cricut image library and then cut it from acetate. To add just a little extra glitz, I sprayed the acetate butterfly with Crafters Companion silver glitter spray. I then used an 'orchid' promarker to add a little colour to the body of the butterfly.

I attached the butterfly to the card with Stickles glitter glue, frosted lace, to make sure it didn't show through. It gives a delicate finish to the card and some extra dimension.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Crafting for All Seasons 'things with wings' 26/5

Crafts Galore Encore 'anything goes' & DT call 30/5http://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/may-all-your-crafting-be-merry.html

Imagination Crafts 'things with wings' 30/5

Polkadoodles 'things with wings' 30/5

The Pink Elephant 'anything goes' 1/6

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

Rising from the ashes...

Back in November, at the Lincoln Sincerely Yours show, I bought a brilliant Sweet Poppy stencil of a Phoenix- they had done a demo card where the Phoenix had been zen-tangled and it was fab. I had to get the stencil so I could make my own Fawkes inspired cards (and possibly use it in my Harry Potter scrapbook if I ever get it started!).

This is the first time I've used it so I've gone for quite a simple design

I started with a sheet of golden yellow A4 cardstock that I folded to make an A5 base card. I inked the edges of the card with Barn Door (Red) distress ink. I then used a Versamark pen to draw the phoenix design through the stencil onto a piece of white card. I did small parts of the design at a time, heat embossing with gold embossing powder. After I had embossed the entire phoenix, I went around the edge of the design firstly with a red promarker and then orange and yellow, blending the colours together. I also used my black promarker to colour the embossing on the eye- just to help it stand out a bit. I then trimmed down my phoenix topper and mounted it onto red mirror card.

I wanted to add a layer of texture to the background of the card so I cut a piece of orange net fabric, slightly smaller than the card, and then attached it using double sided tape.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes' 4/4
That Craft Place 'anything goes' 15/3
Blog named Hero 'stencil' 14/3
Catch the Bug 'anything goes' 8/3
Crafty Calendar 'animal' 2/4
Crafty Catz 'anything goes' 6/3
Paper Shelter 'animal magic' 4/3
Creative Inspirations 'boy thing' 4/3
Love to Create 'anything goes' 2/3

Kanban 'so feminine' toppers- Tea for Two

I have a huge selection of old Kanban kits that I don't use very often at the moment but I dipped back into one, of the many, boxes and found this lovely topper. It's called 'Tea for Two'. I also used a 6x6 scalloped card blank, Basic Grey 'sultry' papers and my new (ish) cricut Elegant Edges cartridge.

I started with a 6x6 craftwork cards scalloped card blank and used my new Elegant Edges cricut cartridge to cut an almost 6x6 decorative circle from a patterned 'sultry' paper. I then cut a matching shadow from a plain pale pink paper from the same 'sultry' pad. These were mounted onto the card with double sided tape.

I used 'spun sugar' distress ink to add a pale pink edge to the topper and message before mounting onto the card with 3d foam. I then made my own large card candi style decorations for the corners of the card.

   

I did this by punching 4 circles from the patterned paper and moulding them into a curved circle with my fingers. I placed 3d foam squares onto the back of each piece and then used this to help me hold the circle as I triple embossed it with clear embossing powder to make it shine. They were then ready to attach to the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Paper Shelter 'punches & dies' (punched circles to make card candi, cricut die cutting) 25/2

Penny's paper crafty challenges 'lots of layers' 25/2

Catch the Bug 'colour challenge'1/3

Daring Cardmakers 'something old' (toppers) 28/2

Polkadoodles 'sugar and spice' 7/3

Crafty Catz 'cream, green +1' 27/2

Graph' It 'florals' 28/2

Craft Room challenges 'colour challenge' 3/3

prickly on the outside...

Another SWALK cd card today and I really love the topper image & the sentiment that goes with it. I've given the card a kind of dirty look using my distress inks.

I started with a dark green A4 sheet of card that I folded in half to make an A5 card base. The backing paper is from the SWALK cd but didn't stand out enough from the card so I inked it with a 'walnut stain' distress ink. I used the same ink to colour the edge of the message and then laid it onto my inking mat to pick up some of the other ink. I think the almost finger print look works really well. I attached the backing paper and the message to the card and then mounted the topper onto some brown mirror card. I finished the card by tying the raffia around the spine of the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Digi Choosday 'anything goes' 25/2
Crafters Cafe 'vintage/shabby' 24/2
Kaboodles Doodles 'twine' 23/2

Flower Power

I've been busy crafting again this weekend and have managed to make a few cards. Here's the first...

I've used all manner of new things on this card today- some of which are completely new (as in arrived on Thursday from C&C) and some which are new as in had for ages but not used yet!

This card started with the flower design embossing folder which is from the Sheena Douglass range which was a Pick of the Week/4 day deal on C&C last week. I inked one piece of white card using both Picked Raspberry & Peacock Feathers distress ink and then embossed it with the folder. I then sanded back the top of the card to make the flower design stand out as white against the coloured background. I had to join the design as it is an A5 folder so I placed a purple ribbon across the join and attached the 2 pieces to the outside panels of the card. To provide contrast, I wanted the middle panel to be embossed in the opposite way so I embossed it first and then inked it using the same distress ink colours, so that the debossed side was used.

I then coloured the Ebony digi stamp (from The Greeting Farm) using a similar colour palette of pink, turquoise & purple and some gems for her headband. I cut out the digi leaving a small white border and then attached her to the central panel of the card with 3d foam pads. I then added the peel-off message.

To complete the card, I used the same floral embossing folder and three different colours of black core'dinations cardstock to emboss more flowers which I sanded back before cutting out and using as toppers across the card.

This is the first time that I've made a card in this 3 panel style but I really like it and it was quick to put together (although the sanding took ages and made a lot of mess!)

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Catch the Bug 'anything goes' 8/2
Polkadoodles 'anything goes/oriental' 9/2
Cards Galore 'bling' 28/2
Graph'It 'anything goes/different colour hair' 9/2
Cute Card Thursday 'something new' 5/2
TGF Farm Fresh Friday 'layers' 7/2
Creative Inspirations 'stamping' 4/2
Digi Choosday 'anything goes/in the pink' 3/2
Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes' 28/2
Daring Cardmakers 'belt & braces' 7/2

one in a million

Another SWALK card today using toppers from the cd and a message I've created myself using the verse writer. I'm really loving the designs from this cd at the moment- I've been colouring my own images and using the pre-coloured ones from the 'Pawfect Pals' cd.

For this card, I inked the edge of the topper & the message with 'picked raspberry' distress ink and then mounted them onto silver mirror board. I chose a piece of A4 pink card, and folded it to make an A5 card blank and then used a piece of Kanban patterned card as the background. I added my toppers and then placed some small holographic circle stickers into the centre of the flowers to add extra sparkle.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Totally Gorjuss 'furry friends' 31/1
Cute Card Thursday 'so sweet' 29/1
Paper Shelter 'digit image & sentiment' 28/1
Crafting for all Seasons 'for the girls' 3/2
The Pink Elephant 'pink &/or red' 27/1

Loud Music

Before Christmas, I was lucky enough to win a £100 voucher to spend at Create & Craft. It was surprisingly difficult to find things to spend that much money on, even though I never seem to struggle when I don't have a voucher!

One of the things I bought was a brilliant Indigo Blu A5 stamp set called 'Loud Music'. It has a wide range of stamps fitting many different music styles e.g. flowing notes, a guitar, a tape & some fun sentiments. I've already used the set once to make a birthday card for a musical man at work and thought it was about time I did another.

It's a mix between chalkboard & grunge...

I started with a piece of A4 white card which I folded to make an A5 card blank. I cut a piece of black card 2.5cm smaller on each side than the base card and stamped it with the Indigo Blu stamps using white Brilliance Ink. Before the ink had a chance to dry, I rubbed each image gently with some distress ink foam to blur the edges and look like the chalk had rubbed off slightly. When I had finished stamping, I mounted the black card onto some silver mirror board.

I then used 2 off cuts of black stripe paper (left over from my 'pretty grunge' card) in 2 opposite corners of the card and used Black Soot distress ink in the other 2. To finish the card I then used black memento ink and an Inkadinkado star stamp over the top of the distress ink.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Craft Your Passion 'music' 27/1
Crafty Cardmakers 'black & white' 2/2
Crafty Catz 'monochrome' 30/1
Daring Cardmakers 'stripes' 31/1

Christmas sparkle

I've managed to make another Christmas card today. That makes 3 so far for January- it won't last!

Here it is...

I started with a 6x6 white card blank and to make sure my topper matched perfectly colour-wise, I cut down another card blank to make the layer (I'd saved one that I'd messed up the embossing on ages ago so I used the back of that). I chose my stencil (Imagination Crafts) and used double sided tape to stop it moving. I firstly, inked the branch using 'gathered twigs' distress ink and then used an embossing pen to ink the snowflakes. I used 4 different shades of blue mica powders (also Imagination Crafts) to colour them. I also used the mica powders to dust all over the background.

Finishing touches were to add the gems and then mount it onto a blue mirror card mat and then onto the card. I will probably add a message before I send it though. Unfortunately, the beautiful shine of the mica doesn't show up very well on the photo but this one does show the blingyness (good word!) of the gems I've used...

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Hazlenut's Christmas 'shades of blue' 24/1
Paper Shelter 'winter blues' 21/1
Crafters Cafe 'bling' 22/1
Christmas Cards '1 layer' 26/1
Imagination Crafts 'anything goes' 31/1

Rock God!

Today's card uses a few old favourites that I always know I'll use at some point and one of those things that I should use more often but just don't seem to!

The background card is an 8x8 base card, inked with 'tea stain' distress ink. The 2 backing papers are both from DCWV 'Rockstar' 8x8 & matstack pads. Rockstar was my first DCWV stack and it is still my favourite. I use it for so many scrapbook pages too. The topper is printed from 'Just Ink'lined' best of 2012 cd-rom which is a disk I've has since the end of 2012 but don't use that often. This topper was perfect for what I wanted though.

I coloured it with mainly Spectrum Noirs today but with an odd bit of Promarker. I wanted to make the topper look as if the posters & drum kit were old & the guitar was the shiny new toy so after colouring the posters & drum kit using slightly subtle shades, I went over the top of it all with a light brown to tone down all of the colours and add that vintage look. I then coloured the guitar in a totally different colour palette and added some glossy accents to the body of the guitar.

I used 1 8x8 DCWV paper as the background and then trimmed down a matstack piece for the element in the corner. I wanted to pick out the 'rock and roll' part of the paper so I glued it with a quickie glue pen and then foiled it. This is something I've tried before on a scrapbook page and it worked really well.

I tore the edge of the topper and inked it with 'tea stain' distress ink too before using 3d foam to add it to the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Polkadoodles Digi Choosday 'for the boys' 23/1
Clear It Out '2+ papers' 21/1
Creative Inspirations 'anything goes' 21/1

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

the cats miaow

I'm back! It's been an absolutely manic few weeks at work and with a load of craft shows (where I've bought lits of new things) & craft fairs (where I've managed to sell a few bits too) I've not been making as much as I'd like! BUT, I've finally made another SWALK card today and have also managed to use up a bit of some Kanban papers that have been in my stash for years (no exaggeration!). Not sure what's wrong with me- I don't tend to do actually using stuff!!!

This was a really quick card to make- I started with a sheet of A4 white card that I folded into an A5 card blank. I then added the metallic Kanban paper, leaving just a small white border. The main image topper was a pre-coloured one from the SWALK cd and I again created the message myself using the verse writer function. I inked the edges of the toppers using 'dusty concord' distress ink and then mounted them onto a dull gold mirror board.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'feminine with a sentiment'
Cutie Pie Challenge Blog 'cute card for a special friend'