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

'House of Kanban' templates & Basic Grey 'eerie' paper pad

Entering crafting challenges has really helped me to get back to using some of the products from my stash that haven't seen the light of day for many a month, or year! This weeks Polkadoodles challenge inspired me to get out my Kanban dress templates, some beautiful Basic Grey 'eerie' papers and my sewing stash too.

The challenge was 'stitching and lace' and can be found here http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/week-3-stitching-real-or-faux-and-lace.html. This is my entry into the challenge

The 'lace' element of this card is the net fabric used for the base of the skirt and there is some real stitching (not visible) at the sides helping to create the shape.

I started by drawing round the 'House of Kanban' template onto some black card and then cut it out. I cut a circle of purple net fabric slightly larger than the base section of the dress and used some small tacking stitches to secure it at either side to match the shape of the card. I then used the card as a template to cut the scalloped base into the net fabric. The bodice and top part of the skirt were both cut out from my 6x6 Basic Grey 'eerie' paper pad. The paper sections were attached to the card base with double sided tape and were perfect for hiding the stitches and the top edge of the net.

It was a pretty simple card to put together and also a little bit unusual & 'goth'- a bit like me!