Embossing 2 ways

 Hi all!  I seem to be in a blue phase at the minute, I need to get a different colour palette going LOL

First up is this little sailing boat from Penny Black - coloured with polychromos and popped up on foam pads. I've used a new slimline embossing folder that I thought would kinda work as the sea and added a few metallic paint splatters to give a splashy feel.

Penny Black Saturday challenge May - monochrome or anything goes

AAA Birthday #73 - any birthday 

Cardz for Guys #371 - body of water

This one is similar to one I made a while back, using this pretty Altenew flower stamp. I used the same embossing folder in the background along with a few white dies to use up some leftover white card.

Cut it Up #329 - so sorry

As You Like It - - soft or bold colours? - well, it depends what I'm making! For sympathy cards I definitely think more subtle colours work best

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - beautiful blooms 

And just for some brighter colour!... Here's a wee photo of my lovely Rhododendron - it usually gets hit by the frost or rain, but we're enjoying a lovely sunny dry spell this past couple of weeks so it's looking fabulous this year!! 

Blue Sympathy

 Hi all!  Happy first of the month! I can't believe it's May already, though I absolutely LOVE this time of year with all the lovely fresh leaves on the trees and all the hedgerows in bloom.  So much nicer than the dark days of winter.

So I've a wee sympathy card for my stash to share  .  I hadn't quite planned on cutting the flower there but I thought I was scribbling on a scrap piece of card and turned out it wasn't.  Grrr.  Then I got myself tangled up with the layout, chose that corner die , stuck it down, and then wished I hadn't! Ah well, it is what it is, and the flower took soooo long to colour I definitely wasn't going to waste it.

Addicted to Stamps #491 - make your mark

Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #696 - anything goes 

And here's a wee photo of the fields all around our daily walk, a real sea of yellow dandelions!  

Blue Sympathy

White based cards normally aren't my thing, but Marlies beautiful inspiration card over at AAA Cards certainly got me thinking!  I need some sympathy cards for my stash so used this old Altenew set - I think this particular stamp has never seen ink before!  

My foliage in the background used up some white scraps - sorry I've no idea of the brands.  Flowers popped up on foam pads and silver gems added to the centres.  I coloured them blue thinking they kinda looked like forget-me-nots. 

AAA Cards #282 - follow the leader

Addicted to CAS #274 - blue

Snippets Playground #498 - my white die cuts

My Time to Craft #551 - use a sentiment on 

Floral sympathy

Hi all!  I always like to have a few sympathy cards in my stash but don't have any at the minute, so I'm aiming to get a few made. For this one I've used this lovely floral stamp from Penny Black. Not sure where that background die was from.  Image coloured with polychromos and popped up on foam pads.

Floral/colour theme from The Card Concept #206 

Layout from Inspired By #IB284

Word Art Wednesday #643/644 - anything goes 

Snippets Playground #478 - the little bit of blue card leftover from my diecut was just the perfect size for my sentiment

I love this time of year with the brighter evenings and plants all springing to life, but our weather has been absolute pants! It feels like it has rained almost every single day since September.  The bright side of not being able to tackle the garden is that I've been having a good clear out!  My craft stashed is all sorted and tidied and this morning I raided out the crockery cupboard - next on my hit list is the good old junk drawer! 

Fuchsia sympathy card

 Lol I have to check how to spell 'Fuchsia' every time I write it, you'd think I'd know by now!  This is an older stamp from Clearly Besotted, coloured with polychromos - I normally colour from light to dark, but this time I started with my shadows first and actually used my white pencil!  Butterflies from Penny Black.

Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #630

Snippets Playground #446 - the panel i cut from the lilac base was just big enough to cut a few butterflies 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #579/580 - anything goes 

Going CAS!

 Week 2 of my guest stint at Just Us Girls, and this week's challenge is...

Most of my cards are CAS so that was a nice easy challenge for me 😉. Pop over to the JUGS blog for lots of inspiration from their lovely DT, and hopefully you'll get a chance to play along too!

For my card I just stamped these lovely flowers from Pinkfresh Studio, slapped on a bit of watercolour paint, and added a sentiment.  I did add a layer over my flowers with my sparkle pen just to give it a wee bit of zing.

The Flower Challenge #73 - use a sentiment 

Word Art Wednesday #563 - anything goes 

Sympathy Daisies

 Hi all!  Urgh Sunday evening already. How do the weekends go so fast!  It's a nice short week though as we get Good Friday off work, and Easter Monday and Tuesday too.  So I just had to treat myself to the rest of next week off, it would have been a shame not to 😜. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we'll get a wee day or two out somewhere.

Anyway I've a wee sympathy card this evening, which I have to confess turned out nothing like I'd imagined!  I've used my Penny Black daisies again (sparkle added to the flower centres), Penny Black butterfly die and this pretty DP from an MFT Christmas pack.

Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch #588

Floral/daisies/blue theme from the mood board over at Sweet Stampin

Penny Black Saturday April - anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #537/538 - anything goes 

Sympathy fuchsias

 LOL I had to check that's actually how you spell fuchsia!! It's one of those words that never looks right no matter what letters you use! 

My mojo has been on the missing list this past while, this is the first I've lifted my pencils for well over a week ☹️ but I reckon if I keep at it some spark will reappear!  

I've pulled out an oldie from Clearly Besotted for this one and this scrap of purple striped paper has been knocking round my stash for a while too...

As You Like It - recycle or buy new - that's a tough one!  I do love my new stash but sometimes it's just nice to pull out an old favourite and use leftovers up!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes

Addicted to Stamps #426 - make your mark

Word Art Wednesday #537/538 - anything goes

Pinks and purples

 Hi all.  I've just noticed that both my cards this evening have a similar colour theme.

This first one uses an old LOTV stamp and some DP I bought a while back and have struggled to use!

Layout from Global Design #326

As You Like It - favourite colouring medium - I love my polychromos .  It can take a while to build up the layers of colour but they blend beautifully.  I also prefer them over markers as they don't unexpectedly run out on you!! 

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #148 - ribbon, raffia or twine

And this second uses another old favourite from Whipper Snapper, this time coloured in watercolours for a change - it's definitely quicker to colour with them than pencils... or maybe I just didn't put in as much effort 😉   I might actually go over the centre of the purple flowers and make them a bit darker.

My time to Craft #473 - floral

CAS Mix Up January - loose watercolouring

Pupdate...

Miss Molly got a parcel delivered from Amazon today, took her about half an hour to get into it and get her new ball out!  And after chasing it round the kitchen for another while she's now fast asleep.  Money well spent hahaha.  Supposedly it's puncture and chew proof, so we'll see!!

Floral Sympathies

 Hi All!  Gosh I hadn't realised it's been nearly a fortnight since my last post.  Time is whipping by so fast.  I'm back to my actual workplace for a day this week, it will be so strange!  It will be nice to see some of my workmates but I confess I am feeling a bit anxious about it... I'm not looking forward to my 2 bus journies to get there, nor setting an alarm to make sure I'm up and out the door on time!  It has been too easy just to rock up to work in my PJs 😉

Anyway I've a few sympathy cards to share this evening.  This first one uses an old fave from Taylored Expressions, I hadn't intended to make it so green but I think it turned out OK (??)

I coloured this one yesterday, so sharing it also on the Simon Says Stamp World Card Making Day post

Layout from MfT Wednesday sketch #561

Inspired By #189 - I was inspired by the metal bucket 

Pixies Snippets Playground challenge #413 - here's a wee pic of the tiny scrap cut from the end of my sentiment that was just big enough for those little die cut dots LOL...

My second card uses my old fuschia stamp from Clearly Besotted, coloured with watercolours.  I used to use my watercolour pencils all the time before I got in to my ploychromos and have kinda forgotten how to use them!  I did touch up my shadows with my pencils to darken them a bit.

Allsorts #644 - I lOVE... colouring is most of the fun of card making and I love the effects dies can add to a simple card

AAA Cards #200 - Clean and simple

Floral Sympathy cards

 Hi all!  Well our Water Board can certainly stop complaining about shortages, we've had some mad thunder showers these past few days and lashing rain, the type that you think can't get any heavier and then it does!  There's been a bit of flooding throughout the country, but we got off not too bad - we developed a bit of a leak in our roof so it will need sorted and a paint job on our bedroom ceiling to cover the water marks.

Anyway, I need some sympathy cards for Mum's stash, so that's what I have this evening.  I think I need to be getting my daylight lamp out, the nights are drawing in and my cards look a bit dark.

I always love playing along with the MFT Summer School and this one is for their Wonderful Watercolour challenge.  I used some ink pads for my colouring, not something I've tried before.  I must get myself some new white watercolour card as the only stuff I have is this cream stuff that I hate!.

MFT Camp Create - wonderful watercolour

Time Out #193 - I went for the floral element from the inspiration quote

 word Art Wednesday #503/504 - anything goes

This 2nd one uses a real oldie stamp (possibly from Cornish Heritage Farm but I really can't remember).  I've used the same colouring technique as before, leaving the petal tips uncoloured, but this time back in my comfort zone with my polychromos.  I love how it turned out 😁  The image panel is popped up on foam pads and sparkle added to the flower centres. 

Retro Rubber Challenge #164 - anything goes

We love Chocolate Baroque #August - favourite stamp - these little daisies are in my 'go to' pile for sympathy cards and is my most inked stamp ever!

Hydrangea Sympathy

 Hi all! Happy Monday!  Bit cooler here today thank goodness, a few days of those high temps are enough for me.  I see we're due some showers this week, the ground will be glad to see it, everywhere is burnt brown and the leaves are already dropping from some of the trees!

Anyway I've a wee sympathy card this evening.  I've used this old LOTV stamp - I don't think I've ever coloured the blooms in different colours before but I definitely will again!

Looking at it here I think I need to ground the image so I'll have to get my watercolour pencils out again.  I made my own stripey DP on a leftover bit of blue with one of my new stamps from Creative Depot.

Pixies Snippets Playground #408 - it's a Ruby's Memory challenge again, the 5th one, and each time lovely Di makes a donation to the USPCA.  It's easy to play along and there's a fabulous Gina K prize from Brenda up for grabs - all you have to do is use up a leftover piece of card or DP. 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - out with the old in with the new ... My new stash is my stripey stamp and my old stuff is the hydrangea stamp and blue paper.

Cute Card Thursday #690 - anything goes

Sympathy lavender

 Hi all!  Well the good news is that I have a hair appointment booked yippee!!  Hopefully it won't be another 5 months till the next one!  Great to see our local garden centre open too, though I haven't ventured there yet while there's still a chance of frost.  And only another 6 weeks or so till my second vaccine, I can't wait!!

I have a sympathy card to share today ...

I've used this oldie from Taylored Expressions - I love inking up these oldies especially when I've a new order of goodies on the way ... my first order from France since lovely Brexit so I'm hoping it's not going to come with customs charges! 

Not sure of the make of the script background - I added some blue sharing behind the lavender and really wish I hadn't!  It kinda needed something to finish it and I had a little scrap of purple c/s left, just the right size for a few little butterflies :)

• Inspired by pic over at The Card Concept #153 - loads of lavender
• Daisy Chain challenge #51 - monochrome
• Pixies Snippets playground #401
• Word Art Wednesday #487-488 - anything goes

Floral sympathies

 Hi folks, it's been a brrrr chilly couple of days here, the weatherman definitely got it right! We had a bit of snow last night so it was all very scenic this morning, but I'm glad to say it's all away, bar a couple of sad looking snowmen ;)

I've a few sympathy cards this evening, I never seem to have any in my stash.  Both use an older stamp from Whipper Snapper - I absolutely love their stamps but I get whacked with customs charges every time, so I try to resist as best I can!

Bonus points for this one using up some DP that's been in my stash for years, I was lucky to have some pale blue card that matched it perfectly and just enough left over for my sentiment and corners :)

• Layout from Mojo Monday #557
• Pixies Snippets Playground #400

• The Flower Challenge #55 - pastels
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - layer it

A couple of my chilly tulips with their snowy hats!

Happy Mother's Day

 

Hi folks, and a happy Mother's Day to all you mums out there.  I've always wondered why it's on a different date in the US, when we all agree on the same date for Father's Day?

This is my card for my mum, a bit different to my usual and it looked different in my head, but I'm happy with how it turned out!   My butterflies are from a new to me brand - Kwan Crafts.  I got some dimension to them by gluing them down at the centre and adding foam pads to their wings.  I've also highlighted parts of each butterfly with gloss and glitter so there's lots of sparkle.   I stencilled some bricks and then some words in the background but it all got a bit lost anyway so I needn't have bothered 😉

• Word Art Wednesday #481/482 - anything goes
• Love to Craft  - March anything goes
• My time to craft #452 - make it feminine

This one was inspired by Kristina's beautiful card and tutorial:. https://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/live-replay-underpainting-watercolor-technique/

A watercoloured background isn't one I'd do often as it's a bit of a faff waiting for it to dry properly and I could have been braver and went a bit darker with my colours, but I love how it turned out and I'll definitely give this technique a go again. 

• Time Out #183 - try something different
• Allsorts #615 - a stamped image
• Simply Create #168 - embossing

Helloooooo!

 Hi all!  Sorry I've been off radar again, I had zero mojo most of last year and even less recently after Rubydoo died.  I'd like to say thank you to everyone who sent kind words of sympathy, and especially to Di at Pixie's Crafty Workshop who's going to be running an occasional challenge in Ruby's memory!  We are still very sad, I never realised how big a part she played in our lives until she wasn't there any more.  We are planning on getting another wee dog but will probably have to wait until this lockdown has passed ... whenever that will be!

So I've spent the last few weeks stripping, sanding and painting my kitchen cupboards and then the walls needed doing, couldn't quite face painting the ceiling though so just don't look up!!  Order has finally been restored and I have my kitchen table back so I've given myself a good talking too and need to get back to crafting as I've a few orders waiting.  Hope to get for a visit to all my bloggy buddies soon to see what you've all been up to!   My cards this evening aren't the cheeriest though!....

This MFT stamp takes me an age to colour, I reckon it was well over an hour so it's definitely one to do while watching telly!  

• Fab n Funky #507 - thinking of you
• Word Art Wednesday #475-476 - anything goes

My Clearly Besotted daffodils only really get used this time of year, though they're not peeping up in the garden yet!  Bonus points for using some green card that's maybe been in my stash for about 10 years!

• Layout from Try Stamping on Tuesday #490
• The Flower Challenge #52 - embossing - I heat embossed my sentiment, hope that counts!
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A sad Christmas card

I've been putting this card off for ages, I just couldn't think what to make!  I was so stuck that I almost bought one from Tesco except their non-happy Christmas selection was totally non existent.  

Apologies for the dark picture, it's a pale blue background in real life - I've a new phone and haven't quite figured out how to put the flash on.  New technology and me take a while to get on together 😉 I do envy those folk who can lift a gadget and instinctively know what they're doing!

Anyway, back to regular Christmas card making now ... I was getting ahead of the game at the start of the year and then Covid stole my mojo and now I'm really behind in everything! 

• 
  Layout inspired by Try Stampin on Tuesday #486
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - die cuts
• Word Art Wednesday #468/469 - anything goes
• AAA cards #180 - made in minutes

Sympathy roses

Hi all, Sunday evening already!  We'd a lovely crisp sunny day today, though no drying - our back garden is a bit of a sodden mess and the weeds are having a great time!  I was thinking sure the dark evenings will be here soon and then I'll not see them...and then I remembered I'm mostly working from home hahaha

Here's a wee sympathy card to add to my Christmas pressie stash.  My stamp is an oldie from Clearly Besotted and I've managed to use a sheet of unloved DP which was an added bonus :)

Coloured with polychromo pencils and some little purple gems added to the corner. 

• 
  Less is More # 430 is to case Sharon's beautiful card
• Sweet Stampin - use your old stash
• Word Art Wednesday #460/461 - anything goes
  

More sympathy cards!

I spent this weekend making sympathy cards to try and get my stash up, I hate making them so hopefully this will do me for a while!
I've also been on a mission to get some of my wee scraps from my MFT pile used up, thus the stripey theme!

This first card uses these lovely roses from Clearly Besotted.  Coloured with polycromos and the flowers covered with my sparkle pen.

• My layout is from Sketch Saturday's free for all challenge #599 - I chose #498
• The Flower challenge #42 - anything goes
• As You Like It - favourite flower - I've already submitted a daffodil card for this challenge, so thought I'd enter roses as my favourite summer flower.  I love the old fashioned really scented blooms , it's always a disapointment when you see a beautiful rose and then when you go in for a sniff there's no smell! 

This one uses a Penny Black stamp - again coloured with polychromos.  I read a tip on The Daily Marker blog to use a marker on your image first before your pencils and it definitely does make a difference.  I think I need a bit more practice though and if I was making this card again I think I would maybe do the vase green instead of bright yellow!

• Penny Black Saturday March - anything goes / Spring florals
• Pixies Snippets Playground #373 

The Daily Marker colouring challenge