It's all about the colour

Hi crafter's

It's been a little while since my last post because I have been busy  making the families cards for the year. I like to do this early so there is no rush at the last minute. This card is going to be an anniversary card for my husbands parents, I just need to put on the sentiment. I'm also going to enter this card into the ' as you like it challenge' the subject being your two favourite colours together. I have used pinks and greens together and I think they work really well, it's a colour combo I turn to a lot!

For the background I have used the moroccan mask and adirondack inks in raspberry and juniper. The technique is very simple, just hold down the mask and blend the inks through it. The foliage stamp is by Kanban and this I stamped in the corner. The butterfly stamps are by Kaisercraft and I stamped these on the background with black archival ink. I stamped the butterflies on another piece of white card as well. The colouring in of the flowers and butterflies was done using derwent artist pencils. Cut out the coloured butterflies ( there is no need to cut round the antennae) shape the wings and stick over the matching stamped butterfly with dimensional glue, you should see the stamped antennae showing. To finish I drew a line around the edge with a fine marker pen in black. It doesn't have to be perfectly straight if any thing it looks better being a little wobbly. All that is left to do is some matting and layering in white and black card then mounted on to a black base card. As you can see from the picture the top butterfly over hangs the edge a bit which just adds more interest. A touch of glitter would look nice too!

That's all this time, thanks for looking.

Happy crafting

Sally

It's all in the sentiment

Hi crafter's

This is my entry to the clarity stamp challenge. The first thing I did was to create the stripes on my white base card. I used copier paper and low tack tape to mask the lines. I've used adirondack inks in citrus and butterscotch also dried marigold and weathered wood distress inks. Ink dusters make short work of colouring in. I took the lines down just over half way and made them different widths. I die cut and embossed a Spellbinders border and blended butterscotch and dried marigold, this was then stuck at the bottom of the stripes. The main topper was created with the honeysuckle corner. It was stamped around the edge in Bouquet Kaleidacolor ink. I also blended citrus ink around the edges to soften. A smaller piece of card was then stamped with the sentiment. I edged it with the Lemon Promarker and a  fine black liner pen and blended dried marigold to take the whiteness away, then glued it on top of the honeysuckle corner. For my embellishments I decided to make a cameo using the Rosie stamp. I die cut a circle and stamped Rosie in the middle with archival black ink then coloured her in with prismacolor pencils and blended with Sansador. A coating of glossy accents gives a nice finish. This was then layered (once dry) on to a slightly bigger and more fancy circle. My other finishing details were a die cut flourish and die cut flowers, these were coloured with the inks. The flowers were stuck down hanging off the card, the overhang was then cut off and stuck on the edge of the base card. Everything was attached to the card as seen above and a few pearls were added.

Two posts this weekend wow! I'II need a rest!

Thanks for looking, happy crafting

Sally

castle by the Loch

Hi crafter's

I have just bought two new stamps from Clarity stamp. I did have a reason to buy them other than, I have to have them. The blossom stamp is really useful for adding something at the top of a card. The castle I have had my eye on for a while, it's going to be used for my father-in-law. Either for father's day or his birthday, not sure which yet. The castle just shouts out for a reflection, so I decided it would be by a lake (or loch). The first thing I did was to do all the stamping. The castle, trees and blossom stamps were stamped on to a splodge mat with archival ink. I put the trees and the blossom exactly where they needed to be in conjunction with the castle, this way the reflection is done all in one go. Lay your card down carefully on to the splodge mat so the ink isn't smudged. The impression you get will be softer than if you were stamping normally. When this is done stamp the castle, trees and blossom again on to the card lining up with the reflection. The next thing to be done is colouring the background. I use stonewashed, denim and juniper adirondack inks, also the clouds and hills clarity masks which make background building really easy. I'm really getting used to the ink dusters use them all the time, so quick! Need more! The blossom was coloured in with prismacolor pencils. I used the tall grasses stamp from clarity and the leafy vine from inkylicious to create the look of reeds at the bottom of the card, this gives a little perspective. The finished card was mat and layered on to first white card then buff coloured then black, this was then glued on to a white base card.

That's all for this time, hope you like the card. Any comments are very welcome. 

Thanks for looking. Bye

Sally

Indigoblu flowers challenge

Hi crafter's

I think I'm getting addicted to entering challenges! The card above is going to be entered into the Indigoblu challenge and its all about  flowers. I have used Wild Meadow 1 and the free butterfly stamp that was on the Crafter Stamper magazine. I have used (again) some of my favourite colours, Adirondacks stonewashed and purple twilight. The meadow flowers stamp is inked up using versafine onyx black and stamped at the bottom of the card. The flourish stamp on the plate is really useful, I used just the edge inked up with versamark. Stamp around all four sides and heat emboss with white detail powder. This will create a resist when I colour the background. I have just bought some of the Ink Dusters from Inkylicious, I'm glad I did! They are so easy to hold and use and the result is great. I don't know about you but it was sometimes hard to keep hold of the cut'n'dry foam and the results were not always good. Anyway back to the card. I wanted the card to be more or less one layer so I used a nestabilities to make the frame for the sentiment. Using purple twilight  ink and Ink Dusters I stippled the ink whilst holding the die in place. The background was then coloured with both Adirondacks. If you use a sweeping action with the brush the colours blend really easily. After the background is done wipe over the white embossing with a soft tissue to remove any ink and bring it back to white again.Ink up the sentiment with versafine and stamp in the frame, add dots with a fine nibbed pen around the frame to make it stand out more. Stamp two of the butterflies with versamark and emboss with white powder. Colour in with inks and brushes as before, shape the wings and use dimensional glue to attach to the card. Run the purple ink pad around the edge of the card and stick on to a white base card to finish.

I do hope you like this card, let me know what you think. That's all this time. 

Thanks for looking, happy crafting.

Sally

Fun by the sea

Hi
This card was made using the Faye Whittaker  stamps from Joanna Sheen. I really love this little boy. These stamps are so good if you want to do water colouring but can't draw so good, like me!
I have used archival ink which is water resistant to stamp the image and  Inktense pencils to colour in.
For the background I have used some photo paper coloured with adirondack inks applied with cut'n'dry foam. Then using Fretboard embossing folder I run it through the Grande Calibur. To take some of the gloss off the paper and make it look weathered I sanded it back with a craft sanding block. The colours I have used for the background are stonewashed and hazelnut. I also used hazelnut to colour the matted layer.

I was really pleased how this turned out. That's all this time, let me know what you think.

Thanks for looking, happy crafting.

Sally

spring in fashion

Hi

This is a card I made using Crafty Individuals stamps. I am thinking it could be entered into their challenge. It is a small 6''x 6'' card. I started off making the backing paper. I used distress inks, scattered straw, dried marigold and worn lipstick. The colours were just blended together with cut'n'dry foam, then I used a harlequin and flourish stamp to add interest and depth to the background. I stamped the four ladies with London fog Memento ink, it just gives a softer look, then coloured them in with Prismacolor pencils and blended with sansodor. I matted this on to white card then attached  it to the background. The whole thing was then mounted on to the white base card. I finished with a die cut flower with a pearl in the centre and two stamped butterflies coloured in with the distress inks.

Hope you liked this card, thanks for looking

Sally

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