Sunday, 20 September 2020

Signs of Autumn

 


Over at the Outlawz Challenge there is a monthly Progressive Freebie Challenge. If you have taken part in the previous month you get a new image to play with. This month we have an image and 2 sentiments from the Signs of Autumn set by Jan's Digi Stamps.

Autumn is my favourite season. I love the slight crispness that you get in the air, the sun is not so hot an burny and the leaves start to turn into the most magical of colours. Also at the end of the month it is my birthday and also my wedding anniversary so lots of good things to look forward to.

This image was an absolute delight to work with. I coloured the image using a combination of Promarker and Spectrum Noir pens. I wanted to use lots of colours to emulate the leaves in yellows, oranges, reds, greens & browns. The jar is coloured a very pale grey with a darker seal. I added some silver gel pen to the metal clasp. The jar has a layers os subtle sparkle from a Spectrum Noir clear glitter pen. This really doesn't show up on photos well at all but I promise it is there in real life.

The base of the card is brown card stock from Aldi cut into a 6" square. This gives a nice strip of scrap card stock so this was used to mat the image.

I used sketch 475 from Try Stamping on Tuesday for the layout


The glittery leaves patterned paper is from a Dovecraft Pack Neighbourwood which has lots of leafy patterned papers in it, perfect for autumn projects.  The 'ribbon' is an offcut of paper from the Papermania Birdsong pad. 

Following the prompt on the sketch I added 3 square brown gems and a little sentiment tag from a HOTP Earthtones Creative Pack. When I first started making cards 20 years ago I bought a few of those pads and still have loads of tags and papers left. I mounted this onto a scrap of gold card and added a gold self adhesive puffy dot. The tag and image are mounted onto 3d foam for added dimension.

Card Details -

Size - 6" Square
Image - Signs of Autumn by Jan's Digi Stamps.
Colouring Medium - Promarker, Spectrum Noir, Silver gel pen, Spectrum Noir Clear glitter overlay 
Embellishments - gold puffy dome sticker, square gems

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)


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Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Say It With a Sentiment


Over at The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up it is the Merry Maidens turn to showcase some fabulous Christmas cards.


The optional Twist for this challenge is to ' Say It With A Sentiment' A sentiment or word art is to be a big part of the focus on the card.

The paper pack Sentimentally Christmas designed by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles is up for grabs to the lucky winner who follows the twist.




If you want the chance to win this month's featured paper pack, be sure to create a card that features the twist.

The Sponsor for this challenge is Decosse's Dynamite Doodles who is offering a selection of Christmas Sentiments to the lucky winner.

As I don't have access to a colour printer at the moment I have made a fully digital card.

For my card I really wanted to use Snowy Scene from the Nature of Christmas Kit.


I laid this on a background of Cranberrry Plaid paper which is a freebie still available here from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. It is a subtle pop of colour around the edge without being too bold.

 The sentiment is from the White Christmas Sentiment set 


I wanted it to be a large focal area on the white snowbank foreground. I love the font that has been used on this one.

I added some red glitter snowflakes from Snow Much Fun onto the background and made them a 70% opacity to make them less bold and blend into the snowflakes already on the background.


Finally I added a little snowman which was a vector graphic I bought years ago for the grand total of 99p. This was in the days before digital stamps really became popular (can you imagine there was such a time?)

I do hope you will take part in our challenge and look forward to seeing your creations.


Digital Supplies Used :  

Image -  Vector Graphic (no longer available)
Papers - Cranberry Plaid freebie & Nature of Christmas by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles.
Sentiment - White Christmas set by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles.
Embellishments - Snow Much Fun Glitter Snowflakes  by Decosse's Dynamite Doodles

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)


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Tuesday, 8 September 2020

Creepy Cute Cafe Crow

 


It is time for another challenge for Team B at Through The Craft Room Door


The sponsor for this challenge is Oddball Art Co.
There is a prize of $10 to spend in the store for the lucky winner.



We were given this set to use Creepy Cute Cafe Img 523.  I don't really make halloween projects so I chose to use the crow from the set.


I had an idea to position the birdies like a Mommy Bird giving some advice to a baby bird so positioned the digital stamp to suit this. 

I coloured the image using Promarkers in greens as it looked like my Grandad's budgie when I was growing up. I added some detail to the feathers with coloured pencils. I thought I had a die I could make a branch from but the couple I have wouldn't sit right in the circle so I decided I would draw my own. Not sure I will get any artistry awards for it though LOL. The background is coloured with a very pale blue which I have given a mottled texture to with a blending pen. The camera hasn't picked that up very well as it is so subtle.

I decided to make it into an easel card as it is a long while since I made one of those.

On the front the bottom paper has such a lovely dainty design in the corner. The squares of green are a double sided paper so I have turned one over and added faux stitching with a fine line pen. I have added ink to the edge of the paper. The Image I have cut out using a Fiskars circle shapecutter template then a circle of green card. I used a new set of dies Crea-Nest-Lies XXL to cut the scalloped circle. These are brilliant dies as they are a decent size and lots of nesting shapes in one set. Considering how fine the scallops are they cut really well and this was quite thick black card. I have added 3 iridescent sequin flowers and green gems.

The bottom section has used more of the same papers and I trimmed the floral one using a Martha Stewart border punch. The sentiment is an old one from AI Factory who have now retired. As there are so many layers the easel sits behind this sentiment section without any need to put any other raised item to hold it up. Finally for a bit of whimsy I added some googly eyes to both the birdies. 

Our challenges at Through the Craft Room Door are always Anything Goes so easy to enter. I hope you will join us.

Card Details -

 

Size – 6’ Square Easel

Digital Image – Crow from Creepy Cute Café Image 523 by Oddball Art Co.

Digital Sentiment – This Little Birdie Set 1 by AI Factory (retired)

Dies – Crea-Nest-Lies XXL 69 Circle Open Scallop

Punch – Scallop Polka Dot Border by Martha Stewart Crafts

Colouring Medium – Promarkers, Coloured Pencils

Embellishments – Flower sequins, gems, googly eyes

 

 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)


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Monday, 7 September 2020

Round of Golf


Today is my Father In Law's birthday and inspired by a pop up snowman card I had seen online I thought I would make a pop up golf ball. Little did I realise what I was letting myself in for though.....

I started off making the golf ball. I found a template online to make the ball and made it out of white card. I used 200 gsm and it seemed too thin so I did a slightly smaller version in thicker card. This still seemed too thin. I tried to use an elastic band to do the pop up bit but it ripped the card so I used some elastic instead and this seemed to hold up better.

To emulate the texture of the golf ball I used an embossing folder and cut the panels slightly smaller than the template, then taped them on with strong red liner double sided tape. After some manipulation I realised the joints would not hold very well especially where the sides were held together with the elastic so I ended up having to do some more strengthening. I was losing the will to live by this stage and seriously considered binning the blooming thing! I decided it was as good as I was going to be able to get it and stop messing with it.


I was lucky to win a challenge recently and the prize was a gift certificate for DRS Designs. They had some lovely rubber stamps and I chose this fabulous Golf Is…… image. I really liked the frame of golfing terms and thought it would be nice for Dad as he is golfing crazy.


I coloured the image with a combination of Promarkers and Spectrum Noir pens. I mounted this onto silver card and added some ribbon and a plaid glittery patterned paper in green.  I added some peel off stickers for the sentiment and some foam alphabet stickers that have silver glitter on them for Dad. This is the inside left hand side of card.

The pop up ball is on the right hand side of the inside. I added some handmade green paper which has a lovely texture for the 'grass' and a silver cardboard hole that the ball goes into. This is the side profile of it. It doesn't completely spring into a round shape. If I pulled the elastic tighter then it made the ball go a weird shape so I had to compromise.


This is what the inside looks like with both sides in view.


To keep the card closed in the envelope I realised that I needed to add a belly band to it. I used a cupcake die that I received in a mystery clearance bag from Crafter’s Companion. I cut it from black card and then added a layer of silver underneath it so it made it stronger and added contrast. Where the band is die cut was quite weak when the golf ball was pushing against it. I added some silver gel pen and clear glitter to the embossed detail in the cupcake.

The patterned paper has been cut using a die from Julie Hickey Designs.

I was quite pleased with it once I had finished with it. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong or why I couldn't get a good balance with making it springy and tearing the card but I managed it in the end with some perseverance and a lot of swearing...... I just hope he likes it :)

Card Details -

 

Size – 6” x 6"

Rubber Stamp – Golf Is…… by DRS Designs

Dies – Sweet Treat by Crafter’s Companion, Square Layers, Frames & Banners by Julie Hickey Designs

Embossing Folder – Tiny Bubbles by Cuttlebug

Colouring Medium – Promarkers & Spectrum Noir, silver gel pen and sakura clear glitter pen

Embellishments - Ribbons, Peel off stickers, Foam glitter stickers

 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)

 





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Wednesday, 2 September 2020

Sparkly Snowman Guest DT

 


I was recently approached on my blog by Donna at The Paper Funday Challenge and asked to be a Guest Designer for 3 months. I was so flattered to be asked and today is my first card for the challenge.  



We are sponsored for this challenge by AMB Illustrations.


Now I have to be honest,  I was not previously aware of this designer but OMG she has the most amazing store on Etsy with digital stamps, clip art, papers and cutting files. We were able to choose one file from the store and I instantly fell in love with these Christmas Faces Stamps.


I absolutely adore snowmen and I love the face on Mr Snowman so that is what I chose to use. 

I did a rough mock up of the size of body I wanted to use and sized the head to be printed accordingly. The image has been coloured with Promarkers with a white gel pen for the berries accent and a Sakura metallic pen for the hat detail and dots on scarf. This has been fussy cut and mounted onto 3D Foam squares.

The base of the card is a sheet of A4 cardstock. I added some paper from a very, very ancient Papermania pad, the colour was perfect for this as I wanted it to look like a dull grey snowy sky.

The body has been cut from a thick handmade card that is covered in iridescent glitter. I have added some buttons and the arms are actually tree trunks from a Sizzix die. I simply trimmed the lower branch off to make it look like a stick arm.


I wanted the snowman to be looking up in wonder at the snowflakes as they fell so needed a really big sparkly one to capture his attention. The ensemble is a combination of 2 snowflakes. Both of these have been recycled (or I like to call it rescued) from shop bought cards that have been received. Quite often there are little elements that can be re-used on other projects. These are far too nice to just throw away in the recycle bin. I mean, just look at all that twinkle that would have been thrown away..... my mission is to rescue the twinkle and give it another life. The sentiment is a foiled one that has also been rescued. I have used a die to cut the decorative shape and raised on 3d foam.

I really love how this card turned out. It is so sparkly and bright & cheerful. Definitely one of the best snowman cards I have ever made.

I hope you will join us at The Paper Funday Challenges and see what the fabulous team have made using these great images.

Card Details -

 

Size - A5

Image - Christmas Faces Stamps from AMB Illustrations

Dies - Home Sweet Home 2 from Sizzix & Petite Labels 1 from Spellbinders

Colouring Medium - Promarkers, Sakura Metallic gel pen, Pentel white gel pen

Embellishments - Buttons



I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order)



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