More Shadowing with a Technique

This is yet another card for the LIM challenge which this week is a one layer card using 'Shadows'. I tried out a new technique to me - using masking tape (or decorators tape) to create a background. This is not the best example but I was quite pleased with it for a first time attempt. Basically you take a piece of masking tape, place it on your inkpad and rub it gently with your fingers before taking it off and placing it on your cardstock to transfer the ink. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing you how to do this if you haven't already tried it. My masking tape was only cheap stuff so is quite grainy but I quite like the texture it gives. I used Pistachio Pudding and Soft Sky then stamped the image from Lovely as Tree in Early Espresso then re-stamped to get the shadow effect.
A couple of score lines and a simple sentiment were added to finish the card.

Margaret x

Sketch Challenge

Whilst hopping around blogs the other day I came across a site called Paper Craft Crew Challenges and when I saw the sketch for this week I had to play. A completely different style to my normal cards but I enjoyed the challenge so much I ended up making two!! Come and have a look.






For this one I used some leaves that were lying around which I'd cut with the Autumn Accents die the other day. I sponged them, along with an acorn, using 'autumnal' colours - too many to mention but all SU! The leaf on the oval is from Lovely as a Tree and this was stamped in Old Olive and coloured with a blender pen, using some of the same colours. Cardstock is Early Espresso, Neutrals Ivory and Very Vanilla with the leaves in Crumb Cake and Pumpkin Pie. I finished the card with a knot of twine made from strands pulled from a piece of Burlap Ribbon and a sentiment from the Express Yourself Hostess set.
I am also entering this card for the Around the World challenge (AW03) which this month is 'Fall' (or Autumn in the UK!)



After my first attempt I went on to make a Christmas card using the same sketch. The colour combo is Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate and white with a piece of Winter Frost Speciality DSP for the background. The snowflakes are from Festive Flurry stamped in Smoky Slate and cut out with the matching Framelits. Both sentiments are stamps from Teeny Tiny Sentiments and a bow of silver ribbon and some Basic Rhinestones were added to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by, back soon

Margaret x

Definitely CAS!

Back with my second post of the day with yet another entry for the LIM challenge which, this week, is Trees.
For reasons best kept to myself I'm not a great fan of Christmas and find it difficult to motivate myself to make cards so I took the opportunity to make a few using Chrissie & Jen's theme - thanks ladies!
I definitely think this card comes into the Clean & Simple category - lots of white space and a very simple design, as well as being easy to make which is always a bonus :0)
I started by masking off the small 'fir' tree, using the large stamp from Lovely as a Tree, inked with Versamark then silver embossed. This was cut out using the small oval die from the Ovals Collection Framelits then matted it onto the next size oval, cut from Brushed Silver cardstock. The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments was silver embossed onto Brushed Silver cardstock and punched with the Modern Label Punch. A single Basic Rhinestone finished the card off.

Back tomorrow for Simples Sunday with a CASE'd card

Margaret x

Simples Sunday

Another 'had inspiration' card from me today and this time even more obscure than ever before!
Whilst waiting for the ladies to come to my class the other day, I was sitting having a coffee in my lounge - the sun was shining and making shadows through my vertical blinds (which were closed at the time) when suddenly the Stripes Embossing Folder and Lovely as a Tree popped into my sad little brain!!
I randomly stamped the tree onto Very Vanilla using Basic Gray, ran it through the Stripes Embossing Folder, matted it onto Basic Black and then onto a Naturals Ivory card blank. A (retired) sentiment was punched out with the Hexagon Punch and layered onto a Basic Black hexagon, card finished in 5 minutes!
Here is a photo of the inspiration - what do you think of my interpretation???? Polite comments only please :0)

Margaret x

Up in the Air

 

Saturday is upon us once again and of course that means the Less is More challenge which, this week, is 'Up in the Air'. My first thought was the bunny in a balloon from the set Everybunny so, as Easter is not too far away, that is what I used for my entry.

I started by stamping the trees from Lovely as a Tree at the bottom of a piece of Whisper White, stamped in Old Olive and then stamped again without re-inking. The balloon image was stamped in Staz-on and then, after placing a post-it note mask over the top of the image, the panel was sponged with a little Certainly Celery under the trees and Bashful Blue for the sky. The mask was removed and the image coloured with marker pens. My poor Easter Bunny looks like he may be suffering from ear problems and that's because I picked up the wrong pink marker so it was a bit brighter than I intended!!!

The panel was matted onto Daffodil Delight and then onto a white card blank. Originally I stamped a sentiment and cut it out with one of the Bitty Banners Framelits to fly from the strings of the balloon but then took it off because I preferred it without. What do you think? I might stamp a sentiment directly onto the card or leave the front as it is and put the sentiment inside - 

decisions, decisions :0)

Simply Stampin' Colour Challenge

Over at Simply Stampin' this week there is a colour challenge using Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso, River Rock & Very Vanilla and this is my card. As the colours were suitable for a male card I decided to use the challenge to make a birthday card for my Dad who, as you can see, will be 90!
I don't know if there is a proper name for this style of card but if there is I don't know it so, in a nutshell, it is a piece of A4 (portrait) cut at approx 15cm then turned landscape and scored at 10.5cm to form the flap. The small scene was made by using a clear block, inked with N.Q.Navy, then stamped onto Whisper White, then repeating this with River Rock and stamping underneath the first block. I then stamped the trees from Lovely as a Tree in Early Espresso and cut down to size. This was matted and layered onto River Rock, N.Q.Navy and Very Vanilla and positioned on the flap of the N.Q.Navy card base. The piece of Very Vanilla for the rest of the card was stamped, again with the trees in Early Espresso and glued in place. The banner is River Rock stamped with 'dad' from the For My Family set, attached with a Metallic Brad, and the sentiment is one of the stamps in Happiest Birthday Wishes coloured with a marker so I could split the sentiment up and place the 90, cut with the Timeless Type Alphabet Dies, in between the words.

In my quest to make the tree scene I ended up with a few rejects but decided this one wasn't too bad to use for another card. Still using all the same colours but this one was far less time consuming - in fact it was thrown together in just a few minutes - which you can probably tell!!!  :0)
Just before I go I would like to thank the design team over at Simply Stampin' for putting me in the Top 3 again this week - thank you ladies for that and for all the lovely comments, I really appreciate it. x

Card for a Golfer?

I needed to make a card for a friend who, sadly, has been taken into hospital. I seemed to have a distinct lack of inspiration so was very thankful to the design team over at Simply Stampin! who, this week, have set a Sketch (above) as the challenge and helped me come up with this card.

I started by sponging a piece of Whisper White, using a post-it as a mask, with Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery and then over-stamped with trees from 'Lovely as a Tree' coloured with Early Espresso and Old Olive markers and then matted this onto a piece of Old Olive cardstock. The other panel is a rectangle of Chocolate Chip DSP from the Neutrals stack matted onto Chocolate Chip cardstock. These were positioned onto a 5" x7" card blank and the embossed circles added on top. My friend is a very keen golfer so I am hoping the circles somewhat resemble golf balls! The sentiment, from Sincere Salutations, was stamped onto Whisper White, cut out and the corners rounded before adding a piece of Linen Thread and fixing in place.

I hope you all had a good New Years Eve and are ready to start a brand new year. I'm sorry to say that the festivities are over in my house for another year as, this morning, I have been busy taking down the few decorations which adorned my humble abode. Yes I know you are supposed to leave them up until twelth night (whenever that might be!) but I am back to work on Tuesday and really need to get sorted and cleaned up before then - well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!

When is a Christmas Card not a Christmas card?

When I bought the Polar Pals set I was convinced I would only ever use it for Christmas however, when a work colleague told me he was leaving us to go to France for 6 months to be a Ski Instructor, I knew that little penguin would be ideal to make a card for him. (he’s also an Arsenal fan so the hat and scarf just had to be red!)

I started by tearing three pieces of Whisper White cardstock into strips to make the ski slope and, before sticking down, I stamped some treetops using Old Olive with a stamp from Lovely as a Tree. The little penguin was stamped, coloured with markers and cut out and I attempted to make something, which I hope will pass as skis, from Brushed Silver cardstock and stuck these onto the slopes with the penguin positioned on top. To finish the card off I made some little flagposts and added some Dazzling Diamonds before stamping the sentiment from Sincere Salutations. The whole thing was matted onto Night of Navy cardstock and then onto a card blank.