CAS Mix Up

I made this card earlier in the week and then almost forgot to enter it into this week’s challenge at CAS Mix Up! The theme for this month is watercolour wash but you also have to include stamping and something else of your choice, in my case diecutting and embossing.

This card evolved as I experimented. I started with the watercolour wash, which I did with my Zigs, but then wasn’t sure what to do next. I wanted to use some new (to me, at least) stamps which I had just bought off Ebay, so I stamped the flowers in Versamark then embossed them in silver. The petals are coloured in the same paint as the background, but I wasn’t sure I could paint over the watercolour wash with another colour so it was a nice surprise to find it worked very well!

Finishing the card was easy: the greeting is a combination of a die cut by Mama Elephant and a stamped word by Clearly Besotted. Thin strips of card at the side added a little extra interest, and I felt it needed the sequins to finish it off.

CAS Mix Up

My missing mojo is slowly returning although sadly the work-related stress isn’t going anywhere. Still, this is one of three cards I’ve enjoyed making today. The inspiration for it was a card by the super-talented Loll Thompson, not realising that she had made it as an example for this month’s CAS Mix Up challenge.  What is it they say? “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”? But it’s with a little trepidation that I’m entering my card into the challenge as it’s a little too close to her inspiration for comfort!

I didn’t have any plain tissue paper to water colour, but I did have pink tissue paper which I scrumpled up, glued to cardstock with Mod Podge then heat embossed with Wow! silver embossing powder.

I then made the frame with dies by M & C Boutique which were a bargain (£5!) in The Works. I masked off an area the size of the frame then stamped the script (by Inkylicious) in Hero Arts Unicorn ink. The feather was die cut from the “offcut” middle of the frame then shaped a little & adhered with dimensional adhesive.

I used by own home made stamping tool (which is a variation of this one) to stamp the greeting (by Clearly Besotted) but then realised that everything was on the right hand side and the card didn’t look balanced, so I added a little bling to fill the gap.

Techniques: tissue paper, heat embossing, stamping, die cutting.

Flutterby

Three challenges in one this week: this card is based on sketch #142 at Tuesday Morning Sketches, where I almost forgot to enter it so this blog post is a bit rushed! I’m also entering it into the challenge at Stamping Sensations where this month’s theme is Butterflies, Fairies and Fantasy. I can’t do the last two, but this stamp by IndigoBlu certainly qualifies in the first category. And I hope this card is CAS enough for the challenge at Addicted to CAS where this week’s theme is Pink.

I stamped it in Versamark then embossed it in Wow! detail white embossing powder then spent a relaxing evening painting it with my Zig markers in Wine Red and Almond Pink, blending it out with water & a fine paintbrush. Once I’d done that I wasn’t quite sure how to finish it off – I tried to use patterned paper but despite having hundreds of sheets I couldn’t find any that worked!

So instead I stamped the greeting (from Clearly Besotted Brushed Greetings II) and embossed it again, then used the Piestra Tile die by Memory Box to add a little interest.

CAS Watercolour

I came across a new (to me at least) watercolour challenge blog called CAS watercolour. As that’s one of my favourite colouring mediums, coupled with my favourite card-making style, I decided to enter this month’s challenge. This card is one I made earlier this month but hadn’t got around to featuring on my blog.

The flower image is by Clearly Besotted, painted in Windsor & Newton half-pan paints. The greeting stamp, embossed in Hero Arts embossing powder, and birthday die are also by Clearly Besotted. The number diecuts are by Die’sire, finished with Anita’s Clear Gloss. I kept the finished card simple with a few pearls.

IndigoBlu Giant Peony

My crafty friend Vicky celebrated her birthday yesterday, so of course for her I love to pull out all the stops! This is the IndigoBlu Giant Peony, stamped onto watercolour cardstock then embossed in white. I then spent an enjoyable evening with my Zig Clean Color pens until I was happy with the end result, although I’m sure the finished colours aren’t botanically accurate. A few sequins and an embossed greeting by Clearly Besotted were all I felt it needed to finish it off.

I’m entering this into The Flower Challenge where the theme is Anything Goes.

Two for the Price of One!

A few weeks ago I spotted the Indigo Blu giant peony stamp on offer in a craft shop so I couldn’t resist it. But of course, the stamp really is giant so it’s very difficult to fit it on one card, hence the idea of cutting the finished stamped, watercoloured image into two. I will admit to being a little nervous as I made the chop, having spent quite a long time painting it!

Anyway, the resulting cards are shown below. I’m entering them (as separate entries, if I can) into the Watercolour challenge at Addicted to Stamps and the inaugural challenge at the Flower Challenge.

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Guitar Love

This is an ultra-quick post, as we’ve had the builders in this week so the house is in need of some TLC! It was our son’s 17th birthday yesterday; he adores his guitars & music, so that had to be the theme of his card. My original plan to use a new guitar die was foiled when I broke one of my Cuttlebug plates in my Fiskars Fuse! So this was plan B: a stamped, embossed guitar and background made of embossed mini musical stamps. The embellishment was stamped & embossed also.

I’m entering this into the challenge over at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Flutterby

As ever, the sketch at Sketch Saturday caught my eye this week so that’s what this card is based on. The background was made using the wax paper resist technique; the MFT butterfly was embossed in Wow! white embossing powder on vellum and the rest was from my stash. I didn’t have any coloured card to match the background so I coloured some plain white card with a Soft Green Promarker.

Just Darling!

I think I was channelling my inner Debby Hughes with this one! White heat-embossed Clearly Besotted flowers, watercoloured with Zig Clean Color markers, patterned papers and a Clearly Besotted greeting stamped onto vellum. So typically Debby!

I did originally heat emboss the greeting in white but it didn’t stand out enough. I think the black stands out a little bit too much, but I added the black cardstock strip to tie it all together. I added a few mother-of-pearl sequins to finish it off. I’m entering this into the challenge at That’s Crafty where the theme is “Feminine”.

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted “Just Darling”, Brushed Greetings II
• Patterned paper Docrafts

Wedding Wishes for CTS #176

I always like the sketches at Case This Sketch, and this week’s is no exception. I instantly knew how I was going to use it to produce the card above, which was made entirely from items in my stash. The smallest heart is made of silver mirri card with Anita’s Clear Gloss over the top to add a little dimension: