By the light

I often find it hard to come up with new ideas for anniversary cards as you can only do flowers and champagne flute so often and I'm not one for loads of layers and embellishments as a rule just not my comfort zone. When I bought this Penny black die I thought it would be perfect for an anniversary card for a change.

I cut a circle in post it note and used it as a mask so I could create my silvery moon and coloured the rest of the card with dark blue distress ink. I cut the cat die and trimmed the coloured card to fit behind it perfectly.

I used more distress inks black and browns to colour my cats leaving the border and sitting bench uncolored apart from the smudges from colouring the cats. 

I added my double layer panel to a white base card and took a tiny die cut heart coloured  pink and placed between my two black cats. I didn't get as far as a sentiment as my son said he loved the card just as it was as we recently found a website with different celebration days and one was girlfriend appreciation day and he decided my card would be perfect as was for his girlfriend,so guess I'll have to start over.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges;-

Brown sugar - anything goes

Use  your stuff - new beginnings

Penny Black and more - all creatures great and small

AAA - maskng

cardz 4 galz - cats and or kittens

Colour crazy - anything goes

You make rainy days...

A just for fun and experimentation card. I was experimenting with spectrum noir aqua pens and watercolour paper, not a paper I use very often but had a play at creating a watery background. One thing led to another and my rock salt was sat on my desk from silk painting and I wondered if watercolour would react the same. 

It didn't work as it does on silk but I have a feeling that might be to do with the watercolour paper being absorbent. but one to try again. I did like the effect it did create though and thought it would make a fab rainy day card,well the back of the paper anyway, as the lines of colour are less defined as are the salt impressions.

I used a memory box die proper umbrella and cut several in some scraps of rainbow card I had using the greens and yellows, I love the subtle shading. I randomly placed them on my water colour and love how the salt marks look like random rainfall.

It took me a while to workout what colour base card to use but after accidentally placing it on a distress oxide ink background whilst swapping through different plain card bases I had found my base and got inky colouring a white base card front. I added water drops for added effect and then my umbrella panel.

I finished my card with a bright yellow stitched circle die cut using open studios circle die and stamped a lily of the valley sentiment as it just seemed perfect.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges;-

CAS watercolour -salt

Memory box -go with the flow

country view - blues and greens

fab n funky - anything goes

A bit more time to craft - anything goes

crafty creations - anything goes

A bit more time to craft - anything goes

Star in the making

Another cute LOTV stamp and thought it would make a fun birthday card for one of my nephews next month. He has guitar lessons along with many other lessons his mum has him doing to channel his autistic energy into something positive and it seems to work.

I used paper from my stash think its dovecoat but not 100% sure as it was just an odd sheet I had left and layered with red mirri card.I cut a star in red mirricard and put that behind the image I fussy cut and coloured with promarkers.

At the base of my card I added a die cut music border by Memory box and some silver peel offs coloured with red promarker to finish the card.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

Crafty gals corner - add a star

Scrappyland - anything goes

Simon says wed challenge - add a sentiment

The Paper shelter- dies and punches

seize the birthday - anything goes

Hibiscus

 Flower stamps are something I don't have many of , i don't seem to make many girly flower cards, not sure why, but I decided  to buy one , and at present I seem to have a thing for hibiscus as one of the last dies I bought was an hibiscus too.The stamp is by Sheena Douglas.

I coloured the stamped image with a mix of promarkers and chameleon pens, I love the effects you can get but I'm still learning.

i decided to keep my card simple and one layer, but decided it needed something to finish it off. i used some gold peel off strips to frame the card. I decided no sentiment so the card can be used for many occasions and I can always add one at a later stage.

I just can't decide whether it looks better portrait 

or landscape.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

Simply create too - flowers

Stamplorations - anything goes +stamps

Craft stamper - anything goes stamping challenge

Stamplorations CAS - summer

HLS CAS - flower

Incy wincy - no words

Stamping sensations -anything goes

curtain call - hibiscus

Sunset notes

Summertime brings the opportunity of witnessing beautiful sunrise and sunsets, I guess they happen in winter too but there's something special when it's warm especially if you are by the sea on holiday  .                                                                                                                                                                                      I have been experimenting with my distress inks and water using them as a water colour medium I guess  (inspired by a card I saw a while ago by Dave Tauber from outside the box blog).. I used 3 colours and put them on a silicon mat and spritzed them with water. I then used a brush and layered them on some water colour paper intermingling them at the joints. 

I cut a panel that was just short of half the width of my base card. I used the yellow on a die cut circle to create a sunshine and attached it to my evening sky.

I then added a white card die cut shorebirds and some small birds in flight from Memory box and poppystamps. I completed my card with a stamp from Uniko.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges;- 

Stempelgarten - summertime

MAWTT - things that fly

Kitty bee -anything goes optional summer

Not just cards -anything goes

Crafty friends -anything goes

Stamplorations CAS - summer

Baby love

I bought this stamp purely as I think it's just so cute ,I decided to make a baby card for my stash and as I am more a blue girl than pink kept to that as my pallate. I will probably make a pink one too real soon .

I coloured with promarkers and added some sparkle with aqua noir glitter pen though it doesn't show too well.My photos aren't great so apologies,I bought a photo light box and am still experimenting on how to get the best effect.

I decided on a clean and simple look and die cut the image with an oval but cropped the oval as the image isn't that long and used some lily of the valley paper for the fab poppystamps sentiment 'welcome little one' die all on a white base card.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:-  

CAS mix up - stamping , alcohol and your choice

(I chose die cut)

Cardz 4 guyz - tiny fingers and tiny toes

Creative with stamps - boys to men

Casology - safari

CAS  colours and and sketchers - layout

Shopping our stash - inspired by a spice girl

(baby Spice)

Memory box shrunk ?

Not really just shrink plastic, I've been experimenting. I used an undersea collage die and an oval die cut into shrink plastic and then coloured with pastel shades of promarkers before using a heat gun to shrink it. Before shrinking I used a hole punch to create a hole would be able to thread ribbon through. I was so pleasantly surprised when it had shrunk , some of the bits were a bit fidley to get flat but reheating soon sorted that. I threaded a piece of thin aqua ribbon through the hole and done. 

I originally thought I would mount it onto a distress inked background but I actually think it makes a funky piece of summer jewellery and I know no-one will have one the same.

I would like to enter this project into the following challenges:-



Memory box - go with the flow

Dies R us - summertime fun

Squirrels - holiday fun

Polkadoodles -anything goes

colour crazy - anything goes

RRR- anything goes

Aurora wings -the elements
(I chose water)

Patchwork pussy cat - poppystamps

A birthday card for a cat lover. I decided I ought to start using some of my stash that is long neglected, these squares of pretty paper were part of a scrap booking kit , there are loads in the kit all different colours but I decided to go with blues as the recipient is also red green colour blind.

I pieced 9 together to form a quilt pattern. I die cut a selection of cats using Poppystamps dies, and added one to each of the squares top and bottom row.

   

In the centre of the quilt I added a white happy birthday sentiment taken from the out cuts of a Poppystamps happy birthday background die.

The base is just a white square card, quite clean and simple but I think its quite pretty too.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges;-

Show us your pussies -furrything goes

Unstampabelles - collage mixed media

Creative knockouts - furry friends

Craft rocket - animal kingdom

A bit more time to craft - anything goes

Daisy chain -anything goes

Jo's scrap shack - anything goes

Borders gone wild - poppystamps style

I discovered die cutting a while ago mainly because I discovered Poppystamps and Memory box dies ( both designed by Dave Tauber) , so guess they are my favourite dies as really they form the majority of my collection of dies.

The card I have made for the challenges below uses 2 Poppystamps dies a happy birthday channel border die and one I have a total soft spot for as I love daises wragged daisy.

I decided on a pretty simple design which was relatively simple to make. I used a deep rich purple base card . I took a piece of white card slightly shorter in width than the card so as to leave a coloured band top and bottom on my finished card and cut the happy birthday channel border 6 times and then attached to the card.

I finished the card but cutting the wragged daisy from a piece of card I had been experimenting with oxide dies on so it has a fab variation of pinks purples and greens. Once attached to the card I used spectrum noir aqua glitter pen to add a bit of sparkle and I am so happy how it turned out, definite a design for the future when I'm in need of a quick card.

It could be adapted so easily for a guy bu just changing the colours and perhaps using leaves or grasses for the embellishment or for a child using some cute animal or even with a stamped and fussy cut image the possibilities are endless. Might have to look for some other channel set borders now but I think they are already on my wishlist.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

Poppystamps - beyond borders

Little red wagon -favourite products/company currently

The crafty addicts -anything goes optional girly

Pearly sparkles - happy anything

A Gem of a challenge - birthday wishes

Making memories -anything goes / one for the girls/ladies

Simon says - happy birthday

Memories of the beach

I have many happy memories of holidays in Cornwall and Devon playing in the sand dunes even on wet and windy days, well we were on holiday and intent on having fun.                                                                                                                             I used a mix of dies and decided t have a go at blending using just one colour of distress ink ,one of my new toys that I am slowly learning to play with and getting the results I'm aiming for. 

I used Joanna Sheen seagulls but decided I only needed to use one of them. I used impression obsession fence , a border die I got from amazon that was only a couple of pounds so thought I'd give it a try and the rest of the dies are poppy stamps. 

I decided to create a scene so my base card I cut a stitched rectangle and used a poppystamps cloud die as a stencil to create clouds , I used a post it to create a straight edge then intense colour to create a calm flat sea.

I then cut some rolling hills and grass also a poppystamps die and tinted the edges, I layered them to create the sand dunes. The fences  I coloured and then placed on the top dune but placed and stuck them so they looked a bit worn and dilapidated.

I decided to use the shell border as the front border for my card  I tinted the card and the strips that would probably normally be removed I coloured heavily and in-laid to add depth.

I wasn't sure what colour base card to put my scene on I tried white, kraft or a colour. I thought it would make a good guy card so used my guy (hubby) to ask which he thought looked better ,hence I went with the dark blue. I used a larger card so that added to the frame. I love how the seagull looks like he's flying off the scene .

I would like to enter this card  into the following challenges:-

Deep Ocean challenges;- at the beach

CASual fridays - dies only

Penny's -anything goes

Scrappyland - anything goes

Double D -neutrals and texture

Craftaholics - die cuts

come and get it - time to die