joy

 hello again stampers!

This is my last week as Guest Designer for the Just Us Girls Challenge and I've had such fun! This week is photo inspiration week #612.

This photo reminded me of a country kitchen - all the shopping bags with Christmas goodies, I couldn't resist making a Christmas card. I was inspired by 3 things: the subway tiles across the centre of the pic (they are fab!), the leafy wreath on the bench, and the brown bags with Christmas goodies and a tiny pop of red.

Since I wanted to include a wreath but I have no wreath stamps, I chose to make a square card. That way, I can use the Misti and leaf stamps and just rotate the card 90o, stamping 4 times to create the circle. I began by stencilling the brick pattern using Darkroom Door Brick Wall stencil with distress oxide ink. Then I used Paper Rose Solid Flowers and Leaves stamps in my Misti to stamp the wreath. I also used a Darkroom Door Circle stencil to align where to stamp to get a circle shape. I used 2 different stamps from the set, to give a loose, leafy wreath. Some shiny red dots were also added. 

The sentiment was stamped using Altenew Warm Blessings in my Misti, with memento tuxedo black and also versamark, then it was heat embossed for a lovely shine. The sentiment was punched with a circle punch, and also punched from red card. These were slightly offset, then popped up with foam squares on the card panel. Lastly the card panel was adhered to a Kraft card base.

Come join in the fun with Just Us Girls, and stock up your christmas card stash! We're looking forward to seeing your designs! 

Thanks to Vicki and the lovely team at Just Us Girls Challenge for having me as their Guest Designer this month. I have really enjoyed all four challenges! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

thanks

 hello again crafters!

I'm into my third week as guest designer over at Just Us Girls Challenge, and am loving the experience! This week is #611 colour week and the colours chosen are aqua, brown and cream.

I wanted to do a CAS card and keep the imagery simple to highlight the colours.

I used a Paper Rose Leaves stencil to blend Vintage Photo distress oxide ink, then die cut it using a Paper Rose Stitched Rectangle die. The dragonfly from Darkroom Door Wildflowers Vol 1 is inked with Salvaged Patina and heat embossed in clear to give him texture and shine, then fussy cut and popped up on foam for dimension. 

Here's a closer shot of the shine on the dragonfly. 

The sentiment is die cut using Altenew Fancy Thanks die, 3 times and layered to make it stand out. Finally I added a few dew drops.

Come join in the fun at Just Us Girls challenge - we'd love to see your creations! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

postcard

 hello lovely stampers!

This fortnight the new challenge at AAAcards #203 is for a one inchie + optional twist of masculine.  

I am intrigued and a little bewildered by the inchie. What is the best way something so tiny can still deliver an interesting card? I decided a one inchie didn't need to be a one layer or a one colour, so that formed the basis for my idea. 

My plan was to pack in as much as possible in that one inch.  I do have a stamp set Darkroom Door Seaside Inchies and the lovely DT over at perfectlyCAS have as their theme this month, 'Tropical' so I decided to combine the challenges.

I chose the inchie stamp with surfboards so it also satisfied the optional twist of masculine.

I began by stamping the inchie on a white card scrap with an area blended with distress oxide ink for the sky. The stamp was masked and stamped separately for the sky edge and the sand background. Then I stamped the whole stamp onto various ink blended scraps, with various colours of distress oxide ink and black ink, then chose the best ones to fussy cut each of the surfboards. 

MANY variations later... 😅 I chose a combination I liked. The surfboards were glued in place onto the background stamp, then the inchie was cut out. I'm thinking it was like paper piecing, but with ink blended card instead of paper. The sentiment was stamped with memento tuxedo black onto ink blended scrap (the same sand colour) using Altenew Sentiment Strips, then cut, edges inked and popped up on foam tape. The edges of the inchie were also inked with black to make it stand out on the card, then also popped up with foam onto a white card base using the rule of thirds and placing the inchie at the top right intersection.

Phew* I think it looks like a teeny tiny postcard!

Thanks for stopping by!

most beautiful day

 hello crafty stampers!

It's that time again for another Just Us Girls challenge and I'm really enjoying being the guest designer for the month of November! This week we are making a mini slimline card - easy right?

Since we can put any design on the card, I decided to use one of my new butterfly dies, which is quite tall. This card size is ideal for a large image as it has lots of tall space. I thought it should be the hero of the design, so I kept the other colours muted.

I began by stencilling the leaves using Altenew Foliage stencil with distress oxide ink. I blended part of the design then moved the stencil down to blend another part, making the overall foliage taller. Then I stamped the pink flowers using Paper Rose Solid Flowers and Leaves with distress oxide ink. 

Some pink distress oxide inks were watercoloured onto a card panel, then the butterfly was die cut from it, making sure to keep all the little die cut pieces. I also die cut a butterfly from black card, popped out the die cut pieces and adhered it over the pink die cut. The butterfly was popped up on foam tape so it was hovering over the leaves. The sentiment from Altenew Beautiful Day was stamped on white card using memento tuxedo black then die cut using Paper Rose Stitched Rectangle die and adhered to the panel.

Come join in the fun with Just Us Girls challenge this week. We can't wait to see your mini slimline design!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

make fun

 hello there stampers!

I'm joining in the fun today over at the sisterhood of snarky stampers. This fortnight their challenge is #197 R is for Rude and Edna is showing her true colours!

So many choices for rude cards, I found it hard to choose! hahaha

I began by blending distress oxide ink using Paper Rose Striped stencil over the card front. Then stamped the Darkroom Door Flourish texture stamp in the same colour. The image is printed from the net and fussy cut, and the foliage was die cut using Altenew Leaf Mix die set from a coordinating card colour. The sentiment is a Tim Holtz Big Talk sticker, mounted on card, edges inked and popped up on foam tape. Nuances of Bette Davis!

Thanks for stopping by!

be merry

 hello stampers!

I'm thrilled to be the Guest Designer for the Just Us Girls Challenge for the month of November - and this week is word week with challenge #609 - Merry.

Like many of you, I am slowly building up my Christmas card stash so took the opportunity this week to make another Christmas card.

I began with some new designer paper I received with the loveliest colours - pretty and fresh with a modern Christmas feel. I was inspired by a sketch from Donna Lewis that I thought looked like a present with ribbon! The paper pieces were mounted on shaded spruce card and then adhered to a card base making sure the design was kept in the right order. 

I stamped the sentiment using Altenew Warm Blessings with my Misti using memento tuxedo black and also versamark, then heat embossed it. The sentiment was also mounted onto shaded spruce card and popped up on foam tape on the card panel. A few stars were fussy cut and also adhered with foam tape around the sentiment.

Come along and join the fun this week at Just Us Girls challenge - we'd love to see your 'merry' cards!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!