spread your wings

 hello lovely stampers!

I am sharing a simple card with you today. I took the challenge from PerfectlyCAS for this month:

  

I am loving using the distress oxide inks - the layering ability is fantastic.  I used 2 or 3 colours on my butterflies to get a graduated colour effect. Lots of inky fun!

I started by blending using the cloud stencil to make a background. Using my MISTI, I stamped each butterfly several times with parts of it inked with colour. The fun part is deciding which beautiful colour to use next! The sentiment was put among the butterflies to tie them all together. Lastly I mounted the panel onto a mint macaron card base.

Thanks for stopping by!

supplies:

darkroom door stamp: Wildflowers Vol 1

my favourite things stencil: rolling clouds

distress oxide inks: scattered straw, dried marmalade, spun sugar, abandoned coral, seedless preserves, tumbled glass, salty ocean, peacock feathers, chipped sapphire, black soot

if nothing ever changed

 hello fellow stampers!

I've been feeling crafty lately (I might have to lie down till it passes). I have found myself happily stamping, blending, even watercolouring. I know! A new me?  I am pointing the finger squarely at my latest acquisition - my first distress oxide inks - just a few - but they are great! Awesome at blending (I have never been happy with my previous attempts), awesome as watercolour, and many many options with how to use them. Brilliant.

Today I made a card using the inks as watercolour. My first one, but they are so easy to use. I thought I would take the challenge thrown down by the lovely people at AAA cards, #187. 

Quite a tricky one - I played around with a few options for quarters but decided to go with what suited the sentiment on the card - the uplifting idea of butterflies had to be at the top! I also decided to do a square card so the quarters looked like quarters!

I started with watercolouring a rainbow - quite simple with 3 colours and blended to get the in between colours. Then I stamped the butterflies using black archival ink. In a similar way, I watercoloured the green using blue and yellow, and stamped using archival ink. They were cut out to the quarter size.

Stamping the sentiment twice on different coloured cardstock, they were then cut them in half so I could use each half on each quarter. They were stamped in versamark ink then embossed with white. They were then glued at the edge of each quarter. Lastly the quarters were adhered to the card base using foam tape for dimension. 

I am quite pleased with the result, and so happy with the new inks - I must get more. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

inks: distress oxide inks: abandoned coral; scattered straw; tumbled glass, archival ink jet black, Versamark ink

card: whisper white, highland heather, mossy meadow,  watercolour paper

stamps: Darkroom Door wildflowers vol 1

hello

 hello sweet stampers!

I'm playing along with the current challenge from the lovely people at AAA Cards #186. Along the edge + only die cuts - right up my alley!

I started with the die cut hello - such a lovely font and a greeting all by itself! I cut it three times from white cardstock and Coastal Cabana. Then I layered them and glued them together to build dimension.

 I chose a die that looks like fern fronds to make a little bunch and cut them from coastal cabana and also Daffodil Delight. Keeping in mind "along the edge" I arranged them all on the lower edge of the card. The colours really pop against the white - a beautiful combination. Lastly I die cut a leaf from the same set which has circle pop outs - usually thrown away, but perfect for embellishments on this "die cut only" card. Finally, I adhered the white card to a Coastal Cabana notecard.

So there you have it - 100% die cut, fresh and lovely.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

dies: Altenew leaf mix die set, simply hello die

card: whisper white, coastal cabana, daffodil delight

hugs

 hello sweet stampers!

I have a lovely little card for you.  The good people at AAA Cards have a terrific challenge at the moment - one inchie! Plenty of ideas presented themselves, but fully containing it all in one inch is no mean feat. And keeping it black and white...Brilliant!

I decided to do one inch popped up on foam squares to add dimension. The tiny square can otherwise be lost in the sea of white. To add interest, I also mounted it using the rule of thirds so that the little bird's eye is perfectly at the top right intersection.

I started by stamping the bird then die cut it out. I used just a portion of the branch stamp from the same set, added the flowers and positioned the bird on the branch using foam squares to pop him out a bit. There was just enough room left for the sentiment. 

I love the one inchie - what a great idea.  I may have to invest in more tiny stamps though...

Thanks for stopping by!

Edit: Thank you so much to the AAAcards DT - I'm thrilled to be in your chosen Top Four! 

Supplies:

card: Stampin up! whisper white

ink: memento tuxedo black

stamps: Altenew under the cherry blossom tree, Altenew sentiment strips

missing you

 hello stampers!

Today I made a card for the challenge #473 put up by the lovely people over at Freshly Made Sketches.  

I thought this was a lovely, simple design and so I wanted to create something elegant and fresh.

As you may know, I am a nature lover so leaves feature prominently in many of my cards.  I tried to create a sense of movement with the leaves blowing left to right across the card. 

I started by stamping onto two cards, exactly the same using my Misti. Then I cut down one of the cards, mounted it onto a card base inked in the matching darkest colour ink, and just ever so slightly bigger.  Then mounted them both onto the base layer. I finished it off with a simple sentiment and a lone birdie was popped up on foam tape for dimension.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

ink: Altenew Lagoon, Dew Drops, Limestone, Volcano Lake, Galactic Stream

stamps: Altenew wildflower doodles, under the cherry blossom tree, SU loyal leaves