52CCT - Pick A Previous ....

...  Hello, good morning!  We've arrived at the last day of January - this month has simply flown by.  We've had five Saturdays this month, so that means we have a bonus challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and I've gone for PICK A PREVIOUS SKETCH.  You can pick any of our previous sketches (click on the link) - just let us know which sketch you're using.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - Rustic Christmas, Stunning Snowflakes
Inks: Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Garden Green, Coastal Cabana
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frame Borders #7
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Garden Green; Green Tinsel Embossing Powder; Gold Embossing Powder; Alcohol Inks; Metallic Foil

I decided to use the sketch from July 2014 - I think this is one of my favourite sketches.  I've kept really close to the sketch.  I used some metallic foil for the background layer which was coloured with alcohol inks (from my scrap stash).  I cut die the white panel and stamped the tree and sentiment in Versamark, then heat embossed them both.  I added a few snowflakes to finish the front.  On the inside I cut a mat layer in green and on the white panel added another tree, lots of snowflakes and a simple greeting.

Check out the blog to see what the rest of the team have made - all so different and all just lovely.  Have fun with the challenge!

AC - I am an angel! ....

... Morning!  This week is rolling by rather quickly - I find it hard to believe that it's almost the end of January, only seems like five minutes since Christmas.  I think that's more a sign of my age that actual time :))))  Anyway, enough of that.  I've a rather querky card to share with you today:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - I am too an Angel; Dylusions - Laugh til you Leak, Clearly Borders
Inks: Archival - Jet Black; Stampin' Up! - Brocade Blue
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Sahara Sand; Teresa Collins DP - Far & Away; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear; Sakura Stardust Pens

Last December I decided to play along with the 12 Days of Creepmas, but sadly wasn't able to stay the course.  One of the images I coloured was this fantastic Angel drawn by Rick St Dennis and available at his Zibbet shop.  I love the little goblin guy in his sweet tutu telling us he "is so too an angel!!" - Adorable!

This week's layout (flipped upside down) at  CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#107 gave me an idea of what to do with him.  I used my copic makers to colour some scrap card to make the floor, traced the outline of his legs on the panel and then cut out the shape.  I used design paper for the rest of the card.  I then adhered the angel to the card.  I got some new Dylusions stamps yesterday (love these pithy sentiments) and found one that is just perfect.  I stamped it onto kraft card, cut it out and adhered it to the front of the card.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of kraft card and on the white panel added the crazy border.

When I showed this to Kathryn, she just absolutely loved it.  She read the sentiment and said "I know how that feels!" - Kathryn often tells me she is the odd one out and has no friends.  However, the evidence from her friends doesn't support that.  I've no idea what I'm going to do with this card - it's going into my stash for now!  Bye for now!

Birthday Blues ....

... Morning all!  I don't know about you, but I do try to create post titles that catch the eye, and today I think it really works.  But I think I might have heard it somewhere before!!  Anyway, I have a clean, simple, masculine birthday card to share with you this morning:

Stamps: WPlus9 - Basic Banners
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Die-namics - Fishtail Flags Layers Stax #2, #4 and #6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Off the Wall; Stampin' Up! Card - Basic Black; SU Punches - Decorative Label, Modern Label; Basic Grey - Metal Studs

I've used a few challenges to make this card.  Our current challenge at The Male Room - TMR#2-15 is Shades of Blue and I've used blues and neutrals on this card.  The layout is from this week's challenge at CAS - Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#108.  The cue word at CASology - CAS#131 is birthday.  This card came together really quickly.  I simply cut three fishtail banners in different design papers and different sizes and adhered them flat to the card.  Then I punched a black background frame, stamped a birthday greeting on white card and punched that out too.  I then adhered the white panel onto the black, added some metal studs and used dimensional tape to adhere it to the front of the card.  On the inside I cut a mat layer in black card and used the rest of the graph paper on top.  I added one of the sentiment embellishments from the paper pack to complete the inside.

I showed this card to Kathryn yesterday evening and she was very impressed with it.  I told her it was a guy card, and she replied it doesn't have to be - and then I showed her the inside :)))  She just sighed.  Well, I might make another similar one without the inside sentiment.

I've got a stack of ironing to do this morning - so time to watch more of the TV series Weeds - it's such fun and does make the ironing go quicker!!  That's all for now - see you soon.

Polymer Clay Quilt ....

....  Good morning everyone.  It's a really bad weather day for many places along the east coast today - please take care and be safe.  All the wind and snow is a good reason to stay in and craft!  I don't have a card to share with you today, but I do have a polymer clay quilt!  I went to a craft class last Saturday and this is what I made:

It was a really fun class, where we got very inky and messy.  We used polymer clay to cover the base of a wood block and applied metal leaf, mica powders, acrylic paints and lots of texture.  We cut various shapes to go on top and then added decoration.  The propeller  in the top row is held in place by an old ruby earring!!

Here are a few photos of the work in progress:

That's all for now - got lots to do today.  Take care!  See you soon.

Edited to add:  I've been meaning to add photos of the work done by my class mates - all absolutely beautiful.

This one was made by Paddy - I love the word embellishments she's used on her quilt.  

 

I love the silver, blues and purple on this one made by Cindy.

This one is still a work in progress - Deborah was still finalising her design.

Carol went for a more abstract look and used circles for her all over design.  

The quilt above and below were the samples that Valerie brought to class with her - she made them both.

This was a really fun class!

Winter birthday ....

...  Hello!  I hope everyone has had a good weekend and is ready for the coming week.  I've had a super time and now that we're back to "normal" weeks, I hope to be back into my "normal" routine!  I've a birthday card to share with you this morning. 

Stamps: My Favourite Things - LJD Cozy Mittens; Winnie & Walter - Winter Wonderland
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Pink Pirouette, Tempting Turquoise, Gumball Green, Melon Mambo; Archival - Jet Black
Dies: Die-namics - Cozy Mittens; Spellbinders - Shapabilities - On the Edge (S5-168)
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pink Pirouette; SU DP - Pink Pirouette; Kaisercraft DP - Mistletoe

I used the layout from this week's MFT Card Challenge - MFTWSC#212 and the colours from Colour Throwdown - CTD#326.  I like these bright, cheerful colours and think they're just right for a winter birthday card.  I die cut a scalloped border along one edge of the design paper and adhered it to the card.  I cut a strip of white card, layered on some pale pink paper and adhered the panel to the card.  I die cut the mittens from white card and then stamped on the base colour and decorations.  I stamped the mitten string directly on the card and adhered the mittens with dimensional gel.  I finished the front with a simple birthday greeting.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of pale pink card and on the white panel stamped a mitten with a fun greeting.

One of my favourite sports is Figure Skating, and being in the States means I get to see much more of this sport on TV.  I watched the US Championships over the weekend - it was super.  I also found out that the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships are being held in Boston next year.  I'd love to go and watch it all live, but it's not cheap!!  I'm going to have to do some thinking!!!  Bye for now.

RSD's January Showcase ...

...  Good morning!  Welcome to our first Rick St Dennis MFA Showcase of 2015.  Each month Rick gives us a theme and we create projects based on the theme.  So this month Rick has given us the theme of VALENTINE, but with a twist - NO red, pink, purple or lilac!!  We can pick any image from Rick's vast selection of digital images, available at his Esty and Zibbet shops.  Rick's images range from cute, fun, to downright scary and, as such, we have two blogs to show off his art - Sparkle and Glitter for the cute, fun and elegant images and Airless Chambers for the darker stuff.  I've created a card for both.  I'll start off with my card for Sparkle and Glitter:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Carlotta Corazon Valentine Girl; My Favourite Things - LJD All My Love; Lil Inkers - It's Today, Right?
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Die-namics - All My Love
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Dream Big; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear

I was going to go with blue and orange, but changed my mind to go with greens, blues and teals - just love these colours!  I printed Carlotta onto white card, coloured her with Copic markers, added some sparkle with Wink of Stella and then fussy cut her out.  I covered the card base with some dotty design paper from Kaisercraft, adhered Carlotta to the card and finished the front with a bold turquoise heart and sentiment.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of the dotty paper and on the white panel added a cute image and sentiment.

I think you can guess who this card will be going to!

Now, I'm going to give you fair warning, my next card, while a lot of fun, has a very scary image - not suitable for those of a delicate disposition!

This is my card for Airless Chambers, our darker sister.  Here we share with you ghoulies, ghosties, long legged beasties and the odd zombie or two!!  Once again, we're not allowed to use reds, pinks, purples or lilacs - which actually makes it a bit tough to colour a zombie and parts!!!  Here's my card:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Zombie Be Mine; Lil Inkers - Pieces of Me
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Smokey Slate
Dies: Lil Inkers - Puzzle Pieces; Die-namics - Heart Puzzle
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Pool Party; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear

I had lots of fun picking an image for this card.  I like this zombie, he has carefully wrapped the brain and given his heart too.  As he is giving pieces to his beloved, I thought the image worked really well with the Puzzle Heart die and the puzzle pieces and sentiment.  I die cut the large heart in orange to match the one in the image and then die cut some smaller puzzle pieces.  I stamped the sentiment onto the smaller pieces and finished the greeting on the inside with the words "lots of small ones!!"  I cut a mat layer of orange card, stamped some more puzzle pieces on the white panel and hand wrote the words.  I added some sparkle to some of the puzzle pieces on the heart and brain on the front of the card and have a close up photo to show the shimmer.

This one is likely to be for our daughter, Kathryn.  One of the things we have often said to her is that we "love her to pieces" and she gives us a kiss and hug, and then we add "lots of small ones!" at which point she calls us evil parents!!  It's a bonding thing :))

Do check out what the rest of the team have made for this month's Valentine Showcase - for our lighter side click on this link to Sparkle and Glitter, and if you fancy some more darker cards, then click here for Airless Chambers. 

I do hope you're all having a great weekend.  I'm having a super time. I was at a craft class yesterday making a polymer clay quilt - will share details later.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  See you soon.

52CCT - Technique ....

...  Hello! We're at the fourth Saturday in January and that means it's time for our Technique challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  I decided to pick a technique that is really very popular at the moment and gives the impression of lots of layers and dimension, but in fact the card is pretty flat making it easy to post.  I'd like you to use the Inlaid Die technique on your card.  If you don't know how to do this technique, check out the video by Betsy Veldman (from Papertrey Make It Monday) at the end of this post.  Here's my take on the technique:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Holiday Home; Winnie & Walter - The Big, The Bold and The Merry
Inks: Memento - London Fog; SU - Cajun Craze, Mossy Meadow
Dies: Lawn Fawn - Stitched Hillside Borders; SU/Sizzix - Homemade Holiday Framelits; Winnie & Walter - The Big, The Bold & Merry Cutaways
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Mossy Meadow; Copic Markers

I used the colours from this week's Colour Me! Card Challenge - CMCC#55 and the theme of houses from Merry Monday - MM#142.  I stamped the three houses onto white card, coloured them with Copic markers and cut them out with the matching dies.  Next I die cut the houses from the card base, stamped on some lights, trees and the sleigh.  I adhered a piece of white card on the inside of the card and then adhered the die cut houses into the negative spaces.  Next I die cut the hillside and sentiment in white card.  I used Copic markers to colour the die cut sentiment to match the colour of the house doors and adhered it back into the negative space.  I finished the front by added a little snowman in the foreground and stamping the word merry.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of green card and stamped a simple sentiment.  ETA - Seems I managed to CASE Heather's card - we've both made a lovely winter scene, but I much prefer the colour of Heather's pretty houses!

Check out our blog to see more inspiration cards using our Inlaid Die technique and don't forget to check out Betsy's video - below:



That's all for now - have fun with the technique and enjoy your weekend!

USC - Love and Friendship II ...

...  Good morning all!  Having a day off on Monday (for Martin Luther King Jr Day) has really thrown my week, not only was I late yesterday, but today too!!  Hey ho!  It's time for a reminder about our challenge at Uniko Studio - USC#17 where we have the theme of

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

Last week I made an anniversary card, always needed in my stash, and this week I've a simple card for a friend:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - English Country Gardens: Butterflies, All Occasion Sentiments #3
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Chocolate Chip; Memento - Rich Cocoa
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frame Borders #7
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Copic Markers; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear

There are lots of challenges around blogland at the moment with the theme of friend - weird how that happens, but fun as it means I can link this card up with the following challenges:

• Colour Q - cQc#276 - colours
• Happy Little Stampers - HLSJanSk - layout
• CASology - CAS#130 - cue word FRIEND
• Less is More - LIM#207 - theme - FRIEND

I made the card base from a sheet of crumb cake card.  I used the Memory Box dies to cut a white panel for the front and inside of the card - I love the cross stitch detail.  I used my Fiskars Stamp Press to stamp the butterfly and sentiment on the white panel.  I stamped the butterfly again onto scrap white card and vellum, and used clear embossing powder on the vellum image.  I used Copic markers to colour both images, fussy cut them out and then added sparkle to the top of the image on the card and to the underneath of the vellum image, then I adhered the layered down the length of the body.  Once dry I curled the vellum wings to give some dimension and adhered the butterfly to the card base over the stamped image.  I finished the card by stamping a little butterfly on the panel inside the card.  I also took a photo to show the dimension and sparkle on the butterfly.

You still have plenty of time to join in with the Uniko Studio challenge - deadline is Friday 30th January, 8.00am GMT (3.00am EDT).  You don't have to use Uniko stamps to play along, but if you do and could win a £10 voucher to use in our store.  Do pop over to the Uniko Studio blog to see more inspiration from the team and our guest designers, Lucy, Lynn and Kitty.

By the way, I've a film recommendation for you.  I was out with friends last night and we went to see Wild, starring Reece Witherspoon (Oscar nominated).  It's about a woman who has lost her mum, got divorced and lost hope.  She starts to hike the Pacific Crest Trial - 1,100 miles.  It's a fantastic film based on the true story of Cheryl Strayed.  Well worth a visit.  And that's all for now.  Have fun crafting - see you soon.