Sea Breeze ....

...  Morning!  We're enjoying gorgeous summer weather here in Northville.  It's a bit milder than normal, but that suits me very well.  My card today celebrates balmy summer evenings at the beach - be it lakeside (as here in Michigan) or at the seaside.

Stamps: Inkadinkado - Coastal, Down by the Seaside; Stampin' Up! - Work of Art
Inks: SU - Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Smoky Slate; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Smoky Slate; Wink of Stella - Clear; Copic Markers

Our theme at The Male Room - TMR#16-15 is Vacation or On the Beach - last week I made a card showing vacation preparations, so as a reminder I thought that I'd show a beach card this week.  I'm also submitting this card to Inkspirational - INK#88 (photo inspiration) and to Colour Throwdown - CTD#355.

I cut a panel of soft grey card slightly smaller then the card and adhered it directly the base.  On the white panel I stamped this lovely lighthouse scene - reminds me of the lighthouses around Michigan.  I masked off the clouds, lighthouse, beach and moon and stamped a gradient of blues to create the sky and lake (sea).  After removing the mask, I coloured the lighthouse, clouds, and beach with Copic markers.  As I decided to make this an evening scene, I added sparkle to the moon with my clear Wink of Stella brush.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of grey card and added some shells to the white panel.

I took a close-up photo of the moon to show the sparkle:

We've had some fabulous submissions for The Male Room challenge and there's still plenty of time to join in, deadline is Tuesday 18th August midnight BST (7.00pm EDT).

Last Friday Jonathan, Mum and I took a short road trip to northern Michigan.  We stopped first in Mackinaw City and headed out to see the bridge connected the upper peninsula with the main body of Michigan.  It was getting dark when we arrived, so we went back out in the morning to have another look - it's a fab bridge.  Then we drove to several towns - Petosky, Charlesvoix, Glen Arbor, Leland, Frankfort, and Ludington.  It was a lovely day, but we weren't able to spend much time in any one place - so we'll have to visit again.

Jonathan, Mum and me in front of the Mackinac Bridge.  

Looking across the lake towards Mackinac Island - you can see the ferry taking over the first visitors of the day.

Petoskey Marina - it was so quiet and peaceful.

Early(ish) Sunday morning at Ludington Marina.  This is a view of the lighthouse through one of the many sculptures in the area.

The Spirit of Ludington.  We had a lovely time walking around the marina and watching people take their boats out to the lake.

We then headed off to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp to pick up Kathryn and to watch the choir concert.  Kathryn spent 12 days at the camp singing and studying Shakespeare.  She was very pleased to see us as she had missed us all very much, but she loved it and can't wait to do it again!!  The choir concert was fabulous.  It was a really good weekend.

Greens and blues ....

.... the challenge at For Your Inspiration - FYI#11 has the most wonderful photograph to inspire us.

It really is a stunning photo, but it's taken me ages to come up with a card.  At first I was going to have a go at doing reflections - but I changed my mind.  Instead I decided to focus on the gorgeous shades of blue and green in the picture and on the lovely symmetrical shape of the buildings and their reflection.

I've been playing with alcohol inks a lot this week - it's very messy, but lots of fun - and I have to thank Chrissie and Mandi - I've only starting using these inks because of this week's challenge at Less is More - check it out.

I used alcohol inks in green and blue on a large sheet of acetate, the aim being to create a feeling of water.  I attached the acetate to my card base using brads.  I used a piece of satin ribbon and made a ruffle effect - sort of representing the white of the clouds.  Then I used my Labels 20 nesties to cut a large mat in blue holographic card - to represent the sky and sort of take on the shape of the buildings.  I also cut a smaller layer in white card to which I added shades of blue and then stamped on a bold, but simple sentiment.  I'm pleased with the end result, but I wasn't sure that I'd get a card done before the deadline!!

Stamps: Hobby Art - Happy Birthday
Inks:  Adirondacks Alcohol Ink - Citrus, Pool, Sail Boat Blue
Spellbinders:  Labels 20 (S5-026) # 3 and 4
Accessories:  Card, holographic card, acetate and ribbon from stash

I'm off to the hospital to see the physiotherapist about my knee.  I've been doing the exercises they gave me and I've been having no problems at all walking, so all being well I won't have to see them again. 

I think that's likely to be all for today.  See you all tomorrow.

A two in one challenge .....

... two of my favourite challenges have joined up this week to share a challenge - CAS-ual Fridays - CFC15 and Clean & Simple Stamping - FTL153.  The idea is to make a clean and simple design based on the FTL153 sketch - what a super idea.

I spent yesterday evening in my craft room and made two cards for this challenge - they both owe some of their inspiration to this week's Less is More challenge where Chrissie and Mandi have asked us to us inky techniques on our one layer cards.  Sadly these cards are not one layer - so they can't be entered.  However, I have had lots more fun playing around with alcohol inks!!

My first card keeps pretty close to the sketch.  I used alcohol inks onto an acetate panel.  First I applied some green and blue to create the middle layer of colour, then above and below that I used a mixture of purple and blue.  On the front of the acetate I stamped this lovely flower image.  Stamping onto acetate is definitely a skill - it took me about five attempts to get it right.  Fortunately, Stazon comes off acetate easily with a bit of acetone!  I attached the acetate panel by running it through my Xyron and sticking it to my card.  Finally, I added a very bold, but simple sentiment.

Stamps: Kanban - All Occasions Set; Waltzingmouse - Say It Loud
Inks:  Stazon - Jet Black; Adirondack Alcohol Inks - Citrus, Purple Twilight, Pool
Accessories:  Card and acetate from stash

My second card takes a few liberties with the sketch, but trying to keep to the sketch just didn't work!  I made another acetate panel - this time I added a drop of ink at a time and used a straw to blow the ink about until it dried.  I repeated this using several inks until I'd got a pattern I was happy with.  As the pattern was quite grungy I decided to make a card for a teenager.  I stamped a guitar onto the acetate panel and attached the panel to the card.  Then I used a couple of other stamps from the same set to complete the card.  All images were stamped in Stazon.

Stamps: Inkadinkado - Rockstar
Inks:  Stazon - Jet Black; Adirondack Alcohol Inks - Citrus, Pool, Purple Twilight, Sail Boat Blue
Accessories:  Card and acetate from stash

I've had lots of fun colouring acetate with alcohol inks and have a couple of pieces ready to make a few more cards.

I had a really fun day yesterday.  In the morning a couple of friends came round for some tips on how to use Windows 7.  In the afternoon Kathryn and I spent some time in the kitchen making cakes.  My cake mixer has died - so I took the opportunity to show Kathryn how to make cakes by hand - creaming the butter and sugar, then adding the eggs and flour - and showing her that it was hard work - but worth it!.  I made a chocolate mix, Kathryn made a vanilla mix - and we put them together to make marble Butterfly cakes.  We had such fun - actually I think Kathryn enjoyed licking off the spoons best!!  Kathryn made the butter icing and got covered in icing sugar.  And the cakes were delicious. 

If the weather is nice today, Kathryn and I are going to the zoo, if it rains I'll take her to a local activity centre.  Either way - we'll have a super morning out together. 

Before I go, I'd like to say Hi and Welcome to Wynneth who has become one of my Blog Friends - great to have you here.  That's all for now.  See you soon.

Less is More 28 ....

... hello fellow LIMettes - Mandi and Chrissie have set us a super challenge this week.  LIM28 - a one layer card - and the ladies would like us to feature inks.  The idea is to get inky either in a new technique or a favourite one. 

I decided that this was the perfect time for me to try using my alcohol inks.  I've got five bottle in my stash that have never been opened - they have now :)  I got very inky - my hands were covered in shades of green, blue, red, brown - sort of merging into a muddy colour.  Alcohol inks work on non-absorbent surfaces - glossy card, glass, metal, acetate - things of this type.  What I have discovered is that alcohol inks dry really, really quickly and that if you overdo the blending you end up with mud!  This was the only success - the rest are in the bin.

I wanted to have a rectangle of colour made by mixing the alcohol inks - my first three attempts were disasters.  Finding something that successfully masked the rest of the card was difficult - my final attempt was to use a piece of clear plastic into which I cut the rectangle and attached to the card with temporary adhesive.  I'd hoped that this would stop the inks seeping under the edges - as you can see above it didn't.  However, I'm quite pleased with the slightly distressed edge to the rectangle.  I used some pearl mixative over the top of the colours - looks lovely in real life.  I stamped my favourite agapanthus stamp in the corner using black Stazon and added a clean and simple sentiment. 

Stamps:  Stampendous - Agapanthus Cluster; Waltzingmouse - Asian Gardens Additions
Inks:  Stazon - Black; Adirondacks Alcohol - Eggplant, Citrus, Cranberry
Accessories:  Adirondacks Blending Solution, Pearl Mixative and gloss card from stash

I had a really great time in my craft room yesterday playing with this technique.  I do think it would work better on a layered card - that way the panel can be cut to size and there would be no seepage like that above.  I have a feeling I'll be using this technique again - I want to see what sort of effect I can get on some acetate - but that won't work for this challenge. 

I've got a busy day planned starting with a couple of friends over this morning for a quick training session on Word 7 - should be fun.  I really do have to get the ironing done - no excuse now, my knee is feeling so much better.  Jonathan is back to work today but he's not away, he's working from home for a while - Kathryn is delighted.  I don't think she quite understands that Daddy will be busy and not able to play with her! 

Before I go, I'd like to say Hi and welcome to Cara, Jeanne, Tammy and Thelma some of my new friends. That's all for now, see you soon.