Uniko - Revisit and Blog Hop ...

.... Hello again! Today it's the Uniko Revisit and Blog Hop. We're revisiting three sets this month, and they all work perfectly together. I've actually made a couple of cards. I'll start with a thank you card that I made - you can never have too many "thanks" cards.

Stamps: Uniko - All Occasion Sentiments #6, Natures Treasures II, Flower Power #3; Stampin' Up! - Gorgeous Grunge
Inks: SU - Pink Pirouette, Pistachio Pudding; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Grey Flannel; Versamark
Dies: Die-namics - Pierced Rectangle Frames #2
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pistachio Pudding; Vellum; White Embossing Powder; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Stadtler - Aquarell Pencils; Sequins

I'm submitting this to TIME OUT challenges - TOC#56 where we had to CASE Kay's beautiful card. The colours are from this week's Paper Players - PP#294 with such pretty pastel colours. Kay's card has a die cut, flowers, sequins and white space - and so does mine. But instead of going for two colours, I've made a light, spring-like card. I stamped the splatter and Thanks images in pale grey and then attached the die cut frame with dimensional tape. I stamped the flowers on vellum using Versamark and heat embossed with white powder. I coloured on the back of each flower with Copic markers and then fussy cut them out. I used both the solid and open leaves for some variation and cut them out too. I stamped the word Thanks on watercolour paper and used Aquarell pencils to lightly colour each letter, and then I cut them out. I adhered the lilac flower flat to the card and used dimensional gel to attach the leaves and flowers. I used dimensional tape to attach the word thanks. On the inside I cut a mat layer of pale green card and on the white panel added a simple greeting and the solid flower.

My second card is really CAS.

Stamps: Uniko - All Occasion Sentiments #6, Natures Treasures II
Inks: SU - Pear Pizzazz; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pear Pizzazz

I masked off a 1" border all the way round the card. Then I sponged on two shades of green ink. I stamped the leaves in a darker shades of green. Then, after removing the masking tape, I stamped the sentiment in black along the bottom of the inked panel. On the inside I cut a mat layer of green card and added some more of the botanical elements from Natures Treasures to the white panel. As I've only used soft pastel shades of green, I'm submitting this card to the current challenge at Less is More - LIM#275.

This is a blog hop and you should have come to my blog via Bev's, however, in case you've arrived here directly, here's the Blog Hop list:

Bev (Uniko)

Deborah (that's me!)

Jane

Lindsey
Sarah G

Sarah P

Nicki

If you leave comments as you go around the Blog Hop, you will be in with a chance to win all three of the featured sets, details on Bev's blog. You have until midnight (BST) Wednesday 18th May to leave your comments.  That's all for now!

TMR - DT Call & Theme ...

..... Good morning! It's time for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#35, our theme for the next couple of weeks is TRANSPORT. This is an easy challenge for the men in our lives - they all seem to like transport related stuff. Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Greatest Greetings
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: SU Card - Basic Black; White Lustre Card; Kanban - Transport Set; Enamel Dot

When I was unpacking recently I came across this transport theme card stock from Kanban. I've had it in my stash for a number of years, and thought it was time to use it. I made the base from black card folded into a 4¼" square. I cut a panel of gold card and added that to the side. I cut out two image panels and layered them on black card. I added another layer of gold card to the sentiment panel. I finished the front by adding a gold enamel dot. On the inside I cut a mat layer of gold card and on the white panel added a greeting along with a bit of a car.

Do visit our blog to check out more inspiration projects from the team. You'll also find details for our DT call.  That's all for now, but I'll be back again soon.

Pastels ....

.... Morning! I've got a very clean, simple card to share with you this morning. I've based the layout on the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#171, although I've turned the sketch to make a landscape card. Over at Less is More - LIM#275 they have a colour challenge to use PASTELS in a CAS style. Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Remarkable You, Greatest Greetings, Timeless Textures
Inks: Distress - Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Grey Flannel
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Soft Sky; Clear Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear

I stamped the large flower in Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder. I created a mask to cover the flower and then smooshed a mixture of pastel colours over the create the panel - kind of like a sunset sky. Leaving the mask in place I added some textural stamps around in pale grey. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to position the sentiment which I stamped in black. I added some sparkle to the flower with a clear Wink of Stella brush. On the inside I cut a mat layer of pale blue card and on the white panel added some more textural stamps and a greeting.

This card will be winging its way to my Mum today. I can share it here as she doesn't do technology, so it'll be a surprise when she gets it. And in only 6 weeks I'll get to see my Mum in real-life. Kat and I will be heading back to England for a couple of weeks - so looking forward to it. That's all for today - I'm having a pamper morning at the hairdresser - hair, nails and toes - such luxury! See you soon.

Silly love songs ....

... Hi, good morning! I was on a roll yesterday making cards and I've got one more card for our Shakespeare theme challenge at The Male Room - TMR#34. Once again I've got a musical theme on my card, but then Shakespeare has so many quotes about music and I've based this on "If music be the food of love, play on .." from Twelfth Night:

Stamps: Casual Friday Stamps - Love Notes; Stampin' Up! - Musical Manuscript
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Desert Heat; Memento - Grey Flannel; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Lil Inkers - Dual Stitched Squares #3; Spellbinders - Squares Lg (S4-126) #7; CFS - Heart Note
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Real Red, Basic Black; SU DP - Basic Black

As the quote is about love, I decided to make this a love card for my husband. I picked shades of red, so I'm submitting this to Cardz 4 Guys - C4G#118 where they have a monochrome theme. Jonathan is a keen music fan and he'll enjoy this card. I love the fun sentiment and die cut the musical heart note in red and black and layered them to give a little dimension. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black design paper and added a greeting on the white panel.

That's all for today - I've got to get on with some house stuff and finish off emptying the boxes. Only two rooms to go! See you soon.

A couple of cards ....

... Good evening, I hope you've all had a super day. Here in the States it's Mother's Day and I've had a super time - I spent virtually all day crafting and listening to music. I got a sweet card from Kat and they got dinner for me, a pizza from Jets, which tasted fab! I didn't have to cook - so all's good.

Anyway, I'm here this evening with a couple of cards for several challenges. The first card is for - CASology - CAS#196 where the cue word is MOVE and the colours are from Colour Q Challenge - cQc#340. Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampendous - Family Home, House & Home
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Grey Flannel; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Spellbinders - Squares Lg (S4-126) #7; Lil Inkers - Dual Stitched Squares #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Coastal Cabana; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear

We've been in our new house for just over a month now, and I thought it was time to send some cards to let people know that we've moved - yes, I know it's very late! I stamped the main image on white card, cut it out with a die and coloured it with Copics. I stamped the image again and coloured the doors and home badge, cut them out and attached them to the main image. I used dimensional gel on the green home badge. I used a clear Wink of Stella brush to add some sparkle to the green badge and the red door inside. I layered the finished image on some pale aqua card and adhered it to the card base. I finished the front by adding a message and a post box. On the inside I cut a mat layer in aqua and on the white panel stamped the houses in grey and coloured the main door.

My next card is a birthday card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Musical Manuscript; Uniko - All Occasion Sentiments #6; CFS - Whole Shebang
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Kaleidacolor - Blue Breeze; SU - Pacific Point
Dies: Spellbinders - Squares Lg (S4-126) #7; Lil Inkers - Dual Stitched Squares #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pacific Point; SU DP - Pacific Point; SU Candy Dots; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder

Our challenge at The Male Room - TMR#34 has the theme Shakespeare, and I've based this card on one of Shakespeare's many quotes based upon music. I've gone for a monochromatic theme in blue, so I'm submitting this card to Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#118 and the layout is based on this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#235. I stamped the music image on white card, cut it out with a die and layered it on some blue card and attached it to the card. I stamped the sentiment in versafine on vellum and heat embossed it with clear powder. I attached it to the card and hid the adhesive with some co-ordinating candy dots. On the inside I cut a mat of design paper and on the white panel added a greeting.

Before I go, I'd like to remind everyone that we're having a DT Call over at The Male Room. You need to play along with our current Shakespeare challenge and also with our next challenge - full details are on the blog.

That's all for now - I'm off to have a coffee, chat to Jonathan and then settle in for the fastest hour of TV - Games of Thrones! See you all soon.

Botanical goodness ....

... Hello again! I'm back with another card to share. Jacqueline, one of my crafting buddies started a new sketch challenge recently - Sassy Sketcharinos - and I'm very pleased to be Guest Designer there this week. I find having sketches can really help me, especially if I'm in a hurry - this week's sketch is so versatile. Here's my take:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Botanical Blooms, Botanicals for You
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey
Dies: Spellbinders - Labels 23 (S4-347) #6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Botanical Gardens; SU Card - Basic Black, Mossy Meadow; Clear Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gems; Glitter

I got to play with some of my new SU goodies on this card. I covered the card with design paper and added three strips of double sided tape. I added clear glitter to the tape and burnished well to give a subtle striped, shimmer section. I die cut a large panel in white card and stamped the bold sentiment in black and heat embossed it with clear powder. I attached the panel flat to the card. I stamped the solid flowers in two colours and cut them out with matching dies. I die cut the flower centres from green card, attached them to the flowers and added a touch of sparkle to the end of the stamens with a clear Wink of Stella brush. Finished the front by adding some gems to the flowers. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card, layered on some design paper and on the white panel finished the greeting and added some flowers.

I used the colours from this week's CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#172, although it might not be CAS enough! I've taken a photo of the three sparkly stripes as you can't really see them in the photo above.

Do visit Sassy Sketcharinos to check out more inspiration from the team and do join in, you've got plenty of time to play along. Have fun!

CIC - Theme ....

... Hello! I hope your weekend is going well. It's time for our new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations - CIC#359, and our theme is BUNTING. Our sponsor for this challenge is Paper Sweeties and the winner of the challenge will get a $25 Gift Certificate to spend in their shop. I have used a couple of their products on my card:

Stamps: Paper Sweeties - Birthday Banners; Uniko - Celebrate with Cake
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Spectrum; Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Sahara Sand
Dies: Paper Sweeties - Sweet Cuts Birthday Banners
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; SU Card - Black

I've gone for a fairly clean and simple card - echoing the pretty design on the graphic cupcakes. I liked the rainbow bunting on the cakes, so decided to play with my Kaleidacolor ink set. I stamped the bunting twice (turning the ink pad to make the colours go in opposite directions) and then cut them out with the matching die. I stamped a large cupcake on some scrap paper and inked up the frosting stamp with rainbow colours. I attached the cupcake to the card, added a greeting and finished by adding some star confetti. I attached the top bunting layer flat to the card, but used dimensional gel for the second layer to give a little depth. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel I stamped some cupcake bunting which I coloured with Copics and added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I finished the front with a sentiment stamped with the Kaleidacolor pad.

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration cards from the rest of the team. Have fun!

52CCT - Sketch .....

.... Morning! I can't quite believe that it's already May, this year seems to be going by so quickly. It might be because we've been so busy. Anyway, it does mean that it's time for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT18-16. This month our host is Fabiola and she has a wonderful sketch for us this week. Here's my take:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Endless Wishes
Inks: SU - Pool Party, Island Indigo; Memento - Grey Flannel
Dies: Die-namics - Fishtail Flags Layers Stax #1, Zig-Zag Stitched Rectangles Stax #5, Zig-Zag Stitched Ovals Stax #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Winter Frost; Sequins

I covered the card with some snowflake design paper. I cut a panel of white card with a fancy edge die and then cut out an oval in the centre with a matching die. I stamped some snowflakes and a greeting on the oval panel and adhered it flat to the card. I turned the rectangle into a shaker by adding some acetate over the oval opening. I added some sequins to the inside, attached the cover and it's done! On the inside I cut another piece of design paper and on the white panel added a few more snowflakes and a simple greeting.  I'm submitting this card to AAA Cards - AAA#63 where the team want a CAS shaker card. I'm beginning to think that this might not be CAS enough, but I'm submitting anyway!

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration cards from the rest of the team. You've got plenty of time to play along with us, deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Friday 13th May (7.00pm EDT). That's all for now!