SHC - Just for You ....

... Hello! I hope everyone is keeping well. I can't believe we're half-way through May already! Time is just flying by. However, it does mean that I'm here today with my post for Seven Hills Craft Blog. I've been spending lots of time in our new garden watching how the flowers change, watering the garden and enjoying all the wildlife that is visiting. And that was the inspiration for this card:

Stamps: Altenew - Best Buds; MFT - Brilliant Butterflies
Inks: Gina K - Black Amalgam, Sweet Mango, Tangerine Twist, Sea Glass, Turquoise Sea, Key Lime, Grass Green, Lovely Lavender, Wild Lilac
Dies: Die-namics - Brilliant Butterflies
Accessories: White Card; SU - Black Card; Sakura Stardust Pens

I'm submitting this card to Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge - HLSAGD#05 - do like these dies!

I've used the lovely MFT Brilliant Butterflies here, fluttering around a single flower from Altenew's Best Buds. I stamped the flower directly on the card base. The butterflies are made up of several layering stamps, I did try to die cut the matching shape and then stamp the image, but it didn't work for me. I took photos of my process:

I used my MISTI to position the stamps. I stamped the bottom wings in the paler ink, placed a clear grid overlay over the card, positioned the upper winges, did a test stamp on the overlay and once happy that the wings were in the right place, stamped them on the card. I repeated this process with the lace wings and body. I used the matching die to cut out the butterfly and did this several times for all the butterflies on the card. I added some sparkle detail to the lace wings on each butterfly using Sakura Stardust pens. I had some extra butterfly bodies die cut, so I layered the finished images on one die cut each and then adhered them to the card. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card, and on the white panel stamped a greeting, another flower and finished by adding another butterfly - you can't have too many!!

This card is for a friend of mine who works as a nurse in the NHS. She's so busy at the moment, I just wanted her to know that she's special.

I also made a birthday card featuring a flower and butterfly.

Stamps: Altenew - Best Buds, Botanical Garden, Beautiful Inside
Inks: Gina K - Black Amalgam
Dies: Altenew - Geo Frames
Accessories: White Card; SU - Black Card; Sakura Stardust Pens; Copic Markers

I'm submitting this card to AAA Birthday - AAAB#13 where they want to see things with wings - done! Also to Seize the Birthday - STB#190 where it's either Anything Goes birthday, or Monochromatic, done.

I die cut the panel using a rectangle frame die and stamped a flower, butterfly and sentiment in black. I coloured the flower and butterfly with Copic markers and then realised that the line weight of the flower didn't match the butterfly and sentiment - see photo. So I stamped the rose on white card, coloured it to match, fussy cut it out and adhered it to the panel. I don't think you can really see the old flower, and if you can, there are always lots of flowers in the garden!

On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel I stamped a birthday verse, along with another of the flowers from Botanical Garden. I coloured the flower and left it at that.

That's it from me for today. Do come back again soon. Bye!!

Two for one ....

Good morning everyone! It's the start of another week of lockdown, although here in Wales we are now allowed to go out for exercise more than once a day. And there's the possibility of some garden centres opening. Anyway, I'm here this morning to play along with Darnell's Twofer Card Challenge - TCC#27 where she wants us to use Flowers. Here are my cards:

I really enjoy this challenge, but I struggle to play along. However, this time it was easy. One of my favourite flowers is this large chrysanthemum from Uniko and I'm pleased to be able to play along this month. Full details of each card can be found below.

Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals - Chrysanthemum; Altenew - Bad Days Happen
Inks: Gina K - Ocean Mist, Soft Stone; Delicata - Golden Glitz
Dies: Spellbinders - A2 Matting Basics A (S5-131) #1, A2 Matting Basics B (S5-132) #1
Accessories: White Card; Gina K Card - Blue Lagoon; Gold Linen Effect Foil Card

I'm submitting this card to Colour Throwdown - CTD#592 and Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#434.

I stamped the large chrysanthemum in pale aqua ink in opposite corners of the card. I cut a strip of dark turquoise card and adhered them to the card. I stamped the sentiment in soft grey on white card and used a die to cut it out, and layered it on some gold linen effect foil card which had also been die cut. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark aqua card and on the white panel added a greeting and a smaller, gold, chrysanthemum. I think this card is perfect for the very strange times we find ourselves in - and it's going in the post today.

My next card is very clean and simple and is a birthday card:

Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals - Chrysanthemum; Gina K - Birthday Greetings
Inks: Gina K - Dark Chocolate; Delicata - Golden Glitz; Versamark
Dies: Uniko - Chrysanthemum
Accessories: White and Cream Card; Gold Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Less is More - LIM#419 where they want us to use White and Cream, and to CAS on Friday - CASoF#179 where they want us to use our favourite flower.

I stamped the large chrysanthemum on cream card in Versamark ink and heat embossed with gold power, and die cut with the matching die. I made the card from cream stock and cut a panel of white card slightly smaller onto which I stamped a birthday greeting in dark brown and gold. I adhered the panel to the card base and used dimensional pads to attach the large flower. On the inside, I cut a panel of white card onto which I stamped a birthday verse in dark brown and added a small gold chrysanthemum.

I'm so glad that I finally got to play along with Twofer. That's all from me today. See you again soon.

So Sweet ....

.... Good afternoon! We've had the most glorious weather for the past couple of days, but today it's a bit dull and grey, so I've been working in my craft room. I normally tend towards the clean and simple style, but today I've a card that is more!!

Stamps: Gina K - Petite Patisserie; Stampin' Up! - Bike Ride
Inks: Gina K - Dusty Rose, Kraft, Sandy Beach, Soft Stone, Jelly Bean Green, Black Amalgam; Distress Oxide - Tumbled Glass
Dies: SU - Build a Bike; Die-namics - Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX #1
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Strawberry Slush; Copic Markers; Nuvo - Clear Aqua Shimmer Brush; Gems

I'm submitting this card to Inkspirational - INK#212 where it's a photo inspiration challenge, Your Next Stamp - YNS#138 where they want to see layers, and Fusion - FUSION#0920. I've taken the Thank you theme from the Fusion photo for my card.

I've had this card in mind ever since I saw the photo at Inkspirational. I had a great time building this scene. I stamped the bike on white card, die cut with the matching dies, assembled it and added some gems to the wheel nuts. I stamped the cake shop directly on the card, added the cake stands and coloured it with Copic markers. I drew in a cobbled road with Copic markers and created the sky by tearing a shape into paper and used distress oxide lightly blended over the top. I adhered the bike to the card front, using dimensional pads. I finished by adding the sentiment strip and patisserie shop sign with dimensional pads. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark pink card and on the white panel I stamped a larger display of cakes and a sentiment.

I also took a couple of close-up shots to show the dimension on the bike and shop sign:

That's all from me today - I've got another online class with Dyan Reaveley tonight - should be lots of fun and I'll share the pages soon. Bye for now.

JUGS GD - Happy Birthday ....

.... Morning! I can't quite believe just how fast the days are passing - I guess it's because they are all so similar at the moment. I'm Guest Designer at Just Us Girls for the month of May - still so excited. I'm here with my card for our Trend week - JUGS#535, where the key word is MINI. Now, for me this immediately suggested the iconic British Mini! But this is what I made:

Stamps: Dawn Bibby - Flower Swirls DB026 (mini), Flower Swirl DB196 (lg); MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes, Anything But Basic Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versamark; Distress Oxide - Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac; Distress - Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, Broken China, Wilted Violet; Gina K - Black Amalgam, Soft Stone
Dies: Spellbinders - A2 Locking Loops (S5-175)
Accessories: White Card; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; White Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this cad to Cupcake Inspirations Challenge - CIC#492, such pretty colours, and to Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - HLSWC#05, where it's Anything Goes with the option of Embossing.

So, as you can see this is not what I immediately thought of - I couldn't find a stamp or image of a Mini car!! So, I had a think and decided to use a large and mini image of the same flower. These are old stamps, so it's nice to get them out and play. Using the larger image I stamped the corners of the card in turquoise and lilac inks, then added some mini images in the same colours. For the focal point of the card, I die cut a panel of water colour card and stamped the mini flower image in Versamark, heat embossed it with White powder and then added distress inks to the panel to make the image and sentiment pop. Once the water colour panel was dry, I attached it to the cardbase with dimensional tape. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of deep lilac card and on the white panel stamped the large flower image in soft grey, added a fun birthday greeting, and finished by stamping two of the mini images in lilac and turquoise.

That's all from me today - do join in with this week's Just Us Girls challenge - JUGS#535 - I can't wait to see what you make that's Mini!! Take care and see you soon.

C4Glz - Happy Birthday ...

... Good morning everyone! It's time for our new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz. For the next couple of weeks we want to see your BIRTHDAY themed papercraft projects. You can make any type of papercraft project - a tag, card, scrapbook layout, 3D project - but you must make sure that the BIRTHDAY theme is prominent. I've made a one-layer card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Gorgeous Grunge, Happiest Birthday Wishes, My Friend; Uniko - Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Kaleidacolor - Spectrum; Gina K - Black Amalgam
Accessories: White Card; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Less is More - LIM#418 where they want to see Scribbles, Drips Or Splats, and to Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#183 where the key word is Silhouette.

The card you see in the photo is the third one I made! I love clean and simple, but you have to be so careful to make sure your hands are clean. I ruined two by getting inky figure prints on them. I stamped the greeting at the top in black and heat embossed with clear powder. Then I stamped the floral silhouette image in the corner, I used my MISTI so I was able to repeat stamp the image to make sure I got good coverage of ink. I heat embossed with clear powder. Once the image had cooled down I used a couple of paint spatter images for the splats - I need to have some control, so stamped splats work for me. I used a spectrum inkpad to give a rainbow effect. The inside is equally clean and simple. I simply stamped a birthday greeting and added the splatter pattern in rainbow ink.

This card is going into my stash - I've got lots of birthdays coming up during May and June. Don't forget to visit Cardz 4 Galz - C4Glz#121 to see what the rest of the design team have created. Have fun with the challenge and I'll see you again soon.

MM - Dylusional Fun ....

... Morning! I hope you're all keeping safe and well. I had my weekly class with Dyan Reaveley on Sunday night - Online Class 2.0, it was absolutely brilliant. We learn lots of techniques and work along with Dyan. I've spent the last couple of days finishing off my pages. This time we made four pages in our journal. Here are my pages:

Stamps: Dylusions - Just Breathe, Doolally Doris, Flight of Fancy, Toadstool Town, Let Me Adjust My Crown, The Cat & I, Clearly Flight of Fancy, Starstruck
Inks: Gina K - Black Amalgam
Accessories: Dylusions Jumpstart Journal; Dylusions Paints - Fresh Lime, Vibrant Turquoise, Dirty Martini; Dylusions Stencils - 9x12 - Martha's Mat, Diamonds, Bowl of Cherries, 5x8 - Martha's Mat, Starstruck, Circles; Dycuts Sets #6 and #7; Dylusions - Bigger Back Chat Black; Posca Pens - Black and White; Dylusions Dyary Sticker Book #1 and #2

I'm submitting these pages to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#46 where it's Anything Goes, and to More Mixed Media Challenge - MMMC#05 where it's Anything Goes with the option of Pink.

I'm having such a great time working in my journals with all the techniques I've been learning with Dyan. I've done several classes, but I always come away from a lesson with new ideas to try out. I've got another class - Online Class 3.0 - on Sunday 10 May, and then I'm doing a whole week with Dyan and lots of other Dylusionists from Monday 11 - Saturday 16 May - Distinctly Dylusions. It's going to be wonderful!!

That's all from me today. I think I need to get some work in the house sorted out, as I'm not going to be doing much next week 😁😂😃

Do stop by tomorrow to see my card for our new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz. Bye for now.