Halloween neutrals ...

.... Morning!  This is one of my scheduled posts - set up as our son, Ben, and his girlfriend, Sophie, are visiting for a couple of weeks.

I've a clean, simple and graphic Halloween card for you this morning:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Woodgrain; MFT - Primitive Pumpkins
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Smoky Slate, Craft Whisper White; Distress - Antique Linen, Old Paper, Hickory Smoke, Weathered Wood; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Die-namics - Primitive Pumpkins
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Smoky Slate

I really like the photo used at The Card Concept - CC#41 - the weathered wood chair, the cream pumpkins and dark floor - just fab.  I decided to make the woodgrain finish the main feature of the background - I stamped the woodgrain image in grey and softened it by rubbing over with a white pigment ink.  I stamped the pumpkins in Distress ink and cut them out with the matching dies.  I added a row of rustic stars to ground the pumpkins and finished by adding a sentiment.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of grey card and added a Halloween greeting to the white panel - and some more pumpkins!!

I'm also submitting this card to the current challenge at AAA Cards - AAA#50.  The graphic they have used this week has 4 pumpkins - and so do I!!   Not sure it's as clean and simple as the team would like, but it is simple!

That's all for today.

AC - 31 Days of Halloween ....

... Morning!  We're at Day 18 of the scariest blog hop around - 31 Days of Halloween, organised by Smeared Ink.  It's my turn to host our post over at Airless Chambers.  I've made a really quick and easy Halloween card:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Voodoo Doll (from Voodoo Digi Sheet Smeared Ink); Winnie & Walter - Moonlight; Stampin' Up! - Endless Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Pumpkin Pie; Memento - London Fog
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Graphic 45 DP - Rare Oddities; Graphic 45 Journal Card - Rare Oddities; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear; Glossy Accents

I printed the little Voodoo Doll on white card, coloured it with Copic markers, added Glossy Accents to various areas and then covered the whole image with clear Wink of Stella - it shimmers so much in sunlight!  I really wish you could see it in the photo.  I fussy cut the image and edged it with a black marker.  I used one of the journal cards from my new Graphic 45 pack to cover the card (so simple) and then attached the Voodoo Doll with dimensional gel.  Did I mention it was quick??  On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper to match the card, and added a greeting and some decoration to the white panel.

The photo inspiration over at at the new FUSION challenge - FUSION#41 is Halloween, so I'm submitting this card to the challenge.

If you like this cute Voodoo Doll you can find it over at Rick's Zibbet shop - there are lots of images on the digi sheet.  Rick also has a fabulous colouring book called Day of the Dead - full of wonderful Halloween images - which you can get at Zibbet or via Amazon.  It's brilliant - I've got it!!

Our son, Ben, and his girlfriend, Sophie, are flying over today for a two week holiday.  They've timed it to coincide with Halloween.  It's entirely possible that my blog will be quiet, apart from a few scheduled posts, during their visit.  That's all for now.  See you soon.

52CCT - Theme ....

......  Good morning!  Halfway through October already - time is flying by.  But it does bring us to our new challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  April has picked a really fun theme for us this week - THE WILD WOODS.  I had fun making my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Frosty in the Meadow, Little Deer, Flurries
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black, Vintage Sepia; Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso; Distress - Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Dusty Concord, Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood, Hickory Smoke
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Early Espresso; Copic Markers; Signo White Pen; Clear Embossing Powder

I had lots of fun creating my wood.  I started by stamping some of the tree trunks directly on the card using second generation impressions.  Then I stamped a couple which I embossed with clear powder.  Then I created the background using Distress inks - I went for an late evening sunset with a warm glow at the bottom of the image and the night sky starting to come in at the top.  I stamped another three trees in darker brown, heat embossed them with clear powder and cut them out.  I stamped the little deer and the bird on white card, coloured with Copic markers, cut them out and edged them with a black marker.  I adhered the extra trees and cute animals to the card.  I used a white gel pen to add some accents and some snow falling - see the snow on his nose!  I finished the front with a pun sentiment.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper and added a greeting to the white panel.

As this card has features furry animals I'm submitting it to the current challenge at Cupcake Inspirations Challenge - CIC#331, and the sunset glow means I'm playing along with Inkspirational - INK#93 where the cue word is GLOW.

Do visit our blog to see what the rest of the team have made to inspire you.  Have fun and see you soon.

UC - Geometric ....

.... Hello again!  I'm back with our new challenge at Uniko.  We have a really fun theme this time - GEOMETRIC and, as always, we have an optional twist of CIRCLES, TRIANGLES or SQUARES.  If you want some idea of Geometric patterns check out this link.  I've made a really clean and simple Christmas card:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Round in Circles, All Occasion Sentiments #4
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Cucumber Crush, Crushed Curry
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Glitter; Glue Pen

This card is an ultra clean and simple, one layer card - great to post!  I've used the colours from this week's Paper Players - PP#266 challenge - they seem just perfect for a Christmas card.  I used my MISTI to stamp the lines of little circles - it's so easy to keep every line perfectly straight using this tool.  I stamped the words in black and used the cursive ampersand in green.  I finished the front by adding some glitter (can't ever have too much glitter) to the circles.  On the inside I stamped a bold Christmas greeting and added some more circles using the rock and roll technique to get all the colours on one stamp.

Do visit our blog to see what the rest of the team have created to inspire you.  We have two fabulous Guest Designer joining us too - you will be familiar with their work.  Please welcome Rahmat and Julia.

That's not all, we have some prizes too!  The DT will pick a winner who will get a £20 gift voucher to use in the shop.  The DT also pick the Top 3 who will each recieve 50 Loyalty Points to their customer accounts.  We also do a random draw for all those who use Uniko stamps on their project - the winner of this draw will get 150 Loyalty Points to their customer account.  And last, but not least, if you've joined in with the twist, we enter all those cards into a random draw and the winner of this draw will get 100 Loyalty Points to their customer account.  You've got plenty of time to join in the fun - the challenge finishes at 8.00am (BST) Friday 30th October.  Have fun!!!

RSD - Progressive Challenge Part 2 - Team B ...

.....  Morning!  Welcome to Part 2 of the Progressive Challenge at Sparkle and Glitter.  For this part of the challenge you have to use the image provided by Rick St Dennis.  If you took part in the first part of the challenge you can get the image by contacting Mo (click here).  The image that we're using this month was originally going to be in one of Rick's fabulous colouring books, but it was substituted, so this version of Alice is now available at Rick's Zibbet shop.  Team A have already shared their projects here.  This is my take:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Alice; Stampin' Up! - Morning Cup; Dylusions - Clearly Borders
Inks: Dylusions Paints - Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, Postbox Red, Black Marble; Archival - Monarch Orange, Forget-me-Not, Jet Black
Dies: Die-namics - Zig-Zag Stitched Rectangle Stax #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Dylusions Sm Journal 5" × 8"; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear; Signo White Pen; Sharpie Fine Black Pen; Dylusions Stencils - Blocks Lg, Hearts Lg, Keyholes Sm, Blocks Sm

I attended some Dylusion classes with Dyan Reaveley last weekend.  On Sunday we did a full day class focusing on Dyan's wonderful paints.  We worked on the small journal and spent the day learning various techniques.  The background on this page was made using baby wipes and I've detailed the paints and stencils above.  It is the perfect background for my image of Alice.

I printed the image on white card, coloured her with Copic markers and cut her out with a die which has a faux stitched edge.  I have added sparkle to her eyeshadow, lips, hairband and initial.  I stamped some images based around the theme of tea onto the background using archival ink.  I finished the spread by adding a quote from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll:

"Who in the world am I?  Ah, that's the great puzzle."

Lewis Carroll

I've been pointed in the direction of some new challenges by my team mate, Vicky, so I'm submitting this art journal spread to the following challenges:

• Inspiration Destination Challenge Blog - IDCB#55 - where it's ANYTHING GOES
• 613 Avenue Create - 613AC#145 - where it is also ANYTHING GOES

Do visit Sparkle and Glitter to see what the rest of Rick's Elite team have made using their images of Alice.

This is the cover of Rick's colouring book Alice 150th Birthday - just one of Rick's colouring books available at Zibbet or on Amazon.  Bye for now!

Warm my heart ....

....  Hello!  Just made a really quick, clean and simple card for autumn:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Sheltering Tree
Inks: SU - Cajun Craze, Hello Honey
Accessories: White Lustre Card

This card is for the following challenges:

• Less is More - LIM#245 - one layer with the theme of autumn
• Colour Me Card Challenge - CMCC#93 - colours are perfect for autumn
• Time Out Challenges - TOC#41 - based on a quote about autumn

This one came together in about 5 minutes!! Using my MISTI, I stamped the tree twice to give extra depth to the colour.  Then I inked up the leaves in yellow and added touches of brown before stamping them.  I grounded the tree using the swish image (second impression) and added the swing to the tree.  I finished the front with the simple, but heartfelt, sentiment.  I've not done the inside yet!

This tree looks like a number of the trees in our neighbourhood - autumn has most definitely arrived!!  Bye for now.

Edited to add:  I finally finished the inside of the card - very simple, some design paper in yellow and another tree and sentiment:

That's it - now up to date!

TMR - Theme .....

.... Good morning!  It's time for our new challenge at The Male Room and, as it's October, there really could only be one theme - HALLOWEEN.  I was going to make an art journal page, but didn't have any pages with just oranges in the background, so I decided to make a card and just channel the journal feeling.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Winnie & Walter - Moonlight; Dylusions - Mischie vous Malcolm, Day of the Heads
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Antique Linen, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Hickory Smoke; Memento - London Fog
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Tangerine Tango; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

After my crafting weekend with Dyan Reaveley, I really wanted to make an art journal page, but I didn't have time.  So I made a large card instead.  I stamped the cobweb border in black Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear powder.  Next I stamped the scary old tree, embossed with clear powder and watercoloured it with antique linen.  I shaded the background using Distress inks and a blending tool to create an eerie orange sky.  I added the date and owl and heat embossed them with clear powder.  I stamped all the other elements on white card, coloured them with Copic markers, cut them out and edged them with a black marker.  I adhered the skull over Malcolm's face and added a witch's hat.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of orange card and added a fun greeting to the white panel.

I used the colours from this week's Colour Q - cQc#312 challenge - they're perfect for a Halloween card.

I know exactly who this card is for - our son Ben.  He and his girlfriend, Sophie, are coming over to the States on Sunday for a couple of weeks' holiday.  They timed their visit to coincide with Halloween as Northville township really goes all out to decorate for the event.  There are skeleton displays all over downtown Northville and the surrounding area and on the night itself, a whole section of town is closed to cars so that the children can go trick or treating!  It's a really fun event.

Don't forget to visit our blog to see what the rest of the team have created to inspire you.  You've got two weeks to play along - deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Tuesday 27 October (that's 7.00pm EDT).  Have fun!!

ASM - Anything Goes ....

... Evening all!  It's time for our ever popular ANYTHING GOES challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More!  As it's only just over 10 weeks to Christmas, and I need still more cards, I decided to make a Christmas card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Opera Tags Christmas, Alpine Christmas, Warm Fuzzies, Tis the Season
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Bermuda Bay, Lucky Limeade
Dies: Spellbinders/WMS - Opera Tags
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Bermuda Bay; Crafter's Companion EF - Star; Glitter; Thread; Quickie Glue Pen

I used the sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#145 for the layout and, as there's lots of sparkly glitter on this card, I'm submitting to Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#74.

I stamped the gorgeous Opera Tag image in two shades of green and added the sentiment in the middle.  I used my glue pen to add glue to the image and then applied lots of glitter.  I cut another tag and adhered them together.  I embossed the panel with some stars, brushed the ink pad across to bring out the stars and finished by adding more glitter.  I found some thread in my stash that went with the colours I used, lay it on the card and then adhered the finished tag with dimensional gel.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of teal card and added a sentiment and snowflakes to the white panel.  I've taken a close up of the card to show all the lovely sparkle.

Our sponsor for this week's challenge is Sweet Pea Stamps - where you can find a wonderful selection of both rubber stamps and digital stamps.  The winner of our challenge will get a prize of 4 digi images from the shop.  Now don't forget to visit the blog to see what the rest of the team have made to inspire you this week.  Have fun!!

Uniko - Revisit and Blog Hop ....

.....  Hello and welcome!  It's time for our October Team Blog Hop at Uniko.  Bev normally releases new stamps every other month, and in the 'off' month we get to revisit some of Bev's previous releases.  As it's not long until Christmas (don't want to scare anyone, but it's only 10½ weeks) Bev decided that it would be a good time to check out Pure Florals: Poinsettia.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Poinsettia
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Real Red; Memento - London Fog
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Holly Jolly; SU DP - Real Red; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder; Vellum

I used the sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#207 for the layout, although I turned it through 90°.  As the card features a poinsettia, I'm also submitting it to Happy Little Stampers October Christmas Challenge - HLSOctX.

I used some design paper in traditional red and green to make the background.  I stamped the poinsettia three times - on vellum, red design paper and green DP - embossing them all with clear powder and then cut out the various layers.  I used vellum for the largest layer and added some colour to the back of the image with a red Copic marker.  I used dimensional gel to adhere each layer, to give a little dimension.  I added some sparkle to the top two layers with a clear Wink of Stella brush.  I finished the front with a simple Christmas greeting.  On the inside I made a mat layer from design paper and added another poinsettia and a greeting to the white panel.

Now, as I mentioned this is a DT Blog Hop and you should now check out what the rest of the team have made this month:

Bev - Uniko

Deborah (that's me)

Jane

Nicki

Sarah G

Sarah P

Before I go, I should mention that we have a GIVEAWAY this month too.  Simply comment as you go along the Hop for your chance to win this fabulous set or an e-certificate to the same value if you already have the set.  Bye for now!