Sparkle ✨

Over on the AAA Cards blog the challenge this week is a sketch:

Here's what I made:

I used masking tape to create the band where I wanted the colour to go, then I dabbed Distress Stains (Mermaid Lagoon, Wilted Violet, Festive Berries and Worn Lipstick) randomly over the exposed area [I really love that combination of colours].  The colour was a bit intense so I used a tissue to take off the excess.  After drying with a heat tool, I stamped the sparkles and the sentiment with embossing ink and then covered with gold embossing powder.  

That was where I planned to leave it but some of the masking tape damaged the card as I was taking it off and this flower happened to be lying around and it matched the colour scheme pretty well, so it became part of the design.

AAA Cards Game #63 - CAS Shaker

The latest challenge on the AAA Cards blog is to make a CAS shaker card.

I thought it would be fun to use flowers to make the shaker element and I ended up using the Flowers & Vases Thinlits set by Sizzix.

First I cut the stems into some lovely pale pink glitter paper that I recently acquired, then cut the flowers so that they lined up nicely with the stems. I also cut the stems from green paper and paper pieced those back into the pink card, taping them across the back to hold them in place.  After making the shaker compartment around the flower heads I filled with different coloured glitters, which I did very messily! It's a good thing that you can't see the back of the card panel.  TIP: rather than pouring directly from the glitter pot, use a tool to transfer the glitter. Then I cut the vases from grey patterned paper, stuck them in place and added a simple sentiment framed with the same grey paper to tie it all together.  I decided to use the same colour for all the vases because I think that it's more in keeping with the CAS style.  And here it is:

It's a shame the photos don't really show the glitter paper.  It really is delicious.  

I am also entering the Less Is More challenge 274 - Use Designer Paper in a CAS style.

Furry Friends

It's been a while! I didn't mean to take so much time off. 

I'm joining in with the Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge. The theme for the last week was "Furry Friends".

The background was one that I had made before (I like to make a few at a time).  The paw prints came from the docrafts Little Meow stamp set.  I also stamped some random feathers in pink & silver inks. 

The cat also came from the Little Meow stamp set.  She looked to me like she was looking at something so I added a little bird from another stamp/die set I have.  I wasn't sure what words to use so I just stamped "meow".

I felt like it needed a little something else so I added the dots and dashes border.  I tried to use puff paint for the dots to get some texture, which sort of worked.  It was my first time using it so I haven't quite gotten the hang of the technique.

Bare Naked CAS

Inspired by the challenge over on AAA Cards I have made three "bare naked" CAS cards. The first uses a stamp from the Hobby Art Owl collection - so sweet!  He looked kind of pensive to me so I thought the "Thinking of You" sentiment was perfect.

The second is along the same lines but I changed the stamped image and also the orientation of the card.  And of course roses and love are another perfect pairing. I'm also going to add this to the CAS-ology challenge.

And finally, I embossed 2 pieces of plain white card, stuck one on the front of the card, then cut out and inked a single butterfly from the other, stuck it over the top of a plain butterfly and folded the wings back. Finished of with a teeny sentiment from the Hot Off The Press dragonfly mini stamp set.

You Leaf Me Breathless

It's the Autumn solstice today so an autumnal-themed card seems appropriate. I've made a gatefold card and used the Sizzix Leaves embossing folder on the two front panels.  I then used pigment ink in red, orange, yellow and green over the embossed detail. The sentiment is stamped on plain white card, then I've gone around the edges with orange ink and finished it off with two pieces of Candi.

I'm entering the following challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks #212 - Fall
Cute Card Thursday 339 - Awesome Autumn

Hummingbird

I made this card for the CAS on Sunday challenge #42 - Sequins Celebration and Crafty Little Fairies - Sparkle and Bling challenges.  I got a set of adorable mini stamps by Hero Arts, including a lovely hummingbird set, which I've used here.  I then painted the hummingbird with mica powders - I love the shimmery effect, although it doesn't really show up very well in the photos. The flower was coloured with watercolour pencils.  

Now, when it comes to stamping and colouring, I'm as fresh as a daisy.  One of the things that I noticed was how the mica powder "paint" partially obscures the black, stamped outline.  If I was going to repeat this card, I think that I would try using an embossing powder, which would then act as a resist and keep the outline crisp and sharp.

I didn't read the challenge properly - I missed the part about "celebration", so I went back sand stamped "Happy Birthday" at the top.  I actually prefer the original version. What about you?

(Faux) Stitching and Sewing

I made this card for the 4 Crafty Chicks challenge #210. Although I missed the deadline I thought I'd show it anyway.  The brief was Real/Faux Stitching.

A while ago, on a whim, I bought a very discounted We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy with several piercing attachments. I used the crisscross attachment along the left edge, but then I couldn't be bothered to actually sew it, so I did some faux stitching instead.

The dress form stamp was another impulse buy.  I tried to shadow stamp the image in the background, then stamped a clear image on white card, which I cut out and layered right at the centre. 

The sentiment came from a Tilly Daydream paper pack with a stitchy theme. I faux stitched around the edge then made tiny snips all the way around to give the effect of frayed material.

The card looked a little bare so I coloured part of the stamped image and stuck a matching organza ribbon flower on the side. In hindsight I probably should have matched the red from the sentiment instead of using pink.