Fun in the sun - I wish

Well the good old English weather has thrown a curve ball following a few days of basking in gloriour sunshine it is now cold wet and windy in Liverpool.

I decided to shut out the bad weather and make a card reflecting long hot summer days.

I found this pretty image on a royalty free vintage images site via a google search and just loved it. I printed it 3 times and then decoupaged the girls adding glitter to the hair bows on the final layer. 

Whilst that was drying I set about creating my backing paper I used a piece of pale blue parchment that I usually use for inserts and went through my stash of rubber stamps to find seashells and similar stamps. I ended up with starfish a seahorse and several different shapes and sizes of seashell. I then stamped the images randomly over the parchment using Ranger distress ink  in Broken China and Stormy sky.

I allowed the paper to dry for about half an hour before working with it. I selected an area I was happy with and cut a piece to fit a 6x6 card blank the edges were then distressed before it was stuck to pale pink card and trimmed to leave a very narrow border.

I wrapped a piece of cream lace and blue seam binding around the left hand panel and stuck it to the card blank.

I then placed a piece of plastic netting over the whole card blank. I picked this up on a local beach it was the packaging off some beach toys that had been carelessly discarded by the owners of said toys, who were long gone by the time I was walking along the shoreline. I initially picked it up to prevent it becoming a hazard to the local sea-bird population, but as soon as I had hold of it I knew I could use it in my stash as I do with the fruit nets from the local supermarket so it was put in the beach combing bag and taken home and washed in warm soapy water to be reused.

Having placed the net I added a doily over the bottom right and a beach hut image that I had paper pieced from scraps of the blue parchment paper and some peach parchment that I also use for inserts. i then added the image and the sentiment which was stamped using brown dye based ink on to a piece of the parchment which I tore to give a shabby chic effect to go with the image.

I added the image and then added some coils of hemp 'rope' which I made by coiling a piece of string from my stash onto card circles that I had coated in wet glue. I had a small piece of string left over so tied a reef knot or my approximation of it and stuck this just under the sentiment.

To finish off I arranged some sea shells collected from a local beach, popping a little pearl into one of the shells. I added a seam biding bow and three little pearls to the top right hand corner. So this is my take on summer days and I will be entering it into the following challenges.

http://2sisterschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Summer Fun 

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Outside the box use something that would not normally be used for crafting - white plastic net 

http://audsentimentschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Summer

http://trimmiescraftchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - recipe - Image, Rhinestones or pearls, ribbon, sentiment 

http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes 

http://littlescrappieces.blogspot.co.uk/ - Summer

http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - For a Friend

http://perfectsentimentschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Sun and sand 

http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Vintage or shabby chic

http://craft-roomchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Here Comes Summer 

http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Steam Punk or vintage 

http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes 

http://lejdesignschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Add texture 

http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes 

http://www.craftdoormagazine.com/ - Anything Goes 

Tea Time

The All sorts Challenge blog this week is all about tea time. Here is a little Christmas gift box filled with fruit teas and biscuits can't have a cuppa without a ginger nut to dunk. The teas are flavours that reflect  Christmas and they are spiced Apple and Orange and Cinnamon.

The papers are all from Ooh La La's Yuletide Wishes CD and printed the design on card to make the box and then added the decoupage to the lid.

I am entering this into the following challenges 

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ Tea Time

http://nutcrafters.blogspot.co.uk/ - food and Drink

http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.co.uk - Anything Goes

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/ - Hot Hot Hot - what better than a hot cuppa 

Fab 'n' Funky Animals

This week over at Fab 'n' Funky challenges it is all about animals. I had this wonderfully cute  digi image from Stamp Art by Kathryne over at Whimsy Stamps.

Called 'Big Hug' he comes with his own sentiment which for my design I cropped off the image and then printed out just the sentiment onto cream card to die cut and add later.

I used Kraft card and a lovely Kraft paper I had recently bought and not played with it has a lovely texture almost like tree bark but really fine so it worked better than embossing brown card in my bark embossing folder which was a bit large for the size of the design as I was working on a 6x6 card. 

I covered the card blank with the paper and then added a panel of pale green gingham card which had been mounted onto cream card and trimmed to leave a narrow border. 

I coloured the image using chalks, and once I had finished I sprayed the surface with hairspray to seal the colour, I know you can buy all sorts of fancy fixatives out there but I have found the best thing is really cheap hairspray ( I am currently using an own brand budget one from a well known supermarket  it cost 39 pence for a large can and has the bonus of smelling reasonably pleasant as well) 

Once the image was fixed I fussy cut him out and then mounted him onto a die cut background made using nestabilities scalloped ovals and  I cut one from the Kraft paper and one from cream card and layered them up. I also added a thin layer of dries clear PVA to the 'nut' part of the acorn to give the sheen that acorns have.

He was then stuck to the right of the card

I had tied some bakers twine round the gingham panel before sticking it down and added a little brass tree charm.

I die cut the sentiment using the scalloped oval die and mounted this onto a little panel that I had made by dieicutting a picket fence from card which had had the Kraft paper stuck to it, using a cottage cutz mini die.

I finished off with a few flowers and berries and also added some lovely pale green pearls round the sentiment and in the top corner of the card.

I am entering this card into the following Challenges 

http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk - Challenge 22 anything Goes 

http://digihaven.blogspot.ca - Anything Goes 

http://corrosivechallengesbyjanet.blogspot.se - Animal Antics

http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.se - Anything Goes 

http://paperplaytime.blogspot.nl - Anything Goes

http://www.craftdoormagazine.com - Anything Goes

http://charismacardz.blogspot.co.uk/ - Digi Stamps Only 

http://acreativeromance.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes 

http://tsgclearstamps.blogspot.co.uk/ Anything Goes 

http://deliciousdoodleschallenge.blogspot.nl - All Creatures Great and Small 

Fab n Funky Birthday greetings.

This week at Fab n Funky Challenges the theme is 'Happy Birthday'. we were given some fabulous Mayzyart digis to work with and you can see the range at http://mayzyart.com/

You may want to take the brightness of your monitors down before viewing my card - you have ben warned it is very bright.

I raided my stash for the backing paper, which was actually a free DP from a magazine that has been in my stash for at least a couple of years and forgotten about until a recent sort out. I matted it on to bright pink paper and trimmed it to leave a narrow border. 

I coloured the image of Xandi and winky using Spectrum Noir markers as follows 

Hair TN2, TN3, TN5, TN7

Skin FS2, FS3, TN2

Dress, Booths hat and Gloves, BP2, BP3, BP5 IB2,IB3,IB5 and true black 

Her belt was coloured using a black Sakura gel pen to get a glossy finish 

Winky was coloured using BG2 and BG3 

I added Shadow underneath using BG1

The image was cut out using the largest oval from my x-cut plain ovals set and then I stuck it onto black holographic card and trimmed it to leave a narrow border, before sticking on teh left of teh card using Glue Gel to add dimension.

The pink panel on teh right is made from a strip of Bright Pink velum I had in my stash and I embossed it using a Craft Concepts universal embossing folder. I wrapped the strip round white card and then stuck thsi onto plain black card and trimmed to leave a border before sticking it to the right of my card.

I added the sentiment a letter at a time using letters cut from black card using one of my x-cut letters dies. 

The butterfly was cut from bright turquoise card and I added pink flat back pearls to the body.

The leaves were cut using a kreasions die and I finished off with the flower which was made using different size flower punches and the punched shapes were layered up and a blue flat back pearl was added to finish the flower off.

I loved working with this digi and this is something way our of my comfort zone when it comes to colours I am more one for muted vintage tones but maybe it is time for a change.

I am entering this card into the following challenges 

http://bearlymine-challenges.blogspot.nl/ = Anything Goes 

http://craftyfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Bingo Challenge I chose Pink Pearls and Flowers 

http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Emboss it - the Pink Vellum 

http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes 

http://mayzyart.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/mayzyart-challenge-019.html - Polka Dots 

http://crazychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Teens Card 

http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes 

http://deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.nl - For A Girl 

http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.ca - Anything Goes 

http://thecupboardtrilogychallenges.blogspot.ca/ - Happy Birthday 

Ooh La La - we've got buttons and bling ...

... before I talk about that I just have to say what gorgeous entries there were for our inspired by nature challenge. You can see the top three as chosen by Pauline over on the challenge blog now. The new theme as the title suggests is Buttons and Bling as chosen by Wendi so check out the blog to see what the DT have come up with and be sure to click on their names to go and see some of the other fabulous work they have done  Ooh La La Creations challenge blog.

Here is my card for the challenge which again relies on the Yesterday's Memories CD. for the images and backing paper.

I am a huge fan of the Art Deco period and these ladies fit perfectly. I used a sheet of A4 white card which I scored and folded into a gate-fold card blank. Deco is all about clean lines and so I printed the ladies as a large panel that were matted and layered onto holographic silver card and then onto a lovely teal coloured card which matched their outfits really well. 

I added cut panels on the backing paper and matted and layered them onto silver mirror card and then teal card stock before sticking them to the front of the card. I then stuck the large panel to left hand front of the card. The buttons are from a selection of the vintage button range, which is now available from Ooh La La Creations 

On the right hand side of the card I added the happy birthday sentiment.

I cut another panel of holographic card and wrapped it with teal satin ribbon that had been threaded through a diamante buckle to add bling to the inside of the card. This was then stuck on the back of the main panel so that it shows when the card is opened. 

I wanted to keep the Deco feel going inside the card so cut a teal panel for each of the side panels and layered a silver panel on top before adding an image of each of the ladies one each side. The main image lends itself beautifully to being split and used in this way.

On the centre panel on the inside of the card I reversed the layers to be teal on silver and then added the  embossed Deco panel which was made using a Glitter Girls Embossing board.

So there you have it Buttons, bling and glamour all in one go.

I am entering the card into the following challenges.

http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes
http://craftyfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ Bingo I used blue ribbon and gems on the buckle
http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes

Feeling Fruity with Fab 'n' Funky

I have joined the DT at Fab 'n' Funky Challenges as a guest designer for the month of June. This weeks challenge is sponsored by The Stamp Fairy and we have been having fruity fun with the Lenny's Fruits range of digi stamps.

Here is my Card 

As soon as I saw this lovely little fellow I just knew I had to use gingham in the design. Maybe it's growing up in a small village but I always associate Strawberries with little gingham lid covers on pots of home made strawberry Jam at the annual Church Fete.

I mounted the green gingham card onto plain red card then added a strip of the same red card across the middle of the panel and layered this with a strip of green card which had been edged with a Martha Stewart edging punch. I added a strip of red gingham card over this then stuck the whole panel onto a 8x8 card base.

 

I printed the image onto white card and I also cropped the image just to the Strawberries so that I could add extra layers and I cropped the very front strawberry and printed it in various sizes to use as embellishments.

I coloured the image using Spectrum Noir markers - 

GB1, TN2 and TN3 for the bear

CR8,CR10 and DR1 for the strawberries 

LG1, LG3 for the leaves.

I then highlighted the strawberries with True Black to pick out the seeds

I added a little shadow under the bar using BG1

I cut the image out using the largest of my nestabilities plain circle dies, I also cut a plain red circle by drawing round the outside edge of the largest die and cutting this out to add a layer behind the image

I fussy cut the extra strawberries I had printed and layered them up to add dimension.

I used an Marianne 'Anja' oval die to cut the lace panel and added a plain red panel behind this and stuck it to the left of the card before adding a computer generated sentiment printed onto white card and layered onto green and red card.

The strawberry vine was made by using a holly branch die from Cheery Lynn this die has plain and holly type leaves on the branch so I snipped all the holly leaves off and snipped the branch and rejoined it to make a vine.  I stuck this to the right of the card and then added my image to cover teh join and to overlap the lace oval.

I added punched flowers with pearl centres, and strawberries created from the ones I had cropped and printed earlier and added them to the vine. Three punched flowers with pearl centres and three punched leaves were added to the left of the image.

The finishing touch were the square green gems and the have a wonderful birthday sentiment.

If you would like to see the whole range of the Lenny Fruits digi stamps click on the link  below and whilst there have a browse round the shop these images are lovely to colour.

http://www.stampfairy.com/digistamps_misc_lennyfruits.htm

I am entering this card into the following Challenges.
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.nl - Anything Goes
http://bearlymine-challenges.blogspot.nl - diecuts and punches
http://ladybugscraftsinkchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Colour wheel challenge (Red and Green)
http://craftyfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Sumemrtime
http://lacysunshinechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes
http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes
http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.co.uk/ - Dies and Punches
http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.co.uk/ - Dies and Punches

http://mayzyart.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/mayzyart-challenge-018.html - Sweets

24 Carrot Dad

I wanted something a bit different for my Dad's Father's day card this year. He loves gardening and still grows all his own veggies even at the ripe old age of 86, he also has a remarkably quick wit for a fellow of advanced years and loves word play so here is what I came up with

I used backing papers from Ooh La La's Every day Occasions, and Yesterday's memories CD.

The die cut Garden shed has been in my stash for a couple of years just waiting to be used, you will notice that the top left hand corner of the shed door has been cut off this is because that is exactly how my dad's shed door looks as it allows the resident blackbirds that nest in there to get in and out even when the shed is locked up. Hence the black bird perched on the shed. My Dad loves his feathered friends and they regularly follow him round the garden when they think he may be turning up some worms for them, they also really appreciate that he occasionally pops a few strawberries in the shed for them to eat.

I tied a little watering can on with some twine - my dad is a great one for water conservation and has two rain barrels he uses to fill his watering can to water the garden rather than use a hosepipe.

A peek inside the shed and the plant pots, watering can, tools on the back of the door the wheelbarrow and the primroses were all cut from backing paper in the Papermania home to nest series. I glazed the watering can with glossy accents to make it look like painted metal. 

Then there are the carrots yes there are 24, which I quilled and added leaves to before sticking to the card using collal all purpose adhesive. I have that bright orange quilling paper in my stash for ages a freebie with a magazine and I thought it was about time I used some of it.

The play on words becomes more obvious when you read the sentiment inside the card I added some more garden tools and primroses round the frame and yes my dad really is worth his weight in gold.

I am entering this card into the following challenges 

http://trimmiescraftchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Male/Father's Day
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes
http://perfectsentimentschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Make them laugh
http://useittuesday.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes