NBUS butterfly and old stash too.

For this card I've used new stuff, old stuff and scraps of stuff so I'm very pleased with my efficiency. 
I wanted to make a special card for someone who shall remain nameless, but is going to be 50 soon. She grew up in close proximity to me but is in denial about how old she is. I chose not to proclaim the number on the card, which was kind of me, but she might as well get used to the idea.

The flowers were made of scraps of something which is probably interfacing. Ok I'll confess....MrC had some new work shirts recently which have logos embroidered on them. One of them had not been trimmed properly on the inside and had large pieces of interfacing still attached. I cut them off but instead of throwing them away like a normal person, I stashed them. There is no hope. 
I cut out the flowers then coloured them with ink and water on a craft mat. The colour wasn't great so I tried again with Brushos and they gave a better colour. I like the way the colour pools to give darker areas. They take a little time to dry.  
The background is ink dusted and stamped in various colours. 
I layered them up and sewed a button in the middle of each. Luckily I had the right colour. 
The butterfly is a new die which I bought early in the summer when I decided I needed a butterfly die, then to my shame, have not used it. It is coloured with Eggplant ink and water but needed a couple of dippings to give the dark colour. 
Then the problem of how to attach the butterfly. Glue was going the show through and I ruined one by trying spray adhesive.  I glued it to the paper I had it on, perhaps I was rather heavy handed. 
In the end I used some tiny pieces of 3mm tape in the corners and the middle and that worked and doesn't show. 
I'm fluttering into the Butterfly garden before the end of Mrs A's current challenge:
S for silhouette and/or the colour indigo

A run around the Playground is also allowed as I've used snippets. Save me a swing. Do I need sunglasses or wellies today?

Also Darnell is running a new challenge:

She is generously offering lots of lovely prizes and has lots of inspiration. Thanks for encouraging us to use our stash. 

Thanks for visiting and Enjoy Your Day. 
x

Christmas Card Throwdown - September colours

We are back with a new challenge for you at Christmas Card Throwdown. This time it's a colour challenge:

These are lovely colours, I hope you agree. I've discovered a new way of stamping wreaths, which is my favourite kind of stamping but could lead to all my cards being similar. I'm not sure if I've done a wreath this year yet. I think this would be a great non-Christmas card too. I'll try that soon. 
I've used mainly Card-io stamps with one Stamplorations leaf stamp. 
I used an oval mask very lightly glued in the middle then stamped over and around it then added black Stickles in the centre of the  flowers. The pink is very faint but it is there. 

 I hope you like it, thanks for visiting.
x

Bloomtangled birthday

Stamplorations are launching a new colouring book for crafters. There is a blog hop and linky party and a sampler page to download. 
I found time to print the page so I was keen to see what I could do with it. A wet afternoon gave me the perfect excuse for some colouring. 
Which colours to choose? Less is More had the answer:

A delicious combination. 

 I coloured using promarkers. I have a few but they are an underused area of my stash. I tried to add some shading but with my limited colouring skills I'm not sure it has made much difference. The black lines are nice and thick to there is little chance of running over and it was very pleasing to colour. 
I cut a square and then a strip for the edge. To finish I die cut Happy Birthday from an off-cut. 

I had a lime green gem so I added that and then a brush of Wink of Stella over a few places. 

I hope you like it, I love the colours and I have a bit left for another card. 

Thanks for visiting and Enjoy the Day. x

Christmas Card Throwdown - September sketch

Another month, another challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown. This time it's a sketch and I think it is very Christmassy and could be used in many ways. 

I had a fixed idea in my head of what I was going to do but couldn't make it work, so once I'd removed that plan I had came up with lots of ideas. 
I turned the sketch round so I could hang my stars from the lines. I've used a Leane Creatif set for the lines and the stars and the bow is Inky Doodles. I just coloured them and added a Wink of Stella, of course.
I hope you like it an want to join in. The challenge runs for 2 weeks. We look forward to seeing your cards. 
xxx