Merry Monday - red and kraft

I really like the idea of the current  Merry Monday challenge which is to use red and kraft.

 It's a very Christmassy combination. I really struggled to get my ideas in order, though, and in the end this is what I made:

There is a bit of clear embossing, some red embossing, a tartan ribbon and there it is!
I'll definitely use this combination again when my head is more organised.

Thanks for visiting and Enjoy your Day. x

Christmas Card Throwdown - November sketch

Here is my late card for our new challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown. This time it's a sketch. 

You have two weeks to join in with this challenge. Somehow we find ourselves in November so it is definitely time to get on with the Christmas Cards. Hopefully  you'll find this inspiring. 
Thanks for visiting. Enjoy the Day. x

CCT-October Stash

We are into the second week of our Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge - October stash. We have been asking you to use canvas or wood on your cards. 

I think wood is a popular feature on cards but canvas is maybe not quite so easy. 

I have used an embossing folder which I have had for a good long while and rarely used. It is actually called 'Hessian' but I hope I can be forgiven for that. 

I started with grey paper, embossed and then inked directly with a Dew Drop Brilliance white pigment ink pad. I blended more grey and black dye ink around the edge.
The ribbon on the left is covering an unembossed area where the folder was too narrow and I couldn't get it in my machine in the other direction. 

I heat embossed the holly (Honey Doo Holly) on vellum, added some more Brilliance with a brush and a touch of red pencil on the backs of the berries. 

I will say that the holly was reluctant to lie flat even after scrolling with a ball tool on the back. It had to be quite well stuck down so as not to be damaged in transit. It really behaved like real holly being prickly and curled up in all directions. In fact it was like one of those paper fish you hold in your hand that tell your fortune. Perhaps because I'd painted it with ink. 

I wanted to create a wintry frosty look and I think that's what I've done. I hope you will feel inspired to join in with our challenge. Do have a look at all the great work by the rest of the DT.
I'm Joining in with October Rudolf Days over at Scrappy Mo's. There are always wonderful cards to inspire.
Also Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Callenge #357 Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas. 
Thanks for visiting and Enjoy Your Day, x

Playing with ink, water and NBUS.

I've been to a local craft show. I went with a list but, no, of course I didn't stick to it. I did just about stick to the budget I'd given myself though so that's all good. 😊

This first card features a bonus set but look how pretty it is. This is a Woodware set called Dotty Flowers. 

My photographs looked very washed out but I think this is a pretty good idea of the colours if not the sharpness. Taken quickly with my phone as I was wasting too much time fiddling about with photographs. I'm sorry you can't see how pretty it really is. 

What I've done is ink over the whole piece of watercolour paper in shades of pink, purple and blue, then spritz with water. I then inked a little more which gives the water droplet marks a bit of colour which looks pretty cool in real life. 
I stamped the images with Versafine and then went in with a water brush and painted out the ink. This gives a very pretty effect which I don't use often enough.

This picture is really washed out but you can see the water marks and the Wink of Stella added here and there. Having made it I didn't want to cover any of it up with sentiments. 

I'm linking this to Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge. The current challenge is #87 V for vertical and/or Damson. 

I quite understand if you don't think the colour is right, feel free to delete. x

This second card is made using a Hobby Art set called Falling Leaves. Everyone needs a good leaf set and this is everything I wanted it to be and was on my list!

I used the same technique here, inking the panel and spritzing. Then I used the water brush to take away the ink from around the leaves rather than inside them. I love the shades of colour. 
I wish I'd made the sentiment smaller but it's stuck on now!
I'm linking this to CAS Watercolour challenge. Having made the leafy panel I didn't want to cut it down so it's not as CAS as it could be. 

And Happy Birthday - they are celebrating their 1st year. 🎂

I can just get into both of these challenges before they close. 

I'm also hopping over to Pixie's Snippets Playground where the challenge is always to use scraps and snippets. I've used a few here. 

One good thing about a craft show is that having seen all the gorgeous samples you come back inspired. I just need more time to play. 
Thanks for listening to my waffling. Enjoy Your Day. x

Christmas Card Throwdown - October Stash

The weeks are rushing by and we have a new challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown:

I've had moments of brilliance and moments of sheer stupidity today. The brilliance was making the star.
I die cut the shape (remembering to cut first then emboss - having learnt the hard way).  Then I inked the embossing folder before placing the star inside to give the two tone wood effect. I used Versafine which I think gives a better inky finish. The folder doesn't seem to have a name on it. 

After that moment of brilliance I wasn't sure what to do with it. 
I finally fixed on the idea of cutting out a star from the card and hanging in in the centre. 
Top tip - I started with a top fold card, thinking it would look good hanging from that. In reality it hangs down inside the card as the star hangs straight but the front of the card is angled forward. So a side fold is better, I hope you understand what I mean. 

Having finished it and photographed it I realised firstly that you can't write inside the card as it would show and secondly that the front was a bit flimsy as most of it is cut away. So I set about it again to improve. I decided to face the inside with DP. I chose a double sided paper with a subtle grey flower pattern. 

I cleverly cut the star first meaning to trim the paper to fit as that would be easier than getting the hole exactly in the right place. The stupidity was placing the die on the wrong side so the pattern I chose had to be glued down for the cut star on the DP to fit with the front of the card.
But hey, pink and brown look great together and Christmas feathers are a thing aren't 
they?

Here is the back. I added a panel to write on. These stamps are Inky Doodles. 

I hope that you have a moment of brilliance and create something to join in. The challenge runs for two weeks. 

I'd like to link to:
The Merry Christmas Challenge - #39 Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge #356



Thanks for visiting and Enjoy your Day. x

CCT - October Theme

We still have a week left of our current challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown. 
The challenge is Winter Sports. 

I'm not sure if sledging is really as sport but it's certainly a winter activity. I've used one tiny stamp from Issue #36 of Creative Stamping. 
I used a piece of brushoed background and chose an area with darker blue for the sky though it does look rather like Northern Lights. I stamped a couple of trees then added a line between to make a hill and ground the trees. 
The I framed it with some pretty paper and bits and pieces found lying around. The ribbon was snipped off my newest top after it was pointed out that they were not hidden away as they should have been.  

I hesitate with this sentiment as I don't really want it to snow but I'm sure plenty of people do. I don't like driving or walking on ice but if I can stay inside an look at it, that's fine. 

See if you have any wintery stamps and join in with our challenge. 

I'm skipping over to Pixie's Snippets Playground as I've used snippets. In fact as I was cutting out the square of brushoed background I found it is on the back of an old calendar. I saved it as is was nice smooth cream coloured card. Mad, I know. Recycling snippets!

ABC Christmas Challenge has V for Vibrant or U for unlimited. I think this sky is vibrant so I hope you agree. 

Thanks for visiting and Enjoy your Day. 

Christmas Card Throwdown = October Theme = Winter sports

Welcome to our new challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown. This is the time of year when we pretend Christmas is not coming but we know it will so lets get ahead with our cards and save the last minute panic. 
This time our challenge is:

I made an inky background by stamping the snowflakes and clear embossing then inking over. Then I added the skates and greenery. 

The first time I went ice skating I imagined myself sailing round in beautiful skates like these. ( Noel Steatfield was somewhat to blame - 'White Boots' ). Not only was I given ugly brown skates but they gave me horrendous blisters. I never took to ice skating. 
Maybe you have a better experience. We look forward to seeing your winter sport cards over the next two weeks.
Thanks for visiting. Enjoy Your Day.
x