Jubilee

As everyone seems to be seriously getting into Jubilee mood I thought I'd maybe join in - promise it won't stay there any longer than necessary!!

Forgotten Friday challenge

I've used up more of the pieces of left over Funky Hand papers  for this card and it will also qualify for Judith's Forgotten Friday challenge because the stamps used are from a Nit Wits set which came free with a magazine a few months ago and although I really liked them at the time they'd not even been out of the packet until now. They were coloured using Coloursoft pencils and cut out with Nestabilities - the flower and cotton reel were cut with scissors and a bit of faux stitching has been added in places for added interest.

The weather has gone suddenly from shivering to sweltering and takes a bit of getting used to but I hope it is nice where you are and that you enjoy the weekend.

Using it Up!!

After yet another clear up of my work space (can't think who is the untidy person around here) I've thought I should challenge myself to make cards using only MOSTLY!!  bits and pieces left over from other projects and things I've printed, stamped or cut out and not actually used on anything.  I'm not sure how long this idea will last but here goes with the first one. The backing paper, topper and flowers were printed from a Docrafts CD, cut out and not used.  I did some overstamping on the background with stamps from Chocolate Baroque and added some ready-made paper flowers for centres with matching brads.  Swirls and corner were cut from odd scraps of card (anything larger than a postage stamp is saved in 'bits' boxes) using Marianne and Lea'bilities dies.

 Actually I've just heard about a new challenge starting soon for 'twinchies' which could be the way to go in using up some of this mountain of 'stuff'.  Do pop along to Eileen's blog to check it out.

Polkadots and Flowers

The challenge this month on Funky Hand is to produce something with POLKADOTS AND FLOWERS - not difficult with the great selection of papers available on the Papercraft Factory CDs.  The main difficulty was deciding which ones to use and I finally settled on these colourful flowers with matching polkadots from Happy Happy Birthday - the tiny flowers were punched from some of the textured plains in the same set and the cute cat image appears on Colour Me Happy.  Making this card has left me with surplus pieces of the papers and I'm aiming to try and use some of them up on another project before storing the final remnants in the bulging 'bits boxes'!!  The FH design team regularly post ideas for the challenge throughout the month so it is worth keeping an eye on them for more inspiration.

Simply Stampin' challenge week 60

The theme this week at Simply Stampin' is MONOCHROME with a splash of COLOUR.  I used the SU Silhouette Sentiments stamp set to build up the image, stamping just one of the flowers in a bright pink for the splash of colour against the monochrome.  Background paper is from my stash - again a pad which has lost its cover so not sure of the source, a Memory Box die cut, some ribbon and a stamped sentiment complete this card. Do take a look at some of the lovely creations from the design team.

Make My Monday week 50

The FLORAL challenge theme this week on Make My Monday is wild flowers and/or grasses - my thoughts turned immediately to alcohol ... INKS that is and I took my box of inks and some glossy card out of hibernation and set to work creating a suitable background.  This was then overstamped with archival ink using various stamps from Chocolate Baroque, the large white flower head was inked with Adirondack snowcap and embossed with white detail powder. Matching backing paper (what you can see of it) was printed from CB Essence of Nature CD.  I think I will leave the front of this card without a message.

Sunday Stamper challenge week 206

I only discovered this Sunday Stamper challenge a short while ago and this week decided to take the plunge and have a go with the CIRCLES theme.  I thought I'd make a tag using my Tim Holtz rosettes die and incidentally several of his other products too.  I stamped some strips of card with an Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque) numbers stamp from the ATC set which I've had since it was issued a long while ago so this would qualify the tag for Judith's Forgotten Friday challenge I would think. I then cut out the rosettes and sponged the strips with distress ink (scattered straw), folded and glued them together and then added more distress ink (brushed corduroy) I cut two Tim Holtz butterflies from grungeboard and applied rock candy crackle, leaving it to dry before inking with Distress stains and adding some pen nibs for bodies.  The tag was cut with a TH Sizzix die, stamped with some text, embossed with a texture fades embossing folder then inked using the same colours as before. A strip of die cut metal lace, a grungeboard swirl and dyed ribbon complete this tag.   The metallic elements were coloured with alcohol inks and the ribbon and swirl with distress stains.