Make My Monday Autumn

The Autumn theme continues at Make My Monday and this week they want us to use some vellum.  I came across this image on Joanna Sheen's Royal Horticultural Society collections CD.  It was printed onto both card and vellum and I've also used a strip of the matching backing paper on top of the main background of Prima paper.  The vellum was torn across and then layered onto the topper.  Edges of the papers were sponged with Cranberry Adirondack ink and the ribbon was also dyed using a pool of the ink spritzed on a glass cutting mat - fingers now an interesting shade so I really should remember not to get dye inks all over them!!  A simple stamped greeting finishes off this card.

I'm hoping the relentless rain eases off later because I  have to venture out to post off a birthday card today if it is to reach its destination on the correct day so it will be a case of donning waterproof footwear!!

H is for Heart

Well it is alphatags time again and here is my offering for H - H is for Heart (and Happy).  The background was achieved with Distress  and Adirondack dye inks, overstamped with text.  The Heart (and happy) quote is from an A4 plate of lovely quotation stamps by Chocolate Baroque and the heart stamp is also from them stamped onto cream watercolour paper and embossed in gold.  Some cream lace and a gold die cut swirl were added as finishing touches.

Make My Monday Week 34 and Forgotten Friday week 46

The people over at Make My Monday are on the last week of the nature challenge and this one is dragonflies and/or butterflies.  I've taken a piece of backing paper from a pad which I've had for ages and as often happens the cover is lost so no idea of the source.  I overstamped this with a couple of stamps from The Stamp Bug (Dragonfly Dreams) which I've had since 2008 and I very much doubt they've been used since then so this card should also be fine for Judith's Forgotten Friday challenge as well. The main image from the same set was stamped onto some card which had been swiped over wet dye inks on a craft mat and another scrap of this was used for the words too with a bit of extra colour brushed over while still in the die. I simply added a dragonfly charm,some ribbon and a bit of bling to finish off this card.  It is well worth taking a look at both the links above to see some beautiful work.

Make My Monday Challenge 16

Over on the Make My Monday challenge blog the theme is still steampunk and this week they are asking for some metal to be included in the design.  My background was made by colouring a piece of Tim Holtz kraft resist paper with Adirondack wild plum ink and edging with a gold Krylon pen.  I put some mirri card through a cuttlebug embossing folder and coloured with alcohol inks in wild plum, butterscotch and stream, eventually only using a narrow strip.  I then put some cream card through the same embossing folder which I had inked with Adirondack inks in the same colours so that the inks transferred to the card which was cut to size, spritzed with copper Glimmer Mist and sponged with black soot Distress ink to tone it down a little.  The butterfly collage is a stamp by Crafty Individuals and I layered the butterfly and added a pen nib coloured with alcohol ink. I really enjoy this steampunk style but to be honest I'm not sure that the people who usually buy my cards will appreciate it so my long suffering family might just end up being the recipients of these cards.

Trees

This card was made using various products from Chocolate Baroque - background paper from the Essence of Nature CD; stamps from Tall Trees and  matching ones from the Teeny Tiny Meadow set which has smaller versions of the same trees as well as tiny grasses etc.  The small stamps and sentiment were stamped onto Tim Holtz die cut tickets.

Bah Humbug Challenge 4

The challenge this week at Bah Humbug is 'an oldie but a goldie' - to either use a favourite item which you use a lot or something which was perhaps once a favourite but has been neglected so really plenty of scope this week - thanks ladies.  This card is made using a set of Tim Holtz stamps which I bought the year before last because I liked them so much and I really cannot believe that they didn't get used at all for cards this Christmas just gone. I suppose it is yet another sign that I have way too many stamps!!  The reindeer was stamped with black soot distress ink and clear embossed; the snowflakes were stamped with versamark and also clear embossed; trees were stamped using pine needles DI.  I then sponged the card with Adirondack denim ink.  I resisted the urge add a greeting as I think this image really speaks for itself.

Masked Sunflowers

The background for this card was made by dabbing ink from a couple of Adirondack ink pads onto a craft mat, spritzing with water and 'mopping up' with some white card.  This was then  repeatedly overstamped with the sunflower stamp using several masks where they overlapped.  The main image was the Build a Flower sunflower layers stamped , coloured with Copics and built up for dimension.

Daisy

The flower on this card was built up from scraps of paper punched with four different sizes of daisy punch - some punched leaves were added and some tiny rose buds from Wild Orchid flowers. Background paper is from stampin Up and the wording is part of a huge stamp (En Francais) also from SU. Ribbon is Papermania. Edges of panel, rosebuds and petals sponged with Adirondack dye ink

Tags

Challenge 40 on Allsorts blog is to include a tag, or label on a card and it just so happens that I've made a couple of cards with tags this week after reading an excellent tutorial on background techniques and tags in the Graphicus Guild newsletter. Adirondack dye inks and Perfect Pearls have been used together with stamps from Elusive Images and background paper from Artylicious. The rose on the tag was made from punched shapes using a small flower punch and being small it was seriously fiddly to make.

Texting

Well I've had absolutely no success in scheduling posts to be published on another date and I see from the 'help' files that this sems to be a known problem. It must be possible because some folks seem to do it but I'm giving up the idea for the time being!!

This image was waiting around on my desk so I coloured it with Copics and combined with some papers printed from a CD which came free with a magazine a while ago - I sponged the edges with Adirondack dye ink. The notebook page effect was achieved with an EK Success punch and the tab was a punch from Stampin Up.

Gift Bag

I spent a great crafty day with my friend Anne on Monday and besides stamping lots of images and generally swapping ideas, we made some gift bags. Here is one of mine using SU card, paper from Artylicious, a Graphicus Guild stamp and some ribbon. My long-awaited Martha Stewart heart border punch arrived in the post today so I just had to use it of course. The image is mounted using nestabilities ovals and some blue jewels have been added for a bit of bling.

Greenhouse Garden

I've been playing with my Stampin Up Greenhouse Garden stamps again - well it is raining far too hard to go into the real garden!! These are two-part stamps where one layer is over stamped onto another. The background panel was done using Distress Ink pads and the top layer stamp of one of the flowers. Smaller flowers were stamped , cut out and layered up with leaves (cut out from a larger stamp of a horse chestnut leaf by Personal Impressions). Paper, ribbon and card are from SU - plum, celery and a light blue.

Double Slider Card

I found instructions for a double slider card on Split Coast Stampers and have had a go using my new set of Greeenhouse Garden stamps from Stampin Up, the leaves were stamped from the Touch of Nature set. The two sliders disappear into the card leaving the main image with a tab to pull for the surprise.

Josephs Coat

Another go at the Josephs Coat technique using background paper by K and Co and stamps by My Minds Eye Wild Asparagus. The butterfly was die cut using a Spellbinders die - a Martha Stewart border punch made the decorative mat for the flower.

Calendar Card

This is an easel style of card which can be on display all year because it incorporates a calendar. The stamp used is from a clear Poppy set by papermania and the background paper is from Artylicious. This will fold flat for posting and fits into a C6 envelope.

Tree

I was trawling around yesterday seeking inspiration and spotted some tutorials by Michelle Zindorf. This card is based on one of them but instead of using a brayer as she does I sponged the various colours on using post-it notes as masking. The stamps used are by Elusive Images and Adirondack dye inks were used for the background effect.

Joseph's Coat

I was reminded recently of the Joseph's Coat stamping technique - funny how all these ideas and techniques are in your head and they pop out now and again!! This time it has been done onto a patterned background paper which is a change and perhaps a bit different. The stamp used is from My Minds Eye (Wild Asparagus).

Natures Nest

I've been having another play with my Stampin Up Natures Nest stamp set and this time decided to have a go at a 'wiper' card (so called because the little pop-up comes up a bit like a windscreen wiper when the card is pulled gently from each end). I'm not a particular fan of three dimensional cards but I do like to try different things from time to time, although I find that people are often reluctant to buy these cards because they cost more to post and also there is often no insert on which to write a message.

Window Card

I have used some stamps from a new set from Stampin Up called Natures Nest to make this card and also used a fern stamp from the Touch of Nature set. The image is set into a recessed window which makes the card quite deep so I had to work out some measurements to make a box envelope to fit as I only have the old stype of enveloper board without the extra ridge for making boxy ones. Something else to go on my wish list!

Bubble in Monochrome

Bubble (partner of Squeak) is one of the characters in the Daisy and Dandelion series by Papermania and has been stamped using mushroom Adirondack dye ink, brushed out with a water brush. The flowers are cut out from the same stamp and the leaves are from a SU Touch of Nature stamp. Message is mounted on my favourite SU oval punch set.

I've decided to try and use up some of my mountain of left over bits of paper and card - the background was left from my previous owl card and the flowers and message were stamped onto small scraps of card which I can never bear to throw away if they are bigger than a postage stamp!!