Child's Play...

This is the theme at Make My Monday this week where they would like to see either a card suitable for sending to a child or a new baby card.  I've opted to use a stamp from Joanna Sheen to make a baby boy card.  Image coloured with Polychromos pencils, cut out with Spellbinder dies and layered up with a piece of checked background paper. The 'ric-rac' style strips were cut using  a Spellbinders border die.

Occupational Therapy

I can definitely recommend spending time immersed in crafts of some kind as an excellent way of keeping the mind off any aches and pains and of course it beats just sitting quietly and resting because there is an end result.  I made several cards and also printed some decoupage sheets so that I could sit in the warm yesterday cutting them out (it was really cold here).  Today is a beautiful sunny day and thanks to a kind friend who volunteered to drive me I've been to my patchwork group meeting where of course I received lots of advice such as 'taking more water with it' and so on!!

The card I'm sharing today was made using one of the flowers from Chocolate Baroque Punky Flowers set although this is more a fantasy flower than steampunk style (I'm not sure Steampunk style would fit for a sympathy card).  Image was coloured with Polychromos pencils on watercolour paper and has been cut out using a Sizzix (Stampin'Up) die.Backing paper is by Prima the the smaller piece is from the scrap box.

Art Deco

This Art Deco lady stamp came free with the Docrafts Creativity magazine and of course I just had to have the deco embossing folder which went with the range - such a shame really that the stamps weren't sized so that the images fitted nicely into the frames!!  I had to resort to cutting the embossing through the middle and adding a strip of black card so that the image didn't completely hide the top and bottom of the frame.  That said I do quite like the effect of the black strip so nothing lost.  For some reason the scan has brightened the yellow colouring on the dress whereas in reality it is a more muted gold shade which tones well with the backing paper.

X is for Xanadu

I was determined not to fall back on the abbreviated form of Christmas for this tag - I really don't like it at all but of course this posed a problem of just what to use for this letter.  I trawled through the dictionary to no avail and then someone suggested Xanadu as a possibility so of course I had to read the poem to remind myself of what it contained.  Fortunately some of the words made me think of this image from the Moonlit River set of clear stamps by Chocolate Baroque so that is what I've used.  Image was coloured using Polychromos pencils with the addition of some clear Sakura glitter pen.  The poem in general conjured up images of tropical forests as would be seen in paintings by Rousseau so I added some stamped and cut out leaves (also from CB) and a butterfly which was a stamp given away with Craft Stamper.  Thanks to Florence for suggesting the word Xanadu to me - aren't online friends wonderful??  If you want to read the poem it can be found easily online - just Google the word and you can also find images of paintings by Henri Rousseau in the same way! I will have to get my brain working on Y and Z now for next month - ideas are forming though so watch this space.

Make My Monday Week 49

After a lovely sunny weekend the weather has turned grey and wet again, completely scuppering my plans for the morning so what better than to stay in the craft room and make a card for the Make My Monday challenge. We are on a FLORAL theme for May and this week there is the added requirement of some MUSIC although the flower is still to be the main focus.  Background paper is a floral one by Papermania and I've used a Cuttlebug  music embossing folder on some Coredinations card. The flower is a stamp from Chocolate Baroque coloured with Polychromos pencils on watercolour paper and cut out with Nestabilities.  A computer printed greeting on cuttlebug die cuts,  Marianne diecut treble clef and some ribbon were added to complete this card. I have to venture out in the rain shortly to meet some friends for lunch (it's a hard life - LOL!!) but maybe the weather will improve as the day goes on.

New Home Card

I'm putting this card up quickly today because I've heard some people seem to be having posting problems and I said I'd have a go to see if it's a general problem this afternoon. The stamps are from Chocolate Baroque colouring was done with Polychromos pencils.  Backing paper was from by bits box and I used a brick wall embossing folder (Sizzix) and some Spellbinders dies.

Simply Stampin' Challenge week 55

The Simply Stampin' team have provided us with a sketch this week for their challenge.  I used a flower stamp and word from the Bloomin' with Beauty stamp set and a piece of SU backing paper from my stash.  The flowers were coloured using Polychromos pencils and the centre one was cut out and layered up for a bit of dimension.

F is for Fantasy Flowers

Here is my alphatag for F using a stamp from Chocolate Baroque Fantasy Meadow set, some of which were also used on the background behind the image.  The main flower was coloured using Polychromos pencils and the ribbon was coloured using the same distress ink as used on the background.

Quirky Village Scene

I was intrigued by some new Papermania stamps designed by Michael Powell which really made me think of Portmerion and the TV series from years ago called The Prisoner which was filmed there (hated to miss an episode of that one!!).  The scenes are unusual in that they are only partially coloured with some details being left as line drawings although of course there is nothing to say they couldn't be completely coloured.  However I decided to go along with the illustration on the packaging and used Polychromos pencils in many colours blended to create a similar effect to his watercolouring.  I found some toning background paper amongst my stash and used a Sizzix brick wall embossing folder on a piece of Core-dinations card to make this into a simple card.

Spring Flowers

Spring is just around the corner - it's official because at least two challenge blogs have chosen it as their theme for the month.  Make My Monday have a general theme of  Spring for the whole month with a specific theme of  Spring Flowers  for week 39.  Spring into Spring  is the theme of the month for the St Luke's Charity challenge.

I just knew that somewhere amongs my huge stamp collection I had a wooden stamp with daffodils and I eventually managed to unearth it to stamp onto watercolour paper and colour using Polychromos pencils.  Nestabilities were used to cut out the oval shapes and Spellbinders dies for the border; background paper is from a pad I've had for a long while and as usual the cover is missing - some stamping was added around the edge.  A stamped greeting was added along with a ribbon and scrap of floral paper from my bits box and that's it - two challenges covered with one card.

D is for Daisy

Here is my tag for the letter D as promised - I didn't have as many items written down for this letter but I chose to use a stamp set from Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque) which I've had a long time.  I stamped the main image onto a die cut tag and the little tag  from the set on a piece of spare card using Memento ink.  The daisies were coloured with Polychromos pencils.  I then stamped again on masking paper and cut out the two daisies so that I could sponge the surrounding area with Distress ink.  I added a tiny D for dragonfly charm to the ribbon and that's it for this month. I'm so looking forward to receiving my swaps and to seeing the gallery of pictures.  Next month there are three tags to think about so I should start earlier to get them done in time but first I need to have a major tidy up  because the naughty imps have been creating havoc in my craft room - AGAIN!!!

Forgotten Friday Week 44

My offering for this week's Forgotten Friday challenge is another image of Magnum but this time it is a Christmas card.  The image was from a set of digi stamps by Ladybug Crafts which I bought quite early in time for using at Christmas last year and although this one had been stamped and coloured it was still lying around unused.  The papers are from one of my bit boxes and have been in there since the year before - I really must actually take papers and bits out of my storage boxes instead of just putting them away safely and then cutting into new pieces every time I make something!! Magnum was coloured using Polychromos pencils and the sentiment was produced on the computer.  I'm going to try making perhaps one Christmas card every few weeks for this Forgotten Friday challenge rather than take part in a weekly seasonal challenge - would you believe I still have quite a few cards left from last year's challenges.

Baby Dragon

This cute baby dragon is a stamp from Sweet Pea and he's been coloured with Inktense and Polychromos pencils with glitter added to the wings.  Background paper is from my stash (K and Co) and a Martha Stewart punch was used on the embossed card.  Some ribbon and a computer greeting and there he is to wish someone a Happy Birthday.

Fantastic Florals

I was clearing my work space yet again) and came across this stamped image (from Fantastic Florals by Chocolate Baroque)  which I'd coloured using Polychromos pencils so decided to make it into a card rather than store it away. Background paper is an odd piece from my bit box and I also used some whitewash core-d-nations card embossed with a leafy design (cuttlebug folder) and sanded to reveal the coloured core.  A ribbon to cover the join, a sentiment produced on the computer and that's it really,

Home Sweet Home

I have to confess I just couldn't resist this set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque and this is just one of the images on the plate of Clarice Cliff type cottages.  Image was stamped onto 160gsm sketch book cartridge paper and coloured using Polychromos pencils, then cut out with a Nestability circle and brushed with some dye ink for the sky.  Background paper is from CB Essence of Nature CD and the 'art deco' sunrays were made using a Tim Holtz embossing folder, sponged with Distress ink.  The word is from the stamp set also and is on a Stampin-up punched label .In reality the colours relate to each other better than they appear on the scan - why do scanners sometimes change colours??  No doubt there is a technical reason!!.

For a Fisherman

It will be my son's birthday soon so I've made him this Forever Friends card because he is keen on fishing - I'm pretty sure  he doesn't follow my blog so hopefully he won't get a sneak preview!! The stamp is from a set suitable for men's cards by Papermania, background paper is from my stash with the addition of a piece of Kraft glassine which was put through an embossing folder and sponged with Distress ink.  Image was coloured using Polychromos pencils.

Bah Humbug Challenge 23

I seem to be having a busy week and the days are just whizzing by but I have managed to make my Bah Humbug challenge card this week.  They asked us  to make a card or item for a teenager and that certainly made me stop and think but eventually I decided on using this stamp from Polkadoodles and I've dressed her in seasonal colours.  Background papers are from Papermania and I used a Marianne die for the glittery snowflake.

Pick a Pattern

The challenge for May on the St Luke's Challenge charity blog is to pick a pattern (or more than one) and I've used  Funky Hand spots and stripes papers left over from a card made recently but have also printed them both again in reduced sizes  for matting and layering and for a punched tab embellishment. The image was from a Forever Friends set by Papermania and was coloured with pencils.  The sentiment was printed from a Funky Hand CD. although it looks as though it might have been made using a label maker. I hope I've managed to include enough pattern here!!

A Very Important Date

For this card I've used a stamp from the Wonderland set by Nicky of Polkadoodles - incidentally she is on TV today so watch out for her shows.  The image was coloured with pencils and has been cut out with Nestabilities.  Background papers are from a Polkadoodles CD designed to accompany the stamps and I wrote a quote from 'Alice' on the computer to use as a sentiment. The fancy corner is a Marianne die.

Bubble Bath

Today's card has a lady relaxing in a bath full of bubbles which have been glittered although that doesn't show up in the scan.  The images from Papermania were stamped and coloured with pencils and the bathmat was cut out and added as an extra layer.  Background paper is also from Papermania and the sentiment was computer generated.  Flower and leaves were cut using  Marianne dies

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