Forgotten Friday Week 20

My card for Judith's Forgotten Friday challenge this week uses a stamp which I was reminded of when I saw someone on another blog had used it recently.  It is a flower one by Penny Black so I dug it out from the depths,  stamped with Versamark and embossed with detail white powder, then the image was brushed and sponged with Distress Inks. Background paper is from the essence of Nature CD (Chocolate Baroque) and I added some layers of punched card using a Martha Stewart border punch.  The sentiment was produced while I was playing around trying to make some circular wording using  a drawing programme on the computer. Judith is being very generous this week and offering a prize of some crafting goodies to a lucky winner when the draw takes place in a week's time.

Live Your Life

The wording on this card was produced on the computer and cut out with a Nestability label which was sponged and overstamped using a stamp which matches the background paper (Essence of Nature from Chocolate Baroque).  Flowers and swirls were cut with Marianne dies. A strip of embossed card - Cuttlebug embossing folder - and a die cut butterfly complete this card.

Monochrome

Another of my ideas for using the Fantasy Meadow stamp, this time in monochrome.  It was stamped with Versamark and embossed with white detail powder, then Distress inks in Pumice Stone and Black Soot were sponged over, giving it a final buff with kitchen paper to clean up the white lines.  Background paper is from the neutrals section of Essence of Nature. (all from Chocolate Baroque). I reckon now I should maybe use some of the other stamps in this great set.

Art Washes Away

I'm late coming onto the computer today - firstly I had to do a bit of food shopping as supplies were dwindling and when I got back I recluctantly mowed my large front lawn.  Why reluctantly?  It was badly in need of a cut but looked like an untreated summer meadow - a mass of flowers and feathery grasses - really pretty but not really suited to the front of a semi!!  The flowers were the usual mix of daisies, clover, buttercups and so on with the addition of some very tall yellow flowers related to the dandelion I would say and I think the common name is hawkbit. Alongside them were a lot of similar flowers in a deep orange but with clusters of smaller flower heads.  I imagine these last had escaped from cultivation although no-one around here seems to have any of them apart from me (and not in the flower beds).

Here is another card from my experimentation with the stamp from the Chocolate Baroque Fantasy Meadow set, this time using a Tim Holtz technique with paint dabbers and clear embossing resist on black card. This technique is explained in his 12 Tags of Christmas 2007 day 10, the final touch was to add a little Distress stickles and spread it thinly with a finger.  The background was sponged with Distress inks and overstamped with other stamps from the set - the sentiment is from Artistic Affirmations (also Chocolate Baroque).

Bah Humbug challenge 22

The challenge at Bah Humbug this week is 'surprise, surprise' - we could either surprise them with a design of our own choice or produce something with a hidden surprise.  While I was thinking this over and trying to decide what to do I remembered that when my friend Anne  and I met up for a coffee earlier this year she showed me something which she had made last Christmas and I thought this would be just the thing.  At the time I found the image for the face online somewhere but afraid I can't remember where.  I worked out the measurements for the wrapper by measuring the bar of chocolate - yes the surprise is a sweet treat inside this snowman.  At least there was a bar inside when I took the picture Lol!!  I then made the image the right size to fit using My Craft Studio and just glued the wrapper around the bar.  The little hat was made from a scrap of fleece fabric which I just happened to have around (I managed to find it too which is a surprise in itself!!).  I hope you like it and it was a change from making cards.

Experimenting

I thought it would be interesting to experiment with different mediums and techniques using the same stamped image and this is the first one using Inktense pencils and a lovely image from Fantasy Meadow by Chocolate Baroque.  Image was stamped onto smooth watercolour paper with Versafine black and background paper is from Echoes of Italy. I'm not sure when I will get around to all of these experiments  as I must do a few boring things like mowing lawns and weeding in between my 'play' sessions but watch this space.

Forgotten Friday 19

I know I keep saying this, but I just find it hard to believe that it is Friday again already and time for Judith's Forgotten Friday challenge where we use something which has lain neglected and unused.  Well I have to confess that the stamps used on this card were bought in a fit of enthusiasm probably a couple of years ago as I thought they would be really good for men's cards but sadly although I mounted them on cling and filed them away they have never actually been used until now.  I made this card  (with the challenge in mind) on Monday when it rained steadily all day - well it was Bank Holiday!! The background is core-dinations card embossed using a mask, sanded and distressed.  The next layer is some brilliant Kraft card from Papermania which has lines printed like a ledger or notebook and I punched the edge with an EK success punch.  I stamped a few random images on this using some teeny tiny stamps which are from Chocolate Baroque and are so useful for this type of design.  the main image was made up on watercolour paper using stamps from the Vintage Games set by Creative Expressions and a couple of stamps which came as a subscription gift with Craft Stamper many moons ago (Paper Artsy).  The final addition was a dimensional sticker from a set which I bought when I started making cards and thought that everything came ready made to stick on - I've learnt that this isn't the case but I thought it went with this card quite well and I must use up some of the 'stuff' which I have hanging around.