Inspiration

 Inspiration and ideas for cards come from many different sources and the idea used on this card was spotted while trawling through some YouTube crafty videos.  Often far more entertaining than watching TV in the evenings 🙂 I find.  This is also yet another good way of using up some of the scrap card mountain.  Circles were die cut from three colours of card and then each was cut in half before reassembling in whatever way you think fit.  The same thing could probably work with squares or other shapes but this is my first 'play' with the idea.  There was a stray donkey hiding amongst the bits and pieces on my desk so he has been used to complete this card  Sentiment was stamped onto a strip of card which has offset fishtail ends punched and I've added a few coloured sprinkles.

Edit - forgot to say the technique seems to be called 'layering Circles' and there are several videos to be found on YouTube

Circles - Stitched shape dies from Stampin' Up
Donkey and words - Darling Donkey stamp set Stampin' Up
Punch used - banner punch from Stampin' Up

Blue Floral

Shades of blue on today's card which is a floral birthday one.  Self explanatory really with a mixture of stamping and die cutting to make this arrangement.  The layout is based on a recent new sketch from Jules although I've turned it around a little and used it for a square card whereas hers was designed for a rectangle.  Some kraft card elements have been added because I felt what I did originally was a bit too 'blue' and needed a touch of contrast.  I always gather my components together and have a 'dry run' before I finally stick anything down.

Vases and Flowers and Background - Boho Indigo suite from Stampin' Up
Sentiment - download from Netty's Cards, resized to fit a punch
Die cut shapes - Stitched so Sweetly Stampin' Up
Kraft panel - embossed using a Cuttlebug embossing folder

Snippets Challenge #401

 There is a guest designer this time in the Playground - none other than the lovely Mrs A of Butterfly Challenge fame.  Well worth checking out her blog to see the tutorial explaining how she made her pretty card and to see the great prize on offer for a lucky winner.  It so happens that I've also used lots of snippets for my background this time - coincidence really and I can't  claim credit for the idea because I saw Julia Watts demonstrating something similar on The Craftstore channel and thought it would be just right for a Snippets challenge card.  I've cut a selection of squares from some of my snippets and arranged them Bargello style onto a piece of paper and glued them down before over stamping with several different stamps to make an interesting background effect..  I didn't really want to cover up too much of this background so simply added a couple of label shapes with a greeting.  This was a fun technique and one which I may well repeat in the hopes that my snippets mountain might diminish, although I imagine that is a vain hope 😀.  

If you've not heard of Bargello it is a patchwork technique where strips of fabric are stitched together before being cut into further strips and reassembled to form interesting pattern effects - lots of information to be found on the internet.

Stamps used - various freebies which came with a Phill Martin magazine some time ago
Sentiment - another freebie stamp from a magazine gift, again from a while back
Labels - Stitched so Sweetly dies Stampin' Up

A Touch of Gold

 I have a supply of gilding flakes but have to admit that it is a very long time since I actually used any of them so thought it was about time that was remedied.  Started out with a square of cream card and put a strip of double-sided tape down one edge before applying the flakes.  The whole piece was then run through the machine with an embossing folder. I then used another scrap of cream card and gilded that by applying some double-sided adhesive sheet so that I could die cut a couple of gold leaves. Next move was to find various scraps of card to cut some labels and a few green leaves; finally cutting a two layered butterfly from some DSP and cream pearlescent card.

Butterfly - dies from Sizzix
Labels - Stitched so Sweetly Stampin' Up
Words - from Hey Chick stamp set Stampin' Up
Embossing - Folder given away free with a magazine
Leaves - mix from Stampin' Up Forever Fern and Card Making Magic
Designer Paper - Butterfly Bouquet Stampin' Up

Luigi the Llama

I've been dabbling with watercolour paper and some ink pads, following on with some over-stamping to make a suitable background for this quite large llama stamp.  Started by 'smooshing' the paper through spritzed inks on a glass mat then used a couple of stencils randomly over the whole piece once it was dry.  Next I selected a good area and trimmed out a piece to fit my base card before over-stamping with a couple of grungy stamps, finally inking the edges with black soot ink.  The llama was stamped and coloured using alcohol pens and then I decided to fussy cut him to apply direct to the background.  I do enjoy some inky play although I appreciate this style isn't popular with everyone but it is always nice to have a varied selection of cards to suit many tastes.  While I was working on this it occurred to me that this stamp could work well with paper piecing so that could well be something else to try before he gets tidied away.

Stamp - Luigi the Llama from Crafty Individuals
Over-stamping - free stamps from Phill Martin magazine
Words - stamp set from Tim Holtz which I've had for some years
Background - Distress inks
Stencils - All and Create
Llama - coloured with Copic pens

Butterfly Challenge #155

I'm fluttering in with a card for the current Butterfly Challenge and this time Mrs A has come up with a very interesting lantern card design as inspiration.  Unfortunately I've  not managed to produce one of these cards but if you take a look at her blog you will see a great example and there is an excellent tutorial as well.  Again I've just gone along with the colours of lemon, lilac and lawn green and included some lattice work as well.

Lattice - a very old die which has lost its packaging
Butterfly - fussy cut from Butterfly Bouquet DSP by Stampin' Up

Dandelions

 I received another 'class in the post' during the week, this time from the lovely Jenny of Stamping Moments and if you visit her blog you will be able to see the cards which she designed for us to make.  Everything was included to make four cards and a little gift box. All I really needed was an ink pad for the sentiments. I do enjoy working with these classes and having an opportunity to make cards with nice products as a sort of trial run.  I had in fact already treated myself to the designer paper pack so I was able to break into that to enable me to turn the components into larger cards than are supplied with the classes because  I very rarely make smaller A6 cards.  I've included pictures of three of the ones I made, all in my usual square format.  

Products used - Dandy Garden DSP and die cuts from Stampin' Up