More Inky Play

 As promised here is my card made using the gelli plate background - using some stamps which I 'found' while I was going through my boxes to find suitable stamps for this technique;.  I honestly can't recall buying this set and they must have been languishing in the bottom of this box for many years.  Anyway it was a lucky find even though I'm not particularly into fairies.  The background was done with Distress Oxide ink and Brusho dissolved in water - quite exciting to do because it is so unpredictable and each print is unique.  I cut a piece of the background to size before making the scene using a variety of stamps and masks for the ground and the moon.  I was in two minds about adding the words and dithered over this for a while - still not too sure about this but it's done now.

Fairy and Castle - Lavinia stamps purchased many years ago
Foliage - selection of stamps from various sets
Words - from a magazine freebie stamp set designed by Sheena 

Ink and Stamps

I've been having a bit of inky play and have produced a couple of reasonably interesting backgrounds, one using a gelli plate and the other using a brayer.  For this card I chose the brayered background, cut it to fit a tall DL card and set about composing a little scene using a selection of stamps, some of which I've had for many years (they are from several different stamp sets).  I started by making the uneven 'ground' at the bottom using torn scrap paper and a brush to apply the ink, followed by stamping the tall toadstool in black then gradually building up the rest of the foliage using a variety of shades of green ink, popping the two hares into place.  Final touch was to add the overhanging leafy area and lightly brushing right around the edge with the darkest green, then mounting onto a larger piece of black card.  My original intention was to maybe put the whole thing onto a kraft card blank but I discovered along the way that not all DL cards are created equal 😉.  I have white, cream and kraft and they are all slightly different in size.  What is it they say about 'best laid plans' - this is now on a white background.  In future I must check the sizes before I start if I definitely want a particular colour of card blank for the finished project.  Ideas are going round in my head for using the gelli plate background next.

Toadstool and Hares - stamps by Lavinia
Foliage - variety of stamps from a wide selection of different sets
Greeting - sticker from Clarity

Just to Say

 A card to share today which could do for many occasions - made using mainly die cuts.  The flowers and leaves are multi-layered and the words have been cut twice and stuck together to give them a bit more substance. 

 The wall to wall sunshine seems to have disappeared for the moment and it is quite dull this morning - hopefully we can avoid the thunder storms and lashing rain which is predicted in many places but of course there is nothing we can do.  If it rains, it rains 😉 Enjoy your weekend

Panel and Flowers - Beautiful Brushstrokes dies Stampin' Up
Words - Floral Gallery dies Stampin' Up
DSP - Boho Indigo also SU

Playground Challenge #405

 Time again to visit Pixie's Playground for another Ruby's Memory challenge and as usual my card has been made entirely from snippets from my bits boxes - apart of course from the base card.  There is a lovely prize on offer this time around which I'm sure the winner will enjoy.  I started with a snippet of patterned paper trimmed to fit the card and then die cut a smaller piece on which to pop the flowers.  These were stamped (three stages to each) before being fussy cut and arranged with some die cut leaves and a strip of 'ric-rac' all cut from snippets.

Flowers - Penned and Painted stamps from Stampin' Up (retired)
Leaves - from Curvy die set Stampin' Up
Ric-rac - cut using border die from a Daisy Mae Set

Too Nice to Use???

How many of us I wonder have some wonderful background papers which are 'just too nice to use'?  Well I've decided that if they are that nice then maybe they should be used to bring pleasure to the person who receives the card or whatever else we make, rather than remaining hidden in our craft rooms.  Today I received the Hand Penned DSP and have bravely cut into  a sheet  to make this card, teaming it up with some toning plain card and stamped floral motifs.

Hand Penned - from Stampin' Up
Oval - embossed using 3D bark embossing folder also SU

Dandelions

 As I look out at the lawn I can see plenty of daisies and a few dandelions and very pretty they look even if they aren't really supposed to be there.  In fact they don't worry me - my garden is far from pristine and must be good for small wildlife.  There are also dandelions on the card I'm sharing today (no daisies) but there is a tiny dragonfly.

Curved Card - cut using Stampin' Up Quite Curvy die set
Floral Paper - From Stampin' Up to match Garden Wishes stamp set
Flowers - dies from Dandy Wishes die set Stampin' Up
White Background Shape - Apothecary Accents die set (SU long retired)
Dragonfly - X-cut punch which I've had forever

Flowers

I received another class in the post recently but decided to 'break free'  and do my own thing with some of the die cut flowers which came with it using up some scraps of card and paper from my oddments boxes.  As the flowers were all white my initial idea was to colour them but once I'd found the paper and card I wanted to use, decided that they would be fine left as they were although I did die cut some leaves using one of my dies and also cut some coloured centres for the flowers.

Background papers - scraps from some long retired DSP Stampin' Up
Flowers - Pierced Blooms dies Stampin' Up (class in the post)
Leaves - die from Curvy die set SU
Flower Centres - from retired SU floral die set