Sunshine

I decided to have a little play session with some ink pads and stamps and this card is the result.  It was inspired by a video on You Tube (Lavinia) and this is my interpretation, using stamps in my collection. There is some sparkle added to the leafy area but it doesn't show up well in the picture

                                                  

 

Stamps - from Lavinia and Card-IO
Word Stamp - |Artistic Expressions by Chocolate Baroque (been in my collection for years)
Inks Used - Distress ink and Versafine Clair

Snippets Playground

 Here is my card for the Snippets Playground second Christmas in July challenge where there is a bumper prize to be won by a lucky person chosen at random.  Everything apart from the card blank has come from my snippets collection and I've included a picture of the remnants (I even used the cut out circle to die cut the sentiment. and a couple of ready cut leaves to ground the robin..  I started with a white snippet cut to fit onto the card blank and then cut a circular aperture and backed with a snippet of patterned paper.  The remaining elements were die cut and arranged before adding the word.  A fairly CAS card

Background - snippet of patterned paper Season's Greetings CD from Artylicious
Holly and Berries - Sizzix seasonal foliage die set
Robin - unbranded die
Word - die from a magazine give-away die set

Sidetracked!!

 Do you ever become sidetracked while trying to make a card - it happens to me quite often 😉.  I was planning to work on my card for the next Snippets 'Christmas in July' challenge until I spotted Sarn's homework where she's just proved that bunnies aren't just for Easter.  With her permission I've CASE'd her idea with slight variations and my own lovely bunny has come out of retirement.  Now I must get back on track and continue with my own card for the current challenge, where there is a bumper Christmas themed prize again.  Why not sort through some of your own snippets and make a 'Christmas in July' card.   Sarn's bunny card can be found here along with all the details of the current challenge.

My bunny is also seated on a pile of presents but my card differs in that I've stamped a snowflake tree and added a gold star and gold wording.  Thanks so much for the inspiration Sarn 😊😊.  Back to work now to finish my snippets card which will be posted in a couple of days so watch this space.

Bunny - unbranded die
Parcels - Gummiapan die (slightly altered by a bit of 'snipping')
Tree - stamp from a magazine giveaway of A4 stamp set, dies and embossing folders
Wording - die from above magazine set
Star - Crafter's Companion
Curved 'snow' - die set from Lawn Fawn

Summer Blue

 Summer Blue is the theme for the current Allsorts Challenge and I've just made a quick card using a floral stamp.  I cut myself a circle stencil and applied some ink using a soft brush and then simply stamped the floral spray and sentiment. using a grey ink which I though would be softer than using black.  Added a little bit of colour to the flower heads using Polychromos pencils and that was it - job done.  There are lots of lovely cards made by the design team to inspire everyone and prizes to be won as usual at the end of the month.so why not see what you can make either using the theme or it could be 'anything goes'.

Butterfly Challenge

 It's quite a while since I took part in one of the Butterfly Challenges HERE but as they have a very simple theme this time I thought I'd make a card to suit.  I was inspired by a recent YouTube video from the talented Chrissie Stokes where she used a circle die along with a leafy one to simulate the effect given by the many aperture/detail dies which are to be found if you search.  This way I've used what I've had in my stash almost forever - mind you I'm not saying I couldn't be tempted to buy new dies if I see any which take my eye 🤣.  Doing it this way does involve a little more work but it was fun so no problem with that.  I started with a square die to fit onto my usual square card and cut into it with a circle to make an aperture layer which was backed with a piece of card which had been coloured a while ago using the shaving foam technique - I could hardly believe it still carries the scent of the shaving foam after many weeks.  I then used a floral die which was layered on one side of the circle with part of it overhanging the edge, popping tiny slivers of sticky foam on the backs of the flowers which extended into the circle.  A tiny butterfly was die cut and added along with a sentiment.  This method is described very well in the video and there is a link below if you want to watch.

Flower - die given away with a Tattered Lace magazine many moons ago
Butterfly - Gummiapan die
Sentiment - computer generate
Link to video - https://youtu.be/c0WJc2U5NX0.

And Again ...

 Apologies - I promise no more daisies for a while but while these stamps were out I decided to make a card for two  stamping challenges.  We Love Stamping where the theme is **Fabulous Flowers** and Stamping Sensations with  **Summer Flowers** as a theme.  Again the flowers were double stamped, starting with the outline and then the infill for the petals.  They were then die cut and arranged onto a border strip of patterned paper, mounted onto a scalloped background and assembled onto some toning designer paper.  A simple sentiment and three pieces of Card Candy added.  There are lovely prizes on offer at both of these challenges, to be announced at the beginning of August.

Stamps and Flower Die - from Colour and Contour set Stampin' Up
Scalloped die and Sentiment Die - also from the same set
Background Paper - printed using a Paper Pantry USB

More Daisies

I have a card to share today with more daisies but these are quite different ones using a stamp and die set which I think is now retired.  These flowers are double stamped, first the outline and then the infill with a pen used to colour the centres.  They were then die cut and arranged onto a stitched, scalloped rectangle which is part of the same set..  Some toning DSP has been used as a background and the sentiment was computer generated to fit onto the pretty label (also part of the same stamp/die set) - I printed a sheet of them so that they could be die cut as required.  A scattering of glitzy gems and that's another card to go into the box.

Background - DSP from Stampin' Up (retired)
Stamps and Dies - Colour and Contour from Stampin' Up (retired?)