Inspired by a Photograph

This week at Make My Monday we've been given a photograph as a starting point to inspire our designs - it has so many interesting elements when you really study it that it was hard to choose a direction.  Do take a look at the photo and also the various lovely items made by the design team where they've each picked out certain elements. Which  would you have chosen to use? I must say I was tempted by the little bird houses on the table but eventually decided on the pink colours with white, the oval shape, the hydrangea and the swags decorating the table. I had various pieces of left over papers from the 12" pad of vintage shabby by Tim Holtz so used a mixture of these 'bits' for the layers along with a scrap of embossed Centura Pearl left over from a large sheet.  The hydrangea was stamped onto a piece of the pink paper using white ink and embossed with detail white powder, the oval layers were cut with Spellbinder dies, the scalloped edges (tablecloth swags) were cut with a Stampin' Up scalloped edge die and embossed with matching SU folder. I decided to leave this card without a message at the moment - besides it is always handy to have a pretty card which can be used for any occasion.

Vintage Shabby

The challenge this week on House of Cards blog is VINTAGE/SHABBY still within the colour scheme for the month. Backing paper here is from Tim Holtz vintage shabby pad, overstamped with leafy swirls (Chocolate Baroque).  The wording is also a stamp from Chocolate Baroque onto a Spellbinder label.  The strip of pattern used a stamping wheel from Stampin' Up and the flowers were stamped using their Vintage Vogue set (retired I think), then cut out with scissors.  The leaves were cut from a scrap of card which I had lying around which had been spritzed with Glimmer Mist - never throw any useful scraps a\way!!. A lacy die cut and here it is - my take on the vintage shabby theme for the week.

Bubbles

Some cool bubbles is what we all need at the moment although they do say that drinking bubbles (or any alcohol) isn't good in the heat.  This lady is relaxing in what I like to think might be a cooling bath anway.  Image and papers all from Papermania and I did some pen doodling to define the edges.  A Sizzix framelits die was used for the shapes and that's it - another card for the box.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever you may be doing.

Flower Card

Flower cards are always popular so I used this hydrangea stamp from Stampin' Up to make a card to pop into my box.  Image coloured with Coloursoft pencils then die cut with Spellbinders circles for the layers and a Nellie scallop circle die.  Someone gave me a packet of pretty doilies so I used part of one with an apothecary accents die (Stampin' Up) along with two more of the paper clay roses and a simple greeting. Backing paper was from a freebie pad which came with a magazine. There seems to be no let up with the hot weather so I will be carrying on with 'light duties' as much as possible.

House of Cards

The challenge on the House of Cards blog is still running with the same colour scheme as last week but this week they are asking for CLASSIC AND ELEGANT - I hope my interpretation fits the bill.  I printed some decoupage from Fabulous Fashion by Katy Sue Designs and popped the design onto an embossed top note die from Stampin' Up (Sizzix).  A ribbon bow was added along with a little rose made using SU air-drying clay and a mould - temptations from the new catalogue!!  A simple greeting using circle and label punches also from SU.  I'm enjoying this new challenge and wondering what the technique will be for next week within this month's colour scheme.

MMM Challenge - Again!!

Well I felt I should try again to get it right for the Make My Monday challenge this week.After yesterday's carelessness in not reading the challenge guidelines properly I set to and looked for a stamp which I'd had for simply ages and not used and believe me the most difficult part was deciding which one to choose!!   I needed to make a card for my great nephew so chose this stamp from a set of Suzy's Zoo stamps which I bought from Joanna Sheen many moons ago - to date only one of the characters in the set had been used and the remainder stored away and neglected. Image was coloured using Coloursoft pencils; backing paper printed from a CD (Docrafts I think).  The text to personalise the card was produced on the computer and punched out using Stampin' Up punches;  the decorative border was die cut with Spellbinders dies.

Do follow the link, take a look at the cards made by the design team and maybe have a go yourselves if you happen to have any neglected stamps (or decoupage).

Make My Monday Challenge

Over at Make My Monday this week they are asking us to use a stamp which has not been inked before or alternatively some decoupage which hasn't been used since it was purchased.  Well I guess we all have many stamps which have not seen ink near them - you know how it is you buy a set of stamps and inevitably there are always some which remain unused - I should know because I am guilty as charged.  However today I received my recent order from the Stampin' Up Extravaganza Day and I've inked one of the stamps from the Simply Sketched set, leaving another five still to use.  I put some background colour onto a piece of watercolour paper by scribbling onto a plain acrylic block with Distress Markers, spritzing with water and stamping, after which I stamped the flower and coloured it with Distress Marker.  Having seen some Joy cards on my friend Anne's blog I thought I'd make one.  I have no idea where they got their name from but would be interested to know if anyone has any idea.  Background papers were printed from Artylicious Essence of Nature CD and I simply added a message (which helps the card stay closed) and a little butterfly.

Edited hastily

Well that will teach me to read the challenge instructions more carefully - I've just read it again and realise that it MUST NOT be a new stamp so it is back to the drawing board and I will be making another challenge entry!!  This took me ages to make due to the heat and the fact that I've been getting so little sleep since the heatwave started that my brain seems to be frazzled - that's my excuse anyway - sorry folks, must try harder.