Interesting Technique

 I came across a technique for colouring card which involves spray starch, pigment powders and clingfilm.  If this sounds interesting to you can find it HERE.  I must admit I was a bit puzzled as to why spray starch was used instead of the usual water but gave it a go anyway.  I used Pixie powders, some of which have mica in them and some not but the inclusion of mica gives the finished result a lovely glimmer although of course this doesn't always come across in pictures on the screen.  Once the pieces were dry I used some of it to make a card which is actually  CASE'd from the one Christine made except that I used a different die and punched my butterflies rather than die cut.  Once the messy bit was done this was a quick card to put together and while I had the powders etc out I coloured more than one piece of card so I have some backgrounds for future projects.

Floral die - by Clarity Freshcuts
Butterflies - two punches from Stampin' Up (retired)

Alcohol

 No, I've  not been drinking it 😉. Whilst looking for something else,  I came across a pack of alcohol ink cardstock which I'd forgotten about so I decided to see if my neglected alcohol inks were still usable.  Fortunately they were so I coloured a piece of this card which has a lovely sparkly sheen, although of course this doesn't show up in the picture.  I die cut a flowery frame and a sentiment and made it into a quick and simple card.  The sentiment was cut twice and layered up to make it a bit more robust because it is very thin.on its own.

Background - alcohol inks on Ranger silver sparkle alcohol ink cardstock
Die - Allium Fresh Cuts die by Clarity
Sentiment - unbranded
Square dies - Creative Expressions Noble squares

Clean and Simple

Into a new month with the Stamping Sensations challenge and for April the theme is **anything stamped with the option of CAS**.  I've gone for the CAS option and hope that there is sufficient stamping to cover the anything stamped part.  I started by making a stencil using a rectangular die and then added some Distress ink onto a cream card.  Another small honeycomb stencil was used for a bit of detail and then the numbers and little 'splodges' were stamped.  All of this was done with the original stencil in place. A die cut bee and sentiment were added to complete the card.

Numbers - stamp from a Phill Martin magazine give-away (not recent)
Splodges - stamp from French Foliage set Stampin' Up (retired)
Bee - Tim Holtz Sizzix bee dies

Bunny Visits the Playground

At risk of boring everyone here's yet another card featuring this cute bunny and there is also another super one made by Di to see HERE.  Lots of tiny snippets used, mostly cream, so this one is for the Snippets Playground challenge where there is a great prize on offer for the lucky person chosen at random from the entries. I used a card blank and the square to fit was cut from a new A4 piece which of course has left me with snippets to use 😀.  Everything else was cut from small bits of cream card and then coloured using Distress pens and a water brush.I did find a scrap of brown for bunny.  I used a stencil for a bit of background detail and the legs of the stool and the 'floor' have been stamped with a wood effect.  The snail shell was brushed with Wink of Stella for a bit of shine.  The die cut sentiment was cut twice and layered up for dimension.

Some of my snippets

Stencil - from Lavinia
Bunny and Stool - unbranded
Wooden 'floor' - Tim Holtz die (very old) from Sizzix
Snail and Flowers - dies from Gummiapan
Grass - dies from Stampin' Up
Sentiment - Britannia Dies

Floral Card

 A floral card today, hoping to make someone think of better days to come instead of the dull and rainy days we've had this week. We have seen some sunshine today though. The leaves were stamped onto white card which was then die cut into a fancy edged rectangle.  The 3D flowers were stamped onto scraps of matching white card and fussy cut - there is a punch available for this step.  I printed some papers in suitable colours, added a stamped sentiment and a tiny gold bee cut from a scrap of card which had been covered with gilding flakes.

Stamping - Petal Park set by Stampin' Up
Papers - printed from a Paper Pantry USB
Sentiment - stamp which came free with a magazine years ago
Bee -  from a Tonic die set

CAS Sympathy Card

 Sadly cards expressing sympathy are needed from time to time and I feel they ought not to be too elaborate so I've made this one, hoping of course that it will stay in my box for a long time.  I was inspired by an idea shown in a video from Christine Stokes who demonstrates lots of really interesting techniques. Although this card is clean and simple it includes die cutting, stamping, embossing, ink sponging and   gilding flakes with a touch of gilding wax.  The sentiment was computer generated to fit a small stitched rectangle die.

Dies - Old Paper and Feathers from Gummiapan
Stamp - background textures from All and Create
Sentiment Dies - Stampin' Up and Press Cut.
Silver Gilding flakes from Indigo Blue

Rain!!

 I thought that the theme for this week's Allsorts Challenge was very apt - we've certainly had a fair bit of it recently.  I remembered that I had a download on the computer of some rainy papers which came free with a magazine a few years ago along with some stamps and a 'splash' die.  I've added other stamps and dies to come up with my card for the challenge.

Rainy paper and puddle die - magazine freebie from a few years ago
Circle - die from Daisy Mae
Images - Playing in the Rain, Stampin' Up
Sentiment - from freebie stamp set
Colouring - Inktense pencils and water brush