Simply Stampin Challenge 44

There is another colour challenge over at Simply Stampin this week and although I don't have all the exact colours I did have the navy and vanilla (improvised with the rest).

The SU background paper was overstamped with two of the smaller stamps from the Sense of Time set - the clock and sentiment are from the same set.  The Top Note die was cut out in kraft card and trimmed along the 'dotted line' then stamped using SU white pigment ink and white embossed (French Text large stamp), another Top Note was cut from navy card to frame this.   Computer sentiment was cut using two circle punches.

Make My Monday Week 34 and Forgotten Friday week 46

The people over at Make My Monday are on the last week of the nature challenge and this one is dragonflies and/or butterflies.  I've taken a piece of backing paper from a pad which I've had for ages and as often happens the cover is lost so no idea of the source.  I overstamped this with a couple of stamps from The Stamp Bug (Dragonfly Dreams) which I've had since 2008 and I very much doubt they've been used since then so this card should also be fine for Judith's Forgotten Friday challenge as well. The main image from the same set was stamped onto some card which had been swiped over wet dye inks on a craft mat and another scrap of this was used for the words too with a bit of extra colour brushed over while still in the die. I simply added a dragonfly charm,some ribbon and a bit of bling to finish off this card.  It is well worth taking a look at both the links above to see some beautiful work.

A Knitted Flower

Well the weather is very chilly again this morning but looking bright so the heater is on warming up my craft room so that I can get in there and maybe make a card or two.  In the meantime here is something a bit different - a flower knitted from some of the lacy scarf yarn which is about at the moment - I've knitted so many scarves in various colours that I don't really need any more so decided to have a go at this which can either have a pin stitched on the back as a brooch or it could be sewn to a bag or maybe made into a hair ornament.  It takes very little of the yarn so one ball would make a lot of them to sell at a craft fair perhaps.

Make My Monday Week 33

Well I've just about made this challenge by the skin of my teeth because there will be a new nature topic over at Make My Monday tomorrow!!  We are still on a nature theme for January and this week it was 'flowers and leaves'.  I've used stamps from Faith in Nature by Stampin Up; the background paper is also theirs and it has leaves and swirls.  A Top Note die has been embossed with leaves as well and a simple border and ribbon added. Images were coloured with Flex Markers.

I cannot believe that I've not actually made a card or inked any stamps for over a week - nearly forgotten how!!  This last week just seemed to disappear in no time at all but I really aim to get inky this coming week - getting withdrawal symptoms.

Well I missed the deadline which must be earlier than I thought - never mind at least I've made a card today!!

A Daisy Braid Variation

A few of my crafty friends thought they would like to have a go at some beadwork so I decided a possible introduction for them would be to try a simple variation on the daisy braid.  I've made this bracelet as a sample although it has yet to have a clasp attached.  Now all that remains is to go through my bead stash and sort them out a few beads and gather my threads and equipment together so that they can have a try without having to dash out and buy lots of beads etc if they discover that using tiny seed beads isn't for them which I appreciate is a distinct possibility although I thoroughly enjoy bead weaving with needle and thread.

Make My Monday week 32

Over at Make My Monday we are still on a nature theme and this week they are asking us to 'create a scene' (in the nicest possible way - I don't think we're talking 'grumpy old woman' here) LOL!!.  Having made this card I've decided this is a technique I definitely need to practice a lot more but I had a go with Distress inks and some masking.  The tree is from Chocolate Baroque Nature swirls stamp plate stamped with archival black and a few accents added with a white gel pen.  Not a lot more to say about this really except that I felt it needed something at the bottom and now I'm not sure the greeting was the right choice but am happy with the ribbon.

B is for Butterflies

Yes I know that is a bit predictable but there are some brilliant butterfly stamps from Chocolate Baroque (also birds and bees - spoilt for choice really). I started this tag by liberally dabbing a piece of white card with two colours of Distress Stains (Victorian Velvet and Dusty Concorde) and dropping salt crystals onto it while still wet.  Once dry the salt was brushed off and left me with this mottled effect from which I cut out the tag and also one of the bookplates on the die. The stamp used was from Butterfly Flourish swirls stamped with black archival ink.  The butterflies were made by stamping onto  some Tim Holtz vintage shabby paper adhered to a piece of Clearly for Art by Studio 490 (also available from Chocolate Baroque) - this is a plastic sheet which when heated with a heat gun softens and can then be moulded to give some dimension - the butterflies were easy to cut out  with scissors. If the result isn't to your liking it can be reheated and moulded again until it is right.  These butterflies and the bookplate - which had been sponged with the darker Distress colour - were both rubbed over with Rock Candy Distress Stickles which gives a distressed glitter effect.  These two tags have now been packed up,  posted off and in due course I will be receiving an A and  B tag made by someone else in the swap - something to look forward to!! I am already thinking ahead to C and D and also what colours and techniques I might use for them.