An umbrella and a bird

Two cards for you today.  This first one started life because of The Card Concept theme - use an umbrella.  Am I too grungy to be clean and layered?

I'm also entering it into Keep It Simple Bright Spark (bright colours or sparkly things)

I bought the Tim Holtz die a few months ago and rather than cut a dark silhouette I wanted to use bright colours.  So I cut it in white, then swooshed it through some spritzed Distress Inks.  Conveniently, some new stamps arrived from STAMPlorations which had the perfect sentiment.  The stamps will be available to buy in May (go here for details of the stamps and a blog hop).

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This next card is for Just Us Girls Colour Challenge (any blue and any orange - my orange is spiced marmalade - sploshed on, of course!).

And it's also for Moxie Fab World - Hip On Handwriting (use your own handwriting or something handwriting-inspired).

Starry Birthday

I was lucky enough to win a prize from Keren Baker's blog recently.  The prize was a set of stamps that she had designed herself and had made, and these are some of the stamps from the set.  Keren was the mastermind behind the Mega Moxie Fab blog hop to honour its departing Queen of Moxie herself, Cath Edvalson.  Appropriately, the first post-Cath Moxie Fab World challenge is all about constellations and/or stars.

This week's Less is More challenge is all about:

Winter Blues

We would like to see cards with shades of blue 

And this week's Simon Says Monday Challenge is also about blue:

Moxie Fab Thanks!

Hello, and welcome to next stop on the most ginormous flashmob/bloghop ever!  And it's in honour of the most Moxie Fab person ever!  You should have arrived here from Gretchen's blog.  If you started at the beginning of the hop on the Moxie Fab World site and have stopped off at every blog so far, well it must be at least next year by now.  Or maybe 2015.  There are so many of us, I don't think anyone will ever get through from start to finish. (Now that IS a challenge!)

Which just goes to show how many people wanted to pay tribute to Cath and her endless enthusiasm and inspiration to those of us who live in crafting blogland.  Moxie Fab World was a unique and much-loved blogstop for all of us, and we will miss Cath's gloriously uplifting posts.  I'll keep it short and sweet, otherwise you'll never get any sleep, particularly if you want to stop at all the hops.

So here's my card for you, Cath.  I think the sentiments on the card say it all -

Now hop along to Julia Stainton's blog for the next stage of the hop!  If you get lost, click here for the full list of hoppers.

Who's Awesome?

Why, Cath, of course!  Our Moxie Fab World was rocked last week when Cath announced her departure.  Who didn't enjoy their daily fix of Moxie Fab-ness?  Oh My Moxie Fab! (where did she FIND all those images?), Tuesday Trigger (inspirational), Five for Friday (oh the detail!).  There is a Moxie Fab World Cards for Cath link where you can leave your card, and this is mine.

I'm entering it into the Uniko Studio challenge No 4 - Fall Foliage Colour Inspiration:

And Anything Goes at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:

Stamps: Uniko Studio Round In Cirlces, All Occasions Sentiments #2
Dies: Memory Box Parker Upper Case

Grungy Chevrons

The challenge at Little Tangles is to create your own pattern paper.

I used the chevron strip stamp with Salty Ocean, Ripe Persimmon and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks.  I inked my craft sheet then spritzed with water, and then stamped rows of the chevron strip, reversing each row.  Because the ink had pooled more in some places than others, it loaded unevenly onto the stamp and blotched onto the card, but I really like the effect.  I like looking at that grungy pattern.  I'm happy with grunge.

The challenge at CAS-ual Fridays is to use sequins and chevrons.

And the challenge at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is to use a rubber or clear stamp.

Neat & Tangled: On The Strip, Everyday Circles, Fresh Blooms, sequins.

ETA:  At Jenny's suggestion, I'm also entering it into Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger.

Apache Tears in the Key of Autumn

Gold Congrats

I haven't posted since last Monday.  Where did last week go?  I wanted to play along with Moxie Fab World All That Glitters Is Gold Challenge before it closes in a few hours, so I need to get a wriggle on.

I stamped the background image onto black card with Encore Metallic Gold, then once it was dry, matted it onto gold card and added Platinum Stickles to the dot pattern around the leaves.  Added a gift wrap tie around, then mounted it onto gorgeous white card that has a gold sheen to it when the light catches it.  Stamped and gold-embossed a sentiment onto the same card, and that's it!

Background: Rubber Stampede 3255R
Sentiment: Marion Emberson Designs It's All In The Words

Oh, and I got published in this month's Craft Stamper magazine, with this card:

Autumn MkII

And in the wink of an eye, I'm back with another Distress Inked autumn card.  Well, I couldn't waste all that lovely Distress Ink on the craft mat, now could I?

This time I managed not to drown the main leaf/branch stamp with water, so the images are slightly more defined.  I extended the branch with a stem stamp and added a few berries.  This card is going into the same challenges as the last card:

Paper Smooches SPARKS Picture Perfect challenge:

CASology Autumn:

CAS-ual Fridays Fall Colours and a Leaf:

And Moxie Fab World Handmade Cards Week:Colour Media challenge:

Stamps: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler, Reflections, Bold Blooms

Autumn Mk1

I've been playing with Distress Inks and water again.  This time I used Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge and Fired Brick.  I squished the inkpads onto my craft sheet then spritzed fairly heavily with water, and inked up the stamps.  The wet ink pooled into the recesses on the main branch stamp and splodged onto the card, but I really like it, I think it adds to the "arty" feel of the images.  And anyway, if you didn't know the stamp, well you wouldn't know the difference would you?  (But you will know the difference on the next post, because I used less water.)

I made a border around the base card by splodging Distress Inks around the edges and mounted the stamped panel onto the card.

The card was inspired by these challenges:

Paper Smooches SPARKS Picture Perfect challenge:

CASology, where the cue card is Autumn (and thanks to Ardyth's DT card for inspiring me to use falling leaves for the Paper Smooches challenge):

CAS-ual Fridays challenge which is Fall Colours and a Leaf:

And last but not least, Moxie Fab World Handmade Cards Week:Colour Media challenge:

Stamps: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler, Reflections

Moxie Fab World Holiday Cards and More

Cath has set a mega Holiday challenge at Moxie Fab World so I thought I'd play along with them.  All.

I've been trying not to think about making Christmas cards.  I mean, why worry now when I can panic later?  But Cath's challenge was so inviting.  I went with a snowflake theme and blues rather than Christmas trees and red/greens.

First up is the Holiday Tag Challenge:

Mega snowflake foam stamp (magazine freebie), Memory Box Large Parker Numbers, Brilliance Moonlight White, Mei Flower AB crystals, baker's twine, silver ribbon.

Then there's the Holiday Gift Wrap Challenge:

I covered a cotton bag with Mini Winter Wonderland 6x6 Template by The Crafter's Workshop and sprayed blue silk ink through the template (I've had the ink in my stash for years, I'm surprised it still worked). I cut up some lace to get the tiny flowers and stitched them on with sequins and beads. The bead snowflake charm was a gift wrap embellishment from a supermarket a couple of years ago. The bag is just the right size for books or DVDs.  In fact, there's a DVD boxed set inside the bag for the photo shoot to keep it upright.

Here's a close-up of the detail.

How about the Holiday Home Decor Challenge:

The canvas is about 7x5 inches. I used a baby wipe to smear acrylic paints across it then once it was dry, stamped the mega snowflake using Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. I smeared Chipped Sapphire and Faded Jeans onto a craft mat, spritzed lightly then inked the Stampington & Co C8423 Snowflake Print and stamped it onto spare card, then ripped the edges and stuck it onto the canvas with double-sided tape.

Next there's the Holiday Food & Treat Wrap Challenge:

Stamped the mega snowflake with Brilliance Moonlight White, glued then stitched it closed. Remember to put the treat in first!

And finally, the Holiday Card Challenge:

Stampington & Co C8423 Snowflake Print, Chipped Sapphire and Faded Jeans Distress Inks, Neat & Tangled Sequins

So there you have it.  And I'm guessing Christmas puddings and selection boxes will be in the supermarkets by next week!

Butterfly Bookmark

The cue word at CASology this week is book.

I don't really have any book stamps, so I thought I'd make a bookmark.  Which will come in useful, because I still prefer to read old-fashioned books rather than electronic books - despite being pretty much surgically attached to my iPad.

Here's where the inspiration came from:

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger Honouring Ombré.  I'd honour that cake any day, ombré or not!

Muse inspiration, provided this week by Lori:

And Anything Goes at Simon Says!

Butterfly and swirl: Clearly Besotted Butterfly Wishes
Butterfly die: Clearly Besotted
Sentiment: pre-loved Stampin' Up set, so might be discontinued?
Distress Inks: Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord

DIY Day Mk1

I've been doing some DIY.  With triangles.  Well, with non-triangles.  I wanted to make a card featuring triangles for four challenges but the only triangle set I have wasn't inspiring me, so I made my own with some of the stamps from the Hero Arts AC026 Brush Strokes set.

Simon Says Wednesday challenge is ...

TRIANGLES!

Moxie Fab World has a challenge called Trendy Triangles.

Hero Arts are having a Stamp Your Story Inspiration Challenge until the end of September where you trawl their galleries for inspiration.

My inspiration is from this card by Jennifer McGuire:

And oh, look! This week's Case Study card is also by Jennifer McGuire:

Hero Arts: AC027 Brush Strokes, CL611 Many Birthday Messages
Mei Flower pearl grey gems
Tombow pens