JOFY Bouquet

This is my third offering for Paper Artsy this week (they'll be thinking I'm stalking them).  This card was inspired by Jan McGregor's card using JOFY stamps, and I've not played with my JOFY stamps for a while so I thought I'd join in.

I'm using the colours from ColourQ as a guide.

My background is made from Mowed Lawn and Broken China Distress Paints, with a swipe of Picket Fence Distress Stain over the top.  The Picket Fence was originally through a stencil, but it was too wet and mushy and leaked under the stencil so I swooshed it over the panel with my fingers.  The stencil had loads of Distress Stain on it so I used it as a stamp instead.  The flowers are watercoloured with Distress Inks.   I added some Frantage embossing powder, Stickles and a hand-written sentiment, and drew a border with marker pen and Signo pen.

I've added a bow, so I can play along with Keep It Simple:

Also, don't forget about the new Mixed Media Card Challenge here :)

Celebrate With One Layer

This month's One Layer Simplicity Challenge, chosen by Heather, is Wave The Flag.  Heather (an Aussie living in Canada) made two cards, one for each country's flag.  I've made one card for two countries' flags, because I've got dual nationality (UK/Australia):

Quite convenient for this card!  The card was inspired by Keren Baker's card which was showcased on the Paper Artsy blog.

I'm also entering it into CAS On Sunday where the challenge is One Layer Wonder 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Vignette: Celebrate Artsy and Sentiment Builders: Celebrate.

Craft Stamper Reminder - Resist Technique

Are you playing along with Craft Stamper Take It, Make It challenge this month?  We're looking at the resist technique - stamp and heat-emboss your image, then colour with inks.  The embossing will resist any inks that are washed over it.

I inked the flower up with Versamark Onyx Black and stamped it three times, bending the stems a different way each time.  If you're quick enough, you can get embossing powder to stick to dye ink long enough to be able to emboss.  Then out came the Barn Door Distress Ink, some water and my best sloshing brush - Slosher Shirley Strikes Again!!

I masked the flowers and flicked some Peeled Paint over the panel, then mounted it offset onto a wider black panel, then onto the card.   The sentiment tag is from Craftwork Cards.

So come over and play, it's not as difficult as you think (and you could win a prize, get published in Craft Stamper AND be a future guest designer - what's not to like?).

Happy Birthday, Monika!

Today we're celebrating the birthday of my lovely, talented STAMPlorations teamie, Monika!  Monika is doing a spotlight feature on the STAMPlorations blog tonight, (with a little bit of hijacking by Shery ;) ) where you'll be treated to not one, but two technique videos.

I thought I'd make her an encaustic wax card after being inspired by this card by Birgit/Biggan.  I hadn't tried covering die cut flowers with wax before so it was a new technique for me.  And as I've used a die cut, I'm entering it into Virginia's View - Die Cuts.

Have a wonderful birthday, Monika - hope you get lots of crafting goodies!

Tag Time

Today is Tag Day, well for me at least.  This first tag was inspired by Keren Baker's distress ink stencil tag on the Paper Artsy blog.  I went for red and blue, and before I knew it, I was making a Union Jack tag.  Very patriotic.  So it fits nicely with the new Mixed Media Mojo Challenge - patriotic.  And it's my final entry into Winnie & Walter's Share The Love week with Distress Inks - Tag It.

With this second tag I'm playing at the new Tag, You're It challenge, where the inspiration comes from Virginia Lu.

I went for the same colour combination and added black flowers.  And because I used one of my Dina Wakley birds, I can also enter it into Just Us Girls, where it's a word challenge - Bird.

 

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I'm over on the STAMPlorations blog today for a Spotlight feature using the cake stamp, gelatos and embossing paste if you want to pop over for a look.

A Distressing Kind of Day

No, no, not that kind of distressing - this kind of distressing! Winnie & Walter plus Distress Inks.  How could I not play along??  I had myself a Winnie & Walter DistressFest over the weekend, so grab a brew and a biscuit and prepare to be distressed.

First up is the Day 1 - Watercolour.

Oh,  yes please!  The watercoloured panel is actually a mop-up piece from my stash.  I don't like to waste Distress Ink so I swoosh card over my craft mat to pick up all the colour so that I can use the piece later.  I trimmed it to fit the card, stamped the sentiment and the leaves, and cut out some flowers to layer on to the card.

The Big, The Bold and You

The Big, The Bold and Extras

Next up is Day 2 - Ombré.

A bit of Pine Needles, a bit of Evergreen Bough and a bit of Bundled Sage.  The three leaves were a pressie from my friend Jenny, so it was appropriate to use them on a Winnie & Walter challenge, because she won a guest designer spot for Winnie & Walter's upcoming Fourth Release.  And we're both on the design team for The Mixed Media Card Challenge so it was also appropriate to make it a mixed media card.

The Big, The Bold and The Happy

The Write Stuff: Picture Perfect

Then it's Day 3 - Resist

I used a stencil from Magenta and clear embossing paste, which resisted the Distress Inks, then stamped some dots in Seedless Preserves and the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black.  Where the ink went over the embossing, I removed it carefully with a cotton bud dipped in stamp cleaner.  Added a few flowers left over from card 1.

The Big, The Bold and The Happy

Scenery: Big Bang Confetti

And to Day 4 - Stencils/Masks

The previous card could have qualified for the stencil challenge, but I had this Tim Holtz stencil in mind instead.  I inked the stencil up, spritzed it and placed it onto the card piece and blotted off the excess.  Oh look, there's another flower from card 1 spree.

The Big, The Bold and The Extras

The Big, The Bold and The Happy

Day 5 tag coming in another post - I think you've had enough of me for one day!

STAMPlorations Sketch #15

Hi guys, it's sketch time at STAMPlorations.  I'm using the daisy stamp from the Boxed Blooms and Bold Sentiments set again.  This time I extended the petals beyond the frame when I was painting them, then added an extra slosh on some of the petals.  I also kept close to the sketch for once ;)

Our guest designer is Monika from Creative With Monika.  Pop over to the STAMPlorations blog to see the lovely cards from Monika and the Design Team, then play along.  Here's what you could win:

PRIZE
The sketch challenges are sponsored by our sister shop, All About Scrapping. The winner gets to pick 3 DIGITAL products from the shop — any combination of printable sheets, Photoshop templates, and digital paper packs. The winner will also be invited to be a Guest Designer in next month's sketch challenge.

A TWIST IN OUR CHALLENGES
Participate in all 3 challenges we host this month and you'll be in the running to win this prize package courtesy of our sister shop, All About Scrapping.

2 Spellbinders Borderabilities Dies
(Classic Scalloped Border Petites and Tulips)