Retro sketch #45

Stamp: Woodgrain (MSS)

Ink: Summer Sky (Memento)

Paper: Stella & Rose (MME)

Other: Star dies (MFT); circle punches

I sometimes find card making a bit like trying to remember a dream.  There's a vague wisp of an idea in your head which you can't quite see.  The harder you think about it, the further away it gets.  You know that what you have done doesn't match the idea, but you don't know what to do to put it right.  Ever had that feeling?

 

Well, this is one of those cards.  It's intended for this week's retro sketch challenge:

but somehow, it's not quite right.  As I 've spent a couple of days looking at it from every angle, & fiddling with it when I walk past, I'm not devoting any more time to it, but if you've any suggestions on improvements, I'd love to hear them.














Linking to:
Retro sketches #45

 

Thanks

Stamps: Star Prints (PTI)

Ink: Lady Bug (Memento)

Font:CK Ali's Hand Official

This card was inspired by yesterday's post from Kristina Werner.  I cut the letters with my Silhouette, but I confess that I wasn't sure how well it would do in the centre of the 'a' & the 'h' (I know this blade is on its last knockings...).  I made it cut 3 times, just to be sure!  The white thanks is 2-ply, with just a single layer of aqua thanks behind for shadow, stuck together using standard PVA applied with a fine paintbrush.

 

 

It doesn't show in the photo, but the star is clear embossed for a bit of shine.  Do you like the 'randomly' placed bling?  Positioning those 3 stars took longer than the rest of the card put together!

 

Linking to:

CASology: Week #19 ~ Thanks

Less is More - Houses

Stamps: Nordic Winter, Gingham & Co. (WM)

Ink: Rhubarb Stalk (Memento)

Font: CAC Pinafore

Great one layer challenge at LIM this week.  Houses.  I do love a house.  Simple shape, based on a square, easy to make central... 

So the Christmas card run continues.  House, heart & bottom sentiment drawn digitally, central heart cut out on the Silhouette.  Printed out another house on scrap & cut it out to use as a mask for the inside of the card:

I'm playing around with a larger version too.  If it comes to anything, I'll post it tomorrow.

 

Linking to:

Less is More: Week 93 (one Layer) ~ Houses

Orange elephant

Stamps: GeoGraphics (Paper Smooches)

Ink: Tangelo, Morocco, London Fog (Memento)

Font: Century Gothic, Sunshine Poppy

I saw ORANGE on CASology this week & immediately thought ELEPHANT.  A natural connection (!).  The elephant is from the Silhouette Store, printed on glossy photo paper for contrast against the linen textured card base.  The imperfect stamping makes the chevrons look shiny in the photo, but they're not.  More 'rustic'.

Linking to:

CASology: Week #18 ~ Orange

SPLAT!

Fonts: Split Splat Splodge; Prime Minister of Canada

A timely challenge from CAS-ual Fridays for a male card, inspired by this week's CAS(E) This Sketch.  No ink, no stamps.  I arranged my digital splats, printed out 3 copies & got busy with my circle punches.

 

 

 

Linking to:

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC77 ~ Masculine

CAS(E) This Sketch: Challenge #4

Dovecote decoration

Stamps: Teeny Trees (WM)

Ink: White Pigment (Studio G)

I have very few original ideas.  By nature, I am an adaptor rather than an innovator - I make changes to other peoples ideas to make them my own.  But this dovecote is all mine.

I created a cut file in Silhouette Studio for the main body, then cut it out of a manilla folder from Staples (good source of cheap kraft paper!).  Before assembling, I stamped the birds on both sides & added the gingham sills.  The floor & roof are simple strips of red from the scrap box.  The hanging loop was added before sticking the roof on.

This looks great hanging on the Xmas tree.  I made a whole bunch of them last year & sold them for the PTA.  If you would like the cut file, let me know & I'll send it to you - I haven't yet worked out how to embed things in Blogger for downloading.

 

Linking to:

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC76 ~ Kraft On

 

 

To Autumn

There have been a number of autumnal challenges floating around lately, but I've not felt sufficiently inspired to make anything for them.  This morning however, I had the lines 'mists & mellow fruitfulness' in my head.  No idea why, I am not a particular lover of poetry.  More likely to be from when it was used in a Mr Kipling advert! 

Anyway, I digress; I found Keats' poem on line & put the first verse into Tagxedo to come up with the above card.  I always feel like a bit of a cheat when I enter something created purely digitally into a challenge, even though it probably took just as much messing about as stamps & ink, but with an emptier waste basket at the end!

 

Linking to:

Less is More: Week 90 ~ Autumn

 

 

Let it Snow

Die: Marianne Snowflake



 

I used up the last scraps of my stripey paper, with a computer sentiment & some glitter that I haven't played with in ages.  I'm not sure if you can see, but the snowflake is inset into the card, which sits on sticky pads for height.

 

Linking to:

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC75 ~ Over the Edge

CAS(E) this Sketch: Challenge #2

 

Winter Wishes

Stamps:  Elzybells

Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Danube Blue, Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Other: Quilt Cuts 2 die (WPlus9), white gel pen, Sakura \metallic red

This is my third attempt on 'good' paper.  Needless to say, my initial effort on a piece of scrap has been sitting winking smugly at me all morning, secure in its perfection...

 

I used the inner frame from the die cut as the window & stamped through it, then masked off the various areas for sponging.  The best way I found for doing the lines around the panes was to go around the inside of the stencil in pencil, remove the stencil & then go over them in fine marker.  Yes, this bit of genius DID only occur to me on the third try!  The snow is just dots of white gel pen.

 

Linking to:

CASology: Week 15 ~ Night

One Layer Wednesday: OLW 110 ~ Squares

Merry & bright

Die: Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9)

Other: glossy photo paper; snowflake punch

Just 'cos I haven't been postin', doesn't mean I haven't been lookin' (& investin'...).  Yes I have taken a break from the tyranny of the paintbrush to use my lovely new dies that came in the post last week from WPlus9.  They are fab; lovely geometric quilt cut designs, just right for an obsessive such as myself!

 

This card was inspired by the Runway Challenge this week, & also CAS(E) This Sketch:

 

 

 

I didn't have any red stripey paper, so I drew some lines in Silhouette Studio & printed them out on glossy photo paper.  I also did the sentiment, using CAC Pinafore, Book Antiqua & Century Gothic fonts.

I placed the die on the paper to ensure that the stripes would run in the direction I wanted, then arranged them as shown on the kraft strip.  The red & white bands are also on glossy paper.

The kraft was embossed using the scoreboard at 0.5 inch intervals.

Having put it all together, it looked a little bottom heavy (don't we all?), so I added the snowflakes to balance things out.

 

Linking to:

Runway Inspired Challenge: ric#22 ~ Tommy Hilfiger

CAS(E) this Sketch: Challenge # 1

 



Silver Retro Sketch

Stamps: Star Prints (PTI)

Ink: Versamark (Tsukineko)

I like the layout at Retro Sketches this week, & have continued the silver & red theme from Saturday. 

 

The sentiment was constructed digitally (Century Gothic & Qumpellka no.12), before stamping & embossing.

 

Linking to:

Retro Sketches: #32

Less is More: Week 88 ~ Silver

Merry Christmas from our house to yours

Stamps: Neighbourhood (Market Street Stamps); Nordic Christmas (WM)

Ink: Rhubarb Stalk (Memento); Versamark (Tsukineko)

Other: ProMarker; silver detail embossing powder

Hi folks.  Today's offering is in response to Less is More's request for silver.  I took the opportunity to use another recent purchase (Market Street Stamps had a 20% discount last week, & the stamp got from the USA to the UK in a week!).  Love silver & red together.  The silver side-matting is a happy accident of measuring, but these things happen for a reason!  The lower case part of the sentiment was done on the computer, with a couple of nail gems for a bit of extra sparkle.

 

Linking to:

Less is More: Week 88 ~ Silver

52 Card Pick Up: Week 40

CASology ~ Zoo

Stamps: Circus Animals (My Cute Stamps)

Ink: Tuxed Black (Memento)

Other: various paper; By the Numbers die (MFT); Cuttlebug embossing folder

I've been playing about with MS Photo Editor.  Can you tell?

A bit more involved than my usual offering, but I do enjoy a bit of paper piecing now & again.  There was also a monkey involved during the early stages (in the the design, not helping me out), but he got cut before the final take.  I love this set from My Cute Stamps & may well be tempted to use them for this challenge again before the week is out.

 

Linking to:

CASology: Week 13 ~ Zoo

 

Runway Inspired Challenge

Inspired by this week's picture:

 

This colour combo is new to me, as I am not over fond of yellow, but I like it with the grey & aqua.  The main shapes are all slightly different, as they are on the dress & I have used the off-set grey rectangle to mimic the shadows at the models' feet.  The digital sentiment is my favourite font - migraine sans.  And no stamps or ink in sight!

 

Linking to:

Runway Inspired Challenge: ric#21



 

Just a quickie...

Stamps: Bitty Banners (WM); Get Merry (HA)

Ink: Rhubarb Stalk, Bamboo Leaves, Pear Tart (Memento)

Inspired by masking on One Layer Wednesday this week. I stamped the distressed tree from Get Merry, cut it out & stuck it down, then stamped across it with the banners.  Simples!

 

Linking to:

One Layer Wednesday: OLW107 ~ Masking

Less is More: Week 86 ~ 3 challenges

It's getting wetter...

It looks as if what passes for summer in the UK has definitely finished.  It is cold & gloomy here (just another excuse for poor photos...), with lashings of rain.  So what better than a cheery pair of wellies?

 

I made the digital stamp from some clip art, & used digital paper too, printing on to glossy photo paper to get some shine.  I cut out 2 versions, so I could pop up the front boot on sticky pads.  It was very tricky to cut out, as it is so small.
 

 

The corners of the white panel were rounded with my corner chomper, as was the card base.

PS Is anyone else having trouble with blogger at the mo?  It's playing very hard to get.  It took me >5 attempts to load these pictures today; kept saying server returned invalid response.

 

Linking to:

CASology: Week 12 ~ Shoe

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC71 ~ Fall Fun

Less is More: Week 86 ~ 3 challenges (wk 32 seeing double, wk65 sketch, wk73 paper piecing)

Folded squares

Stamps: Little Bitty Bird (PTI)

Ink: Tangelo, Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Long ago & far away, before Pinterest (yes, there was such a time) I saw this idea as artwork.  I thought "I could do that".  And then did nothing.  I have had a flick around likely sites today, but have failed to come up with the original piece.  If you know where to find it, please let me know.

 

CASology are using WHITE as the challenge word this week, & that's what triggered my memory.  Prior to today, I have scoffed at the idea of square punches.  I have pooh-poohed them soundly.  Because any fool can cut a square, right?  Wrong.  At least, this fool can cut one, but apparently not 12 identical ones. Even when I cut a strip & then only had to chop it up at the right intervals. Perhaps the picture I should be showing you is of my table, covered in over-large confetti comprised of squares-that-didn't fit & squares-that-can't-be-folded-exactly-in-half. I think a square punch may well be on my Christmas list.

 

 

 

Anyway, the card is a 5" square, & I used a 1/2" border all round to position my folded squares correctly.  I learned the hard way to stamp first, fold & stick later.

 

I just hope it's white enough.

 

Linking to:

CASology: Week 11 ~ White

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC70 B&W plus one

Less is More ~ Oval

Stamps: Tiny Trees (WM)

Ink: Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves (Memento); Chocolate Brownie (Elzybells)

Paper: Pink Petticoat

Twine: Brown Sugar (Divine Twine)

Hmmnn.  The spotted paper looks a but sludgy in this picture.  IRL it's much nearer to the darker green of the leaves. 

As well as photography, I'm having real trouble with layouts lately, in particular where to put a sentiment.  Which is why I so often don't bother.  I tried all sorts of combinations for the above, before deciding on the computer generated strip.  Any tips?

 

Linking to:

Less is More: Week 85 (Theme) ~ Oval

 

 

Faux newspaper flower

Stamps: Text Sstyle (PTI)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper: Ribbin Stripes (Pink Petticoat)

Other: Aqua ProMarker

Listen.  Can you hear that?  Yup.  Nothing.  No kids rummaging through the Lego box.  No cat yowling.  No builders hammering.  It's just me.  For the first time in months.  Hurrah.

 

So I thought I'd have a go at something a bit different.  I saw this idea for a flower ages ago, & squirrelled it away in my head. 

 

I used my Silhouette SD to create & cut out the leaf shapes from 3 diamonds, stamped them with the text pattern, then coloured the outside edges with ProMarker.  By folding the outside diamonds in half & sticking them behind the middle diamond, you get a nice 3D effect.  All 8 were then stuck on a circle to create the flower.

 

 

Adding a brad & a couple of punch squares coloured with the same pen finished the embellishment.

 

 

 A couple of strips of stripey paper for ribbons & 3 tiny squares in the bottom corner to balance things out, et voila.  I just hope it's CAS enough for the challenge.

 

 

Linking to:

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC70 ~ B&W plus one



Fireworks

Stamps: Artemio
Ink: Tangelo, Morocco, Dandelion, London Fog (Memento); Aqua (Adirondack); Versamark (Tsukineko)

Embossing powder: Aurora Crystal Sparkle (Cosmic Shimmer)

Can you believe this is my 100th post?  Me neither.  So I've that's 90ish cards I've made since April.  I know I haven't sent that many, so I'd better look them out & see if I can sell any.  I daren't even count the hours that amounts to (& then there's the blogging hours...).  Just as well DH doesn't read this blog.  Still, there's no point even trying to clear up the mess at the moment.  I currently have 7 men in my house making dust.  I don't stand a chance.

 

Anyway, I digress...  100 posts, so what could be more appropriate than fireworks?  Autumnal (November 5th) for One Layer Wednesday, Sky for CASology & embossed for CAS-ual Fridays.  As I don't have much in the way of embossing powder, I stamped in Versamark before the colour, to give the powder a fighting chance of sticking.  Then I masked off the rectangle & sponged with aqua & grey for the sky.  I must tell you, this isn't quite how it looked in my head, nor is it the first attempt, but you just go with it, right?

 

Linking to:

CASology: Week 10 ~ Sky

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC69 ~ embossing

One Layer Wednesday: OLW105 ~ Autumn