Colour Me Striking 79

Today is freezing cold. It's the first week of the school holidays and it's nearly snowing where I live. Which is saying something, because I've lived here for 30 years and it's never snowed before. The closest it got was a light sprinkling on the tippy-top of the highest hills on the edge of town once or twice. So, after completing a card this morning, it was so miserable I went right on back to my craft room... where I found the stuff from this morning's card that I made for Casology. It got me playing with the stamp set I had out, the retired Hello Lovely, and the idea of repetition.

The challenge at  Colour Me this week was Bermuda Bay, Marina Mist and white. Making another card was meant to be, because Marina Mist was also out on my desk. Well, perhaps it wasn't meant to be because I don't have Bermuda Bay - but Coastal Cabana is a close match!

It's not the kind of card I usually make but this morning's playing got me thinking about repeat stamping and how hard it really is to get a number of stamps lined up, spaced and perfectly stamped so I wanted a bit of practice at it. The mathematician in me enjoyed the ordered design and there was quite a lot of satisfaction in completing my goal of a 3x3 grid of stamps without major mishap and on the first attempt.

Looking out the window, the weather is not showing one iota of improvement, so I'm extra glad that next week, we're off for a holiday somewhere warm!

Update: Delighted that this card was chosen as the Challenge Winner at Colour Me!

Ingredients
Card: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Marina Mist
Stamps: SU Hello Lovely, Hero Arts Thanks
Inks: Coastal Cabana, Marina Mist
Other: Marina Mist ribbon, Marina Mist candy dots, dimensionals.

Cas-ology 154

I don't often play at Cas-ology, although I look every week since the design team cards are so masterful, because I'm always kind of awed by the clean simplicity of the cards there. I like clean and simple but playing here always make me think very carefully about what to put in and what to leave out. When I play here, I always work on the theory that it's best to plan your card then take one thing out!  It's a real challenge for me.

I had a few ideas around the idea of repetition, so gave it a go.

It's very clean but not really so simple: even with a stamp-a-ma-jig, it's pretty hard to get the stamps all lined up and stamped perfectly each time. I actually had to call one a prototype and make a second!

I added a pearl to the centre of each motif, just to add a bit more interest in a subtle way.

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, scrap of Marina Mist

Stamps: SU Hello Lovely (retired) and Hero Arts Thank You 

Ink: Marina Mist

Other: Pearls, corner rounder punch, stamp-a-majig.

AAA Cards 43 Paper Players 252

A bit of experimentation today for this card for AAA Challenge Game 43: Starry Night and Paper Players 252: The Great Outdoors.

I used some peel off stars as a mask. I put them in the formation of the Southern Cross, the constellation I always find first when I'm outdoors at night, and the constellation on the New Zealand flag.

Then I used a circle mask and two colours of ink to create a vortex effect, so it looks like the sky can swallow you up into a world of possibilities. I used Gorgeous Grunge with silver ink to simulate The Milky Way in behind the Southern Cross. Finally, I stamped in some tree tops with Black Stazon so that it looks like you're lying on the ground, looking up at the night sky.

Although it isn't so obvious in the photo, I've backed the front of the card with Night of Navy, which is peeking through the circle die dots.

Update: So delighted that this card was A Cut Above at The Paper Players.

Really delighted that this card won first place at AAA Card Challenges.

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, Night of Navy (backing)

Stamps: SU A Dozen Thoughts and Gorgeous Grunge, unnamed tree stamp found at the Church Fair

Inks: SU Marina Mist, Distress Ink Stormy Sky, Stazon Jet Black, silver

Other: MFT Circle Dot Stitch die, sponges, circle framelits

Onesie Baby Cards

A young couple that we know just recently had their third baby girl, five weeks premature. They are lovely people and I wanted a baby card for them. It was then that I realised I had a big gap in my card box! I don't even really have much in the way of baby stamps either but I found this cute little tutorial for a baby onesie card here at Beckie Jensen's Stamp That site, from 2009.

One piece of A4 card is enough for 2 cards and I reckon the next ones will be even better. I embossed  chest down on the second one and I like it better. I also discovered that the Whisper White candy dots look grey when put right next to the white card so used pearls to simulate the snap fasteners on the plainer card.

JAI 269 and CAS(E)130

I managed to fit in one more card last night. Another combination card with colours from Just Add Ink and a sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.

The colours are indeed delightful, so soft and dreamy. It perhaps hasn't photographed quite so well but the large flower is in Pool Party, stamped with Lost Lagoon which, in real life, makes it pop a bit from the Soft Sky background.

Update: Delighted to be Top Pick at Just Add Ink with this card!

Ingredients

Card: Tip Tip Taupe, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Pool Party

Stamps: SU Flower Shoppe and Petite Petals, Clearly Besotted Leafy Accents, Hero Arts Thank You

Ink: Lost Lagoon, Tip Top Taupe

Other: Lost Lagoon satin ribbon, Soft Sky candy dots, brad base, linen twine, Kaisercraft nested frames, Pansy punch, dimensionals, Lost Lagoon marker pen.

FMS 193 and In{k}spire Me 205

It's the first weekend of the school holidays today and mid-winter to boot - so I've been very happy to get into my craftroom. Much to my husband's disgust, that time included last night when most of New Zealand was watching the Hurricanes and the Highlanders battle it out for an all-NZ Super Rugby final. Prioritising, I call it. (OK, I confess - I watched the second half.)

I've combined two challenges, since I'm starting to get over my aversion to combining challenges, with the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and the colour combination at In{k}spire Me.

The purples are such moody colours, they called out for a whimsical, romantic kind of treatment.

The interesting thing about Blackberry Bliss, which I've noticed before, is that when you sponge with it, it changes colour quite significantly and goes a kind of magenta colour. The butterfly was stamped in Blackberry, then I sponged on Wisteria, Eggplant and Blackberry with a cotton bud before covering it. I highlighted parts of the wing with a white gel pen then covered it with Glossy Accents, which deepened the colours and gave it a gloss.

Ingredients

Card: Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, scrap of Blackberry Bliss for the under-butterfly

Stamps: SU Butterfly Basics, Papillon Potpourri.

Inks: Blackberry Bliss, Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder

Other: Wisteria Wonder seam binding, Elegant Butterfly punch, sponges, glue dots, dimensionals, rhinestones

Try Stampin' on Tuesday 225

I've been looking at Try Stampin' on Tuesday for a few weeks now and even more so since I started following them on Facebook. This week's sketch looked an interesting one (although I've declined the option of Baby.)

I'm still having a bit of a love affair with Stampin' Up's new colours so have based my card around them. And I found that I haven't quite abandoned my butterflies yet either  - they just seem to get onto my desk and beg to be used!

Ingredients
Card: Mint Macaron, Whisper White, Watermelon Wonder
Stamps: Hardwood, Kinda Eclectic, Butterfly Basics
Inks: Sahara Sand, Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron
Other: Circle framelit and punch, Elegant Butterfly punch, sponge, dimensionals, brad base and Crumb Cake candy dot, linen twine.