As You See It 130 - DT card

This week's challenge at As You See It, would have made a wonderful scrapbook page. Instead, I went for this quirky card that kind of made itself when I went through my boxes of bits.

So, why not show us what you can do with this week's sketch at As You See It?

I'm also entering this card into this week's challenge at Stampin' Royalty, where the challenge is Wonderful Words: create a card where the words are the main focus.

Update: I'm delighted to hear that this card was a Top Pick this week at Stampin' Royalty.

Ingredients
Card: Smoky Slate, DSP from Rosie's Onyx and Pearl stack, gold glimmer paper
Stamps: Timeless Textures
Inks: Basic Grey, Smoky Slate
Other: Grace Taylor This and That washi tape and Polaroid frames, Confetti Star border punch

The Paper Players 288

The sketch at The Paper Players this week was a real challenge for me, since usually I like lots of clean space in my card making. But I enjoyed the challenge and I'm really pleased with the result.

I tried out a new technique on this card too. I used an acrylic block to stamp the background of my garden scene, which I've used before, but this time I sprinkled salt over the area and left it to dry naturally. It's created some lovely patterns in the background, although most of the lower ones are relegated to subtly showing through the foliage. The flowers were coloured with diluted ink and a paintbrush. (Aquapainters are on the wishlist.)

Since I rarely use even one patterned paper in a card, the prospect of using three in one card was a bit scary! Thankfully, Stampin' Up papers coordinate so beautifully.

Update: So pleased to be picked as A Cut Above at The Paper Players.

Ingredients

Card: Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, DSP from Wildflower Fields, watercolour paper, Whisper White

Stamps: Flowering Fields, Kinda Eclectic, Four You

Inks: Pear Pizzazz, Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Other: White embossing powder, Elegant Butterfly punch, linen twine, brad base and candy dot, sea salt, Honeycomb embossing folder, dimensionals.

CTD 385

I loved the colours at this week's Colour Throwdown.

The card I've made is a variation on a theme, inspired by a card I put together for my Thursday card classes.

The 'Happy' is stacked with the gold layer slightly off-set to create a shadow.

Ingredients

Card: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Whisper White, gold foil

Stamps: Dotty Angles, Crazy About You

Inks: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Other: Gold embossing powder, Hello You thinlits, Island Indigo baker's twine, Gold cord, dimensionals

The Challenge 65

It was very hard to resist the inspiration photo at The Challenge this week since it included vibrant colours, flowers and books! As a librarian and English teacher, who has a lot of bibliophile friends, a challenge with a chance to include birthday books is hard to go by!

The background is softly sponged in So Saffron and Melon Mambo (VERY lightly), then embossed with gold using the flower cluster from Awesomely Artistic. I've added some colour to them using diluted Melon Mambo ink and given some background splatters in Tangelo Twist. 

So, all set to add a book voucher to or to put with a book, come the next birthday of a book-lover in my life.

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Whisper White, scraps of Melon Mambo, Tangelo Twist, Very Vanilla

Stamps: SU Awesomely Artistic, PTI Bibliophile

Inks: So Saffron, Melon Mambo, Tuxedo Black, Tangelo Twist, Versamark, Gold Versacolour.

Other: Gold embossing powder, paintbrushes, sponges, PTI Bibliophile dies

PPA293 and FMS 229

It's a wet autumn day but after the long drought of summer, it's a pleasant relief. Being a long weekend as well, things are looking good. So today, I've combined two challenges: the soft, dreamy, spring colours from Pals Paper Arts and an interesting sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

Because the colours in the challenge were so spring-like, naturally I started thinking flowers and got out a set I haven't used for a long time, Altenew's Painted Flowers. It's a tricky wee beast to use, with its three steps but it makes such a pretty image, it's worth persevering with. I masked a strip of the background and used Timeless Textures to create a soft band of colour for the flowers to sit on.

on the inside...

Ingredients

Card: Mint Macaron, Whisper White

Stamps: Altenew Painted Flowers, SU Timeless Textures, W&W Big, Bold and Party.

Inks: Mint Macaron, So Saffron, Blushing Bride, Tuxedo Black

Other: Square framelit, black pen to colour edges of the squares.

As You See It 129 - DT

This week at As You See It, we have an interesting sketch challenge for you.

I was fascinated with the vertical lines of the sketch and came up with this:

I wanted a "One of a Kind" but only had the one from A Dozen Thoughts, so I stamped and masked it on Hello Honey to make the sentiment strip, then masked it again so the other half " For a one-of-a-kind person" is in the inside.

I'd love to see what you do, so join us this week.

Ingredients

Card: Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, DSP from Botanical Blooms, Whisper White (inside)

Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Timeless Textures, A Dozen Thoughts.

Inks: Tuxedo Black (Mossy Meadow and Cajun Craze inside)

Other: Botanical Builders thinlit dies, Dimensionals

Create with Connie and Mary 398

My first reaction to the colour challenge at Create with Connie and Mary was that I didn't like it. How wrong can you be? I kept thinking about it and it nagged me into my craft room....

I really love the effect of stamping the Timeless Textures in Soft Suede onto Soft Suede. It looks like an old leather-bound book. I'm also very happy with the ink-washing of the flower and the use of a dark colour for the 'white' space of this card. I find the antique and shabby feel of this card very appealing.

Ingredients

Card: Soft Suede, Mossy Meadow, Watermelon Wonder, watercolour paper, Whisper White

Stamps: Butterfly Basics, Timeless Textures, A Dozen Thoughts

Inks: Soft Suede, Mossy Meadow, Watermelon Wonder, Stazon Black

Other: Watermelon Wonder dotty lace ribbon, sponges, dimensionals, gold pen for the stamen, Baker's Box framelit.