Uniko Challenge #40 Reminder

Hi everyone! I'm just popping in to remind you about the challenge that is currently going on at Uniko.  Still time to get your card made and entered.

My card combines a couple of Uniko stamp sets that were probably never meant to go together, but that's the beauty of Uniko, everything can mix and match. Such great value and stretches your stash beautifully.

So I started by stamping the Pure Florals Cosmos flowers, masking off the double flowerheads to add in a third.  Then all three flower heads were masked off and I stamped the Originally Organic stem over the top.

I chose some soft pastel shades to colour them all in and then added a dusting of matching colours to the background.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Flower Power #4, Pure Florals Cosmos, Originally Organic
             
Inks: Memento, tuxedo black; Ranger distress, scattered straw, spun sugar
Promarkers: buttercup, vanilla, fuchsia pink

Your turn now.  Get yourself over to the Uniko blog to take a peek at the rest of the DT creations and then settle yourself down to some Spring inspired creativity.

Thanks so much for dropping by my blog today, you're a star!  And keep crafting!

The Male Room #57 - Black White + One

A really fun theme at The Male Room for the next fortnight and one of my favourite colour combinations too!

So I went with turquoise as my additional colour and made a a modern and funky card ready for my oldest grandson's first teenage birthday coming up soon.

I stamped the halftone starburst in black first and then simply overstamped it in turquoise after moving it slightly to the right. The WOW was stamped and hand cut and raised on pads to create a little shadow effect.

And he is awesome of course at the moment, but we're all waiting to see if he turns into an overnight teenage nightmare like Harry Enfield's Kevin. Fun times!

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Explosion Additions
 
Inks: SU, tempting turquoise; Memento, tuxedo black
Die: Lawn Fawn, large stitched square stackables

I'm wondering which colour you'll be adding into the black and white mix - with so many possibilities The Male Room gallery is sure to look quite spectacular once you all get linking up.

Huge thanks for dropping by my blog today, your time is really appreciated.  And keep crafting!

CAS Colours & Sketches - #216

The final challenge for March begins today at CAS Colours & Sketches. And it's another super sketch.

I went for some bold vibrant colours for my card and used ink directly from the pad.

I inked up the colours onto watercolour card to get that lovely grainy texture and then stamped the flowers directly on top.

I matted the panel in two of the ink colours and added a sentiment banner to finish it all off.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Pure Florals Cosmos

                           

Inks: Ranger distress, picked raspberry, mustard seed, spiced marmalade; Memento, tuxedo black

There's so much more inspiration to be had over at the CC&S blog, so go check out the rest of the DT creations.Hope to see you playing along soon.

Thanks for looking today, your visit is really important to me.  And keep crafting!

Saturday Slot

Just popping in today with a simple little card I made for the Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge. The theme is to use die cuts in a CAS way - right up my street then.

Here's what I came up with:

I started by adding ink straight from the pad onto a scrap of watercolour card and then using a die to cut out the Happy Birthday stitched square.

Then I die cut a white stitched square as a mat and this was attached to an orange card base.

Supplies:
Dies: Lil'inker, Happy Birthday; Lawn Fawn, large stiched square stackables
Ink: Ranger distress, spiced marmalade

So I used two dies and kept my card nice and CAS to fit with the HLS requirements.

Thanks for dropping by today, I do so appreciate you taking the time.  And keep crafting! 

Friday Focus

I'm here today to share a card I made for Stamplorations CAS Cards Challenge.

Here's my card:

I used my favourite acrylic block watercolour technique to create the background - loving the unexpected colours revealed once water and blending takes effect.

As it was to be a CAS card I simply stamped a sentiment and a sketchy butterfly and added a trio of sequins.

I've recently been using Versafine onyx black for my stamping and I'm loving the amazing depth of colour it gives even at a single stamping. Wondering what your favourite ink is for outline and sentiment stamping?

Supplies:
Stamps: Stamplorations, Winged Things, Noteworthy 2
Inks: Adirondack, stonewashed; Memento, Summer sky; Ranger distress, blueprint sketch; Versafine, onyx black
Embellishments: sequins from my stash

And that's me done for today. Huge thanks for dropping by and keep crafting!

Thursday Thoughts

Less is More want washi this week - well that got me hooked immediately.  I have a plethora of washi tape in my stash so it would be rude not to enter this challenge!

I used a favourite layout design and created this card:

A splatter of ink stamping and a hand cut butterfly was added to the strip of washi and this very easy and simple card was finished in a flash.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, English Country Garden Butterflies, Simply Said Birthday;  SU, Touches of Texture
Ink: SU, smoky slate
Pens: Spectrum Noir Colorista, gold, lemon
Washi from my enormous stash!

Thanks for taking a browse round my blog today, I really appreciate your time.  And keep crafting! 

Wednesday Words

I always know Spring has definitely arrived when the frogs return to my garden pond and every year it's become a bit of a tradition to get out there and take numerous photos. So it seems only proper that they should feature as stars on a page in my yearly scrapbook album and when I saw the sketch from Let's Get Sketchy it was an instant match.

Apart from the obvious feature of stars I really love the overall simplicity of this sketch and the diagonal line from top right to bottom left. And all these elements feature on my page.

Once I'd chosen a background paper to reflect the water colour I then added three ink colours in that diagonal line directly from the pad to pick up on the pond weed colours.  I stamped some grungy splatters on top.

I die cut the largest star shape I have and some smaller ones too and then tucked a circular doily behind as I felt it needed more impact. Then I added some stamped word phrases and partial frames and a foam alpha title.

I finished off by adding a couple of Nuvo drop trios to further emphasize that diagonal.

Supplies:
Papers: All from my scrap stash
Alphas: AC Thickers, Dear Lizzy
Stamps: SU, Touches of Texture, So You
Inks: SU, baked brown sugar; Memento, cantaloupe, new sprout, pear tart
Dies: Xcut, star stack
Embellishments: Nuvo drops, dark walnut

So pleased you dropped by my blog today, I really appreciate you taking the time.  

And keep crafting!

CAS Colours & Sketches - #215

I'm here today to share my DT card for the new colour challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches.

I don't know why but the idea of a dream catcher is just so appealing to me, so when I saw this new release from Reverse Confetti it sort of raced into my shopping cart!

 

I started my card by stamping the dream catcher and the matching sentiment and then did a bit of masking to ink up some stripes of colour for it all to hang from.

I then used stampin' write pens in the same colours to add deeper shades to the heart and feathers. I even found a piece of matching cardstock to use as a partial mat.

Supplies:
Stamps:Reverse Confetti, Boho Vibes
Inks: SU, so saffron, pacific point, old olive 

These colours look so gorgeous together, great choice by Patricia the CC&S March hostess. Want to see how the rest of the DT used them? Well follow this link to the main blog and be inspired!

Massive thanks winging your way, it's always a pleasure to have you visit my blog.  And keep crafting! 

AAA Cards #86 - Diecuts

Do you love die cuts? Me too! So today's new challenge at AAA Cards is going to be right up your street.

My card has two different types of die cuts - a go to background shape and a sentiment word. Check it out:

I knew I wanted the 'amazing' to take centre stage and really zing out, so I chose two clashing colours, cut it out twice and offset the top layer slightly.

I then die cut a frame to set it off and added a trio of hot pink enamel dots to make it even more eyecatching.

Supplies:
Stamps: Stamplorations, Bold Sentiemtns
Ink: Memento, tuxedo black
Dies: Cutplorations, amazing; MFT Die-namics, double stitched rectangles
Paper: Basic Grey, Lemonade
Embellishments: Doodlebug Sprinkles, Love asst. 

And as I love using dies I just had to make another card, this time trying out the hidden word technique.

I stamped a line of red and black flowerheads using the masking technique to get them to overlap. I then die cut the 'awesome' several times from white cardstock and nestled it on top to partially camouflage it.

I added an offset stitched rectangle to just finish off my card. Then I had to decide which card to use as my main DT sample - so difficult to choose, kept changing my mind! Which one would you have gone for?

Supplies:
Stamps: Stamplorations, Seashell Cosmo, Bold Sentiments
Inks: SU, cherry cobbler; Memento, tuxedo black
Dies: Cutplorations, awesome; Lil'inker, stitched mats rectangles

OK all there is left for me to say now is to remind you of all the other fabulous DT cards that can be seen at AAA Cards. Not to mention our amazing Guest Designer, Judy and our sponsor Shery from Stamplorations delightful creations also to be found there.

Mega thanks for dropping by today, you know you're always welcome here.  And keep crafting!

Addicted to CAS - Guest Designer

I'm delighted to be here today with a card I've made as Guest Designer at Addicted to CAS.  How mega brilliant is that!

Here's the code word:

And here's my card:

I used a stencil to create some waves to represent the sea and then masked it off and stamped the sunshine. The beach hut - so very British - was stamped, in the same inks as the waves and sun, onto a piece of scrap card and then cut with its matching die.

I finished off by adding a red flag and a simple sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted, On The Berach; SU, Kinda Eclectic
Inks: Ranger distress, blueprint sketch; SU, daffodil delight & real red
Die: Clearly Besotted, On The Beach
Stencil: Memory Box, Texture Wave 

I've so enjoyed this ATCAS theme and the honour of being their Guest Designer, can't say a big enough thank you! Don't forget to check out what the regular DT at ATCAS have created to inspire you - here.

Thanks for your time today, it's been great having you visit my blog.  And keep craftiung!

Uniko Challenge #40

Time for a new challenge over at Uniko and I'm here today to share a card I made to encourage you to get creative and join in.

And since the theme is Spring (with the optional twist of Easter) I felt it called for some bright yellows, oranges and some Uniko style.

I started by stamping the flowers - such a wonderfully simple but totally amazing design -  and then die cutting round them with a stitched circle. I planned to inlay this circle back into the base card, but felt it needed a little something more.

So I die cut a larger circle from the same set to look like a frame and then placed each one inside of the other to keep the bulkiness of the card to a minimum. A simple little sentiment and I was done.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Uniko Style, Flower Power #4
      
Inks: SU, daffodil delight, peekaboo peach, wild wasabi; Memento, tuxedo black
Die: MFT Die-namics, double stitched circle

OK,  it's your turn now. Want some more inspiration before you get started? Then head on over to Uniko and feast your eyes on the creations of the rest of the DT - here.

It's been great fun having you visit my blog today, come back again soon.  And keep crafting!