Apr 22

Make It Monday: Watercolour Splats

I (sadly) rarely join Make It Monday challenges on Nichole’s blog but I jumped right in, when I saw what the new one is about - Watercolour Splats. It’s one of my favourite techniques but one that I usually create with Distress Inks. Tonight gave me an opportunity to see if my PTI inks live to the challenge at hand Here’s what I did.

I sponged Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist & Simply Chartreuse in a cloud rather than covering the whole panel. There was quite a substantial amount of blending, in order to achieve a smooth transition I also pulled out Doodlie-Do again (hooray!!) from which I took a flower and some foliage, die cut and watercoloured (also again). I swear they seem to be calling my watercolours’ name whenever I look art them. Ha!
I stamped the sentiment on a scrap piece of DP (Basic Grey), which I tore at one end for an extra ‘bam!’. I secured the strip with some washi tape, which I also tore. A few sequins later, the card was done. Like? No?

Here’s my sketch inspiration, thanks Cardabilities.

See you later, peeps… fun post coming tomorrow along with a GIVEAWAY you don’t want to miss

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Apr 20

CAS(E) this Sketch and Runway Inspired

Hello, hope you’re having restful Easter break! I’m popping in with a quick post today, with a card I made for the combined ric#58 & CTS#73 challenge.

I tuned the sketch on the side, and created the focal point with the older gem from Penny Black, the Sundial stamp. I white embossed it twice on watercolour paper, watercoloured the traditional way, cut out and stacked.

I added some foliage (Penny Black Nature’s Song which was cut in black CS, and a vellum Taylored Expressions Leafy Branch), and the die cut sentiment in the center of the flower (Penny Black Hooray). I applied a layer of Glossy Accents to it, to give it an appearance of enamel.

I added the curve panel, cut with Simon Says A2 Card Curved Edge Die from white CS and a Lawn Fawn patterned paper.
I’m not convinced about this look, I’d make it less busy next time but I do like the flower. What do you say?

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Apr 19

Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #120

Happy Easter, peeps! Hehe. Here’s a wee new sketch for ya’, will you make time this long weekend to play along?

The inspiration for the sketch lies in Altenew‘s Painted Flowers which I was itching to try in black &white. However, it took a lot of effort not to add the tiniest bit of colour to the background since they look so beautiful multi-stamped. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out my card from when I did them in full colour for the Altenew opening blog hop.

The perseverance paid off though, I think. They’re still utterly lovely. I added a pop of colour elsewhere, on two Simon Says Stamp Medium Tags which I cut in PTI Lavender Moon / Lemon Tart and stamped with PTI inks. The sentiment comes from the brand new Hand Lettered Hello from WPlus9, which I’ve been refraining from inking (along with the rest of the April release) to savour the projects for my introductory week more (SOON!). Alas, I failed and heck, I’m far from regretting it. LOL

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If you would like to play along:

- You’re kindly asked to save the sketch image onto your computer first, and if you make a card based on it, please link back to this post.
- Share the link to your creation via the Inlinkz widget below, so that I can come and check it out!

Perks:

- A new sketch is posted every other Saturday night (10pm Australian EST, 6am American EST, and the link widget is open for two weeks. However, you’re welcome to play any time! Just leave a link in the comments section and I’ll pop in to see it.

- Every now and then, I’ll be inviting one person who uses my sketch, to join me for the next one!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Apr 17

CASE Study Challenge #187

This week at CASE Study is marked by the piece of awesomeness below, made by our Muse, Jaclyn! Vellum shakers with confetti pieces or sequins inside, happen to be very popular now and we’re here to feed the trend!

I took the shaker idea and run with it. I got some lovely mini vellum envies at the retreat and this is where they came handy. I put some sequins in, tied with baker’s twine, and added lots of stray bits and pieces from my stash - some oldies that I unfortunately won’t be able to link up to any more. I’m doing my best to use up my supplies but it’s nearly impossible to use it all. They come handy for scrappy cards but they don’t help making them current

The patterned paper is My Mind’s Eye Follow Your Heart “Be Amazing” Soulful paper.
The extra inspiration that gave my card a kickstart, Poppy Sketch #2:

Check out the blogs below for the Design Team’s takes on the challenge, or visit CASE Study for the full reveal! Also, don’t forget that we’re looking into adding a couple of Designers to CASE Study, and our special DT Call challenge is HERE for you to take advantage of!

Jaclyn Miller - April Muse
Catherine Pooler - April Guest Designer
Amy Wanford
Debby Hughes
Jeanne Jachna
Maureen Merritt (on a break)
Silke Ledlow
Tasnim Ahmed

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In other news:

A new challenge at StampNation is up tonight, and it’s all about large sentiments! Here’s a peek of my card:

Check out StampNation today and join this fantastic community!

Apr 15

Mama Elephant love

Hi there! It’s been a few days since I shared anything, but I’m back with… wait, three cards?! I’ve been wanting to join in Mama Elephant April challenge, but alas, I was partly held back with other stuff and partly waiting on an SSS order with some coveted ME stamps (still waiting! they’re on reserve… grrr)

Then I decided that I make something instead, with my older but firm favourites - Fair Feathers and So Breezy.

I created the watercoloured background first, using Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and then stamped the feathers and part of the sentiment, using ME inks in Mojito and Ocean. The ‘sunshine’ word was white embossed and I added a hint of green to the bottoms of the letters using a fine brush and more of the green Glimmer Mist. See how I combined the two stamp sets to create the sentiment? FUN. The last part was to gold emboss the tips of the feathers, and finish the card with some patterned paper, a strip of glitter tape, baker’s twine and some sequins / wood veneer.

I wasn’t hugely satisfied with that card which kept bugging me, so I modified one of the cards I made a few weeks back at the retreat, to roughly meet the inspiration photo. I used the super-adorable Pandamonium set (and Honey Bunny for the sentiment - adore those fonts!!), ones that I don’t own but was thrilled to ink up

I created the background with Distress Inks and added Triangles Die-Namics to the background and I’m sorry but I forgot to note down the manufacturer of the insta-frame… anyone? One of the buddies was originally holding a balloon but I replaced it with a wood veneer (Freckled Fawn Hearts).

Also, for the sake of posting all ME tonight, I’m sharing one more card from the retreat, this time I gave more love to Honey Bunny. This set IS coming my way so I’m trying to persevere I also used the Falling Hearts stencil from Simon Says Stamp, with a Memento Luxe ink. Totally blaming Joy for enticing my addiction to anything SSS. Happy sigh!

I paper pieced the bunnehs and made them sit on the “lawn” cut with ME Landscape Trio die set.

A Little Sunshine card

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Best Friends card

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Some Bunny card

InLinkz.com

In other news:

After a long-ish hiatus, I’m happy to be back with the video tutorials for StampNation! My Technically Speaking forum has just grew to accommodate this lovely marbled feathers card and a technique explained to boot

Not a member yet? Don’t wait another day to join us…$9 a month (cancel at any time if you find it’s not for you) gets you access to more than 400 exclusive video tutorials all in one place.
SING UP TODAY AND NEVER MISS A THING!

Apr 12

Anatomy of layers - all you need…

Hello! How’s your weekend so far? I’m hoping to make it a little bit more interesting, with a new tutorial on my freestyle collage style. Here’s the card I’m sharing, followed by the step-by-step instructions - hope you’ll enjoy it!

I started by covering a cream card base with the chevron design, found on My Mind’s Eye Kate & Co. Cambridge Court Medallion Paper (anyone else wonders why MME gives their papers so many names??). I also cut a panel, slightly smaller, from Pink Paislee Portfolio Incredible paper. I’m talking 12″ x 12″ papers here… I’m a shameless hoarder of those

I embossed the foliage from Penny Black All You Need slapstick stamp set, with Stampendous Jeweled Gold embossing powder. I aimed for a super sparkly and textured effect, hence the choice of powder.

I stamped the sentiment in white ink, twice on a scrap piece of navy blue cardstock (SU! Not Quite Navy).

Cut them both out by hand and inked the edges in white.

I set them aside and went back to the panel. I cut Penny Black Dancing Leaves in vellum, and adhered to the panel and over the embossed foliage, adding a cute staple detail.

Then I created a cluster in the upper right corner, with a part of a Manor House Creations Cheval die cut frame and the two sentiment strips stacked together so that they overlap slightly.

…and added a must-have butterfly This one came from Kaisercraft Curiosity Collectables and I stapled it in as well.

At this stage I decided that I want to have a matching, dark accent peeking out from behind the panel and so I adhered a piece of Kaisercraft Porcelain Rose Relic paper to the card base.