Sponging and Stamping

I went to the card stash this week and found that I didn't have a single sympathy or condolence card - you can't believe it can you - all the cards I make and not one sympathy one left when I need one.
To be fair, I DID have a few but I suppose people take them to have in 'just in case'.

I don't often use grey backgrounds for cards but having seen something similar on Pinterest thought I would give it a go. I think the card that inspired me was done by girlgeek who uses a lot of inchie tiles in her projects.

I am quite happy with the way this turned out - using grey pearlised cardstock gave a lustre  and more interesting finish instead of a flat one.

The 3 'tiles' were odd bits of white card and I sponged Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade and edged the bottom of each tile with a little Peeled Paint before cutting them to same size rectangles.

The stamps are mostly from SU's Silhouette Sentiments. I used Versafine Smokey Grey ink as I though black may look too harsh and I wanted a softer effect.
The sentiment (also from an SU set) simply embossed with silver.

Challenges -
Addicted to Stamps - Make Your Mark
CCC- CAS
Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
The Crafty Addicts - Anything Goes/Springtime
Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

We've had quite a nice day here for a change - the lawn got a haircut this morning and so did I! Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

Two in two days!

I go AWOL for a couple of weeks then here I am sharing another make - post number 2 in 2 days - must be a record for me!
We are in the middle of thunderstorms and heavy rain/sleet and I got fed up catching up with the ironing so sat down at the crafty desk...

The lovely Loll is so encouraging (but sickeningly talented!!!!!) and her takes on the 'smooshing' technique made me want to have a go.
You may remember that when I posted my first effort HERE I said I had made a mess with another piece using different colours.

The 'spoilt smooshy' was left on the desk and today I chopped off the 'bad bit' which left me with this piece big enough to go on a 5 inch square card! 

The pretty Cosmos stamp is from Technique Tuesday and is NBUS so am showing this to Darnell!

Embossed with white then coloured using a mix of Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio DI's, adding a bit of Golden Malachite and Golden Pear Cosmic Shimmer to the inks as I went along - the finished result is lovely and shimmery which doesn't quite show up in the pic - but am pleased with it (for a change!!)

I used the 'Thinking of You' sentiment as I thought it could perhaps be used as a sympathy/condolence card as well as a general note card.

Challenges -
4 Crafty Chicks - CAS
Addicted to CAS - Delicate
Fantasy Stampers - In the Springtime (I think Cosmos are Spring flowers??? LOL)
Addicted to Stamps - A/Goes
OSAAT - A/g with Embossing


Hope you are all enjoying Easter, thanks for calling in - appreciate any comments you leave. x

Returned!

Arrived back after a brilliant couple of weeks on the Bowls England President's tour in Cyprus (my turn next year to sort one of these out heaven help me!). 85 people - bowls, drink, food and laughs.. oh and some sun too!

Thought that I had better post something though as it's been ages since my last share. 

This was a commissioned card and was one of several golden wedding cards ordered by the same person for several of her friends who were all celebrating anniversaries in the same year!
Consequently I had to resort to using a layout I have used before and inspired by Debby many moons ago!

The banners were all embossed and die cut from oddments of  cream linen card. The stamp is from the Stempelglede Vintage Garden set and  I like it a lot.
I cut out the butterfly then simply swept it across the ink pad and gold embossed - I didn't want a thick solid effect and I was happy with the way this turned out.

I hand made the rolled roses using a die (think it is a Marianne one but don't quote me!), punched out a couple of leaves and a gold mirri card die cut flourish. I added a pearl and gold wire stem for more blingy and the sentiment is from LOTV.

The pic background has a bit of a bluish tinge to it - should be white so obviously I had the camera on the wrong setting! Card has gone now so can't re-take it!

Using up the snippets means I can pop into the Playground this week - won't be able to hang about long as the washing machine has been on overdrive since we got home and I need to make a start on the dreaded ironing!
I will catch up with you all over the next few days and hope all is OK with you all in blogland!

Challenges -
Allsorts - Wings
Alphabet - B for Butterflies
Jade's Sparkling Butterflies - Use Die Cuts

Kindness

A non crafting friend bought me a complete Santoro Glitter Decoupage Book and some matching papers last year which were in a 'bargain bin'. She hadn't a clue what they were but thought that 'you could make some quick cards for your charity box and they might make a couple of pound"!
I thanked her very much and didn't like to say that I am not normally a decoupage type person - mainly because I am rubbish at cutting out - so imagine my relief when I saw that these were already pre-cut!

Shamefacedly I must say though that it was a while since I attempted to make any cards with the contents but can now announce that to date I have done 3!

They weren't bad to make either and I only had to add some fancy embellies.
I used some peachy vintage lace, hand dyed and scrunched up seam binding tied it into a bow and added a resin rose in the centre.
Popped on a few pearls and card finished.  Although I don't think I will ever become a completely decoupage card person I confess that because I didn't have to think too much it was quite nice making these up.

(Whether I do the whole book is another matter - but think they will be good to use when Mr Mojo disappears!).
Still away from home - hoping you're all having a nice day whatever you're doing. x

That 'Perfect' stamp again

Does anyone know if stamps wear out? I'm just wondering how long I have left for this sentiment stamp which is definitely the most used one I possess!


Another card for the stash box and one which I enjoyed colouring.

The bird image is from SU Moon Lake. Because we had a big garden with lots of trees in our old house we were blessed by visits from many blue tits - it has been something I missed since moving here - as we are so open there's not many trees near - hence no visits from these lovely little birds.
So I tried to capture the colours of those that used to visit us when colouring the stamp.

The houndstooth check DP was an old left over piece as was the scrap used for the scalloped frame - I think they were both from Basic Grey. I know I used the papers a lot as they were this lovely lime green with pinks and browns.
I added a sequin and a few teeny gems after stamping the sentiment.

Am still on tour so again hoping that Mr Blogger behaves himself and publishes!
Catch up with you all soon. x

Spots and Scraps!

Had a bit of a mooch about in the 'box of leftovers' recently and found several pieces of spotty card.

Strangely enough they were all roughly the same size - so I tidied the edges of four pieces and used them as a background.

I used up a pile of white snippets too so am feeling quite smug with myself!

Sorry the pic is not the best - no idea why.

A few odds and ends of ribbon, some pearls and a butterfly punch and these have to rate among the quickest cards on record - (hope they don't look like it!) - all done and dusted in less than half an hour.

Looking at the darker pink one am now not sure if the ribbon might have been better placed straight rather than on an angle... but too late now!

Snippets Playground for me I think - if I can get an internet connection long enough to link it up this week - (am away on tour)!

Thanks for having a look today. Have a great day whatever you're doing.x

Smooshed

Having been inspired (on more than one occasion) by the very very clever Loll who is another 'Queen of the CAS' style I really wanted to try and perfect the 'smooshing' technique. 
Tried a lot and failed miserably - too wet, too dry, not enough ink, blotchy rather than a lovely swirly colour finish etc etc etc!

However, practice makes perfect so I persevered and finally managed two pieces of smooshed background that I was happy with.

The first was a lovely blue/green combo then I stamped a sentiment on it and made a mess. It wasn't only the paper that had a blue background - the air saw it's fair share!

Here is the second piece using Fossilised Amber, Abandoned Coral and Squeezed Lemonade DI.
Thankfully the stamping and white embossing of the sentiment went unhindered this time.
Added a few teeny blingy gems to the Chloe stem die cuts and mounted onto white cardstock.

Not too bad... and am determined to try and rescue the other piece - even if it means it's only a very small background piece or I use it to cut out a flower with!
The only annoying thing is I tried this and am getting better then Loll comes up with 'smooshing with acetate' and I now have to practice that!
Loll and Bonnie have a new Challenge Blog called CAS Mix Up so as my card featured the 3 things required Smooshing (Watercolouring), Stamping (Sentiment), Your choice (Die Cutting) am paying them a visit.
Also the smooshy piece and the die cuts were from odd scraps so it's the Playground for me too - (if I can get my head through the gate cos Miss Di selected my poppy card amongst her top picks last week - and I'm told she picked it without having any of Sarn's hooch either!!)

Challenges -
LIM - Citrus
Dragonfly Dreams - Use a Die Cut
CUYL - Use a Die Cut

Thanks for looking - appreciate any tips and comments! Have a nice day whatever you're doing. x

Bring On Spring

The challenge at Stamping Sensations this month is Flower Power! Our sponsors this month are the terrific    'be Creative!     and they have given us a great prize to offer - pop over to the Sensations blog and have a look!  I hope you will share all your floral themed creations with us this month!
I got out an old and rarely used stamp set for this card - but Ranunculus relate to Spring so the stamp set got an airing as hopefully Spring IS just round the corner. They are gorgeous blooms in real life and I love the upright stems and pretty flower heads.

I opted for a CAS card as I didn't want to detract from the flowers.
I still have the eebie jeebies when stamping direct onto card - this one only took 2 attempts and then as you can see I ended up making one layer into a couple anyway!
After stamping I coloured with Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry for the flower heads and Mowed Lawn for the leaves. Mounted onto a coordinating pink card before wrapping round the pink grossgrain ribbon, then layered onto the base card.
I added a couple of pink sparklies (as a girl has to have a bit of bling somewhere....)
Finished with the sentiment - which I think rates amongst one of my faves.
Other Challenges -
Gem of a Challenge - Spring
Crafty Friends - Floral
Suzy B's - A/Goes with a spring twist
The Pencil Case - New blooms/spring flowers
Just Us Girls - Flowers

Hope you can find time to join in with us this month - and if you can't think of anything to do please have a peek at my teamies makes - am sure you'll be inspired there! x

Missing?

Have had a week of doing 'bitty' stuff since I came back from the Men's National Presentation (was a nice weekend and of course I stepped up another rung on the Presidential ladder to Senior Vice President!)
Strange though I feel I have been busy without accomplishing a lot.. and as usual when I am in this type of mood Mr Mojo is hibernating.
I felt that I had to make SOMETHING - so ended up 'caseing' a card which was inspired by the amazingly talented Birgit.

My fave white linen textured card with the centre panel from the snippets box! I inked the edge of the centre panel with Pumice Stone DI, then positioned the die onto it and sponged inside the die to create the shadow.

Odd scraps of red and green card used for the poppy die, glued the poppy heads over the green stems.

Used Glossy Accents on the poppy heads and once dry put the die on top of the sponged shadow.
The sentiment was stamped using Shabby Shutters DI.
Randomly stitched round the edge of the panel before mounting onto the base card.
Some red pearls to finish.

Challenges -
Snippets Playground - week 218
Crafting By Designs - A/Goes
Creative Moments - A/Goes with sentiment on front
Unicorn - CAS

Thanks for calling in today - now have a coffee so will be in blogland for an hour or two!
Have a great day whatever you're doing and here's the Senior Vice Presidential pic - can't believe it is a year since I was elected onto the Presidential Team!