Card Chain Challenge April Reveal

 I was next in the link to my good blogging friend Hilary for the April Card Chain so my make went to her this time.
I received a lovely card from Gail in Canada who was the link below me - so thank you again Gail!
After being inspired by another of my blogging friends, here's my card for Hilary -

I did my usual and selected the Colour option from the long list of things to choose from.

Started by inking the background in Shaded Lilac Oxide.
Once dry I gave it a bit of a Bokeh effect with a home made circle stencil and Brilliance Moonlight White ink.

The foliage (which could be Queen Anne's Lace or maybe not!) from Rare Earth was second generation stamped with Versafine Shady Lane ink. It has actually shown up as a little on the grey side in the pic but it is green - honest!

Once everything was dry I had a bit of fun (???😲) with some silver gilding flakes! It was only when I opened the jar lid I remembered why I use them rarely....

Dabbed on some tiny dots of Cosmic Shimmer glue to the heads and added the flakes - (being careful not to breathe/cough/open any windows whilst the jar was open!) 

I was actually quite pleased with the end result and think the pic really doesn't do it justice -  although I couldn't admire it for long as it took me a while to tidy up tiny pieces of silver flakes!

Happy Crafting! x

Gilded

I haven't played with Gilding Flakes for a while - mainly because I am messy at the best of times and gilding flakes are really not something I should be allowed to get my hands on.😳

I did though manage not to have too much of the stuff floating about the place this time - a minor miracle!

I have used both of these stamps before (card is HERE) but thought I would try the flakes with the same stamps to see what it looked like.

The verdict is - not too bad at all considering I am a 'flaky' novice!

The bird house is a really old stamp from Chocolate Baroque formerly Elusive Images.

I decided at the time that adding more foliage was probably a step too far as no doubt I wouldn't have got it positioned right but on reflection maybe I should have been brave as the bird house does look a little lonely on just a gold line drawn thread.....

And typical me - the black card I used wasn't big enough for my normal size makes so the gold strip was added - which I think finishes it better - so happy necessity!
Am sharing over at
Use Your Stuff - Add Gold
TTPH - CAS
Retro Rubber - Anything Goes
Thanks for looking today - I appreciate you coming to my blog! x

A Case of the Deer

Cards made written and posted, which done so early, has to be a first for me! Nice to not be panicking that I haven't made enough for a change, in fact I have a few left which will make a good start for next year.
Despite the horrible year 2020 has been I actually think now that it has gone relatively quickly - maybe because every day is pretty much like the ones that have gone before they have all just merged into one!

I have coveted this Penny Black die for a while after seeing what my clever buddy Loll did with it. I found it a couple of weeks back and was really excited when it arrived and had to have a go at doing what Loll did and get the gilding flakes out.

I love the effect of gilding flakes - just don't like the mess they make - but because they are messy I didn't stop at one card and made a couple of each in different colours - gold, silver, copper and then another done with a mix of the 3 colours. 

After gilding each die with a colour I just pushed the flakes to one side and started on the next one so the last ones made used up a bit of the residue on the desk! (that was my attempt at being tidy(ish))

I used metallic ink on my star stamp and a metallic Posca pen for the spatters.

Gave Mr Deer a shiny red Nuvo Drop nose.

The sentiment also done with gilding flakes - was a little difficult to work in the flakes but got there in the end.

Finished the card by running the metallic ink round the edges.
I now have a few more design ideas for this die and flakes so thanks to Lolly for kick starting me - although I wish she could pop over and clean up after me too!
Sharing at
Cardz4Guyz - Traditional Christmas
TIOT - Christmas Sparkle
Library Challenge - The Night Before Christmas (inspired by the book title) 

CAS Stencil Mid Month

I am here with my mid month reminder for our challenge at CAS Stencil set by Cathy.
Cathy chose Gilding Flakes for her theme and we hope that you can come along and give this technique a go - my Gilding Flakes were gathering dust in a drawer until this month!

I used the same stencil for this card as I did for my first one but instead used black card as the base.(My first one is HERE)

I wanted a card which would be OK for a bloke - (hate 😖doing man cards) hence the black and silver colour scheme.
I simply used some circle dies to cut out my gilded piece and a wavy die so I could insert the piece of silver card which has a matt finish rather than a mirri one.

Using the same stencil on different coloured card gave a completely different finish  and although it was difficult to capture the shine on the circles but happy with the finished piece!

There's some video links over on the challenge blog - so dust off the flake jars and join Guest Designer  Mac  and the rest of our really talented team and upload a make into the gallery! 

CAS Stencil April

Time for another challenge at CAS Stencil and this month, Cathy has chosen the theme of 'Gilding Flakes'.

Oh boy was there some fun in our joint Office/Craft Room/Gaming Room when the husband decided to be nosey and see what was in that jar of shiny papery stuff................now everyone knows that shiny papery stuff is not to be messed with - particularly by someone who hasn't a clue what he is doing -  and tipping the jar slightly when opening is definitely not recommended. We had lovely papery confetti EVERYWHERE. After a massive clean up operation I think in future he may just leave my side of the room well alone.....
So here's my card

Laid my stencil over a piece of white pearl cardstock and applied the glue.
A few Gilding Flakes next on the top of the stencil and glue and I have a small 'Scoochy' Polishing sponge (similar to a piece of Stamp Cleaning pad!) to work the flakes in.

I picked out the copper colour of the flakes using a piece of copper mirri card to frame the gilded piece and die cut a leafy branch.
The sentiment is done in Copper Metallic Ink.

I have used this stencil quite a lot and was pleased with the different effect of the gilding flakes -definitely stretching my stencil stash!

Lots of inspiration and a couple of links to tutorials over on the challenge blog - and a gorgeous make from our wonderfully talented Guest Designer  Mac   - please join us this month - we love to see your work in the gallery!