DOG FACES

 Hello.
Phew! It's hot, here in the UK right now.
How are you all keeping cool?
I bought the dog a cooling blanket.
He's not a great fan of it,
but I think it's brilliant :o)

Here's my card for this week's
Inkspirational Challenge

This was a pretty quick card to make.
I didn't faff about with any shading on my dogs faces,
using the white gel pen instead, to add some detail.

Inkspirational

• mft - woof pack, coloured with copics
• sentiments from  - little buddies
• in and out stitched square die

And here's a picture of my pal, Buster's face

SEW MUCH FUN

 Hello

Who could resist those summer colours at this week's Inspired by Challenge. The deep red, hot pink and warm yellow just jumped out at me. Very appropriate as well, as we are in the middle of a heatwave here.

My craft room is sweltering ( the window won't open cos the handle is broken!) so I've been keeping cool, sitting in front of the fan, and stitching.

I followed a stitch pattern from the awesome Mary Legalett at whimsicalstitch  

I could definitely get into needlework - all those gorgeous thread colours and beautiful stitches. If only there were more hours in the day!

Inspired By Challenge

• Mama Elephant - Pegworks Die
• Sentiment - MFT fish tail flags and sweet somebunny

For some reason, this was one of those cards that was really tricky to photo. (I don't have a fancy camera, just a banged up, slightly cracked and dented iphone 7) I must have taken 30 photos before I  came up with something passable by changing the background. It really helped to show the colours up better and I just wanted to share in case anyone was having a similar problem.

These photos were taken in the exact same spot, no different settings, no editing. You can see how the colours are much better, and more true to real life with a dark background.

I'm going to stick with that for a while and see how it goes.

  

SMOOSHING

Hello

I decided to get inky today and try the smooshing effect, for my ocean background.

I smooshed my distress inks on some plastic packaging, spritzed them with water and laid my card on top. I did this a few times, heat drying my card in between laying down colours.

Then I used an upside down cloud stencil, to try and create some waves.

Finally, I spattered a few dark ink and white drops.

I am really pleased with how it turned out.

Challenge

CAS(E) this Sketch

• hero arts - i'm a puffer for you, coloured with copics
• distress ink - crack pistachio, peacock feathers, salty ocean, mermaid lagoon
• mft - rectangle die, mini cloud stencil  

 

 

CITRUS BURST

Hello

Here I am, playing along again at the

Inspired By Challenge

This week the theme includes lemons, fruit, fonts, and pillows and had me rummaging through my stash to come up with something.

I finally settled on this citrus slice, and used it to make a background panel, along with a tiny leaf stamp and some dots.

Usually these tiny stamps are relegated to embellie status, so it's nice to use them in their own right to create a background.

Inspired By

I was inspired by the citrus fruit and the bold sentiment

• clearly besotted - raise a glass 
• altenew inks - lime, crimson,fresh lemon
• distress ink - spiced marmalade
• mft - stitched scallop edge rectangle
• simon says stamp - thoughtful messages

DOTTY GIRL

Hello

They're going dotty at the 

Inkspirational Challenge

this week.

It took me a while to get my head around all those

red spots on white, and white spots on red!

In the end, I took my inspiration from the girl in the centre

and did a little paper-piecing.

I grounded my girl on some stencilled grass, then just added a sentiment and a couple of clouds.

Inkspirational Challenge

mft stamps - love you a bunch, paper pieced and coloured with copics, grassy edges stencil with distress ink mowed lawn and sentiment from 'hello little one'  

memory box -  puffy clouds

avery elle - postage stamp die

BEACH LIFE

Hello.
Check out this week's 'beach' theme over at the

Inspired by Challenge

I, for one, am counting the days 
till we can have a paddle along the sea front.

Colouring is not my strong suit, 

so this beach scene was a bit of a challenge.

I kept it simple for myself by only using a few colours 

and minimal shading.

I even held my breath when I added that white pen to the sea. 

That could have mucked everything up, but it turned out ok :o)

Inspired by Challenge

clearly besotted - scene it more, coloured with copics

mft stamps - woof pack

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Hello.
As soon as I saw this cover plate die, I knew I NEEDED it.
I just had to track one down.
I was so happy when I got an email from Bumbleberry Papercrafts to say they had one in stock, and I snapped it up quick.
Ok, a few extra things may have fallen in my basket too :o)
(delivery was quick and well packed, so if you're in the UK check them out)

I simply die cut a panel in each colour and then placed some pieces back into the frame, like a jigsaw. 
It was fun, and nice to get away from inking and stamping for a change.

The Flower Challenge

I thought these blooms had a look of poinsettias about them, so I went for a winter theme with the red and cream combo.

pinkfreshstudio - ornate floral die

mft - snow globe sentiments / fish tail flag die

BEAUTIFUL BOLD BLOOMS

Hello.
I'm a typical Virgo - so when things aren't perfect it drives me to distraction.
Like this stamp set for example.
Thanks to everyone who sent me tips on how to get a perfect impression.
I tried washing the stamps, using an eraser on them, and priming them with Versamark.
They definitely print a lot better,
and I'm learning to live with the patches :o)

Challenge

Inspired By

altenew - bold floral drape stamp set
altenew inks - fresh leaf, fuchsia, magenta, baby pink, maple yellow
sentiment - hero arts, floral
mft - stitched scallop border die

YOU HAD ME AT WOOF

Hello
It's my wedding anniversary today - 35 years -
and here's the card I made for my dh

I love how this card came together, with those cute puppies playing in the garden.

I began by using stencils to ink up the clouds and grass. 
The fence was popped up on foam tape and then the puppies were added on top, for an extra 3D effect.

Challenge

Penny Black & More

*** In The Garden ***

mft - woof pack coloured with copics

mini cloud edges and grassy edges stencils

distress ink - tumbled glass and twisted citron

The fence die has been in my stash for years - I think it's memory box

PARTY ANIMALS

Hello.
Time to party till the cows come home  :o)

Is it old fashioned to still think of colours as masculine or feminine?

This card is for the 'masculine' challenge at

                     Watercooler Wednesday

and it's for a little boy, so I coloured it with blues, orange and green.

Boys like pink too though, so maybe I need to be more conscious of my colour choices.

Watercooler Wednesday

mft - party animals coloured with copics
distress ink background - tumbles glass

WATERMELON CAKE

Hello.
Hands up who knew watermelon cake was a thing?
I discovered it when I was looking for ideas for this week's 
                        Inspired By Challenge.
I have to say, this wind swept corner of North Yorkshire does not see an abundance of watermelon.
Alas, my local co-op counts pineapple on pizza as its nod to the exotic! :o)

I used copics to colour my watermelon cake.

and slightly pressed down on the tip of a black marker to create those seeds.

The cake was a little plain when I'd done it, so I tried adding tiny blooms, or more candles for interest,  but eventually went with those citrus slices.

Now I need to go and try some of those tutti frutti cake recipes I came across. 

Inspired By Challenge

hero arts - birthday cake layering, coloured with copics and white gel pen

citrus slices from clearly besotted, raise a glass

mft - rectangle die and stitched scalloped basic edge die