Poolside Fun

The UK is in the middle of a heatwave - everyone is either sat on a small patch of grass in the sun, or melting quietly in the shade, with a cup of tea  :o)
Which one are you?

I used the smaller dies, of this poolside set, to make-up these people lounging in the sun, topping up their tan.

I could just take a dip in that water myself. It might be time to get out the paddling pool :o)

Challenge

Addicted to Stamp & More

• concord and 9th - poolside dies and stamps
• the stamp market - criss cross stamp
• altenew ink - fresh lemon/tide blue
• rnger distress ink - tumbled glass/spiced marmalade
• verscolor ink - turquoise
• my favorite things - in and out stitched rectangles

Good Vibes Only

Hello. A friend of mine has been ill recently and I wanted a card to cheer her up. 
Rainbows and puppys should do the trick :o)

I've followed the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and used a rainbow where their semi circle is. 

Then, I added a little die cut pup, a heart speech bubble, and that lovely bold sentiment.

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge 

• the stamp market - rainbows and greetings / little rainbow die
• my favorite things - four legged friends / woof pack
• copic markers
• white gel pen

Just a Little Note to Say Hi

Hello.
I managed to carve out some free time in my craft room this morning, and made this card to play along with the Inkspirational challenge, where they would like to see a CAS style.

I die cut the rainbow and coloured it with Copics  - choosing those colours took me the longest time!
Then I stamped and fussy cut the bears and popped them up with foam pads. 
At the last minute I added some sequins - I know - it's supposed to be CAS -  but they were calling to me from inside a drawer!

Inkspirational Challenge

• the stamp market - bear hugs / rainbows and greetings / little rainbow die
• copics

Wild and Free

Oh, to be on the open road.
That's where my SIL and BIL are right now. Travelling their way around France and having a wonderful adventure. It was a no brainer to ink up this camper van for my BIL's birthday.

This is one of those sets that I struggle to stamp. The ink just pools on the stamp. I've tried the eraser tip, and the versamark tip, but if you have any other ideas let me know. I won't even go into how tricky it is to line up. But I almost got it right :-)
The van is layered 3 times for some extra depth, the sentiment is white heat embossed and I added some little details with a white gel pen.

Challenge

Addicted to Stamps and More

the greetery - christmas care a van

sentiment from the stamp market - rainbows and greetings

inks - versacolor cyan, canary

pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Just Wanted to Say Hi

Hello.
It's the dreaded one layer card, over at Less is more this fortnight, and to make it doubly difficult, they'd also like to see just one word!

I decided if I was just using one word, I would make it a big one  :-)  and I got out this large 'hi' die.
I die cut it onto some scrap card and then used this as a template to draw the word onto my card blank with a fine liner (of course I messed it up a bit, but we're not looking at that, right?).
Then, I stamped the balloons, using the scrap piece as a mask.
To try and give it some dimension I used a pale grey copic along some of the bottom edges.

Challenge
Less is More

the stamp market - hi die
balloon stamp from mft party penguins
ranger inks - canary, orange bliss,  wild berrry

Consider Yourself Hugged

Hello.
Have you visited the Snippets Playground yet?  They have a lovely new home - 'where the sun is always shining' and you can be assured of a friendly welcome. I'm hoping to play along more this year - not least because I have a TON of snippets to get through!
Here's my first entry.

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, hearts are the order of the day right now, so I die cut a heart and covered it with some snippets in red tones. I heat embossed the sentiment onto some black card - layering the heart 4 times and then adding it with foam tape, so that it pops up a bit more.

Then I fussy cut my bear pals and added them with foam tape too.

Challenge

Snippets Playground

the stamp market - bear hugs
pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

nestie heart die     copics

HOORAY HOORAY

Hello.
Today I'm sharing a very simple card, for the 

Less is More Challenge

where they want to see your favourite technique.

My favourite thing is die-cutting. Is that even a technique??

Hopefully, this inlay method makes it one.

This sentiment has a few layers.
The 'base' pieces were die-cut from a foam sheet, with a layer of white card on top. Then the top pieces were cut from card and coloured with zigs.

I cut the sentiment into a white card panel and then inlaid the letters.

This is a great technique for me - if I just add letters on top of card
I really struggle to get them all lined up perfectly. 

Challenge

Less is More 

the stamp market -  2 piece hooray die

zig clean color real brush markers

mama elephant - birthday messages

RAINBOW FLORALS

Hello.
No overthinking my card today - 
just a simple die cut, coloured with zigs
and placed in rows.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

For a little more interest I added a dew-drop centre to my die cuts,
and finished with a simple sentiment.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

• the stamp market - florally fun
• mama elephant - labeled messages
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• zig clean color real brush pens

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Hello.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there xxx

Even though my mum's dementia means she doesn't know the day, the season, or the year,
her face lights up when I take her a weekly bouquet.
So I know she will love this flower card.

I started with a stamped, criss-cross background and overlayed it with an embossed sentiment on vellum.
Then I added my blooms.
I snipped some of them off along the edge of the panel, and then used these pieces to add the blooms back in, in other places.

Challenge

The Flower Challenge

• pinkfreshstudio layered bouquet / diagonal stitched rectangle
• the stamp market - criss cross stamp
• mft - mini well connected alphabet
• wow gold embossing powder
• altenew inks - hydrangea, ultraviolet, lime, fresh leaf

JOYFUL GIRAFFE

Hello.
Today I'm sharing the sweet, welcome baby card
that I made for our first grand baby - a grandson.

Grandson - that sounds so weird.   I'm still getting used to saying it  ;-)

I stamped the criss-cross background onto blue card, and heat embossed it in white.
Then I added my die-cut giraffe and a postage stamp frame.

I finally got my hands on some vellum sheets, for the sentiment.
This was my first ever time using it - so I started small with the heat embossed sentiment,
taking care not to warp the vellum.

Challenge

Watercooler Wednesday

WWWC310 - Marsha's Challenge - 
All About Occasions

mft - joyful giraffe

the stamp market - criss cross stamp, embossed with wow white embossing powder
altenew - sentiment from love u, postage stamp die

 

BRIGHT BLOOMS

Hello.
I needed some bright blooms today to lift my spirits.
Anyone else?

I chose my zig water colour brush markers for these blooms - because,
although I'm not very good with them, I do love the bright, vibrant colour they produce.
Not sure what's happened with the photos -IRL the red/pink bloom is more blended than it looks here! 

Challenge

Watercooler Wednesday

WWC307 Heidi's Challenge
Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

the stamp market - florally fun
zig clean color real brush markers
sentiment - mft 'sew much cuteness'

SENDING RAINBOW HUGS

Hello.
I dream of having a rainbow of gorgeous cardstock.
You know the type - where each and every colour has a pretty name - 
like bubblegum, or chocolate chip, or pickled onion   :o)
But it's kind of hard to get hold of here in the uk, and a little beyond my budget
(unless you know different).
So, for now, I'm using cheap multi-coloured packs and trying hard to match the colours.
This combo was a rare win.

I got a load of tips from watching this video from the amazing Jennifer McGuire.
And, whilst I don't have a stand alone strip die, I managed to use a diagonal sentiment coverplate die. 

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

the stamp market - hi die and florally fun
sentiment - altenew, hug me
mft - stitched scallop edge rectangle die

JANUARY BOUQUET

Hello.
This year I want to concentrate on adding more colour to my cards.
and that means getting to grips with my zigs.

For this card I've attempted 2 of my least favourite things - 
flowers and water colouring!

I think one of the reasons I struggle with flowers and leaves, is that I find it tricky to pull all those elements together and form a bouquet.
It takes me forever to decide where every piece should go.
I'm going to try one of those sets where the die is a complete bouquet, and the elements are stamped onto it!!
I live in hope :-)

Inspired By Challenges

I took my inspiration from the flowers and the colour palette

wplus9 - modern anemones coloured with zig clean color real brush markers
background stamp - the stamp market, criss cross
avery elle postage stamp die
sentiment - my favorite things, fish tail die and party animals stamp

HOORAY

Hello.
Who knew that we would would still be celebrating lockdown birthdays in January?!
This is for my SIL
Strictly no visiting allowed, but we can't wait for the mahoosive party when all this is over.

Of course, I've opted for my favourite stamp from last year - this adorable bear,
and I've matched him with a rainbow HOORAY.

I die cut the HOORAY, which includes a shadow piece, and coloured the letters with my zigs. Then for added pop, I die cut it from foam, so it's nice and raised. Too much?

Challenge

How could I resist this week's Inspired By Challenge?

SugarPea Designs, Hey Winter, coloured with Copics
Stamp Market Hooray Dies
Small Sentiment, Mama Elephant, Birthday Messages
Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers