Star Flower Cluster - Anything Goes with Birch Press.

 Hi there.... it's the last day of the month so I'm sharing my card for Die Cut Divas.   I'm currently overseas in Perth, Australia visiting with my family.   So I got myself organised and made my card early...

Our lovely sponsor this month is Birch Press. 

Our sponsor will be giving away a $20 gift card to the winner of our challenge.  *Note: Challenge winner must have US address.

I die cut my cross stripe die from some dark blue card and added to a die cut panel. I die cut the Star Flower dies from white and used blue inks to add the colour.   I stamped and die cut Altenew Baby Breathe and added a touch of yellow with a maker.   Sentiment is a die cut one from Couture Creations.   Added a few Ranger Enamel Accents to finish

Anything Goes with Die Cut Divas.

 We have a great challenge this month at Die Cut Divas - Anything Goes.   

Our lovely sponsor this month is Birch Press. 

Our sponsor will be giving away a $20 gift card to the winner of our challenge.  *Note: Challenge winner must have US address.

I have used a circle slatted die to cut out from the panel.   I added a green watercolour background that was a mop up of some green blending the other day.  There is a touch of gold paint on it which in real life you can see.  I used Birch Press Prima Peony Duo Contour Layer die set to cut out white flowers and stems.  I then used the first three inks from the Woodland Escape Fresh Dye inks plus some yellow ink to colour the flower layers.   And Jade and Eucalyptus Fresh Dye inks for the stems and leaves.  Added them over the circle with a little string bow.  Finished with a little sentiment from Elizabeth Craft Designs - Build your own sentiments 1 and some little pink dots. 

Do come and join us at Die Cut Divas... just remember you must use your die cut machine to die cut/emboss on your card. 

Santa in September.

 The challenge at Christmas Kickstart this month is Santa in September.  Such a fun challenge. 

I'm slowly coming right - still a bit tired and lacking in energy.   Finally spent some time yesterday afternoon in the craft room.   And pulled out a Santa die (Die Cutting Essentials magazine September 2021) and went through some of my large stash of Christmas papers and here's what I made.

I die cut the Santa and layered him up.   Cut the circle from the green card and layered it onto some gold card.  Did the same with the background.  The card base is a 5" square. The sentiment is from a Tim Holtz set - Snarky Cat Christmas.   

Die Cuts at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.

 Time to share my sample for Sweet Stampin' Challenge.   Our challenge is to use Die Cuts....something that is right up my alley!

For this card I used a Sizzix die set called Geo Frames.  I got it a while ago from Spotlight here in NZ.  I die cut from a variety of card stock.  The frames are very narrow and most difficult to get on straight.  I off-set two of the frames and then added the flowers around the frame.   I used a little sentiment from Altenew's Summer Wishes.  Added splatters of Distress Spritz in Fossilised Amber.   

Tiny but Mighty...

 The Altenew Challenge Live this week - Tiny but Mighty - make a card 3" x 3" or smaller....  today I have been feeling a little better and decided to give the challenge a try. 

I pulled out a few of my Altenew Mini Delight stamp sets and had a play. 

I started by making the background panel.... used some blue and green Altenew inks and a large blending tool.   Took the Bitty Botanicals and some Jade ink and added some subtle leaves in the background.  Added some watercolour splatters with Altenew paints.   Stamped Adorable Anthurium stamp after having die cut the image.   Used Green Fields and A Pocketful of Sunshine alcohol markers to add the colour.    Used a sentiment from the Adore You Added on stamp set.    Finished with some of my homemade enamel dots.   I trimmed the panel down and matted on some dark green card and then onto my little 3" square card base.   Love the pop of the yellow pot with the gorgeous greens of the leaves.   Had great fun making this one.... 

Happy Birthday Dad

 It's my Dad's birthday today... 88 years young!  He is incredible.   Still very active. 

Used more of Uniquely Creative digi images - mainly from the Father's Day images.   Cut out some tags, added a  Best Dad Ever circle and a matted birthday sentiment.   A few little kraft dots to finish.

September Challenge at Altenew.

 A very quiet restful day - still feeling tired and weak.  And coughing a lot!   

This card for the September challenge at Altenew.   I had made it over the weekend.

I've recently got a colour wheel and these three colours are triad - so go well together.   I used Altenew orange inks with a circle stencil to make a background.    For the purple element, I die cut three flowers with the Petite Mountain Aven layering die set,  from white card and used some ink-blending with Wisteria and Hydrangea inks for the flowers, Shadow Creek and Mountain Pine for the leaves and Camomile and Snapdragon for the flower centres.  The sentiment is from Altenew Birthday Builder set cut with a die from Featured Sentiment die set.   Edged with a darker purple ink.   Finished with some purple dots. 

 

Christmas cards - building up the stash.

 The weekend before last on the Sunday I did manage to get a couple of cards made, but haven't had time to post them. 

First card - using a stenciled background. 

I used a stencil I purchased to use with my gel plate - from the local Art Store.  Used 3 tones of Catherine Pooler green inks to make an ombre background.  I then used a Poinsettia that was in my to-be-used pile.   I think it is a Hero Arts one. Added a little Waffle Flower sentiment - from Star Snowflake set.   A few gold dots to finish.

And my second card used the same stencil, but on my gel plate. 

I attempted to used some paints with the stencil set.   Didn't quite turn out quite how I wanted.  So trimmed a panel to added to the left hand side.  Took an oval die cut and matching scallop die.  I had used a embossed the oval with Dots and Circles folder.  The Nutcracker is fussy cut from a PP set.    Finished with a fussy cut banner - stamped onto red card with a red rubber stamp.   Added some glittery dark red dots.  

Well today was an interesting one....I was still feeling unwell so decided to stay home as I was coughing a lot and hadn't slept well on Sunday night.  I slept on and off all morning... feeling hot and cold.  Around lunch time, I got up to have a shower and boom, I collapsed in the shower - lost consciousness momentarily and scratched my leg.  I rang the ambulance - and got taken to the local hospital.   Turned out I tested positive for Influenza A... and collapsed due to dehydration.    7 hours later, made it back home.  And a week off work!   Thanks to our wonderful health system.