Centre Fold Step card at Die Cut Divas

 Hi.  It's the last day of the month so it's the last day for the Die Cut Divas challenge.   Our sponsor this month is Hero Arts and our theme is fun folds.

I decided on a Centre Fold Step card for my fun fold today.

I cut my base card out of red card - using a template I found at Splitcoaststamper's (here)  I found some Uniti patterned paper and added it to all my panels on the card base.  I used two Hero Arts stamps and die sets (Hello There Stamp and Cut and Florals Poppy Combo) I cut my ovals from Gina K Master Layouts 3.  I used some ombre patterned paper covered with clear packing tape, to cut my die cut sentiment - a great way to get shine without getting messy with glossy accents.  I added the sub sentiment from the Hello There stamps.  I stamped the poppy and ladybug onto some white card stock and die cut it them out.  I added the poppy off the edge of the centre panel.

Do come and join up at Die Cut Divas.

Shabby Chic/Distressed at Sweet Stampin' Challenge blog.

 Hi there.  Time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' challenge.  Our theme is Shabby Chic/Distressed.

My card is similar to one I did a week or so ago.   It is a Sepia looking card. 

I started by taking some watercolour paper and wet it thoroughly.  I then used some Walnut Stain Distress Ink smooshed onto my glass mat and painted it onto the paper.  Once it dried, I took a Kaisercraft set (English Rose) to stamp the roses in Versafine Onxy Black.  I stamped the lace stamp in the Walnut Stain ink, the flourishes in Gathered Twigs DI and also in Versamark and white embossed.  I used the Gathered Twigs to stamp a word stamp from Catherine Pooler - Birds of a Feather.  I stamped the sentiment from Altenew's Classic Beauty set in the Versafine Onxy Black and clear embossed it.  I took a white gel pen and went around the edges on the rose and leaves.  I trimmed the panel with a Gina K die and added to a Kraft card base.  

Do come and join us at Sweet Stampin' for our challenge.  

Fun folds at Die Cut Divas

 Hi there.  Thanks for visiting today.   I'm here to share with you my card for Die Cut Divas.   This month our sponsor is the wonderful Hero Arts 

And our theme for the month is Fun Folds.

I have a lot of older Hero Arts stamps and dies but recently saw some new Hero Arts goodies in stock at my local online store so couldn't resist buying a couple of  Stamp'N'Cut set.    Today I decided to go with an Easel card. 

Here is the front of the card.  I have used an Altenew 3D embossing folder and some die cut ovals from a Gina K set.  The poppy is from  Florals Poppy Combo.  I stamped it directly to my die cut oval.  I used some of the Altenew Woodless Watercolour pencils to colour it up. 

And here it is open.  I used Altenew Apothecary Labels die cuts to make my easel stopper.  The sentiment is from the HA Poppy stamp set.  

Do come and join us for our challenge.  

WWC 310 - Marsha's Challenge: All About Occasions

 Hi.  Time for another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday.  Marsha's our hostess with an All About Occasions challenge.  

We are changing things up a bit at Watercooler Wednesday - we are moving to a fortnightly challenge so this weeks challenge is the first of our two week challenges.

Today's card is one I made to sent to my daughter - she needed a bit of cheering up and as I can't go and see her (thanks to COVID) I thought a card will have to do the trick.

I've recently got a few slimline dies - but this fabulous trellis background was sent to me by my friend, Arlene. (It's by Kat Scrappiness and is available HERE)  I ink blended the background with some Altenew Parrot and Olive inks and added some brown splatters using the Woodless Watercolour pencil - Oolong Tea.  The flowers are Altenew's Gift for You.  I stamped the flower twice with Obsidian ink and then I took some of the Woodless Watercolour pencils and scribbled them onto some acetate- spritzed with water before pouncing it onto the flowers and leaves.  I fussy cut the flowers and added to the trellis die cut.   I added some gems into the centres. Finished with a sentiment from Altenew's Best Sentiments stamped in Mocha ink.

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday 8th March at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 12.00 noon NZ time ) to link up your project.

Inspired by Gina K....

 I have been watching Gina K's lives on Facebook for a while now.  She is very inspiring.  I don't own many Gina K stamps but do have her Master Layouts 1, 2 and 3 - with #4 on it's way.   On Friday (NZ time) her live was a technique using rubber bands on a block to make plaid.  I loved the idea so used my own supplies to CASE her cards. 

For my first card I did a diagonal plaid using Altenew Ocean Waves and Lime inks and three rubberbands of different widths.  I used Altenew's Beautiful Day set to stamp my rose and leaves.  I attempted to colour with Prismacolor pencils and Mineral spirits - but it wasn't too successful - so added a few strokes of the pencils for dimension.  The oval's were cut from Cottage Cutz stitched ovals and the sentiment is from Altenew's Sweetest Peas set.  The panels were cut with Gina's Master Layouts 2.  I finished card with some holographic gems.

Card two - I made a plaid but the messed up the stripes so cut the panel down with the Master Layout 2 dies.  I found some pretty Patterned paper that went well with the plaid and the kraft card I used for the base.  This time I used the larger circle dies from Master Layouts 3.  The sentiment is from a Catherine Pooler set called Bloomin' Bouquet.  

I have a third card that I made after being inspired by a live from last week.  It's a sort of resist card,  

I am still waiting for the stamp set that Gina used, so again improvised.   I used a Hero Arts background stamp Flourish Background and white embossed it. I then cut it down to size with the Master Layouts.  I then used Altenew Sapphire ink to stamp the Altenew A Study in Watercolour stamp.  I white embossed a scrap and added the Sapphire ink directly to it before trimming to size .  I die cut the circles and added the sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays set Casual Elegance.  

Thanks for persevering through this long post.  I had fun trying out these different techniques.   

WWC - Dawns Challenge: Anything Masculine Goes

 Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  I'm the hostess this week with an Anything Goes Masculine Challenge.

My friend, Carol, stamped off some Tim Holtz Snarky cats stamps for me -  I haven't been able to get my hands on the stamp set yet!  

I coloured the kitty with some Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut it.  I used Gina K Master Layouts 2 to cut my PP and the centre panel.  I used an Altenew mini stamp "Coffee Ring" with some Hazelnut ink to add to the white panel.  I trimmed out the sentiment and added it and the kitty to the centre panel. 

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the projects from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 12.00 noon NZ time) to link up your project.

Sepia Card Technique.

 My NZ group swap this month had a technique that Suna set... Sepia card.  She gave us some sites to visit to see how to make a sepia style card.  One of them was THIS one - which I CASED

I did some watercolouring with brown inks for my base.  I then stamped the flowers.  They were an unbranded set I have.  I added extra brown inks.  I used some bleach to take away the colour.  The rest of the background was a variety of stamps - from Inkadinkado, and Kaisercraft.  I added some white pen to the centre of the flowers.  The Altenew sentiment was white heat embossed and then I used a black micro pen to outline the beauty word,

I'm able to go back to work tomorrow - our lockdown level is down to Level 2.  A relaxation of restrictions - up to 100 people at functions and bars and restaurants can open again as well as shops, albeit with social distancing.  

Take care out there people!  

Stencilled Wreath

 I recently joined an awesome Facebook Group called Share Handmade Kindness - started by the inspirational Jennifer McGuire.   It's a friendly, happy group.  And they have started a monthly Technique Throwback challenge.  This month it's Stenciling - and Jennifer's video  Here is the inspiration.  My card today is a very CAS stencilled card 

I used Altenew Wonderful Wreath Stencil and Green Fields and Shadow Creek inks to add the greenery.  I used some Magenta ink to add the berries.  And some red gems to add texture. The sentiment is from Catherine Pooler sets called Good Thing.  I added some green striped PP and gold washi to one side and then used Gina K Master Layouts 2 to cut out the panel.  

I'm writing this while waiting for the government update - South Auckland has 3 community cases.  Just hoping that Auckland doesn't go back into lockdown.  

Take care out there people 💓

EDIT- 3 day Level 3 lockdown announced for Auckland and Level 2 through out the rest of the country.  So working from home for the next little while.  

Birthday Butterfly

 I saw that the Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is Slimline - and when I was out and about on Wednesday I came across some lovely patterned paper and some slimline cards - so thought I could have a bit of fun. 

My red card base was already cut to size and ready to use.  I had a very old Inkadinkado stamp set (Sketchy Florals) sitting on my desk from a box card I had made, and decided that a tone-on-tone background would highlight my butterfly perfectly.  I used some Catherine Pooler Rockin' Red ink to add the subtle flourishes.   The butterfly was fussy cut from one of the papers in the English Roses paper pack from Uniti.  I cut the Happy Birthday sentiment (from Paper Rose Studio) from gold glitter cardstock and the shadow layer from Vellum.   A few gold gems finished the card. 

My shoulder injection went well on Wednesday.  Not painful at all.  And so far has helped a little bit.  Time will tell.    I'm having a restful weekend away at our friends and no crafting.  

Take care all. 

WWC 308 - Tristan's Challenge: All About Occasions

 Hi there.  Time for another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday.  Our hostess is Tristan and her challenge is "All About Occasions"

Today I'm sharing a sweet little card I send my grandson.  It's a just for fun occasion -

I had a scrap of folded card that was longer at the back than the front so added some patterned paper to the bottom to make this little 3 1/2" x 6 3/4" card.  I added some washi tape where the patterned paper was added.  I used a Whimsy stamp set "Gnome Birthday" set to make my little gnome and add the sentiment.  My gnome was coloured with Jasart Pencils and then fussy cut him out.  Before I added him to my card I used a blending brush that I hadn't cleaned - that had some Altenew Parrot ink on it - and a Catherine Pooler stencil (Turkish Delight) to add the lightest of colour to the background.

I'm entering this into the Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp - Make a slimline card. 

Archie was feeling a little sad the other week as Perth went into Lockdown on the 31st January for 5 days and he didn't get to head to his first day of Primary school on the 1st.  He was so looking forward to it.   So hopefully getting this card will cheer him up. 

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00 am NZ time ) to link up your project.

Christmas Pinecones... Slimline card

There's a new challenge at Christmas Kickstart and my friend Arlene is the "Elf" helping Jo and Gail.  The theme this time is Slimline cards  

Slimline cards are all the rage at the moment, and I've jumped on the bandwagon by purchasing a couple of slimline die sets.   

I used the smaller die from a Sunny Studio set (Slimline Scalloped Frame) to cut my inner panel and then matted it onto some red card.  I have the Mini Perfect Layers and used the 1/16" to trim the mat. I took the pine branches from Sunny Studio's Holiday Style set and stamped in Mountain Pine Altenew ink. The sentiment is from the Sunny Studio set as well.   I then stamped the pinecones from Rosie's Studio Natures Noel with Altenew Mocha ink on a scrap piece of card.  I used Pencils to colour up the cones before fussy cutting them.  One is place straight onto the card base and the other popped up with 3D tape.  I then used some Kindyglitz glitter glue to add some shimmer and shine to the branches and the cones.  (Hard to see in the photo but looks awesome in real life)  I finished with some red gems.  

It's the second long weekend in a row for us, so another day off tomorrow.  Nothing major planned - hope to get some crafting time in, but with the nice summer weather, the beach calls most afternoons in the weekends.   And this week I have a cortisone injection in my left shoulder to look forward to.   I have a small tear in my rota-cuff which I hope the injection will ease the pain that it is causing and allow me to build up the strength in the shoulder again.   Shouldn't stop me crafting though!

Take care out there one and all.  

WWC 307 Heidi's Challenge: Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Heidi is our hostess this week with an Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist challenge.

Today I am sharing an encouragement card. 

At the craft fair I went to last year I purchased a beautiful stencil from Paper Roses called Spring Flowers.  For my card I used small blending brushes to add different Altenew inks.  I added a die cut sentiment cut with mahogany card.  This is a Penny Black die called Great Love.  I finished off with some black and silver gems.  

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the projects from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 12.00 noon NZ time) to link up your project.