A Rainbow of Powder

Hello Dear Reader

Can you believe it? Three days in a trot I've posted. Yes, I have another card to share.

A while ago, I picked up some bright embossing powders by Stampendous. They've been sitting on my shelf waiting for me to make something with them. So that's just what I did...

I stamped up with a repeat border stamp and Versamark ink pad (which I discovered was not as inked up as it once was and when I grabbed my re-inker, discovered that it too had but a dribble within. Thankfully, those few droplets were enough. After making this, I headed to a nearby shop and bought a fresh one to prevent further panic!)

I carried on inking up, stamping and adding powder then heat until I had placed a rainbow of colour onto the black card. I stamped on the sentiment and white embossed that too.

The black background shows the colours up really well. Reminiscent of neon chalks on a blackboard.

A Brushed Rainbow Card

Hello Lovelies

I'm feeling that thing which happens to folks my age. I want time to slow the heck down. Has a week really just passed? That was truly a blink of an eye. Maybe it's because I've been super industrious and busy this week. Plus I spent way too many of my spare hours watching videos from this year's CHA. It's been fascinating to see the trends and ideas from the various craft companies. It especially caught my notice that there was a lot more colour around this year. The full spectrum is being embraced.

And talking of rainbows of colour. I made a card for the CAS(e) This Sketch challenge using the rainbow palette of inks I own from Simon Says Stamp. They've brought out more colours too, so watch out wallet!

This week's sketch looks something like this...

And using my newly purchased Positive Strokes stamps by Paper Smooches, I came up with...

Feels good to be using a whole variety of inks on one card.

Love You Card

I'm back with another card. Told you the muse was upon me. I'm not even supposed to be making cards at the moment. I have another project or two I should be finishing off first. Oh well, I go where the muse takes me.

It's mainly a die job. I used Lil Inkers stitched rectangles to cut out the multi colour cards. I stuck these down onto a scrap of card and ran the whole thing through a large square Lil Inker's die. I backed onto black card which was run through the largest stitched square die and backed the whole lot onto red cardstock using foam mount. I stamped the sentiment and backed onto more black card which I die cut using Spellbinders scalloped square.

Now if this doesn't brighten up someone's shelf and add a touch of fabulousness, I don't know what will!

Happy Birthday Card

I have a card to share today. I'm still exploring a graphic lead style which incorporates plenty of colour. I can't begin to tell you how joyful crafting has suddenly become.  I even started to introduce colour into my art at the last few classes I attended. The positive emotional effects of colour has really opened my eyes.

Anyway, enough musings. Here's my card

I die cut the triangles out of a rainbow pad of dotted paper and adhered to a piece of card. I trimmed it down and stuck onto the card's base. I added a couple of strips of washi tape to the top and bottom. I then die cut the banner and stamped the sentiment onto it.

Can't wait to sit in my craft room again and make something else. If your mojo has flatlined recently, I encourage you to try lots of bold colour! It may work for you too. I now have a sketchbook full of ideas at the moment lol.

Thanks for Everything Card

Hello once more Dear Ones

I put aside some time last night to just play around and guess what? Yes, I made another card. Again, it's bright and colourful. And it proved not to be as easy as I first hoped it might be to piece together. However, having tried it, the next time, I'll go about it differently.

It began life as a Lil Inker Die  - Pieced Chevrons. Now I have to admit to being a tad wasteful and actually cutting out from eight sheets of card, full size. I realise now in hindsight that I should have cut out thin strips and laid them over the die instead. Just wide enough to cut one line of chevrons.

How do I know this? Well although the pieces all look the same shape and size, they aren't. The card doesn't stand up to scrutiny as the pieces didn't always fit back in perfectly.

Well, you live and learn. I have a few more of these background dies to play with, so I could do with fine tuning how I go about using them.

But before I pick up a sheet of card again, I really need to finish off a project I'm currently working on (or should that be playing?), involving wool. And no it isn't knitting. :D

Butterfly Card

Hello Sweet Friends

Hope all is well with you. I'm a good way on the mend now :) The headaches and nausea are passing. Apparently, it was a hangover from the muscle spasm in my back which I had around around Easter. The tension is still there but in my neck and basically I just need to ride it out. I have a lovely squishy pink fabric sausage thing that is filled with beans and you can heat up in the microwave. I have been instructed by my wonderful doctor to wrap this around my neck for as often as possible until it's gone. Advice I'm happy to follow.

Anyway, I haven't been crafting an awful lot in the last couple of weeks but I have pushed myself to pull out my paper stash and put something together.

I began by cutting out the butterflies using the Memory Box Butterfly Border. I then added an all over layer of embossing powder and heat set it. After that, I added a rainbow of different colours and again heat set. Finally, I sprinkled on a glitter embossing powder over the whole shape and heat set once more.

I adhered to some purple card, stamped a sentiment and voila. Simple and fun to create.

A Rainbow of Ink

Hello there my lovely readers

It's been a while since I posted or indeed made anything which could be posted. Truth be told, I'm feeling a bit dicky at the moment. I pulled a muscle in my back over the Easter break. It healed very quickly but then other ailments followed. It didn't stop me from attending boxing lessons with Nick though. I felt sore from using muscles that have never, ever had to be used before, which was to be expected. However, the nausea and headaches have persisted.

So I really haven't felt like being creative this week. Until today. Today I thought I'd try an experiment with inks.

In the online world of card making, watercolour is the current trend that's been around for a few months. And indeed, having seen so many beautiful examples, it can't help but to rub off and inspire me eventually.

So I grabbed some white card, a pot of water and a brush. I didn't reach for my watercolour paints though. Instead, I grabbed my bottles of acrylic ink (you may recall I used them to produce some beautifully vibrant backgrounds for art journal pages). They are gorgeously intense in  their saturation and it only took a few droplets of each colour which I swiped at with my brush.

I didn't take a "before" photo of the colour sheet but the scrap left behind after I ran it through the die machine should give you a good enough idea.

I stuck the die cut to a piece of black card and stamped a sentiment in the bottom right hand corner and added white embossing powder. And that's as easy as it can be. And I love the vibrant rainbow of colour against the black.

Right, off to rest my weary head. Hopefully I'll be back in full creative force soon

And for those of you in the UK, hope you have a fabulous bank holiday weekend!!!

Thank You Card

Hello again my sweet lovelies

I'm still playing around with designs incorporating a rainbow of colours. This time, I'm using Becky Higgins Strawberry Edition Cardstock.

I used Spellbinders Label One and nested circles. The stamped sentiment is from a Hero Arts set and I finished it off by clipping the corners with We R Memory Makers tool.

Hello Friend Card

Hello there my sweet lovelies

Today I've been playing around with die cuts and brightly coloured polka dot paper

Maybe it's all the quilts I've been seeing recently whilst blog hopping and browsing Pinterest that has spurred my interest in creating something so bright and colourful. I'm definitely awakening to the cheerfulness of playing with colour. I can see it in the photographs I've been taking recently. My eye is certainly being drawn to saturated, bright objects.

Anyway, I used BoBunnys Double Dot Designs and cut into the papers with Spellbinders' Dahlia die. The stitched circles & square were die cut with Lil Inkers Dies.

Red and Black Again (but I did add other colours this time)

Hello my dear reader

I went ahead and made another card using red as my again. And as I mentioned a couple of posts back, I thought I'd try and do something other than pair it with my usual black.

I dug out some white cardstock instead and stamped a zigzag design using a rainbow of brightly coloured inks. Okay I used black to stamp and heat emboss the sentiment but I don't know about you but I can't seem to get away from black sentiments. I try other colours but they just don't work as well for me. I'm stuck in my ways for now.

Just to leave my black and red comfort zone was enough of a challenge lol.

A Rainbow of Colour

Lately my eye has been turning towards bright and bold colours. So when I came across BoBunny's Double Dot Designs paper pad, I just had to grab it.

And when I think about using a whole rainbow of colour, I know that I'm going to place them on a neutral background; Black, white or kraft. It may be the heaviest visually of the three but my preference has to be black. The colours come alive more and well it just has that more perfectly graphic feel to it.

I still managed to work in some kraft card on the first one. Personally, though, I prefer unadulterated black.

Doesn't all that colour just make you happy? It's certainly joyful to see it spread all over my crafting table when I'm playing around putting cards together.

Another Nested Die Cut Out

I've had a go with this week's design for CAS(e) This Sketch. Not an easy one either. A bit oddball having a partial snowman sketch with a sentiment. The design works rather well and achieves balance but it's not easy to replicate.

However I gave it my best shot.

I wanted to make a rainbow out of dies. There's a die on the market in the shape of a rainbow but I missed out on stocks when a UK company had it in. But I do have Spellbinder's nested circle dies.

I grabbed the required card hues and as with yesterday's squares, I taped together all the dies, before running them through my die cutting machine, for each colour. I cut out a large circle and used this to stick the various colour rings onto. I placed the smallest circle die in the centre, it fit snuggly in the gap. I taped it in place and ran it through the machine, so I had a ring doughnut shape. Using a ruler and knife, I trimmed this in half to give me two rainbows.

I trimmed a square of white card and ran it through my die machine using L'il Inkers largest Square Stitch. 

I pieced the card together and stamped the sentiment. Seems to work.

A Weekend For Colour

As is only right and proper for this time of year, the view outside my window is grey and somewhat lacklustre. Don't get me wrong, I'm a grey weather kinda person. I like a silvery sky. You need it to appreciate the bright blue ones, when they appear.

It does make me turn to bright colours more when the season is lacking. So when I was in the mood for crafting over the weekend, I pulled out my Simon Says Stamp ink collection. And, as I've rather been neglecting stamps, forsaking them for dies, of recent, I thought I'd blow the dust off them.

Using Clearly Besotted's Geometric Style set, I inked up the diamond shapes and stamped onto white card. There is a co-ordinating die set for cutting them out but as they are easy shapes, I didn't bother buying it and so I hand cut the stamped images. Or rather, I hand cut them as squares and rounded the corners with We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper on the 1/4" setting.

I adhered them carefully to black card and added the sentiment from the same set. 

I now have the urge to go out and rummage through thrift stores and charity shops for bright, colourful objects to scatter around the house.

Rainbow Hearts & Traditional Red

I treated myself to a new die set the other day. It's the Staggered Heart from Die-namic Dies. It's a great design that I can see quite a few different ways to play with. I began by creating a rainbow of colours by cutting thin strips of coloured card and adhering to a thin paper base. I ran this through the die and saw the result I was hoping for.

I placed it onto white card and stamped a sentiment. I didn't feel it needed anything else.

For the next card, I had intended to use the negative space left behind. However, the temptation to fill it overcame me, so I cut into some red card and adhered into the space.

One die, two cards again.

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Supplies

Dies: Die-Namics - Staggered Heart, L'il Inkers - Stitched Rectangles