Mountain Biking

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #86
Blue as the Main Colour

This fortnights challenge 'Blue as the Main Colour' has been chosen by me.  I love blue, purple too, my favourite colours to wear, to work with, to just be around.  I needed a card for my DIL, she is far from girly, in the army, loves woodwork and mountain biking and she likes blue too lol.  I know during lockdown she has really missed her trips out with my daughter mountain biking so what better theme to use for her B-Day card.

This card looks much simpler that it was to make.  To begin with I found a free image of a mountain biker which I then made some changes too.  The image was then converted to an .svg file and then brought into my software - SCAL.  I then created the text and label for the card also in SCAL. A combination of hot foiling with the WRMK attachment which works in my die cutter and regular cutting for the name tag.  It is a real shame that black foil I used looks so matt in the photo, in real life you have the lovely even texture of the card that you have with stamped images but a sheen of the black so different from just using black ink.  Once the foiling was done I then used Distress Inks for the background, used a gear stamp for a bit of interest and some black dots to represent gravel and help ground the image.  My real challenge here was with the tag - first hot foil emobssing and then getting the die cutter to cut so everything was perfectly lined up, so please it worked so very well (just a matter of great care not to move anything once the foiling was done so alignment was the same when the hot foil attachment was changed for the blade).  Certainly something I will be doing again, especially when I want shaped labels which I don't have a physical die the correct size for.


I am entering this card in the following challenges : -

• Crafty Friends Challenge 2W, 3E, - #138 - Men and/or Boys (W1 of 2)
• Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers 2W, C10  #162 - T is for Technique (W2 of 2)
• Sweet Stampin W, 2E, include stamping - Get The Blues
• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5  Must include a sentiment #253 Anything Goes+ A Sentiment (W2 of 2) 
• Sweet Stampers (M, P10, E3, use stamp or digi) #45 - Something beginning with B - Blue, Bike, Brakes, 
• Try It On Tuesday 2W, C5, 2nd & 4th weeks - Make It Masculine (week 2)
• Crafty Cardmakers  (2W, C15) #259 MASCULINE (WEEK 1) 

Red Red Wine

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #76
A Favourite Song

This fortnights challenge A Favourite Song has been chosen by DT sister Hazel. I love listening to the radio and enjoy 'tunes' but do I ever pay much attention to the title of the song or who sings it - not in the least, it is just there in the background of my life.  So although I love music and hum along to catchy tunes that is as far as it goes lol.  Can you now imagine the problems this challenge caused me, hours of research to see if I recognised any titles and lyrics.  Thankfully I came across Red Red Wine by UB40 - I seemed to recall that one after I heard so to me that means it must have been a favourite at one moment in time. If you have not heard it you can listen to it here.

I have used the digital image JJWine by Bugaboo.  The image was masked and Distress Inks were used to create the background and backing paper then a stencil applied and a second colour of ink was applied.  Next I coloured the image with Copics and made the sentiment label.  Both these layers were matted with burgundy and green papers and placed on the card. To finish off I added green half pearls and a cream bow which I coloured with Copics to match the colour theme, some 3D gel to her glasses and glass of wine, stamped a pattern on the bottle label and add gold bits here and there.

Challenges entered : -

• Creations in Pink (M, P15, E3, mostly pink) #18 - Anything Goes in Mainly Pink
• Catch The Bug - (W) Anything Goes

Fun with Packaging

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #75
Recycling

This fortnights challenge Monochromatic has been chosen by Sall.  I often wonder what to do  for recycling projects, add something to a card, use throw away items like plastics for texture painting etc. but never really think of using packaging to make a new item.  I love Conference pears and have been buying the ones from Morrisons which have been so juicy.  When I saw this challenge theme I just had to use the awesome recycled cardboard packaging the pears come in - nothing like double recycling lol.  I just loved the shape and in my mind could see this being turned into a dish to hold bits and bobs.  Saying as I had 2 packs of pears I had to make 2 dishes lol.

This project took a bit more patience than I was expecting, I am not very good at doing something over several days hahaha.  To begin with I used several layers of PVA glue on all sides of the cardboard trays over several days, making sure each layer was totally dry before adding the next.  This was mainly to make the trays stronger and more durable.  Next was a couple of coats of Gesso so I had a good white base to work on.  I did take pictures of both these stages but must have been having a couple of senior moments as they are not on my phone or camera memory card grrrr. Next I covered each tray with a solid background blue for one and green for the other.  Stippling with different colours came next then the addition of mica powder dabbed onto the damp areas to add a bit of sparkle.  For the blue dish I added mica gold flakes with a dob of PVA glue and for the green tray I used metal gilding flakes.  To finish off I used Windsor and Newton glossy glazing medium, so impressed with this, just one coat sealed beautifully and left a high gloss finish without disturbing the acrylic paint below.  The blue/mauve tray is going to be used in the spare bedroom for guests, hand tray to place jewellery etc. on at night and the green tray is for my daughters study for her bits and bobs :)

Challenges entered : -

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Sunflower Bunny

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #61
Stars and/or Stripes

This fortnights challenge Stars and/or Stripes has been chosen by DT sister Hazel. I designed my papers digitally to pick up on the stars and/or stripes theme and as the sun was shining I went with a colour scheme I don't usually use - yellow :)  The image is a rubber stamp from Crafters Companion and I coloured it in with Prisma Colour pencils.  I stamped the sentiment and then die cut it along with the image finishing off the edges with a yellow Promarker.  In keeping with the sunflower the bunny is holding I added 3 pre made sunflower flowers I have had in my stash for ages and shouted at me to use them lol.

Challenges entered:-

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies (M, P1, E5, must have a critter) #27 - Anything Goes with a Critter
• Creatalicious Challenges (2W, P15/last day of the M) #165 - Anything Goes + optional spots and/or stripes
• Crafty Catz - W, 3E – No.467 - ANYTHING GOES WITH OPTIONAL TWIST: CIRCLES 
• Crafty Gals Corner  2W, E2, #194 - Polka Dots and/or Stripes (W1 of 2) 
• Paper Shelter Challenge  W, 3E, SIO, #388 - Stripes and/or Dots

Pool Party

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #60
Pool Party

This fortnights challenge of Pool Party has been chosen by DT sister Debbie

Debbie certainly had me scratching my head over this challenge theme as pool parties are not something we do much of in the UK.  After all sorts of thoughts I remembered I had this fabulous Mo Manning digi of a boy with his swimming ring - Bring on Summer.  I then found a free for personal use swimming pool image from Get Drawings.com  to use for my background which I added to the Mo Manning image in Photoshop before printing.
The images were coloured with Promarkers, fussy cut and and placed on my card blank when ready.  To finish off I added a simple sentiment which was attached with foam tape.

Challenges entered:-

• Crafty Friends Challenge 2W, 3E,  - #111 - Men/Boys (W2 of 2)
• Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge Blog M(1st Sat), SIR (must use Mo Manning hand coloured image) - June - Anything "Mo" Goes / option: For The Boys/Guys
• Seize The Birthday 2W, 3E, C5  Birthday + Option Of: Anything Goes (W1 of 2) 
• I love Promarkers  2W, 3E Must use Promarkers, #385 - Anything Goes with option of one for the boys (W2 of 2) 

Unicorn Birthday

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #59
Lace and Pearls

This fortnights challenge of Lace and Pearls has been chosen by me :), I so love lace and pearls on cards but these days don't seem to make them often alas.

To make this card I first got my bundle of lace out, oh what a joy.  I collect half metres of lace material when I am out and about and this piece was bought in an Indian shop in Saudi Arabia, I just fell in love with the turquoise and gold and could not resist.  The lace was stitched to a blank base and then I added the frame on top which was made using 2 Spellbinder square dies.  This card is for my daughter and although neither of us tend to head for unicorns she came in one day and gave me this die she had bought when out shopping so I just had to use it here, on her birthday card, a nice way to say thank you :).  She also moaned to me sometime ago that I don't put daughter on cards (I do tend to put her name instead) and bought me the daughter die Christmas so again, this is the perfect place to use it.  I finished off with some other dies and flat back pearls.  All the dies were cut on white card and coloured to match in with the lace.

Challenges entered:-

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Hi there!!!

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #58
Ecology/Environmental/Conservation

This fortnights challenge of Ecology/Environmental/Conservation has been chosen by DT sister Sall. 

I found this challenge pretty hard to get my head around until I googled simple meanings to the theme then it all fell into place.  I chose the word Ecology, the balance of living organisms and how they use each other to continue their survival.   Bees are such an important part of our lives, without the wonderful job they do in the pollination of flowers they also give us that fabulous food item, honey, which is so good for us, for our immune systems etc. a natural sweetener which is so much better for us than refined sugar plus a whole load of other uses.  Flower in return give us so much joy in our lives with their beautiful colours brightening our days.  Of course I have only chosen this theme at a pretty superficial level but it is one that is close to my heart.

I created the background for this card with Brusho pigment powders sprayed with with water in lovely summery colours.  I then stamped the hexagon honeycomb shapes in black ink.  Next I stamped my bee, masked him and then stamped my flowers.  Colouring was done with Promarkers and when all this was done I added my sentiment.  Next I die cut my coloured image and used Distress Oxides roughly around the edges.  Rummaging through one of my drawers I found some orange mesh with white embossed bit on it so cut this to place behind my image layer.  To finish off I added some bee buttons I had, to make them flat I cut of the looped back, worked a treat :)

Challenges entered:-

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Jacquard Birthday

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #57
Birthday

This fortnights challenge of Birthday has been chosen by DT sister CraftyGirl.  I had so much fun making this card and trying to get the hang of masking.  This awesome stamp was part of the Creative Stamper set with magazine #107.  The stamp so reminds me of all the needlework my Mum and Gran used to do often using images like this and a variety of stitches.

Once I had made my masks I then got t stamping then coloured the final design with Promarkers.  I was trying to get an antique theme going on (thinking again of my Mum and Gran's needlework lol) and think, looking at the end result I did capture what I was trying to do.  A small edging stamp was used to to complete the framing of the card and finally the Birthday sentiment also from the Creative Stampers magazine.  I then used the Tim Holtz distressing tool to roughen up the edges (my stamping is not very straight on the edges so this is a cool way to disguise this and make it look part of the end result).  The completed layer was then mounted on black card.  Leaving the card base white did not look right so I ended up getting some purple children's craft paper and scrunching it up into a small ball to create a really distressed look. Once flattened out I used this to cover my card.  Finally I added some flat back pearls to the flowers and a couple of die cut butterflies in black.

Challenges entered:-

• Pattie's Creations - M, 2E, SIO, include an image (MUST always use digital or stamped image) – APR - No. 157 - FLOWERS   Ends May 2nd  
• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5  Must include a sentiment #225 Happy Birthday Sentiment (W2 of 2) + A DT Call
• C.R.A.F.T. W,5E #511 Distress Yur Project
• Moving along with the Times 2W,3E #96 Floral (W1 of 2)
• Passion For Promarkers Challenge W - must use promarkers - #490 - Favorite Stamp or Digi - (This stamp is certainly going to be a favourite, it is versitile, suitable for so many styles and fun to colour added to this is the memories of my Mum and Gran each time I use it )

Easter Egg Baskets

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #56
Easter

This fortnights challenge of Easter is a nice easy one.  I don't give out Easter cards so for this challenge I used a super digital die cut from My Scrap Chick I purchased last year to make a small basket which I then filled with an assortment of mini eggs.  This was so much fun to make I then made a second on lol.

I love the way this die cut basket looks like a fence and in keeping with that I coloured my card a light brown colour once cut and then rubber stamped in black with a wood texture stamp.  I then made a couple of simple labels using stamps from an Easter set I bought ages ago, another of those sale items that seemed like a good idea and this is the first time it has been used in over 5 years.  The yellow layer behind the sentiment layer on the label is also stamped and then heat embossed.  To finish off I added a simple bow.

Challenges entered:-

• Angie's Digital Stamps - M, 1st Sunday, 3E, Winner and Top Picks - (April) Anything Goes with Option of Easter
• Sweet Stampin W, 2E, include stamping - Getting Ready For Easter / Spring
• Cut it Up - 2W, 1E, Must have Die Cuts - No. 171  - BUNNIES OR BASKETS  (W2 of 2)
• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5  Must include a sentiment #224 Easter/Spring Sentiment (W2 of 2)
• Crafting By Designs  W, F, 3E - Easter
• Scrap From Your Heart (M, P1, 5E, C10) #32 - Use Dies
• Sweet Stampers (M, P10, E3, use stamp or digi) #30 - Easter or Spring
• Tales From The Craft Room (M, P4, E1) #3 - Easter/Spring

CAS with Blue

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #55
CAS with Blue

This fortnights challenge of CAS with Blue has been chosen by Maggie.  Certainly had to get my thinking cap on for this one lol.  I ended up making two cards, the one below which I don't really like and another but it turned out less CAS and more arty so did not really fit the challenge theme so I have had to go with this one.  I did have a lot of fun making this with lots of stamping in one colour but it just feels so unfinished.  Never mind, a learning curve for me.

Challenges entered:-

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Pansy Power

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #54
Green and 2 Other Colours

This fortnights challenge of Green and 2 other colours has been chosen by Chriss.  I loved this challenge and it gave me the perfect push to try something new.  Sometime ago I won so Kitchen Ink layered stamps and have been itching to make something with them but keep putting the project off.  Oh the stamps from Kitchen Ink are just beautiful and if I only lived in the States I think I would be buying more.  The prize was a voucher so I bought the pansy stamp and then I added another stamp to my order too, checkout added the postage which made me gulp but I went ahead anyway knowing the stamps would be beautiful.  Oh boy, fast postage, and excellent service so no complaints but when the package arrived or should I say customs notification for payment on collection of the package I could have cried.  With the postage and customs tax the price of the stamps ended up being doubled.  Oh well, I love them and that is the main thing and I really can't fault Kitchen Ink Stamps, they are wonderful to deal with.  So here we are with my first proper attempt with the layered stamps, tons of masking and totally out of my comfort zone but so much fun in the end :)

Challenges entered:-

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Dreamcatchers

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #53
Sequins and/or Beads

This fortnights challenge of Sequins and/or Beads has been chosen by CG.  Oh boy, I found this challenge pretty hard until I got off the idea of making a card lol.  I gave all my sequins away a couple of years ago as I don't use them but I have a ton and a half of beads which I have collected on my travels and from charity shops etc. At the moment I am trying to make flat cards that just slide into an envelope and don't have any bulges as I am pretty mean and hate paying the ridiculous postage here in the UK for anything that does not fit through a small slot in the cardboard testing thing the post office use.  Thankfully I remembered I had a couple of dreamcatcher kits that I bought ages ago so decided to make them up.  The brown one on the right was made using only the pieces that came in the kit but for the one on the left I changed the design a bit, added my own feathers and central hanging bit with a lovely big brushed silver bead and some smaller beads in pink.  The string on the pink one was coloured with Promarkers and instead of have the beads in a symmetrical layout I just them them fall in almost as they pleased. 

Challenges entered:-

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Shades of Any Colour

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #52
Shades of any Colour

This fortnights challenge of Shades of Any Colour has been chosen by Jennie.  I love monochromatic so thank you Jennie for this awesome theme :) :) I am on another couple of DT where I use digital images but colouring at the moment seems to be very hit and miss lol so I am loving being on the IA&S DT with the option to create with no commitment to colouring.  For this card I used one of craft my card blanks, such a well travelled pack as I must have bought it 12 years ago to take to the Middle East, used a couple then shipped them home again when we retired a couple of years ago lol.
The butterfly stamp and round stamp are from a pack I got with a magazine again many years ago.  It is lovely to use up some of the items that don't see the light of day very often isn't it.  Dark chocloate brown was used for the die cutting for contrast and Altnew ink was used for the stamping.

Challenges entered:-

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Challenge #50 Choose A Movie

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #50
Choose A Movie

This fortnights challenge of Choose A Movie has been chosen by Hazel.  For my DT creation I have created a tag and used the movie theme 'Peter Rabbit'.

I have had a book of Beatrix Potter decoupage sheets for many years so what could be more perfect to use here.  It is so much fun using up bits and bobs one has and in ones stash for ages and this gift tag really has been one of those creations I could do that with.  The white embossed paper is from scrap sample paper pad I must of had for at least ten year.  The papers inside are awesome which is why I never seem to use them and also they are small sheets too.  Using a highly textured white sheet I cut my tag shape which I then mounted on green and trimmed round the edges.  It has been such a long time since I did any decoupage so throughly enjoyed doing this Peter Rabbit sheet, and although Jemima is there and not in the film I used to be called Jemima Puddle Duck when I was a wee kid many moons ago.  To finish off the tag I added an eyelet, ribbon and a metal brad tag which I removed the metal fasteners from the back.  The metal tags brads were bought in a sale many years ago, a bit of a mistake as I think over the years I have only used a couple of them. To the metal brad tag I added the Happy Birthday sentiment using peel off sticker.

Challenges entered:-

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Cats and Dogs

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #49
Cats and/or Dogs

For my design team creation I have used a red rubber stamp which I must have had for about 10 years and never used.  Why some may ask lol.  I bought a bunch of rubber stamp sheets which were on offer with some great images but my stamping technique was useless and I never got good results until I bought a stamping platform about 18 months ago, what a difference that has made.  For my card I stamped the image and stamped a mask for it.  Using three colours of ink I randomly stamped the corner of the card base and the image layer with a stamp from the Sheena Douglas of Crafter's Companion Textures set.  Next I coloured the image with Promarkers.  Finally I stamped the Birthday greeting on some spare card.  The card topper and the sentiment were layers onto black paper, then a light turquoise paper and finally a second black paper.  Once all the sections were complete I assembled the card.  Hope you like it :)

Challenges entered:-

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Challenge #49 Add Some Sparkle

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #49
Add Some Sparkle

This fortnights challenge has been chosen my Maggie and what a super choice for us over the Christmas period for our challenge and for us to get another Christmas card made lol.

Oh dear, not good.  I tend to make my creations quite a while in advance of challenges so if I need a break then it is never a problem, commitments are covered and I can have a couple of weeks off with no problems. Alas this has just hit me really hard as I have just placed the card image on this blog post and it is the card I made for my Mum who passed to the next world a couple of months ago.  I know she would have loved this card, she was my greatest admirer but now I think I will have to put it in a memory box along with her birthday card with I used in a challenge a few months ago even though her birthday is not until July next year.

OK enough - have to move on.  I used green hammer card and foil embossed the arches then embossed the card with a frame embossing folder the used a Sheena Douglas gold glitter pen to pick up some of the embossed areas.  Next I spatted some gold paint onto the card to give it a bit of a distressed look.  Time to put the base to one side and move onto the holly and bow.  For the bow I stamped a pre designed bow stamp with wee holly on it by Sue Wilson I think using the same green card and a gold stamp pad.  I then cut the bow out, sprayed it with water on the back and shaped it using a pencil before gluing the sections together, these were then put to one side to dry.  Next was the holly using a Sheena Douglas die, the die does have a matching stamp but I don't have that.  Using white card and then a selection of green inks I coloured the sections on both the front and back so they were quite wet.  These were then scrunched up then un-scrunched and shaped and put to one side to dry for a day or two.  When totally dry and holding their shape properly I was ready to move on.  Firstly I sprayed all the holly leaves with several layers of Crafter's Companion Spray and Shine, a lovely light weight varnish which gives a fabulous shine. The green card base was matted onto gold mirror card, the holly was then glued in place with silicon glue then the bow was added and finally to finish off the holly I used red flat backed pearls for the berries.  A simple sentiment tag was cut and the text added using gold peel off stickers.  I made four of this card to give to family members and have to admit, I had a ball, it was a lovely card to make with several techniques.  My sparkle which would normally be with glitter :) this time was with the gold mirror card and the Spray and Shine, not quite sparkle but the effect is similar when the elements catch the light which is what I was aiming for.

Challenges entered:-

• Crafty Calendar M,3E December -  It's Christmas Time
• Crafty Friends Challenge 2W, 3E,  - #98 - Christmas (W2 of 2)
• Hiding in my Craft Room W,1E - #382 -  o TBA
• Inkspirational 2W,C10  #175 - Anything Christmas Goes (W2 of 2)
• Winter Wonderland - M, 3E, must be Christmas – DEC   ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5  #219 Anything Goes + A Sentiment (W1 of 2)
• Moving along with the Times 2W,3E #86 Anything Christmas (W1 of 2)
• Through the Purple Haze M 1st Thurs, E3, C10 Dec- 'tis The Season
• Crafty Gals Corner  2W, E2, #180 - Anything Christmas (W1 of 2)

Christmas Giggle

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #47
Funny Christmas

This fortnights challenge theme has been chosen by DT sister CraftyGirl. I have made a digital card this time using a combination of digital papers, a digital image coloured digitally and sentiment base with elements from a digital set.  The sentiment was also digitally produced.  I find digital very flat and untextured but with the addition of shadows to create the illusion of depth I can just about get away with the end result.  I am not much of a Christmas card maker, only really making a few super special ones for very close family but this might just come in handy to pop onto the likes of FB in digital format to wish my friends around the world a Happy Christmas :)

Image used:-  

Colouring:- 

Other items:- 

Challenges entered:-

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Foxy

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #46
Wild Animals

This fortnights challenge theme has been chosen by DT sister Hazel.

Oh how I enjoyed creating this card with the awesome 'Foxy' rubber stamp by Sheena Douglas of Crafter's Companion.  The image was stamped and then coloured with Promarkers.  I then masked the image and used Distress Oxides with another Crafter's Companion stamp to create the background.  For the small dots at the right hand side I used the rubber end of a pencil.  The top layer was then mounted on black card and then green before being attached to the base layer.  The sentiment is from a stamp set I have, think it was from the Creative Stampers magazine.  

Image used:-  Foxy by Sheena Douglas of Crafter's Companion

Colouring:- Promarkers and Distress Oxides

Other items:- 

Challenges entered:-

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Autumn Colours

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #45
Autumn Colours

This fortnights challenge theme has been chosen by DT sister Debbie.  Time for me to be covered in ink with this card.  I love making my own backgrounds and my favourite mediums for creating the backgrounds are Distress Inks and Oxides. 

For this card I used Distress Oxides in Autumn shade then stamped leaves using leaf stamps from the Creative Stampers magazine again with Distress Oxides.  Next was an abundance of sprayed water to soften everything, so love how the background turned out :) :).  Once I cut the background to size I then added a simple embossed border from Crafters Companion.  The spare background I had left over was used to create the sentiment to which I stamped and Emily Bronte quote.  I finished off with some flower gems, Autumn ribbon which I stamped the leaf design onto and a very special button from my Gran's button box which I have had for years and years.  I used to play with the buttons in the button box when I was a wee girl sometime way back in the the previous century :) :) :)

Challenges entered:-

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Pansy Birthday

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #43
NOT Clean & Simple - Layer It Up

This fortnights challenge theme has been chosen by DT sister Jennie. This challenge gave me the opportunity to make my own flowers using the Sheena Douglas Pansy Perfect Partners (stamp and die set).  I had tried it before but maybe I was not in the mood or just not daring enough but this time I went all out and just love the end result of the flowers.  OK so starting from the beginning, I coloured the card base and another sheet of paper with Distress Inks in the same colours I was using for the pansies.  I then embossed the paper sheet I had coloured and used this to place behind the die cut background.  To make the die cut background I used a repeating lattice die from Tattered Lace, a really handy die as you are not restricted to a card size.  I then made a square frame border to place on top which covers the rough edges and added a piece of lace to the bottom and pearls on the crossed over sections of the die cut.  Onto the flowers and boy, did I get inky lol but first I had to cut all the petals and leaves then stamp the images onto each section, for this I used Distress Inks. Next it was out with the Crafters Companion Inks which I have had for ages and a lovely big paint brush to paint each of the sections front and back and then an extra spray of water so they were lovely and wet.  Time to crumple them up to get some wrinkles into them and then open the sections up and bend into the shapes I wanted.  I left the sections to dry for several hours and then attached to the card font with silicone glue.  To complete the card I used a Happy Birthday sentiment die by Sarah Davies of Crafters Companion.

Image used:-  Pansy Perfect Partners by Sheena Douglas

Colouring:- Distress Inks, Crafter's Companion Aqua Tints.

Other items:- Lace, pearls, lattice die, birthday die cut, silicone glue, embossing folder

Challenges entered:-

• Art Impressions Stamp Challenge 2W,2E,SIO (tab at top of page)  #242 Vibrant Colours (W1 of 2)
• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5  #212 Use A 2 Word Sentiment  (W1 of 2)
• Through the Purple Haze M 1st Thurs, E3, C10 Sept-Bright Colours
• Always Happy Birthday (M, P1, E4, must be birthday)- October - Birthday
• Try It On Tuesday 2W, C5, 2nd & 4th weeks - Slap It On (get messy and inky with paints, textures and papers) (week 2)