Jump!

The cue card for this week's challenge over at CASology is "Jump" and, unusually for me, I made a card just for the fun of it - normally I need to have a person in mind. I've had this stamp set in for quite a while but have only used one of them before so this seemed like a good time to rectify that. I didn't like the "Hoppy Birthday" stamp which came with the set so I used a Craftwork Cards alphabet set instead. I coloured the image using Letraset Aquamarkers.

Cardstock: Anna Marie Designs

Stamps: Papermania Hot Diggity Dog "Treats" HOT 907100

Craftwork Cards Alphabet

Ink: Hero Arts Shadow Inks in Charcoal

Letraset Aquamarkers

One for the Chaps!

Just one chap in particular - my brother-in-law, in this case, who celebrates his birthday next week.  My husband's first comment on this card is that it's a load of . . . . . well, I'll leave you to work that one out for yourself!!

Believe it or not, this card was my inspiration. The golf ball stamp is by Craft UK,and is quite an old one as I'm trying very hard to find new ways to use my old stamps. The greeting stamp is by Clearly Besotted, from their Many Messages set. I first stamped & embossed one golf ball & the greeting in black, then masked off the centre of the card. I used my Woodware stamp positioner to randomly stamp the golf ball in various Hero Arts Shadow Inks in shades of black & grey. I decided the focal golf ball wasn't quite focal enough, so I used Anita's Clear Gloss to make it stand out a bit more.

I'm entering this into this week's challenge at Less is More.

Cardstock: Anna Marie Designs

Stamps: CraftUK and Clearly Besotted "Many Messages"

Inks: Hero Arts Black, Charcoal, Soft Granite Shadow Inks

CAS Valentine's

Although I made a card the other day for my husband for Valentine's day, I decided it was too girlie in the end and made this one instead:

I don't think it could be more CAS! I cut a heart out on my Sizzix Eclips, and the U out of the middle of it in Cafe Rojo font which is my "go-to" font for cutting machines. The inking & sponging was all done with Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink.

I'm entering this into the challenge at Addicted to CAS where the theme is Love.

LIM - One Layer week 158 Take 2

Wonders will never cease - a second entry for the same challenge. Again, the One Layer Anything Goes challenge at Less is More. For reasons I won't bore you with, this card was a very quick one to make.

The butterflies are Hero Arts stamps, masked then sponged over the top using an Imagination Crafts Honeysuckle stencil. The greeting was computer-generated in Craft Artist 2 Professional.

The largest butterfly was stamped onto the card & also onto a piece of vellum, which was then attached & the wings lifted. Although it's difficult to photograph, the smaller butterflies & some detail on the larger butterfly with glittered with some clear Wink of Stella.

Cardstock: Anna Marie Designs

Ink: Memento Elderberry

Stencil: Imagination Crafts Honeysuckle

Stamps: Hero Arts

LIM - One Layer week 158

The challenge over at Less is More this week is One Layer, and for once I've got myself organised in enough time to take part! This card is for a French friend whose birthday falls this week, and although she isn't from Paris I know she loves it there so it seemed fitting to try out my recent purchase of some Stampin' Up! stamps with a French theme.

This was my third attempt! The greeting was stamped using individual letter stamps, and my first attempt saw me mis-spelling "Bon" - you'd never guess I got a B in A-level French, would you? My excuse is the number of years since I took it . . . . 

There was lots of masking and inking using my new Hero Arts Blackboard shadow inks which arrived yesterday, before sponging some Distress Spun Sugar over the ticket. Voila!

Cardstock: Anna Marie Designs

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Artistic Etchings, 

Crafty Individuals CI-128, 

Kirsty Wiseman for Personal Impressions Alpha Script PICSA6276

Inks: Hero Arts Shadow Inks: Black, Charcoal, Soft Granite

Distress Inks Spun Sugar

And this is . . .

. . . a Valentine's card for my husband. At least, that's what I intended it to be but now it's finished I'm not so sure - it's a bit too girly for him so I might have to think again.

Anyway, this was inspired by the challenge over at CASology where the cue card is "And". I racked my brains for a while & as my husband often bursts into song when prompted by something we say (and they're usually songs from the 70s/80s) I eventually thought of Luther Vandross' song "Always & Forever". I've also decided to enter it into Challenge #3 - Use Monochromatic Pink - at the Card Concept.

The ampersand was cut out on my Sizzix Eclips; I can't remember which font I used but I tweaked it a bit anyway to make sure the cuts weren't too narrow. I backed this with a backing paper I made myself a while ago from a background stamp, inked with Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy. The "Always" was cut from the same paper on my Eclips. The letters were so small I lost the w for a while! The "forever" was written using a Stardust pen, again on my Eclips, as I'd just bought the pen holder & wanted to try it out.

I finished the card off with a tiny heart stamp inked with Memento Rhubarb Stalk. I had intended to mount the finished piece onto a piece of red card but messed up the cutting & had no more red card - hence the two corner pieces instead.

Finished card size: 15cm x 10.5cm

Cardstock: AnnaMarie Designs

Stamps: Darkroom Door DDBS003 Floral

Inks: Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy, Memento Rhubarb Stalk

Predominantly Purple

My mojo has gone AWOL again just lately, but the challenge over at CASology of the cue word "Purple" inspired me to make this sympathy card. Unfortunately by the time I'd finished it I was 30 minutes too late to enter the challenge!

I always think sympathy cards should be simple & understated, so this one was no exception: a brayered background overstamped with an Artemio poppy. The greeting is by Dovecraft. Simples!

Inks: Adirondack Cool Peri & Eggplant

Stamps: Artemio, Dovecraft