Lisa Horton Sunflower Garland card

 

Hello everyone and welcome to another challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More.

This time we have our Die Cuts and Stencils challenge, and I came up with this card:-

I used my new Lisa Horton Sunflower Garland dies, colour layering stencils and embossing folder for this one to make a landscape DL-sized card.

The process was quite simple and I really like the depth of the embossing although I found it hard to capture in a photograph. I used a mixture of die inks from various companies for the colouring and used brighter colours for the centre flower so it would draw the eye. The sentiment is from Altenew and was embossed in white.

As always, the design team have some great inspiration for you over on the blog and if you decide to join us, you can enter your card over there.

I'd like to play along at

Try it on Tuesday Challenge - Use a stencil

Unicorn Challenge #87 - Flowers

Happy Little Stampers May Challenge - Anything birthday goes

Make My Monday Challenge #199 - flowers

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

pinkfresh studio essentials slimline stitched rectangle dies

Anita Jeram Stay Curious and Mama Elephant general multi use card

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to another challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More. This will be the last challenge of the year but it will be back after Christmas. I hope you are all well and if you are in the UK, I hope you are coping with the VERY strange political times we are in!

This time we have our Make Your Mark Challenge so we'd like to see you use your inks, paints, markers, pencils etc.

I came up with this card

I began by stamping the NBUS image called, Stay Curious from Colarado Craft Company, colouring it with Copics and fussy cutting it out.I then lightly inked the background with Distress Oxide inks. I die cut some white card with the Papertrey Ink Aztec die and then die cut the aperture with one of the My Favourite Things Stitched Arch Stax dies.

The sentiment comes from the Mama Elephant Up and Away stamp set and I decided to use this so the card could be adapted for many occasions depending on what I decide to stamp inside. I like to keep a few cards like this in my stash so I can quickly come up with a card in an emergency. I used one of the green Copic pens to provide a layer that matched and then mounted everything up using some foam tape for dimension.

As always, my talented teamies have some fabulous inspiration over on the ATSM Blog, and you can link your card up over there if you decide to join us.

I'd like to play along at

NBUS Challenge #43 - image is NBUS

Cardz4Guys challenge #307 - autumnal colours

Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge # 400 autumn colours

Use Your Stuff #469 - die-cuts

4 Season Challenge #61 - Pets

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

The Greetery Leaves all Around many occasions card

 

Hello everyone - I hope you are well and happy! The weeks have passed very quickly and it is time to welcome you to another challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More.

This time we would love to see your creations using die cuts and stencils and I came up with this card. 

I'm so pleased that SevenHills Crafts now stocks products from The Greetery. I've loved Betsy Veldman's designs from way back when she began designing for Papertrey Ink and it's great to be able to get them over here now. I used my new  Leaves All Around die and the matching layered stencils to create this one and I loved using them. I really need to work on my colouring skills but the stencils make it so easy - I just used different shades of ink and then added a few veins with a coloured pencil. I made the berries into grapes for this card but they could be red ones for Christmas or could even be flower blossoms like wisteria etc. I cut the die several times so I could stack it to give dimension and it left the perfect space for the sentiment lovely from Hello Bluebird which can be used for many different occasions depending on what you stamp inside.

I hope you will join us this time and you will find lots of inspiration over on the ATSM blog.

I'd like to play along at

Crafting Happiness Challenge #126 - Sweet Summer Treats

Use your Stuff Challenge #453 Sunshine (see sentiment)

NBUS Challenge #41 - NBUS everything!

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

MFT Scene Builder and Penny Black cat general friend card

Hello friends and thank you for all your good wishes after my last post mentioning that we were self-isolating because our daughter had Covid. I'm pleased to report that isolation is over, my daughter has recovered well, we were spared getting the virus and the puppy has gone home!

Eddie is utterly adorable but phew - I needed eyes in the back of my head to rescue items from the chewing that he felt it his duty to do! I'm still at sixes and sevens but I'm getting there.

Anyway, we are here to announce a new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More - this time it is our Make your Mark Challenge

I used a Stacey Yakula stamp set from My Favorite Things called Scene Builder to create the background and inked the grass and sky with Oxide Ink. 

The large tree is an old Papertrey Ink stamp and die, the dog is from a Christmas stamp set from Colorado Craft Company and the cat and butterflies are from Penny Black.

We are lucky enough to have Ashwini as a guest designer this time and you can find her gorgeous card and lots of inspiration from the team over on the ATSM blog.

I'd like to play along at

Crafting Happiness #107 - anything goes

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #53 - anything goes with a critter

Dragonfly Dreams August Challenge - summer fun

Stay well and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Altenew Beauty Within general card

 

Hello everyone. Sorry for the brief post today but we are self-isolating because our daughter has covid, and we are looking after her 11-week old puppy who in spite of being adorable is also a cheeky little fella who is into absolutely everything!

It's time to start a new challenge over at ATSM 

and this time we want to see cards that use die cuts and/or stencils. I used both on my card. 

I die cut the scalloped frame in white and then cut it again from pink card. I embossed the pink card with an Apple Blossom square embossing folder and then cut off the bottom with some scissors before attaching it to the white frame.

The flowers (Altenew Beauty Within) were stamped and I then used the coordinating stencils to color them in with dye inks before die-cutting them. The foliage is from the same set and the sentiment is from another Altenew set but I can't find it right now to let you know which set. I left it as a general greeting card that can be used for many occasions depending on what I stamp inside.

You can join in over on the ATSM blog and see lots of inspiration over there.

I'd like to play along at

Through the Craftroom Door 20th July - anything goes

Crafting Happiness Challenge #105 - anything goes

We Love Chocolate Baroque - flowers galore

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Carol x

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Simon Says Stamp So Beautiful general card

 

Hello and welcome to the new ATSM Make Your Mark Challenge.

For my contribution this time I used my NBUS Simon Says Stamp So Beautiful stamp.

I stamped the image and then lightly blended some blue ink all over the card, going a bit heavier at the top. I coloured the blooms with Copic markers and added some shading with Polychromo pencils.

I cut the image out with a stitched rectangle die and matted it onto black card. The sentiment is from an older Hero Arts stamp set and I heat embossed that in white. The card was for my daughter's birthday and the birthday sentiment went inside. Everything was mounted onto a fancy-shaped 6 x 6 card and I'm really sad that I only have a few of them left. I picked them up from the Craftwork Cards stand at the Harrogate stamp show several years ago and I haven't seen them on sale anywhere since. If you know where I could get some more, do please let me know. 

My talented Design Teamies have some great inspiration for you over on the ATSM Blog and you can play along with us over there too.

I'd like to play along at 

The Cats Pajamas March Challenge - florals

A Blog Named Hero March Challenge - florals

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge March - flowers

Stamps fun creativity ~385 - flowers

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Hello Bluebird Besties card

                                     

 

                                     

Hello friends,  after our 6-month hiatus to give our awesome leader, Kylie, a break from all the hard work she does to deliver lots of design challenges, we are back for a new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More. Yay!!!

And the first challenge is for you to dig out your paints, markers, inks, stencils, masks etc and show us how you make your mark.

I used ink and my Zig Clean Colour brush pens to make this card

  

I used my new Hello Bluebird Besties stamp set to create this sweet little scene. I cut a mask for the outside of the sky and inked inside it with a cloud stencil, and sofly inked the grassy hill. I have to confess that I haven't had pleasing results in the past from my Ziggies but someone suggested to me that it might be because of the card I was using. I tried the Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper and I found I got much better results. I still need some more practice but I feel a bit more motivated to use them now. I love the sentiment on this card - especially true for us in lockdown but at least we can still meet one person for a walk!

It's really good to see my teammates again and I hope you will visit the ATSM blog to say hello and welcome them back. We also have a talented guest designer this month so be sure to visit Marina who has the cutest little mouse to share with us.

I'd like to play along at

Shopping our Stash #436 - what's new with you

Try it on Tuesday - Uplifting or positive quote

The Spot Creative Challenge #144 - designer's choice

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Pretty Pink Posh Celebrate Shaker card

Hello everyone and welcome to another challenge over at Simply Create Too.

This time we are looking for a shaker card of any type you like. I came up with a celebration shaker card that can be used for any celebration.

I used distress oxide inks to make the background and blended them together with blending brushes before flicking on some water to add some spotty detail.

The shaker element was cut with a Pretty Pink Posh die which I cut 5 times. I snipped out the sentiment from four the cuts and stacked the frames together. I backed the sentiment cut with some foiled acetate from my stash and glued it on top of the stack. I then filled the shaker with some glitter and sequins and backed it with some more of the ink blended card. The black and white sentiment was from clearly besotted. I liked the composition of the card but it was lacking something until I had the idea of echoing the shaker scallop shape by using an MFT stitched scallop rectangle die to finish off the background panel. Much happier with it then!

I'd like to play along at

Crazy 4 Challenges #551 - Shaker card

Through the Craftroom Door - anything goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #128 - anything goes

You will find lots of inspiration over on the blog and we would love to see your take on the challenge which closes on 25th September.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe.

Hugs

Carol x

 

 

Hobby Art Shore Scenes card

Hello friends! I hope you've had a good week and are ready for the weekend. I really don't know why I still look forward to weekends when I'm fortunate enough to be retired but it pleases me to have some days in the week that are different, and I don't feel guilty if I abandon the jobs I started in the week.

I'm still chasing my mojo around and it is a very elusive creature these days, but I did sit down to play for the first time at the CAS Mix it up Challenge.  I love CAS designs and this challenge asks you to include other media in the design. This time the theme is to use watercolour and a beach theme.

I came up with this card using Hobby Art Shore Scenes stamp set. 

This is a scene builder stamp set that I bought after seeing Jenny Mayes use it at the Port Sunlight Craft Show and it has been sitting in my NBUS pile ever since. It turns out that scene building isn't as easy as Jenny made it look lol! 

 

Anyway, I had a go and used watered down Distress Inks as my watercolour medium, and added a bit of Hero Arts sand embossing powder on the beach. I raised a white panel over the scene using an MFT die that I thought reminded me of a porthole if you closed an eye and squinted, and I embossed the card with a PTI impression plate to add a bit of texture.

I'd like to play along at

CAS Mix Up Challenge - August watercolour

NBUS Challenge #17

Inspired By Challenge - Punny sentiments

Make my Monday Challenge #129 - on the beach

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend.

Hugs

Carol x

Altenew Just Jasmine many occasion card

Hello everyone and welcome to Make Your Mark week at Addicted to Stamps and More

I've been making more cards that are suitable for several occasions recently, and this is one of those. I find I like to have cards in my stash that I can personalise to the person and occasion depending on what I stamp inside.

For this card, I used my new Altenew Just Jasmine stamps and die, along with a sentiment from the same set. The oval die is from Mama Elephant and the rectangle is from MFT.

This was a quick card to pull together and would be easy to mass-produce.

You'll find lots of inspiration from the team over on the blog and I'd love to see how you make your mark this week.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe.

Carol x

Inkylicious and Papertrey Ink Lovely Hello multi occasion card.

Hello everyone and I hope you all continue to be well and as happy as you can be under all the weird circumstances. I'd like to welcome you to another challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More

and this time we have this fabulous inspiration photo for you.

I came up with this card using a watery theme with all the lovely blues and greens.

I used an emboss resist technique for the background and embossed the Inkylicious shells before blending oxide ink over the top.

I cut a circle from a 6 x 6-inch card and then used a We R Memory Keepers embossing folder to give the card some texture with a bit of a watery feel and reminiscent of the middle right picture of the hair.

The Seagull came from an MFT stamp set and the wheel and anchor were magazine freebies that I cut 4 of and stacked.

I added an NBUS sentiment from Papertrey Ink which is pretty general and makes the card useful for lots of occasions depending on what I stamp inside, and finished by scattering some of the little dots that fell from the die cuts.

You will find lots of inspiration over on the ATSM blog and I hope it all inspires you to join in with us this time.

Stay safe, and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Altenew Budding Thanks Just a Note card

Hello everyone,

Well, things have moved on a pace since my last post and I truly hope that you are all staying safe and well. I am so thankful for our amazing National Health Service and all the staff who are putting their own health on the line to care for those of us that need it. We are now being told we must not leave our homes unless it is for food/medical help/1 short walk per day, so we will see how that goes. I have plans to spring clean, read, bake and, of course, craft. My son moved into his new home yesterday so I finally have my craft room back and I hope to get it organised properly over the next few weeks. On my short walk today my neighbour had put up a little sign in his garden saying

We have been self-isolating for so long listening to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Tony Bennett that we are now suffering from Croonervirus! Made me smile and anything that can do that in these scary times is very welcome.

To cheer us up from all the gloom, we have a new challenge up at ATSM and this time it is

 Here is my card.

I used the Altenew Budding Thanks stamp set and a sentiment fro the Papertrey Ink Sentiment Splits set

The panel was cut with a PTI Tipped Tops die and I made a mat for it using my paper trimmer.

You will find lots of inspiration over on the ATSM blog and you can link up your entry over there.

Stay safe, and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
( virtual ones in these social distancing times, of course!)

Carol xxx

Papertrey Ink Tulip Time and MFT Blueprints 33 Spring card

Hello and welcome to another challenge over at ATSM and this time we have some photo inspiration for you.

I went with the tulips on the bottom left hand side and came up with this card

I used the Papertrey Ink Tulip tome stamp and die set and cut a panel using the My Favorite Things Blueprints 33 die set.

You will find lots more inspiration on the ATSM blog and I hope you can join us this time.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Altenew Weekend Doodles and Neat and Tangled Bloom Where You are Planted general card

Hello friends and welcome to the first Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge of the new year. Sadly, we have said goodbye to some great team members who are moving on to new things and I wish them great success in their new ventures. After having technical gremlins at the end of last year, our lovely leader, Kylie, has managed to sort things out and hopefully things will run smoothly from now on.

For this challenge we want you to 'make your mark' in any way you choose. In case you are new to the challenge, the rules say

Make your Mark - your entry MUST contain the use of anything that can make a mark - Stampin' Write, Copics, Promarkers, Painting, Chalks, Watercolours, Sponges, Stencils, Masks etc etc

so that gives you plenty of scope.

I came up with this general encouragement card that can be used for many occasions depending on what I stamp inside

I used one of the flower stamps from my newAltenew Weekend Doodles set 

and stamped multiple times around the edge of a card panel to create a frame. I coloured with Copics and then cut the centre out with scissors to create the frame.

I chose some coordinating card for the background and embossed the sentiment from the Neat and Tangled Bloom stamp set in white.

To finish off I added a few clear sequins which are very useful because you can put them on any colour of card and see through to the base colour, and I winked the centre of the flowers for some subtle sparkle.

We have several new team members who have inspiration cards to show you over on the ATSM blog and it would be great if you give them a nice welcome.

I'd like to play along at

Allsorts Challenge #554 - say it with flowers

Dream Valley Challenges #216 - something new (flower stamp)

Path of Positivity Challenge #76 - I did not go for the optional twist character traits

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x