Gearing up for Stamp a Faire

Looking forward to joining in with Papertrey inks Stamp-A-Faire tomorrow, a whole day of projects and fun.
Tonight involved a quick run to Lowes (yes Lowes- the challenge involves random supplies) and Michaels to pick up last minute supplies.....Originally from England, this is my first go following something like this in the USA.

See you tomorrow!

Thinking of You

I have been making some more cards with a gentle look and sentiment to them. For this one I used Stampin' Up's Painted Petals set (retired) stamped on some lettered scrapbooking paper (but you could recycle an old book too) using chalk inks (color box and versa magic). The butterflies came from Heidi Swapp's Clear Stamp Big Day set and 

Prima Marketing's Butterfly Wings Stamp-N-Add Stamp & Embellishment Set a favourite of mine! The thinking of you is from Stampin Up's Wetlands set. They were all coloured with Prismacolour pencils which I love because of their high wax content (extra blendable). The card was then matted with lilac and placed on the larger textured lilac card. The bottom had two small holes punched through which a ribbon was threaded and tied into a bow.
I am entering it in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge and Word Art Wednesdays Anything goes.

Coffee lovers

My second card for the Get in Shape Simon Says Stamp challenge naturally followed the first in theme as I went for coffee! I designed a round card inspired by a certain large corporations logo, using my Silhouette Cameo. This was over stamped using the small bean stamp from Fiskars Latte Love set and Memento ink in Cottage Ivy and the borders sponged with the same. I backed the card with vellum from Hobby Lobby which had been embossed with my Big Shot and a Paper Studio Embossing Folder- Rings w/Dots. The coffee cup was from a stamp and matching die set called Perk Up by AMuse Studio. I cut the holder from brown kraft paper and concertina folded it before sticking it on. The bottom was stamped in Rich Cocoa (Memento) using the border bean from the Fiskars set. The sides were shaded with grey prismacolour pencils.

Time for Tea

Time to enter the Simon Says Wednesday challenge again too! This time it was for cards that are not rectangular or square, and it certainly made me put my thinking cap on. I'd just bought a new set of tea stamps from JoAnn's on special so decided to put them straight to use. I cut the tea cup card on my Silhouette cameo. I then sponged on a background using cosmetic sponges and Distress Inks in Salty Ocean and Picked Raspberry. I spritzed it with water then overstamped with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and Close to My Heart Geometric Backgrounds stamps. The other papers were also sponged, then torn and applied. The teacup was stamped in Memento black, then coloured with Prismacolour pencils, and accented with Wink of Stella clear and a silver gelly roll pen.

Feeling dotty!

Trying to go outside of my comfort zone again by using some bright colours! The background was created using Heidi Swapp's colour shine sprays in Sweet Cherry, Mustard and Patina through a dots stencil by Studio 490 onto Tim Holtz's watercolour paper and ripped. 
The edges were stamped using Finnabairs bubbles stamp with Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn, Wild Honey and Fired Brick. They were also used to stamp the feathers from Stampin' Ups Four Feathers set (discontinued), which I hand cut, including the feather line. The circle behind them is a Sizzix orignals circle #2 die (a single circle, discontinued, but you could use any circle die or a Cricut/Silhouette machine), crumpled, distress with Tim Holtz's distress tool and edged with Distress Ink in Antique Linen

Cheerful Thank-you

I set myself the challenge of using some colours I don't normally use and settled on this vibrant yellow scheme. First I embossed the back card using Paper Studio's A2 triangles embossing folder (discontinued).Then, cutting a separate piece of white card stock, matted on a deeper yellow, I proceeded to sponge the edges with a light yellow Memento ink (dandelion) pad. All the stamping was done using Altenew's Hennah Elements set. The background was further stamped using Cantaloupe and Tangelo Memento inks. The main flower was stamped in Memento black and coloured using Tria (alcohol markers). I know the current trend is for Copics and Spectrum Noir, but I've had Tria's since forever and am rather heavily invested to start again, but I'm sure whatever kind you use it will come out beautifully. The centre of the flower was finished with a gold gelly roll pen and some accent dots stippled around. 

Also entered in Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog Challenge- for the love of plants. It's great fun to do these challenges, give them a try and stretch your artistic boundaries!

Condolences

Sending Prayers

Making a card for someone who has lost a dear relative is always hard. I chose soft, neutral colours to reflect the sombre mood. The background was created with Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive and spritzed with water. Then the ferns from Paper Trey Inks Meadow Greens set were lightly stamped over the stop, accented with the Queen Anne's lace from Inkadinkadoo's Meadow set stamped in brown dye ink and splatters from Stampin Up's  French Foliage (discontinued but try ebay) in gold ink.
I then used Paper Treys Meadow Greens die set to punch out ferns and the Queen Anne's lace from kraft brown cardstock. Carefully lining them up I stamped on top with the corresponding stamps from the Meadow Green set again, using die inks from Memento and a white pigment ink. I then accented the Queen Anne's lace with a white gelly roll pen.  Before mounting to the main card I stamped the stalk and Sending Prayers (also from the set) with dark chocolate memento ink. I also distressed the edges using Tim Holtz's distress tool.

I decided to be brave and enter it in a couple of Monday challenges from my favourite companies. One is Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge (click for link) the other is Make it Monday with Paper Trey Ink. Great ideas to keep your designs fresh!