Father's Day Card

Well, I had this post all ready to go.....but then I edited it a little too much with the back arrow and lost it all.  I truly hope that it's not going to be that type of day!  It's going to be a scorcher though, so no more gardening today...that will give my muscles (haha) a chance to recuperate from yesterday's digging and planting.

No digital images today, everything is done with stamps and black ink.  Here, you'll see lots of flourishes and the main image, Cabin with Fence by Stampscapes.  I've had this for ages, and I'm finally getting around to inking it.  All the colouring....for everything...is done with distress ink.

The main image uses a new technique (for me anyway), that I found on Michelle Zindorf's blog, called 'direct to paper'.  She has some fabulous tutorials!  After first masking off a circle for the moon, I dragged different distress ink pads across the paper to create the background scene.  Then I stamped the image and further distressed the edges.

The frame is made with my new Spellbinders die...Romantic Rectangles, and lots of DI.  Both the frame and the card blank started out white, and incorporate the same colours as the picture.  Lots of fun, and I'll have to try this again.

Thanks for visiting, and try to stay cool!

Some fun challenges, for more inspiration...

Simon Says Stamp! - Father's Day/Special Male

Divas by Design - #36 Fabulous flourishes

Deep Ocean Challenge - #26 Swirls

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - #134 Card for a Man

Totally Gorjuss - #133 Something New

One Stop Craft Challenge - #184 For The Boys

Sweet Stampin - Moon &/or Stars

Moving Along with the Times - Celebration but NO BIRTHDAYS

Here Come the Boys - #28 Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp and Show - One for the Boys

Crafty Cardmakers  - #69 Distress It

Lexi's Creations - #66 For the man/boy in our lives

Grandma's little bundle of energy

I'm not sure if this is going to work....first time posting a video.  My granddaughter doing one of her gymnastics routines, which my daughter captured on her phone.  I wish I had just one smidgen of her energy.

My Favourite Flower

Good morning all.  Summer is definitely here in my part of the world...and my poppies will soon be flowering!   Our weather has been amazing, but it does make you wonder how hot the summer will be....

So, of course I fell in love with this Poppy Cluster image from Just Inklined.  Coloured with copics and a bit of coloured pencil for some extra shading, then cut out with my Fleur de Lis rectangles die from Spellbinders....it really didn't need any more to dress it up.  The DP is from a Teresa Collins paper pack called Fabrications, and just black and white cardstock to set it off.  Another butterfly, again with a Cheery Lynn die, coloured and stickled up for just a touch of sparkle.  This will be for my Mother's birthday, as she too is a big fan of this lovely flower.

Thanks again for visiting, and here's wishing you a fantastic weekend.  Today we are going to see one of my granddaughter's gymnastic competitions.....always an eyeopener!  She sure didn't inherit any of those moves from Grandma!

Some fun challenges for more inspiration...

Aud Sentiments - #55 Any Sentiment

Southern Girls Challenge - #45 Dying to Diecut (or Punch)

Creative Inspirations Wednesday Challenge - #164 Anything Goes

Dieing for a Challenge - Anything Goes with a die cut

Allsorts Challenge - #156 Happy Birthday to Someone Special

PaperPlay Challenges - #21 Summer Lovin

Thank You.....Teacher

Good morning, and here's to another sunny day!  Unbelievable weather for this time of year, and we're enjoying every minute of it.  Today is the start of a new challenge at Charisma Cardz, and hopefully you will take the time to enjoy the wonderful creations that the DT has to share.

My card today uses an older image from Stamp Fairy, one of our sponsors.  Only after I'd coloured it up did I realize...oh no...he's holding a flower, so I decided to add a sticker and now he's holding a lollipop.  Perfect for my grandson to give to his JK teacher!  Yes, summer is nearly here and school will soon be finished.

Our sponsor this week is

 

and our challenge theme  is 'NO FLOWERS ALLOWED.'

Here's hoping you can tear yourself away from your garden for a little bit of crafty time, but remember...no flowers.

Some challenges for my card, and more inspiration for you;

Bunny Zoes Crafts - #24 Anything Goes

Sentimental Sundays - #103 Whimsical

One Stitch at a Time - #114 Anything Goes

Totally Stampalicious - Thank you card

Sweet Stamps - Anything Goes

Bearly Mine Challenges - #36 Anything Goes

Inky Impressions - Teacher Appreciation!

Top Tip Tuesday - #77 Dig out the Old  (image)

Creative Inspirations Wednesday Challenge - #164 Anything Goes

Springtime Wonders

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend, and for those of us in Canada....we still have another day!  The weather is being fantastic...warm and sunny, basically summer temperatures, and with luck my DH will make it through this treatment without a hospital stay.   Life is good!

So how about a card with some pretty flowers, to whet the appetite for what is to come!  This is one of the newer images from Just Inklined, called Daisy Patch.  Once again, I've coloured with copics and a wee bit of pencil for some extra shading.  The flower centres are those little tiny glass beads....lovely to behold, but I'm sure I'll be finding them in my craft space for some time to come. (lol)

You will see that I've used two Spellbinder dies this time, layering them with pop dots and inking the edges with DI.  I'm quite pleased with the effect.  The corner pieces are from my latest Basic Grey acquisition....the Out of Print 6x6 pad.  I even chose the paper before I coloured the image this time!   The butterflies were made with my new Cheery Lynn die, to which I then added DI and stitckles to give a bit of sparkle.  The sentiment is one from a set from Whimsy Stamps, and gives me an all occasion card, dependent only on what I put inside.

Thanks for stopping by, and even if the sun isn't shining where you are.....have a wonderful day!

A few fun challenges for my card:

Moving Along with the Times - Keep it Real

Cute Card Thursday - #217 A Touch of Sparkle

Stamp Scrap and Doodle - Flowers

Crafty Ribbons - #19 Flowers

Card Makin' Mamas - #45 FLOWERS

Basic Grey Challenges - #68 Anything Goes

Copic Oz - Flower Challenge

By the Cute and Girly - Spring Is All Around Cheery Lynn Designs - Bling It Up

A Different Technique

Just a quick post to say hi, as I know the next three days are going to be very busy!  I have something a little different to show you, using some newer techniques and a few older stamps.

It's always nice to try something different, so here goes.  This one uses heat embossing, and I've used clear embossing powder in each step.

The flourishes and butterfly are stamped in black, then heat embossed, while the sentiment is stamped using a clear embossing pad.

The butterfly is coloured first with markers, then embossed entirely with the help of an embossing pen.  This protects the colours for the next step.

Next, it's the distress ink.....I chose green and blue, followed by a touch of grey to smudge the edges.  Using a silver metallic ink pad, I've stamped the card blank, added some rough edges to the layers and given a bit of interest to the flower.

 It's hard to see the shiny embossing in the photo, but some tell tale signs are the bits of white showing around the flourishes.

Hope you enjoyed your visit.....have yourselves a wonderful crafty day!   Any questions, just leave them in the comments.

Now, for some challenges for today's card:

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - Happy Birthday

CES Challenges - Anything Goes

Sketchy Colors - Blue, Turqoise & Green

Paper Sundaes - Things with Wings

Cupcake Craft Challenges - No DP -  Birthdays

Papertake Weekly - In the Garden

Top Tip Tuesday - Clean and Simple

Joanna Sheen - Happy Birthday

A & T Challenge - Embossing

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - Things with Wings

Don't Worry...

Hello there....hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!  My daughters came over yesterday, with flowers for my garden and all the fixings for a lovely supper.  It was wonderful....and today I got a little crafting time in.  Now, if only my migraine would go away......

I was really taken, by this image (Sulk Boy) from Just Inklined, because it reminds me a bit of one of my grandsons.  He's a happy little one, but every now and then there is a sad look.  Coloured with copics, I've added a little doodling border.  The DP is from My Mind's Eye, and I've paired it up with some matching cardstock, which I have embossed and then sponged with DI.  The sentiment is hand written on a die cut that my daughter gave me.  Basically a clean and simple card.

Some challenges for my card:

Divas by Design - #34 One for the Boys

Totally Papercrafts - #116 No Pesky Girls Allowed

Top Tip Tuesday - #76 Clean and Simple

Southern Girls Challenge - #44 About the Boys

Allsorts Challenge - #154 Card for a Man or Boy

Truly Scrumptious - #80 Anything Goes

Pink and Girlie for Mommy

Good morning all....I think I lost a day this week, and I almost forgot this post!  Today is the start of a new challenge at Charisma, and this time such an easy one....Pink and Girlie.  I've made a card up for my granddaughter to give to her Mom this weekend for Mother's Day.

Using some Echo Park paper from the Victoria Gardens pad, and the Lacey Ovals die from Spellbinders, I've opted to made a window card.  

The sentiments are from the Hugs for All set from Stampendous, and the sweet little image (Emily Hug a Heart) is from one of our sponsors....Digi Doodle Shop.  

The little butterfly is made with an embossing stencil....something I purchased ages ago but forget all about!  I keep meaning to make a list of all my hidden goodies, but that hasn't happened yet!

Then, just a few punched flowers and some sparkly gems to finish it off.

This week's generous sponsors are

(with 5 digis of the winners choice)

and


(offering 2 lucky winners a $5 voucher each for their online shop)

Here's hoping you get the chance to play along this week, and to check out the rest of the team's creations.  

Some fun challenges for this card:

A & T Challenge - Anything Goes

Paper Sundaes  - Mothers Day

Critter Sketch Challenge - Mom

Lollipop Crafts - Mama Mia

Love to Create - For Mom/Special Lady

Tuesday Throwdown - Motherly Love

Papertake Weekly - Cute Cute Cute

Crafty Creations Challenge - Frame It

Crafts and Me Challenges - Punches and Die Cuts

Oldie but a Goodie - Die Cuts and Punches

Just Inklined Blog Hop for May

Are you ready?  It's the first Monday of the month, so it's time for the blog hop at Just Inklined.  This month you are going to see One Layer Cards, the theme chosen by our lovely hostess Toni.  You should have arrived here from the talented Ann Marie's blog, but if you are just starting out, be sure to head on over to Toni's blog....where all the fun begins!  Lot of inspiration to be found, and remember to leave some comments along the way, for your chance at the mystery spotlight prizes.

Today I tried for something different....no card stock.  Remember when cards were folded paper, not simply card stock folded in half?  I used a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper, folding it in half, printing the image (careful to position correctly) and then folding in half again.  This adorable image is named Serenity, and definitely depicts my idea of a perfect afternoon.  I've only worked with Prisma pencils this time, as the paper is too thin for markers and would surely bleed.  I'm really pleased with the result, and think I've found a new use for some of those papers I have stashed away. (lol)

From here, you'll hop along to see what awesome creation Jak is sharing with you today, and just in case you gotten lost along the way.....here is the blog hop order.

Toni, Lori, Karen, Angela, Jeni, Ann Marie, Joyce (that's me), Jak, Tammy,

Hope you enjoyed the hop and here's wishing you a fun and crafty day!

Now, for some challenges for my card:

Dream Valley - For a Special Lady

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Aud Sentiments - Anything

2 Sisters Challenge - Anything Goes

The Squirrel and the Fox - One for the Girls

Bright and Cheery

Hello there crafty peeps!  Spring has finally arrived....it's a little warmer plus we have the rain, (oh joy), and hopefully soon we'll have some sunshine.  Lots of doctors' visits this week, but hubby seems to be a bit better right now.  He's on some needles to improve his blood, and they seem to be helping!

Today's card has some nice bright warm colours to chase the dreary weather away.  I've coloured this cute little Christina image from Tickled Pink with copics, then used the 'out of the box' technique with my Nestie die to cut her out....I always like this effect!  Then, plenty of DI...to distress the edges and provide the right colour for the lacy mat and the seam binding used for the bow.  I've added some sparkle to the dragonflies which are from Make it Crafty, a butterfly sticker, and then, how about some flowers.  If you look closely, you will also see that I've added a bit of stencil pattern to the DP for something just a little bit different.

Products used

Spellbinders... Labels Twenty die

Martha Stewart... Double Arches punch.

Basic Grey paper..Porcelain collection (from at least last year!)

Now, for some challenges...be sure to check them out if you need some inspiration!

Totally Papercrafts - Saturated Colours

Incy Wincy Designs - Girly / Mothers Day

Stampin for the Weekend - Sparkle and Shine

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT - Birthday

Little Darlings - Flowers

Truly Scrumptious - Distressing & Diecuts/Punches

Aud Sentiments - ANYTHING

Dream Valley - For a Special Lady

Joanna Sheen - Flower Power

Creatalicious Challenges - BUTTERFLIES and add some FLOWERS

Hooked on Craft - Flowers

Crafter's Companion - Here Comes Summer

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - Die Cuts and Punches