Orchid and Bamboo.......

...or is that just another way of saying 'pink and green' , a colour combo I seem to be overdoing at the moment. (It's our current challenge at Inkspirational).

Anyway, I do love an oriental theme so I had to enter the challenge at Allsorts. I normally go for a more ornate oriental look, with rich and dark colours, but I had a piece of card on my table which I'd used to mop the ink of my mat from a prcvious project, stamped  the geisha on it (make unknown) and liked it. I stamped and embossed the lily ( Sheena Douglass)  on the same cardstock and, on both images, stippled the edges with Orchid Brilliance ink. The background embossing folder is also Sheena Douglass.

Pinspirational Challenge 105 - On Yer Bike

Here's my DT project for this week's Pinspirational Challenge  and here's the photo:

For my project I relied heavily on my digital die-cutting machine. First I cut out a bicycle, (which I cut in half) and then I cut out these lovely flowers and leaves, kindly provided by one of our sponsors, Fred She Said.  I coloured the flowers with two colours of pink ink and assembled them with a pearl centre.

How does the photo inspire you? Come over to Pinspirational Challenges and join in - we have fabulous prizes to win, provided by our sponsors.

I'd like to enter:
Ecletic Ellapu birthday
That Craft Place  anything goes
Cut it up  birthday
Use Your Stuff flowers

Bus Birthday

My partner is a 'classic bus enthusiast' who owns two doubledeckers and organises an annual bus event in a seaside town. I think you can see why I made this card! We've been together ten years and it's a challenge to keep coming up with fresh bus-themed ideas!

I found a free 'vector' image of a bus silhouette on the internet, opened it in Photoshop and converted it to a PNG. Then I pulled it into Silhouette Studio , traced it and cut it.  I typed in the numbers and sentiment and used 'print and cut'.  The seaside background was composed from the picture builder section of My Craft Studio 'Setting the Scene' CD.  Then I just inked and mounted everything.

Looking at the front of my bus, bet you can't guess how many candles he'll have on his cake!
I'd like to enter:
CD Sunday For someone special
Little Red Wagon  numbers ( hope they're not too discreet)
Moving along with the times transport
Seize the Birthday anything goes

Inkspirational Challenge 55 - Green and Pink

We have a spring-like colour combo at Inkspirational this time - green and pink. For my DT card, I used an A Day for Daisies image, printed directly onto the patterned paper. Then I paper-pieced her dress with a different pp. The leaves were already on the patterned paper so I highlighted them with pearls and gems and stamped the sentiment.

We'd love you to join us at Inkspirational with your green and pink creation. We have a fabulous Guest Designer, Alycia, so please do come and have a look.

I'd also like to enter:
Sparkles Challenge Fave colour combo - green and pink
Crafty Catz anything goes
Fab n Funky paper piecing
Inspired by photo inspiration

Festive 48 - Week 15

I love robins. We see them in our garden all year round but I still love them as an image for Christmas cards.

For this card I cut the robin on the Silhouette, out of Kaisercraft patterned paper, with the breast cut out of white card and coloured with 'Barn Door' distress ink. I embossed the ivy on colour core card and sanded it. I used two lovely pre-made die-cuts form My Mind's Eye and a Martha Stewart border punch. I put it together using the sketch from Just Add Ink. 

Just to recap, I have challenged myself to make a Christmas card every week , and post it here (to make sure I do it!) . If I do this, by the beginning of December I will have 48 Christmas cards. I have also issued an invitation to anyone who would like to join me by linking up ONE card each week. 

Thank you to everyone who's joined me so far. I love seeing your cards. 

As well as Just Add Ink, I'd like to enter:
Winter Wonderland little robin redbreast 
Crafty Catz b is for (bird) 
Creative Knockouts Feathery friend 
Allsorts birds and feathers 
Crafty Calendar Things with wings 

An InLinkz Link-up

I Get Misty

We had an hour to fill between dinner and bed, and my 7 year old said-'Let's do crafting' and I know what that means... He loves to grab my box of spray inks and use as many as possible!

This is no job for flimsy cardstock, so I chopped up an empty cornflakes box . And while he was drenching his with as much ink as he could, this is what I made.

I used two colours of distress ink pads, sprayed with water, then stamped with Paper Artsy JOFY stamps. Then I used Perfect Pearls Gold spray and finally, stamped with a circular 'happy birthday ' stamp (origin unknown).

Luckily I'd finished this when my son vigorously shook a turquoise Cosmic Shimmer spray whose lid (apparently) was not fully screwed on....

He's fast asleep now and our clothes are soaking in the sink and hopefully the Cosmic Shimmer will come out....

I'd like to enter:
Artful Times- spray
Scrapping 4 Fun  Use a stamp
Shopping our Stash  recycle (cornflakes box)
Vintage Stamping Challenges anything goes

Pirate

Here's a birthday card for another of my nephews, but this one is only five.  I used a Lili of the Valley stamp and paper scraps, which I severely distressed!

I'd like to enter:
Retro Sketches sketch
Make my Monday distress it
Come and Get it  where the boys are
Cute Card Thursday Splish splash

Stocking up on Birthday Cards

A few days ago, I was surprised to discover that my stock of birthday cards was running perilously low, so I am trying to make some now.

The first card here was made using rub ons (the buildings) and a very old All Night Media balloons stamp.  I'd like to enter this into Curtain Call  (Confetti crush) and My Time to Craft (Up, up and away).

The second card was going to be a 'white on white', but I really couldn't get the panel with the sentiment to stand out enough so  decided to add a little pink. (I hope it doesn't look too much like a wedding card!). The panel is a Stampin Up stamp with a matching punch , and I added a sentiment (unknown) and used the same ink to colour the tips of the white flowers. I know the ribbon looks grey in the photo , but it's a pearlescent white. I'd like to enter  Crafty Creations (white plus one other colour) and Seize the Birthday ( white on white or ag - well, I nearly made the optional theme!).

Still Rockin' the Robin

Earlier, I posted a card featuring a robin cut out on the Silhouette.  After I made that card, I was looking at the hole left from the die-cut and decided to try using it as a stencil, using the same brown and red Distress Inks that I'd used earlier. It's a softer look , I think.

The text stamp is by Darkroom Door. The clock is a die-cut, coloured with ink and copper stain.

I'd like to enter:
Christmas Stampin AYL  sketch
Squirrel and the Fox Die cut or punch
Shopping our Stash Use numbers
Winter Wonderland Little Robin Redbreast

Ballooning

I'm lucky enough to have two weeks off work at the mo, but I've realised it's my friend at work's birthday on Saturday, so I need to post her a card tomorrow. No problem, I thought, I'm always making cards. But when I looked, I had 'thank you', 'new baby', 'new home', 'get well soon', 'Christmas'........ very few birthday cards and they just didn't seem right for my friend. I suppose it's because often I make a bday card with a particular person in mind.

So I decided - a) I need to stock up on bday cards , and b) I needed to make one quickly!

In a hurry, I find my Silhouette Cameo , and a couple of challenges, invaluable.

I had already intended to enter the City Crafter challenge 'balloons' , because I can't use enough images of hot air balloons , I love them so much.  I also spotted a useful -looking sketch at Feeling Sketchy.

So, I cut out the balloon, border and scalloped circle using the Silhouette Cameo, Kirsty Wiseman patterns and black cs. I stamped some turquoise cardstock with a Woodware(?) sentiment and then embossed it with a Cuttlebug folder.

As well as City Crafter and Feeling Sketchy, I'd like to enter:
Sentimental Sundays Embossing
Addicted to Stamps  Anything goes