Sunday 1 January 2012

Happy New Year! In Monochrome!

Happy 2012 everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas. My resolution for this year will be to get back to the blogging and blog hopping as often as possible! Thank you to all my lovely blogging friends, who have stuck with me even though I haven't been able to reciprocate. We're still busy getting things sorted in the new house, but I should have a bit more spare time before very much longer. My DH has almost finished the final phase of the shelves in my craft room, and I'm looking forward to being able to get all my stuff organised. Photos will follow in due course!

Anyway, being the first Sunday of the month, it's time for the first Stampalot Challenge of the year. For January, our theme is

Monochromatic

In other words, your entry must use a single colour, though of course variations of that colour from light to dark are fine, as long as they are all of the same colour "tone" (eg. all blue-purple rather than a mixture of blue-purple and pinky purple). I chose Adirondack "Eggplant" dye ink for all the stamping on my card, coloured the ribbon with Promarker "Lilac", and used a dark purple toning paper for the scalloped frame.


All the stamps I've used are by Hero Arts. The dogwood flowers and the butterfly are from a HA Stamp & Die Cut set (Antique Flowers and Butterflies), and I diecut the butterfly to add a bit of dimension. I could have cut out the flowers too, but the card will eventually be posted so I didn't want too much depth. To colour the flowers and butterfly I employed one of my favourite techniques - using a paintbrush and clean water to draw the colour from the stamped image, and just adding a spot more colour picked up from the inkpad where it needed to be a bit darker. The words on the punched circle tag are from an old set called "Conversation Dots", which I keep coming back to every now and then. The corner pieces are also punched. I've distressed various edges with the Adirondack ink.

There will, of course, be the usual fantastic Stampalot Challenge prize up for grabs this month, but for the moment it's a secret!


The lovely Stampalot crew are having a well earned break, but I'm sure they'll reveal the goodies very soon! Anyway, I'm really looking forward to seeing all your monochromatic designs, and if you need any inspiration, just hop over to the Stampalot Challenge Blog and have a look at the DT's gorgeous creations.

I hope 2012 will be a wonderfully crafty year for everyone. I wonder what's going to be the big crafting trend this year.....

10 comments:

brenda said...

Eggplant is a favourite of mine as well Lynn, one of those colours that lends itself to so many uses.

Very effective shading and colouring on your card and I like the elegant simplicity of the sentiment.

Happy New Year.

B x

craftimamma said...

What beautiful shades Lynne and the card is stunning. Love that dogwood image and the little word circle is lovely.

Glad you're getting sorted in your new home and I can't wait to see pics of your craftroom. I can imagine how excited you will be to move in and organise your stuff.

I wish you a Happy New Year Lynne and may it be a healthy and creative one for us all.

Lots of love
Lesley Xx

PinksyDoodles said...

A really gorgeous card Lynne, using one of my favourite stamps (oh, I have so many favourites!!).
I'm looking forward to seeing photos of your new craft room.
Hugs, Clare x

judith@poppy cottage said...

Happy New Year to you Lynne, glad that you are getting sorted out, slowly but surely. You've chosen a favourite shade of mine for your card, I'm a purple person through and through. It's a great technique you've used too. Judith xx

Lisa Jane said...

oh hat a beautiful colour .. and a wonderful card
A very Happy New Year to you and all your family
Lisa x

pinky said...

Beautifully made card Lynne, love the soft feel. I am glad to hear you are settling in well. Looking forward to seeing those photos. Happy New Year.
Pinky

Ruth said...

So pretty in pastels. A beautiful card! Ruth x

Sally H said...

It is gorgeous, Lynne. You know Eggplant is one of my favourites too. Looking forward to seeing your craft room x

Tracy said...

I love your chosen Mono colour, it's so delicate and pretty. Gorgeous creation Lynne.
Happy crafting
Tracy x

Jules said...

Hi Lynne

I hope you had a good Christmas .. .. Happy New Year!!!

I hope that 2012 is a good year for you.

Can't wait to see your finished craft room .. .. and I bet you can't wait for it "to be" finished LOL!!

Loving the card you have posted here. That is such a gorgeous image and I love your sentiment tag.

Love Jules xx