Parks and Gardens

This week's challenge at Allsorts is called "Park Inspiration", and they want our entries to be inspired by gardens or parks. There's a £10 voucher to be won to spend at One Stop Card Crafts! Well, of course, parks and gardens say "nature" to me, and since that's my favourite theme it was no hardship to come up with a card to fit.

Having recently treated myself to the Katzelcraft "Nature & Travel Quotes" set by Isabelle Norris, this was the perfect opportunity to use some of them. The background was stamped with Versamark and clear embossed, to act as a resist, and I coloured over the stamping with various pigment inks. Then the embossing was removed by covering it with kitchen paper and ironing over it with a hot iron.

The sentiment is an Aspects of Design stamp from The Stampman. (Such a pity they had to spell "marvellous" the American way.) It's from a sheet called (IIRC) "Rambling", but I can't find it on their website now. I bought it at a low sale price some time ago, so I'm wondering whether it's now no longer available.

The butterfly, from the gorgeous "Patchwork Butterfly" sheet by Elusive Images, is coloured with Promarkers and has a touch of Diamond Glaze on the flowers and body, although it's hard to see that in the photo.

Out of my comfort zone

This week, the  fabulous Allsorts Challenge Blog is one year old! So their challenge for the week, is, naturally, birthdays. Here's my entry.

It's quite different from my usual style. Generally speaking, I don't do cute, and I don't do fruit! Nor do I do hot colours. I much prefer cool or muted tones - blues, purples, greens, and my work tends to be nature, arty or vintage inspired. However, I thought that for such a celebration something a bit more lively was called for!

The background paper (which includes the flourish & the trims at the bottom) was a freebie from Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine a while ago. The cake and sentiment stamps are from a set by Impression Obsession. It took me about 10 minutes to make, which again is unusual for me! Normally I like to take my time, and often get part way through a card, leave it & come back to it later, to see whether I'm still happy with the direction it's taking, or whether I've changed my mind, before I finish it off. That's because I hardly ever have a plan in mind before I start! I just collect a few things together and see where they lead me.

Anyway, you'll gather that this card was some way outside my comfort zone, and that being the case, I'm also entering it for this week's Tuesday Taggers, whose theme happens to be "Step out of your comfort zone"! Funnily enough, now I've done it, I actually quite like it! And I managed to use up a bit of old stash too!

Spring at last!

Well, today is officially the first day of spring. You wouldn't have known it here - wet, grey & dismal all day. But we have had some really nice days lately, and the spring flowers are beginning to come out in the garden. The snowdrops have been beautiful this year, and now the crocuses are blooming.

The daffodils, however, are only just coming into bud, so when I saw that this week's Allsorts Challenge  (Week 44) was "Spring is in the Air"  I thought I'd make a card with daffodils to brighten things up until the real ones take over. Lots of challenges with spring themes this week, so I'm also entering it in  Rosie D's and By the Cute and Girly. Another easel card! I really like making them - they are easy to construct, look lovely, and stand up so well!

The daffodil stamp is PSX, coloured with Promarkers, and the tiny butterfly is by Crafty Individuals. The background papers and printed sentiment (I added the butterfly) were free with Making Cards Magazine. The sentiment says " May your spirit keep the freedom of a butterfly in spring, and and may your heart be filled always with the joys of simple things" which I thought was rather nice and quite appropriate. The border is my favourite Martha Stewart punch, with ribbon from stash.

Allsorts Challenge Week 35 - Brown and Pink

Really had to think about this one, as brown and pink is not one of my favourite colour combinations. A bit too sickly for my taste. So I opted for scenic rather than soppy, hoping it might tone down the sweetness a bit.

I managed to use up a bit of old stash - the Stampbord, which I bought a few years ago and never did much with. I don't know why, it's brilliant for stamping on. I've got 64 small squares put away somewhere to make a chess board - if I ever get round to it!

Anyway, the background on the Stampbord is done with alcohol inks, and then overstamped with Versamagic. The border is a Martha Stewart punch, and the greeting by Craftwork Cards, mounted on a Nestabilities scallop circle. Stamps by Stampscapes (lake scene, heron, small rushes and birds on brown background), Clarity Stamp (trees on brown background), Art Impressions (flowers bottom left) and Craftwork Cards (rushes top right).

Allsorts Challenge Week 34

The Allsorts challenge for this week is a sketch, by Emma. Since I still had the Hero Arts flourish stamp out on my desk, I thought I'd use it on this card too. This time I stamped it on glossy card with Versamark ink, which then resisted the Distress Inks I sponged over it. The four printed paper panels are old stash (very old! - from Provocraft pre-Cuttlebug!) and the butterfly, which I thought echoed the leaves in the flourish rather well, is Elusive Images from Graphicus. The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with Nestabilities frames. I coloured the punched flowers and leaves with Promarkers.

Well, that's two challenges in two days I've completed! It's unlikely I'll be able to keep going at such a rate, but I mean to do as many as I can.