Just Add Ink Colour Challenge

It’s been quite some time since I made a card (again).
What a year it’s been here!
First, catastrophic bushfires.
Then floods.
And now, well, since it’s worldwide, I don’t need to go into what is going on now.
I hope each and every one of you is coping ok.  And I hope you are crafting as that is one way to give us all a little sanity.

It has been a quite a long time since I really got into some stamping and cardmaking, so I went to one of my favourite challenge sites, Just Add Ink, to find something to use as inspiration.
I am feeling a little rusty, so didn’t get into too much detail, just kept to something fairly simple.
The challenge is a colour challenge, using some gorgeous Stampin’ Up! colours.
JAI 504
And here is my card.
Colour Challenge May 2020 Butterfly Wishes Stampin' Up! Christina Barnes Dot Dot Stamping

I have used the gorgeous Butterfly Wishes stamp set (which might just be one that is continuing on into the new catalogue…), along with some of the Seam Binding Ribbon, and the Stitched Shapes Dies to cut out my circles.

Colour Challenge May 2020 Butterfly Wishes Stampin' Up! Christina Barnes Dot Dot Stamping2
Happy Stamping!
And please look after yourself, stay healthy and positive.
Chris
xx

The Old and the New

A very quick reminder about the current Crafty Boots “Out With the Old and In With the New” Challenge.
I have made a card using a recently retired paper, along with a gorgeous new stamp set called “Sheltering Tree“.

 

Why not make a project for our challenge? We love to see what you come up with 🙂
Happy stamping!
Chris

Wetlands Sympathy Card

It’s never easy having to come up with a quick Sympathy card, so I went looking for inspiration on Pinterest…. lots of inspiration on Pinterest for all sorts of things!
I liked the idea of the watercoloured background and the simplicity of the card, but as usual I have made my own modifications.

I have used a sheet of watercolour paper and the Aqua painter to colour the background over the stamped image from the Wetlands stamp set, which was stamped, along with the greeting, in black Stazon ink.  Pretty simple really, just use lots of water, and keep on adding ink and blending until you are happy.

Happy stamping!
Chris

Pillow Gifts

It’s a Stampin’ Up! tradition to make something special for our room mates if we are sharing with other demonstrators at convention or other events, so today I am quickly going to share with you the gifts I made for the lovely ladies who I was lucky enough to share with this year.
Firstly, I made some fridge magnets using the gorgeous Designer Builder Brads.

I just cut off the split pins at the back of the brads using the fabulous Craft and Rubber Scissors – yes, they are strong enough to cut through the metal, and then glued some magnets onto the back.

I added some of the More Amore papers to the front of a journal, and added some chocolates (a must have at convention!).  I liked the idea of a journal, rather than a note book – they can be used as a smash book, design and ideas book, note book…..

Enough from me for today, I have a lot of catching up to do!
Happy stamping!
Chris

Pretty in Pink

Oh no, Pretty in Pink is soon to be leaving us!  If you didn’t already know, Stampin’ Up! have done a colour renovation and with the new catalogue in July, will come a new set of gorgeous colour combinations.  One of the colours that will be leaving the collection is Pretty in Pink… it is such a pretty, girly pink, I am going to miss it!

I have used this week’s sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as a basis for my card and also used my Sizzlits Pinwheel die which hasn’t seen the light of day until now.  The papers are from the Tea For Two Designer Series Papers pack.  The pinwheel may look a little different to how you are used to see them, but I wanted to use just the pink side of the patterned paper without the pattern on the other side showing so I just reversed it – I think it looks a little more like a windmill than a pinwheel, but never mind 🙂  I also struggled with where to put the sentiment.  I have stamped it onto some vellum for a nice soft look, but it just didn’t quite look right, no matter where I put it. Perhaps I should have left the card sentiment free.
The other challenge that I will enter this card in is SUO Challenges, who are currently running a challenge using anything Sizzix – well, I have plenty of those!

Hope you have a crafty week.  Happy stamping!
Chris

Dynamic Duos # 46

This week’s Dynamic Duos challenge is to use the colour Primrose Petals and combine it with a colour of your choice.  Well, now that just leaves it too open for me, too many possibilities and ideas……
I decided on combining my favourite colours of all, pink and purple….. so I have added Elegant Eggplant to the Primrose Petals.

My card uses two techniques that I haven’t played with for a long time.  Firstly, the Stained Glass technique, combined with the Tissue Paper technique.


To do this, I have embossed the Swallowtail in white embossing powder onto the smooth side of the Crepe Filter Paper (page 6 Seasonal Catalogue) – if you feel the paper really carefully you will notice that one side is slightly smoother and the other side a little more rough. The Stained Glass technique is usually done onto Vellum, which is much stronger than the crepe paper, so I wasn’t sure how this would turn out.
Then on the back, behind the butterfly image, I have coloured using inks and a blender pen, in the two colours, blending them together.
I embossed an extra butterfly to experiment with, and gave this one to my son.  He coloured the back of the butterfly directly with brightly coloured markers, and that worked really well too, so you could do either of these.  However, it does work best if the colouring is on the back of the embossed image.
I have then wrapped the crepe paper over a piece of Shimmer White cardstock, and stuck it behind the cardstock using glue to keep it in place.  If you are using standard tissue paper for this technique, it is nice to scrunch up the paper to give it more texture, and then smooth it out again, but this crepe paper is a little heavier and I thought it would detract from the image, so I left it flat.
While you can’t see it in the photo, the shimmer of the cardstock does show through the crepe paper.
The lace, seam binding ribbon and gorgeous resin rose, are all from the Artisan Embellishment Kit (page 10 Seasonal Catalogue).

As always, heaps of inspiration from the rest of the Design Team at Dynamic Duos, all using different colours for their creations.

Happy Easter everyone, I do hope you are having a crafty Easter, and spending time with loved ones.
Happy stamping!
Chris

Freshly Made Sketches #65

Sharing a card today that I have made for my sister, who owns a farm with lots of apple trees.  And I have used the sketch from this week’s Freshly Made Sketches.

I have used a combination of the Perfectly Preserved and Polar Party Stamp Sets, along with the Be Of Good Cheer patterned papers in some traditional Christmas colours.
Here is the sketch:

FMS Final 65-001

Hope you are finding time to do some Christmas stamping too.
Happy Stamping!
Chris

Dynamic Duos #32

Some nice, pretty girly colours today, so I made a nice, pretty girly card! 🙂
I have used a layout for this card that I found, well, some where on the internet when I was blog hopping… anyway, I thought it would work well with some swirls and flowers and here is the end result….

 

The stamp sets I have used are Field Flowers, Perfectly Penned and Elements of Style, along with some pink Seam Binding Ribbon (Non Stampin’ Up!) and white Baker’s Twine and a button.
This is a very pretty colour combination, and could work well for Christmas if you are busy making Christmas cards.  So feel free to join us this week, and you can check out what the rest of the Design Team have come up with here.
Have a crafty weekend.  Happy Stamping!
Chris

Our Creative Corner Santa Challenge

So, my second card for the week… yes, I did…. this time though, I had a few more supplies.

This week’s challenge at Our Creative Corner, is to make a vintage style card or project which uses a Santa Claus image, along with some red, such as a red button, brad or ribbon.
For my Santa image, I have used a free image from this site  which I printed onto Very Vanilla card stock.  I have then sponged, and done some red zig zag faux stitching around the edge.  Ah, yes, you guessed it, my sewing machine is still packed!

I have used some Be of Good Cheer Patterned Paper in the background, along with some tulle, seam binding ribbon and of course, a gorgeous Vintage Brad and some half backed pearls.
And up in the top corner you will see a little Merry Christmas, this is from the For The Birds stamp set, I have just used my marker to ink up the greeting without the bird.
Check out the rest of Santa inspired projects from the Design Team this week, and please join in the fun, we love seeing your projects.
Happy stamping!
Chris

Dynamic Duos #28

I did find this colour combination a bit of a challenge.
Actually… very much of a challenge!    But that’s the whole idea, isn’t it? 🙂

So, I am not terribly happy with how my card turned out, perhaps you can do better with these colours.  We would love to see what you come up with.


I have used the Papaya Collage stamp set, and one of the Ribbon Slides with the gorgeous Seam Binding Ribbon.

You will most definitely find some inspiration from the very talented Design Team, and do come on over to the Dynamic Duos blog and share your work with us.

Until next time, happy stamping!
Chris