Hello … bonjour … and Joyeux Noel … Merry Christmas! My card making and blogland hiatus is going on a little longer than I anticipated and this year, it’s not been possible for me to make and send cards out as I have done in previous years. That makes it all the more important for me to be here to send you a QACAS (and not especially well photographed!) virtual card with my in-real-life warmest wishes to you all for a blessed, joyful and peaceful Christmas. I have so appreciated receiving a host of cards and emails from lovely friends out there … they have each had me smiling all over my face and heart. Thank you so much … you know who you are!
I hope you and your families and/or friends are enjoying the simple pleasure of each other’s company, sharing this special time of year together and preparing for the fun and adventure that’s to come in 2022.
I’m still not certain when I’ll be back with you … though I am sure that I miss being here in this lovely, creative, supportive world. For now, I’m content to just look forward to that time, whenever it comes.
Merry Christmas to you all … and a happy, healthy and crafty new year!
Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy, even when I’m not around to respond to them! Hugs, Anita
Hello … bonjour! You might have noticed in recent times that I’ve designed, made and posted fewer and fewer cards … and have been around in blogland to visit, comment and respond less and less. This is because life outside our creative world has become fuller … and that means the time I have available for playing cards with you all (in every sense) has diminished significantly.
It’s taken some gentle thinking and quiet reflection for me to realise that regardless of how much I want to, keeping every plate spinning isn’t possible at the moment, and that the time has come for me to take a break (a temporary pause if you will) from card making and blogland. So, this will be my last post for a while … but I will be back!
I’ll wave you off with a card I made some time ago using some of my favourite things … lots of white space, a single layer, florals, watercolouring, blue hues … and hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I enjoyed making it.
As my pause starts in just a few more words, I’d like to say thanks so much in advance for your comments … as always, I will be reading, enjoying and appreciating every word. I look forward to seeing you all again before too long … and in the meantime, wish you a healthy, joy-filled, creative and very happy summer (or winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere!). Hugs, Anita 🙂
Hello … bonjour! Welcome to our fun new challenge at Twofer, where we’re inviting you to brighten your already bright day with our prompt for June …
I chose to make both my cards conventional this month … one for a birthday, the other to give someone a smile (encouragement/friendship). My common image is a fun sun from Simon Says Stamp’s Happy & Smile stamp set. Here’s a closer look at each one …
This used to be one of my favourite designs … a strip of colour along the lower third line of my card, with an image and sentiment over it … though it’s been a while since I used it. The fresh stripes of sponged blue put me in mind of a summer sky or ocean … and with the sun (in his cool, shiny shades) taking the place of the ‘a’ in the stacked, die cut ‘hooray’ (from Neat and Tangled), I’m thinking beach party! That’s a birthday beach party by the way … thanks to the white heat embossed secondary sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. Want to see how shiny those cool shades really are …
My second card has me smiling every time I look at it …
The window design lent itself to an unconventionally sized slimline card … it’s 21 x 7.5 cm (roughly 8 x 3 inches) … half an A4 sheet folded across the long edge. I cut the windows individually using a die from Concord & 9th, marked the card base where the openings were and stamped the happy sun gradually rising through the morning. Each sun was masked so that the sky behind them could be sponged with distress inks … and when that was done, I added a good dose of sparkle to them (see below for a little more detail). The Avery Elle sentiment was stamped onto the window panel before I popped it up on craft foam onto the card base.
How about lighting up our gallery with some sunshine of your own … we’d love to see you and your two distinctly different designs there! Details of how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with loads of delicious inspiration from the DT. We’re delighted to have two wonderful Guest Designers joining us this month … Veana and Daphne … welcome ladies! Do go and enjoy a visit with these talented artists … and let yourself be inspired. You can always say hello while you’re there too!
Hello … bonjour! Welcome to our yummy new Twofer challenge for May, where we’re inviting you to dig out your scrumptious stamps, dies and/or stencils and join us to enjoy some …
That yummy looking cake stamp (the common image on both cards) is from Reverse Confetti … it appears just as intended (along with one of it’s accompanying alligators) on my birthday card … and on the hello card, it’s been dressed up with the help of a little masking and subsequent doodling! How about a closer look at each one …
The central design here ensures the cake is the star of the show. It was masked and stamped onto some mixed media card stock, I doodled those extra layers of chocolate ganache and the cherry on the top … and coloured it with alcohol markers. There are lavish coatings of shimmer and shine on the ganache and cherry too … tricky to capture … and more visible on the first photo. The two word sentiment is shared between Simon Says Stamp and Winnie & Walter (sadly NLIB). The panel was mounted onto a couple of layers of vellum, popped up on craft foam and adhered to a mixed media card base that had been embossed with a Spellbinders die. You’ll notice that the vellum went a smidgy bit wobbly round the edges after it was dry … must be all that luscious ganache that did it … couldn’t have been anything to do with the wet adhesive I used!
My second card is clean, fun and whimsical …
Another simple design, with the heat embossed images and sentiment laid out along the bottom half of a watercolour card base. Everything was coloured with Zigs and a water brush … and I gave the alligator a dry embossed pathway to walk on … firstly to ground him … and secondly so he could advance on that birthday cake easily!
How about choosing a cake/cupcake image from your stash … to make two distinctly different designs … for two different occasions … we’d love to see you (and your cards) in our gallery! All the details, rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of delicious inspiration from the DT as well as from our super talented Guest Designer, Janet from Swanlady Impressions. Do go and have a gentle meander around Janet’s blog … there’s so much loveliness to enjoy and be inspired by … and you can always say hello while you’re there!
My piled high cupcake is going over to …
AAA Cards – Up To One Third … no Mystical Beasts option
Hello … bonjour! I’m popping by with some more inspiration to tempt you to play along with us at Twofer this month … there’s a whole week left for you to join in with …
Once again, as with my first set of Twofer cards last week, my common images here are those delicate Eucalyptus die cuts from Simply Graphic … one for a birthday, one as a spirit lifter. Let’s have a closer look at each one …
This is a deliciously clean design, with the leaves cut in gold and pink, growing right next to the crisp white Concord & 9th stacked die cut. The supplementary sentiment is from Simply Graphic … it’s embossed in white and translates to ‘it’s your day’. The frame was embossed with a Reverse Confetti square die … I don’t have a rectangular one, so did a little extending (similar to partial die cutting).
My second card, while still clean, is a little more layered …
This design began with a sponged panel of Bristol card … in every green Distress Ink hue in my possession. I die cut seven of the open eucalyptus leaves from the different colours and layered them up round a Concord & 9th stitched circle die cut (to guide the shape) … and adhered the circle to the card base. The sentiment was stamped in navy inside the spring wreath (it’s from The Greetery) … and I finished with some tiny blue gems to mimic berries.
So … have you played along with us at Twofer this month? If you haven’t, why not give it a go … and if you have, do feel free to play again. We’d love to see your two distinctly different takes on Leaves. All the details, rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … along with inspiration galore, both from the wonderful DT and from our talented Guest Designers, Alison from Cranberry and Eggplant and Natalie from natshobbycorner at Instagram. Look forward to seeing you in our gallery!
Hello … bonjour! It’s the 10th of the month … welcome to our new Twofer challenge for April! In this part of the world, spring has sprung and green shoots are appearing all over the place … which means that inspiration is everywhere for our prompt this month … we’re inviting you to play with …
My common images here are Eucalyptus die cuts from Simply Graphic … how about a more detailed look at each card?
My design here features a background of leaves cut from various previously created inky backgrounds, made using borrowed Brusho’s and Lindy’s Magicals (so there’s a little sparkle), adhered flat to the card base. A popped up centre frame draws the eye to the equally popped up Altenew hello and the WPlus9 secondary embossed words.
My second card is decidedly CAS …
I die cut the eucalyptus leaves from a few different card stocks and tied them together with a little natural twine. The die cut border is from SSS and was stacked three times to give it dimension, before being adhered to the card base. I hung the leafy cluster on the border and finished with a simply stamped sentiment from Mama Elephant.
How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on leaves … bet you have a few stamps, dies and/or stencils in your stash that are calling out to be played with … and we’d be delighted to see you (and your designs) in our gallery! All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … along with inspiration galore from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Alison from Cranberry and Eggplant and Natalie from natshobbycorner at Instagram … welcome ladies! Do go over and have a visit with Alison and Natalie … you’re sure to be inspired … and you can always say hello while you’re there!
Hello … bonjour … I’m delighted to see you! As it’s the tenth of the month, our fun new challenge has just started at Twofer … and it’s just a little different than usual. This time around, instead of giving you a prompt, we’re inviting you to choose one of your own …
I went with one of my favourite themes … ‘Blossoms’ …
… and created a bold, vibrant friendship card … and a soft, subtle hugs card, using Altenew’s Rosie Posy stamp as my common image. Here’s a closer look at each one.
The striped background is from Uniko … it was stamped over a circular mask to leave space for the central cluster of Rennie Mackintosh style blossoms. The blooms were watercoloured with Zigs and a waterbrush … and I added some detailing with a white gel pen. The Mama Elephant sentiment was stamped onto a die cut banner, which was popped up on foam dots under the focal image. Eyecatching in a CAS way!
In contrast, my second card has a dreamy, spring-like feel to it …
It’s still clean … it’s one layer … and unusually for me, it features a light grey card base. That lovely Rosie Posy blossom cluster was stamped and white heat embossed multiple times in a diagonal swoosh across the card. I sponged white pigment ink over the flowers (allowing it to go over the edges to create a halo effect) … and once it was dry, added a couple of different yellows in the centres. The sentiment was also white heat embossed … it’s from Papertrey. Soft Pantone colours anyone?
How about choosing your own prompt … to make two distinctly different designs … for two different occasions … using the same stamps, dies and/or stencils? We’d love to see you (and your cards) in our gallery! All the details, rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of delicious inspiration from the DT (who have each chosen a different prompt). We’re delighted to have two fabulous Guest Designers joining us … Nancy from Scandinancy Creates … and Klara from My Favourite Day … welcome ladies! If you haven’t met these talented artists yet, do go and enjoy a wander through their blogs … you’ll be so inspired! Even if you are familiar with their work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!
My bold blossom is heading to …
Altenew – Emily’s Inspiration (see badge for those delicious colours below)
Hello … bonjour … and welcome back! Thanks so much for all your lovely comments and notes following my last post (eek … a month ago!), especially as I’ve hardly been around in blogland to make visits or leave comments as I usually would. I appreciate each of you … and am looking forward to being about a little more often from now on. Today, I’m here to tell you about our new challenge at Twofer … it’s such a happy one as our prompt is …
It always puts me in mind of a quote from Winnie The Pooh (well, A A Milne) … nobody can be uncheered with a balloon … how true … just try it!
I chose to make one conventional (birthday) card and one unconventional (Christmas) card this month … using a balloon stamp from Simon Says Stamp’s Big Birthday Wishes set. Here’s a closer look at them individually …
The balloons here are being held onto by a cool penguin from Ellen Hutson … and he’s balancing precariously on the birthday sentiment, which is made up of two different SSS sets. The penguin was lightly coloured with pencils … though his bright balloons, all shined up with glossy accents, are the star of this show. I added an embossed frame with a die from The Greetery … and kept it all deliciously CAS.
The balloons were turned upside down for my unconventional design …
… and became baubles hanging from a star strewn pine garland. The pine sprig is from Stampendous and was stamped multiple times in three different greens to give depth to the garland. The balloon baubles were stamped in red, I added the lettering using a Lawn Fawn alphabet set and topped it all off with a good dose of Glossy Accents to add shine. The supplementary sentiment is from WPlus9. I finished off with a scattering of gold stars … funny how they landed in just the right places to adorn the hanging strings isn’t it?
How about joining us with some stamped, die cut or stencilled balloons of your own … we’d love to see you (and them) in our gallery! All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with plenty of fabulous inspiration from the DT. We’re delighted to have Greta from GG Creations sharing her talents with us as our Guest Designer this month … welcome, Greta! Do go and enjoy an inspiring wander around Greta’s blog … there’s so much loveliness on display … and you can always say hello while you’re there.
Hello … bonjour … and Happy New Year … Bonne Année! May this year be blessed with good health, joy, hope and creativity for us all. Welcome back, too, after my six week blogland break … it’s great to be here again! Over at Twofer ,we’re leaping into our fourth year of challenges … with plenty of delicious prompts to inspire you … and some changes to the Design Team. We’re saying a very fond farewell to the lovely and super talented Kara and Cat … and saying a warm and happy hello to our new team members, Sonja and Bonnie … welcome, ladies! If you’ve played along at Twofer before, you’ll know how much fun it is to create two distinctly different designs for two different occasions using the same stamps, dies or stencils … and if you haven’t yet joined us … why not give it a go? This month we have one of my favourite card making themes to tempt you … and I’m pretty sure you’ll be itching to dig out your supplies when you see the prompt. It’s …
I created a bold, dramatic ‘just because’ card … and a bright, spring-like ‘beautiful day’ card … using this gorgeous Summer Sketches bloom from The Greetery. Here’s a closer look at each one …
This is one of my go-to clean and simple designs … the image is centred on the card and the sentiment (from Catherine Pooler) is stamped just below it. I added subtle detail by embossing a frame with a die from Spellbinders and doing a little splattering. There’s also a touch of shimmer and shine on the flowers and stamens, which you can see better here …
I stayed with the conventional use of the flower for my second card …
This is another CAS design … albeit a little fuller than the first. Here, the outline flowers were gold embossed in diagonally opposite corners of the card to form a frame around the WPlus9 sentiment (also gold embossed), before being over stamped with the solid images. I added some Nuvo drops to match and added interest by double scoring the two empty corners.
How about joining us with some flowers of your own … we’d love to see you (and them) in our gallery! All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of splendid inspiration from the DT. We’re delighted to have two fabulous Guest Designers joining us this month … Viv from Viv’s Visuals … and Brenda from Inkspired To Stamp … welcome ladies! If you haven’t met these talented artists yet, do go and enjoy a wander through their blogs … you’ll find inspiration galore! Even if you are familiar with their work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!
My single floral sprig is heading to …
CAS Mix Up – Splatters (plus dry embossing and stamping)
Color Hues – Red and Grey (happy to be playing along at last!)
Hello … bonjour! We’ve just started our last challenge of the year at Twofer … and we have a fun twist that you can use, if you’d like to (see below). In addition, for this month only, in the spirit of joy and giving, our beloved leader, the lovely Darnell, is offering prizes! Check out the Twofer blog for more details. This time round, we inviting you to get twinkling with …
Now … what’s the twist? Usually at Twofer, your two different designs need to be for two different occasions. However, because so many of us are working hard to get our Christmas cards made, for this month only, you have the option of foregoing the two different occasions element of our challenge. So, you may enter two Christmas cards, just as long as your two designs are distinctly different … or you can carry on as usual with two different occasions … it’s up to you!
I chose not to twist and used a Simon Says Stamp die as my common element … there are three sizes of stars that act as flower heads on the twiggy sprigs on my birthday card … and two of the same sizes that appear around the manger on my Christmas card. Here’s a closer look at each one …
I used a Simon border die (retired) across the bottom third of a card panel to ground the stamped twigs (from Concord & 9th). The stars were cut from pearlised card for a little subtle shine (it’s more noticeable on the first photo) … and were adhered flat over the sprigs. I attached the panel to the card base and added a white-embossed-on-black stamped sentiment, plus a die cut and stacked black-over-white word from Simon to finish. Clean and layered I think.
My next card is almost one layer, clean and simple …
On this centred design, the larger star shines it’s light onto the love-filled manger while the smaller ones adorn the garland under the sentiment. The stamped images are all from Taylored Expressions except for the wreath, which is from Newton’s Nook. I did a little pencil colouring on the wreath, added sparkle and shine to the heart and doodled the dots of light with a stylus and gold ink pad. There’s much more shimmer than there appears to be on this photo … look …
How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on stars … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery! All the details about how to play, including rules/FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of fantastic inspiration from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Pia from Pia’s Paper and Pearls and Liz from Crafty Sunflower … welcome ladies! Do go over and have a visit with Pia and Liz … you’re sure to enjoy all the wonderful design inspiration on display at both their blogs … and you can always say hello while you’re there too!
My twiggy, starry flowered sprigs are heading to …
My Papercraft World 