Twofer Card Challenge #31 – Trees

Hello … bonjour!  It’s the 10th of the month … and that means we have a delicious new challenge for you at Twofer!  This month we’re inviting you to enjoy some time in the great outdoors (or maybe indoors!) with …

I chose a solid, stylised tree from Waltzing Mouse Stamps (sadly NLIB) as my common image … it appears solo and draped with stars in the middle of my clean Christmas Card … and on my birthday card, it becomes an autumn copse set along an earthy border, with the leaves just beginning to fall .  Here’s a closer look at each one …

Here, I cut a panel of linen card with an MFT Peek-a-Boo stitched die … and used that as a guide for placing my Christmas tree … done in ombré blues … and made frosty with lots of Spectrum Noir shimmer pen.  The starry garland (WMS) and the sentiment (from Winnie and Walter, also NLIB) were silver heat embossed, I stamped the ground for the tree to grow from (Ellen Hutson) and added falling snow (W&W) after masking the tree.  The panel was foam mounted on a card base that had been inked around the edges … and I finished off with a Nuvo drop in silver glitter at the top of the tree.

Here’s a more seasonal take with the same image …

A one layer cream card with an Ellen Hutson border stamped as the earth.  The trees are just changing from summer to autumn colours (courtesy of some rock and roll/finger-dauber inking) … and are grouped together thanks to a little basic masking.  The tiny leaves (from WMS) have already starting to tumble to the ground … and have been blown right the way along the border by the gentle breeze!  The birthday sentiment is from Hero Arts.

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on trees … we’d love to see what you create 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 brilliant inspiration from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Helen from Helen’s Craft Haven and Lisa from My Paper Tales … welcome ladies!  Do go over and have a visit with Helen and Lisa … you’re certain to enjoy all the  wonderful design inspiration on display at both their blogs … and you can always say while you’re there too!

My solo Christmas tree is heading to …

Bastel-Traum – CAS (Clean and Simple)

CAS Christmas – Christmas Tree

Die Cut Divas – All Kinds of Holidays (Christmas)

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Use Your Favourite Stamp (my WMS stylised tree)

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

… and my autumn copse is joining in at …

CASology – September (seasonal changes)

Color Throwdown – Red, Yellow, Cream, Brown

Just Us Girls – Leaves

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Use Your Favourite Stamp (my WMS stylised tree)

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

         

           

    

Twofer Card Challenge #30 – Sun/Moon

Hello … bonjour!  We have a squeaky clean new challenge for you at Twofer that’s just started … this month we’re asking you to be creative with …

I chose to use a happy, fun, sun image on my cards … one from Simon Says Stamp …

My first card features a central, big bold sentiment where the sun takes the place of the dot above the i … a simple way to say a happy hello.  On the birthday card, my design takes up diagonally opposite corners, with the sun shining down onto an oversized corner rainbow.  How about a look at each one individually …

I created the shimmery sunshine goodness in the background by ombré sponging Distress Inks directly onto the card base … and spraying it liberally with shimmer spritz.  The front white panel was cut with a Winnie & Walter (sadly NLIB) bold sentiment … and I stamped the sun (and his chatty looking face) over the dot on the i.  The panel was popped up on craft foam onto the base, the centre of the sun was popped up again over that … and the supplementary sunshine sentiment (from Avery Elle) was slotted snuggly into the word aperture.  I finished off with a coat of Glossy Accents on the centre of the sun.

I don’t have a rainbow die, so cut this one using a curved Simon Says Stamp die and lots of coloured card scraps … added them to a breezy embossed background panel (thanks, Judith!) … and adhered the panel flat to the card base.  The white embossed sentiment is from MFT.  I ombré stamped and trimmed out the sunshine … and popped him up in the swirly sky.  He found himself dazzled by all the colours in the rainbow, so needed his shiny (Glossy Accented) shades … they suit don’t they!

How about joining us with a favourite sun/moon image of your own?  Just use the same stamps, dies and/or stencils for your two distinctly different designs, for two different occasions … we’d love to see you (and them) in our gallery!  Details about how to play, including the rules and FAQs, are over at the Twofer blog … along with heaps of celestial inspiration from the DT!  We’re delighted to have two super talented Guest Designers joining us this month … Mac from The Sweetest of Peas … and Linda from Scrappin, Stampin & Singin … welcome ladies!  Do go over and have a visit with both these super talented crafters … you’ll be so inspired … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My sunny hi is joining in at …

Inkspirational – Face

Just Us Girls – Die Cut A Window (mine’s shaped like a hi!)

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Use Your Favourite Tool (Misti/Cuttlebug)

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes With A Feminine Twist

… and my sunny rainbow scene is heading to …

Bastel-traum – Anything Goes

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes (No Tic Tac Toe Topping)

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Happy Birthday (Congratulations to the team on their 10th!)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Use Your Favourite Tool (Misti/Cuttlebug)

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

           

     

           

Twofer Card Challenge #28 Reminder – Circles/Bubbles

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 …       

Here, I made use of Papertrey‘s Dot Spot stamp set (one of my first card making acquisitions … and still a favourite) … and chose the largest circle as my common image.  On the hello card, it became a warm, golden sun, set into a central circle frame, with the sentiment flowing along the bottom edge.  On the happy birthday card, it was joined by the other circles in the set in a geometric pattern cascading from top left to bottom right, with the sentiment set into the delicious white space that was left.  Here’s a closer look at each one …   I used three CP inks to create the ombré sun on the base card … and added a little sparkle with a coordinating gem in the middle.  The frame was cut with Hero Arts Infinity Dies (rectangle and circle) … and the sentiment (PTI … a gift from the lovely Bev … thanks my friend!) was stamped across both the frame and the base card to emphasise the scripty flow of the font.  I popped the frame up on craft foam over the sunny stamping … et voilà … done!

There’s a slightly crisper, cooler feel to my second card …

… though the colour palette is still a soft, feminine one.  I tested the inks and the pattern out on typing paper before stamping directly onto this one layer card.  The top right space was the perfect spot for a high impact, large sentiment (Simon Says Stamp) … which was overlapped slightly onto the circle stamping.  I added shimmer to the centre of each circle … and topped it with Glossy Accents … to create a lovely subtle sparkle (that you can just about see if you enlarge the photo).

I wondered if this design could also be made rather masculine … so did a little experimenting and came up with this …

A couple of colour changes … and some metallic silver Nuvo Drops … looks more rugged to me … what d’you think?

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 Circles/Bubbles.  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, Jenny from My Paper Epiphany and Linda from Lin’s Craft Corner.  Hope to see you in our gallery!

My sunshine-y hello is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Yellow Paint Photo (below)

Just Us Girls – Frame It

NBUS – Anything Goes … the hello sentiment is new to me

Uniko – Anything Goes … with the Bright and Happy option

… the birthday greetings are going to …

Day of the Month Card Club – Repeat Day

Papercraft Challenges – Geometric

… and the thinking of you card is joining in at …

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Something Metallic

My twofer is also playing with …

Vesela Hiška (Happy House) – Dvojni Izziv (A Double Challenge) … where the Design Team is running a Twofer style challenge this month … ‘two different designs, two different occasions, using the same stamp, die or stencil’.  Do feel free to link up your twofer there too!

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

          

          

         

Some Spring Flowers

Hello … bonjour!  First today, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who left such lovely comments following my final Time Out Design Team cards/post … they were soooo appreciated … you warmed my heart and had me smiling all over my face … merci mille fois 🙂 .  In answer to a question that came up a few times … yes, I’ll definitely still be making cards … and will still be around in blogland … just not at Time Out (except as a player that is!).  So, onto a couple of cards (which is why you’re here!) … they both feature sunny spring flowers … and will be going into the galleries of various fun challenges that are going on at the moment.  Here’s the first …

… a simple stamp-layered, colourful, one layer card using an older image from Concord & 9th (Flourish) … and a sentiment from Simon.  This clean, whimsical, bright card is heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks – All Occasions … where the lovely Bobby is GD this month

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … no Food/Drink option

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Flower Power

The Card Concept – Hello Spring Inspiration (below) … style is CAS/One Layer

     

            

My second card is more layered … though it is still clean …

All the images and the sentiment here are from Papertrey (One Big Happy and Birthday Cheer).  The Happy Birthday was heat embossed in platinum onto a panel of white card … and popped up onto the base.  The stamped and die cut flowers and leaves were then arranged above and below the edges of the panel, some flat to the base, others popped up on different layers of foam tape.  This card is going to be playing along at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Ink To Paper Project Reach Out – Flower Cards

Just Us Girls – Photo Inspiration (below)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Flower Power

 

           

I hope and pray that you’re all continuing to stay safe and well out there … keep crafting and keep smiling!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!   Anita 🙂

A New Challenge At Time Out – #153 – A Wardrobe Item!

Hello … bonjour!  Our new challenge has just started at Time Out … and this fortnight we have a really fun theme for you to play with.  We’d like you to draw inspiration from an item in your wardrobe, past or present … with optional twist of adding embossing (heat or dry) or texture.  I chose to twist … here’s what happened …

        

The main sentiment is from Poppy Stamps … stacked three times and ombré sponged to mimic the fading out stencilled stripes (MFT).  The supplementary sentiment from WPlus9 was white heat embossed onto a strip that had been sponged to match the stripes.  The florals and leaves are from the same WP9 set … double stamped in various shades of yellows and greens to give them some depth … and adhered onto the card using different heights of foam tape.  I finished off by scattering on some blue pearls and adding Glossy Accents to the flower centres.  A sleeveless summer dress from when I was very young provided the inspiration … it had a white bodice strewn with yellow flowers and a navy and white striped skirt … joined with a navy band at the waist … so pretty.  No actual dress any more … nor a photograph to show you … though I’m sure you get the picture!

        

How will you interpret our theme … can you find or remember something in your wardrobe to inspire you … and will you use our optional embossing/texture twist?  We’d love to see what you create in our gallery.  This time around, we’re sponsored by Poppy Stamps who are offering a US$20 GC to a randomly drawn player who uses the optional twist.  As usual, our overall winner will be chosen by the DT … and will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  Details are over at Time Out … along with inspiration galore from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Lise at Lise Mariann.  Why not pop over for a visit with Lise … you can enjoy a wander through all the loveliness on offer at her blog … and say hello while you’re there!

I’m playing along with …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Just Us Girls – Create Dimension

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Use A Stencil

The Cat’s Pyjamas – Spring Forward

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

           

     

A New Challenge At Time Out – #152 – Home Sweet Home Inspiration

Hello …. bonjour … et Bonne Année … Happy New Year!  Hope your Christmas was filled with joy and that your new year will be blessed with all good things!  Welcome to our new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight, we have a love themed Home Sweet Home image to inspire you (it’s a little further down) that’s fresh and fun.  Here’s where I went with it …

… and here’s that sweet inspiration picture …

As you can see, my attention was taken by the heart covered twigs on the mantlepiece … mine are from The Greetery (branch) and Winnie & Walter (hearts).  Some simple stamping of the branch in brown and the sentiment in black (also The Greetery) … with the addition of the die cut red hearts, topped with shimmer and shine (more visible below) … and voila … nice and CAS!

        

What draws your eye in our Home Sweet Home photo … the crisp white with pops of red, the texture of the frame and fireplace, the banner … or something else?  Wherever your creative imagination takes you, we’d love to see your card in our gallery!  This fortnight, we’re sponsored by Funky Fossil Designs (thanks, Sarah!), who are offering our winner (as voted for by the DT) a £15 GC to the store … and as usual, our winner will also be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with plenty of fabulous ideas from the DT to inspire you!

I’m playing along at …

Color Throwdown – Red, Brown, White

Just Us Girls – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp – Something New … my The Greetery stamps

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

        

           

A New Challenge At Time Out – #151 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour … and welcome to our last Time Out challenge of 2019.  This fortnight, we’re being Inspired By Words … with this quote from the wonderful CS Lewis … you are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.  Here’s where I went with it …

That amazing, dreamy medallion came about as a result of a play session led by Darnell at the Lake House.  I saved it for just the right moment (the birthday of a sweet, non blogging friend) … and still have the other half waiting for it’s share of the limelight.  The panel was made using a stencil (sorry, don’t know the maker or name – ETA:  thanks, Stephanie … it’s from Simon, here) and texture paste mixed with shimmery Lindy’s Magicals (my first time using both).  I trimmed round the curvy edges of the panel and popped it up on craft foam onto a pearlescent blue card base.  The sentiment (Clearly Besotted) was white heat embossed and I added a scattering of tiny pearls to finish.  Here’s a better picture of the variegated colour and all that pearly shine …

        

Where will CS Lewis’s inspiring words take your creativity?  You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love it if you played along with us.  We’re sponsored this time around by STAMPlorations (thanks, Shery!) who are offering our winner, as voted for by the DT, a $20 GC.  As usual, our winner will also be invited to Guest Design with us in a future challenge.  The details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT, which I know you won’t want to miss!  In addition, we’re delighted to be joined by our talented Guest Designer … Helen, from Moments of Crafting.  There’s so much to enjoy over at Helen’s blog … do go over for a meander through all the loveliness … and you can always say hello!

My card will be going into the galleries at …

Just Us Girls – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Party Time (I think a birthday counts!)

Watercooler Wednesday – Marsha’s Anything Goes

Thanks so much for taking the time to come by … especially during this period of Christmas preparation as we wait to celebrate the arrival of The Greatest Gift Of All … your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

                 

A New Challenge At Time Out – #150 – We Challenge You To Be … Merry And Cheerful!

Hello … bonjour!  Our festive new challenge has just started at Time Out … and this fortnight We Challenge You To Be … Merry And Cheerful!  Here’s my CAS take on it …

This graphic, shimmery tree is courtesty of Uniko (Rustic Christmas).  I stamped it directly onto the card base, heat embossed it ombré style using three blue hued embossing powders, then added a layer of holographic EP for sparkle.  The frame was cut with a die from Simply Graphic, heat embossed in the same blues as the tree and adhered to the base.  I finished off with a star atop the tree and a simple sentiment, also from Uniko (Background Builders:  Christmas).  How about a glance at all that shimmer … 

        

How will you interpret ‘merry and bright’?  We’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  This time round, we’re sponsored by Uniko (thanks, Bev!) … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will receive an in stock stamp set of their choice … and will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  Details are over at Time Out … where you’ll find heaps of inspiring ideas from our fabulous DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Angie from Cimbacreativefun.  Why not pop over for a visit with Angie … you’ll find a wealth of wonderful inspiration … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My shimmery, CAS Christmas tree is heading to …

Fusion – Christmas (below) … inspired by the trees (though I’d happily have that Citroen 2CV!)

Just Us Girls – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Let’s Sparkle

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Traditional Christmas (Christmas trees are traditional!)

Uniko – Christmas … with the tree option

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

                 

        

A New Challenge At Time Out – #113 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour!  We’re starting a fresh new challenge at Time Out today … this fortnight we’re Inspired By Words … smile, it’s the key that fits the lock of everybody’s heart … here’s where my imagination took me …Some Mama Elephant letters (from my unused items box, which is miniscule!), sponged with Distress Inks, stacked up and adhered to the card panel to form the ‘smile’ part of our quote.  The little balloon bearing chick is from Stampendous and was coloured with alcohol markers … and the supplementary sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.  I added Wink of Stella to the balloon and to the letters and coated them all with Glossy Accents.    Voilà … a cute CAS card that I hope will have you smiling!

Where will our words take your creative imagination?  You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love if it you joined us in the gallery.  We’re sponsored by Stencils by Funky Fossils Designs (thanks, Sarah … here on instagram!) … our overall winner (as voted for by the DT) will have their choice of three stencils from the store … and will also be invited to design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with a heaps of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT … as well as from our talented Guest Designer, Amanda from Diamond Lane Designs.   Do go and visit Amanda … you’ll have a lovely time wandering through all the yummy cards over there!

I’m playing along at …

Addicted to Stamps and More – CAS

Happy Little Stampers CAS – Animals

Just Us Girls – Anything Goes

Less is More – Bits Box Item

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

         

         

A Trio Of Cards!

Hello … bonjour!  Surprise … a non DT post … my first since January!  Each week I believe there’ll be a little spare time to just play with paper, ink and challenges … then it gets to Sunday night and there’s not.  Pretty much where we’ve all been at one time or another, I guess!  Today, though, at last, I have a trio of cards to share, inspired by a plenty of different challenges.  Here’s the first …

         

My primary inspiration here came from my lovely friend Chriss‘s card for Muse Christmas Visions, 100th challenge party (many congratulations, ladies!) …I picked up on the colours, the gold and the layout … and stamped my festive spray using images from Concord & 9th‘s Flourish.  This isn’t an outline stamp, so I did some of the layering in gold, to mimic Chriss’s embossing.  For the main flower, I also used a water brush to blend the gold and white to create cream … and added some white gel pen highlights to the berries.  The sentiment is from WPlus9 (inspired by SSS Monday).

I’m playing along at (badges at the bottom) …

Muse Christmas Visions – As above

Addicted to Stamps and More – Holiday

SSS Monday – Inspired by a Song … Joy To The World

SSS Wednesday – Use More Than One Stamp … Two sets, lots of stamps

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Christmas

The next card is a bright, sunny little number …

This lovely MFT sunflower was gifted to me by my sweet friend Bev (thanks, Bev!) … it puts me in mind of the  fields of them that will be in bloom around us by the summer.  I did some ink layering (with MISTI) to get the graduated colour on the petals and leaves, die cut everything and adhered the flower and leaves onto my linen card base.  The Papertrey sentiment (thanks, Judith!) was stacked three times and adhered over the sunflower … and I scattered some Lucy’s Little Gems around it.

This bright bloom is heading to (badges below)…

Just Us Girls – Inspiration Picture (below)

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

SSS Monday – Inspired by a Song … Sunflower by Glen Campbell

SSS Work it Wednesday – Sunshine and Summer Time

The Cat’s Pajama’s – Die Cutting

This last card may just have a familiar feel about it …

Yep, the same main image as the first card … though doesn’t it look different here in these summery shades (or at least it does to my eyes!).   My colour palette came from a home decor piece I saw on Pinterest … I wanted something rather bold … and a bit different from my usual choices.  The Concord & 9th Flourish images are simply stamp layered direct onto the card base … and I added a sentiment from Beautiful Branches, also from Concord & 9th.  Voilà … it didn’t seem to need anything else!

I’m joining in with (badges below) …

Where Creativity Meets C9 – Floral

Less Is More – One Layer Card – Thinking of You

SSS Monday – Inspired by a Song … Wildflowers by Tom Petty

SSS Wednesday – Use More Than One Stamp … Two sets here

Hope your weekend has been a wonderful one … have a happy week!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita:)