Twofer Card Challenge #39 – Sunshine

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!

My birthday card is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Less is More – Favourite Technique … I love to use stacked die cuts

NBUS – Anything Goes … first trip out for that fabulous scripty hooray

… and those sun filled windows are joining in at …

Papercraft Challenges – Anything Goes

Retro Rubber – Summer Breeze … the sun image is at least four years old

Uniko – Anything Goes … with the die cuts option

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

Twofer Card Challenge #38 – Cake/Cupcake

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

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

MFT Color Challenge – Poppin’ Pink, Carribean Sea, Jalapeno Popper, Vintage Timber

NBUS – Anything Goes … a little win from Reverse Confetti!

Papercraft Challenges – Fruits, Food and Vegetables

… and that cake craving crocodile (or alligator if you prefer, though the alliteration isn’t as good!) will be celebrating at …

AAA Birthday – Happy Birthday … congratulations on your 2nd!

Addicted to Stamps and More – Any Occasion

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes

Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash – Birthday … congratulations on your 8th!

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … no Furry Friends topping

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

Twofer Card Challenge #35 – Balloons

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.

My balloon toting penguin is heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Birthdays

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

Papercraft Challenges – Heat or Dry Embossing

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … No Hearts Option

… and my balloon baubles are joining in at …

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes … No Berries Option

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 🙂

          

          

         

A New Challenge At Time Out – #159 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour!  Our wonderful new challenge has just started over at Time Out … for the next fortnight, we’d like you to be Inspired By Words … if you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.  Those who are regular visitors here will know of my love of flowers … and will understand what I was drawn to in Cicero’s words … a garden …

     

On the base card, I used a mask and blended a circle of soft Distress Ink colours, reminiscent of a warm gentle sunrise.  The die cuts are all from Simply Graphic (a gift from Judith, thanks, my friend!) … the flowery edged circle was cut into a panel that matches the card base … and the leafy additions were arranged along the right side of it.  Everything was adhered flat to the base … with the leaves left free at the top to wave gently in the breeze!  The sentiment (a little hello) is also from Simply Graphic.

Most of the time, I only share one card for Time Out … but today is a little different, as this will be my last post as a member of the Design Team.  After close to six years of being part of this warm, encouraging and artistic team, stepping down wasn’t an easy decision to make … and I will miss being closely involved with such a fabulous challenge and such a talented group of card makers.  I would like to say an enormous thank you to my lovely friend … our wonderful and inspirational leader, Sandie, for her confidence and faith in me as a new designer … and to all my teamies, past and present, for sharing freely their support, kindness and talent over the years.  Thanks to all of you too, friends and players … it’s been a delight to see so many fantastic cards in our gallery week after week.  My final Time Out DT card is a bit of fun … and I hope it might bring you a smile.  Here, there’s a little guy happily living in the ‘garden’ …

The greenery is from Concord & 9th, cut from Distress Ink smooshed card stock, which is growing right alongside the stamped gravel path (Annabelle Stamps – NLIB).  The friendly escargot came ready stamped from Michele (merci, my friend) … and is popping out from the greenery to wish the recipient a happy birthday (in French as he’s multi-lingual … he also speaks English … and Snail, of course).  As it’s spring, he’s developed a lovely shimmer … and shine (a description he much prefers, rather than the s**** word more commonly associated with snails) .  You can tell from the look on his face he’s quite rightly proud of it … take a peek …

     

Where will Cicero’s wise 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 fortnight by Newton’s Nook … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will be offered a $25 store credit … and as usual, will be invited to Guest Design with the team in a future challenge.  All the details are over at Time Out, along with heaps of lovely inspiration from our splendid DT!

My first card will be joining in the fun at …

Inkspirational – Spring

Papercraft Challenges – Pastel Colours

Perfectly CAS – Die Cuts

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Mood Board … bottom left (below)

The Flower Challenge – Spring/Autumn

… and Monsieur Escargot will be shining at …

AAA Cards – Made in Minutes (just under 15 … ultra quick for me!)

AAA Birthday – Dots and/or Stripes (that dotty gravel!)

Addicted to Stamps And More – Clean And Simple

CAS on Friday – Black, White And One Colour

The Male Room – Make Me Laugh

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 Spring Flower And A Butterfly

Hello … bonjour … and bon dimanche!  We’ve had spring sunshine for a few weeks now … and temperatures that have been gently rising … and they’ve brought flowers and butterflies out in abundance.  So, here I am with a couple of spring cards that might bring a little warm sunshine to your day …

This one was made in less than 10 minutes as I used some goodies received from sweet friends … thanks so much, ladies!  Rosemary sent me the background panel  (sorry, maker unknown) … and Judith provided the stacked framed daisy (Pink Fresh Studio).  The flower frame was inked, spritzed, dried and adhered to the panel … I stamped the Pink Fresh Studio sentiment … and attached the panel to a card base.  Voilà … spring prettiness!

This little lovely is heading to (badges below) …

Bastel-traum – Frühling/Spring (new to me)

Papercraft Challenges – Pastel Colours

Pink Fresh Studio – Frame It

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

The second card took a little more time …

The Uniko butterfly (my favourite) was stamped onto a mixed media panel and coloured with Zigs and a waterbrush.  To create a sense of movement, I added splatters in the same colours as the butterfly … and a sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays.  The panel was popped up on craft foam onto a matching mixed media card base that had been edged with washi tape.  I love that the butterfly looks almost stained glass like!

He’s fluttering off to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Make Your Mark

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Uniko – Stripes and Spots

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

I hope and continue to pray that you’re all staying 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 – #149 – Celebrations

Hello … bonjour!  Our new challenge has just started at Time Out … and this fortnight we have a theme for you to play with.  It’s Celebrations … with optional twist of making a one layer card if you’d like to.  I chose not to twist … here’s where I went with our theme …

My floral image is from Altenew (Charmed) … stamped in Versafine onto a white card panel and loosely watercoloured with Zigs.  I added some black splatters (with the bouquet gently covered up), adhered a white embossed sentiment with foam tape and drizzled Stickles into the flower centres.  The base card was edged on one side with black and white washi tape and the panel was attached flat to it.  I’m pretty certain that it was the lovely Therese at Lost in Paper who inspired me with a card she made using this set, with chunky glitter in the centres (in shades of pink, if memory serves).  I loved it … and finally got to try a version of my own!  Thanks, Therese, for the inspiration!  Here’s a closer look at all the sparkle and variegated colour …

          

How will you interpret our Celebrations theme … and will you use our optional one layer twist?  We’d love to see what you create in our gallery.  This time around, we’re sponsored by Altenew 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 loads of fabulous inspiration from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Christine at Experiments in Craft.  Why not pop over for a visit with Christine … 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 at …

Addicted to CAS – Birthday … Happy 7th Birthday, ladies … what a fabulous milestone!

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes (No Animal Option)

Papercraft Challenges – Birthdays

The Flower Challenge – Add Spots or Stripes (mine are diagonal stripes)

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

                

A New Challenge At Time Out – #145 – Breast Cancer Awareness

Hello … bonjour!  Our new challenge has just started at Time Out … and this fortnight we have a special theme for you to play with.  It’s Breast Cancer Awareness … with the option of making a one layer card using pink.  Here’s where I went with it …

… a one layer card, with ombré shades of pink blended over a CAS-ual Fridays stencil (Tin Roof).  The centres of the flowers are dotted with ombré Nuvo drops (they get darker as they go down the card) … and the sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays (Truth Is … now sadly retired).  Voila … quick and clean and simple (QACAS in Darnell-ese).  Like a closer look at the ombré?

        

How will you interpret our special theme … and will you use our optional one layer twist using pink?  We’d love to see what you create in our gallery.  This time around, we’re sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays (thanks, Michele) … who are offering a US$25 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 the Time Out blog … along with loads of fabulous inspiration from our brilliant DT … and from our talented Guest Designer, Sidan.  Why not pop over for a visit with Sidan … you’ll so enjoy wandering through her fabulous creations!

I’m playing along at …

Papercraft Challenges – No Design Paper

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Uniko – Anything Goes … No Autumn Option

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 – #131 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to a very special Time Out … it’s our 5th birthday!  Congratulations to Sandie and to the whole Design Team … it’s an honour and a joy to have been on this wonderful journey with such a committed, talented and delightful group of crafters!  We have an ‘Inspired By Words’ theme for you this fortnight … hugs, kisses and a lot of birthday wishes.  Here’s where I went with it …

As you can tell from the Joyeux Anniversaire (Happy Birthday) sentiment, my focus was on the lots of birthday wishes part of our Inspired By Words phrase.  Those charming wildflowers are from Pink Fresh Studio, simply stamped into the corner of my card and loosely watercoloured with Zigs.  I did some splattering to create the sense of pollen drifting on the breeze over a summer meadow … and embossed the Simply Graphic sentiment onto a snippet of black card, which was popped up on foam tape.

        

Where will our words take your creativity?  You can use any or all of them to inspire your card … we’d love it if you played along and celebrated with us in the gallery.  We’re sponsored for our 5th birthday by STAMPlorations (thanks, Shery!)  … for this very special occasion, there’ll be a $50 GC for our winner … who, as usual, will also be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at the Time Out blog, along with heaps of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT, and from our uber talented, colourist extra-ordinaire Guest Designer, Kara from Bright Hope Creations.  Do go and enjoy a mesmerising visit with the lovely Kara … you’ll find so much amazing creativity and wonderful videos to explore … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

I’m playing along at …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Make Your Mark

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – No Optional Mist … though there are spatters!

Papercraft Challenges – Clean And Simple

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Feminine/Girlie

The Flower Challenge – Anything Goes

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

               

        

Twofer Card Challenge #14 – Balloons

Hello … bonjour!  We’ve rattled round so quickly into March … and today we have another Twofer challenge for you … this month we’re playing with …

… and here’s how my imagination floated off …

A happy hello card and a happy birthday card, both featuring a richly plump, round balloon image from Winnie & Walter … let’s take a closer look at each one …

I rock and roll stamped/masked the Winnie & Walter balloons and bows onto an A2 card panel, added the fun sentiment (from Essentials by Ellen) and drew in the drifting-in-the-breeze strings.  The balloons were layered with Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle and I added some colour and shimmer to the three o’s in the sentiment with a tiny dot from Simon Says Stamp.  The liquid sparkle took out some of the shaded dimensional effect of the rock and roll stamping … though it’s there if you look closely … and those balloons are deliciously shimmery!   The lovely (and uber talented) Therese at Lost In Paper made a set of splendid ‘over the top‘ designs recently where an element of each card stood out above it’s top fold … and it struck me that my balloon bouquet was made for such a technique (thanks for the inspiration, Therese!).  So … I trimmed out the finished balloon panel and adhered it to a base card cut especially to size … and the card still fits into a standard size envelope … perfect!

My twofer design is rather more unconventional …

… I turned my balloon image into pistacchio ice cream!  The sugar cone was created on an MFT Wonky Stitched panel (from my Lake House stash), using masking and a single line stamp from Winnie & Walter … and it was Copic coloured and shaded (thanks, Kara!).  After masking the top edge of the cone, I scooped the balloon into it and added some alcohol marker shading around the ice cream edges to give it a little dimension.  The image was overstamped with a sentiment from MFT … and real sprinkles (a freebie from our local supermarket in just the perfect colours!) finished it off … yum!  I sponged the edges of a base card to match the ice cream and popped the stitched panel up onto it on craft foam.

How about playing along with some of your own balloon images … we’d love to see your cards in our gallery!  You can find out everything you need to know in the rules and FAQs over at the Twofer blog.  There’s a whole heap of scrumptious inspiration to enjoy while you’re there too … from our talented Guest Designers, Julie from Handcrafted By Jules and Lucy from Little Scraps Of Lucy …….  and from our brilliant DT.  BTW, do go over for a visit with both Julie and Lucy … you won’t want to miss all the loveliness they have on offer!

My balloon bouquet is drifting off to …

CAS(E) This Sketch – See Below … turned upside down!

Day Of The Month Card Club – I Want You To Be Happy Day … a new, fresh and fun blog on the block from Cornelia, Gundi and Rosi … what a brilliant idea for a challenge!  Do check it out if you haven’t already!  As Winnie The Pooh said ‘ no-one can be uncheered with a balloon’!

Happy Little Stampers CAS – Special Day … any day with joy in it is special!

Papercraft Challenges – Clean And Simple

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Whatever The Weather … my balloons are floating off on a breeze!

Watercooler Wednesday – Feminine Anything Goes … to me, those soft colours and shimmer make this a feminine card … and it is a bouquet of balloons!

… and there’ll be a tasting of my ice cream at …

AAA Cards – One Plus Three (no optional friends twist) … one sentiment plus stamped scoop of ‘pistacchio ice cream’, Copic coloured cone, matted stitched panel.

Addicted to Stamps and More – Anything Goes

Day Of The Month Card Club – I Want You To Be Happy Day … ice cream and sprinkles … who wouldn’t be happy!

Winnie & Walter’s Leading Lady Challenge #4 – Altering Stamped Images With Masking

You may know we’ve had internet/phone issues for a while … heaps upon heaps of intermittent outages culminating in almost a week with no access at all … it’s been just a smidge wearing!   Orange (our service providers) lent us an Airbox on Thursday afternoon to get us online again till it’s all fixed … and I’ve been having fun and being inspired since, catching up with everyone.  So for now,  I’m around and about … if it goes quiet again, you’ll know there’s a technician up a telephone pole somewhere in rural France!  As ever, thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂