Twofer Card Challenge #37 – Leaves

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!

My fresh eucalyptus hello card is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Die Cuts – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Grow … all those leaves growing over the background!

and my CAS eucalyptus cluster is joining in at …

Clean and Simple on Friday – Happy Mail

NBUS – Anything Goes (first outing for these eucalyptus dies)

Time Out – Photo Inspiration (see below) … those soft blues/greens and white fencing

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

Twofer Card Challenge #36 – Your Choice

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)

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Use Something Green (the leaves)

… and my soft spring swoosh is joining in at …

CAS on Sunday – Spring

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

NBUS – Anything Goes (first appearance of Rosie Posy here)

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

Twofer Card Challenge #32 – Silhouettes

Hello … bonjour! It’s the 10th of the month … welcome to our new Twofer challenge for October, where we’re inviting you to play with …

My common images here are silhouette blooms from Catherine Pooler’s Wild Garden … how about a closer look at each design?

A one layer card with a background of texture-y looking squares in ombré autumn colours. The squares are from Clearly Besotted and were inked, spritzed and double stamped … first horizontally and then vertically … one overlapping another. I stamped the wild flowers over the them, added a sentiment from Simon and adhered a few gems to finish off.

My second card has a much more summery feel …

My design here is centred, with the wild flowers and leaves stamped and white heat embossed onto a crimped frame panel from The Greetery. I blended Distress Inks over the panel, using four blue hues in ombré order, added plenty of Shimmer Spray and did a little white splattering over the top. The sentiment is from Altenew, also white heat embossed. I dry embossed another (larger) crimped frame onto the card base and popped up the finished panel over it.

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on silhouettes … we’d be delighted 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 … along with inspiration galore from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Carol from Just Me: C and Shawna from The Grand Stampede … welcome ladies!  Do go over and have a visit with Carol and Shawna … you’re sure to be inspired by their wonderful work … and you can always say while you’re there too!

My autumn silhouettes are heading to …

Bastel-traum – Fall

CAS on Friday – Autumn

Simon Says Stamp – Happy World Card Making Day

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Make It Sparkle

Sunday Stamps – Colour Palette (below)

… and my summery blue hues are joining in at …

Just Us Girls – Ombré

Simon Says Stamp – Happy World Card Making Day

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Dry Embossing

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Make It Sparkle

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

You might notice that the alignment on this post isn’t what it usually is … and links to the company products used aren’t there. That’s because wordpress has changed (as blogger has) and I’m learning how to use the new editor. It isn’t very user friendly (to put it mildly!) so it’ll take a while for me to become familiar with all it’s idiosycracies … I appreciate you bearing with me!

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

Twofer Card Challenge #29 – Butterflies

Hello … bonjour!  Our fun July challenge has just launched at Twofer … and this month we’re inviting some delicate, fluttery insects to play with us …

My butterflies are from Uniko … my favourites …

They appear on my Beautiful Day card as a duo, flying along one edge, with the sentiment spread across the middle, between them.  This is for a wedding anniversary … and I liked the design so much, I made another for a different occasion, which I’ll share with you another time.  My You’re So Lovely card (it’s for a birthday) features the butterfly as the centrepiece, with the sentiment nestled in underneath it.  Let’s have a closer look at each one …

I wanted this card to have a dramatic feel to it … and for the colours to appeal to both husband and wife celebrating their anniversary, so chose bold oranges, black and white for the palette (akin to monarchs maybe?).  The butterflies and sentiment (from Altenew) were stamped in Versamark Onyx Black … and the former were coloured and shaded with coloured pencils.  It was going to be a one layer card, but when it was done, I thought it needed a little something extra … the slender strip of striped washi along one side seemed to do the trick!

I went for a much softer look for my birthday card …

Here, I stamped and white heat embossed the butterfly onto a mixed media panel … and watercoloured it with Zigs in rainbow colours.  Once it was dry, the corresponding die was used to cut it out, I stamped the sentiment (from Hero Arts) and embossed a frame round the panel using a couple of Hero Arts Infinity dies.  A piece of dark grey card was adhered onto a mixed media card base, so that it would show through the negative space and the finished panel was popped up over it on craft foam.  I scored along each side of the butterfly where the wings and body meet, folded the wings upwards, added a double layer of foam tape under the body and adhered it into the negative space.

How about joining us with a favourite butterfly of your own … or even a kaleidoscope of them?  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 lepidoptera inspiration galore from the DT!  We’re delighted to have two super talented Guest Designers joining us this month … Barb from Barb’s Studio Creations … and TK from Time 4 Kards … welcome ladies!  I’m pretty certain you’ll know the work of these fabulous artists already … though do go over for a visit and say hello … you’ll so enjoy their brilliant twofers … and you can have a gentle meander through all their other creations too!

My bold butterflies are heading to …

NBUS – Anything Goes (the sentiment had been Never Before Used Schtuff!)

Retro Rubber – Anything Goes (the butterfly stamp is 5+ years old)

The Rainbow Card Challenge – Tantalising Tangerine

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

ETA:  30 Day Colouring Challenge – Anything Goes

… and the solo flutterer is joining in at …

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Play With Paint (watercolours)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Moving Parts (butterfly wings)

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

ETA:  30 Day Colouring Challenge – Anything Goes

            

          

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

A New Challenge At Time Out – #156 – Home Sweet Home Inspiration

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to our new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight, we have a bold, vibrant Home Sweet Home image to inspire you (it’s a little further down).   Here’s where I went with it …

and here …

… and here’s the bright, fun inspiration picture …

Don’t think I really need to tell you what drew my attention!  I translated the yellow table and aqua-blue walls into flowers and added the leaves to mimic those in the vase.  On the first card, the blooms are from Altenew‘s Watercolour Wonders … the sentiment’s from Avery Elle … and the scalloped, stitched panel was cut with a Winnie & Walter die (NLIB).  I added iridescent seed beads to the flower centres and popped the panel up on craft foam.   The second card features the same flowers and leaves from Altenew … a sentiment from Simon … a Crimped Frame die cut panel from The Greetery … and black glitter in the flower centres.

     

What draws your eye in our Home Sweet Home photo … those bold colours, the framed pictures, the stack of books … 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 Altenew, who are offering the winner (as voted for by the DT) a $20 GC … and as usual, our winner will 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 and from our super talented Guest Designer, Maria F from Riesling Mama, to inspire you!

I’m playing along at …

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

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 – #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 🙂

                

Twofer Card Challenge #20 – Critters

Hello … bonjour!  Our fun September challenge has just launched at Twofer … this month we’re inviting Critters to play with us …

… my critters are little bitty things … A confetti strewn birthday card and a starry, festive Christmas card … with a gift toting Bitty Bear from MFT as my common image (one was coloured as part of our tutorial at the Lake House with the lovely Kara, colourist extraordinaire … the others were coloured especially for today!).  Here’s a closer look at each card …

Here, my design is a circle within a circle with the sentiment placed underneath.  Bitty Bear is the star of the show, set against the softly sponged yellow centre of a halo of celebratory confetti, stamped with Concord & 9th‘s Bitty Burst Turnabout.  The sentiments are both from Simon Says Stamp.  I added shimmer to the gift … and Glossy Accent-ed it, along with some random parts of the confetti and Bear’s eyes and nose.  Here’s a closer look at the shine …

I used Bear conventionally again on my Christmas card …

… in a design that has him and his friends clambering around a large central die cut sentiment that stretches across the width of the card.  The ho ho ho was made up of the first and last letters of Altenew‘s Mega Hello die.  The Bears climbed aboard, I adhered them and the ho ho ho to a panel of pp (yep, I used pp!) and attached the pp to the card base.  The sentiment and gifts were layered generously with shimmer … and I once again added Glossy Accents to the Bears’ eyes and to the gifts.  They chose the red Rudolph noses themselves … they thought it was appropriate for Christmas!  You can see the detail a little better here …

How about joining us with some critters 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 at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of splendid inspiration from the DT.  We’re delighted to have as our Guest Designer, the super talented Nora from A Creative Touch … welcome Nora!  If you haven’t met Nora yet, do go over and enjoy a wander through her blog … you’ll have a splendid time!  Even if you are familiar with her work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My confetti Bear is heading to …

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Stamp It

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Stamp It

Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday – Celebrate

… and my clambering Bears are joining in at …

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes … no elf option

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Stamp It

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Stamp It

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

              

      

A Few Florals!

Hello … bonjour!  Hope you’re having a good summer or winter, depending where you are … and a happy weekend.  I have three cards to share today … and I’m delighted to be blogging them before the deadlines pass on challenges I’d like to link up with!  First into the spotlight,  a fresh card that turned out to be especially QACAS (quick and clean and simple in Darnellese) …

I won a GC from Altenew recently via Therese at Lost in Paper (thanks, Therese!) … and this one layer card was made with one of the sets I got with it.   I used the rock and roll technique to stamp the flower heads in two blues … it added a little dimension and some extra definition to the edges.  The flower centres were done in the darker of the two blues and I added the grey leaves … before finishing with the shiny heat embossed sentiment and a touch of stickles in the middle of each bloom. Forget me nots?  They look a bit like that to my eyes!

I’m playing along with (badges are at the bottom of the post) …

Altenew – Inspiration/Colours (below)

Inkspirational – An Under 10 Minute Card … it was close, 9’51 as I added the last Stickles!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Next up, some rainbow-y goodness …

A watercoloured rainbow panel with a Poppy Stamps bloom die cut from it and inset into it, adhered flat to a white mat with a WPlus9 sentiment stamped along the bottom edge.  I scored lines onto the card base before mounting the finished panel onto it on craft foam and adding a couple of tiny black pearls to the flower centres.

I’m joining in at (badges are at the bottom of the post) …

AAA Cards – Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Poppy Stamps – Birthday Party

Seize The Birthday – Stripes … the scored ones

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Finally, a bright, summery, colourful little number …

Another one layer card, this time stamp layered with the second set I got with my Altenew GC.  The sentiment is from Winnie and Walter and the supplementary greeting is from Simon Says Stamp.  I added some black gel pen dots to the flower centres and a fine black line along the crease edge to tie them in to the black greeting.

These florals are going to be blooming at (badges are at the bottom of the post) …

Fusion – Inspiration (below) … all those lovely colours at that summer picnic

Seize The Birthday – No Option … unless a line counts as a stripe!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

That’s it for me … I’ll be back on Thursday with a little something for the new challenge starting then at Time Out.  In the meantime, thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂