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 #26 – Rain/Umbrella

Hello … bonjour!  It’s the 10th of the month … and that means we have a fun and fabulous new challenge for you at Twofer!  This month we’re inviting you to join us with your takes on …

I went with rain … though there is an umbrella on one of my cards …My common image is a stencil from MFT (Mini Staggered Raindrops), a sweet gift from Barb G … thanks, my friend!  It’s used conventionally with these cute critters on the I’m Here For You card and unconventionally on the vibrant, graphic Hugs card.    Here’s a closer look at each one …

My design here is based on a central panel with a wide border all around it.  I coloured the die cut critters and brolly (Lawn Fawn, from my Lake House stash) with coloured pencils and set them aside.  Their background was created using hand cut masks and blended Distress Inks … and was finished with the stencilled raindrops.  The critters were adhered into place … with both of them holding tightly onto that brolly.  You’ll notice that this is no ordinary umbrella … it’s one that when opened, shines bright, warm sunshine on those under it.  So not only are these cuties being sheltered from the rain … they’re also basking in the gentle, comforting glow around them.  The sentiment from Simon provided just the words I was looking for.  I trimmed the finished panel, matted it onto grey card and adhered it to a top folding base card.

My unconventional design uses a panel that fills the central third of my card …

I masked a single line of raindrops on the stencil and went to work with a host of Distress Ink colours, sponging one line at a time and shifting the stencil over to fill in the gaps between the rain drops that you see on my first card.  As each line was completed, the stencil was cleaned off, moved down a quarter of an inch … and I started again with the next colour.  When the panel was finished, it was trimmed and popped up on craft foam over some washi edging, on a side folding landscape card.  The black sentiment (Papertrey … also a gift from Barb G 🙂 ) was triple stacked onto white and adhered over the rainbow panel.

How would you like to join us with some rain/umbrella cards of your own … we’d love to see you (and them) in our gallery!  Whether you choose rain or umbrella or both of them for your two distinctly different cards, please remember to use the same common image(s) for each of your designs.  All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of delicious and fun inspiration from the DT.  We’re joined this month by two talented Guest Designers … TK from Time 4 Kards and Rosi from Let’s Take Time … welcome ladies!  If you haven’t met these talented card artists yet, do go over and enjoy a wander through their blogs … you’ll have a splendid time finding inspiration in bucket loads!  Even if you are familiar with their work, why not pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My sunny critters are joining in at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Inkspirational – Spring … that spring shower!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Spring Mood Board … also spring shower!

The Cat’s Pajamas – Share Hope

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

… and my rainbow hugs are heading to …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Clean And Simple

Ink to Paper Project Reach Out – Sending Hugs And Rainbow Cheer

Perfectly CAS – Die Cuts

Simon Says Stamp Monday – Add Texture … that yummy pierced, stacked die cut

Watercooler Wednesday – All About Occasions

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

          

             

           

    

Twofer Card Challenge #11 – Wreath

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to our November Twofer Card Challenge!  If you look closely at our challenge badge above, you’ll notice there’s a change … yep, from now on, we will be accepting the use of stencils for the prompt element on your cards.  Yay for all you stencil aficionado’s out there!  Our prompt this month lends itself to lots of year round designs … though as Christmas is galloping up on us at a pace, it may just have you thinking of something festive for one of your cards … it’s …

My creative mind certainly took me to Christmas for one of mine …

My common stamp here is the Wreath Turnabout from Concord & 9th … let’s take a closer look at each design.

Isn’t that such a delicious colour palette for this autumn wreath one layer card … I was inspired to use it by the lovely Bev (thanks, sweet friend!), who gathered together inks of similar colours for a play session we had at the Lake House.   After turnabout-ing, I added the sentiment to the centre (from the same C9 set), covered it with Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle … and stamped the side borders (Essentials By Ellen Winterscapes).  They were all done in espresso ink (to tie in with the autumn feel), though it does look decidedly black in the photo.  I finished off with lots of tiny copper Nuvo Drop berries … holding my breath as I went!  Here’s a closer look at them … and the shimmer …

My Twofer …

For my Christmas card, the vellum panel was offset on my turnabout ‘turntable’ so that the wreath could be stamped off the edge.  I heat embossed each of the four turns in different metallic embossing powders, plus white … and then added in some extra elements on the inner part of the wreath, using smaller stamps from the same C9 set, along with one from Pink Fresh Studio‘s Bird With Flowers.  The WPlus9 sentiment was heat embossed under the wreath, I added a Lawn Fawn stitched border and adhered the panel to a dark grey base.  A scattering of stars was added around the sentiment and wreath … and I topped each star with a dot of white Enamel Accents to make it shine.

Where will our ‘Wreath’ prompt take you this month?  We’d love to see what you make in our gallery!  All the details are over at the Twofer blog … along with lots of lovely inspiration from our fabulous DT … it’s just a click away!  Our talented Guest Designers this time round are Carol from Our Little Inspirations and Sybrina from Chapter Three. Do go and have a visit with them both … you’ll find their terrific Twofer cards, plus plenty of other delicious projects to enjoy and be inspired by!

My autumn wreath is joining in at  …

CAS On Friday – Brighten Someone’s Day

CASology – Compliment

Watercooler Wednesday – Feminine Anything Goes

… and my Christmas card is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes (No CAS Option)

The Cat’s Pajamas – Winter Holiday

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

                         

Twofer Card Challenge #4 – Pets

Hello … bonjour … and welcome to our wonderful April Twofer Card Challenge!  We have a fun theme for you this month … and I’m guessing you’ll have a few stamps and/or dies in your stash that you can choose from to make your cards … it’s …

Here’s how I was inspired …

For those of you who might be wondering … no, we do not have a pig as a pet … though we do know someone in the next village who has two!  Hence my choice of these fun Simon Says Stamp party pigs, the common image on my Twofer.  How about a closer look at each one …    In his original form, this little guy is holding a big balloon and sporting a party hat … though I wanted to focus on his wide outstretched hands … paws … trotters, so I trimmed him out.  He was coloured with alcohol markers, coated with a thick layer of Glossy Accents and had some googly eyes added.  He wanted to wear a T shirt with ‘pig’ on it … though as he couldn’t find one that suited his rather demanding tastes, he decided to simply wear the word … he’s a bit of a rebel … and loves a fun sentiment!  The base card was embossed several times with a Lawn Fawn stitched border … I die cut the Winnie & Walter hugs (to go with those welcoming trotters) in silver striped PP and black craft foam and adhered them over the stitching … and Monsieur Cochon just hopped on next to the sentiment, popped up on foam dots (with a double layer of foam under his trotters).  I know he’d love you to see a close up of his big friendly smile …

My Twofer …

Here, Monsieur Cochon is appearing with a few friends … leaping out from behind a wall for a surprise birthday party.  They’ve kept their fun hats on this time, though got a little over excited and managed to burst all their balloons … so I masked them off (flat balloons just don’t have the same festive feel as full round ones!).  The wall is a black edged, MFT stamped, popped up sentiment panel … and the pigs’ party outfits are courtesy of some coloured pencils, a white gel pen, Spectrum Noir shimmer and a touch of Stickles.  You can see the excitement in their Enamel Accent-ed eyes here …

Voilà … my two distinctly different designs … for two distinctly different occasions … using the same stamp!  I went conventional with the use of my stamp this time around (my pig stayed a pig on each card) … and you can too, if that’s what you’d like to do.  You can also stretch your stamp or die in an unexpected way (as I hope you’ve seen in previous Twofer posts), although that’s not a requirement to play along.  If you haven’t already seen the last winners post (here), the lovely Darnell has decided to have two winner’s spots … one for conventional and one for  unconventional use of your stamp or die … how perfect is that … this is Twofer after all!

So … do you have a pet you’d like to depict on your cards this month … or will you need to put your thinking cap on and ‘borrow’ one as I did?  We’d love to see your two distinctly different designs … for two distinctly different occasions … using the same stamps or dies … in our gallery!  All the information you need, including timescales, guidelines, rules and FAQs, as well as a whole heap of fantastic inspiration from the brilliant DT … is over at the Twofer blog … it’s just a click away!   We’re delighted to have a talented Guest Designer with us this time around … welcome to Pia from Pia’s Papir Og Perler … our winner from challenge 2.  Do pop over for a visit with Pia, you’ll find so much fun and fabulous inspiration over at her blog … and you can leave some love for her while you’re there!

My Pig Hugs are heading over to …

AAA Cards – A Favourite Technique … mine is die cutting

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Mod Squad – Simply Clean

… and my Sweet Birthday Pigs will be celebrating at …

MFT Color – Cement Grey, Peach Bellini, Coral Crush, Blue Breeze … below (my closest colours)

SSS Wednesday – Happy Birthday … congratulations to the SSSW DTs past and present … eight splendid years packed with fun challenges … thank you … and here’s to many more!

SSS Monday – Mythology/Inspired By A Story … my story is The Three Little Pigs!

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

                   

         

Bonne Année 2018!

Hello … bonjour!  There are just a few hours left of the old year … and so many to look forward to and make the most of in the coming one!  Très Bonne Année … A Very Happy New Year … may God bless you with health, joy, love and creativity throughout 2018 … and beyond!  I’m back today with some more of my Christmas designs for this season … first up, some silvery white on white snowflakes …

I believe the embossed snowflakes on the white panel are from SU … not sure as they were part of my Lake House stash.  They’re embellished with dots of silver and a stamped sentiment in silver from Concord & 9th (Silent Night) … and are mounted on a base that was swiped with Delicata silver around the edges.

I apologise in advance for the photo on this next snowflake one … don’t know what I did with the lighting here … and this was the best I could do with Picasa!

A one layer card with the sentiment (SSS) silver heat embossed and coloured with Zig brush markers … and the snowflakes (Hero Arts) stamped in Delicata silver.

More snowflakes on this next one …

This is one of those QACAS cards (quick and easy CAS in Darnellese).  A panel of designer cardstock,  already foiled with snowflakes … with a silver foil die cut sentiment (MFT) inlaid into it … all attached to a card base.  The shimmer and shine is fabulous IRL … you can see just a little of it in the reflection on the desk top.

Here’s another similar one …

Different designer cardstock, foiled in gold, with the MFT inlaid sentiment in festive red.  Again, you can see the shine of the foil in the desk top … seems those stars are slipping off the card!

Finally, a cute little tag …

These happy little birds are from Lawn Fawn … they’re frolicking against an ombré sponged Papertrey tag and are topped with a heat embossed sentiment from Uniko/SSS.  You might be able to see that their warm winter woolies are coated with Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents.

I’m sending all these projects to SSS Wednesday where Anything Goes this week … and the sweet tag to Lawn Fawnatics, where we’re using a favourite Lawn Fawn set (Winter Sparrows).

I’m off to celebrate shortly … hope you’ll be seeing in the new year in style!  Thanks so much for coming by … today and all through 2017.  I always say it and I always mean it … your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

         

A New Challenge At Time Out – #98 Home Sweet Home – Stockings Are Hung …

Hello … bonjour!  Our wonderful new challenge starts at Time Out this morning … this fortnight, we have a Home Sweet Home photo to inspire you that’s fresh and festive with a touch of rustic (below) … here’s where I went with it …

         

… and here’s the scrumptious photo inspiration …

Those stockings just waiting for Santa to fill them really took my eye … and my mantel is a nod to those yummy wooden hook plates.  The images are from Neat and Tangled (Elves & Their Shelf), stamped and coloured with Zigs … with some gel pen doodling for the patterns on the stockings.  The sentiment is from Winnie & Walter (In Bloom: Victoria’s Very Merry Flowers with Lydia Evans) and the dotted frame was embossed with a Lawn Fawn border die.  I used a Versamark pen to colour in the stocking tops and heat embossed them with Hero Arts White Puff EP.  Want to see all that fluffiness …

What takes your attention in our Home Sweet Home photo … the traditional Christmas colours, those patterns, the white on wood designs, that hint of rustic … or something else?  Whichever way you’re inspired, we’d love to see what you create in our gallery!  Our winner, as chosen by the DT, will receive a £15 gift voucher from our lovely sponsor, Uniko (thanks, Bev!), and will have the chance to guest design with us in a future challenge.  All the details are over at the Time Out blog … along with a whole host of enticing ideas from our fabulous DT and from our awesomely talented Guest Designer (and ex teamie), Sarah from Funky Fossil Designs.  If you haven’t come across Sarah’s delicious creations, do go over for a visit and enjoy her brilliantly crisp, CAS and inspiring cards … and even if you have, why not pop over and say hello … you’ll have a fabulous time!

I’m playing along at …

AAA Cards – Christmas

Addicted To Stamps & More – Anything Goes

Clean & Simple on Friday – Christmas

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – Anything Goes

Less Is More – Red and Green

Hope you’re having fun making, writing and mailing Christmas cards … me, I’m still at the first stage!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

       

                 

Guest Designing at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – November 2017 – Week 3

        

Hello … bonjour!  I’m so grateful for your visits and sweet words about my Snow White cards last week … merci mille fois … and am thrilled to be here for the third time with the DT at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday as their Guest Designer for November!         

Our new challenge this week is ‘Furry Friends‘ … and we’re showcasing products from Newton’s Nook.  You don’t need to use Newton’s Nook goodies to join in … but we’d love to see them if you have some!  As always, if you play along, you’re in with a chance of winning a $50 gift voucher to spend at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp store … yum … fill that basket!

I realised while coming up with ideas for this challenge … I make very few cards with critters on them … birds, yes, critters, no.  So it was a wonderful change … and heaps of fun … to come up with a couple of cuties … with a touch of whimsy about them.  Here’s the first, a happy, pensive little bear with some good advice … I hand cut a mask and lightly sponged the background with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, fading it out to nothing at the top.  The bear and bucket of fish are from MFT’s Polar Bear Pals and were a gift from the lovely Cat (thanks, my friend!) … they’re coloured with Promarkers and trimmed out.  The fish had Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle added over the top (cause wet fish shine, even when they’re just a thought!) … and the bear was dotted with Blender pen to give him a fun furry look.  I stamped the sentiment onto the snow bank (it’s from Newton’s Nook Happy Little Thoughts, cut apart to make it long), doodled the thought bubbles and filled them with Glossy Accents, then popped up the images up on foam dots in their rightful places.  How about a closer look at that fluffy fur …

Now for a little mouse, not even stirring … mesmerised by the arrival of the Christmas star …      Here, I did all the stamping first … the sentiment is made up with Lawn Fawn’s Milo’s ABC’s … and the mouse and star are from Avery Elle’s Storybook (thanks to my sweet, happy dancing friend, Bev … merci mon amie!).   I used a torn mask to create the snowy landscape, and hand cut masks for the mouse and star … sponged Distress Inks onto the remaining space to create the sky (Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire) … and spritzed it with a swoosh of Shimmer Spray.  Once it was dry, the images were coloured with Promarkers and covered with Glossy Accents … and the camouflaged word (SSS Christmas Blessings) was cut into the stamped sentiment and pieced back in on craft foam.  This detail shot shows off the shimmer and shine … and the sentiment … a little better … Twas The Night Before Christmas!

If you haven’t already been over there, do pay a visit to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog to check out all the gorgeous cards from the Design Team … you’re sure to be inspired!  I know it’s an especially busy time of year … but I hope you’ll have time to join us this week … furry friends are such fun to play with!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!    Anita 🙂

A French Hen, Two Happy Bears And A Rainbow Village

Hello … bonjour!  I’m finishing the weekend with a trio of cards that are bright, colourful, happy and fun … here’s the first …

A little French hen from Essentials by Ellen, who came to roost at my house after a long trip across the pond (thanks Michele!) … coloured with Promarkers … perched on a rainbow backed Studio Calico die cut with a Waltzingmouse stamped sentiment … and carrying a trio of W&W shimmery balloons.

She’s off to play at …

Addicted to Stamps & More – Make Your Mark

CASology – Balloon … congratulations to Melissa and the past/present DT on five fantastic years!  Haven’t had chance to do the wonderful blog hop (sorry!), but am linking up anyway!

Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights – Mood Board … inspired by the summery stripes/dots/colours

SSS Wednesday – Anything Goes

Please note that all the badges are added at the bottom of this post.

Next up …

A couple of cute Essentials by Ellen bears (thanks, Judith!) … coloured with Promarkers …  clutching a Lawn Fawn die cut (again thanks, Judith!) over a white embossed SSS sentiment.  They’re set against a W&W confetti background, also coloured in with Promarkers.  These guys are heading to …

Addicted to Stamps & More – Make Your Mark

Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights – Mood Board … background inspired by the dotty cups.

Seize The Birthday – No Topping

SSS Wednesday – Anything Goes

Think I was channelling my inner Laura Bassen on this last card …

A sponged rainbow sky, spritzed with shimmer spray … topped with a crisp white village die cut (don’t know the make, it came from my Lake House stash) … stamped repeatedly along the edge with a Clearly Besotted sentiment.  I’m joining in at …

AAA Cards – Rainbow … hope this is CAS enough ladies, if not, please disregard!

SSS Wednesday – Anything Goes

SSS Work it Wednesday – Add Some Sparkle

I’ll be back on Thursday with a fresh Time Out challenge … it’s a cool one!  In the meantime, have a wonderful week!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

                   

                   

                   

 

Clean & Textured … And … Clean & Vibrant

Hello … bonjour!  I have a couple of cards to share today, both of which are pretty clean … though they are rather different from one another.  First up, a texture-y, soft, natural-looking little number …

          

A Lawn Fawn embossed edge panel, stencilled with Tumbled Glass DI and heat embossed in clear, with a couple of Concord & 9th‘s Layering Leaves arranged over the top … and anchored in place with a wooden dot.  The SSS hello was adhered flat alongside … and the panel was popped up on craft foam onto the base.  Here’s a close up of all that texture …

I’m playing along at …

Seven Hills Crafts – Sketch (see below … I changed orientation of my card, hope that’s ok!)

Where Creativity Meets C9 – Embossing (badge shows in draft, but not in post … sorry!)

Less Is More – Anything But Stamps

Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media – Texture

          

          

 

My second card has more colour and is more graphic …

Crisp and QACAS (quick and clean and simple in Darnell-ese) … a strip of rainbow washi tape along the edge of the card … and a stack of SSS die cuts (and secondary stamped sentiment), also in rainbow colours, taking centre stage.  Here’s the side view so you can see (at least a little better!) all seven of those layered colours …

This bright delight is heading to …

AAA Cards – Rainbow

Addicted to Stamps & More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers CAS – Birthday

Seize The Birthday – No Toppings

        

        

That’s it from me for the weekend … hope yours has been a good one!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save