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 #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 🙂

Twofer Card Challenge #27 – Flowers

Hello … bonjour!  It’s the 10th of the month … and that means we have a lovely new challenge for you at Twofer!  This month we’re inviting you to enjoy a little arranging with …

I chose a fresh, stylised bloom from Papertrey (Daydreamer) as my common image … it appears solo on the lower right side of my CAS birthday card … and on my just for you card, the garden includes the same flower, blossoming among plenty of others growing up across the whole card front.  Here’s a closer look at each one …

    

Here, the Uniko stripes were stamped off the edge of the card … and the simple sentiment (also from Uniko) was white heat embossed onto a black strip, which was popped up along the base of the stripes.  I stamped the flower head, stem and leaf clusters onto some pre-prepared die cuts (received from Barb G … thanks, my friend!) … and mounted them on foam dots against the stripes.

My garden of blooms is a little less CAS …

The grass, stems and leaves were stamped directly onto the card base … with the flower heads stamped onto more pre-prepared die cuts.  The flowers were adhered onto foam tape over the stems … and I added the Hero Arts sentiment to finish off.

There were a few more die cuts left over when my Twofers were finished … so I made a third card to share with you.  Some of the flowers are different and the colours are rather more bold … but the design is the same as the garden one above …

How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on flowers … 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 Guest Designer, Cindy from Stamps, Paper and Ink.  If you don’t know Cindy’s work, do go over and enjoy a gentle meander through her blog … you’ll be so glad you did!  Even if you’ve already been introduced, why not pop along anyway and see her splendid Twofers … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My single bloom is heading to …

Addicted To CAS – Flower

CAS On Friday – Use Your Favourite Flower Stamp

NBUS – Anything Goes (as long as it’s NBUS) … those stripes, recently won

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … no topping

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Use Dies and/or Punches

… and the garden is going to be growing in the galleries at …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks – Stamp Act

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Use Dies and/or Punches

Watercooler Wednesday – Anything Goes With A Feminine Twist

I hope and pray that you are continuing to stay safe and well out there … and that you’re finding wonderful, creative ways to occupy those hands, hearts and minds!  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 – #155 – Inspired By Words!

Hello … bonjour!  Our wonderful new challenge has just started over at Time Out!  This time round, we’re having a double celebration … the 8th birthday of our fabulous sponsor, Uniko (congratulations to Bev and her Brand Ambassadors, past and present) … and Random Acts of Kindness Day, which is next Monday, 17 February (though we don’t have to wait till then)!  For the next fortnight, we’d like you to be Inspired By Words … it’s your birthday, so party and throw acts of kindness around like confetti.  I focussed on ‘birthday’ and made this …

      

The panel I used for my card is a piece of an experiment from the Lake House … using Lindy’s Magicals with yupo paper … isn’t it dreamy?  It has a subtle pearly shimmer too … though trying to catch that on camera proved tricky.  I die cut Uniko’s Originally Organic image from the panel … and stamped and silver heat embossed the stylised floral sprig inside it, onto the card base.  The panel was popped up on craft foam over the embossing and I added the sentiments … a silver die cut one from Simon Says Stamp … and the secondary one, made up of words from Uniko’s Birthday Sentiments, and So Much.   It’s so glimmery and shiny IRL it didn’t need any bling … so I left it without.  Voilà!

    

Where will our celebratory 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.  As I mentioned earlier, we’re sponsored this time around by Uniko (thanks, Bev!) … our winner, as voted for by the DT, will be offered an in stock stamp set of their choice … and as usual, will 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 … and from our talented Guest Designer … Sue from Sentimentally Sue.  Do go over and enjoy a visit with Sue … there’s so much loveiness to meander through … and you can always say hello while you’re there!

My card will be joining in the fun at …

Addicted To Stamps And More – Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes (no bling option)

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Uniko – Anything Goes (with Cool Winter Colours option)

Uniko’s 8th Birthday Linky Party – Birthday

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 – #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 – #147 – Inspired By Words

Hello … bonjour … long time no see!  This year has been a busy one outside of blogland and as a result I’ve not been here a great deal, though I have (mostly) stayed in touch with what you’ve all been creating while I haven’t been!  This last couple of weeks, however, have been especially full … and that’s meant there’s been almost no opportunity to visit everyone, outside of my DT commitments.  So, to those of you who haven’t seen or heard from me recently … thank you for your patience and understanding … normal service will be resumed shortly!

I’m here today because our new challenge at Time Out has just started … and this fortnight, we’re Inspired By Words … Dream Big, Be Grateful, Give Love, Laugh Lots.   Here’s where I went with those words …

On a white pierced, scalloped card panel cut with a Winnie & Walter die, I stamped these lovely words and delicate single floral stem from Uniko’s You Are, Yes You stamp set.  The stem was curved to create the sense of a smile … and the flower head balances the offset ‘loved’ in the sentiment.  I coloured the bloom with Zigs, covered it with lots of shimmer and added some sparkling gems to finish off.  The scalloped panel was added to a matching mat and then popped up onto the card base on craft foam.  You can see more of the shimmer here (even though it’s a little out of focus!) …

        

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 with us.  We’re sponsored this time around by Uniko (thanks, Bev!) who are offering our winner, as voted for by the DT, an in-stock stamp set of their choice.  As usual, our winner will also be invited to be our Guest Designer for 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!

My card will be going into the gallery at …

CAS on Friday – Big Sentiment or Word

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour – Anything Goes Optional Botanical

The Flower Challenge – Clean and Simple

The Paper Players – Clean and Simple – Say It Loud

Thanks so much for coming by (especially when I haven’t been doing), your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

       

       

A New Challenge At Time Out – #137 – Nature

Hello … bonjour!  Welcome to a delicious new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight we have a theme for you to play with … Nature … with the option of making a one layer card.  Here’s where I went with it …

This card was inspired by a video I saw recently from the fabulous Carissa Wiley at Sprinkled With Glitter … she has a fun name for using outline images against coloured backgrounds … anti-colouring!  If you like the idea, do check out her post here … it’s soooo worth a visit.  Have  a meander too while you’re there … inspiration abounds!   There are a quite a few examples of this technique across blogland …  though it was Carissa’s colourful cards that really caught my attention.  By necessity, this isn’t one layer … though the stripes (Uniko – Wonky Stripes Stencil) are stencilled direct onto the card base.  I masked the edges of the card to retain a white border and used Distress Inks for the rainbow colours.  The daisy (Uniko – Pure Florals: Gerbera) was stamped onto matching card, I cut it and some craft foam with the matching die (Pure Florals: Gerbera), adhered the two together and mounted the finished, dimensional bloom over the bright stripes.  I added the Simon sentiment and finished with some sparkling sequins filled with shimmery Stickles.

        

How will you interpret our Nature theme … and will you use our optional one layer twist?  There are so many ways you can be inspired by the natural world … we’d love to see what you create in our gallery.  This time around, we’re sponsored by Uniko (thanks, Bev!) … Bev is offering an in stock stamp of choice to a randomly drawn player who uses the one layer 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, Lise from Lise Mariann.  Why not pop over for a visit with Lise … you’ll enjoy wandering through some wonderfully detailed, amazing scenes while you’re there!

My gerbera is going to be blooming over at …

AAA Cards – Birthday … many congratulations on five fabulous years … and thanks so for all                                           your hard work in bringing us so many fun and inspiring challenges!

Addicted to Stamps and More – Clean and Simple

Fusion – Inspiration Picture (Below) … the rainbow colours on those sweet birds!

Uniko – Anything Goes … no masculine option

Watercooler Wednesday – Feminine Anything Goes

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

      

                 

Twofer Card Challenge #13 – Stars

Hello … bonjour!  Our new challenge at Twofer has just started … this time around our theme is positively heavenly … it’s …

… here are my celestial designs …

One of the things I discovered when coming up with ideas for my cards was that there are very, very few starry stamps in my stash … what a serious omission!  What I was delighted to come across was a stencil from Winnie and Walter (my common image) … double delight actually … not only the stars … but a chance to play with stencilling too, something I’ve rarely done.  Here’s a closer look at my first design …

… a star covered birthday gift. Here I stencilled the stars in three Distress Ink colours onto a mixed media panel, moving the stencil’s orientation with each change of ink so that there was no overlapping.  The panel was trimmed to size, I sponged the edges to add definition, did some gentle silver splattering over it and silver heat embossed the Papertrey strings.  The WPlus9 tiny tag was die cut and sponged round the edges … and silver heat embossed with a smidge of the tied string (where it’s threaded through the hole) and with the Uniko birthday sentiment.  The miniscule stars around the sentiment are from Winnie and Walter.  The tag was popped up on foam tape on the package … and the package was popped up on the card base.

My twofer stars …

… a starry Christmas card.  Here, I used the stencil just the once, sponging over gold Delicata ink, stamped tiny silver dots (Winnie and Walter) between the stars and edged the panel with gold washi tape.   The sentiment is from Papertrey, stamped in gold and mounted over silver washi.  This isn’t how this design started out … it was originally one layer … the stars and dots weren’t coralled by the washi but were spilling out across the middle of the card in a playful, unstructured sort of a way.  However … when washi tape that was destined for the bottom edge of the card stuck where it shouldn’t have been and I pulled it off too quickly, my finished OLC was left with an ugly torn surface.  Oh dear (bet you can just hear me saying that!) … what to do … start from scratch or do a rescue job?  I rescued … by trimming out the unstructured spilling out stars and dots and edging them with the washi.  The first version was fun … this one is clean and crisp … and in the end I’d have been happy with either (which is p’raps as well really!).

What comes into your creative mind when you think of stars?  We’d love to see!  All the details about how to play along are over at the Twofer blog … together with with heaps of splendid starry inspiration from the DT.  We’re delighted to have two Guest Designers with us this month … Barb from Barb’s Studio Creations and Cat from Cat Luvs Paper … welcome ladies!  If you’re not familiar with Barb’s and Cat’s fabulous work, you’ll really want to go and have a visit with them both … there’s so much delicious inspiration to enjoy and absorb!  Even if you are familiar, pop along anyway … you can always say hello while you’re there!

My birthday gift is heading to …

Happy Little Stampers Dies – Anything Goes

Seize The Birthday – Anything Goes … without the black and white topping

Uniko – 7th Birthday Party … many congratulations, Bev and all the team past and present!

Watercooler Wednesday – Feminine Anything Goes

… and my celestial sky is joining in at …

CAS Christmas – Peace

Happy Little Stampers Christmas – With Star Option

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

                   

                   

A New Challenge At Time Out – #124 – We Challenge You To Be … Joyful!

Hello … bonjour!  Our fabulous new challenge starts this morning at Time Out.  This fortnight … We Challenge You To Be … Joyful!  There’s aren’t too many things more joyful than Christmas … so that’s where I went with our theme …

I stamped and gold heat embossed the berry sprig and main sentiment from Uniko (Originally Organic, All Occasion Sentiments 4), plus the supplementary sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.  The sprig was coloured with zigs, had the berries Wink of Stella’d and covered with Glossy Accents … and I added a scattering of red gems over the already embossed gold dots.  They appear dark in the photo for some reason … IRL they’re a good match for the berries.  Voilà … a one layer QACAS (quick and clean and simple in Darnell-ese), joyful, Christmas card!

Where will our challenge take your creative imagination … to a joyful occasion, as mine did … to to something bright and happy … to a joyful melody … or elsewhere?  Wherever it takes you, we’d love to see what you create!  This time round, we’re sponsored by Uniko  (thanks, Bev!) … our  winner, as voted for by the DT, will receive a in stock stamp set of their choice … and as usual, 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 inspiration from our wonderful DT … and from our super talented Guest Designer, Chrissie from Simply One Of A Kind.  Why not pop over and have a meander through Chrissie’s blog … she has the most delicious CAS cards to enjoy!

I’m playing along at …

Clean And Simple On Friday – Make A Christmas Card

Inkspirational – Anything Christmas Goes

Less Is More – Holiday One Layer Card

SSS Monday – B Is For … berries

SSS Work It Wednesday – Ho Ho Holiday

Hope your Christmas preparations are coming along splendidly!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂