Sunflowers

This is going to be a complete learning curve for me as I posting this from hubby's ipad, as Saturday we fly off to the US for four weeks. We will be travelling while over there and my daughter said it would be nice if I blogged as we went, and she could see where we were. After arriving in Boston on the 2nd June and stopping for 2 nights we are hoping to visit these places on out trip, Martha's Vineyard, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville and Chicago. Then we will be hopping over the border into Canada to Niagara Falls and Toronto before going back into the US and Boston.
Anyway here is the card that I've made today using the new Sunflower stamps from Chocolate Baroque. I started by taking a piece of white card stock and cutting it to 14 x 14 cms, and then stamping with, one of the small sunflowers all over with versamark. Next with 2 different yellows in pan pastels I blended right across the card. Next I stamped 2 of the middle sized flowers and 3 of the leaves and embossed them with clear embossing powder. The flowers were coloured with the deeper yellow and the leaves with the only green pan pastel I have, this was a little deep so I added a little yellow over the top and then blended together, then cut them out. I mounted the background onto some gold mirri card before mounting onto a green card base. I added the flower and leaves to one corner and then in the opposite corner I stamped the word delight, this was another stamp from Chocolate Baroque.
Thank you for taking the time to look.
Sue

CD Sunday - Old Macdonald Had A Farm

And on that farm he had some horse's Ee i ee i oh. That's the challenge this week over on the CD Sunday blog. While I was looking through my CD's the other week I realised that there were some really nice farmyard pictures on them, and did think at the time it would make a good topic for the challenge blog. So thank you to whoever picked this weeks choice. I've used Joanna Sheen's Times Gone By CD this week, and this lovely picture of the horse's and foal. The colours that I picked to go with it were matched with the colours on the hay waggon, they weren't meant to look so patriotic. I made an 8X8 card base using some red card, and the matted the backing paper onto some royal blue before putting it onto the card base. I made a border with off cuts of the same colours and place onto the centre on the card, and added some corners cut out with a sizzlits Architectrual Accent die. I mounted the topper using the same red an blue, and mounted on an angle. Finally I added a sentiment for Father's Day, this was made on the PC.

Thinking about it, this is the first card I've made using the red, white and blue and although I am a monarchist, and love our royal family I've not felt like rushing out to buy any of the patriotic wares they have in the shops at present, or any of the CDs or kits with it on. Maybe it's because I shall be out of the country for a month from next Saturday, and wont be back until it's all over. Just in time for the Olympics.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

Forgotten Friday - Something Different

This weeks posting for Forgotten Friday is a little different then normal, but never the less I think it qualifies for this. I was asked at the beginning of the week if I had any of the baby shoes that I used to make on my Knitting Machine. For a long time I had a box with pairs in but over the last year and a half it's been dipped into either as gifts for new arrivals or if someone asked if I could make some. Eventually the box ran dry and I had none left, so yesterday I uncovered my knitting machine clean and dusted it off, sat down and made these two pairs. It was the first time I've used my machine in over a year and it took me over 30 minutes just to find the pattern that had been put away, but not with the baby patterns, so I had to go through several files before I found it. I'm not sure that I have time to make any more before I go away next month (only a week to go now, not sure I'm going to enjoy living out of a suitcase for a month), but I am intending to make some more when I return.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

Tulips From Amsterdam

I've had a busy week this week, so I've only just got around to making something for Forgotten Friday, and I'm going to combine it with my second entry into this months Craft A Scene challenge which this month is spring flowers. I've used a previously uninked stamp from Chocolate Baroque from the country views stamp sheet. I wanted to try to give this card a Delft Pottery feel to it, so stamped the image onto watercolour card with faded jeans distress inks. I then took a water brush and moved the ink around a little to give it a bit more colour. I then blended the same colour ink around the edge of the image and stamped a get well message on to a spare piece of card and again blended some ink around the edge. The tulips are a digital stamp from Just Inklined which I sized to go with the image, printed onto some white card stock and coloured with promarkers, I then cut these out and stuck along the bottom of the image. I used a 6 x 6 white card base, and backing paper that came form a box of scraps, again I used faded jeans blended around the edges.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

FYI Challenge # 30 Sunset

The For Your Inspiration blog has this gorgeous picture for their currant challenge, and it was a good excuse to get the Stampscape Stamps and Distress inks out and play.

I also needed to make a card for my Brother-in-laws birthday in June, so I've combined the two. All the stamps were from Stampscapes and all the inks used were Distress inks in varying shades of Yellow and Oranges.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

CD Sunday - Easy Elegance

After being away with MIL and FIL all of last week, it was great to get back to some crafting. We stayed in a beautiful cottage (bungalow) in the heart of Devon, on the edge of Dartmoor. It was so peaceful there, and when you put the lights out, really dark too. The first half of the week was better than the second, although it only rained on one day, it was very overcast and not very warm.

Anyway onto this weeks challenge over on the CD Sunday blog, and it's Easy Elegance. A good excuse to get the Debbi Moore CDs out and play with. For this card I've used two, Pearls and Lace and New York, the Elegant lady is from Pearls and Lace, and the backing paper is from New York. I took an A4 sheet of cream card and folded over slightly more than a third (so the topper would fit onto it). The backing paper was a duo paper, which cut down was just right to put the word part into the card and the pattern on the front, both are mounted onto gold mirri card. The corners are Marianne dies, and the border was from the toppers sheet, I've added lots of bling on the borders and also the corners. Finally I added the sentiment, also on the toppers sheet.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

Spring Flowers

This month the Craft A Scene challenge blog is asking that we create a scene using spring flowers. I've decided to combine the challenge with this card, and make it for MIL's birthday in June. This takes care of another card on my list of the ones I must make before our trip in June. The stamps that I've used for this card are mostly from Chocolate Baroque, the Sunburst Scenes and Country Views and the primulas from Elegant Spring Flowers. The whole thing was coloured using water colour pencils and then I added some cows from Stampscapes using Brushed Corduroy distress ink. I then mounted the scene onto some gold mirri and dark green card, made a sentiment on the computer and mounted this onto the same card. Next I made a backing paper to mount this all onto by stamping the primula with versamark onto white card. Then with yellow pan pastel I dabbed across the stamped images, afterwards I then blended the yellow onto the whole of the card. I finished around the edges by just blending a small amount of orange pan pastel, this I then popped onto another piece of green card and mounted all of it onto an 8 x 8 card base.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

A Nice Surprise

Last week I was lucky enough to win a beautiful new set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque. Glenda the owner was very kindly giving away a set in a random draw on the Chocolate Baroque blog (please do go and check out the wonderful samples that the design team have been making). I have a very bad habit of cutting out the stamps that I buy and then not using then for months, but I was determined to use these once I had cut them out. There is another lovely set released at the same time as these, called Lace Fragments, that compliments this set, but although I have ordered it, it's not arrived yet. For this card I used an A5 white card base, the backing paper is from MCS Quintessential Country Garden which has had Spun Sugar distress ink blended around the edges. The lace is some from my sewing stash which I ran through the Zyron machine to make one side sticky, then I placed this down one side of the card. I made the tag by printing off a sheet from a download that I found here on one of my trips around blog land and then cutting out with Tim Holtz's large label die. I then stamped two of the dress forms onto the tag and coloured with water colour pencils, next I blended Spun Sugar distress ink around the edge of this. I stamped, coloured, and cut out 6 buttons and placed them down the side, then stamped the pincushion first onto the backing paper and then onto some white card. After I coloured the pincushion and cut it out I place over the one on the backing paper. The scissors and thimble where stamped with versamark, and then embossed with gold WOW embossing powder, cut out and place at the bottom of the tag. Lastly I stamped the word Couture next to the buttons, this came for a small set that was with a Debbi Moore magazine, the ribbon came from my stash. I've not added any other sentiment at this stage, as I shall pop this into my box of ready cards.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

CD Sunday - Trees and Shrubs

It's time once more for the CD Sunday challenge and this week it's Trees and Shrubs. An ideal chance for me to get ahead and make a card for later, as in June I shall be away for the whole month. Hubby and I along with a friend are going to be travelling in America. I have several Birthdays in the family that will require cards while we are away, along with this one which I've made for my FIL to give to MIL. It was a good excuse to get out the Thomas Kinkade CD and use one of the gorgeous images from this, plenty of trees, shrubs and colourful flowers. I've made an 8 x 8 card base, and used the largest topper on the sheet for this one, the backing paper was from the florals 2 section. I've used some pink centura pearl card for the matting, and some ribbon and flowers from my stash.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

Forgotten Friday - Playing With Pan Pastels

Another Friday, so it's time again to look through your cupboards and find something that you've forgotten was there. This week I've decided to combine forgotten and new, the new being Pan Pastels which I bought recently while at the Alexandra Palace show. They've been sitting on the top in my craft room waiting to be used. I wanted to play with them a little to get to know what they felt like, and reacted when put onto card.  I can't say I was disappointed, they went on smoothly and blended together  so well. I love them, I now need to get some more, well want to get some more.

After playing a little I made a tag, by using the two purple shades that I have, putting the darker colour at the bottom and the lighter at the top. Next I used the Woodland design a tree set from Chocolate Baroque, stamped the tree in versamagic and gently rubbed what was on the sponge across the stamped image, the versamagic picked up the residue, as you can see it seems to darken the pastels. Next I added some leaves to the tree and some flowers to the bottom of the tag and repeated the sponging.

For my next tag I used Red, Orange and Yellow, working darker to light up the tag as before. This time I used one of the stamps from the Woodland Dreams set and sentiment from Words Of Gratitude, both of these are also from Chocolate Baroque. Again I used the pastels left on the sponge over the versamark ink.

Both of the tags I've mounted onto cards using backing papers from the Essence of Nature CD another great product from Chocolate Baroque. The ribbons are from my stash, the flower on the purple card is made using the Artistic Elements section on the CD, and the flower on the red card I made sometime ago using pages from an old book, distress ink, and a spellbinders die, they were sitting on a shelf waiting to be used.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

Silhouette 3

Last week after I had given my Hubby his birthday card my MIL saw it, fell in love with it, and asked me to make one for FIL's Birthday this week. I didn't want to make one exactly the same so this is what I came up with. Again it's using Stampscape stamps and a mixture of Adirondack and Distress ink pads, with the main image being stamped with Stazon. As it's using Silhouette stamps I'm going to enter this into the Craft A Scene challenge which finishes at the end of this week. This is my 3rd entry this month and I've really enjoyed the challenge of using Silhouette stamps, I can't wait to see what they come up with next month.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue