Stenciled One Layer Card

My goodness two posts in one day is highly unusual for me, but I did have great fun getting inky today! Recently Charlene sent me a couple of gorgeous Hero Arts stencils (thanks again Charlene:)) and for this card I used the Large Lotus Pattern.

Stencil (Hero Arts) - Large Lotus Pattern
Stamp set (Hero Arts) - Everyday Sayings

I applied distress inks (dried marigold, spiced marmalade, barn door, shabby shutters and mowed lawn) to a cream card and left the stencil in place. After the ink had dried I padded VersaMark on the image and then heat embossed using enchanted gold embossing powder.

The sentiment was also embossed, this time in gold. A while ago my friend Trinh sent me lots and lots of pretty sequins in a lovely mix of colours (thanks again, Trinh:) ) and because of the gold bits and pieces I had already used, I thought the gold sequins would be the ideal embellishment for this card.

I'm submitting this card into Hero Arts One Layer Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Emboss It Challenge.

There's No One Like My Favourite Artist

Unfortunately, I can't draw but I did ask my favourite artist, my son Mark, to draw some quirky images for my cards and I'm delighted with what he came up with!

Dog image - by Mark
Stamps - Critters at the Dog Park (Lawn Fawn) & Woodland Creatures (Hero Arts)

One of the first images he drew for me was this dog that I just love. After colouring the little guy with ProMarkers I added some glossy accents to his eyes and nose. For the oval panel I die cut some grass and added it to the blue background. The bones and paw prints in the background and the sentiment were embossed. To finish I just added a couple of enamel dots to the sentiment panel.

I'm submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp Emboss It Challenge.

Butterfly Birthdays

This morning I still had a Hero Arts Butterfly die on the table and couldn't resist making another butterfly card using this die. I love the dramatic colour combination on monarch butterflies so went with these colours on this card.

Die (Hero Arts) - Butterfly
Stamp (Hero Arts) - It's Your Day

I started by die cutting the butterfly in black. Then I applied distress inks (dried marigold, spiced marmalade and barn door) to white card and die cut the wing pieces from this and scraps of white card. After the pieces were inlaid into the black butterfly I placed it on an embossed panel and added some enamel dots and the sentiment.

Last night I also made a butterfly card using the same die for a fun scramble Judy hosted over at the Hero Arts Flickr Group. Judy's theme was to make a card using pastels but also to add touches of black. Whenever I've made pastel coloured cards in the past I've always stuck with white or pale colours, so it was great to try out Judy's theme and see all the wonderful creations everyone came up with. Now I'll definitely put black with pastels more often. You'll find all the cards here.

Die (Hero Arts) - Butterfly
Stamps (Hero Arts) - Solid Dots Pattern & It's Your Day

To start with I embossed the sentiment on the background and then embossed the dots with a stamp that Marilyn had sent me (thanks again, Marilyn:)) I used stardust embossing powder which has given a lovely sparkle to the card but is impossible to photograph!

As we were restricted to 90 minutes last night (and I'm a very slow cardmaker!) I just added pastel pieces to the main body of the butterfly and left out the small dots all around the edges of the butterfly. Also in my haste I managed to poke holes in a couple of pastel body pieces but sure a scramble wouldn't be a scramble for me without those kind of mishaps! For my touches of black I added some enamel dots and a black mat.

I'm submitting these cards into Simon Says Stamp Emboss It Challenge. Hope you are having a lovely and inky weekend. I'm hoping to get inky again later with some fun images my son Mark drew for me. I asked him to draw some quirky images for me to put on cards and now I can't wait to play with them!

ATC Trade with Jutta

Recently for an ATC swap over at the Hero Arts Group on Flickr I made a couple of ATCs and ATC backgrounds to swap with Jutta.

Jutta picked a theme (shabby chic or vintage collage), I picked a theme (favourites) and we were to make a background for the other to complete. I ended up making two backgrounds and was undecided about which one I should send to Jutta, so ended up sending both.

For the shabby chic ATC I embossed the image on cream card and applied a mix of distress inks (shabby shutters, broken china and tumbled glass). Then I embossed the butterfly on cream card and applied antique linen distress ink. After that I just added some Hero Arts lace ribbon and lots of pearls to hopefully give the card a shabby chic look.

Stamp (Hero Arts) - Greetings

Next up was the favourites theme and I had fun with some fabric from my stash and sticky back canvas that my friend Linda gave me - thanks again, Linda:) I stamped the Old Letter Writing on Fabric and after stamping the flower on sticky back canvas coloured it and cut it out. To add a little more texture, I lightly frayed the edges of the image. Some stickles and a gem were added to the flower centre. The sentiment was also stamped on sticky back canvas - love that stuff!

Stamps (Hero Arts) - Old Letter Writing, Flower Text and Be Happy

Next up are the two backgrounds I made for Jutta to complete. For the first one I again used some fabric (which I think in real life looks nicer than in the photo!) and embossed the flowers in copper.

Stamp (Hero Arts) - Exotic Bloom

For the second background I used a gorgeous set called Together that Laura had sent me as part of her scramble prize - thanks again, Laura:) I applied distress inks (broken china, faded denim and dusty concord) to white card and spritzed with water. After the background was dry I stamped a couple of images from the set.

Stamp set (Hero Arts) - Together

Jutta sent me this fabulous set of ATCs using a wonderful mix of images. Thanks again for swapping with me, Jutta:)

Love Tangle

I thought that the antlers on the cute little moose from the Missing You set were calling out for something to be tangled on them. Hopefully for some of my Christmas cards I'll dangle Christmas lights on them, but for the moment the moose is tangled in love.

Today I ended up making two cards, a mini one which is 3 inches square and a normal sized one. They are basically the same card but there's a little difference in the hearts.

Stamps (Hero Arts) - Missing You & Celebrate Everyday

To start I stamped the moose and then the sentiments. The moose were coloured with ProMarkers and to make the images/sentiments pop a bit more I went over the outlines with a fine tipped felt pen.

Stamps (Hero Arts) - Missing You & Celebrate Everyday

Then I stamped the hearts and added some hand stitching using embroidery thread. To finish I added glossy accents to the eyes and on one heart a bit of colour and some diamond stickles.

I'm submitting these cards into Hero Arts One Layer Challenge and A Blog Named Hero One Layer Challenge.

One Layer Get Well Card

Because of Hero Arts One Layer Challenge I've gone from never really making one layer cards to thoroughly enjoying trying to come up with ideas for these type of cards.

I don't seem to be able to put the Large Petal Background away for very long before I want to ink it up again, so here I go with yet another card using this stamp!

Stamps (Hero Arts) - Large Petal Background and Everyday Sayings

For this one I die cut a square out of a piece of scrap paper and used the sheet of paper as a mask when I applied VersaMark to the card front. After embossing the image I again used the scrap paper as a mask and applied a variety of distress inks (barn door, spiced marmalade, mustard seed and peacock feathers) to the card. Once the mask was peeled away again, I drew a frame around the image with a fine tipped felt pen and then stamped the sentiments. When I make cards I usually end up adding bits and pieces but this time showed a little restraint and only added stickles to parts of the image. I find it really hard to take photos of anything glittery so the photo below doesn't really show the full shimmer on the card but gives a little idea of what it's like.



As I used a clear stamp and diamond stickles which is fairly clear, I'm also submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp Let's Be Clear Challenge.

Butterfly Hello

I enjoyed making this shaker card the other day so wanted to make another one today using a pretty Memory Box die (thanks again, Linda!) and a couple of Hero Arts stamps.

Die - Isabella Butterfly (Memory Box)
Stamps - Be Happy & Messages With Flourish (Hero Arts)

I started by making a black card and embossing the sentiment. After cutting the butterflies out of a panel, I layered a strip of acetate to the back of the panel and partially adhered the butterflies' bodies. A coat of glossy accents was applied to the bodies and the stamped butterfly trails were added.

To make the colourful backs for the butterflies, I applied various distress inks (broken china, tumbled glass, mowed lawn, shabby shutters, spiced marmalade, worn lipstick and spun sugar) to white card and splattered/spritzed the card with water. Clear glass beads were trapped between the acetate and backing layer. After adding the panel to the card, I adhered strips of baker's twine to the sides.

I'm submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp Let's Be Clear Challenge ( I used clear beads, acetate, glossy accents and clear stamps) and Virginia's View Die Cut Challenge.

One Layer Thank You

This card started out as a way of trying out some gorgeous green and blue Faber-Castell pencils that my friend Trinh had sent me - thanks again Trinh:)

I had never used Faber-Castell pencils before and I have to say I love them. They blend so well and I love the triangular shape and grip dots which make for a very comfortable and firm hold. Lol even thought I'm not, I'm beginning to sound like an ad for Faber-Castell - I just like to say when I find a product that works really well.

Stamps (Hero Arts) - Large Petal Background & Type

To start with I stamped the Large Petal Background on kraft card, drew a frame around it with a fine tipped felt pen and then stamped the sentiments around the image as another frame. Then the colouring fun began. As with this card, I did all my colouring while watching World Cup matches the other evening. I didn't set out with any particular colour scheme in mind so just added in colours I already had to the greens and blue that Trinh had sent me. Then I added white gel pen to parts of the image. The black ink seemed to fade a little into the kraft card so I again used my fine tipped felt pen to go over most of the outlines and also the sentiment.

I'm submitting this card into Hero Arts One Layer Challenge and A Blog Named Hero Color It In Challenge.

I Ruff You Shaker Card

I haven't made a shaker card in a long time but wanted to make one using two cuties from the super cute Critters at the Dog Park set by Lawn Fawn.


Stamp - Lawn Fawn Critters at the Dog Park
Dies - Lawn Fawn grassy border and Spellbinders picot edge circles

To start with I die cut a circle of blue card, stamped the sentiment and die cut the grass piece using Lawn Fawn's grassy border die. After stamping and cutting out the dogs, I coloured them with ProMarkers and added a few dotty highlights with a white pen before tucking them in behind the grass. Then I punched out lots of hearts and added the top layer of acetate and a ring of card to contain the hearts.

I die cut two Nestabilities picot edge circles to make the card base, scored a line across the the back circle about 1/4 inch down from the top of the solid base. Adhesive was added above the scoreline before sticking it to the card front. I'm submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp Shake It! Challenge and Virginia's View Die Cut Challenge.

I wish I could say this is a photo from my own garden, but it's a photo from the 18th century walled garden in Russborough House which I visited with my Mum yesterday.

The house isn't far from us and I've visited it many, many times over the years but this was the first time I've ever seen the walled garden open. Seemingly it's open every Wednesday and Saturday between April and September - it's well work a visit. We had a lovely time strolling around the garden looking at the various trees, shrubs, flowers and fruits. The walled garden is being brought back to its former glory by a group of volunteers who are doing an amazing job. I'm half thinking of volunteering as I couldn't think of a nicer spot to while away some hours gardening.

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Hope you are having a wonderful weekend too!