I am convinced that my newly minted theory about creativity and exercise holds true. They are inversely correlated. I have been more or less living in my craft room this week (apart from the dreary interruptions of work) and lots of cards have been born. At the same time, my trousers are feeling very tight...
Today's card is inspired by several wonderful challenges. First of all it's inspired by the One Layer theme over at Lawnscaping, I do love the stamping and masking technique, and I had a really great time creating this little scene. I was also inspired by the Forest Friends theme over at The Card Concept. Additionally, I'm linking up at Make My Monday where the theme is nature, Inspiration Emporium where the theme is Happy (Happy Fall! in addition to working with these critters and watercolours which also makes me happy), Fan-Tastic Tuesday where the theme is Colour me Autumn and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where the theme is No Pattered Paper. And who would need any when you can create your own scene!
Although the stamping, masking and colouring of the card are quite intricate and took quite a while, it was very simple to make. I always start out by stamping the scene onto a scrap piece of paper to make sure I get the order of stamping right, what is supposed to be behind what. At the same time I stamp and fussy cut all the masks I need. Then I stamped the scene in Antique Linen Distress ink, and used distress markers for watercolouring and creating that no-line look. I only realised at the end that I hadn't even thought about putting in a sentiment, so I just stamped it in the corner in Ground Espresso distress ink, as I thought a black sentiment would be too harsh.
Card: Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine Watercolour paper
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters in the Forest, Joy to the Woods, Violet's ABCs, Happy Everything
Ink: Tim Holtz distress inks
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies
I think there is no denying that we are properly into autumn now. Leaves are turning into those golden autumnal colours, plums and figs are done and the pears are getting perfectly ripe. It's getting chilly in the mornings, I have added an extra shirt on top of my PJs at night and evenings are getting dark by the time I make it home. I know I should be embracing it all, but I just miss the light. Days seem so short now. And it will only get worse. But it's less than 100 days to Christmas, and then it will start getting lighter again! And I know this autumn will bring with it some changes, which is always exciting.
There are so many autumn themed challenges out there right now. And only the other day my order of the super cute Critters In the Forest arrived, so inspired by the sketch over at Viva La Verve I made this little autumn watercolour scene. I so love to watercolour with my Tim Holtz Distress markers, and the colours are so perfect for an autumn card. I made a banner using a Stampin' Up DSP with autumn leaves.
I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Addicted to CAS - Leaves
Make My Monday - Nature
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Use a Stamp and blog hop
Our Creative Corner - Shades of Autumn
One Crazy Stamper - Christmas/Halloween/Fall
Let's Craft and Create -Dies or Punches
Crafting Musketeers - Autumnal Colours
Animal Friends Challenge - Forest Animals
That's Crafty - Lovely Leaves
Viva la Verve Sketches
Card: 300 gsm white linen card, Daler & Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine Watercolour paper
DSP: Stampin' Up Colour Me Autumn
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters In the Forest
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress markers
Other: Lawn Fawn Scripty Hello dies, Stitched Journaling Card die
I have absolutely no idea what is going on with me lately. I am usually up no later than seven in the morning, often I even wake up at six and can't go back to sleep. This weekend I slept to 8:30 yesterday and nine today! It's really weird, I feel like I have slept away half the day. But I guess my body needs it for some reason or other, I'm suspecting I'm fighting off a bug or something as my colleagues have all had a nasty autumn cold, so I'm thinking I will take it as easy as my body wants and hopefully stay healthy. On another revelation, I think I have worked out the comings and goings of Mr Mojo. Last week I didn't go to the gym at all (I know, bad bad me) and I've had a very creative Saturday. The week before, I went to the gym, and was hardly able to create at all. I see a pattern forming here. Clearly the gym is detrimental to my crafting Mojo!
On to more interesting things, like today's card. When I saw this week's colours over at Color Throwdown, I just knew I had to play along. I also liked the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch, and I thought it would be a great idea to combine them into one. I was also inspired by the beautiful multi-colour sponging in the inspiration card from Time Out Challenges. I'm also linking up over at House of Cards where the theme is Stitch It Up, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Die Crazy, The Artistic Stamper where the theme is Things With Wings and Craft and Smash where the theme is clouds.
I started creating the sunset image, and although I wasn't planning specifically to make a sympathy card, that's what it turned out to be. I don't have a very good selection of sympathy sentiments, but luckily I had just received an order from STAMPlorations containing the Lotus Love set which had a sentiment that fit the card perfectly. I created the sky using masks I die cut using the Lawn Fawn Puffy Cloud Borders and Tim Holtz distress inks. For the grass, I used the Lawn Fawn Grassy border die. The flowers are stencilled in black distress ink through the STAMPlorations Some Birds stencils. I die cut the panel using Lawn Fawn Stitched rectangle dies and heat embossed the sentiment in white. Last, I added a few sequins inspired by the sketch. The panel is adhered using foam tape onto hammered white cardstock.
Card: Hammered white 300 gsm card, white 250 gsm card, black paper
Ink: Tim Holtz distress inks Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot
Stamps: STAMPlorations Dee's Artsy Impressions Lotus Love
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies, Puffy Cloud border dies, Grassy Border die, STAMPlorations Some Birds stencil, Papermania Seafoam white embossing powder, sequins from my stash
Good morning and happy Saturday! I hang my head in shame and admit I had yet another play with my spritzer tool. Please bear with me as I get through this phase in my crafting life. I promise it won't last forever. But it's just so much fun! And I absolutely loooove the look it creates. It has given me a new appreciation of my stencils, which have been underused for most of my crafty career.
When I first saw the current sketch over at My Favourite Things I immediately dismissed it. However, it clearly stayed in my subconsciousness. This card just popped into my head as I was laying in bed this morning reading blogs. Actually, it did change it's shape a bit during the creative process, most cards do, but I realised that a Dylusions stencil I bought ages ago would be perfect to create the background for my card. So out came the spritzer tool. I was also inspired by the colour challenge over at Colour Me...! as well as the inspiration picture over at Fusion (any bird themed challenge to me is a reason to pull out those Crazy Birds!!). I'm also linking up over at Addicted to Stamps where the theme is Make Your Mark (my second entry), Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where the theme is Die Crazy and Alphabet Challenge where the theme is P is for Pelican, Peacock or any other bird.
I created the background with the spritzer tool and Distress markers in Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers using two stencils, the Dylusions Shattered and a circular one I cut using a die onto linen textured cardstock (I currently have a huge crush on the look of this pretty textured card). I painted the bird with a watercolour brush using the same markers. I have tried to get my hands on the Tim Holtz stamp set which has accessories for the birds, but although ordering it months ago, I still haven't got it, it seems like there are none left in the world. So instead to give my birdie a graduation cap, I used the Lawn Fawn Hats off stamps set. For the sentiment, I used the Stampin' Up Alphabet Rotary stamp which has proven to be a really useful tool indeed. The sentiments looked a bit anaemic on their own, so I matted them onto coloured cardstock to make them pop a bit from the background. Last, I added some Glossy Accents to the graduation cap. I took my spritzing frenzy one step further and created a custom stencil using the Lawn Fawn Scripty Congrats die and spritzed through it for the inside of the card. I love how making your own stencils really extends the use of your dies, so much bang for your buck!
Card: Linen textured 300 gsm white card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Scraps of card in Navy and Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay and Old Olive
Stamps: Tim Holtz Bird Crazy and matching die, Lawn Fawn Hats off, Stampin' Up Alphabet Rotary stamp
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress markers Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers, Black Soot
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Circle and Scripty Congrats die, Ranger Dylusions stencil Shattered, Stampin' Up Glossy Accents, Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer tool
It's funny how you never know which one of all those weird and wonderful projects you have in your head will work when they are transferred to the real world. Today I made one project that just wouldn't work, no matter how I tried to force it. And then there was this one, which didn't take me long at all to create, but somehow it just turned out better than it did in my head.
If you have been reading a few of my latest posts, you will not have been able to miss the big news that I finally managed to make my Tim Holtz spritzer tool work (after it's been sitting in the back of the craft room cupboard for over a year due to it's users inability to work this highly complex piece of crafting equipment...). I promise I will get over my spritzing frenzy soon... For another card, I had been slightly playing with the idea of creating a tag shaped stencil and spraying through it to create a background, but it didn't work for that one. Browsing for inspiration, I came across the STAMPlorations CASE Playground, where the September CASE was the cutest ever tag from Gail from The Crafty Nomad. By the way, this tag made me realise to my shock and horror that I don't have a single pig stamp. This great injustice has to be remedied immediately.
Anyhow, back to today's card. Inspired by the whole tag idea, in another inspiration post I also came across the beautiful rainbow coloured flower card from Maria, and the amalgamation of the two resulted in my rainbow coloured spritzed background. As I was planning to make a one layer card, I used a linen textured cardstock to add some interest, and a stitched die to cut the front panel of the card. All that was needed after that was just one of the gorgeous flower stamps from STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches and a combination of sentiments from Bloom Sketches and Floral Bliss. First, I was going to stamp the flower onto a separate piece of cardstock and colour it with watercolours and fussy cut it, but I just didn't want to cover up those gorgeous colours. I've said it before and I will probably say it again and again and again... rainbow is my favourite colour!
I'm linking up with the following challenges:
STAMPlorations CASEplorations - September
STAMPlorations - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Love This Technique (stencilling, spritzing - my new fav! and one layer design)
Addicted to Stamps - Make your mark (spritzing done with distress markers)
Mod Squad Challenge Blog - Flower as focal point
Card: Linen textured 300 gsm white card, black 300 gsm card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches, Floral Bliss
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress markers Squeezed Lemonade, Ripe Persimmon, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries, Seedless Preserves, Mermaid Lagoon, Shaded Lilac, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Fossilized Amber
Other: Lawn Fawn Tag Your It, Stitched Rectangle dies
The theme for the new challenge over at the Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge is Buttons and Bows. Hopefully this will inspire you to create gorgeous Christmas related craft projects, and don't forget to link them up for us to admire and get inspired by. If you played along with our "Die cuts" challenge, don't forget to see if you are one of our winners. Thank you to everyone for sharing your beautiful creations, keep up the good work.
As usual we have wonderful sponsors who are giving away prizes. This time our sponsors are Eureka stamps, Melonheadz and Bugaboo. Don't forget to visit our sponsors and if you need some new images to help you get creating, digi stamps are a great, versatile and inexpensive way to grow your crafty stash. Not to mention the benefit of digi stamps not taking up any space or cluttering your craft room!
This time I got to play with the gorgeous Bugaboo digi Make It Snappy Season's Greetings. There is a version that comes with the sentiment, and another version without a sentiment. I chose to use the version without a sentiment and stamped the sentiment from the Lawn Fawn Joy to the Woods set. I coloured the image with Copics, and added Ranger Tim Holtz distress stickles in Mustard seed to the bells. I also added some blue Ranger Ice Stickles to the snowflakes. I matted the image onto some lovely paper from the Stampin' Up Nordic Noel DSP which I think matched the image really well. Then I matted everything onto deep red card. I created a little bow using some red ribbon from my stash, and then added a button to the bow using some Tim Holtz paper twine. I have to admit I only own a few buttons, so there wasn't that much to choose from... Quite straight forward and simple, but very beautiful, at least in my mind.
I am linking up with the following challenges:
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Trees or Geenery
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes
Christmas Cards All Year Round - A Country Christmas
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Anything Goes
Jingle Belles and Shopping Our Stash - Anything Goes as long as you use stash which is at least a year old (button, cardstock, ribbon, twine, Ice Stickles, patterned paper)
ABC Christmas Challenges - R is for... (red, ribbon)
Sweet Stampin' Christmas - Festive Decor
Card: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card in deep red, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Bugaboo digi Make It Snappy Season's Greetings, Lawn Fawn Joy to the Woods
Colouring and ink: Copics, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo black
DSP: Stampin' Up Nordic Noel
Other: Ranger Ice Stickles Blueberry Ice, Ranger Tim Holtz distress stickles Mustard Seed, red ribbon from my stash, Tim Holtz idea-ology paper twine, Stampin' Up buttons Subtle colours
What is a girl to do when she gets home and discoveres there is 1h38mins left on a challenge she was planning to play along with? Give up and look for other challenges? Of course not. Instead she will get into full gear crafting mode asap, and even manage to get a sub-par-quality photo in the fading evening light, and submit the card to said challenge with several minutes to spare! It must be my new Shaun the Sheep shirt I bought and am now wearing. Nothing says inspiration like a shirt full of Shaun the Sheep.
The inspiration for this card was this week's Freshly Made Sketch (but don't plan to play along unless you can create a card in minutes). I was also inspired by the (also soon coming to it's deadline) ColourQ challenge. Third, I was inspired by the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge (which was only published today, so plenty of time to play along with that one!!) which is Love This Technique. I have managed to work in not one, not two, but three favourite techniques. First and foremost, my love of watercolouring. Second, stencilling. And third, my newly found love for the Tim Holtz Spritzing tool (if you didn't read yesterday's post, I have FINALLY mastered the spritzing tool. Only took me a year to get it, duuuuh!). Now that I got it, I'm spritzing away to make up for lost time. I used a lovely STAMPlorations stencil to create the background for the cheery little fellow. Wonder why he is so blue... or should I say purple? Last but not least I would also like to link up with the Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge, where the theme is colouring.
Card: White 300 gsm card, white 300 gsm hammered card, Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper
Ink: Tsukineko Staz-on Jet Black, Tim Holtz distress markers Fossilized Amber, Seedless Preserves, Fried Brick, Victorian Velvet
Stamps: Tim Holtz Bird Crazy and matching dies, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles, STAMPlorations Tribal stencil, Tim Holtz Spritzer tool
