Double stamping CAS card

Hiya peeps, have you been enjoying the weekend? The summer seems to have returned at least for the time being so that's great. I've spent the weekend helping my sister move - she has way too much stuff, let me tell you! So unfortunately I haven't had any time to spend in the craft room this weekend. This combined with the fact that I've had a total crazy week at work means that I can't even remember when I last would have created anything. Therefore I'm sharing a card I made a while ago, but I really like it so I thought it deserves a post.

For this card, I started by stamping the gorgeous STAMPlorations French Marigold Large in black Memento ink. Then I created a reverse mask by stamping the flower onto a piece of trash paper and cut out the flower to create a mask. I then used the mask to stamp various stamps from Mixed Media Elements to "colour" the flower. To create the sentiment, I stamped various parts of sentiments from Bloom Sketches and Sugar Rush in a slightly unusual layout for added interest. Last, I splattered some ink and added three tiny rhinestones for that final touch.

I am linking up with the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Monochrome
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Mask It
Addicted to Stamps - Flower

Card: 300 gsm hammered card
Stamps: STAMPlorations French Marigold Large, Mixed Media Elements, Bloom Sketches, Sugar Rush
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar, Abandoned Coral, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Adhesive gems from my stash

Welcome baby!

Our first daffodil blooms are out in the garden. In early February! This world is going absolutely wacky. Will this mean the winter is not coming at all this year? Or will it mean it's still coming? I could do with an early spring for sure. I know February is too early to dream of spring, but I could really do with some sun and warm weather right about now. Is it just the UK who are having these unusual weather patterns or are you seeing the same where you live as well? 

I've had minimal crafting time this weekend due to work commitments.  But I wanted to create something for a bunch of challenges which are about to run out, so I managed to squeeze in a really quick crafting session this morning. Unfortunately the pictures came out with a blue hue to them, and I didn't get home until after dark, so no chance to re-take them so sorry about that!

I was inspired by the following challenges:
Freshly Made Sketches - sketch (see below)
Color Throwdown - colours (see below)
Lawnscaping - Sending Love - use hearts or love sentence
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Have a Heart 

Card: 300 gsm white card
Paper: Lawn Fawn Let's Bokeh In the Snow, Let's Polka
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters in the Jungle, Love You Tons, Critters from Down Under
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Abandoned Coral
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies, Wink of Stella Glitter pen

The joy of watercolours

As much as I love all my DT assignments (and in a few days I have another guest DT spot that I'm dying to share with you), sometimes creating for them can be a bit restrictive, particularly if working with sponsor images that you get assigned to. So today I enjoyed the total and absolute freedom of just creating a card based on a few inspiring challenges and then just sitting down with some stamps, a brush and some inks. I love watercolours, they are my current favourite.

Today's card was inspired by a few challenges. First of all I was inspired by this week's CAS-ology cue card, Wings. I immediately knew I wanted to use my STAMPlorations gorgeous hummingbird. I was also inspired by the Flower theme over at Make My Monday. I also wanted to challenge myself by using the colour combo over at ColourQ, which this time was very far outside my comfort zone. I did love the fact that I got to use two of my new Tim Holtz inks, Abandoned Coral and Fossilized Amber. I would also like to link up with Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where the theme is "No ordinary paper". I used my favourite type of paper, watercolour paper. Last but not least I would like to link up over at the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge.

For my card, I stamped the hummingbird in Scattered Straw distress ink, and the flower in Abandoned Coral onto watercolour paper. Then I used Scattered Straw, Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber and Chipped Sapphire to watercolour the image. I created the sentiment by combining a sentiment from the STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches stamp set and a Lawn Fawn die cut. Last, I cut the image using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies and added a few sequins. I do like how it turned out, despite using a  colour combo which was very far outside my comfort zone. I absolutely adore these stamps, and the way the distress paints behave when you use them as watercolours. They blend so perfectly!

Card: Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper, 240 gsm coloured kraft card navy

Stamps: STAMPlorations Stamp Lab Hummingbird and Bloom Sketches

Inks: Tim Holtz distress inks in Scattered Straw, Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber and Chipped Sapphire

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies, Scripty Hugs die, sequins from my stash