Steampunk or Punk a$$

Well I can safely say today's card is way out of my comfort zone. But hey, it's fun to mix it up a bit form time to time, right? The challenge over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is "G is for gears" with a theme of steampunk. I'm never sure what steampunk really is. All I know is it's all about gears and men in top hats. Ok, so gears and top hats it is then! I started by inking up my Tim Holtz Steampunk embossing folder with Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Inks, and ran a piece of cardstock through my Big Shot. Then I inked the embossed gears using Hickory Smoke ink, adding a bit of shadow around the edges using Black Soot. Then I used a brush to add some Perfect Pearls on the gears as well. Next, I stamped one of Tim's Crazy Birds and some paraphernalia from the Crazy Things, coloured it all with Copics and die cut using matching dies. Last, I created the sentiments using Lawn Fawn Violet's ABCs and STAMPlorations Sketchy Alphabet and distressed the edges of the sentiments and the embossed panel. I also added some Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso ink to the edges of the sentiments. I matted the whole shebang onto black card.

I'm also linking up with Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is Make Your Own Background, Little Red Wagon where the theme is "Mainly Manly", Left of Center where the theme is "Big Eyes", Craft Rocket Challenges where the theme is "Feathers or Fur" and  Craft Your Passion where Anything Goes

Card: 300 gsm black card, 300 gsm white textured card, scraps of Tim Holtz Core'dinations card and a scrap of a homemade coloured card made with Distress Paints
Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo, Early Espresso and Black Soot, Tsukineko Versamark and Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Stamps: Tim Holtz Bird Crazy and Crazy Things and matching dies, STAMPlorations Sketchy Alphabet, Lawn Fawn Violet's ABCs
Other: Perfect Pearls, Steampunk embossing folder, black glittery embossing powder, Tim Holtz Distress tool

Chalk talk card

Today is the end of my wonderful Christmas holiday in Finland. We have had such a great time, seeing so many of my friends and family. It has been quite an exceptional holiday to be honest, as I usually don't get a chance to see so much people but this time I feel like I have really caught up with so many. Unfortunately, circumstances conspired against some meetings with life events and winter colds intervening, but there will be other times and other happy meetings. I have seen so many old colleagues and celebrated their successes and so many friends with so much to catch up on. I have seen baby bellies and new apartments. This will keep me going when I head home to my somewhat lonelier existence in the UK. We will hopefully be back in the summer for a stint at the summerhouse, and next winter for a skiing holiday in northern Finland.

This card has just been forgotten in my drafts folder, I made it quite a while ago. There is no exciting story behind it. I was browsing through my hoarded crafting papers and really liked the colour combo on this Stampin' Up Designer Sheet Paper. I stamped the Chalk Talk "A little something for a very special someone" stamp in Daffodil delight on white cardstock, and stamped it again in Pool Party and fussycut the "something" banner. Quick and easy, a card that can be used for many occasions.

I'm entering my card over at Sweet Stampin' Challenges, Crafty Sentiments and Inspiration Destination where Anything Goes.

Colours: Stampin' Up Pool Party and Daffodil Delight
Crafting paper: Stampin' Up Designer Sheet Paper International Bazaar
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Kraft card, Hobbycraft white 160 gsm cardstock
Stamps: Stampin Up' Chalk Talk
Embossing folder: Stampin' Up Vintage Wallpaper
Other: doily ordered online, ribbon from the stash, Docraft Papermania adhesive gem

Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge - Caroling Bunnies

Our extra-long Christmas "Anything Goes" challenge is halfway through over at Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge. It's time for some mid-challenge inspiration to help you get those last few Christmas cards, tags or other crafty creations finished. If you need help to get going, hop over to the Holly Jolly page for plenty of inspiration from the talented DT. As usual there are great prizes to be won as well.

I used the cute Caroling Bunnies digi stamp from Eureka Stamps, one of our sponsors. I coloured the image using Copics. I die cut the image using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling Card die, and inked the edges with Vintage Photo ink. The background is embossed using the Spellbinders Music embossing folder and inked with Vintage Photo. The sentiment is from the Lawn Fawn Joy to the Woods stamp set, I stamped it in Early Espresso ink and dusted with Perfect Pearls. The snow flake is a die cut that I inked with Versamark and dusted with the same Perfect Pearls as the sentiment. I added some gold twine for a final touch. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:
The Glory of Christmas - Anything Goes
The Winter Wonderland Challenge - Fussy and Fancy
Stamp and Create challenge - Anything Goes Christmas
Addicted to Stamps - Anything Goes Christmas

Pile It On - Anything Goes Christmas/Holiday
Ladybug Crafts - It's Cold Outside
Natalie and Amy Challenge - Cute and Cuddly
The Friday Mashup - Sketch
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Name that tune (Deck the Halls "Sing we joyous all together")
A Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas

Card: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card beige and chocolate, Hobbykraft 160 gsm white card
Stamp: Eureka Stamps digi Caroling Bunnies, Lawn Fawn Joy to the Woods
Colouring: Copics E09, E29, E34, E39, R02, R20, YR00
Ink: Tim Holtz Vintage Photo, Tsukineko Versamark, Stampin' Up Early Espresso
Other: Spellbinders embossing folder Music, Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling Card die, All Occasion dies Snowflakes, Perfect Pearls Perfect Bronze, gold bakers twine

Viva La Verve One Sheet Wonder 2

Crafting has taken a back seat for the moment as I'm now back home in Finland for the Christmas. I have a few more Christmas card posts lined up for the next week. It's a bit strange to be so far away from my crafting stuff, and I'm sure I will lock myself into my craft room for 24 hours straight when I get home. But for now I'm focussing on seeing family and friends and enjoying a very relaxing Christmas time.

This is the second of four one sheet wonder sketches over at Viva La Verve for December. You can find my first card here. Very much same theme, same colours and same embellishments. Might give some idea what to expect from the remaining two... But it's almost Christmas so a few quick cards certainly were needed! You can see the from the sketch below that I did exactly what I was told. These cards turned out to be real life savers as I quickly needed a few more cards. 

I'm also entering the card over at Addicted to Stamps where the theme is Snowflakes and Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge where the theme is "Anything that is urgently needed for Christmas" (what a great theme!!).

Card: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake

Stamps: Stampin' Up Ornament Keepsakes and matching dies, KaiserCraft Merry Christmas stamp

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo

Paper: Stampin' Up All is Calm DSP

Other: Stampin' Up Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, All Occasions Snowflakes dies, Stampin' Up Basic pearls

Brown and turquoise moose

Today's card is inspired by the lovely image over at House of Cards. I knew exactly in my head what card I wanted to do. I know I have a reindeer stamp, it came free with a crafting magazine and I have made cards with it here. But despite turning my crafting room upside down, I just couldn't find it. So I had to rethink my plan. And as I have lately, I just gravitated towards the cute little Lawn Fawn critters once again. I was inspired by the sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch, although I took some liberties in the interpretation of the sketch. I'm also entering the card over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Bling it On.

I embossed the card and added ice stickles to the swirls. I used two star dies to cut the star shaped frame. I stamped the cuuuuute moose and Coloured him with Copics and used the matching die. Last I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip and cut the banner ends. I also stamped inside the card.

Card: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters in the Arctic and matching dies, Joy to the Woods

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

Colouring: Copics E29, E34, E39, Stampin' Write markers Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip

Other: Ranger Ice Stickles Mint Ice, Xcut star dies

Viva La Verve one sheet wonder 1

The challenge over at Viva La Verve for the month of December is to make four cards from one 6x6 in sheet of DSP. There is a nice diagram on how to cut the DSP and four sketches, one for each week. I loved the neutral colour scheme in the DT sample, so I decided to go with something similar. I chose to use the Stampin' Up All is Calm DSP along with heat embossed christmas ornaments. This is my first card out of the four. I'm also linking up over at Crafty Creations Challenges where the theme is embossing and at Christmas Card Challenges where there is a colour inspiration in hues of green, brown and grey. 

I embossed the background cardstock and inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink. I cut out the pieces from the DSP and inked the edges of each piece using the same ink. I stamped the christmas ornament in Versamark and heat embossed using copper embossing powder. I die cut the ornament and inked the edges. Last, I die cut and inked a snowflake, and added some pearls. I stamped the greeting on the inside of the card as I couldn't find a good way to incorporate a sentiment on the front of the card. 

Card: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake

Stamps: Stampin' Up Ornament Keepsakes and matching dies, KaiserCraft Merry Christmas stamp

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo

Paper: Stampin' Up All is Calm DSP

Other: Stampin' Up Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, All Occasions Snowflakes dies, Stampin' Up Basic pearls

A little bit of shabby grunge

This card is so not my style at all. I'm very much a CAS type of cardmaker, at least most of the time. But when I saw the amazingly beautiful inspiration card by Julee Tillman over at Viva La Verve Sketch challenge I wanted to recreate something similar. It's nice to go outside your comfort zone from time to time and try different things. I used the colours for that challenge as well, although again they are far from my usual colour palette. Which is great as it allowed me to use up some cardstock that I haven't used before. 

I embossed the blue panel using a Tim Holtz embossing folder. I used a pair of scissors to distress the edges and some sandpaper to distress the Core'dinations cardstock which reveals a lighter shade when distressed. I inked the embossed and distressed panel with orange, yellow and brown ink. I die cut the stars and inked the edges with brown ink and distressed using scissors. I did the same for the sentiment banner and the background panel. The sentiment is from one of my most used sentiment sets, the Paper Smooches Sentiment sampler. I think this card would work well as a male birthday card.

Cardstock: Craft UK kraft card, Tim Holtz Core'dination card in Spiced Marmelade, Mustard Seed and Tumbled Glass

Ink: Tim Holtz distress ink Spiced Marmelade, Mustard Seed and Walnut Stain

Stamps: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler

Other: Xcut star dies, Tim Holtz embossing folder Retro Circles

Fusion challenge - shiny pink

It should be fairly obvious why I love this week's Fusion challenge. I mean it's pink. And shiny. But I also love the juxtaposition of something so stereotypically male as a sports car with the bright pink colours. So I wanted to do the same with my card - use very typical male themes such as cars and steampunk gears but at the same time make it very feminine by using a bright pink colour scheme. And I love the combination of pink and kraft. Usually you see a much more soft baby pink combined with kraft, but I went for a really cold and bright pink instead just like the inspiration photo. I am also entering the card in this week's Pink Elephant challenge where the theme is embossing, as I have used both heat and dry embossing on this card. By the way, you have to go and check out the cool card by one of the TPE DT, Nance, who has used glow in the dark embossing powder. How cool is that?

For my card, I stamped the antique car using Versamark and embossed using Pink powder. It has a nice shiny look that doesn't come through very well from the photo. I dry embossed the background and inked using Vintage Photo and Worn Lipstick distress inks, which I also used around the edges of the car panel. I die cut the star using my new Xcut dies, inked with Versamark and embossed using pink embossing powder. Finally I added a sentiment from Paper Smooches and some adhesive gems. I finished the card late yesterday so it was too dark for pictures, and today I raced the sunset on my way home, and almost made it.

The lovely shine from the embossing powder
 on the car and star don't show very well in the photos
 but it's really nice in real life.

Card: Craft UK kraft card, Coloured 240 gsm kraft card Pink Raspberry, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous The Journey, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz distress ink Worn Lipstick, Vintage Photo 
Other: Tim Holtz Steampunk Embossing Folder, Xcut Nesting dies star, Papermania embossing Powder Pink, Papermania Adhesive Gems Capsule Heather

Shabby chic flower card

If you follow my blog, or even drop in here randomly, it should be rather apparent that I'm a huge fan of crafting challenges. I have to say I'm not a very faithful challenge participant, as I flutter from challenge to challenge. I have a list of about thirty or so challenges I follow, and if I find that week's challenge inspiring, I will open it in a tab in my browser and keep it there until I have participated (or until I realise the challenge deadline has passed and once again I missed it...). This way every time I look at my browser I can have a quick look at all the ongoing challenges I would like to participate in, and find inspiration every time I sit down to craft. However, I think I have gone from enthusiast to addict... I think it's time to admit I have a problem. Currently I have fifteen tabs with challenge blogs open, and I want to participate in them all. I think it's time to accept that I just can't do all the challenges I want to, and sadly have to skip a few again this week. Sob!! But I have combined a few challenges when looking for inspiration for this card.

The first inspiration is the Viva La Verve challenge, which this week is both a sketch and colour challenge. I adore the sketch, and I managed to use some stuff from my stash to complete the card as the pink background panel was originally made for another card but it didn't work so it has been hanging around in my stash box for a while now and I'm sure is very relieved to have managed to finally make it onto a card. I distressed the edges by running a pari of sharp scissors back and forth, and used some sanding paper over the embossed image to distress it even further. I very rarely do shabby chic as I'm more of a clean edges kind of gal, but it's always fun to do something different from time to time.

I am also entering the card in the STAMPlorations September challenge where the theme is Stamps and Markers as the flower panel was stamped and I have coloured it with Tim Holtz Distress markers and a AquaFlo brush. I also sprayed the flower panel with Perfect Pearls for a subtle shine, although it doesn't show very well in the photo. 

Card: Craft UK kraft card, Tim Holtz Distress Coredinations card stock

Paper: Stampin' Up Patterns Stack - Brights Collection

Stamps: The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady Jumbo background stamp (free with the March 2014 issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine), Stampin' Up Tiny Tags

Ink: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress markers

Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Embossing folder Cuttlebug script, Pink ribbon from my stash

Indian summer or early fall?

This week the colours over at Color Throwdown are summery, but in my mind the yellow and orange bring a feeling of the upcoming fall. And looking out the window, that's exactly what it looks like. Leaves are starting to turn just slightly yellow, and evenings are getting dark although the days are still sunny and warm. It's so hard to give up the thought of summer, with dark and cold mornings to come. I guess it mirrors other things that are going on in our life currently, it was warm and carefree and happy and all of a sudden things have switched around and it's no longer all joy and laughter. But all you can do is have faith that just as the fall turns to winter and then slowly back to spring again, life will slowly turn around and get better.

And in the meanwhile, there is always crafting to bring those bright colours back into a drab life! The other inspiration for this card was the Mojo Monday sketch which should be quite evident from the card. Last but not least, I was inspired by the Indian Summer theme over at Make My Monday and wanted to use one of my favourite flower stamp sets, Petal Parade for a feeling of summer and sunshine.

I also stamped inside the card and on the envelope

Cardstock: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Melon Mambo and Pumpkin Pie cardstock, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Paper: Stampin' Up Pattern Stack - Brights collection

Stamps: Stampin' Up Petal Parade, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler

Inks: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo and Pumpkin Pie

Other: Stampin' Up Sizzix Big Shot Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, basic adhesive gems

Flower card in summery colours

I have been feeling a bit weird lately. Not sure what's going on, I just can't focus on anything. If you are following the food blog you know it's been very quiet over there as well. And it's been very simple cards coming out from the InvisiblePinkCraftRoom lately. I have also needed lots of help and inspiration to get going, and thankfully there are all the wonderful challenge blogs out there to turn to. This card is the love child of this week's Freshly Made Sketch and Colour Me... challenge. I do love the Hero Arts Layered Flower stamp, I know I have used it in a very similar way previously here. But I do love the texture and feel of the watercolour paper and colouring with just one marker and a AquaFlo brush is so easy that even my non-existent patience can deal with it currently so I thought why not create another card with a pretty flower.

I stamped the flower onto watercolour paper using Staz-on and coloured using the Stampin' Write Melon Mambo marker and a Aquaflo brush. I used foam pads to stick the flower together, and added some stickles for that lovely glitter effect. I embossed the So Saffron card stock and matted onto daffodil delight. The twine is from my stash, but it matches the melon mambo very well. I didn't feel like I was able to fit a sentiment onto the card front, so I added one inside the card instead.

Cardstock: Leonardo Stationery 350 and 300 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and So Saffron card, Daler&Rowney 190 gsm watercolour paper
Stamps: Hero Arts Layered Flowers, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Inks: Tsukineko Staz-on black, Stampin' Up Melon Mambo ink pad and marker pen
Other: Sizzix embossing folder Swirls, pink twine from my stash, Tim Holtz Distress stickles Worn Lipstick  

Back in the saddle again

It's been a whole week since I've had time to play in the InvisiblePinkCraftRoom. Last Monday I was enjoying Sis' graduation and after that me, my Sis and the Culinary Consultant have taken the Parental Unit for a week of sightseeing of Yorkshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire with a quick stop in Lincolnshire as well, clocking over 900 miles on the car.

So today we dropped the Parental Unit off at the airport, and after a bit of tidying up and loads of laundry (which dried in less than two hours thanks to the amazing weather we have been enjoying) I galloped my way to the craft room. It always takes a bit of browsing to get the good ol' Mojo going again, so I browsed my favourite craft challenges for inspiration. As I've probably trawled through half of this world's challenge blogs, it's not a coincidence that my little card is inspired by a record number of challenges. I'm entering the card in the following challenges

Addicted to Stamps and more - I was inspired by the purple and the basket of flowers

Addicted to CAS - the theme is Celebrate and I think it's always a good idea to have cards that you can use for different occasions when they come up, this would be perfect for a birthday but also for other reasons to celebrate. I love the Paper Smooches "Celebrate" sentiment stamp, the font is perfect and it's just the right size for almost any card

Color Throwdown - the colours for this card are from this challenge: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight and Rich Razzleberry

Freshly Made Sketches (see sketch below) - this is my inspiration for the layout of the card

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenges - Emboss it

Craft Hoarders Anonymous - "Who's the Boss" i.e. embossing 

The two embossing challenges helped me come up with the background to the card, as I'm a bit of a CAS-o-phobe, and embossing on a white background leaves plenty of white space without seeming too "empty".

And last but not least, I'm also entering the card into Less is more where the theme is anything goes. Wow, it's going to take me the rest of the night to link up to all the challenge blogs... but boy does it feel good to be back in the Craft Room again!

I coloured the flower using markers and popped up the different layers using foam dots. I embossed the background and added some gems to the flowers. I heat embossed the sentiment in white to make it pop from the Bermuda Bay banner. Finally I added some stickles to the flower for a bit of extra dazzle.

Cardstock: Leonardo Workshop 300 gsm white card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, scraps of Stampin' Up card in Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry
Stamps: Hero Arts Layered Flowers, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Versamark, Stampin' Write markers in Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight and Rich Razzleberry
Other: Daisy Chain Embossing folder (free with the May issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft), Papermania Seafoam white embossing powder, Papermania adhesive gems Capsule Sunshine, Tim Holtz distress stickles Mustard seed 

Blossom thank you

I was going to craft my way through the Easter break. Somehow I have managed to find next to no time for crafting. Time just flies when you are having fun, eh?

This morning I finally sat down for my Sunday morning crafting session (Monday has to play the part of Sunday this time as yesterday morning was too busy for crafting). I have been planning to participate in the current CAS(E) this sketch but not had time to do it yet. It's a double challenge with a sketch and a fashion photograph for added inspiration. The good thing is that I have had this challenge in the back of my mind for a while, so when I sat down to craft I had a good view in my mind of what I wanted to do with it. I decided to combine it with this weeks Color Throwdown, as the grey on the trousers of the model made it connect really well with the colour challenge. And I knew exactly which grey cardstock I wanted to use, I have a slightly shimmery grey cardstock that was a perfect fit with the grey in the picture. I decided to go for a very literal interpretation of the sketch as it fit right in with what I had in mind, and the colours from the challenge fit in perfectly with the inspiration picture from CAS(E) this sketch.

So here we go, my thank you card. I embossed the grey cardstock, and heat embossed the flowers in white embossing powder onto Melon Mambo cardstock before punching them with matching punches. The leaves are made using the same punches. I added a bit of bling to the flowers, inspired by the glossy textures on the fashion image. Finally, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and used the Picket Fence marker to draw the stitching in freehand around the sentiment for some extra definition.

Cardstock: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm Smooth White Card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Melon Mambo and Pistachio Pudding cardstock (I don't have Gumball Green) and silvery grey cardstock I ordered off Ebay which doesn't have any indication of make on it
Stamps: Stampin' Up Mixed Bunch, Petite Petals, Vintage Verses
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Embossing ink, Tim Holtz Distress marker Picket Fence
Other: Embossing powder Papermania Seafoam white, Stampin Up punches Blossom and Petite Petals, Stampin' Up embossing folder Vintage Wallpaper, Papermania adhesive stones Capsule Red Hot