STAMPlorations Inspiration

 

It's spring! The start of March surely must count as spring, right? We have snowdrops and daffodils in bloom already, it seems like spring is quite early this year. We are so close to April and May which are my favourite time of year, and I'm excited that there are green shoots in the garden and the sun is starting to feel warm again. 

As it's Tuesday, it's also time for another weekly instalment of the STAMPlorations Inspiration post. This month I'm inspired to create various different blooms on kraft card. I was inspired to do so by a beautiful card I saw on Instagram by @kampakreations. Today's card is a direct CASE of that card and for the remaining Tuesdays this month you will see other ways I have been inspired by kraft.

I started by creating all the different sized layers for this card in kraft and black using my paper trimmer. The top layer is actually some left-over from wedding invites I created for my Bestie three years ago. How time flies! But I digress... Next, I stamped the florals from Shery's beautiful Sweetly set in Versamark and heat embossed them in gold. I inked shades of brown Distress Ink around the edges and splattered brown ink on the card. Last, I added heat embossed sentiments from the same stamp set. I hope my card will inspire you to create something using kraft card. And don't forget to leave a comment on the STAMPlorations Inspiration post for a chance to win a $15 prize code to the  STAMPlorations store.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sweetly

Ink and colouring: Versafine, Tim Holtz Distress Inks

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. And if you use my code you also get to pick a freebie to the value of $7 (for details see the badge below).

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

Happy International Women's Day!!

Hi everyone! Happy International Women's Day!! I want to dedicate today's post to all the amazing women out there who make the online crafting community such a wonderful space. Thank you all of you for being there for each other and for sending wonderful and supportive comments to each other. In all the horribleness that is the Internet and the world in general today, I find it encouraging that we can have this community where we focus on supporting each other and sharing our creativity. I fully welcome all and any men into our community as well, don't get me wrong. I'm so happy we have strong male crafty role models too like the amazing Tim Holtz who clearly has done a lot to also introduce men to the crafting world. But I still think it's amazing that at large, we are a community of women who spend time not on criticizing each other or putting each other down but lifting each other up!

So I admit today's card isn't specifically a Women's Day card, it's, in fact, a wedding card. I used the snowy backdrop stamp from snow cool to create the background for the card, stamping the snow at the bottom and top of the card, heat embossing in gold. I then stamped more of the snow on another card, adding the glasses, bubbles and little heart from Happy Wedding and heat embossed everything in gold again. Then I used the Stitched Rectangle dies to cut the panel, attached it to a doily and finished everything with a die-cut sentiment from STAMPlorations Everyday Sentiments.

I think we should raise a glass in honour of all the wonderful women out in the world, doing their thing whether it be being business leaders, politicians, stay-at-home mums, students, artists or whatever else they feel is their calling in life. I hope you'll join me and send love to as many wonderful women as possible today!

And now I'm off to visit the blogs of wonderful crafty women bloggers out there, and I hope you will do the same!!

I'm playing along with  Lawn Fawnatics - Inspired by a book, movie or a song (Champagne Supernova by Oasis, and how is it that this song is from 1995? how old am I? :) and
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - B is for Booze (sorry no snark this time...)

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Happy Wedding, Snow Cool

Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Stackables, STAMPlorations Everyday Sentiments

Snowflake Flurry

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. You know what is the mother of getting your mojo on for creating Christmas cards? Making your list of people you are going to send cards to, counting the cards you have already made and realising you still need to triple your card stash. Nothing like CAS designs to the rescue - I think I created at least six cards today 

Today's card was inspired by the colours over at House of Cards. I'm also linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is Let It Snow, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Baby It's Cold Outside and Sparkles Christmas Challenge where the theme is Embossing.

I created the background using Distress Inks, splattered with water and added heat embossed snowflakes. The sentiment is a mix of a STAMPlorations stamp in black on vellum and a STAMplorations die, cut from silver and gold mirri card. 

Card: 200 gsm white card, vellum, gold and silver mirri card
Stamps: Stampin' Up Endless Wishes, STAMPlorations Noteworthy 2
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Iced Spruce, Walnut Stain, Antique Linen, Tsukineko Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black
Other: Gold, silver and white embossing powder, CUTplorations Holidays Word die

Don't forget there is still a few days left to use my code STAMPGIRLKAROLA to get 20% off products in the NEW RELEASE and 5x7 STAMP CLUB categories and to get a free metal die with your order from the STAMPlorations store.

October STAMPlorations CAS challenge - Mid-Month Reminder

Welcome to our mid-month STAMPlorations challenge reminder post. As you may have noted, this year we are not doing separate reminder posts for each challenge, but instead doing one inspiration filled reminder post. I hope this will inspire you to play along with our STAMPlorations challenges in case you haven't already (and if you have, the challenges allow you to link up multiple times if you happen to get inspired again!)

Our CAS challenge optional colour twist this month is black, and I thought a black background would be perfect to show off gold splatters and the blingtastic stamps from Sparkly. I stamped the jewels in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, coloured them with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils and added some details in white gel pen. I used an old Stampin' Up stamp to stamp the splatters in Versamark and heat embossed in gold. Last, I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of purple ombre card from my stash.

Card: Black 250 gsm card, scrap of purple ombre card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sparkly, Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grunge

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark and Memento Tuxedo Black, Faber Castell Polychromos pencils

Other: Gold embossing powder

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes.

December STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Anything Goes With Gold

And here we are, starting off the last month of 2017. And that also means starting off our last STAMPlorations CAS challenge of the year. Our optional colour twist is gold, so a perfect chance to get those remaining Christmas cards finished. 

I created a very quick CAS Christmas card, perfect for mass production (which is quite important this time of year...). I started by masking off a rectangle, sprinkled very lightly with Brushos and sprayed with water. After the background had dried, I used my embossing buddy on the background before stamping the beautiful Merry Little Christmas Typografia Christmas and heat embossing it in gold.

Hopefully you will get inspired to join us over at the STAMPlorations CAS challenge. 

Card: 300 gsm Daler & Rowney watercolour paper
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Brushos
Stamps: STAMPlorations Merry Little Christmas Typografia Christmas
Other: Gold embossing powder

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes.

ARTplorations Stencil Hop Reminder

Just popping in to remind you that the ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop is still in full swing. You can find all the info in the main ARTplorations Blog Hop post.

I used the new Christmas Tree 1 stencil to create this year's batch of mass-produced cards. I feel like it's always good to have a big pile to use for neighbours, colleagues etc. I like the cards to be something simple enough to produce in a large quantity and I also want them to be something quite unique and a bit artsy, and suitable for all types of winter celebrations.

Initially, when I started working with the Christmas tree stencil, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Then I thought of layering the stencil multiple times and inking it up with different colours and all of a sudden I just fell in love with it completely and decided the artsy trees were the perfect background for this years' card. And it's so easy to extend the pattern, so I covered a whole A4 sheet with the background pattern, perfect for cutting the squares for the card backgrounds. Then I all I needed was to die cut the Christmas trees in gold mirri card. I also die cut some baubles and stars for the inside of the cards and finished off with a sentiment in black ink. Got a whole bunch of these finished already, and a few more in the making.

Card: Stampin' Up Real Red card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, gold mirri card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Homespun Christmas

Stencil: ARTplorations Christmas Tree 1

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, Twisted Citron

Dies: CUTplorations Christmas Icons - Christmas Tree 1, Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Nesting dies, Joy to the Woods matching dies

Things With Wings Blog Hop Reminder

This is a reminder for the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop which is taking place to celebrate spring and is going on until the end of April. I'm honoured to join in with a bunch of the super-talented ladies from the STAMPlorations DT to show you our creations for this first reminder post for the hop. I hope you will join us by either commenting on the DT creations or link up your own cards to be in the draw to win one of the many prizes from the new spring STAMPlorations release.  

For my second card, I decided to continue with the rainbow colour theme in line with my first card last week. This time I created a rainbow using Brushos. I attached the Shower of Flutters stencil to watercolour paper, sprinkled over some Brushos and sprayed with my mini mister until the colours blended. After the Brushos dried, I stamped the butterflies from Trendy Butterflies which match perfectly with the stencil. I die cut the intricate butterfly and sentiment from glittery gold card - I used a shim  made of a folded piece of paper in my cutting sandwich for the butterfly to ensure the intricate small pieces of the lattice-work popped out of the die cut cleanly. All that was left to do was to add the die cuts to the card. I just love the look you get when you sprinkle Brushos and then mist - you can't plan what comes out and you can never get the same look twice, every card is totally unique.

I'm linking up with the following challenges:

AAA cards - Shiny Spring

Shopping Our Stash - Use Punches or Dies

The Card Concept - Fresh Flutters

Card: 300 gsm Daler&Rowney watercolour paper, gold glitter card

Ink and colouring: Brushos, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies

Stencil: ARTplorations Shower of Flutters

Dies: Flutter Zen 2 Layering Dies, Hello Sunshine Phrase Die

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. If you have any questions or problems, just let me know!

December STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Anything Goes With Red and Green

And so we have entered the last month of the year. It feels like I hardly got used to writing 2016 and we are already speeding through the last remains of the year (to be fair, I still keep dating some of my documents 2015...). Another year coming to an end, another wonderful Holiday season just around the corner. Time off work, time with friends and family, and then that weird and wonderful New Year. A new start. But before we get to all of that, let's just enjoy the bitter sweet last weeks of the year along with a new STAMPlorations CAS challenge. You probably know the drill by now. We look forward to seeing your gorgeous CAS creations, you can link up to 3 cards each month and you can use whichever crafting supplies you would like but we would love to see you use STAMPlorations products if you have any. This month the optional colour twist is very Christmas-y: red and green. 

For my card I decided to use the gorgeous poinsettia from Framed Christmas: Peace, Love and Joy. I stamped the image onto watercolour card in black ink and heat embossed in clear powder. Then I used my Gansai Tambi watercolours to colour the image. To create the background for the card, I stamped the scripty text from Mixed Media Elements in Versamark and heat embossed in Gold. I did the same for the sentiment which I created using words from the Joyful stamp set. I then splattered a little bit of red watercolour over the background before attaching the poinsettia image. Quick and easy - if I already hadn't finished most of my Christmas cards this would have been perfect for mass production. Maybe next year!

Card: 250 gsm white card, 300 gsm Daler&Rowney Watercolour paper

Stamps: STAMPlorations Framed Christmas: Peace, Love and Joy, Joyful, Mixed Media Elements

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Gansai Tambi watercolours

Other: Gold embossing powder, Ranger clear super fine detail embossing powder

Non-Traditional Christmas Wreath

I have been suffering from a weird sub-clinical cold for the last few weeks. I'm not sick enough to slow down, but I'm constantly tired and feel off. I've been thinking I will just shake it off but it keeps going on and on. So I decided to skip the gym last night and head home early from work. Heading home early came with the benefit of finally having a bit of time in the craft room. However as it was already dusk when I got home (despite being home early!) and pitch dark by the time I finished the card (although it was quite a quick card) so I had to wait for this morning to get a picture. 

This card is the amalgamation of inspiration from various places. First of all, I was inspired by the gorgeous inspiration image over at Daring Cardmakers. I was inspired by the colours (turquoise, purple, pink and black) the Christmas theme and all the gold and glitter. I was also inspired by the theme "Shine Bright Like a Diamond" over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which made me add a ton of glitter to the wreath. I was also inspired by One-Layer Simplicity Challenge where the theme is Peace. Last but not least I'm linking up with the CAS Mix-Up Challenge where the theme is Stamping + Masking + Your Choice (in my case heat embossing). 

I started by stamping the wreath from STAMPlorations Joyful and the sentiment from Framed Christmas: Peace, Love and Joy in Versamark and heat embossed in gold. Then I masked the wreath and edges of the card and inked Wilted Violet and Picked Raspberry Distress inks through the ARTplorations Retro Circles stencil. Last, I watercoloured the wreath using Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet for the berries and Mermaid Lagoon for the leaves.

Card: 300 gsm Daler & Rowney watercolour paper

Stamps: STAMPlorations Joyful and Framed Christmas: Peace, Love and Joy

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Distress Inks Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry and Mermaid Lagoon

Other: Gold embossing powder, ARTplorations Retro Circles stencil

August STAMPlorations CAS Challenge - Mid-month inspiration

Welcome to our August mid-month reminder for the STAMPlorations August CAS challenge. Thank you for those of you who have already linked up, your creations are amazing. And there is still a few weeks to join us with our gold challenge for a chance to win a gift card to the STAMPlorations store. The ladies of the DT have got together to showcase some amazing STAMPlorations products and inspire you.

I went super CAS for my card, trying to create a design which would be really easy to mass produce for my Christmas cards this year. I know it's only mid-August, but trust me, December will be sneaking up on us quicker that we think so it's about time to get started. So I stamped the Framed Christmas: Peace Love Joy in Versamark along with a sentiment from Christmas Flower and heat embossed everything in gold. Then I grabbed my Gansai Tambi watercolours and coloured the image. Really quick and easy, perfect for mass-producing. I did create a batch of smaller 10x10cm cards using the same design so that's at least half of my Christmas cards for work all sorted out!

I'm linking up with the following challenges:
CASology - Dream (I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, inspiring me to do a Christmas card)
Just Us Girls - Watercolour (my 2nd entry for this challenge)
Winter Wonderland - Use gold/silver and/or use embossed background

Card: White 300 gsm hammered card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Framed Christmas: Peace Love Joy and Christmas Flower

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Gansai Tambi watercolours

Other: Gold embossing powder

Fun with stencils

Just a quick post before the Culinary Consultant drags me off to the movies. I have been totally and utterly consumed by my job for the last... well... three months or so. Basically ever since I changed jobs. Anyhow, that has meant that the poor Culinary Consultant has been the sole cook, house-keeper and general life manager in the Invisible Pink House for quite a while. So when he wanted to see a movie I had no interest in, I was inclined to decline, but then I realised I really need to be a good girlfriend and actually do something he wants to do for a change, he is more than deserving. Not once has he complained about my newfound work-o-holicism. So off to the movies we go, but before that a quick card.

Today's card is inspired by the sketch over at The Challenge as well as the colours over at Color Throwdown. I was also inspired by the image over at Daring Cardmakers, more specifically about the deep pink/purplish flowers and the gold tray, and the watercolour splatters on my card were inspired by that fantastically awesome spotted chair. I didn't have very much time in the craft room, so today's card really is a super-simple one. I started by die cutting using a stitched rectangle die. I then inked using foam pads through the STAMPlorations Old Rose Prints stencil. I made a mask for the rose, and then moved the stencil to make the roses look like they were overlapping to match the sketch. I started by inking a bit in the middle in Seedless Preserves, then working around that in Picked Raspberry and last doing the outer petals in Spun Sugar. I splattered some ink in the same colours on the other half of the card and die cut the sentiment from gold mirri card. Cards cannot get any simpler than this, I tell you! Too bad it will still be several weeks, if not months before it's light enough for me to manage a photo of my after-work crafting in daylight, so a horribly bad flash photo will have to do, sadly. I love the colours on the card, and they are much prettier in real life, I promise you.

Card: 300 gsm white textured card, gold mirri card

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves and Spun Sugar

Stencil: STAMPlorations Old Rose Prints stencil 

Other: Lawn Fawn Scripty Hello and Stitched Rectangle dies

Watercolour poppies

I'm back today with a brand new card, I think I must be slowly getting over my cold as I was able to create today. I didn't quite get through everything in one go, I had to take a nap halfway through, but at least I did manage to finish the card. This means it's back to work tomorrow, which is good as there has been a bunch of things that have piled up while I've been away. I do feel terribly guilty about taking sick leave. I know I shouldn't, and it's probably good that I'm not at work giving everyone my cold (although to be honest, colds are already contagious before you feel the symptoms, so chances are I have already given it to my colleagues...) and the truth is I probably wouldn't be very efficient in my current state, but I still feel so guilty just wrapped up warm in my bed or on the sofa.

Isn't it funny how some stamps become your favourites almost without noticing? I fell in love with the STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches stamp set because of the gorgeous daisy stamp, but somehow surprisingly and a little bit sneakily, the poppy one has been my most used stamp from this set (despite being quite a pain to colour, not to mention fussy cut...). As the theme over at Fusion currently is poppies, I couldn't resist to play along. I was inspired by the fun sketch over at Mojo Monday (which I interpreted very liberally) and the colours over at Color Throwdown. I also went to look for inspiration over at STAMPlorations CASEplorations. I was inspired by the stunning watercolouring of Deepti's card, and the cool stamping on Monika's card. Last but not least, I'm linking up with the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge.

Card: White 300 gsm card, 300 gsm watercolour paper, gold mirri card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches, Mixed Media Elements 

Ink: Tim Holtz distress inks Abandoned Coral, Antique Paper, Peeled Paint, Tsukineko Versamark

Other: Gold embossing powder, gold sequins from my stash, Lawn Fawn Thinking About You border die

Small Christmas cards and big thoughts

Can I please moan just a little? I've been home with a cold, and it really does my head in. Such a waste of time to not be able to contribute at work, but also not being strong enough to do anything sensible while being confined to the house. I've spent the day just sitting on the sofa/lying in bed (alternating), having checked everyone's Facebook updates, watched bad daytime TV and then finally even cleaned my email inboxes. Going all the way back to the oldest emails in my inbox (which for my Gmail seems to be 2008). Most emails were just Paypal payment confirmations or Pinterest updates, but there were long forgotten email threads from people long gone (as in not dead, just gone from my life), trips already forgotten about and research papers never published. Oh wow what a trip down memory lane. Isn't it amazing how you forget about things. 

And isn't it amazing how those messages can bring back to the surface all the emotions you went through at the time? Some emails were from a time when I was going through some stuff I rather not remember. They made me feel really anxious, in fact so badly that I had to take a break from the email sorting as I was literally (and using the word literally in it's correct sense here) starting to break into a cold sweat. Many of those email conversations have now passed through the virtual graveyard of the trash bin, and been permanently deleted! 

How different wasn't life when people still wrote real physical letters? Of course you could destroy them too, but will there be any legacy for later generations? Will all our correspondence just disappear, digital photos disintegrate back into the bytes they came from? Not that I think there is anything particularly interesting to remember from my life, but what about the much more important people? Will anyone be able to write biographies in the future? Will they just be given access to a million emails, having to sort through the adverts and spam to find the really meaningful stuff? And will anyone write meaningful stuff ever again? Like the letters my Grandma and Grandpa wrote during the war, when he was out on the front line? Will those be replaced by messages consisting of unicorn emoji, smiling emoji, poo emoji? Rant over...

Anyhow, I haven't quite felt well enough to craft today but I did make some Christmas cards earlier. It's my second batch of quick and easy mass-produced Christmas cards. They were fun to make with lots of stamping, and then a quick and easy assembly process. I started by stamping small scenes using stamps from the Stampin' Up White Christmas set, and the the white craft ink dry. I then used a brush to add some Perfect Pearls to the scene to create a bit of shimmer. I die cut part of the sentiment from gold mirri card, and stamped the other part in black to create a contrast. All that was needed was then to just mat the card front onto gold mirri card and a small, square kraft cardbase using 3D foam pads. Without too much effort I had nine cards done in no-time, three of each scene.

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Shopping Our Stash - Light My Fire (starts - they are the same as suns after all...)
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - So Glossy (mirri card)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes
The Glory of Christmas - Add Glitter or Shine (mirri card)
Winter Wonderland - Anything Goes (second entry)
Christmas Cards All Year Long - Oh Christmas tree (it said make a card with a tree on it, not specifically a Christmas tree on it...)

Card: kraft card, gold mirri card
Stamps: Stampin' Up White Christmas, Endless Wishes
Ink: Stampin' Up Whisper White craft ink, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Lawn Fawn Merry Christmas border die, Perfect Pearls

Stampin' Royalty Guest DT - Photo inspiration

I can't believe this is already my third guest post for Stampin' Royalty. Time truly flies when you are having fun, doesn't it. This week we have a gorgeous inspiration photo for you. The colours could not have been more perfectly picked for me! Green and pink is one of my all time favourite colour combos. I absolutely loved making this card. Hop over to Stampin' Royalty to see how the amazingly talented DT have been inspired by the image. Then, please have a play around for yourself and join us as we love to see your gorgeous creations. 

For my card, I was inspired by the beautiful colour combo and the bright pink flowers. I was also inspired by the gold and silver bling in the beautiful jewellery. I started by stamping the large flower from Bloom With Hope in Staz-On onto watercolour paper. I coloured the flowers with pink markers and used a waterbrush to blend the colours. Then I fussy cut the flowers. For the background I stamped the Brushstrokes stamp in Pistachio Pudding. This is such a great stamp, and it certainly has not got all the use it deserves so far. I also die cut two feathers from gold foil. Then it was just a quick job to assemble it all onto a doily, add one of those gorgeous wood veneer sentiments, a bit of silver thread and a few rhinestones. Hey presto! 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes
Fab n' Funky - Flower Delights
Natalie and Amy's Challenge - Summertime
Happy Little Stampers - Sketch

Card: Stampin' Up Whisper White Thick cardstock, Gold Foil
Stamps: Stampin' Up Brushstrokes, Bloom With Hope
Ink: Stampin' Up Pistachio Pudding Stampin' Markers Strawberry  Slush, Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, Memento Staz-On Jet Black
Other:  Stampin' Up Expressions Natural Elements, Silver Metallic Thread, Tea Lace Paper Doilies, Feathers die, Jewels Basic Rhinestones

Fiddly stamp-colouring

It's been a bit of a rough weekend, but thankfully it took a turn for the better today. Lack of sleep really messes with me. But upwards and onwards is the way to go. So I have baked a chocolate bundt cake and a fudge loaf. And made this card.

Today's card is inspired by the absolutely awesome colour combo over at ColourQ. It's no secret I love pink and purple, and gold is growing on me. It wasn't originally my favourite metallic, I used to be a total silver girl. But I have to admit I'm using gold more and more. I was also inspired by yet again a great sketch over at RetroSketches. I'm also playing along at both the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers (poor poor Edna looks like she's had a worse weekend than I did...) and The Card Concept, both with the theme "Get Well Soon" (in the style Clean and Layered for The Card Concept). I also want to link up at Allsorts Challenge because their badge is so delicious looking, and also because the theme this week is to use some purple.

I love the big central panel in the sketch. It was just a question of what stamp to use to fill it. I have made a similar panel using the same stamp in monochrome blue before, you can see it here. But that was a bit easy, so I thought I could colour it with markers in many colours instead, resulting in quite a bit of fiddly colouring. Half way thorough I almost lost my patience, but thankfully persevered as I think it turned out quite nice. I matted it onto mirri card. The banner is made from a scrap piece of card I made using Distress Paints. Sometimes it's worth saving all those scrap pieces, eventually there will be some place where they fit in. I heat embossed the sentiment in gold on vellum and added three adhesive gems to finish. First I didn't like that the stamping was a bit uneven due to the marker colouring, but after looking at it for a while, I think it's actually quite a nice look.

Card: White 300 gsm card, mirri card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum

Stamps: Stampin' Up Fresh Vintage, From the Farm

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Stampin' Write markers Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Wisteria Wonder

Other: Scrap piece of Distress Paint coloured card from my endless stash, Papermania adhesive gems, gold embossing powder.