Two Ombre Feathers

How are you? Did you have a nice Christmas? What did Santa bring you? Tell me, tell me, I would love to hear! I have been in a weird mood for the last few days - we recently came home after a Christmas spent with family and friends back home. I feel like I'm in a bit lost in the haze that covers the days between Christmas and New Year (I'm lucky I'm able to take some annual leave and extend the holidays until after New Years). I feel like all I do is eat and sleep. I just put marshmallows in my coffee, that's how bad it is!! And the worst part is, I'm failing to enjoy the time off as I'm already stressing about having to go back to work on Tuesday. 

Luckily I got my new crafty stash from the amazing Shery over at STAMPlorations so today I feel a bit better after spending most of the day in the craft room. New stash always helps when the Mojo has gone AWOL. I even managed to start my new Journal for next year - I have been trialling what I like to think of as my own version of the Bullet Journal since September and as I feel like a analog journal seems to be working quite well for me I decided to continue in the new year, and even upgraded from a small A6 size notebook to an A5 to give me a bit more room for my weekly layouts. But I have struggled to get started with it - some sort of blank page paralysis I guess. Luckily the crafty stash got me super creative. I can't wait to share with you my first page, but I'll leave that until January 1st. I will also have a great surprise for you relating to STAMPlorations in that post, so please check back as I promise it will make you happy if you are planning to order any of Shery's amazing products.

But enough rambling - today's card is a quick and simple creation using the amazingly gorgeous Two Feathers mask which I have been craving ever since I first saw it in the STAMPlorations store. After Christmas there is a need for thank you cards - so I thought I would get cracking with them. This one goes to my wonderful godparents who hosted us for the last night of our trip back home. 

Sometimes these very intricate masks can be a bit fiddly to work with - there's no way of taping the mask down onto the cardstock. My top tip is to put a couple of tiny drops of Tombow multi-purpose glue (you know, the glue with the green caps) on the mask. After the glue dries, it becomes removable - it's sticky enough to keep the mask in place while inking (as long as you use the foam applicators gently) but it's possible to remove without leaving any marks. Just make sure to only use *tiny* drops of glue. After using Tim Holtz distress inks to create the ombre background I splattered water with a watercolour brush. Last, I die cut the sentiment from silver card using the Thanks word die. 

There aren't many challenges around this time of year, but I managed to find a few to link up with:
AAA Cards - Silver
Just Add Ink - Just Add N (for navy blue)
Daring Cardmakers - Thank You
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - ATG
CAS(E) This Sketch 

Card: 300 gsm Daler&Rowney watercolour paper
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire
Stencil: ARTplorations Two Feathers
Dies: CUTplorations Thanks word die

Artsy Snowflakes

I haven't made many snowflake cards this year. But when I saw the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch I knew I needed to get my snowflakes out of hibernation. Inspired by the CAS Watercolour challenge I made one card with watercolour resist using Brushos and inspired by the CAS Mixup I made one card with sponging, adding die cutting as my choice. I'm also linking up with Cute Card Thursday where the theme is Snowflakes and Sweet Stampin' Christmas where the theme is to be inspired by a song (Let It Snow).

I started both cards by die cutting a panel of watercolour paper using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die. Then I stamped the snowflakes from Stampin' Up Endless Wishes in Versamark and heat embossed in clear powder. Then I used Tim Holtz distress inks in Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire to ink the background of the first card. I then spritzed the background with water with blue Perfect Pearls to give it a more distressed look and make it a bit shimmery. For the second card I sprinkled various blue, turquoise and green Brushos onto the background and spritzed with water with blue Perfect Pearls. I used a larger Stitched Rectangle Die to die cut a mat from light blue Centura Pearl paper. I also die cut the sentiment using the CUTplorations Let It Snow Phrase die from the same Centura Pearl paper. Last, I attached the panels onto white card.

Card: 250 gsm white card, 300 gsm Daler&Rowney Watercolour paper
Stamps: Stampin' Up Endless Wishes
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Inks Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire, Brushos
Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Dies, CUTplorations Let It Snow phrase die
Other: Perfect Pearls blue, Ranger clear embossing powder

Build Me a Rose

Summer has arrived! It's warm enough to be out in T-shirt and sleep with the window open. We have spent most of the day in the garden, and I even managed to get a few windows cleaned. I feel like giving myself a big pat on the back. I also had a chance to play with some goodies from my recent happy mail from STAMPlorations! 

This card was inspired by the layout over at CAS(E) This Sketch and the colours over at ColourQ. I started by inking thought ARTplorations Build me a Rose stencil using Distress Ink. Then I stamped the sentiment in my new favourite ink, Versafine Onyx Black. Last, I stamped the frame and some splatters in Versamark and heat embossed in holographic embossing powder. It doesn't show up very well in the photo but it looks great live. I'm also linking up with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where the theme is Stencil It.

Card: Super smooth 300gsm card
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Inks Aged Mahogany, Festive Berries, Peacock Feathers and Twisted Citron
Stamps: STAMPlorations Floral Bliss, Fond Expressions 2, Art Marks
Stencils: ARTplorations Build Me a Rose
Other: Papermania Holographic embossing powder