Colourful Swallowtail

The current challenge over at CAS Watercolour is Colourful Butterflies. My absolute favourite butterfly stamp is this old Swallowtail stamp from Stampin' Up which I feel I can use over and over and over, and constantly find new ways of using it. This time I decided to use the faux watercolour technique. 

I coloured the stamp with Tim Holtz Distress markers and spritzed it with water before stamping onto watercolour paper. The first time, I didn't quite manage to place the stamp as I wanted it, so I used that first attempt for my tag, die cutting it with Stitched Tags Nesting Dies. I heat embossed a sentiment in white using STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies 2 to the tag. 

My second attempt at stamping the swallowtail turned out better as I was patient enough to ensure even pressure all across the stamp and really pressing it into the paper before removing it. I added a sentiment using STAMPlorations Happy Birthday and splattered some ink onto the white space for added interest.

I'm also linking up the card over at Cardz4Galz where the theme is Wings, Seize the Birthday where the theme is Butterflies and Stamping Sensations where the theme is Things with Wings.

Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail, STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies 2, Happy Birthday

Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine, Tim Holtz Distress Markers

Dies: CUTplorations Stitched Tags Nesting Dies

Flying high for my 500th post

It's been a totally insane few days with so much work that I don't know what to do with it all. But I also got to enjoy great food with good friends, and there's plenty more of that to come as I'm enjoying a week of annual leave with the plan to spend quality time with family and friends and hopefully enjoy some sun (responsibly while fully covered up and drenched in sunscreen after my recent mishap which left me with skin peeling off my shoulders).
Also, in all this excitement I almost missed the fact that this is my 500th post! If I had realised a bit sooner I would have planned a bit of a bash or something but as with so many other things in life it just sneaks up on you and you just have to roll with it.

Today's card was inspired by the gorgeous colours over at ColourQ. I was also inspired by the Things With Wings challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge and I'm linking up with The Crafter's Cafe where the theme is CAS and Creative With Stamps where the theme is Ink Splatters.

I started by stamping the gorgeous swallowtail in Versamark and heat embossed in gold. Then I coloured the butterfly with Gansai Tambi watercolours and splattered some colour all over the card after masking the swallowtail. Last I stamped a sentiment fromnSTAMPlorations in Versamark and embossed in gold powder.

Card: 300 gsm watercolour paper
Stamps: STAMPlorations Art Mark s, Stampin' Up Swallowtail
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Versamark, Kuretaki Gansai Tambi watercolours
Other: Gold embossing powder

Posted with Blogsy

The swallowtail is back

If you read my post yesterday you know I went through a bit of a creative dry spell which I resolved by making loads of Distress Paint backgrounds. This is the second card resulting from those panels I created. This card was inspired by the colours over at ColourQ and I love how the pink and blue blend to make the most gorgeous lilac colour. I didn't want to cover the beautiful background too much so I thought I would just stamp the gorgeous Swallowtail from Stampin' Up and heat emboss it in white. Then I die cut the Happy from the Stampin' Up Hello You die set in kraft card, and last I stamped and embossed the Birthday from a Lawn Fawn set. Very clean and simple and another card that looks and feels like me. It's been a while since I used my Stampin' Up stash, but it was a nice change!

To create the background I daubed Distress Paints onto my craft mat, sprayed with water and swooshed my watercolour paper in the paint. Well, when I say craft mat, I actually use a reusable Teflon cooking mat. It seems to do the job just fine. Also, the best way to clean off dried paint from the mat I use alcoholic hand cleaner which I keep in my craft room to clean off my acrylic blocks. It seems to work really well. Just thought I would share these tips if anyone finds them useful.

I am linking up with the following challenges:
ColourQ - colours (see below)
Fantasy Stampers - Happy Birthday
Happy Little Stampers - Smooshing
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Creative Fingers Challenge - Anything Goes
PDE Linky Party - Anything Goes
Winter Wonderland - Spring Is In the Air

Card: 300 gsm watercolour card, kraft card
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Paints Broken China,Picked Raspberry, Spun Sugar
Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail, Lawn Fawn Happy Everything
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stampin' Up Hello You dies, Papermania Seafoam White Embossing powder

Summery swallowtail get well soon card

What a great weekend it's been. The ever so elusive sun has not been shy, and it almost feels like summer! Yesterday we bought a huge pile of strawberries, and I was planning on freezing some of them. However, by some mysterious power, they are almost gone already... I wonder who comes into my kitchen and eats my strawberries? Today we took the bikes out for a ride around the reservoir. I keep forgetting we live so close to great biking routes, although that was one of the reasons we did move out into the countryside. Anyhow, it was great to enjoy the sun and the wind in my hair. I could have done without the swarming insects that made their way up my nose, into my mouth and inside my Oakleys. Now I can't wait to dine on the leftovers from yesterday's BBQ.

With all the other stuff going on I'm not quite sure where I found the time to craft, but this weekend has seemed so blissfully long. So I did manage to steal some time in the craft room. I was inspired by the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch as well as the colour challenge over at ColourQ. Although I didn't have the Stampin' Up colours Island Indigo or Hello Honey, I did manage to find very close matches from the Tim Holtz Distress colour palette as two of the new colours, Fossilized Amber and Mermaid Lagoon, are very similar. And it was a great reason to get to use these new gorgeous colours. I was also inspired by the butterfly theme over at Addicted to CAS. I'm also linking up over at Addicted to Stamps where the theme is Make Your Mark (as I coloured the butterfly using markers). Last but not least I'm linking up with Just Us Girls where the theme this week is Summer.

I think this swallowtail stamp is one of the most gorgeous I have ever come across. I keep going back to it over and over. For the card, I cut out the two white panels and stamped the swallowtail in black ink. I then heat embossed it with clear powder, and coloured using markers. Then I realised I don't have matching cardstock to the Mermaid Lagoon and thought I would have to scrap the whole idea of the card I had in my mind, until I realised I have white cardstock, I have the ink pad and a foam applicator for the ink - and hey presto, Mermaid Lagoon coloured cardstock for matting. Such a simple solution but it took my two brain cells a while to get there... I used two sentiment from Lawn Fawn Scripty Sayings, one of my favourite sentiment sets at the moment and stamped them in black. Last, I inked up the Gorgeous Grunge stamps using markers and stamped splatters all over. 

Card: 300 gsm white card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail, Gorgeous Grunge, Lawn Fawn Scripty Sayings
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Inks Fossilized Amber, Mermaid Lagoon, Ripe Persimmon
Other: Ranger Ultra Fine Clear Embossing Powder

Butterfly on crumpled vellum

Well it was the usual exciting drama on the way home from work... "Will I ever be able to change up to second gear, or will it be 27 miles in first gear?" Despite everyone and their best friend heading home at the exact same time as me, I eventually made it home to enjoy the beautiful warm sunshine and a glass of that cold very British drink you have on the lawn.

Then it was time for the pleasant part of Friday - crafty time. I absolutely love this week's colours over at Colour Me. I was also inspired by the Butterfly theme over at Friday Mashup. I was going to do the mashup of butterflies and lace, but I just couldn't find a place for the lace in the end, so this time it's just butterflies. I'm also linking up over at Make My Monday where the theme is Things With Wings and Creatalicious Challenges where the theme is Butterflies.

For the card, I started with inking a piece of vellum using Peeled Paint, Peacock Feathers and Squeezed Lemonade distress inks, and spraying with a mister. After drying the ink, I crumpled the vellum to give it some texture. I used the Lawn Fawn Stitched rectangle dies to die cut a frame from Bermuda Bay cardstock. I stamped the gorgeous Swallowtail stamp in Versamark and heat embossed with white powder, and coloured from the back of the image using Sharpies. I like using Sharpies for colouring vellum as it gives a bright enough colour to show beautifully through the vellum. The sentiment didn't turn out quite as I wanted it, I would have wanted to stamp the "hello" onto the vellum background, but I should have thought of that before crumpling up the vellum... So I had to come up with an alternative solution.

Card: Dovecraft premium 110 gsm vellum, Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay and So Saffron

Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress inks Peeled Paint, Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade, Versamark

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies, Stampin' Up Hello You die, Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder

Golden butterfly

This whole malarky of selling things on Ebay is so overrated. I finally admitted I will probably never be able to fit into some of my dresses and decided I might as well try to find them a new home. But after all the work of photographing, writing up ads, and folding everything up into envelopes and adding addresses, re-issuing payments with different postage fees etc. I recon I didn't even make minimum pay for my time. Oh well, hopefully someone else will love those dresses so at least they ended up somewhere useful instead of a landfill.

As I have spent most of my day folding up dresses and stuffing them into envelopes, the crafting today was a quick clean and simple card. I used the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for inspiration. I was also inspired by the butterfly theme over at House of Cards and the gold theme over at CAS on Sunday. I heat embossed the lovely Swallowtail stamp and I also stamped it in Versamark over the front and back of the card. I love the way Versarmark looks on kraft card. I'm also linking up at Clear It Out where Anything goes this week. 

Card: kraft card, mirri card

Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Journal Card, Papermania Enchanted Gold embossing powder, Stampin' Up Hello You die

Pink butterfly

I'm so happy the sun is shining again today. This is at least the third day in a row with bright sunshine, and it just makes everything so much better. I love the way our house looks when there is light streaming in from every direction. And we are planning to tackle some stuff in the garden today as well, we didn't get around to doing all the necessary clearing up bits last fall so it looks quite a mess right now. 

I was also busy getting my photo blog up and running yesterday. So far there is only two pictures on there but I'm hoping there will be more in the future. Not quite sure how I will fit gardening, crafting and photography into my free time, but I'm sure I will somehow. If only I would win the lottery so I could skip the going to work-bit which unfortunately drains time from the stuff I love to do. 

But enough about everything else, and onto today's card. The card is inspired by the inspiration photos over at Just Add Ink and Time Out challenges. From the JAI photo I was inspired by the pink and teal butterfly and the concentric black circles. However, I didn't have any appropriate dies to make circular frames, so I was inspired by the overlapping rectangular frames in the Time Out photo to create the layout of my black frames. Looking at the photo, I should have shot the card against a white background and not used the blue paper for a background, now it looks like the blue background is part of the card, which it's not. I'm also linking up over at STAMPlorations where the March theme is Stencils & Stamps, Crafty Catz "A song to match your image" (Butterfly by Crazy Town), Creative Corner "Nature Inspired" and Allsorts "Spring is in the air".

Card: white 300 gsm card, black 240 gsm coloured kraft card, Stampin' Up Bermuda bay card

Stamp: Stampin' Up Swallowtail

Ink and colouring: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Blendabilities Melon Mambo and Coastal Cabana, Tim Holtz distress inks Peacock Feathers and Picked Raspberry

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched rectangular dies, Stampin' Up Hello You die, Simon Says Stamp stencil

Butterfly bonanza

This set of birthday card and home-made wrapping paper were all made to match. I saw the tutorial on how to make the flowers using the Stampin' Up blossom punch here and wanted to give it a try. In addition, I had a few swallowtails I had stamped, embossed and coloured earlier. The swallowtail works so well in every card I have made with it, it brings that extra something. I love colouring the stamp, this time I did it by sponging distress ink. I embossed the background for the card using a Cuttlebug embossing folder

To make the wrapping paper, I stamped a big and smaller swallowtail stamp and stamped using Tim Holtz Distress Embossing ink and dusted with Perfect Pearls powder onto basic brown wrapping paper. This gives such a beautiful, subtle effect. The pictures really don't do it justice as the shiny powder doesn't quite show up on photos as beautifully as it does in real life. Also, to get the best result, you should only stamp one stamp at a time, add the perfect pearls and then go on to stamping the next stamp. If you stamp all the butterflies and then start adding the powder, the ink will have dried and the powder won't stick anymore.

To further snazz up the wrapped present, I added two yellow ribbons from my stash and stamped the Chalk Talk stamp and fussycut it. I also inked a doily and attached another swallowtail I had coloured. 

I would like to enter the following challenges: 

Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - For the Girls

Incy Vincy Designs - Punch or Die Cut (flower punch for the flower)

My Craft Creations - Anything Goes

Perfectly Rustics Design Challenge - Wings

Through the Purple Haze - Flowers

Vintage Stamping Challenge - Bring on those Spring Colours

Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge Blog - Anything Goes with a twist: wings

Crafty Calendar Challenge - Anything Goes 

Cardstock: Hobbycraft three shades of yellow 160 gsm cardstock, Hobbycraft white 160 gsm cardstock, Craft UK kraft card
Inks: Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers, Pumice Stone, Shaded Lilac and Squeezed Lemonade, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain distress inks, Stampin' Up Markers in Bright colours
Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail and Chalk Talk, Hobbycraft Butterfly clear stamp, Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Sketch CMS131
Other: Cuttlebug embossing folder textured script, Ranger Perfect Pearls in Interference Blue, Interference Green, Interference Red and Interference Violet, Papermania tinsel silver embossing powder, Stampin' Up Blossom Punch, doily and yellow ribbon from my stash, brown kraft wrapping paper

Kick start CASEing

There is a great new Stampin' Up challenge blog called CASEing the Catty. I've been meaning to make something for each of the challenges, but then there's always been other projects getting in the way. This week, I haven't had any time to craft as I had some lovely visitors from back home. Taking a few days off from crafting has certainly put a dent in my mojo, and there is no better way to get going again than to CASE something (CASE stands for Copy and Share Everything). The idea for the challenge is that you find a card for inspiration from the current Stampin' Up catty and either directly re-create it, or use it as inspiration for something you are making. This week the theme for the challenge is "Card Giving" which covers pages 102-143 in the current catty. 

Stampin' Up Annual Catalogue 2014-2015 page 126 

I found a project on page 126 which is originally made using the Regarding Dahlias stamp which I love but don't have. I think the card is very impressive although it's rather simple. So I decided to use a stamp I have with a similar feel to it, the lovely Swallowtail stamp. I decided to stick with the yellow colour scheme as this week's Colour me... challenge is monochromatic yellow (neutrals are also allowed).

 I stamped the image and heat embossed it with fine clear embossing powder. For the sentiment I selected a stamp from the Chalk Talk set. I haven't bought any of the gold baker's twine, so I settled for the next best alternative, some yellow baker's twine from my stash. I also stamped a part of the swallowtail inside the card, and made an envelope inspired by the one in the pic from the cattie.

I absolutely adore the Stampin' Up cattie, it is such a great source of inspiration. I think it's easy to think you aren't artistic enough to create your own cards, but there are so many ways of finding your own creativity and CASEing other's ideas (and giving due credit to the originals of course) is the best way to get started. Once you get a bit more sure of what you are doing, you will find your own style as well, but for a quick card there is nothing like browsing some good craft blogs/challenges/catties and then just get stamping. I also think it's important to keep in mind that you don't need a crazy stash of things to get going, a few well chosen stamps and ink pads with white cardstock and some ribbon or other small accessories will get you far when you mix them up with your imagination.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm Smooth White Card
Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail, Chalk Talk
Ink: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Stampin' Up Patterns Stack - Brights Collection
Other: Ranger extra fine clear embossing powder, yellow bakers twine from my stash

Swallowtail CAS

This week's Crafthoarders Anonymous Challenge is "Pick a stamp, Any Stamp". First I toyed with a few ideas, but they all got binned at various stages. So in the end, I decided to pick The Stamp. The Swallowtail. This is such a great stamp, and colouring it is always so much fun! To be honest, sometimes I just stamp it and colour it several times over, just for fun (I know, I need to get a life). And to show off the detailed stamp in all it's glory, I decided to make a CAS card. Nothing but the amazing stamp and a simple sentiment. I really struggle with CAS, I want to keep adding things. When I see other people's cards I think the white space is very nice, but when I attempt it myself I always end up adding more and more stuff thinking it's too simple and too plain. This time I decided to remember the best rule. KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid!

The layout for the card is from this week's CAS(E) this sketch challenge. And yes, there is a third challenge as well (three times lucky) as the The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge this week is Winged Things. And what could be more perfect for that than the lovely and colourful swallowtail wings.

 

I stamped the Swallowtail using Hobbycraft black pigment ink and heat embossed using clear embossing powder. I coloured the image using Stampin' Up markers. The tag for the sentiment is cut using the Stampin' Up Chalk Talk framelits and the sentiment is a detail from a stamp set called Life's Messages from Penny Black. I covered the stamp apart from the one line I wanted to stamp using cellotape, inked up the stamp, removed the tape and positioned the sentiment using a Stamp-a-ma-jig. To finish off I added two small adhesive gems and then took the photo really quick before I could add something to the card...

Cardstock: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm Smooth White Card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Stampin' Up So Saffron card
Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail, Penny Black Life's Messages
Inks: Hobbycraft Black Pigment Ink, Stampin' Up markers in Blushing Bride, Pool Party, So Saffron and Wisteria Wonder
Other: Stampin' Up Chalk Talk dies, Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder, Papermania adhesive gems

Swallowtail and Color throwdown #284

I was really inspired by this week's Color Throwdown challenge. And based on the amazing creations from both the DT and participating crafters, so were many others. I just love the colour combo of dark blue and purple, this time with a bit of turquoise to brighten it up. The It turns out I don't have any of the three colours in the challenge this week, but that's ok as you are allowed to use anything you have in your stash that comes close.

This card was born out of a bit of a stamping accident to be honest. I had some problems getting a good stamp with the Swallowtail stamp that I was planning to use for a completely different card. But I didn't want to abandon these half successful attempts at stamping, so I decided to colour them and cut out the parts of the butterfly that looked good. I always get a sense of achievement when I manage to save something from going straight into the bin (which is why I tend to hold onto every little scrap and unsuccessful attempt at crafting, in case I need it one day. Have you seen the program about hoarders? I'm the crafting equivalent...). I made two very different cards, one for the challenge, and one CAS. I always have trouble with CAS, I just want to go on adding stuff to them, but this time I just decided I will put the card away quickly so I can't add anything else to it. By the way, I got myself a new white cardstock to try out to make the card base from, after a bit of research I settled on teh Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm card as I wanted a really sturdy cardstock. So far so good, I really like it although it's a bit tricky to fold neatly because of it's thickness, so I may have to go back to 300 gsm eventually although I love love love the quality feel of the really thick card.

The card for the challenge is above, I coloured it with Peacock Feathers, Seedless Preserves and Evergreen Bough. I stamped the swallowtail again in Rich Razzleberry onto Rich Razzleberry cardstock and matted it onto Bermuda Bay cardstock. I stamped the sentiment from Chalk Talk in Pacific Point and matted it onto Chipped Sapphire cardstock.

For the other card, I coloured the butterfly using Tim Holtz seasonals markers (I got the whole set of all 12 seasonal markers as I just love the bright colours and use them a lot). I matted onto yellow carstock and stamped a sentiment from the Yippee-Skippee! set added a stamp from Fresh Vintage. It is a bit on the simple side, but it's good to challenge yourself and make different things to keep an open mind.

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay, Very Vanilla, Tim Holtz Distress collection Chipped Sapphire, Hobbycraft Three Shades of Yellow 160 gsm cardstock, Leonardo Stationery Smooth White Card 350 gsm. 
Inks: Stampin Up Early Espresso, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Peacock Feathers
Markers: Tim Holtz Distress Markers Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough, Mowed Lawn, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Shaded Lilac, Squeezed Lemonade
Stamps: Stampin' Up Chalk Talk, Fresh Vintage, Swallowtail, Yippee-Skippee!

Pink and Swallowtail

Oh dear, I just realised it's been quite a while since my last blog post. I have several cards in the making, but my longer commute to work doesn't leave much crafting time. I haven't even had a chance to play with all of my new goodies from Stampin' Up from several weeks ago. And today, I got the first Cardmaking&Papercraft magazine with lovely goodies as well. My dear former colleagues got me a year's subscription of the magazine as a leaving present, and they couldn't have got me a more thoughtful present, I absolutely love it. It's such a luxury I would never have gotten myself, but now I get a new magazine plopping in through my mailbox for the next year, and every time, I will think fondly of my lovely ex-colleagues.

On to today's card. I fell in love with the Swallowtail stamp as soon as I saw it. It is so incredibly detailed, and also very versatile. In fact, it was one of the first Stampin' Up stamps I ever bought. Here, I used it for a Birthday Card. I stamped the swallowtail onto vellum using Distress embossing ink and embossed using a white embossing powder. For the background, I used a paper from the Stampin' Up Sunshine and Bright Skies DSP, and matted it onto a pink cardstock from the Papermania Red capsule kit.

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Ink
Stamps: Stampin' Up Swallowtail, Hobbycraft Clear Stamps General Sentiments
Cardstock: Craft UK Kraft card 6x6 in, Papermania Sizzling Red Hot set
Paper: Stampin' Up Sunshine and Sprinkles, Dovecraft Premium Vellum 110 gsm
Other: Papermania Seafoam White Embossing Powder, Stampin' Up adhesive gems