Another Rose Garden Card

This is going to be extremely quick as I should be in bed (although I will post it in the morning, so that may actually sound weird). Anyhow, I wanted to participate in this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge as they had a cool sketch and I thought it would work great with the Rose Garden decoupage set I have been working with (you can see my other cards here and here) and the deadline for the challenge is Monday every week, so I thought I better finish the card before I go to bed. Also why the photo is dodgy, had to take it with flash as daylight was gone hours ago.

Lots of layers, a bit of die cutting, lace, and the sentiment printed onto vellum using the beautiful Jane Austen font, in line with the other cards in the "series" and Bob's your uncle. Looking at the list of supplies for this one, it really goes to show you don't need a lot of stuff to make cards, it's only an expensive hobby if you make it into one (not saying that's not the fun bit, but still...). 

Card: Leonardo Stationery 350 and 300 gsm smooth white card, Coloured 240 gsm craft card in Purple Grape, Pink Raspberry and Lilac, Dovecraft 110 gsm Premium Vellum
Paper: Marianne design pretty Rose Garden designer paper and decoupage kit (Free with the current issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine)
Other: Tim Holtz Alterations Vintage Lace die, lace from my stash

Party on, you striped little zoo friend

It's been a crazy week, and spending time in the craft room unfortunately hasn't been a priority. Today the weather has been miserable, and I welcome the thunder storm as it gives me some time to play in the craft room, while I watch the skies weep and the thunder roll.

Today I wanted to make a cheery card, and ever since I saw that the theme for this week's CASology was "Stripes", I knew I wanted to make a card with the funky disco zebra I coloured on holiday. I was also inspired by the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers where the theme this week is "Z is for Zoo" and I thought the psychedelic zebra would fit right in with all the funny animals the Sisters have created this week. I was also inspired by this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where we are asked to "Make it sparkle". 

I coloured one swirl from the Sweet Threads Spirals background stamp using Tim Holtz distress markers and stamped onto white cardstock. I printed the sentiment using free fonts Cutie Patootie and Hey Pretty Girl. I stamped the zebra using Staz-on onto watercolour paper and coloured using Tim Holtz Distress markers, and cut using the matching die. I used a punch to cut out the stars from silver paper. Not only did I add the sparkly silver stars, but as you can see from the close up photo below, the disco zebra also has a bit of sparkle in it's mane and tail. I also stamped inside the card. 

Cardstock: Silvery grey cardstock from my stash (ordered from eBay and has no indication of make on it), Hobbycraft 160 gsm white cardstock, Daler & Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper, Stampin' Up Glimmer Paper Silver

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters on the Savanna and matching die, Hero Arts Sweet Threads Spirals background stamp, Stampin' Up Banner Blast, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler

Ink: Tsukineko Staz-on and Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress markers in Festive Berries, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves and Squeezed Lemonade

Other: Tim Holtz distress stickles in Crushed Olive, Dusty Concorde, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmelade, Tumbled Glass and Worn Lipstick

The birds and the... butterflies!

Between all my Christmas card crafting, I have continued to play with the découpage and DSP set that came with the most recent issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine. I kept to the same feel as my previous card, using some lace and printing the sentiment onto vellum using the lovely Jane Austen font. 

I got my inspiration for this card from this week's Mojo Monday sketch and Make My Monday where the theme for the week is Birds.

Card: Leonardo Workshop 350 gsm smooth white card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm ivory card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm three shades of blue card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum

Paper: Marianne Design Rose Garden designer paper and découpage kit free with the September issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft

Other: lace from my stash, blue heart ribbon from my stash, Hobbycraft heart border punch

Sweet treats

The theme at Craft Your Passion challenges this week is Sweet treats. And the theme here at the InvisiblePinkCraftRoom this week is Christmas Cards. And a desire to use up some of my old Christmas stash before the new stuff starts rolling in (I'm trying to resist, but feel like there just may be a new stamp set or two before Christmas-time is upon us). And so this sweet little gingerbread fellow was born from the contents of one of those random left over bags that you can't make yourself throw away...

Almost all of the stuff for the card was from my stash, more specifically from a set of DSP, chipboard shapes and dimensional stickers that came with the Christmas 2013 issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine. I browsed through the magazine again, and was also inspired to use the last few bits and bobs that were left over after making the card to make a tag. I drew the template for the tag free hand, inspired by the tag in the magazine and cut the paper to match, adding a bow and attaching the candy cane with foam dots. I was running out of light so the picture is not the best, but the tag turned out rather nice despite making use of the last little bits of the stash. And I'm relieved that the chipboard shapes and foam stickers are now all used up, making space for new stuff!

Card: Craft UK kraft card, coloured 240 gsm kraft card in Chocolate Brown and Beige
Paper: Jennifer Ellory Gingerbread Lane DSP, chipboard shapes and dimensional stickers from Papercraft Inspirations magazine Christmas 2013
Other: Red ribbon from my stash, lace from my stash

Fancy a cuppa?

This is one of those rare cards which turned out better than I thought. I'm not much for découpage, but when the latest issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft came with some free découpage sheets and pretty rose garden papers, I thought I might as well use them, it's not like I would lose any highly valued things if the cards turned out hideous. Also, when I first saw this week's Stampin' Royalty sketch, it didn't do that much to me. But as I re-visited the DT's beautiful creations, as well as stumbled upon the sketch in various card challenges around the Interwebs it really grew on me, and when I sat down with my decoupage bits and bobs I thought it would actually work quite well for what I had in mind. 

For the background, I used a rose stamp and Versamark on light blue cardstock that coloured with the DSP. I cut the découpage teacup and roses and attached the layers using foam pads. I added some lace trim to the edges of the triangles. I was then left to play the "Where does the sentiment go" game, and solved this with the good old "Just use vellum" trick. I printed the sentiment using my new favourite font called Jane Austin. It's the font of my dreams, just what I have been looking for. And it's freely downloadable!

Card: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm Smooth White Card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm three shades of blue, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum
Paper: Marianne Design pretty Rose Garden designer paper and découpage pack, free with the September issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark
Stamps: Inspirations clear flower stamps
Other: Lace trim from my stash

J is for Jingle Bells

Not long to go to Christmas! Well, I know it's a while still, but I had promised myself I would keep making Christmas cards through the year but of course I haven't... So last night I did put together two simple but elegant christmas cards using the Stampin' Up Ornament Keepsakes dies and some Christmas paper. I also stamped a greeting inside the card. I really love the Sentiments in the 12 Days of Christmas - Word Banners stamp set, they make a really pretty greeting. 

I like this card idea as it's really quick, so I may just put together my Christmas cards for work colleagues in this way. Last year I chose a much too complicated setup for the work cards, and was struggling to get them all done. Not going to make that mistake this year again!

My inspiration was this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is J. And for me J is for Jingle Bells. I also made another card with the same idea but a different sentiment. I really like these letter challenges, it's so much fun to look at the gallery and try to guess what the J is for each card. I'm also entering the card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where everything goes this week. 

Card: Craft UK 300 gsm kraft card, coloured 240 gsm craft card in Ruby Red, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum
Paper: Dovecraft Back to Basics Christmas Designer Paper Pack
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark
Stamps: Dovecraft Clear S'Jingle TTS, Papermani Urban Stamps 12 Days of Christmas Word Banner (for the inside of the card and the card with vellum), gold and red embossing powder from my stash (which are so old they don't have the label left on them anymore), Stampin' Up Ornament Keepsakes dies

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