one layer card

This is the first time I'm doing a one-layer card. 

I guess you need to be a neater person than I to do it well.   

~ Ü ~

CAS-ual Fridays is having a combo challenge with Clean & Simple Stamping. Less Is More is having a one-layer challenge using ink, and Cute Card Thursday is also having a "clean and simple" challenge. I'm combining these challenges with this card:

The strip of colour is done using a Tim Holtz technique from A Compendium of Curiosities, page 53. I do not have a white dabber, so I used this unique paint thingy which has plastic bristles instead of a sponge top.

I suppose it must have done its job, as the alcohol ink was actually blendable over the masked strip. It created a ribbed finish, so it was fortunate that the stamps came out ok, instead of in stripes. 

The copper finish is not obvious in these photos, though. The background is speckled with leftover ink from the applicator.

supplies: Tim Holtz stamp (sentiment), Viva Decor stamp (grass), acrylic paint, alcohol inks, stazon ink, versafine ink.

vintage tea for two

I've made another vintage card today. Hubby bought me a new printer, so I can print again! 

~ Ü ~

The layout is based on the sketch over at Pink {INK} Sketch Challenges. 

 The colours do not come out well here. The twill has been hand-dyed with forest moss & antique linen DIs. It is finished with a button & gold twine. 

The flower is made from kraft layered die cuts. I used TH tattered florals & SB carnation dies. The petals are clustered around gold-topped stamens, then finished with two home mixed mists. The first one is forest moss DI and a green patina PP, and the second is stormy sky DI mixed with blue patina PP.

Here's the frontal view. 

The main image is "hung" from a brad with gold twine. It is framed with a label die cut from corrugated board, which has been painted with white tempera, and then inked. The corrugated board was "saved" from when the builders put in kitchen cabinets. It was used as a protective base during transport. The image itself has also been inked with DIs to its current state.

The base is finished with green ribbon lace atop pleated paper doiley. The "pearls" are gloss gel. One of my favourite and more oft-used embellishments. I seem to use a lot of liquid pearls, either transparent or opaque.

The background is also made from recycled waste. It's the protective paper that collects all the excess colour after misting other smaller items.  I have stamped the corners of the base layer to give it a more ornate look.

All the edges have been distressed and inked with a mix of forest moss, stormy sky & vintage photo.

This card is entering a whole lot of challenges:

The Shabby Tea Room - tea for two, and blue & green

Simon Says Stamp & Show a Tim Holtz Technique (distressed edges)

Incy Wincy Designs - something old (TH dies) and something new (twill)

Phindy's Friday Challenge - vintage look

The Pixie Cottage - Say it with Flowers

Papertake Weekly - grow your own

Paper Pretties - die cuts

Fussy & Fancy - use a lot

Craft us Crazy - anything goes

Simply Create - time to distress

Totally papercrafts - food & drink

addicted-to-stamps - anything goes

Dream Valley Challenges - distressing

If the shoe fits...scrap it! - show us your green

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - handmade flowers 

Jellypark Friends Friday Challenge - favourite embellishment

Pollycraft Monday Challenge - recycle (corrugated board & base layer)

supplies: image from magic moonlight, sizzix dies (frame ( flowers), spellbinders dies (flowers & tags), Viva Decor stamp,Viva Decor gloss gel, distress inks, Perfect Pearls; others form my stash

diwali card

Make My Monday is still having their things with wings challenge for the month, and this week it's birds or bugs. I was going to go with the Tim Holtz bird cage die when I remembered that I had another set, with a peacock. I've hardly used it, and only bought it on a whim because it was on sale, and it screamed "diwali".

I've made a stepper card because I wanted to showcase the embossed background, with the peacock in silhouette. 

The wing of the peacock is a loose piece, but as I wanted the bird to be free-standing, I taped it into place, and cut the tape around the bird. I had the idea of using fine glitter, but as all I had was red, I used holographic embossing powder instead. The heat tool warped the tape a little, giving it a nice rounded shape.

How cool is that background, it looks just like wood carving! At least I think so! 

~ Ü ~

The folder is part of the same Cuttlebug Persian set. Simon Says Stamp & Show is showcasing Tim Holtz techniques, so I have to play along with that! I used the weathered wood grunge tutorial on page 50 from "A Compendium of Curiosities". Except that I do not have grunge, so I recycled chipboard from a box. The colours used are malted milk dabber and vintage photo DI. The edges are distressed and inked with more vintage photo.

The smaller panels are embossed, and highlighted with DI and a light brushing of gold acrylic. Not exactly Diwali colours, as my daughter pointed out, but we can't have purple cards all the time!

Other challenges entered:

Dream Valley Challenges - distressing

Charisma Cardz - distressing

Top Tip Tuesday - straight edges

Crafty Ann's - scallops and / or fancy borders

supplies: cuttlebug combo set, sizzix embossing folder (wood grain), sizzix die (fence), xcut border punch, distress inks; others from my stash

coloured CAS

Another CAS card today, also playing along with Less is More.

This time, I'm using yellow, red and blue for the background, with white as highlight.

I managed to get a brayer a couple of months back (they are so hard to find nowadays!), and I'm finally using it. I used distress ink reinkers on a tile as I do not have a multi-ink pad. The braying was not as smooth as I had hoped, but I managed to get decent coverage anyway. The colours were brayed onto an embossing folder and run through the Big Shot.

I highlighted the bird with glossy accent, and used paper pen for the plant dots. The sentiment is a computer printout, and layered over a simple, ribbon strip.

Other challenges entered:

The (paper) trail makers - birthday

creative CAS - Birthday Bonanza

Divas by Design - Birthdays

Craft your Days Away - Birthday Celebrations

supplies: sizzix embossing folder, spellbinders die, glossy accent, viva decor paper pen, distress inks, dovecraft corner rounder; others from my stash