March Rudolph Day's Challenge!

Hello and welcome to my blog - thank you so much for visiting me, I appreciate it so much!  I hope you are having a lovely Easter weekend!

A Christmas card today:

There is lots of gold shine on the lovely (free with a magazine) backing paper but you can't see it in the photo.  The poinsettia is made using a Creative Expressions die set cut from snippets of white card then while still in the die, I inked through with red Distress Ink and glued the layers together then to the panel.  The sentiment was free with a magazine and stamped with red Versafine.  I added gold Stickles to the centre of the poinsettia and to the sentiment for some sparkle and also some Sakura Clear Stardust pen to the red veins on the poinsettia and the letters of the sentiment for added glimmer.  I wish it showed up better in the photo, sorry.  I made two of these cards and two in a slightly different colourway but didn't finish in time to blog the different colour option.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Scrappy Mo's March Rudolph Day's Challenge - Anything Christmas.
Christmas Crafts All Year Round - Christmas and Use Flowers.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Thank you again for visiting me and have a fabulous weekend.  Take care.  Christine xxx

Twofer Challenge No. 3!

Hello and thank you for visiting me, I appreciate it so much!
Its Darnell's Twofer Challenge No, 3.  Its so much fun.  This time it is Blossoms - I chose to use wildflowers - they are blossoms too!

I used three of the dies from Tim Holtz Sizzix Wildflower thinlets which I cut using my Sizzix Big Shot - the same dies on each card but two different designs and occasions.

I went for a bright and sparkly birthday card and a more subdued thinking of you card.  I will put separate pictures below so the detail shows better and give a rundown on how I made each card.  The first one (the birthday card) I am also entering into some other challenges so I will pop those below the picture too.

I used watercolour card for this one and inked it with Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon and Wilted Violet Distress Inks then spritzed with water and dried.  I used French Script and Cross Hatching stamps from IndigoBlu to stamp the same inks to add further interest to the background.  The three flowers were glued on then the sentiment from Woodware Annie stamp set, stamped on inked card using black Versafine, cut out, edged with black pen and also the little dashes, then glued on too.  The little butterfly is actually a sticker but it fitted perfectly!  I used different colour Stickles to add lots of bling and sparkle then squeezed my Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen and added splashes across the whole panel to add even more bling.  Glued the panel onto a black card base to really bring out the colours. 

This card I would like to enter into the following extra challenges.

Allsorts - Bring on the Bling
Time Out Challenges - its their 4th Birthday and the inspiration words are 'Birthdays Are Full Of Sunshine, Love and Laughter. 
CuttlebugMania - Spring and you must use a manual die cutting maching. - I used my Sizzix Big Shot and Wildflowers start coming in Spring!
That;s Crafty - Spring into Action - again Wildlowers bloom in Spring!

The second Twofer card is the Thinking of You card.

The same dies again but this time on a brayered background on gloss card using a very old Big and Juicy ink pad. Its spritzed with a little water to give it texture. The sentiment is from HobbyArt and is stamped with Majestic Blue Versafine.  Very simple but that is what I feel a thinking of you card should be.

The Twofer Challenge really makes you think although I haven't been very inventive with my two cards this time.  Some of the entries are always amazing using stamps or dies in ways you really wouldn't expect.  I hope these cards are different enough to qualify!

Thank you again for visiting me and I hope you are having a lovely week.

Take care.  Christine. xxx

Underwater Postcard!

Hello and welcome to my blog!  Thank you so much for visiting me.  A postcard today.

I started with a 6 x 4 piece of card which I had painted with gesso as I wasn't sure what medium I was going to use.  I ended up using Distress Oxides so didn't really need to use gesso but hey ho!  I spritzed the background with water then left to dry naturally.  The gorgeous Lavinia sea creatures were stamped with black Archival ink using my Misti so I could stamp several times to get solid images as the gesso background is slightly textured.  The underwater foliage is also Lavinia but I cannot find out what these stamps are called, sorry.  They are both stamped with different colour Distress Oxides using first, second and third generation stamping.  The words are stamped in black Versafine on inked card then cut out.  They were  from a stamp set by Crafters Companion set Magic Garden.  I edged with ink then black alcohol marker then finished off with lots of stickles for bling and some Tonic glitter drops for bubbles from the fish and the sea horse.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Country View Challenges - Postcards.
Allsorts - Bring On The Bling.
Penny Black and More - Feature A Creature.
Craft Stamper - Anything Goes.

Thank you again for visiting me!  I hope you are having a wonderful week and a crafty one too!
Take care. Christine xxx

Green Man!

Hello and thank you so much for visiting me - I really appreciate it.  Sorry I haven't been around Blogland very much lately - I will try and do better!

I made this card for my wonderful husband, Darren's, birthday which was earlier this month.

I am sorry the photo is rather insipid - the black is very black and the background for the wonderful Lavinia Green Man stamp is gorgeous with various Oxide inks and the Green Man itself is coloured with Pro Markers too.   My photography is rubbish!  I stamped the image with Versafine and embossed it with clear powder then cut out with Spellbinders Labels 18.  I popped it on with mounting foam on the black card base which I had first embossed with Creative Expressions Bark embossing folder.  The sentiment and heart were made using dies that came free with a magazine.  Darren has always loved the Green Man image and when I saw this stamp released last year by Lavinia, I just had to buy it straight away and hang onto it till his birthday this year!  I am pleased to say he really likes the card!

The Green Man is found in many cultures from many ages around the world.  It is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth representing the cycle of growth each spring.  (Thank you Wikipedia!)

I would like to enter the following fabulous Challenges:

That's Crafty - Spring Into Action - Green Man
Cuttlebug Mania - Springtime -Green Man and I used my Big Shot for both the embossed background and the Spellbinders die cut.
Craft Stamper - Anything Goes.
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets - The main image and sentiment were both made from white snippets.
STAMPlorations - All about Spring and Faith - Green Man.

Thank you again for visiting me and I hope you are having a fabulous week.

Take care.  Christine xxx