There is Beauty in Simplicity

I just had to make a card for the Card Concept challenge, because I love the colours and patterns so much. So I rummaged through my unfinished stash and found 2 panels to suit the theme and die cut some butterflies to match. This is the result.

I've used a stencil and thicky body paint for the polka dotts and the pink pattern was made with my Gelliplate. The butterfly dies are from (big to small) Memory Box, SSS and PB. The sentiment is from Stampers Anonymous.
I was influenced by the stripes in the background, the grey polka dots the pink and white chevrons and the way all these elements were pulled together to give a CAS and classy appearance.
I think my card will be in the Clean & Layered category. I am also entering Virginia's View challenge #14 Layers & Dimension.

From Places Abroad: China

I've been wanting to play along with this month's Altenew challenge for a couple of weeks, but have not been sure what to do. Yesterday, I just played with some Copics and this card came together without much thought.

Well, I did put some thought in to it, because I chose the Peony on purpose as it is  symbolic of wealth and good fortune in China. I chose the vibrant colours and the decadent gold from the picture.
The image stamps are from Altenew Peony Scrolls, the sentiment is from Winnie & Walter and was already sitting in my stash box, ready to be used. The red flowers are fussy cut from some Japanese paper. The twine is made from paper and I painted it to match.

I am also entering the Simon Wednesday Challenge - Clean and Simple
ETA: I'm also entering the Addicted to Stamps and More challenge -  Anything Goes
and Virginia's View challenge #14 Layers and Dimension

A Krafty Bouquet

That's the theme for the CASual Friday Challenge and I love using Kraft card, so I couldn't resist joining in.

The stamps are from CAsual Friday's Wonderful Words set - I white embossed and coloured with Twinkling H2Os. 

Bird Love

I have another colourful card to share today.  Butterfly stamps have always been my favourite, but now I have an equal love for bird stamps and find it hard to resist them. This one is from Penny Black and is perfect for use with distress markers.

I used a stencil and distress inks for the background on text dp. Then I removed the stencil and sponged and blended the colours.  I coloured the Penny Black stamp (the sweetest sound) with distress markers, spritzed and stamped. I went over the stamped image lightly with a wet brush to intensify the colour.
 I'm  entering the Fusion Card Challenge as I was inspired by the colours and Virginia's View Challenge #14 Layers and Dimension.

Adding Some Colour to My Life

Hello there. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been playing with my Gelliplate and stencils and having lots of fun. Today I'd like to share 2 more cards  resulting from  the collection of gelli prints I made the other day.  I have gone for an Artsy look today!

In this card I used the STAMPlorations  Flutter of Butterflies stencil,. While it still had paint on it, I brayed it on to my card. When dry I stamped the butterflies using memento dye ink. Next step was to tape the stencil over the butterflies and spray some Heidi Swapp Color  Shine over the card. Once  dry, keeping the butterfly stencil in place and layering another stencil from TCW over the top, I sprayed some contrasting Color Shine. To finish off, I stamped the STAMPlorations sentiment, stitched a border and mounted on a white card.

This time I used Stamploration's Daisy Dance and this was the second pull from the Gelliplate. I then stamped the daisies with Memento Luxe Ink and using my favourite tool, my finger,  added the flower centres with Liquitex acrylic ink and Memento Luxe ink. I decided to use contrasting cotton for the stitched border and a splatter of Liquitex acrylic ink (pink).
I then stamped the butterfly and sentiment which are also from Stamplorations. As you can probably tell, I have quite a lot of Stamplorations products now and love them a lot - they are especially good for Mixed Media.

Since there is so much colour in various mediums, I would like to enter these cards in the Craft Stamper  Take it, Make it Challenge, which is asking us to use lots of colour in our creations this month.
I am also playing at Virginia's View Challenge, which is about Layering and Dimension and the Stamplorations Anything Goes Challenge.

Just Playing for relaxation Therapy!

I decided to pull my Gelliplate out today and just play. It was fun creating without thinking about the outcome. Now I have a collection of pretty prints to use in the future.

I used one print to make a card for the Craft Stamper Take it, Make it challenge. The theme of this month's challenge is to 'Take a colour{s)'.

You possibly can't tell, but I used 2 stencils with the Gelliplate - STAMPlorations Flutter of Butterflies and TCW Mini Postcard. The butterflies stencil was used as a reverse - I pulled the paint off the stencil.  Then I used  the postcard stencil in the same way with the pink paint. When it was dry. I placed the stencil over the card and added the aqua paint.  I think I have the order correct, but next time I'll write it down as I go. To complete the card, I stamped some script and the bee image, mounted it on a white base card and added the STAMPlorations sentiment. I used grey Staz on ink, to keep it softer.

I shall also add this card to Virginia's View Challenge #14 Layers and Dimension and the STAMPlorations Anything Goes Challenge.

Stencilled Clean and Simple and Layered

Just a very quick post, because I've just had another call from the hospital, to say Mum is unwell again this afternoon, so I'll head back over there.


This card was made for Happy Little Stampers and Virginia's View challenge.

Spring Flower

Hi there.  I hope you've enjoyed a peaceful Easter. I managed to sneak in a day at our beach house, enjoying walks in the Autumn sun and playing with some new craft goodies.

I was planning to enter this card in the Simon Monday Challenge {Pastel} challenge, but I missed the deadline.  Never mind. I was also inspired by 2 cards in the CASEplorations gallery - the blue rose from Cornelia's card and the reverse stencil background in Shery's card - I put them together to come up with my 'CASE' card.

I used a combination of distress markers and Memento dye ink to colour the stencil, spritzed it liberally and placed the watercolour paper over the stencil. I left it for a few minutes to let it soak in.  When dry , I added some splatter.
The stencil is called 'bubbles' from STAMPlorations and the rose is from STAMPlorations Blossom Overture. The tag is cut with a Papertrey Ink die. I stamped the rose with distress ink and then pulled the colour in with a aqua brush. When dry, I stamped it again and clear embossed and then fussy cut the flower. I used some watercolour paint on the tag and sponged the edges with the memento ink.  The sentiment was stamped with Memnto dye ink and embossed with pearl powder for a softer look. 

I'm also entering this card in the STAMPlorations Anything Goes Challenge as I've used all of their products.

Don't forget about the Mixed Media Card Challenge which is also about [Flowers], with an optional element being [basket]. You have until 25 April to enter and there is lots of inspiration on the blog.

A Little Neon Goes a Long Way!

This is my second post for today - I've been productive at last!

This card is for the Inkspirational  {Neon} Challenge. Takes me back to the 8o's! I really don't like neon very much, although I do have a very bright ski top - it looks great in the snow! But in Australia where the sun shines a lot, we don't need more bright! Anyhow, my theory is, if you are foing to use a neon colour, then use it sparingly!

Speaking of bright, I have tried to get a decent photo of this card 3 times today and I keep getting the blue cast,
so I am sorry about that.
The stamps are oldies from Kaisercraft and the embossing folder is also from Kaisercraft.
The tags were cut with a Papertrey Ink die.
I will also enter this in Virginia's View challenge, which is all about layers and dimension. My favourite way to add layers is by using tags. I think embossing the background and the splatter add dimension. I am also entering the Tag You're it challenge - I was inspired by the swirls the big bold element and ribbon on Nancy's beautiful tag.

Caseplorations April

Happy Easter everyone! I have a card to share, inspired by the the beautiful card created by Kimberley and chosen for the CASEplorations challenge inspiration.

here is my card...

The truth is, this card is serendipitous, because I have had this watercolour background in my unfinished stash for a while and I was already working on the butterfly , which is a recent purchase. When I saw Kimberley's card I knew what I would do.  The background it made with a combination of Distress inks and Brushos. The butterfly was coloured with in layers, using, distress markers, watercolour paints, brushos and Twinkling H2Os. The butterfly is from Ranger and the sentiment is from STAMPlorations Trendy butterflies. This set just arrived in the mail, so I hope to make another case card using the Trendy Butterflies!

The Take it,  Make it challenge at Craft Stamper this month is all about Colour, so I think this fits the bill!

                                                                     Kimberley's card

Flower Power

Hey there. It's April already! I hope you didn't get caught out with any April Fools jokes!

Since it's the beginning of another month, it's also the start of another challenge at the Mixed Media Card Challenge. The theme this month is Flowers and the optional element is basket.  Since Easter is almost upon us, I threw in a bunny too!

I started with a piece of designer paper and and using  Liquitex Matte Gel medium I glued on some more torn pieces of script paper and then covered the paper with a 'white wash' watered down  gesso. I cut the basket and flowers with Silhouette and then coloured them with inktense pencils, distress markers and Wink of Stella.  The bunny is from Kaisercraft.

I hope you get the chance to join us this month - you can link up your cards here.

ETA: I wish to add my card to Virginia's View Challenge - Layers and Dimension.