Becca's Birthday Bash

I've been MIA again! Well today I plan to make up for it, with  3 cards - Yay!
I've been for a card-making catch up with Lyndal (of Ideas and Paper) and so I took along my box of unfinished stuff and voila!

I decided to play along with the link-up over at Becca's blog (The Damsel of Distressed)  to celebrate her Birthday. The rules are to make something inspired by Becca's mood board. Luckily I had a few things in my stash that suited this theme.

The image in this card is from Hero Arts, it's coloured with distress markers and ink and I used a Lil' Inkers die to cut the circle shape.

This gorgeous image is from Penny Black and I used Inktense Pencils and Peerless watercolours to colour the image.

The bird stamp is from Dina Wakely and the sentiment is from STAMPlorations.
It may not be obvious, but I've used foil on the bird and on the grungy background. 

So there you go Becca - 3 cards for your Birthday linky - thanks for the inspiration!

Summer Romance Mixed Media

Hi there. I have a card to share today, which I'm hoping will warm me up as it's very chilly down under in Melbourne - brrrr!

Lots of challenges have a summer theme, so i thought I'd have some fun and join in.

I stamped beach scene from kaisercraft, using distress marker directly on the stamp and spritzing.
I have used various mediums to complete the scene including distress inks, brushos and inktense pencils. I used a stencil on the sand for added depth. I was trying to get colours reminiscent of a polaroid pic - not sure if I succeeded.
The flower was cut with Silhouette using designer paper with added highlights.

I'm entering this in the Anything But Cute Challenge (Summer Romance) and the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge (Summer Days).

Mixed Media Blues

Yay! I'm back. Have you been wondering what happened to me? Had you forgotten me?

Well, without going in to too many details, I lost my mojo, because I've been grieving due to the loss of my Mum, who passed away a few months ago. My Dad passed away last year and my Uncle also 5 weeks after my Mum. So I've been feeling sad and working out what I want to do now that my life has changed.

I'm slowly trying to get back in to crafting because that's always been such a relaxing and wonderful escape for me. I've also been remiss in keeping up with everyone else's blogs, so I hope to catch up with all my crafty friends to see what you've all been doing!

Anyhow, today I have made a card for the Mixed Media Card Challenge. The theme is really fun this month - *Blue* with an option to include a vase. There is so much gorgeous inspiration over on the blog - here and here.

I die cut lots of blooms from a Poppy stamp die and coloured them with Peerless watercolours, distress inks and Inktense watercolour pencils.  Then I layered them on a circle which had been shaped to make it pop in the centre. I added some micro beads for extra interest.
The jar and stem were drawn and coloured with Inktense pencil. I embossed the background for extra texture and added a splatter (oops - I should have done it before I mounted it on the blue card) and an acetate butterfly from Heidi Swapp for a bit of fun.


I hope you like it and decide to join in the challenge - it really is a fun theme.

I am also entering the Anything But Cute challenge - Summer Romance.