In memory of my Dad

I've been very quiet on my blog over the last week or so because I have felt too sad to make cards or share my thoughts.

My Dad has been very ill for the last 6 months and yesterday he passed away peacefully in his sleep. I am so glad that he is no longer suffering, although I miss him dreadfully.  I feel blessed that I was able to spend so much time with him during these last months and  feel that we grew even closer during this time. Dad was my biggest fan, especially when it came to cardmaking. He loved to see my creations and I will miss sharing them with him. He may be gone, but he will be forever in my heart.

This next card, is for the Runway Inspired Challenge. My Dad took up painting and pottery when he retired and I have been playing around with watercolour techniques on my cards, which he really loved. I started this card last week and was hoping to show it to him - it's not perfect, but I know he would have had a big smile on his face when he saw it.

Curtain Call - Love letter take 2

I have another card for the Curtain Call - Love Letter challenge. I've had these cute little envelopes in my stash for a while, so I thought it would be perfect for this challenge.

Eek, there's no stamping on my card! I used the silhouette to cut the little love heart bunting. After I cut it I inked it and covered it with glossy accents.  Then I used some random die cut hearts and to make it quicker, I swiped them with Memento luxe ink and clear embossed. To finish off the card, I mounted it on a light blue base, then added the sequins and die - cut letters.

Case Study Challenge #174 - Just Playing!

I had a bit of fun yesterday, playing around with different media, inspired by Donna Mikasa's card that we are casing at Case Study Challenge this week.

In the first card I used pan pastels to shade the background and then created the splatter with distress ink, water and pearl-ex powder.

The sentiment is from Clearly besotted and the bird image I'm not sure about, maybe Pink Paislee.

In the next card I used gelatos.

The image and sentiment are from Clearly Besotted Stamps. I am entering this in the Clearly Besotted card challenge -  the theme is LOVE.

For the next card, I cut a Hero Arts silhouette image and used it as a mask. I then sponged distress inks over the mask and spritzed with pearlised water.

Since I have used my new fun tool - the Silhouette Portrait and it is using a new cut file from Hero Arts, I will enter this in A Blog Named Hero challenge - New! I am also entering this card in the Curtain Call Challenge - Love Letter.

Case Study Challenge #174

Hi! It's week 3 with Donna Mikasa as muse  at Case Study Challenge and we have another beauty to case. I am lucky enough to have all my crafty things set up on a table underneath our air-conditioner, but the computer is in a very hot spot, so I'll make this a quick post!

I've used Hero Arts brushstrokes stamps with distress ink for the background. The sentiment is from Kikki K and the butterfly is die-cut with a Penny Black Die.

I've used one of my new Enamel dots on the butterfly, so I am entering this in A blog Named Hero
challenge - New stash.

Feathers are the rage!

Feathers seem to be everywhere these days and I'm really enjoying this trend - there's something so dreamy about them.   I have to admit though, I much prefer the stamped and die-cut kind to the real thing!

Today I have made a card for the Stamplorations - Stamp and Feathers challenge and hopefully it fits their sketch challenge (in a subtle way). I came across this company when I saw that my friend Shirley Bampton was on their design team. Their stamps are very unique and I know I will have to own some in the near future!

The feathers have been made with MFT dies. The blue feather was coloured with Chipped Sapphire disress ink and then I glued the tulle on to the feather. Actually this was done before it was die cut.
I coloured the gold feather with perfect pearls and versamark ink and when dried I stamped the script.
I added the feather charm to be the 3rd element in the sketch! What do you think, is that a bit too liberal? The sentiment is from Wplus9. I embossed the base of the card to add a bit more depth and this means I can enter it in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Emboss It!

Penny Black Sending Hugs

I'm making this post short and sweet, because it's still HOT! It's expected to get to 44C today and over 40C tomorrow. My son's cricket was supposed to start back tomorrow, but they've had to postpone due to the heat rule! Mind you, the poor tennis players are slogging it out at the Australian Open - it surely must be bad for their health!

Penny Black have a card challenge running until the end of January - the theme is 'Sending Hugs'.
I hope this sentiment fits! You can see I'm rater smitten with this butterfly stamp! This time I used pretty, feminine colours and spritzed a bit more to make it more fluid.

I am also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Anything Goes!

New Stamps!

Yesterday I was very excited to receive my 1st ever stamp set from Clearly Besotted. I have been admiring this set - Happy Everything for quite a while.  Check out Debbie Hughe's cards here and here , Gayatri Murali's cards here and Tasnim's cards here and here.

So today I have had lots of fun playing with them and this is my first card.

I stamped the image with versamark and white embossed on Arches watercolour paper.
I have coloured the image with gelatos - they have such a lovely creamy look.
I did think about adding a couple of sequins, but wanted it to look more like a painting.

Again, sorry for the photo - it;'s very challenging with these weather conditions. I've been thinking of making a light box, but would probably have to buy another light. Does anyone have an easy tutorial for this?