Hot Air and Showers

I am super excited to be participating in the Twofer Challenge at last.  The premise of the Twofer Challenge is to use the same die to create two cards for different occasions.  The theme for Challenge #14 is Balloons.  As you can see I have followed Darnell's lead and gone with the hot air variety.  Which gave me the opportunity to finally break open this NBUS die set from Elizabeth Crafts.  The above card uses the die set as it was intended, while the card below uses the set in a non conventional way.  

It was super super easy to create the umbrella.  All I had to do was cut the large balloon body and then place that scalloped flounce die upside down at the point I wanted my umbrella scallops to be.  

Once I had the balloon cut, I applied a couple of coats of purple embossing powder and UTEE and sprinkled some pale gold Tempera powder into the molten goo.  The raindrops and sentiment are from an old stamp set my good friend Jaine Drake designed ages ago and are unfortunately no longer available.  The umbrella hook was from a WPlus9 set but I had to extend the handle slightly so it was in proportion with the canopy.  The weather has been very grim here for well over a week now - so much rain and the wind has been howling.  We've already lost some roof tiles and I am definitely feeling under the weather!  Despite the lack of natural light, I did manage to capture some of the lovely gold on camera though!  

The theme for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Whatever the Weather

 As the recipe for Challenge #391 at Less is More is Take 3 and my first card includes 3 clouds and 3 circles I am entering it there.

Lots of snippets were used in the first card so I am playing in Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #348

Thanks for stopping by, especially if you take the time to leave a comment.  Your kind words will make my day!!!

Kate

Purple Wedding Card

I was so happy with how my this tartan die worked out in it's first outing I wanted to use it again.  A young friend of mine is getting married soon so I wanted to make a card for her big day.  At the same time I thought I would make some wedding cards for sale at a market coming up in May or at least make some of the elements for that purpose while I had the dies and card stock out.  So I started with the fairly simple and elegant colour scheme of Cream and Gold.  As I was putting the card together, I thought I would make it a bit more personal so I went with introducing her favourite colour - purple.  That was a lot easier than trying to figure out how I could add a unicorn to a wedding card, which is another thing she really likes!

Once I had layered up a couple of these heart die cuts (WMS My Heart) for depth and stability and I coated the heart with Versamark and a couple of coats of UTEE.  Once I had a good deep coating of UTEE I added the Pale Gold Tempera powder and purple embossing powder.  I love the molten glass effect you get, how the gold and purple sink down into the UTEE.

I then did something similar with the sentiment (Crealies Text Die) except I started with purple embossing powder and then added the UTEE and then the gold powder.  I also added a little darker purple embossing powder which is why you can see dark flecks if you look closely. 

It wasn't easy keeping those small cavities in the sentiment from clogging up.  What I find works is while using the heat gun, I anchor the die cut onto my non-stick craft mat, using a pair of craft tweezers and I keep moving the die cut around so that the cavities don't fill up, it runs off onto the craft mat instead if that makes sense.  There can be a bit of a mess on the back of the die cut, but I have found that having double sided tape on the back means that I can just peel all this off.  It may require additional adhesive to use it on my project, but it's nice and clean (and above all flat) after peeling off that backing.

A few purple pearls really highlight the soft purple embossing as well as that lovely tartan backdrop.

Because I used the colour purple, I am entering it into the Fabulous February Challenge at Shopping Our Stash.  

Challenge #153  at CAS on Friday has an Embossing Challenge this week

No matter how I try, I can never exactly replicate these embossed die cuts - they're always unique.  So I'm entering this card in the Current Time Out Challenge 

I'd also like to enter this card in this month's Anything Goes with Dies Challenge at Happy Little Stampers 

Thanks for stopping by, especially if you take the time to leave a comment.  Your kind words will make my day!!!

Kate

Kitchen with a View

I made this card in November but haven't been able to post it because my sister only received it (along with her Christmas presents) a week ago, despite being posted in early December.

She has the most amazing water view from her new kitchen/living room so I knew I wanted to create a little sea view through the window.  I also wanted to use this new die and stamp set which I just had to buy several months before but still hadn't used.   

It was a little rushed being sent just before Christmas and having several health and personal issues at the time.  I was going to add a coffee pot and mugs but it felt a bit crowded with that large Home die,  so I went with the age old adage - if in doubt leave it out!

There are a few challenges into which I would like to enter this card.

Make My Monday has a Something New Challenge currently.

Simon Says Stamp has a Create a Scene Challenge this week.

Inkspirational Challenges has a Use Your Stash Challenge at the moment.  Nothing says table cloth like gingham, and I "found" this 2x12 paper Wild Asparagus card stock pack from My Mind's Eye which I bought many years ago in my stash.  It is difficult sometimes, but doesn't it feel good to use up stash instead of hoarding it!  

Addicted to Stamps has an Anything Goes Challenge this week

Stamps and Dies :

WMS Picnic Patterns (Wallpaper); Clearly Besotted Window Dressing Dies; Clearly Besotted Waves Edge Die; Sugarpea Designs Sugarcut Home; Sugarpea Designs  Sweet Sentiments Home; Frantic Stamper Vilage Sky.

Thanks for stopping by, especially if you take the time to leave a comment.  Your kind words will make my day!!!

Kate

Tartan and Mackintosh Roses

I have a few birthdays coming up shortly.  I made this one for my mum.  She will be 86 next month and she's had a pretty tough time lately.  Hopefully this will put a smile on her face.

I've been wanting to use my Simple Sprig Roses for ages now - I don't think they've had an outing in 5 years!  I even found a small circular punch for the smaller rose about 4 years ago and it's been languishing as well.  

This card was inspired by the current code word for Addicted to CAS  

I was racking my brain over what constituted a grid (I even googled it) and then went through my stamps and dies to see what I had that would work with this theme.  This tartan die was a very recent acquisition and it certainly met all the criteria of a grid!  And I could think of nothing better to team with a tartan backdrop than these roses in the style of Scotland's famous designer Rennie Mackintosh.

I struggle with CAS.  I'm always attracted to the CAS challenges and I find them a wonderful source for inspiration, but I'm never sure if my cards are CAS enough.

I'm entering this card in a couple of challenges.  The Addicted to Stamps Challenge has the following photo inspiration and my eye was instantly drawn to the chair back which reminded me of a grid no doubt because I had that Code Word already in my head.

The As You See It Challenge has the following prompt, and as this stamp set is aptly name Simple Sprig I thought it would qualify - I've been meaning to enter their challenges for ages!!!

Finally Simon Says Wednesday Challenge has an Anything Goes Challenge this week - yippee!

Thanks for stopping by, especially if you take the time to leave a comment.  Your kind words will make my day!!!

Kate

Retro Hello

I've been a bit stumped for mojo lately but I did want to play along with the current Time Out Challenge which is 

It's a very old Sizzix Bigz Telephone.   I do like these Big dies because they can cut through really thick materials like this chipboard, making a really bold card element.  This striped paper lent itself to the retro feel as well! 

I'll also enter it in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which this week has the challenge, No Stamping.

Thanks for stopping by, especially if you take the time to leave a comment.  Your kind words will make my day!!!

Kate

Nautical Birthday

A card for my hubby's birthday - he loves anything to do with the sea!  I had some woodgrain papers in my stash and I thought they would enhance the nautical experience.  I particularly liked the idea of a polished wooden ship's wheel so I added glossy accents as well.  I liked it so much I decided to do the same for the sentiment.  

The shell was an afterthought - it's not like I had to put this card in the post!

Challenge #90 at Make My Monday is "Make it Krafty" and I've used Kraft card for the base and for the fishing net.

This week's Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is "No Stamping".

Seize the Birthday has an "Anything Goes Challenge" this fortnight.

Thanks for stopping by, especially if you take the time to leave a comment.  Your kind words will make my day!!!

Kate