Monday 20 May 2013

Summer Dream


Since I had the "My Island" set out I thought I'd have another play with it and try to bring some sunshine to this fairly bleak and very wet long weekend we're having.
I tried creating a cameo with the little scene this time, and mounted it on another oval cut from a piece of Black Magic card stock which I then distressed to let a little of the pale orange show through. The "dream" was cut with a Sizzix Original die.  I stamped a few Cabin Plaid Backgrounds last week, so I  used one and wrapped it with a little blue scrapper's floss. 
Inks used in the Island Scene are Adirondack Lemonade, Adirondack Peach Bellini, Broken China DI and Jet Black Archival Ink.  The plaid background was stamped with Peach Bellini.
Here's a close up of the cameo - I love the subtlety of this sunset.  



Wednesday 15 May 2013

Shedding some light




I added this little set from WMS to my shopping basket last month.  Called Light of the World, it has nine stamps of inspirational quotes and sentiments in a beautiful Script hand.  I thought it would be useful for Simon's little friend Niamh who makes her 1st Holy Communion next month, plus it was only £9.35 and it got me over the free shipping threshold so it was well worth it.
Anyway it was sitting in my box waiting to be used "down the line" when a friend of mine asked if I would make a card for her prayer partner.  After going through some of my stamps - she decided on these two beautiful quotes from Light of the World and when I showed her the Opera Tag Stamps and die cuts she oooh-ed and aaah-ed (as I did when I first saw them).  Then we went through light sources and she loved the sunset image from My Island - though this proved a little tricky to incorporate.
Her friend has the most lovely shade of red hair - a strawberry blonde, so that influenced my choice of colours.  After searching through my stash of papers I couldn't find the right shade of pale orange or pale yellow, so I created my own "DP" using WMS Cabin Plaid Backgrounder and Lemonade Adirondack Dye Ink.  I created a plaid background for the second card but it was too busy with the sunset strip, so I just opted for die cut borders (positive and negative of the large border die from Persian Accents) and lace, distressed with the same ink I stamped with - Peach Bellini (a pretty good match for her friend's gorgeous hair).

Finally I came up with these cards and she loved them both.  Another friend has put in an order for some sympathy cards so I can see this little set coming out again soon.



If you're having trouble reading the second sentiment, there's nothing wrong with your eyes or your glasses - I double stamped the sentiment to create a shadow effect.    My camera obviously had trouble focussing on it as well.  This was the best photo I could manage in the pretty dismal weather we have at the moment (again) - it's not so difficult to read in real life.

Thank you for your kind comments - they really make my day and I would love to see samples of your work as well !!!

Sunday 5 May 2013

Sweet thank you



Don't miss this great One-Layer Wednesday challenge at Simplicity.  Sponsored by Waltzing Mouse Stamps, there's a chance of winning their fabulous Blessed by You set.  There's also the opportunity to be be dazzled by some simply gorgeous one layer cards.

The candy wagon and contents images are from the appropriately named Candy Wagon set from WMS.  The lollipop flowers at the base of the wagon and on the envelope are also from this set.

The sentiment on the front is from Fancy Phrases and the sentiment on the inside is from Big Berries - Strawberries.
I cut away the wagon's window area, so that the wagon contents image could be stamped inside and give a little depth while still remaining a one-layer card.  The window looked a little odd from the back so I overstamped it with the wagon image which had been stamped off once on scrap.
The green is Peeled Paint Distress Ink and the pink is Adirondack Raspberry.
I love working with these two colours at this time of the year - so typical of spring don't you think !