Busy Bee

This is another card I've been meaning to make for several weeks, having seen this lovely inspiration at the August {Pin}spirational Challenge.  

I have a market in less than two weeks - my first one for 2 years!  Cards made with this little bee stamp and matching die from Verve are usually some of my best sellers so I hope to make a few but I thought I'd make up a sample one first, to try out this new die.  I can practically make these interactive spinner cards with my eyes closed now.  Mostly I use a patterned (usually floral) card stock as the base panel - embossed backgrounds don't work very well because there isn't enough clearance provided by the magnets I use.   When I saw this honeycomb detail panel die, I thought it might give a plain background panel some interest but not so much interest that it interferes with the spinning process if you know what I mean!  It finally arrived last week so that gave me a good excuse to try it out.  Since this is the first outing for this die I'd also like to enter NBUS Challenge #29.

I'd also like to enter Timeout Challenge #195 which has the challenge to use a coloured card base.  Black isn't technically a colour, but I don't think hairs will be split over it!  

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge has an Anything Goes this week so I'll also be entering there!

So does the detailed die base inhibit the spinning action?  Here's a video I shot of the bee in action!

And a closeup of the schparkle though the sun was not very obliging today!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be thrilled!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Mountain Wedding

A friend of mine needed a wedding card and as she know I'm making cards for charity she asked if I could make up one for her. I asked her if she had a preference for a colour and her answer was “the wedding is in the mountains, the colour of the mountains?”. The first thing that came to mind was Blue Mountain Pottery which was very popular in the 80s - a mixtures of teals and blues mimicking the pines and spruce on the face of the Blue Mountain in Ontario’s Georgian Bay region.  And as I've been meaning to make up something in teal for Rainbow Challenge #32 for several weeks, this seemed the ideal opportunity!   

Since I didn't have any teal embossing powder, I experimented with several green and blue embossing powders, as well as UTEE and Gold Sakura powder until I was happy with the result.

Timeout Challenge #195 has a theme challenge to use a coloured card base.

Just Add Ink Challenge #569 has asked that we add something with "N".  I've added the "Names" of the bride and groom on this wedding card.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge this week is Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks Challenge #574 has an "All Occasions" prompt.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be thrilled!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Banzai Bonsai

 

This was a special order for an anniversary card.  Her husband is a fan of the Cobra Kai television series.  Banzai means 10000 years of long life well that was the Wikipedia definition anyway!

I used this Memory Box Wooden Alphabet to spell out the sentiment and it had the added bonus of grounding the bonsai tree.  I cut it from Kraft card stock and distressed it slightly to bring out the lovely wooden texture.

The Spellbinders Bonsai Tree is very intricate and more than a little tricky to cut until I remembered the wax paper trick - place a piece of wax paper between the die and the card stock and it comes out cleanly without tearing or warping - then it's just a matter of peeling the wax paper off the image.

Shopping our Stash #452 has the prompt - "Wood You Believe";  

Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #153 has the prompt Texture;

The Alphabet Challenge Blog has the prompt "J is for Just One Word";

NBUS Challenge #29 - The alphabet and bonsai were both NBUS;

I'd also like to enter the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge for August.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be thrilled!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Sweet 60!

 

As You See It Challenge #256 has a "Fill in the Blank" Challenge - What Is Your Favourite Animal?   Birds of course!  Such beautiful and majestic animals and my first pet was a bird - a little budgie called Billy Boy!  I was petrified of him at first but gradually fell in love with him.  He was so clever - talked, danced and came when you called!  Though he did have an annoying habit of biting my nose if I slept in!  Yes he had the run of the unit and only had his cage shut when we had visitors and that was mostly for his safety as budgies are bush birds - they love to spend time on the ground!

I cut my bird from pink card stock and distressed the edges with Faded Jeans DI.  I went around the eye and throat with blue alcohol markers because I saw a "Mask" prompt at CASology Week 394.  However  this card is definitely not CAS so I won't be entering there but I thought I should give them some credit!  The eye was a drop of black Ranger Enamel Accents - which worked perfectly! 

Inspiration for this card also came from the Alphabet Challenge which has the prompt "J is for Just One Word"!  This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out this tongue in cheek sentiment I've been considering for a while!  And this little bird (TH Feathered Friends) is just soooo sweet isn't he?

The Sisterhood of Crafters has a "Leaf it to Chance" challenge at the moment so I added a few sprigs to make my little bird feel at home.

Just the one snippet of teal card stock used here for the foliage (unless you count the snippets I had left over from cutting the bird which I used for the flowers and sentiment) so I'll be entering Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #409!  I wish I could say my stash(es) of snippets is going down but sadly it's not true.  I just can't throw anything out!  Fortunately, there are plenty of ideas in the playground for using them up!

I'm also entering my card in the August Anything Goes with Dies Challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be thrilled!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Snappy Lobster

 

A few challenges piqued my mojo this week.  Firstly Seize the Birthday Challenge #220 has the prompt "Stripes".  I've been looking at this lovely striped DP for over a week now - it's from the same pad that I used for Squeeze the Day.  I knew I wanted to do something nautical with it and there's loads of brilliant inspiration in this photo at the Card Concept Challenge #158 but I've focused on the two cushions on the sofa. 

 I experimented with a frame because of the challenge at Just Add Ink Challenge #566 - after all a frame is a great way of focusing attention!   However I thought I'd change it up by using a hexagonal frame when a simpler plain round frame would have been better - next time!

The Male Room Challenge #153 is celebrating their 8th birthday this month and as the inside of this card reads "I missed your birthday" I'm entering my belated masculine birthday card there as well. 

Finally the Memory Box Lobster is NBUS (been sitting in its envelope for a few years now) so I'll be entering it into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #29!  

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be over the moon!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Bottled Vitamin Sea

 

A couple of different challenges sparked my mojo for this card!  Which is just as well as the weather has been absolutely abysmal all week and you would never dream it's summer here!  

The first inspiration came from this Mason Jar Mood Board at Double D Challenges.   Obviously the bottom right jar got me inspired!

The Card Concept #158  gave me oodles of inspiration for my clean and layered card with this photo! 

Then I noticed that Fab'n'Funky Challenges had an "I can see the sea" prompt and

The Sisterhood of Crafters had the prompt "The Ocean is Calling" so I'd like to enter my card there too!

Finally the Male Room Challenge #153 has it's 8th Birthday celebration this month so I'd like to enter my masculine birthday card there as well!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be over the moon!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate

Layered Anemones

 

I finally got to play with this Altenew Layered Anemone Die set!  This was an encouragement card for a friend I made earlier in the month.  I found 4 shades of purple card stock and 3 shades of green and made it up as per the layering guide - it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.   Though I would advise against using textured card stock as it's tricky getting the grains aligned (and I failed miserably)!

While I had the die out, I made up another three flowers and this week I finally made them up into cards - this time adding stems.  The Simon Says Stamp Tattered Poppy set includes a straight and a curved stem.   On these two cards I used the SSS Detail Bohemian Plate for interest.  I love this die but it meant I couldn't stamp on the panel.  I've stamped a "Thinking of You" sentiment (Verve Rise Above) and cut it with this ticket die (Crealies).  I prefer "Thinking of You" to "With Sympathy" generally, and it means I can also use it should I need a get well or encouragement card.  But IMO, these cards are a bit too fussy for sympathy cards.

For this last one, I laid the flower on its side for a landscape orientation and I used the simpler leaves from the SSS Tattered Poppy set.  I think this plainer "Thinking of You" sentiment suits a sympathy card better than the flowery one I used on the second and third cards.  I like this last one the best!

I'd like to enter this last card into the following challenges

Timeout Challenge #193 which has the following inspirational quote

Mod Squad Challenge has a "With Sympathy" theme

Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #152 has a Dies and Punches theme

Krafty Chicks Challenge #570 has an Anything Goes theme

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge has an Anything Goes theme

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I’ll be over the moon!  I’ll also know you were here, so I can check out what you’ve been up to and we can get better acquainted!

Kate