Inkspirations Challenge 30- 4 You

Yep back again,

I've had ideas churning around in my head and just had to get some of these ideas down onto paper. Makeesha Byl's challenge this week was a colour challenge. A nice combo of colours so I couldn't resist :).

The combo does include Kraft, which if you read my previous post blogged today you'd know is not my favourite to work with. But I know colours can stand out well on a Kraft background so that is what I tried to do with this card, which I think is quite different from anything I've posted (or done) before. So without further ado here is the result...





I had several starting points for this card...I wanted to keep it simple no layers (shock horror)... I wanted to use the cosmos like flower from Fifth Avenue Floral, and I wanted to use my Prismacolor pencils as they will lay the colour ontop of the Kraft... and lastly flowers+vase.

Sooo I started with a Kraft base cut square about 12 x12 cm (4'6), rounded two of the corners, than faux stitched using the white gel pen to make a frame (except for the corner where the flowers were to go). For the flowers I stamped three onto Kraft, coloured the central dots with the white gel pen, then used the Prismacolour pencils to create Razzleberry centres that blend out to white at the tips. I then cut the three flowers out. I also made a vase using some Cottage Wall DSP, using the curly label punch to get the curves below the rim. To finish the vase I tied some linen thread around it and threaded a sentiment tag onto it, using Tiny Tags which was perfect, lucky for me it arrived on my doorstep that day ;) Having worked out where I wanted the flowers and vase to go I then added in my flower stems direct to the Kraft base, coloured them in and then added all the flowers and vase mounted up on dimensionals. The inside was finished off very simply to match using another cosmos flower and some DSP leaves.

Hope you like it and thanks for visiting,

Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise mentioned
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Tiny Tags
Cardstock: Kraft, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Accessories: Medium Jewelery Tag punch, Corner rounder punch, Linen Thread, White Gel Pen, Cottage Wall DSP, Curly Label punch, Prismacolor pencils, Aquapainter, Dimensionals, Double sided tape

Birthday Lily

Hi there,

I'm going to squeeze in an extra post this week and this is it! I have been quietly watching Steph Pike's blog for a while and when she decided to set an inspiration challenge I decided to have a go. Steph used Makeesha Byl sketch (posted for her weekly challenge) for her card and since I usually do Keesh's challenges I decided that was the way to go too. So here are Steph's inspiration pic and Keesh's sketch.

The colours in the inspiration pic are a mix of quite rich purples, yellow and green. Having just got my hands on Rich Razzleberry recently I decided to use that as my main purple. The other reason was that I wanted to stamp my Lily onto DSP and one pattern in the Cottage Wall DSP was just perfect. (Cottage Wall colours are Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence, Old Olive).

The inside finished off simply to match.

So I started with a Rich Razzleberry base, then layered that with a panel of Summer Sun (I do hope the new Daffodil yellow due in the new catty in Sept is just as rich). The next layer was Whisper White (to balance all those strong colours), but I gave it some texture by embossing with the new SU embossing folder Perfect Polka Dots. Next taking some Cottage Wall DSP I stamped the Lily. Then using copics (Y15, Y21) I coloured in the stamens. I also used an aquapainter and ink from the Orchid Opulence ink pad lid to give some depth to the Lily. The Lily was carefully cut out and then mounted on dimensionals on a sequence of circles (same layers as the card base). Final touches were some little Old Olive ribbon leaves and little dabs of crystal effects on the tips of the flower stamens. The finished flower element was mounted on dimensionals to overlap a broad strip of Cottage Wall DSP. As per Keesh's sketch I added a sentiment. I didn't want it to overpower the flower so I kept it simple, white on white. I stamped the sentiment in Rich Razzleberry then punched it out with the Designer Label punch and slipped in under the top of the DSP. Three small purple rhinestone brads finish it off.

It was an unusual mix of colours for me, but then that is what challenges are all about! I'm pretty happy with the result though.

Thanks for visiting,

Kim

PS: Happy Birthday Steph :)

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Summer Sun, Whisper White
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence
Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Designer Label punch, Cottage Wall DSP, Old Olive narrow grosgrain ribbon, Copics, Crystal Effects, Fire Rhinestone brads, Dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive, Double sided tape

Vintage Fifth Avenue

Hello there everyone,

I’m coming to you today (as usual) with Makeesha Byl’s weekly challenge. This week it was a colour challenge, the combo sounded interesting but what to do with them. This was Keesh’s colour pic.

For some reason the colours made me think vintage - may’be because they were all slightly muted tones. I wanted a big flower feature and the only rose I have is Fifth Avenue Floral – quite modern in style – so what could I do but vintage it.

I started by stamping the large rose three times in Ruby Red onto Very Vanilla. Then I inked up my Linen background in Ruby Red, then stamped it off twice then stamped over the roses. Next I inked up my En Francais in Ruby Red, stamped off once then stamped over the roses. I trimmed the flowers so the final one would have three layers, then using a sponge dauber I added depth with Ruby Red around the edges of the petals. I also sponged the edges on the back side so that when I curled the petals a bit you would get glimpses of the Red. The flower layers were mounted on top of each other using dimensionals. The final touch was to add some little vanilla pearls to the centre. The flowers was mounted onto a Very Vanilla panel that I had stamped with first Linen and then a tiny script text, in Mellow Moss. I distressed the edges and sponged around them with more Mellow Moss. Some little leaves, for the rose, were also stamped onto this layer in Mellow Moss. I used some of the Bella Bleu paper for the panel down the bottom, distressed and sponged, separating that from the upper panel with a border of Brocade Blue. The bottom edge had been punched with the Eyelet border punch. Over the top I layered ruffled Vanilla grosgrain ribbon, that was sewn on. All of these panels were layered onto a large Brocade Blue layer, again distressed and sponged, then that was attached to a the Very Vanilla base, sponged around the edges with PTI Chamomille ink. The final touches are a largish Vanilla grosgrain bow, with a nice big button tied with linen thread and an oval silver hodgepodge frame, to house the sentiment (Mother). The crystal effects I put over it has unfortunately made it a rather blurry. Perhaps I could argue that this suits the whole vintage effect? It is readable and I do like the lacquered layer (mind you I also can’t remove it without destroying the card!!). I might try using some red stazon on acetate and laying that over and see how that looks. End result I kind of like it which is a good end for something that is not my normal style and somewhat out of my comfort zone. So thanks for the challenge Keesh (and the bonus – I have one Mothers day card done already!)

Thanks for visiting,

Kim

Recipe: All SU unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, En Francais, Botanical Blooms (R), Linen (R), Background Text Style (PaperTrey Inc), Mother stamp from local stamp store
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Brocade Blue
Ink: Ruby Red, Brocade Blue, Mellow Moss, PTI Chamomille
Accessories: Eyelet border punch, distressing tool from Cutter Kit, wide Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon, Bella Bleu DSP, Silver Hodgepodge, Pearls (Kaiser), button (Spring Rain from PaperTrey Inc), Linen thread, Crystal Effects, dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive, Double sided tape, Glue dots

Three times the inspiration

Hi there everyone,

Not quite sure what got into me this week, but in the little snippets of free time I managed to grab from work and looking after my two darling little munchkins I made three cards for Makeesha Byl’s first challenge for 2010. I must have really missed doing them – waving hi Keesh. This was a colour challenge – so here is Makeesha colour selection.


Card One

Sorry about the crooked card but it was the best pic

This was my original idea for the challenge. But it has evolved from my original concept. OK I started with a Very Vanilla base, stamped that with En Francais in Cameo Coral (originally I had planned to keep it plain but I struggle with keeping to the clean and simple). The image panel has four flower stems stamped in Chocolate Chip. The flowers are a mix between stamps and buttons, some of the buttons have pink rhinestones adhered and some are threaded with coloured thread and a couple of buttons I left plain. The finishing touch for the stamped buttons was some dazzling diamonds which gives them a real glittering glow. The top of the image panel I scalloped with the scallop edge punch and at the bottom I added a base of Cameo Coral, used the Apron Lace punch (originally I had planned for the lace pattern to be at the bottom but it just looked better this way so thats how it ended up). Then I wanted to try making a pleated ribbon embellishment to go over this. I started by putting on some double sided tape then carefully pleating my ribbon over. That attached the ribbon but it still needed to be stitched flat. This was my first time trying to sew on cards, and I like it! It won’t happen too often as I have to haul my machine out of a cupboard plug it in etc etc but it’s certainly worth it sometimes. The inside was just finished off simply.

Card Two

This one came to me in a flash of inspiration while I was putting my Mr almost Two to bed. I realized that the colours could work really well for a tree going through all the seasons. It was actually a very quick card to make. I just stamped my tree trunk four times then inked up the tree top, progressively in So Saffron and then Cameo Coral. I decided to add the sentiment to the “winter” panel. Then a quick punch, punch, punch, punch and I had my images. I made a Choc Chip base – its just a small note card really, about 3 by 3"2'. I scored a line up the top and two below where the tree panels would go. Then I added a Saffron brad to the o in “you” and mounted all the panels on dimensionals. To give the whole card a lift I added dazzling diamonds to all the little leaves on the trees – nice. The inside is just simply stamped with another tree.

Card Three

Another crooked card - sigh

This one was quite experimental for me, but I certainly had fun trying new stuff and I think it turned out quite well. I started by getting out a selection of grosgrain ribbons in Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla and So Saffron. I laid them out and decided on a transition from lighter to darker moving from top to bottom. I got a panel of cardstock the right size covered it with double sided tape then stuck all my ribbon down. Next more experimenting with the sewing machine – I stitched a border all the way around the panel. Tucked all the ribbon ends under and that was done. I decided to go a bit flamboyant for embellishments (not naturally me). I made three “poofy” paper flowers, I seen them on Dawn McVey’s blog recently and she made a little video and how she makes them. I used a mix between Vanilla stamped with Cameo Coral (mostly stamped with En Francais) and some Cameo Coral stamped with Cameo Coral. The biggest flower was made using my scallop circle punch, the two smaller one by using the smallest scalloped circle nestability die. There are five layers to each flower. I finished each off with threaded buttons. In the top left corner I added the sentiment – a rub on – it worked no problems although I was a bit nervous about transferring it to ribbon. To highlight that and balance the big flowers I added three buttons, two just threaded and one finished with a bow. I used DMC embroidery thread for all the buttons (I have quite a stash as my embroidery is a rather neglected hobby of mine at the moment). I didn’t check what the DMC numbers were – sorry. I was just trying to find the best match I could. Hmm I should mention the base, the ribbon panel was adhered to a base of Cameo Coral stamped with En Francais. Ok final touches , a couple of leaves to add to the flowers, stick everything down, glue dots for the buttons and I am upgrading the flower adhering method to sticky strip the double sided tape can’t handle the weight of the flowers in this heat – did I mention our air conditioning broke Saturday afternoon. Its already 30oC in the house at 1 PM today – urggghhhhhh.

Thanks for visiting and sticking through the post - see you soon I hope

Kim

PS: Cameo Coral is growing on me - who would of thought!

Recipes: All SU unless otherwise noted
Card One
Stamps: En Francais, Eastern Blooms, Everyday Button Bits (PaperTrey Inc)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Cameo Coral
Ink: Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron
Accessories: Button Latte buttons, buttons from assorted craft pack from Spotlight, Kaiser Pink Rhinestones, So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, Fiskars Apron Lace punch, Two way glue, Dazzling Diamonds, DMC embroidery thread, Double sided tape, dimensionals, Tombow glue (stick buttons down), a sewing machine.

Card Two
Stamps: Trendy Trees
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Cameo Coral
Ink: So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: 1 ¼ inch square punch, So Saffron brad, Dimensionals, Two way glue, Dazzling diamonds

Card Three
Stamps: En Francais, Floral (R), Petals Pizzazz
Cardstock: Cameo Coral, Very Vanilla
Ink: Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Grosgrain ribbon – Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Scallop Circle punch, Scalloped circle nestability, Scalloped Edge punch, Chit Chat rub on, Assorted buttons from craft selection (Spotlight), DMC embroidery thread, Glue dots, silver brads, Double sided tape, dimensionals, a sewing machine, no dazzling diamonds ;)

Inspired by..

Hi there,

Well its been a while as things have been busy on the home front, and our sorry saga of germs also continues - Mr 1.5 must be on his 5th or 6th case of mystery red spots and I still have a cold!!

Anyway onto this week challenge by Makeesha Byl, Keesh set quite nice combo for a colour challenge. Here are the colour picks and following that my card.

The card is largely a case of, and inspired by a gorgeous creation that my lovely talented friend Sam, created for a class on emboss resist, which I was lucky enough to attend. Having just acquired a brayer I decided to have a go at my version using the challenge colours. It took a bit of fiddling but in the end I decided to stamp Regal Rose onto Whisper White using my Floral background stamp. Then over that I stamped the large daisies from Inspired by Nature in versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. Then I inked up the brayer with Real Red and went over the whole panel, the embossed daisies suddenly popping out. Once the brayering was done I just wiped off the ink that remained over the embossing. The image panel was mounted onto a white panel and that onto a Regal Rose panel. To finish off the card I added Saffron buttons threaded with red embroidery thread, then using glue dots stuck one each onto the three daisies. Across the bottom I ran some Saffron grosgrain ribbon (from this months ribbon bundle special), tied across and up the top added the sentiment, using the word window punch. Then this triple layered panel was popped up on dimensionals and adhered to the Real Red card base. The inside was finished off very simply just by stamping off the daisies inside in Real Red.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting.

Recipe (All SU unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Inspired by Nature, A Little Birthday Cheer, Floral (R)
Cardstock: Real Red, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Regal Rose, Versamark
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Button Latte, So Saffron wide grosgrain ribbon, Word Window punch, Red embroidery thread (DMC), glue dots, dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive.

Something old something new

Hi there,

for the first time this year I felt like I lost my Mojo, courtesy of head cold that struck last Friday. I really liked the colour combo that Makeesha picked, for this week's challenge, but could any idea penetrate the fog in my head – nope! So it was definitely time to get inspiration from someone else’s great work. I had seen a card I liked instantly (scroll down to the second card) on Debbie Olson's blog and decided to CASE it for this challenge. Firstly here are the colours for the challenge.


And here is what I came up with. I rather liked the result actually.

For the something new component I inked up some new rubber – the large Fifth Avenue Floral rose (this set was definitely not on my wish list when I first got the catalogue but I had seen so many lovely cards in blog land it ended up on my get soon list). I stamped this in Rose Red on the top Rose Red layer. I also stamped two flowers, in Rose Red, on Very Vanilla. Then I stamped it, overlapping, inked up with Mellow Moss on Very Vanilla. This panel was laid over a Always Artichoke with a eyelet border along the bottom, and a Mellow Moss layer at the top. To colour the two Rose Red flowers I used ink from the lid of the Rose Red ink pad and my aquapainter. First trying to give it a overall base wash and then slowly adding layers of colour to deepen petal highlights. Once that was done I cut out one flower in its entirety, the second I cut out only the central portion. To finish up the flowers I added some little vanilla half pearls to the centre of each and then added crystal effects to the inner edges of the petals. The crystal effects really gives the petals some dimension and shine, hard to see in the photo unfortunately.

To accompany the flowers I stamped a branch from Touch of Nature, twice onto Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss, then loosely cut them it out. Then I turned them over so you have a cardstock branch but no stamping to be seen. These were arranged around the flowers, which I had mounted up on dimensionals. The final touch was the sentiment, including something old and new. New the “happy birthday” from Think Happy Thoughts” and the old with a retired Mellow Moss button threaded with some retired Moss gingham ribbon. The inside, as usual was finished off simply to match the front. Oh and I rounded the the top left and bottom right corners of the card.

Recipe: All SU unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Think Happy Thoughts
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss, Rose Red
Ink: Mellow Moss, Rose Red
Accessories: Eyelet border punch, 1 ¼ circle and ¾ circle punches, corner rounder, Mellow Moss button, Mellow Moss gingham ribbon, glue dot, aquapainter, Kaiser vanilla half pearls, crystal effects, dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive.