Sunday 5 February 2012

In the garden



A very Good Morning to you all, did you get any of the white stuff ? We certainly did, it started last evening and by this morning it was a foot deep against the front door where it had drifted, that's one of the benefits of living in the Fens, when it blows it really does blow. But it looks absolutely beautiful, the dogs have already had a good play in it and later the horses will get a little play or rather roll...........yes Keryn...........like me she loves animals and loves to hear about the horses activities................... it's another of their little treats. Believe it or not horses love snowy and frosty ground to roll in, but only ten or fifteen minutes mind you before it's back into their stables for the daily carrot hunt.

It's the first Sunday of the month so that means new challenges at Penny Black and More and Stampalot. The theme at Penny Black and More is 'Lets Play Bingo', but no ordinary Bingo, I decided to try out something different and have created a colour bingo grid. And at Stampalot the theme is 'In the Garden', no prizes for guessing who came up with that theme !! And of course I could have gone in making them forever for the garden theme, but I think two are enough this time round.

For my first Stampalot piece I stamped Hero Arts CG153 on acetate using Archival black ink.........I wanted a larger aperture for my frame than the actual stamp so inked and stamped the left side first, cleaned the stamp and inked just the centre elements and stamped them and finally inked and stamped the right hand side. It actually lined up quite nicely, but the frame covers the edges anyway. Next I then mounted it inside a frame created with Nesties and edged the aperture with another little frame punched from Nitwits DP. I then  stamped the inside element onto a piece of rainbow cardstock using Adirondack dye inks watermelon and meadow, stamps used are Penny Black 3381 Aspire, PB 3948K Fireworks and all time favourite Stampendous P107 Agapanthus Cluster.

I mounted the acetate framework over the flower piece arching it to create a window effect, then mounted the whole piece onto a base card. The two large butterflies and the tiny one on the inner piece are from Hero Arts CL383 and coloured with the same dye inks.


I have been really good with my second piece and dug out some pretty old Stamps Happen stamps as I thought they were ideal for the theme. When I was making this one I came to the conclusion that a non crafting male designed the stamps because who else would come up with four stamps for the four season and make three vertical and one horizontal ?

So I had to come up with a design where I could incorporate all four together and made the base shape using a score board and two pieces of A3 cardstock - it is a bit of a heavyweight card. I coloured all four imaged with Aqumarkers, matted onto bazzil and used two coordinating sheets of Kaiser DP for the background. The sentiment on the central panel is Penny Black 2905H The Best, the swirls a making memories die and the flowers and leaves a Marianne die.


This seems to have become a bit of a lengthy post so I hope you can bear with me until I have finished my Penny Black and More share. I opted for the yellow, white and black row as it's a colour combo I love............and this card is very similar to one a few weeks ago, just different stamps................always so fresh and crisp. My main image is Penny Black 4039K Candid................I don't think they are mean to be daffodils, but I always think with a bit of imagination and the right colours you can get away with it..........and Penny Black 3096F Host of Daffodils. I inked the floral stamps with TH mustard seed and Aquamarkers and spritzed with water before stamping onto as piece of Fabriano watercolour card. The frame is made with Nesties and the flowers Spellbinders and Marianne dies and some feather to finish.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone and I really hope you can join in our challenges this month.

43 comments:

andrianna said...

Замечательные работы!

Jackie said...

They are all so beautiful but the top one is my favourite :o)
Jackie xx

Ann-Charlotte's blogg said...

Love your card, the last one is my favourit :-)
Hugs

Helen said...

They are all lovely, Brenda. Yes, we've had snow too - only a few inches by the looks of things. Hope I can still get to Stevenage next week!!

pinky said...

Absolutely stunning cards Brenda. Can't believe the amount of work you have put into these!! We have no snow here and we don't want any:) Have a nice day and keep warm. Hugs
pinky

Heidi said...

Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful creations Brenda, especially love the yellow/black combo at the end of the post. gorgeous use of feathers and swirls. love it.hugs heid x

Marja's Stamp Addiction en Marja's Creativity said...

Brenda this all is gorgeous. What a creations and a fansasy. Love them all, the first one is very stunning and the last one is more than beautiful. Well done.
Have a nice Sunday and lovely greet
Marja

Lynne K said...

Morning, Brenda. Your cards are all simply stunning! Your creativity never fails to amaze me. The first one is my favourite, of course, with the butterflies. I'd happily have that framed and on my wall.
Have a good day,
Lynne x

Von said...

Wonderful inspiration Brenda :)

ribenaruby said...

OOOOOoh yes Brenda, we definitely have the white fluffy stuff!!! Love your cards, the flowers are so beautiful just popping out, great dimension, didn't know that horses liked to be in the snow..wishing you a fab Sunday. Ruby x

May said...

Beautiful cards Brenda, thank you for the fantastic inspiration, Hugs May x x x

Crea Astrid said...

Wowwww, what a beautiful and lovely cards. nice done.

Hugs Astrid.
http://creaastrid.blogspot.com/

Sally H said...

Three totally stunning cards, Brenda. I love them all. Hope the snow doesn't spoil any plans for you. We have about 4 inches but no drifting, so the bulbs are all covered. The up side is a flock of goldfinches have come to visit (all nine of them!) Keep warm x

Hanneke said...

Wow, great cards! Love the flowers you made and the pretty butterflies on the first one. Hugs, Hanneke

mckinkle said...

Morning Brenda!

What stunning makes Brenda, I particularly like the daffodil card as the shades are what really attracts me.

It must be quite a fabulous sight seeing the horses enjoy themselves in the snow! I cant say that Ive ever noticed what any frolicking in the snow before and there sure wont be any in Southampton doing that as there's not a flake to be found here!

Have a super day!
Keryn x

catherine said...

Wow you have been so busy and they all look so stunning. yes we got the snow up here in North Yorks yesterday.
x catherine

Desire Fourie said...

Oh wow, such beautiful creative cards once again. Loving the wild flowers on the first and farm house scene on the second which brings back childhood memories growing up on a farm in South Africa.
Hugs
Desire

Paula (PEP) said...

A lovely feast - I absolutely love those butterflies & your floral stamping on the acetate card. The way you placed the swirls on the second is terrific & I must say that your use of patterned paper is brilliant with these. Funnily these set me in mind of the current David Hockney exhibition.
I laughed at the man's designing skills too. You saved the best for the last in my humble opinion. The double scalloped edging is a treat & I didn't even recognize the stamp - thinking it a Daffodil one I hadn't seen before.....the very same Candid that I've not inked yet in my Penny Black box masquerading. I absolutely love this colour combination & hope to have some playing time with the Bingo.
Take care of yourself & hope you're able to get some much better pain control.
Paula (PEP)

Teresa Carini said...

I admire your work! how original window effect that card! They are very delicate!
Have a nice day!

Tracy said...

Three very gorgeous creations, I love using feathers and they look so beautiful with those die cut roses. The stamping on the first card is incredible and so effective. And not to leave card number two out as this is just so gorgeous and I love the scenes.

Fabulous shares today Brenda.
Happy crafting
Tracy x

Ruth said...

Well, a lot of effort and imagination went into making these and the results are spectacular!! No ordinary cards for our Brenda!! Ruth x

Dorothee said...

wow,very wonderfull creations,you are gorgeos

Ellibelle said...

Your cards are absolutely beautiful Brenda. Love all those flowers and butterflies on the first one. Beautiful flourishes on the second card and I love the gate fold. Stunning colors on the PB card. I love the addition of the feathers.

Wish we got some snow too. We really haven't had any decent snow this year. We weren't even able to build a snowman or take the kids sledding. I know a lot of people here don't really like snow, but for me it is just the most beautiful thing about winter. Ah, well, maybe it will still come our way!

Linby said...

Such amazing and inspiring work Brenda. My fav is the screen card, closely followed by the other two.
Lynn x

Jennifer said...

Your first card has left my heart all a flutter! It's breathtaking! Your other cards are very lovely to! I love your style!

Lisa Jane said...

oh wow i love flowers and the garden.. so i cant choose a favourite from your cards .. they are all so beautiful
Lisa x

Crafting Queen said...

Stunning card Brenda!!!! We had lots of the white stuff, I love it. Have a great week. Hugs Anesh

Claire Phillips said...

Oh my goodness me Brnda - you have been mega busy and what fab creations! Cheers Claire x

Nikbee said...

Gorgeous cards, Brenda. I love the top one. The flowers on the acetate look amazing.
Nikki x

Jo Channon said...

Hello Brenda,
Wow an amazing show of gorgeous samples. The first one is totally breathtaking and it has really inspired me into doing something similar. Enjoy looking at the snow! I am not moving anywhere until it has gone!! Bye for now
Jo xx

Rufus said...

Wow, you've been a busy girl! Very good idea on using the 3 vertical and 1 horizontal season...(def. a man behind that one!) Hope you're dug out by now, if not sit tight and enjoy the view out the window!
R/

Merry said...

Oh all of your creations are so very clever and beautiful Brenda. Really like how you used that acetate. Now white stuff for us but lots of wet stuff falling from the sky. :-)

debby4000 said...

Oh WOW stunning creations Brenda.
luv
Debby

PinksyDoodles said...

These are stunning Brenda.
Hugs, Clare x

walchowDesign said...

Stunning cards, Brenda! Love all the ferns and butterflies in different colours! Love the last card - yellow/ black!

Lau W said...

Oh so lovely creations Brenda ! The card with the acetate is wonderful !
xxx

Lindsay Craftymonster81 said...

These are all so gorgeous, I love the dimensional effect on the first one and the daffodils on the last one are stunning, love the black white and yellow colour combo too
Lindsay xx

СВЕТЛАНА said...

Какие красивые открытки! А нижняя с перьями вызывает особое восхищение!

Ella's Design said...

What fabulous projects, Brenda! Your stamping and colouring is fantastic and I love all your rolled flowers, too - must have a go at these. Thanks for commenting on my blog, Lisa x

Anonymous said...

These are all awesome, I just love the collagey inky goodness on the first!!!

Katarzyna said...

stunning cards. The last one is my favourite!! I just can't stop stearing at all your works... :D
hugs from Poland!
http://kraina-sztuki.blogspot.com/

Simone said...

O my gosh, these are stunning creations, Brenda! Absolutely fabulous!
Simone

Vi soriano said...

Beautiful cards....love the technique used,....great color combinations..