Summer flowers and a bit of seasonal

Hello everyone, few shares, but keeping it brief.....the eye issues of course which seem to be dragging on forever.......but thought I would share some summer flowers to help stave of the -11 we had last night, along with a bit of Christmas as well.

I used the beautiful Penny Black 4112K To Follow the Star for the one above, stamped very simply with black versafine and embossed with detail clear onto a piece distressed with Tim Holtz inks. The diamond pattern is Hero G3316 stamped with the same TH inks, some cord tied round and the writing section of the main image stamped into a disk made with UTEE. This card is for the following challenges:

Inktegrity - Untraditional Christmas

Simon Says - Christmas with no red or green

Daring Cardmakers - Turquoise

The above creation uses some of the Sheena stamps I purchased at the NEC, I adore the poppies which are probably my favourite of the sets. The background was masked and brayered with Adirondack inks, then the poppies stamped over, coloured with Copics and painted with Pinflair glaze. I then made a sort of spotlight shadowing the lines of the brayering and added a sentiment from the same stamp set. the birds are an Art Impression stamp. This card is for the following challenge:

Midnight Madness - Sketch (thanks so much for my 'Remarkables' award)

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes

Flutterby Wednesdays - Open

My third card uses Hero Arts K5358 Scallop Floral stamped onto a piece gloss cardstock brayered with Big and Juicy soothing sunset, the some of the flowers stamped onto Kaiser DP, decoupaged and tiny pearls added to the centres. The swirl is a Marianne die and the edging border Martha Stewart embossed scallop. This card is for the following challenge:

Ladybug - pearls

ABC - J for jewels and gems (hope pearls count)

My final share is one I made for Stamp Addicts last TV show using a Judkins block stamp, which I stamped, then cut into sections and coloured with Aquamarkers. The flower is made from Tim Holtz tattered floral die and spritzed with Glimmer Mist pearl to make it soggy so I could scrunch and shape it. I 'think' the DP is K & Co

Tuesday Taggers - Deck the Halls

Totally Papercrafts - Christmas punches (MS embossed snowflake)

Paper Pretties - Punches

A bit of blue

Hi peeps, what gloomy weather here in the Fens, not sure if its the same all over but I'm not much liking what the weather forecast promises for later this week. Time for my three months winter break in the Caribbean me thinks...........I wish...........I can but dream.

Getting decent photos has been pretty impossible today, I even took my cards into the office in the hope I could take a couple if we got a glimmer of sun, but no such luck. So apols in advance for the poor picture quality.

There seems to be a distinct blue feel to Christmas this year and although it's not a colour I use a great deal, I quite like what I came up with for a couple of challenge with the blue theme.

Both cards have been made in the same way using Penny Black 2800K Sound of Snow, but one is intended for a man whilst the other is a bit more feminine. Before stamping I created a background by simply dragging a distress inkpad across a piece of card, in this case Tim Holtz broken china, then the image stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear.

The box, not that you would really know from the picture !

The larger background piece has been stamped all over using Hero Arts CG229 Classic Holly with versamark, embossed with detail clear then distressed with TH broken china and stormy sky. I gave the edges a think paining of Windsor and Newton silver acrylic pain then heated to make it bubble. The same sentiment added to both, flowers (I coloured these with the same inks and silver) and punched holly on one and just the holly and a couple of bells on the other. I also made a box for one, but the picture is pretty appalling. These cards are for the following challenges:

Midnight Madness - Sketch (I went with the simple one and added a few bits so hope it's OK)

Pollycraft - Feeling Blue

Wild Orchid - Blue Christmas

Cards for Men - Christmas (the second blue card)

Incy Wincy - Blue and White

My second card is a really simple one using some DP from stash punched with Martha Stewart double loop round the page, some flowers, pearls, punched leaves and a sentiment tag using Penny Black 4075F For the Stars. This card is for the following challenges:

Paper Playtime - Thank You

Stamp Something - Thanks

My time to Craft - Tag Along

Jack and Jill went up the hill

Where's this week going ? All those jobs I was going to do 'tomorrow' remain undone and suddenly the wedding is the week after next......scary or what when I think what's to be done, not least wearing in my new shoes that still sit in the box.

But that's the least of our problems.........the Matron of Honours dress is somewhere between here and Paris where she lives. She came over for fittings twice and as there is already so much to take over for the wedding including the four girls bridesmaid dresses, they said they would send hers on when the final adjustments were made. Initially they said it was delayed because of the Volcanic Cloud.....lame excuse it seems because now they have no idea where it is other than "in France". So panic is just beginning to set on as her dress and the other four have been made in identical material so no way we could match it up at this late stage. Another call to the dressmaker shortly as she promised faithfully to track it down today.

Crafting, well just a bit and a card for some challenges. ABC challenge who are up to "U for Unused Stash - a stamp that I 'had' to have when I saw it forever ago and never inked it up, Cupcake challenge who want to see "Buttons", Tuesday Taggers who want us to go "Outside the Comfort Zone"........as I said in my last post working with circles is something I avoid like the plague. And I have followed the sketch from Creative Card Crew for the layout of my easel card. And finally The Crafty Pad would like us to "Give it a Punch".

The stamp is from Stampabilities KR1042 Jack and Jill which I stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Marvy pens. The plain circles is cut with a Nestie thorough the Big Shot and the scalloped one is a Marianne stencil. The gorgeous double sided Crate Paper DP is one of the new designs and the middle panel of the front of the card is a plain piece of linen card embossed with Swiss Dots folder then lightly inked with a chalk eye pad. The border and corners are Martha Stewart are doily lace trim, the largest flower yet another of the new ones from Magnolia and a couple of smaller ones from my stash. And finally tiny buttons across the bottom border strip.

A real mixture

Oh goodness me, I completed this card for Inspiration Card Sketches, a great sketch as ever from Dawn B and realised that quite by chance it fits in with three others........I sometimes manage to combine two but even when I try can't stretch it beyond that. I really don't like doing this but my time is such this week I hope I will be forgiven in combining it with A Spoonful of Sugar which is looking for 'Autumn/Fall' projects, Everybody Art Challenges which has the theme 'Shabby' and the final one I realised fitted was Cupcake challenges theme of 'Pearls and Swirls'.

Afraid the picture is pretty poor folks, I have taken it so many times now but the light is so dreadful today.......and it's raining as well this afternoon and I think this is the best I am going to achieve.

The image is a stamp I have had forever by American Artstamps called Pear. I stamped with versafine and embossed with detail copper then shaded and distressed with Tim Holt Peeled Paint, Antique Linen and Fired Brick and used the same inks to colour the fruits. I roughed up the edges, ran a versamark pad round them, dipped into detail copper and heated to give a nice aged feel. The edge of the card itself has been stamped with Magenta Crackled Background 32090M again with versamark and detail copper embossing powder. The swirls were cut on Cricut Storybook and stippled with Adirondack Acrylic Dabbers sunset, gold and copper. Lace, pins and pearls added to embellish.

Sketch Something and Cute Card Thursday 56 challenge

The Cute Card Thursday Challenge 56 is called Floral Fantasy, so I just had to take part. It asks simply that you use any type of flower on your card. I am combining my card with this weeks Sketch Something challenge where the theme is green, blue and yellow.

I have created a glimmer mist background using linen card as this picks up the mica elements of the sprays so well, using midnight, key lime and pineapple and a top coat of iridescent gold. The stamp is American Art Stamps Field of Daisies stamped in black and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Sakura pens and ultrafine glitter added when still wet. Birthday wishes from Woodware FRCL128, flowers, buttons, ribbon, gems and bazzil run through the cuttlebug using Swiss dots.