It's all about the background...

Hi everybody,

A quick post to share a card I have made for the current challenge going on over at the delightful Lawnscaping blog, which this time round is (one of my favourite things to do), 'Create your own background'.

And here's my card...

I started with a panel of watercolour card and, using Lawn Fawn's 'Grassy Border', and Mama Elephant's 'Landscape borders' dies, cut my panel into sections.  So I ended up with five different sections.  The bottom three (my grass and two rolling hills), I watercolour washed in three different shades of green Distress Ink, (Mowed Grass, Evergreen Bough, and Pine Needles), my cloud section I just left white, and my sky I washed in Peacock Feathers and Salted Ocean Distress Inks.  Once dried, I adhered all my pieces back together to create one flat background panel, and spritzed over a 'shimmer' spray.  I then stamped out these irresistibly cute little hedgehogs from Lawn Fawn's 'Hedgehugs' set, and water coloured them using Distress Inks as paints.  I die cut a heart from my background, watercoloured another one the same size, using 'Worn Lipstick, and 'Picked Raspberry', and inlaid this piece into my background.  I stamped out my sentiment, also from the 'hedgehugs' set in Versamark Ink, and heat embossed using Wow's 'Fool's Gold' powder.  I mounted my hedgehogs on foam adhesive, and adhered them on my card, and there you have it.  I wanted my background to do all the talking, so didn't use any extra embellishments.  I really like how this card came out and love how much you can do with a background.

I really hope you like it, and would love to read your thoughts.

See yous soon.

Jillxxx

Love Life...

Hi everybody,

I'd like to share a card I have made for this weeks challenge going on over at Lawnscaping, and this week, the challenge is, 'Create a background'.

And here's my card...

  

I started by stamping out this cute little cloud from Lawn Fawn's 'Hello Sunshine' set, all over my piece of card.  I then took my newest addition to my craft room, my Crafter's Companion 'Spectrum Aqua' pens, and coloured around my clouds in a couple of different blues.  I then heavily spritzed water all over my paper to get the colours to bleed, spread & blend to get this watercolour effect.  I then edged my clouds with a little American Crafts chunky glitter, and that was my background finished.  Because the challenge was all about the background, I wanted to keep the rest of my card very simple.  I stamped the birds from Lawn Fawn's 'love life' set, and (now, I understand this was probably a little pointless considering my card was white lol), painted them white (yup, pointless).  I also stamped the banner, from Lawn Fawn's  'Home sweet home' set, and the sentiment from the 'Love Life' set onto vellum.  I cut out all my little bits, and built up my card, matting on black card to help the sweet simplicity of the design 'pop'.

I hope you like it, I'd love to read your thoughts.

See you soon,

Jillxxx

It's the little things...

Hi everyone,

I want to share a card I have made for a couple of challenges going on this week.

I will play along with the challenge going on over at Less Is More, which this time round is, 'Friends', and also this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, which this time round is 'Have a Heart'.

             

And here's my card...

  

This card is based on a card the delightful Jennifer Mcguire made a while back, that I just loved, so decided to give it blast myself.

I took a couple of different Lawn Fawn heart stamps and stamped them out in my chosen colour palette, in a cluster, on my background.  I used Distress inks in Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, and Seedless Preserve.  I then spritzed them all with a little water, making all the colours vein out and bleed all over my background, and left to dry.  I then went over the same hearts in Versmark Ink, and heat embossed using Wow's Silver Sparkle.  I stamped out my sentiment from an old Hero Arts set, which, if memory serves correct, I think is called, 'Thank you for being a friend', again in Versamark Ink, and heat embossed in Ranger's 'Black Sparkle'.  I die-cut a few little hearts and coloured them using 'Worn Lipstick', Distress Ink which I embellished with.  I added a slither of Silver to the side of my panel and adhered to my card base.  And there you have it.

I love how this came out, and am going to give it to my best friend who had been an amazing support to me this last month or so.

I really hope you like it, as always, I'd love to read your comments.

Jillxxx

You can choose your friends...

Hi everyone,

A quick post to share a quick and simple card I made for the current challenge over at Less Is More, where this week, the theme is, 'Friends'.

And here's my card...

I used Lawn Fawn's, 'Our friendship grows', stamp set for this card.  I started by stamping the large sunflower from the set in the middle of the card, and colouring it using my watercolour markers.  I then give it a good spritz with water, so that all the colours would run all over the background.  I then stamped out the same image on a separate piece of card, and again, coloured using watercolour markers and misted with water to blend.  I also stamped the image onto one of my gorgeous wood veneer sheets from Make The Day Special and used the centre to add to my image for some added interest.  I cut all my extra bits out, give them all a quick lick of clear Wink of Stella, and adhered them in place.  I stamped the sentiment from the same Lawn Fawn set and heat embossed using Wow's 'Fool's Gold' powder.  I matted my panel onto a piece of corrugated card from DCWV to finish off, and there you have it.

Quick and simple, but bright and cheerful.

I hope you like it, please feel free to leave a comment.

Love always'

jillxxx

When life gives you lemons...

Hi everyone,

I just want to share the final card I have made to enter into this weeks challenge at 'Less Is More'.  The Challenge is for a 'One Layer Card', with the theme of 'New Beginnings'.

And here's my card...

I had actually finished my crafting for the day yesterday, and was in the middle of tidying up (slight OCD), when my brand spanking new Crafter's Companion 'Aqua Markers' were delivered...so obviously had to get everything back out and give them a whirl!  I'm a Pro Marker girl myself, but used Crafter's Companion for the first time when I bought their coloured pencils quite recently.  I was really impressed with the quality of them, and am a watercolour fanatic, so decided to give the new Aqua pens a blast.  I haven't played enough yet to really get a good feel for them, but I think they're gonna be a welcome addition to my craft room.  

The stamp set I've used is the new 'Berry Good' set from Avery Elle, which I just love.  I stamped out my lemon using black Versafine, and clear heat embossed.  I then tested out my markers to colour it in.  Once dry, I stamped out my sentiment, form the same set, again, in black Versafine, and again, clear heat embossed.  And there you have it.  Just about as simple as they come, but I hope the colours, and the sentiment, pack enough of a punch to still make an imapct.

I realy hope you like it, and love reading your comments.

Love always,

jillxxx

Simply New beginnings...

Hi everybody,

I would like to share another card I have made for this week's challenge at 'Less Is More', which is a 'One Layer Card' challenge, with the theme is 'New Beginnings'.

And here's my card...

My loved ones and myself are facing a 'new beginnig' of our own, one we would rather not be, but I used that as my inspiration for this card, to send us some 'Happy thoughts' to get us through the rough times.

My main image is made using Paper Smooches, 'Lovely Thoughts' set.  It is one of those sets where you get the separate elements, and build up your image using the different parts.  I was using it just with normal inks and couldn't get it to look how I wanted, then had the idea to stamp it in Versamark, and use various embossing powders to build up the parts, so that's exactly what I did.  I have to say, without blowing my own trumpet, I love how it came out.  I used Wow embossing powder in Gold Sparkle, Copper, and Fool's Gold to build up my rose, and the leaves and spots are in Teal.  My sentiment is built up using Mama Elephant's 'Happy Everything' set.  The 'Happy' is embossed using Ranger's Black Sparkle powder, and the 'thoughts', is heat embossed in Wow's 'Silver Sparkle'. 

I really hope you like it, and would love to read any comments.

Love always,

jillxxx

One layer Card...

Hi everybody,

I'd like to share a card I have made for this week's challenge going on over at 'Less is More', which this week is 'One Layer Cards', with the added theme of 'New Beginnings'.

Now I only found this lovely blog last week, but love it already.  So many beautiful entries, kind words, and I love the CAS style so...well, what's not to love?

And here's my first card (I couldn't stop so entered all 3 times :) )...

I started by cutting a mask using Lil Inkers, 'Stiched Butterfly'.  Then, using my Kuretake, 'Gansai Tambi' water colours, painted through the mask in three contrasting colours and, using the same three colours, flicked some paint across my background.  I then stamped out this gorgeous huge 'Happy' from Mama Elephant's 'Happy Everything' set, heat embossed in Silver Sparkle, then finished my sentiment by stamping out 'vibes', from the same Mama Elephant set, and heat embossed in Black Sparkle.  I am literally IN LOVE with this stamp set, you can make up so many different sentiments from it.  I've already got so much use from it, and can see being an absolute 'go to'.

I'm following the theme, by sending 'Happy Vibes' for all, and every, new venture lif throws at us!

I really hope you like it, as always, I would love to read your comments.

Love always,

Jillxxx

Inky fingers...

Hi everybody,

I'd like to share a card with you I have made for the Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp, which this week is, 'Inky Background'.

Pretty much my favourite thing in this world, is getting messy with my inks and creating different backgrounds, so I couldn't wait to get started.

And here's my card...

 

I've been having a pretty rough ride of it recently, so decided to add my own sunshine to my life to try and brighten up my sky.

I die cut my panels using Mama Elephant's, 'Index Card' set.  I then die cut the front panel into sections using the wave from Mama Elephants, 'Landscape Trio', set.  I coloured all my parts using Distress Inks misted with matching colour Mica powders, pulling my pieces through the inks.  My back panel is washed in Tumbled Glass, Salted Ocean, and Peacock Feathers;  and my front panel is wahed in Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold, and Mustard Seed, and then the other sections, in Worn Lipstick and Festive Berries.  I die cut Paper Smooches 'Curly clouds' from my front panel, and inlaid back into it using white card.  I also die cut the sun from Lawn Fawn's 'Spring Showers' set, and this gorgeous large 'Happy' sentiment from MamaElephant, and again, watercolour washed them using Distress Ink, (Mustard Seed, and Peacock Feathers mixed with Tumbled Glass).  I finished my sentiment by stamping out the word 'vibes', from Mama Elephant's 'Happy Everything', set, onto vellum, and heat embossing in white.  I then adhered my pieces where I wanted them, and embellished with some enamel hearts.  And there you have it.  A nice bright card, hopefully representing a brighter future.  

I hope you like it, as always, I would love to read any comments.

Lova always,

Jillxxx

Try something new...

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share a card I have made with a couple of challenges in mind.

I'm going to play along with the current challenges from Lawn Fawn, and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, and you can find all the details here...

Lawnscaping - Winter Themed mood board

    

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

And here's my card...

So the Lawn Fawn Challenge is a 'Winter themed mood board', and the Simon Says Stamps challenge is 'Something new'.

My 'Something new', is trying out partial die-cutting for the first time.  I have seen this done so many times, and love how it looks, so thought I would give it a blast using Lawn Fawn's 'Scripty Hello' die.  Soooooo, after a, *ahem*, 'few' attempts, (cutting the wrong side off, cutting the whole thing out, cutting the wrong gaps of the word out ...the list goes in), I eventually got somewhere near where I was hoping to go!  I took my inspiration from the twinkly tree picture on the Lawn Fawn mood board, and chose my colours, Evergreen Bough, and Seedless Preserve', accordingly.  I took these colour Distress Inks, and made a watercolour palette from them on my craft mat.  I watercoloured over my partial die-cut word, and went to town with my flicks and splodges to create my background.  I then used  Basic Grey's, 'falling star' mask, and some Cosmic Shimmer glitter paste to give some added dimension, and the twinkle I was aiming for.  I embellished with some ribbon banners and some heat embossed mini heart die-cuts.  I then made a vellum card base (another 'something new' for me), and add some embossed stamping to the top to tie the whole thing together, and adhered my panel to it.  And there you have it.  I really hope you like it.  I can't wait to try this again, and I am now obsessed with making vellum card bases!  Who knew the pretty stuff was so strong?!

As always, I'd love to know your thoughts.

love always,

jillxxx

recycle recycle recycle...

Hi everyone,

A quick post to share a card I made for the challenge going on over at my favourite place on the Internet, Make Day Special, and the theme this month is - Recycle!

Now, I' guessing I'm not the only one who does this, but I'm a bit of a box hoarder!  I can't seem to throw a good box away!  However, I am also a completely OCD, and the clutter from the random boxes, drives me nuts!  So I thought, 'perfect, I'll recycle an old box, and make a card from it', and here's where it took me...

the offending box...

and the card I made from it...

So everything on the card, other than the base, and the smidge of Lawn Fawn patterned paper, are from that cardboard box.  This card was one of those times when you're really not sure where you're going, or what you're doing, and certainlly have no idea where you're going to end up...but you just keep going and hope for the best haha.  I cut the frames using Mama Elephants, 'Index Card' set, trimming a small amount off the inner panel to create a frame within a frame.  The glasses, 'Hey' sentiment, and all the little hearts are cut using Paper Smooches dies, and heat embossed using various WoW embossing poweder.  The 'Glasses dies', are inlaid into the background to keep everything tidy, and I created my own background panel by repeatedly stamping this 'Hi' sentiment from Paper Smooches 'My peeps' set, and clear embossing it.

I'm still not 100% sure what I even think of this card, it's a little ker-azy for me haha, but hey ho, it is what it is.

I hope you like it.

Jillxxx

Winter wishes...

Hi everyone,

Well boy oh boy, it is freeeeezing up here in North England, so what more perfect challenge to play along with than the one going on over at Lawnscaping at the minute, which is a 'Winter themed mood board', and here is the mood board...

And here is where it took me...

I used 'Evergreen Bough' and 'Seedless Preserve' DistressInks to watercolour wash my background, by smooshing them onto my craft sheet, misting with water and white pearl mica powder, then running my card through the inks.  I then used a scalloped edge border die, and cut several layers of vellum to create this frill effect.  I then cut Lawn Fawn's Forest Border die from this gorgeous teal green glitzy paper from DCWV, and tidied the edge by adding a wrap of ribbon with a little tie for added detail.  I stamped my sentiment, which is from Lawn Fawn's 'Joy to the Woods' set, in Versmark, and heat embossed using this beautiful 'Sea glass' embossing powder from 'WOW'.  

I really hope you like it, I think it's really simple, but really pretty.  I'd love to know what you think, so please feel free to leave a comment :)

Jillxxx