One Layer Loveliness...

Hi there,

Today I'm sharing a card I have made for the current challenge going on over at the awesome Lawnscaping Challenge Blog.  This time round, the challenge is One Layer Cards, and is sponsored by the amazing Lawn Fawn themselves!  What's not to love about that, right?  So I had to play along.

And here's my card...

I started by stamping my strip of grass, and masking it off.  I then stamped out these oh so cute little bunnies from the 'Snow Day' set, and also masked them off.  I then built up and stamped out my 'hey' sentiment using Quinn's abc's, and removed all my masking.  I added the little balloon from the 'Party Animals' as I knew I wanted to add a pop of red to my card.

I coloured my little scene using Distress Inks as watercolour, and added a coat of Wink Of Stella, followed by Glossy Accents, to the bunnies, the 'hey' and, of course, the balloon.  

I finished my sentiment using a stamp from the 'Life is Good' set, and stamped it below the grass.

And there you have it.

I really hope you like it, and would love to read your comment so feel free to leave them :)

See you next time.

Jillxxx

The Perfect Pair...

Hi everyone,

And welcome to my page and place on this wonderful blog hop, I hope you're enjoying yourself so far!

I could not be happier to be part of this wonderful Design Team.  I am a giant megafan of all things Make The Day Special, always have been, always will be!  And we have two people to thank for it, and that is Tara and Rick.  The hard work they put in to bringing us all the things we love, and that make us all very happy, is truly quite astounding. 

So we just wanted to say 'Thank you', and show how much we appreciate them and their hard work...and this seemed the most fitting way!  So Tara, I really hope you're loving it...

And here's my 'foodie' offering, to Tara and Rick...

I used Avery Elle's 'Berry Good' set as this just seemed to match our theme perfectly.

I stamped out the pear, twice, adding the sentiment to the middle of one.  I then watercoloured and fussy cut both.  I added a patch of watercolour to my card panel, with a few flicks and splodges added across my background.  I added a twirl of twine, and embellished with a scattering of enamel dots and a few little gems.  I matted onto black card, and mounted onto a kraft card base, and there you have it, a simple celebration of an awesome couple!

Well, that's me done, but boy oh boy is there still some amazing inspo ahead of you!  Next up is our unreal talented and awesome Julia ...and a full list of all blogs in case any one got a little lost!

Start http://makethedayspecialcards.blogspot.co.uk/

Jenny http://craftinginthecountry.blogspot.com/

Jill http://paperlovebuzz.blogspot.com/

Julia http://just-one-more-card.com/

Kate http://justkatecrafting.blogspot.com/

Keren https://kerenbaker.wordpress.com/

Sarah http://funkyfossildesigns.blogspot.com/

I would just like to say, Tara, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you, for everything. 

...and to you guys reading this - thank you all for your time and energy every week.

Send my love to the rest of the gang while you're 'hopping', & enjoy :)

Jillxxx

Pretty Glitter Peonies...

Hi everybody,

Jill here, with some very glittery Peonies...

I used a technique that can achieve, oh so pretty results...

I took a piece of vellum, covered in Stick-It, then covered that whole piece with a fine, white glitter, burnishing it VERY well!  I used these gorgeous Peonies from Avery Elle's 'Peonies' set, stamped out in Black Onyx Versafine, heat set, then coloured over the top using alcohol markers. Now here is where I would like to add a *disclaimer* ...I have no idea what this will do to your pens!  It's an 'At Your Own Risk' kinda thang.  I didn't notice it harming my pens at all, but I can see a lot of people thinking this is ker-azy!  I would say, if you want to try it, kind of 'bounce' your pen nibs over the glitter as oppose to dragging them as if you were colouring card, and make sure you wipe off any glitter from your nibs when finished.  Trust me, no matter how well you think you've burnished that bad boy glitter down...it will still shed!

Once I had all my pieces coloured, I fussy cut them out.

I then made an aperture covered in acetate as a backdrop for my pretty Peonies.  I wanted as much light to shine through as possible to really make them twinkle.  I cut another piece of card with the same aperture, and dry embossed in a dotty pattern.  I adhered my Peonies to the acetate using clear glue gel so it still looks pretty neat from the back.

I finished my card by building up my sentiment using the same Avery Elle Peonies set, stamped onto vellum, and Paper Smooches 'Thanks Word Die', which I heat embossed in Platinum Sparkle.  I embellished with a scattering of sequins, and a few little gems, and there you have it.

I really hope you like it.  As always, everything I used is linked below.

See you next week.

Jillx

   

Pretend Pencil Sketching...

Hi everybody,

Jill here.  How are you all feeling today?

I was on Instagram the other day, and the guys at Mama Elephant posted this amazing picture to celebrate 'National Elephant Day'.  It was so simple, yet beautiful and brilliant.  It was the 'Ella and friends' set, and it looked like it had been pencil sketched.  I fell in love with it instantly, and knew I had to try something similar...

I don't even know how they did it to be fair, but certainly mine doesn't come close to how awesome theirs looked, haha.  Never mind, practise makes perfect, eh?

I used grey colouring pencils, but I think it would have looked much better using actual pencils.

I used Mama Elephant's 'Woodland Gifts' to create my 'sketch'.  I stamped out my scene using a really pale ink, and followed/sketched over the lines using a dark grey colouring pencil with a lighter grey to blend.  I introduced a touch of colour and some Glossy Accents to the balloon for a little interest.  I stamped the sentiment in grey ink, and matted onto an Avery Elle 'Truffle' note card.   Obviously this technique is all about the simplicity, so I left it there.

*update*

I've had a try with a normal pencil, and a little shading and blending, so thought I'd share where that got me...

...I actually much prefer this as it's a lot darker and a lot more intense.

What a relaxing technique though?!  I really enjoyed it and can't wait to give it a little more time.

I hope you like both efforts, and would love to see if any of you have given this technique a try yet, if so, maybe leave a link below and we can share our findings?

As always, everything I used is linked below.

See you next week.

Jillx