Versatility in Design

A few years ago I attended an online craft retreat called Maker Mania 8. The kit for the retreat was autumnal with papers and stamps and dies great for this time of year. My last post's sunflower came from the dies in that kit. One of the instructors was Tricia Crosland Roy from Ladybug Scrapbook (sadly she has closed her shop) and she designed the layout for these cards. It is a versatile design that can be changed up by featuring different sentiments.

The photos on an angle show the subtle use of metallic cardstock. There is a vellum circle behind the white sentiment circle. This birthday card will be entered in the Seize the Birthday #336 challenge for Anything Goes.

 

I varied the gemstones with each card, colours and numbers, playing off the gold paper.

The beautiful 3D embossed background does most of the work here. I used Spellbinders dies for the leaves and Distress Ink to provide a little shading around the edges. Thanks for visiting!

WCMD Autumnal Card

Yesterday (Saturday) was World Card Making Day. To celebrate, stores had sales and some even had challenges. This card is for the Mood Board Inspiration Challenge over at Kat's Scrappiness. Here is the gorgeous board:

Here's my card:

I started by stamping the Memory Box Fresh Spring Wreath in Versafine Crimson Red and clear embossed it. Then I blended some Distress Oxide inks over the background and wiped off the excess with a tissue. The Lawn Fawn Party Animal fox and the chickie were coloured with Copic markers. Happy Birthday sentiment was printed and foiled in metallic purple. I added Distress Oxide to the card stock and splotched with water drops before mounting it and the bird with foam tape. A layer of green card stock mats the works and then it is mounted on a crimson A2 card.

Beside's Kat's challenge, I am entering this in the Seize the Birthday challenge. This view shows the embossed wreath a bit better. Thanks for visiting!

Penny Black Berry Kissed

I recently picked up a few new stamps from my local stamp store, Stampers!, which is sadly closing shop at the end of this year. They are Penny Black stamps and they have sort of a watercoloured feel to them already. I am watercolour challenged so I figured this would be a good way to try and get the look. This bunch of leaves and berries is called Berry Kissed.

Using my MISTI stamp positioner, I coloured the leaves, stems and berries using Distress markers. I just kept colouring and stamping until I got a look I liked. I clear embossed over all, then used an embossing pen to add glitter embossing powder to highlight parts here and there. I spattered the watercolour cardstock with Distress Shaded Lilac ink and used the same to colour the base of the card. The Penny Black sentiment (Festive Cheer) was stamped in VersaMagic Perfect Plumeria and clear embossed. I found a bit of plumeria coloured cardstock to layer underneath. 

I found a challenge on the internet to enter for Penny Black stamping - the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. The current call is for autumn colours and I think I achieved that.

I am also entering this in the current Christmas Card Challenge. Thanks for visiting. 

Peace and Plenty

The latest Waltzingmouse Fanatics Challenge (there are still two days to play!) is a sketch challenge. I actually made this quick little card a week ago but have not had a chance to upload it until now. Here is the sketch:

I used a pumpkin orange 4.25 x 5.5 inch base to mount the sentiment and popped-up fall foliage from the Peace and Plenty set. The sentiment is accented by a nifty thin border from the My Kind of Guy set, stamped with Creole Spice Kaleidocolor rainbow dye ink pad. Coloured the leaves with Copic markers. Thanks for looking!

A Belated Quietfire Thanksgiving

Hello, my poor, neglected blog readers! I hope if you are American that you had a lovely Thanksgiving. In Canada, we have our turkey in October. I sent a few autumnal cards off to my relatives and friends in the USA. For the ones I am sharing today, I used Quietfire Design stamps and cut files. This first card is made using the Burnished Velvet technique. The entire card front is covered in glitter and rubbed smooth (burnished) so it is smooth as velvet, but very glittery. The "Autumn" is a Quietfire cut file from the Silhouette store and the leaves are also from the online store. I applied wide Sookwang tape to the card front and ran it through the Silhouette Cameo to cut only the top layer of the tape's protective sheet.

Then I peeled back sections and sprinkled on the glitter to get the various colours. The top photo shows the glitter well.

This photo shows where I used a couple of different colours of glitter on the leaves. The true colour of this card lies somewhere between these two photos.

This second card is made using a Quietfire quote stamp and a companion pumpkin motif. I used Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and coloured with Copics.

On the inside of the card, I cut out the Quietfire pumpkin cut file in orange vellum and layered it over the stamped Happy Thanksgiving greeting.

I was in Phoenix just before the US Thanksgiving, and managed to get a manicure. I chose a coppery orange to keep with the season. The gal painted a flower on my ring finger. The manicure is long gone, just like Thanksgiving, but I hope you enjoyed this little catch up post!

Autumn Challenge

Can you feel Autumn coming on? We are enjoying an extended summer, with temperatures in the high 20's Celsius currently. But the Mountain Ash are starting to blaze yellow and the leaves are beginning to descend, and it won't be long now.

I am entering this card for the Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog challenge for September, which is "Autumn" and I could not be closer to the mark! This Albert Camus quote is a favourite of mine - the stamp is Stampendous N222 Autumn Flower stamped in Adirondack Raisin dye ink on tan cardstock. The background is Polished Stone created with an assortment of Ranger alcohol inks, and I embossed various leaves (old Hero Arts and PSX stamps) over top with pearly metallic embossing powders. I used a Krylon Gold Leafing Marker to edge the three panels. Thanks for visiting my blog today!