Winter Wonderland IG Hop - Week 5

Hello friends and happy hump day.  I hope you've had a great day so far.  It's Wednesday so it's time for this week's instalment of the Winter Wonderland IG Hop organised by my lovely friend Kelly.  This is technically the last week of the hop but don't worry as we have an extra bonus week for you next week!  Each Wednesday we are sharing our creations with a winter theme. 

This week is Week 5 and our theme is plaid poinsettia.  Now the brief was you can make something that includes a poinsettia or include some plaid or both.  I decided to use both.  Here is my card:

A close up of my poinsettia:

I decorated the inside as usual:

here is what the paper looked before and after inking:

I began by trying to find some plaid patterned paper, which was not easy.  I eventually found one but it was a beige/neutral colour.  I decided to ink swipe onto the paper with a red ink pad to make it the colour I wanted.  I think it turned out really good and just what I was looking for.  I then die cut my poinsettia; one large layer and 2 smaller layers, plus a few leaves from dark green card and the centre from gold mirri card; I then added gold pearls onto the centre.  I used foam squares to attach all the layers so it ended up being very dimensional.  I cut a piece of white card to a 3 3/4" x 5" panel and added a strip of red spotted paper and a smaller strip of the gold mirri card to the left hand side.  I adhered the leaves with liquid glue and stamped my sentiment in black ink.  I then added the poinsettia with liquid glue over the leaves.  For a final touch I added some gold splatter over the entire card panel.  The panel was then attached to my A2 card base with double sided tape.  For the inside I added another strip of spotty paper and gold mirri card and as I had one poinsettia left over I cut it up and layered it into the bottom left corner.  I stamped a sentiment in black ink.  A really dimensional and shimmery card in real life and I'm really happy with it.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Crafter's Cafe challenge - feminine

Crafty Gals Corner challenge - dots and/or stripes

Double D challenge - stripes and/or dots

Inkspirational challenge - seasonal (obviously I've gone for Christmas again)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

Time Out challenge - winter/holiday

Try It On challenge - traditional Christmas

Use Your Stuff challenge - shine bright (mirri card, gold pearls, gold splatter)

We hope you will be able to join us over on Instagram and follow the hop.  Please use the hashtag #winterwonderlandcardhop2023 to find all of our creations and we will be able to find yours if you feel inspired to join in.  

Enjoy the rest of your day and thank you so much for stopping by.  

Love and hugs, 

  

card ingredients:

MFT - all star high top die-namics

Gina K Designs - autumn splendor paper pack

Gina K Designs - red hot ink pad

Gina K Designs - black, gold & silver pearl mix

Personal Impressions - big Christmas essentials (for outside sentiment)

Personal Impressions (Paula Pascual) - Christmas messages (for inside sentiment)

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm smooth white card

Echo Park - dots & stripes (Valentine) for spotty paper

Gansai Tambi - starry colours palette (for gold splatter)

green card & mirri card from scrap box

Summer Crush Wednesday Week 4

Hello and happy Saturday friends.  Apologies that this post is late this week; we went away at the beginning of the week for a couple of days to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary and I've been playing catch up ever since!  Welcome to Week 4 of the Summer Crush Wednesday IG hop organised by my good friend Kelly.  The hop will run for 6 weeks (this is week 4) and we will have some fun themes and even some techniques I've never tried before!  If you would like to join us just use the hashtag #scwcardhop23 and we will find you (you can also see all the other participants of the hop using this hashtag).  This week is 'salt life' and this is a technique I've never tried before; water-colouring and using salt to create interesting and original backgrounds.  I hope you will give it a go as it's really fun.  

Here is my 'salt life' card:

here are some close ups of the salt effects:

and I had a small piece left so decorated the inside too:

I began by water-colouring my panel with my paints using pinks and purples.  I watched a tutorial on YouTube so that I knew what the process was when using salt and apparently the secret is that the paint has to be almost dry for the effect of the salt to be more dramatic.  I was pressed for time so blasted my background with a heat tool until almost dry and then sprinkled some regular table salt and some salt crystals onto my background.  Ideally I think you would leave it for quite a few hours or even overnight to react with the paint but again I was strapped for time so left it for 2 hours and then again blasted it with heat to make sure it was completely dry.  I then rubbed off the salt to reveal the reaction.  I was pleasantly surprised with the result and it looked really good.  I didn't want to cover up my background too much so decided to make a slimline card (which I don't do very often).  I die cut some flowers and a butterfly from black card and adhered them with liquid glue onto the water-coloured background.  The sentiment was a pre-made strip and I added that with foam squares.  A very simple card but I think it looks dramatic and perfect for a sympathy card.  I'm looking forward to creating more salt backgrounds in different colours.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts challenge - finish the inside

Unicorn challenge - no design paper

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour challenge - ATG/option Christmas

Addicted to Stamps and More challenge - any occasion

Please pop over to Instagram to see what the other participants of the hop have created; we cannot wait to see what you create.  Don't forget to stop by again next week for more summer fun creating.  

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.  

Love and hugs, 

Card ingredients:

Sizzix/Tim Holtz - wildflowers #1 thinlits

Clearly Besotted - butterfly duo die collection (retired)

Gina K Designs - Mixed messages sentiment sheets

Gina K Designs - sentiment strips dies

Gina K Designs - so many sentiments (for inside sentiment)

Strathmore - Bristol smooth water-colour pad

Kuretake - Gansai Tambi water-colour palette

AAA Birthday challenge - DT card

Good morning lovely friends and happy 1st of June.  I can't believe we are already in the 6th month of 2023 - where has the time gone?  

I am here today with my DT card for this month's AAA Birthday challenge.  This month our hostess is Deekshita and she has chosen 'water colours'.   The challenge lasts from 1st June - 30th June and it is for birthday cards only.  

I started my card with a completely different plan in my mind but I changed it after finishing my water colour background; the final result is not what I envisaged but I think it turned out ok.  

here is a closer look:

As I say I began by water colouring the background using my Gamsai Tambi water colours.  I was originally going to add a little critter image over the top but I didn't like it so searched through my stamps and found this beautiful Gina K Designs stamp which fit the shape I'd created perfectly.  I did use some clean water and 'bleached' out the flowers a little so that there would be some colour difference from the background.  I haven't made a circle card for such a long time and I thought it would be perfect for the wreath shape.  I used an old Go Kreate XXL circle die set but had to trim the black circle as the size difference was too big but don't look too closely as my border is a little wonky in places lol!  I finished off by adding a scripty sentiment and some black pearls.  The card base was created with the same larger circle dies and I added some extra interest with an embossing folder.  The finished card is 5 3/4" diameter.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Craft Rocket challenge - use dies

Krafty Chicks challenge - stamp act

SSS Wednesday challenge - anything goes

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour challenge - ATG (option bright colours)

Can you handle the pressure challenge - ATG (option bird/birdhouses)

Double D challenge - flowers

Allsorts challenge - anything goes (option use a stencil)

I hope you will have a chance to join in with our challenge this month.  Please pop over to the blog for all the details and to check out the wonderful creations from the rest of the DT.  We also have Ana as our guest designer this month.  

I cannot wait to see your amazing creations. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Crafty hugs and love, 

Card ingredients:

Gina K Designs - Kindness wreath stamp set (not sure if discontinued)

Gina K Designs - Spring floral BG stamp set (for sentiment)

Strathmore Bristol smooth watercolour card 

Gansai Tambi watercolour palette

Go Kreate XXL circle dies 

Gina K Designs - embellishment pearl mix

We R Memory Keepers sunburst EF (discontinued)

Guest Designer - AAA birthday challenge

Good morning lovely friends.  I am delighted and honoured to be a guest designer over at the AAA Birthday challenge blog this month.  

The theme this month is 'layer it up' and here is my card:

 

close up of layers

I decided to go clean and simple with my layers and created a 30th birthday card for a friend using white with a hint of gold and black.  Firstly I cut a panel and scored some lines using my score board for a little interest in the background.  I then splattered some gold and black ink for some drama.  I die cut the leaves from Gina K Designs in white and vellum and the '30' numbers from My Favorite Things in gold.  I also die cut a decorate shape in vellum so that the numbers stood out a little from the leaves.  I assembled the leaves behind the vellum panel and added the numbers on top (I did add a small circle of white cardstock for stability).  The sentiment strip is a pre-made one from Gina K Designs.  Can you believe there is no stamping on this card - shock I know!  The finished card is 5 x 7 inches.  

I hope you will have a chance to enter the challenge, but remember it is a birthday card only challenge.  You can find all the details here.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs,

Card ingredients:

White cardstock - Heffy Doodle

Black cardstock - Heffy Doodle oreo crunch

Foliage fillers - Gina K Designs

Mixed messages sentiment sheets - Gina K Designs

By the numbers - My Favorite Things (retired)

Gold paint - Kuretake Gansai Tambi starry colors

Gold pearlescent card - Tonic 'autumn maple' 6x6 pad (no longer on the Tonic site)

Vellum - Stampin' Up card stock vellum that's been in my stash for years!

Beautiful wildflowers

Happy Saturday friends.  It's a beautiful day here is South Wales, glorious sunshine all day but very breezy (perfect for drying my washing lol!).   I hope you're having a fab day and the weather is good where you are too.  I'm sharing a slimline card I made for a friend in work who's birthday is today.  Apart from the sentiment there is no stamping on this card.  Here is my card:

close up of the card:

pretty gold embossing & splatters:

I die cut the flowers from white card and coloured them with oxide inks for a softer effect.  I die cut the butterfly from glitter card and black for the body.  I created the background by simply splattering some gold pigment paint in 2 shades of gold for a sparkly but clean and simple look.  I added the panel to a peach coloured card panel and then adhered this to my white card base.  The sentiment was embossed in gold embossing powder and I added a few pearls for a final touch.  The finished card size is 4" x 8 1/4".  I don't make slimline cards very often but I really like them so I will have make more of them soon.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

The Crafters Cafe challenge - flowers

Creative Knockouts challenge - wings and things

Sweet Stampin' challenge - no squares

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - bright, cheerful colours

Allsorts challenge - use 3 colours of the rainbow (red, orange, green)

Krafty Chicks challenge - all occasions

Simon Says Stamp IG challenge - make the cut

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I'll catch you back here very soon.

Hugs, 

Card ingredients:

Sizzix/Tim Holtz Thinlets - wildflowers

Distress Oxide inks in abandoned coral, spiced marmalade, mustard seed, twisted citron

Memory Box - pippi butterfly

Gansai Tambi - starry colors (I used yellow gold and red gold for the background)

Ranger - letter-it birthday (for the sentiment)

pearls from Little Things from Lucy's cards (they were a free gift)

peach cardstock from stash

Heffy Doodle - white letter size cardstock

Cosmic Shimmer - bright gold detail embossing powder