Pretty Printing Anniversary Card

Hello, welcome back and thank you to everyone who left me such lovely comments last week.

Today's challenge at 365 Cards is Pretty Printing - hand write your own sentiment, and make sure it's at least three words long.

I love sets of alphabet stamps so that I can print my own personal message on a card but handwriting a sentiment is a bit scary.  Still, in for a penny!

Last year I went to a big craft show and bought a set of foils and a glue pen.  Well, actually, I bought the big pack because the lady demonstrating it made it look so easy and I thought it would look really great on a card.  This is the second time I've used it and I haven't quite got the knack yet, hence it's all a bit bumpy!  And I have a bit of a confession.  I was concentrating so hard on making the letters look pretty that I made a bit of a spelling mistake.  Doh.  You're looking at version 2!

I found some pale blue background paper and wrote my sentiment with the glue pen.  Then waited a g e s for it to dry before rubbing over a dark brown glossy foil.  Meanwhile I die cut my flowers out of the Colour Q pallette and stamped my leaves before fussy cutting them.  I love the Runway picture with the flowers over the model's shoulders and the stripes at the bottom so thought I would add a few stripes of my own to the card.  Finished it off with the buttons, twine and glitter brads.

I'm entering this card into
Lawnscaping Challenge #69 Let a sentiment stand out
Runway Inspired Challenge #47 Alberta Ferretti

Colour Q #214

and
The Daring Cardmakers - All the other reasons

Life is better at the beach

I've heard that everyone can be split into two distinct groups - you either love the seaside or the mountains.  Well, I'm a beach girl, no doubt about it!

Today we're having a blog hop and give away over at 365 Cards.  We (the DT) are all making cards in our own favourite styles.  The challenge is to scraplift your favourite one of our designs. Take a tour around and see what you think...

Audrey
Carla
Letisha
Janice
Michelle
Pam
Rose
Ruth (that's me)
Wendi
Yvonne
Victoria

Once you've visited everyone (and left a comment on each blog), go to the 365 Cards site and comment that you've visited us all (and who your favourite was) and a winner will be drawn at random to win a prize package of crafting goodies.

I started with the beach background paper with that fabulous sentiment.
I tore a piece of paper to mask off the centre of the card before stamping the grid under the anchor paper strip.  The grid and chevrons are in perfect plum.
To give it a seaside feel I knotted some bakers twine into a rope and strung it in a wave pattern.  Then, I'm a bit proud of myself for the next bit, studied a book of knots to make a continuous ring hitching around some small split rings!
The seagulls are stamped and fussy cut, the pair of seagulls involved some more masking.  And I've added a little wooden button to finish it off.

I'm entering this card into
The Craft-Room Challenge - use stencils and/or masks
Just Add Ink #189 Colour Challenge (crumb cake, perfect plum, raspberry ripple and white)

The Friday MashUp #134 Got Chevrons?
Totally Papercrafts #191 Button It Up
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Leaves and woodgrain birthday card

I went out for a lovely walk earlier this week with my little girl and we collected lots of leaves together.  We then spent a happy afternoon inking the leaves and using a brayer to make leaf impressions on some brown paper.
I cut mine out to make a card.  She cut hers out to decorate the table.  And her chair.  Oh, and the floor.  But she had a good time!
I love the Trigger Tuesday picture at Moxie Fab World...

..and felt inspired to make a card with the woodgrain background, the brown of the bowl and those beautiful coloured leaves.

I watercoloured and stamped the woodgrain background, die cut the birthday boy's name and stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment.

I'm also entering this into
The Ribbon Girl - October colour challenge (brown)
and
Fashionable Stamping Challenges - make a card

Zentangle Christmas Trees

This week over at 365 Cards we're being sponsored by DRS Designs, one lucky winner will receive a gift certificate to shop in their store.

I've started with their Christmas sentiment as a digi stamp (I know, two weeks in a row that I've ventured into the world of digital design!), and the rest I put together in Photoshop.

I fell in love with zentangling when I first saw it but have never actually tried it before.  I zentangled my Christmas trees (well, I don't really know if this qualifies as zentangles or if it's actually just a bit of doodling!) and added a texture and colour gradient in the background.  I also added a light blue shadow to the text before printing it straight onto my card blank.

Am entering this into
Papertake Challenge - Oh Christmas Tree
Top Tip Tuesday #112  Black and White and a Splash of Colour
Aud Sentiments - Christmas Sentiments

Vintage Ephemera

Today's challenge over at 365 Cards is to make a vintage style card using some ephemera.
This is what I love about being on a design team, being pushed to work outside my comfort zone - I would never have made a card for this challenge in a million years otherwise!

I printed the map, tore the edges and distress inked around them.
The sentiment was printed too, I liked the vintage style font.
Swirls were die cut, and the stars and hand were stamped and fussy cut.

Am entering this into
Daring Cardmakers - Digital Dare
Stampin' For the Weekend - Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles #193 Earth Tone or Colours
Inkspirational #41 Anything Goes

Pick A Tool

Today's challenge at 365 Cards is to use a tool that someone else chooses for you.  My son chose my circle templates for me to use.
I drew the overlapping circles and water coloured them using the pallette from this weeks Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger.  I tried to keep the diagonal stripes of colour in my work.

I stamped and embossed the swirl and little stripes of pattern in gold before sticking on my gold embossed sentiment.
As a final touch I added three little pearls.

I'm also entering this into
Stampin' For the Weekend - Anything Goes
Inkspirational - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Use a Rubber or Clear Stamp

And don't forget we're giving away a pack of fabulous Echo Park papers, just leave a comment over at 365 here to be in with a chance!

Woodgrain Wedding Card

I've been meaning to make this wedding card for ages and had a couple of ideas for it, but this week I've seen two inspiration pictures that together just fired up my mojo.
The photos I started with are Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger ...

and Inspired By #91...

I watercoloured a background of very light grey, brown and green wide stripes and let the colours run into each other.  While this was still a bit damp I stamped a woodgrain pattern over the top so it kind of blended into the background a bit for a softer look.  I like the way the knots in the wood echo the shape of the comb in the top photo.
The flowers around the edge of the frame are all from one stamp which was a bit too straight for my liking, so I fussy cut around some of the swirls and flowers to split the image into three pieces which I could then reassemble around the curved edge of the frame.  I stamped it in four different colours so I could add a few more flowers to hide my joins!

I'm also entering this into
The Pink Elephant 219 Wedding or Anniversary
and
The Friday Mashup 130 Let's Cut it Up!

and it would of course fit into 365 Cards day 278 - Fussy Cut and Paper Pieced too. We'd love you to come over and join us, we have a new challenge every day.