A Rich Tapestry

As is often my habit, I've been browsing Pinterest and YouTube for card inspiration, particularly in the area of mixed media, which is a different direction from my usual style. One project in particular by Shari caught my eye and this morning I went to my craft room to attempt something along similar lines using what materials I have on hand.

What I ended up with is a rich tapestry of colour in turquoise, orange and green with hints of brass, copper and bronze, and I have to say that although it's a departure from my norm, I absolutely love it. It may not be to your taste, if you like my usual style, but that's okay. Even more importantly, I had sooooo much fun making this and can't wait to play again.

Take a lookie:

There's sparkle from shimmer mist on the butterflies and the copper ink which looks stunning when they catch the light, trust me. Here's a close-up to give you a better glimpse of those. The darker filigree pattern is the distress paint while the brighter patterns are the copper ink.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala, Timeless Textures, Short and Sweet (all SU)
• card - very vanilla, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon, pine needles, peacock feathers
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, butterfly duet punch, Hodgepodge Hardware, blending brushes, water spritzer, heat tool, champagne shimmer mist, Delicata celestial copper ink, antiqued bronze distress paint (Tim Holtz), sponge dauber, Dimensionals

Here's the card that inspired me:

If you're into mixed media, I'd love you to leave a comment on how you think I'm progressing. Don't be shy to offer constructive criticism and suggestions - I'm open to learning and trying. All I ask is that you're nice when pointing out my faults, lol.

Well, I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled programme! Thanks for calling in and stay safe.

Cheers

Kez

Speckles of Gold

I was watching Tim Holtz on YouTube last night - I know, I know, he's a major enabler and I was playing with fire, lol - which had a twofold effect: (1) to make me want the new product he was demonstrating (no big surprise there 😉) and (2) in the absence of those new goodies, I had a craving to play with my distress oxides (come to think of it, that's not surprising either!). At any rate, once I'd done some ink smooshing and had this scrummy panel of gorgeousness (in my humble opinion), of course then it was a matter of 'what am I going to do with it?' Choosing a gold accent was a no-brainer (as you'll soon see what you get to the card du jour) and after placing them on my card base I decided I wanted a sentiment that fit perfectly underneath. Upon discovering an appropriate stamp in the Butterfly Gala set, I then realised I had the perfect entry for this week's Just Add Ink challenge:

Here tis:

In the light this sparkles beautifully but it's a wet and dingy day today, therefore not great for photo taking. I really need an inside set-up with good lighting (strikes thoughtful pose, strokes chin and muses).

The gold outline leaf is a new product in SU's 2020-2021 annual catalogue - isn't it gorgeous? There's a whole range of stunning gold shapes to pick from, you're going to love them.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala
• card - whisper white, Forever Gold specialty DSP
• distress oxide inks - blueprint sketch, wilted violet, peacock feathers
• other ink - Delicata golden glitz
• other - stitched square die, Big Shot, blending brush, craft foam, Stamparatus, paint brush, water spritzer

It's a very minimalist card for me but I have to say, each time I look at it I like it more, lol.

Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe.

Cheers

Kez

Stampers Anonymous Blog Hop #17

Well, hi! Welcome to the Stampers Anonymous Blog Hop for April. I haven't played along for a couple of months but you know I find it hard to resist when there's a colour challenge going on...

As usual, we're allowed to use neutrals such as black, white, vanilla and crumb cake.

This combo certainly got me thinking and I ended up with three samples to show you, all quite different styles, but hopefully that just means at least one of them will be to your taste!

For my first card I went with an animal that's grey and used one of my favourite techniques (ink blending) to incorporate the other two colours. Here's how that one turned out:

Materials used:

• stamps - Animal Outing, Butterfly Gala
• card - smoky slate, shimmer white, whisper white
• other - stitched rectangle die, circle die, Big Shot, Stampin' Blends, Stamparatus, blending brushes, craft foam

My second offering is much more subdued, this time featuring two stamps from the Very Versailles set plus some epoxy dots coloured with Stampin' Blends for small bursts of colour. All the embossing was done first, then I over-stamped with smoky slate ink to give this tone-on-tone effect. I love how it gives great shadow and depth to the sentiment.

Materials used:

• stamps - Very Versailles
• card - whisper white, smoky slate
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, Stampin' Blends, craft foam, epoxy dots, embossing buddy, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot

And lastly, a bit of fun with those adorable meerkats from the SAB catalogue. Here's the front...

Now open it up, and...

So cute! Who doesn't love meerkats, am I right? LOL.

Materials used:

• stamps - The Gang's All Meer
• card - whisper white, Bermuda bay
• other - cloud die, Big Shot, Sahara sand marker, black marker, Stampin' Blends, Stamparatus

To follow along the rest of the blog hop just click on the buttons below to move back or forward till the circuit is complete, and we'll be very happy if you leave each person some comment love for their efforts!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Blog Hop #12

Welcome! It's time once again for our team blog hop and this month we were given some gorgeously vibrant colours to play with.

My first offer is a fun birthday card with some sponging. I made the striped edging piece myself using a ruler and the brush tip of the marker. You need a steady hand though, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Itty Bitty Birthdays
• card - whisper white, night of navy
• other - balloon bouquet punch, white gel pen, sponge daubers, ruler, night of navy marker, clear epoxy droplets, ornate frames die, Big Shot, Dimensionals, white embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy
• inspired by Simonne Clay

I've always loved blue and green together and night of navy with granny apple green has to be one of my favourite combos. Here's a 'bloke' card that uses this pairing and is clean and simple. I purposefully left off any sentiment because I want it to be one of those cards you can pick up and use for almost any occasion - birthday, Father's Day, retirement, etc. There are three layers to the image, which give it depth and dimension in real life. 

Materials used:

• stamps - A Good Man
• card - granny apple green, night of navy, watercolour
• other - aqua painter, markers, craft scalpel

And now for something quite different - whereas the previous cards had a lot of light space, the next one is a touch more dramatic in the use of the colours. I've done more sponging, this time in a Bokeh background effect. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Perennial Birthday, Butterfly Gala
• card - granny apple green, lovely lipstick, whisper white, night of navy, acetate
• punches - 1/4" circle, 1/2" circle, 3/4" circle, 1" circle
• other - Dimensionals, Well Written thinlits, Big Shot, Stampin' Blends, Stamparatus, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Stitched Seasons thinlits, Butterfly Beauty thinlits, sponge dauber

That's it from me! Click on the links below to move around the hop until you've completed the circle, and I hope you have a lot of fun being inspired to play.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Vintage Butterfly Hello

Our team's challenge this month is a fancy fold card and I immediately got it stuck in my head that I wanted to do a centre-step card. I had no idea what design to use until I was inspired by a card I saw ... guess where? Yes, you know me well. Pinterest, of course! Gosh, I remember the days I'd spend a small fortune on craft magazines for ideas, now all I have to do is sit in front of my computer for hours a short time.

Anywho, here's the card I made. I'm very happy with it (except for a small snaffoo drawing the antennae which hopefully nobody will notice lol) and suspect it may end up in my 'too nice to give away' pile.

A few speckles of gold in the background tie in with the gold embossing on the base piece, as does the sentiment panel.

I did three layers on my butterfly: the initial stamp on the background piece then two more coloured and cut and adhered with black mini dimensionals to give the wings some 'lift'.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala, Climbing Roses, Gorgeous Grunge, Timeless Textures, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - crumb cake, very vanilla, basic black
• other - gold embossing powder, heat tool, black Dimensionals, sponge dauber, black marker, butterfly punch, embossing buddy, post it note

Be sure to leave some comment love if this one turns your crank! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Softness in Nature

Those who prefer bright, bold colours don't get a shoe-in this week as our nature-themed class cards are all about soft colours, and as I do love me some distressing and splodging, a couple of them also have a shabby chic look I simply adore.

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful Friendship, 
• card - seaside spray, whisper white, mint macaron
• other - subtle and script embossing folders, water spritzer, linen thread, Big Shot, Dimensionals, word window punch, white shimmer paint
• inspired by Teneale Williams

Materials used:

• stamps - Free as a Bird, Timeless Textures
• cad - balmy blue, whisper white, vellum, Bird Ballad DSP
• other - distressing tool, stitched season framelits, Big Shot, mini Dimensionals, linen thread
• inspired by Lauren Alarid

I deliberately left a sentiment off this one as I think it's suitable for many occasions.

Lastly I couldn't go past a touch of the gorgeous purple posy. I'm terribly impatient for the ink to arrive for this one, but at least we have the Blends pens to give us something to colour with. Stamping done with basic grey instead of black, again for a softer look.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala, Abstract Impressions
• card - purple posy, whisper white, soft sea foam
• other - tropical thinlits, Big Shot, lace dynamic embossing folder, water spritzer, metallic pearls, stitched rectangle frame lit, Stamparatus, butterfly duet punch, sponge dauber, Tombow glue, purple posy Stampin' Blends, mini Dimensionals, mounting tape

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Pop of Colour

Hi, I'm back! Came from a lovely warm climate to a cold blast from the Antarctic, it feels like, lol!

To welcome me back our team challenge this month is to add a pop of colour - whether that be background colour or simply colouring in line art stamps. Well, you know I love me some colouring but I also have been looking for an excuse to play with my pigment sprinkles (#inkyfingers), so I made a card with a combination of both.

These inks take a bit of getting used to and there are so many different effects you can make that you could spend weeks just playing and experimenting. This background piece was my third effort, so I count that as a win! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala
• card - very vanilla, watercolour, basic black
• other - pigment sprinkles, water spritzer, paper towels, Stampin Blends highland heather and mango melody, greetings thinlits, Big Shot, stitched rectangle framelit, Dimensionals, basic black marker, heat tool

This one is a bit out of the box for me so I'll be interested to hear what you think.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Hello Beautiful

Over at the Clean and Simple on Sunday blog the challenge theme for this week is butterflies and I found myself unable to resist making a card for it. Here's my offering:

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala (SU), Climbing Roses (SU), Leafy Vines (Hero Arts)
• card - whisper white
• distress oxide inks - squeezed lemonade, abandoned coral, cracked pistachio, peacock feathers
• other - butterfly duet punch (SU), clear Wink of Stella, mounting tape, white embossing powder, heat tool, Versamark ink, Stamparatus, blending tools

Aren't these colours gorgeous together? The butterfly is sooo shimmery too, after I slathered it with Wink of Stella! Love that stuff.

Well, thanks for calling in. Have a beautiful day.

Cheers

Kez

Blog Hop Colour Challenge

It's time for another challenge blog hop with my SU team-mates and this month we were given a colour combo to use.

These sweet colours are not only featured in ribbon in the SAB catalogue, but also in gingham designer series papers in the Occasions catalogue. They are bright and cute and funky and I've been really enjoying playing with them.

Firstly I used one of my favourite new sets from the Occasions catalogue, Butterfly Gala. I'm not usually much into butterflies but this one is so lovely - both the stamped images and the sentiments - I found it irresistible. We made this in my last class and my ladies loved it. The three colours from the challenge I've used are daffodil delight, balmy blue and lemon lime twist.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala
• card - daffodil delight, whisper white, lemon lime twist, basic black, Botanical Butterfly DSP
• inks - Momento tuxedo black, balmy blue, daffodil delight
• other - butterfly duet punch, gingham gala adhesive backed sequins, clear Wink of Stella, tropical thinlits dies, Big Shot, stitched rectangle framelits, Dimensionals

I needed a 'thank you' card so for this one I took some of the flower images from Tea Together, pairing them with laser-cut details. I spritzed my brayered grapefruit grove background with some white shimmer mist to give it a lovely sparkle. The colours used from the challenge are grapefruit grove, lemon lime twist and highland heather.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tea Together
• card - whisper white, Beautifully Detailed Laser-cut Speciality paper, grapefruit grove, basic grey
• inks - lemon lime twist, Memento tuxedo black, grapefruit grove
• other - Big Shot, Dimensionals, Well Written framelit dies, white shimmer mist, stitched rectangle framelits, blender pen, glue pen, precision plate, tea time framelits, Stampin' Blends (highland heather), brayer

Seeing purple and orange together always makes me think of a line from the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral, where Gareth comments on Scarlett's outfit -

LOL.

I used the same three colours on my last card - another we made in class - but in completely different proportions.

Materials used:

• stamps - Hello Cupcake
• card - lemon lime twist, basic black, whisper white, Gingham Gala DSP
• inks - lemon lime twist, grapefruit grove, highland heather, Memento tuxedo black
• other - organdie ribbon combo pack, mini glue dot, Dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella

That's all I have for you today. I'm third on the list of blogs, so you can go back to see what Kristy made or move forward to view Marelle's creations and keep going until you've completed the circle. 

Please leave some comment love and thanks for calling in!

Cheers

Kez

I'm In Distress

A friend pointed out recently - none too subtly, I might add - that it's been a while since I played with my distress oxides; all the more reprehensible since I have twelve new colours. So I remedied that situation today, trying out some colour combos from my Pinterest board.

Unfortunately this first card is one of those where a last minute smudge appeared from I know-not-where once everything else was finished. Very frustrating. My ink of choice smudged a bit too, so that's another lesson learned. However, I'm going to show it to you anyway because apart from those small faux pas, it's lovely imo. The butterflies are stamped on vellum and coloured with Stampin' Blends to match the shades beneath.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala
• card - very vanilla, vellum
• distress oxides - tattered rose, abandoned coral, seedless preserves
• SU inks - very vanilla, black StazOn
• other - butterfly duet punch, Stamparatus, bokeh template, sponge, clear Wink of Stella, double stitched framelits, Big Shot, blending tools, Stampin' Blends - flirty flamingo, calypso coral, rich razzleberry

My second card was inspired by an ATC box made by Anna-Karin. I have a real soft spot for this vintage/distressed look.  

Materials used:

• stamps - Leafy Vines (Hero Arts)
• card - very vanilla, cajun craze
• distress oxides - antique linen, tattered rose, Victorian velvet, barn door, fired brick
• other - Well Written framelits, Big Shot, glue pen, clear embossing powder, heat tool, blending tools, distressing tool, mounting tape

It was a lot of fun playing with my DOs, I must admit, so hopefully it won't be long before I do it again.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

In Which My Opening Sentence Could Surprise

The only thing wrong with getting brand new crafting goodies - if I may be so bold as to suggest there could possibly be anything wrong with getting new stuff - is that ... no, wait, I think I need to amend that sentence. The only thing wrong with getting a bunch of new crafting goodies (cause I guess it's not really an issue if you only get one or two) is deciding which ones to play with first.

And then, of course, is the 'first try phenomenon'. By that I mean that you're so keen to just ink those stamps up or cut that ribbon/designer series paper that your first creation is not always...well, an important work of art, let's say. Not that I hate the cards I'm about to show you - no, no - it's just that they didn't come out as well in real life as they did in my head. Such is life, I guess. Maybe I could list that as the second thing wrong with getting brand new crafting goodies? Yeah, I hear you; I'd better stop there before I think of more things wrong and commit crafting sacrilege!

Alright, take a look at some new stuff:

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Gala
• card - highland heather, whisper white, Gingham Gala DSP
• other - Stampin' Blends, Big Shot, stitched seasons framelits, butterfly duet punch, glitter enamel dots, Dimensionals, edging dies (non SU)

This card uses products from the Gingham Gala suite - there's the stamp set, matching punch, gingham designer papers (in 5 colours), sequins and more. Plus, the upcoming Sale-a-bration catalogue also has matching butterfly designer paper AND ribbons to match the gingham papers. I'm not usually much into butterflies, but this suite was too lovely to resist.

Materials used:

• stamps - Climbing Roses
• card - petal pink, whisper white, smoky slate
• inks - petal pink, smoky slate, mint macaron, basic grey
• other - Stampin' Blends, scissors, Stamparatus, sponge daubers, distressing tool, Dimensionals

I do love me some distressing and sponging. A little bit of stamping-off softens background colours too.

And I also have a bunch of not SU goodies and couldn't possibly neglect them, so here's how my first card with those turned out:

Are these little guys cute or what? The shimmer mist sunbeams look gorgeous when they catch the light too. I've done a video on the making of this card, so if you're interested pop on over to YouTube HERE. And if you like it, give me a thumbs up and subscribe so you'll get notified each time I put up a new video.

Materials used:

• stamps - Gill Friends (My Favourite Things)
• card - soft sky, basic black, whisper white
• distress oxide inks - faded jeans, mermaid lagoon
• other - embossing buddy, white embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, Gill Friends dies, Stampin' Blends, Dimensionals, clear epoxy shapes, white shimmer mist, sun ray stencil (MFT), paper towels, blending tool

So that's what I've been playing with - more to come (but maybe not until after Christmas). Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez