Decided to get myself motivated and do a Christmas challenge, I also thought I would use the colours over on the Case Colours & Sketches challenge but missed the upload by a smidge, never mind it gave me inspiration.











​Part of the problem was my camera ran out of battery power just as I was about to take the photos and I discovered we only had three AA batteries left so there was a mad scrabble to fine a fourth battery that would work, hence me missing the CC&S cutoff time, serves my own right for leaving it so late lol, but it's an ill wind that blows no one any good and it got me motivated to add to my Christmas stash.
​

I slapped and then squirted some SU Pool Party and Bermuda Bay onto some baking paper and sprayed it with ironing aid. ​

​I laid the tag into this ink several times until I was happy with the coverage drying between each laying. Last for this section I slapped some Distress Oxide Evergreen Bough down, sprayed it and then laid the tag back into this ink. Once the tag was dry I gave it a light spritz with home made glimmer mist.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this cute little card as much as I did making it.
There are three more very cute penguins in this stamp set along with three more hats of various designs to pop on their heads.
Feel free to use the card as inspiration.
​Cheers Marg

This card is for two challenges, the CAS Colours & Sketches current challenge found here; http://cascoloursandsketches.blogspot.com/2018/06/challenge-276-sketch.html

The Fan Club Christmas challenge over on SCS found here; ​https://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/christmas-challenge-f421/june-2018-christmas-challenge-t624564.html, you do need to be a Fan Club member to access the second challenge.

​
​I first created the greeting using two different fonts, one for the capital letters and another for the body of the words.
I then pasted the digi image between the greeting words.

​

​I had the collective image at the top of the A4 card initially and printed it off like this but that was a mistake as I wonted a single layer card, however all was not lost as I decided to mount the digi image as a 3D so used the first print for this and then moved the collective image down to the bottom of the A4 card and printed again.

​Because I had an image it was quite easy to place the gold thread and the ribbon and it was easy to see where both the thread and the ribbon would peep out from the coloured image. 
I attached both the ribbon and the thread with some double sided tape putting the tape down first then just laying the ribbon and thread over it.

​This photo is a bit grainy but shows the digi image before I fussy cut it. Once that was done I mounted the image onto some white craft foam with Tombo Multi glue, let it bond under pressure for about ten minutes then mounted that sandwich onto the card base placing the coloured image directly over the image on the base with the ribbon and thread. 
the only other thing left to do was to add some Nuvo drops to the card to give it a bit of added interest

This card is for the teapot challenge for this week to create a card using a song.

For this card as you can see I have gone with "Paris in the Spring" and like one of my co members of SCS, Sabrina I would be happy to be in Paris any time of the year. We spent three days in Paris at the end of summer in 2014 and all it did was wet my apatite. I loved it, so when we were heading back to the British Isles in 2016 we spent six days in Paris at the very beginning of Spring.

Paris is my favourite city in the whole wide world apart from my home town of Brisbane lol. 

I bought the Paris die at the Paper Craft show last year and that same craft show is this week and I haven't used the die so it was the perfect opportunity.

I'm going to give this card to a friend who has just come back from her first trip overseas at the age of 81 that included Paris.

The card is fairly simple I layered the die image four times with the top layer being cut from some background paper I made with the Slap & Squire technique and I put glitter on the Eiffel Tower part of the die. I mounted the rest of the greeting on some craft foam and that's it.

I know the DP is cherry blossom but it reminded me of Paris and I like the colours. I have also been told that there is cherry blossom near Notre Dame 

​I first laid colour down on some baking paper using the Slap & Squirt technique to create some coloured card stock to cut the top layer die

​The top die cut from the coloured card stock and a plain cut die for sandwiching. I cut four white images with the die to give the final image stability and some height.

​I use aqua adhere as the glue to sandwich each of the die cuts together, the reason being the glue stays wet for quite a few minutes allowing you to move the die cuts around.

I prime the paint brush that I apply the glue with to the die cuts with ordinary washing up detergent and then wipe it off slightly.
This allows easy cleaning of the brush after use.

​I use a pointy nosed pair of tweezers to sandwich the layers together, one layer at a time allowing each layer to dry before starting on the next, about 15 minute between layers.

This image shows the completed sandwich and a view of the tweezers used.

Once the sandwich was completed I brushed some glue over the Eiffel Tower section of the die and sprinkled diamond glitter over it. Diamond glitter is a very fine glass glitter that absolutely sparkles.

I cut two strips of pink glitter paper and butted the strips up against the cherry blossom paper then mounted this onto some soft pink card stock to give it stability.

I embossed some Smoky Slate card stock and then mounted the panel onto this. Finally I glued the die to the front and made the rest of the greeting with my Dymo tag maker and mounted this on some smoky grey and a little craft foam.

I finished the card by putting a strip of the cherry blossom paper on the inside of the card with some white card stock for writing on mounted on some of the soft pink card stock to create a border.

I loved making this card and in reality it didn't take too long.

I hope you enjoyed my description, thanks for looking cheers Marg. 

Spent yesterday, Sunday 3/06/2018 at Stampin' Up demonstrator extraordinaire Katie Kaup's place making cards. Had a great day and will have to say Katie is so generous both with her time and talent and her supplies.
​Thanks so much Katie. 

This card is for two SCS challenges and the CAS Colour & Sketches Challenge #273.

CC688; the colour challenge for this week is to use Smokey Slate, Watermelon Wonder & Old Olive. This is a lovely combination and there are some really gorgeous cards in the gallery.

MMTPT513; The teapot challenge for this week is to make a card for a twelve nearly thirteen year old who loves going to tea parties ... perfect. No added points for me but I did add some bling, what twelve year old doesn't like bling ... hang on I still like bling and i'm just a wee bit older lol.

CAS Colour & Sketches Challenge #273; this was a sketch challenge for this week and I have been true to the sketch other than to add ribbon where the sentiment should have gone.

Very straight forward card that took about 90 minutes from beginning to end. 
 Split Coast Stampers found here;  https://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ 

CAS Colours & Sketches #273 - sketch, 
found here; ​http://cascoloursandsketches.blogspot.com.au/2018/05/challenge-273-sketch.html.

The card is for a young honorary Teapotter over on the SCS Teapot Challenge site found here; ​https://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/teapot-tuesdays-f260/mmtpt513~may-22-2018~-honorary-teapotter~-t624129.html

Products used are;
Stamps: Heartfelt Creations - Coffee Talk
Paper: X-Press It blending Paper. SU A4 Craft Stock - Watermelon Wonder, Old Olive & Smoky Slate. SU DP - Birthday Bouquet.
Paper Size: Base = 10 cm x 15 cm
Ink: Versa Mark - Watermark. SU - Smoky Slate.
Accessories: Embossing Powder - White. Studio Katia Sequins - Crystal Rainbow Fusion SK28833. SU Dotted Lace Trim - Watermelon Wonder. Spongingtool. Tombo - Mono Multi Glue. X-Press It High tack Double Sided Tape.
Techniques: Heat embossing

Thanks for looking Cheers Marg

Last Sunday the 22nd (and I can't believe its nearly a week ago) I had a wonderful time a Katie Kaup's place making cards.
I haven't done this for so long I can't even remember how long and while Split Coast Stampers (SCS) is a wonderful enabling community that has helped me grow creatively it is nice to share the passion with other crafters face to face.
It was also a great mix of women, one my age, retired with grandchildren, one 20 years younger then three younger with very young families including Katie who just amazes me as she works 4 days a week as well.
​I have posted each of the cards separately so you can see the detail. 

Card #1 was very simple but I think you will agree very effective using Brusho Crystal Colour spritzing it with water then letting it dry. Once dry just stamping over it using the lily out of the retiring "Remarkable You" stamp set and the quote from the retiring "Feather Together" stamp set gluing the strips of gold glimmer paper that Katie had already cut out for us onto the top and bottom of the top piece and then mounting it onto the card base.

Card #2 which technically is card #5 was colouring an embossed image directly with Brusho's. This s a brilliant technique however you do have to be careful and I wasn't careful enough and ruined the topper by ending up with a swipe from my aqua brush so I saved the image because I really liked it and when I got home I fussy cut it, mounted it on some craft foam then stamped a greeting from SU "Butterfly Basics" another retiring stamp set but one I have had for quite some time. I didn't have any of the Shimmery white card stock that Katie had used so sprayed a thin film of home made glimmer mist over some X-Press It blending card. added the sequins, used Tangerine Tango to frame it and mounted it on Smoky Slate.   

Card #3 or card #2 to be more correct and you can see the likeness. After mucking up the first attempt and putting it aside to deal with at home Katie very kindly gave me a second chance.
This time I did a lot better but when stamping the Versa Mark - Watermark for the silver embossing powder and despite wiping the edges of the stamp I got a slight mark that I didn't like however decided to carry on.
The technique is quite simple but you do need to take care. 
First you stamp a line image (we used the magnolia stamp out of "Remarkable You" as well as the greeting from the same set) using Versa Mark - Watermark and then emboss it, any embossing powder colour will do but silver did look classy.
Once embossed you lay quite a bit of water inside the embossed areas making sure it doesn't run outside the embossed lines.
You then gently shake some Brusho watercolour powder over the image. I used red, orange and yellow. You then set it aside to dry. 
Once the image is dry you can blow off all the excess powder which will just leave the coloured image but it is very important that the image is completely dry before you do this. I put the card together with the card stock Katie had supplied and decided to put a pale wash around the image when I got home.
On arriving home I was going to do a pale wash of So Saffron but discovered that even though you couldn't see it there was some very fine powder left on the card and so I was able to do the wash just using water and my aqua brush and I'm really pleased with the effect.  

Card#4 or 3 was very simple and straight forward with no mistakes or stuff ups lol
First we did a wash on the topper then while this was drying we stamped and gold embossed two leaves from the retiring stamp set "Vintage Leaves" then stamped another leaf just with the Versa Mark Watermark and cut all three out with the retiring "Leaflets Framelits" dies.
Using the Stampasourus (see below for an explanation) we stamped the greeting from the retiring stamp set "One Big Meaning", then put it all together using dimensionals, first adding some gold metallic thread and that's it.

Our last card for the day Card#5 or 4 lol. 
We used the Stampasourus for this little classy gem and it was so easy to do. the Stampasourus in case you don't know is a stamp positioner like no other, it has two detachable top plates allowing you to use any number of multables of stamps and also can be repositioned down the edge of the base allowing you to stamp in gradients without having to move your card.
We used the stamp set "beautiful You" one that has been on my wish list for some time and thank goodness isn't retiring this year. 
Once the images were stamped we just put it all together.
We used a celebrate die to cutout the greeting and I used Jennifer McGuire's technique of layering where you cut out several of the same image then glue them all together. This gives the image / greeting depth and also stability.

​I can't thank Katie enough for a lovely few hour and am really looking forward to the next demo.

This card is for both the colour challenge over on SCS and the sketch challenge 
The card is for a seventeen year old's birthday and  the image dictated that it be a rectangle not a square but apart from that the sketch is true.
The colour's to be used were Berry Burst, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive & Pool Party.
I coloured the image with Copic markers as close to these colours as possible.
They are:
Daffodil Delight Y15, Y18 & Y17
Berry Burst RV63, RV66 & RV69
Pool Party BG10, BG32, BG34 & BG18
For the hair BV08, C-9,C-7, C-5, then over all of it V25
Skin tone was E00, E21 & E11
Cake was Y17 & E21
​Other shading was created with C-0, C-1 & C-3

To introduce the Old Olive into the card I didn't want solid colour as it made the card too heavy so I created the panel by slapping some Old Olive ink onto some baking paper spritzing it with some water then laying the card into it.
I then dried the card off and spritzed it again with some home made glitter mist made from Perfect Pearls Biscotti and water in a mini mister spray bottle and there you have it, turned out quite nicely.

Regarding the baking paper, I saw on YouTube or Facebook or Pinterest or somewhere a few days ago people presenting a million different ways to use freezer sheets and while I'm not familiar with freezer sheets I figured baking paper would work just as well and it does.
I don't know about you but I get into a frightful mess sometimes when using inks and dyes. this is perfect, you lay it over your work area, treat it just like your craft mat, it will even work with a hot glue gun and then once you have finished you just gather everything up and pop it in the bin, brilliant. 

So the stamp sets used are Stampingbella - tiny Townie Bree Loves Buttercream eb305 and Hero Art - It's Your Day CL661 and there you have it. Hope I have inspired you.
Cheers
​Marg

Below are some cards I created over the last half of the year that I hadn't uploaded anywhere because I lost my mojo. Just adding them here so that there is some kind of record, some of them were done for challenges and then not uploaded and some of them like the little unicorn cards and the Polar Bear card were commission cards that I was being paid for so had to do them. I have put comments at the bottom of each photo.

This card is a pure indulgence and very unlike most of what I do. I saw this colour challenge come up last month but simply didn't have the time to participate, however I needed a baby card for a nephew and his partner who have just had a baby girl with a head of dark hair. From the photo's she is the most gorgeous sweet little thing so I wanted to do a super sweet card to go with our gift.
The Stampin Up colours to be used were;
Smoky Slate
Pink Pirouette
​Sky Blue 

I started the card by looking for suitable fancy dies to build the card with.
I had seen a card with a die peeking over the top of the card base and I really liked that effect.
I folded the base of the card creating a card that measured 11 cm by 15 cm which fits the post office preferred A5 envelope size.
​The image is a Mo Manning digi called Hush. I had to print it out a couple of times on ordinary printer copy paper to get the right size to fit the die but once that was established I printed the image out on X-Press It blending paper.

I split the Sky Blue die cut out so that I could better position it then layered the others on top, I wanted the pink to dominate as it was for a little girl.
Before we go on I would like to talk to you about digital images. I find them really easy to work with and just copy them into a word document and resize from there. I love Mo Manning images but use a lot of other ones too. I'm not affiliated with any company and make no income from my hobby. The best thing about digi's is you can resize them and it takes about five minutes from you choosing your image paying for it and down loading it. Copic work perfectly with printer ink (well mine anyway) and with this image I also used a Stamp'in Up water based marker and an aqua brush. I was just careful not to get the paper too wet. I also mounted the image onto some craft foam with PVA glue just to pop it a little.

Once the die layers were on I started building the bling starting with the SU 5/8 flower trim then the paper flowers the bow and the little pearls.
The greeting is from a retired SU set called "A Word for You". I spent an hour hunting for this stamp set (I have way too many stamps) thinking it was wood mounted, eventually finding it in with the clear mounted sets. 
I stamped the greeting onto some vellum with Versa Mark - Watermark and then heat embossing with silver embossing powder. I attached this with two mini glue dots tucked under the ribbon. Everything else apart from the craft foam was attached with X-Press It high tack double sided tap including the paper flowers. I finished off the card by layering the Spellbinder Nestie enchanted Labels 28 (middle one) on top of some SU Pink Pirouette and Sky Blue, and there you have it. Hope you enjoyed the post, cheers Marg