Night Sky

 I'm loving Stampin' Up's Watercolor Shapes and To The Moon stampsets, and used them for this card, which is a response to Freshly Made Sketches' FMS493. After sponging the background, I used the two small star cluster stamps from To The Moon to create the 'Milky Way'. I cut the full and crescent moons from a larger circle in Watercolor Shapes, and silver embossed them over grey. 

Ingredients

Stampin' Up!: card (Whisper White, Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy), ink (Seaside Spray, Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy, Basic Grey, Momento Tuxedo Black), Shimmery White and Silver embossing powder, Layering Circles Dies, To The Moon and Watercolor Shapes stamps. 

Best Wishes Flowers

When I saw As You See It's inspiration photo for challenge 202, I was struck by how the flowers glowed against the dark background.

Luckily, Just Add Ink's #460 - 'Emboss Resist' - reminded me of this technique. Serendipitously, (is that a word? I meant by a happy coincidence...) The Flower Challenge's #33 was to focus on backgrounds - so I've combined these three challenges in this card. I tried to get a different amount of clear embossing powder in the centre of each flower, by using a light touch with the fill-in colour stamp, after using the outline - I didn't want it too neat and tidy.

Ingredients: Stampin' Up card (Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White), ink (Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Mossy Meadow, and Memento Black), Rectangle Stitched Framelits, stamps (Petal Palette for the sentiment, and Garden in Bloom), clear embossing powder, Nature's Twine in Calypso Coral, Versamark ink. 

Beautiful Butterflies

A lovely colour combination - Melon Mambo, Granny Apple Green and Coastal Cabana - from Global Design Project's #177 made me excited to use my new butterflies from Stampin' Up. As a base for the design, I used Fab Friday's latest sketch: #157 (which also enabled me to use the lovely new Stampin' Up doilies). To soften the stamped doily, I die cut another one in vellum as an overlay. I coloured the butterflies using Copic markers - thinking all the while that I really must invest in some Stampin' Up blends!

Here's the card:

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up card, (Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Coastal Cabana), ink (Basic Black, Granny Apple Green), stamps (Butterfly Gala, Dear Doily), dies (Doily Builder, Layering Circles), butterfly punch.

Other products: Stazon Black ink, copic markers (B02, YG17, RV29, YG03)

 

Bouquets

Two pretty challenges inspired me this week: CASOLOGY's Week 330: Bouquet, and Fusion's 'Tea and Bouquet's'.  I don't feel I use my 'Time for Tea' suite enough, so I leapt at the chance.
the card:

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, thick Whisper White) ink (Basic Black, Pink Pirouette, Granny Apple Green) water colour pencil (Cherry Cobbler), stamp sets (Time for Tea, Itty Bitty Greetings, dies (Spot of Tea, Squares) and punch (Detailed Trio)

Rainbow cupcakes

I had my first play with Stampin' Up's Salebration set, Hello Cupcake, this week, as I responded to two 'cupcake' challenges. From The Card Concept's 107, I was inspired to make a Clean and Layered card with both rainbow colours and cupcakes. This was reinforced by the delicious looking pastel-y cupcakes in Just Add Ink's #441 challenge.
The result:

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up card (thick Whisper White), ink (Petal Pink, Pineapple Punch, Lemon Lime Twist, Pool Party, Highland Heather, Crumbcake, Elegant Eggplant), stamps (Hello Cupcake, Perennial Birthday).

Other - My Favourite Things Die-namics Stitched Basic Edges

Smile!

This was a happy card to make, thanks to CASology's Week 328 challenge: Smile! It suited my card-mood exactly, since I had already decided to try for a non-somber response to Retro Rubber's Challenge 102: Black and White. As a base for the flowers, I used Vertical Greetings stamps, from Stampin' Up!'s 2016 Annual Catalogue. Now I just have to think of who to give it to!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up card (Whisper White, Basic Black) ink (Basic Black), stamps (Vertical Greetings, Sunburst Sayings), Rectangle Stitched Framelits, Layered Circles dies, 7/8" scalloped punch.
Other: Rosie's stamp (for the smile) - icecream/cupcake set, black glitter paper (don't know where from!)

Back to Balloons

For CAS Colours and Sketches challenge #303,

I returned to one of my favourite suites: Lift me Up/Up and Away. I decided to keep the card monochromatic except for the sun, just to give a real 'hope in darkness' feel. I used vellum for some of the clouds to capture the transparency in the sketch, and textured them and the 'filling' for the balloon for a bit more difference/depth in the whites.

Ingredients: Stampin' Up card (Whisper White, Basic Black), ink (Basic Black, Pineapple Punch), Stamps (Lift Me Up, Sunshine and Rainbows) dies ,(Up and Away), vellum.

First Play with 'Well Said'

Initially I felt a bit stumped by CAS(E) this Sketch's challenge #304:

 but then I got my new Stampin' Up! box and in it was a set I suspect I'm going to use a lot: 'Well Said'. I decided to use sentiments on repeat as the lines of the sketch, and this is what I came up with:

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card, (Whisper White, Basic Black, Lovely Lipstick, Call Me Clover), ink (Basic Black), stamps and dies (Well Said and Well Written).

Cheers!

I saw the latest CASOLOGY challenge - Week 326 - as I was languishing inside to escape the heat of a Hawke's Bay (New Zealand) summer - so the challenge word 'Frozen' had one and only response - ice - as in ice cubes!  I hope this antipodean response is okay!
It's a pretty CAS card - but I did get to use my new Stitched Rectangles, which was fun.

Ingredients:
Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, Thick Whisper White) ink, (Grapefruit Grove, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo), stamps (Mixed Drinks), dies (Stitched Rectangles).

Hello 2019!

It's great to come back to making cards after a break, where guests needed to sleep in the craft room. My first 2019 cards were inspired by CAS(E) this Sketch's challenge #303. I'm just loving the Needlepoint Nook Suite and so turned to it with glee. I particularly like playing with the loved stitched patterned die. My first card pretty much stuck to the sketch, but I thought I'd also post the more off-piste 2nd version as well (same basic principal, but the central shapes much bigger).
The first card:

and the second:

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! stamps (Needle and Thread), dies (Needlepoint Elements, Stitched Shapes, Layering Circles), DSP (Needlepoint Nook), vellum, card (Whisper White, Old Olive, Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride), ink (Balmy Blue, Old Olive, Poppy Parade, Basic Black) embossing powder (white), pearls, glitter enamel dots.

Best Sentiment for Christmas

The sentiment on this card is one I wholeheartedly agree with - and I indulge in a kind of wistful imagining (what if this WAS the year where these qualities were in evidence everywhere?) whenever I use it.
In this case, I've used Global Design Project's sketch #166  as a basis for the card.
I was pleased with the background stars - I tried using the embossing powder while the sponging wasn't 100% dry in the hopes that there'd be a background 'shimmer' of stars and (in a way that doesn't often happen) it turned out the way I'd imagined!

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up card, (Whisper White, Shimmery White, Marina Mist, Night of Navy), ink, (Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Night Of Navy), Stamps (Musical Season, Christmas Pines), dies (Petals & More), silver embossing powder, Subtle embossing folder

Other products: Kaisercraft Moonstars dies, Fiskar circle punch, Fynmark vellum

Christmas baubles

I loved Fab Friday's sketch challenge #151 and, as is my habit at the moment, made a Christmas card in response. Happily, an embossing folder I got a couple of years ago marries nicely with Stampin' Up's 'Beautiful Baubles'. The handy stitched embossing die in Sweetly Stitched Framelits proved a subtle way to add the final embellishment.

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, Shaded Spruce, Soft Suede), ink (Basic Black), watercolour pencil (Cherry Cobbler), gold embossing powder,  Beautiful Baubles stamps, Detailed Baubles framelits

Other products: Craft Creations Kiwiana Christmas series - embossing folder, Derwent Inktense Teal Green watercolour pencil

New Favourite

Well, there's no question what my new favourite is from Stampin' Up - the utterly delicious Needlepoint Nook suite - so it was great to see Paper Craft Crew's invitation, in challenge #316, to showcase it. I recently went to a card class run by the marvelous Jan Clothier (check her out here!) where we made screen cards, so the first thing I did when I got home (who needs dinner, anyway?) was make one using this new favourite.

Ingredients:
Stampin' Up card (Petal Pink, Old Olive, Whisper White), ink (Berry Burst, Granny Apple Green, Basic Black), Needlepoint Nook,DSP, stamps and framelits, Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp (for sentiment), banner punch (for base).

Butterfly exploration

The other day, I got to experiment with the upcoming Beauty Abounds bundle - which is full of lovely surprises. As a base, I used the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge: #365. The stamps and dies called out for soft colours, so I obeyed their demands! The two panels have a sponged base and then are lightly over-stamped with one of the stamps from the set. The butterflies are (carefully!) detached from the stunning larger framelit in the 'Butterfly Beauty' framelits.
A lovely set  - I look forward to more exploring.

Ingredients
Stampin' Up: Card (Shimmery White, Whisper White, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Balmy Blue), ink (Gorgeous Grape, Balmy Blue, Soft Sky, Lemon Lime Twist, Pineapple Punch), stamps (Beauty Abounds, Needlepoint Nook - for sentiment), thinlits (Butterfly Beauty)
Other Products - francheville rhinestones

Christmas Pressies

Paper Player's challenge #420 was an interesting study in verticals. I'm just getting my head around Stampin' Up!'s 'Nothing Sweeter' stamps and dies, so decided to interpret the sketch using them. Thank goodness for the Stamparatus, which was a boon for this card.

Ingredients:
Stampin' Up! card (Blueberry Bushel, Whisper White), DSP (In-colour 2018-2020), ink (BAsic Blac, Lovely Lipstick, Pool Party), stamps (Nothing Sweeter), framelits (Sweetly Stitched).
Other products: Zing! (American Craft) embossing powder in green glitter finish; francheville rhinestone.

Sneak Peak #2 of Needlepoint Nook

I'm just loving this new set, which I was lucky enough to order early through attending OnStage. I've used it here for Sunday Stamps' Challenge SSC192. I love the colours in the DSP so have chosen to use the same colourways here, with just a little of one of the reverse-sides as a base. I also used another recent acquisition, Stampin' Up's 'Corrugated' Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. It makes a great base when used with coloured card, I think.

 

Ingredients:
Stampin' Up! card (Berry Burst, Whisper White, Night of Navy)  ink (Berry Burst, Balmy Blude, Old Olive, Night of Navy), Corrugated Embossing Folder, Needlepoint Nook Suite (stamps, dies, DSP)
Other: Rosie's lace trim.

Sneak Preview: Stampin' Up!'s Needlepoint Nook

I'm so glad I went to OnStage in Auckland - and the chance to acquire the completely gorgeous Needlepoint Nook suite early is high among the reasons why!
I used a little of the DSP and some stamps and dies from the suite to make this card for Paper Craft Crew's gorgeous sketch challenge PCC315.
I can see lots and lots of fun ahead experimenting with the suite's different permutations. The closeup shows the lovely stitched-effect die and the delicacy of both the stamps and the DSP.

Vases four ways

I loved the combination of colours in Hand Stamped Sentiments' Challenge #302, but it wasn't until I saw As You See It's challenge #189 - a 'quadtriptych' card - that I worked out how to use them together. I liked the idea of removing an element of colour in each of the parts, but repeating the central image:

Ingredients: STampin' Up card (Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Merry Merlot, Pumpkin Pie), ink (Merry Merlot, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie), stamps (Varied Vases) and die (Bunch of Banners)

Christmas with beach colours

I'm just squeaking in under the wire to get this card entered, so I'll be brief: the colour palette for Sunday Stamper's challenge SSC91 was beautiful - we were challenged to use at least three of these colours:

Since I'm currently on my yearly mission to make southern hemisphere Christmas cards, I seized the day:

Pretty tricky colours to match from what I had, so this is as close as I could get!

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up card (Marina Mist, Whisper White, Crumb Cake), ink (Crumb Cake, Dapper Denim), Stamp and Dies (Beautiful Baubles), watercolour pencil (Balmy Blue)

Other: Water colour pencils (Faber Castel's Raw Umber and Cream, Derwent Inktense Deep Indigo)

Speedy Red!

I was pretty impressed with how efficiently I made this card for As You See It's 'Vitesse Rouge' Challenge #188 - which required a card using red and taking less than 10 minutes. I ended up taking 6:38 minutes - though as you can see, I followed their advice to keep 'it simple'!
(By the way, the background is white - it just came out funny in the photo because I was hurrying to get it in on time!)

Card ingredients:

Stampin' Up! dies (Detailed Baubles), stamps (Beautiful Baubles), card (whisper white, real red) and left over glitter paper from when my daughter crafted (that is, at least 10 years ago!)