Gatefold of Salad Piled Onto Blue China

front of gatefold card

  

 main panel based on sketch

close-up of smaller shrink plastic flowers 

 

close-up showing larger shrink plastic flower, textured Moondust

cardstock & linen effect blue paper 

gatefold card open showing decorated side & centre panels

 

close-up of message panel & embellishments

showing the sheen of  Moondust card base

 

The ninth challenge at the Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers forum is to make a gatefold card. My main panel is based on the Friday Sketchers sketch which I have turned 180 degrees (I am hoping it is permissible to use the sketch as an element of the whole card) whilst the card's colour scheme carries a fair amount of symbolism inspired by the theme of "Eat Your Veggies" for the Pile It On challenge. Basically the colours are those of salad vegetables (the deep purple & white of red chicory, pink of radishes, orange & red of capsicums, pale green of lettuce, red of tomato to mention a few) on a blue & white china plate eaten with gold coloured metal cutlery. I also used the linen effect blue paper & Antique Linen Distress Ink to further the "table linen" connotations.

The shrink plastic flowers were made by punching the shrink plastic prior to shrinking & afterwards using dots of Stickles Glitter Glue or adhesive pearls for the centres. For the medium & large flowers I mounted the shrunk shrink plastic onto punched cardstock.

I used a circle punch to punch two flowers from the patterned paper & mounted these on two scalloped circles to make the embellishments for inside the card below the message panel.

The edges of the sketch panel are inked as are all the remaining paper & cardstock elements excepting the base card. The various inks are listed below & the colours were matched  according to the colour of the paper/cardstock.

Recipe

Stamp Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Poppy Fields.

Inks etc... Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink, ColorBox Ice Blue Fluid Chalk, Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue & Brilliance Rocket Red Gold.

Colouring ProMarkers, Letraset Black Fine Line Drawing Pen, Stickles Glitter Glue (Xmas Red).

Cardstock Bright Gold Cream Moondust & Textured Bright Gold Cream Moondust, cream, blue & red from "stash".

Papers Linen effect blue paper from "stash", patterned - Papermania Retro Paper Kit.

Punches Woodware (scalloped oval, circles & scalloped circles, shrink plastic flowers), Xcut (blue flowers), EK Success (red flowers).

Pearls Kanban.

Challenges Entered

Sugar Nellie Splitcoastampers 9 - Gatefold card

Cupcake Craft #93 - Summer Delights (salads - see above)

Friday Sketchers #104 - sketch

Passion For ProMarkers Wk 53 - Anything Goes

Pile It On #21 - Eat Your Veggies (see above)

Celebrating a Fairy Tale Birthday with Flowers

front of card

 

close-up of image

  

close-up of floral spray

close-up of embellishments on ribbon

 inside of card

 

The Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers challenge this time requires the inclusion of flowers in some form. I have used the I Love ProMarkers sketch & the colour scheme is that of the Simon Says Stamp challenge - Pink (or blue) with Green & Brown.

My ProMarker collection (Rubber Stamping Sets 1 & 2 plus the Skin Tones pack, 25 in all) is serving me extremely well even if it is a case of juggling the colour combinations somewhat & multiple layering of a single colour to achieve shading. With repeated layering I find there is considerable bleeding over stamped edges despite using the appropriate cardstock (the best so far are Ryman's 200gsm A4 Card & Craftworkcards Digital Ultra Smooth Premium A4 Cardstock), so - until more colours are obtained &/or I have more experience - I am cutting my image out & mounting it.

When my husband commented on the sparkly ear-rings I realised that will all the gems & glitter there is a fair amount of "bling" on this card - so perhaps it warranted my entering the Totally Gorjuss challenge of Bling It On with a second card.

Recipe
Stamps Sugar Nellie Diane Duda Curtsy.
Inks etc... Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Inks (Frayed Burlap, Aged Mahogany & Worn Lipstick) for inking all cardstock edges except green leaves.
Colouring etc... ProMarkers, Letraset Black Fine Line Drawing Pen, Stickles Glitter Glue ((Eucalyptus & Fruit Punch), Glossy Accents.
Cardstock Dark green glitter card, dark brown & various shades of pink all from "stash".
Papers Patterned vellum - Nancy Watt Collection from Making Cards January 2009.
Punches  Nellie Snellen (leaves), Xcut (outer petals of the 2 smaller flowers), Woodware (scalloped oval & the remaining flower petals), Fiskars (corner punch). 
Gems Green (Kanban), pink & crystal ("stash").
Eyelets Dovecraft.
Embellishments Ribbon Slider (Elusive Images Creative Acrylics), ribbon & bow (both coloured with ProMarkes) from "stash". 

Challenges Entered
Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers 8 - Flowers
A Spoon Full of Sugar #105 - Celebrations (a girl's birthday card)
Crafts & Me #5 - Distressed (Distress Inks edging all cardstock except green leaves)
Creative Inspirations #62 - Distressed! (Distress Inks edging all cardstock except green leaves)
Everybody Art #92 - Fairy Tale (I kept thinking of Gretel from Hansel & Gretel as I was colouring)
I Love ProMarkers #16 - A sketch
My Time to Craft #93 - Vivid Greetings Cards! (the vivid greens & bright pinks)
Passion For ProMarkers Wk 53 - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Pink (or blue) with Green & Brown
Stampavie & More  #96 - Happy Birthday for a Girl
Totally Gorjuss #31 - Bling It On!

Diamonds & Flowers for a Fairy in Aqua & Green

front of card

close-up of image panel

close-up of larger flower showing glittering

close-up of  "diamonds" on daisy ribbon

inside of card

 

Lili of the Valley Challenge #53 is a sketch by Bev Rochester. I have tweaked a couple of items: replacing the sentiment with a row of gems & lowering  the 3 elements represented by black spots in the sketch onto the band below - in  my case 3 small gems placed onto the daisy ribbon. Colour Create's Challenge #45 is Soft Green & Light Aqua (see photo inspiration) with an optional element of butterflies.

 

The Stamp Something Challenge is celebrating its second anniversary so requires 2 of something for their challenge this week - I have: 2 rows of gems; 2 shades of aqua for my handmade flowers; used 2 colours of Distress Inks; cut my stamped image into 2, 2 butterflies (one on each of the patterned papers - click on photos to view more closely); & 2 pearlescent papers. My "Out of the Box" elements for Pile It On Challenge #20 are my tweakings of the sketch - in particular that I do not use a sentiment, & that I have used one half of my image for the front & the other half inside the card.

Recipe

Stamp Lili of the Valley Fairy on Tiptoe.

Inks etc...Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Inks (Broken China, Peeled Paint) for inking cardstock & paper edges excepting the floral elements & card base.

Colouring ProMarkers, Stickles Glitter Glue (Turquoise).

Cardstock White from "stash".

Papers Pearlescent aqua & pearlescent lime from "stash", patterned - Laura Ashley Traditional.

Punches Woodware (flowers, oval & scalloped ovals), Fiskars (border).

Embellishments Daisy ribbon (coloured with ProMarker) & gems from "stash".

Challenges Entered

Charisma Cardz #20 - 3D (I have shaped the flowers to make them dimensional, the image panel is raised on 1mm foam pads)

Colour Create #45 - Soft Green & Light Aqua (see above)

Crafty Cardmakers #21 - Inside Out (decorated inside & half of image is on the inside)

Flutter By Wednesday #110 - Use Flowers

I Love ProMarkers #15 - Make Your Own Flowers

One Stop Card Craft Challenge #81 - Birthstones (my gems represent diamonds - the birthstones for April)

Passion for ProMarkers Wk 52 - Fantasy/Mythology (fairy image)

Pile It On #20 - Out of the Box (see above)

Stamp Something - 2 of something (see above)

Totally Gorjuss #31 - Bling It On! (gems & glitter)

Lili of the Valley #53 - Sketch (ETA 25/5 - so busy posting the sketch above I omitted it here)

Gorjuss Floral Spring Goes Round

spring card standing

close-up of image

detail of Penny Black circle stamp on flower petals

close-up of daisy showing dimensional shaping & glitter

Challenge #7 at the Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers Forum is to make a Spring Card. I found the tutorial at Splitcoaststampers by far the most versatile that I have seen or used.

I am still astonished by the dynamic effect of challenges upon the imagination - the Round & Round theme at Totally Gorjuss, the Photo Inspiration at Pile It On 

& various other floral themes just created ideas as I worked. Placing circles behind the circular image panel formed a flower which I matted onto another circle & that transformed the essential square shape of the Spring Card as did the curving placement of the leaves on the floral embellishments, not to mention the circular pattern stamp from the Christmas  Penny Black set which fitted perfectly onto the punched flower petals. The small daisy was shaped using a combination of tweezers, cocktail stick, fingers & an embossing tool. The daisy was carefully perched out of the way on the tip of a cocktail stick waiting for the Glossy Accents & Stickles to dry whilst I cleared a space on my table to continue.......and  there it was GONE! Despite emptying my bin & searching the floor there was nothing for it but to make another one.....

Recipe
Stamps Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Sitting (image), Penny Black Crystalline (circular pattern on blue flower petals).
Inks etc... Memento Tuxedo Black, Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue (stamping pattern on blue flowers & inking pale blue cardstock edges), Aged Mahogany Distress Ink (inking burgundy & peach cardstock edges, also for sponging peach cardstock).
Colouring Copic Ciaos, Letraset Black Fine Line Drawing Pen (correct name for what I've been calling a ProMarker Black Finer Liner Pen), Pilot Hi-tecpoint V5Grip Black Gel Pen. Stickles Glitter Glue (Baby Blue & Fruit Punch).
Cardstock Burgundy, pale blue & textured peach, pale gold cream Moondust & green Mirri - all from "stash".
Punches etc.   Woodware (circle behind image & smaller circles behind that comprising the flower petals, leaves, pale blue flowers & small daisy), Xcut (peach  flowers). Large pale blue circle cut using a compass cutter.
Pearls Blue (Kanban) & tiny black ("stash").

Challenges Entered
Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers 7 - Spring Card
A Spoon Full of Sugar #104 - Cute & Girly
Charisma Cardz #20 - 3D! - this was clarified as any dimensional aspect e.g, easel card, flowers, raised image etc.... (the spring card itself is dimensional as are the floral embellishments)
Papertake Weekly - Say It With Flowers
Penny Black Saturday Wk 101 - Flowers
Pile It On #19 - Photo Inspiration! (colours used from photo above)
Stampavie & More #95 - Flower Power 
Totally Gorjuss #30 - Round & Round (see above)

Pink Summery Special With Cream

   front of card  

close-up of image showing glittered detail & crystal buttons

inside of card

This is essentially a girl's birthday card, however it could be used for other celebrations as the sentiment inside is specific only in that it is for a special occasion or special person (it might be given to a friend you're meeting up with for the first time in years). Nonetheless,  the card  is undoubtedly feminine owing to the pinkness & the image itself. 

I cut off the strawberry border on the pink designer paper & used that as an embellishment in place of the sentiment on the sketch. I had neither appropriately coloured gems or ProMarkers so coloured the various shades of green square gems I did have with a Dufex Brush Pen. For a long time I've been rather wary of using what I thought were gems with holes, but the recipe in A Spoon Full of Sugar has provided enlightenment - they're buttons!

Recipe
Stamps Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Up Up & Away (image), Stampendous Cupcake Numbers SSC178 (sentiment).
Inks etc...Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick) for inking cardstock & paper edges & also for sentiment.
Colouring ProMarkers, ProMarker Black Fine Liner Pen, Stickles Glitter Glue (Lime Green), Dufex Brush Pen (see above).
Cardstock Semi-glossy white from "stash".
Papers Nancy Watt Collection from Making Cards July 2008.
Punches Woodware scalloped squares.
Embellishments Pearls (Kanban); gems & buttons from "stash".

Challenges Entered
Allsorts Wk 52 - Birthdays
A Spoon Full of Sugar #103 - Recipe: 3 Designer Papers & 3 Buttons (papers - strawberry bordered pink, peach with small strawberry clusters, large strawberry cluster repeating pattern & pink crystal buttons) 
Charisma Cardz #19 - Sweet Treats! (strawberry images)
Crafty Carmakers #21 - Inside Out
Crafty Catz #32 - Petals & Pearls (petals in strawberry clusters & pearls to embellish)
Cute Card Thursday #112 - Someone Special! (see above)
I Love ProMarkers #14 - Sketch
One Stop Craft Challenge #80 - Summer Breeze
Passion For ProMarkers Wk 51 - "Strawberries & Cream"
Stampavie & More #94 - Pink
Stamp Something - Celebrate Something

Altered PEP Craft Challenge Experiment

Since this blog is no longer a temporary experiment & "PEP Craft Challenge Experiment" a bit of a mouthful I have changed the title to "PEP Exploring Paper".

Ching-Chou Kuik

I first came across Ching-Chou Kuik's images a couple of years ago when I was first introduced to paper folding. At that time there was a series of CDs which included amongst other things decoupage, backing papers. Tea-bag tiles etc....... For my first workshop I was lent one of these CDs & I grew rather fond of the images as I worked with them. It was with delight that, as I discovered the world of blogs,  I also stumbled upon these images in the form of rubber stamps. They are part of the Sweet Pea range of stamps which may be purchased through Crafts & Me  in the UK. Sarah is also offering blog candy including some of these stamps.

Christmas Birthday Layered Sugar Nellie on Penny Black

front of card

close-up of image

side-view showing layers

close-up of buttons sewn with gold thread

Alhough it is exactly the same card the  antique gold cardstock in the following 3 photos appears  much duller, in my first attempts it actually looked silver

inside of card

close-ups showing paper piercing on corner element & message panel

This card was made around the theme of a boy who celebrates his birthday at Christmas. It was as I was looking through my Sugar Nellie stamps deciding which one would be suitable for this week's Splitcoaststampers challenge (number 6 being "DECOUPAGE Your Image") that the idea came to me. The Penny Black Challenge had rather appealed to me & with my Penny Black stamps all being Christmas themed it seemed logical to combine them with Mr Stocking in the Sugar Nellie Manga range. 

The two backing papers were made by sponging & repeat stamping onto pearlescent paper & I have replaced the sentiment in the sketch with a row of pearls. I almost came unstuck - in fact I lost a whole layer after I'd coloured it - as I'd not realised that the Black Copic  I used to colour my cut edges would seep between the Letraset Paper & the card I had glued it to. The image looked like it had stubble on the face, arms & legs. I salvaged what I could by adjusting my layers, colouring the remaining cut edges with a Tombow Marker (the ProMaker Fine Liner wouldn't "tilt" into the crevices), but even that was a little precarious, & using 1mm foam pads rather than Silicone. I did not want to risk the water soluble Tombow Marker bleeding everywhere when I'd got away without it doing so that far. The other disadvantage with the Letraset Paper is that if you blend too much the ink seems to pool & leave ring marks.

Recipe
Stamps Sugar Nellie Manga Mr Stocking (image),  Penny Black Crystalline (background papers), Stampendous Cupcake Numbers SSC178 (sentiment).
Inks etc... Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaFine Deep Lagoon , Brilliance Galaxy Gold. Excepting the mian card base the Deep Lagoon & Galaxy Gold (either singly or combined)  were used  for inking cardstock & paper edges.
Colouring Copic Ciaos, ProMarker Black Fine Liner Pen, Black Tombow Marker & Inkssentials White Opaque Pen.
Cardstock Vintage gold Moondust, bright gold cream Moondust & black from "stash".
Papers Letraset Bleedproof Marker Pad, pearlescent double sided cream (from "stash").
Punches Woodware (snowflakes, circles & scalloped circles), EK Success (corners).
Gold stars, buttons & gold thread, pearls & gems from "stash".

Challenges Entered
Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers 6 - DECOUPAGE Your Image
Penny Black Saturday Wk 100 - Sketch
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C36 - What Are Little Boys Made Of
Cupcake Craft #90 - Buttons
Cute Card Thursday #110 - Boyz to Men!  (12/5 ETA - should be #111)
Papertake Weekly - Shiny, Sparkly & Special (it is both shiny & sparkly, & the Christmas birthday makes it extra special)
Pile It On #18 - Cute & Cuddly (the little boy)
Stampin' for the Weekend - A Card for a Male
Stamp Something - Birthday somethings
Totally Papercrafts #15 - Stitching (on buttons)

Recycling Fairy on Disc Fuses Wire for Sparkle

Apologies for the strange angle - it was the only way I could avoid the camera or myself being reflected in the CD - it was like a mirror even after I'd coloured it with the Moss ProMarker (an olive green.verging upon khaki).

front of card

close-up of image

  

close-up of floral embellishment

inside of card

close-up showing message panel

The Sugar Bowl Challenge is a sketch with the stipulation this time to include recycling. Before I even got as far as seeing the Design Team samples in the posting my mind was active as the large central circle in the sketch reminded me of a CD. I simply coloured my CD with a ProMaker & allowed it to dry. (8/5 ETA Forgot to mention that to obtain the mottled effect I dabbed the CD repeatedly with a cotton bud prior to drying). My floral element is made of old fuse wire coloured with a ProMarker & glittered using Stickles Glitter Glue (Turquoise), a punched flower from the patterned paper offcuts & a button which was in my "spare buttons for clothing tin". My other recycled elements are the little tan coloured polka dots (& flower centres) on the inside of the card: these were punched from the stiff front of an ancient (it had yellowed around the edges) WH Smith Note Pad & then coloured with a ProMarker.

For this card I used a selection of 11 ProMarkers taken from the Rubber Stamping Sets 1 & 2, including the Black Fine Liner which I've now realised needs "tilting" for edging card.  My other "discovery" has been the Letraset Bleedproof Marker Pad. It is exactly that - bleedproof - & does seem to make blending smoother. After colouring, I simply mount the paper onto card using a glue stick (so the edges are "tight") & then cut my image out as desired. It is economical &, being especially designed for alcohol markers, saves having to search out & obtain appropriate card.

Recipe
Stamps Sugar Nellie Manga Fairy (image), Stampendous Little Things SSC097 (sentiment). 
Inks etc... Memento Tuxedo Black, Brilliance Coffee Bean (sentiment), Distress Inks (Broken China, Tea Dye & Walnut Stain) for inking cardstock & paper edges.
Colouring  ProMarkers, ProMarker Black Fine Liner Pen, Stickles Glitter Glue (Turquoise & Ice Stickles Crystal Ice).
Cardstock Dark brown, pale gold cream Moondust, textured tan & white from "stash".
Papers Letraset Bleedproof Marker Pad; Nancy Watt Collection - Word Art & Swirls.
Punches Woodware (circle & scalloped circles), Xcut (flowers), EK Success (small dots).
Pearls Papermania.
CD, fuse wire, button & stiffened card Recycled as above.

Challenges Entered
The Sugar Bowl Challenge 35 - Marlene's Sketch
Colour Create #44 - Khaki, Aqua, Bown & Cream + option of including circles (the sketch itself is based upon circles & though my khaki tends towards the olive I hope it is close enough to qualify for the challenge, the colour is actually that of the Moss ProMarker which is quite dark)
Crafts & Me #3 - Sparkle (sparkling CD plus glittered fairy wings & flowers, sparkly Moondust cardstock)
Flutter By Wednesday #108 - Open (must include butterfly, fairy or angel)
I Love ProMarkers #13 - Wings (Fairy image)
Paperplay Wk 18 - Stamp/Digi & Bling (pearls, glitter & sparkling CD)
Passion For ProMarkers Wk 50 - Gratitude (a thankfulness for the recipient card)
Pile It On #17 - Boyish Colours (the challenge is open to interpretation & I would classify these colours as boyish)

Gorjuss in Monochrome

front of card

close-ups of floral embellishment & image showing russet textured cardstock

inside of card

Monochrome cards is the theme of the fifth challenge at the Splitcoaststampers Sugar Nellie forum. I'd not intended to work with browns but during the colouring of the image for my previous card I had got as far as working on the hair & skin when I realised the hair colour was wrong for the rest of that layout. Rather than putting it away for later use I thought I would use it now, hence my monochrome card became a brown one. A small piece of russet textured cardstock was enough for mounting the image panel upon & punching some leaves.

Recipe

Stamp Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Untamed.

Inks etc... Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink (Tea Dye) for inking cardstock & paper edges & also for sponging image & message panels.

Colouring Copic Ciao Markers supplemented by ProMarkers; Tombow Marker (for inking the white edges after cutting the image out); Stickles Glitter Glue (Cinnamon); 3D Crystal Lacquer (stars on boots of image).
Cardstock Bright Gold Cream Moondust (a brighter gold version of that in the previous post), textured russet, & cream from "stash".
Patterned Paper Joanna Sheen Paisley.
Punches Woodware (scalloped oval, circle & scalloped circle, smaller leaves); Nellie Snellen (larger leaves).
Embellishment White flower of unknown origin coloured with Copic Ciao Marker & glittered with Cinnamon Stickles Glitter Glue.

Challenges Entered

Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers 5 - Monochrome Cards

Charisma Cardz #17 - Girly Card with Flowers

Crafty Cardmakers #20 - Distressed!