ProMarker Blending Pairs

There is a ProMarker Blending Pairs Competition being held by Letraset where it is possible to win all 3 of the new ProMarker Blending Sets.

I had intended to go through all the permutations of my two Rubber Stamping sets plus the Skin Tones but ran out of time before the deadline of noon tomorrow, but I have done these so far.....

Easter, A Touch of Lace & Some Pearls

front of card

close-up showing the central section

with stamped images

close-up of central image with lace & 

small sequin & bead flower

close-up of one of the heat embossed

images flanking the centre

angled view towards top left corner

close-up of bottom right corner showing flowers

& crackle background stamping

inside of card

(click on photos to enlarge)

This week the Penny Black Blog has been featuring watercoloured Easter projects by Elizabeth Allan who is also hosting this week's Reader Challenge. It was Saturday by the time I managed to start putting the bones of my ideas into action & by then the Penny Black Saturday Challenge theme of Pearls & Lace had been posted which somehow just incorporated itself into my design!


Recipe
Stamps Penny Black 30-021 Garden Friends (images), Crafty Individuals CI-213 Crackle Background.
Inks etc.... Memento Tuxedo Black (central image), VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail Gold Embossing Powder (2 side images), Scattered Straw Distress Ink (Crackle background & inking paper & some cardstock edges).
Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor, Stickles Glitter Glue (Black Diamond) for flower centres.
Cardstock An assortment of blacks & gold in various finishes from stash, Craft UK Ltd white card blank.
Paper of unknown origin purchased at local Craft Shop.
Punches Woodware (oval & scalloped ovals, small corner rounder), flower & leaf), EK Success (large corner rounder), Fiskars (small decorative corner), Martha Stewart (larger decorative corner).
The lace was in my little bundle of candy from Kath, the adhesive ribbon is Anita's Pastel Flower, the black pearls are Papermania & the remaining pearls, sequin & bead are from my stash.

Challenges Entered
Penny Black Reader Challenge 4 - Easter Cards
Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 140 - Pearls & Lace

Floral Poise

front of card

close-up of central panels showing

heat embossed image

corner detail showing shimmer of grey-blue Moondust 

cardstock plus glittering of flower

close-up of floral corner, leaf 

embellishment & metallic twine

inside of card

close-up of message panel showing

paper pierced central scallops

corner detail showing paper piercing

(click on photos to enlarge)

Challenge 53 at the Sugar Bowl is a sketch by Marlene with an inspirational photo for the theme. I have rotated the sketch 90 degrees clockwise & used the colours in the photo for my card's colour scheme.

The following in lilac are my musings over the creative process & not essential to the description of the card.

I should perhaps time the hours it takes me to make a card - this one I think I started working with last Saturday. Each card I make takes me a long time unless it is a CAS card - in which case it takes me around a week & even then I might just give up & it ends in the bin. Somehow the CAS type completely stifles my imagination & once I start working on it I have lots of ideas which make it non CAS so I have to start again.  

With this card the circle gave me trouble as I couldn't find any doilies at the local supermarket & I don't have any circular dies. I tried using a compass or drawing round an object but my cutting skills let me down every time (the little PERFECTIONIST imp was sitting on my shoulder & being critical). Eventually I decided to use a piece of vellum & the Pergamano 2-needle piercing & snips technique in conjunction with a compass. I spent most of Sunday colouring Hippie Chick, several times over until I was reasonably happy with her hair; I cut her out after Sunday evening's dinner & placed her on the card - completely out of proportion to the rest of what I'd done. OK - back to working on the image & a few mishaps later (smudged glitter, a nick to a cardstock edge, fluff/glitter/dust on card in photo etc..., & etc....) & finally here we are Tuesday evening!

Recipe

Stamp Sugar Nellie Leanne Ellis Poise.

Inks VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous Detail White Embossing Powder; Walnut Stain Distress Ink & Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue for inking some cardstock edges.

Colouring Stickles Glitter Glue (Turquoise).

Cardstock An assortment of blues & browns plus off-white in various textures & finishes from stash.

Papers Patterned vellum - Nancy Watt Collection: Fashion, Flowers & Dots.

Punches Woodware (corner rounder, all flowers apart from light blue, leaves, circle & scalloped square), Xcut (light blue flower), EK Success (decorative corners).

The pearls are Papermania & the metallic thread is from stash.

Challenges Entered
The Sugar Bowl Challenge 53 - Marlene's sketch + inspirational photo (see above)

Simon Says...Make YOur Own Embellishment! - I've made all my flowers using an assortment of punches

A Bit of Housekeeping

Most importantly Ali (Sugar Bowl Challenge & Sugar Nellie Design Teams) has moved to here - she had the most dreadful time with Mr Blogger & took the only recourse she could.

Secondly Linda has given me the following award.

As is usual with awards there are certain conditions to accepting it. After a considerable amount of pondering (I had about 3 hours on the bus to Cardiff & back this morning so I used the time productively......) over the 8 items to tell you about myself this is what I've come up with. As I'm not one for going out & about much & my husband & I lead a fairly quiet life there's not much to tell in addition to last time I was given this award but here we are:

1. I don't watch TV.

2. I don't like travelling.

3. I am not a morning person.

4. I don't like having several projects on the go - I prefer to finish one & then start the next. 

5. I don't drive - as I have chronic migraines (about 7 in a good month, around 20 in a bad one) driving isn't terribly sensible.

6. I try to concentrate on what I am able to do rather than what I cannot.

7. The officiating Minister when I married my husband (10 years ago in June) was my mother, at my husband's request.

8. I'm not terribly good with computers - it takes me hours to do one blog posting.

Now I should pass this on to 8 others & inform them but I see that many of those I know have already received this so I am going to suggest that if you'd like it & haven't got it then please take it from me. 

Pink Encore With Vellum & Flowers

front of card

close-up of image showing 

glittered butterflies

close-up showing embossed vellum, edging &

 eyelet fastening vellum to pink Mirri card

inside of card

(click on  images to enlarge)

Having begun to explore how to incorporate the Pergamano techniques into my stamping & colouring I was quite thrilled to discover that the theme for this week's posts on the Penny Black blog is "Cardmaking with Vellum" where Kathy Racoosin features various techniques using vellum with Penny Black stamps. As a consequence this week's Penny Black Reader Challenge is to use vellum in a Penny Black stamped project. My card also fits the themes on the other two Penny Black Challenges plus Bunny Zoe's monthly challenge for February.

Recipe
Stamp Penny Black Garden Friends.
Vellum Pattern © Josie Davidson 2011 Parchment Craft Magazine February 2011.
Inks etc... Memento Tuxedo Black (image), Aged mahogany & Worn Lipstick Distress Inks (for inking some edges of cardstock & paper).
Colouring Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor, Ice Stickles Glitter Glue (Grape Ice).
Cardstock An assortment of whites & pinks in various textures & finishes from stash.
Papers Papermania Vellums (Plain Neutrals), Dovecraft Designer Paper Pack - Kate Knight Eastern Blooms.
Punches Woodware (circles & scalloped circles), Nellie Snellen (leaves).
Eyelets Dovecraft.

Challenges Entered
Penny Black Reader Challenge 3 - Vellum
Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 138 - Pretty In Pink
Penny Black @ Allsorts February - Say it with Flowers
Bunny Zoe's Crafts Challenge 9 - Spring... Flowers Everywhere!

Pink Penny Black in Winter White

front of card

angled close-up showing paper piercing plus

shimmer of heat embossed & coloured image

close-up showing corner detail & different 

textures of white cardstock

inside of card

close-up of sentiment panel showing paper piercing

& different textures of white cardstock

(click on images to enlarge)

The Mirri card as well as the contrast between the whites & pinks made this quite difficult to photograph. I normally use the enhance photo editing function but that turned the pink fluorescent so a couple of the photos are somewhat darker than I would have liked. The only way I could manage to keep the colours reasonably true to life was to not edit the exposure at all.

This week the Penny Black Reader Challenge is to create a card using white space as a primary element whereas the Penny Black Saturday Challenge is PRETTY IN PINK.

Recipe

Stamp Penny Black 3881H Sparkle.

Inks etc... VersaMark watermark stamp pad with Stampendous White Pearls Embossing Powder, Distress Inks (Spun Sugar & Worn Lipstick) for inking pink cardstock edges.

Colouring Twinkling H2Os.

Cardstock White card blank (Craft UK Ltd), Bits N Pieces A4 Assorted Embossed Card (Snow White Textures), assorted pink including Mirri card from stash.

Punches/Templates  Woodware (circles & scalloped circles), Xcut (corner), WS Designs Star Layering Template. 

Challenges Entered

Penny Black Reader Challenge 2 - Winterwhite 

Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 138 - Pretty in Pink 

Something New for "Less is More"

front of card

close-up of butterfly & flowers

close-up of bow & pearls

inside of card

A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from the local craft shop asking if I'd be interested in attending some Saturday Pergamano classes. The lady teaching is self-taught so it's not Pergamano registered but uses the Pergamano tools stocked by the local shop. The class is kept small so participation is by invitation only & it is held once a month for 6 sessions. When I took my first rather tentative steps in cardmaking I was fascinated by Parchment Craft but was advised not to concentrate on it to begin with. Dabbling in a bit of everything I was soon captivated by stamps so an opportunity to return to where I came into crafting & actually be shown the basics in Pergamano I felt was not to be missed. The first class was held last Saturday & I loved it.

Working from what I learnt using the pattern the teacher provided I had the bones of an idea which I have fiddled with to produce an entry for the new "Less is More" Challenge. I did have to curb my inclination to add more layers & embellishments but nevertheless hope that my card is along the right lines for it to qualify. 

Recipe

Pattern for parchment panel provided by class teacher.

Inks Spun Sugar Distress Ink for inking edge of patterned paper.

Cardstock white & black from stash.

Papers Pergamano Parchment, Dovecraft Designer Paper Pack - Kate Knight Eastern Blooms.

Punches EK Success (corner rounder), Woodware (tag), Fiskars (plier hole punch).

The ribbon is Woodware, the brads Dovecraft & the pearls are from stash.

Challenge Entered

"Less is More" Wk 1 - Colour Challenge: Pink, Black & White

Stepper Tutorial

I could not find a Stepper tutorial that would give me 3 steps & then a back panel, moreover I didn't wish to use a piece of 12 x 12 cardstock as I don't have any & I DO have a massive selection of A4. So, this is what I came up with for last Sunday's card.

I haven't tackled any computer graphics yet so my diagrams are hand-drawn but you can click on the images to enlarge & hopefully in conjunction with the photos they will make sense. If you have any questions please just ask. I find it useful to initially make up anything new or unusual using ordinary copier paper, which is what I have used in the photos below.

1. Cut a piece of cardstock to 5 x 11½ inches.

2. With the short side to the left score vertically at ¾, 1½, 2½, 3½, 4¾, 6 & 8¾ inches.

3. Mountain fold the unbroken lines (at ¾, 2½, 4¾, & 8¾ inches).

    Valley fold the broken lines (at 1½, 3½ & 6 inches).

4. This is the basic frame which can then be decorated as desired. 

5. The 5 inch measurement can easily be adjusted as I did with mine to accommodate exactly 5 hearts so

    my width was 4 & thirteen sixteenths of an inch. The back panel I decorated & secured to the last

    step was this width & 5 inches in height.

I was mid-project on Sunday when my husband brought me a mug of coffee - confronted by the chaos on my bench he suggested I take a photo & post it on my blog, so ...........

TAGGED

Heather of Rica's Haven has kindly given me the following award:

I still cannot remember how it was that I came to follow Heather's blog but through her posts she has given, & continues to give me hours of fun & laughter mingled with encouragement. 

There are a couple of conditions for accepting the award (which I do):

You have been TAGGED and want to participate? 

Then create a post where you post the 'LOVE BLOG' image. 

You should also blog the persons link that gave you the award and inform her/him that you accept the award. 

You can then choose 3 - 5  favourite blogs which you also link in your post, then each blogger will inform you that they have been tagged.

The aim of this action is to bring unknown, good blogs to light so please do not blog fellow bloggers that already have 3,000 followers.

So, to choose 5 blogs. Presumably I should also choose 5 blogs who have not already received the award so here goes:

Deborah of Deborah's Gems

Linda of Linjan Creations
Lorraine of Lorraine's Creations

Paula of The Paper Spa: Relaxing With Paper
Louise of Louise's Scrapperie

Love Is...Simply Create...A Penny Black Sketch

card standing

close-up showing texture & inking of hearts

decorating the initial "steps"

close-up showing stamped images with glittering

of bees' wings

close-up showing hedgehog & texture

of cardstock used for flowers

close-up of floral spray & decorative corner

back of card

close-up of handwritten sentiment

(click on photos to enlarge)

After a couple of hours trying to photograph my project & producing the above photos I gave up & held the card in my hand - apologies for the thumb - but at least the following photo shows the shimmer of the cardstock & the glitter on the bees' wings plus how I have interpreted the sketch.

Challenges Entered

The sketch is that provided for the first weekly Penny Black Reader Challenge & my colours plus theme reflect the mood board in the Simply Create Challenge. Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 137 requires the completion of the phrase "Love Is......" on the front or inside of the card & "Say it with Flowers" is the Penny Black @ Allsorts February Challenge. 

Details

Penny Black is another of the companies whose stamps have kept catching my eye over the past year, probably because I like working with both cute & traditional images. Penny Black has a very good variety of both, including hedgehogs & mice which I have come to love colouring. Santa's elves caught sight of two stamp sets purchased just prior to Christmas & magicked them away to be wrapped & four sets which I found in a Sale arrived last week.

I wanted to make some kind of stepper card using the sketch & this card is what I came up with after fiddling about with the Scor-Buddy & an A4 sheet of cardstock (tutorial/measurements to come HERE).

My hedgehog is from Penny Black's "Wonderful" set & the bees from the "Hugs" set. They are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black & coloured using Derwent Artists Pencils with paper stumps & Sansodor. The glitter on the bees' wings is Stickles Crystal Ice. I've also used Stickles (Dark Blue) for the centres of the flowers in the floral spray which is made using a number of flower punches & a leaf punch (all Woodware). The horizontal cross strip has been punched with a Martha Stewart border punch & the decorative corners made using a Fiskars punch. Again Woodware punches were used for all the hearts which have been inked with Fired Brick Distress Ink. Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink was used for inking the flowers & various other cardstock edges. Excepting the Southfields textured white linen effect cardstock used for the steps & flowers the cardstock is all from stash.