Smoochy ribbons

I made a little card today which fits a couple of challenge this weekend - firstly Paper Smooches Sparks which is Anything Goes and Less is More which is Recycling.

I was inspired to make this card by the song "tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree" which came on the radio yesterday.  The yellow ribbon was salvaged from a box of chocolates so is my recycled item for the LIM theme this week.  The tree is from Paper Smooches Summer Groves and I coloured it with copics in a very basic pointillism style and fussy it cut it before tying my ribbon and foam mounting it.  The sentiment is also from Paper Smooches from the ever so useful Sentiment Sampler set.   I stood the little blue bird on the O so he's looking out for the person on the bus in the song.....

Anything Waltzingmouse Goes!

Our new challenge at Waltzingmouse is anything goes this fortnight http://waltzingmousefanaticschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/challenge-21-theme.html

Our friends are moving house today so I used the cottage home set to make them a new home card.  I just used the stamps to make a decoupaged card and coloured the layers with copics (you can't really see it clearly from this front on shot but the centre of the house stands off from the rear and the plants stand further forward still)  I added some embossed stones and a little ribbon for colour to finish.

Hope you'll find time to join us for this challenge - if you love Waltzingmouse stamps like Deborah and I do, please share your love with us.

Back on the watercolour...

The theme at LIM this week is watercolouring - well I don't need much of an excuse to play with that technique again!

I decided to have another go at the watercolour technique Dawn from Wplus9 showed on their blog a few weeks ago - stamping with 2nd generation distress ink and then using a brush and water to soften the stamping for a watercoloured look.  So naturally I went to my favourite Fresh Cut Florals set but needed something to put them in.   I used Joanna Sheen's trug, but instead of die cutting it, I used the die to emboss the shape into the watercolour card stock.  I then stamped the flowers and leaves using Dawn's technique, and then used the distress inks with the brush to colour in the trug - the embossed lines "hold" the ink so it's easy to paint ;-)   A little more ink underneath to ground it and a sentiment from the set and a thin blue mat to pull out the berries and its finished.

I have wedding invites to finish today so I'd best get cracking!

Balloon paper

I needed a birthday card and wanted to use my new AE balloon dies again so I decided to take their current challenge as my inspiration and stamped my own designer paper with the little ones  http://aeiheartuchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/aeiu-challenge-9diy-designer-paper.html

I tried a bold background first but didn't like it so I decided to go subtle instead and just used a single ink soft stone from Hero Arts and the 3 small balloon stamps to make my DP.  I think it turned out pretty well.  I make a card I added a blue and silver balloon using the matching dies and a blue and silver happy (Wplus9) and then I overstamped BIRTHDAY to finish.

Just in time to join the challenge I think.....

 

Off the edge

Going off the edge is the challenge at Less is More this week and I got the perfect new set of stamps and dies in my store this weekend to make a card with that theme!

I used the large die to cut the top of the big balloon off the top of the card base and then simply stamped the rest overlapping each other.  Added the strings from the set and finished with a wink of stella for shimmer.

It's been an exciting week in the store - we've had 7 big boxes of new stock arrive, so if you want something to distract you from the football, then we have the following:

• Lawn Fawn - latest release and restocks including the polka paper pad
• Papersmooches - latest release and restocks
• Neat and Tangled - SEQUINS (yeah!) and the latest release of stamps (the hope stamps is backordered)
• Newton's Nook - the last couple of releases PLUS all the Christmas stamps that have been oos for ages!
• Avery Elle - new release, restocks and storage panels!
• Wplus9 - ALL the floral sets are back in stock as is hand letter hello!
• and last but no means least - Lil Inkers - restocks where they had any left plus some more stuff I didn't get first time around.  They didn't have huge stocks but I will be ordering again soon.

Thanks for visiting

Tara
 

Nouveau Tiles

I really loved the new floral stamps at Clearly Besotted as soon as I saw them http://www.clearlybesottedstamps.com/products/nouveau-flowers and I knew I could do so much with them.  This is my second make for my SIL who's birthday is today and I was inspired to create a tile like the ones you see in fireplaces you can't afford!

I used one image and stamped it 4 times then selectively inked just the bud ad added that where the leaves joined.   The sentiment is made up from a WPlus9 set and a Mama Elephant set.

As their new challenge is Anything Goes then I'll link it up it http://www.stampingsharing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/clearly-besotted-challenge-12-anything.html

Bedroom Flowers

This week's colour challenge at Less is More is an interesting one - its to use the colours in your bedroom  http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/week-175-colour-challenge.html

Now those who know me well are probably expecting a card in shades of teal, but my bedroom is actually green with hints of chocolate brown!

Thanks to Stephanie's super speedy delivery the gorgeous new stamps I ordered yesterday were the perfect choice to play with for a chocolate lime creation.  I used her new gorgeous Nouveau Flower stamps and used Lemon Grass Ink from Avery Elle and Pearlescent Chocolate from Tsukineko.   Paired with a strip of washi tape as a side panel - the main design is popped up for added dimension but that does't show in the photo.

I've batoned down the hatches today in anticipation of the storms coming this afternoon while I nurse my poorly cat who thanks to a local tom cat who needs neutering has a nasty abscess which could lead to her having her tail amputated :(

New Home

Some friends of ours just moved into a new home so naturally I had to make a card.    So I took my bitty bungalows and went about highlighting their big posh house on a hill with this little scene.......

I had lots of fun making this card adding the layers and making their house all bright and colourful up on it's green hill whilst the rest of the houses in the valley are all dull and grey.  The perfect cheerful New Home card.   I coloured all the elements from Bitty Bungalows with copics and used a little glossy accents for the windows and the mail box and then fussy cut everything out.  The papers are Lawn Fawn Let's Polka

Luckily this week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge is Anything Goes so I'm linking it up there as it fits ;-)  http://papersmoochessparks.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/june-1-7-anything-goes-wk1-challenge.html

Kick Ass!

I'm feeling pretty Kick Ass myself today - I made 3 cards yesterday!  Can't remember the last time I found this much time to craft and had the mojo to go with the time to play!

I joined in with Muse Challenge http://musecardclub.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/muse-challenge-69.html I love the inspiration of the fanned paint backgound but I thought the dotted stamp in So 80s would be great to overlap for a similar effect so that's the way I took it.

I just used my favourite ink colours - limes and teals and stamped the dots three times.  I added a few stars from the same set in the same colours instead of the black dots and then used a couple of sentiments from the set in bold black.  I finished with some sequins in matching colours.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out - I might even make a set of them in different colours and send them to friends to remind them they kick ass too.  

It's good to be reminded how fabulous you are sometimes - and there is no better way than to listen to this poem read by the author who sadly passed this week.  RIP Maya Angelou https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeFfhH83_RE   and remember we are all PHENOMENAL women!