Altenew August Inspiration Challenge

Now that I'm working three jobs, I've hardly any time to do any craft at at all, but I finally got a chance to play this morning. I was really taken with the photo of the flamingos for Altenew's August Inspiration Challenge 



I have the Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp set, so I used some of the top layer stamps to do both the feathers on the flamingos and the grassy sand bank. Can you spot that the legs were made using the cherry blossom branch?

First I hand sketched a flamingo and cut out a negative mask from post it paper. I stamped and heat embossed the top layers of a few flowers in clear embossing powder. This gave me the feathers! I then blended Worn Lipstick and Tattered Rose Distress inks over the top of the flamingo. I used more distress inks for the background, using the same stamps. The sentiment is from Altenew's Magnolias for Her set.
It was great to take a step back, and enjoy myself playing with my craft supplies again.

More watercolour

It was watercolours, or to be precise, the Online Card Classes watercolour class that got me back into cardmaking, and now they are running another class. Here's my first card for this time around,

made with distress markers for the background and the Simon Says Stamp One with Nature tree in the foreground, embossed in bronze.

I really need to get a better setup for taking photos!

Color Throwdown Guest

I was very excited to be the featured stamper for Color Throwdown's challenge number 351. 

As a result, I get to be the guest star stamper this week for Colour Throwdown Challenge number 353! Fancy being a guest Stamper in the land where they spell colour without a 'u'! 

Here are the colours. Aren't they gorgeous?

The colours I got to work with are beautiful, although even with several purples in my stash, this particular colour needed a quick trip to my local craft shop to buy something that wasn't pale lilac. I've just received the layered Vintage Flowers stamp set from Altenew. It's got so many flowers on it! For today's card I chose just one rose, and one leaf. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things Pretty Poppies. I stamped and fussy cut the floral elements, being too stingy to buy dies. I stamped the sentiment in versamark ink, and embossed it in white before cutting a little fishtail on one end. The Squeezed Lemonade ink was painted onto the watercolour paper in two layers.

Inks used:

Flowers-Simon Says Stamp Lavender, Versa Color boysenberry

Leaves-Simon Says Stamp fern and Beanstalk Green

Background-Distress Ink Squeezed Lemonade 

Colour throwdown

I've been looking at colour challenge blogs this week for some colour inspiration, and I came across the Color Throwdown blog, which had a gorgeous combo of pink, purple and black. Here's my take on the colour combo.    

I used Distress Inks in picked raspberry, black soot and seedless preserves and blended them on with an ink blender. The sentiment is My Favourite Things " On the line ", and the small leaves, embossed in pale pink are from My Favourite Things "Sunflower Sweetheart " stamp set.

Thank you so much

This card is for two challenges, although there is a third challenge that occurred when I ripped the legs off the poor birdie when I was pulling it off the acetate sheet. I put the two halves together on the stamp block, and I don't think you can tell, can you?

The bird was coloured with copic markers, and the sentiment stamped in two colours of Simon Says Stamp ink, Cobblestone and Fog. 

Challenges

Less is More

Card Concept

Ballerina

I've been busy colouring  his sweetie today. Once for a young friend who has just danced beautifully, and another (this one) which I'll enter into a couple of challenges. Hero Arts TicTacToe challenge finishes today and this card includes circles, birthday and a favourite colour. Also over at Simon Says Stamp the Wednesday challenge is Anything Goes.

The image is from the Online Card Classes copic class and the image was coloured with copics markers.

Virginia's View Ombre/ Monochromatic Challenge

Keeping with the same stamp as I used in my previous post, I tried colouring it with only one colour, "Tea Dye" distress inks in three layers. I'm super happy with this turned out, and am pleased to enter it into the Virginia's View Ombre/Monochromatic Challenge. Once again, I embossed it in white, then coloured the whole piece, then sections of it, letting the ink dry between coats. Water colouring really suits me, as it can flow and do its own thing. I can't believe how much colour variation I could get from the one ink.