Sketch & Stash challenge

This is using a stamp from Autumn Days set. In truth I wasn't too keen on it and only really bought the set for a couple of the foliage stamps. But after seeing the stamp used with reinkers to create a custom ink pad I had to grab it from my neglected pile and have a play.

Reinkers used, so saffron, handsome hunter, elegant eggplant and taken with teal. Cut with nesties label 4 which was sponged with some creamy caramel ink. The elegant eggplant card has been stamped with versamark and gold ep using my favourite background, En francais. Mounted on handsome hunter cardstock with choc chip ribbon and a feather from an old (an unused) duster. Once I'd decided on colour & cardstock everything just fell into place for the sketch & stash challenge blog.

Lovely As A Tree

I've had this set a lil while but hadn't got round to inking it.

A few minutes in the gallery at SCS and I was in 7th heaven. All photos were taken in artificial light so havent photoed as well as I'd have liked.

This one is using the scalloped circle punch to create clouds. Bordering Blue & Night of Navy ink. Dazzling diamonds along the edge of some white pearl cardstock.



This one just goes to show how different cardstocks effect ink. I stamped baroque motifs with versamark, heat embossed with clear then brayered taken with teal over some white gloss from Clarity Stamps. Instead of that wonderful teal colour it's gone more of a light navy blue. The base is sponged around the edges with taken with teal but this time on whisper white. What a difference it's made.







The colours have came out dreadfully in the artificial light so I may have to redo the pic.

Brayered pale plum with elegant eggplant and a light sponge with bashful blue.

Trees stamped in basic grey. Sentiment from Season Of Joy.






This is my version of a card made by Rox71 on SCS. She used a variety of tree stamps. This one is just using the one xmas tree.

Sponged with summer sun, pumkin pie, bashful blue and night of navy.

Forground trees stamped in handsome hunter with choc chip applied with a water colour brush along the trunks. If anyone is thinking that I've left too much snow come back and see the card when it's totally finished in Apr ;o)

Wedding invite samples

Hubby has kindly offered my services to his niece for her upcoming wedding. All she knows is that she wants red & white with a top fold.

These are 4 I knocked up in a few minutes using Mr & Mrs set & coordinating wheel with real red and basic grey ink.

Seeing as these are just ideas these will be binned within a few weeks so I've only used cheap card & ribbon. I havent been none to precise with the stamping either.

A few more

While at Michelles blog I fancied having a go at these 2.

The first is 5 different red, orange & yellow SU inks sponged over some whisper white before being stamped with baroque motifs in chocolate chip. Michelle uses a fabby heart stamp for the central motif but sadly it's not available in the UK.. (yet)

The 2nd uses the oval punch to create 2 vases with wheat ears from Autumn Days and a leafy stamp from Pocket Silhouettes. Instead of stamping onto whisper white I've stamped onto some bashful blue dsp before sponging the edges with choc chip and distressing them. Sadly the pattern of the paper is playing havoc with the auto focus on my camera and it looks a lot better in real life.





While in a red and apricot mood I got the brayer out and had some fun with real red, ruby red and apricot appeal. The wheat ears were masked before brayering then I triple embossed the entire image, left it to cool then cracked the embossing. Choc chip ink was rubbed into the cracks before being buffed away. Kraft satin ribbon bow is holding one of my teeny bulldog clips which in turn is holding an oval all sentiment stamped on to acetate and punched with the oval punch. Mounted onto choc chip & kraft. I'm not too sure about this one though.

Brayering gone wrong

I love Michelle Zindorfs blog, for those who don't know her she's a US Stampin'Up! demo and is amazingly talented with a brayer. While admiring her blog for the gazillionth time I decided to get the brayer out and have a play. 1, because I love my brayer and 2, we're having a brayer play day in Yeovil next month and I don't want to embaress myself ;o)

I loved a card she'd made a tut for but not having the bare tree stamp available in the UK I decided to use a frondy type stamp from Autumn Days to mimic a couple of rushes. Everything started out ok but as with my normal skim read of instructions I didnt quite get the inks in the right places then when I went back in to sponge some detail I had the worst accident possible... the moon mask ripped the top layer of whisper white. Typical, right in the middle of the moon where it stuck out like a sore thumb. Here's were I should have started all over again but no, not me. I struck on the bright idea of sticking the paper back and stamping a silhouette of a bird over the top. I've got 100s of stamps and the only one half suitable was from a donkeys years old and dirt cheap grab bag. I'd never even inked it before, and once I'd stamped I realised why it was dirt cheap and had never seen ink. It's not as bad as it could be but I think this one is one of those cards that I ought to learn by but wont ;o)

Taken with teal & apricot appeal cardstock and ink with bashful blue & pumpkin pie ink. White inkssentials pen across the water.