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.

Yeovil girlies look away now.

There are a load of us docraft members meeting up for a playday in Yeovil in a few weeks and we're making 3 projects using the following 2 stamp sets. Soooo if you're coming to Yeovil look away now ;o)

One of the great things working with SU papers is that I can work at night and know that the colours will always match. Not like a few xmas's ago when I sat and cut 50 bookatrix cards while watching a film. I was horrified the next morning when I realised the white hammer cardstock wasnt all the same shade! It should have been as it had all been bought from papermill but it wasnt and it was glaringly obvious.

This is playful petals co-ordinating with it's DSP paper set Tea Party. Stamped onto whisper white before being coloured with markers and 3d'd.

My favourite SAB set, whimsical words sentiment stamped on so saffron before being attached to the main image with some rings.


This was supposed to be the project for Yeovil but our loud mouthed spidy had to say "but what about making it into an easel card"!


Well this one is Kraft & bella bleu dsp with playful petals stamped on whisper white & ballet blue before 3d'ing.

I opened my precious pot of filigree brads to make the drawer handle.




Here is the project we are making albeit we're using different colours.

This is an unusual combo of colours, taken with teal, very vanilla and mellow moss cs and Nouveau Chic dsp. Again playful petals has been 3d'd and I used oval all sentiments with the plain and scalloped punch.

Another of my precious filligree brads for the handle.






Top tip for anyone making these small treat boxes... decorate before you make the box.. makes life easier and you can use the stamp a ma jig to centre things, oops lol.

Almost amethyst & perfect plum card with perfect plum, bashful blue, lavender lace inks. Sentiment is from Vintage labels, flowers from playful petals, flight of the butterfly stamps and matching punch. Scalloped circle and 1 3/8ths circle punch.

Wow, huge recipe list for a box that only measures 2" lol



I love playing with backgrounds, this one was made by dapping on several colours of inks before spritzing with water and more dapping whilst still damp then triple embossed with clear ep and a dazzle versamark ink pad.

Craft white ink stamped onto vellum before being punched and a very fine edging of dazzling diamonds. Matted onto elegant eggplant over whisper white which had been ran through a cuttlebug folder. Scallop punched border and some elegant eggplant grosgrain ribbon.





This is the top secret project for Yeovil, a zig zag card using pocket silhouettes & flight of the butterfly.

Certain Celery, almost amethyst and whisper white cs with lavender lace, pretty in pink, certain celery ink. This is much easier to make than a trifold shutter but you have to be precise with the measurements.

Playing with background stamps

It's been good to get back to playing with rubber & ink now that the havoc xmas & snow creates is well and truly gone. This week I've been playing with background stamps and a couple of new stamp sets. There's a fair few so I'll split it into a couple of posts.

These are all made with background stamps.




A very very quick basic card using Medallion, stamped in chocolate chip on kraft cs and matted on very vanilla & chocolate chip. I used the eyelet border and word window punch to add some detail.







Another medallion but this one was a bit an experiment that had an accident.. I'd forgot to clean the stamp and had coloured the outer ring with a couple of water colour wonder crayons before misting with cleaner (couldnt find my water spray and I was only really looking to see how the crayons liked the stamp).

Once stamped onto whisper white the brown ink came through and muddied the colours in a way I wouldnt have expected but I kind of liked the look.

Matted on perfect plum then over whisper white with baroque motifs stamped in pale plum and scallop border punch over pale plum cs.


I don't do distressed as a rule but french script just lends itself so well I find I can't help myself.

French script stamped in creamy caramel over very vanilla the the ink pad was dragged over the edges and sanded down. Baroque motifs stamped in chocolate chip over the corners. Oval all sentiment with the scalloped and plain oval punch with some wide gros grain chocolate chip ribbon and a few gems.





I wasnt that struck when I saw Bella Toile in the catalogue and it was relagated to my would like but not desperate group. D'uh, that was daft! Now I've got it I'm in love with it, beautiful pattern and it stamps like a dream.



This is elegant eggplant stamped on very vanilla matted on elegant eggplant. The sentiment is from one of the exclusive SAB sets, vintage labels and is matted over very vanilla ribbon. The eyelet border punch finishes off the edges.








This one uses pale plum ink & perfect plum, pale plum & whisper white cardstock. The flower is from Garden Dream (a hostess set) and has been watercoloured with ink from the pale plum pad.

Eyelet border again and white grosgrain ribbon.







This is why you should never photo a card in artificial light. Bella Toile has been stamped in chocolate chip on pretty in pink cs and in real life is very pale.

Oval all sentiment and oval & scallop punch with pretty in pink taffeta ribbon.








This was my first play with whisper white craft ink and as a parcher the hunt has always been on for a decent white ink pad which will dry on vellum and OMG I've finally found one.

Bella Toile was stamped in whisper white on some black vellum I've had lying around for years. It's not a perfect typex white, that's technically impossible for a thin enough ink to stamp with, but this is not far different to using pergamanos tinta white with a dipping pen.

I used whisper white ink with a flight of the butterfly stamp on to parchment paper before using a grid and embossing & perforating. The butterflies where then punched using the new butterfly punch.

All matted on to whisper white and basic black card stock with whisper white taffeta ribbon.