Last Week as GD at Colours and Sketches

This is my past week as Guest Designer at Colours and sketches and this week there is a super simple sketch to follow!

Here I used a sweet elephant die from Memory Box and used some Pink Petticoat paper  plus a googly eye to complete it!#The sentiment also cut from the PP paper is from Poppy Stamps.

This should have been scheduled for yesterday, but I forgot to press a button, so here it is rather tardily.

Today I shall be off to meet lots of other crafters in Swindon for the retreat organised by Kylie from HLS. Should be a heap of fun!
I will post some pics soon!

Feeling tactile

The challenge at "Less is More" this time is for two weeks. 

Next weekend Sarah, Anita and Chrissie, together with ex DT Anne plus various LIMettes will be in Swindon for Happy Little Stampers' Craft Retreat. What a riot that might prove to be... with Kylie (organiser) and her Mum plus Darnell from California we are destined for a ball... there may even be a little crafting done!

Anyway, the theme to take you through these two weeks is 

TACTILE

So we would love to see something that would be interesting to the touch!

Here I used a die from Marianne cut in felt and fabric of this really rather cute monkey! Somehow the editing using Pic Monkey isn't as clear as Picasa, so I may well have to revert.

The sentiment is from an old Cuttlebug die and the branch from Memory Box.

I've been a little short on time this week partly because of a trip to Sussex, highlight of which was attendance  of the opera  at Glyndebourne. It's a venue I have long wanted to attend and my visit was all I had hoped... the setting, the food the singing and the production were all amazing!

Here I am having just finished our pre-performance champagne and canapes in the beautiful gardens.

If I have time I'll add another card for this week's challenge but I need to get around to visiting all last week's entries first!

This is a card I just made for friends of friends. The butterfly and vines are from Poppy Stamps and the hearts from a large SSS die.

The blue finish on the card was achieved with Inka Gold paste and Distress Inks and the sentiment was computer generated in a colour matched ink.

More colours

Week three of my Guest Designer spot at CAS Colours and Sketches and it's round to another colour palette.

I find some combinations tricky, but this one feels a little jazzy and somewhat rock and roll so hence the drum kit. It was a downloadable image from the Internet with splats from inks as close to the designated colours as I could manage. The stamps are from Stampin' Up and Stamplorations and the sentiment was computer generated in VNI-Thufap2 font, which is freely downloadable.

It's a simple one layer card... very CAS!

Repetition

The theme over at "Less is More" this week is  Repetition.

I guess you could repeat whatever you fancied but I chose to repeat the Happy Birthday.

This was the card for my husband... I relish the fact that for a few weeks he appears a year older than me, but I soon catch up!

Here is another 

Computer generated sentiment, double die cut wellies, and die cut cloud and raindrops!

Today should have been the final day of my cruise to the Mediterranean. It still seems a little odd that we didn't go, but I hope that the cruise we are taking next year in compensation for forfeiting this one will be amazing!
Tomorrow I shall be meeting Darnell at Heathrow! Good times are ahead!

Time for a Sketch

Here is my card for the second week of my Guest spots at Colours and Sketches!

This is simply a bundle of die cuts!

Sizzix - Wire bundle and wild flower

Memory Box - butterfly

SSS - Floral spray

Hero Arts - Congrats

Embellishments - Crystal gems and Nuvo Drops in Silver Lining

The card for the base of the butterfly was coloured using Inka Gold paste, mixed with Distress Inks and spritzed with water and then prints were taken using card.

We should still be on our Mediterranean cruise, I've just about round to the notion that we will be taking it next year instead, when I hope the cruise line won't be overbooked again!

Clockwork

Last month when the One Layer Challenge came around at "Less is More" I merrily went ahead and made a Splatter card... forgetting that it was one layer week... this month ... guess what.. I did exactly the same thing. I was so anxious to use this Kaisercraft stamp that all thought of the one layer element left my mind. Anyway here is take 2!

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches which I think fits the theme beautifully!

Using my MISTI helps enormously to get the stamp square on to the card... always a tricky process!

Here is the version where I forgot about the one layer!

I really must be getting old!

I'm going to link this one to the the challenge at Twofers challenge as their theme is clocks/time

Why not join in the fun!

Take a tag

The challenge at AAA Cards is to create a card with a tag. I've had this sheep die set from Marianne Collectables for a while and thought I'd give it an outing! It simply uses bits of card from the scrap drawer.

The sentiment was computer generated using My Own Topher font on a black background with white lettering. The ribbon is a scrap cut from a sweater or blouse... I don't remember which, I know they help to keep the garments on the hangers in the store, but I can't cope with them once I have the item at home! Neat bit of recycling!

Guest Designer

I was honoured to have been asked to be the Guest Designer for July for 

CAS Colours and Sketches

This first one (Challenge #181) is to use these colours

As I don't have all these exact colours I have used as close as I could find.

Here I have used embossed leaves from Cheery Lynn and Impression Obsession dies, cut from some card coloured with Inka Gold Pastes and Distress Inks. After cutting I added a little more colour using Sponge Daubers and more Distress Ink.

The sentiment is from Creative Dies from Craft Essentials. In fact I don't have one which says Thanks... but I used the 'Thank' from 'Thank you' and added the 's' from Congratulations. The line fitted perfectly.

I can't remember the make of the little butterfly button die. I will try to find out.

Kissing

The theme at Happy Little Stampers this month is to use the Kissing Technique!

For this card I used a plain Hero Arts Christmas tree, which I inked with Ranger Dye Ink in Lily Pad. I then stamped this onto a Personal Impressions Snowflake stamp to remove some of the ink and then stamped the image onto card before die cutting it with the matching die.

The rest of the layers were cut with SSS stitched dies..

The sentiment is from HLS Everyday Sentiments!

This challenge is sponsored by

Tutorials:
Die-cut Kissing by Betsy Veldman (10:32)
Kissing Technique by Shari Carroll (4:42)
Embossing Folder Kiss Technique by Michelle Joy Wecksler (5:46)

Kitchen colours

It feels strange today, as we should have been flying to Rome to join Cunard's Queen Victoria for a two week cruise in the Mediterranean. However, following a phone call from Cunard a couple of days ago we have been persuaded to cancel this cruise with a full refund and rebook another cruise free of charge next year. It seems as with lots of companies they overbook and rely on a certain number of cancellations to keep numbers viable. However this year, their calculations didn't work out and they were forced to try to find clients willing to postpone their holidays.  As we have already had a cruise to the Caribbean this year together with a week in Florida; will be going to Spain in August and to San Francisco in September, we thought that we could forego this one and rebook for next year.... and it will be free! Still feels odd though!

The challenge at "Less is More" this week is to use the colours from your kitchen.

Some years ago we had a caravan in which we used to go on holiday to France most years. One year we decided to buy a kitchen table and chairs in Caen and transport them back in said caravan. This set actually helped determine the colours in our kitchen.

The table is getting a little old now but is so practical and has two extending leaves, which are so useful when we have family staying with us.

Our work surface is black granite with twinkly bits in it... hence my card.

The old Hostess stamp set from Stampin' up seems redolent of the image on the table... so there you go!

Here I used the other piece of embossed card from last week, if I'd thought about it in time I would have sprinkled a little gold twinkle over this bit, but not to worry!