Sketch and Stash Challenge #88

This card is made following sketch #88 over on the Sketch and Stash challenge blog.

The main image is a Sheena Douglass stamp which I've had for ages and only used once to date. The bp is a freebie from Jak of Crafter's Kitchen, the flowers made with Nellie Snellen flower punches and the swirls are a Marianne die. The yellow strip up the side is made using a Martha Stewart punch and the ribbon is from my stash. The really old and neglected thing is the sentiment circle - which is a Cuddly Buddly stamp.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Old MacDonald had a....

This week the theme for The CD Sunday Challenge is 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'. This is for a neighbour I had in Cambridgeshire and although he's given up most of his farmwork these days - he still keeps a few chickens.

The image is from Joanna Sheen's JNM cd and the two bp's are from the Sheena Douglass CD. A little raffia and a computer generated sentiment finish it off. Simple but going to a man who wouldn't appreciate anything fussy.

Thanks very much for visiting today. Off to ceroc tonight so it will be a late night for me tonight.

Elegant Pastels?

I haven't had as much crafting time as I would have liked this week so I made this card with the two challenges that I wanted to enter in mind. I was lucky enough to win the Pan Pastel challenge last week. I have to add that it was a random draw - not based on talent. The card that won was the one layer cricket card that I really wasn't pleased with. Thank you to the Pan Pastel team for some lovely new Pan Pastels and some sofft tools.
So, the Pan Pastel challenge this week is 'Pastel Colours'.
 The other challenge is  The CD  Sunday challenge which is 'Easy Elegance'.
The image I have used is from Joanna Sheen's ATC Assistant cd - it's a grainy image (not my printing) and I quite like it. The bp is from the same CD. For the circle behind it I used a Spellbinders Impressability and then used Pan Pastel Dairylide Yellow Tint to shade it. Then I cut it out with a Spellbinders die and inked the edge with Antique Linen Distress Ink.
The ribbon is two pieces, one yellow, overlaid with bronze and the pearl buckle is from Meiflower. It's finished off with a couple of flowers from my friend Stateside, Martha and some stick on pearls which I coloured with a Dufex pen.
Thanks very much for visiting today. Hope you're all enjoying this lovely weather while we have it.
Beryl xx

I Missed Her Most!

I've been keeping an eye on three of my grandchildren while my daughter took a break with some friends of hers. I've made this card for the kids to give her when she gets back (today - hurrah) although I think I'm the one who missed her most as I've been the one running back and forth between here and hers and doing all the things she'd normally be doing for them.

So - the image is stamped from a couple of Stampscape unmounted stamps, the turquoise is from a Kaleidascope ink pad and the pale pink is Spun Sugar Distress ink. I used the same Spun Sugar for the back image - how different it looks on a different card - and then stamped the palm frond with Worn Lipstick DI - I also sprayed it with a pearl mica spray. The sentiment was computer generated - black seam binding - another find from my mum's seamstress days, and some sparkly peel offs I've had for yonks.

This is my DT card for Rainbow Lady's challenge this week which is 'Tuturquoise and Pink' - in honour of Bermuda. I had to ask Rainbow Lady about the colours as they don't appear on the Bermuda flag but apparently the sky is turquoise and the sand pink. How beautiful.

I do hope you'll be able to join us this week. We love to see all your entries.

Thank you for visiting today.

Beryl xx

Look Inside

The challenge from Crafty Ann this fortnight is 'Hide and Seek'. My 'hide' is on the inside. I've used and 8 x 8 card and part of another one to make a second page (the insert will go behind this. I wanted to make a bookmark for an avid reader but it was too big to go in a pocket on the outside - so I started from the inside and work my way backwards with this one. The image on the tag is a Clarity stamp and the moon and branches Stampscapes. The papers are from a Graphicus Guild pack and fortunately I had two the same so I had enough for inside and the front.
The image of the front is an EI image which I had inked some time ago - so can't remember the colour combination but it seemed to go with this bp.The swirls are from a Sissix die. Not sure if I'll be putting a sentiment of the front somewhere - it's a BIG birthday (80) so it might be just as well to keep that greeting for the insert.
Thanks very much for visiting today.Hope you're all enjoying the warm weather.
Beryl xx

Inky Tag (and fingers)

Rainbow Lady's challenge this week is 'Lets Get Inky'.

Well I certainly have -  and I've got to go out tonight so I'll probably end up using bleach on my hands.

After several attempts going in the bin - each one totally different from the others, I settled on making a tag - if it goes on a card at some stage it will have to be an 8 x 8 or an A5 card coz I just went for it without measuring. For the background I used Radiant Rain Colour concentrates Sky and Yellow Rose. I know - where's the yellow? Well as I had forgotten, and was reminded when I was blending - yellow and blue make green. Brilliant - I don't have a green and now I don't have to buy one. I'll have to see what other colours I can come up with mixing the 5 colours I've got.

The main stamp is a Clarity one and the feint script (I used Stone Grey Stazon) is Old French Writing by Hero Arts. A couple of butterflies from a Cardio set and some inking through some sequin waste to finish off. Then I painted over the whole tag with Paper Artsy Metallic Glaze.

The two colours of ribbon were some cream grosgrain coloured with Promarkers, the button and flower from my stash.

I hope you'll come and join in this week. Sales of bleach could go up this week - unless someone can tell me a better way of cleaning inky hands.

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Beryl xx

Why did I bother?

So! I made the cricket card as light as possible did I? Not light enough apparently. To qualify for the lower postage rate (not that low anyway) a card has to be 20 grams or less. 20 grams!!! It would have to be a miniature card with no insert to qualify for that I should think. So that's the last time I bother. I'll bite the bullet and send what I like in future.

Today's card I'm entering into The CD Sunday Challenge which this week is 'Reflections'.

Both the image and the bp are from the Flights of Fantasy CD. The swirls are a Marianne die and the flowers are the Martha Stewart Water Lily punch. The centres are some thingy's I got ages ago. I don't know what they are called but you get a bobble on each end of a short piece of thread. So I cut some in half and used them as the 'stamens' for the lillies.

It actually didn't rain here today but we've had so much lately that it's sodden out there - but at least we saw some sunshine.

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Beryl xx

Hardly Weighs a Thing

I always try to make cards that have to go by air mail as light as possible and this time I think I've excelled myself. I coloured the base card with Bright Yellow Green Shade, Dairylide Yellow Tint and Ultramarine Blue Tint Pan Pastels and over stamped with some very old Crafters Companions Stamps. I coloured the images lightly with some Crayola crayons. For the central image I used just the cricket stumps stamp, coloured it with felt markers and used just the blue and the green  Pan Pastels.
The banner is an idea I got from Debby, computer generated sentiment and core-dinations for the backing. The 'card candy' in the corner is some of the same core-dinations run through the Cuttlebug with part of a Spellbinders die.
I'm entering this in the Pan Pastels challenge which this week is 'Sports'.
It will probably be the most basic card they see, and if the postage is still exorbitant I'll be spitting bricks.
Thanks for visiting today.
Beryl xx

I'll Huff and I'll Puff....

This is my take on the 87th Challenge on the Sketch and Stash blog. The image and papers are from the Docrafts Country Companions CD and my forgotten/neglected stash element are the flower buttons. I bought them from Mad About Cards a few years back and the box they came in hadn't even been unsealed. I didn't want to go overboard on the flower bit as this will be for a two year old boy's birthday. OK - it's not very blue - but I hope he likes it.
Thanks very much for visiting today.
Beryl xx

Fairy-tage

This week the challenge on Rainbow Lady's blog is - 'age' - as in decoupage, pyramage, trinitage or any other 'age' you can think of in the spirit of the challenge. Not old age, new age or similar.lol

 I've chosen decoupage. The fairy image I've had for yonks and is a Stanzbogen die cut. The ivy leaves are a Sheena Douglas design from when she worked with Creative Expressions, coloured with Pro Markers. The bp is from the Essence of Nature cd by Artylicious and the sentiment stamp is by Inkylicious. Ribbon from my stash and the card brass embossed round the edge.

We are sponsored this week by Pinflair so I do hope you come and join in.

As the background for the fairy was done with my Pan Pastels (very basic but I'm just starting with them) I'm also entering this card in the Pan Pastel challenge this week - which is Anything Goes.

Thank you for visiting today.

Beryl xx



Butterfly Tree

A card two days running! You can tell the weather is grotty. I'm a fair weather gardener so indoors in my craft room is the best place for me.

This card I'm entering in The CD Sunday Challenge - which this week is 'Trees and Shrubs'.

The bp is printed from the Artylicious Essence of Nature cd and the tree stamp is from the set of stamps also called Essence of Nature.

I've coloured the butterflies with a mixture of Cosmic Shimmer paints and H2O paints.

The lattice border is a Martha Stewart punch - as is the butterfly. Marianne die for the corner swirls and a flower from my stash.

Thanks very much for visiting today. Hope you are warmer where you are than it is here.

Beryl xx

Another Year Gone!

Just thought I'd share a couple of cards I made yesterday with Sheena Douglass' 'duck' stamp. The top one was coloured with felt marker pens and the bottom one coloured with Promarkers. Both bp's are from Glenda Waterworth collections. The sentiment on both was computer generated.

Thanks for visiting today. Sunny here at the moment but I don't know how long it will last. Hope someone, somewhere is having some good weather. (Although if they own up they might find they get a lot of visitors.)

Beryl xx

Just noticed the image on the bottom doesn't look quite straight - checked, and it isn't. Never mind - it's going to someone whose sight is even worse than mine!

It was bugging me so I covered it - just in the unlikely event he's forked out on some new 'bins'.
Beryl xx



Memories

I don't have very many photos of my family, only or two of my dad and not many more of my mum. So as Rainbow Lady's challenge this week is 'Memories' I thought I'd make a start on putting some of them together for my kids to have. They say you get to look like your mum - that's fine as long as I don't feel the need to wear a shapeless shift and grow a wedge haircut!
I used Craft Artist to make the page and it's in an 8 x 8 format so my printer will be able to cope when I finally get round to printing some pages out and putting them in an album. Don't anybody hold your breath for that though - got to find an 8 x 8 album first.
Hope you'll be able to join in. Memories can mean so many different things - I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something AND we are sponsored by the lovely Joanna Sheen this week.
Thanks for visiting.
Beryl xx

Wobbly Stitching

I'm entering this card into two challenges. The CD Sunday challenge which this week is a colour challenge - Chocolate, Cream and one other. For my other colour I have chosen turquoise. The papers and dress form are from the Decadent Brocade cd, the flower, buttons and raffia from my stash and the tag made from the paper I printed the dress forms onto, stamped with some Inkadinkadoo swirls and inked with Distress Old Paper and Brushed Corduroy. I then backed the tag with some brown card to strengthen it and paper pieced another form over the original. I distressed the edge of the bp (as well as you can with a craft knife) and did some faux stitching with a fine marker pen. It's probably about as neat as it would have been had I done it with a needle and thread! That's where the other challenge comes in. I'm entering it into Crafty Ann's challenge - Stitching or Faux Stitching.

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Beryl xx