Colour challenge #6

I have to admit, I was rather sceptical about the colour combo in Keesh's latest colour challenge, but it's growing on me.

I made a super simple card for this challenge.



I was going to use Apricot Appeal for the smaller flowers, but reached for the wrong ink pad and grabbed More Mustard instead. Oops. It looks lighter and fresher with Apricot, when I tried it on a piece of scrap cardstock, so I might try these colours again and adding Apricot into the mix.
I also had to have a play with my newest set......Ocean commotion!



I loooooooove this set!! I particularly like the seahorse and the seaweed stamps. I used non-SU! textured cardstock and East Coast Prep DSP, along with Real Red, More Mustard and Wild Wasabi ink. Thanks for looking!

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Hi again! I forgot to mention how lucky I was to win not one, but two prizes! One was from the fantastic Kerry Bunting, who sent me a sample pack of the new in colours!!!! The new in colours don't disappoint and I especially love Rinding Hood Read, which goes well with Garden Green (hello Xmas cards!), as well as Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango.

Another prize that I won was from the oh-so-talented Michelle Habib, who gave me a free pass to the UStamp '09 Spring session!!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyhoo, on to cards. I also forgot to post two other cards that I made over the past 2 weekends. One was for a friend who has since left to do part of her PhD in Denmark for 3 months.






I folded a piece of A4 cardstock in half (non-SU!) to make the card big enough for everyone in the lab to sign. I used Versamark on the sanded background and stamped that twice (never done such a big card before!) and then applied Versamark and white embossing powder, which I then heated. I looooove bling, so I had to use the two-way glue pen to add dazzling diamonds to the embossed part of the card, although you can't quite see the dazzle in the second photo. I scraped the edges of the card over my black ink pad, just to make it more interesting.

This second card was made for a friend's birthday, using Wild Wasabi cardstock. I'll be so sad to see this colour go in April!!





I wanted to make it a really simple card, so all I did was use Versamark and the Flitting By Wheel and white embossing powder. And of course, the all important glitter! I don't know what I'd do without it. Thanks for looking!

Inkspirations sketch challenge #6

Hi all! Makeesha has challenged us with a sketch, this time, and this is what our card or page was supposed to look like.

I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use the sketch to make a card for a dear family friend who is turning 88. Am not completely happy with this card, as it's a bit busy for me.



I used Le Jardin DSP and River Rock cardstock. I had to print the number "88" and the sentiment, as I didn't have any number stamps or sentiment stamps that would suit the card. I went for more of a grey colour because I thought the black would stand out too much, but it ended up looking very pixel-y. Oh well. I used dimentionals to pop up the sentiment rectangle. Thanks for looking!

Colour challenge!

Just a super quick post tonight! I thought I had until Friday to put up my card for the latest challenge by oh-so-fabulous Keesh, but it ends at midnight! Oops. Luckily I checked. Anyhoo....the challenge colours were:

And this is my offering. I feel I must apologize, as the lighting is horrible.



I reeeeally don't know about this card. It started off with me playing with a stencil set I bought at the craft fair in November. I decided to try sponging/blending colours for the wings, and then thought I could use the challenge blues. Ended up using Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise and Blue Bayou, which blend quite nicely. Making the dragonfly and adding bling was the easy part, cos after that I didn't know what to do! 2.5 hours, much paper and lots of frustration later, I gave up and layered stamped Blue Bayou on Whisper White and then on Real Red. The saying and the flowers are from the Stem Silhouettes set (retired) and the way the Soft Sky cardstock was cut was pure fluke. I had a scrap of cardstock that could only fit the saying when stamped diagonally across, and when I cut it out the ends turned out like so. It kinda reminds me of butterfly/dragonfly wings. :) I could've jazzed it up, but I'm too tired and my brain feels mushy.

All in all, the card isn't too bad, but I know it could be better. If anyone has any ideas/tips/constructive criticism for me, it would be very much appreciated!!

Now I'm off to recover from a killer gym class. I'm sooooo going to pay tomorrow.....

DIY storage

And it's time for another of Makeesha's challenges! This time, it was a sketch challenge.

And this is what I made.





I used Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery and Whisper White cardstock, Pumpkin pie DSP, Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon,Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie Summer Sun and Versamark ink pads, clear embossing powder and finally some Vintage brads. Something about this card doesn't sit right with me. I think it's the position of the Whisper White CS. Can I just say how much I LOVE heat embossing?! I broke out my heat gun for the first time, and I've decided I can't live without it. I used the colour combo from the Spring Break DSP, and I love it! I must use it again sometime. The lighting makes the greens look kinda washed out, though.

It's been a while since my last post, mainly because I've been busy making an ink pad holder and have had not much time for cards.

I found the idea from an American demo by the name of Stacey King. Genius! It can fit 60 ink pads (12 in each section) but it sits flat, unlike Stacey's which sits on a slight angle down towards the back by lifting the front slightly. I also added in a shelf on top so I can keep small stuff (eg. SNAIL) within reach. I also made a holder for 12" by 12" paper, as a practice run before attempting the bigger project.



I had to borrow a glue gun to put it together, but after trying it out I had to buy my own. Picked up one from Dicksmith for about $18.93 and I absolutely LOVE it!! However, it took some getting used to and I might have used a wee bit too much glue. If you look carefully, particularly at the photo of the paper holder, you can see where I used too much glue causing it to ooze out and dry. I suppose I could cut it off with a knife, but I couldn't be bothered.

Can you tell I'm extremely pleased with myself? I used a 81cm by 102cm piece of foam core board to make the ink pad holder and shelf, with a little bit left over. At just under $10 for one sheet, it's a cheaper alternative to the Stampin Up! caddy. And a lot of fun to make. I think I was high on glue fumes by the end of the assembly! Ah, customizable storage......how I love thee.

Well, enough patting myself on the back. A friend asked me to make a baby card for her, and I came across this card by Angelique Kelly. It's sooooooooooo cute! I CASED it by using Pretty in Pink cardstock, cut out the shape and stamped the little hearts using Rose Red ink. The glitter was adhered to the hearts and the Baby stamp using a 2-way glue pen, and the scallop circle was punched out of Apricot Appeal cardstock.



Also, I've been working on make a set of square (~10cm by 10cm) cards, but have only finished two so far. The photo was taken under a fluoro light, and the yellow of the cardstock is darker IRL. Hopefully I'll get to finish the other two and post them up next week.



TTFN!