Fusion - Cupcake

Welcome to another Fusion challenge!  As soon as I saw the photo, I knew that I would have to pull out this oh-so-cute stamp from My Favorite Things.

Drop in to Fusion to check out the challenge!

Thanks for visiting :)

Rewind: take 2!

OK, so this story will be told in reverse.  I made a card that looked like this:

 Then I didn't stop when I should have.  I cut the panel down to add a pink border, then I thought the pink in the flower needed warming up, so I added some Squeezed Lemonade Distress ink sponged over the middle.  This is what I got:

This I did not like, as the pink in the flower no longer looked pink at all, and the swipe of pink around the edge looked wrong to me.  So I started from scratch, and stopped before I added the bits I didn't like.  So the first card above is actually the second card (does that make sense?)

Thanks for visiting :)

PS the stamp is "Large solid flower" cling stamp from Hero Arts. The sentiment is also Hero Arts, a clear set called "truly Appreciated".

A new challenge at A Blog Named Hero

The latest challenge at A Blog Named Hero , "Unexpected", had me stumped for a while, until I remembered my Hambo Stamps. They have the funniest sentiment stamps for the front and inside of cards.  They're laugh out loud funny!

Don't forget to play along with this new challenge - there's a voucher from Simon Says Stamp up for grabs for one lucky entrant!

Thanks for visiting :) 

InLinkz.com

Masculine bookmarks for A Blog Named Hero

I have a post up today over at A Blog Named Hero - all about bookmarks for boys.  Here's a sneak peek:

Drop on over to A Blog Named Hero to find out all the details.

Thanks for visiting :)

Fusion - Purple Flowers

It's time for another Fusion Challenge - I had to modify my plan for this one, because I don't have a real rich purple, or magenta ink.  (Guess what's now on my wish list!)  I took part of the sketch, and the main idea of the photo, and came up with this:

Make sure you pop on over to Fusion to check out the gorgeous cards from the rest of the design team, and join in yourself!

Thanks for visiting :) 

Playing with stencils, Distress and watercolour

I posted this card on the A Blog Named Hero Facebook page today - playing along with a Create a Smile stencil, and some Hero Arts stamps, with Distress Inks and watercolours in blues and greens.  

I added some Perfect Pearls to the watercoloured butterfly as a finishing touch.

 Thanks for visiting :)

CASology Guest Designer!

I'm so excited today, because I'm a guest designer at one of my favourite challenge blogs, CASology! Thanks so much to Melissa for inviting me!  Their codeword this week is "BASKET".  Here's my take:

Yes, that basket is hand-woven - from strips of kraft cardstock that I sponged with some Distress Ink.  I die cut it out using a circle die, then cut the top edge off.  I added some twine that I plaited to make it into a hanging basket, so that I could add these gorgeous fuchsias from Clearly Besotted, which I fussy cut.  A sentiment from Hero Arts and I was done! 

Now this card doesn't fit the "easily reproducable" category of CAS, but it has only one focal image, and lots of white space, so I think it still qualifies as CAS (for the clean design, if not for the time taken to create it!)

 Make sure you drop in to CASology to see the amazing creations from the design team, and to link up your own creation - I'm looking forward to seeing what you make!

Thanks for visiting :)

Creative Blog Hop

Hello!  My A Blog Named Hero teammate, Mateja (from A Pocketful of Stamps) has nominated me to participate in a Creative Blog Hop.  I did a similar blog hop last year (HERE), but this one has slightly different questions. So, lets jump right in! 

1.  What are you working on now?
I'm making a card for a guest design spot that you'll see very soon - stay tuned!  (hint - I won a challenge last week at this blog!) I also need to make a special birthday card for a friend who is turning 50 next week - lots of glitter and bling on that one!
I've been using a lot of stencils recently - here's a card I made in January using a Hero Arts stencil that has become a firm favourite of mine. 

2.  How does your work differ from others in your genre?

Hmm, this is tricky, because I don't always stick to the same style! I think my style is mostly CAS with occasional diversions into other styles. I try to make my cards clean, balanced, clear and not fussy. I'm usually not very good at layers, and I'm not very good at using my huge stash of patterned papers! I'm also very late to adopt trends - mostly because I hoard things, and am running out of room for new stuff, and if I'm going to go with a new trend that requires new stuff, I need to REALLY know I'm going to use it before I buy it!
I think this card that I made last year is a good indication of my style, for a number of reasons: there's a rainbow of colour, it's airy with a fair bit of white space, there's a clear and easy to read sentiment, and it's asymmetrical. 

3.  Why do your create what you do?

I make cards for a lot of reasons. I love making cards that are personalised, so that they are a specific gift to the recipient, like in these cards I made recently:

I have done a lot of other crafty things over the years, but I like cardmaking because I'm impatient, and it's a small canvas!  Also, I like the fact that, if I stuff up, it's usually just a piece of cardstock that gets thrown away.

4. How does your creative process work?

 My creative process is a mystery. I can sometimes start with an idea and pull out stamps, inks, papers and colouring tools, and end up with a card that uses NONE of the products I started with!  It's very rare for me to start with an idea and come up with a card that matches my idea perfectly (it has happened, but not often!) But, nowadays, I often start with a codeword or a theme or a photo inspiration from one of the blog design teams I belong to, and have to get a card done to fit the brief.  I look at the theme, I think of what I need to use (or what's in my stash that would fit the card) and go from there.

Now, I'd like to nominate two cardmakers whose work I admire -Jeanne Jachna and Amy Tsuruta - these ladies are both teammates of mine at Fusion card challenge, but they have very differnt styles!  I can't wait to read their posts next week!

Thansk for visiting - and thanks to Mateja for nominating me! :)