Less is more silhouette

One more quick entry to this week's less is more silhouette challenge. Technically this is cheating as it's not really a silhouette if you can see the features in the owls face but I'm hoping I can be forgiven!!

The moon was created with a circle mask and the background inked with versa colour inks. The stamps are from two different card-io sets.

I would also like to enter this in to try it on a Tuesday's challenge which also happens to be silhouettes.

Sunset silhouette

I've made this card for this week's less is more challenge  and the try it on a Tuesday challenge which this time both have the theme of 'silhouette'. I had quite a few ideas for it including fairies and trees and other such things but at the last minute I stumbled upon this memory box die and decided it would make a good silhouette. I inked the sunset with versa colour inks in canary and camellia and a fabrico pad in tangerine. The sentiment is a very old stamp with the house image not inked, made by all night media.

Enjoy...

This dear little mouse is a penny black stamp called 'squeaky'. I've made a very simple card with him by flat stamping (using black impress) and colouring with promarkers. 

It is mounted on glittered vellum and lilac paper from my stash. The sentiment is another stamp from a penny black T for transparent set called 'enjoy'. 

This card is destined for the following challenges;

Penny Black Saturday - Anything goes
Penny Black and more - One for the girls
A bit more time to craft - Anything goes
Simon wednesday - Create with critters

A thought for 2016

So did anyone watch the queens speech on Christmas day?! I must confess I never have done before but did for the first time this year. HM was talking about how it had been quite a 'dark' year in many ways, think; Paris attacks, flooding, refugee crisis etc and it is easy to see where she was coming from. In my personal life, 2015 was a pretty tough year and included a fair number of unexpected trials. The Queens message didn't stop there however and she quoted the passage from John 1v1 in the bible, which says; 'The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not overcome it.'

Personally I found it a really encouraging message (you never know, I might even watch again next year!) It is easy in the midst of things to start feeling hopeless and as though evil, be it in the form of famine, war, terrorism or natural disaster, is taking control. What this passage is saying is that although these terrible goings on are happening all around us, they are not enough to overcome the good that is also in the world. 

I decided it was time to focus on the good a bit more. I am determined that 2016 will go better than 2015 and I came up with this little crafty project to help me on my way. (Lets face it, all good ideas need a crafty project to help!)

This is my jar of hope for 2016. As you can see in the picture there are some little tags attached to the outside. As the year progresses I plan to write the good things that happen on these tags and post them in the jar. At the end of the year, no matter what else has gone on, I will be able to look back over all the good things from 2016. 

    

I used a large flat sided kilner jar and covered it in torn pieces of blue mulberry paper glued on with a mix of pva and water. This represented the 'darkness.' I added a moon shaped mask and inked on a moon and stars using a Lavinia stamp. I also added brilliance moonlight white ink directly over some areas.

I cut four panels of K and Co paper, used a circle punch to create inverted round corners and drew a border with a brown fineliner. I then stamped Crafty individuals 'stamp a meadow' set and stuck each panel to the jar. I wanted to show plants growing in the night as a way of representing light in the darkness.

I printed the text using hero arts alphabet sets and cut the individual words out. Finally I finished off using bits and bobs, a few buttons and a ribbon from crafty ribbons. 

For the tags I printed on scrapbook paper from my stash using Crafty individuals stamps from a variety of sets (I'm absolutely loving the dragonflies at the moment!) and giving them a more varied look by applying bits of DI in tumbled glass. 

As you can see for the lid I die cut a scalloped circle, added more stamping and distress ink and finished off with buttons.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'd love to hear if anyone else is doing a new year inspired make?

Id like to enter this make in to the following challenges;

Craft stamper; take it make it

Crafty individuals; lace, buttons, bits andbobs

Stamping sensations; Anything with a die

Crafty ribbons; Fabulous flowers

Happy birthday Grandpa!

This card was inspired by this week's sketch from freshly made sketches. I know we all struggle with men's cards but I do think the clean and simple look is the way forward for them. After all, there aren't many men who are in to fussy and frilly are there?!
This card is made using craft work cards candi, a fineliner and a promarker both in black, personal impressions happy birthday stamp and paper from my stash.

My Grandpa is s very gifted musician so this one's for him. Happy birthday Grandpa!


If also like to enter this in to the Casology 'clear' challenge as there is lots of clear space.

Hold on to your hats!

I love this stamp from little claires. I've stamped it very simply and coloured it with promarkers. I plan to add a sentiment to the top right corner when I know what occasion it is for!

I'd like to enter this card in the the craft barn 'hats' challenge and the Casology clear challenge.

B is for...

This is the challenge that I have been most excited about getting started on. I remember seeing snippets of the Craft Barn's last alphabet/dictionary challenge but I wasn't on the blogger scene back then so this is all new and exciting for me.

It's not being done in alphabetical order and this is the first week, so,

B is for.... buttons... bees...burst....balloons....?

I considered all of these before deciding B is for ....

Butterflies!

I couldn't help myself, Butterflies were the theme for our wedding and I just love them. Whenever I can I photograph butterflies and in my minds eye I had a bit of an idea about what I might do. All I had to do was work out how to make it work!

First off I drew round the definition with my fine liner. I'm really enjoying the fact that my dictionary has the occasional picture in it, and this just happened to be one of them, so I went around that too.

Next I inked all around the edges of the page with tumbled glass distress ink. After that (although not pictured here) I added a bit of bundled sage DI, including inking some through a memory box floral stencil.

I die cut this little memory box garden and butterfly die in a beautiful basic grey paper called blush, and added a little bundled sage DI.

I now set about punching out a LOT of butterflies, as well as cutting round some that occurred on the gorgeous memory box paper 'butterfly ballet' I inked them all randomly with splashes of tumbled glass.

I folded a couple more strips of blush paper and balanced them on the dictionary, then I set about layering up the butterflies, balancing them one on top the other and sticking with a strong adhesive.

I stamped one of the stamps from the Little Claire's butterfly tree set in both lower corners of the pages and coloured with watercolour pencils.

A few more embellishments followed, including some punched flowers and spots of liquid pearls, and there you have it, week one of the dictionary challenge! It just about works as a pop up page but I am very cautious opening it!

I used the following materials for this make;

Distress ink; tumbled glass, bundled sage.

Versa colour; Neptune

Inkssentials blender

Memory box stencil; Garden floral confetti

Memory box die; Garden and butterflies (actual name unknown!)

Basic Grey paper; Blush, Admire

Memory box paper; Minuet, Butterfly Ballet

Woodware Butterfly punch small and medium

Little Claires stamps; Butterfly Tree

Derwent; Watercolour pencils

Liquid pearls; Garnet

Stickles; Eucalyptus

As well as the Craft Barn challenge, I would also like to enter this in

The Butterfly challenge (Butterflies and ink) 

Craft stamper TIMI challenge (Take a stamp)

Stamping sensations - anything with a die