Cute cats and a cherry tree

Some serendipitous themes have fallen together in this birthday card. 

Firstly: cute little cats. I have no recollection where these stamps are from, most likely from a private sale on FB. They are just too cute. Secondly: the background is a deep indigo jeans print. These two things made me think of kawaii and Japanese aesthetics and gave me an idea to take the card even more into more Japanese leaning territory. Enter leaves and cherry blossoms.

 

I also really liked a sketch prompt and tied it in. There is a fair split between stamping and die-cutting. The background circles and the stamped leaves have been die cut, wheras cats, flowers and leaves have been stamped.

 

 

Together they make a rather busy card. But for a birthday, why not? Plenty to look at.

 

 Entering this into the lovely challenges that inspired me today:

Try a Sketch on Tuesday: TSOT #695 

and Double Trouble #216, where the #2 option features TSOT#695 prompt

Die-Cut Divas: Let's celebrate! - I am celebrating a birthday. 

Critter Crazy: #110 AG as long as there's a critter

 

Simon Says Wednesday: Cute critters 

 

I Love Promarkers: Special occasions 

 

"The Journey is the Destination"

 And the string of birthdays continues... It seems to be almost the only occasion I make cards for these days - what about you? Text is faster and more convenient, phones have been invented, there is seldom a real need for a card these days.

My GD is turning nine, and this whilst the family is traveling over half Europe for their holidays. As she is a bright young one and prone to philosophy, I decided to give her some tea-bag wisdom that might make her spending a birthday on the road more palatable.

A couple of challenges gave me great ideas as for where I should be heading. No flowers this time, but a cheerful dinosaur on roller skates, also on road, so to speak. The tea-bag label morphed into a balloon, also inspired by a challenge prompt. And a huge bonus: I got to use random off-cut strips that I tend to collect, but seldom use.

 

"The Journey is the Destination." 

 

Entering this card into these inspiring challenges:

We Love Stamping: May / All creatures great and small 

Stamping Sensations: Cute creatures - dinosaurs are cute, no?

Alphabet Challenge: B is for Balls - I hope balloons qualify!

Darnell's Weekly I.D.E.A.S.: 1. Inks 

Stamploration: May AG  - I used another company stamp

Flowers for birthday

There are several monochromatic prompts at the moment, and as I was in a need for another birthday card I wanted to make it purple (it's the recipient's favorite color).

I have recently watched a bunch of YouTube videos and can't attribute this technique to anyone, sorry. But basically one runs an embossed image, colors it in and runs it again with background color.

 I painted the flowers in with watercolors. The second run, where the background should be applied by running it through again just did not work for me. The background stayed blotchy and a lot of color stayed on the folder. So I painted it in with watercolor as well.

 

Entering this into these lovely challenges that inspired me:

Fab 'n Funky: #637 Monochrome

4-Seasons-Challenge: #104 Monochroom 

Crafty Gals Corner: AG / Flowers for Mother

Allsorts Challenge: #849 AG/ Monochromatic I chose Monochromatic

 

Just Us Girls Challenge: #823 Word week: Flowers

 

And because this was the first time I used these watercolors, I am entering this in NBUS-Never-Before-Used-Schtuff round #86.

Flowers galore

I have lately been watching a lot of YouTube videos. In one of them Ardyth tried to reason whether she needs a new set of dies or whether she can replicate the look with her existing ones. 

Well, today I wanted to try the same. I pulled out all my single flower dies, applied them on colored papers. And here is one of the results. (I made many, couldn't stop myself...)

 

As it is birthday season and birthday is also a theme in one of the challenges that inspired me today, a birthday card it is.

 

Entering this in the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Use Craft Dies 

Everybody Art Challenge: Happy 600! 

AAA Birthday Challenge: Game 85 

A Cut Above: May Challenge 

Fab 'n Funky: #637 Monochromatic

These are the cards I have made so far...

 

A medley

 The downside of not being able to play more with my materials these days is that everything takes so much longer than usual. It also seems to become more elaborate.

Take a simple prompt "make your own background" for example and combine it with "anything goes". For example - but this is what I actually used. In hindsight it could have been such a simple and fast card, but this took me hours.

 

First: Take a gelli print, stamp onto it and then heat emboss it. Cut it up for a background. Because it is a tissue paper glue it onto a copy paper. Wait it to dry. Then adhere it with double sided tape onto the card.

Then: Stamp some leaves and berries, color them. Stamp a focal image in three layers (yes, it's one of those layering stamps - pesky, but with such lovely results). Then fussy cut everything and arrange them pleasingly.  Stamp a sentiment, arrange that into the greenery. Then glue everything down.

Entering this into the challenges that I was inspired by today:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Make your own background

TGIF: #tgifc491 Sweater weather 

A Blog Named Hero: September AG

Stamping Sensations: AG or Animal Magic - I'd like to think this is animal magic.

On the ball...

 Three challenges today were gorgeous match: I got to stamp my favorite little critters and make a birthday card. Everything was colored in with markers.

I love layers in my cards - but applaud to those who can produce a single layer card. I cannot. here, my point in case: two layers for the background and then die cut stamped images on top.

Entering this in:

As You Like It: To layer / or not - and why

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Stamp it!

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: 4 legged friends

Daring Cardmakers: On, or At the ball.

Cherries

 A good friend of mine was born at cherry time. Or, at the time when the cherries used to ripen; now they are ripe much earlier (courtesy of global warming). So "of course" there needed to be cherries on her birthday card.

Good fruit and berry stamps are hard to find. I am not keen on juvenile berries, those are galore... I am looking for more naturalistic looking fruit and berries and finally found a good one. (Hero Arts' Layered cherries)

I started by color blending the entire background.

Then I stamped a bit of noise, barely visible.

Lastly I stamped some leaves in one of the background colors and adhered the cherries as the focal point. The cherries - my goodness did some work go into them. Color layering means you get to stamp it four times instead of just two. The bottom layer was stamped with dark green and brown Versafine pigment ink, then embossed with clear embossing powder. Then came the second layer of stamping, this was done in Oxides. The cherries received one more layer with patches of red and pink embossing powders.

Entering this in:

A Blog Named Hero: Smooth

Stamping Sensations: June challenge bright and colorful

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Emboss it

Alphabet Challenge: F is for fruit

 As You Like It: With or without words (and why) - the type of card I am making (semi-clean) does somehow need a text to look complete. I suppose with mixed media cards I wouldn't do it. But yes, my cards are with words so they already spell out the occasion and I can concentrate on writing something personal on the inside.

And because this was the first time using these two stamps I am showing it in NBUS (Never before used schtuff) #63

Woodblock flowers

 It's that time of month again - yes, time to show those wood block stamps some love. Always slow to get ideas I took a look at some challenges to see what I could pair wood block stamps with. And I found polka dots and circles, and that let me select these solitary flower stamps.

The background was done with two stencils on a gelli plate. The flowers were stamped with purple and brown inks on some previous tries to paint flowers with watercolor (which did not work for me - but I could use it anyway, hooray for that!). The text says: Hugs.

Entering this card in these lovely challenges that inspired me today:

Woodblock Wednesdays: May Edition

Everybody Art Challenge: #558 Circles and / or stripes - I did circles

Double D Challenge: Polkadots

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything goes 

and my 2nd entry for Simon Says Monday Challenge: Lots of texture

Color with embossing

 I have watched many videos on how to apply color to embossed paper. Now that I was actually ready to try it my brain was totally blank. This is why I can't say in whose video I saw this idea - and where to find it.

So,  I started with a white embossed paper, turned it over to the reverse, de-bossed side. As I had a monochrome result in my mind I went rough over the whole sheet with an ink cube. I wanted to catch the background, not the flowers per se, but it was a nice surprise that even the flowers took color.

Then I went over some parts that hadn't caught the first time. Lastly I took a finger dauber and filled in softly some of the de-bossed parts. I used Distress Oxides in Picked Raspberries and Ripe Persimmon.

A simple vellum tag holds the heat embossed greeting.

 

Entering this in these lovely challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Lots of texture

TioT: Emboss it! - I used dry and heat embossing here

Allsorts Challenge: Week 782 AG or a Blast from the past - I went with AG 

Creative Crafting Uncles: #53 Monochrom - I went with reds

Can You Handle The Pressure: AG wit a twist of fruits and veggies - I went with AG

It's spring!

 After this long and dreary and seemingly everlasting winter it is nice to have sunshine and flowers and warmth.

My card features a wax transfer background that I inked in various hues of green. (With wax transfer you take a piece of wax paper, run it with your substrate through in an embossing folder, then iron the substrate through a paper so that the wax can sink in. Then, when the time comes, you ink it. The wax creates images that resist ink.)

On top I added a selection of die cuts from papers that I had pulled from a gelli plate.

Entering it in these lovely challenges:

Make My Monday: #225 Florals

Everybody Art Challenge: #557 Garden / Garten

Four Seasons Challenge: Spring season

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Feminine

Inkspirational Challenge: #315 Seasonal - mine is Spring

This card has already been sent to lovely Brenda through our mutual participation in the Daisy Chain challenge. Won't you join, too?