Close your eyes and dance

 A friend who is going through a rocky patch - she needs a card to cheer her up. For that I selected a few ingredients fit for a fall card, leaving the theme open enough so she is not bound by my view of things.

I die cut the oval from a painted sheet of old text. The base for the tree is heavy card stock, but the leaves were cut separately from small scraps of gelli printed paper. The sentiment reads: "Close your eyes and dance" - highly appropriate anytime, but especially in fall as one can dance along with the falling leaves.

 

Entering this in these wonderful and inspiring challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Trees

Cupcake Inspirations: #642 Fall

 

Girlz Rebel Challenge: #57 alles mag / of gebruik hout  - tree is wood, right?

Alphabet Challenge: M is for motivational card/ project 

 

Pink for the holidays

Today's inspiration came from several challenges. I like to combine them, I find all those ideas, and in a way, restrictions, make my brain work harder.

I started by pulling out scrap papers, two sets of dies and a background made with scrap strips. I managed to use up all my off-cuts back in august. (But have managed to accrue several new once since then.)

 

 The bird die by Papertrey Ink is a new purchase. It is small, but really mighty. I can't believe how everything gets layered - head, breast, wing, beak, eye, feet - yet the die package is so compact it fits into a wallet.

As one of the challenges asked for pink I went to town with it: pink snowflakes, a pink bird and pink shaker filler material.

 

Entering this in these inspiring challenges:

As You Like It: Favorite Xmas Critter - and why. For me, birds are my favorite Christmas animal, they are colorful, and always around.

Jingle Belles: While shepherds watched their flocks

613 Avenue Create: AG/ optional Think Pink - I am playing with this option

Girlz Creative Christmas: #200 Traditional colors / non-traditional colors - I chose non-traditional and worked with pink and grey

 Snippets Playground: #544

 

Just a little BOO

 I was inspired by so many challenges today, it was awesome. Geometric, colors, wings, Halloween, a male card... let's see what I made of those ideas.

I pulled out a stencil and two sprays. I don't often use sprays these days, but today I was in the mood for them. I also pulled a funny bird stamp and found a great sentiment in the new Hero Arts 'Heroween' set.

I started by spraying first one color, orange, through the stencil, then shifting it and spraying again with the other one, purple. There was so much spray paint on the stencil that I could make a second and a third generation print. For this card I decided to go with the 2nd generation print.

I then stamped the bird, colored it and fussy cut it out. I then adhered the bird and the sentiment with foam strips to give the card some dimension. Lastly I stamped a little spider onto the card.

 

Entering this in all these nice challenges:

The Male Room: #215 Geometric

Cardz 4 Guyz: #391 Use three: orange, purple, green, black

Sweet Stamping: Halloween, or the colors of Halloween

Simon Says Monday: Halloween / Spooky

GC Splash It with Color: #33 Paars en/of oranje

Creative Moments: #287 Things with wings

Simon Says Wednesday: Halloween/ Spooky

Polkadoodles: #10 week 4 AG 

A golden time

If you read yesterday's post you know I had trouble with gold leafing. Today I managed to complete the surface with the rest of not-sticky-anymore rub-ons.

 

There were some challenges that I wanted to play with, so I pulled a stencil and an old stamp set and some colors. The stamp set must be 3-4 years old by now, but I have seldom used it. For some reason I don't send many cards in autumn.

 

I started by applying colors to the background through the stencil. I had to move the position four times to get full coverage.

 

I then stamped the leaves, fussy cut them out and colored them using the same colors as for the background. I propped them up using foam tape. As I don't have a recipient in mind I left the card blank. to add a sentiment when I know the occasion.

 

Entering this in these challenges that inspired me today:

Retro Rubber: #rrcb283 Be-leaf me - I have had the stamp set for about 3-4 years

 

StencilFun:  October challenge AG/ Orange optional - I have used orange (among others)

A Place To Start: 202610 AG/ Spotlight - I am playing with AG

PIP: #2642 AG 

Use it or lose it

Some stuff is just too precious to be used... Don't fall into the same trap that I did! I had purchased these sticky rub-ons ages ago and kept hoarding them - until today. I think they have been discontinued. The idea was to rub them onto a surface where they would present a sticky side which one would then coat with metallic foil or gold leaf. Well, the leaf set I tried had lost its powers and would only partially transfer.

So I had to find another way to create my vision. As I wanted some metallic I started by stamping this large gingko stamp with Lunar Paste using color named  'Cookie dough'.

 

 Once it was dry I re-stamped it with brown Versafine. I then had two options: either heat emboss to dry the ink (which was sitting on the metallic paste - this would never dry on its own), or rub the ink away. This is what I did. A gentle metallic glimmer is visible under the rubbed parts.

 

I then went on to color the card. My favorite color combo is pink with yellow, which suited the gingko leaves perfectly. I also cut the card along the outlines to give it a nice shape. 

 I quite like cards without sentiments these days. This might get one down the line, but then again, I might leave it as it is.

 Entering this in these lovely challenges that inspired me today:

The Die Cut Divas: A shaped card

 

I Love Promarkers: #617 My favorite colors -- are pink and yellow

Girlz and the Art of Letters:  #38 De letter van L van ... Leaves

Ellibelle's Corner:  I spy with my little eye... #42 Autumn in the woods

Creative Crafters: #105 AG 

Nature delights

I take delight in autumn colors. A late rose among yellow leaves, a red tree against a blue sky, s pot of dahlias and wilted violets.

Today I wanted to capture some of that colorful nature poetry. I selected a stamp set, a die, some scrap paper and pencils. I had a card in my stash with a piece of yellow gelli print, which I used for my background.

I started by die cutting a twig from the piece of yellow scrap. That was the bottom layer. Then I stamped the pumpkin, leaves and roses and colored them with pencils. The fussy cutting took some time with these intricate forms. When the were done I arranged everything so that the center would be left bare. The sentiment will go there once I decide what it will be, a 'hello fall' or 'happy birthday'... both are possible.

 

Entering this in these challenges that inspired me today:

The Paper Funday: #92 AG/ pumpkin spice and everything nice optional - Playing with this option

Make My Monday: #289 Use the color orange

FarmQuest General Store: #43 Anything farm or country

Snippets Playground: #543

Kleuren met potloden: Oktober alles mag 

A-haunting we will go

I brought back a nice hard of supplies from my trip. Today's inspiration came mainly from playing with them, apart from a color challenge that dictates my color choices.

New stuff: a die of a spider web by the Swedish company Reprint and Stampers Anonymous Halloween themed rubber - yay. The sketchy background stamp has been sitting unopened for a while - today it was day to open it.

I stamped the background with Catherine Pooler ink Black Jack. It's not pitch black, so it suited my purposes. Then I stamped the figures with Versafine Nocturne, my favorite. I added each just a dash of color as not to spoil the stark black and white mood of the card.

 

I then fussy cut the figures out and arranged them using foam tape. Lastly I stamped on the sentiments. 

 

Entering this in these inspiring challenges:

Colorful Options: Black, Orange, Red, White.  I am using options 1 and 4. 

 

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Halloween/ Spooky

A Cut Above: October Challenge

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Halloween / Spooky

NBUS: #91 October 

 

Black cats in the dark

I have been missing making cards and posting them. A two week trip will do that. Even though I packed along some papers, watercolors and stamps, I could not get into the mood of making a card.

So, re-united with my desk again I was happy to make a Halloween card. I took my inspiration from several challenges: I wanted there to be animals, three of something and I wanted it to be somewhat spooky.

The Heroween die and stamp collection is certainly an overabundance of Halloween related everything - and I succumbed. Today I used dies from two sets as well as a new stencil.

I started by dabbing white ink through the cloud stencil to create a moody background. I then die cut a tombstone, grass, moon, three cats and a raven from craft card stock, which I then colored in accordingly. I also found a length of purple thread and used that for atmosphere.

 

I am entering this in these lovely challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Halloween / Spooky

Crafty Animals: #110 AG

Fab 'n Funky: #643 Three of something - I have three cats

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Halloween/ Spooky

Critter Crazy: #115 AG w/ a featured critter 

Pay attention...

 It's time for Halloween cards. It not a celebration where I live, but it's fun nevertheless. I like the colors involved and the make-believe horror emanating from bats, pumpkins, ravens etc.

Today I was inspired to take out some colored papers and my Halloween stamps and dies. I Confess, I have just one stamp set and one die that can pass for Halloween, but we make do what we've got, right?

 

I had die cut several trees at a friend's place and today seemed a good opportunity to use some of them.

I started by selecting purple for the background. The moon was stamped on almost fluorescent green and the pumpkins in orange, of course. I die cut the bats from shiny black card stock.

 

The sentiment says: "Pay attention..." It goes on on the inside with: "When the darkness falls you are not alone." I hope this is sufficiently creepy for the recipient. 

 

Entering this in these inspiring challenges:

Just Us Girls: #843 Die cut week, Halloween

TGIF: #tgifc597 Color challenge

 

Stamps§Fun=Creativity : #503 Halloween

Simon Says Wednesday challenge: AG 

Autumn splendor

Today's card is the result of die cutting, new and old. I have a bag of die cut remnants, left overs from projects that never happened, or I had made too much for. Today was time to put some of them to use.

 

I die cut two geometric shapes out of yellow and orange papers, those pretty seasonal colors. I die cut the yellow shape twice, once without, once with a frame. That frame is used as a corner piece to offset the form and gain some continuity, if that makes any sense.

 

The wreaths are from my ready stash - so glad I found some use for them. 

The final additoin were a sentiment "Thinking of you" and some flat sequins to mimic the shine of autumnal dew drops.

Entering this in these inspiring challenges:

A Cut Above: October challenge

TioT: Autumn's beauty

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything goes