An Inspiration to the Simple Life

 The title is a quote from an ancient TH sheet. It seemed so apt for today's card.  A few challenges led my thoughts to my summers and summer vacations. The most fun was to stay on a farm and observe the garden and its inhabitants. The birds, the squirrels, the hedgehogs. We put watered milk out for them. 

The supplies were many this time: two stamp sets, two die sets and an embossing folder.

I started by embossing the background, then stamping the hedgehog and the tree. The hedgehog is layered and heat embossed. The flowers were cut from scrap paper and assembled.

The card will go to a friend who is thinking of quitting a city job.

 

I am entering it in these lovely challenges that inspired me today:

As You Like It: Favorite pet (and why) I always wished I could have a hedgehog, they look so soft and cuddly (but of course they are not)

Can You Handle the Pressure: AG, Stars and/or stripes optional - I selected stripes

Nachteulen /  Night Owls: # NSS 63 Urlaub - meine Ferien sind an einem Bauernhof

Creative Knockouts: #575 Outdoor fun

Craft Rocket Challenges: #138 Animals 

A jungle cat in his garden

 Today I am showing the card which has already gone off to its recipient (go meet Julia and view her great blog). We both participated in the Daisy Chain card exchange - perhaps you will, too? (here)

 

The card started with a brand new embossing folder ('Enchanted jungle' by Craft Consortium). After having watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how to apply multiple colors on an embossing folder, then pressing it and calling it a day, I wanted to try it too. However, I got very disheartened as I just didn't get this technique to work for me.

I resorted to easier means. I swiped the debossed side of the folder with black in and pressed it through. This gave me a blotchy background (which was easy to correct later), but it also gave me me outlines. I painted the figures in with my Gansai Tambi watercolors.

The result reads like a wonderful painting of a leopard sitting in his jungle garden.

 I am showing this in these challenges:

Craft Rocket: #138 Animals

SUYP: #125 Summer

Critter Crazy: #112 AG w/a critter 

CYHTP: AG w/a twist of Purple  - I am playing AG

NBUS: #88 AG never before used schtuff - the item being my embossing folder

 

 

Hip hip hooray

A girlfriend will celebrate her umpteenth birthday in a few weeks. We use the word umpteenth for anything over 65 - the exact number of years has ceased to matter, but milestones are to be celebrated nevertheless.

 

I drew inspiration from challenges that play well together. One of them is a speed challenge, so I grabbed items that were already there like one of the embossed backgrounds from yesterday. This time I colored it in with a tool and it worked much better. I also simplified the procedure using already cut or printed supplies. The tulip is the only one that took time - first stamping in three colors, then fussy cutting it. ETA: All in all, I was slightly over the time limit with 10 min 2 sec.

 

Entering this in these serendipitous challenges:

 As You See It: #373 Full tilt tulips

Cupcake Inspirations: #637 Peaches and cream

Can You Handle the Pressure: AG dry embossed / embellishments optional. I used dew drops

Lost Coast Challenge: # 210 Fruit, flower and foliage

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

Hello - playing bingo

 I needed a "hello" card for a friend. I find them to be the most difficult of all - what do you put on them? There is no one answer. Today I took my cue from a row of bingo in a papercraft challenge.

I used a lot of green hued scraps (mostly blotched gelli prints), arranged them into a starburst pattern and run it through a polka dot embossing folder. I love the effect dry embossing creates on patterned paper, it somehow draws the attention to itself and the background papers receive less attention.

I attached a few die cut balloons with twine and added a sentiment. 

Entering the card into these lovely challenges:

Allsorts Challenge: Week 766 My row is Dry embossing - green - twine

Can You Handle the Pressure: AG / twist of birthdays - I am playing AG

Let's Craft and Create: #204 AG, Polkadots/ an or stripes - I went with polka dots

Unicorn Challenge: #95 Dots and/or stripes - I went with dots

Papercraft Challenges: #102 AG

Thank you for your visit!

Inspired by...

 ... lovely challenges: one for the design elements, one for layout and the others for supporting ideas. How cool is that!

The sketch allowed me to place a central background - this is a gelliprint that was put through an embossing folder. It has a leafy pattern, so it goes well with my winter theme and provides awsome texture. For the diagonal element I chose a snowflake stamp. It was stamped in grey and embossed in glitter and it mimics the colors in the gelli print background.

The focal point is a bird, stamped and colored in with alcohol markers. A small length of a silver ribbon was plucked apart and adhered behind the bird.

Entering this in my inspirational challenges:

The Paper Players: PP668

Festive Friday: #FF0148 I chose Textures-Alcohol Markers- Bird 

Cardz 4 Guys: #336 Festive creatures

Can You Handle the Pressure: CYHTP AG / optional Christmas - I didn't go with this option

Hmm - stars and stripes for Christmas?

 A couple of challenges gave me inspiration for this early Christmas card. I chose two embosing folders (but ended up using just the one with radiant stripes). The stripes are kept on the left half of paper, I found my inspiration for the layout in a challenge.

 I used Distress Oxides in two colors and added shine with Simon Hurley's Lunar Paste in gold ("Slippery when wet" is the name of the hue) and heat embossed the text with WOW golden shimmer embossing powder.

I am entering this into the challneges that I combined to achieve this look:

TioT: Use three colors

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Shimmer ans shine

Can You Handle the Pressure: AG with a twist of stars

Everybody Art Challenge: #540 Sketch - I turned it 90 degrees.

Double Trouble: #143 Christmas in July - I am entering with Thing 1, and 2.

Pastels

 Today I was inspired to combine two challenges, one asking for embossing and butterflies and one presenting a beautiful pastel color palette. The embossing folder had just come in in the mail, so it was fun to try it out right away. I ink swiped it after embossing.

It became a birthday card.

Entering it in:

Global Design Challenge: #401 Color palette 

Can You Handle the Pressure: AG/ twist: Butterflies

Addicted to Stamps and more: #449 Any Occasion - mine is for birthday 

NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) - Challenge #52 - I broke out all my recent purchases for this one: leaves, embossing folder and the butterfly stamp.

Thank You for your visit and comments - I love reading them.

Summer twilight hour

 I love the summer evening twilight hour when the light gets quieter and the nature darker. Silhouetted against the sky or water or both the leaves lose their dimension and become shadow-like.

I tried to capture this special time in my birthday card for a child of summer. The background is done with acrylics using a gelli plate, the images are stamped with Versafine black ink and then heat embossed with plenty of clear embossing powder.

 

I was heavily inspired by these challenges and would like to enter this into

* Bastel-Traum: #btchallenge124 Planzen /Blumen - Plants /Flowers

* Just Add Ink #656 - Use any element of the inspiration picture: I used blue-purple and the silhouette idea.

CYHTP: June AG / Wedding Optional - I didn't use that option

Inkspirational Challenge: #291 Seasonal - I chose summer

Tonal white and cream

 Some lovely challenges collide again and they got my creative juices flowing, resulting in this card:

This unites an embossed background, die cut center where the Merry Christmas wishes are stamped on vellum and embossed with clear embossing powder, further die cuts arranged in a wreath form around it. 

Entering this in the following lovely challenges that inspired me:

CYHTP: Embossing / Wreath

Daring Card Makers: White

 Craft Rocket Challenges: #98 Christmas/ Winter 

Through the Purple Haze: #198 Monochromatic