Dark and darker

 The season of fading light is descending. It totally affects the colors I choose. Today I chose black.

I have this piece of textured plastic (perhaps a carpet underlay?) that I use for pulling textured prints when I am too lazy to work with a gelli plate and stencils.

 As I had a scene with pumpkins in mind I stenciled it with two orange hues.

Then I cut the background to size and gathered the other supplies: a stenciled orange print from my previous session and a couple of very small gelli print remnants as well as some autumn themed stamps.

I started by attaching the background papers onto my card base. I was working with a sketch (see below), but as you can see, it's not identical. I added another black and orange paper from my stash - I found they worked better this way, not letting any one background dominate but rather support each other.

I stamped the leafy branch with green Versafine and heat embossed it with transparent embossing powder, then fussy cut it out. I stamped the pumpkins and fussy cut them as well. Lastly I grouped them together, raising the large pumpkin with foam pads to create some dimension.

 

Entering this in these inspiring challenges:

The Paper Funday Challenges: #91 AG/ Sketch optional. - I am playing with the sketch

 

Sweet Stamping: Autumn

Simon Says Monday: Use more than one stencil - I used two

Creative Artiste Mixed Media: #131 AG mixed media

Simon Says Wednesday: AG 

Thinking of you

 There's a technique called 'double embossing' - which I have been dying to try out. Basically you heat emboss a piece that's gone through an embossing folder. I was inspired by a sketch and many challenges calling for autumn, so I decided on using a paper block with co-ordinated fall colors (for some reason called 'Day break'), a die set and an embossing folder. I selected an embossing powder in the color of 'dusty grape'.

 

I cut 1 1/4" panels from three colors and partially dry embossed them. Then I gently smeared the embossing ink here and there. I didn't want to cover it all as I wanted a rather organic look. Lastly I heat embossed them and cut down to 1" width.

I arranged them onto a piece of scrap paper and cut this to fit the card. I had a piece of ribbon which I wrapped around on the bottom. I mounted the panel on foam pads and arranged the die-cut and paper backed leaves onto it. The sentiment says: Thinking of you.

 

Entering this in these great challenges:

Try A Sketch on Tuesday: #705 sketch

 

Allsorts: #859 Anything Autumn

Can You Handle the Pressure: AG w/ a twist of Trees. - Paying tribute to trees with those leaves

Crafty Gals Corner: #280 AG / Fall foliage optional - playing along with Fall foliage

Simon Says Wednesday: Anything goes 

 

Having fun

I am a guest designer for this fortnight over at Girlz Creative: Splash it with Color. Today's card is all about gelli plate fun. The leaves haven't turned yet where I live, but it is nice to live in anticipation. 

I selected a couple of autumn colors, a few stencils and a couple of stamp sets with leaves. And since fall - for me - is a joyous time, I added some celebratory gold thread; but also brown, to ground it.

I started by making just three sheets. I know I know, once you start it is nearly impossible to stop. I limited myself beforehand to just three. Even if they would not have been to my liking I would have made something. But luckily one was just perfect for the background and the other two were suitable for stamping.

 

To bring more shimmer and shine to the card (besides the gold thread), I heat embossed the stamped leaves with transparent embossing powder. It totally transforms the dull brown ink.

 

I propped the two leaves flanking the sentiment on foam strips and arranged the threads as a whirlwind underneath. The other leaves were just strewn below. 

 

I am entering this in these autumnal challenges:

Die Traumfabrik: #154 Quand vient l'automne [When Fall is coming]: Autumn colors and/ or mushrooms - I am playing with just the colors

Cardz 4 Guyz: #390 Fall / autumn theme colors

Creative Inspirations: Hello Autumn

Addicted to Stamps and More: #526 Make your mark

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Make your own background 

 

Halloween magic

I did not set out to make a Halloween card per se, but now I am glad I did. 

It all started with stencils and sprays.

 

To build up texture I used more stencils and 'Aged silver' embossing enamel (Stampendous).

 

I wanted a grungy look, so I stenciled black gesso onto the card, then poured the enamel over and heat embossed it.

 

To complete the card I found die cuts of a gigantic star and two cats that I had received from my crafting friends. Never knew what to use them for, but today was apparently the day - I was aided in my thinking process by a couple of challenges.

 

I cut out the bats from black card stock and arranged everything. I printed out the sentiment.

 

Entering this in the challenges that inspired me today:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Add some texture

TioT: Emboss it 

Archiscraps: Use a large star as a feature

Craft Rocket: #140 Use dies 

As You Like It: Favorite Halloween colors - and why?  - Mine is anything with purple, be it yellow, orange, black, even green.

Creative Artiste Mixed media: #130 Anything MM goes 

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 summery thank-you

 Today's inspiration came from a list of ingredients, a photo, a layout and a recipe. In my mind they would play well with each other.

The ingredients were simple: a die, a sentiment stamp, pink and yellow gelli printed papers and vellum.

 

The making was anything but. I haven't used these floral circles a lot and now I remember why: they are overly fiddly to release and then glue on. For the layout background vellum seemed like an obvious choice as I wanted to keep this clean. The sentiment was stamped and embossed on vellum. Then I surrounded the sentiment with small diamonds for glitter. The sentiment reads "Thank you".

I am entering this in the following challenges that were my inspiration today:

Festive Friday: #FF0213 World emoji day - I used yellow, glossy embellishment and circles from the list

TGIF: #585 Sketch challenge

 

Inkspirational: #371 Photo inspiration

 

CAS on Friday: #338 Use dies and only word stamps 

 

CAS for Christmas

 Today's card turned out rather clean and simple despite the many challenges I was inspired by: colors, layout, shape.

I thought I would need these supplies. The golden rick rack is just a pesky little piece that has been hanging around since I got it (three years ago). Today would be the day to finally use it!

 

I shaped the card by partial die cutting with the largest circle die. There was a lot of fiddling involved to get the overlay to fit, but on the second try it did. The layout challenge had given me the idea to punch 8 decorative stripes into the card front and place the golden stars above it.

The sentiment was stamped and then embossed with gold.

And that rick rack found its place, too. 

 

Entering this in these challenges that inspired me today:

Heart Quest Shaped Cards and Tags: hqscat #18 any shape

Color Hues Challenge: #TCH136 Cream and Gold 

 

Just Add Ink: #789 sketch 

 

Avenue 613: AG w/a twist: Any holiday - I am playing with this option 

 

Nachteulen / Night Owls:  NSS#62 alles ist möglich

 

A summery encouragement card

 I confess I am a challenge junkie - I find the best ideas when scrolling through challenge prompts and finding ones that I'd like to combine. Today's inspirations are summery and water-heavy, but do include a nicely fitting color scheme. I needed an encouragement card for a friend who is going through some rough patches in life. 

I have kilos and kilos or pounds and pounds of beautiful designer papers, but somehow never use them. Today I pulled some of them out. I realize they barely will make a dent to my stash, but it's a start. I also pulled a stamp and a die set of two lively fish. Later I also used some silver card stock.

 

I tore the background and arranged it in waves. Then I glued the die cut fish in place, stamped and heat embossed the sentiment ("keep your head up").

 

I am entering this card in the challenges that inspired me today:

Color Dare: week #710  

 

Paper Funday: #89 AG/ Twist: Make a splash. I went with the twist 

PIP: #86 Water 

 

Four Seasons: Summer 

 

Carlin's Kaartenparadijs: #96 juli

 

Hello friend

 Again I got inspired by a couple of challenges and wanted to see if I could combine them to a pleasing whole. Male greeting cards are difficult for me, I admit, but one does need them in one's stash.

This is what I worked with today: a stamp set (whose wrapper is long gone so I have no idea of its maker), but where the animals have beautiful patterns, alcohol markers, card stock in various colors, hexagon dies and 'dusky violet' embossing powder.

 

I stamped the bird, embossed it with purple (which turned out surprisingly dark despite its name) and colored the pattern it in with markers. Then I die cut two hexagons and laid them topsy-turvy over each other and placed the bird on them. I then stamped the sentiment and embossed it as well. At this point the card didn't seem quite finished so I brought on three enamel dots.

 

 

Entering this in the challenges that inspired me today:

Alphabet Challenge: E is for embossing (wet or dry) - I went with heat embossing (which is wet?)

CAS Colours and Sketches: #588 Colors

 

Addicted to CAS: #311 Code word: Pattern - I used a bird stamp with a pattern

 

Krafty Chicks Challenge: #826 Masculine

Two adventurous fish

 After 'three of something' there is now a challenge with 'two of something' - how fun. I paired it with a sketch and got ideas for it via two other challenges.

 

But first,  I pulled out the fun stuff I thought I would need: two embossing folders, dies, stamps and gelli printed and ink smushed paper in suitable colors. I sketched the outlines of the wavy pieces, then tore them. The sun was die cut. The fish were first stamped with pale blue an a pink gelli print, then stamped again with grey and when that didn't look good enough and it was still wet, I sprinkled some clear embossing powder on them and heat embossed.

 

The bottom blue layer was dry embossed with a seaweed kind of pattern - not that you can really tell. (It is Weeping Willow by Creative Expressions.) The 'sky' part was embossed with a ray pattern.

 

Entering this in these lovely challenges that inspired me today:

Freshly Made Sketches: #740  

Cardz 4 Gyuz: #386 Squash it 

The Sisterhood of Crafters: Fish / Sea creatures 

The Alphabet Challenge: D is for Double 

And because this was the first time using the seaweed dies, I am showing this in the

NBUS: # 87 June

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.

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