Blue Skies

It is such a beautiful day here.  A clear sky and no wind and rain to blast the remnants of my hanging baskets.  It has been such a disappointing summer in terms of garden colour - unless green is your favourite hue.

I went out to the garden with the camera hoping to capture some fluffy white clouds but...not a one to be seen.  Lovely colour though.

Fluffy clouds are what I was aiming for as the end result when designing this card.

I made it to play along with this week's CASology challenge. 

  

Beginning with a rectangular mask and a cloud shape cut from copy paper,  I used Cut and Dry  foam to add  ink (Ocean Blue from Rubber Stampede.) Adirondack - Lettuce was applied to create the "land". The same ink was used to stamp the Lavinia Stamps trees to complete the foreground.

No sentiment - I don't think it needs it.

Wedding Congrats

Well, will this weather ever improve?   The garden is wet,wet,wet. My annuals and peas, beans, carrots, strawberries, onions etc seem to be suspended in time. 

 In contrast, these two cabbages appear  to be determined to be become" best in show"!  I have no explanation for their hugeness. The slugs and snails are colluding with them by giving them a wide berth.

Cabbage soup anyone?








And so to cardmaking.  I was asked to make a card for a friend to give another friend for her wedding. This will take place on a beach on the island of Harris (north west Scotland) next week.  I hope that there is a break in the weather for them.  I had intended getting out the brayer and creating landscape sccene but time got in the way. So this is the card that I came up with. I'm sure that dandelions are as rampart on Harris as they are here!

The sentiment was produced on the computer using my Rennie Mackintosh font.

Blue and white...and red.

I have to admit that, rather unexpectedly, I have watched much of the recent coverage of the Jubilee celebrations on the television. The stamina of the lady is absolutely incredible!  We, in Scotland, have characteristically been more reserved than our English counterparts in marking this occasion with street parties and the waving of the Union Flag.  However, I decided to give a little nod to the occasion with my entry to the Less is More Challenge this week by adding a Scottish twist.  The requirement was to include the colours RED WHITE AND BLUE in honour of the event.

I must first thank Chrisse and Mandi for featuring my entry to the previous challenge in their showCASe post. I was so surprised that I woke my husband up to tell him!

I wanted to use the Scottish blue and white flag as the background.  This was created using a mask.

I then over stamped with the Lavinia thistle stamp before adding the bunting and sentiment in red. (Anna Griffin)

The royal family always spend part of their summer holidays at Barmoral Castle here in Aberdeenshire, so this, I think, is an apt tribute to them.

In the cold (and rainy) light of day I decided that my card is rather fussy for a LIM challenge so I have made another with a single thistle.

 

Job Done!

Scotland the Brave

As the challenge this week at Less is More is:

COLOURS

of

YOUR NATION'S FLAG!

I had no more ado than to get out my faithful thistle stamp.

I decided to incorporate the Scottish Flag into my design. This was done by masking strips of paper and applying ink using an Ink Duster.  On my first attempt I used Broken China Distress Ink but my husband said that it was the wrong colour.  This time I used Impress Lavender which is actually blue. I hope he approves!

Nothing but Blue Skies

Now you may think that I am talking about the weather outside but I'm afraid that the sky here has been filled with rain clouds on and off for the past few days, so no inspirartion there.

No the blue skies are the ones that I have been trying to incorporate into a card for the OLW 61 challenge hosted by Jennifer Styles.  The theme is Clouds this week.  I don't have a suitable stamp so off I went to Youtube to find out how to paint clouds.

Well two days later, and several discarded attempts at watercolouring with pencils and paints, I went back to have a look at how the other entrants had fared.  KathyB had used a template provided by Bev Rochester. Eureka!  So thank you to Kathy for giving the means to complete this card and for emptying the space in my brain that it has been occupying.

Back to my favourite masking technique. It wasn't allowed in last week's challenge and I was having withdrawal symptoms. I have a WRMK magnetic cutting mat which comes in handy when I need to keep things in situ like this. It came with small magnets that I placed on the mask and card. I wouldn't be without them.  It saves using tape.

So I cut out Bev's template and sponged/blended, with Rubber Stampede Ocean Blue ink and Cut and Dry foam . More sponging/blending with Versamark Fresh Green .....again masking with torn paper for the hills.  The stamps are from Lavinia Stamps- Poppies set , I think.  I used Distress Inks - Stormy Sky ( appropriate!) here and Versafine for the Hero Arts sentiment.

Stamped Tartan

Now, I can reassure you that this is the final card with my brayered copier paper backgrounds described in previous posts. I'm not saying that I have stopped exploring this technique, only that I am not publishing the cards here. ( for the moment that is.)

When I looked at this particular background, I was immediately reminded of the Harris tweed that reflects the landscape of Scotland. So I overstamped with a checked background stamp that was a free gift from a magazine to give the impression of tartan and then stamped the thistle to finish. 

I then mounted it onto back card and used 1mm foam pads to give "dimension". I may add a sentiment later to suit a particular occasion.

On another note, just to not let it go by without me recording it, today I taught my last ICT lesson with  a class of 7 and 8yr olds in one of our schools. I will retire in 2 wks as an ICT Development Officer. I am constantly astounded by the way in which children approach technology. It is far easier to work with pupils than it is to train their teachers!

Embossed Frame

My favourite, favourite stamps have found their way into use again for this CAS card. This is a bit of a departure from my recent makes. I have been using CDs for several weeks now and wanted to get back to my first love - stamping.

The dandelions were stamped over a rectangular mask that I cut from thin card. I then turned the card over and used my light box to emboss the frame.

I felt that the result was a bit flat.  I could have  heat embossed it if I had used the correct ink but I decided to give it a bit of a sparkle by applying glue by means of  Quickie Glue Pen (don'tyou just love these) and adding diamond sparkle glitter.  Stamps are from Lavinia Stamps and  the ink is Adirondack Currant.

I will enter this into the Less is More challenge which requires a frame to be included in the submission.  I am completely in awe of the other entries!

OLW 38 Challenge

This week's One Layer Wednesday Challenge was a sketch. I haven't entered many sketch challenges because although at first I usually think that they are quite easy, I seem to find that I spend ages looking through my stamps to find something appropriate.

However, I have succeeded this time and this is the result.

resources:

Ink: Distress Ink Dried Marigold, Mimento Tuxedo Black

Stamps : Poppy -Lavinia Stamps, Sentiment -Hero Arts, Butterfly - unknown

Rejects revived

When making cards for challenges I seldom am happy with my first attempt. Often it is a stamped image or sentiment in the wrong place but even more often it is a smudge of paint, pen or ink that relegates the otherwise perfect card, to the pile that can will eventually be re-used with background paper to obliterate my mistakes.

However, sometimes if I go back to one of these rejects, I can see a way of adding elements that will hide my previous mistakes. Here is one such card:

This began life as one of my OLW16 Challenge cards for Susan Raihala's Simplicty blog. The card that I eventually entered and another can be seen here. By adding another layer I have rescued a card that I was quite happy with before disaster befell. The ribbon at the top and the ribbon and button hide black ink smudges ( very small but noticeable). Sometimes, I think that I get more satisfaction from saving a card from the reject pile than I do from a card that is created without problems.

OLW16 - Stamp a Scene

The weekend is here and its a beautiful day (for now) so I must get out to the garden for some tidying up. I have just time to upload my entry for this week's One-layer Wednesday Challenge at Simplicity. The subject is Stamp a Scene so I have gone for masking a rectangle shape then sponging a background again using masking but this time with torn paper and a punched circle. The poppy stamp completes the scene.

Of course, as usual, I have several attempts and I have decided to upload this one too - same techniques - different colour palette.

The sentiment is slightly wonky so I almost discarded it.

I have added a post that details one of my rejects from the challenge
here.

Resources:
inks - 1)Memento Tuxedo black, Rubber Stampede - Ocean Blue, Impress - Cerulean Blue 2) T H Distress - Pumice Stone, Old Paper
Stamps - Poppies - Lavinia Stamps, Sentiments 1) Hero Arts, 2) HOTP

OLW15

This week's challenge over at Simplicity was "challenging" to say the least. We had to use "unexpected colour schemes" to produce a card. I chose my favourite Lavinia dandelion stamps and selected colours that I wouldn't normally use...although the foliage is the usual green.

More wedding good wishes

I was tidying / rearranging/ rationalising my cardstock yesterday evening, desperately trying to get into the "dispose of" mode. I know that I am not alone but why can't I just get rid of all of the little bits of card and paper that I keep filed in folders and boxes. I do try to be organised by keeping colours separately. I recently rescued plastic folders that had housed educational cd roms and the guide books that went with them. These are A4 in size, perfect and what's more..... free.

Will post pic later.

One of the folders contained lots of cream card offcuts so I decided to use it to make another wedding card. Not that this will make any difference to the volume of the cream stash!!!!
This has a similar feel to the card in the previous post but I wanted to simplify the design further. I still used a Cuttlebug embossing folder (dots), stamped and gold embossed dandelion, gold paper and ribbon. The card is textured and purchased from the local papermill. I will enter it into the CAS Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers as it fills the brief to create a card with embossing detail.

To have and to hold

It is our 38th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Where have the years gone? Perhaps that was in the back of my mind when I was thinking about this week's CAS-tastic challenge. I chose 3 elements from the list to include on my card - embossing, inked edges and stamping.



Again, I am using a 6" square card and positioning the fold at the top. I matted a slightly smaller gold paper ( has a tiny embossed pattern) then a white swirl embossed rectangle. The ribbon was wrapped around before layering. To create the effect of a bow, I just tied a smaller piece in a single knot. I'm afraid that I haven't had my dandelion stamp fix for a while so stamped, and heat embossed it with Versamark and Gold embossing powder. I had already used the computer to arrange the text and then cut out the tag shape. This was mounted on 3D foam before placing it behind the ribbon. I inked the edges of both the tag and the swirl rectangle with gold ink.

Flower of Scotland

Scotland is a very beautiful place to live at any time of the year. I can't imagine being anywhere else. Here in Aberdeen we have reasonably quick access to a variety of different landcapes - sea, mountains, rivers, forests, rolling hills. We are a very partiotic nation and the Scottish flag is a symbol of our unique identity. This thistle is our national flower and its colours always remind me of the purple heather covered hills that can be seen in many areas of our countryside.

For these reasons, I have used both of them as symbols for my entry to this week's One-Layer Wednesday Challenge over at the Simplicity Blog where we were asked to submit a patriotic card. I am late in completing it and I would have like the flag to be more defined but..hey ho..

The song "Flower of Scotland" is our chosen alternative to the British National anthem and it is sung at events both large and small, at home and abroad, so I have used the title as the sentiment on my card.

I created the flag by cutting a stencil and colouring with a Promarker. Probably not the correct colour but it will do.

materials used:
Stamps - Lavinia Stamps , Alphabet - Hero Arts
Ink - Encore Metallic Purple, Adirondack lettuce
Promarker- Aegean

Update

I really wasn't happy with the first attempt so I just had to try again. Better pleased with this one, although the lettering is still not right and I wish that I had a more accurate colour of green for the foliage. This time I used a water colour pencil and a water brush to get a better result for the flag. 3rd attempt????

PS
Although the Thistle is classed as a wild flower, I have allowed one to grow in my garden because it makes such an architectural statement. Here it is - not in flower yet but still lovely.

OLW 8 / New Challenges ahead

This week, in Simplicity's challenge, we had to use a mask in the background design of our cards. I haven't got the new stamps out of my system so I incorporated them into one of my cards along with my trusty dandelion friend. Couldn't choose which one to post so have included both.



Susan's challenges are helping me to develop my approach to cardmaking. They focus the mind make you "think outside the box". All to often I sit for ages with lots materials in front of me and end up with something that I am not fully satisfied with. It's funny how one word like "repetition" or "mask" or "overlapping" is enough to get the creative juices going.

I work in education in Scotland and we are going through curricular changes at the moment. The purpose of the new curriculum is to challenge children to think creatively and to employ critical thinking skills across all subjects and to encourage them to take charge of their own learning. Communication, collaboration and co-operation are also key factors that are high on the priority list.

And my point is??? Susan's work stimulates me to think creatively and critically. Blogs and the internet foster the three Cs too. I am able to put myself in the position of the learner which, in turn, allows me to set meaningful, challenges for pupils. I realise that these don't have to be complex in nature to meet the curricular targets.

CAS-tastic challenge

Found another excuse to use my new poppy stamps. I have created this card for this week's challenge over at Cas-tastic blog. The requirement this week was to make the sentiment the main focus. I just love these images. I know that I will have to prevent myself from using them too often. It's odd, don't you think, how some stamps can remain in your collection for a long time before finding a use for them, even though you felt that you just had to have them when they were purchased. How many times do we say " I've got that one but I haven't used it yet"?


Materials used:
sentiment - Hero Arts
Poppies - Lavinia Stamps
Inks - Versafine black , Versacolor - Green Tea, Stampin Up - Real Red (applied with paintbrush)
Bought an inverted corner punch too in Edinburgh at the weekend so used it.

New stamps' debut

I couldn't wait to use the poppy stamps that I bought yesterday so I have put together this card as an entry into my friend Susy's blog challenge.

I didn't have green card to co-ordinate with the green in the image so I used my new brayer to colour white card with the same ink. I like the random effect that it produces. I stamped the flower again and then cut out one petal before decoupaging it with a 3D foam pad. The central circle is also raised slightly.

Ink pads: Stampin Up Real Red and Adirondack Lettuce

Images Lavinia Stamps large poppy, group poppies

Sentiment: Hot Off the Press

I now own a brayer

I knew that it was inevitable that I would eventually purchase a Speedball brayer as used by Tracey Dutton of Lavinia Stamps and Barbara Gray of Clarity Stamps. Both of these talented ladies are experts in its use. I have watched both Tracey and Barbara demonstrate at shows and am in awe of the technique. However, I can envisage many hours of practice before I am able to produce something that I am willing to share!

My purchases were made at the Artstamps Scotland show at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh today. As well as the brayer, I also bought some more Lavinia Stamps. I love poppies and so I have added these to my collection. I'm sure that they will join the thistle and dandelion as being some of my most used images.

Here are some of the samples that Tracey produced at the show. Wow! Now you will understand that I NEEDED a brayer!!

June? ...Where has the year gone?

I cannot believe that we are in June already. Half way through another year! I make so many crafty plans that don't materialise. They leave me with a sense of guilt sitting on my shoulder. Mind you , I have always been a working mum so that sense of guilt has been a constant companion for most of my adult life!

Have put together another simple card that has taken me back to my Lavinia stamps. Tracy Dutton, the owner of the company creates wonderful scenes using her stamps. Atmospheric water and sky combinations using a brayer...... and no..... I haven't bought a brayer yet!!! When I have TIME I will use my purchases to attempt to reproduce some of her effects.



In the meantime this card will have to suffice. CAS in approach, using a punch to cut out a frame which has been mounted over the stamped image. I then used 3D foam pads for dimension. Unusual colour combination , I know, but it works for me.

One layer Wednesday Challenge

I am an avid follower of Susan Raihala's blog and have decided to contribute to her One Layer Wednesday Challenge. The object of the challenge was to overlap a sentiment and image.

As I am in Father's Day mode, I decided to stay with this theme. Both sentiment and thistle combine to create a card for a very patriotic dad!

This is a first for me so I hope that I have fulfilled the brief. Here is my submission

Update : Friday May 28th
I was having a look at the other fab cards that had been entered into Susan Raihala's challenge when I came across Vicki Dutcher's blog. She had entered her card in another challenge - Cas-tastic - which required a "touch of green". As I had used green in my card, I decided to follow suit. So without any more effort I have met the criteria for two challenges. This could become addictive!!!