Sunflower and Honey Bees

Hi everyone.  I have a card today made using a Chocolate Baroque stamp set called Honey Bee and this is the first time I have used it although I have had it for quite a while.  The card is for someone who is very fond of sunflowers and so I thought this would be appropriate, albeit it has the honey bees on it, and I also decided to use the honeycomb as a background.

                                         

I stamped the sunflower onto a piece of white card and stamped it using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and watercoloured it with Distress Inks in Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade for the petals and I used some on the bees too, and I coloured the centre with some Black Soot, but thought that it would look better in a brown so then went over it with Brushed Corduroy.  I then cut it out leaving a small white margin around the edges which made it easier to cut around the bee.  I then stamped the background honeycomb twice using Vintage Photo DI and added some Brushed Corduroy DI to fill it in.  I also went over the bees on the honeycomb using a fine Black Micron Pen to darken then up and then added the Mustard Seed on the stripes and a bit of shading on the wings with a pencil before adding some Clear Wink of Stella to them. As an afterthought I also added a touch of Spiced Marmalade to the yellow stripes.  I finished with the sentiment stamped with the Nocturne Ink and heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and I ink blended around the honeycomb background with some Tumbled Glass DI.  

I had been watching a Jennifer McGuire video where she showed a way of raising up an image using a strip of card scored with three lines, about a quarter of an inch apart, and then a flat section and three lines the other side, and creased with a mountain fold each side of the centre and then a valley and a mountain on each side which should give you a concertina effect and you just attach the flat area to the back of the image you want to give dimension to, and the very bottom panel of the concertina section on either side to the surface you are attaching it to.  It works well and it just presses flat in an envelope and pops back up when taken out, so I did this to the flower and you can see it sits well proud of the card.  You can of course adapt the size to fit whatever you like.  I would post the link but I think it was part of a video and I can't seem to find it again now.  If I do find it I will add the link in.....further to this Val at Aquarius found me the link to Jennifer McGuire's video, and if you scroll down you will find it in the comments.  The actual style of 'pop up' I used comes at about 15.50 mts.  Thank you Val!

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - June '24 Fabulous Florals/Anything Goes.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - June '24 Anything Goes/Mood Board.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - My Favourite Things (sunflowers and bees - I love honey!)
Allsorts Challenge - Week 786 Blooms, Bees and Butterflies.
NBUS Challenge - No. 63 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but has said that anyone is welcome to join in.  This is Week 4: Anything Goes.

Simply Sweet

Hi everybody.  I have a card today using an embossing folder by Crafter's Companion called Simply Sweet which I got as a prize, and this is it's first outing.   I also used a little bird which came with a die set I also won but quite a while ago and it's a Marianne Creatable die set called Petra's Square with Bird and Nest, and I have used the frame die before but not the little bird.

I started by embossing the folder using a piece of mid blue card and I highlighted the design using a Brilliance Moonlight White Ink by running the pad across the embossing but not pressing down too hard.  It works better I think doing lots of passes up and down and side to side in order to build the colour up without transferring the ink to the background.  I then dried it with my heat tool and cut it down a little as the edges were not very neat, and added it to a 5" x 7"white card.  I then cut the little bird three times and put two of them together and with the third I cut out the wing and the head to add over the top for a bit of dimension.  I coloured the main piece all over and the wing and head separately as I wasn't totally sure I would use the extra pieces, but in the end I decided to do so.  I put it together using a bit of Pinflair Glue gel to attach these pieces.  I finished by stamping the sentiment onto a strip of white card using Versafine Majestic Blue Ink heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and placed it across the card just below the opening of the birdcage and then placed the bird right on the edge of the strip to finish.

Thank you for coming to visit me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

AAA Colourful Challenge - Colourboard No 5.

AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 62 Cute.
Triple B Challenge - June'24 Using one or more Birds, Butterflies and Blooms.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Emboss It.

NBUS Challenge - No. 63 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but says anyone can join in.  This is Week 3 'E' for Embossing Powder/Folders.

Peony Border Tri-fold

Hi everyone.  I have a tri-fold card today, the first time I have attempted one and may well be my last..lol.  I say this as I did have quite a few ups and downs with it, but I got there in the end.   I used a set of stamps and dies from Indigoblu which came free with a recent magazine - Mixed Media Box Kit 8 used for the first time here, and I dry embossed using a set of leaf dies bought in a sale at Craft Stash by Cardmaking Magic which unfortunately are not now available.  I watched a video by Jennifer Mcguire and I was taken with the look of the shaped front and you will find the video here.

You need two cards of the same size and mine are 5 3/4" square.  I decided where I was going to stamp the peonies on the front of the card and stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and then coloured the flowers using my alcohol pens.  I used my stamp positioner and decided to reink the stamp using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink which gave it a bit more punch.  I was going to use the corresponding die to partially cut around the outer edge of the flower stamping but I just could not get it to cut using my Sizzix Big Shot Plus machine, and it seemed impossible to get the sandwich right and I tried endless combinations but to no avail.  I think the fact that I had to set the top plate back so that it would only cut the first bit of the die made it more difficult.  I gave up and die cut around the flower with some small decoupage scissors, and to tidy the back of the front panel up as the pens do bleed through the card a bit, I die cut the whole die shape out, this time no problem in cutting it, and added it behind the flowers and it left a bit of a white border around the flowers..there were just a few areas where it wasn't even as I had cut it by hand, so I just tidied it up a bit with my decoupage scissors.  I finished the front by adding a sentiment from the set using the Nocturne Ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  The second card is glued together back to front with the first, and on what has become the under layer to the flowers I decided to add some leaves using a die and dry embossing it on the panel.  It is not a square die, actually 5" x 7", and there was a bit of a gap on the inside edge so I decided to cut around the leaves at the edge, and then I added a strip of white card under the leaves to give a nicely finished edge.  I then added a piece of paper as an insert for the sentiment on the base of the card which when closed is hidden behind the leaf layer, and the card was done.  

I found it a bit fiddly to make so I don't think I will be doing this again in a hurry.  Jennifer makes it look like a breeze, but mine felt more of a tornado..stress levels were definitely up...lol.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - June '24 Fabulous Florals/Anything Goes.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - June '24 Mood Board/Anything Goes.
Triple B Challenge- Use one of more of Birds, Butterflies & Blooms.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Bright and Cheerful.
Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - No. 17 Anything Floral Goes/Mood Board.
NBUS Challenge - No. 63 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but invites anyone to join in with.  This is June Week 2: Dies/Die Cuts.

Bokeh Anniversary

Hi everybody.  I have made this anniversary card using this fun technique and one which I haven't used on a card for a very long time.  I was reminded of it by the Group of Seven Cardmakers who have this as their technique this month so I thought I must give it another go.  I have had a really heavy cold and it has left me feeling rather tired and out of sorts and I haven't been feeling like making a card, but needs must as I have an imminent family anniversary.  

I decided to give it a bit of a twist and instead of circles thought I would use hearts as this is an anniversary card, and I started by ink blending the piece of white card using Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon and Candied Apple and I dried it well with my heat tool before starting the bokeh.  I cut a mask using three sizes of heart from a set by Sweet Dixie and I started with the largest using the only white ink I have which is Brilliance Moonlight White which is a pearlescent type white and probably not the best one for this technique as I found out as I went along.  I started by laying down five of the largest size heart and although the ink was dry, the ink blending tool..the Tim Holtz round one not a brush, lifted the ink a bit and the white became rather discoloured, especially in the areas with yellow.  I carried on using the middle size size heart mask and I could not seem too get any more depth of white  and it was all looking the same with no variation to give depth and distance.  I finished with the small heart and then tried giving some a second coat of ink but it didn't make much difference.  I cut the background to about 51/4" and then I decided to cut two hearts out from the piece for an eclipse look, and  I cut an extra couple of layers of hearts for dimension.  I think my brain is a bit befuddled at the moment and I have to say the way I cut the overlapping hearts was not quite what I intended and instead of one whole and one with a split, it ended up with both cut into..a little annoyed muttering ensued at this point..lol, and I then finished with a gold embossed sentiment cut with a sentiment plate, and I heat embossed using WOW Gold Metallic Rich Embossing Powder.  

I think I need a much brighter denser white ink to make a better job of this, and maybe it would have been better to make a smooshed background as possibly the ink would not have moved and mixed with the white pigment ink to make rather a dirty look of the bokeh, and I think maybe I got carried away with the bokeh not leaving enough of the colour in the background.  Anyhow although not as successful as I would have wished, it is a nice bright and happy anniversary card.

Thank you for joining me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Stencil Fun Challenge - June '24 Anything Goes/Optional: Birthdays.
Heart's Quest Celebrations of Love Challenges - No. 6 June '24 Eng'ments, Weddings and Annivs. 
Make My Monday Challenge  - No. 227 'B' is for... mine is Bokeh technique.
 
I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S. which is a challenge she has set herself but has said that anyone can join in if they wish.  This week is June Week 1: I = Inks/Colour Mediums.