House Of Cards Blog Hop

     It's sad to think that this will be last card I make for House Of Cards, the challenge is closing this month so please pop over and join us for one last time, we have a blog hop with a prize kindly donated by Beccy's Place.

   

      When I saw the photo prompt I thought this would make a great masculine Christmas card. Having just invested in some more Tim Holtz stencils I was itching to use them, the pattern on the plate made me think of plaid, oh what luck I just bought that one!

      With Distress Ink Black Soot and the Plaid stencil I inked up a square of white card for my background. The stencil only covered half the card but with a bit of careful positioning and some clean masking tape I managed to repeat the pattern so you can't see the join.

     The image I chose to use from Beccy's Place is called Champagne, it has three strawberries in front of the ice bucket, very nice but not quite right, so I die cut some baubles to cover them.

     The image is coloured with watercolour pencils and a touch of metalic pen, the glasses have a slight blue tinge to them that doesn't show up well in the photograph.

     The tiny baubles are part of the Merry greeting, so I used the dark red bauble frame that was left over to hang at the top of the image panel, then filled it with the bauble from the gold greeting cut.

      The image panel was stuck on to a dark red pearl mat layer, the same card used for the baubles, this went on to the plaid background and then the gold greetings were added, with the gold frame bauble filled with red to match the ones at the bottom. I was going to add a fir branch too but I think it's busy enough as it is.

      Please come and play along with our final challenge at House Of Cards, you never know, you may win the prize.

House Of Cards Blog Hop

Make sure you leave a comment at each person's blog along the way because the prize is hidden and we'll be doing a random drawing from the blogs where it is hiding! :) 

You have come from Michele and your next stop is Rosi, good luck.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Digi Choosday - Anything Goes

Watercooler Wednesday - Holidays

Feather Tree In The House Of Cards

     The new challenge at House Of Cards is to use gold and pearl accents, I have also tried to use some of the inspirational colours on the swatch on this Christmas card.

     I was shown the most gorgeous tree made with Lavinia's feather stamp, I have tried to make something similar but it isn't as pretty as the one I saw, I'll just have to keep trying!
     This one is stamped and embossed in gold on cream card, the edges are coloured with Distress Old Paper and I have tried to give the tree a little ground to stand on too.
     The image was then matted and layered with dark blue and gold before going on a cream 7x5 card blank. I left the addition of the pearls until the image panel was mounted so I could still get it in my trimmer.
     After adding the pearls I had to make a small organza bow as I didn't have one ready made, I coloured white ribbon with an alcohol marker and then used a fork to tie my bow, again something that I need to practice more! Although I used an alcohol marker I still didn't want to use wet glue...just incase, it's been one of those weeks...so I used a small glue dot to fix the bow on the card.
     A relatively simple card to make with a gorgeous feather stamp, two uses for this stamp so far and counting, don't you just love value for money.
     Please come and join us at House Of Cards with you creations, they don't have to be Christmas cards, any occasion as long as you follow the theme.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Christmas At Sweet Stampin' - Anything Christmas Goes
Cardz 4 Guyz - Into The Woods

Sparkles Christmas - Embossing Heat or Dry
CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

Coffee and Cousins In The House Of Cards

     Our challenge at the House Of Cards this month is for Autumn flowers and/or the colour on our photo swatch. I was inspired by the photo and a recent visit by my cousin who came bearing sunflowers, they really did brighten up the kitchen.

      I found a patterned paper topper with sunflowers all over it and decided it was just what I wanted to use. I die cut a scalloped oval in the centre rather than add a mat layer on top, it also gives me a gorgeous sunflower oval for another card.
     This flower layer was then mounted on dark brown pearlescent card before going on to a narrow layer of gold. I searched high and low for the right shade of green for the centre oval, why is it that you never have 'just' the right shade in all those greens?!
     Search over I used a stencil and Versamark to then gold emboss the coffee cup, then I cut it out, it is stuck flush to the card.

      The image panel and all it's layer were added to a 5x7 cream card blank but it lacked something, it needed a sunflower.
     The flower was die cut in thin yellow card, the centre darkened with Distress ink and the two layers of petals stuck together. For a nice furry centre I have coloured a loop disc of velcro with alcohol markers, it worked so well I shall be making more of these.
     The flower was stuck on with PVA glue, it will flatten for posting so it will still be a standard postage charge.
     Please come and join us at House Of Cards with your Autumn flower inspired cards, we would love to see what you make.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Allsorts - Autumn Glory
Crafty Friends - Autumn Colours
Crazy 4 Challenges - Anything Autumn
My Time To Craft - Food and Drink

Colourful House Of Cards

    A new month means a new challenge at the House Of Cards, this time our theme is birthday and/or the colour swatch.

     I wanted to try and get the strips of colour down my card like the ones in the photo, so I raided my stencil stash and found a bubble one by Dutch Doobadoo that was just right.
     Then came the colours, no ones that I would go for normally but that's what a challenge is all about so Distress Oxides to the rescue. Using a finger dauber I coloured the strips of bubbles, making sure not to cross contaminate the colours.
     The letters are die cut in dark brown pearl card, using a narrow ruler for a guide I stuck them on to fit diagonally across the card. I also had a search through my gems and accents draw and came up with some enamel accents that almost match the inks, a few placed here and there and the front panel was complete.
     The panel has a narrow mat layer in the same dark brown card as the letters, stuck on to a white card blank and all was finished.
     Please come and join us at the House Of Cards with your birthday themed cards, just use the photo and/or the colour swatch to get you started.

September - House Of Cards

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Cardz 4 Galz - Beautiful Backgrounds 
Seize The Birthday - Rainbows

Patterned Paper In The House Of Cards

   The new challenge at the House Of Cards is to use patterned paper and/or the colours on the swatch. I found this paper in my stash and thought it would ft the bill nicely.

     I die cut some flowers from the double sided patterned paper, oddly thinking they would only cut the folded petals and not the complete flower....wrong, definitely having a silly moment with that one.
     This actually turned out to be a good thing, it meant I could colour the outer petals before returning them to the paper, that way they would stand out a little.
     The patterned paper layer was stuck over a blue mount layer after I cut out the flowers, then each coloured flower was stuck back in its place but only around the edges, the inner petals were all curled upward.

     Once dry each flower had a nobly gem stuck in the middle to add texture and interest. This paper panel was then stuck on to a white card blank.
     The sentiment was stamped on white card and die cut, then coloured cream to match the background on the paper whilst still in the die, this gives a little white border. A scalloped oval in the same blue card was what was needed to go under this sentiment, it's stuck flush to the card so it could be posted if necessary but may be better hand delivered.
     The House Of Cards challenge runs all month so pop over and join us with your cards, we'd love to see them.

Use patterned paper and/or the colours

Ice Cream Invitation To The House Of Cards

     We have a summer theme this month at the House Of Cards, we would like to see a card featuring ice lollies or ice creams, but if you'd rather you can just use the colour swatch to create any summer food card.

      This project is an invitation with a difference, I found the idea on Pinterest.
     It started with a large die cut circle of thin kraft type card, something that looks a bit like an ice cream cone. To make it more realistic I embossed it with a weave type pattern.
     The circle is folded in eight segments with a string added across one quarter. this will form the tie seal for the invite.
     There are four die cut circles needed for the ice cream to go into the cones. Each one was glued in place before gluing the cones shut.

     Once everything is glued together there are four cones formed to create a small book type card.
     To add the wording to the cones I chose a die that looked like a label, the printing was done using my word processor, then die cut and inked before being added to each cone.
     It's a novel way of making an invitation, great for a small summer gathering. The size of your circle at the beginning will determine the finished cone size, if you don't have a large die then think about using a plate to draw around.

 
      Please come and join us at the House Of Cards with your summer food creations, we don't have many rules, just stick to the theme or colours and the rest is up to you.

Ice lolly/Food image and /or Colours

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Send a Smile 4 Kids - Anything Goes   (F)
Cardz 4 Galz - Summer Sunny Days   (F)

Make My Monday - Ice Cream   (F)   (top 3)

House Of Cards End Of Term Blog Hop

     Welcome to our End Of Term Blog Hop at House Of Cards, full hop details are a little lower down the page.
     We have two lovely sponsors for our hop this time so I have used a flower corner from DigiStamps 4 Joy and a butterfly with sentiment from MHK Designs. Using my photo software I arranged all the digi's to fit on a tag, as we are a card blog I have turned that tag into a card.
     The image panel has been coloured with a mixture of alcohol markers, Distress Inks and foils with a little crackle effect added with a rubber stamp. I printed two panels so I was able to cut the butterfly out of the second one and stick it over the flat one, gluing the body only so the wings lift up.
     Alcohol markers soak into the card and show on the reverse so the 'tag' was stuck on to some heavy card folded in half to make a traditional card blank, trimmed to shape the base card now resembles a tag. The hole was punched in just the front of the card with a mixture of twines added.
     Please come and join our hop, there are prizes to be won, the only difference is this hop runs for two weeks, not the usual month. We also have a Design Team call as some of our lovely ladies are moving on to pastures new, we wish them luck and thank them for all their hard work.

Flower Corner

Butterfly Wisdom

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:

Crafty Creations - Anything Goes   (F)

The Paper Shelter - Flower Power   (W)

Pause, Dream, Enjoy - Flowers   (W)

     You should have arrived here from  Michele's Blog. 

 This hop will run FROM JUNE 1ST AT 6:00 AM CST THROUGH JUNE 15TH AT NOON CST,  ANY CARD STYLE is welcome and we've got a gorgeous photo inspiration for your crafting enjoyment!

Here are all of our fabulous sponsors.

Our team will be using a variety of products

from these amazing companies!

MHKDesigns

Prize: Any three products of your choice!

2 Prizes - 2 Digis Each

Your next stop will be  Rosi's Blog

Make sure you leave a comment at each person's blog along the way because the prizes are hidden and we'll be doing random drawings from the blogs where they are hiding! :)  After you're done, make a creation to share with us at House Of Cards for another chance to win!

Shape Up At The House Of Cards

      My apologies for missing last month, life got in the way. This month at House Of Cards we would like to see a shaped card and we have our usual colour swatch too.

     I needed to make a wedding card so I chose to go with an easel circle. This meant die cutting a square card blank and remembering to leave a hinge!
     For the main image I have used one of Chocolate Baroque's new stamps featuring a heart filled with script, overlapped with a gorgeous flower. This was embossed with gold powder. It was then die cut with a circle shape.
     I wanted to colour the card outside of the circle, so I stamped and cut out the heart on masking sheet, covered the image and used Distress Ink to add a pale pink hint of colour.

     The image was coloured in using alcohol markers. The darker pink from the flowers was used to colour a mat layer cut with a scallop die, just around the edge that would be seen.
     With the same pale pink Distress Ink and a stencil I added a starburst to the inside of the card. The easel needs something to hold it up , so a die cut panel with gold congratulations and coloured pink was mounted on foam pads across the starburst.
     To finish off I used my photo package to create a small card with the names of the bride and groom, printed in black with a pink shadow. Die cut circular, then mounted on a small scalloped circle to match the the image layer and added to the card on foam pads.  I hope the happy couple will like their personalised card, just wish I knew what the wedding colours are going to be but never mind, it's the thought that counts.
     Please come and join us at the House Of Cards with your shaped cards, we would love to see what you make, the DT have lots of great inspiration for you on our challenge blog.

Shaped Card and/or Colours

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafting With Friends - Anything Goes   (F)
QKR Stampede - Anything Goes   (W)
Cute Card Thursday - Pretty In Pink   (W)

House Of Cards On The Dark Side

     A new month means a new challenge at the House Of Cards, this month we would like to see you use coloured pencils on dark card.

   

    For this card I started by stamping on black card and then embossing with a pearly white powder.
     Last year I invested in a set of metallic pencils in the fond hope they would look good on dark colours, I'm pleased to say I wasn't disappointed.
     The petals have a blend of three colours on them to create shading, when the card is tilted to the light it has a great shine too.

   
    After colouring all of the flowers I trimmed the panel to fit a 7x5 inch card blank. To pick out one of the colours in the petals it is layered with a pink card.
     The greeting is stamped and embossed with the same powder, then die cut and mounted on a pink layer before going on thin foam pads on the card.
     House Of Cards new challenge runs all month so please come and join us with your cards.

Use coloured pencils on Dark Card and/or Colours

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Pause, Dream, Enjoy - Use A Stamped Image    (W)

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes   (F)

The House That Stamps Built - Anything Goes   (W)

House Of Cards Goes Pink

       House Of Cards new challenge is to make a Valentine background for your card, you can use our suggested colours if you wish.

   
     Making a background gave me another chance to break out the Distress Oxides, these inks are so much fun to work with. I used three shades of pink on white card to blend a background, then I spritzed a stencil with water and laid it over the background. The water reacts with the ink and turns it chalky giving a fab pattern.
     The stamp was a hand me down from a friend, it's perfect for anniversary cards. This was stamped with black Versafine, I chose not to colour the image as I like it just as it is.

     Once trimmed the image panel was die cut with a small Sizzix die to show the word Love, It also has two of the corners shaped.
     Mounting on black makes the image and the cut out pop but when it came to mounting on a card a white one didn't look right. Using the image panel as a guide I coloured a white card blank to match. A small pearl heart in the two shaped corners finished it off.
   
     Pop over to the House Of Cards blog to see all the DT inspiration, then come and show us what you have made.

Valentine background and/or colours

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Scrapbook Stamp Society - Valentine   (F)

Shopping Our Stash - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not   (W)

Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes   (W)

House Of Cards Mixed Media

   My interpretation of 'Mixed Media' is the use of different techniques and mediums so this is what I came up with for our new challenge at House Of Cards.

 

     I don't have any pictures of the main panel under construction because I got carried away with the idea and forgot all about taking any.
     Using Distress Oxides I coloured some white card, then spritzed it with water. In this picture I have coloured the white card blank to correspond with the main panel, so when it is all layered up the colours continue past the black border. It didn't look right on a plain white card blank.
   

     Once dry I used a stencil of butterfly wings and inked through it with Versamark, then dusted it with pearl mica powder. A quick spray with hair lacquer to fix it and I could move on to using a very fine pen to pick out some of the edges to highlight them. This gives the wings a little more definition, especially when viewed without the mica shine.
     The body of the butterfly is a small lightbulb made with hot glue in a silicone mould, it has been dusted with pearl mica aswell.
     The sentiment is stamped and embossed in white, with just the main word picked out with the same fine black pen used on the wings.
     Please come and join us at House Of Cards, you have a whole month in which to create your project.

Mixed Media and/or Colours

I would like to enter this card in the following challenge:

Crafty Friends - For A Girl or Lady  #74   (F)

House Of Cards - Holiday Blog Hop

      Welcome to our Holiday Blog Hop at House Of Cards. Full details about the hop are a little lower down the page.
     I have used an image from Imagine That and coloured it with alcohol markers, then die cut using a stitched tag shape. The greeting is also die cut with the same set and coloured with Distress ink.
    The background paper is from MHK Designs with the colour altered in my photo package so it matches the image colours.
    After sticking the paper layer on a white card blank the tag were added with a few foam pads underneath to give the depth. A little curling ribbon was put through the hole to finish off the card.

Christmas Past

Snowman with tree hat

       

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiment - Christmas with a Sentiment   (F)

Christmas Cards All Year Round - Anything Christmas   (M)

Sparkles Christmas - Snowman/men   (M)

You should have arrived here from Michele's Blog. This hop will run FROM December 1ST AT 6:00 AM CST THROUGH December 15TH AT NOON CST,  ANY CARD STYLE is welcome and we've got a gorgeous photo inspiration for your crafting enjoyment!

 
Now get hoppin'!  Your next stop is Rosi's Blog!  Don't forget to link up a project with us after completing the hop for an extra chance to win a mystery prize from one of our fabulous sponsors, too!  Happy stamping to you all! :)

MHK Designs

Digistamps 4 Joy

Imagine That Digistamp

Beccy's Place

House of Cards Challenge Blog

Mynn | Judy |  Chanya13 | Cohenna 
Donna | Em | Heather | Jane

Karen | Katarina | Merethe

Michele | Rocky | Rosi 

Shawna | Shirley | Sue N. | Susan