28 June 2014

Week 178 Recipe

My goodness, what a popular week our water-colouring challenge was and what wonderful cards appeared on our blog!
Thank you everyone for your inspiration. We hope you managed to visit a few fellow entrants to leave a friendly word. 
This week we have 
A RECIPE
for you
Use a recycled item!
It can be anything, card, ribbon, paper, metal... anything that has been used before!
Once more we are delighted to have a Guest Designer joining us. This time it is 
She made this fabulous rosette from a pop can and has kindly made a tutorial how to do this which you can find on her blog, so DO check it out!
Jen

I decided to attack my two boxes of scraps and saved items.  The card blank had the image in the middle removed and the sentiment cut from a card I didn't really like.  I also have a tub or removed gems, buttons etc and the gem came from that box!


I used a Memory box die to remove the damaged bit of the card blank and then used a scrap of dotty paper in the background.  The happy birthday sentiment from Simon Says Stamp is cut twice from pool party and added over the aperture.  I simply finished it off with a rescued gem for the i!

Believe it or not this is a gift tag which was on a shop-bought
gift bag for my birthday last year and I've held on to it thinking
'this will come in handy'
It comprised of the shocking pink banners, black and white checked button 
the large button at the top and the ribbons.
I've just added a couple more recycled buttons from my stash, 
a strip of washi tape, sentiment from Clearly Besotted and gems.
Tattered Florals diecut from the yards and yards of packaging that came with my Amazon order of a sack of dog food.  More details and recycling on my blog.

This bunch of hearts seemed to be crying out to be made into a bouquet. It was die-cut from some shiny  packaging paper and coloured with Copics. To make the bow I used some of that dratted ribbon which is always sewn into the shoulders of sweaters, ostensibly to keep them on the hanger, but which always insists on showing when worn... so I chop it off and here is some of it! 
TIP
If ribbon is a little crumpled, I used my hair straighteners to just iron it out... it's really quick and saves me getting the iron out!

The dies are from Impression Obsession and the sentiment from Magenta. I'm sure I've seen a card similar to this in blogland somewhere, so forgive me if  I have lifted the idea from you! Please let me know if this is the case so that I can acknowledge the fact!

As always we would encourage you to visit the Designers' individual blogs as there will be more inspiration to be found there... and they too love comments.
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27 June 2014

ShowCASe Week 176

Some wonderful cards were entered for our Off the Edge challenge and choosing our ShowCASe was a joy!
Here they are!

What fun it would be to receive this card!!!

Gay always treats us to superb cards... but just look at the fabulous colouring here!

What amazingly crisp stamping! Gorgeous!

One word says it all... Awesome!
Please take our Showcase badge to pop  on your blogs and everyone please come back  for a new challenge tomorrow!
showCASed
Thanks to all who submitted an entry, we loved looking at them all!

21 June 2014

Week 177 Theme

We have yet another Guest Designer this week. 
Kathy K has been one of our most faithful LIMettes from the outset and we are simply delighted that she has agreed to be our Guest for this week.

Our challenge is to use
WATERCOLOUR

It doesn't have to be a complete work of art (although we know that many will be just that), but if you could  include water when adding colour to your project that would be wonderful.
There are many watercolour stamps around, where colour is added directly to the stamp  rather than adding colour to an outline image. Distress Inks can be used, watercolour pencils, background washes whatever your imagination dictates.
Please remember to keep it CLEAN & SIMPLE and don't forget that
WHITE SPACE

Do pop over to visit Kathy's blog and see details of her card, as well as leaving her a friendly word.
If you could visit at least a couple of other entries, that too would be grand.
I have made rather a lot of cards this week... in fact I got a bit carried away, so there are a whole heap of them on my blog. One silly thing I did was to inadvertently buy two of the Window Box stamps which I used here. I just didn't notice and was incredibly surprised to see two in the package when it arrived. I have decided to give one away to someone whom I shall pick from amongst those who leave a comment on my personal blog this week, saying that they would be interested in being in the draw for the stamp!
It's a stamp from Art Impressions Watercolour range, as are all the stamps used here, apart from the sentiment, which is from Hero Arts.
They were coloured with Distress Inks or Markers, before being stamped. I then used a damp brush in some areas to release the colours.


I've white embossed butterflies from the best of butterflies set from Stampin Up and then water coloured them in with inks. The sentiment is embossed onto vellum, and then it's mounted onto wisteria wonder card stock


I've created a panel using distress inks which I've blended together
 then spritzed with water.
The panel at the bottom has twine wrapped around for added detail then mounted on 3d adhesive. The upper panel is mounted flat to the card with a wrap around of vellum, heat embossed with another sentiment from Clearly Besotted. 
Finished with a couple of Doodlebug sequins.
Anne

Watercoloured with Distress Ink, sea salt scattered on to make blotches.  Sentiment cut with my Portrait, Memory Box Chloe stems die cut.  More cards on my blog.
We hope you'll enjoy this challenge and please try to visit a few other contributors to leave a friendly word, thanks.

20 June 2014

ShowCASe week 175 & April & May Winners

We have a bumper post for you today with the winners of the last two months as well as the fabulous ShowCASe from last week too.  You always make it so difficult for us to chose month on month and week on week but we hope you will congratulate the winners and ShowCASe. Onto the winners first.  

April Winner 


The winner of the Ribbon Girl prize for April is...


May Winner

The winner of the prize for May from Clearly Besotted is...


If you email us we can send you the details of how to receive your prize.
Winner....
Please take this badge for your blog!

Now onto the ShowCASe 








Congratulations Ladies!
Please take our ShowCASe badge to pop on your blogs!
showCASed
We'll be back tomorrow with another challenge and we'd love to see you all join us!

14 June 2014

One Layer Challenge Off the Edge Week 176

Once more it's One Layer Card time and
 the title of our challenge is 
OFF THE EDGE
We are delighted to welcome another Guest Designer this week.
This week it's
Life in the Craft Lane
This is pretty amazing stamping, we're sure you will agree.
Do visit Linda's blog where you will find some more terrific examples!

This week I have a bit of a CASE from the very talented Debby Hughes, who did a super tutorial for Splitcoaststampers.  I've used Memory Box dies:  the plain one was used to cut the off the edge butterfly and each butterfly was then embossed with the detail die.  Salty Ocean Distress Ink was brushed through a mask and used for the Inky Doodles sentiment.  In real life, the gems and the ink are a very good match for each other

This is a fabulous stamp from Indigo Blu, stamped with Versamark and embossed with three different WOW twinkly embossing powders. The gaps were gently water-coloured with pale pink Distress Ink. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up, embossed with the deepest shade of powder.

Jen


I've stamped the atom from the scientifically speaking stamp set from CBS onto Bermuda bay card stock from Stampin Up and the embossed with white embossing powder.  It's finished off with candy dots also from Stampin Up.



I'm in a fussy cut mood using my 'go to' stamp set for gorgeous florals; 
Beautiful Blooms from Uniko Studio; I use it loads.  I started by stamping the beautiful bloom in different summer colours and masking as I went along then fussy cut the edges to give them an 'off the edge' look. I've added a brand new Clearly Besotted sentiment from the newly released Sweet Little Sentiments set and to finish off some colour-coordinated pearls from Doodlebug.

Don't forget, we'd love you to visit each others' blogs to leave a friendly word... great friendships can be forged this way and we all love to receive a comment don't we... even the designers!!

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13 June 2014

Lucky Dip ShowCASe Week 174

We were delighted to welcome Margaret as our Guest Designer for this week and thank her both for her samples and for commenting on your blogs.
What wonderful examples we had too.
Here are our choices for this week
Such a fresh looking creation.

Valerie

What a glorious colour combination!

Linby

What a fabulous effect  Linby achieved within this embossed circle.

Joyce


Joyce stamped and dry embossed on her card too!

Thanks so much ladies please take our badge to pop on your blogs with our thanks!
showCASed
...and we'll see you tomorrow for our new challenge!

07 June 2014

Week 175 Colour challenge

We have a Guest Designer this week.
It's Lisa Lara, 
who was one of the applicants from our Design Team call, all of whom we have invited to have a Guest Spot!
For our Colour Challenge this time we have
The colours in your bedroom!
 That should give you the chance to work with colours you love!
What a fun card Lisa, thanks so much!

Do visit Lisa's blog and leave her a friendly comment!


My room is decidedly beige so I decided to go for the colours from my bed linen.... Duck Egg, Beige and Lime Green.  I've use the Get Well die from Paper Smooches (picked up at Craft Mojo) and then simply added it across the card. Added a few pearls and some stitching.

Sarah

This card uses an Uniko Studio set 'Background builders - Circles' 
which is stamped then heat embossed with white embossing powder 
onto various coloured snippets of card. 
These are die-cut into circles and mounted to the CS either flat 
or on different depths of 3D foam adhesive. 

To finish off I've added a strip of patterned paper from Studio Calico 
scalloped border, 'Happy' word die and sentiment from Clearly Besotted.


I hate my bedroom colours!!

Colours are a lot of cream, some pale pink and a touch of green.  I've used textured cream cardstock, the Daisy is also punched from it and inked up with DI Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry.  I snipped into the largest round of petals and added Glossy Accents to the centre.  Leaf is punched with Tattered Leaves die and sentiment is Clearly Besotted

The colours in my bedroom are ivory, red and brown.
Here is my friend the totally excited chicken from Penny Black. . .and she's leaping from her coop (suspended by a piece of acetate so she bobs up and down a little in her excitement)
The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink!
I'm sorry the watermark is all over it, but it took me so long to create the watermark in the first place, that to try to move it is a little much for my un-techy mind!  

Do join us in this challenge and if you fancy adding a pic of your bedroom, we'd all love a snoop!
Please visit the designer's personal blogs too, there are more cards for your delectation to be found there and you don't want to miss a thing!
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06 June 2014

ShowCASe Week 173

You make it so difficult to chose the ShowCASe each week with all your incredible creations.  Here are the showCASes for the "Use A Die" week.



Fabulous layout



Love the little perching birds



Simply Fabulous

Poppies, flowers, Less is More
Stunning colours



Fabulous Flowers

It would be easy to go on showcasing this time; we are so fortunate in having such wonderful submissions to our challenges each week and we thank you all!
showCASed
Please take the badge to pop on your blogs ladies and we hope to see everyone for our new challenge on Saturday morning!