Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday - Sketched Butterflies

 Hello and thank you for joining me today. With the Sketched Butterflies stamp set today, I have made a semi-easy card. I started by stamping 3 images of the mid-sized butterfly and coloured them in using the gorgeous yellow of Daffodil Delight and the lovely soft, orange tone of Peach Pie in my Stampin' Blends Pens. After fussy cutting them out, I put them to the side. I cut a strip of 7cm wide white card and embossed it using one of the 3D Basics embossing folders, although any folder will do. I added this mat to the left hand side of the card front and then using Tombow Multipurpose Glue, I adhered the butterflies to the right hand side of the embossed, smaller, top mat. I fussy cut out the right hand side of the butterflies only where they were overlapping the edge of the mat and the middle of the card base. Yes, through both layers of card and it wasn't difficult.

I added some butterflies on another white mat for the inisde of the card and stamped a sentiment inside and on the scrap of card that I cut from the card front. With another piece of the card scrap and my Peach Pie Blend, I coloured across the white to make my own background to go behind the front sentiment mat and trimmed them both down. 

Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday - Simply Zinnia

 Hello again, Today I have made a really orange card. Very unlike me as I'm not into orange very much. Fortunately, this is a soft orange called Calypso Coral and it's rather lovely. Using the lovely Simply Zinnia stamps, I started the same way as yesterday by covering a card mat with lots of the single flowers and a few leaves here and there using a very soft grey of Smoky Slate ink pad. I then coloured them all in using my Blends pens in the gorgeous colour of Calypso Coral and Granny Apple Green for the leaves. I love the name of the green! :)) Then I took another card mat in white and embossed it using one of the lovely trio of embossing folders called Basics 3D. I chose the one that looks like lots of flowers. I then die cut all of the flowers out of the first piece of card and mounted them onto the new card mat which was cut to size in advance. I used dimensionals, foam, double sided shapes. I added them all over the mat to give the effect that they are all floating. Another very simple technique only it takes a little longer. 

Technique Tuesday - Jolly Words

 Today, using the Jolly Words once again, I have had some fun. I stamped the image with the JOY in onto a White card mat and had fun colouring it in using my Stampin' Blends pens. Back to the card, I decided that I wanted my traditional colour of Real Red (my favourite). I cut a card base and then some white C6 card mats too. I embossed the front mat using one of the three embossing folders in the 3D basics folders. They are such good value and give really gorgeous images too. I added 2 strips of the white, silver edged ribbon straight down the front and the added the small coloured mat over the top. To change the inside a little, I turned the embossing folder diagonally across the card and got a lovely jaunty angle embossed across the inside. I am rather pleased with it too!

 

Watercolour Wednesday - Translucent Florals

 For my watercolour day, today I went the whole hog so to speak! I had a piece of Fluid 100 watercolour paper and soaked it using a water brush back and forth across the paper. Then using 2 different colours, I chose Berry Burst, Lemon Lolly and Pretty Peacock ink refills. I put a drop onto some acetate and picked a little up with a narrow brush and let it smoosh across the very wet paper. I did the outer 2 colours first and then the Lemon Lolly in the centre last. I loved watching the way the colours all merged together with the softened edges too. You can see the even the Pretty Peacock has different shades too. While that was drying, I took another piece of watercolour paper and washed that too with a large brush. I then used Balmy Blue to cover the whole piece. I love that there are dark parts and lighter parts offsetting the whole page. Once the first sheet was dry, I stamped the leaves and flowers across the colourful mat and squeezed as much in as possible.  It was then just a case of fussy cutting them all out. That was fun! I do love a bit of fussy cutting! I then placed several of the pieces over the blue mat to see how they looked. I am pleased with the end result. 

This or That Thursday - Men's Cards - Beside Me

 Hello on this bright Thursday. Today' this or that cards are 2 very simple ones. I used images on the right of the card on the first and the second card has words and one simple image. They are both very easy to see how to do so I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say they were good fun to make. Now sentiments can be easily changed and as I have lots of BIRTHDAY cards to send each year that's what I generally end up using so I apologise.

Now it's your decision as to which you prefer, THIS or THAT

Card 1 THIS

 

Card 2 THAT