Floral cards

I have been playing with some more floral stamps from #Altenew. Here are some using the Build-a-flower Coneflower & Anemone Coronaria sets.

 

My February card swap for the CraftMad group had the theme of florals + sketch - we swap two cards, one card following a theme and one card using the theme + sketch.

 

 

Card 1 - Floral card

This card was in my stash of cards made last year - you can read how it was made HERE 

I think it was perfect for my first swap card. 

 

 

Card 2 - Floral + Sketch

The next card came together fairly quickly :)  I had some flowers left over from a previous stamping session, so it was just a matter of playing around to find a pleasing layout.

 

The background ribbons were cut from offcuts/snippets of cardstock.  The gold has a lovely sheen that doesn't quite show up well in the photo.  Ribbons were layered using 3d foam tabs, then the flowers were added to cardfront 3d foam tabs for more dimension.  Sadly, the sheen on the gold ribbon does not show up well in the photo ..... it looks lovely in real life!

 

Stay tuned for my next post for the March swap ...... coming soon!

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thank You for all you do!

Mr Fixit was experiencing some health issues at the end of last year and I don't know what I would have done without the support of my family but the help and support from my BFF Joy has been exceptional!  Joy has gone above and beyond!

So, I have made her a card to say 'thank you'.

 

Once again, I have used the Altenew BAF Lavender set and die cut several layers, glued together to add dimension.   These particular lavenders were stamped with some different shades of purples and greens from an old ink set from 'color box' which I got for $5 from a 'craft fair' ....... I think ...... I have had them for so long, I really can't remember where I got them from. I tied 3 lavenders together with some gold twine and glued them together, then added a 'tag' diecut stamped with 'thank you for all you do'.  The layered lavender flowers were then added to a black cardfront using 3D foam tabs, which was then then added to a white 300gsm cardbase.

I am loving this Altenew stamp set ... the more I use it, the better I get at lining up the layers and the more confident I get at selecting different colours to stamp with. Next time, I am going to use some pinks, or maybe some reds and see how it looks. #Altenew, #AltenewChallenge, #CaughtbyAltenew  The As You Like It Challenge asks us to nominate our favourite, and as I struggle with masculine cards, my favourite is definitely feminine LOL .... on checking my stamps (both physical and digital) there is definitely a leaning towards the feminine and I seem to have a preference for flowers and 'very girly' stuff  LOL
 Linking with the following challenges:Creative Inspirations February: A Special Friend As you Like It Challenge:  Feminine or Masculine

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thinking of you

Here is the last of my sympathy cards made for family members of my friend Gavin  (see my previous two posts).

 

This card is for Jenny, Gavin's partner.

 

Background was made by 'spattering' several different inks, then mounted onto cardbase.  Flowers & leaves were stamped in black & clear embossed and watercoloured.  Extra layers of die cuts were added for dimension.

 

Sentiment was heat embossed in gold on a strip of vellum.

Flowers were arranged and added to cardfront in layers.

 

I am loving playing with my Altenew stamps #Altenew

 

Linking With the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge #84 - use a die

Happy Little Stampers - September - anything goes with dies

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything goes with flowers

ITEMS USED

Altenew Stamps & Dies - Build-a-flower Anemone Coronaria, inks, Clear Embossing

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thinking of You ......

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by and reading my latest post!

I have needed a few Sympathy cards of late ...... such a sad time for some of my friends and their families.  Over the next day or so, I will be sharing some of the sympathy cards I have made.

 

One of my friends I have known since about 1975, Gavin, recently passed away.  It was a bit of a shock, as he was only 66, but he had been experiencing some health issues of late.  

 

This card will be for his ex-wife, Deb.  Even though they were no longer married, they remained on good terms.

 

For me, the loss of an old friend hurts, but knowing he is no longer in pain is a source of comfort.

 

Altenew Build-a-flower Coneflower images were stamped in layers, with the outline being stamped with Versafine and heat embossed with clear, then die cut with matching dies.  Using my Couture Creations Stamping Platform really helped with aligning the images.

 

Background was made by masking off the outer edge of cardfront and using a blending brush.  Water droplets were splattered to create some texture.  

Stampin Up 'Thinking of You' sentiment stamped directly onto cardfront with Versafine Onyx Black.

Cardfront was then trimmed and mounted onto cardbase using 3D foam tape.

Flowers were attached to cardfront with 3D foam squares. 

 

I am loving using these #Altenew stamps & dies

 

Linking With the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge #84 Use a Die

Creative Knockouts #502 anything goes

Cardz4Galz #207  Leaves

Tic Tac Toe #225  Diagonal top left to bottom right

ITEMS USED

Altenew Build-a-flower Coneflower Stamps & Dies, Inks, VersaFine Onyx Black, Clear Emboss Power, Stampin Up 'Thinking of You' stamp, Couture Creations Stamping Platform

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thank You for all you do!

I have had a very busy week of spring cleaning.  It is actually the start of Autumn for us here is Australia, and I was motivated by the slightly cooler weather!  So today, I gave myself the day off and I have been playing in my Craft Room! 

 

Card #1 - Pink

I stamped up the flowers from Altenew BAF Coneflower using Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with WOW Clear embossing powder.  Flowers were layered using shades of pink/purple and greens, then diecut.  I rumaged through by stash of Scrapbooking cardstock & DP & snippets of cardstock to pick some pleasing colour combinations for the background.   Flower was placed on cardfront with 3D foam dots for added dimension.

The sentiment was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black & heat embossed, die cut twice & layered, then placed on the front of the card with 3D foam.

 

Card #2 - Green & Gold

Followed the same process as Card #1, but this time I chose Greens as the predominant colour.  

The sentiment was stamped with Dark Green ink, die cut with a Spellbinders Tag twice & layered, Gold Cord added to tag, then placed on the front of the card with 3D foam.

 

 

I quite enjoyed making these cards, even though I am really NOT a fan of Green :)  You have to try something out of your comfort zone every now and then!

 

Both of my cards have been inspired by the sketch in Freshly made Sketches #575.

Linking Card #1 with the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash SOS549

Snippets Playground #448

Cut It Up #272 CAS (clean & simple)

Freshly Made Sketches #575

 

Linking Card #2 with the following challenges:

Inspired by Challenge #227 - Green

Freshly Made Sketches #575

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Love Ya!

Another new stamp for me.  Although, in my search to find more information on the best way to line up these particular stamps, I have discovered that they were first released in about 2019. 

 

 

 

I had fun playing with these stamps, using about 4-5 different shades of my favourite colour - purple. 

I stamped according to the layering instructions included in the set and then set about to cut them out with the co-ordinating die.  I did find that the instructions in this set were not quite as helpful as the Build-a-flower Coneflower set, hence my search on the internet for some more information. I found only a few videos out there offering hints & tips on aligning the stamps correctly so that they die cut properly.  If you are just stamping directly onto a card front, the alignment is not as crucial :)

 

 

I made up a background using some unbranded Diamond Dies (very similar to Altenew Fine Frames Diamonds).  I cut some diamonds out and inked them with Distress Ink Wilted Violet, and added them to the cardfront with glue.

Whilst laying out the flowers, I thought the background was a little stark, so I did the 'splatter' effect with some inks and a wet brush.  It was either that or I was going to emboss the background, but I thought that an embossed background would be too much!

The flowers were layered up over 3 different layers using foam dot.  I die cut the small tag from Spellbinders, stamped one of the sentiments, inked the edges, and added gold twine, positioning the tag over the stems.

 A final touch of  'bling' (it should have been enamel dots for the Tic Tac Toe challenge, but I didn't have any, so gems will have to do).

--oo0oo--

 

I have been inspired by several challenge blogs for this card.

 

TicTacToe #194 - I chose Diagonal - Die Cut, Flowers & Enamel Dots (I didn't actually have any enamel dots, so gems will have to do!

 

As You Like It  Favourite (mostly one) Colour & Why

My favourite colour is purple, and has been for as long as I can remember.  I don't know 'why' I gravitate towards purple in card making (& quilting) but I do.  With this card, I got to play with several different shades of purple, including using my fave purple cardstock.

 

 

Try Stamping on Tuesday - I used the Technique as inspiration as this card has several different layers.

 

 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Beautiful Blooms - I find I am drawn to florals for my stamping at the moment.  

Cut it Up Challenge #270 is 'Love'

 

Paper Craft Crew Challenge #503 is 'Love'  (oops, their challenges are limited to 4 other challenges) but I thought I would leave the link anyway.

I discovered a new Challenge Blog - Beautiful Blossoms - their first challenge is now live.  I don't think my card qualifies as it is not in the colours of the Mood Board, but I will include a link here anyway.  So many blogs have closed down during 2021/2022 it is nice to see a new one pop up!

ITEMS USED

Stamps/Dies:  Altenew Build-a-flower Lavender

Inks:  Distress Inks, Color Box

Tools:  Cuttlebug, Couture Creations Precision Stamp Press, Couture Creations Mini Guillotine Trimmer, Couture Creations Mini Score Board

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday

This s my first time playing with new stamps purchased from Auzz Trinklets Crafts - Altenew BAF Coneflower (Stamps & matching dies).

 

 

I wasn't actually intending to make up a card .... I just wanted to have a play so I used the first inks I could put my hands on. 

 

I even forgot about 'conditioning' the stamps first, so the stamping is a bit 'iffy', but I think it actually works on this card.  Flowers were stamped with Versafine Black Onyx & clear heat embossed.  Then the various layers were completed using different shades of orange/brown and then die cut.  In the end I chose to layer 3 flowers at different levels using 3D foam dots.

 

The background was 'handmade' by 'smooching' black/silver/gold inks to bring out the texture of the white cardstock.  The background was trimmed & layered onto a black card, then placed onto white cardbase (300gsm).

 

The step-by-step instructions that came with the stamp set were great.  I made a slight mis-alignment on some of the petals, but for a first attempt, I am happy.  I just love the way the leaf at the bottom of the flower turned out. 

The foiled birthday sentiment has been in my stash for quite a while - it was one of those pre-cut A4 sheets which I think I got at one of the craft shows many years ago.  See, I never throw anything away!

I am really looking forward to having another play with this stamp set - I have been searching the internet for 'colours of echinacea flowers' for inspiration!  There are pinks, purples and yellows and there is even a white one!

--oo0oo--

Fitting with the Seize the Birthday Challenge, I made this a birthday card, and it will most probably go to the Sister-in-Law :)

The As You Like it Challenge asks us to nominate which card we like to send and why.  For me, it would be Birthday Cards, as I usually make them with a specific person in mind so that each card is unique.

This is my 2nd card linking with AAA Birthday Game #45 - Anything Goes

Linking With the following challenges:

Seize the Birthday #253 - Anything Goes

As You Like it Challenge - Fave reason to send a card

AAA Birthday #45 - Anything Birthday Goes

ITEMS USED

Stamps/Dies:  Altenew BAF Coneflower

Inks: Versafine Onyx, Ranger Distress Inks, SU inks

Tools: Cuttlebug

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.