Hey!
I know, I know, it's been a long time! I've been snowed under with work just lately, but I'm hoping to be able to get more card time in now :)
I'm going to keep the chatter brief because there's a few pictures to look at today.
Ok, I have all of FIVE of my cards for this months' Viva La Verve. As it was my birthday last week, I had a whole bunch of thank you cards to make. This happily coincides with the challenge over at WOW! Embossing Powder this month which is 'Anything Goes - Thank You'. Well...I've got a whole bunch of entries!!
As per usual, I'm cutting it really close for both deadlines, so without further ado - here are my cards!
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
WOW! Entry
Week 5
WOW! Entry
So there you have it - a bunch of thank you cards (which I hope will be well received!) and six challenge entries - phew!
I hope you have enjoyed this gallery post - have a good evening and thank you for dropping by :)
Supplies
Card One
Card: White, Black, Teal, Pale Turquoise
Stamps: Verve - Bloom and Grow; Papermania - V&A Cornfield
Ink: Versamark - Black
Other: Spellbinders - Circles small and large dies; Universal embossing folders - Venus and
Cottage Floral; WOW! embossing powder - Ebony; pearls
Card Two
Card: White, Pale Turquoise; K&Co. Best Of
Stamps: Verve - Sunny Days
Ink: SU! - Classic Black; Distress Inks - Victorian Velvet, Wild Honey
Other: Spellbinders - Scallop Circles, Dahlia; pearls, thread
Card Three
Card: White, Black, Orange
Stamps: Verve - Bloom and Grow
Ink: SU! - Classic Black; Distress Ink - Spiced Marmalade
Other: Spellbinders - Scallop Circles large; Circles large; Crafty Ribbons - Orange and Black
saddle stitch; pearls
Card Four
Card: White, Black, Bright Red, Daffodil, Orange
Stamps: Verve - Bloom and Grow
Ink: Ranger - Perfect Medium; Distress Inks - Wild Honey, Spiced Maralade, Barn Door
Other: Spellbinders - Fleur De Lis Motifs, Circles; pearls
Card Five
Card: White, Black, Lime
Stamps: Verve - Sunny Days; WMS - Big Day Essentials
Ink: Versamark - Black; Ranger - Perfect Medium
Other: Spellbinders - Anenome Flower Topper; Verve - Leafy Sprig Die; WOW! embossing
powder - Clear Matt Dull; pearls, rhinestones
Hey peeps!
I'm back with another entry for this months' WOW! Embossing Powder challenge - Monochrome. I love monochrome and tone on tone cards. I saw this card by Becca Feeken and was inspired to have a go at making my own version. Becca just has the most fabulous way of looking at her tools and materials and is a real inspiration. And, to top it off, she's really sweet :)
So, here's my interpretation;
I'm sorry if it's difficult to see in this photo? Layering is not something I usually do and neither are intricate patterns, but I'm really pleased with the way this turned out :)
Once again, I used WOW!'s Violet Pearl embossing powder for the sentiment and it has a lovely sheen in real life :) I love this stuff!
Thanks for dropping by :)
Supplies
Card: Paper Mill Direct - White
Stamps: Verve - One Person
Ink: VersaColor - Cyan
Other: WOW! Violet Pearl embossing powder; Spellbinders - Parisian Motifs, Fleur De Lis Motifs, Standard
Circles Small and Large; V&A Hanover ef; Crafty Ribbons - Ivory seam binding, pearls
Hey guys!
This time I AM here with my Viva La Verve post! This is a two-fer too :)
The sketch for Week 2;
I'll be honest - I was petrified when I first saw this sketch! Look at it! All layers and details and not me at all! Well, after having a moan, I sat down to make my card and I was surprised at how easily it came together!
Here's my card;
I know I didn't put the little ribbon trim along the bottom, but I just couldn't add anything more - it was starting to hurt! :)
Then there was Week 3;
I was really looking forward to this sketch, but typically, this is the one that caused me a problem! Doh! However, once I got into it, I felt better :)
My sister will like this card so I think it will be headed her way soon :)
Thanks for dropping by, as always it's much appreciated :)
Supplies
Card 1
Card: Paper Mill Direct - Off White, Forest Green, Bright Red; Stampingallday digi paper
Stamps: Papermania - Let It Snow; Waltzingmouse - Flourishes-Dots and Scallops
Ink: Ranger - Perfect Medium; Distress Ink - Antique Linen, Barn Door, Vintage Photo
Other: Spellbinders - Classic Scallop Edgeabilities, Labels 18; Crafty Ribbons - Greenbrier seam
binding; doily, rhinestones; WOW! Apple Red embossing powder
Card 2
Card: Paper Mill Direct - Off White, Pale Turquoise, Dark Brown; K&Co - Best Of
Stamps: Verve - Kind Words
Ink: Distress Ink - Vinatge Photo, Broken China
Other: Crafty Ribbons - Cream and Lilac seam binding; pearls; thread
Hello!
Ok, so I'm not here with my Viva La Verve just yet - I nearly forgot about this card! I am entering the Sketch For You To Try challenge this month. I have seen this challenge around on peoples' blogs, but after the Verve Anni-VERVE-sary blog hops, I had a lot of exposure to it! Verve is sponsoring the challenge this month, so many of the Verve Divas used this sketch for their showcases of Verves' new stamps and dies (which by the way, are awesome and I want them all!)
So, I thought I'd have a go at this sketch. I thought it looked kinda easy, but I was surprised! I got there in the end and my card has been growing on me over the last few days :)
I turned the sketch 90 degrees clockwise;
This is another 'Julee' card - CASS :)
Like I said, this card is growing on me, but I'm still not 100% sure - let me know what ya think :)
Thanks for dropping by :)
Supplies
Card: Paper Mill Direct - White, White Linen, Black, Peppermint, Daffodil, Apple Green, Citrus
Orange
Stamps: Verve - Great Friend, Bloom and Grow, Wishful Elegance
Ink: SU! Black; VersaColor - Evergreen; Distress Ink - Wild Honey
Other: Verve Cut Above Die - Elegant Leaves; Crafty Ribbons - Pumpkin seam binding; pearls
Hello there!
I'm here today with an entry for the challenge over at Crafty Ribbons Challenge blog. The fabulous theme for this challenge is 'FEELING FRUITY'!
This is an extra special challenge as it includes a DT call and I am chancing my arm and putting myself forward for it! Fingers crossed, wish me luck! The details are here if you fancy a go too :)
Ok, on to my card;
Unfortunately I had to take this photo with my phone as my darling other half has pinched my camera for the day to do a survey! I mean, how rude! It does mean that it's quite difficult to see the contents of the glass :(
So anyway - fruit...Lime and Olives in a nice Martini - the best way to have fruit, surely?! Other than a nice glass of wine, of course ;)
I was lucky enough to win a £25 voucher for Crafty Ribbons a little while ago as part of their 'Crafting For Gold' event. My parcel of ribbon arrived the other day and it was like Christmas! The ribbon I used for this card was their grosgrain saddle stitch ribbon. I have it in nearly all the colours and it's great, so versatile!
I drew the Martini glass with my WOW! embossing pen and embossed in Ebony. Then I added the Martini and the fruit. I really like how bright and cheerful this card turned out, and I'm hoping the gals over at Crafty Ribbons agree :)
That's all for now, I will be back shortly with my other Viva La Verve challenge entries :)
Thanks for stopping by :)
Supplies
Card: Paper Mill Direct - White, Lime, Forest Green
Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Big Day Essentials
Ink: WOW! Embossing pen; SU! Black
Other: Crafty Ribbons - Lime/White Saddle Stitch ribbon; WOW! Ebony embossing powder;
toothpick
Hey guys!
I'm back with a Viva La Verve post.
Well, my attempting to post these in order has failed already!! Ah well, I wouldn't be me if I did things in the order they were intended :)
I still have the cards for the Weeks 2 and 3 to make - I'm a bit scared as the sketch for Week 2 is not me at all! Having said that, Week 4 is the 'CAS sketch' and I've gone all out of sorts! Something most peculiar has happened to me lately and my cards are coming out all girly and dare I say it, almost shabby!!? (Shabby for me anyway, I'm sure most people would still say that it's fairly CAS!) Actually, I think I am going to steal Julee's description for this style - CASS - Clean and [sort of] simple! I think it's brilliant and it'll really catch on :)
Here's the sketch and my card for this week;
I can only apologise for the ABSOLUELY dreadful photograph! The light here is astonishingly poor and it didn't matter what I did in good ol' Photoshop, the light situation could not be entriely rectified. You should've seen the original photograph - c'est terrible!!
Anyway, like I said, this was supposed to be the CAS sketch - well, my card is anything but somehow! I don't really know how it happened, it's not like me at all to keep adding layers and embellishments but I actually quite enjoyed it :) I made the flower using cardstock and tracing paper - it gave a full look but was just transparent enough to not be too heavy or overbearing - I think anyway :)
Let me know what you think about my departure from the CAS - I'm intrigued to know whether I've pulled it off or not?!
Thanks, as always, for stopping by :)
Supplies
Card: Paper Mill Direct - White, White Hammered, Sky Blue, Pink Sorbet, Sky Grey; K&Co - Best Of;
tracing paper
Stamps: Verve - One Person, Great Friend, Notepaper PJ
Ink: VersaColor - Cyan, Charcoal
Other: WOW! Clear embossing powder; Spellbinders - Fleur-De-Lis Motfis; Tim Holtz - Tattered
Florals Dies; Crafty Ribbons - Lemonade seam binding; doily, rhinestones, sewing thread
Hello there!
I'm here today with a card for this months WOW! Embossing Powder Challenge - Monochromatic.
The DT are also showcasing the pearlescent embossing powders. I chose the Violet Pearl embossing powder when I won their June challenge with this card. I love it! By using a different base colour, it changes the effect the pearl powder has. For example, if you emboss with the Violet Pearl onto white, it gives a white pearl finish with a shimmer of violet. If you use it on a black background then the effect is a deeper, shimmering purple! It's quite interesting trying it out on different coloured backgrounds!
I have taken a slight liberty with the term 'monochrome'. Now, my card isn't strictly monochrome, but I'm hoping the wonderful guys over at WOW! will let me off a little bit :)
See what I mean?! I should've done the sentiment in white and used white pearls, but I really wanted to show off the effects of the Violet Pearl embossing powder :)
The stripes at the top of the card were made by drawing them on using the WOW! Clear Embossing Pen and then I embossed using Violet Pearl powder. I know it doesn't show very well in this photo - sorry about that! I took a whole bunch of photo's to try and capture the shimmer, but it just wasn't happening! The sentiment was also embossed using Violet Pearl, but I used black ink. Here's a close up...
Again, not the greatest photo, sorry! At least David Bailey can rest knowing that his job is safe :)
I also have something else to share with you that I am excited about, not sure anyone else will be mind you!! Recently I made 100 wedding invitations for my best friends wedding. I had them all finished (and they looked fab if I do say so myself :) The bride to be was pleased which is no mean feat!!) and then it came to making my mark on the back of each one. I have a 'made by' stamp which I have always used and then just written my name beneath it in calligraphy. It's worked for me thus far. I hadn't really thought about it when I began making the invitations, but I was going to have to write my name out 100 times! Luckily it's only a short name, but after about 50 I was sick of writing it!
So, they were all hand written and sent to the bride to be. I then decided it was time for one of these...
He he! I was so excited when this turned up! I had ordered some stamps previously from Stampingallday and Nicky, the proprieter was nothing short of fantastic! Her customer service is second to none and she even had the patience to put up with a fussy customer like me! I sent Nicky my design via email, and after a lengthy email conversation (because I'm so fussy!) the design and dimensions were finalised and my little stamp was born :) As soon as it came through the door (which was the DAY after I ordered it!) I tried it out and it's better than I could have expected - no more writing my name!
I cannot stress enough how wonderful Nicky has been. Her website is jam packed full of original stamp designs - I suggest you take a look :) Here's a link to her personalised stamp service - definitely worth looking into if you need one making up!
Ok, I've calmed down again now!
Thanks for dropping in :)
Supplies
Card: Paper Mill Direct - White
Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Big Day Additions
Ink: WOW! Clear Embossing Pen; VersaColor - Black
Other: WOW! Violet Pearl embossing powder; Crafty Ribbons - Ivory seam binding; Spellbinders -
Butterflies Impressibilities; Snuggly Wool; pearls
