Mosaic II + Colour Throwdown 184

I'm trying a new challenge this weekend with Colour Throwdown.  The sun is shining and the snow is melting, so this combo was perfect to match the spring mood.  I don't use the subtles all that much, so using so many of them here was certainly a challenge for me.

Yesterday I discovered the mosaic technique, and this morning I made a HUGE mosaic.  It's got to be 5" X 6".  This might not seem very big, but cutting and gluing all of those little pieces in place was no small task.  It took me the better part of an hour to do it, but I'm happy that I've got one now.  I think that I will be using it a lot.  Next week I'm going to try using different inks on it to make backgrounds.

In keeping with the spring mood, I chose Simply Soft for my stamping.  The flowers are lovely, and they lend themselves nicely to messy colouring.  I stamped the images in Certainly Celery, and then used my So Saffron and Marina Mist markers to fill in the petals.  Elegant Eggplant was used to make the mosaic.

It took a little bit of playing, but I finally ended up with Four Frames and a nice button to cap it all off.  The sentiment that I've used comes from Petite Pairs.  If you don't have that set yet, you should add it to your wish list.  There are a variety of great little sayings in there, and the layout of them allows you to use with a variety of shapes of punches.

Mosaic Technique + Hand Stamped Sentiments 110

You know how Stampin' Up's stamps come in that piece of rubber that you have to punch your stamps out of?  Well, I always feel guilty throwing the pieces away because I feel like I can use them for something, so I've saved a few of them.  I saw this technique ages ago, but completely forgot about it until I was looking through Splitcoast stampers and saw it again.  So out to the craftroom this morning to give it a whirl!

I am in L.O.V.E.!  I love the emboss resist technique, but this adds a whole new element to it.  I originally pulled out this set for a Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge sine the image lends itself nicely to water colouring.  It had been sitting on my desk waiting to be coloured, I just wasn't sure what colours I was going to use.  Yesterday I received an order that contained some Always Artichoke cardstock and seam binding ribbon (my absolute fave ribbon).  After using my ink pads and blender pen, I used my newly made mosaic stamp to cover the image with Versamark.  I then used clear embossing podwer and heat set it, creating the little tiles.  The final step here is the brayered ink in Soft Suede and Always Artichoke.  The dark ink really makes the image look like a mosaic.

If you aren't familiar with the mosaic stamp, check out the page on Splitcoast Stampers.  It's really simple and chances are you've got what you need to make it!

Colour Q #129

Being on spring break means I have more spare time on my hands than I know what to do with.  So what do I do with it?  Spend hours looking at challenge blogs and making cards - that's what.  I love the Colour Q site when I need inspiration, but I've never played along with their challenges.  Of course the week I choose to do so, one of the colours I like least shows up.

Don't get me wrong, Tempting Turquoise is a nice colour, but I rarely find myself using the brights.  (However, I did make 2 cards with brights this week...)  It was especially challenging to use these colours together.

I knew that I wanted to have white butterflies, so I added a few in Rich Razzleberry as well.  I think they look whimsical.  I really like the layout that I did for this card, so I think I'll repeat it in neutrals for a wedding card.

I'm not in love with this one, but I like it well enough.  I should have left the bottom corner alone and I would have liked it more, but, being a challenge and all, I tried something that I don't usually do, and stamped the sentiment right on the DSP.  Big mistake.  It looked horrible.  I had to cover it up with something, so this is what I ended up with.

Why am I posting this card if I don't like it?  Because I did something outside of my comfort zone, and though I don't love the colours, I do love the layout.

Freshly Made Sketches 27

I am attempting to do three challenges a week.  This means that I needed to find challenges for each day of the week, and today Freshly Made Sketches came out with this one.

I like distressing.  Change that - love distressing.  This week I decided to change things up and try a "clean"challenge.  I'm not sure if it really cuts the mustard when it comes to being "clean", but here's my attempt!

Tool Shed is a great masculine set.  I've only got two other sets that are manly, but one has a ship on it (not every man is a sailor) and the other one has a plane (less specific, but still...), so I find that I run out of masculine cards to make.  This was a good sketch for this set, using it in a different way than I usually do.

I love this combination of colours, and I'd be lying if I said I haven't used it on quite a few man cards.

Mojo Monday 233 - Everybunny

Mojo Monday on time 2 weeks in a row!  I hosted a card buffet this afternoon and I wasn't sure if I was going to get to this sketch on time, but I did!  Usually I just hang out and help or demonstrate techniques during a card buffet, but today I actually got to do a bit of stamping.

 That consisted of stamping and colouring this image only, but it's more than I usually do.  I am pretty much in love with this cute little guy (whom I have named Belvedere).  After I stamped and coloured the images I put them on my desk and did my clean up after the ladies were all gone.  I came back into the house, downloaded this week's sketch and knew I could use my newly stamped image!

I chose some pretty traditional Easter colours and swapped out the strip of scalloped paper for the decadent pleated satin.  I don't usually make card that have all of the paper and images flat, so the ribbon and flower gave me some much needed dimension.  Tomorrow I think I'll play with this set a little more and see what else I can come up with.

Up, Up and Away!

Why on Earth did I wait so long to get this set!  I am in L.O.V.E.  It's just so stinkin' cute!  It arrived on Friday but I've been busily cleaning out my garage and getting ready for an event tomorrow so I haven't had time to pull it out yet.  However, tonight I snuck out for a bit and came up with this cutie for the Stamping 411 challenge from last week.

Though I must admit that I don't care much for the brights family compared to the others, these images just begged to be set in Tempting Turquoise and Daffodil Delight.  A little Old Olive gives it just the right amount of extra punch.

Pals Paper Arts 131

This week's sketch over at PPA seemed like it was made especially for showing off DSP.  My dear friend Carmelle is finishing her Masters degree next month so I wanted to make her a card to tell her how happy I am for her.  I was looking through my stash when I came across Timeless Portrait.  

I originally had the card set up for a River Rock base, but I love the pop that Island Indigo gives it.

The final touch on the inside was a little embossed strip of Vintage wall paper.  I don't really have any stamps that I wanted to pair with the DSP, but I needed something in there.  I used the de-bossed side for something a little different.