LIM 56 - Scraps

For this week's LIM challenge we had to use scraps. I've been looking at the super-organised systems everyone has for their scraps and I thought I ought to 'fess up about mine. I have different stages in my organisation system. I tend to keep scraps of patterned paper inside the pads they come in. Miniscule patterned scraps tend to hang around on my desk along with various odd die-cuts, punched items, scraps of card & other bits I can't bear to throw out. Every now & then my desk gets unbearably messy and I have a tidy up. All my 'might come in useful one day' bits get put into a plastic folder and 'filed' on my windowsill (I have several of these folders at the moment!). I did try sorting them by colour one day but spent most of the time just looking through the bits and then made a couple of cards with some of them (so a result of sorts but not the intended result). The final stage is when my windowsill gets too full and I grab the folders and put them all into a big box. I do sometimes look through the box and sort a few bits out and make a card or two but I am going to have to do a lot more of that if I want to see the bottom of this box.
Anyway enough about my elaborate storage systems (not!) and back to this week's card. The black strip is the leftover bit from the coredinations cardstock I used in the diecut card here. I embossed and sanded it. The circular diecut was something I had cut for a project but it hadn't looked good so I had set it aside. I had a very pale pink piece of Bazill card which I had stamped on but the image had come out badly so instead of throwing away the card I used it last week to try out a new flower die. The colour was very pale and insipid so I sponged Brilliance pearlescent purple on the bottom flower and pearlescent orchid on the top one. A candi dot finished off the flower. So that's it for this week, I shall try and visit everyone but I have a busy week ahead.

UKS Domino Swap

On UK Stampers this month we have a domino book swap. I haven't made one of these for ages so I thought I'd join in. It was easier to take a pic of it before it was assembled so above you see the main components. Here is the finished version:

Sorry the pics are so bad but you get the idea. I realised after I'd finished that I had used my travel doms so the end result is even tinier than it should be. Both doms were coloured with raspberry, oregano & butterscotch alcohol inks and then stamped with a Studio G flower stamp. The edges are finished in gold Krylon. I then covered them with Glossy Accents and added a gem as the glaze was drying. The accordion fold book is a strip of paper from a KI Memories pack. The pattern was too vibrant so I toned the colour down with a few layers of picket fence Distress Stain. I stamped the text which I think is by Simple Expressions centrally and then covered the paper with various flower stamps and a butterfly & dragonfly from Paper Artsy, Craft Individuals and Rubber Stamp Tapestry.

I attached it to the dom with DST adding the ribbon and beads as a closure. I hope my swap partner likes it.

Diecut Card

Following on from this week's Less Is More theme of diecuts I thought I'd make something using my nesties. I used Impress cerulean blue, lemon yellow & peony purple on a piece of card, spritzed it with water and when dry die cut it with a nesties oval die. I also cut a scalloped oval mat. The black card is a strip of coredinations black magic cardstock embossed with a border folder from the measure set and then sanded. I stamped KTZ physalis with versafine onyx black.

LIM 55

Firstly thank you to everyone who commented on my stripes card last week. I was delighted to read your kind comments. I actually managed to visit everyone but I'm not sure I'll be able to do that this week. Here's a quick card for this week's Less Is More challenge which is to use diecuts and punches. There were already quite a lot of flowers & butterfly entries & I decided to take a different tack so I used my latest TH die - townscape. This was coloured with antique linen & tea dye DIs. I overstamped with a Paper Artsy text stamp and Memento London fog. The cloudy moon/sun is by Clarity Stamps stamped with London fog again.

Tim Holtz Tag - Feb

Although I have followed Tim Holtz's 12 tags of Christmas every year I've never actually played along. This is the first Timmy Tag I've ever done. This year he has decided to move on from just Christmas themed tags and to feature a tag every month (January's will come next month). You can see his original version here. I tried to use all the techniques he had but was determined to use what I had rather than buy something new. I used my CB heart blocks embossing folder which I brayered with spun sugar CI first. I distressed the edges and added worn lipstick DI. I do not have the dies he used but I had a set of chipboard shapes which had a heart so I used tissue tape on that. I cut out another heart from red holographic paper and stuck it over the top but it was just a bit to OTT for my tastes so I covered it with a red card heart (you can just see a bit of the holographic heart around the edges which actually looks quite nice).I added rock candy distress stickles but as my heart was much larger than TH's it looked too prominent. I have a very old booklet of ATC sized papers on a love theme and it had a little music print heart which was perfect to cover up some of the red. The booklet also had the LOVE text which I punched out & added glossy accents. The cherubs are punched out of gold card (I had a bit of a glossy accents explosion on them trying to squeeze my last bit of GA out to stick them down). The frilly lace is cut with the TH die and coloured with worn lipstick DI. I don't have any TH ideology stuff so I cut a gold charm with a CB die and added some beads from my collection. The ribbon was coloured with worn lipstick DI. I enjoyed the challenge of making do with what I had and I'm looking forward to next month.

Katzelkraft COTW - 6

For thr card of the week we were asked to use text in the background and take inspiration from a picture of some calligraphy (see below). I masked off an area and stamped the text stamp from Katzelkraft's backgrounds plate in weathered wood DI. I overstamped the flower from KTZ's oiseau musique plate and coloured it with coloursoft pencils and sansodor. The other text stamps are both from Paper Artsy petals plate 3. I added some ricrac braid.

Scraps!

I am a regular reader of Stamping Matilda's blog and every Sunday she does Sunday scraps where she makes a fabulous card or tag or something out of a selection of scraps from other projects. I've had this scrap of stripy wrapping paper on my desk for a few days and it seemed to go nicely with my last blue card blank which was part of a selection I bought years ago. I had a piece of elephant dung paper left over from my Craft Barn art journal page and it seemed to go nicely with the wrapping paper. I was looking for another colour to add to it when I found a scrap of pearlescent card in a sort of turquoise colour.I always have some bits of white card on my desk and there was enough for a punched circle and a little strip for text. The flower stamps are by Paula Pascual for PI and the text is from a See D's set. I'm quite pleased at the way it's come out - it's a pretty inoffensive card that is useful to have for emergencies.

Craft Barn Art Journal 2

To tie in with Valentine's Day we had to put things we love into hearts. My background was made with a wash of twinkling H2Os and then I randomly stamped various stamps all over. I used a pearl paint dabberto add a bit of sheen. The text has been stamped with archival plum onto Basic Grey eskimo kisses paper and cut out. I cut the hearts out with my nesties in various papers and I've stuck them down on one side only so that they open up to reveal stamping and journalling. 

1 The large heart is cut from washi paper and I have journalled and stamped under it about my love of Japan and paper.

2 The green heart is cut from elephant dung paper and embossed with the CB floral fantasy folder. Below it I have stamped and written about my love of Nature.

3 The final heart is made from Indian handmade paper that has silk fibres in it. I've embossed it with a CB paisley folder and it conceals stamping and journalling about family and India.

I've kept the colours quite sugary and bright as you see so many 'cute' posters etc in Japan & India I thought it would be appropriate. I've left space on the left for the binding.

Stripefest! LIM 54

This week's LIM challenge is for a one layer card with stripes - how could I not use my zebra stamp (don't know who it's made by I got it in a grab bag)? I stamped and masked the zebra (versafine onyx black). The background is a stamp from the Woodware jungle retro set which I stamped 6 times in Impress lemon yellow, a fab sunny colour that lifts you on a cold, grey day like today. The text is one I had made a while back. So there you have it, now I'm off to see what everyone else has done.

An Altered Reject

I had a little play with the reject card and added a contrasting colour (Versafine habanero). I coloured the pearls with a Sharpie. What a difference the addition of a tiny bit of another colour makes!

A Challenge Reject

I started this card for this week's LIM challenge the theme of which is 'Aqua'. I don't mind the card but I just can't find an aqua-ish colour in my repertoire of inks so this is going on the reject pile. The stamp is a cube by Impression Obsession with 4 different tiles on it. I stamped and cut out the 4 squares because even with a stamp positioner this is not an easy one to get right. I used Adirondack stream but I feel it's too dark and not greeny enough for aqua. I tried various others (Impress cerulean blue, Archival teal) but this was the closest I could get. It's not right so I'm going to give this week a miss. As it no longer has to be a CAS card I might change it around a bit. Watch this space...

UKS Postcard Swap Feb

The theme this month is circles. I went to see the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy this week and was inspired by the vibrant colours and the subject matter to make this.The background is Adirondack wild plum brushed onto some card with a thick stencil brush. The circle stamp is by Stampendous in wild plum with a Kars alphabet stamped with Impress emerald. I used the inner part of  my glue gun tape in Brilliance beige to stamp some random circles and then stippled spiced marmalade DI through some sequin waste. The tree is an embossing folder by Crafts Too to which I applied teal archival ink before running through my Cuttlebug. The tag is by Invoke Arts stamped in emerald, I think the quote sums up David Hockneys view of nature and if you look closely you will spot a tiny Invoke Arts ladybird. I added a few drops of glossy accents to highlight the tag holes.