Monthly Challenge

Continuing with the Garden poem for the Craft Barn monthly challenge we have to add a daffodil (preferably dancing) and a hare.
I am finding it very hard to get enthused by this challenge but I've started so I will try and finish. I have chosen a postcard format with a landscape orientation and am finding that once the required elements are added there is very little room for further creativity. I'm probably the only person having this problem but it accounts for my rather lacklustre pages so far. Perhaps by the time we get to October or November I will have got into my stride with this size.
Fortunately I received a daffodil stamp in a freebie set with a magazine recently and whilst I have no hare stamps I do have my Alice Palace bunnies which I thought I could use. I was searching online when I came across this colourful hare which can be purchased as a print by Fox. he seemed suitably mad March hare-like so I decided to incorporate him in some way. I was given several packs of glitter flourishes recently which I thought would be good for depicting the swirling breezes. The daffs were coloured with coloursoft pencils.
That's it for this month, as ever I am curious to see what everyone else has made.

Alphabet ATC - B

I normally post details of each ATC separately but this month, as they have all been created in a similar way I am posting the set of 3 together. The letter this month is B.
I started off with a background made with blue and green Perfect Pearls which I spritzed with water to set it. When dry this went through a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Persia. I brushed mowed lawn DI over the top to highlight the embossing. I used my new marker pens for all the colouring and wanted to create some colourful rather than realistic images.
The top ATC is B for Beauty. I used an old Elusive Images set for the flower and the quote. I had originally thought of using one of the Gibson Girl stamps I have but  the reference to a 'thing' of beauty made me decide to go for a floral image instead.
Next comes B for Bird. I used one of the less well-known Dina Wakley scribbly bird stamps and text with some washi tape and gems.
The final ATC is B for Butterfly. The butterfly is from a stamp and cut set by Dare 2 B Artzy. The bloom is by Altenew and the word is by Paper Artsy. I embellished with some gems and black enamel accents.

Rebel Stampers ATC Swap - March Technique Part 2

This is the Twinchie ATC for this month's Rebel Stampers swap. I used a Hero Arts flower stamp and coloured it with alcohol markers. I have to say I'm so glad I bought the sets of First Edition markers at a show recently. I am enjoying using them and although they don't have the colour variations of Copic or other brands I think what I have is good enough for me. The base card is made of paints, inks and stencils. I had made it for another project but it hadn't worked out as intended and was languishing on my desk asking to be used. The text is by Paper Artsy.

Rebel Stampers ATC Swap - March Technique Part 1

The technique this month on the Rebel Stampers forum for the ATC swap is Inchies & Twinchies - as ever I couldn't decide which to do so did one of each.
The background was made with a patterned paper base and then stencilled over. The inchies are from a stamp by Magenta. I stamped them onto text paper and then coloured them in adding glossy accents for the centres where appropriate. The text is from a Paper Artsy set.

Rebel Stampers ATC Swap - March Theme Part 2

Continuing with my second ATC for the Rebel Stampers Swap on the theme of Spring Bouquet. I went for some more flowers that are typically evocative of Spring - Tulips. I used an old favourite Penny Black stamp with a watercolour technique. This is the first generation impression, I have made the second impression into a card which I blogged a few days ago. I wanted to keep to the pastel, spring theme and used a multicolour Brilliance inkpad called Aurora with an Inkylicious brush strokes stamp for the background. Some sequins finished off the ATC.

Rebel Stampers ATC Swap - March Theme Part 1

This month the ATC Swap theme on the Rebel Stampers forum is Spring Bouquet. This is my first ATC, not a bouquet in the conventional sense but definitely a Spring flower - the crocus. I made the background with DIs, stamps and stencils and then stamped the image and coloured it with alcohol markers.

Craft Barn blog candy

The Craft Barn has some blog candy to give away. You can find all the details here. Good Luck!

Watercolour Tulips

I wanted a watercolour tulip image for an ATC and while I was stamping it I made a second generation print at the same time. The original will feature later this month but here is the second generation image. As I had quickly stamped it out on a small scrap of card I felt it needed some extra layers and searched through my scrap bags for something appropriate. The text is from a Paula Pascual set.

Pantone Card Challenge - March

This month's colour for the Pantone Card Challenge on the UK Scrappers forum is Primrose Yellow. The inspiration pic that went with it had a duvet cover with small blue and yellow birds which reminded me of my Dina Wakley Scribbly Birds set. I stamped a few birds out and coloured them in with my alcohol ink markers.
The background uses mustard seed, squeezed lemonade and spiced marmalade DIs and Impress lemon yellow. I used various stamps and stencils to build up the colours. The bird was cut out and stuck on and I added a sentiment from the same set.
This next card was made in a similar way:

I had embossed the pearlescent blue card blank for the first card but the embossing had cracked the card and it didn't look good so I used the unmarked half for the top card and used the cracked part as a matt on the second card. I rubbed some archival ink over the cracked embossing to cover the white card showing through.