Tropical Sunset

I'm very pleased with the way this card has turned out. I have been so out of touch with crafting for a while that my stamping ability has deteriorated badly. I bought this Crafty Individuals stamp (CI 497) in a recent sale. It's such a large detailed stamp that I didn't think it needed anything but an ombré background. I used DO's in broken china, fossilized amber, spiced marmalade, candied apple and a touch of wilted violet at the top. For me the best way to achieve a smooth gradation was to go back each time with my blending tool and use the lighter colour to blend the 2 colours together. It was a bit fiddly figuring out the exact placement of the blue for the sea but it worked out ok. I used my stamping platform and Versafine to stamp the image. I did try and lift some of the colour from the clouds with a wet brush and a tissue but it didn't work very well. I mounted it on a white card blank to finish. I'm debating whether to put a sentiment on the front (between the sun and the palm leaves) but I think it will detract from the image.

Monthly Challenge - January

This month's letter is A for Alcohol (appropriate I thought as 'Dry January' is in full swing). The colour options are Amber, Auburn and Azure. I used my neglected alcohol inks in stonewashed, terracotta, rust, butterscotch and stream to make a background. The gin glass was stamped, coloured with pencils and solvent and cut out. The text is a handy stamp with lots of words such as chocolate, glitter and gin that can be added to complete the phrase. I cut it with a deckle edged die and inked the edges with lucky clover DI. A couple of star gems and some wink of stella completed the postcard.
I'm delighted I've caught up and hope I don't fall behind again.

Monthly Challenge - December

December's letter was V for Vintage with colour options of vermillion, violet and viridian.
I used a couple of stencils and frayed burlap DI for the background and stamped over with some Paper Artsy numbers and a Kaleidacolor ink pad. The schoolboy image is from an old Paper Artsy set with a washi tape edging (could that green be called viridian?). The little postage stamp is from a Graphic 45 set as is the small strip of alphabet paper behind it. The text is by Paper Artsy and was attached with some cotton string. A small alphabet block brad finished the postcard.

Monthly Challenge - November

Hello (waves frantically and blows the dust off the blog)! It's been a very long time during which I have travelled and started on a new project and generally been busy with family and Christmas and stuff (life in general). I haven't done much in the way of crafting apart from some cards for Christmas but with the start of a new month/year/decade I decided I had to catch up with my monthly challenge so yes it's January and yes I'm posting November's postcard.

The letter was J for Joy with the optional colour choice being Jade (which I chose to ignore). This postcard is in memory of my German Shepherd Cassie who used to love the snow and on the rare occasions we had enough to settle would race around in the garden like a mad thing and try and catch the snowflakes on her snout.
I stamped and clear heat embossed some snowflakes and then used tumbled glass and salty ocean DIs all over to make the sky. The snowdrifts are a Sizzix die with a little sparkle embossing on the edges. The rabbits are my beloved Alice Palace stamps from Crafty Individuals with their crowns heat embossed in gold. The lower text is computer generated and the top is a printed sentiment and a Paula Pascual stamp. I added some small punched snowflakes to finish.