Celtic knot card

When I first started stamping, Celtic Knotwork designs were very popular, and as it is a style I love, I bought loads of stamps. But like all fashions, it passed and I was left with a collection of stamps that I seldom use but love too much to part with.

Then at the Make It Show I spotted this gorgeous Celtic Knotwork stencil and bought it, hoping that it means the fashion is about to return. And today I'm doing my bit to encourage that return.

First I stamped the knotwork circle (an old PSX stamp - it's dated 1998) onto gold mirri using Stazon ink. Even Stazon needs to be handled carefully to avoid smudging when it's used on mirri - I have to confess that this image isn't my first attempt. Then I cut out the image with  a circle die and matted it onto black then gold circles.

Then I stencilled the background using Starlights Paint from Imagination Crafts and layered that onto yet more gold mirri.

I am sharing this with:
Crafty Gals Corner - 3 or more layers
Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
Loves to Craft - Anything Goes
Crafting by Designs - Anything Goes    

Guest designer at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge

I was recently delighted to be picked as the February winner at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge and to be invited to be the guest designer for the month of April, so here I am with the first of four weekly posts.

This time the challenge is a colour challenge, and there are two sponsors, All Dressed Up and Paper Nest Dolls.

Here's the colour palette for the challenge:


The image I have used is called Have a Magical Evening from All Dressed Up.

I can't remember the brand name of the "Sparkle & Shine" die set that I used, but I've added Stickles to the Sparkle and Glossy accents to the Shine. So I guess that's the visual equivalent of onomatopoeia.

I am sharing this with
Digi Choosday - Anything Goes
Loves to Craft - Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps and More-  Anything Goes
Paper Shelter - Make it Digital

Easter or Spring at Cardz 4 Guyz

Spring is in the air - well it is in the Northern Hemisphere anyway. Goodness, I've just realised that my Australian friends must celebrate Easter in the middle of autumn. To me that seems even stranger than having Christmas in the middle of summer!

Anyway, enough rambling! This week's challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz is Easter or Spring, a theme that can seem a lot more challenging when making masculine cards than feminine ones. Thank goodness there's a gardener in the family to inspire me!

I created the brown frames in Word, resizing the page margins until I had the size of square that I wanted to use, and creating a two-page document with brown borders. Then I used Word Art to add the sentiment to the first page, and wrote a little gardening ditty to use on the second page. I printed and cut our the framed pages and stuck them to my card, then added some scrap corrugated card (originally packaging for a bottle of olive oil) and the barrow, watering can and spade. I used the First Edition Garden Dies and a selection of snippets. Finally I doodled in a few seedlings and added water from the can and some colour to the wheelbarrow wheel using a silver glitter gel pen.

I would like to share this at the Snippets Playground (and Sarn, THIS is why I didn't bring my snaily friend to play there!)  - I so very often think ahead to snippets makes when I'm designing my CFG cards, but 9 times out of 10 something else pushes it out of place before I get to publish the original card!

Quirky Crafts challenge #2 - Quirky Pets

It's time for our new challenge at Quirky Crafts, and this time it's all about Quirky pets - the quirkier, the better!

Our sponsor this month is The Cutting Café, who are providing three prizes for our winners.

I thought a snail would be a particularly quirky creature to have as a pet!  This little fellow and the sentiment came from the Animals and Bug Love Set.  I've layered it up with lots of snippets left from one of the free paper stacks that came with a magazine several years ago. I coloured the snail in with Promarkers then made the shell dotty by dabbing a Promarkers blender pen over it, to go with the dotty background paper.

I actually found the sketch that inspired this layout at Aurora Wings - sadly I am a day too late to enter the challenge but I'd like to give them credit for a super and versatile sketch that I'm sure I'll return to again and again.

I am sharing this with
A Bit More Time To Craft - Anything Goes
Just Add Ink - Critters  
Classic design Team Open Challenge - April 
2 Crafty Critters - FIRST CHALLENGE  Anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - April  

Postcards from the ocean

Are you tired of me yet? Only one more post after this today and then I'll shut up until Tuesday. I think this lovely sunshine has brought Mr Moho out to play.....

The two lovely travel poster stamps I have used on this are from a wonderful set I bought years ago from Tanda Stamps - sadly no longer in business. The postcards are from a set of travel themed stamps I got in a bargain bin at a show, and the suitcase is an UM that I've had for so long I can't remember where it came from! The backing paper is from the same SU pad I used for the feather card I posted earlier today.

I am sharing this with
The Male Room - Black, White and a Splash of one other colour (splash - cruise - sea..... groooan!)
Sweet Stampin - Travel
Just us Girls - Sea

A bunch of Feathers

This month's House of Cards challenge  had me chomping at the bit to get started - feathers and/or a lovely colour palette of soft browns and teals



I couldn't wait to get started!

I've used a selection of papers from a Stampin Up stack whose label I've lost and added lots of die cut feathers, plus some mesh and twine.

The Chestnut Seller again!

I had some bits and pieces left over from the Chestnut Seller card that I made for CD Sundays last week, and as I'd enjoyed making that card so much I decided to use up the bits in a similar but different card.

This time instead of taking the vintage cycle route, I used some musical stave chipboard die cuts (from Tando) which I pressed into gold ink, covered with gold embossing powder and heat embossed. So as not to divert attention from the depth of these, I decided not to add the decoupage to the image this time. I used a deckle edged tearing ruler to edge the image and music paper.

I am sharing this with
Christmas Card Throwdown (I still find it hard not to add the "52") - Musical Notation
Crafty Hazelnut's Challenge - ATG or funny