Birthday feathers

28 May 2018 4 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS Tags:

Trying to keep this one simple with bold colours. Sometimes we need more encouragement even on our special day!

Despite the fact it’s noon here, I can’t get the Catherine Pooler Tutti Frutti colour to photograph as vibrant as it is in real life: it’s a fabulous bright orange. I also used Peacock Feathers distress ink and Colorbox brown dye ink on feathers from L’Aquarelle stamped in memento black and fussy cut. Tried handlettering the sentiment but I’m not quite there yet… so it’s computer-generated with Kimberley Geswein‘s beautiful fonts.

This is inspired by All the Little Things #86 with the fabulous feathers in the picture.

 

Plus Kim’s sketch FMS338 from Freshly Made Sketches – and I knew it would have to be feathers as soon as I saw, it!

Also CAS on Friday’s Birthday challenge #133

Haiku:

Watch the feathers float
Carrying your cares away
Leaving you sweet peace.

Challenge honours

27 May 2018 Comments Off on Challenge honours

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS, Ladies, Masculine

Having spent much of the past two weeks in and out of hospital with a family member needing medical care, I was enormously cheered up to be picked out in various challenges recently.

Agapanthus Drops

  and 

Weekly winner at CAS Colours and Sketches Colour Challenge #272  announced 25  May 2018 and Top 3 at Crafty Gals Corner #165 Add a Flower announced 23 May 2018

My 70th birthday card for a friend was Joint challenge winner at

 

Seize the Birthday “It’s Just a Number” announced 24 May 2018

and Happy Birthday Cat (which was a real challenge for me to make!)

was  and

Muse Challenge #366 announced 22 May 2018, CAS on Friday #132 Cute announced 18 May 2018.

Thank you to everyone who picked my cards. It’s such an encouragement!

Haiku:
When I’m feeling down
My phone chirps to bring good news
of cardmaking joy!

Agapanthus drops

19 May 2018 6 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS, floral, Friends

Revisiting a favourite Stampendous Agapanthus stamp, with a masked and watercoloured panel and Nuvo Jewel yellow raindrops…  The sentiment is Uniko Originally Organic (another favourite).

This one is inspired by Time Out’s word challenge #109:

It’s in blue, green and yellow colours reflecting CAS Colours and Sketches #272

Also entering in Crafty Gals #165: Add a flower

Haiku:

Sometimes you must just
Throw out the technology
Return to nature…

Seventy eclipses

17 May 2018 5 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, Masculine

A friend is 70. Can’t believe it really. Such a nice guy! So this is his card.

I saw the challenge at Just Add Ink and wondered what on earth Eclipse Stamping is. It seems to be this – where there’s a word or number cut out of the background and barely visible.  I don’t have a die cutter so that makes it difficult. This number was fussy cut. I used my Misti to make two identical panels so I could make more of a mess cutting it out…

You can barely see the top of the 7 in the photo – is that a success or not?

The stamps are Papermania vintage in Distress Oxides Wild Honey, Wilted Violet and Faded Jeans.

So entered in Just Add Ink’s Eclipse challenge #409

 

and Seize the Birthday’s “Just a Number” topping option. (Second entry)

Haiku:

I wish you happy:
A birthday, however big
Is just a number

Happy Birthday Cat!

15 May 2018 10 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS

This one is so far out of my comfort zone, you wouldn’t believe. Or maybe you will, as you can see the quality of my colouring. But be gentle, I’m a newbie! I don’t normally do cute and I don’t do colouring!

A cute stamp set (free from a magazine years ago!) with watercolour pencils in blue, grey and yellow and sentiments from Uniko and Papermania, in Memento black and fossilised amber Distress Oxide.

I was inspired out of my comfort zone by a few challenges:

Muse #266 – with Tracey’s sweet card to CASE

 

The colours at Less is More #371

and of course CAS on Friday’s challenge #132 to use a cute stamp 🙂

Perhaps it will be popular in my charity box with the cat-lovers.

Haiku (a loved one’s had an eye op):

Cover your eyes, dear.
Rest, as they heal, and know that
You colour my world

Twenty five!

13 May 2018 1 Comment

by Helen in Birthday, Cards

Here’s a card for a special birthday. The yellow, red and grey colours of Colour Throwdown this week look good together, that red really makes it stand out. And the lovely smoky grey is a nod to silver and 25 years. It looks soooo much better in real life…

Distress oxides Wild Honey, Fossilised Amber and Hickory Smoke smooshed onto watercolour paper and backed and matted with dark red textured paper.

This is entered into

Seize the Birthday It’s Just a Number

  

and Colour Throwdown #492 Red/Yellow/Grey

 

Birthday Blossom Burst

06 May 2018 4 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS

Although I don’t have the real colours from CAS Colours and Sketches, I thought I’m bound to have something similar.  But I tried three light blues and three light browns/greys, and they’d nearly all dried up. I was able to get an image from a soft azure blue chalk ink which is my nearest to Blue Sky now, and a chestnut brown which had dried out to a much paler colour than it started out. It wouldn’t have been possible without the MISTI to keep stamping…  Happily the Catherine Pooler Party Dress standing in for the Berry Burst is juicy and colourful.

Then I went looking for the right card to mat the burst onto… I know the colour I wanted, but I guess I must have used that up too! So there was very little left to try this with…  Sentiment is go-to-standard Uniko Simply Said in memento black, and the flowers are Organic Wishes and Kindness Blooms, also Uniko.  I think I need yet more new inks. Shame my Stampin’ Up lady closed up shop.

I think the left hand one is more CAS, so entering that into CAS Colours and Sketches #270

 

And also entering Seize the birthday Anything Goes

These are going in the box to sell in aid of the activity table for the people with dementia.

Haiku:

Flower heads drift down
Floating on gentle warm wind
I doze in springtime

Vintage masculine

06 May 2018 2 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, Masculine

This card is for my Uncle, who’s in his 80s, so a vintage masculine theme sprang to mind. I glanced at the current colour challenges, dismissed them, and then went back to Fab Friday’s Grey, Turquoise (Bermuda Bay) and Lemon Lime Twist colours.  I used my nearest colours as I don’t have the originals.

Mermaid Lagoon and Hickory Smoke Distress inks and Colorbox Lime, including on the background of the sentiment strip. I used dark turquoise backing card. Uniko and L’Aquarelle for the sentiment, masculine vintage stamps from Sheena Douglass, Docrafts and Heidi Swapp.

This is entered into Fab Friday’s Challenge 136

Also Cards in Envy’s Birthday theme challenge (this one is definitely going in an envelope!)

Haiku:

Wishing you joyful
Twilight years of family
and sweet memories.

Birthday time

27 Apr 2018 2 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, Masculine

I have been looking at these elements for a week without coming up with a card until I reviewed Jaydee’s sketch at the Paper Players PP390 and it came together.

Snippets of card, a motif from an Artsy Collage book, sentiments by S C Design and stamps by Heidi Swapp. Colorbox creamy brown chalk ink and Brilliance gold. Memento black for the sentiment. Times like this I really wish I had a die cutter  – a gold die cut would have really finished it off…

Here’s the sketch

   

Also entering this one into Less is More’s challenge 369 Bring Something Back – as I’ve delved into ancient stash and brought back Patterned Paper and a cut-out Collage motif!

Haiku:

Time to think about
The years rolling by so fast
Need to catch my breath

Colourful transport

22 Apr 2018 5 Comments

by Helen in Birthday, Cards, CAS, Christmas, Masculine

I love colour challenges, but I always seem to come up with ideas just after they close… So I thought I’d have a go at thinking up ways to incorporate three or more colours into a design.

This is one. Not sure it works! The colours don’t fit any existing challenge. And mix chalk ink (purple and brown) with Catherine Pooler ink (Tutti Frutti). Plus some snippets of pearlised purple and brown card, and one background created with the Catherine Pooler ink which gives a lovely rich coverage. The stamps are a real mix, too. Uniko sentiment

As it is forms of transport I’ll enter it into Cards4Guyz Transport challenge #192

And at Watercooler Wednesday WWC166 – Kath’s Masculine “Anything Goes” Challenge

Haiku

Bright light hurts my eyes
My cardigan is too warm!
Suddenly it’s spring 🙂

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