Game Controller

For my big birthday my hubbie bought me a Cricut (now I might have already mentioned this on here so I will apologise as I am writing this in July lol) and I have been busy using the software to create some fun cards and cut outs, it has been a bit of a learning curve but I am enjoying it and using it much more than any other machine I have ever owned which is a good thing.

Hopefully by the time this publishes I will have made a lot more stuff and learnt a lot more too.

Drum Kit Eclipse

One of the last big birthdays for this year, I have looked at next years and there are no where near as many needed and part of me thinks I should get those made as well lol, I do love me some wishful thinking.

Ingredients
Image and Sentiment : creative stamping magazine
Dies: crealies XXL stitched square
Card: Pacific blue from Stampin Up

Splat Version 4

Yet another image from the pile and another splat card lol. I went with a different look and feel this time and only used one colour of ink and placed the stencil off-centre.

Ingredients
Image: big present from Lili of the Valley
Sentiment: clearly besotted
Ink: Summer sky from memento
Dies: blueprints 31 from MFT

Sentiment Strips with a Difference

Another two cards inspired by Jennifer McGuire, it was a really nice technique and one I really want to repeat.

Although it looks quick and simple to achieve it certainly wasn't lol, I do find that the simpler the design looks the more awkward it is to create.

Ingredients

Image: Fresh cut flowers from MFT

Sentiment: a little bit sentimental from Clearly besotted

Card: sour apple, berrylicious, blu raspberry and tropical teal all from MFT, new leaf and aqua mist from Papertrey Ink

Floral Stripes

I have been trying to use my large floral stamps for more than just copic colouring and this was one such attempt. I used colours that are unusual for me but I really like them. I do wish I had put the strips closer together but other than that its a quick and cute card.

Ingredients
Image: Fresh Cut flowers from MFT
Sentiment: a little sentimental from Clearly Besotted
Dies: A2 stitched rectangle stax from MFT

Magical Unicorn Number 4

As you can see I was getting in my stride with these cards, I colour coordinated the number and mane, the sentiment is where I want it and it’s started to come together as I envisioned, bit of a shame there is only one more to show lol.

Ingredients
Image: "unicorn lucy" from CC designs
Sentiment: "magical unicorn" from Crafters Companion
Dies: Scalloped frame from Gina Marie Designs and number from hobby lobby
Clouds: mini cloud stencil from MFT stamps and tumbled glass, cracked pistachio, worn lipstick, squeezed lemonade, shaded lilac and twisted citroen distress oxide inks

Copics
Skin - E13, 11, 00, 95
Hair - E59, 37, 35
Clothes - RV04, 02, 23, BV04, 02, 01, 00, B02, 01, 00, 0000, YG03, 01, 00, Y08, 06, 04, BG15, 13, 11

Flapper Girls

Sometimes you see a stamp set and it speaks to you, calls to you in fact and keeps calling until you buy it and use it. Now normally when I get a set of stamps they sit unused for a bit but not this time, I used them straight away and I even used all the images and most of the sentiments.

I have even experimented with a cheap set of oil pencils on one of the images ( the pencils were a bargain at under £20 for 160)

I made all the backgrounds using black card and white card coloured with galaxy gold dewdrop from memento and I was still on my stripes kick lol.

Ingredients

Images and Sentiments: 20's Gals by Roberto Rascals at CC Designs

Die: Blueprints 29 from MFT

Smile and Hello

I am using my first set of Waffle Flower stamps to make this card, and for once its not a birthday card lol.

Lockdown helped me to make all the cards I needed for 2020 in record time and now I am making stuff for fun and these cards are just that. I used the heffy doodle circle mask stencil which has markings etched into it showing where to position your cardstock so that the circle is central. As heffy doodle is based here the markings are for US A2 and UK A6 cards which is really handy.

Ingredients

Images: "waving hello" waffle Flower

Sentiment: MFT dies

Stencil: Heffy Doodle circle mask

Inks: tumbled glass, twisted citroen and mowed lawn distress oxides

Colby Caffeine

I bought this stamp a few years ago and  now I have coloured it in I wish I had done that sooner. I have been on a stash buying ban for the last few months (i am writing this in August lol so that might have ended)  and I am enjoying shopping my stash.

I have so many unloved and unused items in my craftroom that I really ought to use them before buying more. Now I haven't been able to tell myself I am on a ban as that makes me buy more but I have noticed my habits changing.

Ingredients
Image: colby caffeine from Whipper Snapper
Sentiment: simply quilled from Clearly Besotted
Dies: wonky stitched circles from MFT
background: denim stamped in elegant evening ink on the same cardstock

Splat Version 3

I will sound like a broken record soon because I have more splat and coloured images to show. I made these cards whilst explaining on a zoom call how I made the previous two versions, the colours on ink created a truly awful middle colour but the image hides most of that lol.

Two more completed and out of the pile. I have also realised that I am choosing different sentiments than my usual "happy birthday".

Ingredients

Images: recipe for happiness from MFT stamps

Stencil: Splat from Clearly Besotted

Inks: distress inks in spiced marmalade and salty ocean

Happy Everything

More images found in the already coloured pile, I wish I could say I was nearing the end of the pile but I fear I haven't even made a dent in it yet. I have made 20 cards so far with the images and I probably have another 300 waiting in the wings!!!!!

I will say that I am enjoying using stuff up, it gives a great sense of accomplishment even if I have no idea what I am going to do with all the cards lol.

I decided to use a very Jennifer Mcguire feel on these cards, I embossed the backgrounds and cut on a diagonal so I could make two cards from each panel. then I simply cut two thin strips of coloured card and glitter card and stuck those above the embossed background. I didn't have a cardstock to match the peach colour so I simply used a copic marker to colour a strip of white.

Ingredients

Image: happy everything from Clearly besotted

Sentiments: a little sentimental from clearly besotted

Embossing folders: we are memory keepers and provocraft

Splat Stencil Version 2

Another set of splat stencil cards but this time I used already coloured images in colour lol. These images have been coloured for a while but not as long as the grey ones lol. Hopefully I will make more use of the images I colour in future....oh I love wishful thinking lol.

On my last post I apologised for the number of splat stencil cards and now I think I need to apologise for the number of either retired images or companies who are no longer trading images I have used. It saddens me no end when a company closes and I am sure you will agree there are lots we miss dearly.

Ingredients

Images: "platypus at play" from Clearly Besooted and "monkey man" from Paper Makeup (no longer trading)

Inks: distress inks in candied apple, spiced marmalade, squeezed lemonade, mowed lawn, salty ocean with wilted violet and squeezed lemonade and salty ocean

Sentiment: Keep it simple birthday from Papertrey ink

Splat Stencil Version 1

Ok so I will apologise right now for the insane amount of splat cards you will see over the next few posts.....I was on a zoom call with friends sorting through my already coloured images when I had an epiphany..... why not use the splat stencil from Clearly Besotted to "frame" the images and there in ladies and gents lies the obsession lol, the stencil works with anything....I repeat anything lol.

These images were coloured in 2013 and I am shocked I have never used them before, I really like the images too so I am even more shocked lol.

Ingredients
Images: Tickled Pink Digi Stamps (no longer trading)
Stencil: Splat from Clearly Besotted
Inks: Distress inks in mustard seed with candied apple and mowed lawn with peacock feathers
Sentiment: Keep it simple birthday from Papertrey Ink

Rainbow backgrounds

Another set of cards made during lockdown and these all have several things in common, all the images were coloured in 2013..... yes you read that correctly 2013. I took only grey markers on holiday and sat and coloured these images. Since then they have sat in a box with a lot of other coloured images waiting patiently and now finally they have made it onto cards....woohoo.

I have been using up scraps of white card from wedding invites and using the direct to colour paper method, this time I used distress inks and I like these so much more than the oxides. I went with a rainbow colour scheme and managed to make 6 backgrounds and I have quite a bit left to make some more.

Some Odd Girl

Doodle Garden from MFT (retired)

The Greeting Farm

Pollycraft (non longer trading)

Ingredients
Distress inks: squeezed lemonade, shaded lilac, seedless preserves, festive berries, candied apple, abandoned coral, spiced marmalade, carved pumpkin, wild honey, mustard seed, blueprint sketch, wilted violet, picked raspberry, mowed lawn, lucky clover, twisted citron, peacock feathers, broken china, tumbled glass, salty ocean, spun sugar, worn lipstick
Sentiment: a little sentimental from Clearly Besotted