Lavender flowers

As I rarely seem to use my favourite colour much with cards, I went for colouring this image with the lavender Copics! This is the very first image I coloured with them so don't be too hard on me LOL. They are so beautiful to use but I have never been good with shading so will persevere. And for Del who asked where I bought my set, they came from Japan! thank you Del for commenting! Please email me if you want to know more and I can explain. Of course already I want more colours!

I also used the sketch from Karen's challenge this week - the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #26. My card is very very simple and I tried using other colours on it but they distracted from the main image. The card colours used are Not Quite Navy and Lavender Lace - a combo that I thought should not work but I quite like them together with the white.

The flower image is from an SU set that will be available from the new Summer Mini from the 1st August. the ribbon is from the Ribbon Originals Dress Up pack and the wording is from another new set coming in August - Great Friend. It is a beautiful set and I can see me using this wording heaps!

House Mouse Eating Blueberries

For this card I have combined two challenges - the SCS Card Sketch #211 and the House Mouse Monday challenge. The HM challenge for this week was to use the colours coral, olive, navy and white together. I used Stampin' Up! card colours and they look so pretty together. I don't own many HM stamps but this one suited well.

The flowers have been punched with an SU punch and SU night of navy buttons put in the centres.

Stamps: House Mouse Eating Blueberries
Card: SU Night of Navy, Cameo Coral, Old Olive and White, Ginger Blossom DSP
Ink: Black and Prismacolor pencils
Polka Dot Cuttlebug embossing folder, Dazzling Diamonds

Eastern Blooms

I have very quickly made up this card for my SU team's challenge. I should be doing heaps of other things as I only came home yesterday from housesitting but just wanted to make a card!

As these colours called Oriental to me, I decided to use the SU set Eastern Blooms and stamped and embossed them on Real Red and Elegant Eggplant card. Everything is self explanatory I think.

Card: Elegant Eggplant, Real Red textured, Black

Ink: Versamark, Elegant Eggplant

Stamps: Life Definitions, Eastern Blooms

Elegant Eggplant and Black ribbon

Scallop Edge Punch

Mel's colour challenge!

Mel I hope you are sitting down when you read this - so long since I joined one of your colour challenges!!

The colours in Mel's challenge are Lavender Lace, Green Galore, Chocolate Chip and White. Again I used the set Embrace Life which is in the new mini catty to be released on the 1st December. I also used the new Scallop Edge punch that is in the mini as well! I had big reservations about buying this punch as I have had border punches in the past and I managed to break two and others do not punch cardstock well at all.

However this punch is wonderful - you can do so much with it and it has measurements for lining up corners etc on it.

The base card here has been stamped with bleach - probably hard to see on most computer screens. I lightly watercoloured the flowers and added them to the branch. The bigger ones have a little Dazzling Diamonds on them. The photo corners are actually from Chocolate Chip card, not black as they look in the photo. Just a simple card but I feel there is enough on it. Hope you like it Mel!!

Keesh's inspiration Challenge #1

As you know, I like taking part in challenges if I am able to and this was a great opportunity to use another couple of my newest stamp sets and papers.

Keesh has put up a picture of some very pretty bed linen and we base our cards around those colours! I used the SU colours River Rock, Tempting Turquoise and Taken with Teal as well as white.

This card holds a secret!! I masked and stamped the flowers as well as the leaves and attempted to watercolour it all. I actually thought it looked good enough to use so finished off the card. Then I couldn't stand the look of my watercolouring so stamped the flowers on the DSP, cut them out and glued them over the top of my watercoloured flowers! The paper used for the flowers is the reverse side of the other paper I used here.

I have used the white Gel pen on the stamens of the flowers. The background on the corrugated piece is a stamp from another set in the new mini called Eastern Blooms.

Keesh's Weekly Challenge #10

This card is one I have made for Makeesha's challenge this week which was to CASE a sketch of a card she chose out of our SU catalogue. I am really enjoying joining in challenges and then it is fun to see everyone else's interpretation.

I decided to also use a set and wheel that has seen little use lately - Fishy Friends set and Fishy wheel and I have used markers to colour parts of the fish. I punched out a circle and then used the reverse punched out piece to sponge the circles around the fish to make them look like they are in bubbles. Hmmm thought I had better explain that - people will wonder what the heck I did that for LOL.

Card: So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Taken with Teal

Ink: Taken With Teal, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise

Stamps: True Friend, Fishy Friends, Fishy wheel

Certainly Celery 1.6cm grosgrain ribbon, brads

Keesh's challenge

The challenge this week on Keesh's site is called "To fall in Love again"! Here we were to use a stamp set and colours that we had not used for a long time. Well the reason I hadn't used this set in a long time is that I can't think of many ways to use it but thought this card would be good for a man's birthday or similar. I used Bravo Burgundy too which up until yesterday was a colour I have not used for months.


The SU stamp set is Lexicon of Love and the stars come from the set Classic Backgrounds. Also used the Sanded background stamp. I used eyelets for the first time in ages too. Think I get lazy now there are so many lovely brads around. And the gingham ribbon is a first too for a very long time! So I DID use some 'rusty' things this morning!

Bareback

Here I have christened the last of my new sets!! At the same time I took part in Alisa's colour challenge #5. Thank you Alisa for offering these challenges - they are fun! I have been doing some strange things lately I have decided. Not sure this image goes with these colours but I am not totally unhappy with it!

The colours Alisa chose were Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Summer Sun and Whisper White or Very Vanilla.

The Weathered background stamp was used on the coloured strips to tone them down a little and I used Ruby Red brads to set off the wording. The wide chocolate chip ribbon was tied with some hemp twine.

All supplies from Stampin' Up!

Seaworthy

Seeing I had a bit of spare time, I decided to make this card for Mel's Salted background technique challenge. I have very few Stampin' Up! reinkers but Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Pretty in Pink seemed to work well together. Mel, I hope you like it!!

The image from the Seaworthy set is stamped and black embossed and the sails on this yacht are transparent LOL. I just went over them with a yellow marker for a bit of contrast!

The punched photo corner and the strip are SU Apricot Appeal card which has been run through my Big Shot with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The background card is Bordering Blue.

Happiness from the SU set Warm Words is stamped with Blue Bayou - aren't all the blue shades so nice?

Now I really have to make a card using the other boat in this Seaworthy set - will have to get the thinking cap on again!

Mel's Colour Challenge

When I saw the colours Mel had for her little colour challenge, I remembered a striking card of Fran Saban's [hope I have that name right] from SCS. She had done hers in red, black and white and had more layers on it.

So this was the golden opportunity to be inspired by that card - thank you Fran! I think my card would be nicer if I had have used bling in the flower centres instead of glitter. I hope flourishes stay in for a long time as I love this SU Baroque Motifs set.

So now on with the swap cards before something unforeseen pops up. My days are not working to plan lately!