CAS Colours and Sketches #117

I have always loved IndigoBlu stamps and have decided to use them again on my card for CAS Colours and Sketches this week. Even though I've been using them for several years, I don't think I've ever entered their blog challenges so, to put that right, I would like to enter my card for this month's IndigoBlu Blog Challenge #26. Jane has given us a great sketch to work with and IndigoBlu's theme is 'Off The Edge'. Darnell has unknowingly encouraged me to use this NBU stamp set so I would also like to enter her NBUS Challenge #4 where the theme is 'Anything Goes'.

I've used an unusual colour for me, 'red'. I have 3 colleagues at work with birthdays this week and one of them loves red so this is for her. I took a strip of red textured cardstock and stamped the flower image randomly with Versamark ink and embossed with another new product for me, white embossing powder. I then stamped the flower again and another smaller one in between in black ink. I also stamped and embossed the large flower twice onto a scrap piece of the same cardstock and then cut the two images out. The sentiment is from the same set which is actually a set that came free with a craft magazine last year which I bought just for the gift! This is stamped straight onto the card blank with the two flowers raised on foam pads. The only deviation from Jane's sketch is that I positioned the two flowers in the opposite corners as they worked better that way. 

I enjoyed making this card so much that I made another one at the same time using a deep purple cardstock instead of red and altering the position of the elements a little.

Supplies used:

Stamp set: Free gift with a craft magazine (IndigoBlu)

Ink pads: Versamark, Black (Whispers)

Snippets: Red & purple cardstock, White EP

I have really enjoyed working with Jane's colours and sketches this month. It will be my first turn soon; I have a lot to live up to! Can't wait to see what you make of this week's sketch.

Thanks for visiting!

Stef x

CAS Colours and Sketches #116

I have found this week's colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches quite tricky principally because I don't have any ink pads in the right shades of pink or yellow for the card I wanted to make. But I like a challenge so have gone ahead with it anyway and made a few substitutions.

I have made this card for a close colleague at work, Angela, who is moving house in a few weeks time. The stamp set is a new one for me, bought in the January sale at Clearly Besotted. I tried at first to stamp the fence and mask it off to place the tree behind but this attempt ended up in the bin! The pink ink pad is not quite dark enough to match SU's Strawberry Slush, but is the closest I have and I have tried to draw the pink out by using a piece of pink cardstock as a mat. I have no yellow ink pad that matches, even remotely, so have drawn a spring sun using a coloured pencil.

Supplies:
Stamp Set: Home Sweet Home (Clearly Besotted)
Ink Pads: Bamboo (Versacolor); Whisper Pink (Whisper)
Coloured Pencil: No 3 (Derwent No19)
Snippets: Pink cardstock; Flower ribbon

Have you found this week's colour trio any easier?
Stef x

CAS Colours and Sketches #115

Jane has put together a great sketch for us to work with this week at CAS Colours and Sketches. I have also opted to tie my design in with Less Is More where they have a colour challenge this week. Their DT has asked that we try to keep to just the two spring colours of green and yellow, with the optional use of neutral shades if necessary.

I felt very comfortable using Jane's sketch just as it is. I have just used a square image instead of a circular one and placed the sentiment in a more appropriate place. I have managed to use only green and yellow for my colours (with a little bit of white). My well-loved and used daffodil stamp from DoCrafts has been stamped in green, masking off the bottom border which I didn't want to use, and coloured with Promarkers. Even the sentiment has been printed from my computer in dark green directly onto the Core'dinations cardstock used for the banners.

My biggest achievement came from my first ever attempt at the Bokeh technique. I had seen it around quite a bit and have been dying to have a go. I moistened a piece of cardstock quite liberally with water and was then a bit stuck as I don't have any water-based liquid inks or re-inkers! So I sprayed on Cosmic Shimmer mists in Mango Blaze and Meadow Lush. I also tried some ink directly from inkpads using a brush. The darker spots are my experiment at using a green Adirondack alcohol ink, but clearly this doesn't really spread like the other inks and has ended up looking almost brown! I then left it to dry very thoroughly. I made myself a stencil using a piece of acetate and my Spellbinder circle dies and sponged white ink from an inkpad over the top in varying sizes and degrees. I cut a slice to use on this card but still have plenty left for another project and have to say that I'm quite pleased with my first attempt! It's definitely something that I'll have another go at.

I wonder if you'll challenge yourself to try a new technique on your card this week? Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Stef x

CAS Colours and Sketches #114

Jane will be our hostess for the month of March at CAS Colours and Sketches and the first week is a colour challenge. My card didn't exactly turn out as planned, it kinda just went that way - still they do that sometimes, don't they!

The stamps are from Indigo Blu, one from the 'Wild Meadow' set and I think the other is from the 'Nature 1' set. They have been stamped using Memento inks, 'Grape Jelly' and 'Summer Sky'. I covered the bottom of the cardstock with a random piece of paper from my stash to match the 'Mossy Meadow' challenge colour and tied a piece of matching satin ribbon over the join. This has simply been layered onto a card blank. The sentiment stamp is by Uniko Studio.

Thanks for looking.
Stef x