Stick Frames, Postcard, Vellum,

  If you read my last post you will know that my friend Olga kindly sent me some lovely goodies a few weeks ago - including some Stick Frames die cuts (Poppystamps).
Today's card uses the last of these...  which is good as I didn't want them to go to waste, but bad as although I have this die on its way to me from America, it's still not here yet!

No one in the UK seems to have this die in stock...  Well, no one I can find, anyway!

The truth is, most online shops over here are still waiting on deliveries of the latest additions to the range - and then it's a case of waiting to see which dies they choose to stock. 

And I'm not very good at waiting!!!

Oh well...

Today's card has been made with the CAS Mix Up Challenge in mind...

I always find CAS a real challenge, so to be allowed to blur the lines a little is fantastic news.  It means I can sneak in a layer, add some texture paste, distress some edges a little, add some ink...  and many more things besides.  As long as it's still CAS by nature, it fits this challenge theme.
Have you tried playing along?

  Here's my quick 'how to'...

Stamp Postcard image on to a piece of card stock.  Trim to size, distress and ink up edges.

Tear a piece of vellum to size.  Put to one side.

Using Embossing Ink, apply stamp image to a second piece of vellum.  Emboss and tear to size.

Wrap both vellum panels around postcard and attach from the back.

Cut out/Punch other Die Cut shapes - Spiral Flower, Leaves and Butterflies.

Add Marker details to Leaves.

Ink up edges of Spiral Flower (front and back), then roll up and glue into shape.

Glue all Die Cuts into place.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:
Penny Black 'Postcard'
Hero Arts Cling 'Two Vine Scrolls'

Dies:
Poppystamps 'Sticks Frame'
Memory Box 'Peaceful Butterfly Wings'
Sizzix/Holtz 'Tiny Tattered Florals'

Ink:
Holtz Distress 'Walnut Stain'
Ranger 'Perfect Medium'

Embossing Powder:
Stampendous 'Clear Detail'

Marker Pen:
Tsukineko (Memento) Dual Tip 'Olive Grove'

Punch:
Martha Stewart 'Pop Up Butterflies'

Other:
Vellum
Scrap of Glitter Card
Holtz Distress Tool

Challenges I'm Entering...

CAS Mix Up Challenge
(I chose Stamping, Markers, Heat Embossing, Die Cuts and a Punch)

That's Crafty
Feminine Challenge

Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge
(Vellum and all die cuts/punched shape from my snippets stash)

I am so glad Summer has finally arrived here in the UK.  It never lasts for very long so I plan to enjoy it.  You won't catch me complaining it's too hot!!!

Wishing you a fantastic rest of your day...

Donna. x

Butterflies on Wall (CAS), Thanks, Female

I'm squeezing in a last minute entry today for a colour challenge over at
CAS Colours & Sketches.

Here's my quick make...

Using a piece of white Hammer Card for my base I've stamped off a 'Bo Bunny' Wall To Wall Textures Clear Stamp for the background, using Memento (Tsukineko) Rich Cocoa.

I've also used Memento (Tsukineko) Rich Cocoa for the Designer Butterfly Stamp (Hero Arts) and the Thanks sentiment.  I used a piece of plain white card to stamp the second butterfly onto as I like to include different textures - even in a CAS design.  Once the ink was dry, I simply fussy cut and glued into place.

One flower stamped in Memento (Tsukineko) Rose Bud and two stamped in Memento (Tsukineko) Teal Zeal, and the stamping was finished.  As you can see, I also stamped off for one of the Teal Zeal flowers.

All that was left to do was to mount on to a piece of brown card a little larger in size (I've used a Paper Distressing Tool on the edges for a smidge of extra texture), glue into place on a card blank and add three jewel embellishments as centres for the flowers.

Here are the details of the CAS Colours & Sketches current challenge...

It's my first time playing along here...

It's always nice to discover new challenges, don't you think?

'Bye for now.

Donna

Handmade with Care, Bees & Leaves, Kraft Card

I didn't realise just how many Poppystamps dies I had until the other day.  I'd convinced myself I didn't have that many and wouldn't have anything suitable for a card for a man...  Turns out I was wrong, and although my Poppystamps collection isn't as big as my Memory Box one it's slowly catching up :)

Here's my finished card...

...  And here's my question.  Who's looked at my design and thought 'pink label...  for a man...  really???'

Come on...  be honest.  I certainly was torn on this one and my husband certainly doesn't like it.  His words were, 'nature theme...  doesn't work...  needs a brown label'.

So I tried a brown label and do you know what?  It was too drab.  So I tried different shades of brown...  and blue instead...  and red... and I'm sorry but I like the pink label.

That left me with a dilemma because I don't look at that many cards made for men, but I've never seen one with pink on it.  But men wear pink shirts and pink ties in this day and age...  so why not?

That's my justification over and done with :)

I would love to know what you think.  Have I gone a step too far?

Either way, I love the simplicity of this card.  And I love the Meadow Leaf die that Poppystamps have sadly discontinued - except for in digital format.

Those of you who are exceptionally observant may have noticed that I've swapped the colouring around on the large Jolly Bumble Bee (Memory Box).  The usual yellow body with black stripes just didn't look right for this card.  (I'm sorry to say that this die is also discontinued, but there may still be some available somewhere).  As for the other bee...  that's a new acquisition of mine from the Open Studio/Memory Box 'Busy as a Bee' set.

My label stamp's by Hero Arts.  I like the fact that you can add real stitching to this if you want to.  I tried it out for this card but in the end the simplicity of no thread worked best of all.  Maybe on my next card...  who knows?

It's a beautifully bright and sunny day here today, so I'm off to catch up on some washday chores.

'Bye for now :)

Donna