Flowers are Forever...

How many of you have been with me on my journey from my very first card way back in 2015? Can you remember when I joined The Flower Challenge? A card making challenge set up by one of my very earliest card making buddies, Aileen. Well, don't be shocked when I tell you it was 7 years ago. Truly it is because this month they are having a challenge and a celebration as Aileen and Viv retire.

I was touched when Viv emailed me to ask me to join in with this challenge. I've hardly been in touch and it has been nearly 2 years since I last blogged anything, but I couldn't say no.

I've been getting back in to card making, mostly thanks to my friend Kylie who lives a 20 minute walk from me and is a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I've got back into going to her monthly card classes and now that I'm gainfully employed in retail with a regular salary again, I've been saving up for some new purchases. Watch this space for more cards to come!

This challenge is Anything Goes, which can be a double edged sword really with having to decide without any restrictions and that means endless possibilities with a whole host of stamps I could use. In the end I decided to use the Sweet Floral Friends stamp set from Clearly Besotted to make a couple of Good Luck cards.

In my usual style it's pretty simple with an image coloured using Copic markers popped up on foam pads onto a white background and a coloured card base. I do love the Stampin' Up card stock for their vibrant colours. The sentiment is from the set.

So this is a way for me to say to Aileen and Viv, Thank You for giving me the opportunity 7 years ago to join a great team, I'm glad that it's still around and going strong and Good Luck to you stepping down and to Karren taking on the mantle of leadership.

I hope you'll join in, after all, Anything Goes!

Happy Crafting, Ruth x

Swim By Anytime

Hello! I'm getting in a very quick post as a last minute attempt to get a card in for the current Copic UK Facebook Group challenge. As usual it's anything goes, but with additional challenge of paper piecing with some Copic colouring on top. Now you know I love paper piecing, and finally I got round to it - only 4 hours to go!

I finally used this adorable diver set from Clearly Besotted called Under the Sea which I hadn't used before - yay for NBUS! - and stamped it onto different pieces of scrap cardstock. I think it's all Lawn Fawn. I stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black as I knew I was using my Copics on it later. I stamped his head and hands onto Copic card stock and coloured his head and hands with Copics.

I fussy cut, and I fussy cut, and I fussy cut some more! I then happened across a blue card blank I'd cut ages ago but decided wasn't right for the card. Well, it was perfect for this one. I stamped the diver onto it and with some acrylic glue, stuck all the pieces on top. I added the jelly fish, seaweed and fish around him. I then added a bit of added colour with my Copics, but you really can't see the different in the pictures I'm afraid. I was quite cautious, except with the choice of orange for the fish and jelly fish!!

I then took a wave stencil (mine is from Create a Smile) and with a piece of cut n dry foam, dabbed on some white pigment ink to give some added texture.

The sentiment is also from the set and just stamped using VersaFine Onyx Black onto some white card stock.

I'm linking this up to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge #51 which is Anything Goes and also Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #329 which I haven't played in for a while and is perfect for this card.

Thank you all for visiting today and Happy Crafting :) 

Welcome to Mermaid Week!

Curious to know what Mermaid Week is? Read on! I discovered after my January craft haul that I owned seven, yep, 7, mermaid stamps. I'm hazy on how it happened as I don't like to duplicate stamps if I can, but clearly mermaids call to me. With seven stamps I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to make a different card for every day of the week, hence the creation of Mermaid Week.

So without further ado, here is my card for the very first day.

It's a new to me stamp company called Nina Crafts who I discovered through a friend when we met at a craft fair last October. Have a look at their website as they have a few different brands and they also manufacture stamps, in case any of you fancies a foray into setting up a new company!

She is a really good size and her hair and flowing tail were just perfect for practicing my Copic colouring on. Hair is something I really need to work on still. I decided to go all out on my colours - ooops.... didn't write them all down, yet again - and she had to have pink hair and a bright green tail.

I did some ink smooshing with distress inks on a piece of watercolour card and then fussy cut out my mermaid - I do love it, if you watched my paper piecing video, you know I do. I simply popped her and the bubbles up on foam pads.

How do you feel about mermaids? Fan or not? Feel free to join me in mermaid week, and if you're using Instagram, use the hashtag #ruthsmermaidweek It's just for a bit of silly fun and to share my love of mermaids!

Happy Birthday Lisa!

A birthday card for my crafty friend Lisa, who is not only kind and caring but super talented too, so if you haven't ever visited her blog, My Card Trip, please take the time to do so today. You won't be disappointed.

If you have had a wander around her blog and various other social media sites, you'll notice she loves flowers and Clearly Besotted, so I combined the two - as I did with my card to her last year. 

I fussy cut the flower, which took me a good while, but it's something I really love doing, and then found a card base which I'd stencilled with some embossing paste using a stencil that she bought for me. That's something she's introduced me to recently, stencils and how versatile they are.

I adhered the flower using some tiny foam pads I had, just to give it some dimension. I think sticking those on was more frustrating than the fussy cutting. I left the sentiment off as I tend to do these days with a big image. I'm never sure where to put it.

In addition I also sent her this quirky gift. I hope she's laughing because I asked her for her head circumference ages ago and I don't think she ever worked out why. This goes back to a conversation we had when I first started sewing about her needing an eye mask. I wonder if she remembers, because I did and finally I got round to making one. Not my best work and not something to go into production with, but I had a lot of fun sewing it, and I hope she gets a chance to use it on a sunny day relaxing in her back garden with a glass of vino.

A very very happy birthday Lisa!!

Thanks for taking the time to pop by, see you again soon and happy crafting.

Follow Your Dreams - Schoenberg and Clearly Besotted Stamps

Hello Everyone! How are you all? Can you believe it's almost time for another Clearly Besotted release already? I do appreciate them quarterly now though, as I actually get the chance to play with the ones I bought in the last release before the new one comes along.

I made this card at around 5am one morning when I really could not sleep and my head was swimming with a million and one things, so the best thing to do was to go and craft.

This is a card I've been thinking about since my stamp sets arrived and it finally made it onto paper, or card for that matter. It's inspired by one of my favourite pieces of music, Verklarte Nacht by Schoenberg. I've taken a bit of a liberty as it's a string quartet, so no flute, but they worked so well together I couldn't not have them.

I started by stamping the two figures onto Copic friendly card stock and then masking them off with masking paper before stamping the tree background on top. I love the magic of removing the masking paper!! I then coloured them with Copic markers, using three yellows for the moon shining through the trees. 

I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die from Simon Says Stamp and adhered it to a white card blank with foam tape. I stamped the sentiment on the bottom with VersaFine Onyx Black.

Thank you so much for visiting me today, and for all your comments. Happy shopping when the time comes ;)

Happy Birthday, Auntie Rachel!

I don't know about you, but I tend to buy stamps with cards in mind for specific people. As soon as I saw the poodles set from Clearly Besotted Stamps (yay, they are back!!!), I knew they were perfect for my French teacher sister. 

Obviously I had to have a poodle, and some shopping bags on there - she loves shopping and I'm always amazed at what she picks up in charity shops for next to nothing (a Brora cashmere jumper that just needed a little bit of extra sewing for one.)

I started with a piece of Make It Colour! Copic card stock and stamped everything with Memento Tuxedo Black. I then did some Copic colouring of the poodle - they have to be pink, don't you think? And then I found some snippets of patterned paper and did a bit of paper piecing on the bags. I added the ticks in bright pink.

I took a white A2 card base and stamped the French speech bubbles around the outside in different shades of pink and then cut my card panel down and popped it on top with some fun foam.

You'll notice there's something missing here. I used to have a set of links to the products used on my cards around about here. It was powered by InLinkz who are changing over to a product called LinkDeli. In doing so the price goes from roughly £5 a month to £25. Although I was part of the Simon Says Stamp affiliate programme, I earnt very very little from it (like pence in 6 months), I just liked having a central database for my purchases. So I hope you will understand it's just not worth it for me to continue with it. My previous posts will no longer have the links available, so I may go back at some point and tidy them up. I enjoyed using it, but finances have to come first and it no longer seemed a viable option for me.

Thank you so much for popping by today. We're almost at the weekend, so enjoy it when it comes :)

Happy Birthday Love

As soon as I saw the March My Monthly Hero card kit add ons, I knew I had to have the Welcome Home set. Whilst the kit you have to order from the USA (if you are interested, Michelle has some information about purchasing them as an international customer), Seven Hills Crafts gets the add ons in as soon as they can. 

I had this very card in mind as soon as I saw it specifically for my husband's birthday which is today. 

This card took a LOT of masking, but since I love masking, it wasn't a problem for me. I started by taking a piece of Make It Colour! Copic friendly card stock and some Memento Tuxedo Black and after a lot of working out how I would mask and place each element, I stamped the animals in place. I had to rub off some of the ink on the squirrel around his bottom and tail so that it would look like he was sitting on the chair.

I then masked the animals and stamped a chair on top and got colouring with my Copics. I really should start writing down the colours I've used because I rather like how the squirrel came out!

I then took a stencil that my friend Tina sent me and masked off the chair and animals and blended some spun sugar distress ink on top to make it look like wall paper behind. I then die cut it out with a stitched rectangle die - I'd like to say it's not centred on purpose, but it's not, just my bad die cutting..... I popped up the panel on a dark grey card base.

I added the little speech bubbles using a fun little die my friend Dawn gave me for my birthday last year and added in the words myself. Both me and my husband have always been Star Wars fans, but recently rekindled our love of it by watching Star Wars Rebels, the newest element in the franchise, on DVD and YouTube, as well as revisiting some books my sister bought me 23 years ago. The quote is what Leia (me, as the sewing mouse) tells Han (husband as the paper reading squirrel), and what he replies, as he's being encased in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back. If you love it, you love it ;)

Here is a list of the supplies used on this card. I have signed up to affiliate links on some products. If you purchase any item after clicking on an affiliate link, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps in a small way to support the running of my blog and is very much appreciated, thank you! 

Hero Arts Welcome Home

Memento Tuxedo Black

My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Mini

Copic Markers

Mini Distress Ink Pad - All Colours

Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# SET OF 26 COLORS 26Cdsk

InLinkz.com

 
So now that I've got my inner nerd out, thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous weekend :)

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #8

Welcome back! How have you all been? You know it's nearly 2 years since I started my blog. February 2015 to be precise. I've learnt a lot since then and I'd like to think my card making and blogging has improved.... I hope anyway!

Two years is nothing compared to Darnell who has racked up 5 years, 1,000 blog posts and 1,000 followers. Amazing huh? So to celebrate she has opened up her NBUS challenge which I love to enter. I have plenty of NBUS so it really helps me....

This cute Birdie Brown stamp was part of the My Favorite Things gift card I won and spent back in October. These are just perfect to colour in. I simply stamped her onto some Neenah and coloured her in with my Copic markers.

If you read my post from last week, you'll see I'm still in melonizing mode and coloured her in appropriate colours - avoided the pips on the hat though as I was worried I might ruin it.

She's simply mounted on an A2 white card base with an MFT stitched frame (from a friend) in one of my Lawn Fawn plaid papers. 

Here is a list of the supplies used on this card. I have signed up to affiliate links on some products (currently only Simon Says Stamp). If you purchase any item after clicking on an affiliate link, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps in a small way to support the running of my blog and is very much appreciated, thank you!

MFT Adventure Is Calling

*Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets

Memento Tuxedo Black

Copic Markers

Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Christmas 6x6 Pad

InLinkz.com

So I'm entering this at Darnell's NBUS #8 and hope I can get some more NBUS used up for #9 next week. I do hope you'll think about entering. Darnell is a wonderfully kind crafty blogger and she's giving away some amazing prizes too.

Thank you as always for stopping by and for your lovely comments! Have a great week - and try not to get too excited by all the goodies on show at CHA in Phoenix Arizona. I've seen a sewing machine that sews with Baker's Twine I would love to get my hands on!

Masking a Scene with Clearly Besotted Stamps - VIDEO

Hello everyone! How are you all? I'm back to share a card I made for my Dad's 70th birthday. It was the perfect excuse to use my uninked vikings from a recent Clearly Besotted Stamps haul (don't cry, they'll be back in January!).

Yes - I had to add in Sven as well! My Dad doesn't have a big ginger beard (his brother does, however!), but he does have three girls, so here we all are making him feel loved.

I started off by stamping and then masking my viking children using my MISTI. I then stamped Sven on top and removed the masks - I love how something so simple can create a great scene.

I then did some Copic colouring before die cutting the card and adding in the sentiment from Mama Elephant's Photo Bomb set. I then popped it up on foam pads and adhered it to a top folding A2 (US) card base covered with Lawn Fawn plaid paper.

You can watch the video here or on my YouTube channel:

Below is a list of supplies that I used to make this card. Please note I do not use affiliate links.

Clearly Besotted Hip Hip Hooray	Viking	Mama Elephant Photo Bomb	Tonic Titanium Fine Control Scissors	Hobbycraft Clear Acrylic Stamping Block 10.1 x 7 cm	My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Mini	Memento Tuxedo Black	Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy
Copic Markers	*Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	Simon Says Stamp SHAPES WITH STITCHES SetSS160 In Stitches	Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine	Tonic Studios Maxi Guillotine	Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid 6x6 Paper Pad	A4 Super Smooth White Card - 250gsm - 100 Sheets	Martha Stewart Mini Scoreboard

InLinkz.com

Before I sign off, I just wanted to let you all know that The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge starts its 6th outing on 1st November - I hope some of you are planning on joining me again - it's good fun!

Thank you so much for visiting today. Have a fabulous weekend whatever you are doing :)