Sunday Crafting

Warning - very long blog today!

I spent a bit of time in my craft room this weekend so I have a few cards to share.

The first card is for my nephew's birthday which is coming up. I found my inspiration for this card in a couple of places: Less Is More challenge this week is all about the eyes - what better to use than the three eyed alien from Simon Says Stamp?! I also took some inspiration from this week's CASe This Sketch.

I started out by stamping the alien and the balloon on the left hand side of the card. I coloured the alien with Copics and then I masked him and the balloon. I created another circle mask and then sponged the background using Distress Inks. I added the stars with a white pen and a string for the balloon that I shaped using using some multi medium and a pencil. Finishing touches were the Cocoa Daisy greeting, some Wink of Stella on the balloon, some Glossy Accents on the eyes and balloon, and some Jelly Roll pen accents on the stars.

I will link this card up to the following challenges:

• Less Is More - The Eyes Have It

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where we need to Tie It Up
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• CASe This Sketch

For the next couple of cards, I took out the watercolour paper....

First one was a one layer wonder using Walter and Winnie's My Precious set.

I started by stamping the gems down the left hand side in Versafine Onyx ink and then heat embossed in clear powder.  I then painted with water around the outside of the gems. Once the paper was wet, I added some Peerless colours to the wet paper. I finished off by stamping a greeting in the lower right corner and I "just had to" add some Wink of Stella to the gems :)

I will link this card up to the following challenges :

• CASology where the cue card is precious
• One Layer Simplicity Challenge where they are looking for a "strip down "
• Addicted to Samps and More where anything goes

My final card of the day is for my second wedding  anniversary which is coming up at the end of the month. Before I get into the card,  just want to share a brief history on how I met my husband. Michael and I met in the Malaysian part of Borneo in late 2012 - we were both on a trekking tour that lasted three weeks so we got to know each other quite well. Even though I lived in Montreal and he lived in Copenhagen, we managed to make the relationship work. Less than a year later, we were married in Copenhagen and Michael emigrated to Canada to live with me. One of the things that we share is a love of travel so I thought this Unity Stamp "Love Brings You Home" stamp set would be perfect for our wedding anniversary card.

I started out by stamping the map in Versamark and heat embossing with "Antique Ivory" embossing powder from Stampendous. I love the little bronze pieces that are mixed in - it gives a cool effect on a map stamp. I then painted with water around the edges of the map, and once it was good and wet, I added a few drops of Distress re-inkers (Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade).I stamped the greeting on a piece of vellum which I heat embossed in Liquid Platinum and wrapped around the card panel. Finally, I die cut a Stitched Frame using my Simon Says Stamp dies which I also covered with Versamark and heat embossed with Liquid Platinum. I popped it up over the map and sentiment .

I will also link this card up to a few places:

• CAS on Sunday where the theme is Travel
• House Of Cards where the theme is Metallic
• Unity Stamp Company Be Inspired Challenge

Apologies for being so long-winded today but it has definitely been the most productive that I have been in my craft room for a while :)

Thanks so much for stopping by - your comments always make my day!
Jill