chocolate, strawberry and vanilla...

Hello, my friends. I thought I'd drop by for a quick post. This is my first Christmas card for 2017 and was inspired by the theme on the Less is More challenge blog.

As soon as I saw the picture below I knew what I wanted to do with it. So I went on a hunt for the Stampendous stamp that I have had for a while and never used.

I cut a piece of Sheena stamping card to size and inked the stamp with tree branch and potting soil archival ink (chocolate). I then brushed it with antique linen distress ink (vanilla), and old paper around the edges. I darkened the edges with brushed corduroy and gathered twigs (chocolate) and then distressed the edges. 

To finish it off I matted it onto pearlised brown card (chocolate) and coloured in the holly leaves and berries with sage green and fired brick distress inks (strawberry). As a last touch, I added a tiny bit of sparkle with a clear sparkle pen on the roofs, snowy edges and on holly leaves.

Finally, I tied a piece of red organza ribbon (strawberry) around an A5 ivory tent card (vanilla), before attaching the topper. And voila' one finished Christmas card!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Simply less is more - colour challenge: Neapolitan

Simon says Stamp Wednesday challenge - anything goes

Happy little stampers June Christmas challenge - anything goes: twist - tree

Flower Power

Hello my friends. It is time for another Through the Craft Room Door Challenge. This week we are sponsored by Lisa Decosse' of Decosses Dynamite Doodles.

As a Design team, we worked with a group of digi prints called Flower Power. Now those of you that know me well will be aware that I struggle with pink. This set of papers had a lot of pink in it. So I asked Lisa if I could use some other sheets from her grunge range. 

Luckily for me, she agreed and so I could use some dark greys and black

I used the frames in the set to make the flowers. The dies are from Crafter's companion as is the black glitter card that I used for the flourishes and sentiment.

For further inspiration go over to the main blog at TTCRD to check out what my team mates have created.

And now it is over to you. See you on the other side, hugs, Theresa xx

Day dreaming ...

Hello my friends. It's time for another TTCRD anything goes challenge and so I tried to steal some time to be able to blog my contribution to this week's inspiration.

Our sponsor this week is Crafty Sentiment Designs.

As a prize she is offering 3 digi images from her shop. 

I chose to work with this sweet image called day dreaming which you can find here.

I coloured him in with spectrum noir illustrator pens. then I added detail with polychromos pencils.

Then began hunt for a suitable background. As I was rummaging in my stash I came across this card from Kanban which I had bought from QVC. It is from the Patchwork Pals collection. I thought the boy fitted perfectly with this background.

So I fussy cut him out and also removed the step he was sitting on so I could place him on the wooden plank. I also found some extra bits in the box so I added the ball and bird as well.

I also added some details with glossy accents on the shoes and eyes and then added some birds in the sky as I felt it was too bare. The sentiment came off another of the sheets in the pack and I matted it on gold mirri card.

So now it is over to you. Remember it is always anything goes. see you on the other side, hugs, Theresa xx

Rick St Dennis Cozy Castle

Hello my friends. It is time for another TTCRD challenge and this week our sponsor is Rick St Dennis.

The lucky winner will get 2 digi images of choice. There are some fab images in the shop and it is worth a visit.

For some reason, I was drawn to this image. It is called Cozy castle and you can find it here. I could see it coloured up in my mind's eye and I tried to recreate the image on card.

This shows you the background paper and the gutting that I like to do to make better use of papers.

For the colouring I used spectrum noir illustrator pens and polychromos pencils to add more depth. 

I added some stamping with archival ink and also distress inks. Stamps are from Lavinia and Visible image.

I also added some die cut foliage and I made my own 'wax' seal. 

I was nearly forgetting the words that I had gutted but remembered just in time. I thought they really added something to the whole.

Now it is over to you. For further inspiration please visit the TTCRD blog to see what my teamies have come up with.

happy crafting, hugs Theresa xx

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Simon says stamp Wednesday challenge- anything goes

Simon says stamp Monday challenge - the great outdoors

Tulip-Umbrella

Hello, my friends. I'm late on parade again. However, in my defence, I'm on holiday and my internet connection is constantly playing up.

Anyway, without further ado it is time to announce another TTCRD challenge. This week we are sponsored by Miss Daisy Stamps.

I chose to work with this lovely image called Tulip-umbrella. I coloured it with spectrum noir illustrator pens and then added detail with polychromos pencils. And this is the last of my Easter cards for this year I think.

Now it is over to you to join us in this week's anything goes challenge. The lucky winner will get 4 images from Miss Daisy Stamps.

See you on the other side, Theresa xx.

Lilies

Hello again. Twice in a row! What is going on? Well, it is time for Through the Craft Room Door challenge.

This week our sponsor is Bugaboo stamps.

The prize is a $12 voucher (4 digistamps).

I chose to work with this beautiful image called lily flower trio. I chose this image as it reminds me of home. In the garden at this time of year, we always had loads of calla lilies and I loved these flowers. Try as I might, I have never managed to grow them here.

I also thought that the image was quite realistic and have really enjoyed colouring it in. In fact, this card will be winging its way to my parents as their Easter card.

So now it is over to you. Remember that our challenge is always anything goes. See you on the other side, Theresa xx.

pastel colours and Easter

Hi there. I am struggling to blog as often as I would like. After I visited the Less is more challenge this week, it gave me kick up the back side to finish off my Easter cards. 

All the stamps are by Chocolate Baroque. I stamped them in watering can archival ink as I didn't want them to be harsh since I was using a  pastel palette.

The above card is coloured with polychromos pencils and a tiny bit of yellow sparkle pen which is really hard to photograph or rather I don't have the skills :).

The sentiment is a digistamp and die cut with Sue Wilson banner and inked lightly around the edges with milled lavender.

This image I coloured with a damp brush and distress inks and I think it is my favourite one.

 I used the same sentiment only this time I edged it with twisted citron.

Again here I used polychromos pencils. Then I used the spritzer tool and spritzed some twisted citron in background which added some interest to background.

Sentiment here is by Claritystamp, stamped in watering can and clear embossed

So again I'm going to be entering these at The LIM challenge and hopefully today I left enough white space.

So I would like to enter the following challenges:

Less is More - 3 pastels: orange, yellow and green ( card 3)

Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge - blending: all 3 cards have blending as different                                                                             hues of same colour were used to create depth

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour challenge - anything goes