Category Archives: Challenges

Wisteria

Hello,

I am still enjoying partaking in these wonderful challenges I keep finding in the blogosphere. The one I am sharing today though was around when I first stopped blogging and that is Just Add Ink. I also used to participate in their challenges from back then too and enjoyed it. Can someone tell me why I stopped creating again……? Oh, it may have been my becoming an equestrian mummy.

This weeks challenge at first glance seemed easy,

but then when I sat there thinking about embellishment and ribbons and all those good things I realised it wasn’t going to work. So it seem I have a process in card making and it includes embellishments every time. I do, however, love my card. Ever since I saw this set I thought it would be great to recreate a Wisteria type tree. And seeing as it is Spring in Australia it seemed fitting to make one now.

I used the colours Gorgeous Grape, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, and splattered some Blushing Bride and Frost White. I could have sponged a sky to make it pop some more but I really liked the simplicity of this. I do have a couple more cards to share that are not in relation to the challenge but are similar to this card…..but with embellishments.

I made these cards a couple weeks ago, not long after getting the stamp set Life is Beautiful and the sequins. It was also my first real play with this years In Colors.

Well that’s it for todays share. I have a date with a local Art Supply store today and I am having a gander at some watercolours. Should be fun.

See you soon,

Kirsty xx

Season’s Greetings

Hello again.

I played with another challenge yet again, but this time it is from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.

Quite a simple design but you can be very creative with this. Some entries already submitted are very clever. Since I am on a Christmas themed stint of card making there are no surprises with my creation.

I am loving the Dainty Diamonds embossing folder as it gives a beautiful pattern in vellum paper. Vellum paper is something I have been using a lot lately. It’s a great addition to any card without making it ‘heavy’. On this card I have backed it with Real Red CS. As you can see I am still on the spritzer wagon. I love the randomness of it.

Oh, and this card only took me 35 minutes to pull together from start to finish…..maybe sketch challenges are the way to go.

See you agin soon,

Kirsty xx

Jingle Bells

Hello again. I am back with another challenge entry. I must say these challenges are helping me get inky even if it takes two days to complete. I did have this one in mind for two challenges, but I have missed the deadline for the Color Throwdown challenge #617 of Kraft, red, dark green and light green. I do, however, have some time left to enter the TGIF Challenge #288. This challenge is all about circles.

I had a quick look through my stamps and found Cherish the Season with all the bells in the set and thought it would work well. I ended up using the matching die set Sounds of the Season to create my bells and used the sentiment out of the stamp set. I have also decided I will probably buy a whole heap more spritzers and create a colour mist for every current SU colour I have. I am definitely addicted. I used Real Red, Frost White and White.

Even though it took two days to put together I liked the end result. Now I am off to find another challenge (hopefully one that doesn’t take me so long to complete…lol).

See you again soon,

Kirsty xx

I’m back…..

Yes that’s right. I’m back to paper crafting. I have rejoined Stampin’ Up! and I am reconnecting with a lot of old friends and we are having a laugh at how out of the loop I am! LOL. You have to understand its been 5 years since I have even posted on this blog. You could imagine my surprise that I remembered my password, but my dismay at finding my computer no longer supports Photoshop Elements 13. Boohoo. I think I am up for a new computer anyway. Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

So, if you follow me on my Facebook page then you already know I am back and have seen some sneak peaks at my attempts of making a card or two. A few definitely were fun and easy to make, but many were taking way to long with my “should I do this or that?” or “does this work?”. You can imagine my hubby and kids thinking why the heck did we tell her its a good idea to do this again. LOL

Anyway…..I decided I would kick start my blogging again off with a challenge. I went looking at some of the old challenge blogs I used to participate in and found all of them finished up. So I went on the hunt for more. I found the Spot Creative Challenge Blog. The current challenge is a sketch.

I have to say I did struggle with this one. We won’t be showing my first attempt. I tried a CAS card but I failed miserably. My second attempt is more my style.

Its not quite traditional Christmas colours being Petal Pink, Crumb Cake, and Calypso Coral. I like to be different. I also enjoyed creating some spray mists with white craft ink and the Frost White paint. The shimmer is gorgeous. I just didn’t quite capture it in the photo. Something else I have to relearn…..taking decent photos. If you have any questions about my creation please send a message and I will answer as soon as I can.

So here’s hoping I can keep this going and belt out some regular blog posts.

See you again soon,

Kirsty xx

Artful Stampers Challenge #52

Hello everyone,

It’s time for a Artful Stampers Blog Hop Challenge.

I missed the last one. I have been so busy with getting a horse stable built, time slipped by and I forgot the challenge. Oh well, I am back on track with a groovy colour challenge. Check it out

Artful Stampers Blog Hop Challenge #52

Not a bad combo, but Melon Mambo has always been a challenge for me. It is so bright, and very pink. I would have to say it would be one of the colours I would not reach for. But I figured you can take the emphasis off of it by adding only a little and adding a whole heap of one of the other colours. I chose to use more Crushed Curry

This is what I created.

ArtfulStampersChallenge#52

 

ArtfulStampersChellenge#52

 

I enjoyed the process of this one and loved the idea of stamping in between the embossed lines of the Stylish Stripes embossing folder. I will have to do that again. I also inked a doily up with Crumb Cake, cut it in half then scrunched (or roughly folded it) it up and put it behind the Deco Label panel. The sentiment has been clear embossed to make it pop. I love how it turned out.

Previous blogNext Blog

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by!

Kirsty xx

Artful Stampers Challenge #50

Hello everyone,

Wow, I am on a roll. This is the third challenge in a row that I have participated in. The people who know me will know that is a huge feat in itself. LOL!

We are having a colour challenge, and the colours are gorgeous, check them out-

Artful Stampers Challenge #50

Here is my entry-

Perfect Peacock

I decided to pull out the gorgeous Peacock stamp. I only played with it once and that was with the Blendabilities. This time I water coloured it. This was lots of fun and I should do it more often. I love how the Watermelon Wonder flowers really pop. I also deliberately did messy embossing. I wanted extra texture and having splatter of white embossing was perfect. I used five different stamp sets to create this one. Can you guess them all?

Perfect Peacock

Next Blog

Previous blog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by!

Kirsty xx

Artful Stampers Challenge #49

Hello everyone,

Time for another challenge. This one was a sketch. Check it out-

 

It seem simple enough, I actually really struggled not putting on a third circle! LOL I think I pulled it off though.

Artful Stampers Challenge 49

Here is a close up of one of those gorgeous wood veneer snowflakes.

Artful Stampers Challenge 49

All I did with those is poked them into the White craft ink to colour then tapped it into Dazzling Diamonds glitter. So easy, yet very effective.

Don’t forget to check out the others gorgeous creations. You came from Alisa’s blog and you will go onto Tamsin Adams.

Previous Blog

Next Blog

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by!

Kirsty xx

Artful Stampers Challenge- Crazy About You!

Hello everyone,

I have been meaning to do this for quite a while, and that’s to take part in an Artful Stampers Team Challenge. They are up to #48, so it seems I have missed quite a few. Hopefully I can keep this up for a while as I have missed being part of a challenge team, and just crafting in general.

So here is the challenge.

Artful Stampers Team Challenge #48

Now when I first saw this combo I was Hmmm….. maybe I should wait for next week! LOL. I have an aversion to Bright Green and Cucumber Crush falls in this category. I just don’t know what to do with it.

But what’s a challenge if you aren’t really challenged, right?! I decided that I didn’t have to use much of the colour, but where ever I used it, it would pop. So the first step with a colour challenge is to find a stamp set that would suit it. I always find myself going for Nature themed stamps when I have the colour green in the combo. Maybe one day I will find another use the colour green.

Crazy About You- Artful Stampers Team Challenge #48

The first thing I stamped was the yellow flower onto some copy paper to create a mask. I then stamped the flower in the middle, masked it off and stamped the other two in second generation. I then shifted the mask to the other flowers and stamped the leaves. With these I inked the stamp in Mint Macaroon and used a Cucumber Crush marker to flick colour on the base of the leaves before stamping. When all the stamping was complete I then used the Crushed Curry and Mint Macaroon Markers to outline the images. It gave the images more definition and I really like the effect. The word hello was glued on next and it is four layers thick…..see I told you it wold ‘pop’!! LOL

Crazy About You

Last but not least the word ‘Sunshine’ was stamped underneath.

You would have arrived from Alison Barclay’s Blog and you will go onto Anna Foster’s.

Previous BlogNext Blog

Thanks for dropping by!

Kirsty xx

Celebrate Today!

Hello everyone,

I have participated in a Sketch Challenge that is from a little crafting group I am a part of on Facebook.

Here is the sketch

Sketch Challenge

I don’t do square cards very often, so this was a welcome change. Another requirement in the challenge was it that it had to be a Baby card. Which again is something I don’t do very often.

Here is the end result.

Celebrate Today, Baby Card

My colour combination is Night of Navy, Tangerine Tango, Pool Party and Gold. I like this combo and may create another. I envision butterflies on that one.

I used the Bravo Stamp Set for the sentiment. For assorted colours I used the Pen to Marker technique, which I call the Halitosis Technique for short. LOL!

I used some paper from the Cherry on Top Paper Stack for the background. I love all those balloon strings hanging down. Very celebration style.

I will list all products used below as usual for your convenience and remember if you would like any of these products just click on the product and it will take you to my store.

Thanks for dropping by!

Kirsty xx

Price: $169.00

Supply List

Built for Free Using:  My Stampin Blog

Can Never Have Too Much Happy With Everything Eleanor

Hello everyone,

I decided to have a play with a challenge. It is something I haven’t done in a while and it was absolutely fabulous. One of my team leaders Alisa Tilsner is a designer at Around the World Stampin’ Up! Challenges and encouraged me to have a play. Here is the challenge-

Colour Challenge

I love colour challenges, it opens you up to so many more possibilities, than say an inspiration challenge. Here is my entry-

Everything Eleanor, Around the World Challenge

I loved playing with the Dictionary stamp as a background on the Peacock card so much, I had a play again. I inked up the whole stamp stamped it off and second generation stamped selective parts of the Dictionary stamp. I use a clear mount stamp, as it is easy to manipulate and bend. What I love about it, is it’s not exact and you never know what you’re going to end up with.

Everything Eleanor is one of my most favourite stamp sets. I just haven’t played with it in a while and it was time to moisten that stamp with some ink. I sponged the edges very lightly with Basic Grey Ink, it really makes the Whisper White border pop.

Everything Eleanor, Around the World Challenge

Something else I haven’t done in a while is play with my Aqua Painter, and I enjoyed that immensely. Colouring improves my stress levels so you can imagine how relaxed I am since the release of the new Blendabilites! LOL.

I hope I have inspired you to participate in a challenge or have a play with one of your favourite stamp sets.

Thanks for dropping by,

Kirsty