Reminder: The Flower Challenge #51

 Hi everybody!! As usual I've had a strange couple of days so far this week. The weather Sunday and Monday were so cold, I had to get out my Winter pj's yet again. And it was so windy!! Today (Tuesday as I write this) has been extremely hot, no one knows what to do with themselves. I haven't been gardening today as I received two cortisone injections in both shoulders this morning for 'Reactive Bursitis' so fingers crossed that will kick in, in a few days. I wasn't allowed to do anything too strenuous so have been sweating at home while making some Christmas cards.

We have a great challenge theme at The Flower Challenge this month 'Add Embellishments', so you can get out all those bits and bobs and put them on your floral projects.

For my last card I used my favourite embellishments - sequins and pearls (from Studio Katia). This time I wanted to make them one of the main parts of my design:

Who knew this card would be so hard to photograph??? I usually only take photos of flat cards for slimline designs but this happened:

The photo itself is fine but you can hardly read the sentiment, let alone know that its sparkly gold. 

For this card I wanted to do some die-cutting, so I die-cut the 'Outline Floral Frame' die from Simon Says Stamp 2x from red CS. I glued one to the card front and then glued back in some of the flower petals. The second layer was then glued on top to add more dimension.

Using gold pearls from Studio Katia, I glued them to the middle of the flowers and also as 'berries' on the round parts of the frame. I kept the sentiments simple, using a Couture Creations circle die on the same red CS. I heat embossed the sentiment (from Simon Says Stamp/Gina K Designs 'Joy of the Season' from last year) using WOW! Metallic Gold Embossing Glitter and put on some foam tape.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #164 where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

You have until Friday 25th December to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and the rest of the DT have some incredible ideas for you on the blog.

I'm afraid I'm sad to say that this is my last challenge as part of the Design Team. I've been a part of The Flower Challenge family since the beginning 4yrs ago and have loved every minute of it. Its time for a change and to let someone else have the joy of being part of this amazing team of women. Thanks so much to Aileen for inviting me and to Viv for keeping the team organised. I'm going to miss the challenge terribly and will definitely be joining as a participant next year. Time to take a break, recharge and hit 2021 with a bang.

Hugs

Shona 

The Flower Challenge #51

Hello there!! What a week its been. The weather has been all over the place, winter pjs one night, summer pjs the next. The wind is ridiculously strong and then you get the odd warm still night. I have such sore eyes, I don't usually get affected by allergies but think with all the wind and flowers around, my eyes feel like I poured sand in them. I would take eye drops but I'm like a 2yr old toddler with them, hate putting them in and constantly blink when Dave does it. Can't win!

Its our last challenge of the year for The Flower Challenge and we are wanting you to 'Add Embellishments' to your floral projects. And with so MANY different embellishments available, your choices are endless!

For my cards I was all about simple stamping/heat embossing and using my most favourite embellishments:

I need so many more Christmas cards and STILL haven't sent out my International ones but I love receiving cards after Christmas, keeps the feeling going that bit longer....

I purchased a new stamp that I was dying to use 'Big and Bold - Slimline Poinsettia' by Colorado Craft Company. I thought these images would look fantastic just on their own and since I need to make a lot of cards at once, I can use different inks for each one.

For one card I stamped the flowers using Catherine Pooler 'Rockin Red' ink on white CS. This was cut down to 3 x 7 inches. I created a white card base that was slightly larger, adhered a panel of red CS to the front and popped the flower panel on white foam. The sentiment (from the same set) was white heat embossed on the same red CS, fussy cut out and put on foam tape, along with my all-time favourite embellishments sequins, from Pretty Pink Posh.

For the second card I heat embossed the poinsettias on red CS using WOW! Metallic Gold Sparkle Embossing Glitter. This was cut down to the same size and put on a white card base with a piece of white foam. The sentiment (also from the same set) was heat embossed on a strip of white CS with the same gold embossing powder, popped on foam tape and I glued on my new favourite embellishments, pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Friday 25th December (Christmas Day!) to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and we'll be back on the 15th with some more 'embellishment' ideas. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #50

 Hi there!! It has been so hot this weekend. On Friday it was so warm I ended up with my first sunburn on my shoulders and back of neck, so each time I go outside it hurts in the heat even under my t-shirt. Definitely need to travel everywhere with sunblock from now on.....

Our theme for this month at The Flower Challenge is to 'Use a Sentiment'. You could make a floral sentiment or just add a die-cut/stamped sentiment along with your floral images....its totally up to you!!

For my card I had a good idea in my head but as usual, when I came to make it I realised I hadn't thought it through properly....:

So frustrating how hard it is to capture gold, shiny CS in a photograph. I tried laying it flat, going closer etc but nothing seems to work. Here is another photo:

 

I started off by stamping the flowers from Pinkfresh Studio 'Pop Out: Hexagons' on white CS and white heat embossing. I then used a rainbow of Distress Inks to blend over each one. My idea was to inlay these pieces back into the Pinkfresh Studio 'Simple Hexagons' die-cut but suddenly realised there wasn't a single hexagon die with it and the way I had stamped them I couldn't use the large die to cut them out. Silly me!!

So I fussy cut around the floral patterns that filled the shape and used them to cut out the smaller floral images. I die-cut the hexagon panel from grey CS and also from white CS. I glued these together with Gina K Connect Glue and then to the card front. I inset four of the grey pieces along the side and then put all the floral images on foam tape.

For the sentiment (also Pinkfresh Studio 'Hello') I die-cut the shadow from white CS and the 'hello' once from Craft Smith 'Holiday Foil' in gold, and twice more from white CS. I glued these all together and then to the card front. And to finish off I added some gold pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Wednesday 25th November to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and there are lots of projects to inspire you on the blog from the rest of the Design Team. Hope you have time to join us!!

Take care

Shona 

The Flower Challenge #50

 Hello there!! Another month has whizzed on by. This year may have sucked but its still gone ultra fast. I can't believe its only around 7 weeks till Christmas, I'm so not ready....

I am however ready for our new theme at The Flower Challenge this month. Its all about 'Using a sentiment'. There are so many ways you could do this so I can't wait to see what you do. I actually had an idea all sorted in my head for this card but somehow ended up in a completely different direction:

 I was actually going to create a card where it was 'all sentiment' but ended up with one that hardly has one. Might use that idea for my reminder card....

I started by stamping the image from Studio Katia 'Flourishing Note' with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, colouring with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. To pick up on the turquoise flower I used a similar shade of CS to cover the square card base. 

Dry embossing is something I don't do very often. I find it very hard to get the right amount of pressure with my Cuttlebug and most of the time it cuts thru but I decided to persevere with spare bits of cardboard to find the right fit. I used the Studio Katia 'Stitched Creative Nested Squares' largest die on some white CS and then dry embossed the smaller one in the middle. This was put on a piece of white foam in the middle of the card and the floral image put on foam tape. 

To finish off I white heat embossed the sentiment (from Studio Katia 'Floral Wreath') on a strip of black CS and put it on foam tape, along with pearls (also from Studio Katia).

You have until Wednesday 25th November to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing any ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Enna of @ritzyhag on Instagram have created for you. Can't wait to see what designs you come up with!!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #49

 Hi everyone, this is one very late blog post. It was supposed to have been published a few days ago but life got in the way and then I spent the weekend with my Mum, so finally have a chance to sit at my computer. Was really nice to hang out with her and we talked ALOT. I did manage to make a few cards but didn't go crazy like I normally do when I stay. Good to be nearly all up to date and take some of the pressure off.

Our theme this month at The Flower Challenge is 'Circle/Circles' and you can incorporate them however you like into your project as long as you have a main floral image.

Its also our 4th birthday and there are loads of prizes to be won. We already have some stunning projects in our Gallery and always room for more!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Alex Syberia Design and she also has a prize for the winner. Her digital images are so incredible and she has come a long way in the past year. So excited to be sharing another of her designs with you:

 This is one of the first digital designs that Alex released and I thought it would be perfect for this particular challenge card. I spent ages colouring it in while catching up on tv shows. I'm obsessed with Family Guy at the moment, I've seen nearly every episode numerous times but they still make me laugh. Some of their jokes push the limits of humour but I just love it.

I started off by printing this image on to some white CS. I quickly coloured it first with Altenew Artist Markers and then spent a long time adding shading and depth with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils. Once I had finished I fussy cut it out.

To incorporate the 'circles' I remembered I had this background die from The Stamp Market. I die-cut it from a similar purple coloured CS and glued to the card front with Gina K Connect Glue. I popped the flower up on foam tape as well as the sentiment from Studio Katia 'Birthday Greetings', which was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS. And to finish off I added some Studio Katia 'Amethyst' pearls.

You have until Sunday 25th October to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Colleen of Irish Rose Creations have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see you in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona 

The Flower Challenge #49

 Hi everyone!! Its a very exciting month for us at The Flower Challenge, its our 4th birthday and we are celebrating with LOTS of prizes!!!!! I can't believe four years have gone by since we started this challenge, its quite scary how quickly time goes by, must be because we have so much fun each month not only making our own cards but seeing all the incredible entries too. I'm honoured to be part of this talented team and here's to many more years to come.

Unfortunately we had Rachel and Karen leave the team recently (they are sorely missed), however we now have a new member the fabulous Loll Thompson of Stamping with Loll.  She is very well known and loved in card making circles and we are so happy to have her with us. 

Our theme for this month is 'Circle/Circles' and you can incorporate them however you like into your project with floral images being your main element.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Alex Syberia Design and she is generously giving the winner of this challenge a $10 voucher to spend in her Etsy store. Lucky them!!

And because its our birthday we also have SIX more prizes to give away this month. Photos of the prizes and all the details are on the blog.

For my card I was very lucky to come across an image I had printed months ago from the very first release Alex did with her digital floral images. And it even has a circle in it so it couldn't be more perfect:

This 'You are Amazing' digital image was so easy to print out and couldn't be more perfect for colouring with lots of different flowers and leaves. If you haven't already I really encourage you to check out her Etsy store, the images will blow you away!

I started by quickly colouring the flowers and leaves with Altenew Artist Markers, not worrying too much about blending etc. I then went back in with my new Faber Castell 'Polychromo' pencils and spent ages adds more indepth shading. Once I had finished I found a die (from Uniquely Creative 'Cross-stitch Circle Frames Dies') that fit perfectly around the image to cut it out.

I needed a background but didn't have anything that suited that had circles incorporated into it. So I used some patterned paper (shock, horror!). I found this one from Rosie's Studio 'Flourish' 6x6 pad, adhered it to the card front and then popped the circle on some white foam. I then finished off with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. This is my second entry.

You have until Sunday 25th October to link your projects to 'The Flower Challenge' and we will be back on the 15th with some more 'circle' ideas. Good luck with winning a prize and can't wait to see your designs in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #48

Hello there!! Hope the start of your week has gone well so far. The weather here is good so been spending a lot of time gardening. The rest of my week is tackling the painting of the kitchen. Even though its much smaller and the ceiling is lower than our large hallway, I have lots of cabinets to paint around, so that should be fun....Will be good to get it done though as Dave painted it a few months ago with his 'slap happy' style in a colour I didn't like, so will have a lot of fixing up to do as I go.....

Our theme for this month at The Flower Challenge is 'Brown and Pink' and there are already some gorgeous projects in the Gallery.

Our Sponsor is Bugaboo Digi Stamps and they are giving a $12 gift voucher to the winner. They were also very generous with our Design Team and gave us a few different digi stamps to use.

For this card I used a different digi image and decided to have a go at colouring my flowers brown:

This image is called 'Flower Border 01'. It prints so delicately I didn't actually want to colour it. And the thing I like the most is that it prints with shading included, which helps a lot!!

My husband printed this for me on white CS and I used my Altenew Artist Markers to colour it. I also used a white Gelly Roll pen to add some little details. I used one of the Pinkfresh Studio 'Stitched Slimline Dies' to cut it out and then the next size up to cut some brown CS. I created a white CS card base 8 x 3 inches and adhered the brown CS to it. The coloured panel was popped up on foam tape. 

The sentiment (from Concord and 9th 'Everyday Bouquet Turnabout Stamp Set') was white heat embossed on the same brown CS, backed with some light pink CS and put on foam tape, along with some sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

I hope you have a chance to join us for this challenge and I look forward to seeing your project in the Gallery. If your needing any ideas for this colour combo, pop over to The Flower Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our amazing Guest Designer Lee Ann from Greyt Paper Crafts have created for you.

Take care
Shona
 

The Flower Challenge #48

Well hello there!! I've made it to the weekend (this post comes out at 2am Saturday morning in NZ, I will definitely be asleep....) which I'm very happy about. The weather is looking good and now I've got to choose between more painting or attacking my hedges which have suddenly sprouted all over the place. Or I could just make cards......

We have a colour challenge for you this month at The Flower Challenge. We are wanting you to use a combo of 'brown and pink' with your floral themed project. You can decide how much you use of each colour, will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Digi Stamps and they are giving a $12 gift voucher to the winner of this challenge.

Bugaboo Digi Stamps have also been very generous to our Design Team and given us all digital stamp images to use for this challenge. I don't use these sorts of stamps often and it takes me a bit to get it to print out the right size but I got there in the end and this image was a lot of fun to colour:

 



This image 'Teacup Flowers 1' is such a good size for colouring and I must give a shout-out to my husband who helped me print it as computers and I have a 'love/hate' relationship.....

I broke out my new Faber Castell Polychromo pencils for this one. I can totally see why people love them so much, they are so soft and vibrant, and the blending of colours is phenomenal. I wish I could have spent longer colouring this but as usual life gets in the way. I used a 'Stitched Square Die' from Uniquely Creative to cut it out. I cut a panel of brown CS to adhere to the card front and then put the coloured panel on some white foam. The sentiment (from MFT Stamps 'Sassy Pants Best Friends') was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS that I backed with the same brown CS and put on foam tape. To finish off I added some Neat and Tangled sequins.

You have until Friday 25th September to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing any ideas you can pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Lee Ann Barrett of Greyt Paper Crafts have created to inspire you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!

Take care
Shona


 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #47

Hello there! We are already half-way thru August which is just crazy. Its been a weird week here in NZ too as good old COVID turned up in Auckland. A family of four. The father was sick first and none of them have had any contact with anyone in isolation etc. They think he got it from boxes of frozen food (he works in a coolstore) that came from the US, as they found it on them. This is so frightening to think that we don't only have to worry about getting it from people but also from stuff!!

The theme for this month at The Flower Challenge is 'Add Sparkle' and the Gallery is already full of gorgeous sparkly creations. For some reason the thought of 'adding sparkle' really stunted my ability to think of designs. This happens every now and then, I get so focused on the theme I can't think of anything else. 

Well, while watching YouTube I came across a video by Kirsty Partridge Art where she Draws on Black Paper for the first time with white pencils. I thought it looked so good I wanted to try that myself with some colouring:

Unfortunately it didn't work out as well as I had hoped as my pencil just wasn't bright enough but in the video I watched she suggested another type, so going to order one of those and try again. The same with my white gel pen!! But I didn't want this to go to waste, so created these two cards instead.

I started by white heat embossing the MFT Stamps 'Loosely Lined Flowers Background' stamp on black CS. I then added shading with my Faber Castell Polychromo white pencil. Not only was it not bright enough but I realised half-way thru that I was doing it the wrong way around. I should have been adding white to the highlighted areas, not the dark areas so will try that next time. So much practice to be had......

Once I finished with my pencil I used my Wink of Stella 'Clear' around all the flowers. I let it dry then added a second layer, the sparkle is incredible!! I decided that it would look better to use smaller portions of the coloured image so I cut the background in half. I die-cut a Uniquely Creative 'Frame Die' six times, gluing two lots of three together. This was then glued over the floral panel.

To add a bit of colour to the card front I cut two panels of light blue CS and glued to each card. The floral panels were then popped up on black foam.

I wanted a 'kindness' theme for both cards, so stamped sentiments from MFT Stamps 'Kindness' on pink and yellow CS strips using Versafine Onyx ink and then clear heat embossing with SSS Clear Embossing Powder. I glued each strip to the frame and some pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Tuesday 25th August to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our gorgeous Guest Designer Darnell of djkardkreations have created for you. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Take care
Shona
 

The Flower Challenge #47

Hi everybody!! Another month has whizzed on by, can't believe its August already. Global Warming is definitely on form at the moment. August is the coldest month for us usually in New Zealand but it was so hot yesterday and last night, I didn't even light the fire! So bizarre but really lovely being outside.

Time to grab out your bling as this months theme at The Flower Challenge is all about 'Sparkle'. You can use glitter, glitter pens, embellishments.....its totally up to you as long as you have a floral theme to your project.

I don't use sparkle too much on my cards. I love using my Wink of Stella but that's pretty subtle and I'm addicted to Studio Katia Pearls which have a lovely shine but I don't use glitter very much. Decided to have a go with some glitter embossing powder and see what happens:

I got this floral stamp just last week and couldn't wait to use it. Although I saw on IG that Kathy Racoosin coloured this image and of course it looks spectacular, so I'm a bit scared to share mine....

Using a piece of Strathmore Watercolour CS I heat embossed the MFT Stamps 'Loosely Lined Flowers Background' stamp with WOW! Metallic Gold Sparkle Embossing Glitter. Its really sparkly but hard to see, here's a closer look:

I then spent some time watercolouring around the flowers with my Zig Real Color Brush Pens, using 'Light Blue' and then 'Colbalt Blue' focusing the most colour against the edges of the flowers. There wasn't enough depth so I grabbed my Faber Castell pencils and used a dark blue and black to go right up hard against the flowers. Black makes such a difference!! I then used an Altenew Watercolour Brush Marker 'Desert Night' to add detail to the flower stamens and middle of the flowers.

I wasn't satisfied with how it looked but didn't want to colour the flowers themselves so I had an idea to splatter with black paint. This is something I NEVER do so was very scared I would ruin it. I mixed up some black Gansai Tambi paint and flicked away a few times. I loved how it looked!! Once the panel was dry I trimmed it down to 5x5 inches and adhered to a square card base.

The MFT Stamps 'Hugs' die was die-cut 3x from black CS, glued together and then to the card front. I also white heat embossed the sentiment from MFT Stamps 'Sassy Pants Best Friends' on black, added two more strips of black CS behind it and glued to the card. To finish off I decided to add a few Nuvo Crystal Drops in 'Ebony' BUT its been so long since I used it, the liquid was mega thick and wouldn't smooth out. So I stuck a toothpick in it and scooped some of it off and added to other spots on the card. And I added more 'Sparkle' but putting lots of Wink of Stella on the 'HUGS' die-cuts.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamps - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

You have until Tuesday 25th August to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and we will be back on the 15th with a few more ideas for you. If your needing more inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for you. Can't wait to see your sparkling projects in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

The Flower Challenge #46

Hi everyone!! Its been a very chilly week here, we've had a few -3 degree celcius frosts and I've had to wait until 10.30am to garden so that everything has thawed out (including my fingers....). The days have been gorgeous though and when the sun comes out its glorious!

 Speaking of weather, our theme for this month at The Flower Challenge is 'Summer/Winter'. You could use the colours of those season's or maybe the flowers that are out at that time of year....its totally up to you!!

For my card I was of course in a 'Winter' state of mind and even got into the Christmas spirit:

I haven't had a chance to colour this Studio Katia image since purchasing months ago and thought it would be perfect for a 'non-traditional' Christmas wreath.

I stamped the 'Floral Wreath' on white CS using Gina K Amalgam black ink. I gave the flowers a basic quick colour with my Altenew Artist Markers in cooler colours with a hint of 'Christmas red'. I then had a play around with my Faber Castell pencils, adding some shading and depth here and there. I fussy cut the image out and then decided I wanted to cut out the middle as well. I actually found a circle die that fit perfectly from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps 'Ornament Tags'.

The wreath didn't look right on its own over the card base so I did the unthinkable and added a panel of vellum (something I hardly ever use) from Rosie's Studio which had spots of silver. I cut it the same size as the card front but didn't want to use glue/tape behind it because it would be seen. So I put the wreath on foam tape on the vellum, turned it over and added double-sided tape behind the shadow of the wreath. It does mean that the vellum isn't adhered at the edges but that's totally fine with me.  

For the sentiment (from Studio Katia 'Origami Winter'  which was my very first Studio Katia stamp set.....) I silver heat embossed on white CS, fussy cut around it and put on foam tape, along with some Silver Pearls, also from Studio Katia.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Bright and Cheerful'.

You have until Saturday 25th July to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing any ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Mac Mable of The Sweetest of Peas have created for you. We will be back with more card ideas on the 15th and I look forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery.

Take care
Shona

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #45

Hi everybody!! I managed to get all my gardening today before it rained, although its been cold and dark all day.....Winter is definitely here. The rest of the week looks like rain, rain and more rain, so might have time to kick my mojo in the butt and crank out some cards....

Our theme for this month at The Flower Challenge is 'Navy plus one other colour'. Navy is so stylish and gorgeous with so many colour combo's. The possibilities are endless!!

My mojo has taken a beating lately, so decided to set myself up in front of Netflix (I've been watching 'Parasyte' which is a Japanese Anime series. So not for my age range and have never watched anime before but for some reason I'm really enjoying it) with my pencils and gently coloured away the evening:

Yes, your eye's aren't deceiving you...that is patterned paper on my card. Its something I hardly EVER use but I just needed something in the background and I was stumped with ideas.

To start off I stamped this floral image from Gina K Designs 'You Make Me Smile' with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS and coloured with my Faber Castell pencils. I knew I wanted Navy leaves but took me a while to choose the flower colours. Since the leaves were so dark I tried to colour the flowers softly but with subtle shading. 

This is where I realised I had smudged the blue pencils over the background (between the leaves etc). I grabbed the same blue pencil and gently scribbled it in all the gaps with it going in the same direction. I fussy cut it out and decided to come back to it again.

For the frame I die-cut the Pretty Pink Posh 'Scallop Frame' from navy CS and twice more from black CS. I glued them all together and then to the card front. I realised I needed something behind the flowers and found this paper from a Rosies Studio paper pad 'Splendid'. I die-cut it with the same frame die and inset the middle part in the navy frame.

Back to the flowers, the scribbles looked terrible, so because I use watercolour pencils I used a teeny, tiny amount of water on a brush and blended out all the blue. I had to be careful because it was normal CS. I used some foam tape behind it on the card. The sentiment (from the same stamp set) was white heat embossed on the same navy card and put on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

You have until Thursday 25th June to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your struggling with ideas, don't forget to pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Jenny of Jenny Hall Design have made to inspire you. Hope I see you in the Gallery!

Take care
Shona

The Flower Challenge #45

Hi there!! Really hope your all ok and you've all had a drier week than I have. I've only been able to garden once this week and I have washing hanging all over the house...gotta love Winter weather!!

A new month means a new challenge theme at The Flower Challenge and this month is all about using Navy plus one other colour. I love using navy with designs, its not as stark as black and so many colours go with it, which made it hard to choose just one....

For my card I wanted to have one central flower and have it large enough to watercolour, as I wanted to have a go at watercolouring with dark pink and navy:

 

I really enjoyed colouring this flower, was really interesting using two quite dark colours and watching them blend together with water.

I started by gold heat embossing the Ellen Hutson 'Mondo Magnolia' on some watercolour CS. The watercolours I used are from Altenew 'Tropical Fiesta Set' and it has the most incredible 'Desert Night' colour. Using a brush and water I added the blue to the petals from the base and bringing it about 3/4 up. I then used the 'Purple Wine' colour, starting from the end of the petal and heading towards the blue, adding water as I went. I did this about 3x, drying the flower in between. Once I was happy I fussy cut it out.

For the background I added a panel of navy CS to the card front. I then cut a slightly slimmer panel of white CS and stamped the same magnolia in two opposite corners with Hero Arts Shadow Ink Mid Tone 'Navy' which is my favourite navy ink. I glued the panel down and put the magnolia on foam tape. The sentiment (from the same stamp set) was stamped twice in the navy ink and then clear heat embossed  twice with Simon Says Stamp embossing powder. I fussy cut it out and put on foam tape, along with Neat and Tangled sequins.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge where their theme is 'Make your own Background'.

You have until Thursday 25th June to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing some ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our amazing Guest Designer Jenny Hall of Jenny Hall Design have made to inspire you. Can't wait to see all that navy in our Gallery!

Take care
Shona
 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #44

Hi everyone!! I'm typing this out while enjoying the fire. The nights have become a little bit colder of late, even though the days have been glorious. We only have a few more weeks of Autumn left and then the cold harsh days of Winter will be upon us......can't wait!!

This months theme at The Flower Challenge is 'Monochrome' which is basically creating a project using the same colour but in different tones. I think its a fantastic idea, gives you a chance to try out some colouring techniques and see what 'pink leaves' would look like!!

I've been raking up a lot of leaves lately and one of the most frustrating ones are the Magnolia leaves as they are so HUGE!! However it got me thinking about why I don't have a Magnolia tree myself and how beautiful the blooms are that make the leaves worth it. So I pulled out one of my favourite Magnolia stamps for a colouring session:

I'll be completely honest, I made a few mistakes colouring these and the more I tried to fix them, the worse it got. So please look at it from VERY far away and just enjoy the stamp image itself!!

I started by stamping the flowers from Funky Fossil Designs 'Beautiful Inside and Out' with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS and colouring with an array of purple Altenew Artist Markers, using the palest one to create a shadow around the outside. I fussy cut around the outside of the image and then decided to cut a hole and do the inside as well, as I wanted a window for the sentiment.

I cut a panel of purple CS so it was slightly slimmer than the card front. I managed to find a circle die (from Couture Creations) that was nearly the same size as the inside of the flowers. I die-cut it from the purple panel and glued the flowers on top. Using my MISTI I stamped the sentiment (from Funky Fossil Designs 'Happy Words') thru the window on to the card front and popped the panel on some white foam. I then finished off with a few purple iridescent sequins from Neat and Tangled.

You have until Monday 25th May to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing some ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for you. Can't wait to see your floral projects in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

The Flower Challenge #44

Hello there!! I can't believe its already May, time has gone so fast this year (even in lockdown) and feel like I need to start getting some things ready for Christmas because its going to sneak up on me. The weather is still really warm and we just had our first all-day of rain for 2020, which the weeds will love!!

A new month means a new challenge theme for The Flower Challenge and this month its 'Monochrome'. I think this is a brilliant theme because it makes you think about how you can colour or create your flower images with the same colour but still have shading etc. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the entries!!

For my card I really wanted a big floral image, and the biggest one I have is from Picket Fence Studios:

I'm so excited with how this turned out!! My husband saw me painting this and even he commented about how good it looked, which is unusual as he doesn't really take notice of my cards. I've definitely gotten better with all my colouring over the past 6 years but still have ALOT more to learn.

I started off by stamping the Picket Fence Studios 'Botan Peony' with Versafine Onyx ink a couple of times on watercolour CS and immediately clear heat embossed with Simon Says Stamp powder. I really wanted a dark blue to use and found the perfect one from Altenew Brush Markers - Tropical Fiesta Set 'Desert Night'. I did a first coat with water and a round brush, putting a little of the blue on each petal and not worrying too much about shading. Once that had dried I then went back in with less water in spots and lots in others because I wanted to remove some of the colour.

When this had dried I wanted to add more depth and detail with some colour pencils (cheap ones from Faber Castell). This is where I realised I had made a mistake by heat embossing the image. I have been scared to watercolour without clear heat embossing yet as it helps keep the colour in place. But now I add pencil shading the clear embossing gets in the way and flakes off. So I'm going to have to take the plunge next time..... And then I broke my pencil sharpener so had to give up the pencils completely!!

I fussy cut the flower out and added white foam to the back. I created a white 5inch square card base but wanted some blue on it as well. I found some lighter blue CS in the same tone and added it to the card front. I then cut a panel of white CS the same size as the flower and put it on white foam. 

For the sentiment (which was also a BIG MISTAKE as I thought it was Mother's Day on the 3rd May and since this comes out the day after it would be fine but now Mum is going to see it before next weekend....buggar....) I knew my Mum would love this. So I used Hero Arts 'Navy' ink on Winnie and Walter 'The Big, the Bold and Love' stamps, backed it with the same blue CS and put on foam tape, along with Neat and Tangled sequins.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

You have until Monday 25th May to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if you need to see any cards to get some ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our amazing Guest Designer Nonni of Nonni's Handmade Cards have made to inspire you. We will be back on the 15th May with some more cards for this theme and I can't wait to see your projects in the Gallery!

Take care and stay safe
Shona
xxx

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #43

Hi there!! Well, we've just entered our 4th week in lockdown and there is a chance we might be changing to 'Level 3' next Thursday. To be honest I don't think the country is ready, I would rather take longer, although our new case numbers each day have gone down significantly, there are still new cases, so it does worry me. So glad I'm not our Prime Minister, that is one hard decision to make!!

I'm popping in today to remind you all about our current theme at The Flower Challenge.  Its all about 'Spring/Autumn' designs. Its Autumn here in New Zealand and the leaves are starting to change and fall which is pretty but messy!! 

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Digi Stamps and they are giving a $12 gift voucher to the winner, which is around 4 stamp images. And they have so many to choose from!

For my card I wanted to use the same Bugaboo digi image that they gifted to our Design Team. I definitely needed to colour it differently and decided to move it around a bit too:

This is the image I used from Bugaboo Digi Stamps, its the '4 Block Tulip Square':

For the colouring I decided to use my Altenew Artist Markers but use the same colours within each square, giving a monochromatic look for each image. Once I had finished I cut each square apart. Next came the tricky part....

I wanted each square to have a frame, so I cut a panel of black CS the same size as the card front and was lucky enough to find a square die (from Uniquely Creative 'Square Stitched Nesting Dies') that fit perfectly around each image. I die-cut it 4x from the panel. To work out where to adhere each image, I had to hold the black panel over-top and move the image around, which took a very long time. Once they were in place I went around each image with a black marker pen as some of them didn't line up correctly. I then glued the black panel over-top.

For the sentiment I die-cut the 'love' from the Uniquely Creative 'Love and Hugs' die set 3x from white CS and once from some Creativ Gold Metallic Paper. I glued them all together and then to the card front. I also gold heat embossed the sentiment (from Uniquely Creative 'Sweet Sentiment Builder') and put on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins. I also added some white gel pen highlights to the images.

You have until Saturday 25th April to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing any inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our amazing Guest Designer Trina of Phamtastic Design have created for you. I can't wait to see your floral ideas in the Gallery!

Please stay safe and crafty!
Shona
 

The Flower Challenge #43

Hi everyone, how are you coping with your 'self-isolation'?? We are on Day 9 and haven't killed each other yet so that's good. I've been keeping myself busy with cleaning, laundry and a bit of gardening. I'm also in charge of walking the dog each night and its quite nice to get away from the property for a while and be on my own. I gotta say, not much card making has been happening, which is surprising as after I've picked up after my family and made meals etc, there isn't much time left for me. Might have to have a 'Me Day' tomorrow!!

Our theme this month is 'Spring/Autumn'. In New Zealand we are in Autumn and on the other side of the world everyone will be happily moving into Spring. You could go with Spring/Autumn colours, maybe a sentiment for that time of year or create a scene...its totally up to you!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Digi Stamps who are giving a $12 gift voucher (approx. 4 stamp images) to the winner. They were also very generous in giving some digital images to the Design Team that we get to use for this challenge.

For my card I chose the '4 Block Tulip Square'  image as tulips are one of my favourite Spring flowers:

Its really bugging me but please excuse the crookedness of my image. I don't have much left in the adhesive department (or white CS for that matter....) so I wasn't able to remove and re-stick it on a different card base. That bloody COVID-19!!!! 

After printing the image on some white CS, I coloured it with my Altenew Artist Markers, followed by some touch-ups and shading with my Faber Castell basic pencils. I also added some white highlights with a gel-pen, especially to all the black dots that are part of the image.  Once I was finished I cut it out and adhered to a piece of black CS, cut that to form a frame and then put on a piece of black foam on the card front.

The sentiment (from Funky Fossil Designs 'Plant a Garden') was stamped with Versamark ink on black CS and white heat embossed. I put it on some foam tape, along with some pearls from Studio Katia.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge where they have the most beautiful 'Spring Mood Board' which includes some tulips.

You have until Saturday 25th April to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and we will be back on the 15th with some more to inspire you. Don't forget to check out the challenge blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our wonderful Guest Designer Trina P of Phamtastic Design have made to give you all sorts of ideas. Look forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery!

Take care and stay safe!!
Shona