Hello … bonjour … and Joyeux Noel … Merry Christmas! My card making and blogland hiatus is going on a little longer than I anticipated and this year, it’s not been possible for me to make and send cards out as I have done in previous years. That makes it all the more important for me to be here to send you a QACAS (and not especially well photographed!) virtual card with my in-real-life warmest wishes to you all for a blessed, joyful and peaceful Christmas. I have so appreciated receiving a host of cards and emails from lovely friends out there … they have each had me smiling all over my face and heart. Thank you so much … you know who you are!
I hope you and your families and/or friends are enjoying the simple pleasure of each other’s company, sharing this special time of year together and preparing for the fun and adventure that’s to come in 2022.
I’m still not certain when I’ll be back with you … though I am sure that I miss being here in this lovely, creative, supportive world. For now, I’m content to just look forward to that time, whenever it comes.
Merry Christmas to you all … and a happy, healthy and crafty new year!
Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy, even when I’m not around to respond to them! Hugs, Anita
Hello … bonjour! You might have noticed in recent times that I’ve designed, made and posted fewer and fewer cards … and have been around in blogland to visit, comment and respond less and less. This is because life outside our creative world has become fuller … and that means the time I have available for playing cards with you all (in every sense) has diminished significantly.
It’s taken some gentle thinking and quiet reflection for me to realise that regardless of how much I want to, keeping every plate spinning isn’t possible at the moment, and that the time has come for me to take a break (a temporary pause if you will) from card making and blogland. So, this will be my last post for a while … but I will be back!
I’ll wave you off with a card I made some time ago using some of my favourite things … lots of white space, a single layer, florals, watercolouring, blue hues … and hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I enjoyed making it.
As my pause starts in just a few more words, I’d like to say thanks so much in advance for your comments … as always, I will be reading, enjoying and appreciating every word. I look forward to seeing you all again before too long … and in the meantime, wish you a healthy, joy-filled, creative and very happy summer (or winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere!). Hugs, Anita 🙂
Hello … bonjour! Welcome to our fun new challenge at Twofer, where we’re inviting you to brighten your already bright day with our prompt for June …
I chose to make both my cards conventional this month … one for a birthday, the other to give someone a smile (encouragement/friendship). My common image is a fun sun from Simon Says Stamp’s Happy & Smile stamp set. Here’s a closer look at each one …
This used to be one of my favourite designs … a strip of colour along the lower third line of my card, with an image and sentiment over it … though it’s been a while since I used it. The fresh stripes of sponged blue put me in mind of a summer sky or ocean … and with the sun (in his cool, shiny shades) taking the place of the ‘a’ in the stacked, die cut ‘hooray’ (from Neat and Tangled), I’m thinking beach party! That’s a birthday beach party by the way … thanks to the white heat embossed secondary sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. Want to see how shiny those cool shades really are …
My second card has me smiling every time I look at it …
The window design lent itself to an unconventionally sized slimline card … it’s 21 x 7.5 cm (roughly 8 x 3 inches) … half an A4 sheet folded across the long edge. I cut the windows individually using a die from Concord & 9th, marked the card base where the openings were and stamped the happy sun gradually rising through the morning. Each sun was masked so that the sky behind them could be sponged with distress inks … and when that was done, I added a good dose of sparkle to them (see below for a little more detail). The Avery Elle sentiment was stamped onto the window panel before I popped it up on craft foam onto the card base.
How about lighting up our gallery with some sunshine of your own … we’d love to see you and your two distinctly different designs there! Details of how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with loads of delicious inspiration from the DT. We’re delighted to have two wonderful Guest Designers joining us this month … Veana and Daphne … welcome ladies! Do go and enjoy a visit with these talented artists … and let yourself be inspired. You can always say hello while you’re there too!
Hello … bonjour! Welcome to our yummy new Twofer challenge for May, where we’re inviting you to dig out your scrumptious stamps, dies and/or stencils and join us to enjoy some …
That yummy looking cake stamp (the common image on both cards) is from Reverse Confetti … it appears just as intended (along with one of it’s accompanying alligators) on my birthday card … and on the hello card, it’s been dressed up with the help of a little masking and subsequent doodling! How about a closer look at each one …
The central design here ensures the cake is the star of the show. It was masked and stamped onto some mixed media card stock, I doodled those extra layers of chocolate ganache and the cherry on the top … and coloured it with alcohol markers. There are lavish coatings of shimmer and shine on the ganache and cherry too … tricky to capture … and more visible on the first photo. The two word sentiment is shared between Simon Says Stamp and Winnie & Walter (sadly NLIB). The panel was mounted onto a couple of layers of vellum, popped up on craft foam and adhered to a mixed media card base that had been embossed with a Spellbinders die. You’ll notice that the vellum went a smidgy bit wobbly round the edges after it was dry … must be all that luscious ganache that did it … couldn’t have been anything to do with the wet adhesive I used!
My second card is clean, fun and whimsical …
Another simple design, with the heat embossed images and sentiment laid out along the bottom half of a watercolour card base. Everything was coloured with Zigs and a water brush … and I gave the alligator a dry embossed pathway to walk on … firstly to ground him … and secondly so he could advance on that birthday cake easily!
How about choosing a cake/cupcake image from your stash … to make two distinctly different designs … for two different occasions … we’d love to see you (and your cards) in our gallery! All the details, rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … together with heaps of delicious inspiration from the DT as well as from our super talented Guest Designer, Janet from Swanlady Impressions. Do go and have a gentle meander around Janet’s blog … there’s so much loveliness to enjoy and be inspired by … and you can always say hello while you’re there!
My piled high cupcake is going over to …
AAA Cards – Up To One Third … no Mystical Beasts option
Hello … bonjour! I’m popping by with some more inspiration to tempt you to play along with us at Twofer this month … there’s a whole week left for you to join in with …
Once again, as with my first set of Twofer cards last week, my common images here are those delicate Eucalyptus die cuts from Simply Graphic … one for a birthday, one as a spirit lifter. Let’s have a closer look at each one …
This is a deliciously clean design, with the leaves cut in gold and pink, growing right next to the crisp white Concord & 9th stacked die cut. The supplementary sentiment is from Simply Graphic … it’s embossed in white and translates to ‘it’s your day’. The frame was embossed with a Reverse Confetti square die … I don’t have a rectangular one, so did a little extending (similar to partial die cutting).
My second card, while still clean, is a little more layered …
This design began with a sponged panel of Bristol card … in every green Distress Ink hue in my possession. I die cut seven of the open eucalyptus leaves from the different colours and layered them up round a Concord & 9th stitched circle die cut (to guide the shape) … and adhered the circle to the card base. The sentiment was stamped in navy inside the spring wreath (it’s from The Greetery) … and I finished with some tiny blue gems to mimic berries.
So … have you played along with us at Twofer this month? If you haven’t, why not give it a go … and if you have, do feel free to play again. We’d love to see your two distinctly different takes on Leaves. All the details, rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … along with inspiration galore, both from the wonderful DT and from our talented Guest Designers, Alison from Cranberry and Eggplant and Natalie from natshobbycorner at Instagram. Look forward to seeing you in our gallery!
Hello … bonjour! It’s the 10th of the month … welcome to our new Twofer challenge for April! In this part of the world, spring has sprung and green shoots are appearing all over the place … which means that inspiration is everywhere for our prompt this month … we’re inviting you to play with …
My common images here are Eucalyptus die cuts from Simply Graphic … how about a more detailed look at each card?
My design here features a background of leaves cut from various previously created inky backgrounds, made using borrowed Brusho’s and Lindy’s Magicals (so there’s a little sparkle), adhered flat to the card base. A popped up centre frame draws the eye to the equally popped up Altenew hello and the WPlus9 secondary embossed words.
My second card is decidedly CAS …
I die cut the eucalyptus leaves from a few different card stocks and tied them together with a little natural twine. The die cut border is from SSS and was stacked three times to give it dimension, before being adhered to the card base. I hung the leafy cluster on the border and finished with a simply stamped sentiment from Mama Elephant.
How would you like to join us with your two distinctly different takes on leaves … bet you have a few stamps, dies and/or stencils in your stash that are calling out to be played with … and we’d be delighted to see you (and your designs) in our gallery! All the details about how to play along, including rules and FAQs are over at the Twofer blog … along with inspiration galore from the DT and from our fabulous Guest Designers, Alison from Cranberry and Eggplant and Natalie from natshobbycorner at Instagram … welcome ladies! Do go over and have a visit with Alison and Natalie … you’re sure to be inspired … and you can always say hello while you’re there!
