BUTTERFLY BLUES

      I have made this card using a Lavinia stamp. I have not got many of their pretty designs yet but decided to try to come up with a card suitable for this months challenge at Lavinia stamps.  The challenge is to use pink or blue or both. I decided to use my butterfly stamp. 
        
       The border along the bottom is made by using inks onto shaving foam. This gives a lovely marbled effect. I trimmed back and mounted onto some dark blue card.

          I added a die cut greeting in matching card.  Next I stamped the butterfly in Cornflower blue Archival ink. Then coloured in using Spectrum Noir pencils.  I went over some areas with a glitter pen which does not show up too well in the photos. 

       I just stamped some little stars randomly about the card using a very tiny stamp from Lavinia. Then mounted onto blue card again and a 7 x 7 card blank. 

     

         Quite a simple card really but looks so clean and fresh.  Hope you like this one, I will enter it into the challenge and keep my fingers crossed.  First time I have tried the challenge at Lavinia. 

 

VINTAGE TIMEPIECE

      Clocks, we seem to spend our lives watching them and trying to beat them sometimes, especially when work beckons. I have been fortunate enough to be retired now for nearly two years and must admit it is wonderful not to be clock watching all the time and no alarm clock either. A very good friend of mine retires in a few months so I thought I would  combine the requirements for two challenges to make her a card. The challenge at Claritystamps this month is clocks and at Sweet Lilac flowers it is Vintage. 
        
                  I started by making my own background paper to get a vintage finish.  I used three different shades of ink and just brushed them on lightly until I got the right depth of colour.

                         
         I blended around the edges with the Pumice Stone ink just to help with the ageing.                              

       Next using the Alium stamp and the script stamp from the Journal set I randomly stamped over the card. Now I was telling my eldest granddaughter that when I was young we used to blow the seeds off dandelions and count how many times it took to clear them all.  Whatever number we reached was supposed to be the time, not very reliable really. My dad used to tell me off for scattering the seeds over his lawn. 

        I drew around part of the clockwork stencil onto black paper and cut out the part I wanted. Took a while but achieved the effect I was after. You can see from the picture I use this stencil quite a bit.
   

                        The cutout part was then stuck onto a corner of the base card.

           
              I found the perfect sentiment amongst my stash , Time for Something New, That is what retirement is all about I reckon. Stamped it onto some matching  card, trimmed back and rounded the corners. Mounted onto some black card and  added to the base card.

                                  

       Just some finishing touches now, I added a few of the Sweet Lilac flowers and a butterfly.   I cut the butterfly down a little as I did not need it quite so large. This stamp is perfect for that though.

   

       Finally I mounted the completed design onto black card and a scalloped card base.

         I like to add an insert to my cards just gives the finishing touch and a chance to add a verse.

                                   I also added a little finishing touch to the envelope.

                              Items Used to create this card.

                                 Clockwork Stencil  

                                  Alium Stamp

                                  Journal Set

                                 Butterfly Stamp

                                Sweet Lilac Flowers

     Hope you all like this, would love you to leave a comment if you have time.  ( Ha ha, bit of a play on words there).  Thankyou. xx                   

A WELL LOVED DUCK

     We have recently re-decorated our bathroom, looking nice and fresh now pleased to say. However, sitting on one of the shelves was a little china duck. I have had this little chap for many years, my youngest daughter bought it for me when she was in her teens, now she is a mum herself.  Anyway he was looking a little bit sad, colours had faded right away and the glaze was all cracked. I knew it was not an expensive piece of china but it holds many sentiments for me. I have several bits and pieces around the house which the kids bought when they were young. 
      So giving it a bit of thought I decided to have a go at some decopatch on this little duck. So off I went to Hobbycraft and found some paper in the right colour. I have tried decopatch before and was not too keen but was determined to revamp the little chap. I actually found it quite relaxing this time. 

     I chose a vintage style paper which had a map design on it. That cannot be seen in the finished item but I used the darker areas of the paper for the duck's wings so that they would stand out as a different area.

        All you have to do is tear the paper into small pieces and apply to your object with special decopatch glue. I applied plenty of glue and used two layers of paper. When it was all covered I painted it all over with the glue as it works like a varnish. Left it to dry completely and then tied a ribbon around his neck. I am happy with the end result and my little duck now looks so much smarter in my bathroom, where I think he will sit for many more years.

Finished duck looking much smarter.

      Hope you like this, do have a go it is quite an enjoyable pastime.