A Little Tangled Watercolour FUSION...

Second card for today... I couldn't resist creating another FUSION card this week - this one I have focused on Jackie's sketch Challenge, the colours drifted a bit far from Lesley's photo inspiration!  

PROCEDURES:

1. Play with just Jackie's sketch challenge.

2. Play with just Lesley's inspiration photo challenge.

3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.

4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to FUSION in your post.

Inspied by this watercolour by Conrad Roset

Today I combined Jackie's sketch with inspiration from this gorgeous Watercolour by Conrad Roset, linked by Cathy for the Moxie Fab The Wonder of Watercolour Challenge.  I used Derwent Inktense pencils to create my watercolours, with a combination of Cadmium Yellow, Sienna Gold, Tangerine, Poppy Red, Iris Blue, Green Aquamarine and Sea Blue.

I stamped the gorgeous bird image and sentiment from Neat & Tangled All My Heart in Versamark Watermark then Zing Pewter heat embossed, to play along with this weeks Little Tangles Emboss It! Challenge too, the music stave is stamped in Hero Arts Shadow Ink Orange Soda.

Hope you have a fantastic week & really looking forward to seeing your FUSION creations.  

Don't forget to stop by the Design Team and Guest Designer

blogs for some more inspiration too!

• Allyson
• Amy
• Deanna
• Kelly
• Stacey

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes too!

This made me smile!

Crazy for FUSION...

A huge THANK YOU to all of you who joined us for the FUSION experiment last week, so many gorgeous cards in the gallery!

Now for some more fab inspiration from Lesley & Jackie!  This week is my 21st Wedding Anniversary - so my FUSION experiment today has a dollop more interpretation than last week.  I love the graphic style of the flowers, which reminded me of the sun and of looking down onto the tops of hot air balloons, I also love the contrast between the bold orange and yellow and the cooler hues, and the layers created by the overlapping elements.  I interpreted the sentiment block as a cloud, to tie in with my semi-circle sun and hot air balloon elements.

I paper pieced this gorgeous The Alley Way Stamps Lighter Than Air hot air balloon and sun using papers from October Afternoon, Kaisercraft and Echo Park, adding a little twine to hang the basket from, stamped The Alley Way Stamps sentiment onto a Lil Inker Designs stitched cloud in Hero Arts Charcoal Shadow Ink, before hand drawing a faux stitched border to anchor the scene together.  Even though I LOVE seeing real stitching on cards, I love this technique as it means I don't have to wrestle with my sewing machine, and if the "stitch holes" are emphasised enough, it is amazing how realistic the faux stitching can look - and it's a good deal straighter than my real stitching would be LOL!

Hope you have a fantastic week & really looking forward to seeing your FUSION creations.  

Don't forget to stop by the Design Team and Guest Designer

blogs for some more cool inspiration too!

• Allyson
• Amy
• Deanna
• Kelly
• Stacey

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes too!

You Can Count on Me...

As soon as I saw this fortnights Keep It Simple Number Challenge, I knew this was the card I wanted to make - it just took a while going through my stash to find the perfect paper which, as luck would have it, I had already removed from the pad, so I think it is a My Minds Eye paper, but I can't be sure - which just goes to show, you can't ALWAYS count on me LOL!  This gorgeous script stamp is one of Kristina Werners for Simon Says Stamp, which I stamped in Versamark Watermark ink and embossed in Zing White.  I created the "ME" by printing to size (170 pt) in Showcard Gothic font and using this as a template to cut out the letters from my patterned paper.

If you are in Australia, hope you are making the most of your ANZAC Day!

Playing along with this weeks CASology Giggle and
 Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes too!

This made me smile!

Congratulations on Your New Addition...

I couldn't resist this combination of Paper Smooches Sparks Cool Shades Challenge, and this fab Retro Sketch by Deanna.  I thought these Cool Shades would be perfect for a baby boy card.  I fell in love with this teal  American Crafts 5th Avenue paper, with images of houses and "home is where the heart is", "at home" and "happy little life" sentiments scattered on the paper, so combined we have "Congratulations on Your New Addition"!  Featuring this gorgeous mama and baby elephant from Paper Smooches A Little Lovin' and sentiment from Sentiment Sampler, together with papers from American Crafts, with the corrugated kraft card left over from some recycled packaging, all tied together with some Trendy Twine in baby blue.

 

Fabulous FUSION...

Are you ready for a little experimenting at FUSION?  This week I went very literal in my interpretation of the sketch - and I just LOVE the bold pop of fuschia against the black and white.  I had some old Heidi Swapp papers in my stash which were just perfect for this weeks FUSION  paired with floral chipboard stickers from Basic Grey Ambrosia, with an added touch of sparkle, some back magic mesh and Incredible sentiment stamps by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday.  I just love how the polka dotted paper around the frame makes the card look like it's up in lights.  And I have the perfect someone in mind who I would love to thank for being fabulous!  I'd love to see you playing along - either just with Jackie's sketch, just with Lesley's photo inspiration, or a FUSION of both.

Head along to FUSION to check out the FAB inspiration 

from the DT and Guest Designers this week!

I'm certain you'll be AMAZED by the gallery too :)

A Catered Crop, Retro Style...

This fortnights Catered Crop is Just Add Glitter - not normally something I would reach for in my stash, but when I think of glitter I always think of STARS!  I thought this fab Retro Sketch would be perfect for a star card.  I first backed a sheet of American Crafts silver glitter paper with cardstock, to create a more sturdy base to enable pop-dotting of the assortment of My Favorite Things star and alpha die-cuts.  My fishtail flag is pop-dotted over some of the silver glitter paper too - although I cut a hole in the middle of the glitter paper so the pop-dots could adhere to the cardstock, rather than trying to adhere them to the glitter.  Last but definitely not least, this cute sentiment is fresh from Neat and Tangled.

Dashing Around in Circles...

Todays 10 Minute Craft Dash colours are super SPRINGY!!!!!  Some weeks I really wish I wasn't in the Design Team, but only because I'm not eligible to be in the running for any of the FANTASTIC prizes, like this weeks $20 Avery Elle Gift Certificate!!!

I managed to complete this weeks card in 9 minutes and 33 seconds - it would have been less except I decided to change the sizes of the pink and green circles half-way through the dash!  My butterflies and circles are die cut using MFT dies from a combination of papers by Websters, Fancy Pants and Jilly Beans.   I inked this cute sentiment from Ali Edwards by Technique Tuesday in Hero Arts Bubble Gum, before pop dotting the butterflies.

Playing along with CAS on Sunday Round and Round Challenge too.

Inspired by FUSION...

Are you inspired by sketches?  By photos?  or a FUSION of both?

Whatever inspires you, come along and play at the FUSION Challenge!

Looking forward to seeing your creations!

Time for FUSION...

With over 100 amazing entries last week, are you ready to be inspired by the next FUSION Challenge?

PROCEDURES:

1. Play with just Jackie's sketch challenge.

2. Play with just Lesley's inspiration photo challenge.

3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.

4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the gradient layers, circles, chevrons and lime and grey FUSION was a cityscape and a spotted lime green mini.  The city skyline was created using Graphite Glimmermist on watercolour paper, it sparkles like crazy in the sunlight - spritzed lightly for the background layer and went to town on the foreground layer - heat set then die-cut.  The funky The Alley Way Stamps Priceless Joy car was stamped onto some Fancy Pants spotted paper and some of the left over watercolour sheet to paper piece the car tyres.  The sentiment stamped in Zing White uses a combination of The Alley Ways Alphabet Soup and Chatterbox.  I couldn't work out how to create my arrows til I noticed a left over piece from the chevrons on my last card and realised the chevron die cuts were the perfect solution.

Why don't you head over and check out the FABULOUS inspiration 
from the rest of the DT and Guest Designers

Hope you can join in the fun at FUSION this week!

Joining in the fun at CASology Travel Challenge and Just Us Girls Ombre Challenge too.

 

A Friendly FUSION...

Amazing to see all the cards in the FUSION gallery so far!  Don't forget there's still a few hours to post before you vote for this weeks inaugural FUSION challenge.

I decided to play on a theme from my original post FUSION post, and recreated my tri-colour chevrons in Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade and Pickled Raspberry Distressed inks using an extra blast of Glimmermist Gold this time, before die-cutting my chevrons and stamping Paper Smooches flowers from the  left over watercolour paper.  I stamped the Paper Smooches sentiment in Versamark Watermark and heat embossed in Zing White, pop-dotted and added Kaisercraft pearls for extra sparkle.

Playing along with CASual Fridays Chevrons & Flowers,  Addicted to CAS Friend Challenge  and Paper Smooches Be Our Guest Designer Challenge too.

A Case of Happy Birthday...

LOVE, LOVE the inspiration card from JJ Bolton over at Case Study this week, one of my all time favourites.  I thought I'd try mine with a bit of a twist and use the negative space, because you know how much I love negative die cuts LOL!

I negative die cut the tall MFT letters and Quickcuts balloon first, stamped my MME paper with the Heidi Swapp sentiment in Hero Arts Cup o Joe, then aligned the sentiment on the cardstock base and masked the tail of the "y" before stamping.  I pop dotted my patterned paper, and the centre of the "a" and sliver from the balloon back into position, before securing the balloon with this cute Twinery twine.

Joining in the celebrations at Simon Says Stamp 4th Birthday
Little Red Wagons Be a Negative Nellie,
Catered Crop Twine Love Recipe Swap and
Pile it On Wooden too!

 

Paper Smooches with Twinchies...

Today is the last day you can post your homework in the Pattern Play class, so as soon as I saw this weeks Paper Smooches Sparks Designer Drafts Challenge, I knew I wanted to have a play with this cool paper quilting technique for my background, using 1 inch by 2 inch pieces of paper (twinchies!), I created one panel of quilted paper and cut it into two pieces for the sketch.  I love this weeks Color Q combination of soft pinks, yellow and suede, and it was perfect timing to play with my left over scraps from this card, with a combination of My Mind's Eye and Lily Bee Designs papers, paired with these gorgeous Paper Smooches stamps, and Crate Paper wooden sentiment.  Added the faux stitching & updated the photo :) and linked to Paper Smooches May Guest Designer Search Challenge too.

Thank you so much for stopping by and saying hello - it's REALLY appreciated :)

Playing along with Pile It On Wooden Challenge too!

Getting Inky with Patterned Paper...

Just a quick post for today - couldn't resist having a play even though my crafting area (aka dining room) is being painted today, and looks even more of a crime scene than usual LOL!  Whilst having a play with Pattern Play Homework, clear embossing and inking over patterned paper, I thought I'd also join in Mojo Monday, Paper Smooches Sparks Butterfly Challenge, Simon Says Stamp Birthday Celebrations, and Little Red Wagon Be a Negative Nellie too.  Sentiment, leaves and butterfly are all Paper Smooches & butterfly die.  I used Broken China Distress Ink, together with a combination of papers from Pebbles, My Mind's Eye and October Afternoon, with a few Kaisercraft pearls too.

 

FUSION #1 Challenge...

I'm SOOOOO excited to be playing along with the inaugural FUSION Challenge, I can't wait to see what you create.   As for me, I scooped up a cup of design inspiration from Jackie's Sketch Challenge, and added a liberal dash of colour and theme inspiration from Lesley's Photo Challenge, and shook them up to create this FUSION...

I LOVED the fabulous vibrant colours and flowers from Lesley's Challenge, and the strong chevron lines from Jackie's Challenge.  To create my chevrons I liberally swiped some watercolour paper with Distressed Inks in Pickled Raspberry, Orange Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade and spritzed with Glimmermist Iridescent Gold, before heat setting and die-cutting.  I stamped the Paper Smooches flowers on some of the excess watercolour paper and fussy cut before pop-dotting and finishing with a sentiment from my stash and some Kaisercraft black gems. 

Here is how you can play along:
1. Play with just Jackie's sketch challenge.
2. Play with just Lesley's inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.
5. Please read the other considerations on the Experiment Page before playing along.

Hop on over to the FUSION blog for some more fantastic DT inspration.

Join in & experiment with us... you know you want to!!!

Playing along with this weeks CASual Fridays Chevrons & Flowers too!

Retro Smooch with a Pink Twist...

It's that time of the month for the Paper Smooches Guest Designer Search, so I thought I'd add this into the mix.  Having fun playing along with extra homework for Pattern Play too - although I seem to be stuck on Day 1 LOL!  This fabulous Retro Sketch was perfect for creating white borders around your patterned papers.  I love this mix of My Mind's Eye and Lily Bee papers, Paper Smooches negative die cut ampersand and We Connect sentiment stamped in brown. I pop dotted the sentiment blocks and added these two Studio Calico love birds, and of course I had to tie-the-knot in the twine from my stash.

 

Playing along with Little Red Wagon Be a Negative Nellie,

The Pink Elephant Decorative Papers & Favourite Embellishment (die cuts) and

Catered Crop Twine Love Recipie Swap too.

This made me smile...