MM - To Bin or Not to Bin!

Hello everyone!!  Welcome to my blog with a special welcome to my new followers.
So pleased you decided to join me on my creative journey.

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

I'm back to share another of my inky (or painty? LOL!!) cards with you.  This one was made at the same time as the clean and simple cards I posted a while back (HERE) but, as you can see, it is totally different.

Actually, after creating the background, I was going to throw this in the bin!!  Glad I didn't though because I really like how it turned out in the end.

When I was creating my MM cards, this was actually my first attempt.  I mixed the colour (Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals - Cocklebells Coral) and popped it into a bottle and sprayed it onto some watercolour paper.

Unfortunately, the sprayer didn't work correctly and so I ended up with this big blob in the middle.  Bumma!!!  So, I tried softening the edges by using a paper towel soaked in the paint and dabbing it on.
Blah!!!  Still didn't like it so, I put this aside, tried a different technique and came up with the other two cards.  Loved them .. but hated this and was going to toss it.

But then I had another look and thought .. mmm .. maybe if I add a bit of stenciling and tone that 'blob' down a bit and perhaps add a bit of gauze as well to soften the look.  

So, out came the stencil and the texture paste and ...  still not really happy but it was starting to look a bit better.

Maybe I should also add a little stamping!   Yeah .. I suppose that looks alright!  Okay, let's try the gauze ..  no, the white looks all wrong so .. colour it!  Still wasn't really happy but started looking for some flowers .. that would certainly cover up the 'blob'.

Well, it took ages to find the right one.  Small ones didn't work, medium sized ones didn't work  so I figured I'd try a large one.  Well, I had to go through a lot of my stash, but finally found this really large Prima  bloom.  It was white and, at first didn't look right either, but then I sprayed it with the same colour and, voila!, it looked fabulous!! (at least, I think it looks fabulous!!)  I really love how it didn't take the colour evenly and IRL it almost seems to glow!  Loved it!!

While I was hunting through my stash for the flower, I found some silver stamens I forgot I had so, I mixed them with some white ones, and decided to add those instead of leaves.  Had to add some prills too, mixed with micro beads of course, and a twine bow at the side ..

.. and, Voila!!!  So glad I didn't toss out that background.

You just never know what can be achieved until you try it.

Thank you so much for stopping by to take a look and, I do hope you enjoyed your visit.
Happy crafting everyone!!!
Take care and God Bless.

Another One for the Men

Hello lovely visitors and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you came by.

Sharing another man card with you today.  I've still got a few of these I need to make for this year so trying to get them done and then I can start on my Christmas cards.  Oh my goodness, did I just mention Christmas??!!??  So sorry, didn't really mean to do that .. don't even want to think about it yet!!!  (It is sneaking up on us though!)

The papers on this one are a bit of a mix.

The paper used as the base layer is from my stash .. I have no idea where it came from.  

I wouldn't normally have used this on a male card because of the lace and flower print but the colours were perfect and I think it works really well with the embellies I've used.

The corrugated board came from packaging.  I simply tore away the top layer to expose the corrugations and then inked the edges.

The Hour glass and the 'Design' label are from an ephemera sheet of the Sherlock Journal Vol 2 Paper Collection by Megs Garden.

The metal gears and cogs were also found in my stash.  The clock is a free printable from the net which I mounted on a piece of chipboard and then coated with Glossy Accents.

The sentiment was printed out, inked, and then mounted on a piece of cardstock ..

.. and .. Voila!!  Another one done and dusted!!

I made two cards again this time, which is working out really well for me, but I decided to show the other one at a later date.

That's it from me for today!  Thank you so much for coming by and taking a look, I really appreciate your visit!
 Have a wonderful day!!
Take care and God Bless.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #189 - Floral Profusion

Hello everyone and welcome!!  Hope you are all having a wonderful  day!

The new Challenge has gone live at Crafty Cardmakers!!
Jackie is hosting our Challenge this time and the theme is Floral Profusion!!

We would love to see your creations covered in flowers .. LOTS of flowers!!!

As always, anything you make is fine as long as it fits the theme.

Please read the rules and take note of our 15 Challenge limit.

Well, when I saw the theme for this Challenge my eyes lit up!!  Flowers!!  I love adding flowers!!! (thought I'd tell you that just in case you didn't realise.  LOL!!)

So, of course, I made a card (what else??)  with Maja papers  .. floral Maja papers (naturally!!).

Did a bit of stenciling with translucent texture paste (you can see it better a little further down) and then glued down a  piece of scrunched up gauze for more texture. 

Lots of flowers in the cluster and I also added some gem sprays and a berry.

Added some pretty lace along the side .. another of my fave things to do.

Had to add prills, of course ..

.. mixed with silver micro beads and, if you look closely, you can just see the stenciling.

The leaves were cut with a die from Cheery Lynn.

More Maja papers on the inside ..

Voila!!

For lots of inspiration, pop on over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog and take a look at the gorgeous creations by my Teamies!!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #189 - Floral Profusion!

Thank you so much for popping in to take a look and hoping you feel inspired enough to
join in the fun!!

Have a wonderful day!!
Take care and God Bless.

MM - Clean and Simple

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you dropped by.

I have been playing with my Lindy's Magicals again and, this time, created a couple of clean and simple cards.

I've actually been getting into a bit of a rut with my cards.  They were all starting to look the same to me so, I thought I would try something a little different.

No background papers on these two, just some magicals and texture paste.

As you can see, both cards are pretty much the same with only a few, slight differences.

This card measures 4" x 6" and the Magicals colour I used is Danny Zuko's Denim.

I used removable masking tape to mask off the area I wanted to colour, wet the paper and then dropped some of the powder onto it. 

You get such a great effect with the magicals and, although the texture paste ran under the stencil a little,  I love how it soaked up some of the colour.  It is possible that I didn't dry the magicals properly but, as I said, I like the effect.

 A piece of gauze under the flowers for some soft texture and then plenty of prills and some micro beads for extra effect.  I saw this combination on Tracey Sabella's blog and really loved how it looked so thought I'd try it out ..  Love it even more now!

 

My second card measures 3.75" x 7" and the colour I used here is Greased Lightnin' Green.

 The little medallion shape was made with a glue gun, some Mod Melts and a silicon mould.  I sprayed it with the same Magicals for a bit of added colour.

 I dabbed the gauze on both cards with gesso just to give it a bit more structure.

I didn't pre-mix the Magicals.  I simply wet the watercolour paper and then picked up a small amount of the powder on a paint brush and simply flicked it onto the page.  To spread the colour a bit more I sprayed again with a bit more water and this was the result.  I love how you get so many different shades just from the one colour .. awesome!

Lots of prills again.

.. and a final look at both cards together.

Unfortunately my stamping is not as  sharp as I would have liked and the texture paste bled a bit under the stencil but, all in all, I am really happy with the way these turned out.  They are certainly different from what I usually do and, I think, that's a good thing.

I apologise for the long post but I felt that these two cards needed to be shown together.  So glad that you made it to the end.

Thank you so much for popping in and taking a look .. I do hope you enjoyed the visit.

Have yourselves a wonderful day!!
Take care and God Bless.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #188 - Add a Sentiment

Hello everyone and welcome to my creative space, hope you are all having a wonderful day!

The new Challenge is up at Crafty Cardmakers.
Pam is our host for this challenge and it is all about adding a sentiment.
We would like this to be more than just a tiny peel off in one corner.  It would be nice if it was the focal point on your creation but we won't insist on that.  Just make sure it is prominent on whatever you make.

Anything you wish to enter is fine, just please read the rules and remember our 15 Challenge limit.

The papers used on my card are from Maja.

Used a piece of gauze under the flower cluster for some extra texture ..

..  and randomly sprinkled some prills.

My sentiment was stamped onto a piece of white cardstock and then heat embossed ..

.. and I curled the corners of some of the papers layers for more interest.

A twine bow ..

.. a piece of lace at the side and also some stamped stitching.

Would love for you to pop on over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog and take a look at the wonderful creations by my Teamies.  I'm sure you will feel inspired to join in the fun!!!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 188 - Add a Sentiment.

I am entering this card into the following Challenge

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes




Thank you so much for stopping by to take a look and have a wonderful day!!
Take care and God Bless.
 oxox Marg