B is for .....

It has been a while since I have blogged!   I have been meaning to make a post or two, but for some reason I haven't had that needed inspiration to make cards lately.  I have however been bitten by the jewellery bug once again, so I have been busy crafting away making jewellery!  I will blog about that another time.

When I noticed the current challenge over at Less is More, I knew exactly the types of cards that I wanted to make.  The challenge is 'Punches or Die Cutouts'.  Well until about November last year I only had one punch, I have to say that I do not have masses now, but I did manage to grab a few at 40% discount when my local craft shop was closing down.... I do love a good bargain, especially on craft items :O)  Anyway back to the card! It is a very clean and simple card, but I love the effect of the punched circles!

I think I will be making a few different versions of this card :O)

Here is my card for the Less is More challenge:  B is for Birthday!

A Blue Peacock

Pufff where has the week gone it is Sunday night again and it feels like I have blinked and missed the weekend :o)  Such a feeling makes it hard to drag myself out of bed for work on the Monday morning hahaha.

I haven't really had too much time to craft as I would like and I saw the challenge over at LIM and wasn't sure if this one was for me.  The theme is Birds and I know that in my small collection of stamps I only have two very small ones that are not that special.  Sure there are some great Digistamps and probably stamps in my local shop that I could purchase, but I have decided that I am going to use what I have, which includes my own imagination and a pen and paper if necessary to create my own images :o)  Two weeks in a row I have managed to draw my own images, OK they are not as good as a stamp or Digistamps, but I have stuck to my promise hahaha.

I have been inspired and made three cards, the one that I will submit to 'Week 50 one layer card, Bird'  challenge is the Blue Peacock, I think if I have time this week I may revisit it as I would like to do more of a cute card.

I have also submitted this card to the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge blog challenge, which is 'Anything goes with blue' and The Craft Garden 'monochrome' challenge.

Hand drawn Peacock in Turquoise ink.  The head and upper body has been coloured in water colour pencils. Simple ink half border with three sparkles added in the top left, and one in the bottom right hand corner.

 Close up of the Peacock.

                                  

The Peacock is such a lovely bird, really beautiful feathers, the strange thing is that one of my Grandmothers used to have Peacock feathers in a vase on a windowsill as you walked up her spiral staircase and as a child they would freak me out a little.  Now I see them for what they are, works of art.  I am always amazed by the beautiful colours, lines and shapes of nature. 

Third card for the LIM challenge

The next card is a floral flourish stamp which I have again stamped in violet ink.  I have placed a large circle in the middle and stamped with white ink for a contrast.  To add a little bit of something, I have played with some ribbon.

I just had to!

I simply couldn't resist, I have entered other cards in the Less is More challenge for this week, purely as they are a bit different and I really like the outcome.

The first is a hand sketched large purple flower.  To put a bit of a boarder / detail on the card I used some sparkly purple and silver cotton that I have had for years.

First card challenge entry!

The time has come to enter my first card challenge.. hooray!  Deciding which blog challenge to enter was not difficult for me, the Less is More blog is where I wanted to be.  I have been visiting the Less is More blog for a long time and find my self popping in many times a day to look at all the wonderful entries.  To be honest the ladies weekly challenge is one of the main reasons I have created my blog.

This weeks challenge is 'Predominantly Purple' which is a colour I like, but one that not very often makes it into my cards.

The hard part was deciding which of the cards I have made this weekend to enter! I have decided on the large purple flourish.

 The flourish has been stamped in violet and I have then placed a purple ring in the center, which has been stamped in white ink for contrast. Six little gems have been added for a touch of sparkle.
I really must find a better way to take pictures of the cards, to bring out the colour and detail more!