Bodger comes of age?

This is not the card I set out to make! How often does that happen? I was planning to do something a bit more complicated. The first poppy image I made was much more subtle. It was stamped using coloured markers. I watercoloured it but wasn't hapy with the colour of the seed pods. Then, when I glazed the petals with Diamond Glaze, the colours changed. So I tried something a bit different, stamped in black and clear embossed, and the bolder image demanded a more 'robust' background than the one I'd prepared.

The resulting card is much simpler but what really pleased me about it was that I didn't bodge anything along the way. There were no bits I felt the need to disguise. I even managed to shape the petals in the foreground without destroying the glazed surface (not Diamond Glaze this time but clear embossing powder). I'd like to think maybe I've turned a corner but I suspect it's just a fluke and I will be bodging again before long.

Where did that come from?

Another one of those cards that sneaks up on you while you're doing something else. It is actually quite shimmery but you can't really tell in the poor lighting. Sorry about the shadows (and the wacky wavy angles). Silly time of day to be stamping, let alone taking pictures!

Still rollin'

This card was based on one I had bookmarked as 'inspiration' and randomly drawn out of the hat when deciding what to play with today. You can see the original by Lynda Benden here. I started by choosing my colours but couldn't decide what colour card I should use for the main oval image. I had to edit the pic to get rid of the slightly green tint on the oval as it is actually pale gold pearlescent card. Unfortunately the editing has made the pink card look more intense than in the flesh which is a shame. I wasn't sure about the gold with the pink and burgundy at all until I stamped part of my image on an offcut of the card, trying to find the right ink. I was blown away by the Brilliance Cosmic Copper. I was really convinced I didn't have any Brilliance inks as I keep this little one with my Versamagic Dewdrops. I was triply(?) thrilled because it looked just as good defining the edge of the embossed background and and also printing the greeting on top of the Cuttlebug embossing. I felt so cheeky even trying it. I'd already printed the greeting on an unembossed piece of card to use as Lynda had. But as my greeting is bigger it didn't balance very well with the raised oval. I think this works better as it doesn't detract from the oval image. Since I took the photo I have added some pink gemstones like Lynda's.

I'm pleased with the card but wouldn't make these in batches for Christmas because of the time taken trying to line up three layers of stamping. It has worked pretty much but the reindeer almost looks like he is running downhill, which wasn't part of the plan.

Another fairy card

I'm on a bit of a roll with the fairy now and happy to go with the flow as I'm still recovering from a 'dry' spell.

Because of the shading , the stamped flowers on the first fairy card look from a distance as if they are set in an aperture. So I tried making a real aperture card with the fairy perched on the frame. This was meant to be an experimental exercise and started with some fairly basic bloopers but I've spent a lot of time on it today and have completed a card. The fairy is layered and I'm quite happy with her. The greeting tag I quite liked but the words seem a bit lost on it and it looked no better matted on one or more layers. Maybe it would have looked better at an angle.

A card of firsts

Sh! Can you keep a secret? I don't usually like to blog my cards before I've given them. That seems to be an unwritten rule here in Blogland. But I won't be giving this one for a couple of weeks and, because it is the beginning of a little journey, I didn't want to post it out of sync.

It is a card of firsts. It is the first time I've used my Cuttlebug and the first time I've used Stampbord.

I tried to practice stamping my gypsy girl on card before risking the Stampbord. Over my shoulder I could hear Glenda Waterworth whispering, "Allow yourself to waste two pieces." But this escaped the bin, probably because I was so cautious with it. I'd planned to colour the image but it is not very big and I was worried about losing definition so I just shaded her skin very lightly and coloured the rose red.

If I was making it again I'd trim the embossed panel more. It seemed a crime to cut any of it away! The grosgrain looks blue in the photo but is actually purple with white organza behind it.