Black, White and One Other Colour

It has been such a sad week, hearing the loss of Shaz Silverwolf, and I am sending love and hugs to all the deskers who are feeling heavy of heart this morning.

 

I have done a little crafting this week, having been inspired by the current

   Tag Tuesday challenge to use black, white and one other colour only.  I decided to add bright green to the mix. 

 

I quite liked the colour combo so I used it to make a little Valentine card for 

the Hubs. 

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW 

  

Orange and Duck Egg Tag Cards and WOYWW

    Using my favourite tag stamp again and some left over bits and pieces.   

I found the rolled paper beads on Etsy and fell in love with them - I always knew I'd find the perfect use for them one day!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW - why not pop over and see what other people have on their desks this week. 

Alcohol Inks and WOYWW

In my tidying and re-organising frenzy over the last few weeks I have been discovering stash that I had thought lost or had completely forgotten about. Having unexpectedly come across a packet of Yupo paper I remembered how enjoyable Alcohol Inks can be, so decided to have a little play with them. 

I know they are usually beautifully vibrant and rich in colour but I am still in a 'muted' frame of mind and enjoying late evenings in my garden - so my tags are along this theme.

I accidentally discovered that if I add blending solution to the stamped image and then rub it off gently I get a wonderfully faded image, so I was able to layer them and achieve more of a feel of insects at dusk.   

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday this week.

Autumn Leaves Tags

 Tags are made - that's the autumn birthdays dealt with, now back to Christmas card making!

 You can see the shine and detail of the foil more clearly in these close-up pictures - it was quite difficult photograph.

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday this week.

Autumn and Halloween

Well here's a rare photo of my desk - I'm in the middle of making some autumn gift tags and as I'm making 3 there seems to be loads more mess on the table than usual.  I have been using foil and die-cut leaves - I feel they look promising but to be honest anything can happen!  They will either be finished by next week or the whole lot will be dumped in a box and never seen again!!

I've also just finished a birthday card...

...and a couple of Halloween cards.  They are all using the same three colours and the same Physalis/Chinese Lanterns die, but hopefully the birthday one (above) doesn't look too Halloweeny!

I'm finding this little church die very versatile and have used it in previous posts here and here for Christmas cards.

...and finally a Trick or Treat bag for my sister - I always try and have some more grown-up sweets for her when she brings my nephews round Trick or Treating !

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday, why not pop over and see what other people have on their desks today.

Christmas Cards

Here we are screaming towards Christmas and I don't feel anywhere near prepared for it!

Here are a few snippets of cards and tags I've made, I've only managed a small handful this year.  I started crocheting small woolly trees thinking it might be a quicker and easier way to make a bulk lot of cards but I then discovered that Carpel Tunnel Syndrome and crocheting just don't work well together!  I forgot to photograph them too!  Oh well, perhaps I'll be more organised by next week - or not!

I'm linking up with What's On Your Work desk Wednesday this week.  I hope you have a great week and are on schedule with all your preparations!

Christmas Tags

I have finally managed to make a handful of tags after quite a struggle to come up with any ideas - in desperation I went back to my die-cut scraps bag and used up a load of bits from the last couple of years.  

I'm happy I've made a start!

Paper Roses

I don't think I'll ever tire of making paper flowers - they are so relaxing and satisfying to do!  Here are a couple of tags I've made - both flowers are made in the same way using the Tattered Florals die.  I just creased and curled them in different ways.  I love Peonies and old fashioned cabbage roses, anything where the petals turn inwards and make a 'bowl',  which is the look I was trying to get with the peachy flower.

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW, where you can see what other people have been up to on their work desks this Wednesday!

Pink and Green Tag

A busy week but I managed to fit in an enjoyable hour spent making paper flowers! 

And a tag that is sooo not in my usual colour range, but I really wanted to use one of the beautiful vintage buttons I found at an antique fair recently.

The flowers were made from scratch (no dies) using this tutorial from 
Such a Pretty Mess.

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday today.

Black Tags and Flowers

I have been using this Heartfelt Creations flower stamp and die set throughout January - my idea being to try out an item of 'forgotten stash' each month with a view to keeping it or moving it on. I think this is definitely a keeper as I haven't stopped using it yet!  My other projects using this set can be seen here and here. 
  

I used Distress Stickles, stamens, Perfect Pearls for the flower centres, silver metallic leaf for the background, silver gilding wax for the black leaves and flowers and I used text stamps on some of the petals.

I am linking up with Julia over at WOYWW to see what others have on their desks this week.

Forgotten Stash

In my craft stash I have a fair few items that have been purchased on a whim, or sometimes in a desperate need, and then they are put away for future use and never seen again!

This year I decided that every month I would take out a 'never been used' item and use it - with a view to moving it on if it doesn't live up to expectation!

 So for January I have been using this set of flower stamps with matching die - purchased mainly because I hate cutting fiddly bits out by hand and of course you never know when you might urgently need a flower stamp with a matching die!   

I stamped the flowers in Archival ink and then shaded with Distress inks, and  I used Perfect Pearls for the centre of the flowers.
The stamps and die are by Heartfelt Creations (Botanical Rose stamp set and Botanical Wings die).  

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.