A clutch of cards...

I have to admit, post-Creativa, I have crashed this week and have a nasty cold to show for it. Nonetheless, I have had a card-making session today. I started by listing the current challenges from those challenge blogs listed on the right, took all the inspiration my foggy head could take and then settled down to get these three made:
Après Creativa, je reste tranquil cette semaine sans chois: J'ai attrapé un rhume. Mais, aujourd'hui, j'ai consulté les blogs de défi (la liste au droit de mon blog) et j'ai créé trois cartes: 


Using Sketch Saturday challenge #198 and the Drunken Stampers #84 'Thank you' theme:

Used: Dovecraft gold card blank and cream card, recycled cardboard and piece of fabric, Inkadinkado stamp embossed in gold and cut with Nestabilities, flowers from Dovecraft Tea Party and Kaisercraft, text stamp by Aladine, inks: Walnut Stain Distress ink and ColorBox Chestnut Roan chalk ink.


For Sunday Stampers 'Misty' theme:

Layers of Perfect Pearls Mist on paper allowed to 'catch' overspray and also used to blot from a template used on another sheet: Part of a bigger piece created some time ago, I saved this bit for a card background. I added a band of purple Bazzill, text (compagnie des elfes) and twine (Dovecraft Tea Party) with a HeroArts-Sizzix Butterfly from the Butterflies #3 set. I love these stamp and cut sets: So easy!

and, for Simon Says Stamp and Show 'Anything goes' and PaperMinutes 'Cardboard' theme, a male birthday card:

Literally using scraps of paper (K&Co ?) and card with Tim Holtz 'Bitty Grunge' stamps and Walnut Stain Distress Ink. Text stamp by Aladine.

Paperminutes sketch

We've had 5 days holiday at home as my sister and brother-in-law came to stay and the weather was fantastic so we've been out and about sight-seeing. They left this morning and it has rained all day so I've stayed in making cards and have a lot of catching up to do! I have had 4 orders over the last few days totalling over 50 cards - no joking, though thankfully 30 are pyramid decoupage style of local scenes (my own design) so fairly quick to do. Others are a mix of vague requests and some very specific ones: All will be unique and I could lapse in to total panic at this point...!
Here's a birthday card made using the Paperminutes sketch 116 and one of Mo Manning's great digi-stamps coloured with water-colour pencils. The paper is from PaperMania 'Man's World' and the hangy thing is a wine glass decoration I bought cheaply in a pack of 6 so has a practical use too ;)

Paperminutes Sketch

Absolutely thrilled to say Katharina chose my bag topper along with Lacey's to receive the Whiff of Joy stamp Willow with hot chocolate plus some charms. I am really looking forward to getting my first Willow stamp as I only have Charlotte at the moment. If you don't know Whiff of Joy yet have a look in the shop: I love browsing the gallery too.
I haven't made many cards this week as I've got a cold and been feeling pathetic but I was using a few scraps from the Making Cards magazine papers when the Paperminutes sketch came in to my head and I decorated across the corners of the raised centre piece following that.

A Spoon Full of Sugar 27 & Paperminutes 39

Among several cards made today, I have managed a 2 in 1 on this week's challenges from Spoon full of Sugar (Michelle's sketch) and Paperminutes challenge to cut out the image:The vellum base layer and piece of DP are Papermania; the image is Whiff of Joy water-coloured with metallic gel pens: I add colour to the edges and draw it in with a wet/aqua brush, adding more colour or high-lighting as I go.