GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT GDP#038

This weeks Global Design Project is a sketch challenge with the design created by Teneale Williams. 

The thing I like about card sketches is that you can copy them exactly or you can use them as a launch guide and adapt as you see fit.  Some very talented people out there come up with amazing interpretations of sketches and I love to see the variation of cards amongst the people who play along.  Here is my interpretation for this week's challenge.

I had so much fun creating this card.  I've seen this little froggy used a lot lately and of course it's one of the stamps in  the Love You Lots set which is a Hostess set in the new Annual Catalogue.  I wanted my card to be a bit playful and so I created a comic strip with the froggy finally managing to catch a fly at the end.  It's a pretty simple design that uses only a couple of colours but I was going for the look of a comic strip after all.  Of course, cause I was in a playful mood,  I had to give the little Ladybirds the from same set some loving too.

Doo, doo, doo looking out my back door!

BALLOON BOUQUET

Still on the balloon theme.
I love Scrabble tiles and when I found this font online I knew I had to download it as it would be perfect to use on cards.

The card turned out nothing like the picture I had in my mind.  Deciding to stick the letters on the balloons affected the layout of the card and in order to fit them on a standard sized card they needed to be staggered.

I love the combination of colours and I think they would be suitable for a male or female birthday card.  I used Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight and Cucumber Crush to shade the letters  and I love the rainbow effect that happened as the colours blended.  The letters are popped up on foam for a bit of dimension.  The same colours were used to create a softer watercolour background.

I'm really enjoying my new balloon punch and I know I'll be playing with it heaps in future.

USEFUL RUBBISH

These thin little trimmings were so pretty I just couldn't thrown them in the bin especially when I had an idea brewing for how to use them.

The Balloon Bouquet punch and Hello You Thinlits were the perfect combination and to complete my card a little bit of sparkle.

SHHSH OOH OOH, SHHSH AAHHH!

Now I have that Pushbike song going around in my head!


I christened the Pedal Pusher stamp set today.  Pedal Pusher by Stampin' Up was a freebie that I earned during their Sale-A-Bration promotion and it's a really cute set.

Time to play and see how things were stamping.  I tried creating a background which wasn't too successful but I've taken a photo of it anyway.  I was having trouble with the ink and find this is the case with some photopolymer stamps or solid image stamps.  I've tried rubbing and scrubbing the stamp and various inks but sometimes you just don't get the image stamp off you want.  I also need to remember to compare the stamped image to the image on the storage case as sometimes I'm not happy with my stamped image but then realise that's how it's supposed to be anyway.  Silly me.

There is no point wasting a good piece of cardstock when you can flip it over and play on the other side.  If all else fails just bin it and move on to a new piece.  See the background I created on the flipside at the end of this post.

Paula Dobson does some lovely sponging techniques on her cards and the card below is the CASE she did another of her own cards.  She has used 3 of the new colours being Sweet Sugarplum, Peekaboo Peach and Dapper Denim.  I love this combination.  If you want to see more of Paula's work just Google her or go to the Global Design Project website and follow the links. 

After seeing Paula's card, I started pinteresting and youtubing sponging techniques and came across a card that used a balloon stencil with sponging so decided to give that a go.  Products from a different company were used so I just re-created the card with my Stampin' Up supplies and was pleased with how it turned out.  That card actually combined a couple of techniques and one in particular that is really hot right now is layering your die cut words. I made a stencil  with  my Balloon Bouquet punch and used the small balloon sealed with sticky tape to plug the gap. 

 Create a design on your card and then include a portion of the design in the die cut.  More examples of this can be seen in the latest challenge on the Global Design Project website http://www.global-design-project.com/2016/05/global-design-project-036-case-designer.html

Lovely colours remained on my scratch paper where I had dabbed excess ink off when sponging my balloon which gave me the inspiration for the Crazy About You card background below.  Yep, this is the flipside.  You can just seek that Wink of Stella on the bike seat and frame. 

I love how bright that background turned out and I kept the offcuts to create another card.

GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT #037

Tip Top Taupe, Mint Macaron and Island Indigo.


I have to say Island Indigo hasn't been one of my favourite colours but this week's colour challenge on the Global Design Project may just have changed my mind.  I'm really loving all the cards on the blog this week but I have to say Island Indigo shows up a lot more blue in some of the photos than in real life.


I wanted to keep my card quite soft in colour so used a narrow vertical panel of Island Indigo mounted on Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe.  I created my muted background by lightly sponging Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe on a panel of vellum.


I'm glad the Made with Love set has carried over into the new Annual Catalogue because the little dear in that set is just so cute!  And I think he looks perfect on my card with his Island Indigo bow and touch of Stella.  Balloon Framelits is also still current and I can see I'll be getting a lot more use from this set in future.


A perfect card for greeting that new baby girl or boy.

GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT #GDPO36

This week we get to CASE design team member Paula Dobson and what a lovely card Paula has created.  In fact all the design team members are very creative and deliver beautiful examples every week for our inspiration.

I decided to use Helping Me Grow and as lavender is one of my favourite flowers and scents.   I just knew I had to have this stamp set when I saw it in the Occasions Catalogue as it attracted me straight away.

I stamped the flower in black Stazon ink on watercolour paper and then created my background.  I really enjoyed painting the flowers as I find this technique very relaxing and very forgiving. I added some embellishment with parchment, silver thread and splatters.

I also gave the flower heads a subtle sparkle and this time I tried using my embroidery light to catch that elusive Wink of Stella. 

I think I still need to work on my photography skills though.



SCRAP BOUTIQUE MAY CHALLENGE

Yesterday I followed a blog hop or two and ended up finding this challenge which I've decided to enter. 


Challenge : Create a project using the mood board as your inspiration.

The project can be a card, a scrapbook layout, art journal layout or off the page project......it's totally up to you!

Challenges are a great launching pad for when your creative mojo is on a hiatus.  Happens to us all right? 

I had a couple of stamp sets in mind but ended up creating something quite different to my initial ideas.  Hardwood background stamp has always been a favourite of mine and I used it to create my picket fence.

Peek-a-boo sunshine, a little bird and a welcoming hello.  Of course there's a bit of bling too.  It's so hard to capture on camera that little Wink of Stella on the bird and booties but it's there I assure you.

GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT #GDP035

The up to date Project Life products I've purchase have been gifted to my daughter-in-law for her birthday and so I had to use the only products I had on hand so I hope it's still ok to submit to the challenge.   I love the idea of Project Life and I think I'll be more into it once I have grandchildren.

I decided to repurpose a card I had already started making. I find dry embossing starts to break down the cardstock fibres and so a card with a top fold like this one isn't always as stable as I like my cards to be.  Cutting it down and mounting it on a Bermuda Bay card base helps give a bit more stability.    Did you know that paper has a grain?    Ever tried tearing an article out of  a newspaper or magazine and it tears lovely one way but all wonky the other way?   It is easier to tear along the grain and you get a nice even finish.  Tearing against the grain always makes the tear go astray or you end up with a jagged edge.   I once did a bookbinding class and was taught all about the grain and how to find out which way it runs.  Our A4 cardstock usually has the grain running vertically.  If in doubt, flex your cardstock or paper in half vertically and horizontally, the way it flexes with the least resistance is the direction that the grain runs. 


Anyway, hope that little bit of trivia didn't bore you too much.  Here is my card made with Every Day Adventure retired Project Life pack.

I used wrinkle free distress which is one of my favourite techniques and am quite please with the way my card turned out as I don't normally use geometric designs.

GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT #GDP034

The other day I discovered the Global Design Project website and decided to play along.  I didn't have the patience to start a new blog specifically for stamping and this one does have some of my cards as well as my facebook page if you'd like to take a look.  https://www.facebook.com/Veronica-Treen-Independent-Stampin-UP-Demonstrator-1562553533978020/

I decided to use my Rose Wonder stamp set which I haven't had for very long.  I hesitated in buying this bundle because I wasn't sure if I really liked it to begin with or how versatile it would be.  Once I saw all the lovely projects online I changed my mind and of course, I didn't know if it would make it into the new annual catalogue!

I love using watercolour paper as it gives such a lovely subtle blend of colours.  If it buckles just use plenty of tape to stick it down when dry.    I stamped the large rose with Versamark and heat embossed in white and then did a wash with Pink Pirouette and Blushing Bride, as it was looking a little pale I added some weak Melon Mambo.   I used Wild Wasabi and Old Olive for the leaves. 

Of course over on the website the design team have created some wonderful examples for inspiration and there are more submissions from around the globe for you to enjoy.  http://www.global-design-project.com/

 

I made the yellow rose card below earlier in the day using Soft Sky for the background and I tried Tempting Turquoise  on the pink rose card so I could compare the blues.  Soft Sky is more of a powder blue in real life but the turquoise is a little brighter.   I actually like both.

How Time Flys

                       

Oh dear, I stopped posting progress photos a long time ago.  The studio is well and truly finished (it has been for a while now)  hubby is sitting in the corner admiring his handy work under the watchful eye of Ned.


The large white unit is my super Gumtree purchase and at 4 metres in length was a bargain at just $200.

       

I also have the old kitchenette that mum used in the 60's.  Poor old thing was falling apart but Garry soon worked his magic.  A coat of my favourite Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and its as good as new.

           

A good deal of storage already but I knew with all the stuff I have I still needed more.  It was back to Gumtree and I had just the colour in mind for this pine dresser,  Antibes Green, it's my Jolly Green Giant.

         

My room is pretty messy at the moment so I'll put up some more photos when I've had a tidy up.