Swanlady Impressions: March 2021

Wednesday, 31 March 2021

The Tranquility Set

Here goes with my second set using The Greetery Birthday Blooms. The first set, HERE, was with the Altenew Enchanted Garden ink set. This time I went with the muted blues from Altenew Tranquility ink set.

For the first card, I used the Fine Frames Cover die with the rubber mat to give an embossed look for the background. Added white liquid pearls as embellishments.

The second card follows a sketch (but I missed the deadline - oops). I got the idea of fading out on the blending from Vicky's card.

It was only when I was looking at the photo that I realised I had my wreath off-center from the faded strip. And I was too tired to re-do it. Sigh!

For the third card, I wanted to make it quite CAS. Lots of space to breath.

Which is your favourite?

My entry to ...

... CASology #387 : Comfort

... Addicted to CAS : Birthday

... Just Add Ink #547 : Inspiration I went with wreath idea, using the blues, green & salmon colours

... The Paper Players #534 : Sketch

... Perfectly CAS #12 : Birthday

Be Bright. Be You.

I'm sneaking in under the wire with this card. I've had this Dot Art stamp set for over a year and it's the first time I'm using it. I've got many more un-inked!! Got some work ahead of me.

I love how these bright colours go with the sentiment off the Trendy Circles set.

My entry to ...

... Altenew March Challenge

... NBUS #24

Tuesday, 30 March 2021

Birthday Spring colours

Here are my next set from my zoom class examples ... spring colours! Just one end of the rainbow.

This time I used the lovely Botanical Beauty die from The Stamp Market. Such a lovely flow to this leaf.

My entry to ...

... Inspired By Challenge : Spring into Color

... Just Us Girls #577 : Photo

... Addicted to CAS : Birthday

Monday, 29 March 2021

Butterfly Wishes

I'm sneaking in just in time for the butterfly challenge ...

I'm so happy to have discovered Altenew watercolor card! It's wonderful. Happy to get out this Penny Black butterfly too ... I haven't used it in a while ... and paired with Hero Arts sentiment. I used Daniel Smith watercolours for this.

My card was also inspired by this card by Cécile Ribon which I spotted on Pinterest. I can't find the actual post - but it's worth a visit to her blog. Her cards are amazing!

My entry to ...

... The Card Concept : Butterfly

... NBUS #24 Challenge - First time with the Hero Arts sentiment

Sunday, 28 March 2021

Rainbow Wishes

I gave a zoom class to my group of regular stampers since we are stuck in lockdown. It was quite fun as some were in the UK. I tend to go to my stamps and ink way more than my dies, so I was doing cards using die cuts.

First I distressed some cardstock in rainbow colours. I had planned for more pastel colours, but in the end, I over-distressed and I had bright colours. For these 2 cards, I only used the bottom section of the wide panel.

I die cut once in the rainbow cardstock, and once in white.

I drew a rectangle around the card in pencil, using a ruler to get it straight. Then I went over it by hand with a black pen. Shaded with Copics. I just LOVE these sentiments from the Greetery set Birthday Blooms.

I kept the rainbow outline very simple.

I added Tonic Nuvo Glitter Gloss to the leaves and enamel accents to match the colours.

More cards are coming! I ended up with 12 cards!

My entry to ...

... Die Cut Divas : Slimline Card

... Seize the Birthday

... CASology : Long

... Addicted to CAS : Make Your Mark

Thursday, 25 March 2021

Relax Your Way

The situation here in Mauritius has changed dramatically since my Birthday just over a month ago. We have been back in serious lockdown since 10 March! No one can go to work except for medical staff and essential workers. Only supermarkets are open, and you can only shop twice a week according to alphabetical surname. One mistake in our quarantine procedures for those arriving in Mauritius means we lost our ZERO covid cases status in local population as we've had for the last 10 months. We went into lockdown when there were 8 local cases and now we're at 212 new cases. Yesterday we had 230, so for the first time the numbers are going down.

Our area has been declared a red zone, so in addition to all the lockdown rules, no one is allowed in or out of the area. We can't get deliveries in from places outside the zone.

So my son spends another Birthday in lockdown. Last year he had to cancel the party he had organised - this year he already knew he wouldn't be celebrating with his friends.

We tried to give him some fun ... I taped some paper across in front of his door ... and filled the space with balloons.

When he opened his door, he was showered with balloons.

Since it's not an easy situation for anyone at the moment, I thought I would give a card encouraging him to be relaxed. We can only take things a day at a time.