Swanlady Impressions

Tuesday, 12 March 2019

Wish you were here

It's time for a new challenge at CASology. The cue word this week is EARTH.

I love my little spot on earth, I just wish that some of my loved ones could be here too!

One way of making a stamp smaller, it cutting a window and focusing on the part you want. Helps in keeping a card CAS too.

I added glossy accents to make the map pointer pop.

Visit the design team and see their creations of earth. Looking forward to seeing your take on the cue word.

Bharati Nayudu

Deidre Payne

Jacquie Southas

Janet Ribet (you are here)

Jen Wills

Guest Designer : Helen

I will also enter this to ...

... Altenew Inspiration Challenge : March 2019

Monday, 11 March 2019

Bright Birthday Wishes

I had some leftover distress inks on my craft mat, and took out some bits and pieces from my stash to use it up. One piece was the Uniko Background Wonky Stripes.

I then drew lines around it with a ruler and doodled dots to make a frame.

Love, love, love this NBUS Memorybox Happy die!

My entry to ...

... Just Us Girls Challenge : Use a Background

... The Paper Players Challenge : Colours of the Rainbow

... CAS Mix Up Challenge : Stainglass I hope this is ok. I think I should have put glossy accents on the colours to make it more like glass.

Wednesday, 6 March 2019

Birthday Wishes

A Birthday bouquet ... using Distress Inks as watercolour.

I had done a non line colouring one too, HERE. Here they are together.

My entry to ...

... Just Us Girls Challenge : Birthday

... The Flower Challenge : Anything Goes

... Papercraft Challenge : Clean & Simple

... Addicted to Stamps & More : Anything Goes

Tuesday, 5 March 2019

Funky Circles

We're having fun over at CASology this week with a cue word of FUNKY.

I opted to go with some bright funky colours, keeping it to circles to keep it CAS.

I laid out the stamps on my Misti to see what sizes I wanted and where and drew a light pencil mark around them. Then I painted the circles with Distress Ink. Once dry, I stamped the circle patterns. I love that mesh pattern on the left - it's from MFT - you can see HERE how I stamped up a bunch of them to use as accents or for matting.

I just love circles - they are so versatile. I own about 5 or 6 different sets. Despite that I still had to get the new Ellen Hutson one called Trendy Circles.

Come and see the FUNKY creations of the design team. Looking forward to seeing your take on the cue word.

Bharati Nayudu

Deidre Payne

Jacquie Southas

Janet Ribet (you are here)

Jen Wills

Guest Designer : Claire

Monday, 4 March 2019

Spring Flowers

Some lovely spring flowers .... Ditsy Print from Altenew.

My entry to ...

... Just Add Ink Challenge #446

... The Card Concept Challenge

Butterflies & Blossoms

I was shopping for gifts when I came across this pack of Butterflies & Blossoms paper serviettes. Could not resist!

My entry to ...

... Freshly Made Sketched Challenge #377

... Divas That Die Cut : Anything Goes

... The Paper Players : Spring Fever

... Pinkfresh Studio Challenge : March

Sunday, 3 March 2019

AAA Challenge Guest Designer

I am so happy to be the guest designer at AAA Cards Challenge #135. This fortnight, the challenge is One Sentiment Plus Three with an optional twist of Friends.

I went with :

stamped image
coloured pen/pencil (Prismacolor) - on the butterfly
die cut

I thought I would add some excitement to the inside, using Jennifer McGuire's Surprise Spinner idea.

Here it is in action ...

This was my second attempt as I was winging it on the first. On Jennifer's last card, she had said you needn't measure but just make the fold next to your opening. But when I closed the card, my butterfly extended past the edge by quite a lot - see how it goes passed the white edge. So in fact, her original measure of having the folds a minimum of 2.5" from each edge is better.

So I ended up gluing it to a large square card, stamping the inner panels to add interest ( and camouflage my error!). So don't worry if you don't get it right the first time. I find there are ways of fixing errors too - and sometimes it even ends up better than the original

Saturday, 2 March 2019

Friend

It's time for the CCC Reveal. Real cards get sent off using snail mail spreading joy across the world!

Mine went all the way to Lucille in Colorado.

This is what I was going to send...

But then I realise that the back of the card was dirty, so I mounted it on a kraft card. It's amazing how a little border changes the card.

Friday, 1 March 2019

Monochrome Grid

I've been wanting to bring out my golden oldie Hero Arts "Square Background of 9 Solids" for a while now.

No time like the present!

Doing a monochrome card, it had to be blue!! Using Blueprint Sketch, Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers. I added Black Enamel accents and white gel pen for highlights.