LIM DT: One layer card – ‘hello sunshine’

It’s a one-layer challenge over at Less is More clean and simple card-making challenge blog. Don’t forget that one layer means just that… everything has to be on the card blank. No die cuts, no matting and very minimal, if any, embellishments. The theme is ‘hello sunshine’. I have tried to emulate a sunrise with my design team card:

hello sunshine card with blended stencilled sunrise
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Art Journal: Maps

It has been a little while since I have shared one of my art journal spreads, so I thought I would do so today as a plug for next week’s art journaling session here at The Studio. I’m also sharing the stages the layout went through to get from where I started to the finished article. ‘Maps’ is the theme this month and you’re very welcome to join us on Monday at 7:30pm for the session where you will create your own take on the theme. All materials are provided, and you can get a suitable journal from me for just £2 if you don’t have one already. Just let me know if you’d like to attend. Here’s my finished layout:

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AAA Cards DT: Dogs/puppies

Finally! A challenge for which I had a choice of stencils and stamps to use in my card design – dogs/puppies. This is this week’s theme over at AAA Cards‘ clean and simple card challenge blog. After using technology to make last time’s card, I thought I would go back to my card-making roots and go for something using basic techniques:

Dogs in a row, stencilled silhouettes on a teal background and kraft card blank Continue reading

Bible Journaling: Easter 2023

I was asked to prep some templates and samples on an Easter theme during my regular Bible Journaling session last month. I did so yesterday and today, and we will be using mixed media techniques on Monday to create one or more of these illustrations in your journaling Bible. I’ve tried to choose verses that might not be immediately the first you’d go to, and that show the sadness and joy of the event. I hope my colour palettes reflect those emotions too. As always, the templates are freely available to download via the shop link in the menu bar above. Here are my new journaled illustrations:

 

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AAA Cards DT: Circles

Check in at AAA Cards for their latest clean and simple card challenge: use circles in your design. The design team have interpreted this theme in numerous ways and it’s worth having a look for your inspiration. Here’s my take on the challenge:

Blended bokeh effect circles in distress oxides

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AAA Cards DT: Teal and gold colour challenge

Over at AAA Cards, there’s another colour challenge for a clean and simple card design. This time it’s my choice of scheme: teal and gold. A classy and classic combination in my opinion, with lots of potential choices for metallics and media. Here’s my card design:

teal and gold coloured folk art card Continue reading

LIM DT: Colour wheel

It’s a relatively easy challenge over at Less is More this week – use two or more colours from a traditional colour wheel. I love the contrast that complementary colours bring, so have stuck with just purple/violet and yellow for my colour scheme:

colour wheel - purple and yellow burst around birthday sentiment Continue reading

AAA Cards DT: Anything CAS goes ± Halloween cats #227

I don’t normally ‘do’ Halloween stuff, but the optional theme over at AAA Cards this week for their clean and simple card challenge is ‘Halloween cats’. I don’t particularly ‘do’ cats either – I’m a dog person – so I dropped that part of the challenge and went with a straight Halloween theme instead. This stamp from Tim Holtz was perfect for this, or a pirate card, and I’ve just coloured it in with alcohol markers.

halloween card

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Wanderlust 2022: Watercolours – weeks 29-35

I’ve procrastinated a bit on my homework for this section as I and watercolours often do not get on well together. The lessons have been great on Wanderlust 2022, with each of the tutors carefully and patiently explaining the techniques they use so that they are, in the main, replicable. Here are my results from weeks 29-35…

Various mixed media techniques on papers other than watercolour paper have generally worked ok. I still haven’t fallen in love with watercolours as a medium, but am glad I have tried them. Oh, and buying decent tube watercolours made such a difference to the vibrancy of the colours over the student quality hard pan collections I normally use.

AAA Cards DT: No layers sympathy card #223

Here’s a clean and simple card design for a no layer sympathy card. It’s the latest theme over at AAA Cards. No layers means exactly that – all the elements need to be on the card blank, no matting and no embellishments (which count as a layer). They are one of the trickiest challenges to do. My card is just about the simplest I have made!

sympathy card with leaves and sentiment

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