Artist Trading Card - All About Nature

Sometimes when I make a card, the first attempt doesn't turn out the way I intended but that leaves me with parts that are too nice to throw away so I often put those into my box of "extras" for future use.

When I saw the new Tag-Along (and ATC) challenge was butterflies or birds, I knew I had a perfect starting piece for an ATC in my "extras" box.

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

This background isn't quite as vivid as the one on the card I had made previously (see below). And unfortunately the butterfly also didn't stamp as well. It's not as visible in real life as it's a small ATC and the photo on the PC is larger than the actual ATC. For this ATC I added another butterfly at the top and then ran a black ink pad along the edges for some definition. 

The stamp set used is by Tracy Evans for Aall and Create - Spread Your Wings. It's been retired but still available from various retailers.

I am entering the ATC here:

• Critter Crazy Challenges - Critters
• Daisy Chain Challenges - No Design Paper
• Let's Craft & Create Challenge - Beautiful Butterflies
• Stamping Sensations - Inspired by Nature
• We Love Stamping - Spring
• Tag-Along (and ATC's) - Tags or ATC's/ opt. of butterflies, birds or blooms

Btw: This is the card I was referring to using the same stamp set. If you missed that post and would like to read more about it you can find all the info here:

Thanks so much for visiting!

Purple Delights at the Four Seasons Challenge

Hello everyone, it's a new month and that means the start of a new The Four Seasons challenge. It's all about Spring so come join us with your Spring themed creations. If you need a starting point then check out our wonderful moodboard for your inspiration. As always, the use of the mood board is totally optional as Anything Spring Goes.

Here is what I made following the overall color scheme of the mood board and the small blossoms on the top right. 

I was happy to use another one of my woodblock stamps for today's card. They get overlooked so easily because I keep them separate from my cling and clear stamps. This is a stamp by Penny Black Scented Message 4293K. 

After coloring the image using my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils I used a rectangle stencil/mask by My Favorite Things (no longer in business) for a purple border around the image, then I used the Plaid stencil set by Lawn Fawn to add a pattern to that border. Inks used for stenciling are Dusty Concord and Villainous Potion Distress inks/oxides. A white gel pen was used to add tiny dots around the flower centers.

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

A tiny white silk bow finishes off the card along with a white card base.

I plan to share the card with these challenges:

• A Perfect Time To Craft - AG
• Beautiful Blossoms - Blossoms
• Classic Design Challenge - AG
• Crafting from the Art Challenge - AG
• Crafts Galore Encore - AG
• Creatalicious Challenges - AG
• Creative Moments - Blooms or Bunnies
• DL.Art Linky Challenge - AG
• Fab n' Funky - Spring or Easter
• Just Us Girls - Stencils
• Kleuren Met Potloden - AG with Colored Pencils
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB stamps
• The Creative Crafters - AG
• The Paper Funday - AG
• We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative
• Word Art Wednesday - AG

The challenge runs until April 25th and I hope to see you there!

It's Springtime at Allsorts Challenge

It's time already for a new theme at Allsorts challenge and this time Brenda is hosting. For her optional theme she chose It's Springtime and of course the Anything Goes option is there too and we love to see those too along with your spring creations. We have a prize from  Buddly Crafts - two gorgeous stamps by Penny Black.

For my project I decided to make a little Easter ATC so I could join in the current The Little Things challenge (linked below)

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I used a stamp from Penny Black called Spring Parade 1929K. I was hoping to link it to Buddly Crafts but it's an older wood mounted stamp and no longer in stock. They do have a great assortment of Penny Black stamps (and many others) for those of you in the UK, I hope you'll check them out!

This is a large stamp featuring 5 chicks but I masked them off and only used the two holding flowers. I stamped with Versafine Onyx and colored with Derwent Inktense pencils. The chickenwire stamp is an oldie from Whimsy Stamps stamped using Versafine Clair ink (Portobello). Then on two of the corners I used a stamp by Lavinia (Texture 2) and Versafine Onyx ink.

"Happy Easter" is from a set by Stampin Up recently found at a thrift store. It includes lots of little sentiments like this for all kinds of occasions. 

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

I covered the chicks with scraps and then used a black posca pen for a little splatter on the background. After this was dry I inked the edges using Twisted Citron Distress ink.

 

I'm entering my ATC here:

• Ally's Angels - AG
• Crafting from the Art Challenge - AG
• Crafty Calendar - Spring
• Crafty Catz - AG
• DL.ART Thankful Thursday - Spring
• Double Trouble Challenge - 3,2,1 (3 colors from wheel, 2 images, 1 sentiment)
• FarmQuest General Store Challenge - Anything Farm or Country 
• Neglected Stuff Challenge - The "spring parade stamp". I don't think I have ever used it until now!
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB stamps
• Sweet Stampin - Spring or Easter
• The Creative Crafters - AG
• The Little Things - Easter
• The Paper Funday - Feathers or Fur
• Try It On Tuesday - Spring

Thanks so much for visiting, have a wonderful weekend!  

A Teeny Tiny Wish for Woodblock Wednesday

Last month I joined in the Woodblock Wednesday challenge where I was the lucky winner 😃 and Amy of Woodblock Wednesday invited me to join her as a guest designer for March. Of course I couldn't say no as I do love my woodblock stamps but as you can imagine I often reach for newer stamps and the old favorites are being neglected. This was another great opportunity to make something using wood mounted stamps.

I hope you'll check out her challenge, it is hosted on her blog and always starts on the last Wednesday of each month. It's only open for one week so no time to overthink it - just do it!! It's a great opportunity to use old favorites in a new way. Which one of your woodblock stamp will you choose?

Here is what I made:

I started out by stamping the bunny by Penny Black (Sweet Talk 1442J) onto Brisol Vellum and colored with Zig Clean Color brush pens. Next I used a Brick Wall stencil to add a background. For this step I made a mask for the bunny and also masked off the bottom portion of the card. I inked the bottom portion with Mowed Lawn Distress ink. I wanted to add some grass/weeds/shrubs around the bunny and while looking for a stamp to use I found a tree stamp (Penny Black Spotted Winter 4270K) that I thought was perfect for this. This wood mounted stamp had never been used before so I was happy I found a wonderful reason to use it. 

This post includes some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

The sentiment is another wood mounted stamp (Penny Black Birthday Wish 3669F). It didn't fit on the card simply stamped so I decided to cut the quote apart after stamping to add separate lines for the birthday wish. Finally, I added die cut butterflies made with Penny Black's Soaring die set. My image panel was a little bit too narrow so I added a strip of coordinating patterned paper from my stash. A green card base finshes off the card.

I found some great challenges to share with:

• AAA Birthday Challenge - Die Cuts (logo below)
• Crafty Calendar - Spring
• Creative Moments - Bunnies and Blooms
• Die Cut Divas - Spring is coming
• Dream Factory -Sweet Little Things (I think bunnies are so sweet and little too)
• Fab n' Funky - Four Legged Friends
• Make My Monday - Hobbies (Gardening)
• Neglected Stuff Challenge - Use neglected stuff (the stamp I used for leaves/grass around the bunny - never before used and had for a long time!!)
• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - use PB Stamps
• Send a Smile for Kids - Animals for kids
• Stamping Sensations - Spring
• The Paper Funday - Fur or Feathers
• Word Art Wednesday - AG

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you'll check out Amy's blog to see what she made using woodblocks and maybe you'll join in too! The linky tool can be found on her blog.