Zesty Cards

Hi Everyone! 

I'm hoping the day is treating you well.

Today I'd like to share my first project for the month. 

I've made three cards which I hope will brighten your day.

I have to admit these were not the first thing that came to mind when I saw this month's challenge. 

All I could think of was how fresh and clean citrus colours were, 

then I thought of refreshing cool drinks and cocktails.  

This could be because Autumn took its sweet time arriving up here and I was feeling a little warm. 

So because I was unable to come up with a way to draw Fluffy Ducks, Grasshoppers, Tequila Sunrises and Margaritas, (I may be showing my age here), we now have three cards. 

First I grabbed my Distress Inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Carved Pumpkin, Ripe Persimmon, Worn Lipstick (does anyone else think of Barbara Cartland when they use this colour? No, it's just me.), Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn. 
Using an Ink Blending Tool, I applied my chosen colours diagonally across a piece of white cardstock roughly about 14.5cm x 10.5cm in size.

I then repeat this but I blend over the previous colour a little so that there is no clear line between each colour.   Next I wet my fingers with water and 'flick' it over the cardstock.  I usually place some paper towel over it to soak up the water after a few seconds.  (This is not necessary given the shortage of paper towels at the moment. When will this madness end!)
  Tip:  Have a piece of scrap paper handy.  Place it on the sections you have already blended.  This stops any fingerprints being left behind. 

I grabbed my Carabelle Studios stamps and chose the Happy Poppies, the Leafs and the Blooms and Circles Elements sets as well as a script stamp from my stash.
  I stamped the Blooms and Circles Elements and script stamp randomly over the card in coordinating colours from the Archival Inks range, (but I've forgotten which ones), and my focal stamps in Jet Black Archival Ink.

 On a separate piece of white cardstock I stamped my focal images again and cut them out.
  Tip: I always go around the edges of my fussy cutting with a dark grey pen.  This hides any mistakes. 
Next I used my Ink Blending Tool to go around the edges of the cardstock in the same colours.

I finished my cards by attaching them to a card base and a Tim Holtz sticker for a sentiment. 

I also coloured a few of the smaller features of the stamps (that were too small to cut out) with a white pencil and flicked some white paint over them just for some added interest.

Well, there you go.  Another project done. 
It's really gloomy here today and these cards really brighten up my table.
  If the current circumstances are making you feel a little gloomy, I fully recommend popping into your craft room and grabbing some citrus colours.  You'll be right in no time.
 Don't forget to post your projects on the Scrap Matrix Shares page for your chance to win a prize.

 Jen 

>^.^< 

Helen's second Tic Tac Toe page - Pretty in pink

Hello there, welcome back to my blog where today I'm sharing another layout for the

 Scrap Matrix Team.

The challenge is to create a project using a tic tac toe monochromatic theme.

For those of you who have not come across this before, the idea is to use any three objects from the grid, but they must be in a straight line horizontally, vertically or even diagonally. You may use any monochromatic colours you like.

Here is the grid for you to choose from.

This time I'm creating with different shades of pink with black and white as neutrals.

I followed the top grid line using 

Brads, flairs or buttons, a Stamp, & Pretty patterned paper. 

The gorgeous pink paper is from 13@rts, the Art Journey collection, "Travel."

I began with the background, creating texture with Prima stencils,

Wildflower and Checker and Modelling Paste.

Then using Ranger black archival ink, I stamped three sets of the AALL #20 Flower stamp

which I coloured with various Distress Oxide inks, before fussy cutting them out.

The title is by 13@rts - I painted it with Tim Holtz Distress Ink and added some faux stitched lines with a black pen.

I added some beads and bling to the middle of the flowers.

Because this little Girl's first word was "Birdie", I added a little Bird button to the cluster.

Thanks for your visit today. 

I hope you've found something to inspire you. 

You still have a few days left to play along

 at the Scrap Matrix Tic Tac Toe challenge and be in the running for 

a gorgeous prize from the uber generous Vicki Christensen.