Black, white and a splash of red...oh, and some grey...

Hello!!

Firstly, I just have to say...I cannot believe it is July already- I have no idea where the first half of this year disappeared to!!! :{ When I realised the date earlier I thought 'I'm gonna have to start thinking about Christmas soon'!! Heeeeeelp......!!! Okay, think that's out of my system for now- 'normal service will be resumed shortly....'

Well, I've not managed much crafting so far this week as I've been feeling pretty awful- not managed much of anything infact, very frustrating and more than a little dull!! Did have a bit of play with my new Promarkers and the Daisy and Dandelion stamps from my massive blog candy haul a couple of days ago, though, and produced several images that will be good enough to use so will hopefully get those made into cards soon!! :) :)

In the meantime, thought I'd show you a card I made last Saturday for a family friend's 50th. I don't often use red in my cardmaking-or for anything really as it's one of my least favourite colours- but, spurred on by a couple of Black, White and Red kits I've bought and loved, I've made a few cards where I've added a little red to a mainly black and white designs when I've known it would really suit the recipent or the occasion and always end up really liking them :) And this is another I'm really quite pleased with- I think, if you're looking for sophisticated, you can't go wrong with Black and White...at least I hope so!! :)

I used the same sketch (from a Clare's Weekly Challenge on DC) as I used for the card I posted last as I really loved working with it!! :) The background paper is printed from the Kanban The Seasons CD- it's a design I really love which I thought of immediately that I saw the Hampstead stamp set as the shapes of the flowers match so well :) I tried everything I could think of to get the paper to print in black and white, rather than the coloured versions on the Cd, but the best I could do in the end was to print it in greyscale and this is how it came out- I actually think that the grey is probably better than black would have been in the end...

I stamped the image- the first time I've had chance to play with my new Hampstead set and I love it!!! :) - in black Versacolour and embossed it with a powder I mixed myself (clear powder with a little red glitter) for some Valentine's cards earlier in the year. I love the way the colour of the glitter really pops when it's on black, though it doesn't show so well in the photo :) That's matted onto red paper and silver mirror-board. The greeting is from the Jane's Script Woodware clear set again, stamped and embossed as the image, and I used a punch to get the shape on the corners. All the different papers are edged with a Brilliance Starlight Black ink pad.

I used my MS Doily Lace punch on the black strip again and coloured some white ribbon with a Ruby Promarker. Once all the paper layers were on I added the flower to complete the sketch and gems for a bit of colour on the edges of the image piece.Then I couldn't resist a bit of Clear Stardust on the image (applied with a waterbrush so it wasn't too strong) for a little bit more sparkle to finish!! :)

And a pic of the greeting I stamped inside the card. The stamps are another Woodware clear set which I've had for years and used loads for all sorts of cards (can't remember the name at the mo' tho!). I usually spend ages arranging the letters on an acrylic block trying to get them all straight before I stamp them but this time I was too tired and couldn't be bothered...so, thinking I was taking my life in my hands and would probably ruin the whole thing, I stamped each letter one at a time with a little block and was amazed to discover that it came out just as well!! What's the betting it'll be a disaster when I next try it, full of confidence from my first succesful attempt!?! ;)

I'm going to enter this in a few challenges- hopefully I'll be in time this time!! They are: Crafty Cardmakers- Inky Fingers (I've inked the edges of all my papers, stamped my image and coloured my own ribbon); Lexi's Creations- Layers (lots of layers of paper and my image is raised on 3d foam); Magical Crafts- Flower Power; Quirky Crafts Challenges- Ribbon;  Corrosive Challenges- Lots of Flowers (image, patterned paper and fabric flower); and Hidden Treasures- Ribbon :)

I'm hoping soon I'll feel upto getting around to all the blogs of the lovely people who've left me comments on my recent cards- I got to a few and left comments earlier today!! :) I wish everyone a lovely weekend- let's hope we'll have some more sun!!

hugs,