'What you do speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday 6 May 2020

Good morning!
Allsorts and Paper Minutes both have a Butterfly challenge at the moment, so I thought I'd play with my favourite butterfly stamp, small though it may be.

I played with some Oxide colours I haven't really used together and some I haven't touched in a while. I think I'm getting excited at the thought of new Distress colours to play with - how sad am I? But there's nothing like being inspired by new possibilities :-) 
So on this one I used Dusty Concord, Pumice Stone (for the leaves behind the flowers) and Mulled Wine. I used a mixture of sponging and smooshing on the background. The text stamp is one of my oldest Hero Arts word background stamps that I pull out to play with every so often.
 Blue Oxide shades came next... so I used Blueprint Sketch, Shaded Lilac and a smattering of Wilted Violet. The background is random bits of an Aall and Create stamp, a Time to Stamp prototype stamp and random stencilling with Aall and Create's Lotza Dots. The TH bloom is coloured with inks and alcohol ink Prisma pencils. I found the 'One day at a time' on my desk, but I have a feeling it had fallen off a card from one of the lovely ladies on KCUK. I just thought it would be perfect for now, this very moment in time.

This started life as a stencil clean off sheet, to which I added a bit more smooshing with Seedless Preserve and Weathered Wood Oxides. The stamps are Lavinia, and were stamped multiple times with different colours - sometimes spritzed with water - including some Blueprint Sketch. I overstamped some of them with Versamark and clear embossed them to make them stand out a bit more.
Linking to:-
Retro Rubber, Use flowers (Hero Arts stamp about 15 years old, flowers over a year)
A Place to Start, Create a Custom Background
Dare2BArtzy, In the Garden
Stamping Sensations, Say it with Flowers

That's it for today
Thank you for calling in and stay safe, everyone!
Back soon
Cath
xxx

26 very kind comments from lovely people:

Lynne K said...

Absolutely gorgeous cards, Cath with such a lovely, dreamy feel to them. Love the backgrounds and colours. Thank you for sharing them with us at Stamping Sensations.

Lynne

Kathleen said...

Three really lovely cards. A super background and some lovely image, great choice of colours too, great placement of the butterfly. Thank you for joining our 'Butterfly' challenge at Allsorts.

Kath x

Barb Finnical said...

Such a pretty card Cath! I love how the oxide colors blended so well, and the black sentiment really pops!

My name is Erika. said...

Those old Hero Arts stamps are still some of my favorites.I have that art one also and I really love it. I often think I need to weed out some old stamps but some of them, like many Hero Arts, still seem fresh and up to date (is there such a thing as up-to-date stamps?) Your cards are gorgeous today Cath. The background are such a nice mix of colors. And who doesn't love flowers? Hope all is well.hugs-Erika

DVArtist said...

Hi Cath. I looked at the first piece and a warm happy feeling and I thought, "this is so beautiful". Then I scrolled down and the next one was even more beautiful and then the third. Thank you for you art. It makes me happy.

brenda said...

These are really lovely, both the colours and designs and sometimes it's nice to re-vist old stamps as I think you see them in a totally different light. Thanks so much for sharing and joining in with our 'Butterflies' theme at Allsorts challenge this week.

B x

brenda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
brenda said...

Oooops, ad Stamping Sensations Flowers theme!

B x

Heidi said...

Sehr schöne, deine Karten, besonders die Farben!
Vielen Dank, dass du sie bei Paperminutes zeigst.

Liebe Grüße -
Heidi

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Spring is definitely busting out all over your incredible cards, Cath. These are super impressive and gorgeous. I adore them all. It's amazing how each is so different, too.

María said...

Wow these cards are beautiful those backgrounds are awesome and the colour palette is perfect in each card. María, xx.

Caty said...

Wowwww your cards are Amazing Cath !! Love them all, the backgrounds are really Gorgeous, and the flowers and butterflies. Great quotes !
I wish you a very nice evening, stay safe and
Big hugss,
Caty

crafty-stamper said...

Gorgeous cards love all the stamps and sentiments-fabulous inky backgrounds
Carol x

Mervi said...

Fabulous cards, all so pretty.
Thank you for sharing at Allsorts;-))m

Let's Art Journal said...

Such a beautiful array of flower cards! The colours and designs are stunning 😀. Hope you've had a good week and wishing you a happy weekend! Keep well! Hugs, Jo x

Sandma's Handmade Cards said...

Two utterly stunning cards. I absolutely adore your artwork xx

crafty-stamper said...

Hi Cath just popping back to say-Thank you for joining us at A Place To Start
Carol DT x

Jan Clothier said...

I love your beautiful inky, stampy, smooshy backgrounds! Such fabulous cards. Thank you for playing along with us at Retro Rubber Challenge.

Claire Grantham said...

OMG I love your card! The inky, purple is just perfection. Thanks for joining us at Retro Rubber this time. Claire DT

creative lady said...

Love all of your cards! Love the purple and the watercolor look of them. Thank you for joining Retro Rubber Challenge Blog.

Words and Pictures said...

These are simply beautiful, Cath (and definitely induce a calming mood). I go through purple phases - when I find myself reaching over and over again for these tones. The middle card is just glorious with all those background layers, and I love the misty watercolour look of depth to the flowers in the final one. But all three work so beautifully together too.
Alison x

Neet said...

A trio of beautiful cards Cath. Love how you have used the same colours (have you) for the background as for the actual flowers themselves on your first card. They look like tones of the same colour and it works beautifully. Your second card uses Blueprint Sketch which I have always hesitated to use because I felt it too dark a blue but you have shown how good it can look when used in this way. Beautiful words and the black tape with "One day at a time" on is perfect to give this card a pop.
Love how you have over-stamped in this third card, it really brings the flowers to life especially where you have used the Blueprint Sketch and Seedless Preserve.
Three equally beautiful cards.
Hugs, Neet xx

pearshapedcrafting said...

These colours are quite beautiful enough Cath! New colours do sound a good idea though - I remember the last time we had new colours which soon became favourites! Hugs, Chrisx

Sue - said...

I love your inky backgrounds, they have made beautiful cards!

Tracy said...

Gorgeous creations, thanks for joining Stamping Sensations, good luck.
Happy crafting
Tracy x

Chana Malkah said...

Congratulations, you were selected as a Rising Star for the week: May 4-10, 2020 at At Place To Start! Thanks for sharing your talent with us and for supporting our little challenge. We appreciate you!

Resident Design Team
A Place To Start