All about Apertures for the Simply Sweet Poppy Challenge .........

Happy Easter Monday .......

I hope you're having a lovely long weekend.  The sun is shining, we had a nice family get together yesterday and, so far I've managed not to eat my bodyweight in chocolate but, that may all change today!!  Well, it is Easter!

This month's Simply Sweet Poppy Stencils Facebook Challenge is well underway.  The theme for April is ........ All about Apertures. 

When we say 'aperture' we don't mean all that complicated photography stuff, what we're looking for this month is ......... a nice definite open space, or the look of a gap, or a hole that something can be seen through, whether that be a stenciled shape in the background or maybe an actual hole cut into your card with something behind it.  Does that make sense? ..... I hope so. 

Sweet Poppy have a fabulous collection of aperture stencils ........ a whole range of shapes, perfect for creating that open space on your cards.   

Here's a few ideas for you, and my take on this month's challenge ..........

This is using the pretty Blooms Apreture Circle stencil, released last month from Sweet Poppy, with one of the brand new designs launching on the TV next week ......... more about those in a few days.

I simply inked through the stencil with Distress Inks, making sure to take the ink over the open circle in the centre, fading it out as I got to the middle

I then used the gorgeous new Guardian stencil, designed by Tracey Dutton from Lavinia.   She's a beautiful tall, standing fairy, but I didn't want the bottom part of her to show, I wanted to make it look like she was coming through the floral circle (through the 'aperture') so with a bit of masking tape in place so that I didn't ink her legs, I placed the stencil over the Blooms circle and used a Black Versafine Clair ink

A touch of sparkle onto her wings ........ a sentiment, ink splatters and a few dots of glitter glue to finish.

Another pretty circle aperture stencil is the Lace design .........

Used just like before, to create the look of an aperture in the background ...... taking a little of the ink onto the open centre circle

This time, no masking, I just stenciled my image directly over the top .....

How about using your aperture stencils in a different way ....... 

Same stencil as before only this time I only used half of it, to create a cute little rainbow .......

Another way to create an aperture in your cards is to cut an actual hole ........

For this one I used the Sweet Poppy Sunburst stencil.  Distress inks again through the whole of the design, then I acually used a die to cut out the centre

I stamped my sentiment on the die cut circle, attached that onto my card front and then used foam pads to attach the sunburst  over the top adding dimension.

I used another die to cut a frame, coloured that with Distress inks, and attached that around the sentiment ...... simple but very effective.

Just before I go, remember this ........ another fun way to use of one of the aperture stencils .......

Use the Tall Triangle to make a Christmas Tree ....... how cute is that!

There's still plenty of time to join in with the challenge.  Go on ....... follow the simple rules, create something fabulous, and you never know, you could be the next winner of the massive £40 voucher to spend on Sweet Poppy goodies .......

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time .......

Welcome to December ...........

Happy Tuesday ........

And a Happy 1st of December ....... the countdown is on!

I hope your week has got off to a good start.  We had a bit of a busy weekend so yesterday was a quiet one here.

  

I've no blog challenges for you this month, CAS Mix Up and Simply Sweet Poppy are having a very well deserved Christmas break.  Don't worry though we will be back again, raring to go, with a whole load of new fun challenges for you in January.

It does mean that I can concentrate on getting my Christmas cards finished ...... yes I'm still making them (I'll apologise now if any are late arriving!) 

If you're like me, and still looking for festive inspiration, then how about these for quick and easy, fun Christmas cards ......

I'm loving the new Aperture Stencils from Sweet Poppy, I used the tall triangle on a couple of my show samples recently and I loved the finished look so, I decided to create a few more quick and easy, contemporary designs.

Looks great in festive reds and greens ..........

I simply masked across the bottom of my card using low tack stencil tape and then used the tall triangle stencil to create my little forest of trees

I started in the centre and inked through the aperture with Distress Ink, building up the colour gradually.

I then masked off the inked edges of the triangle shape, moved the stencil over a little, varying the height and size of the triangle, and applied a different colour of Distress Ink through the aperture, repeating the process across the full width of the card

A gold star on the top, a few dots of White Enamel Accents to give the look of falling snow, and a touch of glitter along the edges for added sparkle.  And of course a festive sentiment to finish

Another fun, easy way of masking is to use a piece of copier paper cut by hand to create the look of snow covered hills.  

And Christmas cards/trees don't have to be red and green ..... how pretty do the trees look in shades of icy blues

Exactly the same process as before ...... moving the stencil along the edge of the mask, covering any inked edges that show, and varying the height.

All the cards are 7x5 inches (my favourite size), and this technique works both portrait or landscape, and just think of all the colour combinations you could try.

 

The Christmas card box is filling up ....... very slowly!

I was in town earlier with Lauren and I must confess I very nearly bought some Christmas cards (NOOOOO!!!!)  Can you imagine if I actually sent shop bought cards ....... ooohhhhh !!?!!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time ...... 

Products used:

Stencils: Tall Triangle Aperture Stencil (Sweet Poppy)

Stamps: Big & Bold Slimline Poinsettias (Colorado Craft Company) - for the sentiments

Inks: Distress ink - Rustic Wilderness, Evergreen Bough, Barn Door, Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Weathered Wood, Chipped Sapphire, Shaded Lilac; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: Crystalina Glitter (Sweet Poppy); White Enamel Accents (Ranger); Die cut star from my stash