Perfectly CAS - September 2019 Challenge

Hi there

I'm super thrilled to be a member of the Design Team of a brand new challenge that is starting right now.  The 'Perfectly CAS' challenge is exactly that, all about creating perfectly CAS (clean and simple) cards by following the rule of one third. 

Our first monthly challenge is an easy one...

Here's my sample card...

I chose a lovely icy blue/lilac shade of textured cardstock for my upper panel.  I then used floral images from a stamp layering set, stamped and embossed the outline image in silver, then stamped the second layer in a blue tone to co-ordinate with the background.  After adhering the panel flat to the base, the sentiment was then stamped in the same blue ink onto a white strip and popped up on 3D foam.  I love this simple sentiment, it could be used for lots of different occasions.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Altenew - Golden Garden, Leaf Canopy
• Ink: VersaMark; Versa Color - Smoke Blue
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #36 - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - September Challenge - Anything Goes with Flowers

Please do pop over to the main challenge blog, here, and check out what the rest of my fabulous teamies are sharing, they have some gorgeous examples for you.  And as this is a monthly challenge there's plenty of time to link up.  Even if you find CAS cards a little daunting, why not give it a go :)

Less is More Challenge #404

Good morning!

Today marks the start of another challenge over at Less is More, and this time we're back with a Theme challenge.  Here's your cue card...

Our generous sponsor for the month of September is Visible Image, so, as always, just by playing along will give you a chance of winning the monthly prize

Just the one card from me this time, and it was a super quick one...

I started with a panel die cut with a stitched rectangle die.  All the text you see here is one stamp, so it was super easy just to stamp and heat emboss in white.  I then used post-it notes to mask the areas around the embossing then ink blended with Distress Oxides.  The panel was then popped up on the card base using fun foam.

Materials used:

• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Stamp: Avery Elle - Cheers
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Oxides - Squeezed Lemonade, Mermaid Lagoon
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White

My teamies are sharing some fabulous projects over on the main challenge blog, please do pop over for more inspiration.  And as always, there's two weeks to play along.

I'll be back with another post this evening, to share details of the first challenge at a new challenge blog, Perfectly CAS, so I hope you'll stop by.  My posts are like buses, nothing for days then two posts in one day!

Skull and Cross Buns - Hochanda Showcase Selection 4

Good morning

Just a quick reminder that Skull and Cross Buns will be launching on Hochanda TV here in the UK this afternoon at 4pm (Sky 673 / Freeview 85).

I have a few more makes to share with you, using some of the products which you can see in more detail during the show.

Here's the first...

For this one I've used the ghosting technique with the Honeycomb Hexagon Large Stencil.  To create this effect I blended Distress Inks in two yellow shades from the corner and faded it out.  I placed the stencil over the top, spritzed with water, removed the stencil and then blotted away the colour with a paper towel.  After die cutting the panel with a stitched rectangle die I then stamped the bee and its trail from the Spring Motifs set and the hello from Quirky Sentiments.  I coloured the bee and added some shimmer to its wings before popping the panel up on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Wild Honey, Mustard Seed; Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Honeycomb Hexagon Large Stencil
• Die: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Spring Motifs, Quirky Sentiments
• Accents: Coloured with ProMarker; Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear

Next up I used the same Honeycomb Hexagon stencil but using a different technique...

This time I gently inked up the corner area of the stencil directly from the ink pads, spritzed with water and then laid the stencil over my panel.  Once dry I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die.  I used a honeycomb die to cut the opposite corner and inked up the card base behind.  I wanted to incorporate one of the acrylic elements from the range so I decided to turn this card into a shaker by die cutting an aperture from the top panel, aligning the 'life is sweet' embellishment from the Retro Sweets Embellish! set and adhering this to the card base, then creating the shaker, trapping some co-ordinating jewels in the shaker window.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Honeycomb Hexagon Large Stencil
• Ink: Distress Ink - Wild Honey, Mustard Seed
• Dies: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles; Tim Holtz - Mixed Media; Spellbinders - Classic Rectangles
• Accents: Skull and Cross Buns - Retro Sweets Embellish! set; Little Things from Lucy's Cards - Jewels (Lemon mix and Cherry mix)

Challenge entry:

Always Fun - Challenge #126 - Shaker Cards

After a long day of crafting, the next card was the last one I made on that particular day.  I wasn't going to share it as it's a bit busy and quite frankly, I think I was losing my mind...it's a bit bonkers!  But it's quite fun so here it is... lol

What's the best thing to have at a tropical party?  Quite clearly, a flamingo with a pineapple on its head!  I don't know what I was thinking, this isn't my style at all, but I wanted to showcase the stamp set and the fun embellishments that co-ordinate with it.  The card base was stamped around the edge with leaves from the Tropical Party set and the flamingo scene stamped and coloured where the aperture would be.  I die cut the panel with the stitched window and stamped the sentiment in black.  Once adhered in position I then finished by adhering the acrylic elements from the Tropical Party Embellish! set. 

Materials:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Tropical Party
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Rectangle Peek-a-boo Window
• Ink: Altenew - Pinkalicious, Moss, Parrot, Lagoon
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils
• Accents: Skull and Cross Buns - Tropical Party Embellish! set

Thanks so much for looking.  If you're unable to watch the show, don't forget, you can watch it on catch up over on the Hochanda website :)

Skull and Cross Buns - Hochanda Showcase Selection 3

Hi guys

I'm back today to share a few more of the samples I've made for Skull and Cross Buns ahead of the show on Hochanda here in the UK tomorrow, Thursday 5 September at 4pm.

I'll get straight to it.  Here's the first...

On a die cut panel of kraft cardstock I used the Hundreds and Thousands Confetti Large Stencil and created the shadow effects, first by inking through with Distress Inks and then by shifting the stencil slightly and inking a second time with white pigment ink. The panel was popped up onto the card base using fun foam.  I then die cut one circle from vellum and another from pink cardstock and heat embossed the sentiment in white and silver from the Retro Sweeties clear stamp set.  A couple of the cute acrylic sweets from the Retro Sweets Embellish! set were added to finish.  Love the detailed etching on these.

Materials used:

• Dies: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles; Hero Arts - Infinity Circles
• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Hundreds and Thousands Confetti Large Stencil
• Ink: Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Mermaid Lagoon; Versa Magic - White Cloud; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White, Metallic Silver

Challenge entry:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #357 - Make Your Mark




Next up is a card which may look familiar as I made a very similar one in a different colourway, here...

Instead of the standard natural colours of leapard print I used the Leopard Animal Print Large Stencil here blended with pink in onto pink cardstock.  I die cut the cardstock with a large balloon die and adhered this on 3D foam to the corner of the card and tied some pink twine around the base.  Directly on the card base I stamped the 'happy birthday' from the Quirky Sentiments set, 'party' from the Tropical Party set and the individually coloured letters from the Lightbox Love set.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Leopard Animal Print Large Stencil
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Blueprints 26
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Quirky Sentiments, Tropical Party, Lightbox Love
• Ink: Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick; Versa Color - Orchid, Opera Pink, Pink; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Twine: Hemptique - Ruby mix

Challenge entry:

AAA Birthday - Game #5 - Use a Stencil

Last up is a really simple make...

I die cut a panel of lilac cardstock using a stitched rectangle die and inked through the Cloud Rainbow Pattern Stencil using white pigment ink.  Once dry I adhered the two closed eye eyelashes from the I Believe In Unicorns Embellish set.  I stamped the cloud from the Planner Banners set and within it stamped 'dream' from the I Believe In Unicorns set, fussy cut this out and then stamped two of the thought bubbles from the I Believe in Unicorns set and coloured these in with a white pigment pen.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Cloud Rainbow Pattern Large Stencil
• Ink: Versa Magic - Cloud White; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - I Believe in Unicorns, Planner Banners
• Accents: Skull and Cross Buns - I Believe in Unicorns Embellish! set

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a look, I'll be back with my final selection later.

Skull and Cross Buns - Hochanda Showcase Selection 2

Hi guys

Apologies for the timing of this post, I'm off work this week so rather than schedule it I thought I'd just publish it right away when I finished typing it up.

Another batch of makes for you where I've used products from the Skull and Cross Buns ranges which will be showcased on Hochanda here in the UK this Thursday, 5 September, at 4pm (Sky 673, Freesat 817, Freeview 85).


This first card uses a mix of products; one of the stencils, two of the clear stamp sets and an acrylic embellishment...

One of the stamp sets in the range is called Days and Months.  Although great for lots of crafting products and of course, scrapbooking, journalling, calendars, etc. I wanted to come up with an idea of how to use the stamps on a card.  So this idea came into my head...love you every day!  I started by using the Decreasing Circles Stencil to create the rainbow of dots in the background, just by blending one colour, then cleaning off the stencil, shifting over and re-blending in the next colour, and so on.  And it worked out perfectly that there are seven colours of the rainbow and seven days of the week!  I stamped the days in black and also the 'love you' from the Brush Hearts clear stamp set, but I chose to emboss this with clear embossing powder to add a little gloss.  The panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle and adhered to the card base on fun foam.  I finished with a pink acrylic heart from the Brush Hearts Embellish! set.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Decreasing Circles Large Stencil
• Ink: Distress Ink - Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass, Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade, Dried Marigold, Candied Apple; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Days and Months, Brush Hearts
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Clear Gloss
• Die: Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Accent: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Hearts Embellish! set

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #356 - Anything Goes

Time Out - Challenge #143 - Inspired by Words

Next up is a card using another stamp set which you wouldn't initially think of using for cards...

The stamp set I used for this bubbly background is called Planner Banners, and is perfect for crafting, scrapbooking and of course bullet journalling, and works so well with the Days and Months set I used on the first card.  I chose to use the three circles of varying sizes and stamped and heat embossed them in white on some watercolour cardstock, before watercolouring the 'bubbles' with Distress Inks.  I mounted the panel onto black cardstock and then flat to the base.  To finish I cut another piece of black cardstock in a diagonal strip and adhered this, topped with a clear acrylic embellishment from the I Believe In Unicorns Embellish! set.  I think the cloud works well with the bubbles theme.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Planner Banners
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick, Shaded Lilac, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio
• Embossing Powder: Altenew - Pure White
• Accent: Skull and Cross Buns - I Believe In Unicorns Embellish! set

Next up, I've used the Planner Banners set, combined with two other sets in the range...

On a die cut panel I drew a pencil line in a curve and then stamped the flags from the Planner Banners set.  I then joined them up with a fineliner pen and erased the pencil lines.  I used one of the circles from the set to create the balloon and curved one of the straight lines in the set to create a balloon string.  Next I stamped the letters from the Lightbox Love set and the word 'time' from the Tropical Party set.  I coloured the flags and balloon with ProMarkers and then stamped some of the smaller elements from the Planner Banners set to finish.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Planner Banners, Lightbox Love, Tropical Party
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versa Color - Silver; Altenew - Olive
• Coloured with ProMarkers

And the last for this post is another using the Planner Banners set...

I simply stamped lots of the images from this set in different directions and colours.  I stamped the 'happy birthday' from the Quirky Sentiments stamp set and finished the card off with a few different enamel dots.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Planner Banners, Quirky Sentiments
• Ink: Altenew - Lagoon, Olive, Starlight, Ultraviolet; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Enamel dots and stars from stash

Thanks for taking a look.  I'll be back soon with more of my samples ahead of the show on Thursday.

Skull and Cross Buns - Hochanda Showcase Selection 1

Hi guys

As I mentioned in my last post, the lovely Emily of Skull and Cross Buns will be showcasing some of her lovely products in her very first show on Hochanda TV on Thursday 5 September at 4pm.

The Design Team have been crafting away behind the scenes to create some samples for the show and I'm sharing some of mine in this post and over the next few days ahead of the show.

There will be clear stamp sets, stencils and mini embellishment sets (mixes of acrylic and some wood) which co-ordinate with the sets.

I won't lie, because of my clean and simple card making style the embellishments did scare me at first, I had absolutely no clue what to do with them!  They are great for all types of crafting, scrapbooking, mixed media projects and journalling, etc. but by using them sparingly I managed to incorporate them into my CAS makes too.

So here you go, my first make is actually a tag, as I wanted to use one of the wooden embellishments...

I couldn't think of a way to use the 'handmade with love' on a card so I thought it could be used for a tag to add to a handmade gift.  These acrylic and wooden additions are from the Crafting Is My Super Power Embellish! Set which co-ordinates with the Crafting Is My Super Power clear stamp set, which I've used here for the stamped words.  I die cut two blue tags so I could adhere them back to back for a cleaner finish.  The words were stamped multiple times diagonally across the tag using grey ink.  I punched a hole in the top of the tags and tied the wooden element on using some jute twine.  I then finished by adhering two of the silver glittery acrylic embellishments.  I've found the best way to adhere these is by using Glossy Accents, once that's dry it's going nowhere!

Materials used:

• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Traditional Tag Stax
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Crafting Is My Super Power
• Ink: Memento - London Fox
• Accents: Skull and Cross Buns - Crafting Is My Super Power Embellish! set

Challenge entry:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #356 - Anything Goes

And secondly...

I began with a piece of bright pink cardstock slightly smaller than the card base and stamped various hearts from the Brush Hearts clear stamp set using VersaMark ink, for a tone on tone effect.  I then used a heart die to cut two apertures.  I adhered the panel to the card base then adhered a few elements from the Brush Hearts Embellish! set.  Some of the acrylic elements in these sets are smooth and others have designs etched into them, like the lips and 'love you' here.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Hearts
• Ink: VersaMark
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Hearts
• Accents: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Hearts Embellish! set

And finally for this post...

I die cut a heart from some tan coloured cardstock and blended some slightly darker Distress Ink in from the edge.  I then used the fabulous Leopard Animal Print Large Stencil and blended through it over the top with black Distress Ink.  Before adhering to the card base I added some triple score lines for a little background interest.  To finish, I adhered two of the elements from the Brush Hearts Embellish set, the heart and the 'mwah', these both being smooth black acrylic.  So, still very CAS and not really any different from using stacked die-cuts :)

Materials used:

• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Hearts
• Ink: Distress Ink - Tea Dye, Black Soot
• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Leopard Animal Print Large Stencil
• Accents: Skull and Cross Buns - Brush Hearts Embellish! set

Hopefully this gives you a taster of a few products Emily will be bringing to Hochanda next week.  I'll be back with more samples very soon.  Enjoy your weekend, whatever you're up to :)

Skull and Cross Buns Joining Hochanda!

Hi guys

If you follow my Facebook page you may have already seen this announcement but I thought I'd share it here too.

Skull and Cross Buns will be launching their range on Hochanda next week!

I'm so excited for Emily and the little company she has worked so hard to create and expand.  And I'm honoured to be a member of her lovely Design Team.  If you want to find out more about Emily and her business, she has recently posted a re-introduction over on her Facebook page, here.

The show will be aired in the UK on Thursday 5 September 2019 at 4pm.  You can find it on Sky 673, Freesat 817, Freeview 85, and also live and on demand on the HochandaTV website.

Emily will be showcasing and demonstrating items from the clear stamp, stencil and embellishment ranges, and sharing lots of samples from the Design Team too.  I'll be sharing some of mine here and on social media ahead of Thursday's show.

Thanks for reading and I wish Emily lots of success with her new venture.