Muse Challenge #245 - Partial Die Cut Rose

Hi there

I'm thrilled to be your designer over at Muse again for this week's new challenge.

I made this card whilst at the Happy Little Stampers craft retreat last month when one of the techniques we were having fun with was partial die-cutting.

I hope there are a few different elements to inspire you this week.  I've included partial die-cutting, heat embossing, watercolouring and contrasting cardstock.  Or perhaps the floral theme, colours or layout will be your inspiration.

I started by stamping the rose in VersaMark ink onto some watercolour card and heat embossed in white.  I then watercoloured using my Derwent Inktense pencils.  I then partially die cut the rose with it's co-ordinating die and then made a vertical cut between the image with my trimmer.

I adhered some black cardstock to the card base and stamped the sentiment on the rose panel before adhering it popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Merci Beaucoup (and co-ordinating die)
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Watercoloured with Derwent Inktense pencils
• Cardstock: Daler Rowney - Aquafine, black from stash

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Penny Black and More - December Challenge - CAS

Thanks so much for visiting today, and I hope I've inspired you to play along at Muse this week.

Happy Little Stampers June 2017 CAS Challenge

Good evening, crafters

We're back at the start of a new month and with that comes a flurry of great challenges over at Happy Little Stampers.  Today, it's the turn of this month's CAS challenge and here's our cue card for June...

There are lots of ways you can 'smoosh' on your projects but please ensure that your entries meet our CAS criteria as follows...

The winner of this challenge will receive a $20 coupon from the Happy Little Stampers shop.  Please check out all the rules over at the main challenge post.


So, onto my DT card, and this time I used the HLS Birthday Friends stamp set...

I started by stamping the hippo onto some watercolour card, did some basic watercolouring initially and then used a negative mask to cover the surrounding area before smooshing the hippo into some watered down ink.  One dry I swapped the masks so that the hippo was now covered, then smooshed the surrounding area into some blue and purple ink spritzed with water.  I used post-it notes as masks and the second one became a little saturated so some of the blue ink did migrate over the image but for this technique I think it looks fine with the random effects created.  I stamped the sentiment below before die cutting with a pierced square die, then mounted this using 3D foam onto a card base that I scored vertically down the centre.  As a finishing touch I added some accents with a white pen to brighten his eye and teeth.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Happy Little Stampers - Birthday Friends
• Ink: Archival - Jet Black; Versafine - Onyx Black; Altenew - Evening Gray, Moon Rock; Distress Ink - Dusy Concord, Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Accents: White Signo Uni-ball pen

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - June Watercolour challenge - Anything Goes (Mask)

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #244 - Clean and Simple

My HLS teamies have created a lovely selection of smooshed projects so please do pop over to the main challenge post for some inspiration.

And don't forget, the HLS challenges run until the end of the month so plenty of time to play along.  And keep your eyes peeled for the other challenges going live over the next week :)

Split Brusho Background

Hi guys

So sorry it's been so long since I shared a card which wasn't made for one of my DT roles.  Today, I thought I'd finally share one of the cards I made whilst attending the Happy Little Stampers Craft Retreat in Swindon last month.

At the retreat we all received a box of Brusho colours and for much of the weekend we were all getting messy and inky trying different techniques.  I already own some Brushos but haven't really experimented fully with them so it was great to learn some new techiques.  Kylie, my lovely 'boss' at Happy Little Stampers was a fantastic teacher and showed us how to create some awesome backgrounds.  We also all received a Happy Little Stampers apron, very much needed when using these little pots of colour pigment!!!

So, this card was made using a section of the background I created with the laundry starch and cling film technique...

So this background was created by spraying laundry starch onto some watercolour card, sprinkling on some Brusho colours (I think I used Turquoise and Emerald here), spraying again and then covering with some crumpled up cling film and then leaving to dry.  I stamped the flower and leaves image numerous times with VersaMark before heat embossing in white.  I then cut the panel down and split it using a dotted border die.  I stamped the sentiment directly onto my card base and then popped up the panels either side on 3D foam.  For a final touch I added some clear Wink of Stella to the flowers.

The image here was from a stamp set I bought on route to the retreat, from Snazzys Stamping and Scrapbooking Store in Swindon.  I met a few of my fellow retreat attendees in here where we might have spent a few pennies! Well, for me it landed right on pay day! Woohoo :)

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Daler Rowney - Aquafine Watercolour
• Ink: Brusho - Turquoise and Emerald; VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Dina Wakley Media - Scribbly Flowers; MFT - Beary Special Birthday
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Accents: Wink of Stella - Clear
• Other Materials: Laundry Starch, Cling Film

Challenge entries:

AAA Cards - Game #72 - New To You Technique (although not much white space I would still see this as CAS - please disregard if you think it's too busy)

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - No Designer Paper

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #27 - Clean and Simple

Stamping Sensations - August Challenge - Anything Goes

Penny Black and More - August Challenge - Anything Goes with a Stamp

Thanks so much for popping by, I'll be back with another post shortly.

Less is More Week #288

Hi there

I hope you had fun being spoilt by having two weeks for the last Less is More challenge!  While you had your thinking caps on I had a great time at the Happy Little Stampers Craft Retreat last weekend where I finally got to meet some of my wonderful teamies - the lovely Chrissie, Sarah and former designer, Anne.  It was fantastic to spend the weekend with a wonderful group of ladies who share the same hobby.

So, now that you're finished with creating with tactile elements we have a fresh new challenge for you this week and as it's the first challenge of the month we are back with a Colour theme which is...

Brown and Blue

We also have a new sponsor for the month of August...

This is a great little online store that stocks those crafty brands that are hard to get hold of here in the UK.  So why not play along throughout this month for a chance to win a prize :)

Now onto my cards.  For much of the craft retreat we were experimenting with Brushos.  The die cuts on my first card were cut from a piece of cardstock that I had smooshed into some Brusho colour crystals spritzed with water...

I masked a circle on a panel of white cardstock and blended within it with some blue Distress Inks.  I then flicked on some clean water and blotted with a paper towel to remove some of the colour.  The sentiment was stamped in dark brown, the panel popped up on 3D foam and the die cuts adhered overhanging the edge.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky; Versa Color - Pinecone; Brusho - Dark Brown
• Stamp: Altenew - Beautiful Lady
• Dies: Tim Holtz Sizzix - Wildflowers

Challenge entries:

Freshly Made Sketches - Challenge #248
Color Throwdown - Challenge #404

I'm also going to link up for fun at Happy Little Stampers August CAS Challenge where our theme is 'masking'.

For my second card I made a card using this cute stamp set by MFT...

I used watercolour cardstock for my image and card base.  I stamped the bear image in waterproof black ink and then watercoloured with some Distress Inks.  This was then die cut with a pierced square die.  On some brown cardstock I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark, heat embossed in white and then die cut using a fishtail flag die.  The sentiment strip was adhered flat and the image panel popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: MFT - Beary Special Birthday
• Ink: Archival - Jet Black; Distress Ink - Chipped Sapphire, Broken China, Vintage Photo and Tea Dye; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Dies: MFT - Pierced Square Stax, Fishtail Flag Stax
• Cardstock: Daler Rowney - Aquafine Watercolour

My teamies have some wonderful inspiration for you this week, and no doubt more super creations on their personal blogs too so if you have the time please do pop by.

That's all for now.

CASology Guest Designer!

Hi guys

Today I'm thrilled to be Guest Designer over at CASology for this week's challenge!

I was delighted and stunned to win the 'Rough' challenge recently so I'm honoured to have been invited to join the team this week. Here's this week's cue word...

For my card I did some watercolouring with my Zig markers.  I was away at the Happy Little Stampers Craft Retreat this weekend so without letting on I stamped and embossed this lovely magnolia (thanks for the loan of the set, Sarah, and for the loan of the embossing powder, Carol!) and then watercoloured it when I was back home yesterday morning!

On some watercolour cardstock I stamped the flower in VersaMark ink and heat embossed in white.  This was then masked while I stamped the leaves and the bud, which were also then heat embossed.  I then used the wet on wet technique to colour the image, gradually building up the colour from the marker.  I also added some blue around the edge and blended this out.  The image was then die cut using a double stitched circle die before adhering on 3D foam and stamping the image onto the card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Altenew - Magnolias for Her and Beautiful Lady
• Ink: VersaMark, Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Double Stitched Circle Stax
• Cardstock: Daler Rowney - Aquafine Watercolour
• Coloured with Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers - Light Violet, Deep Green, Light Blue

Challenge entries:

Altenew - August Inspiration Challenge
The Crafter's Cafe - Challenge #154 - Flowers
AAA Cards - Challenge #70 - Stitching
Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #204 - CAS
Uniko - Challenge #34 - Flowers




Thanks so much for visiting today.  I'll be back later this evening to announce this month's CAS challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

Addicated to Stamps and More #192

Hi there

There's a new challenge just starting over at Addicted to Stamps and More and following our challenge sequence, this week we're back with our regular challenge...

Make Your Mark

Please include the use of markers, paints, chalks, watercolours, etc. on your creation

Our Sponsor this week is the fabulous Sami Stamps who are offering a prize of a $12 gift certificate.

I decided to have a go at no line colouring and chose to use a Zig pen and water.  For some silly reason I chose a really detailed stamp and every petal had to be coloured separately.  I think I overworked some areas but not too bad for a first attempt, I won't be giving up the day job any time soon though!

I stamped the Chrysanthemum in a pale Distress Ink onto some mixed media paper and set to work.  I added a tiny amount of ink from the pen to the base of each petal and then drew the ink out to the tips with a wet brush.  You really don't need to add much ink as these pens are very highly pigmented.  And this was all done with one pink pen! I'm a bit disappointed that the stamped lines can still be seen, I was hoping they would soften more with the water.  Perhaps I'll try a different type of paper next time.  I finished off by adding the sentiment in black and some scattered sequins, and then mounted flat onto a purple card base (which is showing up a lot bluer in my photo!)

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Chrysanthemum; Clearly Besotted - Brushed Greetings II
• Ink: Distress Ink - Antique Linen; Versafine - Onyx Black; Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pen - Pink
• Cardstock: Daler Rowney - Mixed Media; Bazzill Basics - Purple
• Accents: Little Things from Lucy's Cards - Sparkling Rainbow Sequin Mix

Challenge entries:

The Crafter's Cafe - Challenge #148 - Feminine
613 Avenue Create - Challenge #174 - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

My teamies have created some lovely cards this week which can be found over at the main challenge blog.  Lots of different mediums can be used for our Make your Mark challenge so we would love to see your creations in the gallery this week.

Bye for now.

Autumn Is Here

Hi there fellow crafters

It's much darker in the mornings and getting dark earlier in the evenings and there's definitely a nip in the air here in the UK, and that's what this week's challenge at Less is More is all about.  We're back with our One Layer challenge and this week our theme is...

Autumn

You can find the guidelines for our one layer challenges here

I've got two cards to share with you today, here's the first...

I masked a horizontal panel and blended various Distress Inks in autumnal tones.  I then took a leaf image from a Kanban set, spritzed the stamp with water and then stamped on my panel one at a time, leaving the water to settle for a short while and then blotted with a paper towel to remove the colour.  Then, using second generation stamping I randomly stamped a small linear leaf image from a set by Honey Doo Crafts.  After removing the masks I finished by stamping the tree and sentiment from the same Kanban set in brown pigment ink.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Walnut Stain; Versa Color - Pine Cone
• Stamps: Kanban - Autumn Silhouettes; Honey Doo Crafts - Mini Shadows

Challenge entries:

The Friday Mash Up - Challenge #229 - Autumn/Masking (I didn't use the actual colours so just masking challenge here)
Stamping Sensations - October Challenge - Colours of Autumn
The Male Room - Challenge #20 - Autumn
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Autumn is in the Air
Time Out Challenges - Challenge #41 - 'Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile'
Penny Black and More - October Challenge - Warm Autumn Colours




And my second card...

I used some mixed media paper to create my card base and then stamped the little leaves using VersaMark Ink.  I then heat embossed using gold embossing powder.  I used some of my Zig Clean Color Real Brush pens blended together with water to colour in the leaves.  The sentiment was then stamped in the centre in using brown pigment ink.

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Daler Rowney - Mixed Media
• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Mini Shadows; Clearly Besotted - Many Messages
• Ink: VersaMark; Versa Color - Pine Cone
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich

Challenge entries:

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #394 - One Layer

Virginia's View - Challenge #19 - All Things Coloured

Fusion - Falling Leaves Bouquet (I used the photo for my inspiration)

{PIN}spirational Challenge - Challenge #150 - photo inspiration

Thanks so much for popping by.  One layer challenges can be a struggle but we would love to have you join us at Less is More this week.

Bye for now

Muse #134 - Pastel Bubbles

Hi guys

We've whizzed around to another Monday which means it's time for a new challenge at Muse and I'm delighted to be your muse for this week.

The idea at Muse is to use the Designer's card as the inspiration for your creation.  You can interpret it as you wish; using the colours, layout, techniques, etc.  You can find out more about the challenge guidelines here.

After Michelle's fabulous bold design last week I decided to give you a pretty pastel creation for this week's challenge.

I started by stamping the bubble background in VersaMark onto some mixed media paper and heat embossed in white.  I then squished three Distress Inks onto my craft mat and diluted with water before watercolouring them, one at time onto my paper.  When each colour was almost dry I then went back in to add more depth of colour to some of the bubbles.  I cut the panel down and mounted it onto some black cardstock before adhering flat to my card base.  I swirled some fine silver metallic thread into a messy circle and then adhered the die cut 'hello' over it to hold it in place.

Materials used:

• Stamp: Marion Emberson Designs - Bubble Background
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Inks: Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio and Spun Sugar
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Cardstock: Daler-Rowney - Mixed Media; Papermania - Premium Textured Cardstock
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Hello Word Die
• Accents: Fine Metallic Silver Thread

Challenge entries:

Crazy 4 Challenges - Challenge #300 - Something that relies on the wind (bubbles)

Sweet Stampin' - Emboss It

Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you will play along.

Single Spring Bloom

Hi guys

Happy Easter!  I hope you all have a lovely day whatever you are doing.

I was wide awake far too early this morning and just couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and managed to make two cards before 8.30am! (the second card will be coming up shortly)

So here's my first make of the day.  This was super simple as I took leftover snippets from other cards which have been lying on my table waiting to be used up.

The die cut tulip was leftover from this card, and the kraft panel was taken from the card in my last post here, where I created the aperture.  So all that was left to do was stamp the sentiment in VersaMark which was then heat embossed using white embossing powder.  This was adhered flat to the card and the tulip was popped up on 3D foam.  The final touch was to round the corners of the card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Spring Blooms and Flower Arrangement (sentiment)
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Watercolours: Daler-Rowney
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Spring Blooms; MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rounded Rectangles
• Tools: Tonic - Corner rounder

Challenge entries:

CASology - Week 140 - Spring

Just Us Girls - Challenge #287 - Spring

My Time to Craft - Challenge #286 - Get Krafty

Ooh La La Creations - Challenge #177 - Spring/Easter

AAA Cards - Game #38 - Easter Colours

And as I made this card out of leftovers I'm also linking up at Pixie's Snippets Playground Week 171.

Thanks for popping by, I'll be back shortly to share my other card from this morning's crafty session.

Watercoloured Tulips

Hi guys

Today I'd like to share the card I made for my wonderful mum for Mother's Day.  She regularly looks at my blog so I couldn't post this until today!

This card is quite different from my usual creations.  I experimented with a bit of splattering but still wanted to keep my card clean and simple and I love how this turned out.

I stamped the tulips with VersaMark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I then coloured them with my Daler Rowney watercolours.  Once dry I then splattered some more paint in the same colours to add some interest to the white space.  I cut down the watercolour card to the size of my card base and then used a die to create the stitched curve.  This was just a stitching die, it doesn't cut an edge so, using my scissors I carefully cut along the length of the curve.  I then stamped the sentiment.  I adhered some co-ordinating patterned paper to my cardbase and then popped up the watercolour card on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Spring Blooms and Fresh Flowers
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Watercolours: Daler-Rowney
• Die: Paper Smooches - Stitched
• Patterned Paper: Avery Elle - The Brights Collection (6x6 paper pad)

Challenge entries:

The Paper Players - Challenge #236 - Clean and Simple Floral

Just Us Girls - Challenge #284 - Trend Week - Splatters

Virginia's View - Challenge #13 - All Things Embossed

Thanks so much for popping by.  I have made a couple more cards this weekend so I'll be sharing those over the next few days.  I hope to see you again soon.

Watercolour Heart

Hi there

While I still had time I wanted to make another card for the Love theme challenge at AAA Cards.  But rather than just making a love theme card I wanted to use the challenge image as my inspiration.

Here is my card.  Apologies for the rubbish pic, it was impossible to take a photo without getting the glare from my lamp.  Hurry up Spring so I can have some lighter evenings!...

Here is the challenge image...

I started by adding a wash to some watercolour paper then smooshed around some pink, purple and blue paint.  While that was drying I cut a piece of black cardstock to fit my card base and die cut a heart.  I then adhered the watercoloured panel behind the aperture before adhering the whole panel to my card base.  I then cut a smaller heart from the remaining black card and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment.  This was popped up on 3D foam in the centre.

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Papermania - Black Premium Textured Cardstock; Watercolour card - budget pad from local shop
• Watercolours: Daler Rowney
• Dies: Xcut - Nested Hearts
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Love Hearts and Thank You
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Platinum (love this colour!)

I would also like to link up at the following challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays - Challenge #136 - Must Love Watercolour

Simply Create Too - Challenge #78 - Happy Valentine's Day/Use Hearts

Fantasy Stampers - Challenge #29 - P.S. I Love You

The Male Room - Challenge #03 - Valentine

Just Us Girls - Word Week 279 - Love

Crafty Cardmakers - Challenge #132 - Love, Love, Love

CASology - Challenge #133 - Love
Happy Little Stampers - February CAS Challenge - Embossing

Still in complete chaos here but I'm trying to keep this tiny little space available so I can share more with you.  Thanks, as always, for popping by.