I've just realised that there is now only one day left in February. Where is all the time going?? The 1st of March is the first day of Autumn here in New Zealand, so I better make the most of all the sunny days we have left!!
This week at Just Add Ink its 'sketch time' and isn't this one a beauty! I love having different angles on my cards, so I couldn't wait to take this sketch for a test drive!!
A lot of the blogs I follow belong to people who live on the other side of the world from me and everyone is looking forward to Spring. So I decided to finally use this floral paper I've had my eye on for ages. After cutting the patterned paper into the sketch shape, I popped it up on the card front with some foam tape. I stamped the sentiment in pink on some white CS and fussy cut very carefully. This was also popped up on foam tape. You can't have Spring flowers without some butterflies, so I stamped and heat embossed two of them in gold and cut out with the matching die. I bent the wings in slightly (so they didn't sit flat) and used double-sided tape to attach them. Lots of Spring happiness!! The floral paper is from Kaisercraft 'Happy Snaps'. The sentiment stamp is from Rosies Studio and the butterfly stamp and die are from Die Versions 'Cats Meow'. Since I have a 'Spring' card, I'm going to link to the Mod Squad Challenge where their theme is 'Spring'. I'm also going to link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. This is my second entry. I will also link to the Simply Create Too Challenge # 79 where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
You have until Wednesday 4th March 10pm to enter the Just Add Ink Challenge. The Design Team have created some gorgeous cards on the blog, if you need help in the inspiration department. I really hope you have time to join in and can't wait to see what you come up with!!
This is a scary post for me and I've ummed and ahhed a thousand times as to whether I should post this card or not. I've tried something new and I so need a lot more practice but hey, if anything it will give you a bit of a laugh, so why not!!
So, this week at CASology their cue word is 'mini'. Oh how I wish I had a stamp of a 'mini' car but that would be way to easy. My daughters best friend is Ella and her cat gave birth on Friday night. We saw the kittens a few days ago and they are so teeny tiny, I thought that a kitten would be good for this card.
I also had a stamp set that I haven't used yet (with matching dies) because I really need to colour them in. I've been procrastinating and practising with them and now here is their debut:
Good grief I hear you say when you take a look at my colouring skills. I have a very long way to go but I just love the stamps in this set, so please bear with me.....
I started by stamping and die-cutting the butterfly and kitten. And then set to work colouring them with pencils (as best I could). I popped them both up on foam tape and added some Wink of Stella to the spots on the butterfly wings. I stamped the sentiment in black and added three tiny sequins and my first coloured critter card was done.
So my tiny kitten, tiny butterfly, very small sentiment font and smallest sequins I could find, come together for my 'mini' card.
The kitten, butterfly and sentiment stamps (with matching dies) are from Die-Versions 'Cats Meow'. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.
And this will be my last entry into the Simply Create Too Challenge # 79 where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. This challenge is about to finish and I'm sure they will be glad about that as they will be sick of seeing all my cards in the Gallery!!
Its just gone midnight and I should be going to bed but want to watch a bit of tv to wind down after blogging away here for the past few hours. I'm off to spend the weekend with my Mum tomorrow night. I'll take most of my craft stuff with me, so can create all weekend while snacking on junk food and laughing with Mum. Can't wait!!!!
Just a quick reminder about our current TIME OUT challenge. We are using words as inspiration for this one: ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK You could design something with clocks or music, maybe even rocks (??), its totally up to you. We've had some gorgeous entries so far and there is still another week to go, so plenty of time to get cracking! I decided to go a completely different way with my card this week. I saw this card by Laura Bassen and loved the rainbow effect with the border stamp. I don't actually own any border stamps, well that's what I thought because after scrounging through my stamp box, I came across one on a Christmas stamp set...yippee!
I started by working out which colours would go where and very slowly stamped the chevron border as close together as possible, on the card front. On a piece of white CS I stamped the speech bubble and sentiment in black and fussy cut. This was popped over the chevrons with foam tape. I few clear rhinestones for bling and it was finished! Really happy with how it turned out and so glad I found this stamp. You may see a few more 'chevron' cards in the near future...... The chevron stamp is from Simon Says Stamp 'Presents and Ornaments'. The speech bubble and sentiment stamps are from Fiskars 'Say What?' and the rhinestones from Kaisercraft. Will link this card to the Simply Create Too Challenge # 79 where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. This is my billionth entry!! And as I've used a chevron pattern, I will link to the CAS on Sunday Challenge # 52 where their theme is 'Chevrons'.
Will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. The TIME OUT challenge finishes on Wednesday 4th March at 5pm. Hopefully, if you haven't entered already, this will give you enough time to create something amazing. On the blog the Design Team have created some gorgeous cards to give your inspiration a push. Hope to see you there! Take care Shona
This is one post I thought I would never find myself writing but here I am, I'm your Guest Muse for this week!!! I've been so excited, you should have seen me jumping around the house squealing when I read the invite from Ardyth. I was actually so shocked, I made a card for the wrong month!! Thank goodness I didn't publish the post...how embarrassing!!
Trying to decided what type of card to make really stressed me out. So I had to sit myself down and have a serious talk with my crafty self. This should be fun and I should be enjoying the opportunity, not worrying about what people will think of my work. So, I went with what I love....simple, with lots of white:
I started by cutting a white panel slightly thinner than the card front. Down the side of the card I heat embossed in silver the circle/heart stamp. Once dry I used Distress Inks to water colour each heart. I stamped the sentiment on the panel with black ink and added three tiny hearts die-cut from white CS and coloured with Distress Ink. Some foam tape was added behind the panel and it was popped on top of the card. Done!! The sentiment and circle/heart stamps are from Neat and Tangled 'Kindness Matters'. The heart dies are from Paper Smooches 'Tiny Hearts'. I'm going to link this card to the Little Tangles Challenge # 53 where their theme is:
I really can't wait to see how your inspired by my card. It could be from the design, the colours or even the sentiment. It totally up to you and I know it will be fabulous!! You have one week to enter this Muse challenge and I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs to see your creations! See you in the Gallery!! Shona
I have to admit that when I saw the cue word at CASology this week, I had to have a quick look at Mr Google to make sure I understood the idea. It basically means something that is coloured in all the same colour or tones of the same colour.
I've already linked one card to this challenge that was pink and white but had a sudden 'brain flash' this morning around 6am. I'm so known for all the white I leave on my CAS cards, how could I not make an all-white card??!!!
I didn't quite think it thru with regards to trying to photograph an all-white card, so hopefully you can see all the detail. I started by die-cutting the 'hello' from the card front and then die-cutting it two more times from white CS. I glued the three words together and put a piece of white CS behind the card front. This way I could in-lay the word into the card. I cut a small banner from vellum and heat embossed the sentiment in white. I put tiny pieces of double-sided tape behind it to adhere to the card. Three white enamel dots and I didn't get a dirty mark on it....yippee!! The 'hello' die is from The Crafters Workshop. The sentiment stamps are from Winnie and Walter 'The Big, the Bold and the Happy'. The enamel dots are from Papervine. I'm going to link this card to the House of Cards - February Challenge where their theme is:
Off for a walk soon with the kids (both Phoebe and Max have their best friends over). Its quite a steep hill but such a beautiful view. The boys are going to take their toy guns and play war in the forest on the way down, hopefully they don't jump out at anyone. We are going to Nelson for the day tomorrow. Its a 2hr drive from here and is a city, so can go shopping and go to the big, golden beach. Fingers crossed the weather will be good!!!
Talk about a last minute job!!! I've had an idea for this card all week but no time to tackle it. Until dinnertime tonight....
The sketch this week for the CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge got my brain going into overdrive about cake. Why cake you ask????
I thought that shape in the bottom left of the sketch was kind of like a bite mark, where the shape of the teeth are left behind. And I also love cake, and what better piece of food to show a bite mark! I stamped the cupcake with pink ink and then set about die-cutting the bite mark. I found a die that's like a doily with intricate twirls and patterns. I've never used it because its too hard to get the paper out but the outside shape was perfect. After stamping the sentiment (which I cut the stamp to get it to fit) in the same pink, I got out some Spun Sugar Distress Ink and tried to watercolour the icing. I tried blending it so that it was darker along the top left edge so it wasn't so flat but it didn't go so well. I covered the icing in Wink of Stella, a couple of quick sequins and voila! One layer of yum!! The cupcake stamp is from a set called 'The Afternoon Tea Set' but I don't know the brand. The sentiment is from Jillibean Soup 'Birthday'. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.
Will also link to the Less is More Challenge # 211 where their theme is 'One-layer - Love'. And even though you all know I love Peanut M&M's with a passion, good-fudgy chocolate cake (or cupcake) comes a very close second. So you definitely could say this is a 'love' card!!
QUICK UPDATE!!: I'm such an idiot. I have an idea for another CASology Challenge # 134 card and went to the Gallery to make sure no one had used the same theme, and have realised this card isn't there. I hadn't connected it at all!! My fault for doing it all at the last minute. So I'm linking it now and hopefully the wonderful girls at CASology won't tell me off!!
I'm off to bed to rest my weary body. I've sorted out two extremely overgrown gardens this week and they look absolutely amazing now but boy do I feel like I'm about 100 yrs old. I love it though, nothing better than being out in the sun, my ipod blaring and me singing while I dig thru the dirt. Bliss!
Zoom, zoom, zoom......that's what my life feels like at the moment. Have been flat out with gardening work and fifty million other jobs. I'm exhausted!
However, it does mean that its time for another TIME OUT challenge and this time we are taking inspiration from the words:
ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK
You can be inspired by the phrase itself or by the individual words to create your masterpiece.
For this challenge our Guest Designer is the forever fabulous Hazel from Hazel's Paper Designs. Hazel is the most amazing designer and her cards are out of this world. I totally recommend popping over to her blog for a visit.
I didn't get too carried away with my inspiration for the card this week. This was the first thing that popped into my mind:
I tried something new this week for my stamping and yes, that is grey card stock instead of my usual white CS...really going crazy this week!
For the background I stamped the clock with Versamark Ink and that was it! It worked out perfectly. I was worried that bits of fluff etc would stick to the stamped images but it was all okay.
After cutting the strip of vellum, I heat embossed the sentiment with silver. I don't have many colours in my card stock stash. So when I was at a hardware store the other day, I remembered that Michele from I Card Everyone uses paint chips all the time. So I found the paint department and went crazy, ending up with a zillion large sample cards. One of them was this gorgeous mint colour that I cut into a strip for under the vellum.
I used tiny strips of double sided tape to stick the vellum to the strip and then foam tape to pop up on the card front. A few mint enamel dots and Bob's your Uncle!
The clock and sentiment stamps are from Hero Arts (unfortunately purchased second hand so don't know the name of the set). The enamel dots are from Papervine.
I'm also going to link this card to the Simply Create Challenge # 79 where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. This is my second entry.
You have two weeks to enter your project to the TIME OUT challenge, so I hope you get a chance to play. Please stop by the TO blog to check out the Design Team creations for amazing inspiration. Hope to see you there!!
We are already half-way thru February.....where are the weeks going??? Seems like yesterday it was Christmas and now I'm thinking of putting money away each week to prepare for Christmas again! Eeeek!
The good thing is that with a new week comes a new challenge at ATSM. And this week the challenge is:
MAKE YOUR MARK!
This means you need to create a project where you paint, copic colour, blend distress ink etc and are basically 'marking' your design yourself. We have QKR Stampede sponsoring this challenge with 3 digital images for the winner. Yippee!!
I have to admit, I'm not the best when it comes to colouring my cards. I don't own any Copics but love watching videos of people using them to colour images. I do watercolour a tiny bit but don't own watercolour cardstock so it doesn't always turn out so well. However, I do own a couple of Distress Ink cubes, so decided to practice my blending....
My mojo has taken a real battering of late. I'm so glad I follow so many amazing blogs because I came across a fantastic card by Kristina Werner that jump-started my imagination!
I started by cutting a piece of white CS the same size as my card front. I then used my mini-blending tool and Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry) to create (well, try to create...) and ombre look. After die-cutting 'sweet' and the hearts from the panel, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in white. Lots of foam tape was added to the back of the panel, especially tiny pieces around the die-cut word area. The panel was then stuck to the front of the card.
It was then a fiddly job to cut very tiny pieces of foam tape to attach to the back of the middle parts of the e's, and then pop them in place. Three tiny pink sequins finished it off nicely.
The 'sweet' die is from The Crafters Workshop and the heart dies from Paper Smooches 'Tiny Hearts'. The sentiment stamps are from Winnie and Walter - the 'birthday' from 'The Big, the Bold and the Happy' and the 'wishes' from 'The Big, the Bold and the Merry'. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.
You have one week to enter this ATSM challenge and if your mojo is lacking (like mine was), please visit the blog to see the projects by the Design Team. Talk about incredible!!!! They are an extremely talented group of women! I really hope you have a chance to play and look forward to seeing you there.
Well, another week has been swept out from under my feet. This means it's time for another challenge at Just Add Ink!
Aren't these photos just delicious? I just want to dive into that pink icing! We would like you to create a project inspired by these images. Whether you go pink crazy or cover your project in love hearts, its totally up to you!
My sweet tooth was attracted to those gorgeous pink cookies straight away and I just knew I had to have tiny hearts on my card somewhere:
I wonder what colour the liquid would be in the cup if it was filled with love?? And what flavour would it be?? Strawberry? Raspberry? Maybe it would be different for every person who drank from it. I stamped the cup onto white CS, fussy cut and added to the card front with foam tape. I then spent a bit of time die-cutting all the tiny hearts in two different pink tones of CS. These were then glued to the card front and cup. After stamping the sentiment, I covered the heart on the cup with Wink of Stella and then lashings of Glossy Accents. You can never have too many tiny hearts don't you think??
The cup stamp is from Paper Smooches 'Cyber Cafe' and the heart dies are also from Paper Smooches 'Tiny Hearts'. The sentiment is from 'The Afternoon Tea Set' but was purchased second hand so I don't know what brand they are unfortunately.
I have quite a few challenges that I can link this card to, so please bear with me:
I really do hope you have a chance to create something for us to see at Just Add Ink and if you need any help with inspiration, please visit the blog to see the spectacular projects created by the rest of the Design Team. Hope to see you there!!! Take care Shona
Popping in with a quick reminder about our TIME OUT challenge, which still has a week till closing. Plenty of time for you to come and join in the fun!!!
This is so pretty and I just love the flower stamps and dies. I decided to try something different for this card, concentrating on the flowers:
I haven't made these flowers for ages and thought they would be perfect for this card. I use a flower hole punch and punched three from dark pink CS and three from light pink CS. I mixed up the colours and stuck each pair together, making sure the petals weren't covering each other. And nothing beats a light green enamel dot to finish them off!
I die-cut the tag twice and cut the circle windows from one of them. Lots of foam tape was added behind the circle tag and it was placed on the other one. This was then adhered straight to the card front. I glued each flower into place and after stamping the sentiment, adhered the flag as well. The stitched tag die and circle window die are from Pretty Pink Posh. The enamel dots are from Papervine and sentiment from Uniko Studio 'Flower Power #5'.
I'm going to link this to the CAS on Sunday Challenge # 51 where their theme is 'Flowers'. This is my second entry.
The TIME OUT challenge finishes on Wednesday 18th Feb 5pm. Please visit the blog to see the fabulous ideas from the Design Team and really hope to see your creation in the Gallery!!
Wow, wow, wow.....our last challenge (#23 Valentines Day with optional twist of hearts) was so popular and we had a huge amount of incredible entries. It was wonderful wandering around the gallery leaving comments and being inspired by so many of you. Thank you all for entering!!!
For this Time Out challenge, we have this gorgeous card for you to 'CASE', which means you can create a project that is inspired by this card in any way you like. This card was designed by the amazing Kylie Purtell of Kylie is Addicted to Stamps. She has crazy good card making skills, is involved in quite a few challenges herself and she is always coming up with something new. I really encourage you to visit her blog!
We also have a Guest Designer for this challenge and this time its the one, the only, Sarah of Sazzle Dazzle Crafts. I'm sure you will have seen Sarah's cards entered in many challenges and she is also on a few challenge design teams. You really must visit her blog and prepare to be inspired!
I was really drawn to the flowers on this card. I don't use them very often on my cards as I don't have many floral stamps but was dying to try out my new Uniko sets, so this was the perfect time:
I love this flower stamp so much! I don't know what it is, maybe the curves of the petals but I really wanted to make it the star! I started by die-cutting the tag twice and glued them together, just to make the tag stronger. I stamped the flower in the three different colours and then the sentiment in black. For some reason, no matter what sequin or enamel dot I tried, nothing worked so I left it bare. Does that ever happen to you?? I put a hole in the top and tried (many, many times....) to tie a bow. Some foam tape was adhered to the back of the tag and it was placed on the card front.
The flower stamp is from Uniko Studio 'Flower Power #3' and the sentiment from 'Flower Power #2'. The stitched tag die is from Pretty Pink Posh and unfortunately I don't know where the ribbon is from (came as part of a prize).
You have two weeks to enter your project at TIME OUT and if your needing any inspiration, please visit the blog to see what fabulous designs the rest of the DT have created for you. I really hope you have time to join in and look forward to seeing you there!!
Oh goodie, its time for another challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More and the sponsor for this weeks challenge is Bugaboo Digi Stamps.
This week we have a photo for inspiration and its full of love:
I told you it was full of love....and hugs and kisses and all sorts of wonderful words for Valentines Day. There are so many ways you could be inspired by this. Maybe do something with words, with the colours, with a frame....oh the possibilities.
I really like the design of the picture, as in the horizontal lines. I don't have many word stamps for 'love' that would work well together so decided to go with the universal symbol:
I've been giving my Cuttlebug a real work-out of late, don't know what I would do if it broke!!!
I have a heart die from CAS-ual Fridays that cuts graduating hearts, big to small, all at once. I die cut it 8x from white CS to get these size hearts. I then used it one more time with red CS for the middle one. All of the white hearts were glued directly to the card front, with the red one getting extra special treatment. I cut teeny tiny pieces of foam tape for the red heart to sit on. This makes it really pop out compared to the others. I stamped the sentiment (from Hero Arts 'Year Round Sentiments') in black ink and left it at that.
There are a lot of Valentines Challenges around at the moment and my card can be linked to quite a few:
This is my final entry for the Winnie and Walter Challenges. Fingers crossed I win a voucher as I would love to buy some of the new release but can't afford it!!
For this Distress Inks and Patterns Challenge, Mayuri wants projects using Distress Inks as the palette and to make patterns using various stamps. I played around for ages with my W&W 'Big, Bang, Bling' stamp set as its the only set of theirs I have that isn't just words. After quite a few disasters I realised that if I stamped the sequin row close together, it resembled a gingham pattern:
I can't believe that I managed to stamp this without a ruler and keep it pretty even!!! After stamping the pattern, I stamped a few single sequins up above in the same colour (Picked Raspberry). I cut a strip of vellum, heat embossed the sentiment in white and then wrapped it around the card. A few similar coloured sequins and small gold hearts and I was finished. I don't use Distress Inks very often and if I do I tend to blend them instead of stamping with them. I find they bleed into the cardstock and don't have good coverage but I suspect its the cheap CS I use. I am really happy with how this turned out though, so might have to try this again..... The sentiment is from W&W 'The Big, the Bold and You'. The sequin stamps are also W&W 'Big, Bang, Bling'. The small sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh and the heart dies are from Paper Smooches 'Tiny Hearts'. I hadn't realised until I was looking through the other W&W Challenges that I had used a similar colour scheme to the Mood Board Challenge with Lea, so will add my card there too.
I will also link to the Fusion Challenge where their theme is 'Heartfull', which hopefully includes my 'heartfelt' thanks with the little metal hearts.
And will link to the Simply Create Challenge # 78 where their theme is 'Happy Valentines Day or use Hearts'. This is my second entry. And of course I will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. I was supposed to be taking the kids shoe shopping now but Dave has taken them to the pool. This is the first time in seven weeks that I've been alone at home and its quite lovely. So peaceful but its funny how you miss the noises like Phoebe on her ukelele or Max singing away with his headphones on. I have three gardening jobs this week so no relaxing at home for me, so must make the most of this next hour....... Take care Shona
One more card after this one and I will have entered all the 9 challenges at Winnie and Walter this month. The prizes are out of this world, so if you have the time and you haven't entered yet, I really encourage you to do so!!
For this challenge, Laura created a mood board and wanted you to be inspired by it for your project.
That gorgeous mint colour caught my eye straight away and those beautiful reindeer. I decided to also combine this with another W&W Challenge, the Sketch Challenge with Joni.
So, with both of those challenges in mind, this is what my busy little mind came up with:
I started by cutting a piece of white CS to the same size as the card front and die-cutting the circle. I marked with pencil where the circle would sit and went to town with some 'bling' stamps and an ink cube I've never used called 'Seafoam' by Kaisercraft. I then stamped the 'thanks' on some white CS and heat embossed with silver. After fussy cutting it out, I popped it up on some foam tape. The rest of the sentiment was stamped on a little flag of white CS and tucked underneath. It looked a little bare to me, so decided to cut a strip off the bottom of the panel and added some grey paper to the card front. Better! The panel was covered in foam tape and placed over top. A couple of quick enamel dots and voila! The circle die is from Couture Creations. The sentiment stamps are from W&W 'The Big, the Bold and You' and the bling stamps (also W&W) from 'Big, Bang, Bling'. The patterned paper is from Dear Lizzy 'Polka Dot Party' and enamel dots from Papervine. Will also link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. Off to get some last minute school shoes and lunch box for tomorrow. Max is really excited about going to school but poor Phoebe isn't so much. She only has one friend and they separated them this year. She is such a sweet, gentle, loving girl but for some reason finds it so hard to make friends. And being a small town its extremely 'clicky', so most of the Mum's only let their kids play with kids from the same 'click' or the same 'financially overflowing' families. So I'm all ready for a very emotional week! Take care Shona
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