Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge

Its been a very hot day today. It was 30 degrees celcius by 10.30am which is very unusual and now its around 27 degrees. Usually it reaches the peak temperature around 5pm (its 6pm now) but its quite nice, so just started watering my poor, wilted garden. We've got 6 more days of 30 degrees to go, so everyone's watering systems will be going 24/7!!

I love Instagram, in fact I'll say I'm addicted to it! I look at it everyday to see what cards everyone's creating, what new products are coming out and all sorts of other things i.e. gardening, films, books, make-up etc. Its the first thing I reach for when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I look at before I go to sleep. It's quick and easy which is brilliant for my schedule!!

Last weekend I saw everyone's Stories on IG who went to Creativation in Arizona and it was wonderful to see them meeting up with other social media friends and people who they admire. It was also very cool to see the stamp companies and what they have install for us in coming months. One of my favourite ones is The Stamp Market. They have such fresh, modern stamps and dies. I only own three of their older stamps and one die but hope to buy more soon. Their instagram feed has been full of amazing cards with lots of rainbow colours and with it being to hot to garden this afternoon, they inspired me to whip up this card:

Its time's like this I'm so glad to have a MISTI, certainly makes stamping across a card much easier and the ability to stamp several times to get good coverage is fantastic!!

I grabbed nearly all of my Waffle Flower ink pads and a flower image from The Stamp Market 'Bloom with Hope' set.  I stamped each flower 2-3 times with a variety of colours across the card front. Nice and easy but so colourful!!

I then die-cut The Stamp Market 'Love' die 3x from white CS, glued them together and then to the card front. I don't have a sentiment from The Stamp Market that goes well with the die, so I used one of my new Simon Says Stamp 'Stained Glass Love' sentiments and stamped it in black on the card front. 

After gluing on some Neat and Tangled sequins I really wanted to add some Glossy Accents to the die-cut but I was so happy with the stamping, I didn't want to risk ruining it with runaway gloss (which happens to me often....). And it keeps the design crisp and white!!

I'm linking this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Have a Heart'. I think this is my 4th entry, they must get sick of me bombarding them with my cards....

I better move the sprinkler before I flood the neighbours property. We haven't had rain for a long time and have a complete fire ban across our region, so I think we will probably have water restrictions soon. It has been a brilliant Summer though and I hope it continues like this, much to my husbands disgust who would rather it be freezing. Maybe I should send him to Alaska each Summer?????

Take care
Shona
 

Simon Says Stamp - Flickr Challenge #115 - Entry no. 2

I'm back! Yes, after weeks of hardly making any cards I've made two in as many days. And I have Simon Says Stamp products and Jennifer McGuire videos to thank for inspiring me!!

Yesterday I shared with you all a card using a new SSS die that I received recently for the current Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge. Well, after watching this video by Jennifer HERE, it gave me an idea for another way to colour the SSS 'Outline Floral Frame' die and have some messy fun while doing it:

For this technique my new Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat really came in handy, would have had to have used a dinner plate otherwise and I've already ruined a few with ink staining.....

To start off I die-cut the frame die and SSS 'Love' die from white CS. I grabbed Distress Inks 'Picked Raspberry', 'Mustard Seed', 'Abandoned Coral' and 'Spun Sugar' and a water spray bottle. This is where things got messy.....

I simply pressed the Distress Inks on to the glass mat near each other, gave them a spray with water and then smooshed the floral frame and word die cuts into the ink. I would check every now and again to see what colour was where and move the die around. And I wiped it all away a few times from the glass and dried the die-cuts with a heat gun before doing it all over again. My fingers were stained but it was a lot of fun!!

Once I was happy with the coverage and they had dried, I decided that the vibrant 'tropical' colours would look even better with a shiny coating. So I pressed my Versamark Ink pad over the die-cuts and heat embossed with clear powder 2x. They are so shiny, especially in real life:

 

I die-cut the frame and word twice more from white CS, glued them all together and then to a card front. To finish off I stamped the sentiment (from SSS 'Love') with Mama Elephant 'Lollipop' ink and glued on some Neat and Tangled sequins. My mojo is slowly returning, yippee!!!

I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Have a Heart'.

 

We spent the day in Nelson today which as always was a lot of fun. Nice to visit a small city that has a fantastic beach too. And of course we went to the trampoline park and Kmart where I got some more storage goodies for my craft area. Better take Bella for a walk now that its a bit cooler and before I really sit down, as I may never get back up.....

Take care
Shona 

 

Simon Says Stamp - Flickr Challenge #115

Hello there!! Its been so much cooler the past two days but starting tomorrow we have 7 days of at least 30 degrees celcius every day. I'm okay with it but my family (especially Dave) will be melting. Will send them all to sleep on the trampoline at night I think with lots of bug spray!! We are going to Nelson tomorrow for the day, there is a gorgeous beach over there and its supposed to be around 29dg celcius, so will be nice to swim in the sea instead of the pool for a change.

As I've mentioned my mojo is rather lack-lustre at the moment. Its really hard when I'm working all day and the kids pounce on me when I get home to do stuff with them too, which I'm more than happy too. However at the end of the day I'm too tired to do anything else, so its into bed with Netflix. The kids are back to school this week (Max on Wednesday and Phoebe Friday) so will be back in the swing of things shortly.

In the meantime I recently received my biggest happy mail yet from Simon Says Stamp. Its a belated Christmas present from my family and contained a huge amount of dies. One of them (the 'Outline Floral Frame' die) is one I've wanted ever since its release and I pounced on it straight away. And luckily the SSS Flickr Challenge theme is 'Love' so I could use my favourite word die:

Over the last few weeks I thought a good way to get my creative juices flowing would be to catch up on my Jennifer McGuire videos. I came across this one here where she shows off the latest Pinkfresh Studio release and also gives some tips on ways to use die-cuts. One of them was to use Copics to colour a background die. I thought this was a really cool idea!!

I die-cut the frame from white CS, grabbed my Altenew Artist Markers and set myself up in front of the tv to watch reruns of 'House of Lies' (one of my most favourite shows ever!). I didn't get too carried away with blending etc but added shading here and there and just enjoyed myself. When I was finished I die-cut another two from white CS and glued them all together. As I had gotten a few colours on the white border I decided to colour it all with a grey marker to cover it up. This was glued on to a card base.

For the sentiment I die-cut the SSS 'Love' die from turquoise CS and twice more from white CS. I glued them all together, covered it with lashings of Wink of Stella and glued to the card. I then gave it a good covering of Glossy Accents. The rest of the sentiment is from SSS 'Love', white heat embossed on black CS and glued in place, along with some black half-beads. Love this die so much!!!!

Will also link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Have a Heart'.

 


I've got another card in the works using this same die, so maybe my mojo is making a return. So thank you to Jennifer McGuire for her inspiring videos and SSS for creating such cool products, you've got me inspired again!!

Take care
Shona

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge # 127

Hi everybody!! Its been go-go-go round here for me lately, so not much crafting time unfortunately but I've been thinking about card designs non-stop so when I have a spare five minutes, I've got a few ideas to work on. The weather has also been extremely hot and windy, so I'm exhausted by the time I get home and its way too hot in my little craft corner, so by the time its cooled down its midnight and too late for this girl....

We have this fabulous phrase to inspire you for the current TIME OUT Challenge. You could use one word, one part or maybe show us how the words make you feel or remind you of something....its totally up to you!!

And our fabulous Sponsor is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and they are giving a $25 gift voucher to the winner of this challenge. So lucky!!!!

For my card I was so excited to use a new product that I'm probably the last person in the world to try out. In the last Coffee Lovers Blog Hop I was lucky enough to win a $10 voucher to Gina K Designs and I knew I had to get the Wreath Builder Templates. I used it straight away and I'm already addicted:

I wanted to use the 4inch template so I cut a 4inch square piece of white CS. I gathered up some Waffle Flower ink pads and lots of little CAS-ual Fridays Stamps images to create the wreath, starting off with the blue flower and spreading from there. The CFS stamp sets I used were:

Sassy Smiles

Peaceful Garden

Peace and Comfort

Best Day Ever

Once I was finished I adhered the piece to some black CS, cut around it to form a frame and then put on a 4.5inch card base with a piece of white foam.  For the sentiment I wanted to use something that referred to a strong friendship, as in the phrase.  I chose one from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps 'Supercalifragilistic', it was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS and popped up on foam tape. I then glued on some clear gem stones from Studio Katia to the blue flowers and hearts.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Have a Heart'. My wreath contains hearts and is pretty heartfelt for a wonderful friend or maybe a loved one.

You have until Wednesday 30th January to link your projects to the TIME OUT Challenge and if your looking for any ideas or something to spark your imagination, pop over to the blog to see what our Design Team and our amazing Guest Designer Claire of String Bows have created for you. Look forward to seeing you and your creations in our Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post #2 for January

Hi there everybody!! Hope your all getting ready for an amazing weekend. Its supposed to be a very hot Saturday here for us in New Zealand so will probably head to the beach or to one of the many river swimming-holes we are lucky to have here. Will be way too hot to sit at home where we have no air-conditioning that's for sure....

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog 
today with a simple but sweet 'Love Ya' card:

Thought it would be nice to have a break from the usual 'pink/pink' colour combo of my lovey-dovey cards and I love this WOW! Embossing Powder so much. For all the details on how I put this together, pop over to the CFS Blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I'm off to get my togs on (that's what we call 'swimming costumes' in New Zealand) and jandals (what we call 'flip-flops' in New Zealand) and hit the water. So not only will you be seeing a new card from me today but you'll be learning a new language too!! LOL!!

Take care
Shona
 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #28

Hi everyone!! After a quick long-weekend trip to Hanmer Springs with the family (which was so much fun), I'm back into my gardening work. With all the sunshine and odd patch of rain over the last few weeks, the weeds have gone ballistic and jobs that usually take 2hrs are taking 4-5hrs, so I'm a very tired woman..... The good thing is that I've received a lot of crafty 'Happy Mail' lately, so keep thinking about how to use my new stamps and dies to get me thru each day.

We have a colour theme for you this month at The Flower Challenge, its 'Pink and Grey'. Grey is one of my favourite colours and just today my Mum was telling me I'm 'grey obsessed' because were are getting the outside of our house painted grey/white, I'm repainting the hallway grey and I've chosen a grey pattern for the floor in our kitchen. Maybe I am a bit 'grey crazy' but its a wonderful colour to put with everything and looks so stylish. 

We've already got some stunning projects in our Gallery so far this month. I decided to use one of my brand new stamp sets and get my coloured pencils out for a change. I remember when I used to colour EVERYTHING with them but I haven't used them for months. Was wonderful to be blending them again....:

This stamp set is from Mama Elephant 'Heart in Bloom' and I thought it would be great for Valentine's cards and many others!! This was super simple to put together. I wanted to keep it clean so this stamp was the star of the card. 

Firstly I stamped the floral heart on white CS using Versafine black ink. I then used my Faber Castell pencils, going over everything at least 3x to try and get as much shading and dimension as I could. Once I had finished I fussy cut it out and then heat embossed the sentiment (from the same ME stamp set) in silver embossing powder.

I wanted a grey background, but having an 'all-grey' card front seemed a bit bland, so I die-cut some grey CS using the MFT Stamps 'Blueprints 27' rectangle die so it had some interest and it allowed the white card front to show thru. I adhered this to the card base and then popped the heart on some foam tape. And to finish off I glued on some Neat and Tangled sequins with Gina K Connect Glue.

You have until Friday 25th January to link your projects to The Flower Challenge. And if your struggling for design ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see you all in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #126

Hi there everybody!! Hope your week is treating you well and your having wonderful weather wherever you are in the world!! Its been mega hot here and I'm back at work, so lots of sweating going on. Really good though to be back gardening and have started some huge clearing jobs this week.

Our challenge theme at TIME OUT is 'Loving'. I do tend to make a lot of cards around the word 'Love' so very happy about this one!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Birch Press Designs and they are giving the winner a $20 gift voucher to their store. How fabulous is that!!

For my card I definitely wanted to include the word 'Love' but I also wanted to use some colours that I wouldn't normally associate with a 'love theme':

A couple of nights ago it was still 32 degress Celcius at 8pm. I realised that it was cooler on our front deck (in the shade) than inside, so I grabbed my Tim Holtz Glass Mat, Distress Oxide inks and paintbrush and sat outside to paint this design. I was out there until it was dark and the sandflies were starting to drain me of blood.....

First off I heat embossed the Simon Says Stamp 'Centre Cut Kaleidoscope' background stamp in white on some dark grey CS. I then used my Distress Oxide inks in 'Spun Sugar', 'Blueprint Sketch', 'Cracked Pistachio' and 'Tumbled Glass' to water colour the pattern. The stamp pattern is much better than this but I stopped when I had this 'flower-like' area painted.

Once it was dry I fussy cut it out and popped up on some white foam. For the sentiment I die-cut the SSS 'Love' die from a dark pink paint chip, and also twice more from white CS. I glued them all together and then to the card. The rest of the sentiment (from SSS 'Love') was stamped on a strip of white CS using Mama Elephant 'Lollipop' to match the pink die-cut. This was glued to the card along with some sequins from Neat and Tangled.

You have until Wednesday 16th January to link your projects to the TIME OUT Challenge. And if your needing any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our amazing Guest Designer Jane of Purplejet Loves Crafts have created to inspire you. Looking forward to seeing all your 'LOVE' in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post #1 for January

Well hello there!! Hope 2019 is finding you well and you've had a chance to relax over the holidays and do some crafting. Its still mega-hot here so lots of swimming and reading going on. Has been nice to make a card or two but my crafting corner gets very hot during the day, so I have to wait till night-time to get stamping!!

So happy to be up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today, my first CFS post of the year. Our Design Team has changed a little over the last few months and we have some new people which is exciting, so lots of new inspiration coming your way!!

For my card today I wanted to use some older products and make them new again, give them a fresh start for the year. And what better way to do that, than with some rainbow colours:

I love these dies. They are trees but also look like seaweed when they are green. And can look like colourful firework explosions in rainbow colours. There are a lot of birthdays coming up soon, so good to start building up my stash now.

I started by die-cutting the Casual Trees Fri-dies from Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS. I then grabbed my Gansai Tambi 36 watercolour paint palette and a large round brush. I wet the die-cuts with water and them covered them with the paint. Since its so hot they dried very quickly. To give them some interest I coloured just the branches again with the same colour but didn't use as much water to make the colour more intense. I then gave them a thick covering of Wink of Stella for a bit of shimmer!!

When the branches were dry, I used Gina K Connect Glue to adhere them to the corners of the card front, putting the middle one down first and then the ones on either side.

For the sentiment I die-cut a circle of white CS using the smallest die from the Ornament Tag Fri-dies and heat embossed the sentiment from the Bold Wishes Stamp Set using WOW Metallic Gold Sparkle Embossing Glitter. This was popped up on foam tape, along with some sequins from Neat and Tangled.

I wanted to let you know that the Retiring Sets are now 60% off and if you use my special code you can get an additional 15% off on top.....that's a saving of 75%!!!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you back on the CFS Blog again later this month with some more cards.

Take care
Shona
 

 
 

The Flower Challenge #28

Well hello there everybody and welcome to my very first blog post for 2019!! So far its been a very fun and extremely hot start to the year, so I'm very happy with how its going so far!! And after being so busy for the month of December, I'm over the moon to have the time to make cards again.

Our first challenge theme for the year at The Flower Challenge is 'Pink and Grey'. I'm so in love with grey, I want grey clothes, grey walls, grey sheets, you name it, so I'm very excited about this one.

I also have a huge amount of stamps and dies that I haven't used from the last few months of 2018 and I'm determined to use them all, so you will be seeing all sorts of new products on my cards. For this card I finally used a floral stamp set that has been staring at me for months, begging me to cover her in ink:

I think any colour with grey looks amazing but pink is one of my favourites. So looking forward to seeing how you all use this colour combo too!!

Firstly I cut a piece of dark grey CS and adhered to the card front. I then cut a panel of Reeves 360gsm Acrylic paper (which also said it could be used for Watercolour). I heat embossed the floral image from Gina K Designs 'You Make me Smile' to the left of the panel in white, and then did it again below that, getting the flowers as close together as possible. 

I then used my Christmas present, a Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Glass Media Mat to mix some Distress Ink 'Picked Raspberry' with water, and painted the flowers, going back and adding more colour once it had dried. The glass mat is fanastic and its so handy to be able to mix on it as well. I then used a Zig Clean Color Real Brush pen in grey (along with a waterbrush) to colour the leaves. Once it was dry I cut the panel down slightly and popped it up on a piece of white foam.

The sentiment (from the same stamp set) was heat embossed in silver (from Ranger) on a strip of the same watercolour CS and put on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins glued down with Gina K Designs Connect Glue.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge as their theme is 'Something New', which is this stamp set that has finally been touched by ink!!

You have until Friday 25th January to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and we will be back on the 15th with some more ideas for you. You can also pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for you. Can't wait to see what you come up with in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona