I managed to finish gardening early today and went off in search of tiles as a backsplash for our kitchen. I really want some plain white beveled tiles in a small size (150cm x 70cm) but they are $69 per metre compared to the 200cm x 100cm which are $35 per metre, which seems crazy as they are bigger! I also found some hexagon ones too, so will get our tiler to price them all up and see what I can squeeze out of the budget!!
I've been trying to fit in colouring as much as I can this month for The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge. Unfortunately I haven't been able to colour every day but have been fitting it in wherever possible. I managed to squeeze in some watercolouring, die-cutting and heat embossing to create a card for the current Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes':
This 'Stitched Maple Circle Frame die' is from Memory Box. They are one of our Sponsors at Time Out Challenges and they recently sent all the Design Team a surprise die in the mail. I was so excited to get this one as I don't have any leaf dies and I only have plain circle dies, so these ones are extra gorgeous!!
The die set comes with the die that cuts the largest circle with a stitch detail. You then have another one that cuts a circle with the leaves attached and then there is a larger leaf die for the middle. I decided to keep all the dies still attached to each other and die-cut them all from black CS and then from Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS.
Using my Kuretake Zig Real Color Brush Pens and a water brush, I coloured each leaf, drying them in-between layers so I could try to get a really vivid effect. Once they were dry I took the black CS pieces that fit between the leaves and put them in place. I also added it to the middle circle. I took the large leaf die, stamped it with Versamark Ink and heat embossed twice with Ranger Gold Embossing Powder. This was then put back in the middle space.
I found a circle die from Couture Creations that was similar in size to the leaf circle and die-cut a piece of black foam. I glued this to the back of the leaves with Gina K Connect Glue and then to the card front. I then used the same glue to adhere the large black circle die-cut.
The sentiment (from Poppy Stamps 'Little Kindness') was stamped in Versafine black ink on a strip of white CS and put on foam tape, along with some sequins from Neat and Tangled. I also added lots of Wink of Stella to the leaves for a bit more shine.
Its 9.30pm Thursday night here and might be time to go to bed. As I got home a bit earlier today I finished off trimming my hedges around the house and by the garage. It takes so long and I don't use any electric trimmers as I find they don't do a good job, so I was very hot and sweaty afterwards but they look fantastic. I've also been checking the peach tree every five minutes as there are peaches EVERYWHERE and they are ripening before my eyes. I want to make sure they make it in my tummy before the birds and brown rot get to them first!!
Take care
Shona
Have just come back from a meeting with Max's teacher. Its just a 15 minute meet and greet, so its good to put a face with the name. This is Max's first male teacher. He's relaxed and young, so Max is very happy indeed!!
Since I'm home early I thought I might go outside and attack my own hedges, even though it feels like I just cut them, they grow so fast. Thought I would quickly first show you these little note cards I created. I needed something small to drop into a letterbox and thought these would be perfect:
I didn't realise it at the time but they are actually perfect to enter the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'No Stamps Allowed'.
I started by cutting two white CS card bases 4 inches x 3.5 inches. I then cut two panels that were slight shorter from the top and bottom and die-cut the SSS 'Heart Vent' from them both.
Once I worked out where the hearts would sit over the card bases, I blended some Distress Oxide Inks to create an ombre effect, having it dark in the middle and fading out to a lighter colour. I used 'Picked Raspberry' and 'Spun Sugar' for one and 'Mermaid Lagoon' and 'Tumbled Glass' for the other. I put the heart panels on top with foam tape.
For the sentiment I die-cut the SSS 'Hello' die 3x from black CS, glued them together and then to the heart. I then covered them with lashings of Glossy Accents and added some iridescent jewels from Pretty Pink Posh.
Better get back into my gardening gear and grab a big drink. Its pretty warm outside now. Our one day of rain on Sunday seems a distant memory now and there is no rain in sight for at least two weeks, so better crank up the sprinkler again. Oh how I wish I could afford to put in an irrigation system!!
Take care
Shona
What a busy day we had today!! We had to go over to Nelson early today as Phoebe had an important appointment with her Orthodontist. They took special x-rays and lots of photos. Turns out that even after 2yrs her top and bottom teeth are still sticking out too much (even though they look good to us) and she needs two teeth removed from the top and bottom as there is no room for her last molars and her wisdom teeth.
We will talk more about it at her next appt in April but means she will definitely have her braces for another two years. She is happy with that though as would rather spend the time getting her teeth looking perfect. After that seriousness it was time for lots of shopping, eating and the trampoline park....good fun!!!!
Its nearly 9.45pm Tuesday here and feels like 12am as we got back quite late. Gave me enough time though to photograph this card and link it to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge 'No Stamps Allowed' before it closes:
You wouldn't believe it but this design came about because I had a complete disaster with my stencil and there was no way I was going to waste all the hard work I had put into it!
Using my SSS 'Folk Dance' stencil I held it down with washi tape over a piece of Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS. I blended Distress Oxide inks - Picked Raspberry, Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon, Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade and Shaded Lilac in patches over the stencil, blended the colour edges together and created a rainbow panel. I let it dry for a bit and then spread over some Nuvo Glimmer Paste 'Moonstone' in a thin layer and this is where it turned to custard.....
Max asked if I wanted to go on the trampoline and of course I said yes. Usually we only go out for a little while so thought the stencil would be fine but Phoebe came out too and we were on there for AGES!! I then forgot about it for a few hours and it was only when I came back to my desk after dinner that I remembered. It had completely dried and when I tried to remove the stencil it kept removing patches of Glimmer Paste and some layers of CS. The two triangles on this card are the only pieces left that weren't damaged. Will never do that again!!
So, I cut the triangles so they fitted on the card front. It looked a bit strange up against the white background so I used my Tim Holtz small trimmer to cut tiny strips of black CS and adhered them along the edge with Gina K Connect Glue. I attached the bigger triangle first with double-sided tape. The smaller one on top looked strange because it bent over the bottom one so I made a layered CS square to put under the top corner to give it some support.
The sentiment (SSS 'Whoa! You're Amazing!!') was die-cut from black CS and also from silver glitter paper. I glued the die to some black CS, inlaid the letters and then cut around it. This was then put on a piece of black foam and I glued on some iridescent jewels from Pretty Pink Posh. I love how this turned out so maybe the disaster was the best thing that could have happened!
I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Flickr Challenge #117 where their theme is 'Colouring'. I'm not 100% sure if my colouring of the background with the stencil and Oxide inks is the right 'colouring' but I'm sure they will tell me if not.
Think its time for me to jump into bed. I can't believe there are only two more days of February to go. I feel like I've just had Christmas and yet two months have whizzed by. I know people say time goes faster when you get older but by the time I'm 60yrs old I will be blinking and losing a year!!
Take care
Shona
You will never believe it.....its raining!!! After two months of dry, hot weather the heavens finally opened up early this morning and its been raining ever since. I was laying in bed listening to it on the roof for hours, smiling away to myself. Wanted to go out in my pjs and run around in it but the neighbours might think I'm a bit nuts (if they didn't already....). So we've been at home today (Sunday) and enjoying seeing the rain on the windows. Will be so nice gardening tomorrow (its only supposed to rain today and then nothing for at least another 10 days.......), the dirt will be so much softer!!
Last night, while Phoebe and her friends were at a restaurant having dinner for Phoebe's 14th birthday....on their own.....I finally put together a card that I had watercoloured earlier in the week:
The theme for the current Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge is 'Colouring' and I entered another watercoloured card yesterday. That card used the outside part of the SSS 'Centre Cut Flowers' stamp and this one uses the removable centre stamp.
I started by stamping the image with Versamark Ink on Reeves watercolour CS and heat embossing with Hero Arts 'White Satin Pearl' embossing powder. I then coloured this over 3 days using Distress Inks. When I had finished I wanted to die-cut it with a circle die but I didn't have one big enough, so fussy cut it out.
To create a background for the image, I blended Distress Oxide Ink 'Tumbled Glass' in the middle of the card front and then sprayed with Imagine Crafts 'Shimmer Sparkle Glitz'. The flowers were then popped up on foam tape.
I die-cut the SSS 'Friend' die from white CS and then from white CS blended with the same 'Tumbled Glass' Distress Oxide ink. I glued them to the flower which was quite fiddly (and it went on a slight slant which annoys me so much!!) and then covered the letters with Spectrum Noir Shimmer pen. I heat embossed a sentiment from SSS 'Kind Flowers' using WOW! 'Pastel Glacier Mint' embossing powder on a strip of white CS and glued in place, along with sequins from Neat and Tangled.
I'm dropping Max at the movies soon to see 'Alita Battle Angel' with his friends and then dropping Ella home. Hopefully after doing that I will manage to whip up a card or two. I could do some housework but who really wants to do that when I still have so many new stamps and dies I haven't used??
Take care
Shona
Well, what a fabulous day its been today!! My daughter Phoebe turned 14yrs old today. I can't believe she is so old, seems like just yesterday she was a little baby and I was carrying her around everywhere. She is taller than me now so I don't think I could pick her up but I can definitely still give her lots of cuddles. She has two of her friends staying the night and I'm dropping them at a restaurant for dinner at 7pm. Will be a very grown up thing to do ordering dinner by themselves etc, although I have to pay the bill when I pick them up....maybe they will save me a doggy bag??
I've done all sorts of jobs today and managed to finish watercolouring an image I started two days ago. I wanted to make sure I completed it so I could join in the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge where their theme is 'Colouring' to honour The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge which is running for the month of February. I haven't been able to colour every day but its been good to practice with my watercolouring of late:
It felt like this took weeks to colour, not a couple of days!! I went over the leaves and flowers again and again, gradually building up the colour and shading. I still don't really know what I'm doing but I'm happy with it!
To start off I stamped the SSS 'Centre Cut Flowers' outer stamp on Reeves Watercolour CS a few times with Versafine black ink, and then immediately clear heat embossed. I then set myself up in front of the tv with my Zig Real Color Brush Pens, a cup of water and brush and started colouring while catching up on my recorded programmes.
I made sure that in-between layers of paint I allowed the paint to dry. I've been watching lots of watercolour videos on YouTube and this was suggested ALOT. I've found its made a big difference to my controlling the colour. Once I was finished I cut the panel down as much as I could in a square and adhered to a white card base.
For the sentiment I wanted to use some black to connect with the black heat embossing but also use one of the watercolours. I used the same pink Zig brush pen to colour some watercolour CS and die-cut the SSS 'Your the Best' from it. I also used the die on some black CS. I inlaid the pink letters and put it on some foam tape. To add a bit of sparkle I added some Spectrum Noir Shimmer Pen to the letters.
To finish off I glued some Pretty Pink Posh clear jewels over the pink watercoloured circle images with Glossy Accents. And I also added some blue and pink iridescent jewels, also from PPP.
I better go and check on the girls to see if they are on track to leave soon. There has been a lot of giggling from Phoebe's bedroom so I can just imagine what they've been doing with make-up and a hair straightener. Feel like I need to go and put on a suit as I'm the 'Driver' for the evening.....just call me Jeeves!!
Take care
Shona
Its yet another hot day today with still no rain. The forecast says we might get rain tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday afternoon but I don't like our chances. Its nearly 8 weeks with no rain and everything is so dry, even the weeds are finding it hard to cope. Funnily enough though I'm sure in a few weeks I'll be complaining because it won't stop raining lol!!
The theme for our current TIME OUT challenge is 'Retro', which we've defined as 'imitating a style or fashion of the recent past'. This is something I absolutely love, especially with regards to furniture and fabric. I'm obsessed with Doris Day and would love to go back to the 50's/60's to be able to dress as fabulously as she did!! You also have the 'optional twist' of 'one-layer' for your project and if you do, you might win a prize!!
I'm very excited to have my friend Sarah Gray as our Sponsor for this challenge. She has her own store at Folksy called Funky Fossil Designs where she sells stencils designed by herself. Her stencils are fantastic and she has so many different ones to chose from, I really recommend checking them out. A random winner will be chosen from those that do the 'optional twist' and they will win 3 stencils from Sarah!!
For my card I knew I wanted to do a lot of stamping to create a 'retro' pattern. I looked at images on Google and was inspired by this one:
I would love this on a skirt or as fabric stretched over a canvas on my wall. After going thru all my stamps I even found the perfect stamp set:
I'm so in love with this card pattern, how I wish I could transfer it on to fabric!! It was a lot of fun to make and would be great in other colour combo's too.
I started off by creating a white CS card base. I gathered up dye inks from Hero Arts, Waffle Flower and Altenew and using a stamp set from Stamploration 'Retro Mod Shapes' I stamped away starting in the top left, making it up as I went.
Once I was finished I needed a sentiment to fit in the middle. I wanted it to be a nod to age, since it was about being 'retro' and found this perfect one from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps 'Frankly'isms' which has an old type font and is also hilarious for a birthday card!!
Unfortunately it didn't look right as a one-layer card and I wanted to create a navy background but didn't have any navy CS. So I made another white CS card base, spread it out flat and masked off part of the back of the card with washi tape. I used Hero Arts Shadow Ink in 'navy' and wiped the ink pad itself over the card front, mainly around the edges. I removed the washi, cut down the stamped panel slightly and put it on a piece of white foam, along with some sequins from Neat and Tangled.
I'm going to link this to the Stamplorations 'Never Ending' Challenge which is for projects using Stamplorations products.
You have until Wednesday 27th February to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. If your struggling with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Esther of Shoregirl's Creations have created to inspire you. Look forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery!!
Take care
Shona
Hi there!! I'm typing this post sitting in my winter pj's and eating potato chips. Once again we've gone from boiling hot sunny days, to a cloudy and cold day. Talk about crazy, although it does mean it will be easier to sleep tonight....
I just wanted to let you know that I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today with this card:
A little bit of colouring, a little bit of die-cutting and a lot of glue put this together. For all the details on how I created this card, pop over to the CFS Blog.
Enjoy your weekend and I'll see you back here soon with another card!!
Take care
Shona
Hi everybody!! The weekend has arrived here in New Zealand and we have a very busy one planned. This morning we have Tennis (Max plays for a school team) and then after lunch we are finally doing the Muddy Buddy. Its held in an estuary where the tide is out so its all mud. They set up a course so you have to crawl under nets etc and get completely covered in fabulous mud. I've wanted to do it for years, so can't wait to get dirty with Max and Phoebe.
On Sunday the kids and I are going to the movies again (last weekend we saw The Lego Movie 2) and this time we are seeing Happy Death Day 2. My kids love horror movies as much as I do and they are finally old enough to see them at the movie theatre, so we can be scared together (although this is more of a scary comedy type movie....).
So with all this going on I'm hoping I can find some time to make some cards. Its been way too hot to do anything creative lately, so will see how the temperatures go......
Our current theme at The Flower Challenge is for you to 'Use your latest stamps/dies'. I'm terrible at shopping and then not using my purchases for ages, and I have a feeling I'm not alone in this..... There are already so many fabulous cards in the Gallery, so I hope you have time to play!
For this card I used my new Concord and 9th 'Turnabout Toolkit'. Its been a fantastic investment and is so helpful for a 'turnabout newbie' like myself:
This was so much fun to put together, the dies and stamps that come with the kit are fabulous. This is kind of a 'one-layer' card as it opens up like this:
So you have some dimension but it doesn't make the card super thick. Here's how I put it together.
Using the toolkit stamp set and turnabout jig, I used three ink colours (Waffle Flower 'Chirp Chirp', 'New Fish in Pond' and 'Daydreaming' , and Hero Arts Shadow Ink 'Navy') to stamp the design on the card front. The kit comes with two square dies. I used the smaller one to cut some green CS and heat embossed in white the sentiment from the same stamp set. The larger square die cuts a thin frame but I used it to cut the opening in the middle of the image.
I added foam tape to the back of the green square and with the card closed, placed it in the middle of the square opening. All I had to do then was glue on some sequins from Neat and Tangled and it was finished!!
I'm going to link this to the AAA Card Challenge #133 where their theme is 'One-layer with optional twist of Love'. Saying 'your a bit of alright' is something my husband and I used to say to each other in our younger years (we've been married for nearly 16yrs), now its more like 'wow, your still alive!'!!
You have until Monday 25th February to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team are doing with all their new 'floral' purchases. Looking forward to seeing what you've bought in the Gallery!
Take care
Shona
Hi everybody!! Its extremely hot here again. I've just come inside after doing some gardening, so needed a sit down and a drink. The kids and I went to see an early screening of The Lego Movie 2. Was so cute and funny but think the kids are just too old for this type of movie now, which is a shame.
Last weekend I stayed with my Mum to hang out and make lots of cards. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Concord and 9th 'Turnabout Toolkit' from Krafters Cart, Auckland. It arrived on Saturday morning, so I spent most of Saturday afternoon/evening playing around with it.
Being someone who has never used a turnabout stamp before it was extremely handy and having the temporary glue and the jig make it so much easier (and very addicting....).
I absolutely loved the end result of the floral stamp that comes with the kit but didn't use it as you would think:
When I was stamping I realised that the middle of the image looked kind of cool, so die-cutting it out inspired these cards. Very different but love how they look!
For this card I combined Hero Arts 'Navy' Shadow Ink and Waffle Flower inks 'Daydreaming', 'Chirp Chirp' and 'New Fish in Pond' for the colour combo.
For this one I used Hero Arts 'Bubblegum' Shadow Ink and Waffle Flower inks 'Happy Go Lucky', 'Safe Choice' and 'Tickled Pink'.
After stamping out the turnabout images twice in both colours, I used the larger square die that comes in the kit to cut out the middle of each image. I chose a dark pink CS and a lime green CS and used the smaller square die to cut out two squares from each coloured CS. This left me with one for the sentiment and two frames which I glued on to each stamped square.
The stamped squares were adhered to the card fronts. The coloured squares were white heat embossed with sentiments from the kit stamp set and popped up on foam tape, along with sequins from Neat and Tangled.
Would love to hear what you think!! I have some more 'turnabout' cards to share with you over the next week or so and can definitely see this being used again and again. I got the 'Marble' turnabout stamp too and that one is amazing to experiment with. And the dies that come with the kit are super cool too!!
Think I might go and see if the kids want to go for a swim. I can hear our dog Bella panting away behind me, laying on the carpet. Will wet her with the hose to cool her down, which she doesn't like but I'm sure she appreciates the gesture. Will take her for a walk after dinner when its cooled down a bit. Supposed to be hot again all this week......I'm so happy to have the heat back!!
Take care
Shona
Its a gorgeous Saturday morning here and the sunshine has finally returned!! After a sweltering Monday/Tuesday, the temperature dropped significantly Wednesday and Thursday. I even slept in my Winter pjs!! Yesterday the sun started heating up again and we are just back from Max's tennis game looking all sweaty. I'm definitely a Summertime person, it has given me back a spring in my step!!
The current theme at the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge is 'Add some red'. I don't use the colour red on my cards very often but I recently purchased some Catherine Pooler 'Rockin Red' ink and I'm blown away by how good it is. Its so lovely and sticky and inking up a brand new rubber stamp it stamped perfectly on the very first try (something I've never seen an ink do before.....). So I guess this means I will have more red on my cards and will have to buy all the CP inks!
I couldn't let the stamping of my new rubber stamp go to waste so turned it into a card that would be perfect for Valentines Day:
Isn't this pattern amazing??!! This stamp is also from Catherine Pooler 'Angled Squares Background Stamp'. There are so many ways to use it and its also gorgeous just on its own.
The stamp itself is actually bigger than this but I wanted to use the square pattern as the central image so cut it down a bit. I wanted to cut out the middle square but realised that I still don't have a set of square dies, however, the square die from my recently purchased Concord and 9th 'Turnabout Toolkit' was absolutely perfect. I worked out where the opening would sit over the white card front and stamped the sentiment (with the same CP red ink) from a CP stamp set I completely forgot I had. Its called the 'Wild Bloom' stamp set and I purchased it second-hand AGES ago from Trade Me.
I cut two strips of red CS and glued to the top and bottom of the card front. The stamped panel was then popped over-top on foam tape. I added clear jewels from Studio Katia to the triangle points in the pattern for a subtle touch. And I also added two red sequins from Neat and Tangled, tucked up under the corners of the square to highlight the sentiment.
Better go put my washing out to make the most of the sunshine. I've got a lot of my own gardening to do this weekend, even though it hasn't rained for like 6-7 weeks, everything is growing at such a rapid rate I can't keep up with it all. I do enjoying pruning though, very satisfying chopping everything off and making things tidy!! Need to do the same with my craft area......
Take care
Shona
Hi there everyone!! Mother Nature has a lot to answer for at the moment, we've gone from 35 degree celcius days to 18 degree celcius days. I've been living in a tank top and shorts while gardening for weeks, so this is a very big shock to the system. Nearly had to pull out the thermals!! Although its not as cold as those poor people in the US with that crazy 'polar vortex', that must be excruciatingly cold, so I shouldn't complain should I.....
Nothing like Valentines Day to warm you up and we have this fantastic photo to inspire your heart-warming projects for the TIME OUT Challenge.
Our Sponsor for this challenge is Stamplorations and they are giving a $25 gift card to the winner!! Yay!
For my card I wanted it to be over-the-top sweet, with a bit of sparkle and lots of heart:
All of the stamps I used come from the Stamplorations set 'Romantic Expressions 3', which has so many gorgeous images for lovey-dovey cards!!
I knew I wanted a central image on my card, so decided to use the arrow stamp to create a frame. I used a pencil to mark the size of the sentiment stamp and eye-balled where to place the arrows. Its not perfect but really happy with how they look.
Using a Couture Creations Circle die set, I cut a small circle for the sentiment from white CS and a slightly bigger one from black CS. I stamped it using Hero Arts 'Bubblegum' Shadow ink, then with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with WOW! 'Clear Sparkle' Embossing Powder. This is how it looks close up:
I love this embossing powder because you can use it on anything to give it a bit of blingyness!!
I adhered the circles together and then popped them up on a circle (die-cut with the same circle die) of black foam for some dimension. And to finish off I glued on some sequins from Neat and Tangled.
I'm going to link this to the Stamplorations Never-ending Challenge which is for projects that use Stamplorations products.
You have until Wednesday 13th February to link your projects to the TIME OUT Challenge and for any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our amazing Guest Designer, the always incredible (and my very good friend) Coni of Which Craft? have created to inspire you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!!
Take care
Shona
Hi everyone!! We have a Public Holiday today in New Zealand, which is strange in the middle of the week but its a chance to catch up on some gardening and housework jobs which is good. And its about 15 degrees cooler today than it has been the past few days, so nice to not be sweating every time I move!!
The current theme for the Simon Says Stamp - Flickr Challenge is 'Anything Goes' which is always everyone's favourite. Over the past weekend I stayed with my Mum and made a mountain of cards using a lot of my new SSS products from Christmas. I've been using the SSS 'Outline Floral Frame Die' for a lot of my cards lately and I wanted to see what else I could come up with. Dies like this (and background dies) are really expensive for me, so I like to see if I can find lots of ways to use it and get my monies worth:
I love the floral details of this die so much, especially in white against a coloured background so you can see all the little flowers etc. These were simple to put together and love the effect.
For this first card I using a mini-blending tool and Distress Oxide inks 'Picked Raspberry' and 'Spun Sugar' to create an ombre look on the card front. I die-cut the die from white CS and then chose where to cut the frame die so it reached across the top and bottom of the card. I used Gina K 'Connect Glue' to adhere these in each corner.
For the sentiment I white heat embossed the 'Love' from SSS 'Stained Glass Love' on a strip of vellum, folded it around the card front and adhered at the back with double-sided tape. I then stamped the smaller sentiment (from the same SSS set) with Versafine black ink and glued in place, along with some clear jewels from Studio Katia.
For this card I created an ombre background with Distress Oxide inks 'Mermaid Lagoon', 'Broken China' and 'Tumbled Glass'. I then worked out where to cut the die so they would meet in the middle and the outer corners. I glued them with Gina K 'Connect Glue' and cut off any overhang. I then white heat embossed another sentiment from SSS 'Stained Glass Love' on a strip of vellum, along with the smaller sentiment on white CS and glued on more clear jewels from Studio Katia.
I'm also going to link these to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is also 'Anything Goes'.
Better go hang out the washing and attack some of the hedges outside. The kids are just chilling out watching Netflix so I'm sure we will be jumping on the trampoline later. They only went back to school last week, so they really don't need a holiday already but they are milking it of course..... Love how they have no guilt at all about sitting round all day watching Netflix etc but if I have a day off I'm running around trying to fit in as many jobs as possible.....I need to have a 'Teenage Day off' without the guilt!!
Take care
Shona
Hi there everybody!! The month of January has whooshed on by which means another month and another challenge theme at The Flower Challenge!!
I've been looking forward to this months theme as like many of you, I buy more than I use (especially lately....). So a challenge that's all about using your latest stamp and die purchases couldn't be more timely.....and I bet I'm not the only one with new products on their desk that haven't been touched yet...... You can use whatever theme you like on your project, you just need to have flowers as your main 'star' of the design.
I was very lucky to get a belated Christmas present from my family a few weeks ago from Simon Says Stamp. I don't purchase from them very often as the exchange rate makes the postage so expensive. Wish I lived closer to America!! They had a sale at the end of the year on dies for 'Die-cember' so I chose quite a few and I knew this one would be perfect for any of these challenges:
Light blue and white (especially Tiffany Blue) has always been a favourite colour combo of mine and when I purchased this floral die, I knew immediately that I wanted to create a background with it. Love it when your inspired that quickly!!
I started by using my mini-blending tool and Distress Oxide Ink 'Tumbled Glass' and colouring the card front. I then die-cut the Simon Says Stamp 'Flower Cluster' die around 8x from white CS. Using lots of little dots of Gina K 'Connect Glue' I worked out where to place all the dies so they were close together and filling in any gaps around the edge with the overhanging pieces. Took me a while to glue them all down but really happy with the 'lacy' look.
I wanted the sentiment to be big and simple, so I die-cut the SSS 'Your the Best' die from white CS. I also blended the same 'Tumbled Glass' Distress Oxide ink over some white CS and die-cut it again to get some blue letters. I glued on a scrap piece of CS behind it and inlaid the blue letters. This was popped up on a piece of white foam. For a bit of shine I added Glossy Accents to the letters and some clear and blue sequins from Neat and Tangled.
I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
You have until Monday 25th February to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and for lots of ideas and inspiration, 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 (and what you've been buying......) in the Gallery!!
Take care
Shona
Hi there and welcome to my first blog post for February!! I can't believe we are already into our second month, I have a feeling that this year will fly by even faster than the last. Although this past week has been pretty long as we've had a heatwave. Its been extremely hard to work each day, the temperatures have been crazy to the point I jumped into someone's pool the other day when I finished their garden, with my clothes on.....it was heavenly!!
I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today with a fiddly and different card for you. I haven't seen a card made like this before but I'm sure someone will have already come up with it somewhere in blogland. I thought about it in the shower the other night (I have some of my best ideas there.....) and have another idea to try out too. Let me know what you think:
Yes, lots and lots of die-cutting and this photo doesn't quite show how one-layer the card is (apart from the sentiment strip). Here's another photo:
Please excuse my dirty fingers and nails, the joys of being a gardener!! Now to show you how the card opens:
Tricked you!! And this is what it looks like when its completely open:
Here's how I put it together! I started off with a simple top-folding card base. I worked out that I could die-cut and fit 4x 'Lovely Links Fri-dies' across the front of the card base and it would leave room in between to cut the smaller card front. I used my paper trimmer to cut the front of the card and used double-sided tape to hold down the two side strips. I die-cut the link dies from white CS and glued them to the card. I then die-cut them a few times more from two types of pink and blue paint chips to get all the different heart and circle colours. These were all glued into place.
I wanted a simple sentiment that would stretch across the opening panel to help you open it. So I stamped a sentiment from 'Heartfelt Sayings' with Hero Arts 'Bubblegum' die ink and then clear heat embossed over it twice to add some shine. I popped it up across the panel with foam tape and then realised I had added too much over each side, so quickly cut some small pieces of white CS to put behind so it wouldn't stick shut.
To finish off I glued on some sequins from Neat and Tangled and also stamped the sentiment on the inside (also from 'Heartfelt Sayings') with Versafine black ink.
I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
I really hope this card has given you some new design ideas to try out and if your itching to get your hands on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps products I used today, use my special code to save yourself 15%.
Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you back here next week with some more card designs.
Take care
Shona
