Well, the rain came AGAIN last night and poured down during the wee small hours, along with some thunder which was so cool. Everything is absolutely soaked and while at the dentist with Max this morning it decided to rain again, so definitely no gardening today. Extremely frustrating but what can I do?
The sun is out now (of course) and while I'm waiting for my washing machine to finish I thought I would share with you another of my 'rainbow panel' cards I created earlier this week. And since I used some Simon Says Stamp products it's perfect for the Simon Says Stamp - Flickr Challenge as their theme is 'Anything Goes':
I've accumulated ALOT of stamps and dies over the past six years but I'm always amazed when I realise I don't have many of one particular product - frame dies. I have a few dies that cut out panels but hardly any that cut an actual frame, so must get that sorted asap!!
I decided to white heat emboss this flower from SSS 'Delicate Flowers' straight on to the rainbow panel. The panel is made up of strips of coloured CS that were adhered to a piece of white CS. I also white heat embossed the sentiment (from the same SSS set) on some black CS and fussy cut out.
To create the frame I die-cut the Waffle Flower frame die (unfortunately I don't have the name for this one and I can't find it in the WF store so it may be discontinued....) twice from white CS and once from black CS. I glued the white ones together and then glued the black one underneath and in the opposite pattern to the white ones. This was glued to the rainbow panel, then to a piece of white foam before being adhered to the card front.
I popped the sentiment on some foam tape and added some Neat and Tangled sequins for a pop of colour and shine to finish off.
I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge where their theme is 'Frame it'.
And will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
I can hear my washing machine playing music in the background. I have a Samsung machine that plays a song when it finishes instead of beeping. Its quite sweet and much better than a beep that seems to get louder and more demanding the longer it goes on.....Hopefully my putting the washing out will not cause it to rain yet again...
Take care
Shona
Hi everyone and hope your having a nicer day than I am, weather-wise that is....The wind has been blowing at a million miles an hour overnight and still going today (along with rain) so I'm now up to my third day of no gardening. So much for all the nice weather we've been having but as its nearly Winter, it had to change at some stage.
I'm popping in today to remind you all about our current challenge theme at TIME OUT:
We have this gorgeous photo to inspire you and the amount of ways you can use the colours and images are endless for your projects!!
We are very lucky to have Stamplorations as our Sponsor for this challenge and they are giving a $25 gift voucher to the winner!!
As blue is one of my favourite colours I was immediately drawn to the background wall but I also loved the bright colours of the flowers, so decided to combine the two:
The Time Out Design Team were very lucky to be given a stamp set by Shery from Stamplorations for this challenge. I chose this 'Blossom Sprays #1 - Dee's Artsy Impressions stamp set as I thought it was close to the flowers in the photo.
I started by stamping the flowers on white CS using Gina K Amalgam black ink. I coloured them with my Faber Castell Watercolour pencils and then fussy cut out.
For the background I wanted a geometric look like the tiles in the photo, so I used the Stamplorations 'Stained Glass' ARTplorations Stencil. Firstly I used a mini-blending tool and Distress Ink 'Mermaid Lagoon' to colour the whole of the card front. I then put the stencil over-top and blended again with the same colour, giving a 'tone-on-tone' look similar to the tiles.
The flowers were added on some foam tape and the sentiment (from Stamplorations 'Buttercups and Butterflies - Big Grins by Becca Cruger' was stamped in black on a strip of white CS and put on foam tape, along with some sequins from Neat and Tangled.
I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
And will also link to the Stamplorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge which is for any projects using their products.
You have until Wednesday 5th June to link your projects to the TIME OUT Challenge and for any ideas pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Greta of G G Creations have created to inspire you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!
Take care
Shona
After a very stormy and windy night, the wind has finally died down and now we are stuck with more rain. At least its not too cold but I've only been able to garden once this week and tomorrow (Friday) isn't looking promising either. The upside is that Phoebe and Max had yesterday off school due to teacher strikes and today/tomorrow are Teacher Only Days for Phoebe, so at least I can do some things with her.
Its also given me a chance to try and get my mojo going again and try a few things out. The other night I sat down and watched a movie on Netflix while cutting thin strips of coloured CS and adhering them to white CS. I was left with three panels and found a few different ways to use them.
I had the idea of framing one of the panels right from the start which was inspired by this weeks Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge which has 'Frame it' as their theme:
I really enjoyed putting these rainbow panels together and think I might have to make some more but with different colour combos!!
For this one I decided to use some much older dies that were some of the first ones I ever purchased when I started card making nearly six years ago. I started off by die-cutting the Paper Smooches 'Frames 2' die 3x from white CS and once from black CS. I glued them all together and then to the rainbow panel. This was adhered to a piece of white foam and then to the card front.
I then die-cut the Paper Smooches 'Dainty Flowers' die 3x from white CS, glued them together for dimension and then inside the frame. I wanted the framed image to be the star of the card, so kept the sentiment simple. I used one from the Ellen Hutson 'Over It by Julie Ebersole' stamp set and stamped it with Versafine black ink. To finish off I glued on some pale white and clear sequins from Neat and Tangled.
I did actually toy with the idea of filling in the leaf and flower with Glossy Accents for a 'stained glass' look but was worried how it would effect the CS underneath it. Will have to do a mock test to experiment as I think it would look pretty cool!
I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
The rain has stopped for a moment so might take Bella out for a quick walk. We got caught in a downpour the other day which wasn't very pleasant, thank goodness I had started the fire before I left. Might do the same now just to be on the safe side....
Take care
Shona
Hi everybody!! I can't believe its been nearly two weeks since I shared a card with you on my blog. I've been working on a HUGE project the past few weeks and that has taken up all my crafting time. I'm now finished and you'll get to see it all next month, when I can finally tell you whats happening (very exciting....).
The Cue Word at CASology is 'Summer' and I had an idea straight away but no time to put it into action. Last night I had a few spare moments before I went to bed, so whipped up a bit of 'sunshine':
I don't quite know what happened with the lighting when I took the photo this afternoon but the yellow is so bright, it looks almost neon!! I've decided I'm going to invest in a Photo Box to try and get better photos, instead of following the sun from room to room each day.....
I started by putting the MFT 'Sun Rays' stencil over the card front and using a mini-blending tool with 'Mustard Seed' Distress Ink. I tried to make the colour darker in the middle and fade towards the edges. I then used a circle die from Couture Creations to cut out the middle.
Thru the die-cut hole I stamped the sun with Waffle Flower 'You Said What?' yellow ink and the sentiment with Versafine black ink. Both of these are from Neat and Tangled 'Beach Day' stamp set. You still have plenty of room on the inside to right your message:
To finish off I glued on some Neat and Tangled yellow and clear sequins. And that was that!!
I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge where their theme was 'To Use Stencils'.
As usual its right on dinner-time so better get something organised. The weather lately has been gorgeous and today was no exception. Yesterday was so hot I had to break out my shorts! This is the weirdest Autumn ever, I hope when Winter officially starts on Saturday that it stays just like this!
Take care
Shona
Hi everyone! I'm popping in quickly today to remind you all about our current theme at TIME OUT Challenges.
We have this amazing quote by Theodore Roosevelt to inspire you. You might pick one word, one part of the quote or maybe the whole thing gives you an idea. Its totally up to you!
Our Sponsor for this challenge is Poppystamps and they are giving a $20 gift voucher to the winner!!
For my card I really wanted to incorporate the word 'stars', however it turns out that I don't own one single little star die.....how can that be? All of the star dies I have are quite large and didn't work with my idea at all. This lack of tiny dies must be rectified ASAP! So.....I had to think of something else:
Turns out I don't even have that many sentiment stamps with the word 'star' in them!! I did find this older one from Reverse Confetti that not only had the word 'star' but also incorporated my most favourite things for cards....rainbows!!
To start off I gathered a rainbow of coloured CS and cut strips. I glued them all to a piece of white CS and then trimmed to size. I cut a panel of black CS and adhered it to the card front so I could then put the rainbow panel on a piece of black foam on top.
I wanted to use a Poppystamps product since they are our Sponsor, so used this 'Hampstead Bloom' die but when I looked on the Poppystamps blog I couldn't find it, so it must have been retired, which is such a shame. I die-cut it 3x from white CS, glued them together and then to the rainbow panel. The sentiment (from Reverse Confetti 'Shine from Within') was white heat embossed on black CS, I glued black foam to the back and then to the card. And of course I had to add some Neat and Tangled sequins for a bit of shine!!
You have until Wednesday 22nd May to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge and if your looking for more ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our always fabulous Guest Designer Michele of I Card Everyone have created to inspire you. Look forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery!
Take care
Shona
Hi everybody, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope your week is going well and you've had some time to put your feet up and do a bit of crafting too! I've been flat out still trying to catch up with all my gardening after having the flu. The weather has been amazing and I can't believe we are halfway thru May and hardly had the fire going at all!!
I'm popping in today to remind you about the current theme at The Flower Challenge. Its all about 'Embossing (Heat or Dry)' which is one of my favourite things to do, especially with floral images. I actually made a card that included dry and heat embossing but something about it wasn't right and the longer I looked at it, the more I hated it. So I shelved it and made the card I'd always imagined making with this Altenew stamp set:
We are very excited to have Altenew as our Sponsor this month and they are offering the winner a floral stamp set. They really do create the most amazing floral images (I have many in my stash) and this new stamp set of mine might be one of my favourites!!
This set is 'Wallpaper Art' and I would absolutely love this on one of my walls! I started by cutting a panel of white CS the same size as the card front. I arranged the images on the panel in my MISTI and stamped the images twice with Versafine black ink and immediately clear heat embossed with Simon Says Stamp Embossing powder. Once the CS has cooled down I adhered to the card front.
I die-cut the Altenew 'Caps Bold Alphabet Dies' from white CS, die-cutting each letter 3x and gluing them together before popping up on foam tape. The sentiment (from Altenew 'Persian Motifs') was white heat embossed on black CS and put on foam tape, along with some black half-pearls.
I'm going to link this to the Kat Scrappiness May Challenge where their theme is 'Coffee with Mum'.
You have until Saturday May 25th to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created to inspire you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!!
Take care
Shona
Its been yet another outstanding Autumn day, how I wish these days would last all through Winter!! I certainly can't remember walking around in shorts and a t-shirt in May last year or any other May for that matter. Global warming is definitely a thing!!
Heather has a fantastic colour combo for the Winnie and Walter Colour Combo Challenge , its all about white and other natural shades. I love nothing more than crisp, white cardstock and as grey is one of my favourite colours for everything at the moment, I definitely wanted to play along:
I decided to stick with shades of grey against a white background, and for once I didn't manage to smudge anything on the white (I'm a very clumsy crafter......).
I used the Winnie and Walter 'hi' die on some dark grey CS, along with two more from white CS. I glued these all together with Gina K Connect Glue and popped on foam tape.
The flower (from W&W 'In Bloom: Addie's Garden') was white heat embossed on some Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS and watercoloured with a Zig Real Color Brush pen and water brush. Once it had dried I fussy cut it out and put on some foam tape.
The sentiment (from W&W 'The Big, the Bold and Happy') was white heat embossed on some lighter grey CS and put on foam tape, along with some clear and pearl white sequins from Neat and Tangled.
I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'For a Special Lady'. I made this card with one special lady in mind and it will be winging its way across the world very soon for her birthday!!
And will also join the AAA CAS Card Challenge #139 where they have a sketch which helped my design along too.
Once again I've written this post as dinner is being prepared and I can hear my oven timer reminding me not to burn the food. I can't wait to go to bed tonight, its been such a busy week. Just found out that Season 5 of Schitts Creek is on Netflix, so will be cuddling up in bed with my iPad and a block of chocolate tonight.....heaven!
Take care
Shona
Hi everybody!! Hope your all having a fantastic week and have lots of things to look forward to when the weekend finally rolls round.
The 2019 Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is in full swing right now and I've loved seeing all the amazing creations that people have made. Since CAS-ual Fridays Stamps is one of the Sponsors for the Blog Hop, each of us on the Design Team have created 'Coffee-themed' projects to share with you each day on the blog. I'm on there today with this little cutie:
Isn't he sweet?? I've got all the details on how I put this cup together over on the CFS Blog and will link up to the Blog Hop with all the other amazing entries from around Blogland!
Take care
Shona
Hi everybody!! Mother Nature is doing her best to keep us on our toes at the moment. The last couple of days have been so warm. The days are overcast and kind of gloomy but the temperatures have me sweltering in the garden. Definitely loving it because I'm not looking forward to my days of working in a frost but what can you do, I'll just enjoy it while I can!
The current Simon Says Stamp - Flickr Challenge finishes in a few hours so I'm trying to quickly add this card before I make dinner. I always seem to be blogging at this time of night lately. The is the first chance I get to sit down after coming home and doing housework, walking the dog etc. I've been so busy today I probably won't be able to stand up after sitting a while:
The SSS Flickr Challenge theme is 'Mothers Day/Flowers' and since this alcohol panel was my Mum's favourite of all the ones I did over the weekend, it definitely makes a great one for Mothers Day!!
I started off with a panel of white Yupo paper and 'Sublime (Green)' and 'Tranquil (Blue)' Alcohol Pearl inks , all from the SSS May Card Kit. I didn't do anything special, just added dots of each colour along with some blending solution and left it to dry. I can't get over how vibrant the colours are!!
Once the panel was dry I adhered it to the card front. Using my Cuttlebug I die-cut the SSS 'Outline Floral Frame Die' twice from white CS, glued them together and then to the panel using Gina K Connect Glue. I didn't want to cover up too much of the coloured panel, so created a simple sentiment using the SSS 'Delicate Flowers' stamp set that comes with the kit. I white heat embossed it on some green CS and popped it up on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins. Nice and simple!!
I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'For a Special Lady'.
And will also join the Kat Scrappiness May Challenge where their theme is 'Coffee with Mom'. No coffee element here but this one is for my Mum (shhh don't tell her.......).
I can hear some rustling in the kitchen, sounds very much like biscuit packets, so think my children are getting hungry. We are having Lamb Loin Chops which is very rare for us. Its amazing that a country that has way more sheep than people, can charge us locals so much for lamb. You would think we'd get a cheaper deal than people overseas where a lot of the sheep are exported too but we pay nearly the same amount. I don't eat lamb but the kids and Dave will be eating every bit of their chops to make them worthwhile!!
Take care
Shona
I had so much fun over the weekend playing with my new alcohol inks. Now I need all the colours and would like to try out the normal alcohol inks (these are the Pearl ones) to see what the difference is. After seeing so many cards over the months with so many techniques for these inks, I feel like I need to lock myself away somewhere for a week to try them all out!
The current theme for the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge is 'Happy Birthday'. It finishes in a couple of hours and I've already linked two cards today but I have one more to show you, this time using the green and blue inks together that came in the SSS May Card Kit:
The kit not only has two panels of white Yupo paper but it also has two panels of the new silver glitter Yupo paper. I really wanted to see what it would be like and it didn't disappoint:
It was so hard to capture the shimmer on camera but in real life, along with the pearl ink it looks incredible, especially in the sun.
When I added the green and blue inks I put them randomly on the paper and dropped only a little of the blending solution but I kept adding drops of blue to the same spot. This caused the colour to be so vibrant and love how it turned out. Obviously there are MANY things I need to learn about using this ink and will now be able to watch all those YouTube videos again and actually taking notice!!
Once the panel had dried I used a stitched oval die from Studio Katia. I also used the larger one on a piece of turquoise CS. These were glued to each other and then to the card front.
The SSS 'Picture Book Seahorse' comes in three parts. I die-cut them all from white CS and then heat embossed the spine and side flipper 2x with Ranger Silver embossing powder. I then used Gina K Connect Glue to hold them in place and put the seahorse on some foam tape.
The sentiment from Your Next Stamp 'Happy Day Mermaids' was stamped with Catherine Pooler 'Aquatini' ink on white CS and popped on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.
I really want to go to bed but I have so many things to do. Being sick has put me so behind with EVERYTHING - work, card making, emails, housework etc, I'm finding it hard to catch up. Thank goodness I haven't had to do this each year, not being sick for four years has its perks and fingers crossed it works out like that again!
Take care
Shona
I'm supposed to be making dinner right now but need to get these cards linked to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge which closes in a few hours....
I was super excited last week to receive my SSS May Card Kit which is the first one I've ever purchased myself (been lucky to win a few over the years.....). The reason I splashed out on this one is because it contained alcohol inks which is something I've always wanted to try. And since it came with three colours, the blending solution and Yupo paper I thought it would give me a chance to try it out before I go crazy buying all the colours!!
And I can tell you that now I understand what all the fuss is about, its so much fun:
The kit comes with three Tim Holtz Alcohol Pearl inks in 'Sublime', 'Intrigue' and 'Tranquil' (green, pink and blue). These cards were made with the first panel I did and I didn't want to waste any of it!!
I used a panel of Yupo paper along with the pink and blue alcohol pearl inks, putting the ink randomly on the paper and doing the same with the blending solution. I just left it to do its thing and dry. I can see I have a lot to learn as I moved another panel around and it went all muddy, need a lot more practice!!
When it was dry I die-cut the SSS 'Cosmo Flower Frame' die from it, keeping all the coloured pieces. I also die-cut it from white CS. As the die doesn't cut the frame out completely, I used my Tim Holtz mini-guillotine to create a frame around the edge. I then adhered both die-cuts to white CS, using Gina K Connect Glue for one and a piece of Rosies Studio Adhesive Sheet for the other.
For this card I didn't inlay any pieces, I wanted the colour of the die-cut itself to shine against the white background. I used the guillotine again to cut the white CS and added a square of white foam behind it. I cut a panel of lilac CS and adhered to the card front, with the square frame glued on top. The sentiment (from SSS 'Beautiful Flowers') was white heat embossed on the same lilac CS, fussy cut out and put on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.
This card took a bit longer..... As the white CS had a sheet of adhesive over it, I was easily able to inlay the coloured pieces into the die, not only the flower petals but also around the flower too. I used the guillotine to cut the background white CS to the same size as the frame and glued a piece of white foam to the back. I adhered it to a white card base with the sentiment (from the same SSS stamp set) white heat embossed on pink CS, backed with white CS and put on foam tape. And of course I added a few Neat and Tangled sequins for some shine.
Also going to link to the SSS Flickr Challenge #122 where their theme is 'Mothers Day/Flowers'.
The Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge theme is 'Happy Birthday' and these two cards are going straight in the mail tomorrow morning to hopefully make it in time for two birthdays, fingers crossed the mailman goes extra fast.....
Better go and concentrate on dinner prep. I've been racing back and forth to the kitchen while writing this as my craft area is a long way away. Gives me a bit of exercise though and thank goodness for kitchen timers as when I start typing I forget about EVERYTHING ELSE!! Many burned dinners can attest to that....
Take care
Shona
Hi everybody!! I spent this last weekend with my Mum, with lots of shopping, talking and crafting going on. I didn't create as many cards as I normally do when I stay as my mojo was a bit lacking but it was fun to make some challenge cards I don't normally get time for!!
Aren't these colours so dreamy?!! This is the colour palette for the current MFT Stamps Colour Challenge and since I recently purchased CS in similar colours, I knew I had to make something:
Since I had CS in these colours I definitely wanted to do a lot of die-cutting for the card. I decided that since these colours were so fun that creating a 'fringe/pinata' card would be perfect!
This was pretty simple to put together. I used the MFT Stamps 'Fringe Die' with the different colours. I used a narrow strip of double-sided tape behind the top edge of each fringe and started adhering them from the bottom up, leaving a gap part way.
I die-cut the 'smile' from MFT Stamps 'Words for Friends die set' 3x from black CS, glued them together and then to the card front. I gave the letters a covering of Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents. To finish off I die-cut some hearts using a die from MFT Stamps 'Blueprints #27 die set' from the same green CS and popped them up on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.
I'm also going to link this to the MFT Stamps Sketch Challenge #435 as I used the sketch for my card layout.
I'm off to bed now. I discovered last week at TVNZ On Demand (which is one of the tv networks in NZ) has The Twilight Zone. Its a brand new series done by Jordan Peele who created the movie Us and Get Out (which I loved). I watched the first episode and its awesome (won't give anything away). Its not gory scary or anything like that, very much along the lines of the old series with moral situations etc. I'm going to jump in bed with my iPad and electric blanket and watch another episode or two before I fall asleep, which may happen sooner than I think......
Take care
Shona
Happy May everybody and hope your having a fantastic weekend!! I'm spending the weekend with my Mum so I'm sure I'll be up to my eye balls in new cards by now!
As we've reached yet another new month, its time for a new theme at The Flower Challenge. This month its all about 'Embossing - Dry/Heat'. I absolutely adore heat embossing and still find it magical after all these years. And I've started experimenting with dry embossing a bit more too recently, so will make sure I do that on my reminder card.
We are very excited to have a prize for you this month. Our Sponsor is Altenew and they are giving a stamp set to our winner. All the details are on the blog and if you haven't discovered Altenew's amazing products already, I suggest to run over there straight away!!
I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos recently, I find them quite relaxing while in bed. I watched a lot of people doing the 'fake watercolour' technique where you colour your stamp, spray with water and then stamp. The results are incredible and I wondered if I could capture them with heat embossing:
I'm so excited with how this turned out but you should have seen the mess I made while experimenting.......
I started by cutting a panel of Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS. Using my MISTI I arranged several stamps from Altenew 'Floral Shadow' over the panel. I used mini-cube Distress inks in 'Peacock Feathers', 'Twisted Citron' and 'Mowed Lawn' to dab colour over the stamps. I sprayed lightly with water and then pressed on the panel. I touched any puddles of water with a tissue and while still in place on the MISTI, I dried it with my heat gun.
Once it was dry I used my static powder bag over the panel, put Versamark ink on the stamps and pressed down the MISTI again. I removed the panel and clear heat embossed. I really wanted a light blue background (like the sky) around my leaves, so I simply blended Distress Ink 'Salty Ocean' over the panel with hardly any ink on the blending tool. And as the leaves were protected by the heat embossing, they weren't affected.
The flower from Altenew 'Wallpaper Art' was clear heat embossed on Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS and watercoloured using Distress Inks 'Picked Raspberry' and 'Mustard Seed'. I fussy cut it out and popped on foam tape. The sentiment (from the same stamp set) was white heat embossed on black CS and put on foam tape, along with sequins from Neat and Tangled.
You have until Saturday 25th May to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and I'll be back on the 15th with another card to give you some more 'embossing' ideas. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!!
Take care
Shona
Hello there!! Hope your having a great day and its been beautiful and sunny like mine! I'm popping in today to remind you about our current challenge at TIME OUT!
This challenge is all about being 'Playful'. Maybe you'll use playful colours, playful patterns or actually have people playing games on your project. Its totally up to you!!
Our Sponsors for this challenge is Winnie and Walter who have been so generous and supportive. They are giving a $25 gift voucher to the winner of this challenge, yippee!!
Winnie and Walter gave the Design Team some of their products and I got my hands on the most amazing 'playful' stamp set:
Aren't these kittens so cute??! I can just imagine them purring away while racing after balls of wool on the floor.
I started by stamping the cats (from Winnie and Walter 'Purrfect with Evelin T Designs') and balls of wool with Gina K Amalgam black ink on Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS and colouring them with Altenew Artist Markers. I fussy cut them out, leaving a little white CS around the string of the brown cat because I didn't want it to rip.
I wanted to try and recreate a room on my card front. For the floor I used some patterned paper from Rosies Studio 'Arabesque'. I wanted something that looked like wallpaper for the wall and found this perfect pattern from Pinkfresh Studio 'Felicity'. I adhered them to the card front and then glued on a thin strip of black CS to try and show the skirting board and dimension of the room.
The cats were put on foam tape, with the kitten having one of the balls glued to his tummy, the others glued to the floor. The sentiment (from the same W&W stamp set) was white heat embossed on black CS and popped up on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.
You have until Wednesday 8th May to link your projects to TIME OUT. If your struggling with 'playful' ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Nancy of Nananas have created to inspire you. I can't wait to see what you come up with in the Gallery!!
Take care
Shona
After being sick the past few weeks I'm finally back gardening and it feels great! I'm nearly 100% back to normal health and hopefully since this was my first time getting sick in around 4 years, it will be another 4 years until the germs find me again!!
One of the things that I did while sick was watch lots of crafting videos to keep me in the mood. One particular card maker is Yana Smakula. Apart from having an amazing accent, she also makes incredible cards and even shares her disasters too. I watched this one HERE where she shows you how to use a stencil in five different ways. This inspired the two cards I created for my first CAS-ual Fridays Stamp 'Girl Friday' post for this month:
For my first card I used white pigment ink on the stencil to create the pattern, which is something I've never tried before.
I started by cutting a panel of navy CS slightly smaller than the card front. I adhered the 'Tin Roof Stencil' over top and used a mini-blending tool to spread Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink over the stencil. I removed it straight away and let it dry and then did the process again to help the ink to be brighter. Once it had dried I put it on the card front with a piece of black foam.
I die-cut the 'friend' from the 'Sweet Friend Fri-dies' 3x from white CS, glued them together with Gina K Connect Glue and then to the card front. The sentiment (from the 'Bushy Tailed' stamp set) was stamped in Hero Arts Shadow Ink 'Navy' on a strip of white CS and put on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.
For this card I tried dry embossing with a stencil for the first time and fell in love with the technique!!
Depending on how much pressure you add with your Cuttlebug etc, you can get all sorts of results!
I started by cutting a panel of white CS and putting it through my Cuttlebug with the same 'Tin Roof Stencil'. I then decided to keep the stencil in place and blended Waffle Flower 'New Fish in Pond' ink over-top, so the colour hits the high points. This panel was put on the card front with a piece of white foam.
I die-cut the same 'friend' die twice from white CS and once from turquoise CS, gluing them all together and to the card front. The sentiment (from 'Sassy Smiles') is only part of a sentiment stamp. I used washi tape to cover the rest of the words, pressed over the ink (the same I used on the stencil), removed the washi and stamped on a strip of white CS. This was put on foam tape along with Neat and Tangled sequins.
I really hope you like these cards and that maybe I've inspired you to try out these techniques. If your tempted to purchase any of the products I used today from the CFS Store, don't forget to use my special code to save yourself 15% of your total purchase!!
Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you back here very soon with some more card ideas!!
Take care
Shona
