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

Hi everyone!! I hope you've all finally made it to the weekend wherever you are in the world and your going to get the chance to do some crafting at some stage!!

I wanted to let you know I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today with a card that I originally tried to make for the recent New Release but it turned into a disaster:

It's always so satisfying when you finally finish a project that had you beat. I have so much acetate and screwed up pieces of this panel die in my rubbish tin, it looks like a Valentines Day disaster!!

Pop over to the CFS Blog to find out how I finally got this design to work.

Take care
Shona

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge # 138

Hi everyone!! I've been at home today again unfortunately. My daughter had to come home from camp (1.5hrs away) yesterday because she started to get a migraine. It was much better last night and she desperately wanted to go back so my husband drove her back at 6.45am this morning, to only have her suddenly start vomiting half way there. So back home they came. She got increasingly worse (her medications seem to stop the migraine pain but not the nausea/vomiting) and I was able to take her to the Doctor who gave her an anti-nausea injection straight away and come home to bed. She is much better now but I'm so disappointed for her missing out on camp. So will see what happens tomorrow, if I'm gardening or not.....

I wanted to remind you all about our current challenge at TIME OUT. Its all about being 'Funny', whether that means your project itself has a funny sentiment, looks funny or you've done something funny with it...its totally up to you!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and they are giving a $25 gift voucher to the winner. Michele (the owner of CFS) is such a sweet and generous woman and I'm very lucky to have been part of their Design Team for the past few years. We really appreciate her generosity and support of our challenges!

Being I'm on the CFS DT I of course have a HUGE amount of their products to use and one sentiment stamp in particular is one that I've used a lot and always makes me laugh:

This sentiment is so me! I was born chubby and will probably die chubby, so being cremated is probably my only chance at being supermodel thin!!

As you can imagine this was extremely simple to put together. I wanted to try and create some flames and found this brushstroke image from the CAS-ual Friday Stamps 'Breathe' stamp set that could do the trick. I gathered some 'fire-like' coloured inks from Altenew, Waffle Flower and Catherine Pooler and alternated the heights and ends of the image to make it more like flames.

Once I was finished I die-cut the tag from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps 'Tag Buddies Fri-Dies' from white CS and stamped the sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps 'Frankly'isms' with Versafine black ink. I popped it up on foam tape and glued on 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'.

You have until Wednesday 3rd July to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge and if your needing any ideas for your entry, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our wonderful Guest Designer Milla of Mustesormi have created to inspire you. Look forward to laughing at your entries in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona

Wool wrapped die-cut frames!!

Hi everyone!! Its been a strange day today. An extremely frosty and -3 degrees celcius start to the day. I was starting late as I was taking Max to an Orthodontist appointment to see if he needs braces like his sister (and he does.....) when I got a phone call from the lodge where Phoebe was staying for a school camp. She was very sick, nauseous and faint and Dave had to drive 1.5hrs there and back to bring her home. She is actually much better now (we think it was a migraine without the head pain) so Dave is going to drive her back in the morning, so she doesn't miss the next two days. So I didn't go gardening after all!!

It was a good chance though to FINALLY finish off some cards I had started weeks ago and just needed to put them together. I was inspired yet again by the fabulous Channin Pelletier with her YouTube Video where she wraps die-cuts with wool. I spent weeks trying this out and loved the process, its quite relaxing:

I already had a few balls of wool but had to go searching around town to get a few more colours to create a rainbow. I've just managed to find some purple and orange, so need to do another one!!

I used some rectangle dies from Couture Creations to cut two frames from white CS. I glued them together with Gina K Connect Glue (for a bit more stability) and then the fun began! 

To try and keep everything even I worked out how many colours I wanted to use and marked with a pencil each colour area. I used a hot glue gun to start off the first colour and from there I was able to capture the end of one colour with the start of a new one. The only tricky places were the corners, where I needed to use the glue gun to hold the end of the wool in place.

I loved the subtle background of the cards Channin used in her video. I don't own any background dies that emboss like that but remembered I had these MFT 'Basic Stitch Lines' dies and created a pattern on the card front. The frame was adhered with double-sided tape. I gold heat embossed the sentiment (from The Stamp Market 'Scripty Sentiments') on a piece of white CS and added a double layer of foam tape to the back of it. And of course I had to add some Neat and Tangled sequins to finish it off.

If you haven't seen Channin's video before, you really should check it out and she has so many other incredible ideas!!

As usual I've written this blog post instead of starting dinner, so I better get cooking. Its Butter Chicken tonight with home made Roti Bread which is my all-time favourite. And with it being so cold outside, this will definitely warm us up on the inside!! 

Take care
Shona

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - June New Release - Day 4

What a wonderful few days its been sharing ideas with you all using the New Release goodies from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps. We have one more day to show off a new die to you.

Today is all about the Hearts A2 Panel Die. It has so many uses and cuts so many different sized hearts that can be used on other projects too. I got a bit risky with my card and added water to a product that I desperately hoped wouldn't ruin all my hard work:

You knew I had to fit some rainbow colours in somewhere over these four days, and the hearts were perfect!

I started by die-cutting the panel die 4x from white CS and glued them all together with Gina K Connect Glue. This gave a huge amount of dimension, especially when I inlaid the coloured hearts. I cut a panel of black CS which I adhered to the card front and then glued the heart die-cut over top.

I grabbed a rainbow of Distress Oxide Inks and blended them over the hearts, it was a little tricky with the very tiny ones but simply pressing the blending tool on to them covered the heart quickly. Once they were dry I glued them into their matching hearts on the panel.

I really wanted the hearts to be glittery but was worried about brushing them with Wink of Stella. So..... on my Tim Holtz/Tonic Glass Media Mat I put a blob of Nuvo 'Moonstone' Glimmer Paste and very slowly added water to it with a brush. Once it was runny enough to paint with, I brushed it on to all the coloured hearts. I let them dry (which happened quickly) and added another layer. I was so scared the water would cause something crazy to happen to the paste but it worked perfectly. They not only have shine from the glitter but also the 'unglittered' areas on the hearts are shiny too from the paste itself. Definitely doing this again!!

All I had to do now was heat emboss the sentiment (from 'Pretty Posies') on a strip of white CS, pop it on some foam tape and glue on some Neat and Tangled sequins for extra shine.

Thanks so much for stopping by over the last four days. I really hope I've given you lots of ideas for your cards and with the products being available right now, I hope you use my code to save yourself some money when you go shopping!!

There are a lot more gorgeous cards on the CFS Blog from the rest of the Design Team and the chance to win some prizes too, so make sure you pop on over. Thanks again and I'll see you back here with more cards very soon!

Take care
Shona
 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - June New Release - Day 3

What a fantastic few days its been showing off the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps New Release products and we still have two more days of new dies and ideas to share with you!

Today we are introducing the 'Stars A2 Panel Fri-Die' which is perfect for SO MANY different types of cards. From Christmas to birthdays, this is a wonderful background or main event for your card designs.

For my card I was thinking about twinkling stars in the sky and attempted to make my very first night sky:

 

What do you think, does it pass for a starry night?? I had no idea what I was doing with this background but pretty happy with my first attempt.

I started by die-cutting the Star Panel die with black CS. I wanted the bunny to be in the middle of the card surrounded by stars, so I cut away the bottom portion of the panel and some of the stars. I also ran the die thru again, this time with silver glitter CS for the stars themselves.

The bunny from the 'Somebunny' stamp set was stamped with Gina K Amalgam black ink on white CS, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. I added tiny pieces of foam tape to the back so he would have some dimension in the middle of the card.

For the background I grabbed Distress Inks 'Seedless Preserves', 'Chipped Sapphire', 'Stormy Sky', 'Salty Ocean' and 'Black Soot' and blended them randomly over the card front, building up some areas to be darker than others. Once I was happy I used a tiny brush with water and white Gansai Tambi paint and flicked it over the card to give the impression of stars. I dried it with a heat gun and then started to assemble the design.

I glued the panel die on to the card front with some Gina K Connect Glue and did the same with the silver star pieces. The bunny was popped into place on its foam tape and the sentiment (from the same 'Somebunny' stamp set) was white heat embossed on black CS and put on foam tape too. To finish off I added some Neat and Tangled sequins for a bit more shine.

All of the New Release products are available right now in the CFS Shop and if you use my special code when shopping you can save yourself 15%!

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to use this new die and over on the CFS Blog there are many more projects from the rest of the Design Team, along with the chance to win some goodies. I'll see you back here tomorrow for our final day of New Release introductions.

Take care

Shona

 

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - June New Release - Day 2

Hello there and welcome to Day 2 of the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps  June New Release!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing all of yesterdays projects using the new 'Little Huggables' stamps and dies. Today its all about die-cutting with a brand new panel die!!

We are showing off the new 'Flakey A2 Panel Fri-Die' which is perfect for all those Christmas cards you haven't made yet!! The panel has snowflake shapes that already exist at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and mixes beautifully with the Christmas stamp sets too. I love the details off this panel so much, I used it very simply:

 
I actually had grand ideas of creating some shaker cards but after I die-cut the panels, I realised they are beautiful just the way they are!!

To create these cards I cut two panels of white CS in A2 size and pressed them on to Rosies 'Double-sided Adhesive Sheets'. I die-cut the panels with my Cuttlebug and removed them very carefully from the die so all the pieces remained in place.  All I had to do then was remove the adhesive backing sheets and press them on to the card bases, with one of them turned up the other way  for a bit of difference. 

To keep things simple I heat embossed sentiments from 'Snowy Sayings' and ''Sleighride' in Silver on pieces of white CS and popped them on foam tape. I also decided to make things more sparkly by gluing clear and iridescent jewels from Pretty Pink Posh on to parts of the snowflakes. Think I'll definitely be making more of these for Christmas!!

All of the New Release items are available right now from the CFS Shop and if you use my special code you can save yourself 15% on your purchases!!

Don't forget to pop over to the CFS Blog to see what the rest of the talented Design Team girls have created with this new die and I'll see you back here tomorrow for Day 3 and more die-cutting!!

Take care
Shona
 

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - June 2019 New Release - Day 1

Hi everybody and welcome to Day 1 of the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps  June New Release!!

We have four days of cuteness and die-cutting to share with you. Over on the CFS Blog you will see all the projects designed by the rest of the Design Team and details on how you can win something for yourself!!

Introducing Little Huggables Stamp Set and Little Critters Fri-Dies: 

 

 After the introduction of the Huggable Critters set in our last release, I was so excited to see these products in a smaller option. I wanted to make sure these were the stars of my cards, so tried something new:

Where are they????????

Ta Da!! I don't make interactive cards very often but really wanted to try this idea out before I forgot about it.

I started by cutting two panels of white CS the same size as the card fronts. I then used a stencil, 'Modern Petals' with Distress Ink 'Salty Ocean' on one and 'Tin Roof' with 'Picked Raspberry' on the other.

Using the medium sized tag from 'Tag Buddies Fri-Dies' I did some partial die-cutting, making sure my Cuttlebug didn't cut thru the bottom part. The panels were then adhered to the card bases and hearts (from the Little Huggables set) using Waffle Flower 'Safe Choice' and 'Daydreaming' inks.

On some white CS I stamped the bunny and bear using Gina K Amalgam Ink so I could colour them with Altenew Artist Markers. I cut them out with the matching dies and adhered on top of the hearts. I then tied some pink and blue ribbon to the tops of the tags.

The sentiments (also from the Little Huggables stamp set) were white heat embossed on strips of black CS and popped up on foam tape, along with some sequins from Neat and Tangled.

All of the New Release products are available in the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps shop today. And if your planning on doing any shopping, don't forget to use my special Girl Friday code to save yourself 15% on your purchase!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you back here tomorrow for Day 2 and a smidge of die-cutting....

Take care
Shona
 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #33

Hi everybody, the middle of June has come up on me so quickly. This past week was the first 5-day gardening week I've had for months. Between rain, sick kids, teacher only days and teacher strike days I've had more days at home than I planned but was nice to spend time with the kids and get a lot of housework done!!

I'm popping in today to remind you about our current theme at The Flower Challenge. 

Its all about the backgrounds this month, especially stamping which includes heat embossing. Lots of gorgeous entries already, going to be very hard to choose my favourites!!

We have a Guest Designer this month, the lovely Deepti of Dee's Art Utopia. She makes such beautiful cards and she also designs stamp sets for Stamplorations under 'Dee's Artsy Impressions'.. She is also giving one of her stamp sets to the winner of this challenge, so I wanted to use one of the sets I have to show you how fabulous they are:

I hadn't done any watercolouring for quite a while, so its was wonderful sitting and painting while watching a movie. What would I do without Netflix?!!

To start off I cut a panel of Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS to fit the card front. I then stamped the flowers from Dee's Artsy Impressions 'Blooming Buds' in Versamark ink and white heat embossed. I wanted to have pink flowers but not all the same shade, so the base for each flower is Distress Ink 'Worn Lipstick', 'Spun Sugar' and 'Picked Raspberry'. I then used some slightly darker shades to create the depth in the flower petals.

Once this was dry I thought it was a bit bare. I was a bit worried about painting a blue background. When I colour images with Altenew Artist Markers, I sometimes go around the outside line with a blue marker. I decided to do this with the flowers and it looked horrible!! I was so upset and didn't want to waste all my painting so I decided to use Distress Ink 'Tumbled Glass' to watercolour the background. And it worked!! The blue line makes the flowers stand out more and I'm happy with the blue painting too. When it was dry I adhered to the card front.

To finish off I stamped the sentiment (from the same stamp set) with Versafine black ink on white CS, backed with a piece of pink CS and popped up on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

So happy with how this turned out, wish it didn't take so long to make so I could mass produce and send to so many lovely friends!!

You have until Tuesday 25th June to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your still needing some ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team created just for you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!

Take care
Shona
 

Fusion Challenge - Entry #2

Just back from buying Phoebe a printer. Of course I spent WAY more money than I planned (got photo paper, spare cartridges etc) and Dave is helping her get it installed now. Will be nice to actually print some of the thousands of photos on my phone!!

I'm back with my second entry for the Fusion Challenge, with another card using my cross-stitch threads. This one was a bit more tricky as I didn't think about it more carefully and cut away CS which I shouldn't have. Will try this again at some stage but really happy with the effect:
 

 For this one I did the same as my last card. I die-cut The Stamp Market 'Big Hi' die from scrap CS and then traced the die gently with a pencil on another piece of CS. The piece I had was a rectangle and I didn't want to waste any thread when I was doing the top part of the 'h' so I cut the CS to a closer shape around the pencil lines. Unfortunately though I made a lot of cuts on an angle which didn't work well AT ALL for threading around (they kept slipping down) so I know to make straight edges from now on.

I used the same thread inspired by The Stamp Market solid colour papers and wrapped around using washi tape on the back to hold down the ends. As the CS was warped, I added more washi and then cut the threads to release the tension. After die-cutting the 'hi' again from another panel of white CS (that fit the card base) I added lots of tiny double-sided tape pieces around the 'hi' and some Gina K Connect Glue to the tiny parts and pressed on to the thread panel.

I added double-sided tape to the thread panel and then to the card front. I didn't have enough room on the edges of the die-cut panel to add any foam tape, so for this I added glue under all the edges and pressed it shut, so you can't see thru the side. Its like a little parcel!!

To finish off I glued on some Neat and Tangled sequins and popped the 'thanks' from The Stamp Market 'Framed Floral' on foam tape.

I'm definitely going to make some more of these, its quite a relaxing process and now I've learned not what to do, it will be even easier!!

Off to take Bella for a walk now. Its 3pm and after raining all day the sun has decided to return. As soon as I stand up from my computer she will be all over me, how can I not take her even though its so gross outside....she has me wrapped around her little (or should I say HUGE) paw.....

Take care
Shona

 
 

Fusion Challenge - VW Hippie Van

You won't believe but I actually made two cards last night!!! And they weren't DT cards either. My husband was busy putting our new kitchen cabinet doors on, so I had the lounge room to myself (which includes my craft corner). I put on the first John Wick movie (which I've only seen parts of) and put together two cards that took me days to do the components. Very happy girl!!

When I saw the photo and sketch for the current Fusion Challenge I knew I would have to join. Apart from the van having the most amazing paint job, all those rainbow colours were calling my name!

I received a whole lot of The Stamp Market products last week and still haven't had a chance to use them. However, I was inspired this week by the colours in their solid colour papers and realised I had the same colours in my cross-stitch stash. After watching a video by Channin Pelletier on YouTube where she wraps frames with yarn, I wondered if I could do something similar with the cross-stitch cotton:

 This was so much fun to put together and I could do this every night while watching Netflix!!

What I did was die-cut The Stamp Market 'Love' die from a scrap piece of white CS. I held it over another piece of white CS and gently drew around the letters with a pencil. This showed me what area I needed to cover so I it would fit behind it on a card. 

As I mentioned I used the colours from The Stamp Market solid papers and there are 10 colours. So I worked out with a ruler how big to make each wrap of colour so it was even. I started with the darkest pink and just used a piece of washi tape to hold the end on the back of the CS and would do the same when I finished each colour. I did have trouble with the CS warping a bit but when I finished I added two big strips of washi tape to the back to hold the cottons in place and then cut them all along the middle. This released the strain on the CS and it went flat. It doesn't look pretty but who's going to see it??

To follow on with the 'cross-stitch' theme I die-cut a piece of white CS with a Uniquely Creative 'Cross-Stitch Rectangles Die' and then die-cut the 'Love' from the middle of it. I added lots of tiny pieces of double-sided tape around the back of the word die and pressed it on the cottons. As the cotton part is quite thick, I also added strips of foam tape to hold it up on the card front. I decided not to add more of a sentiment, I just wanted the threads to be the star, so glued on some Neat and Tangled sequins instead.

I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Wedding/Anniversary'. I realised that cotton is used for the 2nd wedding anniversary and with the word 'love' it was perfect!!

I have another card similar to this to show you but just going to pop into town to help Phoebe buy a printer. She wants to be able to make her own stickers and print pictures of her favourite tv characters/memes etc. As our old printer died it will also give me a chance to try out using some Digital images, which is totally new to me... so its a win/win!!

Take care
Shona
 

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #137

Hi there everybody!! Sorry I haven't been around much lately, I've been so busy with work and all sorts of other things that by the time I finally sit down its so late and I'm too sleepy to craft. Hopefully once I'm up to date with a few things it will slow down. And I've decided that this weekend I'm going to spend one day just making cards, I don't care if its sunny outside, I'll ignore my overgrown garden and just do it!!

Our theme for the current TIME OUT challenge is 'Nature' and you also have the optional twist of 'one-layer'. And with so many stamps around with butterflies, birds, flowers etc, I'm sure you'll come up with some gorgeous projects.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Uniko. They are giving a stamp set to someone chosen from the people who created with the 'optional twist'. So get twisting!!

 
Myself, along with other TIME OUT DT members, was very lucky to be sent a stencil by Bev (Uniko owner) to use for this challenge. Its fantastic and I don't have anything like it, so I'm very happy and grateful indeed. This is what I created:

 

I finally purchased a cheap photography lightbox a few weeks ago and its fabulous. This photo was taken at night which I could never do before!!

I gathered some Distress Oxide ink colours and my mini-blending tool to use on the Uniko 'Stencil and Mask - Nature's Treasures II'. It has two leaf images so I alternated using different parts of them around the edge of the card front, not worrying about leaves overlapping.

I wanted to keep the rest of the card black and white so the background colours would be the star. I stamped the largest butterfly from Uniko 'English Country Garden - Butterflies' stamp set with Versafine black ink on white CS and fussy cut it out. I also stamped the sentiment (from the same set) on a strip of white CS and both of these were popped up on foam tape. I then glued on a few Neat and Tangled sequins for a bit of shine.

You have until Wednesday 19th June 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 Guest Designer Lise of Lise Mariann - Paper, Colour and Good Times have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see what you all come up with!!

Take care
Shona
 

The Flower Challenge #33

Hi there! Another month has whizzed on by, it will be Christmas before we know it. And it also means we have a new challenge theme at The Flower Challenge

This month its all about background stamping, which is something I absolutely love to do. Gives you a chance to take all those background stamps for a spin but you can also create some amazing scenes with all those smaller stamp images.

We are very lucky to have a special Guest Designer this month, Deepti Malik of Dee's Art Utopia. Not only is she an incredible card maker but she also designs stamps for Stamplorations 'Dee's Artsy Impressions'. Her stamps are beautiful (I own a few and will be using them for my reminder card) and she is giving one of them to the winner of this challenge!!

 

For my card I wanted to use a new stamp set, as well as some new inks that I thought would be a good combo:

Our temperatures have finally plummeted with the 1st day of Winter on June 1st, so this card certainly brightens up my day!!

I used images from Winnie and Walter 'In Bloom: Eva's Favourite Flowers' along with inks from Catherine Pooler. Using my MISTI I stamped each image twice to get good coverage and just randomly stamped them on the card front until I was happy.

The sentiment (from Catherine Pooler 'Bloomin Happy') was stamped in the same Catherine Pooler 'Suede Shoes' ink on a piece of white CS die-cut with a Couture Creations circle die. It was popped up on foam tape along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

You have until Tuesday 25th June to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing any inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer Deepti has created for you. We will be back on the 15th of June with some more ideas and I'm looking forward to seeing you in the Gallery!

Take care
Shona
 

Guest Designer: CASology Challenge #345

Hi everyone!! So excited today as I'm a Guest Designer for the CASology Challenge which is one of the very first challenges I entered when I started making cards nearly 6 years ago. Feeling very honoured indeed!

When I saw the Cue Word was 'Calm' I was thinking of using soft, calming blues, maybe some clouds and then I came across this sentiment from Stamplorations and I knew what I had to do:

My CAS design was to concentrate on a central image, as this leaves lots of white space left on the card. And this was super simple to make with the help of my trusty MISTI!!

I started off by stamping the sentiment from Stamplorations 'A Girl and her Shoes' on a piece of white CS that was die-cut with a circle die from Couture Creations. Once I worked out where that would sit on my card front, I stamped my first shoe (from the same stamp set) and kept adjusting it slightly, traveling around in a circle. I used a rainbow of colours from my Waffle Flower inks.

All I had to then was pop the sentiment up on foam tape and glue on a few sequins from Neat and Tangled.

I'm going to link this to the Stamplorations 'Never Ending - Anything Goes' challenge which is for projects using any of their products.

You have until Monday 17th June to link your projects to the CASology Challenge and if your needing any ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of their incredible Design Team have created for you.

Thanks so much for having me at CASology Melissa and the team, and I look forward to seeing all your 'calming' entries.

Take care
Shona

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge - Entry #5

The sun has returned today, although its a bit chilly but much nicer to wander around town and get a few jobs done. Just been out trying to gather some bits and pieces for a new card technique but not having much luck. May have to revert to buying some things online but I hate waiting for them to arrive. I want to try it now.....

The theme for this weeks Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge is 'Anything Goes' and this is my final entry. This theme is always so handy when I've tried something out and have a few cards to share!

This is the final of my 'rainbow panel' cards and I'm kind of sad I don't have anymore to show you. Might have to start creating some more panels tonight while watching Netflix. I've nearly finished the new series 'What if' with Renee Zellwegger, its really good and dying to find out whats really going on. This card is using one of my all-time favourite word dies:

I've used this Winnie and Walter 'hi' die so many times its a wonder it still works! Its the perfect size to be the star of a card and show off all sorts of backgrounds.

I started by die-cutting the die from a panel of white CS. I wanted to add a bit more detail so I added stitched lines using the MFT Stamps 'Basic Stitch Lines' dies. Once I worked out where it would sit on the card front, I adhered the rainbow panel in place. The die-cut panel was popped up on top with lots of foam tape.

For the sentiment I white heat embossed a sentiment from Winnie and Walter 'Happy Dance with Evelin T Designs' on black CS and glued in place, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

I need to take Bella for a walk now before it gets really cold. Phoebe is editing in her room and Max has Oliver over, they are playing on the PS4 in the lounge room which is a nice change from them being holed up in Max's room. Tomorrow is a public holiday which is fabulous and I only have gardening on Tuesday and Friday this coming week because Phoebe is having 4 teeth pulled out on Wednesday morning. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain on those two days or my schedule will be completely up the .........

Take care
Shona
 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamp - Girl Friday post for June #1

Good grief, how did June catch up with us so quickly??! I'm still in shock how quickly this year is disappearing, makes me want to spend every moment with my kids because I feel like I'm going to blink and they will have left home!!

I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today with a 'rainbow creation' to brighten your day:

I hadn't done any ink blending for a while, so thought that this combined with some die-cutting would do the trick!!

I started by die-cutting the stitched oval die (that is included in the 'Huggable Critters'  die set) 9x from white CS. I then used a mini-blending tool and a rainbow of Distress Ink colours to colour each oval. To add a bit of interest I flicked some water on them all and dabbed with a tissue. These were all popped up on foam tape on the card front, with any over-hanging pieces cut off.

I die-cut the 'hello' from the 'Sweet Friends Fri-dies' set 3x from black CS, glued them together and then to the card front. I then covered it with lots of Glossy Accents for shine. The rest of the sentiment (from the 'Bushy Tailed' stamp set) was stamped with Versafine black ink on a strip of white CS and adhered to the card along with some Studio Katia clear jewels.

 Always good to find another way to use your dies and hopefully this will give you some ideas on using your die stash to get your money's worth!!

If you like the look of the products I used today or any others in the CFS Shop don't forget to use my special code to save yourself 15%!!

Thanks so much for coming by and I'll be back with another CAS-ual Fridays Stamps card idea later in the month!!

Take care
Shona

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge - Entry no. 4

Well, Winter has finally found us here in New Zealand! After an extremely warm and dry Autumn our first official day of Winter today has hit with a bang. Its been freezing all day and raining since lunchtime, so definitely an inside day. We actually went out for lunch as a treat for Phoebe so she could have some ribs. She is having four teeth pulled out on Wednesday to help with her braces and will be on 'smooth' food for a while. So she wanted to chew on some ribs while she still could. We don't eat out very often, so was a treat for us all.

The theme for the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge is 'Anything Goes' and I've already entered 3x. But I have yet another 'Rainbow Panel' card to share with you:

This is the size of the panels I made, using strips of coloured CS and adhering to a piece of white CS. It was quite relaxing cutting the strips and sticking them together while I watched Netflix with Phoebe, so might have to do this again.

For this card I white heat embossed the floral image from The Stamp Market 'Framed Floral' straight on to the panel. I then put it on a piece of white foam on the card front.

The Stamp Market 'Love' die was die-cut 3x from white CS, glued together for dimension and then to the panel. I then white heat embossed the rest of the sentiment (from the same stamp set) on black CS and glued in place, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

I've got one more rainbow panel card to share with you later on tonight. And last night I watched a movie with Phoebe while trying out ANOTHER new technique, which had my hand cramping but was so worth it. Hopefully I can finish those cards off tonight and share with you tomorrow. Time to get my pj's on and stoke up that fire!!

Take care
Shona