National Coffee Day Blog Hop with CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

Hi there Coffee-lovers and welcome to National Coffee Day!!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps is very excited to be joining Coffee Loving Cardmakers for a National Coffee Day Blog Hop! There are lots of companies who have joined, lots of inspiration and of course lots of prizes to be won too! All the participants can be found on their blog.

 We not only have a fantastic sale on Coffee/Tea stamps and dies but if you also use my special code you can save another 15% - that's 35% in total!!!! Woo hoo!!!

We also have some prizes up for grabs on the CFS Blog as well as lots of coffee-related cards to share with you all. Its a pretty fantastic day!!

I've been making a huge amount of Halloween cards of late, so was inspired to create a coffee card with a 'scary' twist:

 
 To create my ghost I used the largest die from the Huggable Critters Set on some white CS. I then used some scissors to free-hand cut some waves across the bottom. I then used other shapes from the set to cut out some eyes and mouth, as well as some 'ghost hands' which I glued in place. I cut a panel of black CS and adhered to the card front before popping the ghost shape on some foam tape. 

Next I die-cut the coffee cup and word 'coffee' (from the Coffee Cup Fri-Dies set) from black CS. I die-cut the word 3x and glued them all together with Gina K Connect Glue and then to the bottom of the ghost. I then die-cut the coffee cup again from white CS which gave me the piece to colour brown to inlay into the cup, which was then glued between the ghost hands.

To finish off I stamped the sentiment from Coffee Talk on some white CS and put on foam tape, along with gluing on some Neat and Tangled clear sequins.

 I hope I've given you some ideas on how to stretch your dies and don't forget to visit the CFS Blog for all the info on the prizes to be won and links to the rest of the Design Team and their incredible cards. 

So grab a cup of coffee or two, get yourself comfortable and enjoy the hop. Have a fabulous caffeine filled day!!

Take care
Shona

 

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

Hi everyone! We are coming to the end of September and I feel like I blinked and missed the whole month. The kids have just started their school holidays and Christmas is just around the corner....I feel like I'll wake up tomorrow and it will be 2025!

I just wanted to let you know I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today with this colourful little card:

I used texture paste for the first time and had so much fun mixing up colours with my Distress Inks. Pop over to the blog to find out how I put it together.

I've got a few other cards to share with you over the next few days so see you back here tomorrow!!

Take care
Shona

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge - Entry #1

Hi everybody. Its been an absolutely crazy week here, hope yours has been more mundane than mine! 

After Max started coming down with the flu Friday night, it really hit him hard and he's been off school all week. The funny thing is he will finally be getting better just in time for his two week school holidays. We finally got our concrete path's poured on Wednesday, which meant I had to spend the afternoon at my Mum's with our dog Bella so she didn't walk on the concrete. The house painter started this week, well he managed one day before having to miss the last two because of the concreting. I haven't been gardening all week and won't be tomorrow either, as Max is still to sick to go back to school and I have the plumber coming for our blocked kitchen sink AND the SKY TV guy coming to fix it again after fixing it three weeks ago. I tell you, I need a holiday!!!!

I've also given up on the whole laminator debacle. I purchased a cheap one last Wednesday and everything got jammed in it, so took it back and got another one on Friday and it did the same thing. I thought maybe it was something to do with the pouches so took them back on Sunday but they worked fine in their machine. So yesterday (Wednesday) I took the machine back again and tried it in the shop before I left. They put two pouches thru and both were perfect. I tried it this morning, it jammed. Two were fine then it jammed again. I don't have the energy to take it back again, so frustrating but will just live with it!

Thank you for letting me rant, will now finally get to my card!! The theme for this weeks Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge is 'Anything Goes'. I finally tried out a technique with my laminator that I saw on Jennifer McGuires YouTube Channel and put together with my new Mama Elephant goodies:

If you haven't watched Jennifer's video, I really encourage you to take a look. Its all about putting pouches through with embossing powder, glitter etc and sealing them in the plastic. This is the whole reason I bought a laminator!!

I started off by stamping the images from the Mama Elephant 'Fuzzy Hugs' stamp set with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, colouring with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. I then die-cut the Mama Elephant 'Winter Forest Cover Die' twice from white CS and twice from dark grey CS and gluing same colours together for some dimension.

On each card front I blended some Distress Ink 'Salty Ocean' to create the sky. I added some white embossing powder to one pouch and put thru the laminator and cut two panels to glue behind the forest dies. These were then adhered to the card fronts.  All I had to do then was pop the images on foam tape and stamp the sentiments (from the same ME set) on white CS, back with black CS and put on foam tape as well. To finish off I glued on some Studio Katia Pearls in 'Arctic Breeze' and 'Prismatic Sky'.

This is such a cool technique and there are so many different things you could put in the pouches. Hoping to play around with a few ideas this weekend. I'm off to bed to relax and catch up on the rest of Jennifer's videos. Wonder what she will have me buying next???.....

Take care
Shona
 
 

Winter Themed Cards

Hi everyone!! I'm on Day 4 of no gardening and my fingers are itching to get some dirt on them. On Friday we were going to have the concrete poured for our pathways. Because I can't keep our dog Bella inside all day (and she would have to walk on the path to get to the grass), I was going to take her to my Mum's place and stay with her there for the day (she doesn't have good fencing and worried she will jump over it if I'm not there). Unfortunately they said they couldn't do it so it it was moved to today. Then this morning they called to say half the guys are away sick, so now its going to be Wednesday.

So now I've missed two days of gardening but it worked out well today because Max is very sick with the flu. He came down with it Friday night and was in bed all weekend (even though he had the flu jab). He won't be going to school tomorrow either, fingers crossed he will be better by Wednesday but I'm not sure that will happen. So may be another few days till I can garden again....oh well, that's just how the cookie crumbles!!

It has given me a lot of time to do some much needed housework and play with some of my new stamp sets. I've been colouring up a storm getting ready for October and ALOT of Halloween cards, so prepare to be inundated with scariness! Was also able to put these two cards together yesterday with a set sent to me by my friend Coni:

These images are from the Concord and 9th 'Winter Wear' stamp set and I'm so in love with it. Love how the faces look like they are smiling (even though you can't see their mouths) and there are so many ways you can put them together.

I started off by stamping the girls on white CS using Gina K Amalgam black ink, colouring with my Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. I didn't have any colour combo in mind, just went with colours that I like.

I wanted to create backgrounds that would compliment the colours, so grabbed some Catherine Pooler and Waffle Flower ink pads in similar tones. For this card I stamped the C9 'Marble Turnabout' stamp using four colours on white CS. I then die-cut the middle of it with a Uniquely Creative Cross-Stitched Oval' die and put on some white foam. I popped the woman on some foam tape (gluing her glove in the place) and glued on some sequins from Neat and Tangled. The sentiment (from C9 'Wreath Turnabout' stamp set) was white heat embossed on black CS and glued in place, along with some foam tape to hold the end up.

For this card I used the C9 'Wreath Turnabout' stamp on the card front, with the same ink colours. I popped the woman on foam tape and stamped the sentiment (from the C9 'Winter Wear' stamp set) in Waffle Flower 'Like a Pro!'. I then glued on some Neat and Tangled sequins.

Hoping to make some more cards using this stamp set to send to my friends on the other side of the world who are heading into Winter. I'm surrounded by Spring blossoms at the moment on all my fruit tree's, hoping the bee's are doing their job so I'm overwhelmed with peaches and nectarines next year. 

Take care
Shona
 

Exciting News!!!!!

Hi everybody!! I've had a busy few weeks getting myself organised with products, cards and watermarks and today I get to tell you all about it!! 

My friend Sarah owns Funky Fossil Designs. She was originally selling stencils only but a few months ago she collaborated with an artist to start selling stamp sets. I fell in love with them and have shared lots of cards with you from each release.  Well, she emailed me a few weeks ago to say she was putting together a small Design Team and invited me to join.....how could I say no!! I'm honoured and excited to be a part of this amazing team and can't wait to share even more of her products with you!

For this announcement we all decided to share a few cards with you. I recently received some of the latest release stamps and stencils, so wanted to use them straight away:

This card uses images from the new 'Woodland Wishes' stamp set. I stamped the fox and the trees (x4) using Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, coloured with my Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. I blended Distress Ink 'Salty Ocean' on the card front for the sky and then adhered the tree's, trying not to cover up any of the branches. To make the fox stand out I die-cut a piece of plaint vellum using a Couture Creations circle die, glued it to the card front and put the fox on foam tape. I then finished off with a white heat embossed sentiment (also on foam tape) and a few Studio Katia 'Arctic Breeze' Pearls.

For this card I put the 'Elegant Tree' stencil over the card front and blended Waffle Flower 'Happy Go Lucky' over top. With it still in place I used a palette knife to spread over Nuvo Glimmer Paste in 'Moonstone'. While this dried I stamped the angel from the 'Folksy Christmas' stamp set with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS. I coloured her with Altenew Artist Markers and then fussy cut out, making sure to keep her 'halo' attached. I popped her up on foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment, and finished off with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

Sarah is celebrating this announcement even more by giving us all a Discount Code to share with you. Mine is FFSHONA15 and will give you 15% off your purchase from now until midnight Monday 23rd September!!

It takes a lot of courage to set up a craft business that's up against so many other larger craft companies. I really admire Sarah for doing this and doing something that she loves. I'm so excited to be a part of all this and if you pop over to the Funky Fossil Blog you can read about the other incredible card makers in the team.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'm looking forward to sharing more with you!

Take care
Shona

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #144

Hi everyone, hope your having a fabulous week and its full of sunshine like mine!! We haven't had rain for days, all the mud around our house has dried up and I've even been tempted to get into shorts the days are so warm. So exciting to see things starting to sprout with it being Spring and the weeds are starting to get a bit carried away too!!

I'm popping in today to remind you about our current TIME OUT challenge where we have this fantastic photo to inspire you. You might make a black/white themed project, something with housewares or even a hint of green somewhere like the plant on the table. Its totally up to you!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Poppystamps and they are giving a $20 voucher to the winner!! They also have a challenge running at the moment on their blog Poppystamps Challenge #60 where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. So if you do use a Poppystamp image/die on your project, you can join their challenge too!

For my card I definitely wanted a black/white theme and really liked the geometric striped mat on the floor, so found a background die that worked perfectly:

I started by die-cutting the Altenew 'Shutter Cover Die' from black CS and using Gina K Connect Glue to adhered to the card front. I then used a Uniquely Creative 'Stitched Nesting Square Die' to cut a small square from black CS and popped it on foam tape.

The flower (from Poppy Stamps 'Little Kindness') was stamped with Versafine Onyx black ink on white CS and immediately clear heat embossed with SSS Clear Embossing Powder. I fussy cut it out and put it on foam tape too.

The sentiments (both from Poppystamps 'Flower Garden') were stamped with Versafine Onxy ink on white CS and clear heat embossed. I fussy cut out the 'sending' and put both of foam tape. To include some green (like the plant in the photo) I glued on some Studio Katia 'Seafoam' Pearls.

You have until Wednesday 25th September to link your projects to the TIME OUT  challenge and if you need any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our always amazing Guest Designer Hannelie of Desert Diva have created for you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #36

We are already up to the 15th of the month of September, which means its not only two weeks till Daylight Saving begins for us in New Zealand but also time to share another card with you for The Flower Challenge!!

The theme this month is 'Anything Goes' and we already have so many incredible projects in the Gallery!

Our Sponsor this month is My Favourite Things and they have generously given us two $25 vouchers, so there will be two winners this month!!

MFT were also very generous with the DT giving us a chance to use a voucher to purchase products for this challenge. I was able to get three stamp sets, I used two of them last week so I'm using the other one today:

 

 Funny how sometimes it takes me forever to make one card but every now and then I find it easier to make two!! This is such a beautiful stamp, I was going to colour it but decided to get a bit funky and use it as is and include some colour blocking. 

I started off by stamping the MFT Stamps 'Fresh Cut Flowers Background' stamp using Versafine Onyx ink on white CS and immediately clear heat embossed with SSS embossing powder. I did this twice and fussy cut out each one.

For the backgrounds I cut a panel of yellow and pink CS and also two panels of black CS which were slightly larger. I adhered them together so two black edges were showing. I put them on pieces of white foam, one from the bottom left and one from the top right. 

Using Gina K Connect Glue I glued the flower images in place. I then white heat embossed the sentiments (from MFT Stamps 'Sassy Pants Best Friends') on strips of black CS and put them on foam tape. To finish off I glued on some pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Wednesday 25th September to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing a few ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created to inspire you. Hope you have a chance to join us this month!!

Take care
Shona
 

Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge

After rain all day yesterday and all night, it finally stopped raining at lunchtime today. Everything is so mushy so you can't really go and do much outside. So the kids and I decided to go to the movies and see 'The Angry Birds Movie 2'. It was very cute, funny and as always the popcorn was divine!! I also purchased the latest 'Pet Semetary' movie on DVD today, so will watch that tonight with the kids too. May as well make the most of horrible, cold days....

I'm still slowly making my way through a lot of my new stamps and dies. I finally created two cards with my new Studio Katia goodies and with the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge having the theme 'Stamp It', I thought it was a great chance to share them with you:
 

This is the scene I immediately thought of when I saw this die. I created two cards, both the same design but with different plant images and colours.

For each card I started off by cutting a panel of white CS the same size as the card front. I then die-cut the Studio Katia 'European Window' die from each one. The die also cuts a frame around the window so I cut one from yellow and blue CS for each card.

After working out where the window opening would sit on the card front, I blended Distress Inks 'Salty Ocean and 'Tumbled Glass' on to one card and 'Worn Lipstick', 'Spiced Marmalade' and 'Mustard Seed' on to the other. I adhered the die-cut panel on to each card front and then glued in the coloured frames and windows themselves using Gina K Connect Glue.

On some white CS I stamped plant images from Studio Katia 'Potted Flowers' and 'Cactus Hugs' using Gina K Amalgam black ink and coloured them with my Altenew Artist Markers. I used the matching dies to cut the cactus plants and fussy cut the others. I grouped them in three on each window sill and glued them in place.

For the sentiments I white heat embossed on black CS using one from Studio Katia 'Cactus Hugs' and one from Studio Katia 'Floral Wreath'. These were popped up on foam tape and I glued on some Studio Katia Pearls in co-ordinating colours.

Its Sunday night here and I'm so tired. I've just started colouring images for lots of Halloween cards for next month (have all sorts of gory ideas....) so will set myself up in bed with my images and markers, while I watch 'Mindhunter' on Netflix. I was fascinated with the FBI and the Behavioral Science Unit when I was younger, reading lots of books, especially by John Douglas. For some reason I didn't see this programme listed on Netflix so I'm totally immersed in it now. I know its not everyone's cup of tea but so fascinating to me as to what makes these horrific people tick. And maybe its good to watch it while I think of Halloween cards too......

Take care
Shona
 

Uniquely Creative - You are so Charming

It has absolutely poured with rain all day today. After a wonderful week of lots of sun and wind, all the mud surrounding the house (all our concrete paths have been removed) had dried out and were easy to walk on. After today there is mud everywhere in the house, especially from Bella the dog and our two cats, who's little paw prints are even all over my bed. I can't wait for the concrete to be poured soon!!!

Since its such a yucky day I thought it would be good to share one of my cute cards using the Uniquely Creative - August Stamp and Colour Kit 'Fairytale Wishes':

This card uses all the items that come in the basic kit. You also receive a magazine showing all the cards the DT created and I was shocked to see this card on the cover!!!

To start off I wanted to create some hills for the castle to sit on. As I didn't have a die I cut a piece of patterned paper from the kit freehand with scissors and adhered to the card front.

I stamped all the clouds, birds and castles using Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS and coloured them all with my Altenew Artist Markers. Unfortunately I didn't have the matching dies that come with the kit, so had to patiently fussy cut them all out.

The birds were glued in place and the clouds and castle put on foam tape. I white heat embossed the sentiment on black CS, backed with white CS and popped on foam tape as well. And finished off with some coloured dots, also in the kit.

I've just stamped out a HUGE pile of images from stamp sets I've received over the last month or so and not used yet. I'm going to sit in Phoebe's room with her and watch some movies tonight, do some colouring and maybe sneak in the odd chocolate or two. Heaven!

Take care
Shona

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday Post for September #1

Hi everyone, hope your week is going much better than mine and that your able to fit in a bit of crafting here and there! I'm absolutely flat out with work, kids, painting etc and feeling very overwhelmed but it will pass soon...I hope..... Thank goodness for card making, it always makes me feel good!!

There is a HUGE RETIREMENT SALE going on at the moment at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps where you can save 25% on so many amazing stamps and dies, including a lot of my favourites. I thought I'd create a card for you today showing off one of the Christmas sets on sale:

 

These images are all from the 'Sugar Plum Fairy' stamp set, which is filled with lots of snowflake cuteness!!

I started off with a white CS panel cut slightly slimmer than the card front. Using inks from Waffle Flower I stamped the tree across the panel, alternating the pattern and ink colour. I then die-cut a circle from the middle of it using a die from the 'Ornament Tag Fri-Dies'. I adhered a panel of dark grey CS to the card front and then used foam tape to pop up the stamped panel.

The 'Snowflake Ballerina' was silver heat embossed on white CS and die-cut using the 'Ballerina Fri-Dies'. This was put on foam tape in the middle of the circle. The sentiment was stamped in grey ink (also from Waffle Flower) on a strip of white CS and popped on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

I also have a special code that you can use with the sale that would make a total of 40% savings!! How can you resist that!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you back here later this month with more goodness from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!! 

Take care
Shona
 

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge - Entry #3

Its finally stopped raining!! Well, for today anyway, supposed to start again tomorrow morning but making the most of it. Its rained non-stop for the past three days and everywhere its mud puddles and mushy grass etc. Was hoping it would dry out over the weekend and I could do some gardening on Monday but its supposed to rain that day too!!  Oh well, gives me time to make some cards and paint the remainder of Phoebes room.

With it being September, that means its 'Stamptember' at Simon Says Stamp. They release a new stamp set nearly every day which is a collaboration with another stamp company. Its such a wonderful idea and so much fun. The theme for this weeks Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge  is 'Stamp It' which is very appropriate!!

This is another one of those cards were I coloured the images AGES ago and they have been waiting to be used. I showed a card last week with the same stamped and coloured panel but in different colours etc. Love this one against the grey:

I had a panel of white CS and stamped it randomly with floral images from the Studio Katia 'Together We Bloom' stamp set using Gina K Amalgam black ink. I then coloured it using Altenew Artist Markers. Once I was happy with it I die-cut the panel using a Studio Katia 'Nested Oval' die.

After adhering a panel of dark grey CS to the card front, I popped the oval on a piece of white foam. I then white heat embossed the sentiment (from Studio Katia 'Its your Birthday') on a strip of black CS and put on foam tape. I then glued on some Studio Katia Pearls for a bit of shine.

Better go and grab the washing in and take Bella for a walk before I get to settled in the warm. Hoping to do some colouring tonight and start one of my new Diamond Art projects too. Need to find a good movie to watch so I can stay awake!!

Take care
Shona

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #143

Just when we were enjoying the sunshine of Spring, the Winter rain has returned with a vengence and its been raining non-stop for past two days. There are huge puddles everywhere so at least the ducks will be happy. And it gives me a chance to catch up on housework and make the odd card here and there....

For our current TIME OUT challenge we have some words to inspire you. You could use one word, the whole phrase or something that reminds you of these words....basically whatever you like!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is the fabulous Winnie and Walter and they are giving a $25 voucher to the winner of this challenge. Talk about lucky!!!

When I saw the inspiration for this challenge I immediately latched on to the word 'rainbow' (how strange of me....) but also wanted to try and link in some rain somehow:

I have to laugh when I look at these balloons. When I was watercolouring them I was letting the colours flow from one balloon to the other and not worrying about the colours mixing (as if they had gotten wet from rain...) but my controlling habit took over and I tried to fix it all up. Now it just looks like I couldn't paint between the lines!!! LOL!

I really wanted to create some sort of raindrops, so I found these bubble images on the Winnie and Walter 'Framed with Evelin T. Designs' stamp set that I thought might work. I stamped them randomly over the card front using ink from Waffle Flower, Hero Arts and Catherine Pooler.

The balloon image (from W&W 'Happy Dance with Evelin T Designs') was stamped with Versafine Onyx ink on TAD watercolour CS and heat embossed with SSS Clear Embossing powder. I then used a rainbow of Kuretake Zig Real Color Brush Pens and a water brush to colour them in. Once the paint was dry I fussy cut them out.

I struggled with the sentiment, nothing seemed to work until I decided to stamp right on the card front. I stamped the 'hello' from W&W 'The Big, Bold and Happy' with Versafine Onyx ink a few times to get solid coverage and popped the balloons on foam tape. And of course to finish off I added some blue sequins from Neat and Tangled.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Stamp It'. This is my 2nd entry.

You have until Wednesday 11th September to link your projects to the TIME OUT  challenge. And if you need any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Arlene of Sunday Stamper Papercrafts have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see your projects in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

The Flower Challenge #36

Well, its a new month and the beginning of Spring for us here in New Zealand. Blossoms are popping up everywhere and my peonies are peeking out from under the ground. Its one of my favourite times of year, like everything is being born again!!

Speaking of starting anew, with it being a new month that means we have a new theme at The Flower Challenge. 

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This month it's 'Anything Goes' which means you can make any project you like as long as flowers are the main part of the design. Having free reign is always my favourite type of challenge as it gives you a chance to try out new stamps/dies, new techniques.....basically anything you want!!

We are also very excited to have My Favourite Things as our Sponsor. They are giving two $25 vouchers to two winners this month, so we get to choose two entries. So two chances to win....yippee!!

My Favourite Things were also very generous with our Design Team and gave us vouchers to buy products for this challenge. Thank you so much MFT!!!!

We also have a rather fabulous Guest Designer this month, the always lovely Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone. I'm in no doubt she will wow us all this month with her cards!

I was very lucky to purchase a few MFT stamp sets with my voucher and have used two of them on this card. With the theme being wide open, of course I had to pop in a rainbow somewhere:

I had a great time stamping all these flowers, set up in front of my computer screen and watching 'Patch Adams' which I've seen a million times and it still makes me laugh and cry.

I cut a panel of white CS and grabbed a mix of Waffle Flower and Hero Arts dye inks. I stamped each end of the panel separately and made sure the flowers didn't meet in the middle. The flowers are from MFT Stamps 'Flower Silhouettes' and I managed to use every single one. I also made sure the flowers overlapped side to side as I didn't want a huge amount of white between them. I did this all in my MISTI and copied the same flowers/colours on the other end.

Once I had finished I trimmed the panel slightly so it was smaller than my card front. I added a piece of black CS to the front of the card and popped the floral panel on a piece of black foam. 

For the sentiment (from MFT Stamps 'Sassy Pants Best Friends') I white heat embossed it on a wide strip of black CS. This was put on foam tape and is the same width as the floral panel. To finish off I glued on some Neat and Tangled sequins.

Will link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Stamp It'.

 

You have until Wednesday 25th September to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and we will be back on the 15th with a few more ideas to share with you. Can't wait to see all the different entries in the Gallery this month!!

Take care
Shona

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge (Entry #3)

Its been one glorious weekend, with so much sunshine it feels like its almost Summer!! Its 1st Sept today which in New Zealand means its the first of Spring. This is one off my favourite times of year in the garden. Everything is starting to grow, the blossoms are coming out and it won't be long till Daylight Saving, so more time to spend in the garden. I'm sure we will still have some more cold days but at least the worst of Winter is over!

This is my 3rd entry for the current Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge and I'm always amazed by how many entries they get. It must be nearly a full time job doing all the commenting!!

I recently purchased some Studio Katia products, as I was extremely lucky to win two vouchers to their store. I can't believe they are now 3yrs old and still remember when their store opened and I purchased my first stamps. So glad to see them still going strong!!

For this card I combined some older colouring with a brand new stamp that is the perfect size for a card:

A LONG TIME AGO I stamped and coloured a panel for one of the 30 Day Colouring Challenges. The panel (plus one other) has been sitting waiting patiently to be made into a card and finally its dream came true!

The floral panel was stamped with images from Studio Katia 'Together We Bloom' using Gina K Amalgam black ink and coloured with Altenew Artist Markers. I die-cut the panel with a Studio Katia 'Stitched Creative Nesting Square' die. I cut a piece of green CS slightly smaller than the card front and adhered to the card. The floral panel was glued on top.

For the sentiment I die-cut a piece of plain vellum, using another size of the same die. I stamped the Studio Katia 'Its Your Birthday' sentiment with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Altenew 'Golden Peach' Embossing Powder. I was going to put it over the flowers but it didn't show very well. So I used a smaller size of the die set and cut a piece of light peach CS. I popped it up on a piece of white foam and then glued the vellum on top with Gina K Connect Glue, putting it behind the words. 

I finished it off by gluing on some Studio Katia 'Clear Sparkling Crystals' and Studio Katia 'Seafoam Pearls'.

Its Father's Day today in New Zealand and we are off out to dinner shortly. Not sure where we are going yet but anywhere where I don't have to cook or do the dishes afterwards is fine by me!!

Take care
Shona