CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post #3 for January

Hi everyone!! I am absolutely melting while typing this so please excuse me if I make any spelling mistakes or it doesn't make sense....my brain is very dehydrated......Its been super hot for the past week and today I spent 5 hours trimming hedges which was extremely hard. Phoebe and I even went on the trampoline this afternoon with the sprinkler underneath, it was heavenly....

I'm on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today with this sweet little shaped card, a good one for a little child maybe:

I had a lot of fun putting this together, although I don't know how I ended up with one foot darker than the other.....

I started by die-cutting some dark brown CS with the Huggable Critters body die. I then used the stitched-oval dies, stitched-paw dies and small oval die with white CS, cutting an extra stitched-oval die to cut in half and make the ears. I used Waffle Flower ink 'Coffee Loves Milk' and a mini-blending tool to colour all the pieces and glued them into place with Gina K Connect Glue. I then die-cut all the detail pieces from black CS and glued them in place, cutting up the whiskers to create bear claws.

For the heart there was one the size I wanted in the 'Hearts A2 Panel Fri-Die' so die-cut that area from some pink glitter paper and also twice more from white CS, gluing them all together and then to the paws. I then added Wink of Stella to the nose and feet details.

I wanted this to be an opening card, so came up with this idea:

I adhered the bear to a top-folding white card base, making sure the top of the head was just above the fold. I then cut around the body and the card was made!! I stamped the sentiment from the 'Little Huggables' stamp set and used the same Versafine Onyx ink to stamp the bear paws from the stamp set that comes with the 'Huggable Critters'  set.

 Hopefully this will give you a few ideas for making shaped cards and for using this die set if you have it. If your thinking you really must buy it, you can use my special code to save yourself 15%!!

Have a fantastic week and I'll see you back here next month with some more CAS-ual Fridays Stamps  designs.

Take care
Shona

Funky Fossil Designs - New Release day and Giveaway!!!!

Yippee, yippee, its finally release day at Funky Fossil Designs!!!

All five new stamp sets are available to purchase now in the store, and while your there you can check out the previous stamp releases and all the incredible stencils Sarah has created!!

To celebrate this fabulous day I created a card using two of the new stamp sets:

I was trying to photograph this card the other day with our new kitten Remy, so please excuse the slight slant/lean to the right as she kept trying to jump in the photobox to play with the Studio Katia pearls.....

I stamped the floral and owl images from the 'Quirky Owls' and 'Blooming Birthday' stamp sets, using Gina K Amalgam black ink on white CS. I coloured them all with my Altenew Artist Markers and then fussy cut out.

To capture some of the marker colours I used, I cut out  panels of green and lavender CS. The green was adhered straight to the card front and the lavender popped up on a piece of white foam. I arranged and glued the floral pieces on the panel and then put the owl on foam tape. I stamped the sentiment (from 'Quirky Owls') with Altenew 'Lavender Fields' ink and put on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

There is a HUGE GIVEAWAY for this release. You could win yourself all of the five stamps released today, that would be amazing!!!! All you have to do is leave a comment on the Funky Fossil Design Release Day Blog Post.  And you can increase your chances by leaving comments on the Design Team Release Day blog posts and Instagram posts too. 

So excited to see what stamp sets you have your eyes on, and then to see all the gorgeous cards and projects you create with them. I'll be back again in a few days with some more cards using this new release.

Happy shopping and enjoy the weekend!

Take care
Shona
 
 

Funky Fossil Designs - January New Release - Preview Day 4

Well its been another boiling hot day and I loved it!! And the next 10 days look just as hot, so I better invest in a big bucket of sunscreen!

Its been so much fun this week sharing all the new Funky Fossil Designs stamp sets being released tomorrow (Saturday 25th Jan) and we have one more to show you. Introducing 'Scandi Home':

This is one amazing set. I love anything to do with Scandinavian style and retro themes, so this is right up my alley. There are so many ways you can use the images to create patterns, borders etc or just use them on their own. I think this one will be a big hit!!

For my card I immediately knew I wanted to create a blue/white design and my MISTI was a godsend for this:

These images stamp so beautifully with a MISTI and I used Catherine Pooler ink 'Suede Shoes' to get the most amazing coverage!

I had no idea what my pattern would be but wanted the house to be central. So I grabbed an A5 piece of white CS and stamped the house in the middle. From there I played around with the arrangement, trying to make sure I was stamping the images in the same spot/angle on each side. Once I had finished I cut the panel down with my Tim Holtz Paper Trimmer.

Turns out I don't have any blue CS that matched this colour for the background, so simply blended the same ink along each edge of the card front. The panel was popped up on white foam, as well as the sentiment, and I glued on some blue sequins from Neat and Tangled.

I really hope you've enjoyed seeing all the new stamp sets as much as I've enjoyed sharing my cards with you. Don't forget to pop over to the Funky Fossil Designs Blog to see what the rest of the Design Team did with this set. And I'll see you back here to celebrate the release tomorrow!!

Take care
Shona
 

Funky Fossil Designs - January New Release - Preview Day 3

Hi there and hope your week is going well. I've been dreaming about card designs while sweating in many gardens this week. Just wish I could take a screen shot of my brain to remember the card ideas...wouldn't that be handy??

Its Day 3 of the Funky Fossil Designs New Release Previews and we have the most amazing and original stamp set to share with you. Introducing 'Adventure':

I've never seen images like these before and there are so many ways you can use them. For my card I had about a million ideas but settled on this rainbow pattern:

The great thing about the 'mountains/forest' stamp is that you can use it as one or use each side separately and there's nothing better than stretching out your supplies!!

My card was super simple to put together. Using my MISTI and Waffleflower inks I used the forest side of the stamp, stamping around the edge of the card front and overlapping as I went. When I was finished the middle of the card looked so cool but I was dying to use this sentiment as I totally agree with it. When I was a kid my Mum always said 'anyone who is bored is boring themselves' and it stuck in my head. I stamped it with Versafine Onyx ink on white CS and die-cut with a Uniquely Creative 'Cross-stitch Rectangle' die. This was popped on white foam along with Neat and Tangled sequins.

Don't forget to check out the Funky Fossil Designs Blog to check out what the rest of the Design Team created with this stamp set. I was blown away by their creativity!! And I'll be back here tomorrow to show off the last stamp set.

Take care
Shona
 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #153

Hello there!! Summer has finally returned to New Zealand and the temperatures are crazy. Its been so hot all week and I'm trying to type this out in my corner (which is either freezing or boiling hot) while sweating and taking lots of breaks. I definitely need to buy yet another fan!!  But hey, I'm not complaining, I love hot weather and sunshine so its been a fantastic week gardening.

We have a really cool theme for our current TIME OUT challenge which is to be inspired by something in your wardrobe - past or present!! There is also the Optional Twist to add some dry or heat embossing. I had so much fun going thru my very small wardrobe and found the perfect thing to inspire me.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Poppystamps and they are giving a $20 gift voucher to a random winner chosen from those who do the 'Optional Twist'.

The item of clothing I chose is a dress from Ripcurl that I purchased on my Australian holiday in November last year. Phoebe and I LOVED shopping in their stores, its all beachwear and surfing, and we could have bought the whole womenswear section (well, except for the bikini's.....). This is one of the favourite things I bought on holiday:

I love how everything has a 'painted' and 'sketched' look and hardly anything is a solid colour except some of the leaves. I had a great time trying to capture this on the front of my card, let me know what you think:

 
 Now I've got it under the dress photo I can totally see how similar they are (Phoebe couldn't believe it when I showed her.....).

I started by stamping the images from the Uniquely Creative 'Tropicana' stamp set over the card front using Gina K Amalgam Black ink. I wore the dress while I coloured it with Altenew Artist Markers, looking at it often to see how different things were highlighted. Once I was finished I white heat embossed the sentiment from the Poppystamps 'Flower Garden'  stamp set on black CS and die-cut it out with a circle die from Couture Creations. This was put on some foam tape, along with Neat and Tangled sequins.

You have until Wednesday 29th January to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And for some ideas to help you along, pop over to the blog to see what our fabulous Guest Designer Lise Mariann and the rest of the Design Team have created for you. Can't wait to see what outfits inspired you in our Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

Funky Fossil Designs - January 2020 New Release - Previews Day 2

Hi there everybody and welcome back to Day 2 of the Funky Fossil Designs  January New Release Previews!!

Yesterday we showed you the new 'Quirky Owls' stamp set and today we have two more to show you. Introducing 'Blooming Birthday' and 'Serenity':

 You know I love floral stamps so immediately fell in love with this one. And I think the 'Serenity' set is so unique and fabulous for so many people who follow yoga and a more serene way of life (which I would love......).

For this card I stamped the more intricate floral design all over the card front and coloured lightly with Altenew Artist Markers. I then stamped the large image on white CS (also with Gina K Amalgam Black ink), coloured with the same markers and then die-cut with a circle die from Couture Creations. I popped it up on white foam, as well as the heat embossed sentiment from the same set. And finished off with gold Neat and Tangled sequins.

For this card I was desperate to use the 'yoga pose' image as the 'star' of my card. I spent ages colouring in the Funky Fossil 'Moroccan Mandala' stencil on the square card front. I used Distress Oxide inks and because I don't have sponge daubers, I pinch the round foam blending pads into a point and use those. My fingers were filthy but I just love the effect. 

I stamped the image several times on top using Versafine Onyx ink and then clear heat embossed with Simon Says Stamp Clear Powder.  The sentiment (from the same set) was white heat embossed on black CS, backed with white CS and glued in place, along with more Neat and Tangled gold sequins.

Don't forget to check out the Funky Fossil Blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created with this sets (they are one talented group of ladies!!!!) and the stamps will be available to purchase this coming Saturday. I'll see you back here tomorrow with another stamp preview!!

Take care
Shona
 

Funky Fossil Designs - January 2020 New Release - Day 1 Preview

Hello there, its a very exciting day because we are previewing new stamps from Funky Fossil Designs!!!!

There are five new stamp sets and I'm sure your going to love them as much as I do. Today we are showing you 'Quirky Owls' which are illustrated by the amazing Kimma Parish:

I just love these images and there are so many ways you can use and colour them. I decided to go with a 'Valentine's Day' feel and my daughter Phoebe actually gave me the idea to colour them with purple:

These were so much fun to colour and even though I've hardly ever used the colour 'red' in the past, its now quickly becoming my favourite accent colour.

I started off by stamping the two owls with Gina K Amalgam black ink on white CS and colouring them with my Altenew Artist Markers. I then fussy cut them out and added foam tape to the back.

I then used the Funky Fossil stencil 'Butterfly Heart' on white CS, blending over some Distress Ink in 'Festive Berries'. I dried it with my heat gun and then fussy cut around the shape. To make the red pop, I cut a panel of black CS the same size as the heart and adhered to a 4.5 x 4.5 inches square card base. The heart was popped up on some white foam and the owls popped on top. I used a little extra foam tape with the smaller one so he sticks up from the bottom one.

All I had to do then was stamp the sentiment (from the same stamp set) on a strip of white CS, put it on some foam tape and glue on some Neat and Tangled sequins with Gina K Connect Glue.


To see what the rest of the Design Team have created with this stamp set, pop over to the Funky Fossil Blog. The New Release will be available this Saturday and we will be back again tomorrow to show off two more sets. Can't wait for you to see them!

Take care
Shona
 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post #2 for January 2020

Hi everyone!! Hope you've all had a fantastic week and managed to make a few cards here and there. I'm looking forward to the weekend as I'm going to make sure I have plenty of time to do some crafting and spend some time with my Mum who turned 80yrs old today!!

I just wanted to let you know I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today with a card for all you coffee loving people:

 

I haven't done a card with ALOT of stamping for quite a while, so thought it would be good to give my MISTI a bit of love. Hope you can pop over to the blog to find out how I put this together.

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #40

Hi everybody!! Its been a crazy week here, its been so cloudy every day with the odd bit of sun shining through. Its like being back in Autumn/Winter and some days I've even had to drag out my winter pj's which is unheard of in summertime. Unfortunately a lot of our weather is affected by the fires in Australia. How I wish I could send some cloud and lower temperatures their way........The rest of my family are enjoying the cooler weather at least (as well as our dog Bella) and I'm sure I'll be complaining about the heat before Summer is over......

I wanted to remind you about our current theme at The Flower Challenge this month. Its all about 'Shaped Cards' which is something I hardly ever think about when making one. Mine are all boring and rectangular, so its been quite fun to 'think outside the box' for once.

Our Sponsor this month is the incredible Alex Syberia of Alex Syberia Design. She draws the most stunning digital floral images and she is giving the winner of this challenge two digital images of their choice!! 

For this card I wanted to really challenge myself to have no straight edges. It was rather hard to come up with something but I'm really happy with the final result:

Ta-Da, not a straight edge in sight!! This was so fun to put together and I got to use a die I've had for years that used to be my 'go-to' back in the day, so was wonderful to give it some love.

I started by die-cutting some yellow CS with the Waffle Flower 'Doily Square Die' I also created a small white CS card base and glued the yellow die-cut to the front of it.

For the floral element I used a digital image from Alex Syberia Design 'Spring Bouquet' which I printed on white CS. Even though I love to colour, I sometimes like to leave an image as the outlines and details are so beautiful. I used the small square die from the same Waffle Flower 'Doily Square Die' set and glued it to some black foam. This was then adhered to a slightly larger square of black CS which I then placed on the front of the card.

The sentiment (from Poppystamps 'Flower Garden') was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia pearls in 'Lemon Burst'.

You have until Saturday 25th January to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing any other card shape ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and Alex Syberia who is also our Guest Designer this month, have created to inspire you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!

Take care
Shona
 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #152

Hello there!! Its been a stunning day today, we have finally seen the sun and the temperature has been in the mid-high twenties, so it feels like Summer again...

Our current challenge theme at TIME OUT is 'Home Sweet Home' with a photo to inspire you. You could use the colours, millions of hearts or even stripes like the heart plate, its totally up to you!!

I'm very excited as the Sponsor for this challenge is Funky Fossil Designs and I'm lucky enough to be on their Design Team! Sarah (the owner) is giving a gift voucher for the store to the winner of this challenge. If you haven't heard of them before, I really recommend you check them out, especially if you have an obsession with stencils!!!!

For my card I was really drawn to the red hearts and was going to make a Valentines Day card but must have still been in Christmas mode.....:

The stamp set I used is from Funky Fossil Designs with illustrations by Maggie Molloy 'Folksy Christmas' and the images are so gorgeous they even look good stamped and uncoloured.

I started off by stamping the three images with Catherine Pooler 'Rockin Red' on white CS and fussy cut them out. I also lined up the three sentiments from the stamp set and stamped them with the same ink. I cut them into a strip and backed with some red CS.

On the card front I used a Funky Fossil Designs stencil 'Snowfall' along with Distress Ink 'Salty Ocean' which I used very sparingly as I wanted a soft look.  All I had to do then was pop the images and sentiment on foam tape and glue on some Studio Katia Pearls in 'Arctic Breeze'.

You have until Wednesday 15th January to link your projects to the TIME OUT  challenge. And if you would like to see how the rest of the Design Team were inspired by the photo, pop over to the blog to see what they created. Look forward to seeing your wonderful designs in the Gallery!

Take care
Shona
 

Stamplorations January CAS Card Challenge

The weather is so strange this Summer. Yesterday it was cold and cloudy, really felt like Winter again. Today its been very sunny and hot which has been wonderful. No wonder I've seen people with colds lately, the temperatures are all over the place....

I recently created a Design Team card for The Flower Challenge and unfortunately got myseslf muddled with the theme. I was able to create another card quickly but didn't want this one to go to waste as its so cute. Luckily I can slip it into the Stamplorations January CAS Challenge:

The Flower Challenge theme this month is 'Shaped Cards' hence my coffee cup shaped design. These dies from Stamplorations 'Zen Coffee Cup Layering Dies' are so brilliant and create such a fantastic and detailed cup.

I started by creating a side-folding card base with white CS. I then used the solid die that cuts the cup shape by putting it on the folded card with the left-side of the die just over the fold line. I also cut the pattern die three times from white CS, rubbing Glad 'Press n Seal' over one of them to hold the pieces in place.

Now for the fiddly part...... I used my Altenew Artist Markers to colour in the die-cut pieces. I used the one with 'Press n Seal' on the back and just coloured the bits I wanted, not worrying about going over the edges. I used some Gina K Connect Glue to glue one of the pattern pieces (with all the little bits removed) on to the coffee cup. I then used the same glue to inlay the coloured pieces. Once finished I glued another pattern piece over top to give a bit more dimension and used my Wink of Stella 'Clear' to add a bit of shine to all the colours. 

 All I had to do then was stamp the sentiment (from Stamplorations Dee's Artsy Impressions 'Blooming Buds') on the inside of the card with Versafine Onyx ink.

I'm also going to link this to the Stamplorations Never-Ending Challenge 'Anything Goes' where you can link any projects using Stamplorations products.

And will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge 'Fun with Florals'.

Bella is laying beside me on the floor, begging me with her eyes to take her for a walk. She doesn't know it but she's having surgery tomorrow. She developed a big growth on her ear and turns out its a blood blister. I thought they could just drain it with a syringe but since they tend to fill up again, they need to clean it out and sew it back together tightly so it can't expand. She reacted really terribly after her last surgery and didn't sleep for 3 days. They are going to give her lots of sedatives before I bring her home so hopefully she will just sleep and relax....so I can relax......wish her luck!!

Take care
Shona

The Flower Challenge no. 40

Hi everyone and so sorry for this card being so late. I got myself in a muddle with challenge theme's and made the completely wrong card. Such an idiot but I sorted myself out and got another card done.

Its our first challenge for 2020 at The Flower Challenge and this month we are all about 'Shaped Cards'. I'm the absolute worst for creating rectangular cards constantly. I never think about changing the shape and see so many different sized cards out there that are a breath of fresh air. So this is a real challenge for me but I'm up for it!!

I'm super excited this month because we are Sponsored by Alex Syberia of AlexSyberiaDesign. She is an amazing card maker who has taken her incredible drawing skills and used them to create some gorgeous digital images. I fell in love with them last year when she did her first release and they were the first digital images I had ever used. Alex has been very generous and given our team some images to use for this challenge. AND she is giving the winner of this challenge two of her digital images as a prize. Isn't she fabulous??!!!!

Because I was so late with my card I had to colour my image very quickly but after not having coloured for so long, I fell in love with these flowers and will definitely be using them again so I can give them the attention they deserve:

With this card being so rushed I didn't get too crazy with the 'Shaped Card' theme so will be trying something different with my reminder card.

I started off by printing this 'Winter Flowers' image on some white CS. I haven't used my pencils to colour for months so decided to take them for a spin while watching the original 'Jumanji' with Phoebe. Once I had finished I fussy cut around it, leaving space for the blue shading around the outside.

I wanted to make sure I used the whole image, so after measuring its size I cut a white CS card base. I then cut the same size from black CS and used a Pretty Pink Posh 'Curved stitched' die to round off the bottom of the black panel. This was adhered to the card base and I cut around the curve with scissors. I used a mix of foam tape and white foam to give the flowers some dimension. The sentiment (from MFT Stamps 'Kind Words') was stamped with Versafine Onyx ink on a strip of white CS, backed with black CS and put on foam tape, along with some pearls from Studio Katia.

As this was a new image and the MFT stamp set was new as well, I'm linking this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Something New'.

 

You have until Saturday 25th January to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and if your needing any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Alex Syberia have created for you. I'll be back on the 15th with another shaped card design.

Take care

Shona

 

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post #1 for January 2020

Hi there everyone and welcome to my first CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Girl Friday post for 2020!!!!

I was going thru some old emails the other day and realised that in April I will have been a member of the CFS DT for 4 years!! That just blows my mind, as they say time flies when your having fun! I love being a part of this team and look forward to lots more adventures with them this year.

I've saw a few Valentines cards in a store yesterday, which was a shock as hasn't it just been Christmas?? But it got me thinking about making a lovey-dovey card for my husband as in April it will also be our 17th wedding anniversary. Still can't believe we haven't strangled each other......:

As usual this was a bit time-consuming but I caught up on some Louis Theroux documentaries while sticking this all together. If you haven't seen any of his series before I highly recommend it, he covers a huge range of 'taboo' topics and gets himself into all sorts of situations.

To start off I die-cut the Hearts A2 Panel Fri-die from white CS and adhered to the card front using Gina K Connect Glue. I then used the larger circle from the Ornament Tag Fri-die set with some light grey CS which was popped up on white foam.

For the hearts I used the Heart Board Fri-dies on some pastel paint chips and some silver glitter CS. To add a bit of dimension I cut an extra white CS large heart, 2 extra white hearts for the blue one, 3 extra white hearts for the pink one and so on, so each heart was slightly higher than the next. I used the same Gina K glue to put them all together and then glued into place.

All I had to do then was silver heat emboss the sentiment from the Ever After stamp set on the a strip of the same grey CS, pop it up on white foam and glue on some silver pearls from Studio Katia.

Really hope you like this card, one of my first for the year and that its given you a few ideas for creating some cards next month for Valentines Day. If you love the products I used, don't forget to use my special code in the CFS Store  to save yourself some money!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you back here later in the month with some more CAS-ual Fridays Stamps goodness.

Take care
Shona