Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #187

 Wow, what a week its been!! We've gone from ridiculously warm weather in late Autumn (been sleeping with no blankets at night!!), to overnight suddenly 0 degrees (celcius). Talk about a shock to the system and tomorrow morning we might have our first frost....I'm not ready!!!!

I might need to take a hint from our theme at TIME OUT and keep myself moving to stay warm. This is such a fun challenge theme and the word 'Move' can be interpreted in so many ways. For example you've got body movement, moved by an emotion, maybe moving house.....so many!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Topflight Stamps and they are giving the winner a $25 voucher to their store. They have a tonne of products to choose from, I'm super jealous!

I had a completely different idea for the word 'move', its a bit naughty but I love making these sorts of cards:

Can you guess what type of movement I was inspired by??????? If you guessed 'bowel movement' your a winner! I've had this stamp set for months and what could be a better challenge to use them in.

The images are super simple to colour so decided to make a couple of cute note cards instead of one big card. I stamped the images from Simon Says Stamp 'We're like toilet paper' (inspired by COVID toilet paper madness.....) with Versafine Onyx ink on white CS, coloured softly with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils and fussy cut out.

I created two 3.5 inch square white card bases and adhered squares of black CS on the front. I then popped the images and sentiments on some foam tape for dimension. Instead of pearls I found these cute red resin hearts and little brown bugs (to be little flies) from Loose Lemon Crafts and glued them on. Done!

You have until Wednesday 19th May 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 talented Guest Designer Milla from Mustesormi have created for you. Can't wait to see all your 'moving' projects in the Gallery!!

And on a personal note, you may have seen the message from Sandie, our fearless leader at TIME OUT, sharing that this is her last challenge with us. I'm going to miss her terribly. She has always been so supportive of myself and everyone on the team, and worked so incredibly hard. It won't be the same without her but I know that the girls and I will give our all to keeping the challenge going, not only for ourselves but also all of you, our super-loyal followers. Thank you Sandie for EVERYTHING!!!xxx

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #186

 Hi everybody!! Sorry my blog has been rather quiet of late, lots of things going on at home so not much time for crafting but I'm off to my Mum's place this weekend so will definitely get some cards made!!

Our current challenge at TIME OUT is all about 'Pets' which should be a topic that many of us can relate too. You could include animals on your project, make it about your own pets or maybe have a few photos included. Would love to see what pets you all have!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Newton's Nook Designs which couldn't be more appropriate as they have the cutest little mascot and animal products. They are giving the winner of this challenge a $25 voucher (I'm very jealous....).

For my card I wanted to create a scene which shows off one of the favourite places I love to sit with my dog in the Summertime:

Unfortunately I don't own any Golden Retriever stamps but this cute little doggie will do just nicely.

Lots of colouring for this one!! I stamped all the images (from Funky Fossil Designs) on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink and coloured with my Altenew Artist Markers. I then spent quite a while fussy cutting them out.The tree and its heart leaves are from the 'Heartfelt Tree' set, doggie from the 'More Furry Friends' set and the bee from the 'Bee's Knee's' set.

In Summertime I love sitting in the shade under our two Golden Queen peach trees. I have an old black bean bag and set myself up with my colouring products and my Ipad so I can colour and watch a movie. My dog Bella always comes to sit with me, as does our cat Remy. Its a beautiful place in the shade, especially when the peaches are starting to come ripe.....

I used two stencils from Funky Fossil Designs ('Scenic Borders' and 'In the Clouds') to create the background, blending over some Distress Ink on the front of a white square card base. I used some foam tape to pop up the images, as well as the white heat embossed sentiment (also from the 'Heartfelt Tree' set). To finish off I added some Wink of Stella to the hearts and glued on some pearls from Loose Lemon Crafts.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

 

You have until Wednesday 5th May 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 have created for you. Look forward to seeing your pets in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #185

 Hi everybody!! It has been a very busy week in the Chambers household, so much so I didn't get this card in to my team on time, hence it isn't on the TIME OUT challenge blog post. I'm so sorry!!

 

We have this gorgeous photo to inspire you for this challenge. How I wish I was sitting in one of those chairs right now, sipping a strawberry daiquiri and reading a good book.... So many ideas to use in this photo, the scene itself, the colours or maybe the beach...totally up to you!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Kitchen Sink Stamps and they are giving a very generous $25 voucher to the winner. So envious!!

For my card I was totally swept away by the turquoise chairs, the light blue roof and the crisp white of the floorboards and railings. And on top of all that those bright pink flowers had to be included too:

This took SO LONG to colour as I've been trying to get more adventurous with my watercolours, along with my pencils. I still have a lot to learn but my colouring is much better than when I started!!

The design for this card is pretty basic as I wanted the colours to be the stars. I stamped the MFT stamps 'Loosely Lined Flowers Background' stamp on some watercolour CS using Gina K Amalgam black ink. I then used my Zig Real Color Brush pens but didn't add them directly to the images. I brushed them on my Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Glass Mat and used a separate brush and water.

Once it was dry I added more shading with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils and then added some white with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen. I die-cut this using a die from MFT Stamps 'Blueprints 27', added a panel of white foam behind it and then to a white card base. The sentiment is also from MFT Stamps 'Raving Racoons' and I thought some silver pearls from Studio Katia would add a bit more shine.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge  where their theme is 'Clean and Simple'.

You have until Wednesday 21st April to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. If your needing more inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Claire of Life on the Scrap Heap have created for you. Looking forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #184

 Hi everyone, sorry this blog post is a little late. I've had a lot going on at home this week that hasn't been good but we are getting there day by day...

On to much happier topics, we have this wonderful phrase to inspire you this week at TIME OUT. There are so many ways you could go with this i.e. choose one word, go with the whole sentence or maybe like me you'll be going with a gardening theme.

Our Sponsor is Altenew and they have a $20 gift voucher for the winner. And you know how many incredible products they have to choose from!!!

Spring time is my favourite time to be in the garden. After the dreariness of Winter and hardly any flowers or growth, seeing leaves popping out of the ground and blossoms on the trees is so exciting. And you can feel Summer isn't far away. Like a lot of you I have lots of floral stamps from Altenew so I could create a 'Spring-time' card:

 This was a little time consuming but really enjoyed doing all the colouring, even felt like making another one with a different colour combo!!

Firstly I used the Caps Bold Alphabet Die Set (from Altenew) with some white CS. I then grabbed three floral Altenew stamp sets that had tiny flowers and leaves: Beautiful Day, Adore You  and Blooming Bouquet. I arranged the flowers and leaves over the die-cut letters and stamped with Gina K Amalgam Black ink so I could colour them with my Altenew Artist Markers.

To add some dimension I die-cut the letters again from white CS and also from green, pink and aqua blue CS and glued them together. Using a slimline die from Studio Katia on white CS I cut out a base for the letters and glued them in place and then popped it up on white foam on a card base. The rest of the greeting (from Altenew Festive Foliage) was white heat embossed and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

You have until Wednesday 7th April to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Helen of Moments of Crafting have created for you. Look forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 2021 - Take two!

 Hi everyone!! It was very exciting this morning as the clouds tried to rain. It drizzled for about two hours and I really thought with the sky being so black that rain was going to pour down. But no, the drizzle stopped and the sun came out. Bummer.....back to watering my garden with the sprinkler again....

There are a few more days left of the 2021 Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, so many incredible projects have been entered, almost makes me want to try a cup of coffee!!

As I mentioned in my last post Funky Fossil Designs are one of the Super Sponsors for the hop. I was in a water-colouring mood so grabbed some of their floral stamps:

I've often heard people refer to coffee as 'giving them a buzz' so thought that would make a great idea for a card.

First off I stamped the bee's from 'Bees Knees' and the cup from 'Pugs and Hugs'  (the cup actually has a little pug sitting in it but was able to fussy cut him out) with my usual Gina K Amalgam black ink on white CS, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out.

The floral wreath from 'Blooming Wreath' was also stamped in the same black ink but on TAD watercolour CS. I then used my ZIG Real Color Brush Markers, some water and a brush to colour everything in. Once it was dry I used a white gel pen and black fineliner to add some details to the flowers. 

I cut the panel down to a square and added to a white square card base that had a panel of black CS adhered to it. I used a piece of black foam to give it some dimension. I then put the cup and bee's on some foam tape, as well as the white heat embossed sentiment (also from 'Bees Knees'). And for a bit of sparkle I covered the bees in Wink of Stella.

Think I'll set myself up in front of the tv now and watch a movie. I've been watching so many older movies of late like Face Off, Armageddon...can't seem to get enough of the 90's. Will have to see what Netflix or Disney can fix me up with tonight!!

Take care

Shona

 

Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 2021

 Hello there!! Its been a beautiful day today, lots of sunshine and not much wind, just enough to get the washing dry. A stark contrast to yesterday where there wasn't a breath of wind (was quite eerie, it was so still) and very dark and cold. Dave was tempted to light the fire but I told him to put another layer on instead. We usually don't start lighting the fire until mid to end of April, if we start now we will run out of wood. The joys of Autumn....

I'm one of those strange people who doesn't drink coffee or tea.....or water (makes me feel sick), however I always get excited when the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop comes around. With all the incredible coffee and tea related products that are produced now, the projects are amazing and there are oh so many to see!

Funky Fossil Designs are one of the Super Sponsors of the hop and are giving away a $25 GBP gift voucher to their store. I wanted to create a coffee card using their products and came up with an idea to use some of my favourite images:

I've used these mushrooms and toadstool images so much its a wonder they still stamp! I really enjoyed putting this all together and I'm gradually getting more confident adding my own little details with a pen.

I started by stamping the mushrooms/toadstools from the 'Bee's Knees' and 'Whimsy Town' stamp sets with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, colouring with my Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. I did the same with the snail from the 'Snail Mail' set and the cup from 'Sew Lovely'.

For the background I blended Distress Ink 'Twisted Citron' over the card front using the 'Slimline Landscape' stencil. I left a gap along the bottom and blended Waffle Flower 'Coffee Loves Milk' for the pathway. To create pebbles I dotted the path with brown Altenew Markers. 

Once I worked out where the images would sit I decided to ground them a bit by blending some 'Mowed Lawn' Distress Ink using one of my new Altenew Detail Blending Brushes. It was fantastic for adding a little bit instead of scrunching up a blending pad. I also used a dark green marker to make some little grass blades. Before adding the images with foam tape, I blended some 'Salty Ocean' Distress Ink for the sky, leaving it 'unblended' in spots to add some interest. To finish off I popped the sentiment (from the 'Snail Mail' set) on foam tape.

Starting to get dark, even though its only 7.30pm. We only have daylight saving until April 3rd so making the most of it to water my garden. We haven't had any rain for weeks, hoping now the weather is getting colder the rain clouds will return....

Take care

Shona

 

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #183

 Hello there!! I've been busy in my own garden today, pruning my peach trees and removing my swan plants (the plants that monarch butterflies eat and lay their eggs on). After all my caterpillars died from the virus 'Black Death', I thought it best to remove the plants as they probably still have remnants of the virus on them. I'm not sure if I will put more swan plants in for next season yet, having all of them die was quite traumatic, not sure if I want to go thru that again.....

On to much happier things, the theme for the current TIME OUT challenge is 'Different'. There are a myriad of ways you could interpret this on your project. You could try a different technique, use different colours or maybe show off something different about yourself....its totally up to you!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Funky Fossil Designs and they are giving a 15 GBP voucher to the winner. They have recently had a new release and have an amazing number of products to choose from.

 I'm extremely lucky to be on the Design Team for Funky Fossil Designs and wanted to try out some 'different' make up designs on a certain stamp set:

This is quite a different type of card for me. I'm usually all about pastel colours with lots of white space. Wanted to try a different style and had so much fun doing the make-up...

I started off by stamping the girls face from the Funky Fossil Designs 'She is Fierce' stamp set using Gina K Amalgam black ink on some Strathmore Watercolour CS. I then, very carefully and very slowly, used my Kuretake Zig Real Color Brush Markers to bring her to life. I'm very inexperienced with doing skin for any colouring but took my time and was amazed I could get the blush to work along with some shadowing on her face. Once she was dry I fussy cut her out.

Keeping with the 'dark' theme I die-cut a circle of white CS with a die from Couture Creations and then stamped one of the border stamps from Funky Fossil Designs 'Doodle Borders' across it using Versafine Onyx ink. After adhering a panel of black CS to the card front, I put the circle on a piece of black foam and put the girl on some foam tape. To finish off I added a sentiment from Funky Fossil Designs 'Small Print'  and some Studio Katia pearls. 

You have until Wednesday 24th March to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Lisa of Paper Mountain Parcels have created to inspire you. Can wait to see your 'different' projects in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

 

Happy Birthday Waffle Flower!!

 Hi everyone!! Its been a lovely warm day and got a lot of gardening done. We still haven't had any decent rain yet for months, so everything is looking rather parched....

 

Waffle Flower are celebrating their 7th birthday. I still remember when they started and I'm so happy they have become so popular. For their birthday they have a blog hop (which I totally recommend) and giveaways. They also have a Linky Party where you can add your own favourite Waffle Flower projects from over the years. I've just spent a couple of hours looking at all my WF cards on my blog and Instagram, reminiscing about how I made them and being grateful my colouring skills have gotten a lot better!!

I scrolled back to the beginning of my Instagram account and found that the second card I shared back on the 6th August 2015 was this:

Sorry the photo isn't perfect, I had to take a screen shot and download on to my computer as I couldn't find the original...

I still actually remember making this card! I had won the stamp set and matching dies from participating in a Waffle Flower Challenge and spent ages with my cheap pencils, trying to colour with shading etc. I still think its a cute card and I'm not too embarrassed by it (some others I looked at are awful...) and it would seem Waffle Flower has been a part of my life for a few years.

I have a few other WF cards to share with you that I still love to this day. That was when I seemed to have more time on my hands and spent hours working out die-cutting creations. 

Here's to many more years of Waffle Flower!!

Take care

Shona

 

Rosies Studio - Seahorse fun

 Hello there!! The weather has been doing all sorts of crazy things of late. The last few days have been really hot and sunny but this morning I woke up to rain, which pretty much stopped by lunchtime and now its boiling hot again with lots of cloud. Talk about bizarre!! So I didn't end up by doing any gardening today but its given me a chance to catch up on all sorts of jobs I keep putting off at home....

You will have seen me use products from Rosie's Studio over the years on my cards. They are a small craft company based in Auckland, New Zealand. They come out with around 7 collections each year with stamps, papers, stickers etc. Their stamp sets have gotten so much better over the years and I always try to get my hands on them. And the price of them is phenomenal!!

 One of their latest collections is 'Salt and Sunsets', I really loved the stamp set as it has a large seahorse image. I got it last week and spent some time over the weekend colouring. I don't make many 'under the sea' scenes so this one was a bit of an experiment:

 I was trying to create the effect of sun-rays in the water. I watched a YouTube video by 'Much Love, Sara' which was so beautifully done. She used Distress Oxide inks and small blender brushes. I don't have any little brushes and not the right colours in Oxide inks, so I did what I could with normal Distress Inks. Pretty pleased with my first attempt!! 

First off I stamped the images with Gina K Amalgam black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. 

I cut a panel off Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS and blended lots of blue and green distress inks, finishing off with a little black around the bottom edges for depth. I then flicked over some water (ended up with some bigger blobs than I wanted...) and pressed with tissue paper. After working out where the seahorse would sit, I stamped on some tiny blue fish. I also stamped some seaweed on white CS and because I couldn't cut them out without lots of white CS showing, I blended over some of the distress inks. 

I trimmed the panel down slightly and popped up on a piece of white CS. I glued all the seaweed, shells and starfish into place. The seahorse was put on foam tape, along with the sentiment (from the same stamp set). To finish off I added some Studio Katia pearls and put lots of Wink of Stella on the seahorse, shells and starfish.

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

I'm off to the supermarket now (seem to go there every day.....) and will then pick up Max from College. Phoebe has been trying the Vegan way of eating again and I found a recipe for Oatmeal Vegan cookies today, so might give those a go when I get back. Sure would be easier if the whole family went vegan so I didn't have to do separate meals. I could easily go vegetarian but I would miss my dairy products!

Take care

Shona

 

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Maya Angelou

 Hello everybody!! Its Sunday here in New Zealand and its the most gorgeous, sunny, non-windy day. I'm about to go out and enjoy the sunshine while trimming some hedges and listening to my Spotify (Juice World and Foo Fighters get me in a hacking sort of mood....). Suddenly remembered that I shared a card the other day on my Instagram and Facebook but not on my blog!

Funky Fossil Designs recently had a new release and I really like to see how I can incorporate the new stamp sets with the older ones:

After making this card it reminded me how much I love to use navy and that I should try to use it more instead of black.

Firstly I adhered a panel of navy CS to the front of the card. I then cut a slightly smaller panel of white CS. Using a tree image from the 'Winter Wonderland' set and my trusty MISTI, I stamped the tree across the bottom of the panel. I used inks from Waffle Flower and Hero Arts, starting with the lighter colours first so they were in the background. It sounds funny but I don't often 'over-stamp' images, doesn't feel right, like I'm making a mistake but I'm in love with this effect.

I stamped the bird from the new 'Bird Song'  stamp set with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. I also added some details with a white gel pen. I popped him up on the card with some foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment from the same set. And of course I had to finish off with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'A Bit O'Green'.

My husband Dave has been in Christchurch since Friday for a family members wedding. He's on his way back now driving and sent me a msg to say he had picked up my precious cargo.....my order from Donut King....so can't wait for him to get home. My tummy will be waiting!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #182

 Hello there!! We are celebrating a HUGE birthday over at TIME OUT challenges. Its our 7th birthday and I've actually been part of the Design Team for 6.5years. Hard to believe so much time has gone by and I've loved every minute of it. And also so exciting to see how popular the challenge has become over the years, and that we have so many people who play with us a lot, which is such an honour for our team. Thank you so much everybody for your support and here's to many more years of challenges!!

So for our 'birthday party' our theme for this challenge is 'Celebration'. Your project can be for any type of celebration you like i.e. wedding, birthday, new home etc or maybe something that's personal to you that you want to 'jump for joy' over.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Stamplorations who have Sponsored us from the start and have been very generous not only to the winners but also the Design Team. They are giving a whopping $40 gift voucher to the winner of this challenge, which would be so much fun to spend!

For my card I definitely wanted to use Stamplorations products and was in a colouring mood:

I spent a few evenings sitting in the warm evening air on a beanbag under my peach tree's, colouring away while watching 'Superstore' on my iPad. Gotta love Summertime....

First up I stamped the images from Stamplorations 'Birthday Bash - Shery Russ Designs' with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on a panel of white CS. I coloured them quickly with Altenew Artist Markers and then added lots of detail with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils. 

Once I had finished I wanted to add a waffle-edge to the panel (like the edge of the cupcake liner) so die-cut it using a MFT Stamps die from the 'Blueprint 27' set. After adhering a panel of black CS to the card front, I put the cake panel on a piece of black foam. 

For the sentiment (from the same stamp set) I used Ranger Black embossing Powder on a piece of plain vellum. I then used a circle die from Couture Creations to cut it out. It didn't stand out enough against the background so I used a smaller circle die with some white CS and glued it to that before putting on foam tape. To finish off I added some pearls from Studio Katia in similar colours.

I'm going to link this to the Stamplorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge  which is for projects using their products.

You have until Wednesday 10th March to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing any help with ideas or inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Karen of Random Reflections have created for you. Karen has played with us for years, so its really lovely she is the GD for this challenge.

Thanks again for all your support with TIME OUT and I hope to see your projects in the Gallery.

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Smile

 Hello there!! We almost had rain today which would have made a lot of people happy but it was nothing more than a sprinkle. Just enough to make my boots and gloves all muddy, and my hair all frizzy..... Now we've hit March hopefully the rain will return so everything isn't looking so parched.

A few days ago Funky Fossil Designs had a New Release and it was a doozy! It included stamps, dies, washi tapes and a new paper pad...something for everyone. I wanted to share with you another card I made with the new 'Geo Elements' stamp set and another older set, to show how well it goes with other images:

I had so much fun colouring this little guy, he's smiling but you can't tell because  his big, chubby jowls are in the way....

I started off by stamping the doggie from the 'Furry Friends' stamp set with Gina K Amalgam black ink and coloured using Altenew Artist Markers, just making up his fur pattern as I went. For the background I used my MISTI and the same ink to stamp the heart shape (from the 'Geo Elements' set) across a white CS panel. I didn't measure or anything, just used my eye to try and keep the lines straight. I then used the same markers in pastel colours to create a pattern on each one.

After adhering a panel of black CS to the card base, I cut down the heart panel so it was slightly smaller and popped up on black foam. The doggie was put on foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment (from the new 'Graphic Words' set). To finish off I glued on some cute heart embellishments in similar colours.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

Better go and set up my mattress for the night. We finally had a chance to get Max's room re-lined with GIB, so Wednesday night last week Dave stripped the walls. Max is sleeping in our room, Dave is sleeping in the garage (he has it set up like a bedroom but there are too many spiders out there for my liking....) and I'm sleeping on a single mattress in the lounge room. Its close to the tv and my craft area so its actually not too bad. Only problem is that both cats sleep with me (they take up half the bed) and Bella sleeps beside me on the floor. Her snoring, farts and breath is enough to keep anyone awake at night believe you me.....

Take care

Shona 

Funky Fossil Designs - New Release Day!!!!

 Hi everyone!! Hope you've all had a wonderful week and bet your looking forward to the weekend. Well, some good news for the end of the week is that Funky Fossil Designs New Release is now available to purchase!!

 

There are five new stamp sets, 2 new dies, paper pad and washi tapes to tempt your wallets. There is something for everyone in this release from Steampunk images, to cute little sheep and even some magical designs. You can check them all out now in the Funky Fossil Designs store.

To celebrate this day I went a little 'die-cutting crazy' but as you know that's one of my favourite things to do on a card so I loved every minute of it:

Nothing like rainbow colours to make you smile and celebrate the day. And even a hint of gold for a bit of shine. This was a little fiddly to do but I just sat myself in front of the tv (started watching 'Superstore' on Netflix, didn't like it at first but have become rather obsessed....) and set my Cuttlebug in motion.

I started by gathering a rainbow of CS. I used a chain-link type die that comes in the brand new 'Cogs and Gears' die set and die-cut from each colour once. I then die-cut some white CS using the 'Zen Mandala'  die set. Using some Gina K Connect Glue I adhered the coloured die-cut pieces to the solid white base. I then glued the mandala white pieces on top.

After die-cutting the same chain-link die from some gold Craft Smith 'Holiday Foil' paper, I inlaid some pieces into the end of each chain. I adhered a piece of black CS to a 4.5 inch square white card base and then put the mandala die piece on some black foam. The sentiment (from the 'Whimsy Town' stamp set) was gold heat embossed on a strip of black CS, backed with white CS and put on foam tape in the middle of the card, along with some Studio Katia gold pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

 

I hope you have fun shopping the New Release and can't wait to see what you do with them all. Don't forget to tag #funkyfossildesigns on Instagram so we can see your amazing creations. And I have loads more cards using these new products to share with you over the coming weeks, so I'll see you back here very soon.

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #181

 Hello there!! Its been the strangest week here weather-wise. February in New Zealand is normally the hottest month of the year but it feels like we've missed the month completely and near the end of March, going into Autumn. The nights have been really cold and I've been in my Winter pjs instead of sweltering with all the windows open. Its supposed to be really hot tomorrow (after another cold night) so wouldn't surprise me if people started coming down with colds etc....

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day. Its not something my husband and I celebrate and I completely forgot all about it. However I've loved looking at all the entries for this TIME OUT challenge, there's so much love out there in the world. The photo for this challenge is all sweet and 'hearty' with lots of different ways to be inspired.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and they are very sweetly giving the winner of this challenge a $25 gift voucher to their store!!

For my card I couldn't help but be inspired by heart shapes and managed to find two dies that fit together perfectly:

I always enjoy a good die-cutting session, however my Cuttlebug is nearly 10yrs old and making funny noises, so not sure how much longer she is going to last.....

I found a die from Simon Says Stamp 'Heart Vent' that cut stripes across a heart shape but didn't cut out the outline. So I used one from Uniquely Creative 'Nordic Hearts' that fitted around it so well, they were made for each other!

I die-cut the SSS die twice on a panel of white CS. I also die-cut it from red CS. I glued a spare piece of white CS behind the white panel so I could inlay the red strips. After die-cutting the heart frame from the same red CS, I glued it around each shape and then cut around it. These were put on the card front using foam tape.

The Simon Says Stamp 'Love' die was die-cut 3x from pale pink CS and the shadow from black CS. These were glued together and then over the heart. The sentiment (also from Simon Says Stamp 'Love') was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS, backed with some dark pink CS and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia silver pearls. I also added some Wink of Stella to the 'love' die-cut for a bit more sparkle.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #169  where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

Will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Favourite Technique' and you know how much I LOVE die-cutting!!

You have until Wednesday 24th February to link your projects to the TIME OUT   challenge and if your needing some ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Nancy of Nancy's Creative Mess have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see all your 'loving' projects in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona

Funky Fossil Designs - Watercolour Experiment

 Hi everyone!! I'm slowly getting back into card making. Work has been very busy with it being Summertime here in New Zealand (lots of weeds.....) and homelife has been rather hectic, so I still struggle to fit in some crafting time before I go to bed. I had decided to make this year different and make sure my hobby features higher up on the 'To Do' list but I'm still guilty of putting myself last. One day I'll get it right....

One thing I want to do more of this year is try out some of the MILLIONS of techniques and ideas I see on other blogs, YouTube videos and Pinterest. There are so many talented people out there and I know I won't be as good as them but gives me a little bit of a thrill being like them for a few minutes.

I follow a lot of watercolour painters on YouTube and Instagram and see a lot of them using tape to mask off areas and watercolour. I decided to give it a go and even though it didn't go to plan, I'm still so glad I tried it:

I never use pen on my cards but found the rectangles needed some sort of definition. This was WAY out of my comfort zone....

I started by using washi tape to mask off three rectangles on a piece of Strathmore watercolour cardstock. I usually use the back, smoother side of watercolour CS but have come to appreciate the texture after visiting an artists house recently. She is the neighbour of someone I garden for and she invited me to see her garden. I saw the vase of brushes on her table and she took me inside to see her painting room. It was unbelievable and I could see how the bumpy paper added so much texture to her beautiful paintings.

I used Distress Inks 'Dusty Concord', 'Seedless Preserves', 'Victorian Velvet', 'Squeezed Lemonade' and 'Mustard Seed' to create a night sky. I've never used this combo before and was quite amazed how the pink and yellow blended together. I did quite a few layers, using my heat gun to dry in between, to get the look I was after.

Once it was dry I removed the washi tape. Unfortunately I had a bit of bleeding under the tape but it was ok. Using Versafine Onyx ink and Funky Fossil Design 'Winter Wonderland' stamp set, I stamped the images a few times with my MISTI to get good ink coverage. I then decided that I wanted to flick over some white paint, so I put the washi tape back on and created some basic masking with post-it notes to cover the images. I mixed water with Gansai Tambi white paint and flicked away......all over my computer.......

When the paint was dry I used a Uniball 3mm black pen and ruler to go around each rectangle. I then popped up the white heat embossed sentiment (from Funky Fossil Design 'Small Print') on foam tape and glued on some Studio Katia silver pearls after adhering the panel to a card front. Definitely going to try this again!!!

Off to hang out the washing. It rained all night last night which was a godsend as it hasn't rained for months. So no gardening for me today, going to prepare for a New Release coming up soon for Funky Fossil Designs and watch Netflix, probably movies I've seen before. With all the new content why do we go back to ones we've already seen???

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #180

 I'm back!!!! After a much needed break over the holiday period and January I'm back with cards to inspire you for the TIME OUT challenge!!! I've really missed seeing and commenting on all your amazing entries, so can't wait to see what you come up with.

We have this fantastic phrase to inspire you for this challenge. You could pick one word or maybe use the whole phrase to get ideas for your project, its completely up to you!

The Sponsor for this challenge is Newtons Nook Designs and they are giving the winner a $25 gift voucher to their store. They have so many cute stamps and dies, I'm sure there will be no problem finding something to buy!!

For my card I already knew which stamp set I would use as soon as I read the phrase:

 

I couldn't think of a better stamp set to use for this challenge. Its by Uniquely Creative 'Reading Past your Bedtime' and one of my favourite sets.

I stamped the images on white CS using Gina K Amalgam black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and then fussy cut out.

I wanted to create a 'room' feel for the card, so I used the 'Arch Window' stencil from Funky Fossil Designs, blending over Distress Inks 'Salty Ocean' and 'Chipped Sapphire. I then used a white gel pen to create some snow.

All I had to do then was adhere the images in place, pop up the white heat embossed sentiment (from the same stamp set) on foam tape and then glue on some pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Wednesday 13th February 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 have created for you. Can't wait to see you in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona