Hi there!! I'm a bit late posting my cards today. I've been quite busy going to the chemist and supermarket. I also have been contacting all my gardening people to see if they are happy for me to come back.
We moved to Level 3 today which means you can go back to work as long as its 'contactless' or you can keep a 2mtre distance from others at all times. 85% of the time I don't see anyone when I'm working but I do have a few older people who like to tell me what they need in the garden etc. I'm a bit hesitant about seeing the older ones as they are most at risk with the virus but they are all happy for me to come and can't wait to have their gardens looking much better. We have also been down to single digit new virus cases each day, so fingers crossed we can keep it that way.....
It was also a beautiful 23 degrees celcius today which is so strange for the end of April. The sunshine was glorious, so took Bella for an extra long walk. Although I've just seen the weather for tomorrow and its going to be the same BUT only about 4 degrees in the morning. Its going to be hard enough to get out of bed early, let alone have it be cold!!
I've got two more Rainbow cards for you today but with a little added extra:
For these cards I did the same 'rainbow strip' technique but this time I white heat embossed some floral images for a bit of pizzazz!!
I glued the strips to a piece of white CS and then trimmed down to be smaller than the card front. For this card I heat embossed floral images from Simon Says Stamp 'Delicate Flowers' before putting on a piece of white foam and adhering to the card front. The sentiment die (also from Simon Says Stamp) was die-cut from white and also purple CS. I glued the purple piece to a scrap of white CS and inlaid the white letters. This was put on some white foam along with Studio Katia pearls.
For this second card I did the same technique as yesterdays card. I glued the long strip first on some white CS and then all the little strips in the opposite direction. Once it was cut to a smaller size, I heat embossed floral images from The Stamp Market 'Botannicals' before putting on the card front with white foam. I die-cut the 'hi' (also from The Stamp Market) 3x from white CS and once from some Creativ Gold paper. I glued two white ones together with the gold on top. The white top layer was then added slightly higher to show off the gold underneath. This was glued to the card along with Neat and Tangled sequins.
I'm going to link the first card to the SSS Flickr Challenge #148 where their theme is 'Let's Encourage each other'. This will be my third entry.
Better go to bed soon. I don't know about you but my 'going to sleep' time has become quite late with lockdown. I usually nod off around 2-3am after watching LOTS of Netflix or YouTube, and then not getting up till 9am...sometimes 10am!!! Its so bad so not sure how I'll get on in the morning, will probably end up not sleeping at all. Wish me luck!
Take care and stay safe
Shona
xx
Hello there!! We are up to Day 6 of my Rainbow Week and back to rainbow colours. Speaking of rainbows we certainly haven't seen many this year. Its nearly May and we haven't had a whole day of rain since last year....isn't that amazing??!!
We had one day last month were it was very overcast and there were moments of drizzle but not rain, apart from some downpours for 10-15mins in the middle of the night last month. Its quite incredible how long its been since we've had decent rain and its the longest we've ever gone without it. By this time of the year I don't normally have to worry about watering my garden or pots but I forget and my plants are looking very droopy. At least I have plenty of time to water my garden at the moment. It takes forever, would love to have an irrigation system one day.....
For today's cards I was inspired by the fabulous @erica_cacacraft from Instagram. She also has a YouTube channel with lots of cool videos. I've been following Erica for YEARS and its so exciting to see how popular she's become. She has especially become known over the years for her 'rainbow strip' cards, where she will cut 100's of cardstock strips and glue together to create gorgeous backgrounds. I've seen many people try this out and thought it was about time I gave it a go too:
This was the first card I made. I decided to try out a 'diagonal' design which worked out well because some of my scrap pieces of CS were much shorter than others.
For this card I adhered them one by one using Gina K Connect Glue (which gives you a chance to move them around) on a piece of white CS. Once it was dry I trimmed it down so it was smaller than my card front and adhered to the card with a piece of white foam. The sentiment die is from Waffle Flower 'Rainbow Thank You'. I die-cut the solid piece from white CS and then letters from dark pink, which I glued in place and then put on foam tape. The rest of the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp 'Kind Flowers', which was backed with black CS, put on foam tape and attached along with Neat and Tangled sequins and Studio Katia pearls.
For this card I had some really long pieces of blue CS, so I glued that on first and then added each strip randomly. Some of them don't match up perfectly but I'm fine with that. I cut it down so that it was smaller than the card front and put on a piece of white foam. The sentiment die is from Simon Says Stamp, the larger piece die-cut from white CS and the words from black CS. They were glued on and then put on foam tape. The rest of the sentiment is also from SSS 'Kind Flowers', backed with black CS and put on foam tape, along with Studio Katia Pearls.
I'm going to link this second card to the SSS Flickr Challenge #148 where their theme is 'Let's Encourage Each Other'.
Its incredibly windy today so won't be finishing off my gardening. I do have a card that needs to be made, which requires some colouring, so will set myself up in front of the tv and watch some old movies. I'm in the middle of watching Mississippi Burning which is such a hard movie to watch and so well acted. It hurts my heart to see how the African-American's are treated in this movie and I would like to think that racism has come a long way but when I read stories in the media of people being mistreated and killed, it shows there is still a very long way to go.....
Take care and stay safe!!
Shona
xxx
Hi everyone!! I don't know about you but my lockdown of five weeks has gone really fast. I've been just as busy cleaning up after my kids and husband, catching up on other cleaning jobs, doing gardening etc.....I've never been bored, which is rather incredible. However I'm pretty sure if this extended for another couple of weeks I would start to feel cabin fever creeping in.....
I can't believe I'm already at Day 5 for my Rainbow Week. Its been quite good doing something like this as it gives me something positive to look forward too each day, instead of our 1pm media briefing every afternoon on tv telling us how many new cases of COVID-19 we have in the country and any deaths, which is just heartbreaking.
Today's cards are theoretically 'rainbow' colours themselves but I've used a variety of colours on each one and given you another idea on how to stretch your dies:
I have three cards for you today, all with this same background and format. It uses a large 'U' die from The Stamp Market which I've had for a while but never used. I fiddled around with it for many days, figuring out how I could use more than one but not make it too bulky. What do you think??
Basically what I did was die-cut the 'U' 6x using shades of pink and purple (for this card). Using Gina K Connect Glue I glued them together in opposite directions and they were glued on each 'middle' strip of the 'U'. Its a bit hard to explain, if anyone needs it I could always do a quick video showing how they go together. Its a bit fiddly and you glue them to a panel of white CS at the same time (any they aren't exactly perfectly straight either....) but it makes such a cool geometric backdrop.
The white panel was cut down close to the die-cuts at each end. I adhered a panel of the same light coloured CS to the card front and then put the die-cut panel on a piece of white foam. The 'Love' die (from The Stamp Market) was die-cut 2x from white CS and once from black CS and glued together to show the black underneath. It was put on foam tape, along with the sentiment (from The Stamp Market 'Just Wonderful'). And I added some Neat and Tangled sequins and Studio Katia pearls.
For this card I did the die-cut background with shades of blue and turquoise and added pale blue to the card front before putting the die-cut panel on white foam. The 'Thank You' (also from The Stamp Market) was again die-cut twice from white CS and once from navy CS, and glued together so the navy showed underneath. This was glued to the card along with the sentiment (from The Stamp Market 'Just Wonderful') and some Neat and Tangled sequins, and Studio Katia Pearls.
This last card is my favourite!! I did the die-cut background with yellow, oranges and peach colours. I then used a panel of light grey on the card front. The 'joy' (from The Stamp Market) was die-cut once from white CS, once from dark peach CS and once from Creativ Gold Metallic Paper. I glued them together so each colour peeked through and put on foam tape. The sentiment (from The Stamp Market 'Holiday Greetings') was backed with a frame of the same gold paper (which unfortunately looks more black in this photo) and the same light grey CS. I then finished off with the same Neat and Tangled sequins and Studio Katia pearls.
Whew, that was one big post, well done getting thru it all!! I thought about putting them all in separate posts but since they all use the same technique for their backgrounds, it didn't seem right. I hope its given you some ideas on how to use other large-letter dies. I've still got a few ideas up my sleeve for this one, will probably never be used as a 'U' on a card!!
I'll see you back here tomorrow when we are back to rainbow colours and lots of encouraging sentiments.
Take care and be safe
Shona
xxxx
Hi everyone!! Its been an exquisite day today weather-wise and still quite warm now at 8pm. Very unusual since we are in the second month of Autumn but I'm not complaining, I'll take Summer lasting as long as it can!!
I'm back with Day 4 of my Rainbow Week. So glad many of you are liking my cards, thanks so much for the comments and support. I've even had some comments from Laura Bassen herself on Instagram, which is giving me huge 'fangirl' moments!!
Today's card is another 'geometric/rainbow' design inspired by Laura. This is one of those cards that started out in one direction, then took a complete turn halfway through:
So yesterday I shared a card using the other half of these strips. I actually started off with the idea of having them come from the edge of the card in gradual steps and doing the same on the other side but it just didn't look right. So I cut this out and adhered to the middle of the card!!
These strips are all from large rectangle die-cuts (by Neat and Tangled) which have a smaller rectangle die-cut glued on top. I then cut them in half lengthwise. These were glued on a piece of white CS and then put on a piece of white foam. The card front was covered with a panel of black CS and then a smaller one of white CS and the steps glued on top.
The 'hello' sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp, which I die-cut twice from white CS and once from black CS and glued together slightly off to the side to show the black underneath. It was put on foam tape along with the sentiment stamp (also from SSS 'Beautiful Day') which was stamped with Versafine Onyx ink on white CS and backed with black. And as always I finished off with Studio Katia Pearls (which I must get more of.....).
I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #148 where their theme is 'Let's Encourage Each Other' which is rather a fabulous theme with whats going on in the world right now.
Time to put on my pj's and get settled on my bed. I've got a diamond art picture I'm about to finish and I started watching a series on Netflix 'Kingdom' which is a dubbed Chinese series about zombies that I'm totally addicted too. I also have a few Peanut M&M's tucked away to snack on.....snack food and tv watching goes together like peanut and chocolate!!
See you back here tomorrow with more rainbow craziness!!
Stay safe
Shona
xxx
Hi there!! Its another absolutely gorgeous day today. I'm about to go out and trim some bushes that probably don't need it but I want to spend time in the sun. I was thinking about sitting out there and colouring but would probably nod off in the heat......
I'm back with my third day of Rainbow Week, where I'm spending seven days (just saying that in my head reminds me of The Ring movie.....) celebrating rainbow colours and showing you all the many rainbow/geometric cards I've slowly made while in lockdown.
Today is yet another card inspired by the fabulous Laura Bassen and her very funny and creative YouTube videos. I used the same rectangle dies as my card yesterday (from Neat and Tangled 'Triangle Box Dies') but this time I cut and arranged them differently:
So for this card I paired up light and dark of each colour. I glued the lighter, smaller rectangle die-cut (which is the same length but slimmer in width) in the middle of the larger rectangle. Once they were all dry I cut them all down the middle length-ways.
After once-again spending forever working out a design, I glued each piece in this pattern on a piece of white cardstock and cut carefully around the edges. It was then put on a piece of white foam on the card front. I wanted to keep the rest of the card clean so used this stamp from The Stamp Market 'One of a Kind' which was the perfect shape for a corner. I stamped it a few times with Versafine Onyx ink and then finished off with my Studio Katia Pearls.
So glad you've been enjoying these rainbow cards and maybe they've inspired you to make some too. If so I would love to see them. My instagram is: shona.chambers and you can email me too on shona.chambers@orcon.net.nz if you'd like me to see a blog post.
I'm off out into the sunshine, enjoy your day and please stay safe!!
Shona
Hello there!! Thanks for coming back for Day 2 of my Rainbow Week!! In case you missed yesterdays post, I've spent a lot of time watching crafty YouTube videos during lockdown and been inspired by the likes of my favourite lady Laura Bassen to go thru my piles of cardstock scraps and create some rainbow and geometric designs.
I'm using the same Neat and Tangled die set 'Triangle Box Dies' which has so many different sized die shapes that come with it (unfortunately you can't buy it anymore....). This time instead of using triangles I got a big creative with some rectangular shapes:
Once again it took me many days and many photos to work out the design but I'm so happy with how it turned out. And I'm sure many of you would have these shaped dies in your stash to do something similar.
As I already had my cardstock all in colour families, I once again grabbed pairs of light and dark and cut the small rectangle from the lighter and the dark from the larger. All I did then was glue the small one on top. To make this design I realised I would need to cut them all in half.
I decided to do blue's, green's and purples on one side and then pink's, oranges and yellows on the other. I glued them on pieces of scrap white CS and then cut around the edges. That way I could then put them on white foam to adhere to the card front.
For the sentiment I got really out of my comfort-zone and spent ages trying to find something that would fit in the middle gap. This one from MFT Stamps 'Sassy Pants Best Friends' was perfect as it was the right size and as this isn't a 'normal' design, fitted the card theme. I cut the stamp up into three and stamped with my MISTI, using Versafine Onyx ink. I then of course had to finish off with my Studio Katia pearls.
I've always loved finding new ways to 'stretch-out' my stamps and dies to get my monies worth. Hopefully this idea will get you thinking about your own, especially if your sitting at home in lockdown and its been extended!!!
I'll be back again tomorrow with yet another rainbow/geometric design using the same dies but in a completely different way.
Stay home and stay safe!!
Shona
xxx
Hi everybody!! Hope lockdown is treating you well wherever you are in the world and that you haven't been too affected by the virus. We have had 13 people die in our country (New Zealand) and all of them elderly, which is so horrible. I can't imagine what it must be like for those of you that have lost friends and family (not only to the virus) at this time and not being able to have a proper funeral. My heart goes out to you.
Even though its been my dream to have weeks of crafting time for years, I actually haven't made as many cards as I thought I would. So many things to think about, its hard to concentrate I find.
However, all I can say is THANK GOODNESS for the internet and social media, as I've seen many things that have made me laugh, made me embarass myself (learning Tik Tok dances) and helped with my basketball skills. I've also been catching up on YouTube videos by some of my favourite crafters and was inspired to go thru all my cardstock scraps and get 'rainbow creative'!!
So over the next week I'll be sharing cards that have taken me 4 weeks to put together. I've had coffee cups filled with cardstock strips all over the lounge room for a month and vacuumed countless times because of my mess. I've enjoyed the long process though and hope you like what I've come up with!
Laura Bassen of Doublestick Heaven has always been the 'rainbow' and 'geometric' Queen to me.I love every single one of her designs and still want to be her when I grow up! I've watched so many of her videos over lockdown and been inspired to get creative with some scraps:
I've always had a love affair with geometric shapes, especially triangles. No idea why but they tickle my fancy. So I knew after watching Laura's videos I had to find some triangle dies.
These dies are actually from the Neat and Tangled 'Triangle Box Die set' and they are for cutting paper etc to put on the front of the box. I put my scrap CS into colour sets, making pairs of light and dark. I cut the lighter colours with the smaller triangle, darker colours with the larger. I then just glued the little ones on top.
I spent FOREVER working on this design, taking a million photos of the shapes, layout etc but finally decided on this. I glued the triangles to white CS scraps first, cut out closely to the edges and then adhered to pieces of white foam. These were glued to the card fronts and the over-hang cut off. All I had to do then was stamp the sentiment (from The Stamp Market 'One of a Kind'), which fitted perfectly in-between, and glue on some Studio Katia Pearls.
Rainbow patterns always make me smile and I really hope this does the same for you. Its a gloriously sunny day here so I'm off to practice my basketball skills again. Might even get the kids to video my new trick I've been working on every, single, day......
Please stay home and stay safe!!
Shona
