Hi everybody!! Its extremely hot here again. I've just come inside after doing some gardening, so needed a sit down and a drink. The kids and I went to see an early screening of The Lego Movie 2. Was so cute and funny but think the kids are just too old for this type of movie now, which is a shame.
Last weekend I stayed with my Mum to hang out and make lots of cards. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Concord and 9th 'Turnabout Toolkit' from Krafters Cart, Auckland. It arrived on Saturday morning, so I spent most of Saturday afternoon/evening playing around with it.
Being someone who has never used a turnabout stamp before it was extremely handy and having the temporary glue and the jig make it so much easier (and very addicting....).
I absolutely loved the end result of the floral stamp that comes with the kit but didn't use it as you would think:
When I was stamping I realised that the middle of the image looked kind of cool, so die-cutting it out inspired these cards. Very different but love how they look!
For this card I combined Hero Arts 'Navy' Shadow Ink and Waffle Flower inks 'Daydreaming', 'Chirp Chirp' and 'New Fish in Pond' for the colour combo.
For this one I used Hero Arts 'Bubblegum' Shadow Ink and Waffle Flower inks 'Happy Go Lucky', 'Safe Choice' and 'Tickled Pink'.
After stamping out the turnabout images twice in both colours, I used the larger square die that comes in the kit to cut out the middle of each image. I chose a dark pink CS and a lime green CS and used the smaller square die to cut out two squares from each coloured CS. This left me with one for the sentiment and two frames which I glued on to each stamped square.
The stamped squares were adhered to the card fronts. The coloured squares were white heat embossed with sentiments from the kit stamp set and popped up on foam tape, along with sequins from Neat and Tangled.
Would love to hear what you think!! I have some more 'turnabout' cards to share with you over the next week or so and can definitely see this being used again and again. I got the 'Marble' turnabout stamp too and that one is amazing to experiment with. And the dies that come with the kit are super cool too!!
Think I might go and see if the kids want to go for a swim. I can hear our dog Bella panting away behind me, laying on the carpet. Will wet her with the hose to cool her down, which she doesn't like but I'm sure she appreciates the gesture. Will take her for a walk after dinner when its cooled down a bit. Supposed to be hot again all this week......I'm so happy to have the heat back!!
Take care
Shona
Its a gorgeous Saturday morning here and the sunshine has finally returned!! After a sweltering Monday/Tuesday, the temperature dropped significantly Wednesday and Thursday. I even slept in my Winter pjs!! Yesterday the sun started heating up again and we are just back from Max's tennis game looking all sweaty. I'm definitely a Summertime person, it has given me back a spring in my step!!
The current theme at the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge is 'Add some red'. I don't use the colour red on my cards very often but I recently purchased some Catherine Pooler 'Rockin Red' ink and I'm blown away by how good it is. Its so lovely and sticky and inking up a brand new rubber stamp it stamped perfectly on the very first try (something I've never seen an ink do before.....). So I guess this means I will have more red on my cards and will have to buy all the CP inks!
I couldn't let the stamping of my new rubber stamp go to waste so turned it into a card that would be perfect for Valentines Day:
Isn't this pattern amazing??!! This stamp is also from Catherine Pooler 'Angled Squares Background Stamp'. There are so many ways to use it and its also gorgeous just on its own.
The stamp itself is actually bigger than this but I wanted to use the square pattern as the central image so cut it down a bit. I wanted to cut out the middle square but realised that I still don't have a set of square dies, however, the square die from my recently purchased Concord and 9th 'Turnabout Toolkit' was absolutely perfect. I worked out where the opening would sit over the white card front and stamped the sentiment (with the same CP red ink) from a CP stamp set I completely forgot I had. Its called the 'Wild Bloom' stamp set and I purchased it second-hand AGES ago from Trade Me.
I cut two strips of red CS and glued to the top and bottom of the card front. The stamped panel was then popped over-top on foam tape. I added clear jewels from Studio Katia to the triangle points in the pattern for a subtle touch. And I also added two red sequins from Neat and Tangled, tucked up under the corners of the square to highlight the sentiment.
Better go put my washing out to make the most of the sunshine. I've got a lot of my own gardening to do this weekend, even though it hasn't rained for like 6-7 weeks, everything is growing at such a rapid rate I can't keep up with it all. I do enjoying pruning though, very satisfying chopping everything off and making things tidy!! Need to do the same with my craft area......
Take care
Shona
Hi there everyone!! Mother Nature has a lot to answer for at the moment, we've gone from 35 degree celcius days to 18 degree celcius days. I've been living in a tank top and shorts while gardening for weeks, so this is a very big shock to the system. Nearly had to pull out the thermals!! Although its not as cold as those poor people in the US with that crazy 'polar vortex', that must be excruciatingly cold, so I shouldn't complain should I.....
Nothing like Valentines Day to warm you up and we have this fantastic photo to inspire your heart-warming projects for the TIME OUT Challenge.
Our Sponsor for this challenge is Stamplorations and they are giving a $25 gift card to the winner!! Yay!
For my card I wanted it to be over-the-top sweet, with a bit of sparkle and lots of heart:
All of the stamps I used come from the Stamplorations set 'Romantic Expressions 3', which has so many gorgeous images for lovey-dovey cards!!
I knew I wanted a central image on my card, so decided to use the arrow stamp to create a frame. I used a pencil to mark the size of the sentiment stamp and eye-balled where to place the arrows. Its not perfect but really happy with how they look.
Using a Couture Creations Circle die set, I cut a small circle for the sentiment from white CS and a slightly bigger one from black CS. I stamped it using Hero Arts 'Bubblegum' Shadow ink, then with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with WOW! 'Clear Sparkle' Embossing Powder. This is how it looks close up:
I love this embossing powder because you can use it on anything to give it a bit of blingyness!!
I adhered the circles together and then popped them up on a circle (die-cut with the same circle die) of black foam for some dimension. And to finish off I glued on some sequins from Neat and Tangled.
I'm going to link this to the Stamplorations Never-ending Challenge which is for projects that use Stamplorations products.
You have until Wednesday 13th February to link your projects to the TIME OUT Challenge and for any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our amazing Guest Designer, the always incredible (and my very good friend) Coni of Which Craft? have created to inspire you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!!
Take care
Shona
