Hi there, have just been running around the yard with our Golden Retriever Bella while Remy the kitten watched. She is so curious and even tried to join in but Bella keeps standing on her because she doesn't realise how huge she is. So glad Remy has fitted in with our family perfectly and we all love her to bits!!
I wanted to share another card with you made using the recently released Uniquely Creative - Stamp and Colour Kit - Oriental. It has the most gorgeous stamp set and the die is incredible. There are a lot of options too for add-on products like stamp sets and dies. When I saw the Koi fish on one of the add-on sets I immediately knew I wanted to have a play with some alcohol inks:
I had so much fun doing the background for this card. I recently saw a video by Jennifer McGuire where she showed off the New Release Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks and a new air blower tool, which would be so much better than me blowing my guts out through my straw. Makes me very lightheaded!!
I started by stamping the fish and lily pads from the Add-On set 'Best Wishes' using Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS. I then coloured them with my Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. Unfortunately I didn't have access to any of the dies with this release but there are matching dies available.
On a piece of Tim Holtz Yupo paper I added some Ranger 'Pistachio' and 'Aqua' alcohol inks, along with some Ranger Blending Solution and blew with my straw. I kept adding and blowing until I was happy with the pattern, and then left it to dry.
I cut a panel of black CS and adhered to the card front and then popped the alcohol panel up on some black foam. The lily pads were glued to the panel and the koi put on foam tape for dimension. The sentiment (from the same stamp set) was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS and put on foam tape, along with some 'Mint Rhinestones'.
I still have a few more cards to share with you using this kit. Will have to see if I can get my hands on the dies as well, especially the one that comes with the kit itself. I feel some shopping coming on.....
Take care
Shona
Hi there and hope your having a more exciting week than me. I've been home the past three days with Max. He is sick AGAIN (was sick for two weeks back at the beginning of Feb with a cold and ear infection), this time he has another cold but also sinnitus, so its another week off school for him. Thank goodness a lot of their school work is done online these days so he can try to keep up. And its given me time to catch up with housework etc, which has been fantastic.
A new month means a new theme for The Flower Challenge which is everyone's favourite 'Anything Goes', so I'm expecting the Gallery to be overloaded with floral goodness.
Our Sponsor for this challenge is one of our wonderful Design Team members Rachel. She is an incredible artist and has started her own Etsy store Rachel Vass Designs. The digital floral images are gorgeous and she is giving two images to the winner of this challenge.
Rachel also very generously gave us all a chance to use some of her images for our cards this month and it was so hard to choose:
I haven't been using digital images on my cards for very long but I'm loving how you can print them out and colour straight away. No need to worry about smudging ink or stamping them properly. Its goof proof!!
I started by printing the 'Handtied Bouquet' digital image on some white CS and colouring with my Altenew Artist Markers. I was lucky enough to find a die from MFT Stamps 'Blueprints #27' that fit around the image perfectly. I added a panel of black CS to the card front and then put the floral image on top with some white foam.
For the sentiment I die-cut the MFT Stamps 'Words for Friends' die (Retired) from black CS 3x, glued them together with Gina K Connect Glue and then to the card front, using a t-ruler to keep them straight. I then white heat embossed the sentiment (from MFT Stamps 'Kind Words' (Retired) on a strip of black CS and glued in place, along with some pearls from Studio Katia.
You have until Wednesday 25th March to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and we will be back on the 15th March with a few more projects to inspire you. Can't wait to see all your floral designs!!
Take care
Shona
Hi everyone, I'm trying to type this post with Remy the kitten balanced on my lap. She used to be so tiny two months ago but she eats like there's no tomorrow which explains how huge she is now!! She has definitely become my kitten, just like Minnie did two years ago, so I quite often have them fighting over me. Its so nice to be loved!!
I'm on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today with another Christmas card for my stash. I'm determined not to run out this year:
Everywhere I look these days I see cards made with cardstock strips. They are so gorgeous and very clever, so thought I would give it a go. I need to work a bit more on my precision as my strips got a bit of a lean happening towards the bottom but hopefully you don't notice it too much.....
I gathered up all the blue CS I had and used my Tim Holtz trimmer to cut a few strips from each one. I think next time I will cut panels from each colour the same size and decide on the exact width of each strip, to make sure its straighter next time. I cut a panel of white CS, covered it with a piece of Rosie's Studio Double-sided Adhesive Sheets and pressed the strips on, just adding the colours randomly. Once finished I cut the panel down so it was slightly smaller than the card front.
Using images from the 'Bring on the Snowflakes' stamp set, I white heat embossed them over the panel. Once I had finished I immediately put it under something heavy to help keep it from warping. While that flattened, I white heat embossed the 'Noel' from the 'Joy' stamp set on the darkest blue CS I used with the strips. I then fussy cut around the outside. All I had to do then was put the strip panel on some white foam and then used foam tape to add the sentiment. And I glued on some 'Arctic Breeze' pearls from Studio Katia.
This is a great way to use up some CS scraps and you can use any colour combination you want!! If your thinking you need to purchase some more Christmas stamps, don't forget to use my special code in the CFS Shop to save yourself 15%!!
Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll be back later in the month with some more card ideas for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.
Take care
Shona
