Hi everybody!! I was so excited yesterday. It was very windy and cold day, and the kids were both busy with different projects, so I was able to create some cards 'just because'!!
I was lucky to get my hands on a few new stamp sets towards the end of last year but because I was so busy with work, I had no time or energy to try them out. One of them was from Altenew 'Geometric Flowers'. I was able to use one of the images to create some Christmas tree's but that was it. I knew there was much more fun to be had with this set!!
After playing around creating some different patterns (which I still have to colour), I grabbed my Distress Inks and thought I could create some pretty blended designs:
I cut four pieces of water colour CS and blended two Distress Ink colours together on each one. Once they were dry, I stamped and heat embossed the geometric image over top and heat embossed with Ranger 'Queens Gold'. The flowers were then fussy cut out and put on foam tape in the middle of the card front.
Unfortunately while stamping and heat embossing the 'hello' sentiment for the first time (from the same stamp set) I realised that the stamp has a cut through it which means it will never stamp perfectly. So disappointed but these things happen. Will contact the Altenew team and see if they are able to replace that single stamp for me, as making 'hello' cards are one of my favourites!!
The sentiment was fussy cut, put on foam tape over the flowers and some gold sequins added from Pretty Pink Posh for a bit more shine. Absolutely love how this turned out!!
I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
I have one more card to show you and then think I will go off to bed. Have been staying up quite late with the kids watching all sorts of movies. Its one of my favourite things to do in the holidays. I think the late nights have caught up with me though as its only 9.15pm and I can't keep my eyes open. Best get an early night as I have a gardening job tomorrow. Its only for two hours but its a very demanding garden so there will be lots to do!!
Take care
Shona
Hi there everybody and Happy New Year!!! I can't believe its 2017 already, last year was a blur, a very fabulous blur nonetheless. So many amazing things happened, one of which was my chance to join a new challenge at Happy Little Stampers starting this year.
That's right, a challenge just for water colouring....yippee!! Water colouring still seems to be one of the most popular ways to colour at the moment (and show's no sign of slowing down....), so having a challenge dedicated to it each month is fantastic!!
And of course you also have the chance to win a $15 discount to the Happy Little Stampers Shop each month too. How cool is that!!
I love water colouring but certainly wouldn't say I'm that good at it. I still have a lot to learn but at least I can enjoy it while I practice!! The optional twist for this month is to use a stencil, which is something I've never tried with my water colouring. So I thought what a better place to try it out:
My stencil pattern didn't come out at cleanly as I was hoping but I quickly grew to love the softness of the imperfect edges and decided it would make a great background.
I cut a piece of water colour CS with a stitched-edge die and adhered the stencil over top with some washi tape. I used a large rounded brush and my Gansai Tambi paint to brush overtop. I carefully removed the stencil and dried with my heat gun. It was then popped up on foam tape on the card front.
The flower and sentiment were stamped and heat embossed in gold on some water colour CS. I used my Gansai Tambi paints again to colour the flower and fussy cut both out. The flower was adhered straight to the panel with the sentiment put on foam tape. Some co-ordinating sequins were glued on for a bit of shine.
The die is from Studio Katia 'Stitched Creative Nested Squares'. The stencil is from Stamplorations 'Delicate Links', as well as the flower and sentiment stamps from the 'Blooming Buds' stamp set. The sequins are from Neat and Tangled.
I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
Will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Work It Wednesday Challenge where they are wanting you to use something new. My dies from Studio Katia are new and been waiting patiently for me to finally use them!!
You have the whole month to link your projects to the Happy Little Stampers - Watercolour Challenge - January and can enter as many times as you like. If your looking for any inspiration, please pop over to the Happy Little Stampers blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for you. I'm very lucky to be on a team with such incredibly talented women, we can all learn so much from them!!
Enjoy your water colouring and I'm looking forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery!!
Take care
Shona
Hi everyone!! This is a bittersweet post for me as I get to show you more of my Winnie and Walter December Leading Lady cards but its also my fifth and final post.
It has been a dream come true to have been featured on the Winnie and Walter blog each weekend this month. I've had so much fun creating with the new release and mixing with my already well-loved older products. Their stamps and dies are so well designed it makes it easy to create new cards with them and I already have some ideas on how to use their Christmas sets for other types of cards!
I owe a huge hug and thank you to Shay for giving me this opportunity and being so helpful and supportive.
And I need to give you all a big hug and thank you as well for all your fantastic feedback and support over these weeks. You guys rock!!
My theme for this post is 'one-layer' Christmas cards. I know that a lot of you are scared of one-layer designs but once you get the hang of it and realise what you can create, you will be making them all the time!! To find out how I created this card and three others, pop over to the Winnie and Walter blog.
And don't forget to leave a comment on this post and my four other Leading Lady blog posts for a chance to win a $30 gift card from Winnie and Walter!!
As its such a busy time of year, I'll give you all until January 7th to leave your comments and then choose a winner. So exciting!!
Thanks again everyone, I really hope you've enjoyed all my cards and I've inspired you to maybe try something new with your designs. Wishing you all a happy and crafty 2017!!
Take care
Shona
