Sunday 31 July 2016

Altenew Challenge - July (2nd entry)

While I was creating my first entry for the Altenew Challenge yesterday, I started coming up with a new idea and couldn't get it out of my head until I finished it last night!!



Since I had already created a card with water colouring, I thought I could make one with some stamping instead:
 


I cut a panel of white CS smaller than the card front and added an angled piece of gold spotted vellum (from Rosies Studio) to it. To capture the yellow I adhered a strip of yellow CS (from DCWV) to the card front along one edge and popped the panel up on foam tape. 

The peony flower (from Altenew 'Peony Bouquet') was stamped using Waffle Flower 'Safe Choice' and Hero Arts Shadow Ink 'Bubblegum'. The leaves were stamped with Waffle Flower 'Chirp Chirp' and Hero Arts Shadow Ink 'Field Greens'. I fussy cut them out, glued the leaves behind the flower and then popped them up on foam tape so they hung over the side.

I used the sentiment from Altenew 'Beautiful Day' stamp set on a strip of white CS and popped up on foam tape as well, along with some gold sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

I'm going to link this to three other challenges:

Uniko Challenge # 34 




Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge  (Anything Goes)





Simon Says Stamp - Work It Wednesday  (use August Birthstone Peridot (Green) which is the leaves on my card)



Just back from the park. The wind is so cold but still had fun playing soccer with the kids. We had to stop at my Mum's house on the way back to pick up a chicken. She realised this morning while making scones that there is something wrong with the thermostat of her oven (the scones had very burnt bottoms!!), so I'm cooking the chicken here with roast veges and will pick her and the dessert up later on. Lucky we don't live far away from each other!!

Take care
Shona
 

Altenew Challenge - July

Hi everybody!! As usual I'm slipping into a challenge with a few hours to spare. How unusual.....not!!


I haven't joined in with the Altenew Challenge for a while and thought that since I finally have some new stamps of theirs, I better get a wriggle on and start creating!!

The colours stumped me a little, which is strange because they are natural floral colours but I wanted to show them in not such an obvious way:




It was a horrible, cold and wet day yesterday so had a lot of fun stamping and heat embossing the flowers in gold and water colouring with my Gansai Tambi paints. After fussy cutting them out, I used my mini-blending tool and Waffle Flower 'Chirp Chirp' ink to create a soft green background on the card front.

As this is a 'Wedding' theme, I wanted to add something intricate pattern-wise, as it reminds me of the dress itself and other elements with the decorations that are usually used for a wedding. I die-cut the Waffle Flower 'Lacy Flower' die' from a soft yellow paint chip and adhered to the card front. I then put the Altenew 'Beautiful Day' flower straight on to the die and then popped the Altenew 'Peony Bouquet' flower up on foam tape. 

I don't have many Altenew sentiments but this one from the 'Beautiful Day' stamp set seemed 'Wedding' appropriate, so stamped on a strip of white CS and put on foam tape as well. And of course a few Pretty Pink Posh gold sequins tied it all together.

I have three other challenges I would like to enter:

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge (Anything Goes)


Simon Says Stamp - Work it Wednesday Challenge 
(use August gemstone colour Peridot (green) which is in the background)



Uniko Studio Challenge # 34



I got so carried away with using the Altenew flowers yesterday I made a second card, so will get that on my blog now before I miss the deadline. We have lots of sun today but the wind feels like its coming straight off snow. Going to the park to play soccer with Max and Phoebe but will definitely need to rug up first. Nice to get out of the house though!!

Take care
Shona


 

Friday 29 July 2016

Little Tangles Challenge # 70 - Entry No. 2

I'm REALLY sliding in here this time with this entry, so this post will be really brief I'm afraid....




This is the inspiration for the Little Tangles challenge this month and the colours are so Summery and fresh (unlike my weather now.....). For this second entry I concentrated on the colours again but with a retro twist:


I stamped the Neat and Tangled 'Faceted' stamp on some white CS and coloured with my pencils, inspired by the green, blue, red and orange contained in the photo.  I then used the Waffle Flower Inverted Flower Die to cut out a portion of it, glued the outer part of the die to the card and then popped the middle part up on foam tape. I thought the outside pattern of the middle piece was very much like an umbrella shape.

I stamped the sentiment (from the same stamp set) on a strip of white CS, popped up on foam tape and added some sequins (also from Neat and Tangled).

I'm going to link this to the 30 Day Colouring Challenge. I haven't been able to colour as much as I had hoped but have enjoyed it each its been possible, like today!!

 

I'm off to run and link this up right now, fingers crossed I make it!!!!

Take care
Shona

Little Tangles Challenge # 70

I'm whipping in here with a few hours to spare, so I can join the Little Tangles  challenge this month!

This month they have given us some inspiration from Pinterest in the form of this Summery photo:


All that cool, blue water looks divine against the bright umbrellas and fresh, green grass. Its sunny here today but definitely not swimming weather in the middle of Winter!!

I decided to be inspired by the colours in this photo and grabbed some ink pads:

As you can see by my photo, there isn't a whole lot of sun here at this time of year but at least it isn't raining and frosty!!

I stamped floral images from Neat and Tangled 'Scandinavian Prints' on some white CS using red, green, orange and blue inks (the red is from Altenew 'Crimson' and the other colours from Waffle Flower 'Chirp Chirp', 'Daydreaming' and 'Oh Happy Day'), and then black ink for the flower details. After fussy cutting them all out, I used double sided tape and foam tape to arrange the flowers around the sentiment (from the same stamp set) so there was dimension with the design. I added a few sequins from Pretty Pink Posh for a little shine and that was it. 

I'm also going to link this to three other challenges:

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge (Anything Goes)

 

Uniko Studio Challenge # 34 (CAS Floral)


AAA Card Challenge # 69 (one favourite stash item - mine is fussy cutting scissors)


Whew, didn't think I would get this done in time. The joys of being a last minute crafter but I don't find I get really good ideas if I have heaps of time. Am I the only one who does this??? 

Off to take the dogs for a walk. I have another card thats half finished for this challenge too but I don't think it will get finished in the next two hours. Will have to see how fast I can make the dogs run......

Take care
Shona
 

Just Add Ink Challenge # 322

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to a new challenge at Just Add Ink! We have a fantastic colour combo for you this week:



I get a little scared when I see brown in a colour combo, as I don't use it much at all but suddenly realised that brown is used in more than just ink and card stock. For example tree branches:


The idea of tree branches gave me the chance to use a stamp set that has been sitting looking at me for the past few weeks!!

I cut a panel of white CS and stamped the branch using Altenew 'Dark Chocolate' ink. I then stamped the solid flower images using Waffle Flower 'Safe Choice' and then the second layer in Waffle Flower 'Happy Go Lucky'. Unfortunately the camera didn't pick up the layering details (which look great in person) so need to keep this in mind when using pale colours again with this set.

I adhered the panel to a slightly larger black CS panel and then to the card front. The sentiment was heat embossed in white on a strip of black CS and popped up on foam tape. And for a bit of interest I added some very pale pearls to the centre of each flower.

The floral stamps are from Altenew 'Vintage Flowers', as is the sentiment but from a freebie from a craft magazine. 

I'm going to link this to the Uniko Studio Challenge # 34 where their theme is 'CAS Flowers'.


And will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.


You have until next Wednesday August 3rd to link your projects to the Just Add Ink and if you need any help in the 'ideas' department the rest of the Design Team have some stunning projects on the blog just for you. Looking forward to seeing your creations in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

Wednesday 27 July 2016

Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge # 204

Morning everyone and welcome to another challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More! Our theme for this weeks challenge is one of my favourites:




Your know I love lots of white space on my cards so always look forward to this one. Clean and simple means a project with very few embellishments, maybe one-layer and lots of open space. Can't wait to see what you make!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Happy Little Stampers and they are offering a $15 gift certificate to the winner. Yippee!!


The idea for my card today came from the amazing Francine Vuilleme of 1001 Cartes. She made a video here for My Favourite Things showing a technique of pencil colouring on kraft and then outlining the images with a white gel pen. Her card was incredible and I just had to give this a try:


This was so much fun to do  and I can't get over the extra interest the white gel pen gives to the card. I hardly ever use kraft CS but have now become rather addicted and have two other panels on the go with my pencils. So if you haven't seen the video, I really encourage you to check it out. And thank you so much Francine for the inspiration and technique!!!

So, to do this I cut a panel of kraft CS the same size as my card front. I stamped the images from the new release CAS-ual Fridays Stamps 'Spin the Dreidel' stamp set with black pigment ink. Once the ink was dry I used my Faber Castell Water Colour pencils to colour them in. I adhered the panel to the card front and then carefully drew around each dreidel with a white gel pen, sometimes more than once to make it really white.

To keep it simple (and I didn't want to cover up too much of my colouring) I stamped the sentiment from another CAS-ual Fridays Stamps new release stamp set 'Star of David' on a piece of kraft CS and added the white detail with my gel pen. I then popped it up on foam tape.

I'm also going to link this to the Virginia's View Challenge # 22 where its all about colour.

You have until Wednesday 3rd August to link your projects to the Addicted to Stamps and More! challenge and if you need any help with ideas the rest of the Design Team have some gorgeous cards on the blog. Looking forward to seeing your CAS designs in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

Monday 25 July 2016

CAS-ual Fridays July Girl Friday post

Hi everyone and welcome to my 'Girl Friday' day on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog.




For my card today I wanted to try out a stamp and die set I hadn't used before and try to keep it CAS:


To start off I die-cut the three different star sizes of Stars Fri-Dies from DCWV 'Brights/Pastels' CS pad. I also die-cut the large star from the card front and added a panel of white CS behind it. Because I'm not very good at eyeing up the middle of things, I die-cut the middle sized star from the middle of the large star, and the small star from the middle sized star. Hope that makes sense.....

I inlaid the mint large star into the card front. I then die-cut two more middle sized stars from white CS, glued them together with the yellow star on top and inlaid into the mint star. To make the small star stand out even more, I die-cut the small star 3x from white CS, glued them all together with the pink on top and inlaid into the yellow star. This gives it lots of dimension and makes sure the stars are lined up perfectly. 

To finish off I stamped the sentiment from the Twinkle stamp set in black and added clear, pale pink and pale yellow sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.


If your inspired to do a bit of shopping at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps don't forget to use my special code to save yourself 15%!!!


Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fantastic week with lots of crafting squeezed in somewhere I hope!!

Take care
Shona

 

Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge - Take 2!!

Maybe its the fact we are in the middle of Winter here in New Zealand but I don't seem to be able to stop making 'aquatic' and 'beach' themed cards at the moment. Must be wishful thinking!!!!



Over at the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge they have a 'Nautical/By the Sea' theme and after recently colouring some flamingos, I thought I would have a go at creating a beach scene:



I'm not usually one for creating a scene or filling up a whole card panel but realised that with the palm tree's I had stamped I could somehow make an island and it sort of went from there....

I used my mini-blending tool and some 'Salty Ocean' Distress Ink to create the water along the bottom of the card front. The flamingo's were stamped on white CS, coloured with pencils and die-cut using the matching dies. 

For the island, I used a circle die and cut it in half. I then used the blending tool again and some Waffle Flower 'Coffee Loves Milk' ink to create the sand colour. I adhered it to my card and cut off the overhang. I had already stamped and die-cut the palm tree's so glued them into place and popped the flamingo's up on foam tape. 

I then used a die for the first time to cut out the sun from a yellow paint chip, glued it in place, stamped the sentiment and some sequins. So happy with my first ever 'beach' card and I'm sure it was the cuteness of these flamingo's that got me creating this card so differently!!

The stamps and dies are from Lawn Fawn 'Flamingo Together'. The circle die is from Waffle Flower 'Flower Circles Die Set'. The sun die is from Hero Arts and the sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

I have three other challenges I would like to enter:

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge  (Things with Wings)



Simon Says Stamp - Work It Wednesday (Dies/Stencils)

 
Virginia's View Challenge # 22




Better go and get ready! Its early Monday morning and we are off to Nelson soon (a city about 1.5hrs away). Phoebe has an orthodontist appt early Tuesday morning so we are going to spend the day there today and stay the night. Lots of things to do and see (shopping, indoor pool etc) and as we don't get away very often it will be nice to have a change of scenery. And of course I have to pack everything so better hop to it!!

Take care
Shona
 


Sunday 24 July 2016

Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge

Happy Weekend everyone, hope yours are all going swimmingly and your either swimming in the sun or wrapped up against the cold (like myself right now....). I've been trying to do some more colouring of late inspired by Miss Kathy and her 30 Day Colouring Challenge at The Daily Marker.


I really enjoy colouring with my Faber Castell Water Colour pencils, they seem to have a better finish for me than the plain pencils for some reason but hardly ever add water to them!!

I decided it was time to break out some Mermonkeys and a new die to create a little underwater 'selfie':


I started off by stamping the mermonkey, seaweed and clam images on some white CS and coloured with my pencils. I then used the co-ordinating dies to cut them out and glued the claim in place. The photo frame was die-cut twice from white CS and also cut another piece the same size as the frame. I glued the two frames together to give it more stability and then used my mini-blending tool and Distress Ink 'Mermaid Lagoon' to colour the panel blue. I then flicked with water to create a watery look. 

The die-cut images were glued in place on the blue panel and I stamped the sentiment in black on the photo frame. It was then popped up on foam tape and some aqua and clear sequins added. The selfie was then adhered to a white card front. Its certainly a much better selfie than any I've taken of myself!!

The stamps are from Waffle Flower 'Little Mermaids' as well as the frame 'Insta Love'. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.

I have four challenges I would like to link this too:

Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge (Nautical/By the Sea) which inspired this card theme!!




AAA Card Challenge # 69 - my favourite stash item being my beloved sequins


 

Simon Says Stamp - Work it Wednesday  (Wafer thin dies/stencils)



30 Day Colouring Challenge - The Daily Marker 


Off to take the kids to the library. Both of them have been very sick the last few days with a cold, Max especially. Not the best way to spend the second week of the holidays. They both should be back at school tomorrow but we are off to Nelson to spend the night as Phoebe has an Orthodontist appt early Tuesday morning. Hopefully Max will be okay, I'm sure he will perk up once we go shopping etc. Thought it would be good to get them out of the house for a few minutes for a change of scenery so fingers crossed we don't get blown away in the high winds!!

Take care
Shona
 


 

 

Thursday 21 July 2016

Time Out Challenge # 62

Hi there and welcome to a new challenge at TIME OUT! Have just voted for our last challenge, boy its getting harder and harder to choose. The Gallery was stunning with 'sunshiny' cards, thank you all for joining in! Your going to love this challenge theme, we have a photo for you:

                                                 HOME SWEET HOME

 
Isn't this photo brilliant??!! There are so many different ideas and inspiration here from frames, rainbows, red and white etc. The Gallery is going to be overflowing for this one I bet!!

Our Guest Designer for this challenge is Stephanie of My Ink Well. Her cards are stunning and I'm so jealous of her ability to create gorgeous CAS designs and then layered creations. I really encourage you to pop over and take a look at her blog!!

For my card, the first thing that caught my eye was of course the rainbow but I then looked at all the frames on the wall and my design evolved:


I love geometric patterns and spent ages trying to put these black frames together on my card.

I don't actually own any dies this size BUT I realised that I could create these frames by putting two other dies together. I used the Waffle Flower 'Instalove' dies, pairing up the smallest and medium size, and then the medium and large sizes, putting the smallest in the middle. This created the frames from black CS and also left me with a whole lot of 'Instalove' frames I can use for another card!!

I adhered the larger frames to the card front and then popped the smaller ones up on foam tape. For the 'hello' (from Simon Says Stamp), I worked out where the word would cut into a piece of white CS and then used a rainbow of pencils to colour it in. Then all I had to do was die-cut the word, along with two more from white CS, glue them together and then to my card. I also added some Glossy Accents on top for shine.

You have two weeks to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge and the rest of the Design Team (and our GD Stephanie) have some inspiration projects on the blog for you, to help with ideas. I can't wait to see what you come up with in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 
 

Sunday 17 July 2016

Calling all Sistahs - July Blog Hop

Its the 17th of the month so what does that mean??? Time to get grabbing and feeling those boobs and make sure you feel nothing different from last month!!


If your following the Blog Hop list you will have arrived here from the talented Rahmat's Blog who I'm sure amazed you with her project!!

If this is your first time on Blog Hop, it was created by Michele (Owner of CAS-ual Fridays Stamps) to help and remind us all to self check our breasts and hopefully catch any problems early. Its not something I ever did before this blog hop, so if you were like me and didn't know what to do, here is a video to help you out. And we will be back every month on the 17th to remind you to do it!!

For my card I decided a little stamping and die-cutting was in order. And also used one of my favourite colour combos:




There is just something fresh and modern about pink and grey together, and is a nice change from my usual white card base.

Because I wasn't sure I could match up the stamp and die-cut perfectly, I cut a piece of grey CS slightly bigger than the card front and die-cut the 'Ruffled Ribbon Fri Die' from it. I then stamped the 'Hope Ribbon' using Hero Arts Shadow Ink 'Bubblegum'. This way I could adhere the grey panel (with foam tape) over the ribbon image and cut away the overhang. 

Using my mini blending tool and the same ink, I added some colour to some white CS and die-cut the 'Hope Fri Die' from it. I also die-cut two more from white CS, glued them all together and then over the ribbon. Lots of Wink of Stella was brushed over it and then Glossy Accents. And of course a couple of clear and pink sequins from Pretty Pink Posh finished it off nicely.


 If you are wanting to buy any of these sets, any of the other Calling All Sistahs Collection or any CAS-ual Fridays Stamps products, your more than welcome to use my special Girl Friday code to help you save 15% on your order.


Your next person on this blog hop is the fabulous Susan of My Paper Dreamz who has not one but two gorgeous cards for you. If you want to start at the beginning or have lost your way, pop over to the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog to see the blog hop list. Look forward to seeing you next month and don't forget to check those breasts!!

Take care
Shona