Some gorgeous spring images for you to work with for this week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.
My card uses two stamp sets - Colourful Seasons and Timeless Textures. I sponged some Powder Pink Ink on to the middle of the white cardstock and added some stamps from Timeless Textures - the blue ink is from Kaisercraft called Lagoon. I also used Berry Burst for the flowers. I added some clear butterflies and added some pearls in pink and blue. Some ribbon and the sentiment in the same Lagoon finishes off the card.
The Challenge over at Global Design Project this week is a Case the Designer challenge. The card on offer is very similar to one I did last week so I thought I'd better not replicate that one and try and do something different. Here's the challenge card:
Here's the card I did last week - quite similar.
I steered away from the Share What You Love papers and had a look to see what other current papers I had I could use and found my Wood Textures DSP. I've added some Burlap Ribbon and cut out a frame for the sentiment with the Stitched Framelits. The Sentiment is from Colourful Seasons and I've added the branch from the matching Seasonal Layers framelits and a cute little button with some linen thread.
I love to play around with different fold cards and this one was inspired by the fabulous Dawn Griffith - love it! As I've 'borrowed' this idea from Dawn I'm including this card in the As You See It challenge this week - their theme is Something Borrowed. My Card is also going into the TGIF challenge #tgifc157 this week which is a Tic Tac Toe challenge - I love these challenges! - so much to choose from: I'm using the pink, pearls, flowers for the top row. I've also used the colours suggested by the Color Throwdown challenge this week - this gorgeous image is apparently of a cafe in London - wow I've never been but as London is only an hour away from me it's definitely on my wish list now.
I've used Stampin Up Powder Pink card stock for the base along with some Very Vanilla and Perfect Plum for the cut out of the chair sponged with Perfect Plum round the edges. The chair has been layered on to papers cut with the Stitched Framelits. The backing paper which is so pretty and has all of the colour choices in it is from a stack called Once Upon A Time by Craft Sensations. Such a pretty paper. I've used Colourful Seasons for the stamping and the sentiment is from Feather Together stamped in Pear Pizazz. I've added some basic pearls to the flowers which are from the matching framelits for Colourful Seasons.
This is the inside of the card which has been stamped in Regal Rose and Soft Suede with the Sentiment from Beautiful You. This card is winging its way to my sister-in-law for her birthday- I hope she likes it.
I'm also including this card in the Make My Monday #69 challenge which is In The Garden.
I am loving being on the Design Team for Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge blog - and what a fabulous inspirational photo we have for you today for our Inspirational Challenge #IC288
I chose to go with the robin - one of my favourite birds, and not only around at Christmas time but all year round. I have three very territorial robins in my garden - always flitting in and out of the apple trees.
I've used two sets here for my card - one is an old SU set Touch of Nature - the bird was stamped and then fussy cut out and the background is made from the leaf stamp from this set. The rest came from Colourful Seasons and the matching Seasonal Layers Thinlets. A touch of Copper Metallic Thread is added to the side of the card. The colours I've used are Melon Mambo, Pear Pizazz and an old SU colour Pretty in Pink.
It's been a while since I joined in with the Global Design Project challenge - this week their challenge is a colour challenge and I only just sneaked in with a few hours to spare.
I love this colour combination - Tranquil Tide has never really been one of my go to greens even though I love the colour green so I am partial to a challenge that makes me use it.
There are a ton of inspirational cards out there for the Stampin Up Colourful Seasons set and although I love this chair which comes with the matching framelits I haven't used it an awful lot. I've used it here in Tranquil Tide with a wash of Wink of Stella. I've used the stamp for the background inks from Painter's Palette. The Crumb Cake was stamped off so it looks a little softer as my Night of Navy ink is actually over 10 years old so not quite as bright as it should be! I've used the little stamp from Bookcase Builder to make the grass at the bottom of the chair and the little dots from the same set to stamp around the outside. The sentiment from Colourful Seasons is stamped in Crumb Cake and some rhinestones finish it off. I'm not a lover of sayings finishing in a full stop which a lot of Stampin Up ones seem to do so I nearly always cover it with some sort of embellishment. The butterfly is one I had in my stash that had been punched out with one of the SU butterfly punches, now retired.
Well I can definitely say my card today has colours I wouldn't normally use or put together - but they were chosen as this week's challenge at The Paper Players -and after all isn't that what challenges are all about. I have lots of different coloured card stock, inks and ribbons that hardly get used so its good to challenge yourself, especially out of your usual colours.
These are lovely colours though and the image is so inspiring, but sadly I didn't have any stamps that looked like lavender so I went with Colourful Seasons. I didn't actually have Wisteria Wonder ink but substituted it for an old SU colour Almost Amethyst which is very similar.
I used my water brush to soften the colours and used Elegant Eggplant top and bottom with the Almost Amethyst in the middle. The deckchair was inked in Early Espresso and Tranquil Tide as was the sentiment. A popped up flower with some purple embellishments was added. I layered it onto Tranquil Tide and then Wisteria Wonder card stock which I did have. I finished it off with some Tranquil Tide ribbon and a wash of Wink of Stella - just to make it sparkle. I think these colours give this more of an autumnal feel for this deckchair rather than summer.
One of the things I liked about living in Houston for a few years was Thanksgiving in November. This is such a lovely Holiday - where everyone comes together and just gives thanks. Sadly although other American traditions have come over to the UK this one hasn't yet. Although my family and I carried the tradition on when we moved back home. The challenge over at SU Only challenges this week is a nod to this sentiment and their theme is Being Thankful. The challenge over at Global Design Project is to case their card. I've used the autumnal colours and the thank you as my inspiration. Crafty Calender Challenge is a new challenge to me and they are looking for Autumn Colours. I had just been using this retired SU set Autumn Days for another challenge and it is one of my favourites with the pheasant so I decided to use it for this challenge.
I used two old SU inks for this too - More Mustard and Really Rust. The sentiment is from Feather Together and the leaves are from Colourful Seasons.
I've been busy making
lots of little boxes lately using the Merry Little Labels set and the matching punch. #christmaspunch.
The boxes are very simple to make and I've done a quick tutorial to show you how easy they are. They can be left open at the top or closed as in the Christmas example below.
This example uses Crumb Cake as the base and stamped with leaves from Colourful Season and Jar of Love. The jar was cut out of the front using the Jar of Love Framelits and then stamped over it with the jar image. The lid was added on an embellishment. Clear Acetate has been put behind the jar and then you can fill it with all sorts of goodies - I've added some of our Sequin Assortment. The leaf has been made with the Seasonal Layers Thinlets. The tag has used the cut out of the jar and I've stamped one of the sentiments from Merry Little Labels on it and added some Linen Thread to the top.
This is a slightly different example using Old Olive as the cardstock. The leaf has been cut into the front. I've used the same leaves from Colourful Seasons to stamp on the cardstock with Versamark. A brad attached the label which has been punched out with the new matching punch - #christmaspunch.
This is a Christmas version using Night of Navy and Silver Embossing Powder. I've used the snowflakes from Colourful Seasons and a touch of Metallic Edge Ribbon in silver. The Let It Snow is a perfect accompaniment and looks so lovely embossed in silver.
I'm adding my boxes into the following challenges:
SU Only challenge - which is asking us to use our favourite punches or dies
I am so in love with this little project - do you know when you just do something and just like it straight away - this is how I feel about this Squashed Card - not sure what else to call it really. I found something similar on a youtube tutorial ages ago and put it in my "to do" file - sadly I can't find the original author. I've done two examples - both baby cards which is not like me but I wanted to play with the bookcase builder and thought it would be great for this project.
I've done a pink version and a blue version. The sentiment on the front is from Colourful Seasons and it is just the perfect sentiment for this card. I think from the outside it looks quite plain until you open it up. You can do this type of card any size you like as long as you use a square piece of cardstock - mine started out as a 6" x 6" square.
I've used the Color Theory Designer Series Papers for both - the blues I've used Pacific Point and Crumb Cake for the Teddy. The blue ribbon is one of our gorgeous new ribbons - Stitched Edge Pacific Point.
The Pinks I have used the DSP also and Powder Pink and Berry Burst inks. Also a touch of enamel dots on both cards. The pink ribbon is Double Stitched Blushing Bride - another new ribbon.
I'm adding the pink one into The Paper Players challenge this week which is Tic Tac Toe and luckily mine fits the bill.
I'm also adding this into the As You See It Challenge - they want to know how you get your mojo back. I get mine my trawling through the internet and looking and listening to videos - it helps to listen to a voice when I'm on my own in my craft room - a voice other than mine that is!
Here's the video tutorial - I hope you make some and let me know if you do.
It's another Christmas in July offering from WWC this week - although last week's challenge wasn't Christmas we still had some Christmas entries so I'm guessing a lot of Crafters have Christmas on their minds. Do them all early and avoid the rush - that's what I say.
My card this week uses Colourful seasons and Foxy Friends. I don't actually have any Christmas stamps from the new catalogue yet - the ones I had retired and I'm waiting for the new Winter catalogue to come out before I purchase any new ones. So I've used what I have which are these two stamp sets. I love reindeers on Christmas cards so my foxy has become a reindeer! I've clear embossed the stars with white embossing powder onto Night of Navy cardstock. The reindeer was stamped with Soft Suede and a lovely bright red Enamel Shape for his nose. The band of paper is from the new set of DSP - Color Theory Designer pack. Some Basic Rhinestones dotted about and a touch of our new shiny ribbon in silver finishes off the card. I look forward to seeing what you do - do pop by and see the other members of the Design Team and leave a comment - we love to hear from you. HAPPY CRAFTING
As part of our Stampin Up Team we organise a monthly card swap with themes. The Theme this month was Disney - difficult for me. I am well aware of the copyright issues also with Disney themed products and know that you can't sell them on - although it does surprise me when I see them at shows or on Etsy etc.
Luckily though our cards for the swap do not get sold so we are fine to play around with the theme. I got my inspiration from Pinterest from Lyssa Griffin Zwolanek who had made similar as party invites for her daughter. Just in case you haven't guessed it its the dress from Frozen! Luckily my children are grown so I haven't really had the pleasure of this Disney film - well I admit my 24 year old daughter made me watch it when it came out and I wasn't that impressed - must be my age. But I love this dress - I've used the snowflakes from Colourful Seasons. Bermuda Bay ink and Cardstock and Pool Party Cardstock. I've also used Silver Embossing powder, some Basic Rhinestones and some of our Organza Ribbon. I hope my swap partner likes my effort. Phew - this was tricky.
I recently saw a fellow Demo Liz Shannon do a lovely tutorial on inlaid boxes. I actually collect old inlaid boxes and have quite a few so this idea was right up my street. I tried the one Liz did with the gorgeous Wood Textures DSP and the framelit from Colourful Seasons but I also wanted to have a play with my own twist on it.
I used the butterfly from Bold Butterfly framelits to make my second box. The You Tube tutorial is below.
The measurements for these boxes are very simple -
Cardstock 6" x 6" x 2 pieces. On one of the 6x6 pieces cut two sides ever so slightly less than 6" - it just helps the top of the box to fit nicely on top.
Score both sheets at 1 1/4" on all four sides. Cut up to score lines as normal and glue. Simple!
I hope you have fun making these boxes. All supplies can be purchased direct from my store - click on the button below.
And don't forget about the fabulous Special Offer during July - BONUS DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN - SPEND IN JULY AND GET FREE GOODIES IN AUGUST
Its a colour challenge over at Global Design Project this week - click on the image to be taken to their Blog.
I love these three colours together - two are of the new In-Colours and I think its not surprise to regulars to my blog that I love the Lemon Lime Twist. I chose to use it as my background layer cardstock too in this simple card
The deckchairs were stamped in Soft Suede and then the three colours used for the seats. I won't be off on my holidays until September so until then I can just imagine sitting in one of these chairs and relaxing. I've added a Glitter Enamel dot to the end of the saying - I'm not sure if its just me but I actually don't like full stops at the end of sentiments so I like to cover them up with glitter dots.
I'm the hostess for the challenge this week at Watercooler Wednesday and this week is a Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge. I don't actually have any masculine stamp sets per se so had to think outside the box for this one a bit. I chose Bookcase Builder as I love all the images in that set and lots of them could be for a masculine theme. Here I've taken two blue coloured cardstocks for the layers and stamped the stag head from the set just randomly over Soft Sky card stock with Basic Gray ink. A touch of red for the heart just lifts the images a bit. I've used the Stitched Framelits for the sentiment and the sentiment comes from Colourful Seasons. Hubby is going to get this one one day when he's least expecting it because he does still make me smile, even after 36 years together. Maybe I'll put it in with his lunch and embarass him at work - what do you think?
For all the challenge details and to share your project, visit Watercooler Wednesday Challenge by clicking the image at the top of the page. We'd love to have you join us.
