Summer time fun at Die Cut Divas.

It might be Summer in the Northern Hemisphere but it's Winter here in New Zealand.  Today is the last day of our June Challenge at Die Cut Divas where our theme has been Summer time fun.  

I have used an older Bugaboo image for my card today.  

Doesn't he look happy to be at the beach.  I used Zig Brush Markers to colour in my puppy.   I used a pretty tropical patterned paper to back my die cut panel.  I added a sentiment from Altenew and added some White Nuvo drops 

Purple Flowers.

Hi there.... I love Purple and today I'm sharing another iteration of Rachel Vass Designs Springtime Backgrounds - again in Purple but quite different to my first one (see it here)

This time I used Prismacolor pencils to colour up my flowers.  I did some that went from light to dark to colour the background.  The sentiment is one of the stripes I made the the other day with an Altenew set.  I trimmed it and backed it with the same green I used to matt the panel. 

I am so enjoying using these digi stamps.  Check out Rachel's designs here 

Hoping all my blog followers are keeping safe.  Things are really ramping up all round the world especially in the USA.  Even here in NZ we have 22 new cases - but all are returning New Zealanders in managed isolation/quarantine.  Everyone returning home has to go into managed isolation for 14 days - they get tested twice during this time.   Hoping and praying this does not get out into the community again. 

Quick and Simple Cards - Altenew Academy class.

Over the last week, I took part in Altenew Academy class "Quick and Simple Cards"  Laurie Willison was our tutor and she took us through 5 days of videos with ideas for making quick and simple but delightful cards.   Over the weekend I managed to get homework done for Day 1 and Day 2







































Our first video showed us a way of making a lot of sentiment stripes so that's the first thing I did... make a pile of sentiments and am keeping them in a magic mug (a la Laurel Beard) I used some green striped paper from Altenew's A Love for Stripes Pack A with some Starry Flowers.  I stamped these with Obsidian ink and fussy cut out.  Three sentiment stripes were added and because what card is finished without a gem or two, I added some faceted black ones. 

Day 2 was used some masking with stenciling.  I don't have many Altenew stencils so used one I had picked up last week at K-Mart.  It a Mandala stencil.  I used Coral Berry and Heart Beat inks to use with the stencil and then after removing the stencil I added some Pink Pearl so I would have some distinct lines.  I removed the washi tape I had used to mask my panel and then stamped the leaves from Altenew's Wallpaper Art stamp set.   I then stamped one of the flowers with Obsidian ink and fussy cut.    I added one of the sentiment stripes I made.

I have done part of my Day 3 homework, but due to not having suitable Altenew stamps I have used a Hero Arts stamp.  I'll get it finished sometime over this coming week. 

It's been a wintery weekend but this morning was quite nice so hubby and I went out for a big walk.  We left home just before 9.00am and after about an hour 5 minutes stopped at Murrays Bay (500 metres from home) and had brunch at the local café before walking the last bit home. It started spitting on the way home but we didn't get too wet.  I felt energised after the walk. 

Back into the office this week as I'm rostered to be at our Front of House public access again. 

No Blending Copic colouring

I recently watched Yana Smakula doing a video for Simon Says Stamp on a technique she called No Blending Copic colouring.  I have a few Copics... but many need replacing or refilling so I struggled with finding some colours that went together to try this out.  I did lots of practising to find some colours that worked

You can see different combos - but in the corner you can see the colours I chose.

I used a digi stamp from Rachel Vass Designs.  My blogger friend Cindy Chiu is s designer for Rachel and got me onto her designs.   This one is called Springtime Background   I added some Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to the centres and around the side and bottom of the sentiment.  It was part of the digi set so I added it before printing.  Added some dark grey pen around the sides.  I used black pen to colour the spaces on the image.  

I just love this image and have also got more Rachel Vass's designs.  Look out for some more in August for Die Cut Divas where Rachel is our sponsor!  I'm sure by then I will have a few more images.  Her flowers are stunning.  

Looking forward to spending some time crafting this weekend.  The forecast is for wintery rain and wind, so best place to be will be in the craft space!  This week I moved my old TV into the space so I could work there on the days I'm working from home..  More time in the office now.  This week Mon- Wed in the office and Thurs - Fri at home... which worked well as we had two meeting with the kitchen designers.  We are down to two now... both different designs.  One a bit cheaper and the other one a bit more high end and a bit more expensive.  Not too sure which we will go for, but did love the second one where the over bench pantry doors are a wood veneer.  It looks stunning and I think will be worth the extra cost.    Hopefully by end of next week we will make our decision.    Exciting if somewhat scary on how much the whole thing is going to cost!

Sunflowers for Summer

It's a busy Thursday.... 3 posts today so please check below for my other cards
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Hi, I here today to share my card for the monthly challenge at Die Cut Divas.  Our theme this month is Summer Fun. 

One of the fun things we did for summer as a child, was to grow sunflowers.

I used this lovely flower from Bugaboo as it reminded me of sunflowers.  The best thing about digital stamps is you can resize and crop to make the image what you want. Here is the original image

I cropped the image and then die cut it with a stitched circle die.  I used some green patterned paper to cut a frame for the focal image.  I cut a white panel and embossed it before matting with the green paper.  I finished with a white embossed sentiment from Altenew

Do come and join us here  for this month's challenge. 

Orchids at Southern Girls Challenge.

Hi there.  It time for another challenge at Southern Girls.  As always our theme is anything goes...

I am using an image from our sponsor Jan's Digi Stamps

I used one of the pre-coloured images and printed it onto my card.  I added the sentiment and then took my Prismacolor pencils and added some extra colour.  I added some Wink of Stella to the centre of the flower.  For a bit of added dimension, I used my Scor-Pal to add some embossed lines around the card.  

Do come and join us at Southern Girls 

WWC #277 Tristan's Challenge: All About Occasions

Hi there - time for another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. Tristan is our hostess with an All About Occasions Challenge.

 

Earlier this month I bought a crafting magazine... the first one in over 12 weeks.  It was Issue 202 of Simply Cards & Papercraft.  It was February's issue but due to lock-down it was only just in the stores.  It had a free stamp and die set from Bright Rosa.  I was inspired by some of the great samples in the magazine.    For this one I used the fern die and the outline dies (one for each side of the fern).  I used some Ranger Gold Embossing powder to emboss the ferns, added them to the the outline.  One was stuck directly to the die cut panel and the other one was added with some dimensionals.  The sentiment is a die cut from Rosie's Studio.

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 12.00 noon NZ time ) to link up your project.

Got the Blues at Sweet Stampin' Challenge

Hi there.  It's time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.

Our theme is "Got the Blues" 

I made a very CAS card - the blue flowers are some Altenew washi tape that I have fussy cut after adding to some white card.  I used a Lil'Inkers stitched rectangle die to emboss the frame.  The sweet little sentiment is from an older Penny Black stamp set (circa 2012)  Love the result I achieved.

Do come and join us at Sweet Stampin' challenge.

WW 276 Marsha's Challenge: Anything Goes with a Masculine Twist

Hi there - time for another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. Marsha is our hostess with an Anything Goes with a Masculine Twist challenge.

Another card using the Faux Metal Paper technique that Jennifer McGuire did back in 2015.  This time I used Smoked Hickory Distress Ink and added Perfect Pearls in the white colour to give a silver look.  I used a WRMK 3D basket weave die to provide some texture.  I stamped the tool box from "For the Boys" which was free with a magazine and coloured with Copic markers.  I then fussy cut it out and added it on the panel.  The sentiment is a sticker I found a while back.  The little stars were from the sticker set too.

Come and join in the fun at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and  check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project  to the challenge post.  We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00am NZ time) to link up your project.

Retiform Card

This month's swap on my NZ card group was to use the Retiform technique.  Suna set the theme after seeing Gina K doing this technique recently.   She gave us a number of different You Tube tutorials.

Here's the card I sent to Maxine

I started by stamping the flowers in the centre of my card and then using post it notes I made the different retiform shapes.  I used some purple inks to do my inking and stamping.  The images around the retiform are all from a Pink Paislee set that I've had for a very long time.  It has lots of different images.  I was really happy how this turned out.  I like the focal floral image that really stood out on the card. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Day one back in the office was manic.  We had over 200 customers coming into our counter which kept us super busy.  A normal pre-Covid day was around the 80 mark.  Hopefully it will settle down over the next few days.  After 3 months of no contact with Inland Revenue in a face to face basis, people were happy to have someone to see.  The contact/call centres are very busy as well. 

Card Chain Challenge.... May 2020

I took part in May's CCC and the was a bit of a blog hop for the reveal.  However I had to wait for my card to reach it's recipient as I had forgotten to take a photo.   Did you know that the Card Chain Challenge started in October 2009 - and I was there for the first challenge.  I've missed a few months over the years.  In fact, I realised that it has been going so long when I check out the first reveal Here
I'll share my first card after the May one

I made this one using a freebie from Catherine Pooler Designs. It is a digital image that Catherine made.  I stamped with Catherine Pooler's Tilly's Garden stamp set.  I cut out the centre part and matted it with the purple card and popped it back in the space.

And here is the very first card I sent to my dear bloggy friend, Arlene.

My goodness, my card making has progressed a lot since Oct 2009.  At that stage I had only been crafting for a year or so.

So here I am over 10 years later I still as enthused with card making as I was then - just with many dollars worth of supplies more!

Today this my birthday.  I've had a great weekend away with friends at Mangawhai and on our way home we stop off to visit with Grace. She is growing so quickly.   Tomorrow will be my first time back in the office in 12 weeks.  Started working on Monday  23rd March and NZ went into Lock-down Level 4 on the 25th March.  It will be strange going back into the office.  I got to enjoy working from home.... no commute, starting early and finishing early so I could get my exercise done.   This coming week I am rostered to work at our Front of House - seeing anyone who comes into our office for tax assistance.  It's from 8.45 to 4.00pm so a bit latter than I have been used to.

Stippled Flowers

Yesterday I managed to catch Jen Rzasa's Facebook Live and was so inspired by her cards I had to CASE one of them.  Jen used Peaceful Reverie and made 4 cards using the same design and colours.  I have had this stamp set for some time but struggled with ideas so was super stocked to watch and be inspired.

My card uses Jen's first idea of just using the stippling layer of the stamp set.

Jen used the matching masks but as I don't have them, I used some Simon Says Stamp masking paper to make my own.  I used Coral Bliss and Hydrangea inks to stamp my flowers and bamboo to stamp my leaves.   I used some Alcohol markers to colour the stamen and used some black gems for the centres.  I used a sentiment from the Sincere Sentiment set.  I used the masks over the flowers and splattered some black watercolour paint.  I matted my panel onto some dark pink card and then onto my white card base.

I really was glad I was able to watch the FB live and was inspired to use this set.  I can see myself using different colour combinations with just this soft stippling layer. 

WWC 275 Karen's challenge: All About Ocassions

Hi there - time for another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Karen is our hostess with an All About Occasions challenge

 

Today I am sharing a Christmas card I made for Jo's Christmas Kickstart as well.

I used Gina K wreath builder stencil and used Catherine Pooler Designs Tilly's Gardent to make my wreath with a variety of Altenew green inks.  I found a little sticker in my stash that is a foiled Merry Christmas and added it to the centre of my wreath.  I added a little double die cut bow from a Couture Creations die I picked up for $5 the other day. 

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00am NZ time ) to link up your project.

Masculine Cards at Sweet Stampin' Challenge

It's time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.   Our theme is Masculine/Father's Day.
As Fathers Day here in NZ isn't till September, my card is just an every day Masculine card.

I used a freebie stamp set I had in my stash, unopened for a number of years!  I stamped the boating scene in Obsidian black ink onto some kraft card stock and cut it with a Spellbinders Eyelet circle die.   I found the blue stripey paper that I though carried on the beachy/sea theme.  I used one of the sentiments from the stamp set together with the little anchors.  The centre panel was matted with some kraft and then onto a blue base. 

Do come and share your masculine projects with us at Sweet Stampin' Challenge blog.

Care to Tag Along?

The new challenge is up at Christmas Kickstart Challenge and I need to get a start on my Christmas cards and tags!  This month the challenge is "Care to Tag Along" - yes make a tag...

It's a cold wet wintery afternoon and after finishing work a bit earlier, I hit the craft room for a bit. 

I had fun with this one.  My tag is from a Catherine Pooler set.  I took a Tim Holtz Stencil - Holly Branches- and using an Altenew dark green ink, used my blending brushes to stencil it.  Added some dark crimson marker to the berries.  I had some of the Couture Creations Christmas Bells stamped and cut out so used some Alcohol Markers to colour it up.  Added with some 3D tape to the bell.  I stamped the sentiment which was on a freebie set in my stash.  I finished with some seam binding ribbon.

Thanks Jo for the kickstart I need!

WWC 274 Dawn's Challenge: Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

Hi there - time for another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. It's my turn to be the  hostess with an Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist.  

 This card was inspired by all the wonderful cards I saw on the 2020 Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  I had this freebie set that came with a magazine that I had not even opened.  It was the stamps and the embossing folder.  I used white card to make the embossed panel.  I then stamped the cups and sentiment onto more white card and fussy cut them out.  I used Altenew and Spectrum Noir alcohol makers to colour the cups 

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11am NZ time ) to link up your project.

ATC challenge ,,, well sort of.

Today I am sharing the swap card I made for May for my NZ swap group.  A couple of months ago as part of our swap we had to make an ATC and sent it with our card to our swap partner.  Mine came from Carol.  For may we had to take that ATC and had two options.... One to made part of it a lid and the other to just use it on a card. 

I decided to try and make a lid...

Carol's ATC had some embossing at bottom.  I have the same folder so after trimming off some of the top I embossed it.  I embossed a background panel with the same folder and used some Altenew Firefly ink to swipe over the panel.   I used a free stamp set called Giant Tropical Stamp set and stamped the flowers and leaves and fussy cut them.   I coloured the flowers and leaves with Zig Markers.  I added some purple 3D liquid pearls.  I was really happy with the results.  Thanks to Carol for the sweet ATC to use.