Stencil It - Simon Says Stamp Flickr group challenge.

There’s nothing quite like happy mail to spark a burst of creativity! Today, my new supplies from Simon Says Stamp arrived.  I had won a gift voucher and was pleased to get these. Once I had received the notification that they were there, I decided to finish work early so I could head home and make something.

Simon Says Stamp runs a monthly challenge on their Flickr group page, and June’s theme is “Stencil It.” It was the perfect excuse to put my new goodies straight to use.

I started with the Simon Says Stamp A2 Nested Stitched Rectangles, using one of the dies to cut a panel for my card. For the background, I pulled out Tim Holtz Doily stencil and did some soft ink blending with the leftover ink on my blending brush. The result was a subtle, pretty background that added just the right amount of interest without overpowering the focal image.

For the main image, I used another new arrival: the Simon Says Stamp Iceland Poppies die. This one-piece die cuts petals for two flowers, along with two stems and two flower centres. I cut everything from white cardstock, then used the remaining ink on my pinky-red, yellow, green, and brown blending brushes to add colour. Once the pieces were blended, I layered the flowers together and added them to the panel.

To finish the card, I stamped a sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Handwritten Sentiments stamp set and die cut it with the smallest of the nested rectangles. For a little extra oomph, I blended a touch of soft pink ink over the sentiment while it was still in the die.

I’m also adding this card to Darnell’s NBUS challenge, as both dies are getting their very first outing.

On a personal note, today is my youngest grandson’s third birthday. I had a quick video call with him this afternoon while he was enjoying time at Perth Zoo, which was lovely. His birthday card still hasn’t made its way to him, even though I posted it nearly two and a half weeks ago. Hopefully it arrives soon!

Recycle and reuse.

 I saw the Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp was "Recycle It".   Just up my alley as a couple of weeks ago,  my friend Yvonne, dropped around to give me an old tissue box.   Months ago I said to her that when it was finished that I'd love to have it as the pattern on it was stunning.    I cut it up and all the pieces have been in my "to use" pile. 

I made two 4-bar cards (3.5" x 5") as I had the bases in the same "to use" pile as the off cuts from a couple of  5" square cards cut from  8.25" x 11" white card.  

First up used lots of the box

The stripes were on one side of the box, the panel from the other side and from one of ends I fussy cut one of the carnations. I trimmed and layered with black card.  I die cut the love sentiment (Altenew Versatile Sentiments in black with a white shadow and the subset is from a pre-printed sheet from Creative Expressions. 

The second one is a bit more clean and simple. 

For this one, I used a piece from the top.  I trimmed each side of the opening and got some thin stripes.  

The die cut sentiment is from Concord & 9th which was also in the "to use" pile.  I tried out the sentiments as soon as I got this set so it was great to have it on hand.   Finished it with some black gems.

I got a pic of the two together so I can add to the Simon Says Challenge 

 I had fun doing these two and I've got plenty of the box left to make some more. I made envelopes for them with some scrapbook paper I have.  Used the white side with the pattern inside. 

Great way to start my weekend with some fun crafting. 

Optical Illusion background

 I was inspired by Natasha Foote's optical illusion background in her video the other day -  (see it Here) and decided I needed to try it out.   

My first sheet... I did my drawing a little small - ended up only doing part of a panel and die cut it out

I did change it a bit by colouring in some of the spaces rather then add more lines.  I die cut out a circle.  I used a Couture Creations scalloped die to layer behind my circle.   Added some sticker flowers around the edge.   I added a love die cut word.  It was an unbranded die I got for $2.99.  I cut it once from black card and one out of some foiled card.  I cut the heart part out and layered it over the black.   Added a little part of a pre-printed sentiment. 

For my second card I did my drawing larger and used a purple gel pen.  

I did some partial die cutting to make my panel a little narrower and matted with some black.  It looked a bit stark on the white card so added some texture with an Altenew 3D folder.  Added the panel and an ephemera butterfly. The sentiment is one from LDRS - It's one stamp with lots of sentiments that you then die cut.  

I'm entering this into the Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp - anything goes...

Had lots of fun doing this technique. Nice to try something new.  

Two cards for two challenges.

 Over the last couple of days I've been working on a couple of cards for a couple of challenges. 

First up is another card for the Let's Squash It! challenge - to sand it with numbers/words

I was looking through my Embossing Folders and found this old scripty words one.  I used as soft pinky card and ran it through the Cuttlebug and then took the sanding block to it.  Love how it turned out.  I then decided to use an Altenew die.  I die cut then cut again with a slightly larger circle to make a frame.  I added Wink of Stella all over the die cut peice.  I then made the flower - using an Altenew stamp set which I white embossed and then used inks to watercolour.  

And my second card is for the latest Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge... Card and Matching Envelope.    The design team used Colorado Craft Company products and even though it's not necessary to use there products, I did.

I stamped the image onto some watercolour paper and used Altenew Woodless Watercoloured pencils to colour it in.  Once it was dried I die cut the image out.  I then took my card base and used some washi to mask off the edges before taking a Hero Arts cloud mask and some blue ink to add the sky and green for the ground.  I stamped the two sentiments and then added the die cut.    I used the same bliue and green to add a bit of colour to the envelope adding a little pair of bunnies which I coloured with the watercolour pencils and a damp brush.  

Thanks for stopping by.  My weekend is starting and it's the start of Daylight Savings tomorrow night... that means summer is on it's way.   

Baubles in Blue

 I've been playing with my Sweet Poppy Bauble stencil.  I decided to stick with a single colour and chose Blue.  I made two cards.

First card -

I used a magentic sheet to put my paper and then the stencil on,  The stencil is metal so this is a great way to keep it from moving.  This was sthe first one I inked up using Altenew blue inks.  The ligher shades on tne bauble and the darker shades for the rest.  I didn't mask it well and got a smudge of ink in the top corner, so trimmed panel and added a bit of the soft blue in each corner to disguise the oops... I then used the darkest inks to stamp the sentiments.  The Merry Christmas from a freebie set and the sub sentiment from an other freebie set.   I added a few silver gems, layered onto dark blue card and then added to a white card base.

This one is being entered into the Challenge at Simon Says Stamp - Summertime Blues - great for me as Christmas here in NZ in the summer. 

Second card.

This time I masked my panel better so was able to trimmed the card a bit wider and just added it to a dark blue card base.  I used an Altenew sentiment on this one.  I added snow with a Posca pen.  There are some clear gems on the snowflakes. 

This one is being entered into the CAS Christmas - Decorations 

I am defineatly going to be trying some different colours like this. 

Embossed Daisies.

 One of my new purchases yesterday was Altenew's Daisies 3D embossing folder.  It is simply stunning.  I have made two cards - both inspired by Vicky Papaioannou.  Check out her video HERE

For my first card I used some black card.

I then took some Metallic Rub-on paste I've had forever.... you use your finger to rub the colour on.    I used the Gold to add colour to the embossed areas.  I used a Paper Roses Birthday die to cut the main sentiment in gold card and the shadow layer in vellum.  I took part of an Altenew Sentiment Strip that I had sitting, alreay embossed, in my extras mug.  

Edited: This one is going into the NBUS (never before used schtuff)  Here .  Thanks for the reminder Linda.

My second card also used some of the Metallic Rub-on.  This time my card was some Cream Pearl card. 

I embossed the cream card and then using my finger, rubbed silver onto the centre of each daisy and smooshed it out a bit - not all over the daisies though.   It's really difficult to photographic.  I matted it to some silver card and then onto a card base made with the cream pearl card.   I used Altenew's Thanks die.  I diecut the Thanks from black card and layered it onto the shadow cut from the silver card.  Again I used a part of a sentiment strip from my extras mug.. although it looks silver, it's actually white.  This card is 5 1/2" square.

I'm entering both cards into the following challenges. 

Let's Squash It - Shimmer and Shine

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Emboss It 

I love this folder and there are so many different ways to use it.  

Thanks for stopping by - Enjoy your weekend, hopefully with some crafting involved. 

Birthday Butterfly

 I saw that the Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is Slimline - and when I was out and about on Wednesday I came across some lovely patterned paper and some slimline cards - so thought I could have a bit of fun. 

My red card base was already cut to size and ready to use.  I had a very old Inkadinkado stamp set (Sketchy Florals) sitting on my desk from a box card I had made, and decided that a tone-on-tone background would highlight my butterfly perfectly.  I used some Catherine Pooler Rockin' Red ink to add the subtle flourishes.   The butterfly was fussy cut from one of the papers in the English Roses paper pack from Uniti.  I cut the Happy Birthday sentiment (from Paper Rose Studio) from gold glitter cardstock and the shadow layer from Vellum.   A few gold gems finished the card. 

My shoulder injection went well on Wednesday.  Not painful at all.  And so far has helped a little bit.  Time will tell.    I'm having a restful weekend away at our friends and no crafting.  

Take care all. 

Using something New

My NZ swap group theme for this month is to use something new..... something you received for Christmas, bought at a craft fair, etc that you haven't used yet !  I got a lovely gift pack from my son and his partner that included some stencils, washi tapes, and flowers.  I chose to use one of the stencils.

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I sponged some Altenew ink through the stencils and then added some translucent embossing paste on top.  I cut it and layered with some very dark navy card.  I white embossed a sentiment from Altenew  "Engraved Flowers" set.  I also stenciled part of the flower inside the card and made a matching envelope.  

 I am entering this into the Card & Matching Envelope challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge
and the new challenge called "CAS stenciling" which has a theme of sponging.

 I haven't done much crafting this weekend as our son and his partner moved into their new house.  They have been living with us since early November.   We helped them moving yesterday - I dusted and cleaned the furniture before it went into the house.  It's been sitting in my garage so had got dusty.  We spend most of the day there and today, hubby went over after lunch with our lawn mower and did the lawn.  I took over my son's washing that I'd had on the line and a few odds and sods that got left behind.  They are so happy to finally be in.  It's in a nicer area and close to several of their friends.   
 
I'll be busy this week making sure I'm ahead with my Design Team work as we head off on the 20th to so our West Coast bike trail.  Not sure I am ready for it but will give it a go.  It's only for 4 days - biking between 24 -34 kilometres a day (about 3-4 hours cycling a day) plus I've hired an E-bike to make it a bit easier for me.  

Thanks for stopping by. 

CAS(E) this Sketch # 253 and Altenew Inspiration Jan 2018

I have finally set up my new ScanNCut machine... and am starting to play.

Today I saw a sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch that looked so nice and easy to do.

 

Just love the simplicity of the sketch.  Right up my alley for sure.   I decided I wanted to do a sort of wallpaper look to the top portion.   So out came some Altenew flowers (Amazing You set) and some masking tape.... 

I also stamped one flower and two leaves onto some card and coloured in with Prismacolor pencils.  My new machine got a try out, cutting them out.  Made the border a tad too large, but that was okay.  All in all - awesome! I popped the cut out flower and leaves on some mounting tape.   I really like how this turned out. 

The colours are taken from the Altenew Inspiration for Jan 2018

 

As this is an encouragement card I am also adding it to the challenge at CASology - cue word Encouragement 

 

And also the "Something New" Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  - using my new ScanNCut is my something new!

 Off to try some more stamping, colouring and cutting...

Thanks for stopping by

Furry Friend and Poinsettias

I'm building up my stock of Christmas cards and the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp this week is "Furry Friends"   I have a stamp from a NZ coy called Kiwi Stamps that is a really cute little kitty

 The sentiment goes with the stamp and is also from the same company.    I used a doily that I die cut from white card with some patterned paper for a background.  I stamped and used Copic Markers with some Copic blender on a rag to give some texture to the kitty.   I added a lot of Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to the fur on the hat.   So this is entered into the challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Over the last weekend I did some watercolouring while I was away.... I stamped and white embossed a Poinsettia from a Rosie's Studio stamp set onto some Bristol card.  I did one red, one teal....

With both of the painting I used a Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to do the colouring.  In real life the flowers totally shine.  I used the same design for both cards.  The sentiment on the red card was white embossed (Kaisercraft stamp) and the one on the teal card is from Stamp It (an Australian company that no longer exists) 

I'm entering the teal one into The Flower Challenge - CAS  challenge.

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you get some crafting time in this weekend.   Not a lot for me so far,  too busy doing chores and the last of the Christmas shopping done.   Hopefully tomorrow 

 

Just a note

I've been home today with a sore throat so after having a sleep in the morning, I decided to get a head of my DT work.   While I had some Hero Arts stamps out, I also grabbed some Catherine Pooler Party inks... Rocking Red, Party Dress, Green Skirt and Lime Rickey and made a card

I started with Party Dress and stamped off the first layer to get my lightest layer.  Next layer was full Party Dress and then Rocking Red for the final layer.    I used some Lime Ricky for the first layer of leaves and Grass Skirt for the second layer.  I added the sentiment in Rocking Red and the little heart outlines.  I used the ink to watercolour inside the hearts.  To get the green matching the leaves, I did direct to paper with the Lime Rickey and added a small piece to each side.

Entering into the challenge at
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Fantastic Florals
A Blog Named Hero - CAS