Pretty In Pink

This week at Sweet Pea Stamps the Design Team are featuring the artwork of Brigid Ashwood. We are each working with her gorgeous stamp designs and I chose to create with this lovely stamp called Margox:

 

 

I love Brigid's Phunky Fairies range of stamps and I have a few of them. They are great to colour in and the characters have a real attitude to them that I love. I coloured Margox with my Prismacolour pencils.

 

 

I also added some interest to the image by using a Versmarker pen and White Pearl embossing powder to heat emboss the background section of the image. This powder gives a lovely sheen when the light hits it:

 

 

The design for my card was inspired by the circular background section of the image... I had the idea to layer the image over a circular aperture in my card. I decorated the inside of the card with pale pink paper that would show through the aperture... here's how it looks with the card fully opened:

 

 

I used nesting dies to cut the circular aperture in my card front and in a layer of white card which I had trimmed to fit the card front. I decorated the white card layer by flicking paint across it and then heat embossing the edges with Shabby Pink Frantage embossing powder.

 

 

To finish off, I attached my cut-out image over the aperture and added some flowers and a gemstone border around the aperture:

 

 

Brigid's stamps are available in red rubber from the Sweet Pea Stamps store and for this week only are on special offer. :)

Time to Kraft

Today's new challenge at Sweet Pea Stampers is to use Kraft (card or paper) on your creation. I've gone for a rather steampunk-y feel for my creation, using Marlon Teunissen's Steampunk Angel digi stamp:

 

 

I coloured this gorgeous image in rich colours of red and gold and green, using my Promarkers:

 

 

I decided my Prima Chronology embossing folder and coordinating papers would be just perfect with this stamp so I used a kraft card blank and ran kraft card through the embossing folder. I used a touch of Inka Gold around the edges of the paper and to highlight the embossing on the kraft card.

 

 

I cut out my coloured image and attached it on foam pads over the embossed panel and finished things off with a row of gemstones and some layered flowers topped with a clock charm.

 

You don't need to use a Sweet Pea Stamps product to enter the challenge but of course we would *love* to see your Sweet Pea Stamps creations. Entries with a Sweet Pea Stamps image will be eligible for our Designer's Choice award, as voted for by the Design Team, and will have an extra chance to win in our randomly selected prize draw. :)

Sleigh bells ring.. are you listening...?

In the lane... snow is glistening...

 

....or not. But hey, that's no excuse not to make a Christmas card, is it? :D

 

I must admit I am so NOT one of those super-organised people who start making their Christmas cards in July but I do kind of wish I was... and then I wouldn't end up in a mad frantic cardmaking rush come December! :lol:

 

So this week's "Make One for Christmas" challenge theme at One Stitch at a Time is a good way to make a bit of a start on getting this Christmas cards made in advance.

 

For my card I used the 3 Christmas Trees digi stamp by Hope Jacare Doodles:

 

 

I coloured the image with my Prismacolor pencils, for a nice soft look, with touches of Promarker pen for the stars atop the trees.

 

 

I teamed the coloured image with this fabulous bright chevron paper, which came from a freebie pad of Christmas papers from a year or two ago, and a panel of white card which I embossed with a snowflake embossing folder:

 

 

I stamped a greeting onto white card and cut out both my image and my greeting using Nesties dies and cut a coordinating mat for each from the chevron paper. I attached them both to the card, using foam tape to lift the image for a bit of dimension, and finished things up with some pearls.

 

 

You don't have to use a Stitchy Bear product to enter our challenge but if you do you'll be entered into the draw to win our main prize. If not, you'll have a chance to win a $3 gift voucher for the Stitchy Bear Digi Outlet.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
Hiding in my Craft Room - Freestyle
Pumpkin Spice - Anything Goes
The Hobby House - Christmas
Just Add Ink - Just Add Colouring
Pattie's Creations - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Any Sentiment
Charisma Cardz - Just One
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes

Purple, Orange and Yellow

My first project as Guest Designer for Stampotique has gone live today on the Stampotique Designer's Blog - it's a project for the new challenge starting today at the Stampotique Designer's Challenge Blog and the theme is Purple, Orange and Yellow:

 

 

For my project I used a fabulous flower stamp called Carol's Flower, large (9165). I started off making my background by stamping the flower repeatedly over a card panel using Versamark ink and heat embossing with clear embossing powder. I then inked over the panel using Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Dusty Conchord. I flicked water over the panel for a blotched, distressed effect, and also flicked some Wild Honey Distress Stain over the panel. I then laid scrap paper over my panel and ironed over it to re-melt and remove the embossing, leaving me with a sort of faux-batique effect.

 

 

I matted my background panel onto black card and attached to a white card blank. I then stamped the flower twice again onto white card, using black Archival ink, and used a wet paintbrush to paint with Distress Inks to colour them in. I cut them out, folded the petals up a little for some added dimension and attached to my card using foam pads, adding some Glossy Accents to the centres for a touch of shine.

 

 

For my sentiment, I stamped Quiet Place (3011) onto white card and cut the wording out into strips which I edged with a black fineliner pen before attaching them to my card.

 

You have until the end of the month to enter any August challenges at the Stampotique Designer's Challenge blog and you don't have to use Stampotique stamps to enter - and you could win yourself some great prizes. :)

 

Hang In There

One of the - many - things I love about Stampin' Up!'s range of stamps etc is their sentiments... they cover a lot more than the bog-standard occasion sentiments and it really does seem like they have a sentiment to cover any requirement.

 

Take this card:

 

 

A friend of mine was having a really tough day and I wanted to make her a quick card to tell her that I care and that the bad stuff will pass and she will get through it. So I turned to my Stampin' Up! stash and used a woodgrain effect embossing folder (a recent acquisition), some scraps of patterned paper and card, and the *perfect* sentiment stamp, which I stamped onto burlap ribbon:

 

 

I completed things with a designer brad topped with a resin flower and, of course, some pretty butterflies.

 

 

I just looooove the Papillion Potpourri stamp set and the matching punches - I use them all the time... it makes it so easy to add colour coordinated butterflies onto any project. :) For this card I stamped the butterfly images and punched them out and then also punched the shapes again from plain card and layered the stamped butterfly shapes over the plain card ones.

 

 

I'm entering this card into this week's challenge at Flutterby Wednesdays - it nicely meets the recipe of "Flowers, at least one butterfly, and a die-cut/punch". :)

 

 

 

Make It Stitchy

This week we have a special challenge at One Stitch at a Time.

 

It's called Make It Stitchy and it's rather different from our usual weekly challenges because this week, unlike our usual challenges where you can enter using any stamp/product, you must use a Stitchy Bear product to enter.

 

We have got some awesome prizes on offer, however, as this week our sponsor is non other than the  OSAAT DT - Stitchy's Angel's - ourselves and we have all contributed prizes for the lucky winner! Check out the OSAAT blog for details. :)

 

If you don't have a Stitchy Bear image/product to use for the challenge, then now is the perfect time to pick one up - not only is *everything* in store currently 35% off but there is also a weekly freebie dig stamp, which is yours when you spend just $3 in store. And don't forget, there's also a whole bunch of brand new digi stamps from me now in-store. :)

 

For my DT card for this epic challenge, I've worked with Ike's Art gorgeous Angel 2 image:

 

 

I coloured the image with my Promarkers and fussy cut it out and added some sparkle to her wings with some Stickles:

 

 

I decided to have a play with my Pan Pastels for the background - I blended 3 different colours onto white card for a kind of sunset effect and then pressed Versamark ink through a circle stencil (made by simply punching a circle out of a scrap of card) and heat embossed it using Stampendous Frantage embossing powders:

 

 

I stamped a sentiment in black ink using a Tim Holtz stamp and then stamped some flourishes around the edges of the panel and heat embossed with a sparkly gold embossing powder:

 

 

To finish things off, I matted the completed panel onto sparkly blue card, attached it to a white card blank and attached the cut-out image using foam tape.

 

The challenge runs for a week and don't forget, for this week only, you must use a Stitchy Bear product to enter and to be in with a chance of winning our bumper bundle of prizes.

 

Good luck - I can't wait to see what you create! :)

 

I'm going to enter this card into a couple of challenges:

Passion for Promarkers - Anything Goes

Fusion - Hypothesis 8 (used Lesley's Photo Inspiration Challenge)

Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes

Charisma Cardz - Here Comes Summer

Moving Along With The Times - Embossing

My Heart Pieces - Be Sentimental

Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes

Crafting For All Seasons - Think Pink

The Perfect Sentiment - Anything Goes

Anything Goes Challenge - Handmade Backgrounds

 

Getting Krafty

I've been seeing quite a lot of white embossing on coloured card in the online crafty-verse lately and it's a technique I was keen to try. I made this card (itself based off a card I found on Pinterest) and loved the effect and had the idea that white embossing might look lovely on a kraft-coloured card, with perhaps some delicate colouring of the image.

 

So that's exactly what I did:

 

 

I thought this striking Repose image by Brigid Ashwood would be perfect for this technique and I love how she looks embossed and coloured this way.

 

 

I stamped her using Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder and then added some delicate colouring using Prismacolor pencils. I kept things fairly simple with my card (I seem to be on a bit of a simple, unfussy kick at the moment), deciding the image would look best layered against cardstock of the same colour - I dry embossed this piece of card with an embossing folder and then layered that onto a card blank made from blue card.

 

 

I finished things off with some small flowers punched from blue card, decorating the centres with Enamel Accents and tiny metal cogs. I think the overall effect, with the contrast of the kraft and blue and the bright white of the embossing, is quite striking. :)

 

 

You can buy this stamp in red rubber format from the Sweet Pea Stamps store.

 

Whoops! Bit late!

The new challenge went live at Sweet Pea Stampers yesterday and somehow, in the chaos of getting back into our routine after a week's holiday, I forgot all about it! :lol:

 

Still, better late than never, here's my card for the Birds of a Feather challenge:

 

 

I used Ching-Chou Kuik's Scarlett Holly image and coloured it with my Prismacolor pencils (am really enjoying using these pencils - it's a different technique that colouring with Promarkers but the effects are at once lovely and soft and yet vibrant in colour):

 

 

I covered a plain white card blank with a mixture of patterned paper and embossed white card (of which I'd inked the edges) and used some pretty ribbon to cover the join and I stamped and punched out a sentiment using coordinating Stampin' Up! stamp and punch.

 

 

I finished things off with some flowers and, in a last-minute burst of inspiration (cos the packet was lying around on my desk - see, being untidy can sometimes actually be useful! :D), a little chipboard bird which I covered with Versamark ink and heat embossed with sparkly gold embossing powder.

 

 

The challenge runs for a month and you don't have to use a Sweet Pea Stamps image to enter, though of course we'd love it if you did (and doing so will get you an extra chance to win).

 

Inspiration

Am I the only one who spends hours pinning pretty projects on Pinterest... but then never actually gets around to doing anything with those pinned ideas? :)

 

Well, no more! :)

 

I recently pinned this simple but striking card by Marion Vagg and have been dying to have a go at the technique (basically, stamping and embossing an image with white embossing powder on coloured card and outlining/shading the stamped image with a toning coloured pen).

 

I wanted to make a thank you card for some friends who invited us to visit their home on our long drive home from our holiday last weekend so decided this was the perfect opportunity:

 

 

I love this technique. The white embossing against an intense cardstock colour is so striking and the addition of the shading makes the image pop even more.

 

 

I might even get around to trying out some more of the projects I've pinned. :)

 

Mostly Monochrome

My DT card for Sweet Pea Stamps this week is what I've ended up calling "mostly monochrome" - i.e. black and white with one other colour. :lol:

 

My starting point for this card was one of Ching Chou Kuik's gorgeous digi stamps - this one is called Restless Thoughts:

 

 

I started by colouring her hair black and from there I was taken with the idea of giving her a white dress.. and that lead to the whole monochrome thing, with just the red of the toadstools adding a splash of colour.

 

I also had the idea with this stamp of, instead of colouring in the background, cutting it out and layering it over a patterned background. I chose to use some gorgeous monochrome Floral Fantasy

digi paper from Crafts and Me:

 

 

To add an extra touch of detail to this image, I wanted to give her shimmery wings. To achieve this effect, I printed the digi image a second time on scrap paper (making sure I printed it the same size as the image I had coloured in) and carefully cut out the wings from the scrap paper image, making a mask which I could then lay over the coloured image, lining up the edges carefully, leaving just the wing areas exposed. I then pressed a Versamark ink pad over the exposed wing areas, lifted up the mask, and covered the inked wing areas with a fine holographic embossing powder. After tipping off the excess powder (and carefully using a soft brush to clear away any stray specks of powder from other parts of the image), I heated with a heat gun to melt/set the powder:

 

 

I kept the rest of the card simple and monochrome to match with the image. I used a black card blank and embossed a panel of black card using an embossing folder. I then swiped Versamark ink over the raised areas of the embossing and brushed silver pearl Perfect Pearls over it.

 

All in all, a fairly clean and simple design but with lots of pretty little details. If that's not a complete contradiction! :lol:

 

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

Dilly Beans - Black and Red
City Crafter - All That Glitters
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - Seeing Red
Paperminutes - Faces
Craft Your Passion - All That Glitters

Fun with embossing

This week's theme over at the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge blog is embossing so I've been having a play. My entry for the challenge involved dry embossing, heat embossing and even double embossing! It's an embossing extravaganza! :)

This little decorated frame started life as a small box canvas. I turned it back to front and covered the "frame" part with tin foil which I had folded in half twice, run through the BigShot with a Tim Holtz Texture Fades embossing folder and then coloured with alcohol inks. I then cut and folded a piece of shimmery white card to fit the centre aperture and inked the edges with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and then stamped over it with a Tim Holtz Papillon stamp in Tumbled Glass ink. The butterfly was cut from Grunge Paper with a Tim Holtz Movers and Shakers die, inked with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, and run through the BigShot in a Tim Holtz Texture Fades folder. I then inked the raised areas of the embossing with Distress ink and heat embossed it with pearlescent embossing powder. I curled the wings and attached the butterfly inside the aperture with a foam pad. The number stamp is from the Stampin' Up! Nature Walk stamp set and was stamped onto shimmery white card and then heat embossed with blue embossing powder. I cut it into a small rectangle and inked the edges with Tumbled Glass and attached inside the aperture with foam pads.

I then used a hot glue gun to add a few finishing touches - some Tim Holtz Ideology cogs, a strip of beaded ribbon along the bottom edge and a chain to hang the frame up by. The chain was upcycled from a charm necklace that I got cheap in a sale; I removed all the charms except the little metal butterfly which I coloured with alcohol inks to match the frame. :)

I had lots of fun getting inky and messy making this project, and digging out all my Tim Holtz toys! :lol: I love embossing and you can get so many different effects from it. And I must thank my friend Pam for giving me the idea to try colouring tin foil with alcohol inks! :D