CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post for November #2

 Hi everyone!! The weekend has finally arrived for us here in New Zealand and I couldn't be happier. I've got weeds coming out my ears and people begging me to fit them in where I have no time left. Its nice to be popular but I find it quite stressful as I don't like letting people down...maybe 2021 will be my year of 'saying no' but doubt it, been trying to do that for years....

One of the millions of jobs I have to do this weekend is go thru all my Christmas lights for outside the house. I usually put them up on December 1st and that date is rushing towards me like a bull in Pamploma but so is Christmas itself. I decided this week to do something about my lack of Christmas cards and came up with a quick and easy idea using products from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps:

You should have seen the mess I made creating these, I had white paint EVERYWHERE: curtains, tables, chairs, paint set, clothes, carpet....need to start flicking paint outside from now on....

I wanted cards that I could create quickly but still have a bit of 'flair'. I love the Flakey A2 Panel Die and thought I could make two cards instead of one using it. I die-cut it twice from white CS and then cut across, making sure I didn't cut off the large circle snowflake. I added panels of coloured CS to each of the card bases and then arrange them together on a table. Using some Gansai Tambi white paint, I flicked them all at once with a round brush.

Once they had dried I glued on the snowflake border with Gina K Connect Glue. The sentiments (from 'Snowy Sayings') was stamped in similar coloured ink on white CS strips and backed with CS in a similar but darker/lighter shade. These were put on foam tape and then I added some sequins and jewels from Pretty Pink Posh.

Background dies are always that bit more pricey (for me anyway....) so I'm always excited to find a way to stretch their use. Definitely going to make a lot more of these and think all my gardening clients will like them.

If your thinking of purchasing any of the products I used today or maybe picking up something else (especially from the Clearance Section), you can use my special code to save yourself even more money!

I'm off to untangle hundreds of lights and might even start putting up my home decorations. Its been a horrible year. I love Christmas, especially decorating the house so why not celebrate early with something you love!

Take care

Shona 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post #1 for November

 Hi there everyone! I'm still on a high after the election results, so excited for next year when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take the wheel back for the USA, and drive towards a kinder future. I live in New Zealand but have always loved America and its people, so I'm over the moon for them.

I wanted to let you know that I'm up on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog with a tutorial for this card:

The 2020 Coffee Lovers Fall/Winter Blog Hop is on right now and CAS-ual Fridays Stamps is one of the 'Super Sponsors', so our cards on the blog this week are all 'coffee-themed'.

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you have a chance to create some cards for the hop and I'll see you back here very soon.

Take care

Shona

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday Post #2 for October

 Hello there!! Its the start of a long weekend here in New Zealand (Monday is a Public Holiday) and its usually the official start of 'get your garden ready for Summer' time. I have LOADS to do in my garden after sorting out everyone else's. The weather this week has been like Summertime and the weekend is supposed to be even hotter, so I better start doing my hedges early in the morning!!

I've got my second card of the month for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps to share with you. I was actually inspired by my friend Coni of Which Craft? who does the most amazing splatters on her backgrounds. Its something I don't think of doing very often, as I like a lot of control and 'clean lines' with my cards but I decided it was time to dip my toe in the 'uncontrolled' pond. So thank you Coni for your amazing inspiration:

I tell ya, this background scared the c**p out of me as I went a long. I loved it and hated it at the same time but the splatters over top made me fall in love with it.

I started by stamping the large dragonfly from the new 'Everyday Dragonflies'  set with Versafine Onyx ink on Strathmore watercolour cardstock. I did this 3x and then immediately clear heat embossed. I then used a fine brush and my Schmincke Aqua Drop 'Cyan Blue' which is INCREDIBLY strong. You only need a teen tiny bit mixed with water. I coloured different images on the dragonfly using differing amounts of water to darken or lighten the effect. I then did a light wash over the rest of the area. Once this had dried I die-cut with the 'Dragonflies Dies'.

Since I was going to do some splattering, I decided to go the whole hog and do some 'smooshing' as well. I added the same watercolour to a clear stamp block, sprayed on some water and smooshed onto a panel of watercolour CS. I did this a few times, drying with a heat gun in-between and even moving the ink block around. Once it was dry I used a brush to flick over some Gansai Tambi 'Blue Gold' and 'Black' paint. I also added some touches of gold to the dragonfly flowers. I cut the panel down and added to the white card base with a piece of white foam. 

To add some definition to the dragonfly, I die-cut some black CS with the large dragonfly die and glued it behind the painted one but slightly down so show the bottom edges. It was popped up on foam tape and the sentiment (from the same stamp set) was gold heat embossed on black CS using WOW 'Metallic Gold Sparkle Embossing Glitter'. I backed it with white CS and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia Gold Pearls.

I hope this has inspired you to get 'messy' with your crafting this weekend and maybe try a technique that you've always been scared of too. If you love the stamps/dies and embossing powder I used today, you can use my special code to save 15%. AND you can also use it with all the Clearance Items too on top of already slashed prices...how cool is that!

Thanks so much for stopping by, enjoy your weekend and I'll see you back here very shortly with some more card ideas.

Take care

Shona

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post #1 for October

 Hello there!! My weekend is just finishing and I'm home from spending the weekend with my Mum. Unfortunately I had to race off early Saturday morning as poor Phoebe had a migraine (luckily the Emergency Room was really busy, so they were able to just give her the usual anti-nausea injection and send us on our way) but I was back with Mum by lunchtime and we watched loads of movies while I coloured stamp images for the rest of the weekend. I haven't stayed with her for nearly six months, so it was so good to talk as much as we wanted without me having to race off to work etc.

I have a card on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog today and its a special one:

 October is 'Breast Cancer Awareness Month' and Michele (the owner of CAS-ual Fridays Stamps) is very passionate about making sure we are doing breast checks and reminding others to do so. An early diagnosis can make such a difference and it only takes a few minutes to do the check yourself. She has many stamps and dies that can be used to offer support to loved ones, especially those with cancer.

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps are also Sponsoring the current challenge at 'TIME OUT' and there is a $25 gift voucher up for grabs!! So with also being on the 'TIME OUT' Design Team I thought this was a great opportunity to tell you about the challenge and also remind you to check those breasts!!

For this card I started by using the smaller rectangle die from the new 'Pinked Slimline Dies'  with some dark pink CS. This was adhered to the front of a top folding white card base. I used the pinked-circle die (from the same set) with some light pink CS and glued these in place. I then used the circle die (again from the same set) with some white CS. I used three different shades of pink to stamp the ribbon (from the 'Heart Ribbon' set) on each circle and then pop them up on foam tape.

The sentiment (from the 'Supercalifragilistic' set) was white heat embossed on black CS and put on foam tape, along with sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

I hope this not only gives you some ideas for your cards this weekend but also encourages you to do a breast check yourself AND talk to your friends and family about doing it too. Maybe you could make a party out of it!!

Take care, look after yourselves and I'll see you back here again very soon.

Shona

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - New Release - Day 4

Hi there and thanks for popping in! Its nearly the weekend for me and I'm not gardening tomorrow. Taking Phoebe to get her septum pierced (hopefully she won't be too scared, she's been wanting to do it for ages.....) and then taking the kids out for lunch as its the school holidays. Really looking forward to it as we used to do it a lot when they were little but as teenagers they usually aren't available (or maybe they don't want to be seen with their Mum....).

 

Its been fabulous sharing all the New Release products from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps with you over the last few days and we have one more sentiment die to show you. Introducing 'Birthday Fri-dies':

These are such a good size for a card and go perfectly with the 'Happy Birthday' stamp set. For my card I got all girly and pink:

 See what I mean about the size of this die? And the two words aren't connected so you don't have to cut them apart to use them separately.

I used the large dragonfly from the new 'Everyday Dragonflies'  stamp set. I white heat embossed them on white CS and then blended Distress Inks 'Spun Sugar', 'Picked Raspberry' and 'Worn Lipstick' along the wings to create an ombre effect. Once finished I used the matching 'Dragonflies Fri-dies' to cut them out and glued them to the card front.

Using a circle die from the 'Ornament Tag Fri-dies' set I die-cut some light grey CS, adhered to some white foam and glued to the card front. I die-cut the 'Birthday Fri-dies' twice from light pink CS and once from dark pink CS and glued them together so the darker pink showed slightly underneath. I glued them to the circle, covered them with Wink of Stella and then added a coating of Glossy Accents. And of course I had to finish off with some pearls from Studio Katia.

All of these New Release products are available right now from the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Shop and you can even use my code to save yourself 15% on them and any other products, even the Clearance Section where a HUGE amount of products have been just added.

Thanks again for joining me this week and I'll see you back here very soon with some more card ideas.

Take care

Shona 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - New Release - Day 3

Hi everyone! I don't know what happened to our lovely, hot Spring weather but I'm sitting here typing this in my Winter pj's and socks, thinking I might light the fire. There was a big frost this morning and supposed to be another one tomorrow (yuck) so will garden a bit later in the morning so things can thaw out. By the weekend we are back to hot sunny days, so no wonder people have been getting sick, so many temperature fluctuations!!

We are on to our third day at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps showing you all the New Release. Today we have a new stamp set with two sentiment dies. Introducing 'Hooray Fri-dies' and 'Sassy Celebration' :

I've used the stamp set and one of the dies from the 'Hooray Fri-dies' set. There is also a 'Celebrate' die included. I wanted to make this a bright, shiny 'party' card and think the stars really set the scene.

I started by using the rectangle die from the 'Pinked Slimline Fri-dies' with some white CS. I then grabbed the 'Stars Fri-dies'  which has 3 different sizes. Using some gold CS from Craft Smith I die-cut the biggest star 4x. I then die-cut the middles of them with the next size star and then die-cut the smallest star from the same gold CS. I used the middle star die on some blue glitter CS and die-cut the smallest star from the middle. This gave me four big stars with a blue and gold star in the middle.

Using Gina K Connect Glue I adhered the stars to the white CS rectangle die-cut and cut off any overhang. I then glued those cut off pieces here and there to carry on the pattern. The panel was adhered to the white card base. I die-cut the 'Hooray' die from a similar blue CS and then 3x from white CS. These were glued together and then to the card. The sentiment (from 'Sassy Celebration') was heat embossed on the same blue CS using 'WOW! Metallic Gold Sparkle' embossing glitter. I backed it with the same gold CS and put on foam tape, along with Studio Katia pearls. And gave it more sparkle with Wink of Stella over 'Hooray'.

All of the New Release products are available to purchase now from the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Shop and even though these are brand new, you can still use my code to save yourself 15%!

I also wanted to mention that there is a blog hop going on right now for National Coffee Day. The hop details are on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog. CAS-ual Fridays Stamps are one of the Super Sponsors and if you visit their blog post HERE and leave a comment, you have the chance of winning a coffee prize pack!!

 

I'm off to light my fire before I freeze to death! I'll see you back here tomorrow to show off the last product from the New Release.

Take care

Shona

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - New Release - Day 2

 Hello there and welcome back to Day 2 of Release Week at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps. All of the new products are available to purchase right now and we are spending the next few days showing them off.

Today we have the prettiest stamp set and matching dies to share with you. Introducing 'Everyday Dragonflies' and 'Dragonflies Fri-dies': 

The dragonflies are so dainty with the similar floral print of other stamps from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and the dies fit perfectly over top. I knew what type of card I wanted to make as soon as I saw these:

You knew I'd have to fit a rainbow in somewhere!! And all these colours fitted so perfectly on the new 'Pinked Slimline Fri-dies'.

I started by die-cutting some light grey CS with the pinked-edge die and adhering to the card front. I also die-cut the smaller rectangle from white CS to act at the dragonfly base. I then spent quite a bit of time white heat embossing the smaller dragonfly on different shades of CS and die-cutting them out. All I had to do then was glue them on the base and pop it up on white foam. The sentiment was white heat embossed on the same grey CS, backed with navy CS and put on foam tape, along with Studio Katia pearls.

As I mentioned you can purchase these new products right now, and if you use my special code you can save yourself 15%!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you back here tomorrow to show off another stamp set and sentiment dies.

Take care

Shona

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - New Release - Day 1

 Hi everybody!! I'm so very excited to share the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps New Release this week!

There are two stamp sets, one with matching dies, some sentiment dies and a huge new die set which we are showing off today. Introducing the 'Slimline Pinked Fri-dies': 

                                          
 

Slimline cards are all the rage these days, so I'm over the moon to have this set to play with. Also you know how much I love die-cutting, I've got pages of ideas on how to use all the different dies in this set. You definitely get a lot for your money and the possibilities of projects to be made are endless!

For my card I've been getting a little worried about how little Christmas cards I have in my stash, so thought this was a perfect time to put one together:

The circle dies that come with this slimline set fit perfectly with so many other dies and sentiments. You will see me using them ALOT!

I started by creating a white slimline cardbase and die-cutting some white CS with the pinked edge die. This was adhered to the card front. I then die-cut the smaller rectangle die (again from white CS). I used the larger circle die to cut three windows from it. I also die-cut 3 snowflakes from the 'Funky Flakes Fri-dies'. I wanted the snowflakes to sparkle so I pressed them into my Versamark ink pad and heat embossed them with 'WOW! Metallic Silver Sparkle Embossing Glitter' . I did it twice so the coverage was good and thick.

Using Distress Inks 'Salty Ocean' and 'Chipped Sapphire' I created an ombre effect from light to dark blue (blue and white is one of my favourite Christmas colour combos). Once I was finished I used foam tape to add it to the card front and also to pop up the snowflakes in the windows. To finish off I used the same embossing powder with the sentiment (from 'Snowy Sayings'), backed with navy CS and put on foam tape, along with silver pearls from Studio Katia.

All of the New Release products are available RIGHT NOW in the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Store and you can use my special code with them to save 15%!!

Thanks so much for coming by, I hope you've fallen in love with this new die set as much as I have, and I 'll see you back here tomorrow to show off another gorgeous new stamp set.

Take care

Shona