Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 2021 - Take two!

 Hi everyone!! It was very exciting this morning as the clouds tried to rain. It drizzled for about two hours and I really thought with the sky being so black that rain was going to pour down. But no, the drizzle stopped and the sun came out. Bummer.....back to watering my garden with the sprinkler again....

There are a few more days left of the 2021 Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, so many incredible projects have been entered, almost makes me want to try a cup of coffee!!

As I mentioned in my last post Funky Fossil Designs are one of the Super Sponsors for the hop. I was in a water-colouring mood so grabbed some of their floral stamps:

I've often heard people refer to coffee as 'giving them a buzz' so thought that would make a great idea for a card.

First off I stamped the bee's from 'Bees Knees' and the cup from 'Pugs and Hugs'  (the cup actually has a little pug sitting in it but was able to fussy cut him out) with my usual Gina K Amalgam black ink on white CS, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out.

The floral wreath from 'Blooming Wreath' was also stamped in the same black ink but on TAD watercolour CS. I then used my ZIG Real Color Brush Markers, some water and a brush to colour everything in. Once it was dry I used a white gel pen and black fineliner to add some details to the flowers. 

I cut the panel down to a square and added to a white square card base that had a panel of black CS adhered to it. I used a piece of black foam to give it some dimension. I then put the cup and bee's on some foam tape, as well as the white heat embossed sentiment (also from 'Bees Knees'). And for a bit of sparkle I covered the bees in Wink of Stella.

Think I'll set myself up in front of the tv now and watch a movie. I've been watching so many older movies of late like Face Off, Armageddon...can't seem to get enough of the 90's. Will have to see what Netflix or Disney can fix me up with tonight!!

Take care

Shona

 

Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 2021

 Hello there!! Its been a beautiful day today, lots of sunshine and not much wind, just enough to get the washing dry. A stark contrast to yesterday where there wasn't a breath of wind (was quite eerie, it was so still) and very dark and cold. Dave was tempted to light the fire but I told him to put another layer on instead. We usually don't start lighting the fire until mid to end of April, if we start now we will run out of wood. The joys of Autumn....

I'm one of those strange people who doesn't drink coffee or tea.....or water (makes me feel sick), however I always get excited when the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop comes around. With all the incredible coffee and tea related products that are produced now, the projects are amazing and there are oh so many to see!

Funky Fossil Designs are one of the Super Sponsors of the hop and are giving away a $25 GBP gift voucher to their store. I wanted to create a coffee card using their products and came up with an idea to use some of my favourite images:

I've used these mushrooms and toadstool images so much its a wonder they still stamp! I really enjoyed putting this all together and I'm gradually getting more confident adding my own little details with a pen.

I started by stamping the mushrooms/toadstools from the 'Bee's Knees' and 'Whimsy Town' stamp sets with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, colouring with my Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. I did the same with the snail from the 'Snail Mail' set and the cup from 'Sew Lovely'.

For the background I blended Distress Ink 'Twisted Citron' over the card front using the 'Slimline Landscape' stencil. I left a gap along the bottom and blended Waffle Flower 'Coffee Loves Milk' for the pathway. To create pebbles I dotted the path with brown Altenew Markers. 

Once I worked out where the images would sit I decided to ground them a bit by blending some 'Mowed Lawn' Distress Ink using one of my new Altenew Detail Blending Brushes. It was fantastic for adding a little bit instead of scrunching up a blending pad. I also used a dark green marker to make some little grass blades. Before adding the images with foam tape, I blended some 'Salty Ocean' Distress Ink for the sky, leaving it 'unblended' in spots to add some interest. To finish off I popped the sentiment (from the 'Snail Mail' set) on foam tape.

Starting to get dark, even though its only 7.30pm. We only have daylight saving until April 3rd so making the most of it to water my garden. We haven't had any rain for weeks, hoping now the weather is getting colder the rain clouds will return....

Take care

Shona

 

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Maya Angelou

 Hello everybody!! Its Sunday here in New Zealand and its the most gorgeous, sunny, non-windy day. I'm about to go out and enjoy the sunshine while trimming some hedges and listening to my Spotify (Juice World and Foo Fighters get me in a hacking sort of mood....). Suddenly remembered that I shared a card the other day on my Instagram and Facebook but not on my blog!

Funky Fossil Designs recently had a new release and I really like to see how I can incorporate the new stamp sets with the older ones:

After making this card it reminded me how much I love to use navy and that I should try to use it more instead of black.

Firstly I adhered a panel of navy CS to the front of the card. I then cut a slightly smaller panel of white CS. Using a tree image from the 'Winter Wonderland' set and my trusty MISTI, I stamped the tree across the bottom of the panel. I used inks from Waffle Flower and Hero Arts, starting with the lighter colours first so they were in the background. It sounds funny but I don't often 'over-stamp' images, doesn't feel right, like I'm making a mistake but I'm in love with this effect.

I stamped the bird from the new 'Bird Song'  stamp set with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. I also added some details with a white gel pen. I popped him up on the card with some foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment from the same set. And of course I had to finish off with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'A Bit O'Green'.

My husband Dave has been in Christchurch since Friday for a family members wedding. He's on his way back now driving and sent me a msg to say he had picked up my precious cargo.....my order from Donut King....so can't wait for him to get home. My tummy will be waiting!

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Smile

 Hello there!! We almost had rain today which would have made a lot of people happy but it was nothing more than a sprinkle. Just enough to make my boots and gloves all muddy, and my hair all frizzy..... Now we've hit March hopefully the rain will return so everything isn't looking so parched.

A few days ago Funky Fossil Designs had a New Release and it was a doozy! It included stamps, dies, washi tapes and a new paper pad...something for everyone. I wanted to share with you another card I made with the new 'Geo Elements' stamp set and another older set, to show how well it goes with other images:

I had so much fun colouring this little guy, he's smiling but you can't tell because  his big, chubby jowls are in the way....

I started off by stamping the doggie from the 'Furry Friends' stamp set with Gina K Amalgam black ink and coloured using Altenew Artist Markers, just making up his fur pattern as I went. For the background I used my MISTI and the same ink to stamp the heart shape (from the 'Geo Elements' set) across a white CS panel. I didn't measure or anything, just used my eye to try and keep the lines straight. I then used the same markers in pastel colours to create a pattern on each one.

After adhering a panel of black CS to the card base, I cut down the heart panel so it was slightly smaller and popped up on black foam. The doggie was put on foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment (from the new 'Graphic Words' set). To finish off I glued on some cute heart embellishments in similar colours.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

Better go and set up my mattress for the night. We finally had a chance to get Max's room re-lined with GIB, so Wednesday night last week Dave stripped the walls. Max is sleeping in our room, Dave is sleeping in the garage (he has it set up like a bedroom but there are too many spiders out there for my liking....) and I'm sleeping on a single mattress in the lounge room. Its close to the tv and my craft area so its actually not too bad. Only problem is that both cats sleep with me (they take up half the bed) and Bella sleeps beside me on the floor. Her snoring, farts and breath is enough to keep anyone awake at night believe you me.....

Take care

Shona 

Funky Fossil Designs - New Release Day!!!!

 Hi everyone!! Hope you've all had a wonderful week and bet your looking forward to the weekend. Well, some good news for the end of the week is that Funky Fossil Designs New Release is now available to purchase!!

 

There are five new stamp sets, 2 new dies, paper pad and washi tapes to tempt your wallets. There is something for everyone in this release from Steampunk images, to cute little sheep and even some magical designs. You can check them all out now in the Funky Fossil Designs store.

To celebrate this day I went a little 'die-cutting crazy' but as you know that's one of my favourite things to do on a card so I loved every minute of it:

Nothing like rainbow colours to make you smile and celebrate the day. And even a hint of gold for a bit of shine. This was a little fiddly to do but I just sat myself in front of the tv (started watching 'Superstore' on Netflix, didn't like it at first but have become rather obsessed....) and set my Cuttlebug in motion.

I started by gathering a rainbow of CS. I used a chain-link type die that comes in the brand new 'Cogs and Gears' die set and die-cut from each colour once. I then die-cut some white CS using the 'Zen Mandala'  die set. Using some Gina K Connect Glue I adhered the coloured die-cut pieces to the solid white base. I then glued the mandala white pieces on top.

After die-cutting the same chain-link die from some gold Craft Smith 'Holiday Foil' paper, I inlaid some pieces into the end of each chain. I adhered a piece of black CS to a 4.5 inch square white card base and then put the mandala die piece on some black foam. The sentiment (from the 'Whimsy Town' stamp set) was gold heat embossed on a strip of black CS, backed with white CS and put on foam tape in the middle of the card, along with some Studio Katia gold pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

 

I hope you have fun shopping the New Release and can't wait to see what you do with them all. Don't forget to tag #funkyfossildesigns on Instagram so we can see your amazing creations. And I have loads more cards using these new products to share with you over the coming weeks, so I'll see you back here very soon.

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Watercolour Experiment

 Hi everyone!! I'm slowly getting back into card making. Work has been very busy with it being Summertime here in New Zealand (lots of weeds.....) and homelife has been rather hectic, so I still struggle to fit in some crafting time before I go to bed. I had decided to make this year different and make sure my hobby features higher up on the 'To Do' list but I'm still guilty of putting myself last. One day I'll get it right....

One thing I want to do more of this year is try out some of the MILLIONS of techniques and ideas I see on other blogs, YouTube videos and Pinterest. There are so many talented people out there and I know I won't be as good as them but gives me a little bit of a thrill being like them for a few minutes.

I follow a lot of watercolour painters on YouTube and Instagram and see a lot of them using tape to mask off areas and watercolour. I decided to give it a go and even though it didn't go to plan, I'm still so glad I tried it:

I never use pen on my cards but found the rectangles needed some sort of definition. This was WAY out of my comfort zone....

I started by using washi tape to mask off three rectangles on a piece of Strathmore watercolour cardstock. I usually use the back, smoother side of watercolour CS but have come to appreciate the texture after visiting an artists house recently. She is the neighbour of someone I garden for and she invited me to see her garden. I saw the vase of brushes on her table and she took me inside to see her painting room. It was unbelievable and I could see how the bumpy paper added so much texture to her beautiful paintings.

I used Distress Inks 'Dusty Concord', 'Seedless Preserves', 'Victorian Velvet', 'Squeezed Lemonade' and 'Mustard Seed' to create a night sky. I've never used this combo before and was quite amazed how the pink and yellow blended together. I did quite a few layers, using my heat gun to dry in between, to get the look I was after.

Once it was dry I removed the washi tape. Unfortunately I had a bit of bleeding under the tape but it was ok. Using Versafine Onyx ink and Funky Fossil Design 'Winter Wonderland' stamp set, I stamped the images a few times with my MISTI to get good ink coverage. I then decided that I wanted to flick over some white paint, so I put the washi tape back on and created some basic masking with post-it notes to cover the images. I mixed water with Gansai Tambi white paint and flicked away......all over my computer.......

When the paint was dry I used a Uniball 3mm black pen and ruler to go around each rectangle. I then popped up the white heat embossed sentiment (from Funky Fossil Design 'Small Print') on foam tape and glued on some Studio Katia silver pearls after adhering the panel to a card front. Definitely going to try this again!!!

Off to hang out the washing. It rained all night last night which was a godsend as it hasn't rained for months. So no gardening for me today, going to prepare for a New Release coming up soon for Funky Fossil Designs and watch Netflix, probably movies I've seen before. With all the new content why do we go back to ones we've already seen???

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - New Home

 Hi there, have just turned on all my Christmas lights. Its so bright on our verandah in front of our house, which of course I love. And I have lots of lights in the trees and along the fenceline, so you can see it from miles down the street. I did it all myself over a few days which I'm pretty proud of. My husband doesn't like it and won't let me put our address in the paper of houses with lights, so I just tell everyone I meet!!

I thought I'd give you a 'non-Christmas' card to look at today for a change. I'm short around 20-odd cards so I've been trying to make them for days. My husband works for a house building company and every now and then he asks me for a card to give to the people when they hand over the key:

I haven't shown my husband this card yet, its probably a bit too colourful for his liking but I had so much fun colouring it and adding lots of yellow, I'm sure I can pass it on to someone somewhere that is lucky enough to have a new home!!

I started by stamping the house image from the 'A5 Whimsy Town' stamp set on white CS using Gina K Amalgam Black ink, colouring with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. 

I decided to try something different for the background and used the 'Snow Globe' stencil. I blended Distress Ink 'Black Soot' for the stand of the globe and then 'Salty Ocean' for the globe itself, making it lighter  towards the centre. I then used 'Mustard Seed' and the 'Rooftops' stencil stars to sit behind the house. I popped the house on some foam tape and white heat embossed the sentiment (from the same stamp set) on red CS (to match with the roof), put that on foam tape as well and finished off with some yellow pearls from Studio Katia.

Its nearly 9.30pm and I still haven't gotten around to having any dinner. Phoebe is out with friends tonight and Max spent the afternoon with friends, so he's chilling in his room. Dave has just gone to bed so I have the lounge room to myself. Feel like watching something funny, so will see if I can find some Robin Williams somewhere, he always makes me laugh.

Take care

Shona

Funky Fossil Designs - Let the Magic Happen....

 Well, its raining again!! I don't know whats happening with the weather of late but its rained on a Wednesday 4 weeks in a row. Although the last two days have been pretty hard work so I'm glad to have a little rest to try out a cookie recipe and make more Christmas cards but its getting rather frustrating. Especially when I need to try and fit everyone in before Christmas Day....

I wanted to share this card with you using one of the new stamp sets from Funky Fossil Designs and also an experiment I did with some embossing powder that turned out really well:

 So glad I was able to capture the sparkle of the embossing powder, usually I have to get 'up close and personal' so you can see it.

I started by stamping the word image from the new 'Musings A5 Stamp set' using my MISTI and blue inks from Catherine Pooler and Waffle Flower. I adhered a panel of turquoise CS to the card front and then put the stamped panel on a piece of white foam.

I stamped the 'yoga pose' from the 'Serenity A6 Stamp set' on white CS using Versafine Onyx ink. I did it 4x to get really good coverage and then tried something new. I sprinkled over some WOW! Clear Sparkle Embossing Powder, used my heat gun and was so excited with the result. It seems to have a turquoise sparkle to it, so I'm not sure if its picking up on the ink colours I used around it. Will try it again but maybe on pink next time to see what that does.

I fussy cut the yoga image and put it on foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment (from the same 'Musings' set) and glued on some sequins from Neat and Tangled.

I have a few jobs to do in town but I don't really have the enthusiasm to go running around in the pouring rain. I need to take Phoebe to an appointment at 1.30pm so might wait till then and potter inside in the mean time. There is always something to clean (like my kitchen floor) so I'm sure I'll keep myself busy.

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Joy and Peace

 Hi everyone!! I've finally made it to Friday and the last two days have been full of super hot sunshine. I think I even got my first sunburn today, which means I need to start putting on my sunblock every morning. So nice in the evening too, especially as tonight I need to dead-head my roses. They smell extra good in the still of the night.

I wanted to sneak one more card into the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop before it finishes. My goodness there are some incredible projects linked and makes me wish even more that I actually enjoyed a cup of coffee!!

Funky Fossil Designs are one of the many Super Sponsors for the hop. It must take Amy so much time to gather info about all the Sponsors together! I shared a card using their products the other day which had a 'walking thru the snow' theme to it. This time I looking towards Christmas:

Pink and purple go together like coffee and cake (well for me cake AND cake go together too....), its such a pretty colour combo, especially for Christmas.

I started by stamping the angel from the 'Folksy Christmas' set on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink, colouring with my Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. I then heat embossed the coffee cup from the same set on white CS using Ranger 'Queens Gold' embossing powder. I used Distress Ink 'Picked Raspberry' to colour the base of the cup and fussy cut out.

For the background I adhered a panel of purple CS to the card front. I then blended the same 'Picked Raspberry' ink thru the 'Snowfall'  stencil on a piece of white CS. After removing the stencil I blended with the same colour over the whole panel but without adding any more ink to the foam pad to give the snowflakes a very pale colour. I used a die from Studio Katia 'Nested Ovals' and put this on the card front with white foam.

The sentiment (from the 'Festive Phrases A5' stamp set) was heat embossed with the same gold embossing powder on white CS. I fussy cut it out, glued to some lavender CS and then fussy cut around it again to create a frame. I coloured the heart with a purple marker and added some clear Wink of Stella. The angel and cup were popped up on foam tape, as well as the sentiment. And to finish off I added some Studio Katia pearls and Wink of Stella to the halo and coffee cup lid.

Wish I'd had time to make more coffee cards but I'm happy I was able to make a few. Its such a fun idea and I always look forward to seeing everyone's creations. I might pop outside now to check my roses, I think all of my towns aphid population have congregated at my house!!

Take care

Shona

Funky Fossil Designs - Walking in a Winter Wonderland (with a cup of coffee...)

Hello there!! Its late at night, the house is very quiet (which is strange because Phoebe has three friends staying over) and I need to stay awake till midnight as the PS5 is being released Thursday 12th November. Max has been talking about it all year (possibly longer) and we missed out on pre-orders, so I have to be ready at midnight with my credit card to try and get one for him. I will be so disappointed if I miss out as we probably won't get another chance till next year, so please cross all your fingers and toes for me....

The 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is going on right now and they are currently at 690 participants....that's fantastic and there are still a few days to go!!

Funky Fossil Designs is one of the Super Sponsors for the hop so I wanted to create a card or two with a 'coffee' theme:

 I just love these snowmen images from the 'Silly Snowmen' stamp set. One of them is holding up a present and I thought I could have him holding a cup of coffee instead as he wandered thru the snow.

I stamped the snowman on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and then fussy cut out, cutting off the present. I didn't have a coffee up image that was small enough, so using a 0.3 Uni Fineline black pen I had a go at drawing some takeaway coffee cups. It took a few goes and its not perfect but I think you'll recognise it, so I cut it out and glued to his hand.

For the background I blended some Distress Ink 'Salty Ocean' very lightly over the 'Birch Forest' stencil on the card front. Using a 'Scallop Frame' die from Pretty Pink Posh, I die-cut it 3x from navy CS, glued them together and then to the card front. I popped the snowman up on foam tape, as well as the sentiment which  was white heat embossed (from the 'Festive Penguins' set) on a strip of red CS. And to finish off I glued on some pearls from Studio Katia.

I've got another coffee card to share with you but will do that tomorrow. I'm going to put on my pjs and hop into bed with my iPad to watch Season 11 of Law and Order. It took me a few weeks to get thru Season 10 but I'm loving it as much as I did back in the 90's, and I even remember some of the episodes!!

Take care

Shona 

Funky Fossil Designs - She is Fierce

Hi there, this is my second blog post for today which is rather unusual. All this rain we've had recently has certainly given me a bit more time to play in my craft area than normal. I could be doing a lot more housework but who wants to be doing that all day??

We recently had a New Release of five new stamp sets at Funky Fossil Designs and its been so fabulous to see how much you've loved them. I wanted to try combining the new 'Doodle Borders' set with one of my favourites and get away from a 'clean and simple' design:

I don't use purple on my cards very often but loved how the girls ombre hair turned out, so I just had to carry on with the purple scene.

I stamped the girl from the 'She is Fierce' stamp set on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink. I used Altenew Artist Markers to colour her in and then fussy cut her out.

On a panel of white CS I stamped the wavy lines from the 'Doodle Borders' stamp set with the same Gina K ink, creating a frame. These were also coloured with the Altenew Markers and I also added some details with a Sakura Gelly Roll white pen. The image of the girl didn't look quite right inside the frame on her own, so stamped the floral image from her stamp set with Altenew 'Deep Iris' ink and then put her on some foam tape. The sentiment (from the same set as the girl) was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS, backed with some lavender CS and put on foam tape, along with some 'Amethyst' pearls from Studio Katia.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. This is my 4th entry.

Time to go put my pj's on and might read some magazines. I actually got a book from the library at the weekend by Jodi Picoult. I have a lot of her earlier books but haven't read any of the recent ones. Decided it might be better for me to read some nights instead of going on YouTube before going to sleep. I find so many interesting things to watch, my 20 mins suddenly turns into 2hrs and its now 1am. And of course then I can't go to sleep, so hopefully a book is a little more relaxing....

Take care

Shona

 
 

Funky Fossil Designs New Release!!!

 Hi everybody!! I've made it to the weekend but unfortunately so has the rain. We didn't have rain for weeks and now it seems we can't get rid of it. I need to work this weekend as I'm so behind but as I walked out the door this morning the rain started to fall. So now I'm home to do the housework (and make the odd card hopefully....) instead.

We have a new release available at Funky Fossil Designs which consists of 5 new A5 stamp sets. And there is something for everyone!

See what I mean? Something for the flower lovers, cute animal lovers and the space cadets out there. And with them all being A5 there is a lot of bang for your buck! I wanted to share with you a card using the 'Hello Gorgeous' stamp set:

 I saw a card recently where the person watercoloured with Distress Oxide inks and thought to myself I haven't done that for at least a year, so decided to get them out.

I stamped the large image using Gina K Amalgam Black ink on normal white CS. Using a minimal amount of water I used a rainbow of Oxide inks, using the light colours first and then adding some shading and details with a darker colour. To finish off I added some highlights with a Sakura Gelly Roll white pen and coloured in the tiny circles around the flowers that are part of the image and added some more.

I die-cut the image using a die from Winnie and Walter. I adhered a panel of black CS to the card front and put the floral panel on a piece of black foam. The sentiment (from the same set) was white heat embossed on black CS, fussy cut out and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes', this is my second entry.

I've got lots of other cards using these new stamp sets, so will be back soon to share them with you. Enjoy your weekend and hope your weather is kind to you.

Take care

Shona

 


 

Funky Fossil Designs - National Coffee Day Blog Hop

 Hello there!! Getting closer to the end of the week and hope your looking forward to something exciting or maybe relaxing at the weekend!

Its National Coffee Day in the U.S. and there is a fantastic blog hop to celebrate. The beginning of the hop starts at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog where they give you a list of all the Super Sponsors taking part. Each company will give you the chance to win some goodies and be inspired by coffee-related projects. You can even win a $20 gift voucher to the Super Sponsor of your choice by leaving a comment on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog post!

 

One of the Super Sponsors is Funky Fossil Designs and they are offering a 25 GBP (Sorry I can't work out how to get the pound sign on my keyboard....) gift voucher from one of the comments left on their blog post.

AND they have 10% off everything in store using the code  FFCOFFEE10 for the duration of the hop which finishes at midnight Tuesday 6th October.

They recently released the stamp set 'Time for Tea' which has images that could also be used for coffee. I used it to create a card for a friend:

This stamp set has such good patterns on the images for colouring and the markers I used are my favourite colours and starting to run out...eeek!!

I started by stamping the images on white CS using Gina K Amalgam Black ink, colouring with Altenew Artist Markers and then fussy cutting out. I wanted to create a 'kitchen bench' scene and thought I could create a tile-like pattern for the background. Using Altenew 'Sea Glass' ink and a square pattern stamp from the 'Scandi Garden' set, I stamped the pattern on the card front using my MISTI. I didn't measure or anything, just took my time to line things up.

Once that was finished I added a strip of wood veneer CS (for the bench) and popped the coffee pot and cups on foam tape. The sentiment (from the 'Time for Tea' set) was white heat embossed, backed with a similar blue CS and put on foam tape, along with Studio Katia pearls.

I'm off now to start hopping thru all the company blogs and leave lots of comments. You just never know, I could win some goodies. My husband would say I don't need anymore stamps/dies but I will never have enough!!

Take care

Shona 

Funky Fossil Designs - Snowone Like You!!

Hello there!! It has been one super busy month for card making with lots of New Release's to prepare for as well as other DT cards for the blog. Thank goodness I haven't lost my mojo over the last few weeks because as you know, I'm a 'last minute' crafter!! I really enjoy doing the New Release posts and sharing new products with everyone, especially when I've fallen in love with it myself.

We had a New Release a few weeks ago at Funky Fossil Designs and I haven't had a chance to share more of my cards with you using the new stamp sets. Sarah (the owner) and her stamp designers have been blowing me away with their images and each release I think this is their best....and then I think the same with the next one. I'm extremely proud to be a part of their team and excited to see how far they have come!

One of the new stamp sets has the cutest little 'round' snowmen. After a Winter of 'eating too many of my favourite chocolate biscuits', I'm feeling rather rotund myself and its unfortunately time to start thinking about Summer and bathing suits (or togs as well call them in NZ). Wish it was heading into Winter again, not Summer, so I could be rugged up like this guy enjoying the brisk outdoors:

This 'Birch Forest' stencil is one of my favourites for outdoor scenes, especially anything for Winter.

I placed the stencil over the card front and blended Distress Inks 'Salty Ocean' and 'Chipped Sapphire' over top to create an ombre effect, almost as if he was sledding at night-time. I free-hand cut a piece of white CS to make a hill, brushed on some Gina K Connect Glue to the edge and poured over Simon Says Stamp 'Unicorn Dust' Glitter. The hill was then popped up on foam tape. And to give a 'snowy' effect I drew some snow with a white gel pen falling amongst the trees.

The snowman from 'Silly Snowmen' was stamped on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. I put him on the hill with foam tape for lots of dimension. The sentiment (from the same set) was white heat embossed and put on foam tape, along with 'Arctic Breeze' pearls from Studio Katia.

I have a few more cards to come up with before I jump in bed tonight. Daylight Savings starts tonight with the clock going forward 1 hour, so we lose an hour of sleep but gain so much more time at the end of the day. I also haven't had to light the fire for a week, the days have been so warm. AND I have so many peony buds this year, it has taken a 7 years for some of my plants to flower so I can't wait for them to bloom. So many good things are happening!!

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Release Day!!!

Hi there, I wanted to pop in and let you know that all of the new stamp sets I've been showing off this week for Funky Fossil Designs are now available to purchase....yippee!!!

These are the five new sets:

I hope you've fallen in love with these sets as much as I have and I've got one more card to share with you using the 'A6 Winter Wonderland' set:

 
 I shouldn't be biased but the 'Winter Wonderland' set is my favourite from this release. Its going to be fabulous for Christmas cards and so many others.

I started by cutting a 4x4 inch square white CS base and adhering a panel of black CS that was slightly smaller. I then used a circle die from Couture Creations with some white CS. I decided to do some ink blending for the deer image and used Altenew 'Sea Glass', 'Ocean Waves' and 'Dusk' inks, creating an ombre effect. The weird thing is when I did the final ink it looked perfectly blended between each colour but when it dried it had line marks from the ink pads and I had already started stamping the flowers. I know next time to wait for it to dry first.....

Using the 'In the Meadow' stamp set and Versafine Onyx ink, I stamped the flowers around the edge of the circle, making it up as I went along. Once the ink was dry (its a pigment ink) I put the circle on some black foam and adhered to the card front. To finish off I white heat embossed the sentiment (from the 'Small Print A6' stamp set) on a strip of black CS and put it on foam tape. I decided not to add any embellishments as all those flowers were busy enough.

Thanks so much for joining me this week for the New Release and enjoy your shopping. I can't wait to see what you all buy and especially what projects you create. Please link me on IG or Facebook so I can see what you make and I'll be back here with more card ideas real soon.

Take care
Shona