Sunflowers In Spring? Why Not?!

Hello Friends! I hope this post will find you well! :). A very warm welcome to my newest readers and the regular followers, too! So happy to see you here!

Can you feel it? Can you smell it? Yes, Spring is finally in the air! Beautiful sunny banks of daffodils, cheerful bunches of tulips, magnolia blooms... aaah, I love this time of year! 

In keeping with the season our Stampendous HQ powers are focusing on all things Spring this week and I wanted to join in, too! Here's a birthday card I made for my Mum and while sunflowers are not normally associated with Spring, I thought these lovely sunny blooms would be a great addition to my delicate springtime lilacs hiding in the background.

I stamped the Lilac and Sunny Vase flowers on the Mixed Media Paper and coloured the images with Inktense pencils. I then die cut the images with the corresponding Sunny Vase and Lilac die sets. I varied the height of the blooms with my trusty 3D Foam Squares from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L.

For my background and vase I used some papers from 7Dots Studio which I stamped with Scrollwork Leaves and which I embossed with the Dreamweaver Metallic Gold Embossing Paste over the Corner Flourishes stencil. The little tag is from the Sunny Vase stamps set.

For the bottom of my vase I sprinkled some flower dust - aka Frantage and (my newly re-discovered loOOOove for) the encrusted jewel technique. I used Bronze Glass Glitter, Spoonful of Rust, Copper Lux Mix and Shabby White Embossing Enamel. 

I finished the card with a little butterfly - because I absolutely looove butterflies and always look for an excuse to add one in lol :).

Also sharing today are:

Stampendous Blog
Pam Bray
Louise Healy

I hope you've enjoyed today's post and thank you for all your lovely comments that you may wish to leave (please do!) :). Have a fabulous day!

Big crafty hugs




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Today Is A Good Day

Hello my lovelies! Warmest welcome to all my new and regular readers! :)

Today over at Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L I am sharing this shimmery art tag and you can see my post here. I created a DIY background using gorgeous Pigment Powders - but to find out more, please hop over to the Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L's blog!

Supplies:

Donna Salazar with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L® Pigment Powders - Gold, Pink, Brown, Wine (coming soon!) and Silver (coming soon!); Lace Ribbons; Ash Washi Tape (coming soon!)

Adhesive Sheets 4x6", DODZ™ - Small, DODZ™ - 3D, DODZ™ - XL, Thin 3D Foam Squares - Mix Black

Other supplies:

Stampendous: Cling Vintage Letter stamp, Clear Detail Embossing Powder
Donna Salazar Designs MIX'D MEDIA INX - Chiffon
Liquid Pearls, flowers, ornamental berries, manila tag, seam binding ribbon

I really like this colour combo for Spring time projects and the Pigment Powders worked perfectly for me - just like in this Spring Time Art card.

And I just looooove these little Styrofoam berries, they are so cute, don't you think? I bought them in the 'after Christmas sales' a year ago for 50p - a real bargain and I still have loads of them left! I've also used them in this Bird's Nest Artist Trading Block project if you'd like to have another peek. 

I hope you like my first project of the new year! Thank you so much for stopping by today and for your lovely comments!

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Spring Time Die Cut Art - and Guest Designing at Frilly And Funkie!

Re-edited: Yay! My card has been voted one of the top picks at Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #115! Woot woot!!! :)

Hello everyone! Guess what?! I have been invited to play along today as a Guest DT over at Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog, after my altered ahabby chic dress form was voted the winner of the Bring on the Bling challenge! How exciting is that?!

I was even more excited when I found out the theme of their current challenge - Spring Time Die Cuts. I love spring and I have recently rediscovered my love of die cutting (getting a new die cutting machine might have something to do with it lol).

So... my crafty offering today is a card with a soft colour palette, inspired by the glorious blooms of my neighbours' magnolia tree. Dusky pinks, golden yellows and soft browns seem to have taken the centre stage. This is my early spring take on the challenge theme, before the fresh greens take over :). 

Spring Time Art Card

In my card I used Spellbinders Grateful Lattice die and Sizzix Tim Holtz Picture Wheel die. My Grateful Lattice die cut was first used as a stencil for a thin layer of DecoArt Texture Crackle. I also threw in a few individual lattice elements that I had left over from my vintage rose trellis card. The lattice elements are covered with beautiful and sparkly Stampendous Gilded Mica Fragments. 

Using Grateful Lattice die to add texture to my background.

The papers are from Prima Marketing (Striking Appearance, Epiphany Collection, which I used in my shabby birds' nest ATB) and 7Dots Studio (Dreamer collection). All quickly put together with MyStik® Permanent Strips. I also added some stamping using Stampendous Charmed Art and Vintage Lowercase Perfectly Clear stamps.

The picture wheel was also brushed with the Texture Crackle, then rubbed with the mica powders. I backed it up with some florist's cellophane that had a lovely white print on it - my Adhesive Sheets were perfect for this job. After popping the wheel over some The transparency gave my alpha beads (thrift shop find) an interesting floating appearance.

Using transparencies to add depth and give the alphas a floating appearance.

I have lots of mica sparkliness going on in the background, too. For that I used the new mica powders (Pink, Brown and Gold) from Donna Salazar for Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L® (available soon!). To finish the card I added some Liquid Pearls, ribbon and ribbon roses died with DIY mica sprays I made using the the mica powders.

Thank you so much to Linda and the Frilly & Funkie Team for inviting me to play along with this challenge! I feel truly honoured!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will join us for this Spring Time Die Cuts Challenge!

Big crafty hugs

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Challenges for this card:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - A is for...Art
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Spring Flowers
A Vintage Journey - Through The Looking Glass
Mixed Media Place #6 - Typography
Our Creative Corner - Colour Your World
Really Reasonable Ribbon #115 - Things With Wings
Live and Love Crafts #34 - Signs of Spring
7 Dots Studio - Nature

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Fooling Around Making Art - Stampendous And Spectrum Noir Team-Up

Happy April Fools' Day! :). I can't believe it's April already - can you? And I also cannot believe how blessed I am, as so many new readers have chosen to follow my blog and my Instagram shares - thank you soooo much for your kindness and support!

We have the pleasure this week of joining the Spectrum Noir team “Making Art” with great coloring tools and our stamps. And no, it's not an April Fools' Day trick - it's for real! lol.

Spectrum Noir is a range of professional coloring tools. The range includes alcohol markers, blendable colored pencils, inks, Spectrum Aqua watercolor markers, and marker storage.

I am very blessed indeed to have been gifted with the full 168 marker set of Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and that's what I will be playing with this week.  Exciting or what? :)

I hope you will join us this week for fantastic inspirational projects, ideas and amazing prizes! Hang on, did someone say prizes...???

Of course there are prizes!! First, we’ll be giving away a full set of Spectrum Noir Pencils plus accessories to one participant who completes our Rafflecopter giveaway. Click on the Stampendous blog link below to enter!

Amazing, isn't it! I wish I could enter myself - I certainly wouldn't mind adding these fab pencils to my collection! And, of course, we always like to invite you to comment on our Design Team Blogs, so we’ll be offering three prize packages consisting of House-Mouse Designs®Painting Pals, Painted Posies and Making Prints Cling Rubber Stamps by Stampendous PLUS a $30/£30 gift certificate to the Spectrum Noir website. This is open even to our international friends!!

And here is my offering for today - a colourful pastel butterfly card :).

I wanted to see if I could make my own arty-ish background using the markers. I started by liberally drawing horizontal and vertical lines with the chisel tips of the markers on a piece of Mixed Media Paper. I was trying to very the thickness of the lines to create almost a plaid-like effect. I also drew through a DIY stencil with circles in varying sizes which I die cut on a sheet of acetate.

I added some black and white paint splatters, and also some stamping with the Script and Kaffee Klatsch stamps. Some of the 'doily' images were also heat embossed in white.

After stamping a colouring two butterflies, one on the Mixed Media Paper and one on white vellum, I die cut them using the Butterflies Die Set, which made it super quick and easy (rather than heaving to fussy cut them).

Supplies I used:

Stampendous: Mixed Media White Paper, Penned Birthday,  PenPattern Butterflies, Butterflies Die Set, Stack Art Angel Wings (script stamp), NK Studio Kaffee Klatsch, White Detail Embossing Powder

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L: DODZ-Small, DODZ-3D, E-Z Runner Permanent Strips, Creative Photo Corners - White

Spectrum Noir Markers - PP1, CR1, CR2, LY1, LY3 (background); CR1, CR2, LY1, LY3, CT3, BT2, BT4, BT6, PP1, PP3 (butterflies)

Other: Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Liquid Perals, self adhesive pearls, BazzillBasicsPaper Doilies (Ambrosia collection), DCWV Mariposa, cardstock, decorative fibers.

Be sure to visit other designers playing this week as there is heaps of inspiration being shared for your reading pleasure! Playing today are:

Stampendous Blog

Amy Hurley-Purdie

Asia King

Spectrum Noir Blog

Thank you for stopping by and all your wonderful comments. Good luck in the draw and I'll see you again on Friday!

Big crafty hugs




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Challenges for this card:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Pastels

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Anniversary Pop Up Bouquet - Woodware And Stampendous Blog Hop Finale

Hello everyone and my warmest, heartfelt welcome to my newest followers! My heart is singing with joy and gratitude knowing that more peeps have chosen to follow my creative efforts - thank you so much!

Today is our big finale of this week's playtime with Stampendous, Woodware Craft Collection and Dreamweaver Stencils (which have now become part of the Stampendous family). If you've missed my previous post with the Blossom Bunch necklace you can find it here.

This week's collaboration is super special as it is a celebration of many years of successful working relationship (and friendship!) of these three companies. The lovely Team at Woodware has worked tirelessly distributing Stampendous & Dreamweaver goodies. Yes, it's them who make it all possible for UK's retailers (and crafters) to get their crafty hands on these fantastic products.

This fantastic blog hop, apart from amazing projects also brings you the opportunity to win amazing prizes. And the super cool thing is that this time UK crafters can also participate in the giveaway - how awesome is that!

We’ll be offering three prizes in the UK and three in the US. Each prize package will consist of Nathalie Kalbach’s terrific Grunge Mixed Media Cling Rubber Stamp Sets and the beautiful Zen Butterfly Dreamweaver Stencil. Both products are ideal for adding texture and backgrounds to your projects!

Deadline to comment is Sunday, March 29th, Pacific Time. Winners will be picked using random.org and announced Tuesday, March 31st, in the afternoon.

So today I have an anniversary card I made for my SIL and BIL :). This card was a bit of an experiment with the new (fabulous!) pop up die set from Stampendous -  Build a Pop Up Die Set. I have never done a pop up card before but I think my first attempt was successful :). It was super fun to make it!

Here are the supplies I used.

From Stampendous:
Cling Build a Bouquet Set
Build a Bouquet Die Set
Penned Anniversary
Build a Pop Up Die Set
Small Perfectly Clear™ Acrylic Handle

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®: Adhesive Sheets 6x12", MyStik® Permanent Strips, Thin 3D Foam Squares - Mix White

Plus:
Cardstock by Bazzill Basics®, papers Authentique Harmony 'Creation', ribbon (May Arts), white vellum, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 18 dies
Media: Imagive Crafts/Tsukineko® StazOn Mini Ganache, Brilliance Pearlescent Olive, Tea Dye Distress Ink, STAEDTLER® ergosoft® aquarell watercolour pencils,

Instructions:
1. Following instructions from the Build a Pop Up Die Set prepare a base for the pop up card from Authentique papers and add decorative borders using edge dies from the set. Mat over pink cardstock with MyStik® Permanent Strips.
2. Stamp the vase and flowers from Cling Build a Bouquet Set with Ganache ink onto papers with a plain design and colour in with watercolour pencils.
3. Die cut the images using Build a Bouquet Die Set and adhere to the pop up tabs.
4. Die cut one label shape from coordinated paper and add some inking while the shape is still in the die. Stamp Penned Anniversary with Olive ink.
5. Die cut another label (one size up) from white vellum and adhere to the card base.
6. Adhere the sentiment panel with Thin 3D Foam Squares over the vellum.
7. Tie a small bow from a decorative ribbon and crinkle it with a heat tool. Adhere to the card.

Here's the full list of participating blogs for today. Don't forget - to enter the draw, simply comment on all participating blogs. The more blogs you visit & comment on, the higher your chances of winning :).

Stampendous Blog

Jamie Martin

Amy Hurley-Purdie

Janelle Stollfus

Pam Hornschu

Kristine Reynolds

Asia King (that's me!)

Wendy Price

Lea Kimmel

Woodware Craft Collection Blog

Siobhan Fyffe

Dreamweaver Stencils Blog

Lyn Bernatovich

Cindy Groh

Gill Wilson

Laura Drahozal

Louise Healy

Lynn Mercurio

Alison Heikkila

Thank you for stopping by today and for all your beautiful comments. I will be back again later today with my post for the Tea Cup Exchange Blog Party :).

Have a fantastic and creative weekend!

Big crafty hugs



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Also linking to:
Country View Challenges March - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

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Roses Of Friendship With A Vintage Charm

Hello Friends! First of all a big 'thank you' to everyone who's visited and left such kind comments my 'Be More (Steampunk) Dog' layout. It's really heart warming to know that you haven't given up on me :), despite my sporadic blog visits at the moment. Thank you from the bottom of my heart...

Today over at Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L's blog I am sharing this lovely Roses of Friendship card. I would love it, if you could find a spare moment to check out all the details :). The inspiration for my card was my auntie's beautiful cottage garden and this lovely photo from the Shabby Tea Room's Challenge this week:

This card was a bit of an experiment with the Adhesive Sheets 6x12", Gilded Mica Fragments and Spellbinders Grateful Lattice die which I used to create my shimmery trellis background. I just love how the Wild Roses seem to be climbing up the golden trellis.

The vintage charm and frame embellishments are from the Works. The seam binding ribbon was died with distress markers using a technique I saw on Tammy Tutterow's blog.

The papers I used are called Vintage Floral and were free with the February 2015 issue of Making Cards Magazine. The 'cherish precious friendship' words were cut out from an old packaging from Prima flowers. They are printed on a clear acetate and I found that Adhesive Sheets are fantastic for adhering transparencies. You get a strong, even, edge to edge coverage - so no messy excess glue showing anywhere :).

I had no idea how this card would turn out. Because of my recent health troubles and the bucket-loads of pain killers I have to take, my creative planning seems to abandon me quite often. But I am quite pleased with the result here. Hope you like it too! x

Supplies:

Adhesive Sheets 6x12", Thin 3D Foam Squares - Mix White, Home & Hobby E-Z Runner® Grand - Permanent Strips, DODZ™ - 3D

Other supplies:

Stampendous: Cling Wild Roses, Friendship Assortment Perfectly Clear stamps, Gilded Mica Fragments; Spellbinders Grateful Lattice die

Core'dinations Tim Holtz Kraft Core Shattered cardstock, patterned papers, Ganache StazOn Mini ink, Liquid Pearls, Inktense pencils, seam binding ribbon

That's all from me for now. Thank you for popping in today. Take care of yourselves and enjoy the weekend!

Big crafty hugs



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Challenges for this card:
Craft Stamper March Make It Take It - Anything Goes Challenge 
Shabby Tea Room Challenge #247 - Pop Of Pink
Simon Says Monday Challenge - B is for...Bling!
Country View Challenges March - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Things That Fly
Fashionable Stamping Challenges #93 - Springtime
Frilly and Funkie Challenge - Bring On The Bling!

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Artist Trading Blocks and Stampendous - Big Blog Hop Finale

Hello Friends and welcome to the the big “block” hop day! It’s time to pull up your comfy chair and get comfortable with your favorite beverage (hot or otherwise) while you enjoy browsing through the projects inspired by this week's collaboration of Stampendous and Eileen Hull's Artist Trading Blocks.

My first project this week was this grungy, rusty, industrial Steampunk Drama Theatre set. If you've missed it, it's really worth checking out, even if I say so myself :). I really enjoyed making this ATB and dipping into my 'dark' side lol.

And if you haven't joined the hop yet, be sure to check out all the posts this week. The designers have shared some really outstanding projects - you don't want to miss this amount of creativity and ingenious inspiration!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

And of course, we have prizes! We’ll choose three winners at random from the comments on all blogs in the hop. Then from those three we’ll randomly pick a GRAND PRIZE winner! Two of the winners will receive Stampendous PenPattern Petal and PenPattern Flutter cling stamps. They’ll also receive enough pre-cut, premium matboard from Sizzix to make two boxes, plus some extra pieces for fiddly bits! The Grand Prize winner will receive the stamps as above, a whole package of matboard, AND the Sizzix Scoreboards™ XL Square Box Die die to cut your own ATB boxes!
And if that wasn't enough, eligibility for these amazing prize packages has been extended to include international hoppers, too! I say 'yay' to that!

OK, so here's the project I prepared for today's Blog Hop Finale. This time I stayed well within my comfort zone and shabby chic nature. With the Spring just around the corner, I just couldn't get this idea out of my head - I had to have a bird's nest. I suppose I might still be under an influence of my fluffy Hummingbirds' Nest project :). Here is my block in its full glory.

My focal image is this gorgeous Nestled Bird stamp. It may sound strange but this is actually the first time I've used this stamp, despite owning it for a long time. Somehow I've always felt intimidated by its beauty and serenity, and I was worried I could never do it justice. But I've finally grown brave enough to ink it up :). I coloured it using Inktense pencils and my colours were inspired by the patterned paper I used.

If you look closely you'll see that I added lots of crackle texture all around my ATB. For that I used Old Paper Distress Crackle Paint and DecoArt Texture Crackle tinted with Titan Buff Fluid Acrylic paint. To tone them down and bring out the crackle even more I painted them with a wash using my Intense pencils.

To cover my box I used the stunning 12x12" sheet from Prima Marketing  (Striking Appearance, Epiphany Collection). I adhered each side individually using Adhesive Sheets which have become my adhesive of choice whenever I want full side to side coverage. I then stamped a sentiment on a smaller piece of my DP with A Bird Sings stamp, framed it with White Photo Corners (painted with an Inktense wash) and popped over White 3D Thin Foam Squares.

The sides of the block were stamped with the sentiments from the Angel Wings Quotes Perfectly Clear set. I added die cut wooden frames (a recent bargain find from The Works) which I swiped with Boss Gloss and heat embossed with with the Shabby Blue Embossing Enamel. Ooooh, I always love adding a bit of Frantage!

Inside the box I put some thick pieces of foam to fill it up so I could add my little nest with birds' eggs on top (another bargain from the Works). I also tucked in some natural 'grass' fibers and feathers and I added a spray with flowers and berries (another bargain find in the post-Christmas sales).

Here are today’s participating designers - be sure to visit them all!

Stampendous Blog

Pam Hornschu

Asia King (you are here)

Jamie Martin

Kristine Reynolds

Janelle Stollfus

Tenia Nelson

Amy Hurley-Purdie

Wendy Price

Lea Kimmel

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Anne Redfern

Donna Budzynski

Diana Hetherington

Oxana Moupasiridou

Eileen Hull’s Blog

Thank you for stopping by today. If you've enjoyed your visit here, be sure to browse through my blog for other projects and ideas. And how about clicking the 'Follow My Blog' button on the right so you can stay up to date with my future crafty endeavours? :)

I'm back again tomorrow with a 'quintessentially British' make for Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L :). Until then, enjoy the hop and have a fabulously crafty Friday!

Big crafty hugs

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Challenges for this project:
Vintage Stamping Challenges #29 - Spring Colours
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes
Fashionable Stamping Challenges #92 - Colour Between The Lines
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Also linking to:

WEEKEND RETREAT LINK PARTY #108

Roses of Inspiration Linkup #8

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