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Friday, 30 April 2021

Beyond Strips - 10 MORE clever ways to use your cardstock scraps! (and great news for Canadian Crafters!)

 


Are you tired of 'stripping'? LOL! In today's video, I'm sharing 10 OTHER ways to use up your cardstock scraps!


And in other news! If you're a Canadian crafter who's sick of waiting forever for goodies to arrive from outside of Canada, and paying taxes at the door, why not check out Ecstasy Crafts. This is the shop where I got the Studio Light triangle die used in the 4th card (see below). 

Thursday, 29 April 2021

You Should Know (Throwback Thursday!)

 

It's Throwback Thursday and I'm looking back on one of my all-time favourite floral stamp sets, from Ellen Hutson - You Should Know.

These flowers are big, happy and easy to colour with your medium of choice, or you can leave them black and white and add a pop of colour with a sentiment. 

For more details, click on the links below:





Sunday, 25 April 2021

Crystal Happy Birthday

 


Congratulations to this week's Featured Stamper, Martina (Martinaskaartjes)!

I chose this card as my inspiration:


LIST: Geometric background, colours (green, purple, black), birthday die cut sentiment (Layered)

INCLUDE: geometric background, birthday card

MODIFY: added more colours (green-aqua-blue-purple), stamped sentiment, 

EXCLUDE:

SPIN: square card


I started by stamping the Birch Press Crystal Lingo slimline background twice on my square panel, using Fade Out ink and leaving a white strip in the centre.

I masked each area and blended ink into it, using Lime Rickey, Aquatini, Fiesta Blue, Suede Shoes, Flirty Fuschia. When it was all blended, I spritzed shimmer spray over it.

I finished the card with a large Waffle Flower Birthday sentiment stamped with Versafine ink.


Friday, 23 April 2021

6 Ways to Make your own Coloured Cardstock

 
Don't worry, you're not seeing double! Yes, these cards are very similar to last week's, but this time, I made my  own coloured cardstock!

Check out this video for 6 quick techniques I used to customize my white cardstock!




Tuesday, 20 April 2021

You Are Loved


 Here's another card using new dies from the Suddenly Spring release from Altenew. See yesterday's post for Blog Hop and Giveaway details!

I cut the same die from Decorative Swirls twice from white cardstock, and flipped one over before blending ink on them. Then I embossed them both with an embossing folder.

I love how they kind of hook together to create a heart, and I finished the card off with a partial sentiment from the Slim Sentiments die set.

Monday, 19 April 2021

Altenew Suddenly Spring Stand-alone Dies Release Blog Hop + Giveaway($300 in Total Prizes)

 

Good morning! I'm excited to be part of the Altenew Suddenly Spring blog hop today! (details are below).


My card features the new Mini Flower Cluster Layering Die set and Slim Sentiments Die set. 

Blog Hop Details!
$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $20 gift certificate to 10 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 04/25/2021 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 12 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 04/27/2021.

Sunday, 18 April 2021

Black & White Florals


Congratulations to this week's Featured Stamper, Heather (heather freeman).

I chose this card as my inspiration:


LIST: black and white, floral, ribbon, plus signs, 3 dots, black frame

INCLUDE: black and white, floral

MODIFY: layout (my grid creates a + sign!), 3 iridescent gems

EXCLUDE: Ribbon

SPIN: square card


This dramatic card shows yet another look for the new Bouquet of Love stamp set from Altenew (see my video here).



This time, I stamped it twice with Versafine Onyx onto white cardstock, and then cut them both out with the coordinating die.

I used a square die to cut 4 squares of black cardstock, and then I used the same square die to cut different portions from the two stamped images. I simply glued the stamped/die cut portions onto the black squares and arranged them in a 2x2 grid on a square white cardbase. You could trim the portions with a trimmer, but using a square die means that they line up perfectly!

On the one with the most black space, I added 3 tiny iridescent gems.


Friday, 16 April 2021

Cardstock-only Cards

 

Today's cards are made with cardstock only. Yes. Cardstock only. No stamps, no inks. Just cardstock! 

My friend Gerry loves to make cardstock-only cards (she has a a number of videos on this topic!) and she challenged me to join her. 

This is a great way to use up scraps so I grabbed a bright rainbow of bits & pieces and cut them into strips with the Color Me Strips dies from Ellen Hutson.

And then the magic began!  Start with my video here and you will be able to easily jump to Gerry's
 from the end of my video.



Sunday, 11 April 2021

Watercolour Thanks

Congratulations to this week's Featured Stamper, Mary Ellen (cr8iveme)!

I chose this card as my inspiration:


LIST: watercolour background, colours (blue, purple, black and white), large letters, masking for the letters, stamped sentiment strip, black embellishments

INCLUDE: watercolour background, large sentiment

MODIFY: die cut instead of masked letters, pearl embellishments, watercolour background texture created with cling wrap, rather than a smooth blended wash

EXCLUDE: purple, stamped sentiment strip

SPIN: square card

I love this watercolour wash that Mary Ellen created, and how the colours blend together! I used a technique my friend Tiffany did in one of her videos, and when my watercolours were on the paper and still wet, I crinkled up some cling wrap and placed it on while it dried completely. This technique gives some amazing texture!

My sentiment was created with a CZ Designs thanks die which comes with a shadow die. I cut the shadow from my watercolour background and popped it up on my gray cardbase. Then I stacked up the actual thanks word 4 times so that it's the same level as the background.


Thursday, 8 April 2021

One Background Stamp -> 5 Amazing Floral Cards


Today I have a new YouTube video showing how I used the Bouquet of Love stamp set from this week's Altenew Whimsical Wonder release, to create 5 DIFFERENT floral cards! (and if you don't have this stamp set, I've got some suggestions for alternatives!)


Wednesday, 7 April 2021

Light Switch Inspiration

Did you know that LIMES works for inspirations other than cards? Check out this photo from @midmodmidwest (on Instagram).

LIST: Colours (gold/wood, white, deep teal), layers of white light switch covers over circular table, stripey, off-white background.

INCLUDE: colours, circle, white overlay with teal accents, non-white background

MODIFY: shapes from rectangles to flowers

EXCLUDE: um. the light switch covers! lol!



Who knew you could be inspired by a pile of light switch covers? Of course, it's not the light switch covers themselves, it's more about the arrangement and colours that attracted me (kudos to the photographer!)

I started by using my gel press and Catherine Pooler inks to create the coloured cardstock for the circular wooden table top and the teal accents.

Then I used the Reverse Confetti Big Flower Coverplate and cut it twice - once from white, then once from the teal cardstock.

I inlaid the teal pieces into the white outline and then used an Essential Circles die to trim it down so that everything fit neatly on my 'table'.

My background was created from a ghost print from my gel press, as I tried to clean it off with carsdtock, after I finished with the 'wood' and teal panels.

The sentiment is from Pretty Pink Posh.

Tuesday, 6 April 2021

Un-Layering Stamps


 This card was made with the new Marbled Flowers layering stamp set from the Altenew Whimsical Wonder release, available now!

This set has two flowers with leaves and lots of layering possibilities (and some sentiments), but I chose just one solid leaf layer and a fun rainbow of inks to make this one-layer card. It's an easy way to get more from stamps!


Monday, 5 April 2021

Altenew Whimsical Wonder Stamps/Dies/Stencils/Embossing Folders Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

 


Good morning! I'm excited to be part of a blog hop for Altenew's new Whimsical Wonder release, available now! 

This card was made using the new Meadow Bush Layering stencils set. And watercolours!

Here's a quick look at my process:

Tips for success:

1) don't have too much water in your brush, or the paint will seep too far under the stencil. A little bit is ok, and it will give you a soft, hand painted look.

2) move quickly from one layer to the next for a soft look while the previous layer is still damp. Let each layer dry completely for a crisper look.

3) double up on the layers (photos 3 and 4) - you can get a more detailed look by painting one colour through the entire hole, and then taking a deeper or different shade and adding it through the same stencil, but with smaller areas

4) adding splatter will distract from any 'flaws'. This process gives lovely soft results, but when I looked too closely, I could see areas I didn't love. I added grey and gold splatter to give the eye more to look at!



GIVEAWAY:


$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 04/11/2021 for a chance to win. 


Altenew will draw 9 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 04/13/2021.


Altenew Card Blog

Nicole Watt

Jaycee Gaspar

Norine Borys

LauraJane

Emily Midgett

Verity Biddlecombe

Nathalie DeSousa

Amanda Baldwin

Laurie Willison

Terri Koszler

Amber Rain Davis

Dana Joy

Kymona Tracey

Svitlana Shayevich

Michelle Short

Maryam Perez

Simon Hurley

Tania Ahmed

Zinia Redo

Therese Calvird

Virginia Lu

Tenia Nelson

Lilith Eeckels

Reiko Tsuchida

Ardyth Percy-Robb   <<you are here

Carol Hintermeier

Jenny Colacicco

Joylita Dsouza

Keren Baker

Sandhya Iyer

Seeka

Teresa Litchfield

Tricia Schaden

Yoonsun Hur


Saturday, 3 April 2021

Stained Glass Celebrate


Congratulations to this week's Featured Stamper, Cara Denise. 

I chose this card as my inspiration:

LIST: Stained glass, flower, colours (yellow, pink, purple, red, blue), stamped sentiment, dry embossing on the background

INCLUDE: stained glass, flower, some of the colours (blue, purple, yellow, green)

MODIFY: combined the stained glass and floral element, die cut sentiment

EXCLUDE: flower embellishment, dry embossing

SPIN: square card, 



I started by stamping the geometric Crystal Lingo stamp onto white cardstock, and embossing with clear powder. I then cut it with the top layer of the Lotus die set (with the narrowest outlines). I also cut the lotus from black cardstock and inlaid it into another white panel. Then I blended ink onto each piece of the die cut and laid it into the black die cut outline.


Friday, 2 April 2021

You Inspire Me


Inspiration comes from all around us and this card was inspired by one of my Instagram friends, Tracy (@redsas). 


LIST: spring colours (pink, peach, yellow, green), dots, die cut white outline flower, black accents, white embossed sentiment, jewels

INCLUDE: spring colours, dots, flower, black accents

MODIFY: my background was made with a stencil instead of a stamp, I created my negative-space  flower with two flower dies, I added a negative-space frame around the flower

EXCLUDE: heat embossing, 

SPIN: square card, stitching dots around the edge

I started by blending Do-Si-Do, Catching Rays, Chiffon and Garden Party inks through the Altenew Feeling Dotty stencil. Then I blended ink over the panel to create a more tone-on-tone look. 

I used an EBE Essential Circle die and the two flower dies from Folksy Floral to create my negative-space flower and frame.

The sentiment is from Crafty Friends.