Happy Birthday

 

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (pastel aqua, pink, yellow, blue, white), Techniques (inkblending, stamping, die cutting), Elements (pastel/white background, white die cut sentiment, stamped sentiment, large white frame, silver pearls)

INCLUDE:pastel colours, die cutting, 

MODIFY: technique (gel plate, stencil 'removal' of ink with water)

white die cut with gray die cut sentiment over top, clear gems instead of pearls, portrait instead of landscape orientation

Look how dreamy this inspiration card is! I think it's colours inkblended and then white stamping over top and it's absolutely gorgeous!

I tried a different technique to get a similar feel - I used my Catherine Pooler inks and my gel press to create a background, and then I spritzed water over a stencil to kind of bleach out the colours in the pattern. 

Happy Butterfly Birthday

I'm excited to be the Guest Hostess of this week's Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!

The inspiration site is Great Big Canvas and I chose this wall art as my inspiration:

LIST: Colours (rainbow, black,white), Elements (butterflies in a random pattern with black outlines and various patterns)

INCLUDE: butterflies, lots of white space

MODIFY: circular pattern instead of random, 

EXCLUDE: patterns on wings

SPIN: added birthday sentiment in a circle die cut

I created this background with 4 little butterfly stamps and my stampwheel. It actually went pretty quickly getting it all stamped. Then I coloured with copics (also pretty quick, due to the simple shapes), added shadows with a gray marker (a little less quick) and sparkle to the wings with stickles. 

Dotty Daisy Thanks

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (white, yellow, red, black, beige, pale periwinkle), Techniques (die cutting) Elements (daisy, eyelet background, lady bug, twine, no sentiment, scalloped edges)

INCLUDE: white, yellow, periwinkle, die cutting, daisy, die cut background    

MODIFY: 2 die cut daisies, brown sentiment instead of twine, 

EXCLUDE: twine, ladybug, scalloped edge

These soft colours are not my go-to, but they're so pretty! I used my all-time favourite daisy dies, and a polka dot coverplate to get a similar look. Instead of twine, I used a brown script thanks sentiment.

3 Card Making Experiments

Today, I'm sharing the results of 3 cardmaking experiments:

1. how to double your colours with one ink pad
2. how to use a gel plate instead of a sticky mat
3. how to use your stamp positioner for repeat stamping in a completely NEW way!

Catherine Pooler Gray Inks

 All week, I've been showing some of the latest on IG. You know I love Catherine Pooler inks, and today there are new 3 Grays to welcome! 

Craft Roulette Episode #159

On Friday, I played Craft Roulette (my 9th time!) with Mary and all the lovely people who gather every Friday night to spin the wheel and determine the parameters for the week's challenge.

My spins were:

Project: Card on a card (the white 'panel' on my card actually opens, the gray 'card base' is actually a panel.

Colours: Sky views (I stuck with blue and gray, but what was I thinking?! I could have added some yellow, or a whole 'galaxy' of colours! lol!)

Element: Table (this is a top-down view of a place setting - wouldn't a yellow napkin have worked so well?!)

Random: White spots or dots (the plate).

As usual, the conversation was hopping and there were lots of really good, thought-provoking questions (some I'll have to come back to next time!) 

I think my simple make a fun invitation to an anniversary dinner party. 

With Deepest Sympathy

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (green, cream, brown), Techniques (die cut, stamping, blending, splattering), Elements ( stitched frame, tree, ribbon, stamped sentiment)

INCLUDE:  die cut, stamping, blending, splattering, tree, stamped sentiment, tree going over the edge

MODIFY: colours to blue/white, black, frame layout to blended strip in centre, 

EXCLUDE: ribbon, stitching, 

Seems like I rarely choose sympathy cards as my inspiration - like most of us, I prefer happy cards with bright colours. But this inspiration just radiates peace, doesn't it? 

I masked off two edges of my white panel and blended 4 blue/green inks and then splattered them with water.

My original intent was to make the tree die cut the same colour as my darkest ink blending, but I liked the white (although maybe with pine trees, it looks a little Christmassy?). 

I stacked up two tree die cuts and stamped a sentiment from a recent Catherine Pooler Sympathy set.

Are you making these Card Making Mistakes?

Are you ready to rescue your cards? Today I'm talking about some ink-related cardmaking mistakes, plus one of the biggest crafty mistakes I think a lot of us make. PLUS, my friend Ishani has a whole bunch of creative solutions for even more cardmaking mistakes so whatever is going wrong with your cardmaking, I bet we can help! 

Butterfly Thanks

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this layout as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (brown, black, red, yellow, orange, green, blue), Techniques (digital scrapbook/photos), Elements (grid, puppy, white words, flowers)

INCLUDE: black, yellow, orange, green, grid, white words

MODIFY: black background instead of brown, butterflies not puppy, die cut sentiment, pink not red

EXCLUDE: blue, flowers

SPIN: square card, gems

I love a grid and this puppy is adorable!  I used a Paper Rose die to cut 16 identical squares, and I blended 4 colours of ink onto them. Then I stamped some small outline butterflies onto each square, making sure to create movement by having some of them stamped off the edge. I coloured them all in with a black Copic marker.

The hardest part was trying to get them spaced evenly, and straight (don't look too closely! lol!) and then I added my white die cut sentiment.

Stamp Wheel / Paper Crafters Get Organized Summit

 

Today I'm sharing 2 exciting things - 

First - a quick first look at the new Altenew Stampwheel (and I've got some great tips for using it too - see the video link below!)

Second - an invitation to join me and 25 other crafters at a NEW summit, hosted by Justine and Laurel, and focused on organization for paper crafters!

5 reasons you won't want to miss this exciting, brand-new Summit:

• Amazing speakers (see below!) who are sharing their expertise and ideas for simplifying all areas of crafty organization (my presentation focuses on 2 of my favourite attract-ive organization solutions in my craftroom!)
• Facebook group community where you’ll find accountability buddies, connect with other crafters, ask the speakers questions and share progress photos
• Live, interactive presentations from speakers and Lunch & Learn sessions too!
• Attend the summit April 21-23  absolutely free, OR you can get access to all the videos right now, if you choose to grab the Ultimate Organization Bundle at any time. (I will earn an affiliate commission if you use my link).
• The Ultimate Organization Bundle will give you an all-access pass to the summit (meaning you get all the videos and beautiful handwritten notes for life, not just during the 3-Day event), which will allow you to watch at your own pace. You’ll also get access to the videos NOW and there are many free courses, downloads and more from the speakers, an exclusive Art Therapy class and so much more! (BONUS - when you choose to purchase, you will be eligible for the LOWEST price ($39) for 30 mins before it goes up to $59!)

Head over to the website to learn more and grab your free ticket. 

More information will be sent straight to your inbox once you've registered.

Diamond Z Fold Birthday

 

Welcome to this week's LIMES inspiration post!

I chose this card as my inspiration from the gallery of this week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper!

LIST: Colours (coral, yellow, white), Techniques (diamond z fold, stamping, die cutting) Elements (tone on tone stamped background, wonky floral background, die cut sentiment, clear droplet embellishments)

INCLUDE: coral, yellow, white, diamond z fold, die cut sentiment,     

MODIFY:  reversed pattern/solid areas, stenciled background, pink and gold gems

EXCLUDE: stamping, 

SPIN: 4.25" square card

I love a z-fold card and this is a really fun and easy variation on it. I used a new coverplate die in 3 different ways:

1) cut from white cardstock as a stencil to add my swirly background,

2) used the die itself to emboss an inkblended square to use with 

3) cut from gold cardstock to use with the embossed square to make a faux-inlaid technique for my focal panel. 

I adapted the measurements to work with a 4.25" square card, but I can see that this can work with pretty much any size z-fold card.