TGIF CHALLENGE - LOVE SWEET LOVE #TGIFC39

Hello all,

This week I have a card I created for the TGIF Challenge blog,

This is my first time ever entering a card in over at TGIF, and only my third ever card I’ve created for a card challenge, so I must say I’m a bit nervous entering my card in at TGIF as they have a star studded design team, but big girl pants on and away we go…..
 

So this week at the TGIF Challenge blog we had the theme Love Sweet Love,

Now I’m not really big on making Valentine’s Day cards but it gave me a great idea on how I could
use two products I’ve been dying to play with that just so happen to be prefect for Valentine's Day.

 

Back in December I found a new love of mine - Embossing Paste!

I’ve been dying to play with my Dreamweaver Gold Metallic Embossing Paste, but it’s very bold and one of those things where it only has a certain time and a place to be used, but I finally found that perfect time. =)
 

So I decided to pair my Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Scribbles with my gold metallic embossing paste, every time I look at this stencil I instantly think roses not scribbles, so I thought it would make a perfect Valentine’s Day card element, what says Valentines better than a dozen gold roses!
 

I decided to go with something I find really challenging, and that’s a one layered card.

I always struggle with how flat my cards turn out and usually crumble and add another layer, but I feel the texture from the embossing paste gave this card the dimension I wanted to add without actually adding another layer.

 

So starting off, I took a sheet of Basic Black cardstock and made an A2 top folding card.
 

Next using the Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Scribbles, I masked off a square area that I liked,

I then placed my stencil on the card front and masked off any areas on the card I thought might get embossing paste on it, i then taped down my stencil so it didn’t move or shift, using my Palette Knife I then spread the Dreamweaver Gold Metallic Embossing Paste all over the stencil, once I was happy with how it looked I carefully removed the stencil and immediately washed the stencil and knife off.
 

I find that the metallic embossing pastes take a little while longer to dry than some of the other
colours from Dreamweaver so I gave this card a good hour to dry before moving onto my stamping.

 

Using a retired Stampin’ Up! stamp set called Good Greetings I took the “Happy Valentine’s Day” stamp and stamped this with Versamark and heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Gold Embossing Powder.
 

That’s my card all done, very quick and simple but I really like how it turned out in the end,
This gold metallic embossing paste looks far more stunning in real life, when the sun hits it on different angles it has some stunning shades of gold show through, ranging from a deep gold to a very pretty rose gold.
 

I think the boldness of the gold embossing paste on the black card base really makes this card pop.

I Hope you like how I used the gold metallic embossing paste and the scribbles stencil together,

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely week,

- SUPPLY LIST -
 

Simon Says Stamp

 

Tsukineko - Palette Knives Tools

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Scribbles

EK Success - Powder Tool Applicator

Ranger - Embossing Powder Super Fine Gold

Dreamweaver Gold Metallic Embossing Paste

....

STAMPIN' UP!



Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

MERRY MONDAY CHALLENGE #181

Hello, welcome back for another crafty Wednesday!

This week I am playing along at Merry Monday, this is a weekly Christmas card challenge blog.

I have been following this blog for half a year but have never entered any of the challenges, however it is now my New Year’s resolution to play along to every challenge so come Christmas time next year I will have plenty of Christmas cards on hand.

 

This week at Merry Monday Lesley has a “Colour" challenge, blue and white with texture!

The colour picture provided for this challenge is beautiful, unfortunately  though I don’t really own any blues that match that of the picture so I used what I had on hand and went with some non-traditional blue colours.

 

So now on to the card details…

 

I started off with a Whisper White Note Card and heat embossed my sentiment from Hero Arts Holiday Tree stamp set using Rangers Super Fine Silver Embossing Powder, taking the snowflake tree from the same Hero Arts Holiday Tree stamp set I then stamped the trees in Lost Lagoon and Coastal Cabana ink, I then used the coordinating die that came with the stamp set to cut the trees out.

 

I die cut two stitched circles with the Lil’ Inker Designs Stitched Mat Circles die set, the larger circle is Lost Lagoon cardstock and the medium circle is Trophee Board White Linen 240 GSM Paper.

 

To add texture I dry embossed the Lost Lagoon circle using a Lifestyle Crafts Zig Zag Embossing Folder, To tie in with the snowflake theme and to add more texture to the card I also used the Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow Stencil and Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 White Embossing Paste to cover my Trophee Board White Linen stitched circle, before the paste had a chance to dry I also sprinkled some gorgeous Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter onto the wet embossing paste to add a little sparkle (who doesn’t like a bit of sparkle right).

 

While I was waiting for the embossing paste to dry I die cut two banners of the same size using the Stampin’ Up!  Banner Framelits die set and Coastal Cabana cardstock, I glued the two banner tail ends together with Tombow Mono Multipurpose Liquid Glue to create a rectangle to place under the two stitched circles, once the glue had set I then stamped the rectangle using the Hardwood stamp from Stampin’ Up and Versamark Ink to create a watermark wood grain effect.

 

To finish the card I adhered the Coastal Cabana snowflake tree down slightly off the falling snow stitched circle, I then looped some Silver Metallic Thread up and adhered this to the tree using a Mini Glue Dot, I popped the Lost Lagoon snowflake tree up on Small Foam Dots and placed it slightly over the Coastal Cabana snowflake tree, and lastly I added a silver star made with the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and Silver Glimmer Paper.

 

Hope you liked my take on this non-traditional blue and white Christmas card,

Have a lovely week and as always, thanks for stopping by.
 

- SUPPLY LIST -

 

Stampin’ up!

 

Heat Tool

Mini Glue Dots

Silver Glimmer Paper

Silver Metallic Thread

Banners Framelits Die Set

Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock

Hardwood - Clear Stamp Set

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad

Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter

Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes

Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock - RETIRED

Tombow MONO - Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad - RETIRED

 

.

 

Simon Says Stamp

 

Versamark - Ink Pad

Tsukineko - Palette Knives Tools

EK Success - Powder Tool Applicator

Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow Stencil

Lifestyle Crafts - Zig Zag Embossing Folder

Ranger - Embossing Powder Super Fine Silver

Best Creation - Small Circles 3D Foam Tape Dots

Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 - White Embossing Paste

Hero Arts - Holiday Tree - Coordinating Stamp And Die Set

 

.

 

Lil' Inker Designs

 

Stitched Mats - Circles

 

.

 

OTHER

Trophee Board - White Linen 240 GSM Paper



#BAMBI - DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW

 

Hello, Happy Wednesday !

So this week I have another Christmas card using the Falling Snow Stencil from Simon Says Stamp,

It’s fast becoming one of my favourite Stencils in my collection and I can already tell a lot of my cards this Christmas are going to feature snow on them.

 

I’m also going to be using another of my Christmas favorites this year, which is the totally awesome Wplus9 Stag Trio die set, it’s an older die set but has so many uses, not just for Christmas cards, I had been trying to get this die set since last Christmas and finally got my hands on a set a month back as they are forever out of stock, seems they are a favourite for many.

 

I myself love the Stag Trio die set and have so many other ideas on how I want to use it but I mainly brought this die set thinking purely of my sister as she loves anything stag deco / stag related, so I thought it would make the perfect Christmas card for her.

 

So now on to the card details…

 

I started off by using my We R Memory Keepers Trim & Score Board to trim down some cardstock,

making an A2 top folding card out of Trophee Board White Linen 240 GSM Paper.

 

I then heat embossed my sentiment from Hero Arts Holiday Tree using Rangers Super Fine Black Embossing Powder, I then took the Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow Stencil and some Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 White Embossing Paste and used this to cover my card front, once I had cleaned my palette knife and stencil I then set my card aside to dry.

 

While I was waiting for the embossing paste to dry I moved on to the die cutting,

Taking the largest stag in the Stag Trio die set, I die cut him out of some Gold Glimmer Paper, I also die cut two small banners using the Stampin’ Up!  Banners Framelits Die Set, one using some retired  Stampin' Up! Season Of Style Designer Series Paper Stack and the other using some retired My Mind's Eye Time For Tea Designer Paper.

 

And because I couldn't resist adding a bit more sparkle to my design I had to add a little sparkly gold star to the banners using Gold Glimmer Paper, again using the star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.

 

By this time the embossing paste was well and truly dry so I could start assembling the card,

I popped the stag up on Small Foam Dots and placed him slightly over the sentiment, I then used Mini Glue Dots to adhere the two banners to the top left hand corner, layering them slightly over top of each other; I then adhered the star down with another Mini Glue Dot , placing the star on top of the two banners, super easy to make!
 

Im entering my design in at CAS-ual Fridays #144 - Tic Tac Toe
(Stenciling | Die Cutting | Embossing).

 

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting.
 

WRITERS NOTES:

Ok so I’m sure some of you are asking why #BAMBI - DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW?

Well to start off with when I was making this card I thinking of that adorable scene in Bambi where it’s his first winter and he’s jumping around in the snow with Thumper, and then because it kind of looks like my stag is jumping / dashing through the snow - this then made me start singing, Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh, over the fields we go, laughing all the way…… you know how the song goes.

 

- SUPPLY LIST -

 

Stampin’ up!

 

Heat Tool

Mini Glue Dots

Gold Glimmer Paper

Banners Framelits Die Set

Whisper White - C6 Envelopes

Season Of Style Designer Series Paper Stack - RETIRED 

 

.

 

Simon Says Stamp

 

Versamark - Ink Pad

Tsukineko - Palette Knives Tools

EK Success - Powder Tool Applicator

Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow Stencil

We R Memory Keepers - Trim & Score Board

Ranger - Embossing Powder Super Fine Black

Best Creation - Small Circles 3D Foam Tape Dots

Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 - White Embossing Paste

Hero Arts - Holiday Tree - Coordinating Stamp And Die Set

 

.

 

WPLUS9

 

Wplus9 - Stag Trio Designer Dies

 

.

 

OTHER

Trophee Board - White Linen 240 GSM Paper
My Mind's Eye - Time For Tea Designer Paper - RETIRED



OCTOBER......ALREADY?

Hello,

 Can you believe we’re already in October!

I most certainly cannot - didn’t we just have Christmas a few months back?

So now is about the time I start stressing about all the Christmas cards I have NOT yet made,

So in a bid to be on top of my Christmas cards this year I thought I’d jump right on it and hopefully not still be making cards right up until the morning of - yes I did that last year.

 

So funny story about the cards this week, these are not the cards I had planned to share with you, in fact I had my other cards all prepped and ready to go, I was just waiting on a stamp set to turn up in the snail mail to finish them off, my stamps came…. but the one I wanted to use was very badly cracked and I had to return it.

 

 So there I was, lost - I mean one does not simply come up with a new card design out of thin air,
So I’m sitting in my crafting chair gazing away trying to think of something new and fabulous to make that was “Christmas themed” and I’m going to be honest with you all, I didn’t have a bloody clue what to make, I mean all the stamps, dies and inks sitting in front of me and I was blank, nothing came to mind.

 

So in my state of the unknown and the nothingness I just grabbed a new stamp set from Simon Says Stamp called Graphic Christmas that just happened to be sitting on my desk and just started playing really - I had no clue what I was going to do or any set design in mind I just grabbed the little tree stamp and a few different green ink pads and started stamping.

 

So this is what I ended up with….

 

Like I did a little while back I used one card design with two slightly different finishes,

Again making two of each of the different finished card designs, giving me four cards.

 The cards are all A2 top folding cards made out of Trophee Board White Linen 240 GSM Paper.

 

My trees from earlier all ended up been stamped in Old Olive ink, so I then used the smaller tree stamp that pairs up with the Old Olive tree and heat embossed inside them using Ranger Super Fine Gold Embossing Powder to make them pop a bit.

 

I also added the gold heat embossed tree to the bottom left hand side to the front of all four Whisper White C6 Envelopes, I always like to try and give my cards a matching envelope when I can.

 

While I was at it I also heat embossed the sentiment to all four card bases, I used the same sentiment on all four cards using Ranger Super Fine Black Embossing Powder, the sentiment came from the Graphic Christmas stamp set just like all the trees.

 

I then fussy cut all the stamped / heat embossed trees out and went from there.

 

For the first two cards I kept my card design minimal with a lot of white area showing,

I popped three of the stamped / heat embossed trees up on Foam Dots and placed them in a line slightly above the sentiment, To add some sparkle to the cards I used the star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and punched out a star to add to the top of the middle tree on both cards using some Stampin’ Up! Gold Glimmer Paper.

 

For my second take on the card design I wanted a bit more of a playful touch with more interest on the card front, so I took the Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow Stencil and some Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 White Embossing Paste and used this to cover my card front. This gave it a soft white on white affect with more detail without been too distracting. I then assembled the trees the same way as the other two cards again adding a gold glimmer star to the middle tree and that was me done.

 

So in the end I was quite happy with what I managed to come up with and love the snow affect so much that I already have another card planed that I have in mind for my sisters Christmas card.

Thanks for reading and happy crafting to you all,
 

- SUPPLY LIST -

 

Stampin’ up!

 

Heat Tool

Mini Glue Dots

Gold Glimmer Paper

Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack

Whisper White - C6 Envelopes

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

 

.

 

Simon Says Stamp

 

Versamark - Ink Pad

Tsukineko - Palette Knives Tools

EK Success - Powder Tool Applicator

Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow Stencil

We R Memory Keepers - Trim & Score Board

Ranger - Embossing Powder Super Fine Gold

Ranger - Embossing Powder Super Fine Black

Best Creation - Big Circles 3D Foam Tape Dots

Simon Says Stamp - Graphic Christmas Stamp Set

Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 - White Embossing Paste

Simon Says Stamp - Ultra Thick White Cardstock 120 LB

 

.

 

OTHER

Trophee Board - White Linen 240 GSM Paper