Everyday Magic - CAS on Friday Challenge #186

Welcome back to another Clean and Simple on Friday challenge.

This is Challenge #186 and the theme is NATURE. Here's my offering:

Materials used:

• stamps - Dragonfly Dreams, Timeless Textures
• card - whisper white, basic black
• distress oxide inks - wilted violet, mermaid lagoon
• SU ink - pretty peacock
• other - Chit Chat stickers (Tim Holtz), Detailed Dragonfly dies, Big Shot, stitched rectangle die, Copic markers, in colour faceted gems, Dimensionals, craft foam, blending brush, clear Wink of Stella

My fellow design team members have some beautiful cards to show you, so be sure to follow the link to the CASOF blog and take a look, then once you're inspired, join in the challenge!

Thanks for calling in. Stay safe.

Cheers

Kez

Faux Retirement

It's the 14th, which means it's time for another Stampers Anonymous team blog hop!

This month we're featuring retiring products and I decided to showcase a set that's a bit of an 'unsung hero' - ie the stamps we often use on our backgrounds but aren't the focal point of our cards. Such a one is Timeless Textures. This is a set that will be staying on my shelves despite passing its 'use by date'; it is just too versatile and one I reach for often to add texture and interest to my backgrounds.

For my first card I've paired it with another retiring favourite, Dragonfly Dreams, as well as retiring in colours.

Here you can see how glittery the dragonfly is

Materials used:

• stamps - Timeless Textures, Dragonfly Dreams
• inks - lemon lime twist, grey granite, berry burst, tranquil tide
• card - lemon lime twist, whisper white
• other - sponge daubers, Big Shot, clear Wink of Stella, mini dimensionals, distress tool, Detailed Dragonfly tints dies

Keeping with the retiring in colours, my second card uses some sponging and the faux tile technique to create a gorgeously rich tapestry for my focal point. 

For this technique I like to use an ultra thick embossing enamel as it gives a deep, glossy texture that looks stunning in real life. In this second photo you get a hint of its shine and depth.

Materials used:

• stamps - Timeless Textures
• card - thick whisper white, powder pink, fresh fig
• inks - powder pink, berry burst, fresh fig, Versamark
• other - 1 3/8" circle punch, post-it notes, sponges, heat tool, UTEE, white gel pen

That's all from me! Click on the links to take you forward or back and have fun checking out what others on the team have to show you. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Goodbye Again

It's always sad once Stampin' Up's retiring lists come out and we have to say goodbye to some of our favourite stamps and accessories. Some I miss for a short period of time and some stay with me - quite literally - for many years.

Amongst my favourite retiring stuff this year are some of the products I've used for this card:

This project was inspired by two others and I had a lot of fun combining the elements of each that I loved, while adding a touch of 'new' in there as well.

Materials used:

• stamps - Dragonfly Dreams, Climbing Roses
• card - very vanilla, soft sky, Sahara sand, watercolour, Delightfully Detailed laser-cut speciality paper
• inks - early espresso, soft sky, so saffron, soft sea foam
• other - aqua painter, clear Wink of Stella, markers, large letter dies, Big Shot, hexagon embossing folder, Dimensionals

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kez

Foiled Again

I don't know if you've noticed the lovely lipstick and grapefruit grove foil card available as a Sale-a-bration freebie - it's easy to overlook until you see what it's capable of.

You see, the grapefruit grove foil has some holographic type quality that catches the light and seems to reflect a whole rainbow of colours back at you. I know, amazing huh? Here's a card I made with it, inspired by another card by Beth McCullough.

If you catch it in a different light, you get a different mix of colours - for example:

Isn't that gorgeous? 

Rather than stamp a sentiment, I cut two 'friend' dies - using the same colour as the background means it doesn't steal any limelight from the gorgeous shimmering foils and the double layer makes it stand out just that little bit more.

Materials used:

• stamps - Star of Light
• card - night of navy, grapefruit grove foil
• other - detailed dragonfly thinlits, Big Shot, Well Written thinlits, copper embossing powder, heat tool, mini Dimensionals, double-stitched framelits

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Pride and Prejudice

It is a truth universally acknowledged that stampers love playing with new product. Am I right? Yes, I am.

With my visitors gone (sad face), the silver lining was that my craft room was my own once again, and that meant PLAY TIME! The goodies I'd pre-ordered from the Occasions Catalogue were taunting me from the shelves so it was time to settle down and get serious with ink.

And you know how I love to get inky. Oh yeah. The new Dragonfly Dreams bundle gave me just the opportunity to get messily creative - so yes, I am happy to admit, my fingers are all shades of grubby right now! But. I. Don't. Care.

As usual, I found some inspiration from Pinterest, and also - unusually - from the Occasions catty itself. Here's my first effort, some Bokeh effect with gold and purples. So rich and glamorous! A whispery trail of dragonfly sparkle ties the two gold elements together and gives the card movement.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Basics, Dragonfly Dreams
• card - whisper white, blackberry bliss, gold foil
• inks - rich razzleberry, blackberry bliss, whisper white, Versamark
• other - gold embossing powder, heat tool, dragonfly thinlits, cirlce punches and dies, sponges, Wink of Stella, dimensionals, Big Shot, die brush

The card in the Occasions catty I based my next sample on used some of the lovely new papers, but there's not enough of it in a pack for me to use with classes, so I had to improvise and create my own. 

I began with a piece of very vanilla and stamped En Francais using crumb cake ink, then sponged it unevenly (yes, on purpose) with so saffron. Next some Bermuda bay sponging of a diamond stencil - not SU, unfortunately, as they don't have this shape (yet) - and the 'dots' of hello honey. The edges were given a deep sponge with crumb cake, then a light edging with early espresso for more depth. The dragonfly (stamped in early espresso) has hints of saffron and Bermuda on its wings, which also glitter with Wink of Stella. The sentiment is stamped on vellum. Et voila! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Dragonfly Dreams, En Francais (retired)
• card - Bermuda bay, very vanilla, vellum
• inks - crumb cake, so saffron, Bermuda bay, hello honey, early espresso, StazOn timber brown
• other - sponges, Tim Holtz stencil, dragonfly thinlits, Wink of Stella, dimensionals, spray adhesive, Big Shot

Sometimes, of course, simple is best, as you can see in my next card, inspired by a creation from a UK demo called Kim that I found on Pinterest. To get my sentiment dark enough but still use the matching ink, I used my MISTI and stamped it three times.

Materials used:

• stamps - Thoughtful Branches, Canvas (retired)
• card - Sahara sand, dazzling diamonds glimmer, Falling in Love DSP
• inks - Sahara sand
• other - dragonfly thinlits, layering ovals framelits, Big Shot, MISTI, sponge dauber, dimensionals, die brush

Okay, time to go back for some more playing. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez