Best Era Yet

It's challenge time once again at All About Papercraft and this month it's ...

April is definitely all about birthdays in our clan; quite a few family members have or had birthdays this month. My own is tomorrow then just two days later is my elder daughter's, so my project is the card I made for her. She's a die-hard Swiftie and I bought this stamp with her in mind. 

I used Copic markers to colour the singer and holographic glitter for her shiny outfit, which I set with a spray sealant so it wouldn't brush off. The background was ink blended and given some water splatters before stencilling over with a baby wipe to remove ink. I love that it looks like a cool lighting effect. As one foot was raised, I thought it appropriate she would be standing on the sentiment, lol. Tiny rhinestones were the finishing touch and you really need to move this around to catch the light and see it's full glittery glory! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Uptown Girl Loves to Sing, Shake It Off Sentiments (both Stamping Bella)
• other - Copic markers, holographic glitter (Lavinia), foam squares, MISTI, Vortex stencil (Brutus Monroe), baby wipe, tiny rhinestones, subsentiment sticker (Waffle Flower)

We would love to see your birthday themed creations in our challenge linky this month! And do pop over to the All About Papercraft blog to see more samples from my team mates to inspire you.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Sending Love - All About Challenges #2

It's time for a new challenge with All About Papercraft Challenges and this month it's...

My crafting journey began with scrapbooking, but discovering stamps - red rubber mounted on wood blocks in those days - got me hooked on cardmaking. They're so versatile!

For my project I've made a card with a faux postcard scene. Apart from the stencilling on the base card and a little masking, the rest is created entirely with stamps. 

My first step was stencilling the base card, then I cut the main panel to size. I began stamping with the four lines and the vertical break design using archival ink (to avoid smudging when I inked over them later). Then came the postcard header and the postage stamp, after which I stamped Bundle Girl. She's coloured with Copics, as are the hearts. I tore a scrap of paper to use as a mask for inking the ground and created another mask of the little girl so I could ink the blue portion. The sentiments in the lines were stamped next and the little heart and hugs and kisses in the "stamp" were my last step before mounting the panel on the base.

Materials used:

• stamps - Bundle Girl with Falling Hearts (Stamping Bella), Stamps #521 (Poppy Crafts), Sentiment Strips 2 (Altenew), Basic Sentiments (Pinkfresh Studio), Merci Beaucoup (Clearly Besotted), Hot Cocoa (Mama Elephant)
• other - postage collage colouring stencil (Waffle Flower), blending brushes, Copic markers, MISTI, craft foam

Pop over to the All About blog (just click on the challenge icon) to see more inspiration from my fellow design team members, then get out your stamps and join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

You Rock! - Just Add Ink Challenge #770

Today's offering is for the new colour combo challenge at Just Add Ink. I saw a card on Pinterest that inspired me and couldn't resist playing along.

Not a combination I would normally use without some other colours in there as well, but it turns out they were just right for this idea.

I blended the three inks on watercolour card for my background and added some distress oxide splatters in what I hoped were similar shades (the purple oxide turned out bluer than I would have liked). Then lots of water splatters to give a very mottled look, before adding more water spritzed over a stencil and blotted, for the rays of light. The stamped figure is coloured with Copics and I gave her outfit - including boots - some shimmer.

Materials used:

• stamps - Uptown Girl Loves to Perform (Stamping Bella), Sentiment Strips 2 (Altenew)
• SU inks - bubble bath, fresh freesian, highland heather
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, blending brushes, water spritzer, heat tool, clear Wink of Stella, Copic markers, fresh fressia Stampin' Blends, Dimensionals, Ray of Light stencil (MFT), craft foam, gems, banner punch

Do these colours immediately bring something to mind for you? We'd love to see your creations in our gallery.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

A Day As Sweet As You - Just Add Ink Challenge #730

Welcome to a new challenge with Just Add Ink. This week we are asked to...

So many options for this one but I ended up using one of my favourite Stamping Bella images for a very simple card.

Who else remembers toffee apples being a childhood treat? I don't recall the occasions, but I do remember that satisfaction of biting into the juicy apple and then the crunch as you bit through the toffee coating. Ours were always red toffee - and now that I think about it, they were probably chock full of red food colouring and we all know how bad that is today. Ah, nostalgia!

Materials used:

• stamps - Caramel Apple Bundle Girl (Stamping Bella)
• other - Copic markers, computer & printer, Essential Arches dies (Spellbinders), Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, Autumn Spice papers (Etsy)

We'd love to see your fruity concoctions in our gallery, so do share if you create. And pop on over to the Just Add Ink blog to see more samples to inspire you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Naughty or Nice - Just Add Ink Challenge #728

It's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink and this week we've a Choose Two option.

Patterned paper and pens were my picks for a fun festive card.

The looks on their faces is rather sassy, so I just had to go with an equally sassy sentiment, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Oddball Boy and his Reindeer (Stamping Bella), Stamptember 2020 (Tim Holtz)
• other - patterned paper (SU retired), MISTI, water brushes, Clean Color real brush markers (Kuretake), small pennant punch, Sahara sand marker (SU retired)

We have more samples to inspire you over on the JAI blog and we can't wait to see which options you choose to create!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept #204 - Winter Warmth

We've a brand new monthly challenge and inspiration pic for you at The Card Concept, this one entitled Winter Warmth.

There's certainly plenty of warmth going on around here, as February is the hottest month of summer for us. This week we've had more than one day of 37degC (98.6degF) temps so I am most definitely looking forward to the cooler days of autumn not far away (hopefully!).

The animal, trees and colours on the rug gave me an outdoorsy/nature vibe, which became the inspiration for my mixed media card. 

Curvy Girl was stamped on my background piece of watercolour card first then I sponged the clouds, sky and ground around her, and stamped her again on another piece of card. She was watercoloured using distress inks and after some fussy cutting attached to the background.

Materials used:

• stamps - Curvy Girl Loves to Hike (Stamping Bella), Spectacular Adventures (Altenew)
• card - pecan pie (Stampin' Up), watercolour, Happy Camper plaid paper (Etsy)
• distress inks - bundled sage, peeled paint, forest moss, stormy sky, spiced marmalade, wild honey, tea dye, rusty hinge, brushed corduroy, pumice stone, vintage photo
• dies - alphanumeric tiny type lower (Tim Holtz)
• other - water brush, mini cloud stencil (My Favorite Things), blending brushes, Sidekick, MISTI, vintage photo embossing glaze, heat tool, black archival ink

Hopefully some aspect of the inspiration picture and/or colour palette will make you want to create. If so, do share it with us on The Card Concept blog and don't forget to check out all the cards made by my fellow design team members.

Thanks for hiking by.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #620 - Just Add Inspiration

We've a stunning inspiration pic for you this week at Just Add Ink.

That glorious rich blue with a hint of turquoise immediately made me think of uncharted mariner, the latest distress ink colour, which in turn brought water to mind and that's how I ended up with an aquatic themed card!

I just adore the supremely unimpressed expressions on the faces of these fish! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Oddball Fish (Stamping Bella)
• card - basic white, Idea-ology Kraftstock Stack - Warm
• distress/oxide inks - uncharted mariner
• Copic markers - Y11,Y15,Y19,B00,B000,B0000
• other - MISTI, Dimensionals, white embossing powder, heat tool, wave stencil, blending brushes, black marker, 2022-2024 in-colour matte decorative dots (SU)

Pop over to the JAI blog to see how this picture inspired my fellow team mates. 

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge - Wearing of the Green

March already! Where is the time going???

This week for challenge #170 at The Card Concept, our theme is Wearing of the Green.

I went with a St Patrick's Day/good luck theme for my clean and layered fancy fold card. Somewhere, deep in the lush green heart of Ireland, there are leprechaun chicks celebrating the best way they know how, lol.

The rainbow was treated with some Wink of Stella for subtle shimmer. Unfortunately the 'indigo' portion looks very dark (almost black) in the photo but I can assure you it's blue/purple. Such is life!

Materials used:

• stamps - Irish Chicks (Stamping Bella)
• card - watercolour
• distress inks - candied apple, carved pumpkin, mustard seed, mowed lawn, salty ocean, wilted violet, shabby shutters, tumbled glass, rustic wilderness, black soot
• dies - Card Stacks Base (Concord & 9th), Cascading Rainbow (MFT), Alphanumeric Tiny Type Upper (Tim Holtz)
• other - blending brushes, Dimensionals, slimline drifts & hills stencil, concord crush dye ink (SU), Big Shot Switch, clear Wink of Stella, Sidekick

We would love for you to take part in our challenge. Simply choose any aspect/s of our inspiration pic for your card, tell us what it was/they were, as well as which design style you've chosen, and upload it into our gallery. 

May be your days be many and your troubles be few. Thanks for calling in. 

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge - Fall Fun

Welcome back. I hope you're in the mood for a challenge! Over at The Card Concept we have this gorgeous picture to get your creative juices flowing: 

So many wonderful images for inspiration! I decided to use the apples and colours as themes for my clean and simple card.

Doesn't that look delicious? I've never had an apple dipped in caramel but I certainly loved toffee apples as a child, especially the tartness of the apple after all that sweetness! And the crunch! Nom, nom, nom...

Materials used:

• stamps - Caramel Apple Bundle Girl (Stamping Bella), Autumn Leaves (Poppystamps)
• card - basic white
• Copic markers 
• E000,E00,E09,E11,EE31,E33,E35,E37,E40
• G24,G28,G43
• R29,R39,R89
• YR21,YR23,YR24
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, MISTI, white gel pen, craft foam

Why not pop over to the Card Concept blog to see the gorgeous cards my fellow team members have created to inspire you? And hopefully you'll even join in the challenge!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Swim in Your Own Direction

For our weekly challenge this week, I gave my ladies the theme of On or Below the Sea. Today I sat down and made a diorama type card, having a ball with oxide inks and distress markers.

Materials used:

• stamps - Oddball Fish (Stamping Bella)
• card - tempting turquoise, watercolour
• distress oxide inks - mermaid lagoon, cracked pistachio, salty ocean, blueprint sketch
• distress markers - peacock feathers, spiced marmalade, squeezed lemonade, twisted citron, mustard seed, picked raspberry, dustry concord, festive berries
• other - Under the Sea dies (SU), Nesting Splat dies (Paper Rose), water spritzer, heat tool, Big Shot, blending brushes, Dimensionals

The sentiment inside will read 'Swim in your own direction'.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

The Card Concept Challenge - Colourful Autumn/Fall

Welcome to my very first challenge as a designer for The Card Concept! We're a fortnightly (bi-weekly) challenge blog that publishes a photo as an inspiration starter for your creativity.

Here's the photo for challenge #159, the theme for which is Colourful Fall/Autumn.

Everyone is welcome to play along, we simply ask that you state in your blog post which element/s of the photo inspired you and which design style you chose to use (you can combine more than one and don't worry, the different styles are explained on our website).

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned many times before that autumn is my favourite time of year as I love the colours of the leaves as they turn, so it will be no surprise that they were the inspiration for my clean and layered card. I also used three of the colours plus a couple more to give a warm, rich palette. Here's my offering:

Materials used:

• stamps - Mocha Fall Girl (Stamping Bella)
• card - basic white, early espresso, Autumn Spice papers (Your Paper Stash)
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, small banner punch, button die, thread, Copic markers, craft foam, MISTI

My image was stamped on white card and coloured with Copic markers, and I stamped a second image to cut out a few more leaves as extras. Designer paper layers are matted and raised and I punched a small banner accent to tie it all together. The button is a die too, two layers cut from white and coloured with markers to match, then threaded with twine. 

Do follow this link to The Card Concept blog to see what gorgeous cards my fellow team members have created for you, and of course we'd love it if you play along!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Reach for your Dreams - CAS Challenge #211

 

Welcome to a new clean and simple challenge with CAS on Friday. For challenge #211 our theme is YOUR FAVOURITE STAMP OF THE MOMENT.

The stamp I've chosen is a brand new favourite - when I saw it for the first time I instantly fell in love for two reasons: (1) giraffes have always been my favourite animal and (2) the quirkiness appeals so much to my personality (so I guess maybe I'm a bit of an oddball too, lol). I just had to have it and I'm so glad I did - it makes me happy every time I look at it.

Materials used:

• stamps - Oddball Giraffe (Stamping Bella)
• card - basic white
• Copic markers - Y17, YR24, YR27, E13, E15, E39, B000, B00
• other - MISTI, craft foam

With the options wide open, now is perfect opportunity for you to join us and show off your fav stamp right now, so what are you waiting for? Pop over to the CASOF blog to see what my team mates have made to inspire you, then get creating!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Better Late Than Never

I guess the title of this post could apply to the post itself as well as to one of my cards! Lol. In class this week we are finally trying out the bokeh technique that's been floating around for a while. The first time I tried it I didn't do very well, so I've finally taken the plunge and had another go, with more success, thank goodness.

Here's our bokeh card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Perfect Pennants
• card - tempting turquoise, basic black, gloss white, acetate
• inks - tempting turquoise, melon mambo, crushed curry, whisper white, basic black
• other - clear embossing powder, heat tool, sponges, circle punches and framelits, Dimensionals, Big Shot

Our second card is a cutie for a young lady aged anywhere between 10 and 30 I reckon. The gorgeous watermelon wonder is the base - just love this in colour! The sentiment on the inside reads "Always be your beautiful selfie.'

Materials used:

• stamps - @SoSocial (SU), Uptown Girls Samantha and Sierra take a Selfie (Stamping Bella)
• card - watermelon wonder, whisper white, basic black, cucumber crush, watermelon wonder patterned paper
• other - pennant punch, rhinestones, smart phone die (Die-namics), Blendabilities, Copics, Dimensionals

And lastly a masculine card using the pizza guy. He's so cute everybody loves him!

Materials used:

• stamps - Pizza My Heart (Sugar Pea Designs)
• card - real red, whisper white, garden green, acetate
• other - pennant punch, window framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, markers and Blendabilities

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

I Am 16 Going On 17 ....

Did you sing the title? If you're a fan of The Sound of Music you probably did! He he he.

Anyway, the reason for the title is that my baby turns 17 today. Where on earth all those years have disappeared to, I just don't know ... sigh! In just a few months she'll be graduating high school and then be off somewhere and I'll be left with an empty nest and ...... argh! (breathe, breathe!)

Alright, to avoid an existential crisis happening here, let's move on to the card! I wanted to combine a few elements; to wit, her love of the colour green, her preference for red and white polka dots, a teen's fascination with making parents spend tons of money on clothes, and ... hmm, no, that's it. So here is what I came up with at the almost-very-last-minute (which I define as the day before the birthday as opposed to the night before the birthday, which is definitely very-last-minute):

Cute, huh? Yup, it's so cute it's worthy of a comment don't you think?

Materials used:

• stamps - Uptown Girls Posh has a Present (Stamping Bella)
• card - cucumber crush, whisper white, real red, watercolour
• other - sponge, aqua painter, Dimensionals, green satin ribbon (stash), dots and stripes decorative mask, rhinestones, markers

The dotty background is sponged using the decorative mask, a sponge and real red ink onto whisper white card. I love the soft look it has, it almost gives the impression of flocking (well, it does in real life but maybe not so much in the photo). And the sentiment on the inside is perfect for her because she definitely has her own individual fashion style:

So now that you've seen the card I can go back to my crisis. Oh! and don't forget to leave me some comment love!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Cutie Pie Colours

You all know how much I love watercolouring so it will come as no surprise that that is exactly what I have been doing with the cards I have to show you today. Well, okay, it's not all strictly water colouring per se, since some of it was done with blender pens, but let's not nit pick!

The first card showcases some of SU's new in colours for 2015-2017; the card base is tip top taupe and some of the flowers are watermelon wonder (the others are crushed curry), while the leaves are cucumber crush. Stamps are from Papertrey Ink.

Materials used:

• stamps - Friendship Jar, Friendship Jar Spring Fillers (PTI)
• card - tip top taupe, whisper white
• inks - black StazOn, watermelon wonder, crushed curry, cucumber crush, whisper white
• other - blender pen, aqua painter, acetate, crushed curry 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Dimensionals, sticky strip, jar and lid die (PTI)

I stamped the image onto the taupe and gave it a watered down whisper white wash first before colouring using a blender pen on the leaves; then the image was stamped again on whisper white and the flowers coloured with a blender pen, cut out and stuck on top of the taupe layer. I didn't do the leaves on whisper white because I wanted the flowers to really pop and be the star attraction. The jar is stamped on acetate and attached over the top. It's nice to have another gorgeous neutral colour as well as crumb cake and how vibrant do those colours look against it? Yum, yum! 

Second up is a stamp that embodies adorableness called Nice To See You Petunia from Stamping Bella. Check it out:

Are they the cutest or what?!

Materials used:

• stamps - Nice To See You Petunia (Stamping Bella)
• card - watercolour, basic black, pool party, retired SU designer papers
• inks - crisp cantaloupe, blushing bride, so saffron, soft sky, pool party, pumpkin pie, Sahara sand, wisteria wonder, garden green, strawberry slush, lost lagoon, 
• other - ovals framelits, Big Shot, Lawn Fawn alphabet die, rhinestones, Dimensionals, aqua painter, markers

And last but not least is a sweet little number which could have been used for an engagement, wedding or anniversary card - but which I managed to get a dirty mark on right before photography! Clever me (not!) - but I thought after all that work I would show it to you anyway.

Materials:

• stamps - Lily of the Valley
• card - white, marina mist, watercolour, lost lagoon, designer paper from Kaisercraft XO Collection
• inks - crumb cake, blush blossom, strawberry slush, hello honey, smoky slate, lost lagoon, night of navy, cucumber crush, soft suede, close to cocoa, Sahara sand
• other - soft sky ribbon, Dimensionals

That's it for today! Hope you like 'em! Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

It's DD's birthday today - a grand old 23 - and if you follow my blog you will know that her card had to involve some red and white spotty somewhere!

I used a Stamping Bella stamp and SU everything else.

Materials used:

• stamps - Uptown Girls Victoria and Juliette's night out (Stamping Bella)
• card - cherry cobbler, whisper white, soft sky, retired Xmas DSP
• Blendabilities - skin tones, cherry cobbler, daffodil delight, soft sky, smoky slate, wild wasabi, pink pirouette
• other - Dimensionals, Sahara sand marker, two-way glue pen, basic grey marker

I am rather pleased with my first effort at shading folds in the red dress - bet I won't be able to do that as well next time I try! And you may be able to tell that I did actually fussy-cut the stamped image out - I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do for my main panel - but in the end I just stuck it back on some more white! Duh! Never mind, it does give it a tiny wee bit of dimension! (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) It's still wet and grey here, so once again my photo is a bit darker than I would like - gotta get me a light source for photography!

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kez