Wild About Gladys

Earlier today I found these two challenges:

  

As luck would have it, over the weekend I'd been playing with the gorgeous Gladys (new colorize dies) and had a couple made up already, so thought she'd be perfect to combine these challenges. 

Isn't she flamazing? Love her so much!

Materials used:

• stamps - You Matter Background (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - basic white, watercolour, night of navy
• dies - Gladys Colorize (Tim Holtz), stitched rectangle (Paper Rose), Celebrate You (Stampin' Up)
• distress inks - kitsch flamingo, worn lipstick, picked raspberry, chipped sapphire, ground espresso, black soot, dried marigold, spiced marmalade
• other - blending brushes, white embossing powder, heat tool, craft foam, Big Shot Switch, embossing buddy, Dimensionals, computer and printer, night of navy ink (SU)

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Edited to add: The good folks over at Color Hues picked my card - many thanks ladies. 

You Shine

This week's challenge over at Just Add Ink intrigued me -

As I've been right into stencils lately it didn't take me long to think of an idea for a card design and luckily, as I worked it all fell into place very nicely. Here's my offering:

I sponged first using distress oxide inks (you know by now how much I LOVE how well these blend), applied my stencil spritzed with water and dried with a heat tool to bring out the oxidation process. I cut two 'Shine' dies from gold foil and stuck them together for a bit more dimension, and the stamped sentiments come from two Stampin' Up! sets. The final touch was the clear epoxy shapes, which add interest and dimension without detracting from the coloured background.

Materials used:

• stamps - Lovely Inside and Out, Amazing You
• card - whisper white, basic black, gold foil, amethyst (non SU)
• other - Radiating Rays stencil (MFT); distress oxide inks - candied apple and wild honey (Ranger); mini blender tool (Ranger); mounting tape; water spritzer; sparkle and shine dies (PTI), clear epoxy shapes; tweezers; stamp-a-ma-jig, heat tool

I hope you're not getting sick of distress oxide cards - I've got more colours arriving this week, so I'm not crawling out of this rabbit hole any time soon!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kez

CASE

As crafters, I'm sure we're all familiar with the old adage, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' - in fact, we even created our own version of the phrase: CASEing. To CASE means to 'copy and share everything' and it's a major part of what we do - we share our creations in the hopes of inspiring others. There is an etiquette to CASEing though: if you copy someone's else's work, you give them credit for the original design and don't just purloin it as your own idea.

Today's card is one I've CASEd from Paula Dobson, who is a master with a brayer or a sponge. Sure, I've made a few cosmetic changes, but it's still essentially the card she designed. I fell in love with it and simply could not resist attempting to recreate it, and I'm so glad I did.

Here's my take:

You can see Paula's original here, plus she also gives a brief rundown on how she made it. Two tips I can give from my own experience: (1) don't apply too much ink when you're sponging and (2) keep inky fingers away from the clean white space! (yep, learned that one the hard way, lol)

Materials used:

• stamps - Amazing You (SAB)
• card - soft sky, basic black, whisper white
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy, Celebrate You thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, sponges, rhinestones, stamp-a-ma-jig

We're coming to the end of the Sale-a-bration promotion, but I know I'll be using this stamp/die combo for many months to come, I just love it.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

I Heart You

I woke up yesterday morning with an idea for a Valentine's Day card in my head, so naturally I had to try it out to see if my vision would work. And while it's by no means a Work of Art, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Take a lookie:

I did the texture paste hearts first then assembled the rest while I waited for it to dry, and because I had it all mapped out in my head, this card took probably no more than 15 minutes to make. Some retired product used - ie the papers and the triple heart punch - along with the gorgeous new Celebrate You thinlit and Amazing You stamps. This is the best option in the SAB offering, in my opinion. So versatile.

Materials used:

• stamps - Amazing You
• card - melon mambo, whisper white, basic black, retired DSP
• other - stitched circle die, Celebrate You die, Big Shot, triple heart punch, Dimensionals, texture paste, distressing tool

There's a little more decoration on the inside too:

That's it! Happy Valentine's Day to you all and thanks for calling in today.

Cheers

Kez

Getting Inky

I just adore getting inky!

Sponging and brayering are my favourite methods of ending up with ink all over my fingers and hands, and the card I have for you today is a sponged one. In fact, it's an example of the Bokeh technique (pronounced just like bouquet, I read somewhere). I'm really proud of this card - I'm very, very happy with how it turned out and the colours draw my eyes every time I catch sight of it.

Materials used:

• stamps - Amazing You
• card - berry burst, basic black, shimmer white
• inks - berry burst, daffodil delight, pumpkin pie, whisper white, basic black, crushed curry
• other - Celebrate You thinlits, fine-tip glue, stamp-a-ma-jig, bokeh template, sponges

What do you think? Is that colour combination a hit for you too?

Although the stamp set contains 'amazing' in the same font as the die, I wanted the extra dimension the die gives, so that's why I've used it. You could just as easily simply stamp the word instead. This stamp set/die combo are both in the SAB catalogue.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez