Best Birthday

I was lucky enough to be picked as Featured Artist for the Color Throwdown challenge #780 (see my entry in this post), so this week I'm Guest Star Stamper and just take a look at this gorgeous combo!

As soon as I saw the palette I couldn't wait to sit and play - here's how my card ended up:

It gave me the opportunity to play with this new-to-me die set and I sure did have a lot of fun colouring and assembling. The largest rose has 8 layers (eight!) but they all come together very easily. I cut two layers of a fine border to add to the arch and love the subtle flourishes on the paper I used behind it. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - merry merlot, basic white, retired SDSP (Stampin' Up)
• Copic markers - R81, R83, R85, T1, T2, T4, YG63, YG67
• dies - Lovely Layers: Sweetheart Roses (Honey Bee Stamps), Essential Arches (Spellbinders)
• other - Big Shot, MISTI, Versmark ink, white embossing powder, heat tool, Dimensionals, gems

I hope you'll get the chance to play along. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Hello Hummingbird

This week's Color Throwdown combo gave me the perfect excuse to try out some new-to-me dies and inks. 

Love this vivid combo, so tropical and summery. Here's my card:

As I wanted the bird to be the focal point, I chose embossing rather than stamping for the flowers. For the same reason I stamped the sentiment directly on the card in a light colour, rather than raising it on a separate piece of card. Plain white looked nice for the card base but I felt this lovely light yellow enhanced the yellow on the bird.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - basic white, lemon lolly
• SU inks - Tahitian tide, parakeet party, lemon lolly, azure afternoon, smoky slate
• other - layered hummingbird wafer die (SSS), black gem, sponge daubers, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Book Cover Engravings 3D embossing folder (Altenew), craft foam, MISTI

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Birdie Birthday

I was in the mood for some colouring today and as the weather is grey and miserable, decided to go with bright colours and explore this year's new Stampin' Up in colours, which I've barely used. Here's the card I ended up with:

I started with my piece of orchid oasis card, sponging some matching ink around the sides to give me a lighter centre, then splattering with white paint. My birdies and leaves were coloured with Stampin' Blends before everything was fussy cut and assembled on to a neutral base to help the colours pop. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Some Birdie Loves You (Clearly Besotted), Tiny Words Birthday (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - crumb cake, basic white, orchid oasis
• Stampin Blends - daffodil delight, mango melody, sweet sorbet, parakeet party
• other - E13 Copic marker, picket fence distress paint, paintbrush, craft foam, Dimensionals, white embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, in colour matte decorative dots, blending brush, orchid oasis ink

Now that's definitely more cheerful than the thunderstorms outside!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

JAI #610 - Just Add Inspiration

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

I've taken inspiration from the rainbow colours, balloons and black/grey backgrounds and used an adorable new stamp set from SU to create a sweet birthday card.

Materials used:

• stamps - Elephant Parade (SU), Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - basic white, basic black, rainbow stripes (Etsy)
• other - Copic markers, Dimensionals, craft foam, white gel pen, MISTI, Big Shot, black marker, Elephant dies (SU), white embossing powder, heat tool, frosted dots, slimline stitched rectangle die (Paper Rose), Sidekick

There's plenty more inspiration for you over at the JAI blog and we do hope you'll play along with us.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Hexagons - CAS on Friday Challenge #223

Welcome to CAS on Friday challenge #223 where our theme is HEXAGONS.

There are so many ways to use this versatile shape! For my card I used them to add colour and texture as a compliment to my die-cut flower. 

The mosaic pieces are ones I made some time ago with a stencil, crackle texture paste and a number of SU embossing powders, so I merely cut them with hexagon dies. I used some of the colours from those patterns for my flower. Some ink speckles for the background, a simple sentiment and touch of sparkle, and my card was good to go!

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (SSS), Gorgeous Grunge (SU)
• card - watercolour, soft sea foam
• distress oxide inks - mustard seed, fossilized amber, mowed lawn, rustic wilderness, pumice stone, barn door
• other Tim Holtz products - stacked hexagon dies, wildflower stems 3 die, mosaic stencil, distress crackle texture paste, picket fence distress paint
• other - various embossing powders (SU), heat tool, Dimensionals, blending brushes, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot Switch, paint brush, clear sequins, craft foam, peeled paint archival ink, Memento tuxedo black ink

We'd love you to create your own clean and simple card featuring hexagons and load it in our gallery. If you'd like further inspiration, follow the link to the CAS on Friday blog to see my team mates' cards.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

Plaid Chicks - CAS on Friday Challenge #191

Hi all! Welcome to another CAS on Friday challenge.

This is challenge #191 and the theme is PLAID.

Now, regular visitors will already know how much I LOVE plaid, so I was particularly excited about this one. Of course, I've never done plaid on a CAS card before, so had to restrain my natural inclination to just plaster plaid everywhere, lol. In the end I decided I wanted to use these adorable little chicks, so chose some plaid with yellow in it to match.

Materials used:

• stamps - Birthday Chicks (MFT), Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - plaid paper, whisper white, night of navy
• other - Sahara sand marker, Stampin' Blends, night of navy baker's twine, mounting tape

I thought the 'Woohoo' sentiment was a good multi-purpose one, so this card could be used for a number of celebrations, not just birthday.

Now pop over to the CAS on Friday blog to see how my fellow design team members have used plaid on their cards, then why not get yourself some plaid on? 

Thanks for calling in. 

Cheers

Kez

Spread the Word - CAS on Friday Challenge #180

Hi and welcome! I’m here with another CAS on Friday challenge for you.

This is challenge #180 and the theme is to USE A DIE.

I picked a die that has sat sadly neglected in my stash for some time and paired it with a much more recent stamp purchase and some bright colours for a touch of fun.

Materials used:

• Stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• Die - Die-namics Smart Phone (MFT)
• Card - coastal cabana, whisper white, real red, retired papers, basic black
• Other - Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam

As always, we’d love you to join in the challenge. You can see more inspiration from my fellow DT members by clicking on this link to the CAS on Friday blog.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe.

Cheers

Kez

CAS on Friday Challenge #177

Welcome back to another CAS on Friday challenge!

This is challenge #177 and the theme is Black and White and One Colour.

I picked aqua as my colour and took the liberty of using four shades of it, and I love the way they pop against the black background.

Layering dies are all the rage at the moment in the crafting world and Altenew provides a guide for assembly that ensures putting these together is simple. I've splattered some white watercolour paint in the background and am rather pleased how some have faded more than others to give a kind of bokeh effect. Bonus!

Materials used:

• stamps -  Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - basic black, whisper white, Altenew Gradient Cardstock - Sea Shore (mountain mist, volcano lake, lagoon, emerald)
• other - Stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, white embossing powder, heat tool, white artist's paint, paintbrush, Altenew Garden Picks 3D die set

I do hope you'll join us in our challenge and look forward to seeing your creations. Be sure to visit the CAS on Friday blog to see the colourful combinations my fellow DT members have come up with.

Thanks for dropping in and stay safe.

Cheers

Kez

Stencil-icious

I recently acquired the Peony Bouquet stencil from Simon Says Stamp and had some fun creating two cards inspired by the uber-talented Kristina Werner. The first one was very straightforward as it's all in shades of blue, but the second took a little more delicate handling, lol. Still, I'm very happy with the outcome.

They look quite different, don't they? That's what colour will do!

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (SSS), Abstract Impressions (SU)
• card - dapper denim, whisper white, garden green, purple posy
• other - Peony Bouquet stencil (SSS), sequins, blender pens, Stamparatus, craft foam, Altenew and Distress Oxide inks

Thanks for calling in. 

Cheers

Kez

Sepia Roses

Inspired by a gorgeous card by Erum Tasneem I found on Pinterest, I've been having a play with my Altenew Build a Flower Rose stamps and dies. The main flower in this set has SIX layers! Yep, you read that right, S.I.X., lol. But look how realistic it is and how much depth you get! Luckily there's a guide on the pack to show you how to align them all plus plenty of very helpful YouTube videos, so it's nowhere near as difficult as it may sound.

Here's how my card turned out:

Once I'd decided where I wanted all my die-cut images to go, I stamped a few splodges (very technical term) around on my background then added the first batch of flowers and leaves. I've only stamped two of the four layers on the leaves as I didn't want them to steal the limelight from the roses. The stamped sentiment is layered on a narrow strip of brushed gold card and I added some gold pearls to finish off.

A very essential item in the stamping of these roses was my Stamparatus. As I'd bought extra plates, I was able to set up all six layers using both sides of three plates, which made multiple stamping a breeze. While it's all set up, I'll stamp some more roses in different colours so I have them all ready and available for future cards - brilliant!

Materials used:

• stamps - Build a Flower Rose (Altenew), Tiny Words Birthday (SSS), Timeless Textures (SU)
• card - very vanilla, brushed gold
• Altenew inks - Coffee Break set (sand dunes, rocky shore, mocha, espresso)
• other - Build a Flower Rose dies (Altenew), Big Shot, Dimensionals, gold pearls, Stamparatus

There's something so timeless and elegant about sepia tones, isn't there? I love them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Birthday KISS

Today I'm keeping it simple with another bright and cheerful card for you. I didn't need much in the way of embellishments when the background papers and die-cut balloons do all the work.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - whisper white, melon mambo, daffodil delight, Bermuda bay, basic black, Sugar Shoppe paper (Doodlebug)
• other - balloon dies, Big Shot, stitched rectangle die, Dimensionals, mounting strip, craft foam, white gel pen, white embossing powder, heat tool

I guess with balloons being so environmentally unfriendly, we won't use them as much for celebrations, but at least these ones pose no threat to sea life or the supply of helium!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Breathtaking

I've been playing with the Breathtaking Bouquet background stamp again and this time my card was so much quicker to make than the watercoloured one I last showed you. In fact, it's such an easy card that it takes no more than 5 minutes to construct.

See? It was only a matter of stamping, embossing, stamping and embossing again - and voila! all done!

Materials used:

• stamps - Breathtaking Bouquet (SU), Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - basic black, gold foil
• other - gold embossing powder, heat tool, Stamparatus, black Dimensionals both regular and mini, embossing buddy

I kept my sentiment small again though, just like last time, because really you want that glorious floral image to take centre stage, don't you? I know I do.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

CASE-ing the Catty

Today I decided I would CASE a card from the new mini catalogue - this one in fact from page 13:

I didn't have a number of items used in the sample but I'm happy with how I adapted mine to suit what I have on hand. Here's my version:

Materials used:

• stamps - Grace's Garden (SU), Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - daffodil delight, whisper white, basic black, gingham DSP
• other - Garden Gateway dies, Big Shot, stitched frame die, white baker's twine, misc heart charm, Stampin' Blends, Dimensionals, mounting strips, white embossing powder, heat tool, misc sentiment frame die

This was quick and easy to put together and I love the cheerful, summery colours. 

Edited to add:
A friend suggested a purple version might be nice, so I gave that a try and love it even more than the yellow.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez