Thursday 30 August 2018

Shake it Up!

Hi guys this week over at Craftin Desert Diva's we are sharing some fun shaker card inspiration.
I used the new mini Best Friends Stamp set to create this adorable summer themed shaker.


The base is cut out using the Fancy Frame dies and I cut out the oval using the Inside Scalloped Oval Dies. I coloured the oval scallops using a range of yellows blending to oranges. For the inside of the shaker card I used Bristol smooth cardstock and the new landscape hill scene 2 stencil to create a wave like look. 
The floaty girl I also coloured with a range of copics and added some glossy accents to her sunglasses. Make sure to stamp your sentiment as well before you stick your shaker together otherwise it will be difficult to get an even stamp. When you have everything coloured up and stamped you just need to stick everything together I used my atg to attach the inside scallop to the card and then added tape all round the sides so that we can stick our acetate window on. Once the acetate window is added stick foam tape all around the edges making sure to leave no gaps as you sequins will escape. I find it easier to take the tape off the back of the foam tape then add my sequins otherwise I get my fingers stuck and the sequins bounce everywhere! Then it’s just time to stick on the waves that we made. Once you flip it over you have your shaker! 
I finished it off my colouring a base for it with the same orange and yellows we used for the scallop. Then attached it to that and then attached it to my card base and we’re all finished. I hope you enjoyed my tutorial today ❤️

Thursday 23 August 2018

Obsessed with Oxides


Hi guys today I'm sharing with you my tips on creating a galaxy background with oxide inks. This has to be one of my favourite things to do I love the oxides as they blend so easily. You can also layer the colours over the top of each other but still see the brighter colours underneath.
I started by cutting the Inside Scalloped square out of Bristol Smooth Cardstock I temporarily stuck the frame together using post it tape of you have double sided though this will work too just don't take the tape off the back just yet. I started by doing a base layer of  Carved Pumpkin, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch and Seedless Preserve like this...
 
 
It really doesn't have to be neat at all. After putting the base colours down I went over the top with Black Soot being careful to leave some bright areas shining through. Then I mixed some perfect pearls with water and splashed it on my card to get that oxidisation look. I felt like it was missing something though so I decided to layer the Swirl stencil with some picket fence distress ink.
 
 
I coloured up the Llama Party Stamp using a range of browns and warm greys adding a little texture so it looks like they have curly fur. When it was time to fussy cut the image I had to cut off the end two llamas as it was too big to fit on my page. I did a little cutting with my craft knife on the tiny gaps between the llamas too.
With the llamas cut out I could see where I needed to stamp out my sentiment I chose to use the celebrate sentiment from the Kindness Stamp set and white heat embossed it. Then added some foam tape to the back of the llamas and attached it to the oxide background. I finished it off with some star sequins. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and I cant wait to see your galaxy backgrounds.
My links are affiliated which means I earn a small amount if you buy through them but that is at no extra cost to you.
 
 
 
 
 

Friday 17 August 2018

CDD August Release Roundup!


The August release is now live in the shop and how adorable is it. What's your favourite? I coloured up the Favorite Nut and Grateful Trolls for the release. Here's a look back over my two sneak peek cards. The first day of peeks was the new Favorite Nut set and I couldn't resist that cheeky little squirrel with his acorn house.

I have been loving my copic coloured backgrounds so much recently (also I was colouring on holiday in the south of France with very limited supplies). So I decided to make the most of my copics and do a bit of freehand drawing for  the background to create a cute scene card. I'm really pleased with this one  especially as I had packed so last minute I had forgot some of my favourite colour combinations and then my e35 ran out of ink eeep. You know what though I found some different browns I liked hello e13 and it turned out great. It got me out of my comfort zone and also showed me that I don't need to have the exact colours as someone else just find something that works for you!


My second sneak peek card is from the Grateful Trolls stamp set again as I had limited supplies I decided to colour up a fun copic coloured scene card. I love the browns, oranges and reds of autumn they have to be one of my favourite seasonal cards to make. I went to cold colours on the fox and troll though so that the colours would pop and not blend into the background so much. I finished it off with a few orange and red sequins.
I hope you liked my peek cards and I cant wait to share with you my other cards I made for the August release.
 Don't forget to hop on over to
Samantha next.
Here's the full round up list Day one:
 
 
 
Day 2

Craftin Desert Divas: http://www.craftindesertdivasblog.com/2018/08/august-release-blog-hop-day-2.html
Rachel:https://www.instagram.com/little.finn.crafts/  
 
 
I'm proud to be a...






Monday 13 August 2018

CDD Sneak Peek Day 2!


It's day two of August sneak peeks and today we are showcasing the new Grateful Trolls stamp set. You can never have too many troll stamps can you and these are a perfect addition to the set.
 
 
 
I have been loving making one layered cards recently and I thought these two cuties were just perfect on their own. The colouring can take a lot of time but they are so easy to make and an added bonus of no fussy cutting! I used the Inside Scalloped Square Dies for the frame and the Flag Banner Dies for the sentiment strip. If you cut out your scalloped square first then it makes it easier to stamp your image out central and make sure you leave enough room for the sentiment strip at the bottom. Once everything is laid out you can begin to start colouring. I love the warm colours of Autumn so I used them for the leaves and grass but I wanted the troll and cute fox to pop out so used some cool greys and blues to add some contrast and make sure they didn't blend into the background. Once everything was coloured up I stamped my sentiment and die cut the banner and stuck it all together.
I hope you love the Grateful Trolls as much as I have, I cant wait to see what everyone creates with them!

Sunday 12 August 2018

CDD Sneak peel Day 1!

It’s days one of Sneak peeks over at Craftin Desert Divas and today we are showcasing the new Favorite Nut Stamp set. It’s just absolutely adorable don’t you think!


I drew my background out by hand onto the inside of the Inside Scalloped Square Dies and then coloured it up with COPIC Markers. The squirrel and acorn house I again coloured up with copics a fussy cut just gluing them to the card so that they are flat. I then stamped out my sentiment and cut out into a rectangle and snuck it under the acorn house then pooped the inside square back into the frame die and attached it to my card base. I hope you like my card and don’t forget to check out the cdd blog for more inspiration from this set ❤️ 
 

Proud to be a Design Team Member

All links are affiliated which means I earn a little money if you buy from one of the links however this is at no cost to you.

 

Thursday 19 July 2018

Quick Colouring Techniques

Hi guys this weeks theme on the blog is colouring techniques, since it’s the last week of school for my little man I had seven teacher cards and message sticks to make. I know a lot right! So here’s my tips for some quick colouring.
Honestly these didn’t take that long to make up I chose an image that was quite simple with no fiddly little details, it’s also an easy one to fussy cut too which saves a ton of time! I used a production line to prep my cards and message sticks. I began by die cutting all the bases I used post it tape to tape my inside scalloped rectangle and inside scalloped circle dies together so I could easily cut seven identical ones. Then I used the Thanks die from the Thank and Thank You Dies set to cut out 14 thanks dies out of card and fun foam and for the message sticks I cut out 7 of the outline of the thanks die in cardstock and fun foam.
When all the die cutting is done its time to stamp out all the images I used this cute boy dressed as an apple with the worm from the new Fruity Friends Stamp Set alongside the stack of books from the Live, Love Plan set.
I choose to use a simple colouring palette this really helps cut down on time all the reds are the same 3 colours same with the greens. Starting with the reds I coloured all the apples up first using the darkest red on the edges then working my way to the lightest this will add some dimension and shade making it look more 3-D. Then whilst we have to reds out colour up to of the books in each stack the shadow is at the edges its a small area so be careful on how much dark you put down. I use a flicking motion with the tip which helps blend easier. Doing the same with the greens I coloured up the worm, the other two books and the leaf on the apple. Then do the same with the face and hair by colouring the same things all at once as opposed to colouring up the whole image then moving onto the next we save so much time not recapping pens and finding colours again.
The oxide distress inking took no time at all I began by shading all the frames on the rectangle in cracked pistachio alongside the back panels (I cut these out of scrap cardstock)  that fit behind the circle cut out. I also distressed the back panel with a spritz of water.
The last thing to colour up is the thanks diecut I used abandoned coral going heavier on the bottom and lighter towards the top to give it an ombre look.
The first thing I did was foam tape the back of the card making sure I added tape where the cuts were like this...
 
 
Do this to all of the pieces of card then attach them to the cracked pistachio rectangle adding some double sided tape to the back of the rectangle then they are ready to attach to our card bases. I attached the boy, books and worm using more foam tape and stuck the die cut thanks on top of the die cut fun foam thanks then glued them onto the card using ranger multi matte medium. That's the cards all coloured up now its time to make the message sticks I used double sided tape to stick the white background piece to the fun foam piece then a glue pen to stick the thanks die cut on top. Then you just glue these on top of skewers using a glue gun and you can then cut the skewers down to size I used my tiny snips I use to cut my dies apart.
Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog its much appreciated and I will catch you next time!
 
 
Here you can find a link to all the Craftin Desert Divas product I used. I am affiliated with them so if you do buy anything through my links I do earn a small amount but that's at no extra charge to you.
 
http://craftindesertdivas.com?aff=18
I'm proud to be part of the Craftin Desert Divas Design Team
 
 

Friday 13 July 2018

CDD July Release Roundup!


The July release is now live in the shop and I have to say CDD rocked it again. I had such a hard time picking my favourites to colour up! The new collection of Stamps, Die and Stencil is a perfect addition to your stash for making those summer themed cards.The Skatin By stamp set is great for masculine cards which I know for me is always lacking in my stash.
This release I chose to colour up the Skatin By and the Good Friends stamp and
used the stencil alongside them.
 Here's another look at the cards I made...


The Skatin By set is super fun and the stencil just works perfectly with it. I chose the girl bunny for this card with some orange and pink oxide inks to give it a feminine feel but add some greens and blues and that cute little ram and you have a whole different feel to your card. The skateboarders are also great for creating interactive cards like pull tab slider cards. 
The Good Friends stamp set is something straight out of a childhood storybook Mr Toad and Beaver  look like they have some crazy adventures together, I cant wait to see what you guys have them getting up to! A soft watercoloured scene with the new torn paper die would look beautiful especially for younger children’s birthday cards.  I hope you liked my cards and thank you for taking the time to read my blog. You will find lots more inspiration by clicking on blog hop links below...










Thursday 5 July 2018

Creating a Birthday Card Stash

Hi guys this week we are sharing tips on how to make quick birthday cards for your stash. I think this card has to be one of the quickest I've ever made and you can easily switch the colours and dancing critter stamp to make them all a little different.

I started by creating a background on Bristol smooth cardstock using Seedless preserve and Picked Raspberry oxide inks. I blended in stripes diagonally and then spritzed with water to give it some added texture finishing off with splatting a mix of perfect pearls and water.
I then cut out a base using the Fancy Frame Dies and cut out a circle just off centre using the Inside Scalloped Circle Dies. I used the Twinkle Toes Stamp set for my image and sentiment, the Dance and Twirl Birthday Girl worked perfect around the circle. I chose to colour up the elephant stamp but any of the animals would work as well. The ostrich would look great with a bright yellow and orange background!
To add some extra dimension I added some foam tape on the back of the base of the card remembering to get the join where the circle die cut out the fancy scallops then it’s ready to mount. 
I mounted it on grey sporty paper and then straight into my base of my card and it’s finished! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial for today.
 
Links are affiliated which means I will earn some extra from CDD if you purchase products from these links however this is at no extra cost to you.
 

Tuesday 12 June 2018

Summer Holiday Cards

Hi Guys it's Design Team member Natalie here and I'm going to show you how to make this cute summer unicorn card.
 
 
We are going to start by cutting out the base rectangle using the crazy stitched frame dies, next I took out the die again and drew round the inside of the frame. Using these lines I took my ruler and craft knife and cut out the rectangle in the middle. We are going to use this inner rectangle to create our scene. Using the small wave die from the Ocean Borders Die set we are going to cut out two sets of waves the top one around 1/3 of the way down and the second one just a little lower. Putting these aside we are going to cut a sun out from the top portion using the small circle from the Stitched In Circle Dies.
You should end up with something that looks like this...
 
Then its time to colour in our background using oxide inks I used salty ocean for the waves. I inked them up separately so I could leave the top of the waves white this will add definition between the two and will give the impression of sea foam. The sun was inked with carved pumpkin and the sun rays with squeezed lemonade alongside the Bright Horizons Stencil. You just have line your stencil as shown and for the other side flip your stencil over.
 

 
That fabulous Unicorn is part of the Summer Vibin Stamp set I used the same colours I used in the background and added some pink and green to the mix. The citrus colours make for a great summer card.
Now that everything is coloured up its time to stick it all together including putting it back into the frame. I made sure to add double tape to all the cuts so they were nice and secure. Then stuck it onto a base card. 
The last few things to add were the sentiment which I inked in black and highlighted with a white gel pen. The last touch to add was a bit of Wink of Stella to add some shimmer and sparkle I added it to the unicorns mane and tail and to the whites of the waves. I hope you like my card and I can't wait to see your Summer Holiday Cards!
 
 
 
 
 
Crazy Stitched Frame Dies

Salty Ocean Oxide Inks

Carved Pumpkin

Squeezed Lemonade Oxide Ink

Bright Horizons Stencil

Ocean Border Dies
 
Stitched In Circle Dies
 
 
Summer Vibin
 

Wednesday 9 May 2018

Old Favourites

Hi Divas its Natalie on the blog today and I'm going to showcase an old favourite stamp set today. I chose the Spare Parts stamp set to create this fun anniversary card.


I started by cutting out the base layer using the crazy stitched rectangle dies and on another sheet of card I created a stencil for the heart using the Nested Heart dies.


Take out the heart frame and save we are going to use that to frame the heart later on. Then place the stencil over the base card in the centre. I used the worn lipstick and abandoned coral oxide inks to ink up the heart and then spritzed with water to create a distressed look then I added the frame to finish off the heart.



I added the I'm Nuts and Bolts about you sentiment using the misti to make sure i got a crisp black.  I coloured up the robots using a simple colour scheme then went over their eyes with a copic liner and added white dots with a gel pen.

I fussy cut and stuck them onto the heart using foam tape to make them stand out.  Then finished up with a few nuvo drops to finish the card off.



Worn Lipstick

Spare Parts

Abandoned Coral

Nested Hearts

Crazy Stitched Frames