Spring Sale!

 Happy Saturday everyone did you see the Spring Sale in the Time for Tea shop yet? If not be sure to check it out there’s lots of fab dies to be had including this wavey hello sentiment die. Just be sure to add HOPPYSPRING21 in the promo codes as the checkout or if nothing in the sale takes your fancy you can still use T4TNATALIE10 to get 10% off your order you just can’t use both offers combined. 

There’s a great selection of dies in the sale which are perfect for creating fun scene cards and you know that’s my favourite kind of card making. 

Every so often though you need that quick last minute card though don’t you! This one was such a simple one to make I used the Slimline Scalloped Trio Circle Nesting Dies to cut out the white panel. Then layered behind a panel I had stencilled using the Zigga Zigga stencil using Distress Oxide inks. 

The Wavey Hello die I cut out twice once out of hot pink card and once out of white card which I offset layered on top of each other for some added interest. 

The critters are from the Bearing Gifts and the Happy New Year Critters stamp sets which I coloured simply using COPIC markers. I finished up by mounting the base on the same hot pink card stock and then popping onto my card base. I hope you enjoyed my card for today and don’t forgot to share your makes in the group and on Instagram we love seeing them so much! 

Hope you have a great weekend,  Natalie! 

Hello Sunshine!

 I can’t believe how fast the weekend has come around again! It’s been a busy week in the garden getting it ready for summer so I thought I’d mark the occasions by bringing in some warm feelings with my latest card. Watermelons always remind me of our lazy summer holidays in France my little man always insists on picking the biggest one in the shop and carrying it all the way around. So that’s where my idea came from, I’m seriously regretting not adding a little slice of watermelon in the little mouse's paws though maybe next time! 

I started out by cutting out the Oval Scalloped Nesting Dies twice out of 360gsm white card stock. I scored one at the top about a cm down and then stuck them together to create my card base. 

To create the watermelon I cut another one out of the same white card and lightly blended worn lipstick distress oxide onto it. Then using the Zigga Zigga stencil I went over the top with Picked Raspberry distress oxide to add some texture. I also spritzed on some water and dabbed it off with paper towel to add more interest and splattered on some back soot distress oxide to represent watermelon seeds. 

For the green I cut out the frame die out of white cardstock and then out of green fun foam so I could add some depth. I find the fun foam much easier when it’s an awkward shape as it’s just one cut from the machine and fits perfectly. I used twisted citron and a tiny bit of mowed lawn to add some shading on the edges. 

Next I needed to add my sentiment and little mouse. I used the Hello Sunshine Sentiment Die and cut it out using black card stock and used the negative die cut to get them placed perfectly. The little mouse is from the Treat Yourself Clear stamp set I used warm grey Copics to colour them in. There wasn't much shading involved as they are so tiny. I just finished them off with a little R11 in the ear, on the cheeks and for the nose. I cut them out with the coordinating die and popped them on my card. 

After sticking everything down  I finished it up with some Black Nuvo drops and that was my card finished up. I hope you enjoyed my tutorial don't forget if you want to buy anything in the shop you can get 10% off using code T4TNATALIE10 

Happy Mother's Day!

This week seems to have flown by I can't believe how fast the weekend has come around. It's been a quiet week with the boys being back at school and work so extra crafty time for me! Did you get your Mother's Day cards finished up? If not I have another quick and easy card for you today. 

A great way to get more out of your dies is to turn them into stamps, its super easy I just cut them out of fun foam and stuck them to my stamping block with some double sided tape. I used the new Spring Blooms Dies to create my background.

If you want to use different colours with the same stamp its probably best to cut one for each colour. I just stuck to one colour per stamp so just cut out one of each. 

I cut my base out of white 360gsm cardstock using the large rectangle from the Autumn Cover Scene Die and stamped my images straight on top. I used Worn Lipstick and Dried Marigold Distress Oxides for the flowers and then Bundled Sage and Mowed Lawn for the foliage. 

Using the fun foam doesn't give a crisp stamp but I like the distressed look I think it adds extra interest to the card. I didn't follow a pattern just tried to even space the flowers and fill in the gaps with the little leaves.

I didn't want to hide too much of the background so I kept my sentiment small and simple. I heat embossed the Happy Mother's Day stamp from the Mum and Dad clear stamp set onto a small rectangular piece of black cardstock. I wrapped some twine around the card and then popped the sentiment over the top using some foam pads. I finished it off by mounting it onto some pale pink cardstock and popping it onto my cardbase. 

I hope you like my card if you want to purchase anything you can find them in the Time for Tea shop and if you pop in code T4TNATALIE10 you can get 10% off your order. Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

 

Brave Spirit...

 

Hello Lovelies I hope your all well, its my first blog post as official design team member for Tracy and my first ever step by step tutorial so no pressure lol!

The Angels of Love and Light are so beautiful and I particularly love Believe she just looks so serene and peaceful. I've been wanting to colour her up as though she is floating away in a bath full of bubbles since I first saw her, so it was great to finally put pen to paper.

I began by creating my background I cut out a piece of 360gsm cardstock using a slimline die. Then blended Squeezed Lemonade, Kitsch Flamingo, Wilted Violet and Tumbled Glass Distress Oxides on there. There was no method to it I just tried to get an even amount of colours on there. Once I had an even coverage I used some clean water to spritz on top then left it for a couple of seconds before dabbing it off. The ink will react with the water and the colour will lift off. I finished the background off splattering each off the colours onto the card. I just love the texture it gives the background but its still really subtle.

The next step was to colour up my girl there I used E31, E34 and E35 on her hair I didn't end up using the E37 in the end as I decided to go for lighter hair. I flicked the darker colours at the edges and went lighter in the middle to add a highlight. Using the flicking technique helps get the texture of hair and adds some depth. For the skin I used E31, E55 and  E51  I added the darker of the colours to the hairline and cheekbones, a little spot under the nose and for the dimple of the chin. Then blended it out think about it like your contouring your make up to help where to put the shading. Once the colouring was done I fussy cut her out. 

Laying her on my card I could see how many layers of bubbles I needed, I coloured them in the same shades as I did the background. Again there was no method I just kept the pink, yellow and purple on one side and then the blue all over. 

Once all the bubbles were coloured up I could stick everything down. I layered one set of the bubbles over the girl and the rest underneath. Once they were stuck I flipped the card over and chopped off the edges so that it all lined up neatly. Then the extra ones I carefully cut and stuck randomly towards the top of my image after stamping my sentiment. I finished the top panel off by adding some more smaller bubbles using a white Gelly roll pen and adding some glitter with a clear wink of stella brush pen. I mounted it on white cardstock that I cut using the larger slimline die out of the set using white fun foam to add some depth. 

I hope you liked my first project and I cant wait to see all of your creations.

 

Mother's Day Card

Not long to go till its Mother's Day have you got your card made up? I have some inspiration for you if not using the new Spring Blooms kit. Again I love how well the Valentines release combines with this one. It's quite a quick card to make as there's no colouring involved just some simple die cutting. I kept my colours quite simple pink obviously for the hearts a little subtle lilac and a pop of contrast from some greens and yellows. 

I made a card base slightly larger than the Lots of Love Horizontal Cover Plate  Die and popped some pink card on top then layered on the horizontal hearts die cut out of white. I re-cut the same die then out of pale and dark pink. The hearts were then randomly layered onto the card base there was no pattern but I tried to make it even. 

The big die cut sentiment is the new Got it from my Mama die I cut out the back in the pale pink and some white fun foam and layered them together. The sentiment was cut using the out of the same darker pink card and layered on top. It cuts in several pieces but it's pretty easy to line up. 

Once this was all put together I could use it to figure out the rest of the layout. I stamped the smaller sentiment from the Mum and Dad clear stamp set onto the paler pink with a pink oxide ink making sure it's dry before cutting it out with the Mum and Dad Coordinating Dies. 

Then it was just the flowers and fauna to cut out again using the Spring Blooms Dies I tried to balance out the colours the flowers I made opposite on each side.

Once everything was laid out how I wanted it I stuck it down with some liquid glue and that was my card finished up. I hope you like it and don't forget you can get 10% off in the shop using code T4TNATALIE10  Have a good weekend and happy crafting!