Celebrate, make a wish ❤️

Well Saturday has come around again quick Teatimers hope you all having a great bank holiday weekend. I shall be back at work Monday so making the most of my last two days off and the sun is out today too!

This week I wanted to build on my birthday card collection I never seem to have one when I need one you know. The new Birthday Bear Clear Stamp Set is perfect for this its such a cute set and doesn't have to be used for birthday. I stamped out my critters and coloured them up and tried to shade them so they look more 3-D you can see on the bear where I added darker browns under their chin and places I thought would be in shadow. Once coloured up I cut them out with the coordinating dies and left them to the side whilst I worked on the rest of the card. 

I used the Large Scallop Celebrate Frame Dies to cut out the background and ink blended using a combination of Shaded Lilac, Dried Marigold and Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide Inks. I spritzed with water to add some texture and set aside to dry. 

For the sentiments I white heat embossed the make a wish sentiment from the bear set and cut out using the matching dies. The celebrate is from the die set we used to cut out the base I cut it out twice using white and the same deep purple cardstock I used for the other part of the sentiment. 

Once the base was dry I used the new Bokeh Bubbles 6x6 stencil with white pigment ink to create some circles just for some added interest. Again setting it aside to dry.

Once everything was dry I adhered everything together and finished up with some sequins and adhered it onto the same deep purple card stock and popped it onto my card base. 

I hope you like my card and have a lovely weekend!

If you want to treat yourself in the Time for Tea shop don't forget you can use code T4TNATALIE10 to get 10% off your order 💖

 

Bee Happy Take 2!

 

Happy Saturday Teatimers I have another Bee Happy card for you this week. My mojo had left me and I was feeling a little uninspired so I decided to use the new monthly challenge for a bit of inspiration. I loved the colours and the bees are just super fun so that's where I started. 

  

Here's a photo of the challenge it's super fun and you can win the chance to guest design on a future challenge and the chance to win £25 to spend in the Time for Designs store, so what are you waiting for! The chance to win the spends is generated randomly too so no need to be shy and worried your not good enough. The challenges run from the first day of the month to the last day of the month so you have until the 31st August to get your entries in. 

My card looks really complicated but it was so quick to make the bees are so easy to colour as they are only small so not much shading is needed I just finished them of with a pop off pink on their cheeks. You can find them in the Bee Happy stamp set I cut mine out with the coordinating dies too which is great for cutting out the little heart flight marks. 

For the shaker card I used the Bee Hive Slimline Die which I cut out in White, Red and a Golden Yellow cardstock. Then again out of white fun foam because the lines are so narrow this is the best way to make the shaker card and so much easier. I adhered my white fun foam cut out straight onto my white card base and filled different sections with either red cardstock or yellow seed beads leaving a few just plain white. Once these were filled I adhered some acetate straight on top and then the Golden Yellow cut out on top of that. Before adhering my letters and bees I also adhered some of the white cut out on the top of the acetate for a little added interest. 

Then it was time for the main details this is where I totally regret adding some dimension with my letters but I'll remember for next time. I cut out the letters with  Anthony's Alpha's  out of black cardstock and adhered those on first so that I could get the placement right. With the bee on the right I cut the envelope out of their hands and placed it so that it looked like the bee was holding the letter B. 

Its such a fun card and is so quick to make but still looks so detailed and I love the shaker element. I hope you like it too and I can't wait to see all of your challenge entries. Don't forget you can get 10% off in the Time for Tea shop too using code T4TNATALIE10 💓

Bee Happy!

 Happy Saturday Teatimers this weekend has rolled around fast don’t you think. I have a sweet bee scene card to share with you this week. You know how much I love my scenes so as soon as I saw the new Beehive Slimline Die I knew I had to create an abstract cloudy sky with it. 

I began by cutting out the Beehive die then used this as a guide to cut out the base for the blue sky. I used peacock feathers and tumbled glass distress oxide to blend the sky. Then popped the beehive straight on top. If I made it again I think I would have added some dimension here so it’s not so flat. The best part for the scene was the grass which I cut using the Slimline Hillside Scene Dies I created a little hill so that the bee on the left could reach the beehive a little easier and then there was more blue on the other side for contrast. 

The bees are from the Bee Happy Clear Stamp Set and are so simple to colour as they are quite small so great for quick cards. Once I’d coloured up all my elements I popped them onto my card and added my sentiment which I white heat embossed onto black card stock. I thought it was missing something though so added some flicks of green onto the green to look like blades of grass. Then stamped out some cute little flowers and popped them on. 

Last thing to do was to pop it onto my card base and that was my card finished up. I wished I’d added a little dimension but you know everything is a learning curve. 

I think the Beehive slimline Die is so versatile too and will definitely be a go to die in my stash. I hope you love it too! If you want to buy any of the products in the shop today you can get 10% off using code T4TNATALIE10. 

Have a great weekend and I will see you all next week ❤️

Hello Cupcake!

Happy Saturday Teatimers, this weekend has come around so fast. It’s been so lovely to have a week off  just to chill. Also I got to spend some time creating more designs with the new release so be sure to keep an eye out for those. 

My card for today is a sweet cupcake themed card using the new Hello Cupcake stamp and die collection. I teamed it with the Bee Hive Slimline Die which is just perfect for shaker cards. 

To start my card I stamped out all my images and left them to the side whilst I cut out all my elements. I cut the Bee Hive Slimline out of white 360gsm card stock and then again out of fun foam to create the shaker base. The fun foam is so much easier than foam tape when you have dies like this. I did cut off some of the little hexagons on the foam tape where it was a cluster of them to make the shaker space bigger so the sequins would move more freely. 

Once they where cut out I popped some acetate on top of the fun foam and then stuck the white card cut out on top of that. To make the shaker bit I flipped over the shaker and added my mix of sequins and added some cosmic shimmer glue to stick it. Then just popped some black card at the back this just gives it a pop of black and ties in with the sentiment which I white heat embossed onto the same black card stock. This was then stuck straight onto my white card base. 

I went for a pretty pink theme for my card using light pinks for the icing and some RV’s for the wrapper. I added some dark shading at the bottom of the wrapper and used a rounded motion to give it a 3-D look. Then darker shading in the creases again to make it look 3-D. With the bun I used a combo of browns but added a few dots to give it a textured look. 

For the icing I used the darker shade of pink on the bottom of the layers and to the sides where the shadows would be. I finished it up with some darker pink dots and some white dots with my Gelly Roll pen. I added the Gelly roll pen to the seeds of the strawberries too to give them a pop. The mice I used the same E35, E34 and E31 that I used for the bun and added some rosy cheeks with little white dots to finish them off. Then it was just time to stick them down on the card base, I do wish I had added some dimension to the stamped images popping up the little mice at the front a little more but I won't forget next time. After all we are all still learning and working on adding layers and dimension is something I need to think about more. I do hope you have liked my card for today though if you want to buy any of the products or anything else in the Time for Tea shop you can get 10% off your order using code T4TNATALIE10. I hope you all have a great weekend and I will see you all again next week!

Have a Cool Birthday!

Happy Saturday Teatimers! So what did you think of the new release, What's on your wish list or did have to have it all? 

I just love the Cool Critters set I love the little kitty with their Twister Ice lolly and I couldn't resist giving the racoon a little Fab lolly. 

To make my card I stamped out all the images from the Cool Critters stamp set, I always do three of each so while I have my pens out I can colour up a few at a time. This always helps when you need a quick card later on as they are already cut and coloured up and ready to go. 

There wasn't a lot of fancy colouring I just added some dots for texture on the ice cream. Then to make the Fab lolly I used my coloured Gelly Roll pens to add the sprinkles then cut them out with the coordinating dies 

Going with the Twister theme I really wanted to create a fun summer background with the Slimline Candy Stripes die unfortunately this is no longer available in the shop at the minute if you haven't got it  though you could use and striped die or maybe a striped stencil. I cut the die out with white cardstock, pink and green paper and then out of white fun foam. I love using fun foam as an alternative to foam tape when it's quite a fiddly die to stick. I stuck the white card onto the foam tape using cosmic shimmer glue.

I made up a white card base just a little wider than the die and stuck my foam base straight onto that. Next I just laid and stuck in my coloured pieces in a pink, green and then leave a gap pattern. 

I was just going to stick my critters and van straight on top but I'd gone for the same twister colour scheme for the Ice Cream Van and it blended into the background too much. To counteract this I used one of the circle dies from the new Simple Circle Dies to cut out a velum circle which I popped underneath this just mutes the background colours a little so your focus is on the Ice Cream Van. 

Once the van was in place I popped on my critters and added my sentiment which I white heat embossed onto black cardstock and cut out with the coordinating dies. I just love how Time for Tea coordinating dies cut out the sentiment too. 

I hope you like my card for today the new release is just super fun if you would like to pick any of it up in the shop or anything else you can get 10% off your order using code T4TNATALIE10

Have a great weekend and I will see you same time next week 💓

 

You are elephantastic take 2!

 Happy Saturday everyone, have you been enjoying the sunshine this week? It’s been far too hot for the craft room and my mojo seems to have disappeared at the worst time. I needed to make some quick teacher cards and presents though, but what to do when your brain is hot and bothered and the ideas aren’t coming?! 

Everyone seemed to love my elephant card from the other week so I decided to make a couple more of those. I then mixed it up a little for the other teacher adding a little green to the mix and a different elephant. It adds a more masculine feel but I still like that it has a cuteness to it. Mixing up old designs is a great way to get the ideas flowing and to make quick cards.

For my card you can find all the details for on my previous blog post here just with the change of green oxides and a different elephant. Alongside that though I wanted to make some message sticks to add to my presents. I got three little succulents from IKEA and I wanted to add a little message to them. To do this I used the You are Awesome sentiment die. 

I cut the outline out twice once in white card-stock and again in white fun foam and layered them on top of each other. Then for the You are awesome sentiment I coloured up the white cardstock with some Kitsch Flamingo Distress Oxide ink and then cut it out. With it being small it's much easier doing it this way around. To make sure my letters were all lined up when adding it onto the foam and card base I used the negative die cut as a template. Laying it over the top and piecing the letters back in that way. Its a bit fiddly but its the best way I've found to get them centred, straight and the same width between the letters. I made three of these one for each plant once the top was all finished I got out my wooden skewers and chopped them down to size I went so they were just a little taller than the plant. To stick them together I used my glue and stuck it at the back if you wanted you could also add a little peg and add a little note underneath but I didn't think about that until after typically lol!

So that's my project finished up for this week I hope you like it those message sticks are perfect for all occasions I've made Christmas ones before, you could also do Happy Birthday ones wherever your imagination takes you. If you want to get ay of the products I used today in the shop or anything else you can get 10% off your order using code T4TNATALIE10. Have a great weekend and I will see you all next week.

I'm Quackers about you!

Happy Saturday, this week has been so busy and Saturday has come around so fast. This week I got to play with some of the last few releases that I hadn't had a chance to use yet. Just like last week I wanted to create a different look with the dies than just using them as a straight die cut.

I began by cutting out the mini slimline scallop dies and then using that as a template to cut out the size of my back panel. On the back panel I stencilled up some blue clouds using the Slimline Scene Builder Stencil and some Tumbled Glass Distress oxide ink. Then I layered on top of that the Sun Ray Cover Plate Die that I had blended with Squeezed Lemonade and Dried Marigold Distress Oxide Inks. Once that was laid on top I could add the frame I cut using the Mini Slimline Scallop Dies. I made sure not to stick right to the edge on the bottom so I could tuck my little duckies in.

The ducks and dragonfly are from the Lucky Duck Stamp Clear Stamp Set they were really simply coloured with warm grey Copics  to add some shading to their white feathers and finished off with some R11 for the cheeks and three little dots using a white gelly roll pen.  I cut these out and popped them on my card so I could see where to put my sentiment. 

For the sentiment I couldn't stamp straight onto the card as it was different layers but I didn't want to loose the details by adding a block sentiment strip. To get around this I used Velum so you can still see the details underneath, I used Staz on ink for this so that it didn't smudge.

I still felt like it was missing something so that's when I decided to colour up the dragonfly and I added the little heart speech bubble from the Bearing Gifts Clear Stamp Set. I finished my card up by mounting it onto some black cardstock and that was it finished up. I hope this gives you some encouragement and ideas to try new ways with your dies. After all you really want to get the most out of them. If you liked my card today and want to get any of the products or anything else from the shop you can get 10% off using code T4TNATALIE10. 

Hope you all have a great weekend and I will see you all next week!

You are Elephantastic!

 

Hi everyone its DT member Natalie here and the weekend is here again! I'm so ready for my Saturday off. The weather is miserable so a day in and catching up on crafting and time with the boy. 

I have been enjoying getting out my older sets and I finally got time to colour up the sweet elephants from the Elephantastic Clear Stamp set. Its the first time I've made a vellum shaker card and I love the soft look it gives. 

To make my card I began by stamping out my elephant onto copic paper. I coloured it up using warm greys and R11 for the cheek and inside of the ears. Then R27 for the love heart with a touch of R29 for some shading. Not much colouring today which is a change for me but it was a nice change from scene cards for once.

The base of the card is made up using the new Smile Inverted Scallop frame Dies which I cut out twice using some 360gsm smooth white card stock. Using one of the inner panels I blended Dried Marigold and Kitsch Flamingo distress oxide inks. I didn't bother too much about adding texture as you cant really see it so well behind the velum. Then with the other panel I cut out I took the Lots of Love Slimline Dies and cut that out from it. This just adds some added interest in the background. I stuck the blended panel and one of the frames together at the back using double sided tape. Then layered the heart inside it using liquid glue then my base for the shaker was ready. I added fun tape around the edge of the frame and took the paper off first and then added the sequins. I find if I do it this way if I do get my fingers stuck to the tape the sequins don't bounce out and get stuck to the tape. 

Once the sequins were added I just used a mix of yellows and pinks I found in my drawer I added the vellum on top. Then popped the other frame on top of that to give it that finished look. 

For the sentiment I cut out the Thank You Die out of the smooth white cardstock twice and layered it together and popped it onto my card. Adding the are elephantastic underneath in white embossing with the same oxide colours blended on top. Then added my elephant and that was my card finished up. 

I hope you like it and as always you can get 10% off in the shop using code T4TNATALIE10.

Have a great weekend and I will see you all next week with another super fun card to share.

Dream Big!

Happy Saturday everyone it's Natalie here with a beautiful night sky scene for you today. I'm loving the really big sentiment dies at the minute and the Dream Big Sentiment Die fits perfectly with the Paper Plane Pals stamps don't you think!

As always I began by cutting out my base panel using the new Slimline Scallop Nesting Dies and then used the Slimline Scene Builder Stencil to create my cloudy night sky. I blended some pale pink and orange clouds on the bottom layer then went over the top with some dark blues and purples. I started with the darker colour and worked my way inwards leaving the middle lighter to make the sentiment pop. The cloud details had been lost a little on the edges though so I blended them back in with some Picket Fence Distress Oxide ink. 

For the Sentiments I cut out the Dream Big Die twice once out of white card and then a second time out of glitter cardstock. I layered these on top of each other off setting it a little to give some added interest. Then stamped and heat embossed the rest if the sentiment onto black cardstock.

For the critters I stamped out the panda and plane as normal but I mirror stamped the bunny and other plane so they so they could be facing the opposite direction. To do this I just stamped them directly onto my silicon mat and just placed my copic paper over the top and rubbed to get the impression. The lines are never fully clear so after colouring I just go over the outline in copic marker. 

Once they were coloured I die cut out and popped them onto my card. It was missing something though so I used the star outline die from the Paper Planes Coordinating Die Set to die cut some silver stars. Then finished up adding some white dots with my gelli roll pen. 

The last thing to do was to add it to my card base I choose black as it just makes the colours pop so much.

I hope you like my card for this week if you want to pick anything up in the shop or anything else you can get 10% off your order using code T4TNATALIE10

Have a good weekend and happy crafting!

 

Sending Bear Hugs!

Well the weekend is finally here, feels like it’s been a long time coming this week. It’s another cloudy day here today so a day of crafting maybe in order! 

For today’s card I have an adorable Panda card you using the Pandamonium Party Stamp Set. It was nice to colour up some old favourites and the great thing about the pandas is when you don’t fancy doing loads of colouring then you don’t need to. I stamped them out and just added a little bit of shading with some warm grey copics and a little rosey cheeks and paws with R11. Then finished it off with three white dots on the cheeks using a white gelly roll pen.

I also coloured up some bits of bamboo and leaves and the balloons just to give it a pop of colour with the red and yellow. 

For the base of the card I used the Mini Slimline Scallop Dies which I taped together at the back using some washi tape whilst I stencilled onto it. I used the new Slimline Scene Builder Stencil to create some clouds and then went over the top with a bamboo stencil from another brand. When I finished this up it was way too much though like one of those magic eye stencils that send your eyes funny lol! To fix it I just cut out another white frame and layered it over the top. 

Before I placed my pandas on the card I wanted to create my sentiment to see how everything fit. I used the rectangle die from panda stamp set to cut out my base. Then added the same green distress oxide on top that I used for the bamboo and stamped straight on top of that. It’s a big sentiment box but I like the block of colour it adds to the card and breaks up the background a little. I popped this in the middle at the bottom and laid all my pandas and accessories around it and that was my cad finished up. Since the pandas don’t need colouring much and the slimline is quite small it really was a quick and easy card to create. This is perfect for when you need something last minute be sure to check out next weeks too when I create another quick and easy mini slimline card. 

Thanks for reading the blog hope it helps and you enjoyed my little tutorial. If you want to pick any of the items up in the shop or anything else you can get 10% off your order using code T4TNATALIE10. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week ❤️

Paper Hugs to my Crafty Friend!

Sending paper hugs crafty friends! I have been wanting to use the Paper Hugs Sentiment Die for so long and as soon as I saw the Slimline Postage Frame Dies I knew that was it that was my card! I wasn't sure which critters I was going to use I was thinking the Paper Plane Pals but they just didn't work with the layout. So I got my trusty folder of already coloured up images out and there were the Crafty Cats. 

They were perfect I love how they are holding letters and pencils like they have just written the little aeroplane notes and sent them out to their crafty friends. 

It was a quick card to make as I already had the cats coloured up. The background was inked up using Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo, Worn Lipstick and Festive Berries Distress Oxide inks and finished up with splatters of the same colours for added texture. 

The Paper Hugs I cut out twice for a little height I think the height and the weight really draw your eye in. To place it on my card and get it lined up right I used the negative of the die cut to help position them. Just adding a little more gap in the middle to add the rest of the sentiment which I white heat embossed onto black card. 

I stuck these down first so I could get an idea of what space I had left and added my cats, clouds and planes. I thought it needed  a little something else though so I looked in my pile of images and found the cute little bluebird from the Happy Mail Critters set which just finished it off perfectly. 

Too finish it up I popped my card onto a white card base and that was it finished up. 

I just love how this one turned out and I hope you do too. If you want to pick any of the items up in the Time for Tea store or anything else you can get 10% off using code T4TNATALIE10

Hi Friends!

Hi friends Saturday is here again so that must mean its another card from me! It's been such a hot, sunny week I thought I would create a flowery bunny scene for you. I had been wanting to try out using the Landscape Edge Standalone Dies with the Die-namic Display card dies to create a different style edge. I love how it turned out and it was even better then I had pictured it in my head.

To create the base I got the Die-namic display card die out and roughly measured the size of the main die on my card stock then cut that out. I like to stencil my background before I die cut so it goes over the folds better. To stencil the clouds I used the new Slimline Scene Builder Stencil with Salty Ocean distress oxide ink. After I stencilled I added some splatters of the same oxide ink to give some added texture and set it aside to dry. 

Whilst waiting for it to dry I stamped out, coloured and die cut  my images and sentiment. Everything is from the sweet Blooming Bunnies stamp and die set. Once these were finished up I could work on the card base.

I die cut out the Die-namic Display Card from the clouds I stencilled and used the cloud die from the Standalone Landscape Dies set I cut out once and then had to line it up to cut out the rest as it wasn't quite long enough. 

I cut out my front piece and the middle piece from the die-namic display card and then did the same technique with the grass die and coloured them up with Twisted Citron Distress oxide and added splatters with the mowed lawn distress oxide ink. Then I just needed to stick everything together. I love how this technique adds some many more possibilities with what you can create with the Die-namic Display card Die. Giving the look of a completely new die set. Let me know if you try create your own I'd love to see! 

Hope you enjoyed my card for today and if you want to pick any of the Time for Tea products up in the shop you can get 10% off using code T4TNATALIE10

Have a great weekend and I will see you all next week!

 

See you Soon Friend!

 

Happy Saturday everyone, what a lovely week its been after weeks of rain its so nice to be enjoying the sunshine again. I've got another cute card for you today using the new release. I wanted to create a cute window scene with the critters waving out their windows at their friend whose driving home after having a catch up and a cup of tea.

I started out by cutting out the both of the frames from the Slimline Postage Stamp Frame Dies. the postage stamp shaped one I left as is. then on the plain rectangle one |I used worn lipstick distress oxide to stencil on the bricks using the Brick Wall stencil. For the windows I just placed the two little rectangles inside each other and coloured in the middle using squeezed lemonade and dried marigold distress oxides. 

I also needed to die cut out the word friend from the Slimline Scallop Nesting dies set I just used some black cardstock for this so it really popped. 

Once everything was die cut I began to work on my images. The critters are all from the Car Critters stamp and die set I just stamped and coloured out all of the images as they are quite small there wasn't much fancy colouring needed. I just added a few spots on the cow using warm grey Copics and added some rosy cheeks to the characters for some added little extras. After all the colouring was done I cut them out using the coordinating dies and started placing everything on my card. I started with the road at the bottom and added the car with the panda driving by. This made it easier to see how much space I had on my card. The windows were next making sure there was enough room for the sentiment in the middle. After I had stuck things down I felt like it was missing something so added some little paper aeroplanes from the Paper Plane Pals stamp and collection. I also felt it needed a pop of colour so used the squeezed lemonade and dried marigold to create a coloured card base. I just think its super fun how it turned out the critters could work for so many different things not just waving out of the car. I can't wait to see what other ideas people find for them. 

If you want to pick up any of the items I used today or any other items from the Time for Tea shop you can get 10% off your order using code T4TNATALIE10 . I hope you have a great weekend and I will see you next week!