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!

You've got Snail Mail

 

Hi everyone, so the new Time for Tea release is out and isn't it just super fun! What's your favourite? I love the You got Mail set its just super cute. It will pair perfectly with the older set if you have it in your collection too. You can have a whole family of snails then, it will be like one big party. 

So with that the snails had to be my first card, I wanted to create a layered garden scene for them so I used the Die-namic Display card die to cut out my base and stencilled it with the new slimline scene builder stencil using tumbled glass distress ink. After stencilling I added some splatters using the same ink to give some added texture. Once this was finished up I started on the rest of the elements for the background I cut out the panels that come with the Display card die but then used the landscape edge standalone dies on the edges to create my grass and soil. I ink blended these and added some splatters in the same colour to give some texture and popped them onto my base. I find if I do it this was its easier to see my layout and where to put things.

Then it was time for the fun part colouring  all the snails and accessories. I just stamped everything out then anything I didn't use on this card I had ready for another. As I was colouring up my snails I decided to add one with a pink body to add some brightness to the card. It just felt like it needed an extra pop of colour. I liked the idea of the snails bringing snail mail to the ladybird so coloured up my mailbox with some polka dots just like the ladybird and it turned out super cute. Once the big items were coloured up I popped them onto my base to see what I would need to fill in the gaps. Of course I needed my ladybird and some letters then I added some toadstools and flowers. 

The next thing to add was my sentiment which I stamped and die cut, I love how it cutes around the letters sometimes a banner strip is just too big and this is the perfect alternate. After adding everything though it felt like my sides were a little bare still. Then I remembered those fun paper planes from the Paper Planes Pals set so added a couple of those and drew in some little dashes with a black copic outliner and that was my card finished up. I hope you like my garden scene and I cant wait to see what you all create. If you still haven't bought your goodies yet don't forget you can get 10% off using code T4TNATALIE10 

Blooming Bunnies

Happy Saturday everyone it's DT member Natalie back again to share this sweet Blooming Bunnies card.  It’s another  really quick and easy card to make but still looks so beautiful don't you think!

I combined the bunnies with the new Tree of Love Cover plate die, I think this die is going to be perfect all year round and goes with so many of the Time for Tea stamp sets. 

I began by cutting the tree out of white card stock and using that as a template for the size of my back piece. I coloured both the tree and back piece in with distress oxides. I wanted to create a sunset feel so added some twisted citron at the bottom to give the feel of grass then worked up with squeezed lemonade, dried marigold and kitsch flamingo. The tree is just simply one brown oxide I forget which one and I coloured in the red heart with Copic marker.

Once the background was all coloured up I layered it all together ready for the sentiment and bunnies. Once stamped I coloured in my bunnies with warm grey markers and a bit of R11 for some rosy cheeks and the inside of their ears. 

I finished them off by die cutting them out and adding three little white dots to their cheeks using a white gelly roll pen and popped them onto my card. Then all was left was the sentiment which I heat embossed onto black card and cut out with my paper trimmer. 

I added some foam tape behind the bunnies and sentiment strip and popped them onto my card and onto a card base and that was my card finished up. I hope you like it and if you want to buy any of the supplies in the Time for Tea shop you can get 10% off your order using code T4TNATALIE10

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

 

Let's Celebrate

Happy Saturday everyone it's DT member Natalie here with a bright and colourful shaker card for you today. I love the CAS look of this card the white really makes that pink pop!

My card was quite simple to make I started by stamping out my images from the Brighter Days stamp and die set and colouring them up. The spaces are quite small so there wasn't much blending to do. I stuck with the same blue for the peacock as I did the mandala to give it a uniform look. The mandala did take some time to colour but its so worth it. If you wanted to be quicker though you could heat emboss onto some coloured paper or maybe on top of a distress oxide background. There is loads of possibilities. 

Once everything was coloured I cut them out with the coordinating dies and cut out the centre of the mandala too to create my shaker window. To create the base for the shaker I cut out a rectangle and placed my mandala where I wanted it to go. Then I could mark it in the perfect spot and cut it out using that same circle die I used for the inside of the mandala. I could then stick the coloured mandala on top and the acetate on behind. At the back I added foam tape all around the edges and made a small square around the window this helps keep your sequins behind the window and means you don't need to use loads of sequins. I always take the backing tape off before adding the sequins so there's less chance of them sticking to the foam tape when your trying to get the backing off. 

Once everything was in place I popped my backing on which was some hot pink card added my sentiment from the Brighter Days sentiment paper and popped it on my card base.

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial and if you want to buy any of the items in the Time for Tea shop or any other goodies you can get 10% off using code T4TNATALIE10

 

Brighter Days are Ahead

Saturday has come around so fast this week hope you have all had a great week. The team have been busy crafting away getting ready for the Brighter Days show on create and craft today. This is one of my samples for the show I just love how it turned out. The Tree of Love Cover Plate Die is so delicate and pretty and great for adding quick but detailed backgrounds or even just as the main image of a card. It's so versatile and the team have made some gorgeous samples with it.

I began my card by creating the sunset background I used a combination of Dried Marigold and Kitsch Flamingo just blending them together with the outer edges being a little darker. Then I added some splats of colour using the same colours. Setting this aside to dry I stamped out my images I used the birds from the Brighter Days stamp set and the flowers come from the Lucky Duck stamp set. The birds were coloured simply and finished off with some pinks and three white dots for the cheeks. The flower border too was pretty simply coloured as well as it's only small I just cut off the heads of the bulrushes after die cutting them out and popped flowers on the top instead.

I cut out the tree from some pretty mint green paper but as it was really thin I popped it on top of a layer of card and blended the heart with some kitsch flamingo distress oxide ink. Then all I needed to do was to stick everything together. I got my sentiment from the new Brighter Days Sentiment cards I love how easy these are for sentiments. I was a little scared to cut them at first but it was super easy with my paper trimmer. Last thing to do was pop it on my card base and that was my card finished up I hope you like it and if you would like any of the products you can get 10% off in the Time for Tea shop using code T4TNATALIE10 

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