Hand Stamped Sentiments #150

Sooo, looks like I haven't blogged in over a month.  I was thinking about it, so does that count?  No, I don't think it does.

However, today I finally sat down and took time to take a picture of something that I made.  Again, Hand Stamped Sentiments had a lovely colour challenge to work with.  It's the same palette that you can find on one of the new DSPs in the new catalogue.

Pool Party and Primrose Petals are both fairly gentle colours and the black makes them really pop.  A little background embossing adds a gentle girly element, and you can't go wrong with butterflies!

Hand Stamped Sentiments #144

Ok, so it's been two full months a while since I last posted.  Life gets in the way sometimes, non?  (Say that line in a French accent - much more effective.)  My darling friend Sandra was so kind as to bring this to my attention this week whilst crafting, so I decided I better get on it.  Plus, I have a week off work so I think I'll try and cram a ton of blogging in to shut her up make her happy.

Anywho, over at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week they've got a challenge for snowflakes.  I recently got this set (Snowflake Soiree) and decided it was time to play. 

This summer I went on a bit of a bender collage stamping and used that technique here as well.  In the background you can see En Francais (best stamp ever).  I stamped it in Bashful Blue and then off once so you can just barely see it.  Then along the bottom I stamped the image from the Snowflake Party wheel (I hate wheel stamps, but once you pull them off the wheel and add some cling mount foam, voila!  Magic!)

Though the collage factor of this card takes a little time, the lack of a bunch of layers makes it pretty quick to assemble, and since the sentiment is the only additional layer, it can be mailed with a plain old regular stamp.  No surprises at the post office.

That's that!  Back to stamping and blogging like crazy to appease my crazy friend. :)  Love ya CFAL!

Hand Stamped Sentiments #130

Quick entry before I go for a run.  Hand Stamped Sentiments is using the new In Colours for this week's challenge.  I usually stick to 2 or 3 colours on a card so this was a bit of a challenge for me, but I'm happy with the result!

What do you know?  More sponging! I'm still on a bit of a kick with this technique.

Hand Stamped Sentiments #127

 The sun us out again today after a wild storm last night.  Sunny days make me think of butterflies and flowers.  This week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments call for you to use the dazzling diamond dust technique. 

I made the panel with the fading ink and knew I wanted a dimensional butterfly on it as well.  What goes better with butterflies than shimmer?

 

I was going to add a birthday sentiment, but thought that the dark pallet would work well for a sympathy card.  I don't really like making cards that say "With Sympathy" because I think it's a little morbid to have those hanging around as "just in case" cards.  The phrase from Herb Expressions fits the bill nicely, but would also be used for someone going through a tough time.  Still a bit of a downer, but not so much as sympathy.

Hand Stamped Sentiments #125

 A few days ago one of my darling friends told me that she's pregnant!  This is very exciting news.  She and her husband have been discussing having a baby for a couple of years now (this summer is their second anniversary) so I was delighted to hear the news.  They are a most loving and kind couple, whom any baby would be lucky to call Mom and Dad.

So it is with them in mind that I made this card this morning.  Hand Stamped Sentiments has a colour challenge for  us this week and I knew that this little ducky had to make an appearance with this combo.  I had thought about making it a birthday card, but then immediately knew a baby card would be better.

He's one of the critters from the new set Storybook Friends.  I don't make a whole lot of chidren's cards, but I knew I needed this set as soon as I laid eyes on it.   The little fox is about the cutest thing I've ever seen, and I'm pretty much in love with the rabbit as well.  Maybe I'll try them out this afternoon sometime.

If you're looking for a new set to make playful cards with, I highly recommend this one.  You could easily not ink the word at the bottom (as I did with my baby card) and add whatever sentiment you feel like.  I think they would be particularly cute for birthday cards for small people, or even invitations.

Since the baby that I am so excited about isn't coming for another six months or so, I'll have plenty of time to make another card, so I'd love to give this one away to someone who is in need of a baby card!  if you'd like to enter into the draw, please leave a comment and next Wednesday I'll announce the winner and ask for your address.  I'll also stamp each of the images in Brown Staz On for you to use on your own cards.  And if you love the set as much as I do, email me to order it and you''ll receive free shipping.

Hope to hear from you!

Mosaic Technique + Hand Stamped Sentiments 110

You know how Stampin' Up's stamps come in that piece of rubber that you have to punch your stamps out of?  Well, I always feel guilty throwing the pieces away because I feel like I can use them for something, so I've saved a few of them.  I saw this technique ages ago, but completely forgot about it until I was looking through Splitcoast stampers and saw it again.  So out to the craftroom this morning to give it a whirl!

I am in L.O.V.E.!  I love the emboss resist technique, but this adds a whole new element to it.  I originally pulled out this set for a Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge sine the image lends itself nicely to water colouring.  It had been sitting on my desk waiting to be coloured, I just wasn't sure what colours I was going to use.  Yesterday I received an order that contained some Always Artichoke cardstock and seam binding ribbon (my absolute fave ribbon).  After using my ink pads and blender pen, I used my newly made mosaic stamp to cover the image with Versamark.  I then used clear embossing podwer and heat set it, creating the little tiles.  The final step here is the brayered ink in Soft Suede and Always Artichoke.  The dark ink really makes the image look like a mosaic.

If you aren't familiar with the mosaic stamp, check out the page on Splitcoast Stampers.  It's really simple and chances are you've got what you need to make it!

Hand Stamped Sentiments #108

I seem to have a penchant for reading really, really sad books.  I just finished Those Who Save Us this morning (by Jenna Blum), and it certainly fell under this genre.  It jumps back and forth between a woman forced to endure WWII in Germany, and her daughter in the present.  Very well written.  Very sad.  Worth reading.  However, after finishing it I needed something to cheer me up.

I surfed around for a while and then came to the Hand Stamped Sentiments page.  Theirs is a colour challenge this week featuring Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, and Crumb Cake.  Sounds good to me!  I played around for a bit and ended up making a nice little masculine card.  I never seem to have a man card on hand when I need one, so this should do quite nicely.

Keepin' the love coming

I know, I know.  Valentine's Day is over.  I don't care.  I love this card and had to share it.  I've found a new challenge blog (Hand Stamped Sentiments) and the challenge for this week is love, love, love!  So here's my card.

Speaking of love, I LOVE the fun flowers die.  I use it time and time again for embellishments on cards, journals, bookmarks, gift bags/boxes.  It's just a great die all around.  I love how all of the layers give this card a vintage feel.  I'm not in love with the vanilla shade of the Victoria trim, so I would swap out something white next time, or maybe forego it all together.  Either way though, I still think this is a decadent card.  I foresee this layout making several colour combo appearances.

I saw a card similar to this one a while back, but I can't find it again, so if you were my inspiration - thank you!  Leave me a comment so I can give you credit for ir.