Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday: Spring

This months Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday is to make a project that makes you think of spring, my garden is beginning to look quite spring like with daffodils flowering but there is a distinct lack of blossom and spring leaves, although there was a hail storm around lunch time which definitely made me feel like spring has got lost! For me the main thing I think of when I hear the word spring is flowers and as there was a Mother's Day card that I needed to make for a friend which needed flowers on it, I thought that would be the ideal card to showcase spring. This is the card I made:

I started the card by die cutting and stamping the WPlus9 Fresh Cut Florals and More Fresh Cuts in Hero Arts Cube inks in Pool, Green Hills, Field Green, Passion Flower, Grape Juice, Wet Cement, Lemon Yellow, Butter Bar, Cornflower, Pale Tomato, Orange Soda, Soft Granite and Charcoal. I usually keep a supply of them ready but I didn't have enough for the project and its easy to make lots, I ran through each of the die sets three times so I have lots of spare flowers for future projects. I had initially wanted to have the flowers coming out of a vase but I do not own one in my whole stamps and dies sets. I cut out the circles using the Die-namics circle stax 1 from white cardstock and Alla-Prima Collection 6x6 paper stack (it didn't have a name). I adhered the chosen flowers with Claudine Hellmuth Studio multi-medium in matte in a nice arrangement and set it aside to dry. I cut out the cover for the cardbase from the First Edition Paper Bird Song 6x6 Designer Paper Pad as the polka dots have a texture that is similar to heat embossing so it gave a bit of texture and shine to the card without being overpowering. I adhered the circles together and attached them to the card front with dimensional adhesive. I then cut out the banner using the Simon Says Stamp Folded Banner Craft die and stamped the sentiment using the Lawn Fawn Happy Everything stamp set in Versafine Onyx Black. I used dimensional adhesive on the strip part of the banner and tape runner to the flag ends to create some fun dimension. The card is fairly simple to make so it could be easily reproduced using different sentiments.

There is the chance to add up to three cards to the Work It Wednesday Spring Challenge so keep an eye out for more similar projects during April, when hopefully spring will have actually arrived!

Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to make a project that makes you think of spring. If you are interested in taking part in the challenge too, the link is http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/work-it-wednesday-march-2014/, you have until the end of April to enter.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes With Buttons

This weeks Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is to make a project that includes buttons. I did start planning my project using real buttons, including making a score of music with the buttons as the notes, but I just wasn't feeling like anything was really speaking to me. I also seem to be incapable of using buttons as a just because item on a card, mainly because I always feel the card looks better without them on so they end up being pushed aside for another time that never happens! I fully abandoned the idea of using real buttons when I noticed the Paper Smooches stamp set Needle Little Love has a lovely button stamp in it and some lovely sewing icons and sentiments. I have only used a couple of stamps out of the set and haven't used it as a stand alone stamp set on a project so I thought the theme was fitting for the challenge. This is the card I made:

I started out by stamping the buttons across the top and bottom in Versafine Satin Red, Deep Lagoon and Imperial Purple to add a border to the card (the picture below shows a closer image of the buttons). Once they were dry I added the little sewing detail in using the ink from the button to the left to add a bit of variation. I then lined up the sentiment and icons on my Fiskars Stamping Press and inked them up with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I then proceeded to colour in the images using Letraset Promarkers in shades of blue, pink and purple to match the buttons. The colours I used were True Blue, Aubergine and Red for the thread parts, and Red also for the heart. I used Antique Pink, Dusky Rose and Cocktail Pink for the pink aspects of the card and Lavender and Orchid for the lilac colours. I added Gold to the pin heads and instead of using a grey for the shadow I pulled more blue into the card by using Powder Blue. I used a simple blending technique throughout to create the impression of light and shadow.

Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to use seldom used stamp sets in your stash and buttons in a creative way. If you are interested in taking part in the challenge too, the link is http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-anything-goes-with-buttons/, you have until Wednesday to enter.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Transparent

This weeks Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is to have a transparent aspect to a project. I must admit I am very much a white card base kind of girl so transparent bits don't usually appear on my cards. I decided that I could use up some packaging to make a transparent card but I only had enough for the front so I went to Pinterest to find some inspiration and this is the card that inspired me most. At the moment I am enjoying making scene cards, as seen on the Simon Says Stamp Distress card I made a couple of weeks ago. This is the card I made for this weeks challenge:

To begin with I cut out the plastic packaging to give as much area to the front of the card, it ended up being 5 3/4 inches (with a 1/2 inch flap to attach the card) by 4 inches, which isn't a traditional card size but there wasn't much I could do about it! To create the hills on the card I used the Simon Says Stamp Stamptember A2 Card Curved Edge Craft Die to cut an inch strip of green cardstock into a nicely curved hill. I first adhered one to the transparent sheet and lined it up with the one on the white card base, it probably would have been easier to do it the other way around but I didn't plan ahead. I only used one stamp set for the whole of the card which was the Hero Arts Elephants set, I used Versafine Onyx Black ink to stamp both sentiments (see the below picture for the inside sentiment) to give interest to the hills. Next I used the Hero Arts Cube Inks in Passion Flower to stamp the elephants, Green Hills for the grass and Pool for the water drops from the trunks. I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the tree and coloured it in with Mowed Lawn and Festive Berries Distress Markers. As there was a lot of white space at the top of the card I used Tumbled Glass Distress ink and an Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool to lightly add some blue sky to the card without distracting from the main card.

I let the card dry for a couple of hours and then used tape runner to fix the plastic sheet to the card. I was very happy with how the card turned out, especially because I'd never made a transparent card before and I didn't know what to expect. This card has inspired me to make more transparent cards and I hope that I can find some sheets of plastic that will enable me to do the whole card transparent without needing to use a piece of cardstock for the back.

Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to make a transparent front to your card. If you are interested in taking part in the challenge too the link is http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/?p=1208, you have until Sunday to enter.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Glitter it

This weeks Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Glitter it. I was going to skip the challenge because I hate using glitter, I just hate the fact it gets everywhere and you find it on your face weeks (and showers) after you used it. However, the very nature of a challenge isn't meant to be something easy, so I went for it. Even though I hate glitter in its dry form (I don't own any of the stuff), I do own some Rangers Stickles and also several Zig Wink of Stella brush tip markers, so I did have something to work with! I thought with a challenge focusing on glitter, the glitter had to be a focal on the card, so I decided to use the Simon Says Stamp Big Thanks die and cover it with either Stickles or then clear Zig Wink of Stella Clear brush tip marker and Rangers Glossy Accents. My decision was swayed towards using Stickles because I see it more as glitter than the Wink of Stella brush tip markers and I've used a lot of Wink of Stella Clear brush tip markers and Rangers Glossy Accents recently and fancied doing something a bit different. This is a picture of the card I made:

In order to create a background for the card I decided to stamp out a rainbow of colours because today has been incredibly sunny and I fancied making a really bright and happy card. The stamp I used was the wave from My Favourite Things Jumbo Mod Borders, stamping in the Hero Arts Cube inks in Pale Tomato, Soft Cantaloupe, Butter Bar, Green Hills, Cornflower and Passion Flower down a landscape A6 piece of white cardstock. I had to trim down the sides because the Pale Tomato and Passion Flower were not even on the page and the stamp didn't reach across the card. I then cut out seven Simon Says Stamp Big Thanks die pieces out of white cardstock and an eighth from the background piece. I glued the die cuts using Tombow Mono Aqua Liquid Glue with the patterned piece on top. I used tape runner to attach the background piece and die cut stack to the A6 card base, making sure to insert the small pieces correctly. I then covered the die cut piece with Rangers Star Dust Stickles and set it aside to dry. This is a view of the dimension on the card:

Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to use the Ranger Stickles on your die cuts. If you are interested in taking part in the challenge too, the link is http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/, you have until Wednesday to enter.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Lucky

In honour of St Patrick's Day on Monday, Simon Says Stamp ran a challenge with the theme of lucky. I knew for a fact that my stash of supplies had nothing in it to do with St Patrick's Day, Ireland, rainbows and any other lucky iconography, so I  had to do something else! I spent a lot of time wondering what on earth to do but when I'd given up for the night I saw on Facebook that someone felt lucky because of their friends That's when the inspiration struck: to stamp out a large sentiment around the theme of lucky. I remembered seeing a blog post by Laura Bassen at the start of the month, which included stamping out words and then using a circle stamp to add colour for wall art. It took me a while to come up with the sentiment for the card as google was no use! After much careful thought this is the card I made:

Unlike most cards I make, the first step to this card was drawing a grid over the card base to give me a guide. I first drew in the centre line then I worked out that the letter stamps from Kaisercraft Alpha Typewriter Font were half an inch tall, making the lines horizontal on the card three quarters of an inch apart. Once my guide lines were all in place I wrote out my sentiment on a scrap piece of paper and marked where on each line the centre line would fall. I then used Versafine Onyx Black ink to stamp out the sentiment, I found it easier to work from the centre of the lines outward to make it stamp evenly. This stamp set isn't designed with correct spacing in mind so I had to stamp the letters individually, I do prefer it to stamping a row of letters together as each letter comes out perfectly. I did have a problem when I came to the last line as I had marked the centre line without taking into account that the words "in my" had wider letters than "life", because that was the last line I knew it wasn't possible to start the card over, so I looked through my stash for a small icon that would balance up the line, I found the two hearts in the Paper Smooches Needle Little Love set and stamped them out. Just to be extra safe I left the card to dry for an hour to make sure when I erased the pencil marks I wouldn't smudge any black ink (I'd already saved my card once, I didn't think I'd be so lucky to fix it again!).

I returned to the card with eraser in hand and removed all the pencil lines. I was surprised how nice the card looked without any colour on it, but I knew it wasn't finished that way. I pulled out my Simon Says Stamp Lots of Dots stamp set and picked out Soft Pool, Tide Pool, Passion Flower, Lemon Yellow and Lime Green from my Hero Arts Cube inks. I then used two post-it notes to protect the back of the card and stamped five different sized circles in each of the five inks randomly across the card, trying where possible to spread out the same colours.

I must admit that the card was very easy to make and apart from waiting for the Versafine Onyx Black ink it was very quick. This card would be ideal to mass produce with different sentiments, as once you know where the guide lines need to be positioned, you can be stamping out the next card while the previous ones dry. It is also very versatile as the circles can be all sorts of colour combinations, letting you create feminine, masculine, happy, sad, neutral, bright and pastel cards without being restricted by the stamps you own!

Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to use your alphabet stamps. If you are interested in taking part in the challenge too the link is http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/challenge-lucky/, you have until Sunday to enter.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Mother's Day/Special Girl

Mother's Day is coming up on the 30th March in the UK, so I had planned to make a few Mother's Day cards this week. So I was delighted to see that SSS was using Mother's Day cards as it's Wednesday Challenge. I wanted to make a rather simple card which showcased the sentiment rather than a card that was heavy on images. Here is a picture of the card.

I cut out the heart using the My Favourite Things Die-namics Heart Stax, in white cardstock and stamped the sentiment from the Lawn Fawn Happy Everything stamp set in Versafine Black Onyx ink. I then used Spun Sugar Distress Ink to add a pink tint to the heart. I then die cut out WPlus9's More Fresh Cuts and stamped them in various Hero Arts Cube inks (Lime Green, Pale Tomato, Pool, Soft Cantaloupe, Green Hills, Grape Juice, Lemon Yellow, Orange Soda, Charcoal, Passion Flower, Butter Bar and Cornflower). When they were dry I arranged them around the top of the heart, trying to keep similar colours apart and glued them into place with Ranger Glossy Accents to make them secure. I then cut a second heart in white cardstock and glued it to the back of the heart and flower arrangement to help secure the flowers and add rigidity to the heart.

Next I cut out a card base out of Bazzil Basics Premium Cardstock (its the fuchsia colour at the front of the pack) that was 12 by 4 inches and scored it to make a landscape, side-folding card. I then used foam squares to fix it to the middle of the card. I then used a uni-ball signo white gel pen to add stitching lines around the outside of the card and also a continuous line on the indent line on the die cut heart.

Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to use the More Fresh Cuts stamps and dies. If you are interested in taking part in the challenge too the link is http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-mothers-day-or-special-girl/, you have until Wednesday to enter.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: D is for Distress

This weeks Monday Challenge on the Simon Says Stamp blog is all about distress, I took it as an excuse to use my massively underused seasonal distress inks and markers. I have been asked to make a Birthday card for a two year old girl which included a rabbit. I decided to tie the two projects together using the seasonal distress colours to allow for many fun colour options for a card that called for a nature backdrop. Here is a picture of the card.

To begin with I created my background using Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean. I pressed the ink pads onto my craft sheet and sprayed them with Tattered Rose Glimmer Mist in Dazzling Diamonds to get the ink pooling up. I pressed a piece of watercolour paper into the ink and wiggled it around to make sure there wasn't a gap between the colours. I then lifted the watercolour paper up, tilting to the side so the colours were separate. I then set that aside to dry. Once it was dry I used Dreamweaver White Embossing Paste, to added clouds to the top of the card for some fun dimension. I spread it thinly so the distress ink could be seen through for a more realistic cloud effect.

 

Next I stamped the two (a number stamp set by Kars), bird and rabbit (both discontinued stamp sets from Hobbycraft) onto another sheet of watercolour using Versafine Onyx Black ink and water coloured them in with Distress Markers by scribbling the ink onto an acrylic block and using my water brush applied the desired colours to the images. For the bird I used Ripe Persimmon for the body and Peacock Feathers for the tail. For the rabbit I used Shaded Lilac for the body and Picked Raspberry for the ear and nose, I also added a white tooth with my Uni-ball signo in white. For the two I used Picked Raspberry. I did have a slight problem with the rabbit, that I hadn't let the versafine fully dry and it did bleed quite considerably, luckily it was outside of the image which was remedied by a bit of fussy cutting. It does say on the versafine ink pad that it is suitable for water colouring, but obviously it takes a while to dry. When the images were dry I fussy cut them out and went around the edges with the black Memento marker to make it look like I had cut it out perfectly. I did have to cut the beak and legs off the bird but I stamped that on the background so it isn't noticeable. The advantage of fussy cutting the bird was that I was able to have the tail free from the card, which made the stamped image behind look like an additional layer to the bird's tail.

The finally assembly included covering a piece of embroidery floss in Claudine Hellmuth Studio multi-medium in matte and arranging it into a curled string design, to make the number two into a balloon. I stamped out the sentiment (the Happy Birthday is from Lawn Fawn Happy Everything stamp set and the name is Kaisercraft Alpha Typewriter Font) in Versafine Habenero ink while everything was drying. I glued the bird and rabbit to the background with the matte medium and added the balloon and sentiment using foam squares. To finish off the card I added Ranger Glossy Accents to the number two to make it look like a balloon.

Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to dig out your distress inks. If you are interested in taking part in the challenge too the link is http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/challenge-d-is-for-distress/, you have until Sunday to enter.