FTHS May free stamp of the month

Hi there! Just popping in with a quick post showcasing this month's free stamp of the month by From the Heart Stamps. I know, I know, May is almost over, but I managed to do some quick colouring using Spectrum Noir pencils during my coffee/tea breaks today and then blended the colours out using a paper stump and odourless mineral spirits. I had already printed this sweet Hamlet PigWit image and one of the accompanying sentiments onto some Neenah solar white cardstock last weekend.

I adhered my coloured panel onto a black mat and mounted them onto a pink A6 card base from my stash. To finish off, I added a few clear iridescent sequins from my stash and a little clear Wink of Stella to the larger flowers and the butterflies.

Challenges:

FTHS stamp of the month progressive challenge

Allsorts - 265 In the pink

Kleuren met potloden - Mei alles mag/May anything goes

Stamplorations CAS May - Anything CAS goes (optional colour: magenta)

AAA Cards - 65 Happy birthday

Tone on tone on kraft

While I was playing in my craft room this weekend, I came up with this tone on tone birthday card.

I stamped the NBUS dogwood stamp (Hero Arts, Butterflies #3) in Crème brulee pigment ink (Studio Calico) and then heat-embossed the images in HA ultra fine clear embossing powder. To give the flowers a little more definition, I coloured the inner parts and the outline with a Derwent Coloursoft pencil in grey white. The sentiment (HA, It's your birthday) was heat embossed in SSS white ep. The butterfly (HA, Butterflies #3) was heat embossed onto a snippet of vellum and die cut using the matching die.

To finish off, I die cut the panel using a stitched rectangle die (SSS) and mounted it flat onto my card base (PTI, Soft stone).

Challenges:
ABNH - Tone on tone
SSS Wednesday challenge - Anything goes
Sweet Stampin' - Embossing
ATCAS - 89 Petals
AAA Cards - Happy Birthday
Stamping Sensations - May Anything goes

 

Felt rose

Today I have a very quick card to share using only Marianne Design products.

I die cut the frame (CreatablesLR0272) from some gold paper from my stash and die cut the rose and leaves (Creatables LR0162) from some felt I seem to have had forever. The sentiment (CS0883) was stamped in jet black ink.
Somehow I'm unable to capture the green of the leaves.

Challenges:
Marianne Design - 153 CAS using dies and text
SSS - Anything goes

A 'fruity' butterfly

I have another one-layer card to share for the current One-Layer Simplicity challenge, where the theme is Fruit smoothie.

For my card I lightly stamped the small butterfly (by Gina K) from the Stamp of Approval Beautiful World collection in Antique linen distress ink (using my MISTI) onto a card made out of smooth Bristol and then carefully blended in some Picked raspberry and Squeezed lemonade distress inks using a water brush. I then overstamped the image using Memento Elderberry ink. After that, I added a little more colour to the image. The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the image. I stamped a second sentiment inside the card, which reads: But don't let the world change your smile. Love the sentiments of this stamp set as much as I love the images!

To add a bit of interest, I scored a frame around my image and sentiment using my Scor-Buddy, and of course I could not resist adding a little clear Wink of Stella to my butterfly.

Challenges:
One-Layer Simplicity - OLS27 Fruit Smoothie
Mixed Media Card Challenge - MMCC23 Reflection + optional: water (I used 'reflection' in a figurative sense - my sentiment - and used water to colour in my image)
Stamplorations Theme & Sketch challenge - Theme: anything goes with stamps
Stamplorations CAS - Anything CAS goes, optional colour twist: magenta

Another blog birthday

There's another challenge blog that's celebrating a birthday this week: Passion for Promarkers is turning 7!

I've been taking the Seasonal Scene Building class over at Altenew Academy last week, where Nichol Magouirk demonstrated various ways to create scenes on our cards. One way is to use a frame. I didn't have a frame die, so I simply used a stitched circle frame (SSS) from a cream cardstock panel to hide my ice creams and cup cakes (Sugar Rush, Paper Smooches) behind.

I had stamped all of my images using Memento black ink, coloured them in using Promarkers and a few Flexmarkers, added a little sparkle using my clear Wink of Stella and fussy cut them before arranging them how I wanted. I adhered a piece of soft coloured PP to the front of my card and stamped the sentiment in Altenew black ink before adhering my images. I put a few pieces of foam tape behind the top of my top row of images and used a tape runner to adhere everything else.

I then mounted my top panel using foam tape.

Challenges:

Passion for Promarkers - 346 /Special Anniversary challenge

Allsorts - 364 Happy 7th Birthday Allsorts

Seize the Birthday - Anything goes (optional topping: Dimension)

Paper Smooches - May challenge - Rainbow

I love Promarkers - 309 Anything goes

Blog birthdays

There's a few challenge blogs that are celebrating a bithday this week. So what better way than to celebrate with balloons?!

Ingredients:
Neenah solar white cardstock
Balloons - It's your birthday by Clearly Besotted, stamped in Mango smoothie (Altenew), Orange soda, Lime green (Hero Arts); balloon strings stamped in Grey area (Studio Calico)
Sentiment - It's your birthday by Clearly Besotted, stamped in black
Clear Wink of  Stella to add some festive sparkle to the balloons
Corner chomper
MISTI

Challenges:
One-Layer Simplicity - OLS 27 Fruit smoothie
Less Is More -277 Something that pops or bangs
Allsorts - 364 Happy 7th Birthday
AAA Cards - Game 65 - 2nd Big Birthday Bash
Creative With Stamps - 2 CAS

Happy Holidays Shaker

I have another card for the Ellen Hutson mix it up challenge, combining Essentials by Ellen with Savvy Stamps. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have only 2 die sets by Savvy Stamps and this sentiment die had never been used before, but I thought it would be fun to use it on a shaker card. Just perfect for this fortnight's Jingle Belles challenge, where the lovely Belles are inviting us to 'Shake, Rattle & Roll'.

My card also fits the the theme of the following challenges:
CAS Mix Up - Stamping, heat embossing + sponging, die cutting
ATCAS - 88 Midnight

Ingredients:
Distress inks: tumbled glass, broken china, stormy sky
Embossing: Versamark ink, SSS white embossing powder
Snow stamp: Merry & Bright, Essentials by Ellen
Dies: Savvy Stamps (sentiment), Home & Hearth, Essentials by Ellen, Stiched square by SSS
Snow paper by Marianne Design
Sequins: sparkling clear and winter snow mix (PPP), moonshine (SSS)

Edited to add a link to the Seasonal Scene building class by Nichol Magouirk for Altenew Academy. Even though I created my card before the start of Lesson 6 about shaker cards, it fits the theme of this lesson, so I'm hoping other students may find additional inspiration from my card.

Stamping with gelatos

When I saw this month's Mix it up challenge prompt (Essentials by Ellen Hutson + Savvy Stamps), I was determined to play along. Although I only own 2 die sets, containing a total of 3 dies by Savvy Stamps, I thought I could make it work...

For the background, I stamped the gorgeous Mondo Hydrangea stamp (which I selected after my name came up as a winner during the latest release blog hop) several times using gelatos to 'ink up' my stamp and then spritzing with water before stamping. This technique was inspired by these cards by Laurel Beard. I die cut my panel using two stitched rectangle dies (SSS) and mounted the outer frame to my purple card base using foam tape. I die cut the bicycle (Savvy Stamps) using a scrap of apple green cardstock and adhered it to my centre panel, snipping off the excess. After heat embossing my sentiment (Clearly Besotted) in gold, I adhered the panel into the opening in my frame. As a finishing touch I used a green Promarker to add a little green to the flower hearts, followed by a little Wink of Stella.

Challenges:

Essentials by Ellen MAY Mix It Up Challenge: Savvy Stamps

CAS Mix Up - Stamping, heat embossing + gelatos & die cutting

CAS-ual Fridays - CFC147 Birthday girl

Time out challenge - CAS with the optional twist of purple in honour of Sandie's birthday

SSS - Flowers

 

CAS ink blending

Today I'm sharing this fun blending card. This week's Make It Monday challenge was all about creating your own mask using dies and vellum to do some ink blending.

I masked off a window frame using post-it tape and washi tape and created a mask using three of the dies from the 80s set from one of PTI's Stampafaire kits. I blended the inks using various super 'healthy' inks: soft cantaloupe, orange soda, lime green, lemon yellow, pastel peach (all Hero Arts) and mango smoothie (Altenew). The sentiment (Friendly flowers, PTI) was stamped using Archival black ink.

Challenges:

PTI Make It Monday - 248 Ink blending through die cut masks

One Layer Simplicity - OLS27 Fruit smoothie

Tic-Tac-Toe - 9 middle row horizontal: birthday - sponging - white space

Seize the Birthday - Anything birthday goes (optional topping: colouring)
CAS-ual Fridays - CFC147 Birthday girl