I chose this beautiful image from Alpaca Pals and coloured it in with promarkers.
I chose some bright spring like colours and then fussy cut the image out. I then had a little look through the pre-prepared backgrounds folder and found this glossy paper one which had been done with mop up inks after ink smooshing and I thought it worked well with the colours I had chosen.
I wrapped some paper twine around it and then added it to the vellum I had embossed with the wood grain folder as a soft background.
I decided to add it to the soft green cardstock I had found for the card blank. Then had a hunt in the die cuts folder where I have precut die cuts using scraps and it makes it easy for quick cards.
I found one with the soft teal birthday and some white backgrounds … I stacked them a couple of times to give it strength. I added this to the floral image and then added the floral image to the card using foam tabs to raise it above the paper twine.
I added the stamped happy above and then added the sequins for some shine.
Thought I would pop on today and give you a flavour of what my crafty plans are for 2023 although clearly the title gives you an idea of what my plan is.
I have a lot of stash in my craft room and over 2022 I did start rationalising and getting rid of unlikely to use stash. I think I need to do that again and be really clear about what I NEED to keep, what I LOVE and can’t part with and what realistically is never really going to get used.
I also need to be a bit frugal this year as we have a lot of things as a family we want to save for … so apart from basic supplies like cardstock, adhesive and envelopes/card blanks … I have decided to say NO BUYING.
I think I could well end up caving but I really don’t want to at the moment as I have so much stash going unused it is silly to buy more.
Small confession in that I did spend a little Christmas money on Boxing Day so I do have a few new bits and bobs to use but my plan is no spend in 2023… so going to ignore that little splurge even though I’m still waiting for it to turn up!
So with this in mind prepare to see some old products and stash appearing rather than lots of new stamps and dies … hope this is not a disappointment to you dear blog reader!
Sure I will find some stash hidden away that I loved using and will find a new way to use it though so hopefully the projects I make will still be fun and not old fashioned! Lol!
So with that in mind I have a project to share today using old stash…. getting myself geared up for 2023’s challenge …
The stamped bird is a polkadoodles image I stamped and coloured probably about 5 years ago and never used till now… the dsp is old magazine kit paper again just sitting there in the stash…. the twine was gifted in a swap and has found its happy place on the card and the cardstock (with the exception of the black card base) were all scraps lying on the desk.
Finished off the inside with another of the birds and some scraps of the dsp on a white panel for writing on.
So here’s to 2023…. let’s be frugal and make good use of stash we already have!
A little while ago I saw a video from Jennifer McGuire showing this technique of offset strips to make a cool background. I have tried this technique in the past and thought i would have another go but this time in a blue/green colour scheme.
This time I stencilled the white over the inked background rather than stamping. I also die cut the shape at an angle so the stripes don’t go vertically. I also added some white paint splatters to add a little brightness to the white as the white ink is quite muted.
As much as the background is lovely it is the focal image that I love most about this card. I used the fabulous Splendid Thoughts set and my Stampin Blends to colour the images.
I love how they turned out. I added a couple of die cuts behind each image to stack them (real Jennifer style!). The bowl shape I die cut from the blue cardstock but gave it a very heavy wink of Stella covering to make it very shimmery.
I finished with the gems to add more shine and a sentiment using Alpaca Pals stamps.
I mounted the background panel onto some blue cardstock and then the card base was made from a pale lilac cardstock from the stash.
Love this card so much. The background I wasn’t 100% happy with at the time but by the time the focal image went on it looked amazing!
Up early today as off to get the hair sorted so thought I would pop on and update the blog just before I set off!
Last weekend I had some paper leftover and spotted the Alpaca Pals stamp set whilst I was looking for something else and knew immediately I had to make this card. Sometimes the inspiration just strikes and you have to go for it!
So stamped the Birds onto mixed media cardstock and the stripey paper and then the floral element onto basic white and then the flower part onto the remaining stripey paper and got cutting with my scissors.
I then watercoloured the birds and the leaves of the flower.
Then stuck the paper pieces into place.
I decided the flowers would benefit from a splatter background so used the same inks to splatter. I also added a little shading colour to the flowers onto the patterned paper to give dimension.
I stamped the sentiment strip and then added the birds on either end using foam to raise them up above the flowers.
I added some colour to pearls to coordinate with the colours in the card and then used Petal Pink for the base card and a mat panel. I then raised the mat panel up on foam again for dimension.
Love how it came out and for once it actually looked like how I imagined when the inspiration struck.
Because we get the themes in advance I actually made this one a while ago so the recipient has had the card for quite some time! But I made it with this challenge in mind.
Now let’s just go back to the rules of the challenge…
Clean and Simple design with one focal point, lots of white (or open) space and minimal layers and embellishments
So the card I made was to welcome a new baby into the world… Edward Christopher! He is the baby of my friend and is a much wished for and fought for little one.
I decided I wanted a CAS card for him and his parents and so looked ahead to see what challenges there were and blend made most sense so hence the crafting ahead of time!
I started by choosing some pale blue cardstock and cutting a card blank and a card front panel. Then using a mask I gave myself an aperture to blend my inks through.
I blended from pale blue (soft sea foam) to turquoise (coastal Cabana and tempting turquoise) to dark blue (night of navy).
I then kept with those inks and inked the edge of the circle with some leaves, spots, stars and the sentiment. The leaves an spots etc are from Alpaca Pals and the sentiment is from Altenew.
I then looked in my stash for navy paper and found this piece that I thought worked perfectly as a simple layer/frame.
To embellish I decided to use glossy accents to add some shine and dimension to the focal area.
Inside the card I added a panel of white which I did the same blend of inks. Then I added a strip of the paper and some stamping. All the images and sentiments were Alpaca Pals for the inside.
I also did some blending on the envelope using the reverse mask for the area to put their address on and masking the edge of the envelope for the frame.
So a lovely sweet little card for a sweet little baby boy. 💙
A challenge at the Inchies, Twinchies and more group for this month was to make 12 twinchies with the theme of hearts. I had so much fun pulling out all my heart themed stash!
First up is my favourite Darcy paperartsy stamp with the text. I stamped and embossed it in black and then added some metallic watercolour paints. Then a doodled edge!
Second a three layered twinchies and the top one stamped the Alpaca Pals stamp in pink. Then a sticker with a small layer of vellum underneath to finish off.
Next I used a heart stencil and embossed with some modelling paste… then when it was dry I added brushos with some sptays of water… love the texture and the joy if brushos. I added some twine and then an embossed heart on red card stock and then a canvas sticker.
This one more Darcy hearts (she has designed so many great heart stamps over the years) in the background. Next I added some Alpaca Pals stamps… the sentiment stamp I added on the white panel. The back panel I added the red blending. Then added the sentiment and the red little heart. I finished with some glitter glue for the heart.
This one is a play with the fresco finish paints to create the background and the panel to emboss the hearts on. I added some punchinella with staples. I added the smaller panel with the embossed hearts and then the sticker with a mount of the purple cards.
Next some more Darcy hearts… this time a simple stamping and colouring in job with Stampin Blends and promarkers.
The next a Darcy stamp embossed… then some washi on the panel underneath onto the Blackberry Bliss cardstock. Finished with the sticker sentiment and some gems.
Another embossed background with a different heart stencil. This time I added the colour with distress crayons. Then a larger sticker sentiment added to vellum and a piece of washi and stuck down with staples.
Another Alpaca Pals stamp with the cute doodled text hearts. Simple. Stamped on the Melon Mambo card and then added to the white twinchie with a black border to each layer. Added a gem to finish.
Another Darcy heart stamp embossed in silver as a stripe across the pink card twinchie. I also added the pink washi and then the heart gem and the sentiment, which I added glossy accents to so it was shiny.
The final one is a little pocket with some hearts in the middle and sewn around the edge with the top layer of vellum. I then added a heart on the top which I added glossy accents to. Finished with the sentiment sticker with a layer of red cardstock underneath.
Absolutely loved the playtime I had with this project… so much fun! Hope the recipient enjoyed them all as much as I enjoyed making them.
Yesterday we celebrated my husband’s birthday. Given the lockdown no meals out, or partying with friends. Instead we played games, ate fish and chips for tea and watched what he wanted on the TV.
I ended up making two cards … one from me, and one from the teenager … here they are …
I decided I wanted to use the Out of this world stamps from Alpaca Pals and used loads of other alpaca pals stamps to make up the background.
I embossed and masked the little alien. Then went to town inking and stamping the background. I chose (oddly as I’ve just moved them to a further from reach shelf as I hadn’t been using them!) to use Distress inks. I really enjoyed blending the colours together to create a fun background. I splattered some water on to lift some colour too… always fun!
I coloured the little alien with promarkers and then added some splashes of shimmer watercolour.
I decided to cut the panel apart a little as when I went to add the sentiment strips it didn’t feel balanced with the alien in the middle … really love how this looked as soon as I separated the panels.
The sentiment I took some random sentiments and some alpha stamps for the 👽 one stamped them out separately using the colours of the card and then added them down the right hand side.
Inside the card I took more Alpaca Stamps to decorate the inside…
Perfect for my husband (who we decided years ago for many reasons is actually an alien! 👽👽👽
OK from the teenager a different card entirely…
I went autumnal and also included a nod to our other family member (Lucky Chuck Johnson is a hedgehog who has been in residence at the raised bed in our garden since July!)
I used a kraft card blank and then created layers of texture and different inking effects using the Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo distress inks. I did some embossing using the Pinewood planks folder. I blended inks with some masked strips. I splattered. I had great fun!
I used the same inks to watercolour the hog images (Paperartsy – Kim Dellow) which I had embossed.
The sentiment I stamped using the Claritystamps letterbox set perfect for making a personalised card.
I finished off with some doodled lines and a little tag I embossed with a gold heart.
And why did I end up having to make this? Well I bought a card from our local supermarket for her to give … but it turns out that was the one she had given him previously! Who knew? Well another reason that handmade is best… no two cards are the same! So it might have been a last minute make on her behalf (she had left it too late to make one herself!).
So happy birthday dear hubby… not the birthday we had hoped for, but still lovely to spend the day together having fun!
Today I have a swap I did in September where 4 coins had to be stamped.
I chose myself the theme of “Tell a story” using sentiments from an Alpaca Pals stamp set and the background using the Fancy Phrases stampin up set (that slipped into my basket on my last order!).
Each of the coins was stamped with versamark and then coloured with water colour pencils. I wanted each coin to have a different colour but kept the colouring quite simple and loose.
I then added the glittery washi tape and a scrap of dictionary paper before adding the stamped sentiments.
I added little gems to each coin to add sparkle.
And finished each off with a black edge to frame them.
Really happy with these coins. They aren’t challenging, but I think look quite beautiful!
So I signed up to do a till roll swap. Rule was to make 3 foot long strips of artwork using the till roll. So here is what I made…
I did lots of stamping and used washi tape. I also added small bits of text print, raffle tickets, stamped sentiments and some correction tape and posca pens.
I added the main feature of the images which I actually received in a swap and some Paperartsy fresco finish paint. Then I used some foiling which I hadn’t used in ages so that we fun and pens for doodling.
Then I did a bit of hand sewing on each to add texture…. this you have to be gentle with or choose areas where there are other layers adhered to strengthen.
I also used my heat tool to make the thermal roll react which creates such a cool effect.
Inkyfingeredcat 