Tuesday 29 March 2016

Sweetest Surprise... Thank You so much Paula Dobson for the beautiful card!


Hello friends, guess what I received in the mail today?  a stunning handmade card from Paula Dobson, came all the way from New Zealand. I was so blown away and touched by her beautiful card I wasn't expecting this at all. Thank You so much Paula for the fabulous card! I love everything about it! Love the colour and design - Bold and Beautiful and the great play on words with the sentiment - it's just perfect!

It was only until I had a look at her blog for this card and realised she made it for me. I really had no idea. It was a good thing I didn't look so it wouldn't spoil the surprise hehe. It's the sweetest surprise and wonderful handmade gift which I will cherish forever.

Paula, you're truly the sweetest friend and thank you so much for acknowledging and admiring my cards, entering them in the Global Design Project every week has been an honour and inspiration to showcase the creativity with so many other talented people. Receiving your gorgeous card has been an icing on the cake. It's a fabulous site and I hope to see you in person too someday. : ) Thank you once again. xoxo :)


More of Paula's gorgeous card - It's utterly fabulous! :) x










Sunday 27 March 2016

Best Thoughts - #GDP028 Case the Designer: Jessica Williams



Hello friends, it's that time again for another Global Design Project entry and this week's challenge is to case the designer Jessica Williams.  "Copy and Selectively Edit".

Here is Jessica's gorgeous card:


I have taken the vellum overlay and floral imagery as well as the top folding landscape format of her card. You can also click on the picture to see more of the creative entries for this challenge.

For my card, I have used the hostess stamp set, "Best Thoughts". The imagery and sentiment of this set was perfect for a Thinking of You card that I have made for a friend to offer moral support and hope for better things to come. 




I just love the purple Hydrangea drawing in this stamp set and have done it in watercolour as it suited the style. The colours I have used are, Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant for the flower, Cucumber Crush and Wild Wasabi for the leaves and stem and accents of Daffodil Delight for the stamens. I have stamped this on the left corner and deliberately cropped it as this looks more interesting than just being in the centre or the whole image. It seems to make the image bigger too and I just love the truncated compositions.

I have used vellum overlay on top and gold heat embossed both the sentiment "You're in my thoughts" and the butterfly.  To secure the vellum, I have opted to sew this on my sewing machine with Stampin' Up! gold metallic thread in place of a ribbon. It didn't exactly turn out straight lol but I got there hehe. As you can see all is not lost, as I have wrapped around extra gold metallic thread to rectify the crookedness hehe and adds to the handmade look hehe.  I have placed a small panel of gold glimmer paper accent on the side to accentuate the gold stitching. 

The panel with the flower and vellum overlay have been raised on fun foam to give an even platform so it wont crease in the mail. I have used a strip of Timeless Elegance designer series paper on the end, the bold black and white striping just adds a touch of elegance. Lastly, just to add some bling I have added small rhinestones and silver sequins on the vellum overlay and brings out the vellum.





 

Inside the card I have just showed the top of the flower so as to have space for the sentiment and the butterfly symbolising hope and reflect the greeting: "The best is yet to come". I have watercoloured in the images with same colours and added orange and light grey for the butterfly wings on watercolour paper. Lastly I added a silver rhinestone on the butterfly's wings for an accent. I hope you like this card and found some inspiration to give it a go. This was just one example, as Stampin' Up! have so many great flower stamp sets you could use in place of this one and would be perfect with this composition.

For more inspirations be sure to take a look at the creative entries over at Global Design Project and hope you will join in the fun. 


Thank you for stopping by and hope to see you again next time. Cheers! :) 



Here is a visual illustration of my card elements: 




Products used:


• Best Thoughts Hostess Stamp set (clear mount)
• Timeless Elegance designer series paper
• Gold glimmer paper
• Gold metallic thread
• Watercolour paper
• Stazon Ink Black
• Versamark
• Embossing Buddy
• Heat Tool
• Stampin' Up! inks: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Cucumber Crush, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Smoky Slate.

If you have any queries or would like help to order the supplies please send me a message. Thanks. :) 

Friday 25 March 2016

Tap Tap Tap... Endless Thanks handmade card




Hello friends, Happy Friday! Yes, it's that time again for another Crazy Crafters Project Highlights.

I am showcasing the fabulous 'Tap Tap Tap' stamp set as well as the 'Endless Thanks' stamp set which are both from the annual catalogue. The Endless Thanks set is a must have for any thank you card and you can build your own personalised greeting. I especially love that the font type compliments well with the typewriter font in Tap Tap Tap and has that lovely cursive font for extra style and just the right size hehe.

The above photo outlines how each element was made. I have kept this card relatively simple by having tone on tone or white on white with a splash of colour. The background uses the alphabet keys image from Tap Tap Tap and I have white heat embossed  that to create a subtle background on white on white and the embossing always adds interest.

On the top of that, I have white heat embossed the ledger image on vellum as I love this particular look and adds interest again. The typewriter and notes images have been stamped on watercolour paper with black Stayzon ink as it can withstand watercolouring. The typewriter image has been white heat embossed so that the outlines will show up better when I added the colour at the end. I first tried stamping with black ink, but the details got lost when colour was applied especially blue. You could stamp it in black ink, but best to colour it with a lighter colour. The images have been watercoloured to give it that free, artsy look. I have then popped them up with foam dimensionals.


Here is the inside of the card...

The typewriter is featured again with watercolour on white embossed resist and raised with foam dimensionals. I have just stamped the word friend to go inside the paper and follows on with the Thank You sentiment above. The script font is from Endless Thanks and works perfectly to say 'thank you' inside. The rest of the design uses the ledger image and stamped twice to create a mini page and that has been stamped in smoky slate. The bottom panel feature the alphabets keys and stamped with sahara sand on crumb cake card stock.



Here is my finished card: It's a top folding card and measures: 10.5cm (width) x 14cm (height) and fits perfectly with Stampin' Up! C6 envelopes. I hope you like my card and have been inspired to have a play with the stamp sets I have used. The sky is the limit on what you can create with these two stamp sets and love the vintage feel of it. They are both available on my online store and remember to use the hostess code with your purchase so you can receive a small gift from me. Please send me a message for any queries or help with ordering. Thanks :)

Please take a look at the other creative projects by my team mates here:




You can vote for your two favourite cards and voting starts at 8pm AEST.

I hope you can vote for mine hehe.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you again next time. Cheers! :)







Products used:

Tap Tap Tap clear mount stamp set
Endless Thanks clear mount stamp set
White card stock
White embossing powder
Versamark
Heat Tool
Stayzon Black ink
Stampin' Up! inks: Pacific Blue, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Smoky Slate and Sahara Sand

Monday 21 March 2016

Another Thank You card. Black embossed resist. GDP#027 Thank You Theme





Welcome fellow crafters! I have almost left this to the last minute hehe but I wanted to enter it in this week's Global Design Project #27 Themed: Thank You. I have been experimenting with using colour on black or black ink resist and really love that look. I was fortunate enough to come across Jennifer McGuire's technique of using black embossed resist using Tombow black dual brush marker, and the results are perfect! Here is a pic of my workings on how I achieved the final look on my card.





I have used the gorgeous roses from Picture Perfect photopolymer stamp set and stamped the images on whisper white card stock. The great thing with Photopolymer stamps is that you can see directly underneath and helps with lining up the images. I used primary colours of red,blue and yellow and built the tones around that. I only added one leaf as this would be enough I thought hehe. I then clear heat embossed the images using the most filled in stamp to cover the majority of it so it will be protected and  resist the black ink when applied.

The flourish is from 'First Sight' stamp set and I just stamped it with versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder so that the whisper white card underneath will show through and will resist the ink as well. After that I applied the Tombow dual brush black marker over the white areas and wiping off the excess on the images. 

The 'Thanks' sentiment is from Another Thank You set and I have placed this on the nesting dies from Tags & Labels framelits dies so that it stands out. I previously stamped the sentiment directly on the card base but it got lost with all the flourish details. I then added the white organza ribbon just to make it look elegant and need that element hehe and you're able to still see some of the design underneath. The clear embossing is the bomb it just adds instant shine to any stamped images and really brings out the colours and also it acts as a coating or varnish if you wanted to add colour such as black or any other colour and it will resist it. I hope my card example have inspired you to have a go and credit goes to Jennifer McGuire for  this brilliant technique - she's fabulous! :) 

Here is the final card... 






 


Please check out all the many wonderful creations from so many talented crafters over at Global Design Project with the Thank You theme.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope to see you again next time. Cheers! :) 



Products used:

• Another Thank You Photopolymer stamp set
• Picture Perfect Photopolymer stamp set
• First Sight Clear Mount stamp set
• Tags & Labels Framelits Dies
• Ribbon Organza White
• Stampin' Emboss Clear Embossing Powder
• Versamark
• Tombow Black Dual Brush Marker

Sunday 20 March 2016

Celebrate You - Birthday Blooms - CASE Allison Okamitsu





Hello everybody, I'm so excited to take part in this month's Crazy Crafters Blog Hop as we're CASE-ing the multi talented Allison Okamitsu, our special guest. I just love all her work! they're all so beautiful and amazing. The gorgeous card above is the card I have CASE'd for this blog hop. CASE is an acronym and means to Copy And Share Everything.  Her card is so pretty and love the way it's been presented and especially love the stamp set used, Birthday Blooms which is in the new Occasions catalogue.

Here is the card I created. I have used the thinlits circle card with an additional flap so that it opens out like in Allison's envelope card with a belly band. I love the colour pallet and softness of Allison's card and how she has used watercolour, my all time favourite medium to work with. The flower images have been stamped with Stayzon ink on watercolour paper and watercoloured in with Stampin' Up refill inks in Melon Mambo, Bermuda bay and Pear Pizzaz creating a blended soft wash with bermuda bay - turquoise. I have used the coordinating Birthday Bouquet designer series paper with the white tiny dots on mint macaron for the front panel.







The belly band has been created using thick vellum and used the cute frame from Tags and labels framelit dies. The smaller flowers are from Birthday Blooms stamp set and have been watercoloured. The sentiment "Celebrate You" is from Suite Sayings stamp set.

I have also appropriated Allison's clever used to white emboss on black the sentiments 'Friend", Happiest of Birthdays To You and have applied it to 'YOU' in Celebrate You.
As you open the card it opens up like a screen with the cascading blooms in the soft watercolouring. The tiny dots accents are also from the Birthday blooms.  To follow Allison's card I have also added the baker's twine bow on the front and this is from the Occasions catalog and coordinates well with the mint macaron dsp. I hope you like  the card and that celebrates the beauty of Allison's gorgeous card. 

All items I have used are from the Occasions catalogue and any purchase over $90 will earn you a FREE product in Sale-A-Bration which ends soon, so place your order in now so you don't miss out on this great special. Please send me a message if you have any queries or would like help to place an order. Thanks. :) 


The products used:

• Birthday Blooms
• Suite Sayings
• Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper
• Thinlits Circle Card
• Stampin' Up! Ink refills, Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzaz and Bermuda Bay
• Stayzon Ink
• White emboss powder
• Versamark
• Watercolour paper
• Vellum
• Basic Black card
• Whisper White Thick card stock
• Baker's Twine combo pack


Please take a look at the list below from fellow Crazy Crafters who have CASE'd Allison's beautiful cards who have been greatly inspired by her endless creative talent. 

Thank you for stopping by and hope to see again soon, Cheers! :)













Friday 18 March 2016

Just a note... Experimental Blooms




Hello, here is a card using the beautiful flower from Birthday Blooms. I just love this stamp set and have seen so many beautiful examples of it being used. My approach of this stamp set is very experimental as I was influenced by some origami paper with flowers on black background with gold outlines. I really loved that look and wanted to give it a go. It has an oriental art feel to it with some distress look with the gold embossing especially the sentiment 'Just a note'. 

I really wanted to try out colouring on black background but not really achievable with inks and instead decided to colour in the background black itself. The flowers and sentiment have been gold heat embossed on watercolour paper and watercoloured using inks. This is my favourite technique for outlined images and helps to apply the colour easily on and it resists ink. This is particularly helpful when I applied the black ink for the background, the embossed gold just stands out and makes a nice contrast. 

The finished panel has been mounted on crumb cake card and I have used foam underneath to raise up the panel from the card base. I hope you like this card and may be inspired to try something new using colour. The items are available on my online store if you just click on the product images it will take you to my store. Please send me a message if you would like any more information or help with ordering. Thanks. :)

Please check out this week's Crazy Crafters Team Project Highlights and vote for your two favourite cards.

Thank you for stopping by and hope to see you again soon. Cheers :) 







 


Stamps sets used: 

Birthday Blooms Clear-Mount Stamp Set140658  Price$33.00




Picture Perfect Photopolymer Stamp Set140520 | Price$47.00