Deepti's Popped!

We've got a very special blog post from the STAMPlorations team today, with the announcement of the arrival of Deepti's son, our latest STAMP baby!  I believe that mother and baby are doing fine, and father is recovering ;)

I used a Distress Ink embossing folder print, à la Tim Holtz, stamped three babygros from The Bee's Knees BabyBump, added a wash of blue Distress Inks, fussy cut them out then threaded them onto blue wire.  The sentiment is also from BabyBump.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see loads of fabulous baby congratulations cards, and if you would like to join in with the celebrations, you can add your card to the linky which will be open for two weeks.

Congratulations, Deepti, Vikas and baby Siddharth!

The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Red

I've got two posts going out at the same time today.  Click here for my CASEplorations post, then come back in a few hours for a very special STAMPlorations post!

It's time for a new challenge at The Mixed Media Card Challenge, and seeing as it's February, we've got red with an option of hearts - what else? :)

For my background panel I've used clear embossing paste through a Tim Holtz stencil, then sponged Festive Berries Distress Paint over, sponging the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Once the panel was dry, I flicked water over the sponging.

On another painted panel I sponged Picket Fence Distress Stain through a punchinella stencil and flicked some diluted white acrylic paint over, then once it was dry I cut it with a stitched rectangle die and stamped and heat-embossed the heart image.

For my sentiment panel I sanded a piece of Core'dinations cardstock, then wrote the sentiment with a white gel pen.

Added some fibres at the top of the panel, and it's done.

Pop on over to The Mixed Media Card Challenge to see some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team, then add your mixed media card to the gallery.

CASEplorations February

I've got two posts going out at the same time today.  Click here for The Mixed Media Card Challenge.  And come back in a few hours for a very special STAMPlorations post!

It's a new month and a new challenge at CASEplorations.  This month, for your delectation and delight, we have Anita in France!  Famed for her très chic CAS cards, Anita is also one of the sweetest of blog friends.

This is the card that we're CASEing.  You can find Anita's original post here.

So, what elements of the card could you CASE?  Die-cut negative space; ombré shading; linear grouping of images; mixed colours, fonts and sizes on the sentiment; and one of Anita's typical touches - the tiny little heart nestling under the swash (I had to look that up) of the 'love'.

I went with ombré, using the same range of colours as Anita.  I started by white-embossing the macarons from Sugar Rush, then added a Distress Ink wash over and around the macarons.  The sentiment is also from Sugar Rush.  And then I couldn't help myself - I added some splatter.

Pop on over to the CASEplorations post at STAMPlorations to see how the rest of the Design Team  and Anita have CASEd Anita's original card, then play along for a chance to win.

I'm adding my card to One Layer Simplicity Challenge where, in celebration of their new Facebook page, the theme is 'friends', so the actual word friend/s, friendship etc has to be included in the card.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #58 - Déjà Vu

Not quite déjà vu, but very similar to this card back in November.  This time I used the frilly dress from The Bee's Knees PartyDresses.  The fa la la la las come from the Joyful set.

The dress and pennants are coloured with Festive Berries and Barn Door distress inks, and I've used Frantage embossing powder, heating it gently from underneath so that I didn't have to use embossing ink one the image.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to see some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team, and leave a comment for a chance to win.

Parade of Poppies

I'm over at A Sprinkle of Imagination today with a step-by-step on this poppy parade.  Pop on over to take a look!

I'm entering this into Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, Anything Goes.

Seize The Birthday - A Sketch

We've got a sketch for you at Seize The Birthday this challenge.  I've been a little bit creative with the sketch, but you can still see how I've incorporated all the elements.  Well, most of them - I've interpreted the circles as sequins!

Shortly before Christmas, DS2 surprised his girlfriend by proposing to her.  Fortunately, she said yes :)  They live in Australia, and as most of our communications are done by text and FaceTime, it seemed appropriate that I used a mobile phone diecut to convey our congratulations.

I had watched Jennifer McGuire's video on a window shaker card, which gave me the idea for turning the phone screen into a shaker.  I sealed a double heart charm into the shaker pocket, which I'd made with my trusty DIY tool, then set it into the card front, adding the phone diecut to the card front.  Here are a couple more views:

I wrote on the back of the card so that it wouldn't show through the screen.

The 'celebrate' diecut (Winnie & Walter - The Big The Bold and Party Cutaways) is glued at either side onto the white card.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog to see how the rest of the Design Team have interpreted the sketch, and join in with us.  If you don't want to use the sketch, you can play along with any birthday creation.

I'm adding this card to Winnie & Walter's Rerun No 8 (technically for Scenery: The Party Hangover but I've used Shay's project as my inspiration.

I'm also adding it to Winnie & Walter's Join In To Win.

STAMPlorations Inspiration #57 - Comic Strip Birds

I've done another comic strip card for today's STAMPlorations Inspiration.  I used The Bee's Knees SmallBirds set, and Sentiment Builders: Happy for my sentiment.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, and leave a comment for your chance to win a random prize.

I'm entering my card into Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Create With Critters.