RIP Cecil

Usually when I reach for my Lawn Fawn stamps, they make me smile. Today even crafting and Lawn Fawn cute critters couldn't cheer me up when thinking of the recent sad events that resulted in the murder of a magnificent animal who had done nothing to deserve the cruel ending he did. So I felt like I needed to do something, however small, to pay my tributes, and that how today's card got created. I also made a small donation to WildCRU, the Oxford University Conservation ResearchUnit. They were the research project who were tracking Cecil the lion to learn more about these beautiful animals. You can find them here should you wish to make a small contribution of your own. I also love this link with the last pictures of Cecil. Sometimes I just despair at the depravity of some members of the human race... 

The idea for my Cecil card started with the sketch over at CAS(E) This sketch. I immediately saw the circles as a rainbow. And I love how the Lawn Fawn rainbow die goes so well together with the Puffy Cloud border dies. I didn't really know what sentiment to add to the card, as I can't find any words but I think that Roawr is what Cecil would have said so I thought maybe that would be appropriate. I'm also linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where Anything Goes this week. 

I'm so sorry for the sombre mood of today's post, I hope you will be back tomorrow as there is a much more light-hearted card to come.

Card: 300 gsm white card, 300 gsm white hammered card, scraps of various coloured card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters on the Savanna and matching dies, Violet's ABCs
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Colouring: Copics Y19, YR04, E34, E99
Other: Lawn Fawn Puffy Cloud Border dies, Stitched rectangle dies, rainbow die, sequins from my stash

The joy of watercolours

As much as I love all my DT assignments (and in a few days I have another guest DT spot that I'm dying to share with you), sometimes creating for them can be a bit restrictive, particularly if working with sponsor images that you get assigned to. So today I enjoyed the total and absolute freedom of just creating a card based on a few inspiring challenges and then just sitting down with some stamps, a brush and some inks. I love watercolours, they are my current favourite.

Today's card was inspired by a few challenges. First of all I was inspired by this week's CAS-ology cue card, Wings. I immediately knew I wanted to use my STAMPlorations gorgeous hummingbird. I was also inspired by the Flower theme over at Make My Monday. I also wanted to challenge myself by using the colour combo over at ColourQ, which this time was very far outside my comfort zone. I did love the fact that I got to use two of my new Tim Holtz inks, Abandoned Coral and Fossilized Amber. I would also like to link up with Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where the theme is "No ordinary paper". I used my favourite type of paper, watercolour paper. Last but not least I would like to link up over at the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge.

For my card, I stamped the hummingbird in Scattered Straw distress ink, and the flower in Abandoned Coral onto watercolour paper. Then I used Scattered Straw, Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber and Chipped Sapphire to watercolour the image. I created the sentiment by combining a sentiment from the STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches stamp set and a Lawn Fawn die cut. Last, I cut the image using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies and added a few sequins. I do like how it turned out, despite using a  colour combo which was very far outside my comfort zone. I absolutely adore these stamps, and the way the distress paints behave when you use them as watercolours. They blend so perfectly!

Card: Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper, 240 gsm coloured kraft card navy

Stamps: STAMPlorations Stamp Lab Hummingbird and Bloom Sketches

Inks: Tim Holtz distress inks in Scattered Straw, Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber and Chipped Sapphire

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies, Scripty Hugs die, sequins from my stash

Longing for minimalism

I have been thinking a lot about all my stuff lately. Living in a big house, it's so easy to just accumulate stuff. Most of it completely unnecessary (and note that I'm not including my crafty stash in this discussion, it's another topic). My Mum has gone through a big phase of getting rid of things. Just things that you hang onto although they aren't important. My partner is a hoarder. He can't get rid of anything. Me, I'm slowly starting to come around to the thought of less is more. I have sold some of my clothes on eBay, just stuff I know I will never fit into again. Next I need to do the same with shoes, you know those shoes that are so pretty but at the same time so incredibly uncomfortable and you know they will never be worn again. And what about DVDs? I never watch DVDs anymore. If I want to watch something, I will stream it. But at the same time, I have a nagging thought at the back of my mind reminding me of how much money I have spent on all the things I own. It seems wasteful to get rid of them. But then you stop and think - are these things important? Do they make me happy? Would I miss them if I got rid of them? And the answer is very clear.

I did a bit of cleaning today, just some cupboards full of stuff that I threw in there when we moved into the house, and have not thought about since. After some re-arranging I found that I have over 30 bottles of various hair styling products. And I'm a wash and brush type of gal, I maybe use one product here and there but I think I have enough hair styling products until I die... I have 10 bottles of toothpaste. This is because I bring Finnish toothpaste with me whenever I go home. Let's not get into it, it's just better... But I didn't realise I already have a huge stash, I just keep adding to it. This is the trouble with stashing things. You will lose sight of what you have and just add to it. I'm so incredibly annoyed with myself for letting this happen. Again, it's not things I will throw away as they will be useful eventually, but I will work hard on not adding anything to my huge stash of stuff until I know what I have and I will make sure I will try to use them all up before I buy new things. 

Anyhow, my card today is also a bit minimalistic. I had an idea in my head, and the card didn't quite turn out as I wanted it, but I can't quite put my finger on what went wrong. I was browsing Pinterest earlier and got a horrible inferiority complex. All those gorgeous cards out there that I wish I had made. And then my stuff turns out a bit... naff. Oh well, all you can do is practice, practice and practice even more. Maybe one day!

I made a shaker card using all the little birthday related things in Lawn Fawn's Party Animal set. It's one of those thin shaker cards so the things inside the shaker don't move around very much. It's so that it can easily be posted. 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Lawnscaping - Inspired by Colour
CAS(E) This Sketch - Sketch #133
Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers - S is for Shaker
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Sparkle and Shine

Card: 300 gsm white card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, acetate

Paper: Lawn Fawn Let's Polka

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Party Animal and matching dies

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

Colouring: Copics, Tim Holtz Distress markers

Other: Lawn Fawn Happy Birthday border die, Ranger Ice Stickles, Stitched Circle dies, Stitched Rectangle dies

Dino-critters in colour

Nothing like a bright and early Saturday morning, right? For some inexplicable reason, I have woken up before 6am all of last week, and on a work day that's ok, but on a Saturday... Oh well, at least by 8:30 I have already gotten lots of things done. And as an added bonus, I got to catch up with a friend who lives on the other side of the world.

I know things have been a bit quiet on the crafting front lately. But today I'm back with a new card, inspired by the Colour challenge over at Lawnscaping. I was also inspired by my new wonderful Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils, if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen them already. I wasn't sure if they would be my thing or not, but I really love them. And they are so convenient to work with, it's easy to do my colouring in front of the telly if I want to. I got a pack with 36 different colours which is a great set to start with, there are some colours I know I want to add, but usually I can pretty much get any colour I want, especially if blending a few colours together which is really easy. I also splurged and got a nice water brush, I only had a few cheap-o ones, which weren't very good, and I like my new Pentel Aquabrush. Although I still don't like using it with water in the brush, I prefer to just dip it in a pot of water as that gives much better control over the amount of water. But the brush part is really nice and perfect for detailed work like this.

I have also taken to listening to audiobooks while I craft (not at the same time as watching TV obviously...). Also, I would like to find some great podcasts to listen to, so let me know if you have any you like, I would love to get some tips. My current favourite is "No such thing as a fish" which is the QI podcast, and it's filled with great little facts, and it's really, really funny. I often listen to it at work if I'm doing boring routine things that don't require too much thought, and my colleagues must think I'm crazy as I burst into laughter and giggle all the time. 

Sorry, I strayed from the point at hand. Back to crafting! I stamped the dino-critters in Staz-on ink onto watercolour paper using masking for a one layer card. I coloured everything with my lovely watercolour markers, and used a permanent black marker to add some landscaping to the scene. Lastly, I added some final touches with a white gel pen. I absolutely adore the dino critters, they just look so happy, don't they! Last, I die cut the scene with the stitched rectangle dies, and matted onto white linen paper.

I would also like to link up with the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Things beginning with I (I is for indigo blue, for colouring one of the dinos. is that too far fetched? also I is for inspiration, which I always get when I look at my colouring pens and my lawn fawn stamps. last but not least I is for imaginary, which this scene is as I doubt all these dinos would actually been hanging out together in real life)
Daring Cardmakers - Rock birthday card, with added twist of using the colour ruby (ok, this takes a bit of explaining, but you know Bedrock from the Flintstones? That is a rock... sort of? and one of the dinos is clearly ruby red, right?)

Card: 300 gsm white linen card, Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters from the Past
Ink: Tsukineko Staz-On
Colouring: Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles dies, Signo white gel pen, black permanent marker

Stampin' Royalty Guest DT - Keep It Simple

I can't believe this is already my last post as a Guest Goddess over at Stampin' Royalty. I've had a great time creating with the talented ladies of the DT and feel sad it's already time to say goodbye. The good news is of course that I can pop by and play along whenever I want to, so it's not goodbye, it's just "See ya later"!

This week the challenge is to Keep It Simple. As I have finished my summer holidays, I'm already starting to look forward to Christmas as it will be the next time I will get a bit more time off work (yes, I am very dedicated and hard working...). And I thought it might be a good idea to use my old stash of Christmas crafting goodies to remind me that I don't really need to buy any new Christmas stamps this year, but should instead try to use the stash I have got (ok, fat chance I actually won't buy anything, but still...). 

I stamped the Seasonally Scattered "Merry" sentiment using Soft Sky, and then added some Marina Mist and Pacific Point using markers before stamping onto Whisper White card. I then heat embossed the Christmas sentiment from Endless wishes in silver. I also heat embossed silver snowflakes onto Marina Mist card for the back panel. I thought this was all that was needed for a quick and easy clean card. This would be a great design to mass produce as it's quite quick and easy to make, and it would be easy to make different colour variations of it. 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Clean and Simple
Crafty Calendar Challenge - Christmas in July 
My Time to Craft - Christmas in July
Sweet Stampin' - No Designer Paper
Happy Little Stampers - CAS
Card: Stampin' Up Whisper White, Marina Mist
Stamps: Stampin' Up Seasonally Scattered, Endless Wishes
Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Sky, Stampin' Write markers Marina Mist, Pacific Point, Tsukineko Versamark
Other: Silver embossing powder

Holly Jolly - Inspired by a Christmas Carol

It's time for a new challenge over at Holly Jolly. This time the challenge is "Inspired by a Christmas Carol". Why not stream some Christmas music to get you into the mood and start by creating just one or two cards to get you started. There's 156 days left to Christmas. It may seem like it's a lot, but it's actually only just over 22 weeks. Just sayin'....

As usual we have wonderful sponsors who are giving away prices to our winners. Remember that all prizes are given to randomly drawn winners, so everyone has a chance to win! Our generous sponsors this week are Lacy Sunshine, Dr Digi and Melonheadz. Why not hop over to their pages to find inspiration for your cards. 

For my card I got to play with Dr Digi's Christmas Chris. I hope it's pretty clear which Christmas song I used for inspiration for my card! If you aren't sure, let me give you a hint: something about being made fun at because of a red nose. I coloured Chris with Copics and fussy cut him. I chose a matching paper from my stash and stamped the custom sentiment using Lawn Fawn's Violet's ABC's and Stampin' Up Endless Wishes. I popped on a  reindeer paperclip for embellishment. 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps #153 - Holiday
Daring Cardmakers - Christmas in July 
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
The Glory of Christmas #63 - Feature a Creature 
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin' Christmas - Oh Deer

Card: Kraft card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Dr Digi's Christmas Chris, Lawn Fawn Violet's ABCs, Stampin' Up Endless Wishes
Paper: Dovecraft Merry Magic 8x8 designer paper pack
Ink: Tim Holtz Vintage Photo
Colouring: Copics
Other: Reindeer paperclip from my stash

Stampin' Royalty Guest DT - Photo inspiration

I can't believe this is already my third guest post for Stampin' Royalty. Time truly flies when you are having fun, doesn't it. This week we have a gorgeous inspiration photo for you. The colours could not have been more perfectly picked for me! Green and pink is one of my all time favourite colour combos. I absolutely loved making this card. Hop over to Stampin' Royalty to see how the amazingly talented DT have been inspired by the image. Then, please have a play around for yourself and join us as we love to see your gorgeous creations. 

For my card, I was inspired by the beautiful colour combo and the bright pink flowers. I was also inspired by the gold and silver bling in the beautiful jewellery. I started by stamping the large flower from Bloom With Hope in Staz-On onto watercolour paper. I coloured the flowers with pink markers and used a waterbrush to blend the colours. Then I fussy cut the flowers. For the background I stamped the Brushstrokes stamp in Pistachio Pudding. This is such a great stamp, and it certainly has not got all the use it deserves so far. I also die cut two feathers from gold foil. Then it was just a quick job to assemble it all onto a doily, add one of those gorgeous wood veneer sentiments, a bit of silver thread and a few rhinestones. Hey presto! 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes
Fab n' Funky - Flower Delights
Natalie and Amy's Challenge - Summertime
Happy Little Stampers - Sketch

Card: Stampin' Up Whisper White Thick cardstock, Gold Foil
Stamps: Stampin' Up Brushstrokes, Bloom With Hope
Ink: Stampin' Up Pistachio Pudding Stampin' Markers Strawberry  Slush, Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride, Pink Pirouette, Memento Staz-On Jet Black
Other:  Stampin' Up Expressions Natural Elements, Silver Metallic Thread, Tea Lace Paper Doilies, Feathers die, Jewels Basic Rhinestones

Retro Flower

I'm supposed to be at the summer house out of reach of wifi. Unfortunately I caught a tummy bug and am stuck at my Mum's until I'm better. Hopefully tomorrow we can head up to the summer house to enjoy peace, quiet and lack of all connectivity with the outside world. At least I have my Mum to take care of me when I'm sick, Mums have that magical healing power!

So I thought I would post this card as I'm stuck in bed and very bored. The background is made by inking through a stencil and the Flower is stamped using several Stampin' Up flower stamps and matching punches. Last, I die cut two hellos and stacked them. I added a few candy dots for a finishing touch.

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge Blog - Anything Goes
Clear It Out - Anything Goes
Loves Rubberstamp Challenges - Anything Goes
Artistic Inspirations Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Card: Stampin' Up Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, Old Olive
Stamps: Stampin' Up Mixed Bunch, Flower Shop, Petite Petals
Ink: Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, Soft Suede
Paper: Stampin' Up Designer Series Paper Pack Brights
Other: Hello You Dies, Blossom Punch, Pansy Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Brights Candy Dots, Happy Patterns Decorative Masks

 

Posted with Blogsy

Happy birthday over the rainbow

I made myself extremely proud the other day as I managed to change the light bulb on my car light. Without any help whatsoever from the Culinary Consultant. I was so proud of myself I skipped back into the house from the driveway. It may be a bit silly, but cars are such a mystery to me even small things make me feel very accomplished.

I have felt a bit less accomplished in the craft room this week as last night was the first time all week I had some time to craft. I just received the Lawn Fawn Rainbow die, so of course I had to give it a trial run. I thought a little birthday scene above the clouds would be perfect for the current Lawnscaping challenge where the theme is Sparkle and Shine. I would also like to link up with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Furry Friends. I'm not sure if dragons are furry, but unicorns certainly are! I'm also linking up with Time Out Challenges where the theme is Nature with an added twist of animals. Again, I'm sure unicorns and dragons are animals, even if imaginary ones.

Card: 300 gsm white hammered card

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters Ever After, Year Four, Hats Off To You and matching dies

Colouring: Copics

Other: Lawn Fawn Rainbow and Happy Birthday Border dies, Ranger Ice stickles, Papermania adhesive gems from my stash

Stampin' Royalty - Colour challenge

Today is the time to reveal the second challenge for my guest DT stint over at Stampin' Royalty. Thank you for everyone for submitting your gorgeous flower themed creations last week. This week we have a colour challenge for you - Old Olive, Soft Suede, Tangelo Twist and Very Vanilla. If you don't have these colours, you can use anything you have that is close. If you hop over to Stampin' Royalty you will see the gorgeous inspiration from the DT. 

As I went with a super feminine card last week I thought it was time for something for the males this time. I masked off the edges of a panel of Very Vanilla card and used a foam applicator to sponge a light layer of Soft Suede. I then stamped the ship from The Open Sea set. After masking off the ship, I stamped the World map in the background after first stamping it off once so it won't be too prominent. Then I added splotches from the Gorgeous Grunge set, again after stamping them off first. Last, I stamped the sentiment from the Just Sayin' set in Old olive, and fussy cut it. Then I realised I actually have the dies for the speech bubbles and felt a bit silly about fussy cutting. Last, I stamped the anchor from The Open Sea in Calypso Coral and fussy cut that too. As a finishing touch I added some Soft Suede around the edges of the front panel and attached to a Very Vanilla card.

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
STAMPlorations - July challenge Stamp and Distress
Inkspirational - Grunge
Make My Monday - The Sea

Card: Stampin' Up Very Vanilla
Ink: Stampin' Up Old Olive, Soft Suede and Calypso Coral
Stamps: Stampin' Up The Open Sea, World Map, Just Sayin', Gorgeous Grunge

Holly Jolly - Winter Wonderland

Welcome to another Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge! Thank you for all of you who played along with our Tag It challenge, we loved to see all your amazing creations. Hop over to Holly Jolly to see if you are one of our Top Picks or prize winners.

Now if you are in the Northern Hemisphere you will probably be sweating in the summery sun and not even considering the fact that it's less than six months until Christmas. All you need is one Christmas card here and there over the next months instead of that last frantic December craziness you promised yourself last year you would never let happen again... To help you along, for the next two weeks we are challenging you with the theme Winter Wonderland. It's up to you to interpret in any way that inspires you. For a bit of help along the way you can pop over to Holly Jolly and see what the DT have come up with.

This time our generous sponsors are The Stamping Boutique, Eureka Stamps and Oddball Art. They are all giving away prizes to our winners. You got to be in it to win it! Please visit our sponsors to show them how much we appreciate their support and generous prizes!

For my card I used a gorgeous digi from Eureka Stamps called Snow Scene Circle. I printed it out onto vellum, and coloured from the reverse side using Copics. I stamped the sentiment from the Stampin' Up Endless Wishes set, heat embossing the "merry" in silver. I also added some Ranger Ice stickles to the vellum for that sparkly moonlight on snow effect. I created the background using a snowflake stencil and Tim Holtz distress inks. I also created a snowflake embellishment using a small snow flake dies which I embossed using holographic powder and assembled, adding a pearl in the middle. 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Winter Wonderland - All That Glitters
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Include a Sentiment
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes
Jingle Belles - Silver or Bells
Christmas Stamping All Year Long - Snow or Glitter

Card: white 300 gsm card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum
Stamps: Eureka Stamps Snow Scene Circle, Stampin' Up Endless Wishes
Ink: Tsukineko Staz-on Jet Black, Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress inks Salty Ocean, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord
Colouring: Copics B04, E39, Y19
Other: Papermania silver embossing powder, All Occasion Dies snowflakes, Imagination Crafts Snowflake Frenzy stencil, Ranger Fine Detail Clear Embossing powder, Papermania Holographic embossing powder, Ranger Ice Stickles, adhesive pearl from my stash, Lawn Fawn Stitched rectangle die

Surprise guest DT card

I've been dying to tell you, and today is finally the day. I'm soooo excited to be guest designing for the STAMPlorations sketch challenge as my narwhal card was picked as one of the top picks for sketch #33!!! I love playing along with their amazing sketches so I'm very honoured to be joining the amazingly talented DT for the current challenge. You have lots of time to play along as the deadline for this challenge isn't until the end of July! Hop over to the STAMPlorations blog to see what the rest of the DT have created using this amazing sketch and make sure to join in the fun.

For my card, I was working with the STAMPlorations Tropical Drink digi. I wanted summery colours and went with Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, Pistachio Pudding and So Saffron. I started by watercolouring the background. After the colours had dried, I stamped the Tim Holtz Script and Curiosity stamps, and added some splotches using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set. I printed the digi and coloured using the same colours. I also printed the digi onto vellum and cut out the glass to give it a more "glassy" look, although it doesn't show very well in the image. I stamped splatters around the glass and sentiment using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp and matted them onto Calypso Coral card. I also added one panel from the Sweet Sorbet DSP. I think it ended up being a wonderfully summery card, and I really want a nice cocktail now...

Card: Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper, 160 gsm Hobbycraft white card
Stamps: STAMPlorations digi stamp Tropical Drink, Each Day Holds a Surprise, Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grunge, Tim Holtz script and curiosity stamps
Ink: Stampin' Up Calypso Coral, Pistachio Pudding, So Saffron 
Paper: Stampin' Up Sweet Sorbet

Sending Hedgehugs

I'm still here despite the lack of posts recently. You would think light summer evenings would give even more time to crafting, but it seems like instead I have actually managed to be a bit sociable this week and spend two nights out of the crafting room and interacting with my fellow human beings instead. Very uncharacteristic of me, I know, but it was very nice.

And let me tell you about last night (it's not what you think, don't worry). I have never ever in my life seen a thunder storm like that. I am a big fan of a little summery thunder, and we have much more summery storms back home compared to here in the UK, but last night really knocked my socks off. I am not exaggerating (for once), but the lightning was really like strobe lights at a disco. Uninterrupted flashes of light, sometimes growing so bright it hurt my eyes as I stood there watching. But there was hardly and sound, only the occasional roar from time to time. Also, you didn't really see the actual lightning, only the flashes of light. If I hadn't known better, I would almost have thought it was an army of aliens landing with their strongly lit spaceships. And then came the heavy rain as well. When I woke up this morning, I was expecting everything in the garden to be glued to to ground from the force of it, but it seemed like everything had recovered well. It does however seem that the thunder storm did not bring a relief to the hot weather, as today is going to be a very hot day again. But I'm not complaining, this is what we have been waiting for all year, finally a real summer! 

Then onto todays main topic, my card. I absolutely adore this little stamp set from Lawn Fawn, I think the "Sending Hedghugs" sentiment is the cutest one ever! I made the background by inking Distress inks with a foam applicator through a mask I made by die cutting a sheet of scrap paper. I then stamped the hedgehogs and coloured them with Copics. I thought they made such a cute little card. My Mum has told me that we have a hedgehog living at our summer house (his name is Simo Siili, siili being the Finnish word for hedgehog) and I really hope I get to meet him when we head out there for a week of peace and quiet in a few week's time.

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Summer 
Happy Little Stampers - July CAS challenge Stamp
Addicted to Stamps - Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Card: White 300 gsm card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, scrap of Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Sending Hedgehugs and matching dies
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress inks Shaded Lilac, Bundled Sage, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Colouring: Copics E34, E39, E99
Other: Lawn Fawn Scripty Hugs die, adhesive coloured pearls from my stash

Stampin' Royalty guest DT - Flowers

**Please note this is my second blog post for the day, if you are looking for the Crafts Galore Encore post, please scroll down or click here**

I have big news for you today. I'm so excited to join the Stampin' Royalty Design Team as a Guest Goddess for the next four weeks. I love the Stampin' Royalty challenges, the ladies always come up with such inspirational themes and gorgeous cards. I can't wait to show you what wonderful challenges there are to come over the next four weeks. So come and join us over at Stampin' Royalty and link up as we love seeing your beautiful creations.

The theme for this week is Flowers. What a perfect theme for a flower stamp hoarder like me. One of my favourite ever flower stamp sets is from Stampin' Up and it's called Bloom with Hope. I usually use the large flower stamp from this set, and the smaller ones don't always get used as much as they deserve. This time I decided to use the smaller stamps as the stars of the show. I stamped various flower stamps around the edges of the card in Crumb Cake onto watercolour paper to give them a softer outline than stamping in black. I then got out a big bunch of my Stampin' Up ink pads for watercolouring. If you press the top of the ink pad down you can rub a bit of ink onto the lid, and when you open the ink pad, there will be some ink stuck to the lid that is perfect to use for watercolouring. I chose shades of yellow, green, pink, purple and orange for my flowers. I also coloured two scraps of watercolour paper using bright colours, and die cut the Hello and You from the Hello You die set. I also die cut the words in back to give them a bit of definition. I matted the card onto black cardstock to really make those colours pop, and kept it all very clean and simple with just the addition of three tiny adhesive gems under the sentiment. 

I would like to link over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is Summer, and Get Creative Challenges where the theme is Flowers. 


Card: Daler & Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine Watercolour paper, 350 gsm black card
Stamps: Stampin' Up Bloom with Hope
Ink: Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Melon Mambo, Pistachio Pudding, Regal Rose, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Summer Starfruit, Wild Wasabi, Wisteria Wonder
Other: Stampin' Up Hello You die, Basic Rhinestones  

Crafts Galore Encore July challenge

And so we have entered July, and half of the year has flown by. As usual, a new month means a new challenge over at Crafts Galore Encore. This time we are challenging you to Use a stamp or a digi anywhere on your creation. That shouldn't be too hard, so don't forget to link up with us as we love to see your wonderful creations.

Our sponsor this month is Kenny K, who is giving away two prizes. One will be chosen at random and one on merit. We will also highlight a few favourite cards who get to proudly display our winner's badge on their blog. Last but not least, we are offering a guest DT spot so if you would like to join our merry little band as a guest designer, please add GDT after your name.

I got to play with the Total Drama digi. For more inspiration from the wonderful DT, just hop over to Crafts Galore Encore! 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Artistic Inspirations Challenge - Anything Goes or a twist of odd
Crafting From the Heart - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers - Sentiment
The Pink Elephant Challenge - Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft Challenges - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes

Card: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card ruby red, Hobbycraft 160 gsm Three Shades of Yellow and Three Shades of Blue card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Kenny K Total Drama
Colouring: Copics B04, B29, B45, R24, R46, Y13, Y15, Y17, Y24, YR000, YR00