Happy First Birthday

Boy cards... so hard. Except for little boys who turn one, nothing but super cute smiling dinosaurs! I've had this stamp set for ages, and it always makes me smile. I also love making smooshing backgrounds using Distress Oxides. I think the colours are just right on this card, even if I do say so myself.

I started by creating a background with Distress Oxide Smooshing.  I stamped the cute-o-saurus and palm tree from Lawn Fawn Critters from the Past and coloured with Copics. I die cut the sun using a Lawn Fawn die from Lawn Fawn Let's Polka patterned paper. The '1' is die cut using a Tim Holtz die.

I'm linking up this card with the following challenges:

Daring Cardmakers - Whatever the weather

The Crafters Cafe - Animal and/or ATC

Cut It Up - Critters, must include die cut

Inspire.Create - Birthday 

Always Fun Challenges - Mood board (I was inspired by the colours and the texture in the top middle image which I think looks exactly like the ink smooshing)

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters from the Past and matching dies

Dies: Lawn Fawn April Showers, Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative Strip Alphabet Die - Inside Out by Tim Holtz

Ink and colouring: Tim Holz Distress Oxides, Copics, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

White Butterfly

After a few super hot days, we have cooling rain today. And of course, rain means craft room time! I bet the garden is enjoying the rain, but I feel sad that it will completely undo all my hard work cleaning my windows over the last week. We were going to have the out-laws over for a visit this weekend so I wanted our windows to be shiny clean. Now the visit is postponed due to the rain, so they will never see my shiny clean windows, only the water-stained ones. Sigh. Not that they would care, but I do.

Anyhow, end of rant. I had lots of fun in the craft room today, and I had Distress Oxides on my craft room desk which were perfect for this week's Color Throwdown. I also was inspired by the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. 

I used Distress Oxides to stamp the background using a stamp from STAMPlorations Vignette: Celebrate Artsy and stamped the sentiment using a stamp from the same set. I then cut the beautiful Flutter Zen 2 layering butterfly die, using white card and vellum for the background.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Vignette: Celebrate Artsy 

Dies: CUTplorations Flutter Zen 2

Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Oxides Mustard Seed, Spicy Marmalade, Picked Raspberry, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

STAMPlorations Christmas in July

I'm very excited to be here today for the kick-off of our Christmas in July sale and giveaway over at STAMPlorations. And, to be honest, it's the kick-off for Christmas crafting for me this year. I really love to see all the Christmas inspiration all over blogland this time of year as it finally got me inspired to start with my Christmas crafting. The inspiration and talent in the crafting community never cease to amaze me. If I ever feel like I'm in a creative slump, all I need to do is go on Pinterest or Instagram and I'm showered with the most amazing art, so thank you all for that!

For my first card, I used the Sketchy Yule Trees, stamping directly onto white card and colouring the trees with Distress Markers. Next, I stamped the Merry Little Christmas typografia stamp in Versamark onto vellum, and heat embossed in gold (currently this stamp is out of stock, but there are plenty of other Christmas typografia stamps in stock in the STAMPlorations store). I added a few drops of glue on the vellum under the sentiment to attach it to the card panel. If you want more inspiration for these stamp sets, check out here, here, and here.

I used the same layout for my next card, this time using the super cute snowman from Winter Chill for the background and the  Build A Snowman Typografia Christmas. I stamped the sentiment in black onto vellum and heat embossed in holographic embossing powder which gives it a great shimmer. For other ideas using these stamps, see here and here.

I created one more card using a Christmas typografia stamp, this time I combined the Jingle All the Way typografia stamp with the cute bells from Jingle Bells. I started by stamping the bells in Versamark, then I sprinkled gold and copper embossing powder to create a two-tone effect which you can see in the close-up image. I inked up the sentiment using Distress Markers, spritzed very lightly with water and stamped onto vellum. As I often manage to smudge ink when stamping on vellum, I quickly heat embossed the sentiment in clear powder, before cutting the vellum with the smallest die from Crazy Double Running Stitch Nested dies. 

For my last two cards, I was inspired by the beautifully geometric Yuletide Deer stamp set. I restricted my colour palette to bright red, black and grey against crisp white card. I started by stamping the deers in Tim Holtz Festive Berries. Then I used a black watercolour marker to colour only the word Christmas from Merry Little Christmas (although you may want to make your life a bit easier and just use a stamp which you can ink up the normal way). I then used the "merry" stamp from Joyful to complete the sentiment, inking it up once with black ink and stamping three times without inking it up in between. I then used a stamp from Mixed Media Elements to create some interest around the edge. I completed the grungy look by splattering some diluted black ink on the card front before matting it onto red or grey card and attaching to a white card base.

A few links to some other cards made using the same stamp set here and here.

I hope you have been inspired to create some Christmas cards of your own. If you want to add to your Christmas crafty stash, you can find Christmas stamps reduced over in the STAMPlorations store and there is even a giveaway!

I'm linking up my first deer card over at Crafty Card Challenge, Tales from the Craft Room, Shopping Our Stash (Happy 400th challenge!!) and Crafty Gals Corner. All of the challenges have a Christmas in July theme.  

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sketchy Yule Trees, Merry Little Christmas Typografia Christmas, Build A Snowman Typografia Christmas, Winter Chill, Jingle All the Way Typografia Christmas, Jingle Bells, Yuletide Deer, Mixed Media Elements 
Dies: Crazy Double Running Stitch Nested dies
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Inks and markers

Save the Drama for Your Llama

My craft room desk is so overflowing with stuff (no, it's not a mess, it's the embodiment of the creative process!!) things get lost in the archaeological depths of piles growing higher and higher. Today, I found this fun stamp set my partner got me for my birthday (which was in late May, so that's how old the stuff in that pile was... *cough, splutter*). 

Anyhow, I couldn't resist having a play with the cute little critters as soon as I re-discovered them. I started by stamping the llama onto watercolour card, watercoloured him with Distress Inks and fussy cut him. I stamped a few cactuses for the background and added a bit of colour to the ground and sky, before die cutting the scene with a STAMPlorations die. I added the llama using 3D foam dots. Last, I stamped the funny sentiment onto a scrap piece of blue card and attached the cute scene onto light yellow Stampin' Up card. 

I'm linking up over at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers where the theme is J is for Joke (although I guess this is more of a pun than a joke, maybe the Sisterhood won't mind?) and 2 Crafty Critter Crazies where anything goes with a critter.

World Watercolour Month Linky Party with STAMPlorations

Today I'm excited to be part of the World Watercolor Month Linky Party over on the STAMPlorations blog. You can win great prizes by commenting on the post over there as well as my post here. There is also a linky party so you can join in on the fun!! Hop over to the STAMPlorations World Watercolour Month post for more details. Now for the details about my projects, I hope they will inspire you to create something for the Linky Party!

We have been enjoying a nice few weeks of summer in the UK (I hope you have too, wherever you are) but we had a rainy day so it felt like the perfect time to spend some quality time with my favourite stamps and my Tim Holtz Distress markers creating some colourful cards to brighten up the grey day.

For my first card, I used the Bloom Doodles stamp set. I arranged the flowers onto the card front and picked them up with a big clear block so they would stay in the correct layout. I then colored them with Tim Holtz Distress markers (but any markers with water-based ink will work), spritzed the stamps liberally and stamped on watercolor card. I spritzed some additional water on the stamped image to get the look I wanted. Next, I die cut the panel using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies. Last, I splattered some inks on the panel and added a bold sentiment using Happy Birthday.

I used the same faux watercolour technique for my second card. I used the Feathery stamp set with Distress Markers. I took all the beautiful feather stamps from this set and arranged them on the card. I picked them up with a big clear block and coloured the stamps with Distress Markers. I spritzed the stamps with water, stamped, dried and die cut using Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies. The sentiment was created by die cutting black card using the Thanks word die, and a small stamp from For the Birds. Last, I added some Ice Stickles to the "thanks".

For my third card, I used the gorgeous Blossom Sprays #3 stamp. This stamp combined with the faux watercolour technique makes a stunning card really quickly and easily. Pick your favourite colours for the flowers and add greens for the foliage. Spritz water and stamp, spritzing extra water to the stamped image if you want a more blended look. I added a simple die cut sentiment using the Celebrate word die.

All of these stamps are really versatile and would work for a lot of different occasions. You could even create the cards but not add any sentiments, and once you know what you need the cards for you could quickly add one of the Clear Stickers to the card and that way you will always have cards with the perfect sentiment!

I'm linking up the first card over at Inkspirational where the theme is 3 or 5 of something. 

I'm linking up the second card over at {Pin}spirational as I was inspired by the multi-coloured ice creams to create my multi-coloured feathers.

I'm linking up the third card over at CAS Watercolour where the theme is Bouquet of Flowers and Less Is More where the theme is Celebrations.

Stamps: STAMPlorations Bloom Doodles, Happy Birthday, Feathery, For the Birds, Blossom Sprays #3

Dies: CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies, Thanks word die,Celebrate word die

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Markers

All of the stamps I have used in this post are currently a delicious 40% off in the big STAMPlorations Summer Clearance with the code HEYSUMMER. These are some of my all-time favourite stamp sets which I use over and over and over, and you can get them for a bargain until the end of the month.

CLICK HERE to see all 300+ qualifying products.

Code may be used once per customer/shipping address.

Code expires 7/31.

Gin and Tonic

It's been a while since I have spent any time in the craft room (and it seems like this is how I start all of my blog posts these days). It's been a few weeks of beautiful summer which means the garden is growing way too much (why is it only the weeds that grow out of control but not the actual plants you want to grow?). Anyhow, today's rainy weather brought with it some mojo.

Inspired by the CASology challenge, where the theme is Citrus, I created this quick one layer CAS card. I love the fun STAMPlorations Layered Citrus stamp set which was perfect for the theme. I stamped the lemon outline in Distress Oxide and used the layering stamps to "colour" it using Distress Inks. Last, I stamped the sentiments and splattered some watered down Distress Ink for a grungy feel. I'm also linking up with Cupcake Inspirations where the theme is shades of yellow and Shopping Our Stash where the theme is One Layer Card. 

Stamps: STAMPlorations Layered Citrus

Ink: Tim Holz Distress Oxide Fossilized Amber, Distress Ink Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

If you feel like doing some crafty shopping, don't forget to check out the 

STAMPlorations Summer Sale with over 300 products at 40% off for some great finds!