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

Be happy while stamping and die cutting

What a great last day of my week long holiday it's been. I came back yesterday from a visit back home and enjoyed the most amazing company of good friends and family and calmed down (and completely logged off all social media, emails and internet). I read a book (a real, physical, paper based thing from the past), swam in the lake, filled in suguru puzzles (I'm addicted!) and picked blueberries from the forest. And today I've already ticked off several of those little things on the mental to do list - checked my tyre pressures, added windscreen washer fluid, done laundry, unpacked, arranged and re-folded my sports clothes, gone for a run, done grocery shopping, made a very healthy lunch, resisted the urge to buy donuts (this was a tough one) and above all, spent time in my craft room with my new crafty goodies (if you follow me on the InvisiblePinkFacebook you might have seen my latest stash).

The view from the end of our jetty

Our little summer house paradise

Today's card is a great mix of stamping and die cutting - my favourites. Well, at least today they were my favourites. I was inspired by the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and the colour over at Color Throwdown. I'm also linking up with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where Anything Goes and over at Addicted to Stamps and More where the theme is CAS. 

I started by stamping the brush strokes for the background using a STAMPlorations stamp using Stampin' Up ink. Then I die cut the flower from white paper and the happy sentiment three times from card matching the background colours. I stacked the sentiment die cuts and adhered everything in place. Last, I stamped the "be" for the sentiment in black. 

Card: 300 gsm white hammered card, scraps of Stampin' Up So Saffron, Blushing Bride and Calypso Coral card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Celebrate Artsy, Hashtag Authentic
Ink: Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black, Stampin' Up So Saffron, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral
Dies: CUTplorations Happy Word Die, Paper Smooches Adorable Array

CBG stands for Clean But Grunge-y

This morning I woke up to a white world! We went out for dinner last night, and when we were driving back home to our remote little village in the middle of nowhere snowflakes started falling from the sky. This morning it felt like the whole world was clean and new. Well, as it's already 11 o'clock as I write this, most of that lovely white fluffy stuff has disappeared and it looks a bit grey and dreadful again, but it was nice while it lasted. As long as it's gone by tomorrow morning as I'm not looking forward to slipping and sliding in to work. Back home we had a proper winter, so the cars have separate winter and summer tires. Over here we only have snow one or two days a year so everyone just goes along with one set of tires and boy does it get slippy-slidey when there is snow.

Oh well, on to more crafty things. Things like the dreaded male birthday card. Your brain freezes and you feel like you will never overcome this impossible mountain. You start over and over again, never getting anywhere. And then from time to time, you realised you actually created one by accident, without even thinking about it! This time a card that was going to be something completely different happened to end up a male birthday card instead. Oh well, who am I to argue.

I started by inking through a STAMPlorations stencil I have never used before, despite having it for a while. I got out three shades of green Tim Holtz distress inks, Cracked Pistachio, Twisted Citron and Forest Moss for this. Then I used some stamps from STAMPlorations Mini Mixed Media Backgrounds and the same inks to create a bit of a grungy look around the area where I was planning to add the panel with my sentiment. I stamped the frame from STAMPlorations Blossom Overture and the sentiment from STAMPlorations Celebrate Artsy in Versamark and heat embossed in silver onto black cardstock. I attached the front panel onto a mint green mat and then onto white card and that my friends in how you make a CBG (clean but grunge-y) male birthday card. Also, don't forget if you are a CAS (or CBG, hehe...) card crafter, STAMPlorations challenges you to join our first ever CAS card challenge, where the theme this month is anything goes, with an optional colour twist of silver.

I was inspired by, and linking up with, the following challenges:
ColourQ - colour inspiration
Time Out - Birthday with optional twist of sponging
Shopping Our Stash - Something New (never before used stencil)
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Stencil It
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Ombre
Fantasy Stampers - All About the Boy

Card: White 300 gsm textured card, Vanguard VA012, coloured 240gsm crafting card black
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Inks Cracked Pistachio, Forest Moss and Twisted Citron
Stamps: STAMPlorations Blossom Overture, Celebrate Artsy, Mini Mixed Media Backgrounds
Stencils: STAMPlorations Shutters Stencil
Other: Papermania Silver Embossing Powder

First ever STAMPlorations CAS challenge - Anything goes with Silver

Finally it's here, the day I get to introduce you to the STAMPlorations CAS challenge. I have been waiting for this ever since I was told I had been chosen to be on the Design Team along with these four incredibly talented ladies. I'm so excited to get to showcase stamps and stencils from a company that I absolutely love, and had been buying stamps from way before I started my design team assignment. 

So let me tell you a little bit about the challenge. CAS stands for Clean and Simple. So basically lots of white space (which doesn't necessarily have to be white), usually one main image, none or very few layers and minimal embellishments. What is CAS and what isn't is very much in the eye of the beholder, but basically think less is more and you will get there! 

The STAMPlorations CAS challenge runs for a month at a time. A new challenge is revealed on the first Thursday of the month, running until the last day of the month. You don't have to use STAMPlorations products to take part, but if you have them we would be absolutely thrilled to see them. The challenge is always Anything Goes, and there is an optional colour twist. This month our optional colour twist is Silver. You can link up to 3 cards per challenge. 

And then to the best part - the prizes. Every month, the design team will vote for our favourites, who will receive a badge to proudly display on their blog. Every month a randomly drawn winner will also receive a $10 gift voucher to the STAMPlorations shop, and even better, if the winner is using STAMPlorations products, they will receive a $15 gift card. So come play with us, it doesn't matter if you are an experienced CAS-er or new to it, we would love to see what you create. On the STAMPlorations blog you can find more inspiration from the rest of the DT. 

I created two cards to inspire you for our January challenge. As January is grey and dreary here in the Northern hemisphere, I wanted to use bright colours. I chose to use the gorgeous Celebrate Artsy stamp set and bright Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I love this stamp set as it's perfect to create those quick and easy but impressive looking cards in no-time, it's an absolute craft room staple and I use it lots and lots. For my first card I stamped the brush stroke stamp in five colours, misting with my spritzer a little bit to let the colours lightly blend. I then dried the watercolour panel and used an anti-static bag to prepare the panel for heat embossing, stamping the sentiment from Fond Expressions 2, a great set with many versatile sentiments that work for pretty much any occasion. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in silver powder. Last, I added just one adhesive gem and matted the card front onto black card to make the colours really pop.

For my second card, I decided to experiment a little, and spritzed the watercolour paper until it was wet before using the same stamp in the same colours as for my first card. This time the colours blended much more, creating a much more artsy feel. After the panel had dried, I stamped a sentiment in black, adding another stamp from the Celebrate Artsy in Versamark and heat embossed in silver to create the highlight under the sentiment. I finished off with three adhesive gems above the sentiment. 

Don't forget to come back and see our mid month inspiration in two week's time, with more inspiration, and most importantly don't forget to link up your wonderful creations over on the CAS challenge blog!

I am linking up with the following challenges:
Try Stampin' On Tuesday - sketch (see below) plus something sparkly
House of Cards - Embossing (sentiment is heat embossed)
The ABC challenge - Y is for Your Choice 
One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Card: 300 gsm watercolour paper, 240 gsm coloured craft card in black
Stamps: STAMPlorations Celebrate Artsy and Fond Expressions 2
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn, Tsukineko Versamark and Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies, Papermania Silver tinsel embossing powder, mini clear adhesive gems from my stash. 

Disclaimer: I have received some STAMPlorations products for free in exchange for creating cards for the challenge. All opinions however are completely my own. As you can see by browsing my blog, I have been using STAMPlorations products (which I bought myself) way before my time on the DT and I wouldn't recommend them unless I absolutely loved them myself.

A thank you card in new year colours

It's the time of year when we have to learn to write a new number, and it never gets any easier. Probably because as soon as you get to grips with writing 2015, it's already 2016. And I'm thinking this year will be no exception. I wish you will have the best possible 2016. I think amongst all people manically wishing everyone a Happy New Year with lots of exciting and wonderful things, we should all keep in mind that there are many people out there not looking forward to the new year for various reasons. The end of last year threw a curve-ball which will mean a very challenging new year full of worries. If you are going through something similar, I wish you all the strength you need to deal with whatever the new year brings. 

The new year is also a time to write thank you notes for all those kind and wonderful people who gave you a nice present or threw a wonderful party. I've struggled with finding inspiration for crafting amongst my anxiety over having to go back to work in just a few days so all I could deal with was something super simple. I used a stamp from STAMPlorations Celebrate Artsy and inked it up with Coastal Cabana and without re-inking, just stamped four times on watercolour paper and then misted lightly with water with blue Perfect Pearls. It doesn't really show up on the photo, but the background card has a very light sparkly shine to it. I know I could have achieved the same effect with watercolour, but some days you can't even deal with the effort of watercolouring (I mean, you will have to get a jar of water, wait for the colours to dry and clean the brushes, oh the fuss) so very thankful for these great stamps!). Then I cut a banner from Stampin' Up Gold Soiree Speciality DSP. I also stamped the Lawn Fawn Scripty Sentiments thank you on a scrap piece of black card in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, after which I cut the piece in the shape of a banner. Then I placed the banners approximately where I wanted then, and die cut everything using a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die. Last, I matted the card front onto gold mirri card and a white card base, and added a few gold sequins for some bling. 

I am linking up with the following challenges:
ColourQ - colours (see below)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Simon Says Party (I hope this qualifies, as it's a thank you card for a great party, and also in very festive colours, well at least to me as soon as you include gold or silver, it's festive, right?)
Just Us Girls - Word week: Thank You

Card: 300 gsm white card, scrap of 250 gsm black card, 300 gsm watercolour paper, gold mirri card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Celebrate Artsy, Lawn Fawn Scripty Sayings
Ink: Stampin' Up Coastal Cabana, Tsukineko Versamark
Paper: Stampin' Up Gold Soiree
Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Dies
Other: Perfect Pearls Blue from my stash, gold sequins from my stash