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

Diamond sparkle snowflake

I really should get a snowflake stamp set with matching dies. Fussy cutting these snowflakes are a p-a-i-n! But I feel this time it was worth the trouble. 

This card is inspired by the great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. It's also inspired by The Friday Mashup where the challenge is to use the Diamond Dust Technique and the colours Island Indigo, Garden Green & Rich Razzleberry (or similar colours). I'm also linking up at Craft Your Passion where the theme is Bright and Sparkly and the new STAMPlorations November challenge where the theme is stamping and layers. I would also like to enter Completely Christmas where the theme is Anything goes with a twist... Add Blue and Sweet Stampin' Christmas where the theme is Snowflakes for a few more days.

I stamped the snowflakes in Marina Mist and Pear Pizzazz to create the background. I stamped and fussy cut three snowflakes in Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz and Rich Razzleberry. Then I stamped the snowflakes all over with Versamark, and heat embossed with sparkling embossing powder. I assembled the snowflake using foam pads to give it some dimension. I love the subtle sparkle from the embossing powder. I stamped the greeting in Rich Razzleberry and tied a bow using purple ribbon. Last I matted everything onto Marina Mist cardstock and attached to white card.

The glitter embossing powder gives a nice subtle shine.

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Marina mist card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Stamps: Penny Black All is Bright, Papermania Urban Stamps 12 Days of Christmas Word Banner

Ink: Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, Tsukineko Versamark

Other: Papermania Holographic glitter embossing powder, purple ribbon from my stash

Really tough colour combo

I received my wonderful Verve stamp set (called Surely Goodness) on the post the other day, the one I won at Mojo Monday challenges. I chose this set with the pretty flowers because I thought they would be really fun to colour in. And because you can never have too many flower stamps. When in doubt, always go for flowers. I couldn't wait to play with it, and thought the only right place to start was with the wonderful Viva La Verve challenge (by the way, you don't have to use Verve stamps to join in the fun). I really like their sketch over there this week, you can see it below.

Then the only decision was what colours to use. I thought I would really challenge myself and use this week's Colour Me... colours, which frankly is a combo I would never have put together on my own. I really didn't think I would be able to make anything useful out of it, but after many trials and errors I did manage to put together a more or less bearable card after all. But it's worth pushing your boundaries a bit from time to time and create something you never thought you would. 

I stamped the flower with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured with Stampin' Write markers. I fussycut the background for the flower from a Stampin' Up DSP using a printout of a scalloped rectangle as a template. I stamped some of the flowers in Pink Pirouette onto cream cardstock, and stamped one of the sentiments from the stamp set in Marina mist onto the background. For the lower part of the card I used another Stampin' Up DSP and added some ribbon in Tangerine Tango (I don't have Tangelo Twist, so I substituted with the closest colour I had in my stash). Finally I die cut the scalloped borders using a Tim Holtz die. I also stamped inside the card and on the envelope, just because I had so much fun colouring in the flower. 

   

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm cream card

Paper: Stampin' Up DSPs Sycamore Street, Polka Dot Parade, Fan Fair

Stamps: Verve Surely Goodness

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Marina Mist and Pink Pirouette, Stampin' Write markers in Marina Mist, Tangerine Tango and Pink Pirouette

Other: Tim Holts alterations Vintage Lace dies, Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango ribbon