The Creative Flow Blog Hop – Hello Spring

Image ~ 26 March 201722 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ Leave a comment

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – The Creative Flow Blog Hop – Hello Spring

Thank you for joining us on our Creative Flow Blog Hop. Each month we are set a challenge to creatively stretch our imaginations. The products we have used are all available in the current Annual and/or seasonal Stampin’ Up!® catalogues. To hop along, please use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping. And this month’s theme is ‘Spring is sprung’.

I don’t know about you, but for me, nothing says ‘spring’ more than flowers. So today I’ve got for you a set of super cute, 4 x 4″ notecards.

Spring notecards dimensions:

In Colour cardstock: five pieces, one of each colour, 4″ x 8 ” scored in half at 4″ (20,3cm x 10,1cm scored in half at 10,1cm) + scraps for die cutting
Whisper White cardstock: five panels 3″ x 3″ (7cm x 7cm)
Linen Thread five pieces, 20″ length each
Pearls: 15 mini pearls, 3 for each notecard

For the base of my little notecards I decided to use, soon retiring, 2015-2017 In Colours. I stamped each card base with a ‘dotty’ stamp from Number Of Years Stamp Set in Versamark.

I stamped each 3 x3″ Whisper White panel using Writing Notes background stamp. I’ve used Cucumber Crush, Mint Macaron, Blushing Bride and So Saffron x2. Next, in the middle of each panel, I stamped a little bouquet of flowers, from Number Of Years Stamp Set. This is a two-step stamping set, so I first stamped the foliage using Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi ink pads, and next I added the flowers in So Saffron, Pool Party, Watermelon Wonder, Blushing Bride and Wisteria Wonder.

I die-cut my bouquets with stitched circle die and adhered a leftover piece to the card base. I also die-cut five scalloped circles: one in each In Colour. Next, I layered each bouquet with a scalloped circle and adhered them to the card base with dimensionals.

Sentiments come from Crazy About You Stamp Set and I stamped them in coordinating colours once my cards were assembled. For the final touch, I added mini pearls to some of the flowers. I also created cute little bows using Linen Thread and added them to the cards using glue dots.

I’m really pleased with my little notecards and I think they fit the theme perfectly. But just a little reminder that In Colours 2015-2017 will retire soon (end of May) so if you love them I would really advise you to stock up on cardstock, Designer Series Paper, and ink refills as they surely will be sold out way before the end of May. Click the picture below to check the entire collection.

Now be sure to hop along to see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is lovely and talented Jerim.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day

Faux Watercolour For GDP#072 Case The Designer Challenge

Image ~ 1 February 201721 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 23 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Faux Watercolour For GDP#072 Case The Designer Challenge

Hello and welcome everyone! Today I’m back with my entry for Global Design Project. This week’s challenge is ‘CASE the Designer’ – we are casing extremely talented Krista Frattin.

If you’re not sure what ‘CASE’ stands for, at least in crafty world, here are few decipherings: Copy And Selectively Edit or Copy And Share Everything. Generally speaking, it means that you take inspiration from someone else’s project, like colours, layout, stamp set used, etc, and add your own twist to it.

I really loved this simple layout and toned palette with a little pop of colour, so this is what I ‘borrowed’ from Krista’s card. But I’ve decided to use a new stamp set from Stampin’ Up! Spring Summer Catalogue called Special Reason.

Faux Watercolour Special Reason card dimensions:

Very Vanilla cardstock: 11-6/8″ x 4-1/8″ scored in half at 5-7/8″ (29.7 x 10.5 cm scored in half at 14.8 cm)
Sahara Sand cardstock: 4″x 5-6/8″(10,2 x 14,5 cm)
Water Colour Paper: 2″ x 3″ (briefly as it will be die-cut later)
Flirty Flaming Ruched Ribbon: length 6″ approx
Very Vanilla Lace Trim: length 6″ approx

I began with dry embossing Sahara Sand panel with a Festive embossing folder. I love this design as it’s really versatile. For my card, I’ve used de-bossed side. I added Flirty Flamingo Ruched ribbon to the panel, briefly in the middle, and secure it at the back with snail adhesive. Next, I added Very Vanilla Lace Trim on top of it, slightly overlapping both ribbons so Flirty Flamingo was peeking from underneath the lace. I adhered my panel to the card base with liquid adhesive and red-lined tape where the ribbons were for extra security.

To create my focal point I’ve used few great techniques: watercolour, faux watercolour, rock’n’roll, masking and partial die-cutting.

I started with stamping my flower onto watercolour paper. I loaded my stamp with Blushing Bride Ink and then ‘rocking’ my stamp I added Flirty Flamingo only on the edges of the stamp – that’s rock’n’roll technique, super easy hey? Once I stamped the image, I took an aqua painter and started blending both colours on each petal creating a faux watercolour effect. I also added Flirty Flamingo ink to the centre of the flower. I build up the colour (but I let it dry completely between layers) by adding more Flirty Flamingo to the top of each petal and blending it down with an aqua painter.

Next, I created a mask. I stamped the same flower onto a post-it note and fussy cut it. I stuck it to my watercolour flower (first, make sure it’s dry) and using Stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped two leaves in Sahara Sand, one below, and one on the side of my flower. Using same faux watercolour technique I blended the ink on my leaves, being careful not to lose subtle veins detail. I also created a leaf mask and added another leaf at the bottom of the flower.

Not taking off the masks, and with help of Stamp-a-ma-jig again, I stamped another flower. This time I only used Blushing Bride ink for a softer shade. But still added a hint of Flirty Flamingo ink to the edges of petals while blending them with water.

Before die-cutting my piece, I decided to add a little bit of shading beneath my composition. Nothing fancy, just a subtle watercolour wash with Sahara Sand ink and aqua painter. I love how it added an extra dimension to my piece.

To die-cut my watercolour panel I’ve used a second smallest square (1-5/8″) from Stitched Shapes Thinlits Dies. But this is a rectangle, you say. Yes, I know, but I extended my die using partial die cutting technique (if you want to know how to do it, please leave me a comment below). The final piece measure 1-5/8″ x 2-5/8″ (4.2 x 6.7 cm).

I assembled my watercolour panel using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I really like how this card turned out. No need for extra embellishments, it’s beautiful as it is. I hope you like it too, and that I inspired you to try some of the techniques I showed, especially mess-free, faux watercolour.

I really want to encourage you to check the Global Design Project challenge blog. They have a new challenge every week with various themes and extremely talented Design Team – they will simply blow your mind with their creativity! Just click on their logo below to visit the website

As always, if you wish to purchase any of the products I have used, simply click the images below to go directly to my online shop.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Special Reason Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[142899]

£25.00

Special Reason Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[142902]

£18.00

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

[145372]

£27.00

Festive Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

[141471]

£7.75

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

£8.25

Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock

[121695]

£7.25

Watercolor Paper

[122959]

£4.50

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin’ Pad

[141397]

£6.00

Blushing Bride Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131172]

£6.00

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126976]

£6.00

Aqua Painters

[103954]

£15.50

Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

[101049]

£11.00

Very Vanilla 1/2″ (1.3 Cm) Lace Trim

[141672]

£6.50

Flirty Flamingo 3/8″ (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon

[141426]

£7.25

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

[110755]

£3.75

SNAIL Permanent Adhesive

[104332]

£6.25

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

£3.75

Stampin’ Trimmer

[129722]

£27.00

Big Shot

[143263]

£99.00

Inside The Lines Altered Photo Frame

Image ~ 28 January 201721 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 25 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Inside The Lines Altered Photo Frame

In my project today I decided to create altered photo frame with beautiful, Inside The Lines Designer Series Paper. With an ever-growing trend in adult colouring books, this paper is just spot on.

I don’t know about you, but I love these bold botanical designs. They coordinate with Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set & Dies, but you can use them on their own too. Colour them in with markers, inks or watercolour pencils – it’s fun and very therapeutic…or leave them black&white. Whatever tickles your fancy.

The frame is from Ikea and is called Virserum. It measures 7-1/2 x 9-1/2″ (19 x 24 cm) and comes with inside mount, hence I only needed 4″x 6″ (10 x 15 cm) piece of DSP to fit inside.

I’ve chosen this lovely, jungle-like design and cut it into 4″x 6″ rectangle. Because I was aiming for a subtle look I decided to watercolour my piece.

Bear in mind this is not watercolour paper so you can’t add too much water to it.

For the foliage, because it’s such a small area, I’ve used Stampin’ markers: Pear Pizzazz, Wild Wasabi, Old Olive, Garden Green and Always Artichoke. First, I scribbled my markers on a craft mat. I also spritz some water on my craft mat, next to the markers. I did it deliberately, to have more control of how much water I use. Next, I took dry aqua painter, picked up some water with its brush, next picked up some colour from the mat and started colouring my foliage. I was adding more colour and more water to the mat when needed. There are 4-5 layers of colour on leaves, each layer added when the first one was dry.

To colour in the rest of the image, I’ve used ink pads as my palettes.

I’ve used Soft Sky for sky and dragonfly (with a little dab of Island Indigo marker). Mountains are coloured with Smoky Slate.

For the tree trunk, I’ve used Tip Top Taupe ink pad. To add some highlights I’ve used Whisper White Craft Ink (yes, I’ve used it with aqua painter too).

Polypores or conks (I’m not sure how they are called in the UK so forgive me if I’m wrong) are watercoloured with a mix of Sahara Sand, Crushed Curry and again some white craft ink for highlights.

For the final touch, I’ve added White Perfect Accents as dew drops (one on the sky is hiding a little boo-boo). And as a must, I had to add some shimmer with clear of Wink of Stella to the dragonfly, mountain tops, and polypores. Sadly it’s really hard to capture this lovely shimmer on photos. But now to the frame.

Believe it or not, this is my first ever altered photo frame. I knew I want flowers, but for a long time, I couldn’t decide on a colour. First, I wanted to go with quite a feminine look, so pinks and oranges. But once I had all my flowers ready I didn’t really like it. Typical haha. But no worries, I will use them to something else. And then I had this revelation: how about Very Vanilla?! Genius!

I die-cut oodles of flowers and leaves from Very Vanilla and Vellum cardstock. Arranged them around the frame and once I was happy with the placing, I adhered them with glue dots.

But as you may know me already, nothing can be too easy haha And when I looked at my frame something was missing, in my humble opinion. Oh right, it was too ‘clean’, too ‘white’. I needed some ‘controlled mess’.

I pressed Pear Pizzazz and Soft Sky ink pads next to each other on the craft mat and spritz it with water. I covered the glass with a piece of paper, and using a clean brush I added random and less random splatters to the flowers and leaves. And I have to say I love it now! And I hope you like my little project too.

I also want to add this project to the #071 Theme Challenge over at Global Design Project Challenge Blog. This weeks theme is ‘3D Or Off The Page’

As always, if you wish to purchase any of products I have used, simply click the images below to go directly to my online store.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Inside The Lines Designer Series Paper

[143830]

£0.00

Botanical Builder Framelits Dies

[140625]

£30.00

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

£8.25

White Vellum A4 Card Stock

[106584]

£6.00

Many Marvelous Markers

[131264]

£99.00

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131173]

£6.00

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131180]

£6.00

Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin’ Pad

[138325]

£6.00

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126976]

£6.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131179]

£6.00

Soft Sky Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131181]

£6.00

Whisper White Craft Stampin’ Pad

[101731]

£7.25

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

£7.25

Aqua Painters

[103954]

£15.50

White Perfect Accents

[138416]

£4.50

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

[110755]

£3.75

Glue Dots

[103683]

£4.75

Stampin’ Trimmer

[129722]

£27.00

Big Shot

[143263]

£99.00

…And The Greatest Of These Is Love – Embossed Impression Technique

Image ~ 22 November 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 8 Comments

Hello and welcome!

Today, I’ve got for you card using beautiful Bloomin’ Heart Thinlits Dies. I’ve made various cards using this die in the past, but this time I wanted to try something new: an Embossed Impression Technique. This is very easy, yet effective technique. And great way to stretch your dies too.

I’ve used Stampin’ Up! White Shimmery cardstock for this technique, as I planned to do a bit of water colouring later on. I prepared my Big Shot sandwich: Big Shot on Tab 1 -> Cutting Plate -> Silicon {embossing) mat -> cardstock (I swiped the cardstock with embossing buddy). Next, I tapped Versamark over the cutting edge of the die very gently, and placed the die, cutting edge down, on my cardstock. Remember, once it’s on the paper don’t move it or you will mess up your image. I then carefully placed the second cutting plate over the top and run it through the big shot.

Because I put Versamark Ink on the die, now I had that ink in all the ‘valleys’ of the impression I just made. So I sprinkled Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder over it and heat embossed it.

I love those tiny gold lines! Next, I made few watercolour washes over my piece, using Mint Macaron ink pad and Pool Party reinker. Once dry, I cut my panel to 3-7/8″x 4-3/8″.

I also die cut five flowers, two large and three small, from Whisper White cardstock (I probably should have used Shimmery White cardstock for them too), and adhered them to my piece with glue dots. I’ve added some soft Mint Macaron watercolour wash to the flowers to add some depth to them

My card base is Very Vanilla. I stamped ‘Love’ in Mint Macaron using Brushwork Alphabet stamp set. I adhered my embossed panel with liquid glue to a piece of Mint Macaron mat (4″x 4-1/2″), and add them both to the card base with dimensionals.

To finish off my card I’ve added some shimmer to the flowers with Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush and put a rhinestone in each flower centre.

I hope you like my card, and that you give this technique a try.

As always, if you wish to purchase any of the products I have used, simply click the images below to go directly to my online shop.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day

Brushwork Alphabet Photopolymer Stamp Set

[141772]

£23.00

Bloomin’ Heart Thinlits Dies

[140621]

£22.00

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

£8.25

Shimmery White A4 Card Stock

[121717]

£7.25

Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock

[138344]

£7.25

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

£8.25

Mint Macaron Classic Stampin’ Pad

[138326]

£6.00

Pool Party Classic Stampin’ Ink Refill

[122933]

£3.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

£7.75

Embossing Buddy

[103083]

£5.50

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

£7.25

Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder

[109129]

£4.50

Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments

[119246]

£4.50

Aqua Painters

[103954]

£15.50

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

£3.75

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

[110755]

£3.75

Silicone Craft Sheet

[127853]

£5.50

Heat Tool – Uk Plug

[129054]

£27.00

Big Shot

[143263]

£99.00

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #15 – Follow Your Dreams

Image ~ 19 November 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 14 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #15 – Follow Your Dreams

Thank you for joining us for another Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge! We are so excited to be sharing this hop with you. The products used are all available in the current Annual, or seasonal, Stampin’ Up!® Catalogues*. Simply use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping!

Welcome to our 15th sketch challenge blog hop! This month it was me who had a pleasure to create a sketch we are gonna work with. Here it is:

When creating this sketch, I won’t be lying, I had our new Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies in mind. And however I don’t have these dies yet myself, I hope to see them used a lot through this blog hop.

I know that in the ‘age’ of everything ‘clean and simple‘ and ‘less is more‘ in crafting world, layered, ‘busy’ and distressed cards are kinda faux pas. But I can’t help I love them the most! I love all the organic, (sometimes messy) creative process of designing a card.

For my card base, I’ve used Island Indigo cardstock (standard top folding A6 size). The first layer is Vellum that measures 4”x 5-5/8” and next one is Whisper White 3-7/8”x 5-1/2” panel which I stamped using Hardwood background stamp in Sahara Sand. But because it felt rather ‘boring’ I also added few ‘splotches’ from Gorgeous Grunge stamp set in Mint Macaron, stamping them off a couple of times. I distressed the edges of my panel using regular scissors.

I also created a similar panel for the inside of the card, but this time I also stamped off the Hardwood image few times, so it wasn’t as crisp as the one on the card front.

I took two pieces of Blooms & Bliss DSP, which measure 4”x 1” each, and cut them into banners. One of the banners I adhered flat down using a fast fuse and a second one I pop with dimensionals with few lengths of Linen Thread underneath.

To create large roses I punched six flowers using Pansy punch from Mint Macaron cardstock (three flowers create one rose). For white tiny roses, I punched nine flowers using Petite Petals punch (again three flowers create one rose). I also punched one petite petals flower from Mint Macaron cardstock to create tiny leaves: I cut the shape apart so I end up with two double ‘leaves’ and one single ‘leaf’. White roses appeared bit ‘blunt’ so I decided to add some interest to them: using Island Indigo ink and a small paint brush I added some ‘speckles’ to them.

I also decided to add some sparkle to my flowers. I dipped the edges of petals first in watered-down Multipurpose Liquid Glue and next in Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and let it dry. Once they were ready I adhered them to the card with glue dots.

For the sentiment, I decided to use this awesome quote you probably have seen many times on the net: “Follow your dreams”. We might don’t have a stamp set with this sentiment, but this is where our amazing various alphabet sets come in handy.

Using Labeler Alphabet stamp set and Basic Black Archival ink pad, I stamped “follow your” on a 2/8” wide strip of Whisper White cardstock and cut it apart. Next, using Brushwork Alphabet stamp set and Basic Black Archival ink pad again, I stamped “Dreams” on a Whisper White panel that measures 7/8”x 3-1/2”, and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder for extra oomph. I pop ‘narrow’ part of the sentiment with dimensionals. For a wider piece, I created a vellum mat that measures 3-5/8”x 1”, and adhered them to the card front with a fast fuse.

Do you like my project?! If so, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you!

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is Jillian’s blog – go and see what she has made for you.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Anna' Stampin' Cave

creative life by anna krol – stampin' up! uk independent demonstrator

Flowers

The Creative Flow Blog Hop – Hello Spring

Faux Watercolour For GDP#072 Case The Designer Challenge

Inside The Lines Altered Photo Frame

…And The Greatest Of These Is Love – Embossed Impression Technique

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #15 – Follow Your Dreams