Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #6 – You Are My Person

13 February 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 18 Comments

Thank you for joining us for another Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge! We’re 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!

Today’s sketch was designed by very talented Debbie who sadly couldn’t take a part in Hop today. But we’re all hoping she’ll be back with us soon. I also wanted to wish a very Happy Birthday to Sam from Sam’s Crafty Things as she’s celebrating today! Happy Birthday, Sam, have a good one!

But now let’s get back to the sketch.

My card for today is pretty simple and created using few favourites from Annual Catalogue. As Valentine’s Day is just one day apart I wanted to create something in this theme. I’ve made this card purely with my husband in mind. He is my partner and best friend. He is my person. He is a true blessing in my life.

The base of my card is standard A6 in Very Vanilla. For the background, I chose Colour Me Irresistible Specialty DSP. I love this paper! Each pack contains 6 white sheets and 6 other colours sheets (one of each colour). And each sheet has a subtle embossing in various designs. For my card, I decided to use a white sheet with the geometrical design.

To add colour to my background I’ve used a brayer. I bought it recently (finally) and it was the perfect occasion to open it and have fun adding colour. It’s so easy! The ink I’ve used is Bermuda Bay. When I was happy with my background I decided to add some twist to it. First I sprinkled few water droplets on top to lift some of the colour. Next, I stamped few splotches from Gorgeous Grunge. For this. I’ve used Pacific Point. I trimmed my piece so once adhered to the base I would have nice, clean border. I also added a tiny strip of Pacific Point cardstock.

Next, I created the banner. I took a piece of Very Vanilla that measures 2 x 5-6/8″. To create this elegant edge I’ve used 3rd biggest of Lots Of Labels framelits dies. I die-cut a heart from Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies. And die-cut it twice: once from my banner and the second one from Red Glimmer Paper. I glued these two hearts together and traced the edge with Real Red Stampin’ Marker. Before I put my card together I stamped the sentiment. Word “you” comes from Rose Wonder stamp set. It’s actually “Thank You” sentiment, but it was very easy to ink just that one word. To create the rest of my sentiment I’ve used Alphabet Rotary Stamp. Oh, wish Stampin’ Up! had “You are my person” sentiment in their offering. It’s such a beautiful thing to say. Not only to your partner but also to a friend. I stamped inside of my card as well.

Now was the time to put the card together. I adhered the background and a strip of Pacific Point cardstock using Tombow glue to make sure it will hold the paper really well. I added the banner with snail adhesive and I popped my glittery heart with dimensionals.

And what do you think? Do you like my card? Please let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is lovely Karen – go and see what she has made using our cute sketch. It’s her first blog hop with us, so please show her some love.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #4 – Let It Snow

5 December 201521 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 8 Comments

Welcome to our 4th sketch challenge, and this week it was my turn (and pleasure) to design a sketch. Here it is:

I truly hope this sketch will ignite your creativity.

Do you know it’s less than three weeks till Christmas?! It’s crazy how time flies by. And although I had pretty few ideas with this sketch in mind, I decided to go with a winter theme. Well…little crazy & fun winter theme 😉

Finally had a chance to play with Snow Place photopolymer bundle. It was one of those products in Autumn/Winter catalogue that didn’t catch my attention at first. I couldn’t see me using it at all: my daughter will be 16 y.o soon and you know teenagers, she thinks she’s so grown up 😉 But hey, once she knew there’s a snowman to build…yep! She’s a little crazy chicken about Frozen haha.

The base of the card is Smoky Slate. A layer of Whisper White measures 4″ x 5-3/4″ and the top layer of designer paper measures 3-7/8″ x 5-5/8″. I picked big dots design from Merry Moments DSP but it’s also available in 6×6″ paper stack. I chose big dots design as I thought it will go well with this fun card. Banner is cut from a piece of Smoky Slate (5-1/2″ x 1-3/4″) with three “windows” created using the smallest square from Squares Collection Framelits Dies and run it through the big shot with Decorative Dots Embossing Folder. If you don’t have squares framelits you could use punches instead. And it does not have to be square either. You could use circles or stars. To add some interest to the banner I sponged some Whisper White Craft Ink over the embossed area.

And now let’s meet my friends: crazy snowmen 🙂 I stamped snowmen and their accessories in Basic Grey Archival Ink. I was planning to do a little water-colouring, and our new Archival Inks are perfect for this technique. To add some dimension to these guys I coloured them with an aqua painter and Soft Sky. Noses are water-coloured in Calypso Coral and Pumpkin Pie.

My first little fella wears Santa’s hat. Firstly I die-cut two hats: one in Basic Grey, and the other one in Real Red. Then I cut out just the top from a red hat and glued it on the top of grey one. I didn’t like the white border on my die cuts so I fussy cut it. To add some sparkle to the hat I used Dazzling Details, and once it was dry I add Crystal Effects on top.

My second little friend looooves ice-creams. He could eat them all day long 🙂 I love how Crystal Effects makes the scoop of ice-cream pops!

My third guy looks very elegant with this Real Red shiny bow-tie 😉

To finish off my card I die-cut a little star from silver glimmer paper. I used silver cording trim to create few fancy loops and glued them to the card with a glue dot, and added glimmer star on top. The sentiment “Let It Snow” comes from the same stamp set.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #3 – Sweet & Mint

21 November 201521 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 10 Comments

Today’s sketch was designed by very talented Angelina from Intatwyne Designs. I really like the simplicity of this design.

My first thought about this sketch was that it’s sweet. So is my today’s card: sweet & mint. I absolutely love 2015 – 2017 In Colors. But Mint Macaron is definitely my favourite one.

The base of my card is Mint Macaron scored at 4-1/4″ and folded in half in landscape mode. Both panels measure 5-3/4 x 2″. The top panel is a piece of Whisper White. I stamped one of the “swooshes” from Work of Art in Mint Macaron (briefly in the middle of the panel). Then I stamped the sentiment in Memento Black. The bottom panel is a piece of 2015-2017 In Color Envelope Paper.

I adhered both panels to the base and added a ribbon in the middle ( I tucked the ends under the panels). Don’t you just love this Dotted Lace Trim Ribbon? I’ve used a glue dot to bunch up the ribbon and adhered button on top. I was planning to add bakers twine bow on top, but I didn’t like it. I added Blossom Accent instead.

To finish my card off I added few star sequins. I didn’t plan that but needed to hide a boo-boo. I end up adding three just for a good measure 😉

Hope you like my sweet and simple card. It’s very versatile design and would work nicely with different sentiments. Plus it’s perfect for mass-producing: only took few minutes to put it together. So it’s a win-win.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #2 – Peaceful Pines

7 November 201521 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 14 Comments

If you have arrived here from Mandy’s blog thank you for stopping by. If you just start here please keep “hopping” to see the inspiration from our little group. I’m sure you will enjoy what everyone prepared for you this time.

I was really excited about this week’s sketch designed by Amy from blog Engineering Home. Not that it’s an easy one. Oh, and it was her BIRTHDAY yesterday!!! Happy Birthday, Amy! ??????

This time I decided to go with Christmas theme. And yes I know there’s still a time for Christmas cards, but hey, you’ve got to start somewhere 🙂 So here’s my interpretation of this week’s brilliant sketch:

I know that many cardmakers prefer ever-so-popular clean and simple style, but I’m a big fan of distressing. And in my card today I tried to incorporate both styles.

The base of my card is Whisper White card stock. A slightly smaller panel of Mint Macaron measures 5″ x 3-3/8″. I knew this panel will be mostly covered but I wanted to add some interest to it. First I thought about dry embossing but it would be too busy for an idea I had in my head. Instead, I stamped some splotches with Gorgeous Grunge in Mint Macaron for a subtle tone-on-tone look.

A distressed panel is a piece of white woodgrain patterned paper from Color Me Irresistible Specialty DSP. This paper is amazing, as each sheet is clear embossed, ready for inking, sponging, spritzing – getting messy in short 🙂

I squeezed Tip Top Taupe ink pad on the sleek surface (you can use acetate or craft sheet), spritz it with water and swooshed my paper into this puddle of colour. I added ink and water until achieved the look I wanted. I love how embossing resists the colour. When the paper was dry I stamped few splotches from Gorgeous Grunge and distressed and sponged the edges. Just a warning, this technique will warp your paper so you have to be careful, or use watercolour paper.

To create my tag I cut a piece of Whisper White card that measures 2″ x 4″ and punch it with Ornate Tag Topper punch. Then I dabbed the edges in Versamark and heat emboss it with gold embossing powder.

I stamped Christmas tree from Peaceful Pines stamp set in Versamark on a piece of Tip Top Taupe card stock. I heat embossed it with Heat & Stick powder and when it got sticky I sprinkled gold glitter over it (I must say that I’m in love with Gold Stampin’ Glitter). Then I die cut it using coordinating framelits. I also die cut half of the tree from Whisper White and Mint Macaron to layer them together. When the tree was ready I assemble my tag and finish it with a piece of ribbon and bakers twine. Finally, I could assemble my card. Now just sentiment left.

The sentiment comes from Flurry of Wishes stamp set. I embossed it in gold on a strip of vellum and attached to my card with edges of dimensionals (folded in half). To finish it off I coloured two White Perfect Accents using gold Sharpie and added them where the adhesive was. Taa-daah!

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is Suzanne at Hullahbaloo. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge – Silver Contra Gold

24 October 201521 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 20 Comments

Thank you for joining us on the first Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge! We’re a small group of Stampin’ Up!® Demonstrators who fancied a new challenge to share with you all. 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!

If you have arrived here from Mandy’s blog thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy seeing the inspiration from our little group and continue hopping to see what everyone has made.

So here’s our very first sketch created by talented Sam Johnson:

The moment I saw the sketch I loved it to bits. But then I thought: OMG I’m gonna over-think it and over-complicate it! Yep, I am known for that haha Luckily it wasn’t that bad.

I created two samples one in silver and the other one in gold and meant to post one I like the most. But truly, I couldn’t decide which one, so I post both.

Card nr 1. The card base is Whisper White with Smoky Slate dots sponged over using one of Happy Patterns Decorative Masks. I cut two strips of paper: Basic Grey (1-1/8 x 3-1/2″) and Blushing Bride (5/8 x 3-2/8″) for a little splash of colour. I turned Basic Grey strip into a simple tag with a piece of Silver Cording Trim. For Blushing Bride piece: I run it through my Big Shot with “stars on stripe die” (however it’s called haha) from Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Die. Don’t throw these little stars away, you will use them later.

Sentiment comes from Whole Lots Of Lovely, gorgeous, hostess exclusive stamp set. I stamped it in Versamark on a piece of Smoky Slate, heat embossed in silver, die cut it using circle die and added silver sequin for a bling. Then I took three little stars, covered them in Crystal Effects and let them dry. Once dry, I attached one tiny rhinestone to each of the stars.

Card nr 2. I really wanted to go into gold and use embossing paste (I’ve bought it while ago at Lidl). I embossed diagonal stripes on 2/3 of my card front (Crumb Cake) and used embossing paste (same mask as with the first card) on 1/3 of the card. I sprinkled some gold glitter while embossing paste was still wet.

I cut two strips of patterned paper from Neutrals DSP Stack: 1″ x 3-2/8″ and 1-1/8″ x 3-6/8″. For third narrow stripe I could simply use Glimmer Paper, but I wanted to finally try my Heat and Stick Powder. I cut a strip of Crumb Cake that measure 5/8″ x 3-1/2″, die cut little hearts from it, covered my piece in Versamark and sprinkled Heat & Stick Powder over my piece (making sure it’s well covered). Then I heat it with my heat gun.

When the powder melted I covered the whole piece with gold glitter and heat it again. The powder melts with glitter creating your own glimmer paper 🙂 I used the same sentiment for both cards, just this time I heat embossed it in gold.

So? Which card is your favourite? Silver or gold? Let me know in the comments below.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is lovely Debbie at Larli Crafts. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Anna' Stampin' Cave

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

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #6 – You Are My Person

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #4 – Let It Snow

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #3 – Sweet & Mint

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #2 – Peaceful Pines

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge – Silver Contra Gold