Creating Kindness Design Team Blog Hop – Guest Designer

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Creating Kindness Design Team Blog Hope – Guest Designer

Creating Kindness Design Team Blog Hop TEAMWORK

Oh my!! I’m so thrilled, and still can’t believe it: I’ve been asked to join absolutely amazing artists from the Creating Kindness Design Team in their November Blog Hop as a guest designer.

Our theme this month is TEAMWORK. Teamwork can go many ways and I decided to team up a few products:

  • Animal Outing Bundle with super fun and elegant Tropical Escape DSP. I think they are a perfect fit!
  • I also teamed up Stampin’ Write Markers with an Aqua Painter & acrylic block for a controlled water colouring.

Anna' Stampin' Cave - Creating Kindness Design Team Blog Hop. Animal Outing Bundle with Tropical Escape DSP from Stampin' Up!

Wild About You card dimensions:

  • Shaded Spruce cardstock: 11-6/8″ x 4-1/8″ scored in half at 5-7/8″ & cut the bottom of the card front for the extra panel at 3″ x 4-1/8″
  • Whisper White reg. cardstock: 4″ x 5-6/8″ panel for the inside; for the mats: 2-5/8″ x 4″, 2-7/8″ x 4″ and for the sentiment a rectangle 3-6/8″ x 2-5/8″
  • Tropical Escape DSP for the mats (leafy/foliage design): 2-9/16″ x 3-7/8″ and 3-15/16″ x 2-6/8″
  • Watercolour Paper for stamping critters

Anna' Stampin' Cave - Creating Kindness Design Team Blog Hop. Animal Outing Bundle with Tropical Escape DSP from Stampin' Up!

Watercolouring

For my card, I decided to use two images: an utterly cute rhino and a branch with an equally adorable tree frog. I stamped the branch twice to use one for the inside of my card.

I stamped all my images onto watercolour paper using black Stazon Ink.  Watercolour paper has a quite porous surface, so Stamparatus came with help to make sure all the images were stamped perfectly.

TIP: Stazon is the best ink to work with water/watercolour.

I watercolour all my critters using an aqua painter and Stampin’ Write Markers. I simply scribbled some colour onto an acrylic block and using it as a palette I picked the ink with an Aqua Painter. I love to watercolour and with this technique, there’s nearly no waste.

Colours I’ve used:

  • Rhino: Smoky Slate, Gray Granite and Basic Gray
  • the bird: Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight
  • branches with frog:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Old Olive and Granny Apple Green

When all critters were to thoroughly dry, I die-cut them with coordinating dies from Animal Friends Thinlits Dies.

How-to: Partial die-cutting

For the large stitched rectangle I’ve used the largest square from the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies and a partial die-cutting. You can find it explained here.

I stamped the sentiment in the top left corner of my die-cut rectangle. For the ease, I’ve used Black Memento Ink and Stamparatus. Why? Well, who else would want to mess up the stamping at this point?! lol

Anna' Stampin' Cave - Creating Kindness Design Team Blog Hop. Animal Outing Bundle with Tropical Escape DSP from Stampin' Up!

I assembled the card laying all mats together with the liquid glue. Also, my tree frogs on branches I adhered with liquid glue: one inside of the card and one just above the rhino on the front. And the rhino is the star of the card! I raised him with dimensionals in the centre of the front panel.

And that’s it from me for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed visiting my blog and that you like the card I created? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Below is the list of the fantastic Creating Kindness Team who organized this hop. So please, jump on and check all the fantastic inspiration. Honestly, you don’t want to miss it!

The next on the hop is amazingly talented Jenny Hall!! To visit her blog click the button below or just use the list!


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 store.

HOST CODE for the month of November is 326DJQHJ. Use this code to receive special rewards from me.


Product List

Aqua Painters

£16.00

Stamparatus

£46.00

Big Shot

£102.00

Pin me

Summary of the project which gives all the views of the card in one photo. I’d love if you pinned and called by on Pinterest xx

Anna' Stampin' Cave - Creating Kindness Design Team Blog Hop. Animal Outing Bundle with Tropical Escape DSP from Stampin' Up!

 

Rustic Best Birds For Global Design Project #084 Challenge

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Rustic Best Birds For Global Design Project #084 Challenge

Hello and welcome everyone! Today I’m back with my entry for Global Design Project. This week is Case The Designer Challenge over at GDP and we’re casing wonderful Michelle Last. I have to admit I absolutely love Michelle’s style. She’s an incredible artist and amazing person too (I had the privilege to meet her in person a few years back).

It’s a beautiful card to CASE: clean & simple with lots of yummy texture. But I didn’t really want to follow the colour combination or the layout of Michelle’s card (but as you will see I failed miserably as I ‘accidentally’ cased the layout anyway haha ). For my card, I decided to focus on a couple of products she used instead: Best Birds Stamp Set and coordinating Birds & Blooms Thinlits Dies.

Rustic Best Birds card dimensions:

  • Crumb Cake cardstock: 8-1/4″ x 5-7/8″ scored in half at 4-1/8″ (21cm x 14.8 cm scored in half at 10.5 cm)
  • Crumb Cake cardstock: 4-1/8″ x 5-6/8″ (10.2 cm x 14.6 cm)
  • Whisper White cardstock for stamping & die cutting
  • Pool Party cardstock: 3/8″ x 4-3/8″
  • Burlap Ribbon: approx 5-6/8″ (14.6 cm)

I don’t know about you, but when I first saw this stamp set it has called countryside to me. I only bought this bundle a few weeks ago and was really eager to have a play. So this week’s challenge was perfect for inking up my stamp for the first time.

First, I created the background for my ‘idyllic’ scene. I took Crumb Cake panel and stamped it with Hardwood background stamp in Soft Suede. I also sponged the edges of the panel with Soft Suede ink to add to the ‘rustic feel’.

Next, I stamped and die cut all the elements of my scene. The bird is stamped using Crumb Cake ink. Flowers – Pool Party. For little berries/fruits, I’ve used Pear Pizzazz. Branch is stamped in Soft Suede ink and coloured in with markers: Crumb Cake for the branch and Pear Pizzazz for leaves.

I love this sentiment “It’s a good day” from Best Birds Stamp Set. I stamped it in Soft Suede on a piece of Whisper White cardstock and die cut using an oval die from Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies. I think stitched edge suit rustic ‘feel’ of this card just perfectly.

Before I assembled my card I played a little with a placement of all the elements. To add some ‘natural’ texture I decided to use Burlap Ribbon as a banner. I also cut a thin strip of Pool Party cardstock to ‘break’ all the browns. When I was happy with the placement, I took a photo and started the assembly.

Tip: If you have a layout, either a card or a scrapbook page, that consist of lots of small elements, play with the placement first, before glueing things down. Once you’re happy, take a photo of your test layout with your phone ( we all have it on hand, don’t we?). Next, assemble your card/scrapbook page piece by piece by piece with a help of your reference photo. No more guessing ‘where was this or that element supposed to go.

I truly hope you like my little, rustic card. It reminds me of my childhood in Poland and summer holidays we spent in the countryside with our great-grandmother. Wonderful memories.

As always, I really want to encourage you to visit the Global Design Project challenge blog to see other beautiful projects from all around the world. Just click on their logo below to visit the website

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #17 – Paisleys & Posies

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #17 – Paisleys & Posies

SSSC Header

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!

Hello and welcome after a long break. Today’s brilliant sketch has been designed by lovely Sam from Sam’s Sentiments blog. Just check how beautiful this sketch is?! Sadly Sam wasn’t able to take a part in the hop. Such a shame.

sssc-17

I’ve been so busy lately with home renovating and night shifts, that only a couple of days ago I realised our monthly blog hop is today. I panic slightly first but the moment I sit down to the sketch, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I decided to ‘dig out’ my favourite stamp set from Autumn-Winter catalogue: Paisleys & Posies, as it seemed perfect for the technique I wanted to try: watercolour with markers. Well, it’s kinda watercolour. Anyhow. I had so much fun that I created not one but three cards.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-paisleys-posies-stamp-set-diy-watecolour-dsp

Aren’t these gorgeous?! Such bold designs! And they really super easy to make.

Paisleys & Posies cards dimensions:

  • 3x Basic Black 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) + 2 x strips 1″x 4-1/8″ + 1 stripe 3/8″x 5-2/8″
  • 3x White Vellum cardstock: 3-5/8″ x 5-3/8″(9,2 x 13,6 cm)
  • 3x Water Colour Paper: 3-1/2″ x 5-2/8″ (8,9 x 13,3 cm)
  • 3x Very Vanilla cardstock: 3-1/2″ x 5″ for the inside panels + scraps for sentiments
  • scraps of the following cardstocks for die-cutting: Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pool Party & Pear Pizzazz

To start off, I stamped various images from Paisleys & Posies Stamp Set onto the watercolour panel in Basic Black Archival Ink.

Tip of the day: Because I did my cards late at night, I had no time for the ink to dry completely but I didn’t want to smear black all over my watercolour panels. So I sprinkled clear embossing powder over the whole piece once I was done with stamping. But I didn’t heat set it, I just let embossing powder to ‘soak in’ all the ‘moisture’. I let it sit for couple of minutes and then brush off the powder.

When my panels were ready I started to colour them in with Stampin’ Markers. Nothing fancy really, and no need to stay in lines either.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-paisleys-posies-stamp-set-diy-watecolour-dsp-vivid-brights

For the first card, I’ve used Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Tempting Turquoise. When all the images were coloured in, I spritzed the whole panel with water. And that’s when all the ‘magic’ happen, as all the colours blend together nicely creating a beautiful watercolour piece. It’s like making your own watercolour DSP. And each piece is different.

To add more colour I dried my panel with a heat tool. Next,  I colour it in again with markers and spritz it with water. You can build up the colour as much as you wish, just remember to dry your panel in-between.

For my next card, I decided to use all markers from Brights family. But this time I only spritz it once, hence much more subtle look.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-paisleys-posies-stamp-set-diy-watecolour-dsp-brights

For the last cardI’ve used Subtles Stampin’ Markers and I have to say they needed the most work. I had to dry my piece and keep adding more colour several times until I was happy with the outcome. Once all my panels were created I decided to add some shimmer to them. I added few drops of Clear Wink of Stella to the water in my spritzer, and I spritzed all the panels.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-paisleys-posies-stamp-set-diy-watecolour-dsp-subtles

Once the panels were dry I die-cut three circles from each panel: full circle using 1-7/8” circle from Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies and two ‘partial’ circles using Layered Circle Framelits Dies. I also die-cut slightly bigger scalloped circles from Basic Black cardstock to go underneath.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-paisleys-posies-stamp-set-subtles

To assemble my cards I adhered vellum to card bases and watercolour panels on top. Next, I glued black scalloped circles underneath the watercolour ones and in-laid them back into the panels. I also adhered Basic Black strips, sliding them slightly underneath the die-cut circles.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-paisleys-posies-stamp-set-vivid-brights

I stamped my sentiments (masking a part of it) on a 3/8″ strip of Very Vanilla cardstock, and adhered it to the card with liquid glue. The full sentiment is stamped inside of the card.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-paisleys-posies-stamp-set-brights

For the final touch, I die-cut some leaves and flowers using a couple of intricate dies from Paisleys Framelits Dies and adhered them to the black stripes.

And these are my cards for today. I hope you like my take on the sketch. Now be sure to hop along to see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is very talented Hannah.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

SSSC Previous  SSSC Next Blog

Inside The Lines Altered Photo Frame

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.

inside-the-lines-dsp

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.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-sale-a-bration-inside-the-lines-dsp-frame

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.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-sale-a-bration-dsp-inside-the-lines

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).

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-sale-a-bration-inside-the-lines

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.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-sale-a-bration-inside-the-lines-dragonfly

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.

anna-stampin-cave-stampin-up-sale-a-bration-inside-the-lines-dsp-picture-frame

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’

gdp071

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

Inside The Lines Designer Series Paper
[143830]
£0.00

Botanical Builder Framelits Dies

Botanical Builder Framelits Dies
[140625]
£30.00

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock
[106550]
£8.25

White Vellum A4 Card Stock

White Vellum A4 Card Stock
[106584]
£6.00

Many Marvelous Markers

Many Marvelous Markers
[131264]
£99.00

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin’ Pad
[131173]
£6.00

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin’ Pad
[131180]
£6.00

Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad

Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin’ Pad
[138325]
£6.00

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad
[126976]
£6.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin’ Pad
[131179]
£6.00

Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad

Soft Sky Classic Stampin’ Pad
[131181]
£6.00

Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad

Whisper White Craft Stampin’ Pad
[101731]
£7.25

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush
[141897]
£7.25

Aqua Painters

Aqua Painters
[103954]
£15.50

White Perfect Accents

White Perfect Accents
[138416]
£4.50

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

Liquid Multipurpose Glue
[110755]
£3.75

Glue Dots

Glue Dots
[103683]
£4.75

Stampin' Trimmer

Stampin’ Trimmer
[129722]
£27.00

Big Shot

Big Shot
[143263]
£99.00

Pinkies Stampin’ Up! Autumn Winter 2016 Blog Hop – Merry Mice

blog hop logo

Thank you for joining us on another Pinkies Blog Hop! We’re showcasing lots of gorgeous projects using products from the new Stampin’ Up!® Autumn/Winter Seasonal Catalogue. Simply use the buttons at the end of each post to keep hopping.

If you arrived here from lovely Hannah at Stampin by Hannah, thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy seeing all these beautiful projects and inspiration and continue to hop on through to see what everyone has made.

Here is my project –

merry-mice-stamp-set-shadow-box-christmas-card-2

I wanted to create shadow-box type card for a while but never came around to do it. But when I saw these adorable little mice I thought they are just perfect to do so.

For the base, I’ve used two pieces of Soft Sky cardstock that measures 4-1/8 x 8-1/2″.  scored them both at 1-1/2″ and 3″.  Next, I die-cut a window in my front panel using Layering Ovals Framelits. I used the same die and slightly bigger scalloped oval die to create the frame from Very Vanilla cardstock.

I wanted to add some subtle ‘bling’ to my card base, so I decided to use Heat & Stick Powder with Dazzling Diamond Glitter. I took this little, distressed stamp from Timeless Textures stamp set, and stamped it around the front panel in Versamark. I sprinkled Heat & Stick powder over it, heat set it, sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter and heat set it again.

I cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock that measures 4-1/16 x 8-1/2″ and sponged it to create a background for my scene. I wanted to achieve beautiful night sky. To do so I’ve used Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Perfect Plum and Night of Navy. I started with lighter colours at the bottom and slowly building up the colour until I was happy with the results.

To create starry night I’ve used irreplaceable Gorgeous Grunge and again Heat & Stick powder with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. Once the glitter was set,  I took this piece and cut a 1-1/2″strip from it, on the long side, and scored the remaining piece at 4″. I glued the longer piece to my base, to the back panel. The strip I cut off, I adhered on the inside of my front base, so once the card is closed for posting, you can still see the starry night. on the inside panel. And what’s cool about this card: it’s folding down, just like a card in the box, and fits standard A6 envelope

To create front and back inserts, I took 2 strips of Very Vanilla, that measured 2-1/2 x 5 and  I tore them both (one bit smaller) on one side so they look like snowbanks. I’ve added a liquid glue to the torn edges and dabbed it in Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. I scored them both at 1/2″ and 4-1/2″. I adhered the taller one to the background panel.

merry-mice-stamp-set-shadow-box-christmas-card-caroler

Now the fun part: colouring the mice! I stamped singing mouse on a piece of Very Vanilla with Jet Black Stazon ink. I coloured him with Many Marvellous Markers and fussy cut it. Next,  I took a piece of Very Vanilla (2-1/2 x 5″) and marked it at 1″ from the bottom, on the long side. This piece will create our middle insert. I stamped my cute carolers so their feet were touching my 1″ mark. I coloured them in, and fussy-cut them, but only to the 1″ mark. I scored this piece at 1/2″ and 4-1/2″.

I took all my inserts and assembled the card. I adhered the singing mouse on the front of my card with dimensionals. The sentiment underneath comes from the same stamp set. But because of all the ‘busy-ness’ (if it’s even a word haha) of the card, I decided to keep it simple.

merry-mice-stamp-set-shadow-box-card

I’m really happy how this card turned out. Aren’t these mice super cute?! I hope I inspired you a little bit.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is amazingly talented Jerim from Willow Piggy  go and see what she has made using new products.

next

previous

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,