Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #12 – Watercolour Birthday Blooms

Image ~ 23 July 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 19 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Watercolour Birthday Blooms

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 and lovely Louise from Whiteflag Designs, who sadly couldn’t take a part in the challenge today. But we hope she’ll be back with us soon.

For today’s card I’ve used Birthday Blooms stamp set but in a rather unexpected colour scheme. Since I can remember I always loved blue and yellow colour combination. Firstly, these were the colours of my town’s sports club Avia Świdnik. These were also the colours of my favourite radio station RMF FM, back when I was a teenager. And it’s not surprising that, when I first moved out from my mum’s, I repainted all cabinets in my new kitchen yellow and blue. Even a fridge, that’s how much I loved these two together 🙂 But enough of my babbling, here’s the card I’ve made:

I slightly alternated the sketch: I created landscape fold card instead of portrait one. I also decided to mirror the image, so the largest ‘panel’ is on the right side of the focal point. For the base, I’ve used beautiful but sadly underrated Delightful Dijon. I truly love its deep, earthy shade. I added two panels of Whisper White to the base: a square that measures 4″x 4″, and a strip that measures 4″x 1-5/8″. For next panels, I’ve used a square piece of Pool Party card stock and a piece of a striped pattern paper from Designer Series Paper Stack in Delightful Dijon. And these are accordingly 1/8″ smaller than Whisper White pieces.

Now for the watercolour. I stamped the flower on a piece of watercolour paper using Versamark, and heat embossed it in white. Using aqua painter, I added water to the petals first and started adding the colour. For the first layer of colour, I’ve used Pool Party. I started really light and added more colour along the way. Next, to add more definition to the flower, I added some shading with Marina Mist. For the leaves, I’ve used a combination of Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi. And again I started light and built up the colour.

When I was happy with the flower it was time to create the background. I added water to my watercolour piece. I had to be really careful to not let the colours from the flower bleed into the background. I’ve used same technique like with the petals: I started with a light wash of Delightful Dijon and I kept adding more colour along the way until I was happy with the results. Next, I’ve used aqua painter to “flick” few droplets of water to the surface of the panel. I think will never get tired of seeing how ink reacts with water and create interesting organic texture. To jazz it up a little more I used Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to stamp some splashes in Delightful Dijon first, followed by Whisper White Craft Ink. When the panel was completely dry I adhered it to my card base. I kept the sentiment really simple: I stamped Happy Birthday from Teeny Tiny Sentiments in Basic Black on a strip of Whisper White and glued it to the card using liquid glue.

To finish off my card I decided to add Delightful Dijon to the centre of the flower with a blender pen, as I don’t own the markers. And the very last touch was to add Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush Pen to the petals and leaves.

I’m so chuffed how this card turned out: beautiful bold colours and textures. I just love how these blue flowers stand out from their deep yellow background. I really hope you like my project too.

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

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day

Timeless Love Wedding Card – Colouring On Vellum Technique

Image ~ 16 July 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 8 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave Timeless Love Wedding Card – Colouring On Vellum Technique

Hello! Today I wanted to share with you this beautiful card I created for my card swap teamie last month. Our theme was ‘Wedding Bells’ and I think this card fits perfectly.

I think I forgot how amazing working with vellum is. There are so many techniques you could use it for. And my card shows just one of them: colouring on vellum. It’s a really easy technique that even a newbie could do. And it adds that extra OOMPH to your card too 🙂

First, I stamped this floral arc from Timeless Love Stamp Set onto my vellum panel with Versamark Ink. I’ve stamped it twice to create a wreath. Of course, I’ve used my embossing buddy before stamping (any anti-static product will work). Next, I heat embossed it using white embossing powder. TIP! You probably know that already but just in case: When heat embossing on vellum make sure you pre-heat your heat gun. Just switch it on and let it warm up for 30 seconds or so, before hitting the vellum. I usually heat the back of the vellum, which prevents any unwanted warping.

Now to the fun part: colouring! It’s so easy to add colour to the image heat embossed on vellum. I just chose my favourite markers and colour on the back of the vellum. The colours I’ve used are Pink Pirouette, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Soft Sky and Wisteria Wonder.

It doesn’t have to be perfect: vellum is semi-transparent so it’s very forgiving, and you can’t really see marker strokes on the other side.

Once the colouring was done I stamped two flower clusters from the same set on some Whisper White cardstock, coloured them in with blender pen and fussy-cut them.

Now to assemble the card. I took my vellum and adhered it onto the Very Vanilla panel using glue dots, I hide them behind flower centres. Next, I adhered it to the Tip Top Taupe base. I’ve used the clusters of flowers I fussy-cut earlier, to secure the vellum on two opposite corners, and I also used simple stapler on the other corners. I love how simple stapler can add character to the card!

For the sentiment, I cut a strip of Tip Top Taupe cardstock, heat embossed ‘Congratulations’ in white and I’ve added it to the middle of my card, between two arcs.

I really hope you like my project, and that I inspired you to try, and have some fun with vellum too. 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 and don’t forget to enter the hostess code for the month of July GUHXWAR6, to receive a gift from me.

I’m adding my card to:

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Touches of Texture – More Than Flowers

Image ~ 9 July 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 1 Comment

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Touches of Texture – More Than Flowers

Have you played with the Touches of Texture Stamp Set yet? You’ll have fun mixing and matching the floral images with layers of texture.

The textured images in the set work well for all kinds of styles, as shown in the projects above and below.

I’m in awe by all the possible techniques and designs that can be created with this set!

Order your Touches of Texture in clear mount here or if you are a fan of wood mount you will find it here.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Swirly Scribbles See-Through Window Shaker Card

Image ~ 25 June 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 16 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge – Swirly Scribbles See-Through Shaker Card

The sketch we’re working today with was designed by talented Keren Howell.

I really like this sketch. And funny how many cards I created recently could fit this sketch perfectly. But today I wanted to make something slightly different: a see-through window shaker card.

Don’t you just love Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack?! 48 sheets of such fun designs! I couldn’t decide which one to choose. But because I wanted to use Sweet Sugarplum cardstock for my base, these fun, wonky squares were perfect.

I cut out the window in my base first. Next, I traced the “window” on my DSP and cut it out too. Save that piece as you will need it later. I’ve used our new Foam Adhesive Strips to create the shaker. I added them around the window on the base and adhered a piece of acetate. I’ve used more foam strips around the base to adhere my piece of DSP. To finish my shaker window, I added black sequins and adhered another piece of acetate on the inside of the card.

For the inside, I’ve used a Very Vanilla panel and a piece of DSP that I cut out when creating the window. But this time I’ve used the reverse side of that DSP. The placing is the key, so when the card is closed, you can see that piece through the window. The sentiment “It’s Your Day” was stamped in Basic Black Archival Ink, using Labeler Alphabet Stamp Set (which I truly love). And yes, I stamped it wonky on purpose 😉

When the shaker bit and the inside of the card were done I could concentrate on the front. I die-cut two wreaths using Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies. One in Basic Black, and one in Very Vanilla. I glued them together slightly off-setting, so the Very Vanilla is peeking from underneath. I adhered it to the base with Multipurpose Liquid Glue. My sentiment, again, was stamped using Labeler Alphabet Stamp Set. I stamped it on a piece of Very Vanilla, and hand-cut it leaving a little border around the letters. Adhered it with liquid glue.

For embellishments, I’ve used White Perfect Accents, which I coloured black using a permanent marker. And that finish off my card.

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 Helen’s blog – go and see what she has made for you.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Pootlers Annual Catalogue Blog Hop – One Wild Ride

Image ~ 18 June 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 20 Comments

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

I hope you had a chance to look through our Annual Catalogue and you’ve got your favourites already. For today’s project, I’ve used One Wild Ride Stamp Set from page 115, to create a Father’s Day card for my hubby.

Why did I choose this set? As a teenager I was a rebel girl: I was listening to Gun’s N’ Roses, Aerosmith and other rock stars, wearing skinny jeans, long hair and combat boots, I always dreamed of having my own Harley-Davidson. Silly, I know, but who wasn’t those days 😉 No surprise then, this set was in my first order. And what can I say, hubby has a soft spot for Good Ol’ Harry too.

To really show off this stamp set I decided to create a twisted easel card, which sounds more complicated than it sounds. I have to admit I wanted this card to look really rough and distressed, so you could nearly feel motorcycle’s grease j/k 😉 (Chris loves distressed cards with lots of layers).

The base of my card is standard top folded A6 in Basic Black. And the “front” of the card is scored in half diagonally to create an easel. For the proper card front I’ve used a piece of Basic Black again, a slightly smaller piece of Basic Black and Whisper White for stamping.

Basic Black panel I left intact. On Basic Grey, I stamped with this gravel-splatter -kinda stamp from the set, with Versamark, and heat embossed it in silver. Next, I took Basic Black Archival Ink and smooshed it across the panel, where the embossing was. It makes it look a little bit dull, but you can still see the Basic Grey card.

To add some shine and dimension to the motorcycle, I dabbed my stamp in Versamark first. Next, without stamping, I dabbed it in Basic Black Archival Ink, so once it’s stamped, Versamark was on top and I heat embossed the image using clear embossing powder. Again I’ve used gravel stamp and stamped it all around the edge of my WW panel. heat embossed it in silver and smooshed Basic Black across the panel where the embossing was. Next, I took a cloth and “took off” some of that ink which created that dull metal look. Because there was a too big contrast between Whisper White and all that black, I smooshed Basic Grey across the centre of the panel. To finish it off I added some distressing to the edges using scissors.

For the inside of the card, I’ve used banner and sentiment from Guy Greetings Stamp Set. I hand-cut the banner and add it to the card using dimensionals. I also stamped tire trail stamp on a scrap piece of paper, cut it out and adhere it to the bottom of the inside panel. To create a stopper for the easel I stamped Route 66 stamp on a piece of whisper white, cut it out with scissors and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I next used it as a guide, to create two slightly bigger layers to go underneath the original image. One in Whisper White and one in Basic Black. Glued them together and adhered it in the corner of the inside panel. I could now assemble the whole card.

The sentiment for the front comes, again, from Guy Greetings Stamp Set. I stamp it on a scrap of Whisper White and just simply tore it out. It’s hard to see on the picture, but I added few strings of new Basic Black Metallic Thread underneath the sentiment before adhered it with dimensionals.

I’m really happy with this card(it’s got our daughter approval too haha). I know Chris will love it too.

How about you? Do you like my card? Let me know in the comments below.

Now, be sure to hop along and see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is lovely Kathleen from Lilypopcrafts – go and see what she has made using the new products.