Colourful Striped Background For Global Design Project – I am Guest Designer

Image ~ 1 May 201722 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 8 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Colourful Striped Background For Global Design Project – I am Guest Designer

Hello, my friends! I am so excited as today I am a Guest Designer for Global Design Project. How amazing is that?! I’m so humbled and honoured that GDP team has chosen me to join them for this week’s Colour Challenge. And boy, what a great colours we have to play with!

Choose your fav three wasn’t an option for me because I love all of these and wouldn’t know which to choose, to be honest. So I decided to be a rebel and for my project today I’ve used all five. Let’s say this post is a farewell to these beautiful In Colours.

Colourful Striped Background card dimensions:

Mint Macaron 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)
Very Vanilla cardstock: two panels, one for the card front, one for the inside of the card 5-7/8″ x 4″ (14.8 cm x 10.2 cm) each
cardstock for building the background: 5-7/8″ x 3-1/2″ (14.8 cm x 8.9 cm)
scraps of cardstock in colours: Mint Macaron, Delightful Dijon, Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush and Tip Top Taupe
White Vellum for stamping and die-cutting

I started my card by creating this fun and colourful striped background. I took my scraps of cardstock of 2015-2017 In Colours and I cut it into strips of different widths. Next, I took a piece of cardstock (random colour as it won’t be seen anyway), covered it in glue, using snail adhesive, and adhered my strips diagonally, mixing colours and widths, making sure there’s no space left in-between the strips. When the whole panel was covered, I trimmed any overhanging stripes.

Can you see the shimmer on this panel? I took empty spritzer bottle and fill it with water. Next, I took Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush and squeezed pretty few drops of it into the spritzer. I shake it really well, spritz my entire panel with this glittery mist and let it dry.

I took the Very Vanilla panel and die-cut this intricate butterfly from Butterflies Framelits Dies in the middle of it. I also die-cut solid butterfly from vellum using Bold Butterfly Framelit Dies.

Using t-ruler, I draw two diagonal (and parallel) lines at the back of my panel. Using these lines as guides, I cut my panel into three and discarded the middle piece. Next, I stamped this lovely chicken wire (kinda) pattern from Butterfly Basics Stamp Set all over the other two pieces. I stamped it in Mint Macaron and to create this faded look I stamp off twice before I stamped on the cardstock.

I adhered my Very Vanilla pieces to the background panel, with butterflies inlaid between them: vellum butterfly at the bottom and vanilla one on the top, and added the whole panel to the card base with liquid adhesive.

For the sentiment, I chose “Sending Wishes Your Way”, also from Butterfly Basics Stamp Set. I prepared vellum with embossing buddy, dabbed my stamp in Versamark and straight away in Basic Black Archival ink, and stamped it onto vellum. Sprinkled it with clear embossing powder and heat set it. Adhered it to the card with few tiny drops of Fine-Tip Glue Pen. All that’s left was to add second Very Vanilla panel inside of the card. Done!

Once again I wanted to thank amazing GDP team for this opportunity and privilege, that I could showcase my project alongside such wonderful artists. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

As always, I really want to encourage you to visit the Global Design Project challenge and play along. You too have a chance to be the next Guest Designer

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Rustic Best Birds For Global Design Project #084 Challenge

Image ~ 30 April 201722 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ Leave a comment

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,

Best Birds Photopolymer Bundle

[142315]

£38.50

Best Birds Photopolymer Stamp Set

[141525]

£19.00

Birds & Blooms Thinlits Dies

[141477]

£24.00

Hardwood Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[133032]

£18.00

Hardwood Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[133035]

£13.00

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

[145372]

£27.00

Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock

[121685]

£7.25

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

£8.25

Pool Party A4 Card Stock

[124391]

£7.25

Soft Suede Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126978]

£6.00

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126975]

£6.00

Pool Party Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126982]

£6.00

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131180]

£6.00

Neutrals Stampin’ Write Markers

[131261]

£22.00

Subtles Stampin’ Write Markers

[131263]

£27.50

Many Marvelous Markers

[131264]

£99.00

5/8″ (1.6 Cm) Burlap Ribbon

[141487]

£6.50

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

£3.75

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

[110755]

£3.75

Fast Fuse Adhesive

[129026]

£9.00

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

£3.25

Stampin’ Trimmer

[129722]

£27.00

Big Shot

[143263]

£99.00

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge – A Little Expression Of Love

Image ~ 25 March 201722 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 6 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge – A Little Expression Of Love

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!

Today’s sketch has been provided by lovely Sally Shaw from Sallystampers blog.

WOW! this sketch really sat me down for a moment. In a good way of course – great creative exercise for my grey cells. And here’s what I came out with:

A Little Expression of Love card dimensions:

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)
Whisper White cardstock for the inside: 3-2/8″ x 4-2/8″ (8,4cm x 10,7cm)
3 strips of Blooms & Bliss Designer Series Paper: 4-6/8″ x 2″, 4-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ & 4″ x 1″ (12cm x 5cm; 11,4cm x 3,9cm & 10,2cm x 2,5cm )
scraps of Whisper White for stamping and die-cutting.

First, I stamped the palette image from Painter’s Palette Stamp Set on Whisper White cardstock in Versamark, and heat embossed it in gold. In the middle, using Stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the sentiment in Basic Black. Because I didn’t want all that white space around the sentiment, I took a ‘dotty’ stamp from the same set and stamped it a couple of times in Sahara Sand. I die cut my piece using Layering Squares Framelits Dies.

Next, I created my circles and I’ve used a really cool and easy technique to do so. I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock, clear stamping block H and three ink pads: Island Indigo, Mint Macaron, and Sahara Sand. First, I inked the clear block with Island Indigo ink and dragged it through the cardstock. I repeat it with other two ink pads, making sure some of the colours overlap, creating fun, distressed design. I die-cut various circles from my piece.

Card assembly. I adhered strips of DSP to the base using snail adhesive, followed by circles. The sentiment is popped up on dimensionals. For the inside, I added Whisper White panel and few leftover circles too.

To wrap up my design together I wanted to add some extra golden accents to the card. I’ve used gold Wink of Stella to add some soft random splotches to the DSP and circles (I masked the sentiment for this step). Next, using same ‘dotty’ stamp as for the sentiment, I stamped it randomly on the card base in Versamark and heat embossed it in gold.

I have to tell you, I enjoyed the process of designing this card and watching how it comes together nicely. I hope you like it too.

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

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day

You Are Amazing – Kylie Bertucci’s International Stampin’ Up! Blog Highlights

Image ~ 14 March 201722 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 16 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – You Are Amazing – Kylie Bertucci’s International Stampin’ Up! Blog Highlights

Thanks for coming to my blog today! We are being highlighted internationally by Kylie Bertucci and you are able to VOTE on my project. The top ten winners will get to be part of an international blog hop so please vote for my project. You can do it here or use button at the end of my post.

Our theme for this highlight is using the stamp set All Things Thanks! This is a Wonderful stamp set with so many gorgeous sentiments. We wanted to highlight how versatile it really is.

This is my first time taking part in Kylie Bertucci’s International Stampin’ Up! Blog Highlight so I’m a little bit nervous. For my card, I went with monochromatic clean and simple design.

You Are Amazing Card dimensions:

Whisper White 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)
Basic Grey DSP from Neutrals DSP Stack: two pieces 3″x 3″ each (7.6 cm x 7.6 cm)
Basic Grey cardstock: 1/2″ x 3-3/6″ (1.2 cm x 9.5 cm)
for sentiment piece of Whisper White cardstock
Whisper White Thick Baker’s Twine: 12″

First, I stamped my sentiment in Basic Grey on a piece of Whisper White cardstock and die cut it using 2nd smallest oval from Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies. Next, I took my card base and adhered my squares of Designer Series Paper in the middle, offsetting them slightly.

I took Basic Gray strip of cardstock and created a fun banner using a dotted strip die from Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies.

I adhered the banner in in the centre of my card front and popped up the sentiment on top using dimensionals. I wrapped bakers twine around my card and tied a simple knot on the front. For the final touch, I added a rhinestone to the ‘i’ in the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting my blog today and make sure you head over to Kylie’s blog to check all lovely projects and vote for your favourites. Hope my project will be among them as I would love to be chosen to do an international blog hop.

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