Stampin Up Coventry

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #9 – Time To Split!

Image ~ ~ Anna Krol ~ 24 Comments

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #9 – Time To Split!

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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 talented Karen from Lilliputcrafts.

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I have to admit I was stumped when I saw this sketch, and my mind just went blank. Like mo ideas at all!! But two days ago? Eureka! A lightbulb moment! So here’s my take on the sketch:

Balloon Celebration

I don’t know if this technique has any name, but I’ve noticed that splitting your card fronts is quite a big trend lately. And I really wanted to give it a go. And as unusual for me, I only used one stamp set to make my card: Balloon Celebration. Shock, right?! 😉

Balloon Celebration 2

The base of my card is A6 top folded Very Vanilla because I run out of Whisper White when making my swaps for OnStage…oops 😉 Actually the last piece of WW (4″ x 5-6/8″) I’ve used to create panel for this card., seriously haha

First, I stamped the circles (quite overlooked stamp in Balloon Celebration set) in Versamark and heat embossed them in white. Next, I took Wisteria Wonder ink pad and swoosh it through the panel until it was all covered in beautiful lavender colour. This technique seems to add texture to the card as it’s not flat solid colour.

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To add even more texture I sprinkled some water on my panel. I love to watch how ink reacts with water. Remember, for this cool effect, you have to sprinkle your water as soon as possible. And you have to immediately wipe off the water with paper towel. Otherwise, you will ruin your panel (ask me how do I know lol). When my panel was dry I cut it: the wider piece, with circles, measures 4″ x 2-1/2″ and the other piece measures 4″ x 1″.

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The split we’ve got left is the perfect spot for our sentiment. I’ve used this cool “let us celebrate” balloon string. I attached the panels with dimensionals. Next, I stamped and punched two balloons from a piece of Very Vanilla (one small and one large), glued them together, and add them above the split. So it looks like the sentiment is actually a string hanging from balloons. I love it! I stamped the inside of my card too.

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

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day!

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Watercolour Wash With Summer Silhouettes Stamp Set

~ Anna Krol ~ 6 Comments

Today I wanted to show you a watercolour wash technique, using Summer Silhouettes Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up! These were SWAPS I created for fellow stampers.

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Stampers love to swap! Swapping lets us share our creativity, enjoy the creativity of other stampers, and gather and collect ideas. A swap is usually a card front (unless someone would like to do something extra). It can spotlight a particular technique or stamp set and can be as simple or as complex as you wish. For my swaps, I decided to highlight one of my favourite techniques – watercolour wash.

I had so much fun creating my watercolour panels! At the end of the day my hands were just as colourful hahaha, but it was an easy part.

Next step was really time-consuming: heat embossing and lots and glueing lots of sequins.

After ombre stamping 58 card fronts, heat embossing 58 watercolour panels and 58 strips of vellum, and adding over 350 sequins (!!!) my swaps were finished!

I really hope these swaps will bring some inspiration – not only to those who swapped with me but to you also.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Casing Catalogue – I’m Here For You Card Using Pedal Pusher SAB Free Stamp Set

~ Anna Krol ~ Leave a comment

Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator Anna Krol Casing Catalogue – I’m Here For You Card Using Pedal Pusher SAB Free Stamp Set

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The base of my card is standard top folded Whisper White. I stamped my image using Stampin’ Up! Archival Basic Grey. Both Basic Grey and Basic Black Archival inks are perfect to use when you plan to colour in your image, as they don’t bleed. I coloured my tandem and flowers using Stampin’ Write Markers. For the bottom part of my card, I used a piece of white Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper. I cut it diagonally and sponged with Old Olive ink. I finish it off with a strip of Wildflower Fields DSP and Whisper White Baker’s Twine.

I'm here for you - Pedal Pusher Card

For my second card, I used darker colours. And again, I’ve used a piece of Color Me Irresistible Specialty DSP but, this time, I’ve used a Cucumber Crush stripes design piece. To finish my card off I added a Cucumber Crush Dotted Lace Trim and again a Whisper White Baker’s Twine.

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Thank you for stopping by,

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #8 – Easter Lamb At Wildflower Fields

~ Anna Krol ~ 20 Comments

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge Blog Hop #8 – Easter Lamb At Wildflower Fields

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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!

I really like today’s sketch designed by lovely Justyna from Perfect Crafts.

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Don’t you just love it?! I had so many ideas for this sketch, I couldn’t decide which way to go. But I really wanted to use super cute Easter Lamb stamp as my focal point. So here’s my take on the sketch:

Easter Lamb

My very first idea for this sketch was to make a shaker card. So I created a frame for my card first. I’ve used foam adhesive at the back of my frame – you could use Stampin’ Dimensionals too. But because I only have the metallics sequins at this moment, and I really didn’t want to go into silver/gold colour theme, I gave up this idea. But then I thought: hey, you can still use the “frame” to create a dimensional layout.

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I had some leftover pieces of Wildflower Fields DSP, so I cut three strips and adhered them to the card base, beneath my frame. I stamped Easter Lamb in Stampin’ Up! Black Archival ink on a piece of Whisper White, and die-cut it using the middle circle from Circles Collection Framelits. I’ve used Stampin’ Write Markers to add some colour to my little cutie: Pink Pirouette for ears, nose and cheeks, Sahara Sand for wool and Pear Pizzazz for grass. I also stamped some grassland using swoosh stamp from Sheltering Tree.

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To make it even cuter I punched few tiny flowers in Blushing Bride, Daffodil Delight and Pool Party using Tree Builder Punch. I’ve made a little cut between each petal to add some extra dimension to my flowers. I also punched few raindrops using the same punch and Pear Pizzazz cardstock and turned them into tiny leaves for my flowers. To finish off my card I added smallest of the Pearl Basic Jewels to the centre of each flower. For the inside, I stamped beautiful sentiment from Suite Sayings.

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I would love to hear from you. Do you like my take on the sketch?

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!

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Embossing Resist Technique With Corner Garden Background Stamp By Stampin’ Up!

~ Anna Krol ~ 2 Comments

Embossing Resist Technique With Corner Garden Background Stamp By Stampin’ Up!

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While Easter is just around the corner, today I’ve got for you beautiful Easter card using embossing resist technique. I love this technique as it has a real WOW factor to it! I love how the colours just POP on the card when sponged or water coloured over the heat embossing.

But first thing first – I wanted to apologise for being absent on the blog for a long time. I didn’t mean to neglect anyone of you but I’ve been struggling with a very nasty bacterial chest infection, which knocked me down, literally. I wasn’t able to do anything around the house, or even myself (not to mention crafting). So blessed to have a wonderful husband who took care of the house and our family, cooking, cleaning, etc and most of all – me.

The project I share today was made for our team swap at the end of February. But since the infection kicked in I wasn’t able to share it with you at all.

Corner Garden Easter Card

To create my card I stamped a beautiful image from Corner Garden background stamp in Versamark on the piece of regular Whisper White. Remember to always use an antistatic tool on your card before stamping your image if you want to heat emboss it, as it will take all the static from your card, and embossing powder will stick only to your stamped image. The sentiment is stamped in Versamak too. Both: flowers and sentiment are heat embossed in white.

Now the fun part starts – water colouring! You may think: oh no! You should use a watercolour paper. But to be honest, if you don’t plan to soak your cardstock in water, use your aqua painters gently, and your layer will be mounted on the base – you can add your water colouring on regular cardstock without any problem. Just like I did. Believe me or not, I coloured all my flowers and leaves using aqua painter. As they say, the devil is in the detail. You can’t allow aqua paint brush to carry lots of water, it needs to be slightly wet. You only use it to pick the colour from the lid of your ink pad ( to have some ink on your lid you have to squeeze you ink pad gently when it’s closed). And you pick more colour with every stroke or two. You can’t paint with water only as it will damage your paper if using regular Whisper White.

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When all the colouring was done I sponged the background using Pear Pizzazz, Wild Wasabi and Pool Party. Any place of the background that I thought was too dark, I lightened with Whisper White Craft ink pad. I also lightened the look of some flowers, especially the Melon Mambo one, the large at the bottom of my card. I also added some Clear Wink of Stella to my flowers for a shimmer.

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To embellish my card I cut a narrow strip of Burlap Ribbon, added Venetian Crochet Trim at the top and add it at the bottom of my layer. Next, I mount it on my Crumb Cake base.

I love that slight rustic feel to my card, even though there’s lots of shimmer on the flowers from Wink of Stella. It may not be your traditional Easter card but I love it! And you can always change a sentiment and make it into the birthday card, get well or congratulations card maybe? Possibilities are endless. If it comes to Easter I personally prefer cards with the strong message like this one I’ve made last year:

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Now I would love to hear from you! Do you prefer more traditional Easter cards? Or maybe you’re a fan of fun and cheeky ones (I’ve seen lots of these lately)? Let me know in the comments below.

Have a blessed day,