The Creative Flow Blog Hop – No Red Romance With Large Letters Framelits Dies

Image ~ 11 February 201721 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 8 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – The Creative Flow Blog Hop – No Red Romance With Large Letters Framelits Dies

Thank you for joining us on our Creative Flow Blog Hop. Each month we are set a challenge to creatively stretch our imaginations. The products we have used are all available in the current Annual and/or seasonal Stampin’ Up!® catalogues. To hop along, please use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping.

Today’s challenge was to create no-red Valentines Day card, and for some time I wasn’t sure what colour scheme to use. But Global Design Project came to the rescue with their #073 Colour Challenge. I really love this unusual, bright and oh-so-not-valentine’s colour mash-up, so I decided to combine these two together 🙂

I know it supposed to be no-red, but Watermelon Wonder is rather orangy red right lol And here’s what I came up with: a perfect card to give to my hubby on that special day.

No-Red Romance 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)
Whisper White panel: 5-7/8″x 3″
Emerald Envy cardstock: 2 strips 5-7/8 long and briefly 2/8″wide
a piece of Whisper White for die-cutting

The first step was to die-cut word ‘LOVE’ using Large Letters Framelits Dies. I’ve used regular Whisper White cardstock for this. I’ve sponged the letters with my inks as follows: Watermelon Wonder first, Daffodil Delight next, and Emerald Envy as the last one creating ‘rainbow’ effect. I’ve paid special attention there’s smooth transition from one colour to another.

When I was done and happy with blending, I took a small paintbrush and flicked some water droplets all over the letters. I love how the water reactivates the ink. Such a simple step but add so much interest and texture to the (otherwise) flat surface.

Next, I took Whisper White panel and using the same small brush and my ink pads as a palette, I speckled some inks over the whole panel. I tried to keep my speckles somehow under control colour-wise, so the speckles match the letters that go over them.

Remember: The smaller is the brush, the smaller are the speckles.

When speckles dried, I adhered two strips of Emerald Envy cardstock underneath, one on top and one on the bottom of the panel.

Now to assemble the card. I adhered the panel to the card base using Fast Fuse adhesive. And I have to say I’m happy to say it seems I finally made friends with this adhesive haha.

I wanted to pop-out my letters so I’ve used Foam Adhesive Strips to adhere them to the panel. You could use any regular foam adhesive, but these strips are perfect for adhering die-cuts that are quite narrow in shape. They are long but you can easily cut them to the length you want/need.

I was really happy how nicely this card was coming together, but I was desperate to add some embellishments to it. Yes I know, a card for a hubby and embellishments?! I must have lost my mind, haha. But why not?

So I scattered black sequins from Metallics Sequin Assortment pack all over my card and tried to figure out the placing and how many I will use. Once I was happy I adhered them with Fine-Tip Glue Pen. For the final touch, I coloured some rhinestones with black Sharpie and added them to the card too.

That’s it from me for today. I really hope you enjoyed my step by step directions.

For those of you who asked about stretching your stitched dies using partial die-cutting – I will have a short how-to post for you soon. So watch this space.

Now be sure to hop along our tiny blog hop to see more inspiring projects. Your next stop is lovely and talented Helen.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Large Letters Framelits Dies

[141712]

£89.00

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

£8.25

Emerald Envy A4 Cardstock

[141420]

£7.25

Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin’ Pad

[138323]

£6.00

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126944]

£6.00

Emerald Envy Classic Stampin’ Pad

[141396]

£6.00

Stamping Sponges

[141337]

£3.25

Metallics Sequin Assortment

[138390]

£4.50

Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments

[119246]

£4.50

Fast Fuse Adhesive

[129026]

£9.00

Foam Adhesive Strips

[141825]

£7.25

Fine-Tip Glue Pen

[138309]

£6.25

Stampin’ Trimmer

[129722]

£27.00

Big Shot

[143263]

£99.00

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

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.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Special Reason Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[142899]

£25.00

Special Reason Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[142902]

£18.00

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

[145372]

£27.00

Festive Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

[141471]

£7.75

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

£8.25

Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock

[121695]

£7.25

Watercolor Paper

[122959]

£4.50

Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin’ Pad

[141397]

£6.00

Blushing Bride Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131172]

£6.00

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126976]

£6.00

Aqua Painters

[103954]

£15.50

Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

[101049]

£11.00

Very Vanilla 1/2″ (1.3 Cm) Lace Trim

[141672]

£6.50

Flirty Flamingo 3/8″ (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon

[141426]

£7.25

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

[110755]

£3.75

SNAIL Permanent Adhesive

[104332]

£6.25

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

£3.75

Stampin’ Trimmer

[129722]

£27.00

Big Shot

[143263]

£99.00

Inside The Lines Altered Photo Frame

Image ~ 28 January 201721 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 25 Comments

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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’

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

[143830]

£0.00

Botanical Builder Framelits Dies

[140625]

£30.00

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

[106550]

£8.25

White Vellum A4 Card Stock

[106584]

£6.00

Many Marvelous Markers

[131264]

£99.00

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131173]

£6.00

Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131180]

£6.00

Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin’ Pad

[138325]

£6.00

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126976]

£6.00

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131179]

£6.00

Soft Sky Classic Stampin’ Pad

[131181]

£6.00

Whisper White Craft Stampin’ Pad

[101731]

£7.25

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

£7.25

Aqua Painters

[103954]

£15.50

White Perfect Accents

[138416]

£4.50

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

[110755]

£3.75

Glue Dots

[103683]

£4.75

Stampin’ Trimmer

[129722]

£27.00

Big Shot

[143263]

£99.00

Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set & Coordinating Dies

Image ~ 14 January 201721 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 31 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set & coordinating dies

For today’s project, I have used once again Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set and Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies. I love this bundle and either together or separate, I just can’t get enough of it. This time though I decided to revisit two of my favourite techniques: watercolour and ink smooching. Bright colours, Cucumber Crush and Island Indigo, seemed perfect combination for a dragonfly card.

Watercolour Dragonfly card dimensions:

Cucumber Crush cardstock: 8-1/4″ x 5-7/8″ scored in half at 4-1/8″ (21 x 14.8 cm scored in half at 10.5 cm)
Island Indigo cardstock: 4″x 5-6/8″(10,2 x 14,5 cm)
Whisper White cardstock: 3-7/8″ x 5-5/8″ (9.8 x 14.2 cm) and 2-7/8″ x 1/2″(7.4 x 1.3 cm) for a sentiment
Scraps of Whisper White, Shimmery White and White Vellum cardstock for die-cutting

First thing first I had to prepare my watercolour panel. And to be honest I risked a bit using regular Whisper White cardstock here.

If you are not confident with water colouring and don’t want to risk, please always use watercolour paper with ink smooshing technique.

I pressed Cucumber Crush ink pad on a craft mat, spritz it with water (not too much) and took a piece of acetate to lift some of this puddle of colour. I smooshed it on my panel and dried it with a heat gun. I repeat this process couple of times, every time drying my panel in-between until I was happy with layers of colour. Next, I switched to Island Indigo but I only added one layer of colour. The last touch was to add few splotches of ink to my panel with help of aqua painter.

I die cut two dragonflies, one from Whisper White cardstock and one from vellum (without the head) for 3D effect. To colour in cardstock dragonfly I used a very similar technique as previously. I pressed some more of Island Indigo ink on the craft mat, spritz it with water and dabbed the dragonfly straight in the puddle, dried and repeat until I was happy with the colour.

I wanted to add more depth and ‘life’ to my dragonfly, so I sponged the edges of wings and the body with Island Indigo ink. I also added few speckles with bronze metallic Sharpie marker.

While sponging I’ve noticed that the dragonfly was bit ‘flimsy’ (note to myself: if you plan to dab your intricate die-cuts in the puddles of coloured water, use paper with the higher grammage, like watercolour perhaps(!?) lol. So I die-cut just the body of a dragonfly from Shimmery White cardstock, watercolour it, sponged the edges and adhered on top of the dragonfly with liquid adhesive. Next, I adhered the vellum dragonfly underneath, offsetting slightly.

The sentiment I chose comes from the same Dragonfly Dreams stamp set. I stamped it in Versamark on the strip of Whisper White, heat embossed it using Copper Embossing Powder and trimmed it diagonally. The sentiment alone seemed a bit dull so I took a very narrow strip of Whisper White (around 1/8″), dabbed it in Versamark and heat embossed in copper as well. Next, I trimmed it and adhered it to the sentiment, underneath the top edge, so it peeks out slightly.

To assemble the card I’ve used my favourite Tombow liquid adhesive. I love it because it gives you some wiggle room before it sets. Also, it’s the best for those slightly warped watercolour panels. Next, I’ve added my sentiment in the top right corner using dimensionals. For dragonfly, I’ve used Tombow again. The last touch was to add some extra shimmer to the dragonfly with Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush. You can’t go wrong with this stuff right?!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my project and that it will give some extra ideas of how to use this beautiful Dragonfly Dreams Bundle. I would love to hear what you think in comments below. As always, if you wish to purchase any of products I have used, simply click the images below to go directly to my online shop.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day

Dragonfly Dreams Photopolymer Bundle

[144728]

£42.25

Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies

[142749]

£28.00

Dragonfly Dreams Photopolymer Stamp Set

[142924]

£19.00

Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock

[138342]

£7.25

Island Indigo A4 Card Stock

[124390]

£7.25

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

£8.25

White Vellum A4 Card Stock

[106584]

£6.00

Shimmery White A4 Card Stock

[121717]

£7.25

Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin’ Pad

[138324]

£6.00

Island Indigo Classic Stampin’ Pad

[126986]

£6.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

£7.75

Embossing Buddy

[103083]

£5.50

Copper Stampin’ Emboss Powder

[141636]

£4.50

Aqua Painters

[103954]

£15.50

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

£7.25

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

[110755]

£3.75

Stampin’ Dimensionals

[104430]

£3.75

Paper Snips Scissors

[103579]

£9.00

Stampin’ Trimmer

[129722]

£27.00

Big Shot

[143263]

£99.00

…And The Greatest Of These Is Love – Embossed Impression Technique

Image ~ 22 November 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 8 Comments

Hello and welcome!

Today, I’ve got for you card using beautiful Bloomin’ Heart Thinlits Dies. I’ve made various cards using this die in the past, but this time I wanted to try something new: an Embossed Impression Technique. This is very easy, yet effective technique. And great way to stretch your dies too.

I’ve used Stampin’ Up! White Shimmery cardstock for this technique, as I planned to do a bit of water colouring later on. I prepared my Big Shot sandwich: Big Shot on Tab 1 -> Cutting Plate -> Silicon {embossing) mat -> cardstock (I swiped the cardstock with embossing buddy). Next, I tapped Versamark over the cutting edge of the die very gently, and placed the die, cutting edge down, on my cardstock. Remember, once it’s on the paper don’t move it or you will mess up your image. I then carefully placed the second cutting plate over the top and run it through the big shot.

Because I put Versamark Ink on the die, now I had that ink in all the ‘valleys’ of the impression I just made. So I sprinkled Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder over it and heat embossed it.

I love those tiny gold lines! Next, I made few watercolour washes over my piece, using Mint Macaron ink pad and Pool Party reinker. Once dry, I cut my panel to 3-7/8″x 4-3/8″.

I also die cut five flowers, two large and three small, from Whisper White cardstock (I probably should have used Shimmery White cardstock for them too), and adhered them to my piece with glue dots. I’ve added some soft Mint Macaron watercolour wash to the flowers to add some depth to them

My card base is Very Vanilla. I stamped ‘Love’ in Mint Macaron using Brushwork Alphabet stamp set. I adhered my embossed panel with liquid glue to a piece of Mint Macaron mat (4″x 4-1/2″), and add them both to the card base with dimensionals.

To finish off my card I’ve added some shimmer to the flowers with Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush and put a rhinestone in each flower centre.

I hope you like my card, and that you give this technique a try.

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.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day