Pinkies Annual Catalogue Blog Hop – Sneak Peek!

Image ~ 26 May 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 10 Comments

Thank you for joining us on another Pinkies 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!

If you have arrived here from Alexandra, a big welcome to you and thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy seeing all these beautiful projects and inspirations.

The products used today are products that we have been able to pre-order earlier this month (one of the perks of being a demonstrator). In my projects, I decided to showcase gorgeous Layering Love stamp set. And of course our beautiful new In Colours for 2016-2018:

Dapper Denim
Emerald Envy
Flirty Flamingo
Peekaboo Peach
Sweet Sugarplum

When I saw this stamps set I immediately fell in love. Beautiful, bold fonts – they were just screaming for watercolour 🙂

I created five cards: each one in one of the new In Colours. The technique I’ve used is called watercolour wash and there are many ways/schools to achieve the effect. I personally love to squash my ink pads into the stampin’ block, spritz it with water and then “stamp” it on my watercolour paper. You can use aqua painter to help move colour around.

When my backgrounds were dry I stamped my sentiments in Versamark (don’t forget to use embossing buddy first) and heat embossed them in white. Next, I added small heart and anchor images from the same stamp set and heat embossed them in gold. To add some more texture to my cards I used Metallics Sequin Assortment. Fine-Tip Glue Pen came in handy with these.

To assemble my cards I cut 5 card bases, one of each new In Colour, and adhered my watercolour panels using snail adhesive. Here’re all five cards:

I truly hope you enjoyed coming to my blog and see my cards.

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

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #10 – Butterfly Birthday

Image ~ 21 May 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 28 Comments

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #10 – Butterfly Birthday

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!

And today’s sketch was designed by lovely Kathleen from Lilypopcrafts.

This is such a great sketch, with lots of layers, which I truly love. But I challenged myself to create CAS (clean and simple) card. And I think I did well.

The base of my card is top folded A6 Mint Macaron, with layers of Whisper White and Color Me Irresistible Specialty DSP.

I decided to use beautiful (and retiring) stamp set Floral Wings. I stamped the butterfly in Mint Macaron, roses in Watermelon Wonder and leaves in Cucumber Crush. Next, I die cut the butterfly using Bold Butterflies Framelits and another one on vellum using a middle of Butterflies Thinlits and layered them together. I cut 1/4 of a Tea Lace Paper Doily and attached it underneath my butterfly and adhere it to the card base with dimensionals.

The sentiment comes from Number Of Years. I stamped it in Basic Black Archival Ink on a strip of Whisper White and punched both ends into banners using Banner Punch (also retiring). I took Gold Metallic thread, created some messy loops and add it underneath the banner. Few gold sequins finished off the 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 Karen’s blog – go and see what she has made for you.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

Something Old, Something New…Kind Koala Birthday Card

Image ~ 15 May 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 20 Comments

Hello, everyone! Something old, something new…Today I’ve got for you really adorable birthday card using sadly retiring Kind Koala stamp, and also a sneak peek at new Labeler Alphabet stamp set.

Isn’t this little koala cutest ever!? The base of my card is standard, top folded A6 in Sahara Sand. For the background, I’ve used Very Vanilla and dry embossed it with Happy Heart embossing folder.

Because I wanted this card to be a birthday card I used washi tape to cover the flower and a sentiment on my stamp before I inked it up in Basic Grey Archival Ink. Next, I stamped my cute koala on a piece of Very Vanilla. Just remember to take off the washi tape first or you will have a disaster. Guess how I know lol I also stamped him on a scrap of paper to create a mask I will need later.

I watercolour my little fella in Sahara Sand and added some shadow underneath him. I also added a touch of Blushing Bride to his nose and inside of his ears. When I was happy with the results I masked my koala and sponged the background with Soft Sky and Pool Party. Then I used the aqua painter to add few droplets of water to the background and took off a little bit of the colour.

Next, I matted my koala panel with a piece of vellum and a slightly bigger piece of Sahara Sand. But to add some more interest to this panel I stamped it with Tip Top Taupe using the foliage stamp from Sheltering Tree. I assembled all my panels.Now was time for balloons!

I stamped three smaller balloons from Balloon Celebration, two in Pool Party and one in Soft Sky, punch them with Balloon Bouquet punch and arrange them on the card using dimensionals. I also hand-drew balloon strings with Project Life pen (and yes, I know, I probably should have used a lighter colour, maybe Basic Grey or Smoky Slate marker) so it looks like koala is holding them in his paw.

The card was busy enough so I kept the sentiment simple. I cut a strip of Very Vanilla and stamped my sentiment in Sahara Sand, using Labeler Alphabet stamp set. To keep it fun I mixed both types of letters and add it at wonky angle to my card.

Dimensions:

Very Vanilla:

3-1/8 x 4-6/8″
2 x 3-2/8″
1/2 x 3-5/8″

Sahara Sand:

2-2/8 x 3-4/8″

Vellum:

2-1/8 x 3-3/8″

I’m adding my card to

Do you like my little card? I truly hope you do. Please let me know in the comments below.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

CAS Card – Birthday Blooms Meets Wink Of Stella

Image ~ 30 April 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ Leave a comment

Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – CAS Card – Birthday Blooms Meets Wink Of Stella

Today I’ve got for you beautiful, clean and simple (CAS) birthday card. I am so happy that Birthday Blooms stamp set staying with us for another year. I love this set for it’s stunning, bold flower image.

For the base, I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock that measures 5-7/8″x 8-2/8″ and fold it in half at 4-1/8″. Next, I cut a strip of this beautiful, embossed Color Me Irresistible DSP in Basic Black and adhere it to my base. The strip measures 2″ x 5-7/8″.

I stamped the flower image in Basic Black Archival ink and watercolour it. For the petals, I’ve used Watermelon Wonder and Rose Red. Center of the flower is Crushed Curry – I fell in love with this shade of yellow just recently. And leaves are a mix of Old Olive with a gentle touch of Always Artichoke. First, I added my colours and shadings with blender pens. Next, I used my Aqua Painter to blend it nicely and to add more colour or shading if required.

I let my flower dry completely and then fussy cut it. I should probably mention that as I knew I will fussy cut it, I’ve used regular Whisper White cardstock for the flower. Because my hands are quite numb and I find it hard to do more intricate things, I cut off tiny leaves from the flower. Really wasn’t able to fussy cut them. However I’m pretty chuffed with myself that I managed to fussy cut the little buds, it took me a while, though.

While the flower was drying I stamped the sentiment, from the same stamp set, in Versamark and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder. I really like this curly font. I assembled the flower using dimensionals and added some Silver Metallic Baker’s Twine underneath.

I stamped the inside of my card too. I used the single flower from the set, but this time, I colour it only with blender pen so it doesn’t bleed through. I also added a strip of the same DSP (5-7/8″ x 1/2″), to match the card front.

The last touch was to add some shimmer to my beautiful flower, using Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush Pen. I love this stuff!

I love how this card turned out! I have to admit that CAS cards are growing on me but I still have a tendency to overthink and overcomplicate them. I’m a grungy-distress at heart, you know haha

I’m adding my card to Crazy 4 Challenges #C4C333 – April Showers bring May flowers!

Now I would love to hear from you. Do you like my today’s card?

Thank you for stopping by! Have a blessed day,

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #9 – Time To Split!

Image ~ 23 April 201621 February 2018 ~ Anna Krol ~ 24 Comments

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #9 – Time To Split!

Today’s sketch was designed by talented Karen from Lilliputcrafts.

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:

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?! 😉

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.

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″.

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.

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!

Anna' Stampin' Cave

creative life by anna krol – stampin' up! uk independent demonstrator

Images

Pinkies Annual Catalogue Blog Hop – Sneak Peek!

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #10 – Butterfly Birthday

Something Old, Something New…Kind Koala Birthday Card

CAS Card – Birthday Blooms Meets Wink Of Stella

Simply Sketched Saturday Challenge #9 – Time To Split!