Altenew Pansy Cards.

(Catchupmageddon Post) Very pleased to have an Altenew layering flower stamp set to play with! This Pretty Pansies Stamp Set was one of the few I had my eye on, it's proving hard to find the ones at the top of my list.  I chose a couple of layouts and made a simple 7 card set using all the more successful colour combos I tried with the stamps.

Most of the time I used distress oxides or inks with versafine black outlines. I also printed out some photos of real pansies to get some inspo for which colour schemes to try out. Background made using a stencil and distress oxides.

I spot other people get to use their washi tapes on their cards so I had a go too! I used a Hero Arts "messages with flourish" sentiment stamp for most of the "happy birthday" banners.

Some geometric papers from a magazine with a folded corner detail. I like how staples look but I don't think I ever get them quite right, lol! 

Some funky papers I have been saving for something "special" but that time never arrived, decided I needed to use them before they became old fashioned! lol. Sentiment was a freebie set from Making Cards Magazine, it stamps up really nicely.

I think these two came out the best, I really liked the colour schemes. I had a go at making my own background paper using the leaf from the Pretty Pansies set but only used a small piece of it in the end.

Added stickles to the centres of the flowers to make them a bit more special.

And just because it made a colourful photo I thought I would share one of the wrapped up gifts that I added a pansy card too.

I have started on Christmas.

It's not even that early to start is it? I know several people who have already finished their Christmas Makes! Already! But, here I am, still on my first few and I decided to use the Layered Stencil "Plaid" from Witt and Sass to make a feature background for a christmas card.

I used the stencil and distress inks to begin with and then used some texture paste through the stencil afterwards. 

I added some ribbon (freebies from Making Cards Magazine), red rosette (From Helen) and Jolee gingerbread stickers also from Helen (I think she may have had them in her stash for a while!)

I printed out a greeting on the PC in Bernadette Rough and added with 3D Foam. Done!

Thanks for joining me today! I've another Christmas Make using the Plaid Stencil scheduled for Thursday :)

Tropical Part-tay!

It's another Tuesday post for Witt and Sass and the fabulous new stamp set - Tropical Party! Featuring my favourite Witt and Sass bird, Carmen Miranda Flamingo. (CMF)

The set has five cool sentiments to pick from and loads of extra images, so I added a little pineapple chap to my wording banner.  I also used the background building stamp called grassy hill to define the outline of the grassy mound CMF is stood on. 

I coloured CMF in copic pens and some white posca pen. I added stickles and glossy accents at the end too. The background was an experiment using lace as a stencil with distress inks. I thought it looked like that sparkling-water-swimming-pool-bokeh? It probably has a proper name, but I hope you get what I mean!

When cards are very heavy, you can move them across your crafting table using tiny straw logs...just like how they built the pyramids! ;) I suppose I should now mention the MAJORLY GLITZY element of this card, the rhinestone palm tree. I know, it's a bit much, but when I saw it I couldn't resist. The dragonfly bling was in the same set.
Bling and Straws were from The Range, Background Paper was a magazine freebie.

They're quite a few of us on the Witt and Sass Design Team, people you might not already know, would you like to have a look at their blogs? I figure if you read this far, you might like something fun and inspiring to do? They are all incredibly talented bunch, I am really having to up my game!

Sean Scrappy Boy

Adam on Facebook

Marcia at The Frolicking Fairy

Jill at JK Taylor Cards

Mindy Beverly Art Studio

Amy Young at A Thousand Sheets of Paper

Rachel at R Winn Creates

Amy at The Amy Doodle Of It All

Using A Freebie!

Hi again! I quick post today to make sure you know there is a cool set of freebie images that perfectly match the new "Magical Creature" Stamp Set from Witt & Sass. Once you have joined the Witt and Sass Facebook Group you can find it in the Freebie Album here. I used the insanely cute little mandrake!

I made a little shelf scene using Paint Shop Pro and then coloured it with polychromo pencils. I used the font "Harry P" for my greeting.

To make a background for the mandrake topper I used distress inks and the Layered Stencil Leaves also from Witt and Sass directly onto a white 7x5 card blank.

If you are interested in the polychromo colours I used, here they are:

Pot:177, 187, 190, 101

Wood: 177, 180, 187, 199, 101 

Leaves: 108, 151, 168, 267, 101

Body: 108, 130,  177, 180, 187, 199, 101

Plus a black microfine pen and white posca pen.

I also added some glossy accents to the eyes at the end.

Thanks very much for popping in! You can see more work using the set on the Witt & Sass Official Blog here:

Magical Creatures!

Back here with some new things from Witt & Sass! It's very exciting to share all these new products with you, they are great fun to use, and I really hope my posts convey that! This is the new Magical Creature 4x8 Stamp Set.

I decided to make a CAS card set using the characters and sentiments from this stamp set and some other bits from the freebie digistamp set that goes with them. ( You need to join the Witt and Sass Facebook Group to see them.) 

On each 7x5 card I masked off a section and with Distress Ink and the Witt & Sass Layered Dot Stencil created a bokeh-ish coloured background.

Here the sentiments, Badgerpuff and Leodor are from the Magical Creature Set but the letters and snitch are from the freebie set! I coloured everything with copic pens and dots of White Posca Pen.

I added some stickles and glossy accents to the cards. The silver blobs on the pink card are a silver distress dauber "slammed" onto the cardstock.

Thanks for joining me today. I would also like to share with you that I am hosting the official Witt & Sass Blog now, so perhaps you would like to pop by and have a look at what's going on, sometime?

Up in the Air!

Quick card I made using MFT's Up in the Air stamp set :)

The stamps are coloured with copics. The background is distress inks and a homemade cloud mask and the background is from a Perfectly Plaid Lawn Fawn 6x6 paper set.

Tropical Fish

Another Commissioned card for Father's Day with a tropical fish theme. I made the background using Distress Oxides, flicked with water. Then stamped the elements directly on to it. I then re-stamped the fish and snails onto white paper and coloured them with my Zig Watercolour pens. Then fussy cut them out and attached them on to the card.

I know if you are a fish head, you might be bothered about this guppy and betta living together, but it's ok, they worked out their differences and are now firm friends. :D

Distress Oxides: Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio. ( I think!)
Snails are from Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Scenic - SeaShells SD-LBS-SHELL
Betta is from Sea Creatures 2 (UM-L4) Designs by Ryn
Guppy, Plants and Bubbles are from Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Scenic - Underwater Angels SD-LBS-ANGELS
Fonts are Just the Way You Are and Hermes Manero.

I popped some glossy accents onto the bubbles because I couldn't resist and some tiny spots of white posca pens onto the bubbles and seaweed to add dimension.

Happy 2nd Birthday Sophie!

Had to wait a while to post this, posted the other two cards using the Magical Unicorns from Crafting Desert Divas a while back in July. Norms kindly stamped me some to colour and this was my fav card from the batch! I don't think it photographed that well, but you get the idea :) It's for my favourite small person, Sophie.

 

The stitched background (from Cottagecutz) is coloured with distress inks and oxides flicked with water. The Unicorn and cloud are coloured with copics and added white gel and posca paint pen. The washi tapes are from Hobbycraft and the stash.

The stitched clouds are from Crafty Kitty Cat Shop and I think they go perfectly with this set! Fonts are Courier and Lobster Two and I added some stickles to embellish.

Kate's Camera Card

Another commissioned card, and very specific too! Michelangelo's David, holding a Canon Camera with a Sorento theme! I much prefer orders like this, I know what I'm aiming for!

So I photoshopped "David" to be holding a camera over his accoutrements as you can never be sure how much nudity is appropriate, lol! I popped online to find some images of vintage Sorento postcards to include kinda as "snaps".

For the background and camera embellis I used Inkadinkado Stamp Set called "Cameras", really pleased to finally use it, it's been in the "unused stash" along time!

This is the background I made for the card, using one of the large cameras from the Inkadinkado set and blended distress inks and oxides, followed by some water flicking, and using a round lid to make a bleaching effect on the camera lenses. I also cut out a few Joy Clouds from the scraps to include on the card, edged with Nuvo Jewel Drops.

Bee Well!

After having bee dies gifted to me twice in as many days (a freebie from fabulous Crafty Kitty Cat Shop with my order) and Helen (on a destash), I thought I could defo use them for a Bee-well soon card!

It's quite a dark card for me, but I quite enjoyed the depth of colour. The background was made using a homemade cloud mask and Distress Inks (Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire) and Distress Oxide (Wilted Violet) flicked with water.

The large bee die was a freebie from Crafty Kitty Cat Shop (Cuts out great!) and the small bee was from the Fanciful Flights set from Spellbinders. I cut them out in three different coloured papers and then pieced them together.
The grass/mushroom border die is from Polkadoodles. (It is an excellent cutter for something so fiddly).
The font is October Twilight.
After I took the picture I decided to add some stickles to the bees wings, livened it up quite a lot!

Under the weather!

Card thoroughly inspired by Simonne Clay using her Sugar Pea design's "Whatever the weather"set, which unfortunately I don't have, so we made do! :)

Love the idea of all the weather elements being combined in one image! My version is not as nice as hers but there are some bits I like!

Sun is a freebie stamp from Craft Stamper Magazine, coloured with copics and yellow stickles.
Clouds are from Joy dies.
Rainbow is a die from Daisysjewelsandcrafts.co.uk
Stitched rectangle is from Cottage Cutz. I used distress inks and water flicking to colour it up.
Raindrops are a combo of Nuvo Juwel drops in blue and gems from The Range.

Yeti - Part 3!

So I posted the other two Yeti cards I made using the Crafting Desert Diva's Yeti to Party set that Norms kindly stamped me, back in July, but had to save posting this one as I wanted to send it to my SIL.

I love these Yetis! They are so much fun to colour. I used copics and a white gel pen to colour them up and added some glossy accents to their eyes.

The background is distress inks and oxides splashed with water. The stitched hillside is from The Crafty Kitty Cat Shop. Fonts are Courier and Lobster Two. Washi tape is from Hobbycraft. I added some stickles to the hillside to embellish.

Card-io and Hobby Art mix!

I like the little fiddly stamp thing but I am not sure it likes me ;) The wreath on this didn't take long using distress inks with "Branching Out" and "Emily's Garden" sets from Cardio, but the middle section of the welsh cottage took me hours!  Eventually, after trying many clever things, I opted to stamp them in black and colour them with copics. Job done!

I stamped the scene from the Hobby Art set called "Old Barn" onto a diecut circle and coloured it with copics, then 3D layered this onto the wreath stamped in distress inks.

I used the font "Monterey BT" for their names and the greeting and printed them out on the PC.
Background paper is from Mid Summer Mornings by Tonic. I added some stickles to finish.

It's a gem!

I love these Treasure Trolls from Crafting Desert Divas! Norms kindly stamped me a set and I was very rash, and not at all economical and used them all on one card! ;)

Stitched rectangle (from Cottagecutz) coloured with distress inks and a circle stencil. Was going for a mine/cave kinda feel. Stitched hillsides from Crafty Kitty Cat Shop. I coloured all the trolls and the cart with copics and used a gel pen to add highlights and "dandruff". ;)

Washi tape is from hobbycraft. Fonts are Courier and Lobster Two. Added some stickles and glossy accents to embellish.

More CDD goodness - Unicorns!

This time Norms sent me some of the Crafting Desert Diva's Magical Unicorns set to use and colour! They are too cute! And lots of fun to colour too. Here is my first card using them.

I coloured the unis in copics and added white gel spots and stickles to their manes and tails.  The background is in distress inks and oxides flicked with water. The clouds are from Crafty Kitty Cat Shop and added some extra stickles sparkle. The background stitched rectangle is from Cottagecutz.

Fonts are courier and lobster two. Washi tape is from Hobbycraft.

Somebunny!

Back with some more joys from The Crafting Desert Divas who have some of the cutest stamps at the moment, luckily Norman has stamped me some of her new ones so I got this fabulous group from the set called "Somebunny" to colour.

 

I coloured the bunnies and their carrot house using copics. I added some glossy accents to their eyes to lively them up a bit. :)

The background is distress inks and oxides splashed with water.

The fonts are Courier and Lobster Two.

 

The washi tape is more from Hobbycrafts, I love the glitter tapes, so much easier than ribbon! I don't feel I have used any ribbon in ages, getting harder and harder to justify all that ribbon storage space in the craft room! :)

The hillside die is from Crafty Kitty Cat Shop. The rectangle die is from Cottagecutz. The background paper is from Tonic, Mid Summer Mornings.

I debated whether to make this into a new home card, or even a new arrival card, but opted birthday in the end. Shows it's quite an adaptable set tho.

Yeti Part 2.

The second of the Yeti cards I made from the Crafting Desert Divas Yeti to Party set, that Norms kindly stamped for me to colour. I kept this one in blue/green tones so it might be suitable to send to a boy.

Yeti coloured with copics. Background in distress inks/oxides splashed with water. Hillsides are from The Crafty Kitty Catshop. Washi tape is from Hobbycraft. Background patterned paper is from Tonic "Mid Summer Mornings" 8x8 pad. Fonts are Courier and Lobster Two. Added stickles and glossy accents at the end. :)

Yeti Part 1.

Are you Yeti to party? I'm not sure I am quite in the mood to party (toothache erf!) but I did very much enjoy colouring the Yeti's Norman stamped for me from her Crafting Desert Diva's "Yeti to Party" stamp set!

 

This is the first of three cards I made with them. I'll post up the other tomorrow but the third has to wait as I personalised it for me to send to a reli! :)

Backgrounds are distress inks and oxides, flicked with water. The Yeti is coloured with copics.  Washis are from the stash and Hobbycraft. Fonts are Courier and Lobster two. I added stickles and glossy accents after.

The stitched hill dies are from my friend's craft shop: http://craftykittycatshop.blogspot.co.uk/
The stitched rectangle is from Cottagecutz.

Slight change from Card-io.

Ok, not much of a change, but it's not actually Card-io! :) This time I used a layering stamp from Amy Tedder called Romantic Wild Roses.

I used distress inks and just stamped directly (and by eye) onto the topper, using Pickled Raspberry, Spun Sugar, Seedless Preserve and Peeled Paint (And Forest Moss aswell I think.) When I made the two decoupaged flowers I used my Pretend-Misti to do a better job. I used stickles, bling and Nuvo Jewel Drops to add accents.
Font is Lobster Two. It's my favourite. :D
I've blurred out the name to protect the innocent. :D

Final Cardio Post of The Week, lol!

Final one this week ( I promise...) though I warn you there will probably be more soon. I am obsessed. :)

Another new set involved in proceedings, kindly loaned by Norman. This set is called Posh Pots and is all in distress inks/oxides.

I have also used a few bugs from the Bugs and Snails Set, some leafy boughs from Oriental Magnolia, some seed heads and leaves from Clematis Garden and leaves from both Emily's Garden and Fields of Clover. What a mix!

Flowers are from Wild Orchid and stash.
Added some Wink of Stella too I think but you can't see it on this picture.
I've blurred out the name, if you think the spacing is a bit odd, lol! :)