Be Inspired - Floral Fun

 

Hello Friends!! I am so Excited to tell you I have been invited to join the 

Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop!!!

My dear friend Emma Goddard from the Coastal Crafter invited me!! The theme is a perfect start…Floral Fun!! Hope you are sitting down with your favourite beverage and ready for all the gorgeous florals coming your way!!

This group of crafters includes some of the most creative people I know!! 

A few I am even lucky enough to call friends!!

I pulled out the new Charming Day bundle and ‘inspired’ by Emma pulled out my water brush!!  The images were heat embossed with Smokey Slate and Clear Embossing powder.  What you do is ink up your image with Versamark, then ink it up with Smokey Slate right on top of the Versamark.  Stamp on watercolour paper, dust the paper with clear embossing powder and bam!! It looks like you have Smokey Slate embossing powder.  You can do this with all the colours.  Just be careful to always use  Versamark first or your Versamark will be stamped with your image.  

I used Berry Burst and Lost Lagoon.  I wet the area first with my brush. Then add some water to the ink and lightly add the colour to get the variation in colour to replicate real flowers. 

I pulled out the two-toned cardstock I bought on the same we had recently. Chopped it in 1.5” strips, then 1.5” squares. I then roughed up the edges the. 

Ran it through the corrugated embossing folder. Arranged them in a checker board pattern, flipping to use both shades of Lost Lagoon on dimensionals on another piece of Lost Lagoon cut at 4 1/8 x 5 1/2 

The Cardbase is white. I scored a 4.25 x 11, scored at 5.5”

I finished the card with a sentiment from the Charming Day stamp set, a double linen thread bow and some rhinestones.  I hope you like my card and that you will keep hopping to see what all the other amazingly talented stampers have made!!

Blog Roll

• Maheswari Rajaguru
• Brian King
• Emma Goddard
• Heather Thomas
• Angela Meiritz-Reid
• Annette Elias
• Andrea Sargent
• Lynn Cheesmur
• Annette Ball

 

Team Hop - Online Exclusives

 

Hello Friends!!

It’s the 14th of the month!! Team Hop!! 

Today we are focusing on the Online Exclusives.

Did you know that we have a whole bunch of products available only online??

They are shaping up to be one of my favourite things!!

My order did not arrive in time for me to showcase some of the new things.  So I pulled out one that I have not done a lot with... Inspired by a new hydrangea that we bought this year.  I have been spending all my time in the garden and not so much time in the craft room.  Hoping to get back in there soon!!

So here is my garden picture, I just LOVE these colours!!

I stamped the large stamp in versamark,

 then directly into Smokey Slate without pausing.

Then dusted it with Clear embossing powder right away and then heated to set the powder all on watercolour paper.

Then I set up my watercolouring with a cup of water, my water painter.  

I pressed my blocks into Petunia Pop, Boho Blue and Gorgeous Grape, 

I don't like to do it in the lids of the stamp cases.

The Stamp set s called Thankful Garden

I finished it late at night, I love my outdoor pictures a bit better,  

so there are lots of pictures!

The cardbase is Basic White 5.5 x 11, scored at 4.25"

DSP is 3.75 x 5

Basic White is 3 x 4.75", embossed with the corrugated embossing folder

Hope you like my card!

Please go and check out what the rest of the team has made!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Team Hop - New Annual Catalogue

 

The 14th of the month means I am hopping with the Coast to Coast Blog Hop Group!!

We are featuring products from the New Annual Catalogue that came out on May 6

Do you love the new catalogue?? I’m not going to say I Love it, But I do like it much better than the last one.  With one exception, it doesn't have much 'New' stuff in it that appeals to me.

Here are a few things that I Love

• Page 24 has some new sketches
• Page 52 to 57  Beautiful Gallery Mega Suite is gorgeous!! 
• Page 76 & 77 2 more Cardstock to Love!! I am in Love with the 2 toned cardstock!!
• Pages 99-101 show returning sets..some of which I have barely had time to play with!!
• Pages 116 - 121 shows all the dsp and for the first time they have kept a few of my favourites!!
• Page 125 Excited about the flat pearls in both sets of incolours!!
• Page 127 Could not wait to get my hands on that gorgeous Incolour ribbon!!

So back to the Beautiful Gallery Mega Suite. 

I am in Love with this stamp set!!

Here is my card 

The dies make these cool borders, which I cut from  Secret Sea. I also stamped the floral image in Secret Sea annnd heat embossed my sentiment in white on Secret Sea too. 

I used three other new Incolours to cut frames from and you get this center blank. I did not measure it. But I did emboss them with the dotty embossing folder and layered them on my background. The colours from top to bottom are Cloud Cover, Timid Tiger and Strawberry Slush. 

I used a linen thread bow and embellished with the Incolours flat pearls. Another new FAVE!!

I hope you like my card and I hope you hop along to see what everyone else has made!!

Happy Stampin’

Annette

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

AWOW - Outside the Box

 

Hello Friends!!

Today is an Around the World on Wednesday Blog Hop.

This year we are Caseing each other every month and today I am Caseing my amazingly talented friend Mikaela at the Crafty Oink.  Now it has been pointed out that Mikaela often finds creative ways to use Stampin’ Up! Products.  

She is super creative!!

Well this pushed me to really look at the stamps and figure out something to make…

I took a frequently used ‘sketch’ that I have noticed Mikaela uses, here are a few examples. 

 Notice the larger border around the first layer  

Notice the blending in the cards…one of my favourite techniques!! And Mikaela is one of the best blending brush artists!!! 

And notice the central focal point.  This is a Great Standard Layout everyone should have in their library!

These are all Mikaela Trademarks!!

Ok so my card.  I used the Beautiful Butterfly Stamp set.

See the 2 stamps I crudely highlighted in blue?

I stamped several of these with Strawberry Slush. 

Then I fussy cut the pieces. 

I also stamped them in Granny Apple Green and cut out sections that looked like leaves.

The Cardbase is Strawberry Slush 8.5 x 5.5”, scored at 4.25”. 

The first layer is 3.75 x 4.75”

I stamped that same image in the corners of the Cardbase and blended Strawberry Slush on the corners. 

I blended all the edges of the first layer then stamped off with a random speckle stamp that was laying on my desk. Ha! Ha!  Not sure which stamp set it came from. 

The first layer is on dimensionals. 

I added a .75” x 4.25” strip of two toned Strawberry Slush cardstock embossing it with the corrugated folder. 

Then arranged my pieces in the shape of a flower. Giving each one a little crinkle. 

Added the hello with a butterfly, finishing with the new flat pearls in you guessed it Strawberry Slush!!

Hope you like it!!!

Please keep hopping along and see what the others have done!! Kelly is next!!

I can’t wait to see what everyone has made!!

Leonie Stuart - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Cheryll Miller - AU

Marga Bultena - NL

Kim Fee - UK

Annette Ball - CA

Kelly Taranto - US

Chris Smith - US

Theresa McEntee - US

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

AWOW - Anniversary

 

5 Years!!

We have been hopping around the world on a Wednesday for 5 years!!

Its hard to believe..

5 years ago April 8, 2020 we shard our first hug around the world

Our dear friend Angie created, hand picked every one of us to represent Stampin' Up! in all the time zones and brought us together encouraged by her friend Anne Marie Hile.

I was lucky to meet a few of these ladies while we were in Raleigh. I wish it wasn’t so busy and we could have spent a little time together. 

Today's theme is to Case (Copy and Share Everything) Anne Marie.

We were also provided the link to go back to our first hop.

Here is the card I made 5 years ago

Even then I did multiple card posts!!

I picked a similar layout from Anne Marie, here is her card from 5 years ago.

5 years ago we were featuring our 'Must Haves"

Mine were Vellum, rhinestones and label dies

Things have changed a bit, but is see that even back then embossing folders were a favourite!!

I am a little surprised there is no ribbon or twine, I mean the card is so calling for it!!

Here is my case, I hope you like it!!

The Cardbase and first layer are Crumb Cake

And I used the Elements of Text to stamp on the background with stamped off Crumb Cake. Then blended the 2 corners. 

I used the new Basic Beige Ribbon from the new products coming in May along with the Expressions abloom dies for the Secret Sea (new incolour) for the big tic tac shape. It feels wrong to call it an oval. The flowers, leaves and stems were white and I added colour with blending brushes using the new Strawberry Slush, Granny Apple Green and Daffodil Delight. 

Then finished it off with antique pearls. 

Please keep hopping to see what everyone else has made to celebrate our 5 year anniversary!!

Jan Clothier - NZ

Leonie Stuart - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Cheryll Miller - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Marga Bultena - DE

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Kim Fee - UK

Annette Ball - CA

Kelly Taranto - US

Chris Smith - US

Theresa McEntee - US

Bree Renwick - US

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US

Stamping Inkspirations - Technique Challenge

 

Hello Friends!!

Today I have been challenged with a Technique challenge, and its all about Watercolour backgrounds!!

I hope you will get your water brushes out and give these techniques a try!!

I used Peach Pie, Summer Splash and Petuna Pop

I used the Beautiful Butterfly dies to make everal layers for a super 3D look.

The technique was using the wide brush and with lots of water and a little bit of ink and brushing back and forth on the water colour paper.

Then I built the layered butterfly, adhered with 

I hope you like them  please keep hopping to see what the others have made with watercolour techniques.

 Leonie Stuart  ●  Danielle Kassing  ●  Angie McKenzie  

Teri West  ●  Karen Henderson  ●  Mo Rootes

Annette Ball  ●  Marga Bultena  ●  Kim Fee

AWOW - Sketch Challenge

Hey Friends!!

Today I am hopping with friends 

from around the world. 

And we are doing my favourite challenge. 

We are playing with a sketch!!!

I pulled out the Country Woods dsp. It hasn’t been out in a while and I thought the striped piece would be perfect for those horizontal stripes. 

Then I pulled out the unlinked Poised Peony. 

I LOVE peonies and have slowly been adding them to my garden. They can be quite expensive at the garden centers. And I’ve tried the roots without much luck. I found these 2 red ones in the clearance area looking rather sad and cheap. Red I thought…Jackpot!!!  So I brought them home and gave them my full attention. They have survived my garden for a couple of years and this year they were Gorgeous!!

To go with the colour scheme of the dsp I stamped the image on Basic Beige with Misty Moonlight and then used my watercolour pencils and coloured with navy, balmy and garden green. I used the white pencil. But it did nothing on the beige…then with a light touch I used a blender pen to smooth it out so as not to let the paper pill. 

I Love the finished product and I hope you do to!!

The circle is from Spotlight in Nature. A MUST have set of circle dies.  Then finished the card with a Basic Beige Bow and the white sequins from the Free Purple Saleabration set. They go with EVERYTHING!!!

Please keep hopping to see what the others have made. Next stop is my dear friend and our leader the super talented Angie McKenzie. 

Jan Clothier - NZ

Leonie Stuart - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Annette Ball - CA

Angie McKenzie - US

Kelly Taranto - US

Tricia Butts - US

Theresa McEntee - US

Bree Renwick - US

Lori Willcox - CA

Teri West - US

Cheryl Hamilton - US