Stamp of the Month - Ice Cream Dream

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing art work created using this month's Stamp of the Month - Ice Cream Dream using a variety of techniques such as paper piecing and colouring with the wonderful ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Markers. Today's card also features colouring however, I have opted to use the Watercolour Pencils to add a different effect again. The colours I chose from the Watercolour packs were Bubblegum, Sunny Yellow and Autumn Terracotta.

After I coloured the images I used a Blending Pen (that had been dipped in a little water) to add a streaky appearance. Usually I would use the blending pen to soften and smooth out the colour however, for this card I wanted my ice-cream images to look a little like a Strawberry/Vanilla Swirl (with a touch of banana flavour too!!)

I chose Pixie and Canary coloured papers from the Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment to co-ordinate with the colour of my ice-cream images and pieced together the card using scallop shapes - made with the Scallop Border Maker and scallop circle shapes from the Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection.... and because ice-cream is the best medicine for happiness!!!...  I chose to use the "Cheer Up Buttercup" sentiment from the Hostess Reward Stamp Set - Tagged with Love. The card was then embellished with some Silver Sequins and Pixie Extra Thick Twine.

 If you would like to view some of the other art work I have created with the June Stamp of the Month simply click here or here and don't forget there are only 4 more days to add this stamp set to your collection. Spend $75 and you can purchase this Stamp of the Month set for just $5 - that is a saving of over 70%...  when ordering from my Online Shop  you will be prompted to add this set before you check out -  easy, peasy! 

Time is running out fast for Close To My Heart's other June special - "Summer Crush" ...this really is a great deal you won't want to miss out on, all you have to do is purchase any My Crush book and its accompanying assortment and you will receive the co-ordinating stamp set absolutely FREE!  There are five lovely My Crush book offerings for you to choose from and you can find them here.

 

Stamp of the Month - Friend Layout

A few days ago I shared a card created using the June Stamp of the Month - You Are My Happy  paper-pieced with a selection of printed papers from the Seaside and Blossom My Reflections™ collections. I really enjoyed piecing this card together and decided to recreate  some of the elements of the card into a scrapbook layout - the original card can be viewed here.

I combined the You Are My Happy stamp set with a selection of some of my current favourite stamp sets - Friendly Pets (dog with balloon image and friends sentiment), Snapshot Memories (love it - ink blot image) and the stamp set found in the Workshops on the Go® Wanderful Scrapbooking Kit  (journalling box)

I used Cocoa Ink for all the stamped images and sentiments. The title was created using a combination of different paper packs... the  "This Day Was The Best" can be found in the Jackson Paper Pack, the "Friends" sentiment was stamped onto paper from the Blossom pack and the "Together" can be found in the Seaside Paper Pack - I love how everything in the Close To My Heart range co-ordinates with one another.

The layout was based on this sketch - that uses layered paper strips and the Scallop Border Punch - my "go-to" tool of the moment!!

The You Are My Happy stamp set is available for only $5.00 with a purchase of $75 during the month of June - it is such a fun set to play with... it simply makes me smile.

If this is a set you would like to add to your crafting collection?... remember we are already over half way through June and this set won't be available come July 1st. Head on over to my online shop today so you don't miss out?

Hostess Rewards Stamp Sets

Today I am sharing 2 cards featuring stamp sets from Close To My Heart's Hostess Rewards Program combined with the wonderful new Jackson Paper Pack.

As a Close To My Heart Hostess you can earn fabulous products/stamp sets for free or at a spectacular saving. Each of the three stamp sets shown on these cards would normally retail for $21 however, as a Hostess you can purchase these sets for only $11!!

The Paper Bird stamp set includes 8 images - a bird, heart and butterfly along with 5 sentiments. For those that attended my last workshop event you will notice that this card is based on the "card topper" idea that was presented. However, I chose to give this card a touch of grunge with some distressing of Cocoa Ink ( using a sponge ) around the outside edges of my paper/cardstock pieces.

This 2nd card combines two Hostess Rewards Stamp Sets - A Thing Well Done featured in the retired Seasonal Expressions #1 and Tagged with Love which is currently available in the Seasonal Expressions #2 Idea Book/Catalogue. Tagged with Love contains 9 images including 6 sentiments - such as the "You're Pretty Awesome" sentiment. These stamp sets are all exclusive and available to Hostesses only!...they are ever changing and offer great value and plenty of crafting variety.

The card bases for both card were taken from the Daisy White Value Pack and Colonial White Value Packs - 50 x  5 1/2" X 4 1/4" cards for $20....not only are they exceptional value but they are a great time saver for card makers.

If you would like to host a card making gathering (either at home or online) and add these stamp sets to your collection please send me a message at lotfam@iinet.net.au  - I'd love to help you earn discounted craft goodies!

 

You Are My Happy - Stamp of the Month

Today I am sharing another card created using the June Stamp of the Month - You Are My Happy. The images from this stamp set were paper-pieced with a selection of printed papers from the Seaside and Blossom My Reflections™ collections. The two paper packs compliment each other beautifully with their similar colour palette and fun striped patterns.

This card is an easy gate-fold card - simply cut a sheet of 12" x 12" cardstock in half and score using the Score Board at 3" intervals at each end then fold the 3" sections into the centre...  all you have to do next is decorate the panels as you wish.

My base images were stamped in Cocoa Ink onto Colonial White Cardstock. The images were then stamped multiple times onto my chosen colours and fussy cut using the ever trusty Non-stick Micro-tip Scissors. The individual pieces were then all adhered with the Bonding Memories™ Glue Pen onto the base image. Another trusty tool to use when paper-piecing is a good pair of Tweezers, apart from helping you pick up the tiny pieces ( as in the dog collar & nose on this card ) it can assist with the precise placement of these tiny pieces onto your base images... and my Close To My Heart Tweezers are never far from my side when crafting, they have an extremely fine point perfect for grabbing even the bittiest little embellishment.

Don't forget the You Are My Happy stamp set is available for only $5.00 with a purchase of $75 during the month of June and there are so many different ( and delicious) applications and a huge variety of techniques that can be used which will  bring this stamp set to life.

 

My Crush Love

During the month of June, when you purchase any My Crush® book and its accompanying assortment pictured in Annual Inspirations 2014–2015, you will receive the coordinating stamp set FREE! That is a savings of at least $15 AUD - Choose from five lovely My Crush® book offerings... each My Crush® book also features unique details... glossy print, vellum pages, gold foil patterns and ink-resistant patterns... that make displaying your personality easier than ever. Plus, once you add the artistry of the coordinating assortments featuring sticker sheets, envelopes, alphabets, cards, and journaling spots, along with your FREE stamp set, you will be well on your way to your own gorgeous mini book creation!

I also love using the My Crush® book's outside their intended use ... the  60 – 10"x 7" printed cardstock-weight designed pages are acid-free, lignin-free, and buffered making them perfect for traditional scrapbooking. Combine them with the coordinating assortments and you will be creating gorgeous pieces of art work in no time at all.

I used pages from the My Crush™ In the Pink Book to create this layout. I teamed the paper patterns with Slate, Lagoon and Hollyhock cardstock and a combination of fun embellishments - Glacier Extra Thick Twine, Oceanside & Silver Sequins, Boardwalk Washi Tape. However, the majority of the decorative elements come from the My Crush™ In the Pink Assortment that includes journal spots, sticker sheets, alphabet sticker sheets and envelopes some of which were altered and layered to create this layout. The rose embellishment was also fussy cut from a page in the My Crush™ In the Pink Book... so many great possibilities that you can't help but fall in love with the My Crush Collection of products... be sure to check out the full range in my Online Shop.

 

Treats for Everyone!

Thank you for your patience over the last couple of weeks while I have been making changes to my blog... I think we are almost there and back on track. I've still been crafting behind the scenes and will try and update you on my creations over the next few days. You will notice that I now have a page listing some of my kits that are available to purchase. It will make it easier for those of you unable to attend my workshops.

June as also brought with it a new Stamp of the Month called Ice-cream Dream which is such a treat!

This is the ideal stamp set for those of who love to the colour and our Shin-Han Markers are just perfect for this. I used a combination of my favourite colours to create this card.

ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Cherry Pink Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Tender Pink Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Pastel Peach Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Barely Beige Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Clay Marker

Along with my favourite marker colours, I combined the Stamp of the Month with what has fast become my most used stamp set - a D size set with 37 images and a sentiment for every occasion. This month's Stamp of the Month can also be paired up with the Treats of Friendship to create really "yummy" art work. I used the same colour combination of Shin-Han Markers for colouring the images as the previous card. However, I added some depth to the donut image with a touch of the ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Light Orange Marker and the Colourless Blender Marker to soften the colours.

When colouring with alcohol markers it is important you make "friends" with your ink and Colourless Blender ... you will notice that I didn't wait long enough for the Archival Black Ink to dry and this caused some slight smudging of the outline when I started to colour with the markers. The name Colourless Blender is a little misleading as it isn't the "magic marker" that will blend two or more colours together it actually re-wets the maker ink ( that as already been applied to the paper ) meaning you can manipulate and push ink/colour around and erase away portions of marker ink already laid down. I always suggest treading carefully with its use, so you don't end up wetting your paper too much and pushing colour outside the outline of the image... it does take practise!

 

I hope you are enjoying your long weekend and have time to enjoy some colouring fun of you own.