Uniko Valentine or anniversary card

Hello everyone and welcome to CAS week at Addicted to Stamping and more.

I'm still feeling pooped after we had our 20month old Granddaughter to stay last weekend while her parents had their first few days away since her birth. We've had her overnight a few times and we also look after her for one day every week, so she is very used to us, but I was a bit worried that she might not cope so well over a longer period. Well, I needn't have bothered because she had a ball and really settled well. She was still bouncing around when her parents arrived to collect her but we collapsed in a heap lol! How did I cope with three under fours??

I bought a little Uniko Stamp set called You Are, Yes You at the recent Happy Stampers Festival at Port Sunlight and pulled it out for this card:

I simply stamped the flower, added a leaf sprig and coloured them with Copics.

The sentiment is from the same set and I finished it off with a tiny heart stamp. I have my wedding anniversary next month and I might stamp Happy Anniversary inside and use it for that, otherwise, I think it will make a nice Valentine card with the appropriate sentiment inside. Now I look at it, I think it could also be used as a thank you card too. I like a generic card that can cover lots of occasions.

As always, you'll find lots of inspiration over on the ATSM blog, and I hope you will join in with us this week.

I'd like to play along at

Dream Valley Challenges #212 - add a sentiment


The Flower Challenge #37 - CAS



Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs
Carol x

Simon Says Stamp Heart Parade and Spellbinders M-Bossabilities Valentines card

Hello everyone and welcome to the Simply Create Too February Challenge #146. The theme is anything goes with an optional twist to use hearts,

Well, it is February so using hearts is sort of required in my household because celebrating St Valentine's Day is the only highlight in the whole grim month. February may be the shortest month but it always seems the longest to me because I want to jump right into March and see spring coming! I came up with this card which will be John's Valentine card this year.

I used the Simon Says stamp Heart Parade die and trimmed it down to fit my design. I cut it once in red and once in kraft and then paper pieced.

The embossed strip at the side uses a Spellbinders M-Bossabilities folder that I believe is now retired, and I added a tiny strip of red card to link both parts of the card together.

I finished the card off with a tiny heart that I added glaze to for some shine.

I do hope you will join in with us this month. You'll find lots of inspiration over on the Simply Create Too blog and you can link your entry there until 22nd February.

I'd like to play at



Time Out Challenges #128 - photo challenge

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - anything goes

Creatalicious Challenge #156 - anything goes with option of love/hearts

Dies R Us Challenge #114 - use red

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - love is in the air

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Hero Arts and Papertrey Ink Valentine card

Hello there, and Happy Valentine's Day to you. We have a CAS week over at Addicted to Stamps and More, so I couldn't resist making another Valentine card.

 

1)Die cut a heart out of white card, and a tiny heart from red card.

2) Stamp a little cupcake on the heart and colour it in. Stick the tiny red heart in the top right of the white heart.

3) Die cut a rectangle shape and stamp the happy Valentine's Day (from PTI 2010 Love Tags) in Versamark ink before embossing it with white detail embossing powder.

5) Adhere the red rectangle to the base card and stamp the sentiment (from Hero Arts Friendship Messages) beneath it. Finish off by adding glossy accents to the cupcake and tiny heart.

This CAS design could be adapted to any occasion and can be whipped up in no time.

As always, there is lots of inspiration from the team over on the ATSM blog, and it would be great if you visited before deciding to join us this time.

I'd like to play at

CASology # 287 - together

Die Cuttin' Divas # 356 - Valentines Day

Tuesday Throwdown #379 - Sweets for my Sweet

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 439 -
 



Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Happy Little Stampers and Heidi Swapp Valentine card

Hello there and welcome to the February Watercolour Challenge over at Happy Little Stampers. We are an anything goes with watercolour challenge but each month we have a fun twist that you can play along with to make it more fun. This time our twist is 'heart'.

 

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

I came up with this Valentine card.

1) Die cut a pierced square from red card and a smaller one from white card. I used Sue Wilson dies.

2) Mask off the pierced edges and watercolour on the white square. I used Gansai Tambi paint.

3) When the paint is dry, take the Heidi Swapp Confetti stencil, place the hearts over the square and stencil through with red ink.

4) Stamp the sentiment from Happy Little Stampers Rainy Day stamp set with red ink. Mat the square onto the red mat, raising it on fun foam, and adhere it to the base card.

5) Finish off by using a glaze pen on three of the hearts to give them some shine. I used the Sakura clear glaze pen and gave it 3 coats, allowing it to dry in between. You can see this better in the first photo.

We are lucky enough to have Marianne join us as Guest Designer this month, and you will find her lovely card and lots of inspiration from the rest of the team, over on the blog.

I'd like to play along with

The Paper Girls Challenge #144 - watercolour

Mod Squad Challenge-Valentine - love.

Stamp, Ink, Paper Challenge #135 - all you need is love.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Simon Says Stamp and Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens Valentine card

Hello everyone and welcome to Challenge #124 over at Simply Create Too where we have a Love theme in honour of the upcoming Valentine's day

I decided to make a CAS card with a bit of sparkle 

1) Take a piece of white card and brush on 2 shades of  Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens (Berry and Apricot), then blend the colours together with water and a flat brush. I used a red and orange pen because I think the touch of orange adds some interest.

2) Once the card is dry, cut the Simon Says Stamp Heart Parade Die from it and retain the centre heart strip. 

3) This clever die cuts an outline too, so cut it again using silver holographic card.

4) Cut a thin strip of card and apply double sided tape to it before attaching the silver outline. Then inlay the hearts to the outline.

5) Die cut some black card with a stitched rectangle die, and stamp and emboss the sentiment from SSS Handwritten Borders along the bottom with silver detail embossing powder. ( Note to self - if you use an anti static powder tool on the black card, don't forget to dust off the powder before taking a photograph - duh!) I've had this border set for a couple of years but not used it so it is officially NBUS!

6)Attach the heart strip to the black card, raise the panel onto the base card with fun foam, and finish off by adding a gem to the largest heart.

The Spectrum Noir  pens add a lot of sparkle and the bonus is that it doesn't rub off like glitter! My talented Teamies have lots of inspiration to show you on the SCT blog, and you have two weeks to join in with us on the challenge. I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

I'd like to play along with


 
Darnell's NBUS challenge - use NBUS

Craft Rocket Challenge - It's a love thing

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - the colour of love

Retro Rubber Challenge - Cross my Heart

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Clearly Besotted Cute as a Bug Valentine card -

 Hello everyone and welcome to another challenge over at Simply Create Too

and the theme this time is Love or Valentine.

I broke out another yet unused stamp set - the Clearly Besotted Cute as a Bug stamp set and came up with this card

I started off by by stamping and cutting masks for the bee, flower and stem, before stamping the bee in Memento ink. I masked the bee and stamped the flower over it before placing the flower mask down and stamping the stem. I left all the masks in place while I airbrushed a blue background, and then stamped the cute sentiment. Once everything was dry, I removed the masks and coloured the image with Copic markers before cutting it out with a stitched rectangle die.

I layered up the panel onto another stitched mat and then raised it onto the base card with fun foam. Finally I coated the bee wings with some Wink of Stella glitter brush pen which gives alovely sparkly finish IRL but it is hard to catch it on the photo.

Why not visit the Simply Create Too blog to see some inspiration from the team and then join in with us this time. You have two weeks to link up your card and we love to see your creations.

I'd like to play along with

Moving Along With the Times - things with wings

Crafty Gals Corner - love is in the air

CASology - glitter

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Carol x

Happy Little Stampers Valentine card

Happy New Year and I hope the coming year brings everything you hope for! It's off to a good start for me because I am delighted to announce that I am on the Design Team for the start of a brand new Case the Designer challenge over at Happy Little Stampers.

Our first designer is the wonderful Kylie Purtell and this is the card she gave us to CASE

I was immediately drawn to the wonderful warm orange colours with the splash of pink, and I had to include a curved corner too! I decided to make a Valentine card and came up with this:-

I used the smooshing technique to make the background using Papertrey Ink Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise and Hibiscus Burst ink. When the ink was dry, I cut a square from it and rounded the corner before stamping the hearts along the bottom with the pink ink and then embossing it with clear powder. I stamped the sentiment from Happy Little Stampers Everyday Sentiments set and the Mix Mash set with Versafine Onyx ink and then added a drift of pink hearts which I coated with WOS glitter brush. I made a mat of black card to help the panel pop from the background card and glued it down. It's hard to see in the first picture, but I thought the background reminded me of marbled water, so I decided to doodle on some squiggles with a clear glitter pen to add to the effect. 

Thanks so much Kylie for a lovely inspiration card, and I hope you will race over to the Happy Little Stampers Blog to see what the other members of the Design Team came up with. 

This challenge is sponsored by

and the winner will receive a stamp set from HLS, so I do hope you join in with us. You have a month to add your link and you can enter as many times as you like.

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Carol x

Papertrey Ink Valentine card

Hello everyone, and a very warm welcome to new friend Nat of Simply Sweet Stamping who is joining us as a new follower this week. Nat lives in Toronto and is a talented artist who started with working in stained glass before moving on to papercrafting. You will find lots of inspiration on her blog and be prepared to love her amazing colouring skills too! 

Today is the start of a new challenge over at Simply Create Too, and once again I was thrilled to see all the wonderful cards that were entered into the last challenge.This time the challenge is to make a Valentine's Day card or use hearts, and I came up with this card.

I used the cute bug image from Papertrey Ink 2010 Love Tags and all the sentiments are also from that set.I coloured the image with Copic markers using colours I pulled from the stripey paper which is from the PTI Sparkle and Shine Paper Collection. I expect many of you are sick of seeing me use the Canvas Impression plate on so many cards, but it is my go to plate for plain white panels just now! A tag with the sentiment embossed in white, a brad, and heart covered with WOS glitter pen finished it off. It's ages since I used a brad and whilst I was rooting around for the right colour, I realised that I have so many that I could probably use one every day for 5 years and not run out. And I thought I had purged all my supplies!

I'd like to enter this into

Addicted to Stamping - clean and simple

Simon Says Wednesday challenge - anything goes

Shopping our stash - Love Me Do

Before you go, why not pop over to see what our Design Team have for you this week at Simply Create Too,


Thanks for stopping by

Hugs
Carol x

Papertrey Ink and Simon Says Stamps Valentine card

Hello everyone, and a very warm welcome to new friend Shannon of Stamp and Glitter who is joining us as a new follower this week. Shannon is a very versatile crafter and enjoys cardmaking, knitting, home decor projects, scrapbooking and jewelry making. Phew all of that and she still finds time to go to work too! Do pop over to say hello and I know you will be glad you did.

The inspiration photo over at the card concept is really pretty and I wanted to play along so I could try that pretty ombre technique.

I took a piece of Tim Holtz watercolour paper and painted an ombre pattern on it

I then die cut a heart shape from it with a PTI Limitless Layers heart die

I then experimented a bit and cut a PTI Notched heart tag out and used it as a stencil with some Veramark ink to emboss some tiny hearts on in white ink

This was only partially successful as a couple of the hearts came out as little blobs but I thought it was 'okay enough' to use. I matted it onto one of the larger heart dies and added some tiny die cut hearts to it to add some texture and dimension.

I stamped the sentiment onto the white panel and used my favorite PTI canvas impression plate to give some more texture and added a strip of patterned paper down the side. The 'sending' word is from a Simon Says Stamps die and you will see that it was strategically placed to hide some of the mushiness of the embossed hearts. I wonder if you would have noticed the mushiness if I hadn't spilled lol? A sprinkling of little red hearts finished it off.

I'd like to enter this into

The Card Concept love challenge - clean and layered

CAS on Sunday - use a stencil

Addicted to Stamping - holiday

Simon Says Have a Heart challenge

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Hugs

Carol x

Papertrey Ink Valentine or Anniversary card.

Hello everyone and I hope you are enjoying your weekend. If you are here for today's  Christmas Card Challenge, please scroll down to the next post along.

The 25th of the month always brings another Blog Hop from Papertrey Ink and this time 

the theme is hearts.

I came up with a a card for my DH for Valentines day but it could just as easily fit the bill for an anniversary card.

I cut the focal panel out of white card and then fussy cut the mat for it in tropical teal card. I love mixing and matching sentiments from different sets so that they say just what I want and that's what I did here. I started off by stamping the scrolls from Boutique Borders: Birthday in Hawaiian Shores ink and then stamped the Love image from Heart 2 Heart 2. The words underneath came from With All My Heart and Boutique Borders: Love, which were stamped in tropical teal ink, and I then finished with another scroll. I used the Falling Hearts stencil from Simon Says Stamps, and some pure poppy ink to add the tiny hearts over the background along with some larger die cut hearts to add some texture.

All of this was placed on a background of paper from the  Sparkle and Shine Paper collection, and I finished it off with some baker's twine and another little heart.

Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with but before I go, I'd like to enter this into


Card Concept Love challenge - clean and layered

Wags n Whiskers - hearts

Addicted to Stamping - holiday

Winter Wonderland challenge - use one designer paper

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop.

Hugs
Carol x

PTI Anniversary trading card

Hello everyone,

I'm still playing along with PTI Anniversary festivities and today we were asked to create a 3x4 inch flat trading card. I've never made one of these before but I came up with this one

I took a 3x4 piece of autumn rose card and stamped a heart prints stamp in scarlet jewel ink. I then masked this off and stamped with the Impression Obsession scratches background stamp in versamark ink. I removed the mask and embossed the card with a Sizzix texture plate, before swiping the edges with white ink. I cut a double ended banner and added the heat embossed sentiments, before finishing it off with a few little hearts.  Not my usual style, but I quite enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone. 

I'd like to enter this into the 2 Sisters challenge which is to use embossing, and the Addicted to CAS challenge where the codeword is LOVE.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Papertrey Ink Valentine

Hello everyone,

Have you been following the Papertrey Ink 7th Anniversary celebrations? There is a lot going on with challenges and free downloads, so I recommend scooting over there to have a look. Today's challenge was to use an image from this year's free download and make a card. You can enter multiple times (and so many people have!), but I only had time to make one card today, and here it is

I used Heather Nichols' image and cut it down to an irregular shape and made it into a Valentine/Anniversary card.  I added a heard border with the heart border die and a sentiment from Boy Basics Out of this World, before finishing it off with some glossy accents on the hearts. The base card was impressed with the Lil' Inkers stitched rectangle die. I used Scarlet Jewel Ink rather that bright red ans black card because I think it makes it a bit more masculine, and this one is destined for my DH next week.

I am also going to enter this into the Male Room challenge for a masculine Valentine, and at Sue's kind suggestion, I am also entering it into the Stamping Dragon 'love is in the air' challenge.

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Carol x

Papertrey Ink Valentine card for Casology challenge

Hello everyone, and a very warm welcome to new followers, Anne, of Wicked Designs Blog (my talented Teamie at the Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge), and Babyboo, of Babyboo Mini Lab.

I wanted to join in the challenge over at CASOLOGY this week,

The cue card this time is CONTRAST, so I decided to make a plain white card and add a strip of red to provide the contrast.

I used one of the PTI Confetti Garland Border dies but I kept the red aperture shape and cut it out again in white card for the centre. I impressed the white hearts with the canvas impression plate to add some texture,

and I also impressed the focal panel with the other side of the impression plate - love that thing!

The sentiment came from PTI Think Big Favorites 23 and I also used Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Rectangles.

I'd also like to enter this into the Addicted to Stamps and More challenge which is CAS this week.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a good week.

Hugs

Carol x