Friday 24 June 2016

. . . hop on over to the Paper Smooches Blog

It's Pep Rally Week on the Paper Smooches Blog.
Kim and the DT are sharing fun and fabulous projects using the
one new stamp set and five new dies from the July 2016 release,
 
CREATIVE INSPIRATION

CRAFTY TEMPTATION

AND the chance to WIN
one of FOUR $25 Paper Smooches gift certificates too!!!
AWESOME!!!

Head on over to the
Paper Smooches Blog
and get hopping now,
GOOD LUCK :)

Here are some links to their store if you want to check out all the crafty delights they have to tempt and inspire:
    

Wednesday 22 June 2016

HAPPY Mail and the June challenge with Clearsnap

Remember this rainbow of "happy" birthday card?


I entered it in the Clearsnap May Color Challenge
and was thrilled to be chosen as the lucky winner.

My prize arrived today and it sure is HAPPY mail.
THANK YOU Clearsnap :)


I look forward to sharing my stencil adventures with you real soon.

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NOW IT IS YOUR TURN

Head on over and create a project for
the June Color Challenge with Clearsnap


for your chance to win this wonderful prize


entries close 25th June => GOOD LUCK!!!

Saturday 18 June 2016

Come on over and join the caffeinated fun of the


Today is the start of the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

It runs from 6am Pacific time 17th June – ends 11:55pm 24th June

The theme is SUMMER

Prizes - YES, with 57 Super Sponsors there are LOTS of prizes!

Anyone is eligible for a Super Sponsor/Flash prize if they link up a newly created SUMMER themed Coffee, Tea &/or Cocoa project, no back-linking please. Random.org is used to draw for winners.
Link up your newly created SUMMER themed projects that include coffee, tea &/or coffee inspired designs.  Social media hashtag:  #summerclh  PLEASE no backlinking.
The linky closes on Friday, June 24th at 11:55 pm pacific.
FULL details and links can be found on the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop post on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog.

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... I have several coffee loving projects planned, not started yet.

If you're looking for some digital help, here are some of my favourite links:

Silhoutte Design Store - digital images and cut files
My Scrap Chick - digital images and cut files
Craftin Desert Divas - digital images
(Tara from the CDD has shared a cute freebie digi file for this hop
 - Coffee Friends Digital Stamp)

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If I find any freebies or special caffeinated deals as I hop along, 
I will share the links here:

JESSICALYNNORIGINAL..COM BLOG
- freebie - Brentwood Owl "good days start with coffee" Limited Edition digital stamp

The Verve Blog
- freebie - Three Cheers Coffee Lovers Digital Freebie

STAMPlorations
- freebie - Latte for Two digital stamp



Thursday 16 June 2016

EXCITING NEWS ...

I have some EXCITING news to share!

I am joining the Design Team at the Crafty Gals Corner
from July- December 2016

Grab Our Badge!

The Crafty Gals Corner host a challenge every week and I will be joining them to share some creative inspiration with you.

My first project with them will be posted July 6th and I hope you will come over and join the challenge with us.


In the meantime, you should head on over to the Crafty Gals Corner today and create a project for the current challenge - Challenge # 76 Summer Fun

Saturday 4 June 2016

Burlap banner birthday

It is no secret that I love the Kaisercraft Basecoat patterned papers.
Luckily they seem to be keeping this as a standard design (not seasonal), so it is a pleasure to use them instead of hoarding them for "something extra special, one day".  I should confess that I do have a couple of these 6 1/2" paper pads in my stash, along with the 12"x12" collection.

I was pretty excited when the Kaisercraft Lucky Dip Collection was released, it has wonderful textures including burlap, cork and chalkboard.  Today was my first time using the Burlap Stack.  It was a little thicker than I thought and with hindsight, I probably should have cut my banner panel manually, instead of using a die, but everything seems OK.


I layered the burlap banner with layers of cardstock for extra contrast.
The "happy" is from Winnie & Walter, the "birthday" is from Sizzix,
full details linked below.
The burlap looks fabulous against the woodgrain panel and textured cardstock.


My card stands 7 1/4" tall, 5 1/4" wide
... the size of the base grew larger to fit the sentiment banner and matted layers. 
As it stands so tall and I wanted a top fold, I had to cut separate front & back panels and adhere them, after scoring the back panel 3/4" from the top.  I used Helmar Acid Free Professional Glue, a liquid glue that is super strong and used for bookbinding.



Ingredients:
Kaisercraft - Basecoat 6 1/2" paper pad
Kaisercraft - Lucky Dip Burlap A4 Pad
Kaisercraft - Tag Shapes Decorative Dies
Winnie & Walter - In A Word - Happy Cutaway
Sizzix - birthday sentiment - Regal Stand Ups Framelits by Stephanie Barnard
Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive
(to adhere matted layers)
Helmar Acid Free Professional Glue
(to adhere the top fold)
Tombow Mono Multi Glue
(to adhere the sentiment layers)

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I'm going to enter my card in the following challenges:
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Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog
Challenge: Monochrome

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog  Simon Says Stamp

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Friday 3 June 2016

hello SUNSHINE

This easel card is 4 1/2" x 5 3/4"
It stands 4 1/4" tall when open, has lots of layers and has lots of sparkle.


The rainbow background panel is the Paper Smooches Squared Coverlet Die.  I took the die cut sections out of each row and inked them into a rainbow using a Cleansnap Primary Pastel Chalk Inkpad.  I cut a white panel the same size as the die cut panel, adhered it in place then inlaid the rainbow pieces.  I adhered the panel onto Kaisercraft Navy cardstock and cut a 1/16" border using my Perfect Layers Ruler, then I layered the panel on white cardstock, with the same 1/16" border.  I used this ruler for all the layers.



It has been quite a while since I've made an easel card, so I will share how I made it.  I cut a panel 9" x 5 3/4", scored at 4 1/2" and 6 3/4".  The bottom of the rainbow panel gets adhered to the narrow 2 1/4" section that will become the bottom front of the card.  The 4 1/2" line becomes the top fold when the card is flat.
To make the "wedge" to hold the rainbow panel up, I added a smaller piece of white cardstock under the navy sentiment panel.  This was the perfect size to fit my sparkling "sunshine" and the added height allows the rainbow panel to sit against it quite securely, without making it too chunky to close flat.


The "hello" is from the Paper Smooches Hello Words Die Set.  I layered a white one over four navy ones for dimesion but it just didn't POP from the inlaid rainbow background, so I cut another one in white, inked it up with the same yellow ink ... it still didn't POP, so I painted it with glue and smothered it with yellow glitter, then I was very HAPPY with the sparkling yellow POP.



The "sunshine" is from a pack of AC DIY Shoebox Thickers.  A single layer of glitter was quite pale, so I painted each letter with glue and smoothered them with another coat of glitter.  The extra layer made for thick, solid coverage and it sparkles beautifully.



The clouds are Paper Smooches Cute Clouds ... yes, they really are cute.  I put the clusters at different heights by layering foam dots.  Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins (4mm & 6mm) make perfect little raindrops.  I secured them with tiny dollops of Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

Ingredients:
Paper Smooches - Squared Coverlet Die
Paper Smooches - Hello Words Dies
Paper Smooches - Cute Clouds Dies
Perfect Layers Ruler - 1/16" border under each layer
Cleansnap - ColorBox Petal Point Fluid Chalk Inkpad - Primary Pastel
American Crafts - DIY Thickers - Shoebox
Glitter
Pretty Pink Posh - Sparkling Clear Sequins, 4mm & 6mm
Kaisercraft weave cardstock - Navy
American Crafts textured cardstock - white 60 pack
Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive
(to adhere matted layers)
Helmar Acid Free Professional Glue
(to adhere glitter to the sentiment & alphas)
Tombow Mono Multi Glue
(to layer & attach sentiment and secure the sequins)
Foam dots - to give the clouds some dimension

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I am going to enter my card in the following challenges

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Crafty Gals Corner Blog
Grab Our Badge!

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Simon Says Stamp Blog
Work It Wednesday May 2016
The challenge is to use sunshine in your project.
My sparkling sunshine sentiment is peeking out from my geometric "rainbow".
workitwedbanner


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Paper Smooches Blog
June Challenge - LAYERS
My card has lots of layers,
layered die cuts, layered glitter and layered cardstock.

   http://www.papersmoochesstamps.com/

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Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenge Blog
June 2016 Challenge - Anything Goes
must contain glitter or embossing powder


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