Happy Pawlidays and Striped Ombre Background

I have a new post for Anna's Craft Cupboard featuring My Favorite Things to share with you today.

I wanted to make some more Christmas cards for family and friends as I still don't have enough!
So I decided to use the cute Happy Pawlidays set again and combine it with the Santa's Elves stamp set.
I love how the MFT sets all work so well together!
The possibilities are endless really :)

I also decided to use a new (to me) MFT die-namics Die called Bold Stripes Cover Up with these stamps and talk a little about how I created these Christmas cards.

This first card was very simple and pretty quick too!

I coloured the image with copics and used a circle die to cut it out.
I used one of the sentiments from the Happy Pawlidays set but masked off the the bottom of the sentiment so that it just says "Santa Paws".  On the inside of the card I have stamped the "is coming to town" part of the sentiment.
I used the MFT Blueprints 5 Tag Builder Die to cut the sentiment out.

I used the Bold Stripes cover up to cut out the white background piece.
It will leave you with lots of white rectangular pieces, but don't throw these out!
They are perfect to save for later to use for sentiment strips :)

Then I used the die again to cut the coloured stripes from Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes papers.
I used 7 different colours to create a rainbow look.
If you were going to make a set of 7 backgrounds the same, for a set of cards, you could just use the whole die to cut the paper and you would have made 7 cards very quickly.
But I was just making 1 so I just used the die on the end of the paper so that I didn't waste any and only cut 1 stripe out.

I cut a piece of kraft card the same length as the die but slightly wider.
I glued the white die panel to the kraft card and then glued each coloured piece of paper into the die cut space.
I then attached this piece to the card base.

I think this made a lovely background and you could use it for so many occasions.
A rainbow pattern isn't even "Christmassy" but I thought it worked and looks cute too :)

For my second card I decided to use the die as a stencil and create an ombre background with Distress Inks. You could also use Distress Oxides for this.

I used the die to cut out a piece of card for the stencil.
I then put Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue on the back of it and waited for it to "set" so that it would be repositional.

When ready, I attached it to the smooth side of some watercolour paper.

I then used Distress Inks and the Tim Holtz Mini Foam Ink Blending Tool to create an ombre background.

I started with the darker colours at the top and worked my way down to light.
I started sponging the ink in a circular manner which is the usual way of applying distress ink but I ended up kind of just swiping across the lines.
I put more ink on each side and kept the centre lighter.

At the very top it is a mix of the darkest blue I had with the purple.  And it made a great colour :)
Most of the background is done by doing 2 rows using the same ink colour but making one of the rows darker.
I did this by adding a little of the darker ink (from the row above it) to the new colour.

After I was satisfied with the look, I removed the stencil and I had my background piece.  It did look gorgeous with the dark stripe over the top but it just wouldn't have worked for the card I had in mind.
I will have to do it again that way another time :)

I then splashed some water on it and used paper towel to remove wetness.
I also added a few little splashes of  Dylusions white paint to the background.

I trimmed this piece to attach to some kraft card and then attached this to a Kaisercraft Square white card. I then rounded the corners of this.

On this card I used the dog and present from the Happy Pawlidays set and the tree and sentiment are from Santa's Elves.

I made a happy discovery when doing the sentiment :)
I realised I could use the Bold Stripes Cover Up die to cut it out.  Yay!
So I stamped it and cut it out using the smaller rectangular opening on the die.
And then I used the larger rectangular opening to cut a piece of black card for a perfect mat for it!!!

I will be using this all the time now for any narrower sentiments that I want to use :)

You can use this die in so many interesting ways

The stamps were coloured with copics and I added some glitter glue to the star on the tree for a little sparkle.
I also used the tag die again and some antique linen and walnut stain distress ink around the card's edge.



I love this die and both of these stamp sets from MFT!

You still have time to make some more Christmas cards too!
I would love to see what you create :)

Thanks for dropping by today

Kathy

Happy Pawlidays

I have a cute Christmas card for Anna's Craft Cupboard to share today.

I absolutely fell in love with this set called Happy Pawlidays from MFT!

How cute is this puppy?!!!

There are 3 other dogs in the set and a lot of punny canine Christmas greetings as well :)

I love the cute sentiments in this set almost as much as the puppies!

And I just HAD to have it!!!

So I was looking through all the pretty papers Anna's has in store when I spied this one.
Could it be, that I'd found the perfect doggy Christmas paper?

It really reminded me of Christmas paper with it's traditional colours of red, green and gold.
And at first I thought they were red and gold circles too (that could be Christmas baubles perhaps) but no, even better, they were tennis balls! AND the background pattern was made up of dog bones!
Exactly what every puppy would want for Christmas :)

This Go Fetch paper from the Cooper and Friends Collection by Photoplay probably isn't meant to be doggy Christmas paper but I think it is pawsitively perfect anyway:)

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges :

Send a Smile for Kids - Happy Holidays

Mod Squad Challenge - Cut it out (no white)

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Little Elf

I have another gorgeous stamp from CC Designs to share with you today.
This is Little Elf and I think he is adorable.

I painted a background sky using London Blue, Grape and Turquoise Dylusions paints and then used white to stencil on some stars.

I used an older CC Designs sentiment and ripped the paper to create a snow hill.

I used antique linen and walnut stain around the tag edge and coloured him with copics and popped him up with dimensionals.

The background is soft sky Core'dinations card which was embossed with Nordic Sweater by Sizzix.

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenge :

Just Keep On Creating - anything goes

Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

3 Reindeers

I have a cute Christmas card to share today using the adorable new CC Designs stamp set called
3 Reindeers.

There are 3 reindeers in the set and all are gorgeous, but this one is my favourite because of the cute little puppy reindeer :)

I created a background with paints and a snowflake stencil on watercolour paper.

I also flicked some white paint over the top of it.

I tore a snow hill and used versafine sepia instead of black for the sentiment so that it would coordinate better with the brown reindeer.

Then I added some diecut snowflakes to the scene.

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges :

Cute Card Thursday - Snowflakes

Southern Girls - Crazy for Critters

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Santa's Elves and Dylusions

I have had lots of fun this month, creating Christmas cards for Anna's Craft Cupboard :)

I have loved colouring the gorgeous elves in the MFT  Santa's Elves set and I have also loved creating backgrounds for them using Dylusions Paints.

I thought I would do a little tutorial on how I created my card.

I used the smooth side of some watercolour paper for the painted panel.
You can also use other types of heavyweight card.

I had done a little reading about using these paints and found that some people use baby wipes to spread it on to the card and to blend it.
It was actually one of the reasons I got the courage to buy the paint, as I'm not a painter.  It just seemed so easy, less messy and there were no brushes etc required either.
But after having tried it, I must say I'm not a fan of this technique.
Although the colours are lovely, it just doesn't have the depth and richness I want.

I used my Tim Holtz Mini Foam Ink Blending Tool to apply the paint instead and I was much happier with it.

This photo shows the difference between using a baby wipe (left) and blending tool (right).
I might try the baby wipe again, perhaps I just need more practice :)

You can also see in the photos that I don't own a craft mat :(
I guess I'll buy one someday, but in the meantime I just use a plastic bag as a work surface.
I use my blending tool to get a small amount of paint out of the lid of the paint pot.
You really only need a tiny amount!
Then I swirl it onto the plastic bag, which blends it into the foam and then it blends onto the card more evenly. You just use the plastic bag as a kind of paint palette!

To the smooth side of some watercolour paper I added circles of Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise paint.
I usually apply 3 areas of a colour to start with.

Then I applied Dylusions London Blue paint.

Then I applied Dylusions Crushed Grape paint.
You can see how the colours blend together to create new, deeper colours.

I then added more London Blue and Vibrant Turquoise over the top of these circles of colour.
I still applied it with the blending tool, but I also got messy.
I used my fingers to blend the paint out.  I didn't really think I would like doing this but it was actually fun!!! :)
This blending was just done randomly over the top of the paint circles.  And I mostly blended with my fingers, moving the paint out in all directions.
So that was like a topcoat of paint and the undercoat can still be seen through it.
This adds depth to the background.

There is no right or wrong way of applying this paint.
You can just keep applying more over the top until you're happy with it.

And if you're like me, this takes a while and you'll get pretty messy.
Make sure you have lots of baby wipes at the ready to clean your hands!!!

After I had created the painted background I applied some Tombow Mono Multi Glue to the back and waited for it to set so that it would be repositional.

I then applied it to a piece of black card.
(You'll notice this is longer than my watercolour piece. I used a smaller piece of watercolour paper that I had because I knew I would be covering up the bottom of it anyway).

I sponged Dylusions White Linen paint onto the Kaisercraft Ornamental Template.
I didn't use the entire design, but chose certain areas to sponge.  Placing some on the black card as well as the painted panel.

I used some of the white linen paint again on a wet paint brush and flicked the paint over the card in a diagonal direction.

When this had dried, I removed the panel and added a white mat behind it.
Then I glued it to the card, lining up the snowflakes again.

I stamped the sentiment onto white cardstock and tore the top to resemble a snow mound.
And I added a couple of small strips of white card to either side of the panel before attaching the sentiment so that it would sit flatter.

Then I attached the elf to the snow with X-Press It Foam Mounting Squares and adhered the whole piece to a white card base.

Using these paints is so much fun and each background you create is unique and beautiful.
I hope you give them a try too :)

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Christmas Rose

I have a card for CC Designs to share today.
They have released so many cute Christmas stamps this month and Christmas cards are my favourite things to make, so I'm happy :)
This one is called Christmas Rose.

I decided to make a bokeh background with distress inks and white paint.
And I coloured her with copics to coordinate.
I used unconventional Christmas colours I know, but I think it works .
And if not, at least it's unique :)


I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges :
ABC Christmas challenge : U for unlimited and V for vibrant
Word Art Wednesday : Anything goes with a sentiment

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Santa's Elves

I have a card to share for Anna's Craft Cupboard today.

I was lucky enough to get this MFT stamp called Santa's Elves!
Yippee!!! I was so excited because I have wanted this one for so long.

He was so much fun to colour in and he's absolutely adorable isn't he?!

As well as colouring fun, I also had some "messy" fun with this card :)

I used some Dylusions paints for the first time.
I fell in love with their colours and decided to take a chance and buy a few in the hope that I could create some beautiful backgrounds.

I used London Blue, Vibrant Turquoise, Crushed Grape and White Linen.
I love this colour combination and I think it works well for a Christmas card.

I used 2 stencils for the painted background.
A Kaisercraft template called Ornamental
and a Crafter's Workshop one called Confetti for the white elements on top.

I painted onto the smooth side of some watercolour paper.

The panel was then mounted onto a Kaisercraft C6 white card.

And I popped the elf up on some x-press it foam mounting squares for some added dimension.

I decided to use some Doodlebug Designs Candy Shoppe alpha stickers for the sentiment.
It is a bit hard to see in the photo, but this is sparkly and looks so good against the painted background without drawing too much attention away from the elf.
After all, that elf deserves all of it ! :)

Copics used :

BG 0000, 01,02,05,09,10,11, 13, 15, 49

B04

BV 02, 04, 13

C1

E 000, 00, 04, 11, 21

R30

I love making Christmas cards!
I hope you get some crafty time to make some too :)

Thanks for dropping by today

Kathy

Thankful Lucy

I have a card for CC Designs to share today.
I decided to make a thank you card for a teacher with this gorgeous new stamp called Thankful Lucy.
She's adorable isn't she?!

I also used a new die called Cloudy Days and Waves  to cut an interesting edge for the sentiment.
The sentiment is a retired CC Designs stamp.

Copics used :

E 000, 00, 04, 11, 21

W 1, 3, 5, 7

R 20, 81, 83, 85

BG 10, 11, 72

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges :

Simon Says Stamps - anything goes
Words to Craft By - Logic vs Imagination
DJ Card Creations - Never Before Used Stuff  (Thankful Lucy stamp and Die)

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

MFT Blueprints 5 - Tag Builder Die-namics tags

I have another post for Anna's Craft Cupboard today featuring the fabulous Blueprints 5 -  Tag Builder Die-namics by My Favorite Things.

There are so many wonderful elements included in this die that I thought I would make a few tags to showcase some of them.

This Tag Builder Die-namic includes a solid tag with a stitched edge that you could use on it's own but I have used it for the back of all of these tags.
It also includes two other tags.  One has a rectangular window with stitching around that (bunny and hippo tag) and the other has a square window with a smaller rectangular opening below it. (house tag)
They also have an opening for string or ribbon to go through and two different types of reinforcements for this.

One of the greatest things about this tag die, in my opinion, are the different ways you can die-cut your sentiments.  You get the fishtail label (bunny), the banner (hippo), the rectangle piece in the square window die (house) and there is a larger fishtail flag too.  They only fit smaller sentiments but there are usually a couple of these in most MFT stamp sets.

There are many other fun parts to this die too such as little hugs and kisses and hearts.
And even the left over parts from "windows" being cut out have stitching around their edges too, so you get lots of useful extras to use on something else :)

I decided to try making a shaker tag from the two window tag.
I've never made one before and I was really happy with how it turned out :)

This is how I made my shaker tag if you'd like to give it a try :)

• I used the solid tag to cut an acetate piece for the shaker front and a back from white card.
• I used the tag with the 2 windows to cut a front from purple card.  I also used it to cut some foam leaving the lower rectangle window in place. Because the sides of the tag are so tiny I thought I would try this instead of using foam mounting tape.  I had never done this before and it was SO much quicker and easier :)  I just used the die to cut it and then glued it to the back tag piece.
• I used the heart confetti die from this set to cut out some hearts in pink and purple and put them inside the shaker window.
• I glued the acetate sheet on top of the foam piece and then glued the purple piece on top of this.
• I cut another of the 2 window tags from white card and stamped the "Be Happy" from the MFT Happy Hippos stamp onto the rectangle window piece. I glued this in place over the foam in the bottom window.
• I stamped the house and heart banner from the MFT Up In The Air set, coloured them with Copics and cut them out. I used glue and glue dots to adhere to tag.
• The birds from the MFT Happy Hippos set were coloured with Copics, cut out and adhered.

I think this might make a nice tag for a new home or housewarming gift or maybe even for a wedding or engagement?

Trumpet Bunny Tag 

Ingredients :

Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes paper

MFT Strike Up The Band  (for bunny and sentiment stamp)

MFT Up In The Air (cloud stamp)

white card

On this tag I tried using paper for the top layer rather than cardstock. 

I used the solid tag die to cut a white cardstock back and the light blue paper from the Watercolor Wishes pad and the rectangle window tag die to cut the dark blue paper from the same pad.

It ended up being a lighter tag, but it is still sturdy enough and the papers look beautiful together.

Hippo Tag

Ingredients :

Doodlebug Spring Things Paper

MFT Happy Hippos ( for hippo, hat and sentiment)

white and pink card

I really love the banner die! I have wanted one for a long time, I think they look fantastic. 

I curved the sentiment stamp slightly and stamped it onto white card and then used the die to cut it out.  Then I folded the banner along fold lines and glued them down so that it was fairly flat. You could leave it though if you wanted to and then the banner would have more height.

Making these tags has been so much fun!!!

They are a great way to use up all those little bits of card and paper you have saved.

And they're a great way to use those extra stamps you've coloured and then done nothing with too.

When I was making my hippo cards last month I had coloured this hippo and the birds I used on the house tag and cut them out but then decided not to use them.  I actually just put them in the plastic sleeve the stamps come in for safe keeping and they were there ready and waiting to be used :)

I LOVE the Blueprints 5 Tag Builder Die-namics.  It's perfect!

I can't wait to make some more for Christmas presents :)

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Wild About You

I have a post for Anna's Craft Cupboard and a handmade gift rather than a card to share with you today :)

But firstly I'd like to tell you a little about a new tool I bought a few weeks ago, the Tim Holtz Stamp Platform.

I had read quite a bit about it before buying it and it definitely lives up to the hype.
It is absolutely wonderful!
I have only had it a few weeks but I feel like it's an essential tool now.
I will never stamp without it again!
And I wonder how I ever did without it!

There are so many great things about this stamp platform but I thought I would write down in no particular order....

 My Top 10 Reasons Why It's Brilliant  

1. You can stamp and re-stamp until you're satisfied with your stamped image.  This will save SO much paper.  No more throwing away images and cards because you're not happy with how they've stamped.
2. You can use it with rubber and clear stamps.  You simply turn the lid over which is really quick and easy. "Rubber" and "clear" is marked on the lid.
3. The top has an easy to see grid moulded into it which lets you position stamps more easily and allows for perfect placement. This is particularly great with clear stamps if you are using letter stamps, sentiments or are trying to get something in a straight line for example.
4. It's very sturdy and well made and easy to clean with a baby wipe.
5. Measurements along the top and side in metric and imperial and these won't rub off.
6. You can use any size of paper in it!
7. It's great for hard to ink images like background stamps or other stamps that you have trouble with.
8. Very easy to use and gives a great image without the need to press down as hard as you do with a block. Fantastic for people with arthritis or other issues with their hands/arms.  Less pressure needed.
9. Perfect for stamping identical cards, such as invitations or Christmas cards.  
10. I can finally stamp a sentiment straight onto an almost finished card without ruining the whole thing!!!!! Yay!

If you do any stamping at all, you need one of these!
As you can probably tell, I really, really love mine :)


Anyway, onto the actual project :)

I had the chance to play with a new MFT stamp called Wild About You.
There are 4 different African animals in this fun set and it could be used for so many different types of cards.
But I thought I would use it to make a cute baby gift and instead of buying a gift bag I decided to make my own.
Well, I didn't exactly "make" it to be honest, there was no sewing involved at all.
But I bought this plain calico bag and decorated it :)

I have never stamped on fabric before so I can't speak from experience. But I did some research and found that there are inks specifically for fabric but that you can also use Pigment Inks and heat set them to make them permanent.
I decided to try Brilliance Graphite Black.
I don't think it would matter too much what ink I used though as this is not something that would be washed much anyway.
I could have also coloured the giraffes but I liked the more plain, graphic look.

So here's a little about how I made the bag, if you'd like to give it a try too :)

• I measured the bag (25x29cm) and cut a piece of paper slightly smaller.  Then I stamped the giraffes in a row as I would on the bag, trying out different spacing until I was happy.  I decided I liked the look of 5 and worked out that I needed to start 1" from the edge and move the piece 1.5" after each stamping.

• I cut a piece of card smaller than the bag and placed it inside, in case the ink went through onto the other side of the bag.  

• I wanted the giraffes to be in a line across the bottom of the bag and because of the bag's size it meant I had turn the bag around and have the bottom of it against the top edge of the Stamp Platform.

• You would also usually put your work into the top left corner of the Platform and hold it in place with the super strong magnets.  But with this bag I had to work from the right hand side instead.  This is because there is a raised edge on the left and top of the Platform whereas the right side and bottom are flat to allow for larger pieces than the platform to be used.

• I could have kept moving the stamp across the lid instead of moving the bag but then it wouldn't be quite as even and straight along the bottom and you get messy fingers and there's extra cleaning, etc. So it is best to leave the stamp in place and move the bag across.

• I positioned the stamp where I wanted it on the lid to stamp my first giraffe.  I put the magnets on top and even though they were going through 2 pieces of fabric plus a layer of cardboard, it held it in place easily.  These magnets are very strong and you need to be a little careful with them.  It is best to slide them into place if possible rather than picking them up.

• I had to stamp, re-ink and repeat to get a good enough image.  This was only because I was stamping onto fabric though. 

• I took the magnets away and moved the bag across 1.5", replaced the magnets before re-inking and stamping again and repeated until I had my 5 giraffes.

There is no way I would have even thought of attempting this project if it wasn't for my new Tim Holtz Stamp Platform.
The first stamping of each giraffe was very light, even though I used a very juicy ink pad and the stamp platform.  So I had to re-ink the stamp and stamp each one at least twice to get a good image.
And without the stamp platform I wouldn't have been able to do this or line the giraffes up and get them straight either :)

After making the bag I made a tag to match using the MFT Die-namics Blueprints 5 Tag Builder Die.
This die is wonderful and makes the most gorgeous tags!
I do have other tag dies but this one is my new favourite.
It is just so cute!!!

I used American Crafts smooth Kraft card for the base,
Lawn Fawn watercolor wishes paper for the background and I cut the grass using the MFT Spring Scene Builder Die-namics.
The giraffe was coloured with Copics and popped up using X-Press It Foam Mounting Squares.
The little wooden sentiment is from  Jillibean Soup Wordfetti - Celebrate.

I could put various little baby goodies inside the bag but what I intend to do is to buy a board book.
Maybe 'Giraffe's Can't Dance'? That is a great book and fits the giraffe theme perfectly.
And perhaps later on the bag could be kept as a library bag?
It would be just the right size for a toddler and their smaller books and I think it would be very cute too!  :)

Kathy

Viking Henry

I have used another of CC Designs awesome new Viking stamps on my card.

This one is Viking Henry and he is super fun and just perfect for those, usually tricky, guy cards.

I saw a new challenge at Kraft+ and was very inspired by their graphic :)

I used an embossing folder on Kraft card and rubbed a white craft ink pad lightly over the top to highlight the pattern.
Then I cut out some hexagons from Winter Fun paper by Carta Bella and adhered them to create the background.

I am so glad I found this challenge.
The theme is actually "what's the buzz?" and it's about bees.
So I definitely thought outside the box and changed things up quite a bit :)
I wouldn't have create a background like this without seeing the challenge graphic and I really love the way it has turned out :)

This little viking was so much fun to colour with my Copics!

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Heidi with Headband

I have a card to share using another new release stamp from CC Designs.

This one is Heidi with Headband. She's very sweet isn't she ?!

I coloured her with copics, cut her out and popped her up on some Basic Gray Persimmon papers.
I white embossed the sentiment onto grey card and corner rounded the edges to make a little file tab.


I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges :

Simon Says Stamp - Stamp
Ribbon Girl - Anything goes

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Happy Hippos Birthday

I have another card today for Anna's Craft Cupboard featuring those Happy Hippos from MFT :)

This really is an adorable set!
I used a different hippo and bird this time with a birthday cake and I created a little background scene for them too!

I used the MFT Spring Scene Builder Die-namics with papers from Lawn Fawn's Watercolor Wishes pad.  These papers worked so well with this die! They all coordinate beautifully and have light and dark areas of colour, giving them a real watercolour look. Plus there's none of that extra work (and talent) that's needed for painting!  Bonus!

Once I'd created the little background scene I rounded the corners and glued it to a Kaisercraft square white card.
I coloured my images with Copics and cut them out and I used X-Press IT foam mounting squares on the hippo and balloons to make them "pop" and give the card some added dimension.

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Viking Nancy

It's Release Day at CC Designs.  :)

I have made a card with another one of the awesome viking stamps from Roberto's Rascals.
This is a Viking Nancy.
And she really is Fabulous isn't she?!

The sentiment is from an old CC Designs set.
But I just had to use it because I think it is so perfect for her!

It's such a wonderful release this month!
I really am in love with all of the vikings!
And there are some really pretty CC Designs girls too that I will share on my blog soon.

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Viking Kids

It's nearly new release time at CC Designs and I have a sneak peek for you :)

I've used a new stamp set called Viking Kids and it is absolutely brilliant!

All 4 of these gorgeous vikings are in the set and it's definitely a "must have" in my opinion!

They were so much fun to colour and you could be so creative with them.
I really love these little guys :)

Head over to the CC Designs Blog to see some more sneak peeks from the design team.

And if you leave a comment there, you might even be lucky enough to win a prize :)

Thanks for dropping by today

Kathy

Dragon Hansel

I have a card to share using another of the cuties from this month's CC Designs release.

This is Dragon Hansel and isn't he so adorable?!

I coloured him with Copics and cut him out using the Tag Die.
The sentiment is from an older CC designs set called Smoochie Sentiments.
Papers are Sweet Baby Boy from Bella Blvd.


I'd like to enter my card into the challenge at :
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Patterned paper
Word Art Wednesday - Anything goes with a sentiment

Thanks for dropping by today :)
Kathy

Unicorn Lucy

I have used another adorable stamp from the newest release by CC Designs.
This one is called Unicorn Lucy. Isn't she so sweet?!

I decided to make this a birthday card, rather than a card for Halloween.

And I kept this card very clean and simple (except for a few shiny things) so that it is all about her! :)

Ingredients :

Stamps : Unicorn Lucy, 

Card : x-press it, black, basic grey

Ink : memento black, versafine black, white craft

Other : MAC #14 die, copics

Thanks for dropping by today.

Kathy

Witch Cinnamon

I have a card for CC Designs to share using the adorable Rustic Sugar stamp called Witch Cinnamon.
She is so gorgeous!
The sentiment is from the new Happy 31st Sentiment Set and it's a great one because you can use it for occasions other than Halloween!

I coloured her with copics and cut her out using the circle and scalloped circle dies.

After cutting out the grey panel I decided to try a little doodling around the edge. It's the first time I've attempted this! It's very basic but I was pretty happy with how it turned out :)

I used white craft ink around the edge and also used it to stencil on a few stars. Then I used a black fineliner to draw around them. The spider is a little stamp from a retired Halloween set.

Thanks for dropping by today :)

Kathy

Happy Hippos

I have a card for Anna's Craft Cupboard  to share today.
I've used the adorable My Favorite Things set called Happy Hippos.
This set is full of  hippos and little birds and birthday themed images to go with them.  Plus there are some wonderful sentiments too!

I thought a colourful but soft Bokeh background might look good with these two cuties.
Here is how I created it if you'd like to give one a try too :)
Ingredients :
I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Broken China, Dusty Concord and Dried Marigold. You could use any colours, but I always think that 3 different colours works best.
Dylusions White Linen Acrylic Paint.
I used watercolour paper on the smooth side, but other cardstock can also be used.
Tim Holtz/Ranger Mini Foam Blending Tool
Circle Dies
Tombow Mono Multi glue
white embossing powder

Step 1 - Using the Blending Tool, apply distress inks to card in a circular motion. I used the purple first, then the orange and then added  blue to fill in the gaps and blend it together a little.
Use a different foam pad for each colour.

Step 2 -  Make a stencil from a scrap piece of card by using small circle dies or punches.  Don't place the holes too close together or near the edge, so that it's easier to sponge.

Step 3 -  Shake the Dylusions paint a little and then just use the paint that is sitting inside the lid.
Using the blending tool and a new pad, pick up some paint and dab some off onto some plastic or craft mat to remove excess.
Dab paint onto stencil to create 2 sizes of white circles on the card.

Step 4 - The largest circles are applied with just the Blending Tool.
Load paint and dab off as before. Place Blending Tool on card and twist/turn until you have a nice circular shape.

Step 5 - Reload Blending Tool with paint and using stencil again, add more circles and overlap some this time too.
You can realign stencils and go over circles with paint again to make them brighter.  You want to have some softer and some brighter circles to add depth.

Step 6 - Using just the Blending Tool make more of the large circles. Try to make some without applying extra paint but if it's too dry just add a little.  These last circles are meant to be very light.
You are trying to fill in the gaps and card edges to create a very soft filter effect.

Step 7 - Trim the edges so that there is no harsh coloured edge.

I coloured the images with Copics to compliment the colours I used in the background, cut them out and added them to a white panel.
I also white embossed one of the fabulous sentiments from this set onto grey card.

Bokeh backgrounds are fun to create! No two are exactly the same and they work wonderfully with so many of the MFT stamps.

I hope you will give this background technique a try too.

Kathy