Die Cutting Inlaying

 Good morning! It's finally cooler here, we had storms all day yesterday and has been in the 70s.

I'm back today with some inspiration using Maker Forte products. I am using the Flower Trio Die and a die inlaying technique today.

The card began life as a plain white cardstock. After running the die through my die cut machine I carefully made sure all the waste bits stayed in place in the die. Lifting off the actual image I then placed press and seal over the remaining parts. When I carefully lifted this all the white waste was attached to it.

Bubble Tea Ink and Flamingo Ink make great colors to blend together. Using brushes I started with the darker Flamingo and worked out to edges coloring all the waste pieces.

Some of the pieces lifted while doing this but as long as I didn't lose any I'm not concerned.

Moving onto the actual die cut I masked off the flowers. 

To give my card a frame I inked the remaining edge with Flamingo Ink.

The masking paper keeps the underneath ink free so on removing my flowers are still bright white.

Turning this over I applied foam tape to the edge and smaller pieces to the backs of the flowers. I then adhered this to a 8.5x4in card base. 

The card base isn't a standard size but it gives the die cut a look of matting. Next I inlaid all the 'waste' pieces back into the die countersinking them. This works because the foam tape raises the die cut. I did use Makers Magic Crystal Clearfor this, the fine tip is great for getting into the tiny spaces.

The Rainbow Picker & Poker makes lifting the tiny pieces and placing them easier than using my fat fingers!

The inlaying took quite a while but the effect is worth it.

My card needs a sentiment. I love the A Sentiment For Every Occasion stamp set for cards like this. Making my sentiment coordinate with the colors on the card was easy. I swiped Flamingo Ink across a piece of 1in card strip.

Once this was dry I stamped 'Hope this is the best day ever' using Remarkable Eclipse Black Ink. I the quickly covered this with Crystal Clear Embossing Powder and melted it to give a glossy finish.

I adhered this to my card with foam tape. Subtle embellishments are a great finish to a card. Using Maker's Magic White Pearl instead of gems give a touch without taking away from the card design. These are dotted in an uneven number around my sentiment.

Thank you for taking time to read my post and I hope it gives you inspiration!

Blooming in Happiness

 Good morning from Tennessee! Our vacation has finally arrived and we are in s stunning cabin high up in the Smokey Mountains. It's a much needed break from reality.

My post today is inspiration for Maker Forte products. I am using the gorgeous Bloom Its Happiness Stamp Set as my main focus.

As always I gathered my products, before starting my project. I attempted a couple of techniques but discovered some weren't going to achieve the look I wanted so discarded my original idea. I started this card with a piece of Ultra White Heavy Card Stock, Clear Embossing Ink and Supernova Embossing Powder:

Using the main wreath image from the stamp set I stamped it with the clear ink. I used my Perfect First Impression Smoosher to get even pressure when stamping the image on to the card stock. This gives an even ink layer for the embossing powder to adhere to. My card stock needed prepping, I use baby powder so the embossing powder only sticks to the stamped image. The Supernova Embossing Powder has a number of colors within it and gives a pretty finish to end stamped image.

When the embossed image had cooled I added my sentiment. I decided to make this an any occasion  so went with the 'may your day bloom with happiness'. The included sentiments all fit across the center of the wreath image. This image is also perfect for an A2 card.

I used Flamingo Ink which drew attention to the pink within the embossing powder. The stamp set includes lots of extra images including a trio of butterflies in incremental sizes. I stamped these inside the wreath, again with Flamingo Ink, to fill in the white space.

Next came building my design using White A2 Top Folding Card Base, and a mat with Tiptree Jam cardstock. this was cut slightly smaller than the card base. My topper adhered to this again cut smaller than the mat. I like to cut my layers an 1/8th of an inch smaller than the last. This gives a visible border of the base and mat but not too big it detracts from my image.

Because I had so much white space below the image I decided to add some embellishment. White Pearl Maker's Magic is great for this, it gives a touch of shine without distracting you too much. 3 dots in each lower corner is just enough.

The Bloom with Happiness Stamp Set is such a pretty set, it can be used in so many ways for so many occasions that it's perfect addition to anyone's collection.

Thank you for taking time to read my post and I hope it inspires you to make something similar. If it does I would love to see your creation.

Cheers!

 Good afternoon! Hope everyone is safe and well, fall is finally upon us however it doesn't feel very fall like here we still have warm weather.

It's new release time at Stamper's Delights and I have a fab Anime character for you today, meet Cheers:

She is available in both digital and as a clear stamp.

I arranged her and her sentiment on to stamping card and colored with Copic markers. I added Glaze gelly roll pen to the confetti surrounding her sentiment.

My A2 card base was matted with alternating white and turquoise cardstock before adding my image.

 Head on over to the Stamper's Delights Store to see all of this week’s New Releases.

Why not stop by the Stamper's Delight Facebook page for regular news and inspiration from my Teamies you can also enter the progressive challenge there, no blog needed and if you sign up for the Stamper's Delight Membership you will get free images to enter the challenge with!

All the design team projects are available on the Inspiration blog - hop on over there for more inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by and if you like what you see please leave a comment to let me know!

Winter Wishes With Florals

 Good afternoon, hope everyone is staying safe this New Year's Eve - we are doing our usual, staying at home and seeing the new year in with just the three of us. 

My post today is promoting a new to me company Kate Hadfield Designs She is a digital artist who has super cute images. She designs collections that are great for card making, scrapbooking, kids crafts and much more.

Of course my first design is a card, I have used a gorgeous Winter Flora Stamp collection which is available either as a fully colored collection or as digital stamps. I have used the stamp version:

The flowers and greenery all come as separate images in 3 different formats. I used my graphics program and arranged some of them in to a bouquet. I added a sentiment and printed on to stamping card.

The image was colored with Copic markers with the addition of Prismacolor pencils to add more dimension.

I then trimmed the image down with my new deckle edge paper trimmer. a mat of green cardstock was also trimmed with this and both were added to an A7 white card base.

Finally I added a few Nuvo drops scattered in the sentiment.

I will be using Kate's images a few times a month so keep a look out for the different genres she covers!

Thanks for stopping by and as always if you love what you see please let me know in the comments.

Shake the Mummy

 Good Morning! The rain has finally arrived and brought cooler weather with it - Thank goodness.

Guess what - It's Tuesday! so head on over to Digi Choosday and enter our challenge - The design team are focusing on Halloween and making shaker cards so I chose Spooky Mummy as my inspiration image:

What I Did:

I resized and printed the image twice, once on stamping card and once on printable acetate.

I colored him and cut the body from the card one. I then glued the acetate on so the body was on show giving me a window for my shaker. Turning my image over I cover the back side with foam tape excluding the window. I filled the window area with sequins, removed the backing from the foam tape and placed a piece of white card over this. this sealed the sequins in place giving me my shaker. I then added this onto an A7 card base which had been matted with black cardstock. As the image filled the card I didn't feel anything else what needed on that card.

What I Used:

Digital Image: Polkadoodles - Spooky Mummy

Stamping Card: X-Press It

Alcohol Markers: Copic

Acetate: From my stash

White Cardstock: Neenah Solar White

Black Card: Linda Chapman

Foam Tape: Dollar Store

Sequins: Dollar Store

Glue: ZipDry

The Digi Choosday Challenge runs for 2 weeks, it is always anything goes so there is no reason not to enter and you never know you may just win!

 Looking for more inspiration? Then check out my teamies designs over on the Facebook page, you can also post your own Polkadoodles' designs on the Craft Stamp and Colour with Polkadoodles Facebook group

Thanks for stopping by, now go join the challenge!

Best Wishes in Pretty Lilac

Good afternoon! the temperature here is currently 18 degrees Fahrenheit - soooo cold!  I'm tucked up inside with my fur babies and don't plan on venturing far today!

My design today was for a colleague of my husband, I have posted before about the card club he runs at work. I make a mixture of male and female cards for this and it challenges me because of the larger size needed. They have to be 8x8in cards so there is plenty of room for colleagues to write their birthday wishes to the recipient.
This card main feature is Crafter's Companion's Blossoming Lilacs Layering stamps. I love the effect you get from the layering, it gives such a realistic look to the flowers. I chose muted papers so that the stamped flowers really do pop.

Supply List:
8x8in card base - Craft UK
Blossoming Lilacs Stamps - Crafter's Companion
Stamping Card: Solar White - Neenah Classic Crest
Glacier Caves Inks - Altenew
Green Meadows Inks - Altenew
Rustic Cottage Chic Butterflies Dies - Sara's Signature Collection
Design Paper: Fresh Petal - Lili of The Valley
Blue Card Stock - Paper Studio


Thank you for stopping by and if you like what you see please let me know in the comments.

Kindness and sunshine

Good afternoon, Well the snow has disappeared and we have rain storms with flood warnings - luckily we live up on a hill so are pretty safe!

I hope you are all entering the SumMore Fun challenge - don't forget you can win a gift certificate to spend on their huge collection of stamps!

Today's card is a very simple one that fulfills the theme from our current mood board:

I stamped the Large Stemmed Daisy stamp and the Kindness is to the Heart What Sunshine is to the Flowers sentiment with white opaque ink onto black card.

 I had to stamp a few times to get a good level of ink. This is where the Tim Holtz Stamping Platform earns it's worth - you don't need to worry about getting perfect placement every time as long as your card stays in place you and stamp over and over again!

Once my image was stamped clearly I matted it onto some pink card and a white card base. A few matching enamel dots placed around the image just balanced the design.

Thank you for stopping by, If you are looking for more inspiration check out my teamies cards on the SumMore Fun Blog, FaceBook page, Instagram and Pinterest.

Popping Hearts

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

I'm taking over the SumMore Fun blog today and what better way to celebrate the day than with red and pink with hearts!

This is the front of my card, I have used 2 sentiment stamps from SumMore Fun that do compliment each other. First I started with the larger Happy Valentine's Day stamped in the center of my card in red I then multi stamped Dot Happy Valentine's Day with pink ink all around the rest of the card. 

When you open the card it pops with hearts:

Once I'd made up my card insert which is a die set from Karen Burniston, I stamped the Medium Sketch Heart on 4 piece of white card rotating them so they face opposite ways. These were then matted onto pink card and adhered to the pop up section of the card.

My front was matted in the same way and added to the card I then used a few enamel dots as embellishments.

Don't forget you still have a few more days to enter our moodboard challenge you can find the details here - just add all those Valentine's cards you have been making - I'm sure they will fit the theme:

Thank you for stopping by, If you are looking for more inspiration check out my teamies cards on the Blog, FaceBook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Flower Box

Good morning, well the snow has vanished again over the weekend and the temperatures are reaching above freezing through the day - who knows for how long though!

Today I'm taking over the SumMore Fun blog and my card is a folding flower box creating using 2 SumMore Fun stamp sets:

I made up a card box and decorated this with pretty pink, white and turquoise papers. I then used the Curly Cute Stamp set to stamp out a number of flowers and framed flowers in the same colors. The frames were cut out and placed around each side of the box. I fussy cut the single flowers and glued these to strips of acetate and attached them at different heights inside the box.

I then stamped the frame again and added a sentiment from the Brush Floral stamp set into the center of this. Again this was cut out and added to the back of the box:

The box is made in such away that it will fold and fit inside a 6x6in envelope.

The colors look darker if the photos but they are perfect for the moodboard challenge over on the blog:

Thank you for stopping by, If you are looking for more inspiration check out my teamies cards on the SumMore Fun Blog, FaceBook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Happy Holidays

Good morning, we are knee deep in snow but at least it looks promising that we will be having a white Christmas - something we have wanted since we arrived in the US but has yet to happen

Kev has finished work for the holidays and Mollie finishes school on Wednesday. We are all looking forward to a great holidays!

Today's card is just about that - Happy Holidays!!

Have you got all your cards done and sent? If not I'm show casing a very simple one that is great if you have multiples to do and it just uses one stamp set.

I used the pine bough from Raisin Boat's Holiday Hang Ups set and stamped it around 3 sides of white card using different shades of green ink. I then switched to red ink and stamped berries and my sweet little sentiment. An amber ink was used to stamp the stars.

 I used a fine point pen to 'hang' these on the tree and added the small tied bow to the biggest one - again a stamp from the same set. This stamp set also has a number of Christmas ornaments with it so is packed full of possibilities.

Once stamped I then matted a white base with a silvery blue mirror card, red card and finally my stamped card. 

for the theme I used the current challenge mood board choosing the colors and the pine boughs

There is still almost a week to get your entries in and with the all decked out theme we all have a card made that could be entered.

Thank you for stopping by, If you are looking for more inspiration check out my teamies cards on the Blog, FaceBook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Rocker

Good afternoon, we are having some well needed rain today. The temperature and humidity have dropped off thank goodness.

I'm showcasing a very simple card I made for my son's 18th birthday today. He loves his guitar and I found this great image from Dr Digi's House of Stamps:

Meet Metal Mike  - Isn't he just great! I printed him and my sentiment onto Spectrum Noir card and colored him with Copic markers adding gold gel pen to the T-shirt design. which happens to be one of James's favorite bands.

I made a simple blue card base and matted it with white and purple card added my colored topper and the design was complete.

Dr Digi has some great digital Stamps if you are looking for something comical, something funny for an older person or just something different. They are great for masculine cards or females who aren't into flowers. They also do some great backing papers.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope that I have inspired you and if you like what you see please let me know in the comments section 

Would I fit in the dryer?

Good afternoon, I'm back today with another cute card showcasing Riley and Company stamps.

Have you ever wished loosing weight could be as easy as it is to shrink clothes?

Well take a look at my card

I love the Dryer sentiment stamp I would love to be able to do exactly that - think I would have trouble fitting in the dryer to begin with! 

I decided I was going to try and make a dryer so I started with a piece of white card. I die cut a silver circular frame using 2 of Riley and Company's nesting circle dies. I then added acetate to this and hey presto I have a dryer door. I colored up and die cut some of the clothes stamps from various Dress up collections. These were adhered to my card placing the door over the top of them using foam squares to give dimension. I then used the ball dies from the Sports Accessories Set to cut buttons and knobs from silver mirror card.

I stamped my sentiment on to white card and matted this with blue card. I made my card base from white card and matted with the same blue card. My dryer was added and my sentiment placed at an angle.

Thank you for stopping by, for more inspiration check out the Riley and Company Blog. Or for more news about what the Moose and his pals are up to head on over to the company Facebook page.

don't let fear put you off

Good afternoon - wow have we had some rain over the last few days and it's still pouring down!!!

It's the first day of May which means Riley and Company have a huge new release waiting for you! Not only stamps (including more outfits for our favorite moose) but dies and yes nesting dies!!!!

On top of that there are some great deals happening this week:

Deal #1

Package deal on all 16 new Funny Bones stamps! 

Our cling set is only $83.20 (reg. 104.00).

Save 20%!

To get this - click HERE!

 Deal #2

Die Release Bundle - get all three nesting die sets! 

Our nesting dies are different - they have beautiful piercing dots around the edges! Get all three sets (squares, ovals and circles) for only $41.00 (Reg. $51.00) Save $10!

To get this - click HERE!

But wait there's more!!!

FREE SHIPPING until Sunday!!!!

That's right - we will give you free shipping on any order over $20 until Sunday at midnight. This includes our new release and our entire stock!

Just enter the code FREESHIP in the coupon code when you check out.

So onto my first of many makes this week:

This Funny Bones stamp speaks volumes to me, we emigrated to the USA 3 years ago and boy was the thought of living in a whole new country scary and yes times I thought what are we doing but as the Regret Sentiment says 'regret is even scarier" and I know now that I would have regretted it for the rest of my life had I not made the change

I stamped the sentiment in a purple ink and the used the new Riley and Co. Oval pierced nesting dies to diecut the wording and a mat for it. 

I matted my white card base with purple card and floral design paper. I then used the smallest oval die to cut petals and leaves and the smallest die from the pierced nesting circle dies which I made the flowers with. I added some crystal gems just to balance the design

Don't forget to check out the Riley and Company Online Store for all of their new releases 

Thank you for stopping by, for more inspiration check out the Riley and Company Blog.  

Speaking of Riley's Blog...

SIGN UP FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN

Make SURE you leave a comment on the Riley Blog this week because we are giving away swag at the end of the week to a couple lucky winners! 

Or for more news about what the Moose and his pals are up to head on over to the company Facebook page 

Kindness is like snow.......

Good afternoon from a snowy Michigan. It's been snowing on and off since Tuesday night. Unfortunately it is lake effect snow so very dry which blows around and reduces visibility!

Whilst we are talking about snow let me show you my latest design team card from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps

Kindness is like snow, it beautifies everything it covers - such a true but perfect saying.

I used black card and stamped the Giant Tree Stamp with embossing ink. I then used a white tinsel embossing powder and heated it to make the tree look like it was covered with snow. 

I then used the same ink on the Kindness is Like Snow sentiment stamp and embossed it with silver embossing powder. 

I added snow fall with a white gel pen, matted my image with silver card and placed on a scalloped edge card base. 

Thank you for stopping by, you can find more inspiration from me and my teamies on the Prickley Pear blog and their Facebook page.