Cheer Up Grumpasaurus Card

Hey Guys,

I made this card for my Vicar who has been a bit sad recently. I really love the sentiment from the Paper Smooches Cuteasaurus stamp set and I thought it would be perfect for this card. I wanted to enter the card into this weeks Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge and the design is inspired by their photo.

The card base is a Pebbles notecard from their Garden Party Collection. I then die cut a piece of vellum using the scalloped edge frame from the Mama Elephant Femme Frames set. Next I used the inner frame from the same set to create a stitched rectangle of Neenah Solar White cradstock. I stamped the Hero Arts Galaxy wood block stamp with Stampin' Up Smokey Slate ink onto this. I then used a piece of woodgrain paper from the Dear Lizzy Daydreamer 6x6 paper pad and die cut it into to a speech bubble using the Mama Elephant Speech Trio dies. I die cut some tiny heart shaped windows into it using  Simon Says Stamp Mini Heart Set Craft dies and stamped the sentiment from the Paper Smooches Cuteasaurus stamp set in Hero Arts Charcoal ink. The dinosaur images are from the same Paper Smooches set as the sentiment and i stamped and paperpieced them using more 6x6 paper from the Dear Lizzy Daydreamer collection. The flowers that the dino on the right is holding are tiny images from the the Mama Elephant Honey Bunny stamp set which I painstakingly stamped and cut from scraps of pink patterned paper - good job I enjoy fussy cutting! I adered each of the layers with foam tape to create dimension and completed the card with twine from my stash and 4mm and 6mm Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

I tried to take as much inspiration from the Paper Smooches photo as possible. The colour scheme of pale pink, pale aqua, white and grey is taken from it. I also used pink flowers and woodgrain inspiried by the wooden paintbrushes. The sparkling clear sequins were inspired by the glass jars and bottles.

Below is the photo that inspired my card. Click on it to go straight to the challenge post on the Paper Smooches Sparks website:

Clicking on the Paper Smooches badge below will take you straight to their website where you can buy all their awesome stamps and dies:

Goldilocks and the Three Bears Hello Card

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share this card I made for the Avery Elle Kraft Challenge - although in the end I missed the deadline for submission, (the whole different time zone thing got the better of me…oops!) I didn't really have anyone in particular in mind when I made it, I just wanted it to be fun and cute.

I started with a 5x7 card base which I made from Neenah Desert Storm Cardstock. I then layered a piece of polka dot patterned paper from a Stampin' Up Saleabration freebie from this year. The centre piece of the card was made using more Desert Storm cardstock and pattered various shades of green patterened paper from the Amy Tan Yes Please collection. I used the Xcut Woodland Shadowbox Dies to create the layers of the forest scene. I separated the layers with foam tape to create dimension. I then used the sentiment, characters, toadstools and tree stump stamps from the Avery Elle Red & Goldie stamp set. I stamped them in Black Licorice Hybrid ink from My Favourite Things.

I stamped the three bear figures onto Desert Storm cardstock and coloured the mama and papa bears in a darker shade of brown with Spectrum Noir coloured pencils, blending solution and paper stubs. I coloured the cheeks and ear tips of the baby bear pink in the same way and added freckles with a Uniball white gel pen. I used the moustache, top hat, tie and bow stamps from the Mama Elephant Honey Bunny stamp set to accesorise each of the bears and fussy cut each of them. The goldilocks, toadstool and tree stump were stamped, coloured and fussy cut from Neenah Solar White cardstock in a similar way. I adhered them to the card with silicone glue. The sentiment was stamped in Stampin' Up Crisp Cantaloupe ink.

I used my Zig Wink of Stella clear brushpen and Ranger Glossy Accents to highlight certain areas of the card such as the toadstool and sentiment. Finally I adhered various sequins for extra sparkle. I used 6mm and 4mm Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and 8mm salmon pink ones from my stash.

To create the inside of the card I first used the Hero Arts Galaxy wood block stamp and Stampin' Up Pool Party ink. I then used another cute bear image form the Avery Elle stamp set to complete my card.

Under the Sea Pop-Up Card

Hi Guys! 

So, my card this week is another pop-up (definately my favourites to make!) and I decided to go for an under the sea theme. My inspiration for the card was the Make the Day Special challenge for the Month of August. I used the blues, reds and oranges from colour pallete A as the basis for my design.

Firstly I started with a Papermania white note card. For the inside of the card, I adhered patterned paper from the Basic Grey Fresh Cuts 6x6 paper pad - one had a wave design and the other was a coordinating blue watercolour pattern. The layers for my pop-up design were created using acetate. I used Spectrum Noir pens in several shades of blue and aqua to create a wavy pattern on the acetate, and then I drew small circles onto this with the blender pen to create the look of bubbles. Lastly I flicked white ink over the acetate to create the look of more bubbles. I used the the Mama Elephant Lanscape Trio die to die cut three layers of acetate at different heights. Next, I stamped images from the Paper Smooches Surf and Turf stamp set onto Neenah Solar White card stock with `memento Tuxedo Black ink. I coloured the images using Spectrum Noir pencils and blendinh soluion and added freckles with a Uniball white gel pen. I fussy cut the imges and adhered them to the acetate layers using silicone glue for extra dimension. I cut sea weed from a peice of green chevron paper from the Dear Lizzy Daydreamer 6x6 pad and adhered this to the acetate, also with silicone glue. Next, I used red line tape to adhere the acetate to the card. I added sequins from my stash and a sentiment, also from the Surf and Turf stamp set and the inside of my card was complete.

These pictures shows the layers of acetate in my design. The pop-up mechanism is created using small peices of acetate as spacers between one layer of acetate and the next, meaning that when you open the card the layers pop-up too.

I kept the front of my card simple, as I always do with my pop-up designs. I used a piece of watercolour paper and Tim Holtz distress inks in Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers to create the watercolour effect in the corner. The sentiment is from the Surf and Turf stamp set by Paper Smooches. I used Versafine ink to stamp it onto Neenah Solar White card stock. The whale image was also from the Surf and Turf stamp set and I coloured it with Spectrum Noir pencils and blending fluid. I adhered the sentiment and image over the watercolour using foam pads to create dimension. Finally I added a couple of sequines from my stash to complete the look. 

I would like to take part in the Make the Day Speacial August challenge (colour scheme A):

Butterfly and Woodgrain Birthday Card

This little card, which I made for a friends 30th birthday, was pretty quick to make but I'm really pleased with the results. The design is inspired by some Ikea wall art I have hanging in my bedroom. I started with a Hobbycraft 5x5 white notecard and layered on a peice of patterned paper from one of my favourite 6x6 paper pads, Fresh Cut by Basic Grey - I just love the vibrant lime green and pink tones in this paper! I used the scallop cartridge from my American Crafts trimmer to create a subtle decorative edge. Next I cut a piece of Neenah Solar White cardstock to size and ran it through my Cuttlebug in a Couture Creations woodgrain embossing folder. I then used the Bitty Butterfly and Elegant Butterfly punches from Stampin' Up to punch shapes from the embossed cardstock. Initially I adhered it to the patterned paper, without the butterflies, using foam tape to create dimension. Before attaching the butterflys into the punched spaces, I gently shaped them with my fingers to give them more movement. I adhered the butterflies with Dovecraft silicone glue, ensuring I allowed a sufficient amount of adhesive to sit under each wing, helping to keep the wings in a flying/fluttering position. The sentiment, from the Stampin' Up Label Love stamp set, was stamped with Versamark ink and embossing powder from American Crafts, in a colour called Powder. I then punched the shaped label using the coordinating Stampin' Up Artisan Label Punch. I again used foam tape to adhere this to my card. Finally, I used several sequins in coordinating colours to complete this pretty card. The pink and peach sequins are from the Neat & Tangled Pixie Dust sequin mix and the remainder are from a selection in my stash.

I really love it when I'm able to coordinate the inside of my cards with the design on the front. To create the sentiment below I used a blue/green ink from Stampin' Up called Pool Party and a peachy pink ink called Blushing Bride, also from Stampin' Up. I stamped 'happy' and 'birthday' directly onto the notecard using the Winnie and Walter The Big, The Bold and The Happy stamp set. The 30 was stamped using a Hobbycraft Script alphabet set.  Next I used the banner and 'celebrate in style' stamps from the Bloomsies stamp set by Mama elephant. I fussy cut the banner and adhered it to the card with foam squares. The design was completed using sequins and a Bitty Butterfly punch from the same Fresh Cut patterned paper as before.