Stamping on Tissue Paper with Flourishes Kids Play stamp

Not quite sure where I saw the technique of stamping on tissue paper but it is really quick and easy to do plus I get to use stamps which usually sit in my drawer.

I have a stock of tissue paper from flowers DH buys for me and for this card I chose white.  I then crinkled it up and flattened it out again.  Using black Ranger Archival ink (I love that range) I stamped the image onto the tissue paper.  The tissue paper is then glued onto cardstock which must be smaller than the size of the tissue paper.  Using a glue stick (I used Pritt) generously cover the cardstock and then lay the tissue paper on top of it.  Tidy it up by folding the tissue paper to the back of the cardstock and glue down.

For the balance of the card I matted the tissue paper cardstock, which was white, onto black paper after wrapping a SU Certainly Celery ribbon around it.  Using a piece of SU Certainly Celery card embossed with the SU Square Lattice folder I then popped it all onto a white card.  The sentiment is from the same Flourishes set punched out with a retired SU punch and layered onto a Clear Dollar Tabs & Tags die.

Envelope Gift Bag

This is a project I saw Angie from Chic 'n Scratch do so I thought I would give it a go.  I had trouble finding the right sized envelope then wondered what I could fit in it.  What I did find was what I believe to be an A5 sized envelope (230 x 160mm) which worked really well. 

This is a really quick and easy project and it pays to watch the video Angie has made.  As my envelope was way too big to emboss I covered the front and back with paper instead.

The great thing about the size of this envelope is it comfortably fits 4 normal sized cards & envelopes in see through bags.  This makes a super thank you gift.

CRICUT - SPRING COLLECTION CARTRIDGE

I was curious to see how the Cricut cut this image out and when it did I thought it looked way too plain.  I then experimented with a variety of different Distress inks and the die cut sat on my desk for quite a while with me thinking I would eventually toss it out.

When I was digging around in my selection of Hero Arts stamps I came across a patterned cling one which had potential so I used it diamond shape.  I then embossed the die cut with a CB folder and sanded the corners off.  The green paper is CM and the script on the yellow paper is from a SU stamp called En Français.  The edges of the card, which opens up in the centre, have been distressed and sponged with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to finish it off.  The card opens up like this :

Excuse the shadows but the sun was really bright when I took the photo.  Enough of the hot weather, roll on the cold and rainy days of winter !

BOX - CRICUT - SPRING COLLECTION CARTRIDGE

When I had my Cricut out I found this cute box.  The size is such that it would fit small cards (half the normal sized cards) which I think would make a rather good Thank You gift.

I am using American Craft 65lb weight cardstock in the Cricut with great success and thought I would experiment with this colour - not one I am particularly fond of.  The Cricut does cut out the four corners which makes it so easy to co-ordinate matching paper, in this case CM, and tuck the paper into place.  The sentiment is one from CB, the flower is from my stash as are the pearls and the leaves are from one of my many punches.

Apologies for being vague on the names of the products I use but my computer is upstairs and my craft desk and storage area is downstairs.  Normally that would not be a problem as I would run downstairs to have a look, but I have a broken foot (the second in 2 years) and find it difficult to get up and down the stairs with the moonboot and crutches.

BILDMALARNA - MIMOSA'S BOOK

When I saw Bildmalarna stamps being offered at 7 Kids College Fund I was delighted.  This little cutie was stamped onto X-Press It paper using Momento Black ink and coloured in with Copics.

I recently watched a couple of videos made by Suzanne Dean from Scrap Bitz (the Queen of Copic colouring)  and tried her 'flicking' technique which, I think, worked rather well on this stamp.  I do find having a larger area to colour in on a stamp helps a lot with Copics.  For the smaller, more detailed stamps I tend to use either blending pens in conjunction with markers or an aqua brush and Distress Inks.

The embossed frame on the green cardstock is a Cuttlebug one.  The spray of flowers was lying on my desk and literally fell onto the card as I was working on it, so I really do not have any idea where it came from or how long it has been on the desk.  You do not want to see the state of my craft desk!

PEACHY KEEN - COTTAGE CUTZ - COW PEEKER

Yes, I know, another cow, but at least I got the colouring on this one right !  The package came with ideas so all I had to do was copy.  I just love the end result when you mix Peachy Keen stamps with Cottage Cutz dies.

The star die is a Marianne D one, bought from Bunny-Zoe's Crafts online and in my stash I found a red circle which fitted underneath the die perfectly.  I used small CB embossing folders on either side and a Fiskars ribbon border punch at the bottom.  The ribbon was bought from Simply Creative here in Cape Town and I think the sentiment is from Hero Arts.

SHEENA DOUGLASS - A LITTLE BIT SKETCHY - MILESTONES AND MOMENTS

This was the first of the two Sheena Douglass stamps which I tried out and I did not quite get the knack of the stamp on my first try.  This often happens to me as my hands are not strong and I struggle to apply pressure to most stamps.  Anyway, I decided not to toss it out and thought I would have a bash at colouring it in.  Turns out I was happy enough with the end result to pop it onto a card.

For the whole stamp I used Distress Inks and an aqua brush.  As I had used watercolour paper it was no problem to use the aqua brush.  The stamp set is a bit like Popcorn the Bear sets in that it comes with a small 4 page booklet complete with a coloured in version of the stamp and 2 card ideas.  It does not get any easier than that !

STEMPELGLEDE - GRUNGE ORNAMENTAL CIRCLE

Am I the only one who finds it difficult to make a male 21st birthday card ?  When I ordered this stamp from Bunny Zoe's Crafts I thought it had potential for a quick yet elegant card.  What I did not know was just how quickly I was going to find a use for it.

Using the same cardstock I used for the white card, I stamped the image using Archival Ink Maroon, cut out the numbers from a CB die in white and inked it with the same maroon ink, edged the bottom with a new MS border punch I bought locally and backed it all onto a maroon piece of cardstock.

I think I am going to get a lot of use out of this stamp as it would even suit Xmas cards.

CRICUT - CREATE-A-CRITTER CARTRIDGE

I wanted to try out the Create-a-Critter cartridge and thought this little chap was quite cute.

Before assembling the panda, which is really easy put together, I sponged some of the parts with Distress Inks.  I found the background paper in my stash and the sentiment is from a Hero Arts set.

PENNY BLACK - JOIE DE VIVRE

This wooden stamp has been sitting on my craft table unused for around 6 months.  When I came across a new technique (for me anyway) on Splitcoast stampers called Out of the Box with Nestabilities  I knew I had just the right stamp to experiment with.

I used watercolour paper to stamp the image on and coloured it in using Distress Inks and an aqua brush.

The sentiment is Popcorn the Bear cut with a SU large oval, the blue cogs are from a SU punch and the red border is a SU Bigz XL die.

SHEENA DOUGLASS - A LITTLE BIT SKETCHY STAMP SET - CHEERS

The two Sheena Douglass stamp sets I bought recently have been a real treat to colour in.  I made this card for a male friend's birthday and it was a hit.

I stamped the image on watercolour paper and coloured in the finer details with a mixture of SU, Tombow and Marvy Le Plume II markers.  For the larger areas I used Distress Inks and an aqua brush.  The stamp is not at all hard to colour in and I know I will be using this one a lot for those difficult male cards.

The photo corner punch is an EK Success one, the sentiment comes with the set and I used a Clear Dollar die called Designer Labels to cut it out.  I was not happy with the sentiment being on white cardstock so sponged it with Tea Dye Distress Ink.  With the watercolour paper being slightly off white I did use Antique Linen Distress Ink around the edges of the white card just to match the two up.

MARIJ RAHDER - SUZY 3

There are certain stamp sets that have an instant appeal and this is one of them.  The images are easy to ink up and stamp and with the larger areas (they are big stamps), they are quick and easy to colour in.

DH was not certain what type the bird was and after a long discussion I thought it safer to leave it white with tinges of grey.  Suzy was coloured in using Copics with her dress being paper pieced.  The foliage behind them is from a stamp bought in Australia - Outlines Solid Grass, the grass is done with Distress Inks and Art Impressions stamps with the fence being from a MS border punch.

The label is from a SU die, the button brads from my stash and the sentiment is a Gina K Designs one from the set Spring has Sprung.         

COTTAGE CUTZ - DUCK W/UMBRELLA

Chatting to a colleague earlier in the week, she mentioned how she crafted on the weekend using duck images, well Adi, here is my little ducky.  I am loving the CottageCutz dies and when I went onto the Scrapping Cottage site to get the name of the duck for the title I found some new dies which are so cute.

The die was popped onto a smaller Nestabilities Labels 15 die, then I layered a larger one behind it.  The unusual yellow die behind is Marianne D Creatable Frame.  The sentiment is a SU one as is the scalloped oval.  Buttons and patterned paper are from my stash.

CRICUT - HERITAGE CARTRIDGE

When I had the Cricut out the other day I found this house and thought it had potential.  Of course, it looked nothing like the end product but it was fun dressing the house up.

I used a natural colour cardstock for the house which then allowed me to alter the colour by sponging with distress inks.  The idea of the gable colouring came from the Hero Arts Simple Things stamp set and I also used the front door awning and window boxes from the same set.  The sentiment is from an old SU set, the fence and trim are both MS border punches and the background paper is from my stash.  The label used for the sentiment is also from SU.

MARIJ RAHDER - SUZY 3

A colleague recently celebrated 10 years with the company and I made this card for the occasion.

I blame the colouring of the cow squarely on the shoulders of DH.  He went to bed early one night leaving me and the cow image alone.  I started off with Distress ink Black Soot and an aquabrush thinking I would do a grey / black and white cow.  Well, that looked rather dull so I added the pink muzzle and udders, then decided to paint the toenails with a Spica glitter pen.  The idea of green spots and tail just came to me and next thing I knew, I had a multicoloured cow !  The pig was also done with Distress Ink and an aquabrush.

The background is from a Gina K Designs set called Funny Farm, as is the sentiment.  The background is also painted in using Distress Inks and an aquabrush. 

Dot, I hope you liked the card. 

PEACHY KEEN - HAPPY BIRD AND PHRASES

Often with a new image I stamp it out a couple of times on different cardstock to see which colouring medium works better.  This time I stamped it out 4 times and ended up not liking any of the 3 I did with Copics and normal markers.  What did work was on watercolour paper using an aqua brush with Distress Inks for the yellow and the cheeks and a Twinklling H2O colour for the blue.  The orange bits were done with markers.

The diamond shaped red paper was done with a paper crimper, the blue die cut is one from Go Kreate, the yellow die cut and the one on which the image is stamped are both Nestabilities and the heart is from CM.  The sentiment is from the same Peachy Keen set as the bird.

COTTAGECUTZ - PUPPY W/HEART

In the latest parcel of my US purchases I had ordered a number of CottageCutz dies and this puppy reminded me of our dear little chap who is no longer with us.

The pink paper is CM, the dies are Nestabilities Labels, the sentiment is Hero Arts and the flowers plus brad are from my stash.

HIGH HOPES - FAIRY TALE BUG

Every now and again I have the need to do a really bright card.  This little chap just seemed to lend himself to being brightly coloured and the card sort of flowed from there.

I used Copics to colour the image in and added a couple of tiny Penny Black images to the front and back covers of the book, plus gave it a title.  The yellow, black and lime papers are all from my stash as is the fence which was made from a MS border punch and coloured with Distress ink.  I am rather fond of my collection of Nestabilities dies and used the Deckle edged rectangles and Labels 8 on this card.  The snail is from a Hero Arts stamp set called Sending Smiles and the sentiment is also Hero Arts Simple Things.

BABY LOONEY TUNES

A while back I received this stamp set as a gift and as my US and UK purchases are delivered to a holding address in the US who repackage them prior to sending them on to me I have no idea who sent it.  I had also thought I would not be using it as it did not appeal to me.

I wanted something a little different for my niece, Erin's birthday plus I got to haul the Cricut out again for the fence.  I have struggled with my Cricut but after finding a detailed list of cardstock with the relevant settings I now feel confident to start using it again.

The stamps were coloured in using Copics and cut out.  The fence was sponged with 3 different Distress inks and the grass, which I stamped multiple times, is from Hero Arts Sending Smiles.  The embossing folder is a Tim Holtz one sponged over with Distress inks again and the sentiment, which appeals to me, is also from a Hero Arts set.

PEACHY KEEN - VALENTINE CUPIDS

Happy Valentine's day !  This cute Peachy Keen stamp was one I just simply had to buy.

I am finding the grey Copics a little challenging at the moment and admit this is not my best colouring effort.  The image is cut out using a Go Kreate Wavy Frame die and the hearts are from my stash.  No idea how I came up with the idea to put wool around the heart and in the middle but it seemed to work.  The wool was not the easiest to stick down but I eventually tried a really strong glue and it worked.  The sentiment is from the same Peachy Keen set.

CLEAR DOLLAR - PET ANGELS

So often I want to send a condolence card on the loss of a pet and can never find a suitable image.  Then I saw this set on special at Clear Dollar and thought it would be ideal.

I used Copics to colour in the stamp and cut it out.  After colouring in the wings I did not like the end result and covered over it with Stickles.  The star die is by Marianne D - Starry Garland and is a new one I was trying out.  The wavy frame die is from Go Kreate and the scalloped and normal ovals are SU punches.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set.

After assembling the card I decided the little dog needed a halo which is also part of the set. 

VALENTINE'S MUG

After using only the Scor-it for a couple of years I decided to buy a Scor-pal and must say I am delighted with the various projects that are available, this mug being one of them.  The instructions can be downloaded on the Scor-Pal site and it took more time choosing the cardstock for the handle than it did to make the mug.  The only deviation I made was to cut a circle for underneath the mug as I felt it was a little untidy and wanted to hide my mistakes !

The mug is made from a pad of sturdy cardstock I had in my stash, and for the handle I used CM and Nestabilities Circles.  The heart on the mug is a CM punch and the heart label is a Magnolia stamp.

VALENTINE'S BIRD HOUSE

A while back bird houses were popular but I could not find one I really liked.  After browsing through a Magnolia magazine I thought this one had potential and photocopied the pattern onto my cardstock.

The checkered pattern paper is CM with the rest being scraps from my stash.  The window opening was made with Nestabilities circles and petite scalloped circles finished off with a bit of acetate inside.  The little owl is a Go Kreate die called Owlet and he is standing on a branch made from the SU Two Step Bird punch.  The hearts on the roof are Nestabilities dies.

Under the hearts the roof is fastened with a velcro dot and lifts up to enable one to pop a gift or chocolates

CLEAR DOLLAR - LOVING LADYBUGS

With Valentine's Day looming I thought this card could be used for the occasion or perhaps even an anniversary.

I stamped the image with Archival black ink onto watercolour paper and coloured it in using a variety of markers, SU, Tombow and Marvy Le Plume, plus a blender pen.  The grass was done with Distress Inks and an aqua brush.  I framed the stamp using Nestabilities Deckled Edge Rectangles which I then Distress inked the edges.  The red label is from a Clear Dollar die and the front one with the sentiment on, also Clear Dollar, is a Nesties label die.

The CB embossing folder came in a pack of 4 of which I wanted 3 and not this one.  I actually thought I would never use it.  A lesson to be learnt, do not give anything away as you never know when you might find a use for it !  The border along the bottom is from a roll of self adhesive paper lace which I coloured with Distress Ink.

HERO ARTS - CONGRATS

Whilst searching through my considerable stash of 12 x 12 cardstock I found this brown gingham which matched the stamped rectangle sitting on my craft table.  I tend to stamp, decorate and cut out or frame an image first, pop it one side and then think about how to put it on a card.  This paper just jumped out at me.  Of course, I have not a clue where I bought it from and have not seen anything like it locally so my guess would have to be in Australia.  Debs, you might recognise it.

After buying this Hero Arts stamp set from Ronita at Simply Creative I realised the images could not be cut out so did not quite know the best way to utilise them (there are 3 frames in the set).  I think plain and simple worked well here and it is the sort of card one could make in bulk.

I used Rangers Archival Sepia in for the stamp and cut it out using Nestabilities deckle edge rectangles.  This is truly a 5 minute card which, after making it, I sat back and thought it was way too quick, almost like I had cheated as there was no colouring in.

WHIMSY STAMPS - DOG AND SIGN

I love animal images, especially dogs, but never quite know how to colour them in.  This chap did not come spotted but he looked rather plain so I decided to add a few.

What attracted me to this Whimsy stamp was the fact the image could be easily cut out and that I could add whatever greeting I wanted as the sign is blank.

I used watercolour paper and black Archival ink to stamp the image and coloured him in using a variety of markers.  I did get a little carried away with the various Nestabilities labels but I like to think they worked.  Most of the cardstock and papers are my usual CM with the photo corners being from a SU punch.

GO KREATE - BINKI BOO - BABY BOY CARD

Another baby card with this cute Go Kreate die.  This time I used a recently purchased embossing folder and framed it with a cut and emboss CB die.

I again used the Bosskutz die for the 'nest' shaped blue piece the teddy is standing on with an oval underneath.  As one of the buttons had a faulty hole I could not get my usual embroidery thread through it and instead used a very thin shiny thread which curls up at the end like a ribbon.  I think the sentiment is from a Popcorn the Bear set.

POPCORN THE BEAR - FOOTBALL CRAZY

I never tire of the Popcorn the Bear range as they are such a pleasure to work with.  The images are sweet and each set comes with the appropriate sentiments.

This image was stamped onto watercolour paper and coloured in using a variety of markers and a blender pen.  The grass was a bit more of a challenge than usual and I did not like the colour it ended up so I went over it with a Distress Ink and an aqua brush.  That is is good thing about watercolour paper, it can absorb so much more than normal cardstock.

I used a Go Kreate die to frame the image and popped it onto a square card using my normal CM paper as a background.  The watercolour paper was a bit bright so I toned it down by sponging Antique Linen Distress Ink on the edges.  The same was done with the sentiment which was hand cut.

WHIMSY STAMPS - FROG

When I buy stamps I am usually attracted to cute and whimsical characters and tend not to give too much thought as to how practical they are to colour in.  Sometimes there is a coloured example of the stamp and it looks so easy, but then I can seldom find it when the time comes to colour it in.

My frog ended up being coloured using different Distress Ink pads and an aqua brush.  A tip my sister gave me was rather than flood your ink pad with water from the aqua brush, dab the pad onto a piece of accetate and work off of there - it works like a charm !  Thanks, Debs.

The background paper is all CM and I used a Nesties Eyelet Squares die for the frame behind the image.  Not sure about the sentiment, it could be Clear Dollar.  The tag is a SU punch and the square is made from a CM punch.

WHIFF OF JOY - HENRY WITH BROKEN LEG

When I saw this stamp at 7 Kids College Fund I knew it would come in handy at some stage.  It sort of reminded me of when I was on crutches and in a boot for a year. 

After stamping Henry out onto watercolour paper I used a variety of mediums to colour him in - the usual watercolour pencil crayons, markers and SU crayons.  I then used a Nestabilities label to frame him with a larger orange one for the background.

I used a CB embossing folder directly onto the card and just rounded the corners for something different.  The sentiment came with the stamp and I used a Clear Dollar die to frame it.