From All of Us Party Puffins

This is my final card for this week’s Party Puffins bonanza.

The whole crew are here to wish someone a happy birthday!  Lots of fussy cutting in this project, but it's very relaxing and I quite enjoyed making it.

I've used a spotty background stamp from the Color & Contour stamp set, which adds a bit of texture to the white panel behind the puffins.  

Hope you've enjoyed seeing the many options for this cute stamp set.  Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

You're a Star Party Puffin

 Here's Errol (he looks like an Errol) doing a jig with a background of copper stars!  

I've punched out the balloons using copper foil board (embossed before punching), a matt copper cardstock and glimmer paper.  The happy birthday greeting is stamped on Basic White and cut out using the Tasteful Labels Dies - there's a die in that pack to suit just about every greeting!  I cut the mat for the greeting by hand.  The whole thing is adhered to a Night of Navy cardstock base.  Don't forget to add a liner to dark cards so it's easy to write a message inside.

Happy Hump Day!

Karen

Party Puffins Being Jolly

 Here's another card using the Party Puffins stamp set.  This time I've used the Picture This die - I know I've said this before, but it's so lovely because you get the stitching on the outside of the circles adding a nice detail.  I used the die on the DSP as well - it's more of the retired Birthday Memories. That way, the circles are the perfect size to pop up on dimensionals within the die cut frame.

The base card is Highland Heather.   This card just feels jolly and bright to me!  Perfect for a happy birthday, don't you think?

Happy crafting

Karen

Dragonfly Garden Meets Expressions In Ink - Card Three

Oh my goodness!  How cute is this with the embossing on the white panel?! 

 Its called Ornate Floral & it's a 3D folder so you get a really deep impression.  It's my new favourite! 

I've used the same DSP - Expressions in Ink - and trimmed it with a bit of ribbon, which I think is now retired, but we've got tons of lovely options available here. 

The sentiment panel was stamped in gold ink with the leaf image from Tasteful Touches.  This set also contains the background stamp I used in card one a couple of posts back.  It's a stunning set!    

TIP - when you use a metallic ink, there's a good chance it's Pigment Ink, which means it's super wet because it's used for heat embossing.  If you don't want to heat emboss, just stamp it carefully so you don't smudge it and set it aside to dry for a few minutes.  You can speed up the drying with your heat tool if you want to, but it's not necessary if you're not in a hurry.

Can you tell how much I love this dragonfly?  The whole set really has stolen my heart!

I love to read your comments, and if you want more details about my projects, let me know.

Happy stamping

Karen

Everything Eleanor and Mocha Morning Specialty

I have a stash of Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper because I love it so much and couldn't bear to let it go when it retired!

And when I saw this weeks challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches, I actually "saw" the paper in my mind's eye....giggle!  Oh dear, I'm a craftaholic!

Everything Eleanor is becoming a much loved stamp set for me, and I think it goes beautifully with the paper. Of course I've only used the bird and label stamps mainly because the paper already offered so much in terms of pattern, but the stamp set has gorgeous flowers and a stunning flourish as well; plenty of stamping opportunities really!

Tip:  When cutting squares of paper that you want to be of equal size, and equal distance apart, it's a good idea to use a guilotine or cutter that has a guide on it that you can set to the correct dimensions.  That way, you'll know all your pieces are the same size.  Even a millimetre difference can look really out of balance especially when you're using papers and cardstock with a lot of contrast, like these patterns on black.

Everything Eleanor available in wood mount #131987 $63.95 or clear mount #124164 $50.95.  The medallion coordinates with the 2 1/2"circle punch.  

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set: Everything Eleanor & Curly Cute (R)
Cardstock: Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Paper: Mocha Morning Specialty (R)
Ink: Black Staz On, Crumb Cake
2 1/2" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Flower Punch, 3/4" square punch (any sized square will work).
Pearl Jewels

Thanks for looking!  I hope you find time to craft today.
Cheers
Karen

SUO Challenge #76 Back To School

This week's theme over on the SUO challenge blog is "back to school", or you can make a card for a school age child.

My card is a blackboard with a pot of flowers for the teacher standing on the "chalk shelf" and a few books made with the word window punch and some scraps of designer series paper.

Blackboard Technique
To get this blackboard technique you'll need white craft ink (pigment ink suitable for embossing) and black cardstock.  Take a sponge and gently wipe it across the ink pad - try not to get too much ink on the sponge or you'll end up with splodges which is not really the look you're aiming for.  Now wipe the sponge across the cardstock in a circular motion to make it look like chalk dust.  Voila, it's done!  Now you can stamp your images onto your blackboard or if you prefer, stamp them first (in white craft ink) but be sure to wait till they're dry otherwise when you start sponging you'll smudge them.

A lot of these products are retired, but as usual I can't part with them so if you want to copy this you'll have to sub what you have, or perhaps just look in a few old drawers ;).

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set:  Calendar Alphabet & Numbers (R), Curly Cute (R), Itty Bitties (R)
Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Silver (R), Basic Black, Scraps for flowers & flower pot
Ink: Whisper White Craft, Black Marker
Paper:  Scraps of Designer Series Paper
Sponge, White Gel Pen
Bitty Punch, Word Window Punch
Square Lattice Embossing Folder & Big Shot

So while we've been back to school for 2 weeks now our North American friends are only just getting ready to return for their new year.  Good luck guys!

Cheers
Karen