Love at Fantasy Stampers

Good morning crafters.

I hope the weekend will give you a respite from the awful weather we are having here in GB and on the East coast of America.

As it's Saturday it means a new challenge over at Fantasy Stampers  (entries don't need to be of a fantasy nature just plain old stampin!). This week Jan has chosen the theme of-

PS I LOVE YOU

Make of that what you will! I went literal with my interpretation here.

I've wanted to try this camouflage die technique for awhile so with only a couple of large font dies this was really the first chance I've had.

The die is from Avery Elle and the stamps are from STAMPlorations, Vignette: Eclectic Florals and the 'you' is part of a phrase from their Bloom Sketches set.

The choice of colour is down to the challenge over at  Colour Q

These are SU colours, so not having any I used DI's in similar colours.

I stamped the flower panel then die cut the word LOVE across the middle. I cut four more 'LOVEs' in plain white and layered them up before gluing the panel onto an A6 white card.

OK, that's about it from me for the moment. Pop over to the main Fantasy Stampers site for more inspiration and have a go. 

PLEASE REMEMBER NO DIGIS

If you feel like joining our little band we are having a DT call see the details here.

If you don't fancy the full DT thing why not try a stint as a GD to try it out. All you have to do is add GDT after your entry or contact Jan as above.

I shall also enter at the following challenges:-

Creative Inspirations - Roses (I think the large red ones are )

Allsorts - Flower Power

TIME OUT - Valentine's Day with a twist of hearts (no twist this time)

CAS @ATSM

Hi, it's another late post for me as it's 9am in Australia and time for a new challenge over at ATSM.

This week out theme is -

 CAS

Well that's right down my alley and double joy we are sponsored this week by Shery at STAMPlorations.

So without further ado here is my card for your delectation and inspiration.

This is based on the latest sketch over at Less is More.

                                     

I used the stamp set 'It's Your Day' from STAMPlorations, stamping the greeting square a few times on white and heat embossing in silver before cutting a panel out using my Die-namics pierced rectangles. I followed the instructions on Chrissie's video for extending the length of dies.

The cake was stamped then the icing was coloured to match the main panel using Copics then the cake and candle flames were done in similar fashion. The cupcake wrap, plate and candles were embossed using a Versamark pen then heat embossed in silver. I then fussy cut the cake and popped it up on pads. I considered long and hard whether to have a white border or not or a pink one, well you can see I went with the former!

OK,  why not pop over to the maine ATSM site to check out the rest of the fab DT's inspiration and join in. You could be the winner of a $10 gift certificate from

I shall also enter at -

Love Rubberstamps Challenge - Pink and Girly

CASology - Birthday

Cardz4Guyz- something faux

Good morning fellow crafters.

As it's Tuesday it's time for my DT inspiration post for Cardz4Guyz.

Before I show you this weeks project can I say how pleased I was at the level of entries to our Anything Goes challenge last week. I was overwhelmed by the number of entries, so I hope I managed to get around everyone to comment on your fab entries, if I did miss anyone I do apologise. Anyway you all made it very difficult to choose a top 3, so you'll find who was in there over on the C4G blog.

OK, enough of last week, this week we would like to see your projects on the theme of 

Let's Pretend
Something FAUX or Dressing Up

For my project I decided to go with the FAUX and went with a Faux leather technique I found online here.

I went the whole hog so to speak and made a faux leather note book using one of my EFs from Cuttlebug, (see here also). I love using embossing folders as regular readers will know, they give such great interest and depth. This one is great for creating masculine texture and in this case it looks a bit like crocodile skin I think. 

I did think of making a gift wallet from the panel of card but went with the book idea, 'cos Al is always asking for a note book!

The technique for making the faux leather can be found on You Tube and involves the use of glycerin. I didn't have some of the products that are used in the video but it turned out OK in the end. The glycerin reacts with the card and turns it soft and malleable, so easy to use without tearing.

The inside is strengthened with a fabric lining and the paper is stitched in place using thread. I used some invisible that I got in a set from Lidl!

The outside of the book is inked with DI in Chipped Sapphire and Faded Jeans to give the original blue card a more leather like appearance.

The fastening is black covered round elastic and a large button.

The end of the elastic is looped over the button to secure.

OK, that's it from me, so for more inspiration check out the rest of the Fab DT's inspiration here.

I shall join in the challenges at -

The Male Room - Shades of Blue

As You Like it Challenges - Your favourite Embossing Folder ( I just love efs! )

Thanks for calling around and see you soon.

MUSE

Welcome fellow crafters.

Today I have some really special news to share. I am the Guest designer this week over at MUSE.

I couldn't believe it when I saw the email with the invitation from Ardyth in my inbox. 

'Would I like to be the guest Muse for this week?' You bet ya!

Once the initial glow had passed, I then had to think of what I should do to inspire you all?

In the end I thought I would do what seems to best reflect my style, CAS with a little DP, diecuts, dry embossing and of course an image coloured in Copics!

So without any further ado here it is, this week's MUSE card.

As it's not far off Valentine's Day I went with the romantic theme of roses using one of my NEBUS stamp bargains from a trip to a store while on holiday in Norfolk last year. Regular readers will know I love a bargain bucket to rifle through! It could equally be a card for an anniversary if you prefer.

This one is a DoCrafts stamp called Forever Love - Rose and of course I used my Copics to colour, matching the rose to the free rose DP by Kaisercraft I got last year with a magazine. I fussy cut them before attaching to the card but not before I cut a heart shape in the top panel using my Little B hearts die and then dry embossed using a Rose folder from Cuttlebug. I stamped the STAMPlorations greeting (Bloom Sketches) in Versafine then heat embossed in detail gold, mounting flat on the top panel and lifting the rose panel up on pads.

I would love to see how you are inspired by my little offering, please take inspiration from where ever you want, it doesn't have to be a Valentine's card, it could be the layout, the theme of roses or just the colourway!

I shall enter it into the following challenges:-

( I went with the photo, the hearts and roses mainly)

Copic Marker Norge - Anything Goes
Time Out - Valentine's Day with a twist of hearts.
Penny Black and More - Stencil, masks and embossing folders
Uniko Studio #17 - Love and Friendship

Blue and white Muse

Afternoon all, thanks for stopping by.

I've been looking at this week's Muse card by Marion Vagg all week trying to come up with a suitable entry.

Problem was that my stock of dark blue card is limited and my choice of border stamps also. In the end I settled on this entry -

and this is Marion's card

As you can see I went with my diecuts, inlaying a white MB Tessatina border then adding some Marianne flourishes and a MB butterfly. I left off a sentiment just as Marion did but added a few blue sparkles on the body of the butterfly.

This is the same card from a different angle. The card was a pearlescent finish and a bit tricky to photograph but it does show the inlay better than the first.

I didn't go with the heart theme as I'm all Valentined out at the moment, I've got quite a collection of them now if anybody wants them!

Anyhow that's about it for the moment, see you back here soon for some more exciting news.