For my card I wanted to use my new stampset from Gerda Steiner, that I got with the black Friday deal.
I stamped all the images on the Crafter's Companion Neenah paper and had them cut out by my Scan N cut.
For the "maze" I used my nested circles dies, mine are from Nellie Snellen, but any will do. I skipped one every time, to get a reasonable rim.
I used the largest circle in the set to cut out the maze from the card panel and I stamped the sentiment from the same Gerda Steiner set with Versafine Onyx black ink, set it aside to dry.
Colored them with Spectrum Noir and Spectrum Illustrator markers.
I mounted the panel and circles with foam tape.
To go round I peel off one side of the backing, push it down and then peel off the other backing sheet, you can then manipulate the foamtape like magic.
So if you're really good at this you could made it a spinner card, but I am not and there is just not enough room to put the coin or disc on the back, it's either would fit or it would fall out.
So I opted for the illusion together with the sentiment I think will carry across the message of a helpful friend.
To give the illusion of the maze I cut a slit in the smaller circles and positioned them inside the big circle in the panel.
Stuck the penguin in the middle of the maze, as if she'smade it ;-). Some Nuvo shimmer pen on the hearts and tape runner to stick her down.
I showed you the magnets sheets in a haul video, and said I wasn't going to use them to make magnets, just for organizing my dies. But then I made magnets lol...
Mostly because I was curious as how the different glues would hold up under the glass cabochons.
You can get these glass domes pretty much anywhere, mine where from the home decor section and came in a mixed bag, which was a shame as I only need the clear ones, but hey...I cleaned them with some rubbing alcohol, to make sure there's no residue that might make the glue not stick, just a precaution.
I used: Ranger texture paste transparent gloss, Ranger Glossy Accents, Collal tacky glue, Aleene's fast grab tacky glue, Decor Art Liquid glass and Tombow mono multi liquid glue.
The last one is repositionable ans was still tacky after letting it dry all night, so I wouldn't recommend that one, but they all dried up nice and clear and are a strong hold as far as I could tell. I used some Nuvo Shimmer pen on the green bugs as I like how glossy accents amplifies the glitter, but I think squishing the glass down, kinda smooshed out all the glitter as I couldn't find much of it, except on the sides.
Hey it's all part of the experiment!
To make the bugs I traced the glass shaped onto Crafter's Companion Neenah paper and colored them with alcohol markers. I do recommend alcohol, as I think water based markers might reactivate with the wet glue, haven't tried it, but it's a gut feeling :-D
If you do, tell me if it works .
Cut out the shaped then glued the glass on top. and let it dry all night.
In the morning I cut the magnet sheet to fit the glass domes and after trimming the paper I stuck the magnet sheet down and trimmed again, I guess you could do it in one go, I just didn't ;-) My head is still heavy from the flu.
Then I glued googly eyes on top, I used the Aleene's fast grab tacky glue for it as I found the glossy accents didn't work as well.
For the box you need a piece of paper that is 3,5"high and 3, 3/8" wide. Make sure if you have a directional pattern it's like in the pattern (flowers right side up).
Score on the 3,3/8" side at 1/2"and 2 7/8" (or 1/2" from both ends)
Score on the 3,5"side at : 1/2, 1 1/2", 2"and 3"
Burnish your scorelines and notch as show in pattern/video
Glue your box together and place your magnets, with or without the little round magnets to hold them in place.
This fortnight the theme of AAA cards challenges is: chilled. Our sponsor is CAS-ual Fridays. And you could win a $25 dollar gift certificate.
I am using their set Must love snowflakes, sadly it's discontinued, but now they have snowy sayings and bring on the snowflakes as well as some snowflakes dies.
For the card I cut a kraft base into a panel. I didn't realize it, but it turns out it's not exactly A5 sized...should have measured!
I started by stamping the thank you with Simon Says Stamp's you matter set in embossing ink, and then used the Wow metallic silver regular to emboss the sentiment.
Then I placed all the snowflakes from CAS-ual Friday's must love snowflakes on acryllic blocks. I stamped a variety of sizes and colors using Memento inks (gray flannel and Paris dusk and also embossing ink)
The little star is from Simon Says Stamps (birthday balloons) and I used it as an embellishment instead of rhinestones or alike.
Adhered the panel to a cardbase with tape runner and cleaned up the size difference.
For more information or to play along with the AAA cards challenge, see this
The Less is More challenge this week is ONE layer and cute.
For my card I used a Digi from Lili of the Valley (polar) and I printed it on the Crafter's Companion Neenah paper.
I added the sentiment in Photoshop.
I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers.
Added some Wink of Stella to the bear's nose and the snowflake.
For more information on the Less is More challenge, see this
Now I have develped three more blending recipes I like a lot
first one is: mustard seed, carved pumpkin, picked raspberry and spun sugar,
in the centre: dried marigold, spiced marmalade, worn lipstick and picked raspberry,
on the right: wilted violet, mermaid lagoon, peacock feathers and twisted citron
The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is: birds of a feather.
The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is: use a sentiment, showcasing Clearly Besotted products.
Now I have two ideas, and might make another card to enter tomorrow, if I manage :-D. "They" say the weather will be nasty tomorrow (thursday) but I think the worst has passed,it was quite windy outside today and was almost blown into the canal... otherwise I'm staying inside to color haha.
For now I used the Clearly besotted stamp set Fluffy flamingos and I stamped it with Simon Says Stamp intense black ink onto the Crafter's Companion Neenah paper. The cut them out and colored them with my Noir
Spectrum and Illustrator markers.
For the "lake" I swiped Distress inks Mermaid lagoon and Peacock feathers onto the cardbase, masking off the horizon. and then placed them like they're in the water.
There's a ring pattern in the set. but it was too big, or my lake too shallow, but that would reinforce the effect of them in the water.
I stamped the sentiment from the same set with Versafine onyx black ink.
And then added some glittery enamel dots.
For more information or to play along the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, see this.
For more information or to play along the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, see this.
The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is to use Patterned paper and showcasing Doodlebug products.
The only Patterned paper from Doodlebug that I have is winter/Christmas themed, so I opted for the sprinkles and a random brand of patterned paper that matched my mermaid and theme.
I diecut a stitched circle from the patterned paper and adhered it to the cardbase.
Then I stamped the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's birthday balloons with Versafine onyx black ink.
I stamped the Mermaid from My Favorite Things (mermazing) with Simon Says Stamp intense black ink and used my Spectrum Noir markers to color the image. To give the signo white gelpen and glittery blue gelpens.
illusion of a glittery tail I used a Uni Ball
Mounted the mermaid with foamtape and adhered her to the cardbase. I thought the glittery purple swirl could be seaweed or kelp, algae, you know underwater stuff and then sprinkled some enamel dots on the panel.
For more information or to play along the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, see this.
And because it has mainly purple/lilac colors I shall also enter it into the Less is More Challenge: purples for my second entry
Escargot de l'espace, the snail from outer space, seemed only logical to combine it with les fleur dingues ( crazy flowers) as to me they could also be alien.
These are unmounted rubber stamps and I don't mount them. the foam in the stamper's friend or Misti have enough give. If you don't have a stamping tool, you can still use them unmounted, just put some craftfoam or a mousepad underneath your paper.
I had started with the "tentacle" flowers in black, was too stark, then I made a mask for the snail and stamped the flowers behind him in grey, still didn't like it.
Then I cut the flowers apart and re stamped them with 2 others from the set in Versafine onyx black ink. I'm going to stick them behind a "hill:. I could have done it in green, but I chose white. It;s a Joy! crafts no end borders (6002/0923) and I cut it from my usual cardbase Canon paper that's a nice and sturdy 140lbs of digital copy paper.
Then I fuzzy cut the snail as I had stamped him on the Crafter's companion Neenah paper and I already had wasted one panel.
Colored the snail with Spectrum Noir markers (BG1-2-3-5). Used waterbased markers for the flowers as I didn't want to alcohol to seep through, of course it's not the right paper to take watercolor markers, but it was OK. I thought the middle plant's flowers looked like eyes with a mohican tuft on the top, so funny. So I put some googly eyes on there.
Mounted the happy birthday panel with foam tape and part of the snail too and his body I mounted with tape runner.
Winterblues is the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.
So for my blue I used Memento inks ( nautical blue, teal zeal and summer sky) through a round mask, set off centre.
After ink blending I spritzed water on top and then Talens white Ecoline.
For my image I used the Gerda Steiner Valentine penguins, colored with Spectrum Noir and Spectrum Illustrator markers.
For the sentiment I used Simon Says Stamp It's your birthday set and stamped it with Versafine Onyx black ink.
Mounted the penguins with foamtape.
For more information or to play along the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, see this.
I think these are essentials as I can't seem to make a card without them. Ofcourse there's more , but to make a card you need a few supllies you will reach for time after time, as do I.
These are the basics and if you have those you can start to branch out into other things and supplies as needed.
11: Mondi or Canon (250gram)or Claire Fontaine (250 grams 110lbs) colour laser printer paper 140lbs or 300 grams.
I couldn't find my specific one, I've used Mondi until my copyshop/printer switched to Canon.
I liked them both, they're slightly coated for Laser copying/printing and that is fab with inkblending to be honest either Distress or Memento blending.
10: Leitz/Esselte A5 pockets. These are great for metric countries as A5 is exactly half an A4 sheet. They have no flap, but the flap annoys me anyway and they're stronger and cheaper than the Avery Elle pockets I had before. Also because they're metric sized there's no wastage for the insert flap I use to write the name and company on of the stamp or diesets I put in them.
9: Non Stick Titanium Scotch scissors. Some gunk will stick to them anyway, but most of it doesn't . They're easily cleaned and super sharp. I got a cut whilst cleaning the blades one, just from rubbing the blade, so be careful!.
8: tape and tape runners. I get mine from Action these days, the taperunner is only 98 euro cents and works great, the double sided tape and foam are about half the price and well you know I like to use foamtape. I would suggest to look around in Dollar store types shops, you might not find the exact same, but similar ones will probably work just as well.
I also got 2 inch wide foam from Ali Express and those are super super sticky and once the papers touched you won't get them apart again, also I now tear the tape as they will gunk up your scissors immediately. Amazon also has similar ones, not sure if the same seller.
7: mini glue bottle with fine applicators. There's many brands out there, I got mine at the local craftstore, I can't remember their brand as I threw away the packaging. It had 3 or 4 of these bottle in the pack and I love them with tacky glue for all sorts of fine work, like detailed diecuts when I forget to use Stick it ;-)
6: Post it like tape. I have been looking for the wide Post it tape for ages in The Netherlands, I found correction tape that is wider, but I'm not sure it's repositionable. So when I found these narrow tapes in a dispenser at Wibra I was so happy and bought them all, good thing too as they never came back in store. So I looked on the internet and ofcourse found some on Ali Express. I can't shop Amazon, and free delivery on already cheap supplies? yes please. the ones I got are about 2"wide and not sticky at all! the narrow ones are better, but the 2"ones I wonder how you would keep it on the fridge or something...again if you can find alike items or the proper #m one I would get that, I will keep looking, but for now these will do. Also if you;re lucky to get the full sticky Post its...they should be fab too, again I can't find them and Inkadinkadoo masking paper is too expensive for borders and such I use this tape for.
5: Scoring boards. I have two the Martha Stewart one and the WRMK one. I got the WRMK one first. And I love that all the groves are numbered, whereas with the MS one I have to fill it in with a Sharpie to make it easier to use. I don't really like the cutter on the WRMK one as much as I thought I would, it dulls a bit too quickly in my opinion. But there's a new version out (light gray and teal) and it might be better.
I sue scoring board to score my card blanks as they're so thick, also I use them for gift boxes, bags and such, Very versatile tool, esp with the MS one and the envelope corner. I have the WRMK envelope punchboard so I never used the MS one.
4: Stamps and dies..ofcourse you can't go without them and there's so much choice it's crazy. I like cartoony style stamps of adorable critters the most and have mainly the basic dies, like cirlces, squares, rectangles and such. and once I got those I branched out into the decorative ones as I needed them.
Digital (or digi) stamps are a good starting option, there's many free ones out there and when you buy any, they do not have shipping costs, no customs charges, sometimes taxes, but also no waiting time, instant download and gratification :-D
3: Alcohol markers. Once you have an image to color I like my Spectrum Noir the best. They're cheap to start with and refillable and the nibs can be replaced if needed. Personally I like the bullet nibs more than brush nibs. I have had Copic markes (original and ciao) and Pro markers, but I destashed them once I got the 216 set of Noirs.
I also use the Crafter's Companion Neenah ultra smooth card with it. I think it's 110lbs or 216grams. and I love it. for the representation of the color, the blending I have tried others, but some are so stark white, the colors become almost fluorescent.
There are other brands available but again these are my personal choices.
2: Inks. to stamp images I like to use the Simon Says Stamp Intense black ink or the My Favorite things (MFT) hybrid black ink. Bother are alcohol marker friendly but also waterproof, so great for markers and or watercoloring. the MFT one is refillable and as my SSS is running low I grab the MFT one more often, but I do believe the SSS is more black, darker with one pass. I wonder if the Hero arts intense black is the same as the SSS one.
1: Stamping tools. To stamp properly and without wastage I love using a stamping tool. I have 3 kinds the MISTI, the Stamper's Friend and the WRMK one. I prefer the Stamper's fried and have a review on my Youtube channel. And there's more choices out there. Get the one that fits your crafting and budget.
Ultraviolet is the Pantone color of 2018, so a Purple challenge or two is bound to pop up.
First is the Less is More challenge this fortnight.
For my card I used a new Katzelkraft stamp (monstres des carpates) or Carpatian monsters and the sentiment is from Impression Obsession (c17150 character defects)
I stamped both with Versafine onyx black ink onto Schut hot pressed and smooth watercolor paper. Then colored the image with Talens Ecoline (507 ultramarine violet and 548 ultra red violet and a bit of 717 cool grey)
As my watercolor panels are always slightly narrower, I fill the gap with a matching washi tape.
Mounted the watercolor panel with foamtape and adhered it to the cardbase.
For more information or to play along the Less is More Challenge, see this
It is not necessary to include this quote or any other quote on your CAS card, but we'd like you to use it to inspire your creativity. It could be as simple as using some new stash that you were lucky enough to receive for Christmas or using a new to you technique or a card to encourage you or someone else to stick to their New Year plans ......
My new year's plan is to use scraps more often, or as soon as a have some.
Our sponsor this fortnight is: Happy Little Stampers.
For my card I diecut a scalloped heart from Marianne design (cr1351) and the Memory Box cross stitched love from a cardpanel, the same size as my cardbase.
I traced the opening onto the cardbase and applied tape runner on all sides. In hindsight it would be better to only apply glue/runner on a corner, so top and right or left p.e. It's easier to lift the paper strips if they're not stuck ;-)
I chose a neutral palette with some purple and cut different width strips, pretty random.
And I start the "weaving"by applying the first strip and then tucking and flipping the others, you know how to do that, I'm sure.
Once the window shape is covered and the shape can be anything you have, circle, square, star, rectangle, doesn't matter; I add tape runner to the cardpanel and adhere it to the cardbase. Trimmed where necessary.
For more information inspiration from the DT and or to play along with the AAA cards challenge, see this
Is the challenge on both the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and Wednesday Challenge, Showcasing Simon Says Stamp exclusives and Hero Arts.
And boy did I try something new: gilding flakes. You say glitter gets everywhere? nah this stuff is so clingy it literally attached itself to everything, must be the weather lol
Anyway for the Hero Arts bit I inked up the stencil called bold floral, and I used the Tsukineko glue pad, also something I had never used successfully; tried it once due to Youtube, didn't work, been in the cabinet since. Until today when upon another search I found you have to let the glue dry a little, much like you would do with the gilding glue (that I don't have) and that did work.
I inked the pad first then inked up the stencil and laid a piece of watercolor paper on it and rubbed it to get a "print". I mean to do some inkblending with the Hero Arts mini cubes I have, but I liked the gold so much I left it.
after letting it dry for five minutes or so I applied the Cosmic Shimmer gilding flakes (warm sunrise, a blend of colors). and rubbed it into the glue, then let it sit for a minute and then rubbed away the extra.
For the sentiment I used the Simon Says Stamp exclusive painted hello and I diecut it from black card with Stick it on the back.
The butterflies are also a SSS exclusive die and I cut those from red glitter, for a nice contrast with the background. Mounted the panel with foamtape to a cardbase.
For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, see this.
For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, see this.
Or like I used on the card: It's simply not pawssible to love you more than I already do.
The January Challenge for Gerda Steiner came with this adorable panda.
So first I thought of funny sentiments, with panda, but all that came to me were pandamonium and such, then bear, unbearable without you, then I chose paw as is pawssible....
Anyway I added the sentiment in Photoshop, printed the image on the Crafter's Companion Neenah paper and colored it with a mix of markers: Spectrum Noir, Illustrator and Decotime.
Added some "sheen"with a white gelpen and cut the panel smaller, so I could make a matt. mounted it with foamtape onto the cardbase.
For more information on the Gerda Steiner January Challenge, see this.
If you play along once you can buy the image, but once you have played along you will get the next challenge image for free :-D
