AAA Cards Challenge #114: Tic Tac Toe

This fortnight our sponsor is Stamplorations.
The theme Tic Tac Toe was chosen by yours truly and I chose the left column (gold, flowers, watercolour).

For my card I used Waterart paper from Kippers Hobby and I stamped my flowers from Craft Sensations with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with Wow! rich gold embossing powder.

Then I used my fluid watercolors from Talens to colour some of the blooms, to keep it as CAS and elegant as possible. The sentiment is from Sizzix (it's you birthday by Stephanie Bernard), also embossed with the same powder.
The stamp was smaller than the cardbase, so I joined a few lines with a Versamaker
and then cut the paper to fit, so I ended with a mat. I raised the panel with foamtape.

For more information and examples from our DT, or to play along, see this.

Floral feast

The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is: flower power and the Less is More Challenge is a Sketch.

For my card I pulled out the  Simon Says Stamp Single roses die and diecut them from black card. Then I glued the black onto colored card and fuzzy cut them out. Went around the edges with a black Memento marker to mask the edges.

I stamped the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp It's your birthday with Versafine onyx black ink.

Adhered the flowers kind of  as in the sketch with either tape runner and or foamtape. Because I didn't raise my sentiment as well (too many layers?) I moved them a little bit.

For more information on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, see this.
For more information on the Less is More Challenge, see this.

The Joyful Soul Creates video hop

Today I'm taking part in the video hop for 200 subscribers for the Joyful Soul Creates' channel.
Charlotte has organized this hop and she is giving away prizes along the hop. Important is that you comment on every video in the hop to be eligible. The hop runs for a week until May 5th and winners will be announced on May 10th.

I have two stamp sets to give away on this hop. I bought these from Nellie Snellen a Dutch stamp maker.
You can tell me which you'd prefer if you win.

For the card I used Talens Ecoline, but Distress ink spray stains would also work as well as ink refills.
I wet watercolor paper where I want the ink to go/stay as it will flow out but not outside the water boundaries, unless the amount you add is too much. You can manipulate the shape a little.
I used Talens ecoline: 318,236, 201,600,505,507 and 548.
For the sentiment I used a bit of black card I lined with Stick It and then diecut Simon Says Stamp Painted thanks from it. this diecut is very bendy so I always try to leave it in the die while I push it onto the paper through the release holes, works usually but not so much on textured water color paper ;-).

Mounted the panel with foamtape and added a strip of Washi tape on the cardbase. I thought the graphic look of the black and white looks good with the rainbow.

Few enamel dots to complement the rainbow colors, some glittery some plain.

For the hop visit

The Joyful Soul Creates
Cards by Maaike (you are here)
Gerry's Craft room
Karen Hasheck
Jasmine Burgess

I believe in you, shakercard

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is: anything goes , showcasing My Favorite Things products.

For my card I used the Mermazing stampset, stamped it with MFT black licorice ink onto the Crafter's Companion Neenah paper and colored her with Spectrum Illustrator markers and Spectrum Noir markers and Glitter gel pens.
For the window I used the MFT  Ocean View porthole from gold laminated card and then a circle die to cut a similar sized hole from the cardfront Adhered the gold porthole with liquid glue.

I then Stamped the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp  You Matter set with Versafine Onyx black ink.

To build up the shaker I first put Be Creative double sided tape on the back, around the circle, added acetate and then just one layer of foamtape.
I inkblended the cardbase with Distress Oxided Mermaid Lagoon and Versamagic Ocean Depth, but I think that got lost a bit behine the star(fish)... Splattered with water but the inks do not react well on this particular paper...oh well.

Added the little stars from the nail art isle to the shaker pouch and closed the shaker by adhering the cardbase to the front.

Added the mermaid with tape runner to the front.

For more information and or to play along the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, see this.

Versamagic ink blending recipes #2

I snuck in one Distress oxides, I got three of those, I think I might need a bright green, like mowed lawn too ;-)...
Anyway the first batch you can find here as video, but I also included the scan. My scanner makes the picture very harsh, so  consider that, it's not the inkblending that isn't up to par ;-) as I love how the Versamagic ink blend. I only got the dewdrops ones.

Glitter rainbow

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is: sparkle and shine and to showcase Tonic Studio Products, like the Nuvo Drops that I used.

For my card I started by inkblending Distress inks through a Memory Box stencil (texture honey comb), I've used Candied apple, Spiced marmalade, Mustard seed, Mowed lawn, Mermaid Lagoon, Faded jeans nd Seedless preserves or Wilted violet)
Then I made my own glitter paste (as I don't have those from Nuvo): I mixed Ranger texture paste transparent glossy with glitter powder, a white iridescent one. Applied it through the stencil and let it dry.

Meanwhile I diecut the Simon Says Stamp Big Hello and small butterflies from Crafters Companion shimmer cardstock, not quite glitter card but nice and sturdy for diecutting.

Applied the ranbow panel to a cardbase and

adhered the diecuts with liquid glue , then added some Nuvo drops (glitter drops Emerald city, Pink champagne and Honey gold).

For more information or to play along the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, see this.

first impressions SpectrumNoir premium pencil paper and Craft Sensations pencils

I like them, maybe more than my expensive ones,which I'm reviewing next.

AAA Cards Challenge #113: a Perfect Day

This fortnight our theme is : a perfect day, Our sponsor is Precious Remembrance Shop and you can win a stampset if you play along.

So...my perfect day is a pj day, snoozing off with my cats, they seem to go along with it just fine lol, being lazy, napping, bit of cuddling, then maybe chasing a mouse, well them, not me ;-) I would be the one pulling the toy mouse around the house, as long as it moves, they're game ;-)

Ok for my card I used a perfect stamp from Art Impressions: feline set, part of the zoo crew and I stamped the cat with Simon Says Stamp intense black ink onto Crafter's Companion Neenah paper and cut him out, then colored him with my Spectrum Noir markers. My cats have white socks and bellies, but it was too hard to blend from black to white, for me at least.

I masked off an area at the bottom of the card (my bed) and inkblended the sheets with Distress inks Wilted violet and Picked raspberry.
I stamped the sentiment form the same set with Versafine onyx black ink and I added three enamel dots as those bubbles underneath a comic book thought bubble, if you know what I mean.

Mounted the cat with foamtape.



For more information or more examples from our DT, or to play along the AAA Cards Challenge, see this.

Less is More Challenge: bring something back

This fortnight it's all about old things: stamps, techniques, anything we did/used a good while back.

For my card I chose Gold Leafing, as it seems to have been forgotten when (hot) foiling became a thing.

So for my card I die cut the Village with Church (Craft emotions) from cardstock. I did try it with stick it on the front and back, but that got so pushed into the paper when diecutting, I couldn't get it off again. I probably used too thick a card. So second time I just diecut it and then used another oldie but goodie: the gluepad and smooshed it onto the diecut, then sprinkled on some Cosmic Shimmer gold leaf. The inkpad was quite dry,but I didn't feel like reinking, for
such a small piece...so I double dipped and well let's just say now I need a new gluepad lol.
After applying the gold leaf and rubbing it in and off I used liquid glue to adhere the diecut to the cardbase.

The sentiment is from Studio Light and also a few years old, much like the village,so old tech, old stamp and old die and haha old cardmaker lol... I stamped it with Versafine Onyx black ink.

For more information or to play along the Less is More Challenge, see this.

What's Kraken?

I made this card for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Mythology/Inspired by a story and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Add some texture showcasing Tim Holtz products.

For my card I made the background with the Simon Says Stamp Waves Stencil. I actually inkblended Distress inks through it first with  a brush ( shaded lilac, tumbled glass and peacock feathers). Then I added texture with the Ranger texture paste (transparent gloss) to which I added a drop of Peacock feathers Distress inks refill and Distress glitter in same color, Just a drop and you can't see the inkblending anymore, but it made a great sea ;-).
I then Cut a panel, diecut an oval from it and added the sentiment (Lawn Fawn loveable legends). I stamped the Kraken on Crafter's Companion Neenah paper, and colored it with Spectrum Noir markers. Then added shimmer with the Nuvo shimmer pen.
Mounted the panel and part of the kraken with foamtape, adhered it to the cardbase, added the kraken and boat.

Maaike's card swaps

It's a free Facebook group, everyone is welcome, just be nice to each other.

Katzelkraft Monstres des Carpates, using ruibber scraps for coloring, with video

Today I tried diecutting the rubber left over from cutting up the Katzelkraft Monstres des Carpates. Didn't work with thinlits, You might have more luck if your have those thick steel rule dies. I sued Scissors after I traced the dies onto the rubber. Round if probably the most difficult shape to cut, but think triangles, rectangles, squares, blobs. Any shape you might already have in your stash. Like my Simon Says Stamp presents and ornaments set.

I attach the monster to my Stamper's friend with taperunner and I used Versafine onyx black ink to stamp them onto the cardbase.

Then I used a variety of Memento dewdrops and circle sizes and to finish it off the little circle in the SSS set.

For the Sentiment I also used SSS, the You matter set and I also stamped it in Versafine onyx black ink.

If you want dimension you could add enamel dots or drops.
The birds are also katzelkraft (corbeaux silhouettes) and the sentiment is from Sizzix (birthday by Stephanie Barnard)

Video Collab #2 with Gerry van der Velden

We chose Spring as our theme and we made each other's backgrounds.
I got a pretty watercolored one from Gerry. with lots of shine from Pixie powder she used.
In it I could see a meadow and maybe a wheat field? so that's how I approached it.
I printed a digital Stamp from C.C. Design (Chicky girl) onto the Crafter's Companion Neenah paper and had the Scan N Cut do the cutting. It didn't like the sentiment and chopped it in half, so I left it out ..I think it;s because my mat isn't very sticky anymore, although I taped down the paper with painter's tape, it still shifted.

After cutting I colored the image with Spectrum Noir and Illustrator markers. It may be called Chicky girl, but I made it into a granny...even tough I see lots of girls with grey hair these days. I earned all my grey hairs, and am not painting it, but as a teen I would never opt for silver/grey hair!
Then I diecut the meadow border from Lawn Fawn from the background and filled in the  missing bit on the cardbase with Distress inks (Cracked pistachio), so it's not too obvious..In fact you can't see anything is missing ;-) Cut the panel to size.
I also used the tulip and butterfly from the die set and the Versamagic background I made earlier .
Adhered the watercolor panel to the background and then the image with taperunner. Mounted the grassy border with foam tape and placed it on top. I used some liquid glue dots on the tulip and butterflies.

For Gerry's video, see this

Have a dino-mite birthday

I made this card for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: three of something, showcasing Dyan Reavely products. And the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesdays, inking technique.

I only have one Dyan Reavely set, so I used Clearly Besotted's you're dino-mite instead as I liked it more..It's soo cute.
I thought the Dylusions sprays were Dyan Reavely but it doesn't actually say on the bottle. I used white linen as a splatter on top of inkblended backgrounds. For this I used a trio of
Distress inks: cracked pistachio, wilted violet and peacock feathers, then splattered the white linen on top.

To continue on the "three" theme, I used the

Simon Says Stamp tri square die ona  cardpanel and stampe dthe sentiment with Versafine onyx black ink.

I stamped three dinosaurs onto a thinner watercolor paper with Simon Says Stamp intense black and then I used Distress ink spray stains in waterbrushes to color the images.
Mounted the panel with foamtape and tucked the critters inside the windows.

I love you, gnome matter what....

This cute little gnome couple is the newest free digi that come from playing in the monthly challenges at Gerda Steiner Designs...you can also purchase it, if you don't want to play.

I opened it in Photoshop and it was the prefect size for a cardfront, so I didn't resize or anything, just added the punny sentiment.

I printed it onto the Crafter's Companion Neenah Paper and colored it with Spectrum Noir markers. Mounted the panel with foamtape and added it to the cardbase.

I think it might be my father's day card? coming up soon...my dad had a grey beard and I have kind of brown hair....

For more information or to play along the April Challenge at Gerda Steiner, see this.

AAA Cards Challenge #112: favourite Technique

This fortnight our challenge over at AAA cards is: favourite technique and our sponsor is Sugar Pea Designs and you could win a $25 gift certificate.

For my favourite technique card I used two of mine, inkblending and marker colouring, not sure which would win in a battle, but I love both.
Although I did minimal inkblending here, as our challenge  is a CAS one. I masked off the grass, inkblended Distress ink Mowed lawn, then Peacock feathers for the lake and Mermaid lagoon for the sky.

The images are from Sugar Pea designs (Indian summer) I stamped them with Simon Say Stamp intense black and colored them with both Spectrum Noir and Illustrator

markers. The reed is from Clearly Besotted ( fluffy flamingos). My scan n cut did all the cutting and I adhered the images as a little scene with taperunner and or foamtape.. Three enamel dots around the scene to help your eye travel.

No sentiment, as the set is very much geared toward fall and Thanksgiving, but I was actually picturing children playing.

For more examples from our design team, or to play along the AAA cards Challenge, see this.