Make it simple Monday Mischievous Mice

 Good morning and happy Monday from a some what windswept and blustery West Sussex 😁 Today I'd like to introduce you to some Mischievous Mice....

Aren't they just adorable?  Super cute and just perfect for colouring in! Perfect for a #makeitsimplemonday card.

So perfect that I made 2!!! The first is using just using black ink, white cardstock and watercolour pencils. Watercolour pencils are not essential any colouring tools will work I just had my watercolour pencils to hand 😉

For the second card I thought I'd use a fun simple technique that uses just a coloured ink pad as well.

The technique is one I like to call Swinking. It is very simple you just swipe and ink onto cardstock! As you can see the effect you create is so much fun. I chose to use a lovely soft shade of yellow called so saffron but you really can use any colour for this effect.

Once I'd swinked my cardstock I stamped in black ink and coloured as for the first card. A super #simplestamping card with a easy way to add colour to your projects.

Which do you prefer 🤔?  Super simple card A or Swinked card B?

Let me know so that I can demo the card in my Facebook Live on our page at 4pm GMT today.

Here's the link to the recording of my Facebook Live 

https://youtu.be/rB6stVloAng

Fun Fold Friday - Happy Hedgehogs

 I have had some real fun this week playing with the Happy Hedgehogs they are so cute! Now cute cards are not usually my thing and I generally leave cute to Cary but I had a play and loved it! 

Today's card is half an A4 sheet of paper cut down the long length (portrait) of the card. In the UK that is 10.5cm by 29.7cm. Using Basic Thick White card, once cut, I turned the card piece to landscape and scored lines down the 10.5cm length at 3.7cm and 7.4cm on each side. 

Using next a piece of standard white card 10cm by 14.4cm I put it though my Stampin' Cut and Emboss machine with the Stitched Greenery die. It leaves the lovely effect that you can now see all over the card. I then cut out the 3 small frames by using one of the dies from Ornate Frames dies.

I always have lots of scraps of white card on my desk, I never throw them away if they are a usable size. I stamped and then punched out the larger hedgehog, the smaller hedgehog, butterflies and bird were all fussy cut of course. I added a piece of DSP from the new Saleabration papers called Simply Marbleous which I managed to get for free by placing an order for only £45. With Saleabration there is always extra special items available for every £45 ordered or multiples of. This was one that I happily chose. On one side it's like a silky image as you can see on the sides and on the other side a more cloudy effect of the colours. The papers come in 6 different colours but coordinate with 12 colours plus white of course.

Once all of the images were cut out I added the die cut mat to the front of the card using foam shapes or Dimensionals. Then the characters were added as you can see. I have since added a few Rhinestones since I took pictures to show you.

 

 

That's it from me for another week, I do hope that I have given you some ideas to make your own cards? Cary will be back on Monday with another lot of projects to share with you so please stop by and join  her here too. 

 

Until I return please TAKE CARE, STAY SAFE AND WELL but most of all

xxx  KEEP ON CRAFTING  xxx

 

Thank you once again, Gill xxxxx 😍😍😍

Throwback Thursday - Happy Hedgehogs

Today's card just takes me back to childhood! Strange thing to say I know but that is just what it reminds me of!! Using the Happy Hedgehogs stamps today I only used the plant and the mushrooms/toadstools. I stamped another on a scrap of white card and fussy cut around it. I added the little butterflies and the sentiments from the Dragonfly Garden stamp set. I used blends pens to colour the images in and generally had lots of simple fun with it. 

Watercolour Wednesday - Happy Hedgehogs

Hello, for today's watercolour using the Happy Hedgehog stamp set, I made a watercolour background and used a die cut mask. Stampin'  Up! have a set of dies called Basic Borders. There are 6 different dies in the set and there are zig-zags through to curves and points, curves to a tiled roof... I love them. Anyway, the die is a cloudy effect along the edge and using that I tried several techniques from brushing across the die cut and many other ways. I ended up by brushing a small line around the border in the very soft grey of Smoky Slate. I stamp the ink pad onto an acrylic block and add a few drops of water to make it even lighter. I moved the die cut at different angles and once done I took some of the lightest blue of Balmy Blue and washed another line across the grey. I think it adds a little dimension, What do you think?

  

Tips, Tricks and Techniques Tuesday - Happy Hedgehogs

 Today's project is a simple technique of layering. I stamped the image of one of the hedgehogs from Happy Hedgehogs and coloured it in. I put that to the side and picked 2 colours that enhance each other and chose the soft peachy, orange of Pale Papaya and the really dark green of Evening Evergreen card. I wanted an Hello card this time so using the Pale Papaya, I embossed the little Hello folder from Thanks and Hello. Then mounted it onto some thin strips of White card, then a mat of Evening Evergreen card and the pieces were all added to the card base using foam shapes, Dimensionals. 

I die cut the hedgehog out with a Layering circle die but it can also be cut out using punches. This too was added to the card using Dimensionals. I highlighted the Hello in the centre of the embossed mat and as I love fussy cutting, I embossed another in Evening Evergreen and fussy cut the letters out. I wouldn't recommend doing that as it is a very time consuming fiddly job! That's a first for me to admit that!!

Make It Simple Monday - #simplestamping - Happy Hedgehogs

 Hello on this once again very cold but bright day. Today is a special day as it's my grandson's 2nd birthday and I love him to bits. I love all of my grandchildren but this is likely to be my last so he's going to be spoiled just as the others were. Bonus! The bonus is that I get to see him grow up as we all live together, fantastic! Anyway, crafting, I've made a very simple card today using the very cute and Happy Hedgehogs. 

Now there's not a lot in this set and that doesn't bother me at all as if I need to I know that I can add another stamp to it. Not for now but we will see as the week goes on. Using the largest stamp, the flowers, I have centered it and added a few details with the bird and butterfly an then the sentiment. 

 

Simple enough? I hope so. The reason that we do a #simplestamping Monday is that everyone has to learn how to make a quick and easy card with little or no equipment. Now I know that many of you are very capable crafters and like me do lots of layers, embellishments etc. etc. This was coloured in using once again my granddaughters colouring pencils instead of water brushes, I used my fingers to blend the colours. There is so many ways that we all learn to make card and by showing some of these ideas, we end up with lots of lovely people also making cards too.  

Fun fold Friday Catch You Later

 Happy Friday 🥳.  Last night we held a hybrid inperson/ virtual class. It was so much fun... As well as possing a few challenges pretty much the same as when we make a fun fold card ! For today's make I'm using the last cute character from the Catch You Later stamp set the cheeky monkeys 🐒 

I had great fun creating the card. The challenge came as I wanted my project to fit in a standard C6 envelope. The card that inspired me was created by a fellow crafted called Jamie Rodger. He called it a Pop Up Pillar card. His version is in inches and quite a bit bigger so that's  where the challenge laid for me.

The card is a simple idea use a flat card base then add pillars on each side to create dimension as many times as you wish.

For my card I started with a base piece measuring 14.85cm x 8cm.  I then made 2 pillars from 2 pieces of card each measuring 14.85cm x 5cm. I scored each strip at 1cm, 2cm, 3cm and 4cm and used my bone folder to reinforce the fold. Then I cut and scored 2 further pieces measuring 8cm x 5cm these were my second pillars. 

I chose to cover my base and all 4 pillars in pattern paper. The paper I chose is from the Artfully Composed.  I chose this because it has a fab jungley vibe.

I then stamped and coloured those cheeky monkeys. I partially fussy cut them from a piece of cardstock that was 8.5cm wide. I then adhered the 2 tallest pillars along the edges of the card base. Next I adhered the panel with the monkeys on across the first pillars at the top. I cut a panel that measured 10cm x 8.cm and covered it in the same paper and attached this to the pillars at the bottom. 

I then took the 2 remaining pillars and placed them on the bottom left and right edge. I then covered that with a piece of cardstock measuring 8cm x 8.5cm that I covered in paper.

I wanted to create a jungle for these cheeky monkeys to play in so I punched lots of leaves from the Bough punch in green card stock. I used a sponge dauber to add a little ink to the tips and sides of the punched shapes as I think it adds depth and texture. 

Once everything was adhered I stamped my sentiment.

I stamped the sentiment onto white cardstock then ran it through the cut and emboss machine with a wood effect embossing folder. I then cut the ends to kind of look like a rotten sign. I did apply a little crumb cake ink on top to give it a little age. I also added a little bakers twine to act as the hanger of the sign. The cute heart is a die cut and give a little pop of colour. 

As you can see above the card does have some hight but it does fold flat for posting.

All in all I love the way this project turned out much like I enjoyed our hybrid class last night. 

Well that's it from me this week I do hope you've enjoyed my inspiration as much as I've enjoyed creating them.

Please join us next week when Gill will be sharing her creations with us all. 

Have a great weekend and hopefully find time to craft.

Have fun

Cary x

Throwback Thursday Catch You Later

 I just couldn't stop playing with the gorgeous watercolour backgrounds I made for yesterday's post! I loved how they are all unique and make my imagination spark. ( if you didn't see the post click here) I also loved playing with the fun and cute papers in the Sweet Talk collection of double sided pattern papers and of course the fantastic Catch You Later stamps!!!

So what did I do for today's inspiration well I used one of my all time favourite techniques ... paper pieceing. This is a relatively simple process and one that if you love fussy cutting you'll adore!.

To start with chose you stamp. An open line image is perfect but not essential.  I chose to use the oh so cute chickadee's from the Catch You Later stamp set. I then stamped the image onto 2 different pieces of the pattern paper. 

Now the fun of fussy cutting began. I  carefully cut around the whole image on the black lines. I then cut the 2 characters apart. 

Once I had cut both images out of both papers I used a black marker pen and going from the reverse side I went around the sides of the cut edges. This means that there are no white or light areas where there shouldn't be and gives it a more finished appearance.

Next I took one of the pretty watercolour mats that I'd  made and stamped the chickadee's onto the mat using the same black ink.

Then I adhered the pattern paper chickadee's on top of the ones on the mat. I  love this technique as it adds just that little something to a project.

I used a cute piece of checked ribbon to the mat then used 3d foam to adhere  the panel to thw card base. I had covered the whole of the card base in a piece of the  pattern paper.  The paper is the same as the one I chose for the little chickadee. 

I then die cut a tag from white cardstock and stamped the sentiment. I then fussy cut some hearts from another of the Sweet Talk papers to add a little embellishment. I used a small piece of the same checked ribbon to tread through the tag hole and secured it with white bakers twine.

I hope you like this card as much as I do. It was fun to create and came together quickly because I had the extra backgrounds from Yesterday's creative session. I would highly recommend making a few backgrounds at a time and saving them for future projects. 

Watercolour Wednesday Catch You Later

 I love making backgrounds.  I usually make a few at a time especially if they take time to dry or might get a little messy. Well for today's watercolour inspiration that's  just what I did. The process isn't particularly messy but the drying time is essential.  I also wanted to create a watercolour background but be able to stamp the oh so cute chickadee's from the Catch You Later stamp set and colour them in. The line art images just call out to be coloured in!

So for the first part I set about creating the watercolour backgrounds . The materials I used were thick basic white cardstock panels, Stampin write markers ( these markers are water base) , a spritzer filled with water and cling film/ plastic wrap.

I cut myself a few mats of cardstock and chose pens that who's colours work well together. I suggest that you choose no more 3 or 4 different colours because you don't want to end up with mud!!! 

For the piece I show in the photo's below I chose 3 shades of pink.  A light called blusing bride,  a mid tone called flirty flamingo and a stronger shade called melon mambo.

I  placed a mat of cardstock down onto a piece of kitchen paper. Then I cut a piece of cling film that was quite a bit bigger than the mats and layed it over top of the mat of cardstock. 

Next I scribbled the markers onto the cling film.

Then you spritz with water... not too much not tooo little. Practice does make perfect so don't get disappointed if it doesn't work first time. 

Now the fun really begins! You do have to work quite quickly so make sure you have everything to hand. Place one of  your pile of card mats onto the wet ink and quickly turn it over with the cling film attatched. Smoosh and swish the inks but now the hard part wrap the cling film around and leave it to dry!!

Leaving the cling film on is what helps to create the cool effect of white or pale lines randomly splashed across the pieces.

 Now as I said before I didn't waste my time waiting for bits to dry ... I made more of course 😉

Once the mats were dry I moved onto the next step in the card process for the card I had in mind.

First I stamped using Stazon black ink using my stamp positioning tool, Stamparatus.  I used this because I wanted to ensure I had good coverage and solid lines. I used Stazon as its a fast drying solvent based ink. 

I then used a product called Dakin solution. This solution is a type of bleach. You will also need a fine paint brush not with natural bristles though! I also keep kitchen paper on hand and work in a ventilated space as although it's  not hideously smelly I don't want to take any chances.

Now let the magic happen. Gently paint the solution over the area's you want to remove the colour from. I work in small areas and dab often with the kitchen paper to remove excess solution. The paint appears to just disappear before your eyes!!

Some colours will take a couple of washes of the solution to make the colour vanish so be patient.

Now leave the piece to completely dry while you put the rest of the project together.

I kept it simple because I wanted the gorgeous background and fun chickadee's to shine. I chose to colour my chickadee's using alcohol markers. I also use pretty pattern paper  from a set called Sweet Talk. This paper is full of fun and cute designs in beautiful cheerful colours. 

I love stripes so had to use this piece to complement my chickadee's. In fact my whole colour palette was inspired by this piece of paper 😁.

Whilst most of the sentiments in the Catch You Later are a bit punny some are just lovely. I thought todays card would work well for a fun Valentine for a child from a parent or grandparent.