Make it simple Monday Irresistible Blooms

 Hello Cary here.... I know you were expecting Gill but sadly she's poorly 😢 But she did make a lovely card to share with us for today 😄 So here we go... This weeks #makeitsimple inspiration from Gill is using the lovely Irresistible Blooms. This set is an online exclusive set from Stampin' Up!

Gill first stamped in basic grey ink. This gives a much softer outline to any image or sentiment.  This works particularly well with florals when coloured with a softer colour palette. She stamped onto a basic white mat. 

Gill then ran the mat's edges over the ink pad to give a little colour to the edge of the mat. This is a favourite technique of Gill's. 

For the inside of the card Gill did the same with the edges and added another of the lovely sentiments from the set.

To colour the images Gill has used watercolour pencils. The colours are nice and bold but at the same time gentle!

Anyway hopefully Gill will be well enough to create her own post for tomorrow... get well soon Gill xx

 

Fun fold Friday Silly Goose

 For my fun fold card this week I've adapted a card I saw on the internet by a French demonstrator called Ludivine Bertois thank you for sharing Ludivine ☺️ Of course I have used the Silly Goose stamp set to decorate the card but I've also used some gorgeous double-sided pattern paper called Rain or Shine.

I love the bright cheerful colours in these papers. Pink and orange is one of my favourite colour combos so that's what I went with!

The card starts as a standard 10.5cm x 29.7cm scored at 14.85cm card base. Put the base to one side. I then cut a mat of white cardstock measuring 10cm x 14.4cm. Next another white mat measuring 11cm x 10.5cm which you score at 10cm. Now cut a mat that measures 8.5cm x 7.5cm scored at 7.5cm.

Now attatch the 2 smaller mats to the larger one using the 1cm tabs to the back of the large mat. I put the larger panel on the left-hand side and the smaller on the right-hand side. I then adhered the large panel to the front of the card base. 

Now decorate to your hearts content. I used some of the gorgeous pattern paper to mat on each panel. I then stamped my sentiments and used the Double Oval punch to mat and layer them.

I have to say I don't use this punch often enough! It a good one. Any way back to the project. I stamped and paper pieced the balloon part of the stamp in the same papers as the backgrounds. 

I must say I do like a card that can show off lots of pattern paper....

Especially as I have sooooo much in my stash 🤣🤣🤣

Well that's it from me for this week please join me here next week when Gill will be sharing her inspiration. 

Have a great weekend and keep crafting 

Have fun 

Cary xx 

This or That Thursday Silly Goose

 Gill prefers spots.. and I like stripes! So for this weeks This or That I thought I'd see who's team spots and who's team stripes 🤔 So I've  made 2 cards using the Silly Goose and pattern paper. 

I started with a pattern paper pack called  Flowers and More. This pack is full of bright bold slightly retro looking double sided 12" x 12" paper... 48 sheets!!

I love all of the papers but chose just 2. Each have a colour palette that coordinates with each other making it so easy to create fun colourful projects. The hardest part was choosing the papers for sure!

So first let's look at the spotty version. 

Then let's have a look at the stripes one....

Both cards are identical except for the pattern paper so it really is hard to choose 🫣

Which are you team spots? Or stripes?

Watercolour Wednesday Silly Goose

 Does stamping with water onto a ink blended background count as a watercolour technique 🤔?  I sure hope so because that is what I've done for today's inspiration 😉 I have used the Silly Goose in conjunction with other stamp sets. One is a background stamp called Rays of light. The other is a bundle called Conversation Bubbles. 

First I made the background by blending onto white cardstock using first a bright green called parakeet party.....

I knew I wanted to have a bold pop of colour radiating from where the center of the Rays of Light stamp was so roughly started there. I then filled the rest with a deep bright shade of blue called starry sky...

Now to create a water ink pad. I took 2 sheets of kitchen roll and laid them into the empty stamp case. I then carefully added enough water to soak the paper but not so much that it was a puddle.

I then took the stamp and put it onto an acrylic block and " inked" it up with the water.  I then swiftly stamped it onto my blended mat as you would with regular ink. I was careful to go straight up when removing it. I immediately placed another sheet of kitchen roll on top of the stamped image. This removes the wet ink and give a more defined image. 

Boy was I happy with the outcome!!! I love the almost tie-dye effect it gave.

I then stamped the fist... sorry wing bummping geese and fussy cut them out. I coloured their beaks and feet in bold orange for an extra colour pop.

I then took the Conversation Bubbles stamps and dies and created the sentiments for the card.

I like how the card has a cartoon feel to it. It's such a fun card.

Tips tricks and techniques Tuesday Silly Goose

 Last weekend we hosted our annual weekend retreat. The retreat is a full weekend of crafting, laughing, eating and generally having the best time possible! One of the activities that we love to do is host a swap. Now a swap is where everyone who wants to makes a card or 3d item.  Then replicate it for everyone else in the swap. You then exchange one of your projects for one of their's.  It's  a fantastic way to gain inspiration as everyone's projects are different! I used the Silly Goose stamp set. Can you spy it in this picture of all the swaps?

My swap is a clean and simple one but uses a fun technique called masking.

The stamps are such a hoot! Or should that be a honk?

This fun set is a refreshing change from the norm. And one that I think will bring a smile to any recipients face.

Now my card starts life by stampin the goose in a rubber ring onto a basic white mat. I used memento ink as I knew I wanted to colour my image with alcohol markers. I then took a piece of masking paper and stamped it on there too.

Next I fussy cut the image out of the masking paper along the outline edges.

I then placed it over top of the image I'd stamped onto my card mat 

Now for the fun part! I took a blending brush and some beautiful bright blue ink called Tahitian tide 💙  and blended the colour over the masked image.

Now for the reveal! Carefully remove the mask to find that your stamped image is still un coloured but the area around it is!!! 

I love this simple yet ohh so effective technique.  The masking paper can be placed back on the carrier sheet and placed in the stamp case for another time or 2. I used 3 masks to create 28 cards for my swap! 

So here is my finished sample...

Isn't she just the cutest? I coloured her very simply then stamped a sentiment onto a scrap of basic white cardstock.  I trimed the edge of the strip at an angle to add a little interest.  A fun enamel dot and I was ready to mount it onto a white cardbase. 

A fun card for a fun event. Thank you to all the lovely participants in our retreat swap you projects are an inspiration for us all 😍

Fun Fold Friday - Love Cats

 Well here we are already it's Friday and kick off day for Cary and I. Today we leave our homes to go to our retreat for the weekend for lots of fun and crafting. So I have had to get the card for today made a little early. This is a simple fun fold in the form of a Z fold card. Using Sweet Sorbet card, I covered the facing pages with some more of the DSP Country Gingham papers. Just 2 of the cats on this one today but I have really fallen in love with these cats which is crazy as I'm a dog person! 

I used a piece of Sweet Sorbet card 10.5cm by 29.7cm which is basically half a sheet of A4 card cut down the long side. This was then folded in half at 4cm and 14.85cm. I then added DSP on the 2 front panels and a white mat on the inside mat with a strip of the DSP to the right. I added another Sweet Sorbet panel which is 10.5cm by 7.5cm with a white mat and strip of DSP on top. Both of the cats were stamped using the Stamparatus. As they are solid images, you generally need to stamp them a few times to make sure that the whole image is perfect and the Stamparatus is perfect for it.

Well that's it from me for this week. Cary will be back next week to show you some more of her creations, please join her and see what she's been up to. 

I will be back the week after so until then, as always,  stay safe, keep well but more importantly...

KEEP ON CRAFTING!

Love, Gill 

xxx 😍😍😍 xxx

This and That Thursday - Love Cats

Hello on this still very cold Thursday! I am really looking forward to spring and summer this year. I am definitely getting old! 😄 For today's cards using the Love Cats stamp set, I have used the Picture This dies and made 2 similar cards. The first one I used the frame and laid the cats across the frames with a piece of DSP from the Country Gingham papers behind the frame. I embossed the frame with the Brick and Mortar embossing folder. 

On the other card, I have used only the die cut circles from the frame on the Picture This dies. 

So, which one do you prefer? 

Card 1

 

Card 2