Peace - DT layout for Just Nick

Hi there friends,

I'm back today with another post, this time for the Just Nick Design Team.

I've used an older cut file again that I haven't used in ages! The Rosette Background is so fun! It's so versatile too. Having said that, I didn't do anything special with it this time :).

I chose the beautiful Be You collection by Pinkfresh Studio for today's layout. I cut the cut file from a navy patterned paper as an exception - I mostly use white cut files. I then backed the rosettes with various patterned papers from the collection.

I adhered the cut file to the patterned paper I chose for background and played around with photo placement a little bit. Once I settled on one I liked, I layered some tissue paper behind the photo and glued it down. I then pulled out all embellies from this collection and selected the ones I felt fit well.

I tucked in a bunch of die cut and chipboard leaves here and there, I love the rose gold foiling in this collection! I added a few ephemera pieces, wooden buttons, a bow, banners, chipboards...There's so many gorgeous embellishments with Pinkfresh Studio collections!

I used the rose gold puffy alphas from this collection for my title. I don't know about you but I dislike working with puffy stickers. I love them but they simply dont stick well and I'm yet to find an adhesive that doesn't peel off their backs ones it dries. I prefer things that stay put. Which is why I placed the alphas on a fabric die cut and stitched over them with my sewing machine. This way at least I'm sure they don't go anywhere ha!

Aaand my fave die cut piece had to go on this layout too! I love this little bird, so adorable right?!

That's it from me for today! I hope you like this layout!

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

X

Card inspirations - DT project for Paige Evans + Silhouette

Hi guys,

Today I'm sharing a bunch of cards I've created for the Paige Evans + Silhouette Design Team.

If you know my work, you know that I'm not into white space on my layouts. Normally I avoid it on cards too, because I love patterned papers too much but on cards I do love the white on white look!  Since I haven't made such cards for this DT yet, I thought I'd go ahead and create a few!

Here they are :

For this month's projects I went with the beautiful Oh My Heart collection. It's hard to pick a fave from Paige's collections because they are all gorgeous, but this one is definitely close to my heart!

I picked out a few background cut files as well as some that I could add as a focal point on my cards, mainly flowers, of course :).

I made four A2 size top folding card bases out of heavy weight white card stock and adhered another white card stock in the same size on top. I do this because the card stock I use for the card base is a greyish white which I don't like, but the white card stock I use for the front panel is not sturdy enough for a card base. 

I cut the Constellation Background (Design ID: #264080) from white card stock. Paige now has many of her cut files available in 8.5x11 format which comes in pretty handy for cards. No need to crop or manipulate 12x12 cut files! Anyhow, I glued this down on my card front. 

Then I also cut the Flower Half cut file (Design ID: #216735) from the same white card stock. I backed it with different patterned papers then adhered it to my card base using foaming adhesive. To finish off this card I added a chipboard bird and a sentiment sticker as well as a few enamel dots.

For my next card I chose the Faux Flower Background cut file (Design ID: 233761). Since this one is a square cut file, I had to manipulate it - but this is very easy, you just need to erase some cut lines! Once cut, I attached this panel to my card base. 

I cut the Flower Group cut file next (Design ID: #264090) and as before, I just backed it with patterned papers. Using foam tape I glued it down on the card base. I added a sentiment sticker and some enamel dots. 

On my third card I used the Chevron Background and the Large Flower cut files. All steps as before! The sentiment is a chipboard piece.

I picked the lovely Flower Background (Design ID: 259817) cut file for my last card. Instead of another cut file, this time I just added a chipboard piece in the middle as well as a bunch of fussy cut flowers and leaves in two clusters around the sentiment. Some enamel dots and done! 

I hope you like how these turned out! Thanks for stopping by today! Have an awesome day!

X

SUPPLIES:  Oh My Heart collection: Paper 03, Paper 05, Paper 10, Paper 12, Paper 13, Paper 15, Paper 19, Paper 20, Paper 22, Paper 24, Chipboard stickers, ephemera die cuts

Feature Friday at Concord and 9th - Bold and Brushy bundle

Hello friends,

I'm back today with another Concord and 9th Feature Friday instalment! Today we are focusing on the awesome new Bold and Brushy alphabet stamps, which come in upper case  and lower case, or if you want, they are also available as a bundle. You may know the older alpha stamp sets, Perfectly Penned, Sophisticated Script upper case and Sophisticated Script lower case (or the Sophisticated Script bundle) and if so, you know that they are special because they connect perfectly to create the look of hand lettering. The new Bold and Brushy lower case set works the same way! It's just a bolder font. Here are some cards I've made using these sets!

If you spend $60+ in the Concord and 9th store, you get a free gift every month. This month it's the adorable Tulip Label dies.

On this card I've used the upper case alphas combined with a die from the Tulip Label dies set. I cut five labels in colors that matched the background paper. I stamped the letters and frame with Versamark ink and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I then played with different arrangements and finally settled on this one. For two of the squares I used foam adhesive to add some dimension and tucked some tangled thread under another. I embellished the card with matching enamel dots and some puffy stickers.

Then as I was working on these cards I remembered it was Father's Day the next day, which is always on a bank holiday here so everything was going to be closed...No chance to buy presents anymore...I'm so bad! So I decided to at least make a card so the kiddo can give it to his daddy. I used the background stamp from the upper case set to create a colorful background for my sentiment, which I stamped in black. Some ink splatter and enamels dots and done! I also stamped LOVE repeatedly on a grey envelope. I used the lower case set. I had to stamp each letter separately so they connect. If you were to use the upper case alpha, you could stamp the whole word at once. To finish it off I added some ink splatters.

Next I made another rainbow card. I can't help it, I love rainbows! So I stamped the letters in Hey There with different color inks. Then I die cut tulips in matching colors using the free tulip die. The background paper I chose comes from a 4x6 Studio Calico paper pad and since it was a little smaller on one side than what I needed, I needed a mat behind it. First I cut it down to 4x5.25". Then I created a 5.5x4.25" top folding card base and adhered a light aqua patterned paper onto the front. I used the pinked edge die from the Confetti Card dies set to create a yellow panel. I glued the stamped panel on this and added some stitching details in rainbow colors. Once done, I adhered these two layers onto the card front using foam adhesive. A few enamel dots and done!

I die cut the tulips 12 times in a grid pattern, from an A2 size white card stock. I then decided to cut it apart and create 2 cards from it. I die cut 12 tulips from patterned papers to add some color to the white panels. I stamped my sentiments  with Versamark ink using the upper case alpha set and heat embossed them. Then I put the cards together and embellished them with some pearls and Nuvo drops.

On my last card I used the lower case alphas. I just love this font! And they connect perfectly - even if that's not the case in "and"...That was my mistake. I didn't plan ahead and this way I would have had to stamp the D over the P so instead I decided to not connect those two letters at all...I used 4 different gray inks and alternated them with each letter. Once done, I trimmed off the sides of this paper and glued it on an A2 size patterned paper. I also added a sliver of pink card stock on either side of the white panel. I decorated this card with flowers which I die cut using the Just Because dies, some enamel dots, tiny flowers and splattered some black ink all around.

That's it for today guys! These sets are so versatile! I hope you'll give them a try!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

X

Let's celebrate - DT layout for Fancy Pants Designs

Hi lovelies,

I'm back today with a new layout I've created for Fancy Pants. I've used the gorgeous The Bright Side collection on this one!

I picked a butterfly cut file I liked (one of the butterflies in the Butterfly Cluster cut file by Paige Taylor Evans) and cut it from different patterned papers and in different sizes. I then stitched 3-4 together, using my sewing machine. 

I also cut another cut file from textured white card stock (The Chicken Wire by The Cut Shoppe), then I started putting my layout together. I picked a blue striped paper from the Family&Co collection for my background. I love this paper!

I then adhered the Chicken Wire cut file to my background paper. I didn't put glue everyone on the cut file because I wanted to create a dimensional look. I arranged the butterflies the way I liked them, then glued them down. 

I layered some tissue paper, tags and die cuts behind both photos and placed them on the layout. For my journaling I used a journaling spot. To finish off my layout I added a chipboard title and a few chipboard hearts.

I hope you like how it turned out! I love dimension and layered hearts/butterflies/etc give so much texture to the layout too! I realise this style is not for everyone, but it is certainly my style!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

X

Adventure - DT layout for Paige Evans + Silhouette

Hey there,

I'm back with a layout today that I've created for the Paige Evans + Silhouette design team.
 

Unless you've been hiding under a rock I'm sure by now you know that Paige has a Facebook group called Happy Scrappy Place! She posts a free cut file in this group every week, and on today's page I've used one of these. I can always use big titles!

I thought the big letters have enough space for photos, so I've added two behind the D and U. But first things first! I duplicated the cut file and from one I removed most of the inner pieces, only leaving the outline and a couple of other pieces that create the outline of certain letters, if that makes sense. (For instance the triangular shape between the D, V and T? You need to keep that cut line.)

I then cut this piece from textured white card stock. Now for the other cut file. I wanted to cut each letter from different patterned papers. This takes a bit of time and workaround. Since the letters are welded, theres no way to separate them properly. What I do in these cases (first of all create a lot of copies of the cut file I am working with, to make sure I have the same size letters), I erase everything around the shape, but keeping whatever I can that makes up the form, even if it's not a continuous line. It will still help me determine where I should cut with my scissors. So for instance, I would not have all the cut lines for the bottom and the right side of the A. I cut whatever is left of the A and remove the paper from the mat. Then I draw in the lines and cut them with scissors or a craft knife. It's not as complicated as it sounds I promise! Anyway, this is what I did with each letter. I've used the beautiful Oh My Heart collection for this layout by the way :).

Once I had all the letters, I added foam adhesive behind them and attached them to the white background piece. After I glued down the photos that is. I glued the whole title on my background paper. I love this paper and I don't think I've used it yet!

While this layout is about my boys, I felt the need to add flowers. They don't mind! They don't even look at my pages, so...I do what I want ha! Plus they are outdoors right?!

So I fussy cut out some flowers from a couple of patterned papers and created several clusters around the letters. I've tucked some behind the letters, and placed some on the letters, using different kinds of adhesives, to create interest and dimension.

A couple more embellies, chipboard, phrase stickers, Take Me Away clip, journaling, date and done!

I hope you like how this turned out!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day!

X

SUPPLIES: Oh My Heart collection: thickers, Paper 05, Paper 12, Paper 13, Paper 17, Paper 22

Feature Friday at Concord and 9th - Geode bundle

Hey friends,

I'm stopping by to share my second guest post for Concord & 9th! This week we are featuring the awesome Geode stamp and die sets (or you can also get them as a bundle at a discounted price here). 

This is such a gorgeous set! I find geodes so very pretty! I knew I wanted to go with one of the common colors you find in geodes, purple. Here's what I came up with:

On my first card I've used the heart shaped geode stamp and 3 different grey inks to stamp an A2 size white card stock. First I stamped the darkest heart so that is the main focus. Then I started masking and stamping, varying ink colors. Once done, I fussy cut out the very middle of the hearts. There is a die included in the die set but it's a bit larger and I only wanted to cut the middle out. 

Then I backed these cut outs with different purple patterned papers and card stock. I used some alcohol markers to add purple dots in the empty spaces. Once done, I trimmed off just a tiny bit on the sides so I could adhere this panel onto an A2 size purple card stock, then all of it onto a top folding A2 size card base. To finish it off, I stamped my sentiment and added some enamel hearts.

For my second card I made a top folding A2 card base and added the same size purple card stock panel on it. I stamped and die cut two hearts and added some watercolor to them. I also die cut the sentiment from purple patterned paper. I added some tangled thread behind my hearts which I adhered down with foam tape.

Last but not least I've added some purple enamel dots too!

I also wanted to use the big geode stamp and die, so I've made these two:

I love these colors! 

I've made two A2 size top folding card bases, then added an A2 size pool color patterned paper to one and the same size white card stock to another. I embossed the image with white WOW embossing powder. I then poked holes between every other line and hand stitched these with 3 different aqua color and one gold embroidery floss.

I heat embossed the sentiment on vellum with gold embossing powder. To finish off this card, I've added some lovely pearls.

My next card is pretty much the same. Here I stamped the image on the white card stock with aqua ink. Hand stitched the geode and again, added some gold and aqua paint splatters and a foiled sentiment.

What do you think? Which one is your favorite? I can't decide!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!


Have an amazing day!

X

Spellbinders blog hop featuring Debi Adams & Becca Feeken

Hello crafty friends,

Welcome to the May Spellbinders blog hop featuring the Perfect Match collection by Debi Adams and the Romancing the Swirl collection by Becca Feeken!

You should have arrived here from the super talented Enza Gudor's blog! She is also my scrappy bestie! <3

For today's project I used the Shapeabilities Boxed In Etched Dies from the Perfect Match collection by Debi Adams. 

This is an adorable mini box die that you can put small gifts in! I love it! I've decorated a few of them and they will come in handy when I want to give a little something to my friends!

It's very easy to use these dies, you have to cut the main body twice, then there's the flap piece and a semi circle. It's pretty self explanatory!

Then I added some ribbons, twine, flowers and filled my boxes with tiny presents for friends.

I hope you like them too!

Now for the fun part! Giveaway yay! There's two chances for you to win, here's how:

1. To celebrate this release, Spellbinders is giving away a $50 gift certificate to a lucky winner. Please leave a comment on the Spellbinders blog by Sunday, May 20th 11:59 pm EDT for a chance to win. The winner will be announced in the blog hop post on the Spellbinders blog the following day. Winner is responsible for shipping cost, duties and taxes.

2. You can also win a $25 gift certificate to the Spellbinders shop right here on my blog! To be eligible please leave a comment on this post by Sunday, May 20th 11:59 pm EDT. Easy peasy! I will announce the winner in this blog post shortly after the giveaway closes. The winner is responsible for shipping cost, duties and taxes, if applicable.


_________________________________________________________________________________


The winner is TLady! Congratulations! I've emailed you with info on how to pick up your prize! XXX


_________________________________________________________________________________

Your next stop is the wonderful Jennifer Gallagher! You can find the full blog hop list below:

• Spellbinders 
• Becca Feeken
• Yana Smakula 
• Melissa Phillips
• Elena Salo
• Hussena Calcuttawala
• Olga Direktorenko
• Jacquie Dean
• Nichol Spohr 
• Enza Gudor 
• Zsoka Marko --- YOU ARE HERE! ---
• Jennifer Gallacher
• Keeway Tao
• Emily Midgett 

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy hopping!

Have a wonderful day!

X

Pinch me - guesting at Concord and 9th!

Hey there crafty friends,

When Angie (one of the owners of Concord & 9th) dropped me a message asking if I'd be interested in guesting this month, I literally had the biggest smile on my face ever. I had fallen asleep on the couch earlier and when I woke up I found this message. I was sooo happy! Total fan girl moment!

I couldn't wait for my package full of awesomeness to arrive! And when it did, I got right onto it. This week we are showcasing the super cool Mix Tape stamp and dies (you can buy the bundle here).  Let me just tell you, this one spoke to me. Not only do mix tapes bring back teenage memories, they are also a perfect fit for my family. My boyfriend and his whole family is all about music. His two nieces are performing at Sziget festival in Budapest, Hungary this year. That is a huge deal! The younger one is only 16 years old. Proud moment here :). Anyway, back on topic...I kinda got carried away in my excitement and created a whole bunch of cards! Hope you like them!

First up, some masculine cards. Well mostly :). That cassette in the photo is actually one from my boyfriend's ex-band. I really loved their music, too bad they quit! 

The first two cards are pretty much the same just different color ways. I die cut the cassettes from black and white card stocks and interchanged the parts, if that makes sense. On one of them I stamped the little colorful stripes directly on the cassette, but obviously I could not do this on black card stock. So in that case I stamped on a separate paper, fussy cut the stripes out then adhered them to the black card stock. 

The Hello and Friend Mix are embossed. I used a really cool black glitter embossing powder. Unfortunately you can't really see it in these photos. But I swear in person it looks so cool! 

I used foam adhesive to add the cassettes to the A2 card base, as well as for some of those tiny die cut stars. Some black ink splatter and done!

At the same time I was die cutting those little stars, I did the same with the hearts. Two birds, one stone right? I didn't like them on my first two cards but I didn't want to throw them away. So I created a third card with a shaker cassette on it :). Since the shaker is filled with hearts, I used the other ribbon stamp, that is shaped as a heart. So clever! This one turned out girly because of the hearts so I went ahead and embellished it with some enamels dots.

Still carrying on with the masculine theme I also made two one layer cards. I'm all about dimension and layers but I actually like how these ones turned out. I normally only like flat cards if someone else makes them, not me, ha!

I used a few different blue and grey (and of course black) inks to stamp everything. I first stamped the cassettes, then the ribbons and as I still struggle with white space, I went ahead and used the small rectangle stamp (the one that fills up the stripes on the cassette) to create some light pattern in the background. 

Next up, girl cards! You know, had I designed cassettes back in the day, they would have looked like these hehe!

The feminine version of the die cut cassette cards! I picked out a few different pink patterned papers as well as some rose gold metallic paper and die cut all pieces. For one of the backgrounds I used white card stock but like I said, I can't deal with white space, so I splattered black and pink paint all over the panel. I heat embossed the ribbons and sentiments on both panels. And to make the cards even more girly and pretty, I die cut a few flowers from patterned papers, using a die from an earlier set, Just Because.  I added some Nuvo drops to these.

The second card is the same, but I added the acrylic XOXO piece that I got from a friend a few weeks ago. Love it!

Last but not least the two feminine versions of my one layer cards. Except these didn't end up being one layer cards haha! 

I used a variety of coral, grey and black inks and did the exact same thing as on the two masculine cards. To create the background pattern I stamped HB (for Happy Birthday) all over and filled up the white space with tiny dots. 

I added flowers and Nuvo drops, just like before. Because it totally makes sense to have flowers on the ribbons. Oh well, I've never been accused of being "normal" :).

Sorry for not including close-ups in this post, but I have so many photos, I didn't want the post be too overwhelming!

Should you have any questions on how I did something, what I used etc, just leave a comment below, I'm happy to help!

Please excuse any mistakes, it's 4.30am, I should go to bed - the birds are already chirping outside haha!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have an awesome weekend you guys!

X