Hello to all my crafting friends! I’m back with another entry for the “G’day Fri’yay’ Card Making Challenges” Facebook group, a fortnightly Card Making Challenge with Aussie Themes.
The theme for this challenge is “Surf’s UP!”. My husband and my sons are all obsessive surfers so I have a stack of surfing stamps and have made many a surfing card in my time, however, for this challenge I wanted to create a surfing card using non-surfing craft products.
Is it just me who gets a kick out of the idea that you might see penguins dressed in scarves and beanies out in the surf?
I know surfing is not the first thing that might spring to mind with the FREE SALE-a-bration DSP Penguin Playmates, but the stance and movement of these penguins reminded me of the way surfers hold their bodies while surfing.
The Misty Moonlight and white striped DSP was used make waves, with one of the Basic Border dies cut into smaller pieces to create whitewash foam on the edge of the waves.
I did use a die from my stash to use some of the Penguin Playmates DSP to create the two larger surfboards. The two smaller surfboards were just hand trimmed from this DSP. The penguin who is bodyboarding was stamped and fussy cut – the others are all fussy cut from the same Penguin Playmates DSP.The little penguin getting air is my fave – let’s just crown him the “Gabriel Medina” of surfing penguins right now! I’ve used the arrow dies from the Give it a Whirl dies to draw attention to him (I’ve also used the cloud dies from the Give it a Whirl dies). This penguin really is the “coolest” of the penguins, hence the matching sentiment!
Playful Alphabet dies form the “Surf’s Up”, leaving you in no doubt that, believe it or not, these penguins are actually surfing, not skiing. I had so much fun making this card and I hope my surfing penguins put a smile on your face too!
Thanks for visiting my blog today. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more Heart of Christmas inspiration and on Wednesday our weekly AWH Colour Creations Showcase – we are creating projects with Crushed Curry this week.
When you shop online in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store don’t forget to use my monthly Host Code (if your order is between $50 – $250) and I will send you a thank you gift the following month. If your order is over $250 don’t use the host code because you will qualify for your own stamping rewards.
My August Host Code is AHQUWNVQ and it is valid until midnight August 31.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Welcome to week 13 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! Tonight we are showcasing Crumb Cake, a very useful colour from the Neutrals colour collection.
Crumb Cake is my favourite Stampin’ Up! colour because it is so incredibly versatile and it just works so well with every other colour. I like to think of it as the “goldilocks” of neutrals – not too dark, not too light … it always looks just right!
Because Crumb Cake looks so good with other colours, I rarely make cards using Crumb Cake on it’s own, however I wanted to challenge myself this week to find a way to really showcase this perfect all rounder colour on its own.
So my colour combination tonight is simply Crumb Cake and Basic White (not even Basic Black!), with the added sparkle of the FREE Be Dazzling DSP, because I just can’t stop using this DSP and it perfectly complements Crumb Cake.
I have to confess I ran out of time this week and only made my card this morning before I began work. In a way, it was fortuitous that I left it to the last minute because my FREE SALE-a-bration Delicate Dahlias stamp set arrived yesterday and it was the perfect stamp set to make a quick and easy card.
The Delicate Dahlias stamp set has four sentiments and both outline and solid stamps for the flowers and the leaves. You can stamp the outline and solid stamps together to create coloured in flowers, or use them separately in a variety of ways.
The outline stamp can be coloured in with your favourite colouring tool and method or you can use both the outline and the solid stamps separately but together on the one card, as I have done with this card.
This card is basically simple stamping with some fussy cutting and it’s a design you could recreate in any colour you want.
The background layer is Crumb Cake ink stamped onto Crumb Cake card stock using a mixture of the solid stamps.
My top layer flowers and leaves were stamped in Crumb Cake ink onto Basic White cardstock using the outline stamps and then fussy cut out using my paper snips.
I stamped the largest flower twice and fussy cut a second smaller flower layer to add dimension to the flower.
A 10mm strip of the Be Dazzling DSP lies across the middle of the card and die cut and punched circles of Be Dazzling DSP form the centre of the flowers.
The sentiment was white heat embossed and die cut out with the banner die from the Tasteful Labels dies.
Some more simple stamping decorated the inside of the card and the envelope too.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented Theresa Gerrard. I can’t wait to see what she’s made this week!
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the the full list of participants below:
When I was a child my mum had a box of vintage Christmas cards that I used to love looking at and tonight I’ve combined a few different stamp and die sets to try to recreate this vintage vibe.
This style of card making is a lot of fun but also a little bit risky as I really have no idea what my final card will look like. I gradually add and remove different elements to build up the scene as I go.
I originally intended to use the Christmas Season bundle but the scale just didn’t work with the little bird from the Birds & Branches stamps. So these are the stamp and die sets I’ve used instead.
Sparkle of the Season bundle
Birds & Branches stamp set
Christmas to Remember
Birds & More dies
The shading on the card base is created with a blending brush and Bermuda Bay ink pad. Add ink to your blending brush and then start in the middle of the card and swirl outwards, gradually building up the colour.
The speckled effect is easy to create. Once you’ve finished blending your background use the inner tube of a Stampin’ Spritzer to gently tap to drop water onto the blended background.
The bird was stamped in Pale Papaya and Poppy Parade, the pine needles in Just Jade and the pinecones in Cinnamon Cider. The branch was stamped in Cinnamon Cider and also die cut from Cinnamon Cider cardstock, trimmed to fit my card.
I die cut a wreath and holly leaves in Just Jade cardstock and then cut them up randomly to add texture and dimension to the card. The holly berries are die cut in Poppy Parade cardstock.
A touch of Wink of Stella adds subtle sparkle and shimmer to the little bird.
The Christmas to Remember sentiment stamp set has a lovely mix of fonts. I used two different stamps to mix up the fonts for my Merry Christmas Sentiment.
A bow of linen thread was the final touch.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the incredible talented Tina Gillespie. I wait to see what Tina shares with us today!
If at any time you find a broken link, please head to the blog of this week’s Host of the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Tina Gillespie, and she will have the list of all who are participating.
You can purchase any of the products I’ve used tonight here.
Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Welcome to week 12 of our 2021-22 Colour Creations blog hop! Tonight we are showcasing Coastal Cabana, a colour from the Brights family.
Did I hear you say “step away from the Be Dazzling DSP, Catherine”? Well, sorry, not sorry, I just can’t seem to stop using this SALE-a-bration specialty DSP!
Tonight’s Coastal Cabana card pairs something old (the All Things Fabulous stamp set and the Fabulous Floral dies) with something new (the FREE Be Dazzling DSP). The colour combination I’ve used is one I’m always drawn to for summer dresses, scarves and earrings: Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Gray Granite, Basic White and of course, the gorgeous champagne gold sparkle of the Be Dazzling DSP.
The largest flowers on my card are stamped using 3-step stamps that gradually layer up the colour of the flower – each level of stamp is numbered inside the stamp case. There are so many different colour combinations you can create with this type of stamp. Here’s how I inked up my flowers for this card.
Stamp the largest flower stamps (1A, 2A and 3A) in Coastal Cabana, stamped off once
Stamp the middle stamps (1B, 2B and 3B) in full strength Coastal Cabana
Stamp the smallest, top stamp (1C, 2C and 3C) in full strength Bermuda Bay
The leaves were stamped in Gray Granite, both at full strength and stamped off. I also die cut a few leaves from the Be Dazzling DSP and added 5mm strips of the Be Dazzling DSP at the top and bottom of my card, sitting beside the largest, intricate lacy die (from the Fabulous Floral dies) that has been cut in half and placed either side of the main front panel.
I used some left over stamped and die cut sprigs and leaves to decorate the inside of my card.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the very talented Caroline Manwaring. I can’t wait to see what she’s made this week!
If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the the full list of participants below:
Do you use your Stampin’ Up! catalogues for inspiration? I find them such a wonderful source of ideas and this week I’ve taken my inspiration from the 2019 Stampin’ Up! Holiday catalogue.
The 2019 Stampin’ Up! Holiday catalogue had very clever instructions on how to use your paper trimmer and the small Gleaming Ornaments Punch to make quick and easy Christmas crackers. As these ornament punches are currently available to purchase in the clearance rack (on sale for $35.40) I thought I would adapt this design and make a set of Christmas Crackers using the FREE SALE-a-bration Peaceful Prints DSP.
I’ve used 6 of the patterns from the Peaceful Prints DSP to make 6 crackers – I will make another 6 crackers using the reverse sides of this DSP before Christmas.
Here’s my template to make the crackers using the small ornament punch.
Trim a sheet of DSP to 9 x 8 inches
Score along the 8 inch side at 1 inch (this creates the flap for adhering the sides of the cracker together) and score again at 3, 5 and 7 inches
Fold along all these score lines
Fully insert small ornament punch to the edge of the DSP, ensuring the score line is in the centre of the ornament
Punch every score line at both ends of the DSP
Also punch at the 9 inch edge, lining up the centre of the punch with the edge of the DSP
Now score in the opposite direction, along the width of the cracker at the top, bottom and the centre of the punched out areas (see photo above) and then fold these score lines as per the photo below.
To assemble the cracker, fold up the 1 inch fold flap so that the DSP side that will be on the outside of the cracker is facing up.
Place Multipurpose Liquid Glue on this flap and fold over the cracker at the 5 inch fold, lining up the punched out areas. Press together to adhere.
Cut ribbon of choice into 14 inch (36 cm) lengths and tie into a bow at each end.
You can decorate the crackers any way you want. I used the Peaceful Deer bundle, the FREE SALE-a-bration Be Dazzling DSP and the Tailored Made Tags Dies to create coordinating deer tags for my crackers. I used some Sahara Sand twine to attach them to one end of the cracker, but you could also simply adhere them to the top of the cracker.
These crackers are empty right now because I am going to fill them with yummy treats closer to Christmas, such a Ferrero Rocher chocolate, Lindt Balls and little jokes. To fill them at a later time, simply untie the bow at one end, pop the treats inside and retie the bow.
You can make these Christmas crackers out of any DSP to match your Christmas table decoration.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the incredible talented Michele Taylor. I wait to see what Michele shares with us today!
If at any time you find a broken link please head to the blog of this week’s Host of the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Sharon Davern, as she has the full list of links for everyone who is participating.
You can purchase any of the products I’ve used tonight here.
Thanks for visiting my site. I’ll be back with another card on Wednesday.
In the meantime, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
