VIDEO | Using Cardstock Scraps to Create Mini Scenes

Hello there, today I have two tags to share using the Altenew Winter Village Die Set. The dies are so tiny that it is a perfect opportunity to use up cardstock scraps. 

Whilst I try not to be, I am a bit of a hoarder when it come to cardstock! I do keep lots of little bits of cardstock because they come in handy for things like this! How about you? Do you keep little bits of cardstock? 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

For the tags, I started off by die cutting two of the medium sized Altenew Terrific Tags Dies from Altenew Caribbean Sky Cardstock. I then added ink blending on top with Altenew Persian Blue and Ultraviolet Fresh Dye Inks. I focused the ink towards the top of the tags and faded it to the colour of the cardstock towards the bottom. 

I placed the tags in my Splat Box, mixed Altenew Titanium White Artists' Gouache with a little water and splattered it onto the tags to create snow fall. I then set them aside to dry while I worked on the scenes. 

I die cut another two tags from white cardstock and cut them down further using the landscape die in the Altenew Winter Village Die Set, to create snowbanks. They were adhered to the bottom of the tags using Altenew Glue Tape. I then die cut the houses from Altenew Blush and Volcano Lake Cardstock and the roof and doors from Altenew Coral Bliss and Lagoon Cardstock. 

The pieces were adhered together using Bearly Art Glue and then I added a little vellum behind the windows. The trees were cut from Altenew Parrot and Forest Fern Cardstock. The trees were adhered to to the tags flat and the houses adhered with Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape. 

I stamped the 'happy holidays' sentiment from the Altenew Pocket Sentiments Stamp Set onto white cardstock using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink twice. They were die cut out using the coordinating dies and adhered to the tags. I added twine through the top of the tags and tied in bows and then to finish, added white gel pen dots of snow to the trees and houses. 

VIDEO:

Here is the video showing how I made the tags:

If you are viewing this blog post via email subscription, you can watch the video HERE on YouTube. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

VIDEO | *SPOLIER* Spellbinders 12 Days of Stitchmas 2024 Advent Calendar Day 4

Hello there, today I have two cards to share with you using the Spellbinders 12 Says of Stitchmas 2024 Advent Calendar. If you do not want to see what is behind door number four, please do not scroll down any further! 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

So what is behind door four of the Spellbinders 12 Days of Stitchmas 2024 Advent Calendar? Santa! The dies consist of different layers to create Santa - his hat, fluffy parts of the hat, face, beard (2 layers) and facial features. I love that the beard has two dies - one with stitching and one without. This way, if you didn't want to stitch it, you didn't have to! I felt that the size of the Santa worked perfectly for mini slimline cards (I made mine 6.25" x 3.25"). 

Alongside the Advent Calendar, I am also using the Spellbinders 12 Days of Stitchmas Stitch Along Add-On Kit. The kit has cardstock, a stamp set, needles, a thread minder, embellishments, thread and floss in, so perfect to work with the calendar but I also think great for anyone that loves stitching on cards too! 

For my first card, I wanted to use just the Spellbinders 12 Days of Stitchmas 2024 Advent Calendar and the Spellbinders 12 Days of Stitchmas Stitch Along Add-On Kit. I started off by die cutting Santa's hat from Poppy Field Cardstock (in the kit), the fluffy parts of the hat and also his beard and moustache from Snowdrift Cardstock (in the kit), his nose and mouth from Pink Sand Cardstock (in the kit) and his face from Alabaster Cardstock (not in the kit!). 

I used the DMC White Diamant Metallic Thread in the kit, as well as the needles, and stitched Santa's beard. I kept it very simple and just did straight stitches. I then assembled and adhered Santa using Bearly Art Glue and a little Spellbinders Best Ever Craft Tape (on the back). I stamped the sentiment from the Exclusive Sentiments Stamp Set in the kit using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and adhered Santa to the card using foam squares. 

For the second card, I kept Santa mostly the same but this time, used DMC Light Gold Diamant Thread from the kit for his beard. I also cut the fluffy bits of his hat from Spellbinders White Glitter Pop Up Die Cutting Foam Sheets. For the card base, I used Poppy Field Cardstock and added ink blending to the edges with Tim Holtz Lumberjack Plaid, Aged Mahogany and Black Soot Distress Inks, blending with Spellbinders Blending Brushes. 

I stamped the sentiment using Spellbinders Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink, sprinkled over Spellbinders Gold Embossing Powder and heat set. It was cut into a strip and both Santa and the sentiment were adhered to the card using foam squares. For an added embellishment, I die cut the holly and berries from the Spellbinders Parcel & Post Christmas Decorations Etched Dies (Peridot and Poppy Field Cardstock) and adhered them to Santa's hat. To finish, I added Christmas Red Stickles to the berries. 

VIDEO:

Here is the video showing how I made the cards: 

If you are viewing this blog post via email subscription, you can watch the video HERE on YouTube. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. For more inspiration using the advent calendar, please head over to the Spellbinders Blog. Take care! 

Altenew | September 2024 Inspiration Challenge

Hello there, I am delighted to be hosting the Altenew September 2024 Inspiration Challenge. Each month a designer takes a photo and picks three colours from it to use as inspiration for a card. 

Here is the photo I took:

The photo is of the Japanese Camellia in my garden. It hadn't flowered for a number of years but this year we got an abundance of blooms and they were so pretty that I had to take a few photos! For the challenge, I picked the colours of light pink, dark pink and green. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I started off my card by die cutting the Altenew Craft-A-Flower: Japanese Camellia Layering Die Set from white cardstock. I added ink blending to the petals with Altenew Pink Diamond Fresh Dye Ink, I focussed the colour just on the edges of the petals to keep the insides lighter. I then added ink blending to the leaves with Altenew Green Valley Fresh Dye Inks. 

The flowers were assembled and adhered using liquid glue. I kept the centres of the flowers white. Although they are yellow in my photo, I wanted to stay true to the colour combo I picked so kept them white. I actually really like how they look! 

For the card base, I took an A2 sized card and cut one of the corners off. I then used the cut off piece as a template so that I knew how much to cut off at the other side. This way I have a tag shaped card, which is something a little different! I added ink blending to it with Altenew Cherry Blossom Fresh Dye Inks (all four shades) and then splattered Altenew Titanium White Artists' Gouache on top. 

Once the card was dry, I adhered the leaves on first with liquid glue, followed by the flowers with Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape. I stamped a sentiment from the Altenew Soft Blossoms Stamp Set onto white cardstock with Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink. It was cut into a strip and adhered to the card with more foam tape. To finish off, I embellished with Altenew Crystal Clear Gem Sparkles. 

INSPIRATION CHALLENGE

I have gone very literal with my photo and created a card with camellias on but you don't have to! Use the colours as a guide and have fun creating! For more information on the challenge and to enter, Please head over to the Altenew Blog. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

 Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Hero Arts | Hero Studio September 2024 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello there and welcome as we celebrate the Hero Studio September 2024 release which is out now! This month we have gone all spooky with a Halloween vibe! I will share more about the kits a little later, but for now, I have some inspiration to share with you! 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

My first project today uses the Hero Studio September 2024 Card Kit of the Month. I started off by stamping the skeletons from the Haunted Scenic Clear Stamp Set onto a panel of white cardstock using Hero Arts Intens-ified Black Ink. I then took the coordinating Frame Cut and placed it over the image, holding down with low tack tape. 

When die cutting, I placed the top cutting plate to cover only the top part of the skeletons but not overlap their feet. This way I could do some partial die cutting and have them remain part of the panel. Using a craft knife and ruler, I then cut the ground in-between them. At this point, I decided I wanted to make an arch shaped card, so I cut the panel down using the Hero Arts Arches Infinity Dies. 

I cut another of the arches from white cardstock. I die cut a piece of masking paper using the Hero Arts Nesting Circle Infinity Dies and placed it towards the top of the arched panel. Using blending brushes, I blended Hero Arts Core Ink on top - Orchid, Amethyst, Grape Juice, Nautical and Pitch Black. I removed the mask and coloured the moon using Copic Markers (E40, YR30 & 0). 

The panel was adhered to a a card base cut using the same arches dies. Before adhering the skeleton panel on top, I stamped the sentiment from the Hero Arts Halloween Messages Stamp Set using Hero Arts Intens-ified Black Ink. To finish, I added white gel pen stars to the sky. 

My next project uses a few of the Extraordinary Extras. I started off with the background for the tag by die cutting the Hero Arts Nesting Tag Infinity Dies from white cardstock. I then blended Hero Arts Core Inks on top - Amethyst, Nautical and Pitch Black. 

I spritzed Hero Arts Black + Shimmer Tone-on-Tone Metallic Spray into the corners, followed by Hero Arts Royal Purple + Gold Metallic Spray. I dried it with my heat tool and then placed the Hero Arts Halloween Words Stencil on top and added ink blending through a few areas. I cut the eyelet/hole reinforcer from Hero Arts Pitch Black Cardstock and adhered that to the top. 

I also die cut another of the tags from Pitch Black Cardstock and adhered that to the back of the inked one. I die cut two Hero Arts Bats Infinity Dies from Pitch Black Cardstock. I smooshed Hero Arts Amethyst Pigment Ink onto a craft sheet and added a little water, I then pounced the bats into it to add some purple to them. I then spritzed them with more Hero Arts Black + Shimmer Tone-on-Tone Metallic Spray. 

Once they were dry, they were adhered to the tag using black thin foam tape. I stamped a sentiment from the Hero Arts Halloween Messages Stamp Set onto Pitch Black Cardstock using Hero Arts Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. It was cut into a strip and adhered to the card with more foam tape. To finish off, I added twine through the top of the tag and tied in a bow. 

Introducing the reimagined Hero Arts monthly subscription program, now with six original options each month. Subscribe by the 1st of the month to guarantee you get the product. Free (US) shipping on all Hero Studio subscriptions. You can add extra product to your order by Thursday of launch week and they will ship with no extra shipping charges.

Hero Studio products are also available for purchase without a subscription at full price, while supplies last. Once they sell out, they are gone for good!

CARD KIT OF THE MONTH

Kit includes:

• Haunted Scenic Clear Stamp Set, 6” x 8” • Animal Eyes Clear Stamp Set, 3" x 4" • 20 Coordinating Dies • Moon Window Die • White Pumpkins Decorative Tape, 1 inch x 10 yards • Black Crows Decorative Tape, 1 inch x 10 yards • 2 Sheets Halloween Hero Transfers (Rub-ons), 6" x 8" • Glow-in-the-Dark Lacquer Pen • Unicorn Pigment Ink Cube • 10 Sheets Black Watercolor Paper, 5.5" x 8.5"

The Card Kit of the Month costs $46.00 with the subscription program or $49.99 without a subscription. 

Next up are the Monthly Minis: 

CLEAR SET + DIES OF THE MONTH

This month's Clear Set & Dies of the Month is called Witch's Kitchen and costs $27.50 with subscription or $29.99 without a subscription.

CLING OF THE MONTH

This month's Cling Stamp of the Month is called Chandelier and Spiderwebs and costs $15.00 with subscription or $15.99 without a subscription. 

FANCY DIES OF THE MONTH

This month's Fancy Dies of the Month is called Mirror Portraits and costs $25.00 with subscription or $26.99 without a subscription. 

LAYERING STENCIL OF THE MONTH

This month's Layering Stencil of the Month is called Color Layering Manor and costs $15.00 with a subscription or $15.99 without a subscription. 

THE WHOLE STUDIO

Want it all? The Whole Studio includes ALL 5 of the monthly subscriptions in one glorious and discounted buy. Includes: Cling of the Month, Clear + Dies of the Month, Layering Stencil of the Month, Fancy Dies of the Month, and the Card Kit of the Month. Its costs $120.00 with a subscription or $138.95 without a subscription.

For more information on subscribing to the kits, please see here.

EXTRAORDINARY EXTRAS

There are also extra products releasing this month that coordinate with the kits. These are not limited edition and can be purchased from Hero Arts or your favourite Hero Arts stockist. 

BLOG HOP:

This post is part of a fun, inspirational blog hop with prizes. For the hop, you should have arrived here from the fabulous Lydia. Next on the hop is the wonderful Natasha. If you get lost along the way or want to start the hop from the beginning, please head over to the Hero Arts Blog. 

GIVEAWAY:

Hero Arts are giving away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across all the stops in the hop. Enter by Sunday 18th September 2024 at 11.59pm PT. The winner will be announced on the Hero Arts Blog the following week.

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a great time on the rest of the hop and a lovely rest of the day too! Take care! 

Simon Says Stamp | STAMPtember 2024 Party

Hello there, I am delighted to be joining Simon Says Stamp today for their STAMPtember 2024 party! Loads of designers have come together to celebrate STAMPtember, which kicked off yesterday, with a fun party! 

If you are new to STAMPtember, it is a month long celebration of all things crafty but mainly stamping. There are lots of new products, collaborations, inspiration and prizes to be won too!

For today's party, each designer has a prize/promotion to share, so make sure to stop off at as many party guests as you can to find all the prizes! More on that below. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I was kindly sent the new Simon Says Stamp Coffee Time Stamp Set to play with from the STAMPtember 2024 release. Not being a coffee drinker myself, this set was a challenge for me but I thought it would be a great idea to have some thank you gifts on hand, so I popped off to Starbucks and grabbed some gift cards to make some holders using the new set. 

I started off by die cutting the back layer of the MFT Do-It-All Gift Tag from Concord & 9th Wheat Cardstock. I also cut the hole reinforcer/eyelet from this too. I then cut the topper piece from white cardstock. 

On separate pieces of white cardstock, I stamped two of the sentiments from the Simon Says Stamp Coffee Time Stamp Set using VersaFine Clair Nocturne Ink. I cut these out with the front layer of the gift tag die. They were then assembled using double-sided tape and liquid glue. 

I stamped the coffee cups from the Simon Says Stamp Coffee Time Stamp Set onto white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. They were coloured using Copic Markers and fussy cut out using scissors. They were adhered to the tags using thin foam squares. 

I wanted to add a little extra to the coffee cups, so I die cut the Simon Says Stamp Mini Hearts Die multiple times from white cardstock and added two to each cup (one on top of another for added dimension). I then embellished with Spellbinders Silver Mix Color Essentials Gems. To finish, I threaded twine through the tags and tied in a bow. 

STAMPTEMBER PARTY TIME!

As mentioned, this is a fun party and you are all invited! It is also a scavenger hunt of sorts as you need to find all of the free gifts/promotions. All of the guests at the party are listed over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog. Visit their blogs/Instagram to find their prizes! 

My promotion for you is:

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a great time at the party and find lots of inspiration and prizes! 

Altenew | September 2024 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello there, I am delighted to be joining Altenew today, to celebrate the September 2024 release, which is full of stamps, dies, stencils, press plates, inks, cardstock and embellishments! I have two cards to share with you today using a few of the new products. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

CRAFT YOUR LIFE PROJECT KIT: MIXED BLOOMS

My first card today uses the Altenew Craft Your Life Project Kit: Mixed Blooms. The kit includes a stamp set, coordinating stencils, coordinating die and a coordinating embossing folder. 

You can use the stencils to colour in the images in the stamp set, but also the embossing folder, so I decided to go for a no-line look today and just use the embossing folder. I first cut a panel of white cardstock using the coordinating die. I then placed it inside the 3D Embossing Folder and secured it in place with a little low-tack tape before running it through my die cutting machine. 

I placed it on my Sticky Mat and then using the stencils, added ink blending to the image. I used Altenew Cherry Blossom Fresh Dye Inks for the large flower, Altenew Golden Sunset Fresh Dye Inks for the flower centre, Altenew Enchanted Garden Fresh Dye Inks for the smaller flowers and Altenew Green Valley Fresh Dye Inks for the leaves; adding the ink with an Altenew Mini Blending Brush. 

I stamped the sentiment from the Altenew Pocket Sentiments Stamp Set onto white cardstock using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink. It was then cut out using the Altenew Pocket Sentiments Die Set. I adhered the image onto a US A2 sized white card base with Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape, followed by the sentiment. To finish off, I embellished with Altenew Crystal Clear Enamel Dots. 

CRAFTY NECESSITIES CARDSTOCK

Although I do not have them yet to share swatches with you, I wanted to share that there are now 27 more colours in the Crafty Necessities Cardstock line. This 8.5" x 11" cardstock is 80lb - 90lb in weight depending on the colour and can be purchased in packs of 10 sheets. 

WINTER VILLAGE

My last card today uses the new Altenew Winter Village Die Set. This is such a fun set as you can create little scenes or villages with the different dies - there are houses, trees, sky, stars, moon and a circle layer that can be used as the base. 

I started off by die cutting the sky piece from Altenew Caribbean Sky Crafty Necessities Cardstock. I then added ink blending on top using Altenew Persian Blue (from the Glacier Caves collection) and Ultraviolet (from the Enchanted Garden collection) Inks. I splattered Altenew Titanium White Artists' Gouache on top and set it aside to dry. 

I die cut the trees from Altenew Parrot and Bamboo Crafty Necessities Cardstock and the house from Altenew Volcano Lake and Lagoon Crafty Necessities Cardstock. I adhered the house pieces together, adding a little vellum on the back for the windows. 

I adhered the sky first to a US A2 sized white card base with Altenew Glue Tape. I then added the house and trees on top with Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape. The sentiment, from the Altenew Garden Delights Stamp Set, was stamped onto black cardstock using Altenew Embossing Ink. I applied Altenew Pure White Crips Embossing Powder and heat set. It was cut into a strip and adhered to the card to finish. 

BLOG HOP:

This post is part of a fun, inspirational blog hop with prizes. Please click on the other participants in the hop to visit their blogs. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

GIVEAWAY:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $100 gift certificate to 1 lucky winner and a $50 gift certificate to 4 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by September 5th 2024 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 5 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on September 7th, 2024.

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day, take care!