Beautiful in Grey & Pink...

Hi. I am here today with a card that I made out of two flowers that I colored as part of the 30 Day Color Challenge. I stamped the flowers and leaves from the Beautiful Day stamp set by Altenew and colored them with my Altenew Artist Markers. Here are the two flowers I colored, using shades of red and pink.

And here is the card I made with the two flowers.

I die-cut the flowers and the leaves and set them aside. I took a strip of white cardstock and used the Artist Markers to create a plaid design. Here is a closer look at the plaid.

I covered the plaid with some vellum to tone it down and then adhered it to a dark grey card base, popped up on foam tape.

The sentiment is from the Fresh Freesia stamp set by Altenew. It was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed Metallic Pastel Pink embossing powder by Wow!. I arranged the flowers on the card and then added a few leaves to compliment the cluster. Here is a closer look at the flowers.

To finish, I adhered everything in place and then used a corner rounder to round the bottom corners of the card. Here is another look at the card.

I really love the way this card turned out. The grey and pink combo is one of my favorites and I love the little peek of the plaid behind the flowers.

Entering this card in the following challenges.


Altenew A Year In Review Challenge 2019:
This card was inspired by the challenge for August 2019. I loved the bright pink bloom with the green leaves against the neutral grey background.

Yes, Virginia... December Show & Share:

The Card Concept #125:
I was inspired by the plaid, neutral grey tones and the pops of red.

The Flower Challenge #39 - Use A Die:

Love,
Nandini

Garden of Flowers...

Hi! I love reading books. Though a lot of my reading is on Kindle now, I still love the feel of a real book. And I always need bookmarks as I hate dog-earing my books. Here is one that I colored as part of the 30 Days Coloring Challenge hosted by Kathy Racoosin of The Daily Marker blog. 

I used my Zig Real Brush markers for the coloring. I started with a piece of watercolor paper and stamped the flowers from the Spring Flowers stamp set by Simon Says Stamp with Versmark Onyx Black ink. I colored directly with my markers, without using any water as I wanted really intense colors. Here is a closer look at the coloring.

After the flowers were colored, I added some grey in the background. This was where my problems started. The water seeped into the flowers and smudged the outline. I allowed the paper to dry completely and fixed the problem by simply running the Jet Black Artist Marker by Altenew over the outlines. This effectively covered the smudged areas and also gave my images a bold outline.

Here is another look at the bookmark.

I love this bookmark. It turned out exactly as I had envisioned it. I hope you liked it too. Entering it in the following challenges.

STAMPlorations December Theme & Photo Prompt:

I was inspired by the beautiful photo prompt.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes:

Just Us Girls #516:

HLS December Watercolor Challenge:

Love,

Nandini

Rainbow Card Challenge - Regal Rainbow...

Hi! I can't believe it is already December. The year seems to have flown past really quickly! I am here today with the final challenge for 2019 at the Rainbow Card Challenge. Here is the inspiration pic.

Rainbows always bring a smile to our faces! There are so many different ways of interpreting this challenge, I am really looking forward to checking out our gallery.

For my inspiration, I went with simple watercoloring combined with die-cutting.

I started with a piece of watercolor card and used the Kokoyu Camlin Artist Watercolors to make a simple rainbow background. Once the paper was dry, I die-cut it using the Banana Leaf Card Front die by Spellbinders. I adhered the die-cut to a dark brown card base. 

I die-cut the frame out of the same paper and covered it with Versamark. I used Ranger's Metallic Copper embossing powder for the heat embossing. The sentiment was die cut with the Tag Talk dies by My Favorite Things. To make the sentiment pop more, I inlaid the background under the tag. Here is a closer look at the sentiment.

I popped up the frame and the sentiment with foam tape and adhered it to the card. To finish, I added some clear jewels from my stash. Here is another look at the completed card.

I am very pleased with this card. I hope you find it inspiring and look forward to your creations in our gallery. Please do visit the  Rainbow Card Challenge for more inspiration and to link your cards to the gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenges.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes:

Just Us Girls #516:

Love,
Nandini

Papercraft Challenge #24...

Hi! Welcome to the November challenge at the Papercraft Challenge blog. We have a new challenge starting on the first of every month. I am here today bringing you some mid-month inspiration. Do visit the Papercraft Business site for some great tools that can help you take your papercraft business to the next level. Like the awesome Papercraft Business Planner that helps you keep track of your favorite challenges!

The theme for November is – To Give as a Gift (Not just a card)

I love making tags, they are just so cute! So I made some tags and a gift box to put them in as my inspiration.

• Take a bunch of colored paper and die cut circles.
• Die-cut circles and hearts from ivory paper.
• Stamp the small cupcake images from the Sweet Cakes stamp set by Simon Says Stamp on the hearts and color with alcohol markers.
• Assemble the tags, punch holes towards the top and tie some ribbons. Here is a look at the tags.

• I used my new We R Memory Keepers Gift Box Punch Board to create my box out of kraft cardstock.
• Cut a band out of pattern paper and create a cuff that fits around the box.
• Die-cut a circle of ivory paper and a butterfly out of the pattern paper. I used the Isabella Butterfly die by Memory Box.
• Adhere the circle to the band and add the butterfly to the top left. Add a clear gem as a finishing touch.

A view of the box with the tags.

I hope my project inspires you to create something beautiful. Do remember to check out the Papercraft Challenge blog for inspiration from the rest of the design team. There are lots of creative creations that you will love! 

The winning prize: Magnolia - Magnolia – Edwin with Sack

You can get more information about Papercraft Challenge Planner here. It is an invaluable tool for all crafters who love taking part in challenges. The Papercraft Business site also has tools that can help you take your business to the next level. 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love,

Nandini

Rainbow Card Challenge - Magically Metallic...

Hi! We have a great new challenge is up at the Rainbow Card Challenge. Here is the inspiration pic.

This challenge is perfect with the festival season just starting. Unfortunately, my card making mojo seems to be taking a holiday! I actually discarded two cards before I started on these. 

One of my tricks for kickstarting design ideas is to go through my existing supplies. I decided to use the Wreath Turnabout stamp set by Concord & 9th and make some easel cards for Christmas. 

Opened...

I started with two square pieces of cardstock, one red and one ivory. I stamped each turn of the stamp with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Ranger's metallic embossing powders. The shades I used are Gold, Silver, and Copper. I also used Snowflake Tinsel for the red card and the Gold Tinsel for the ivory card.

Here is a look at the red card.

I die-cut the red panel with a circle die. I also cut the circles for the easel card out of ivory cardstock and assembled the card. The sentiment is from the Poinsettia stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed with Wow! Glitter Red embossing powder. After trimming it, I popped the sentiment panel up with some foam tape and attached it to the card front.

Here is the open card...

To finish the card, I added nested circles of red and ivory cardstock and a half pearl to prop the card up.

The ivory card was made the same way, with minor differences.

I used the Gold Tinsel instead of the Snowflake Tinsel embossing powder. I also matted the sentiment panel and used copper embossing powder for heat embossing.

Here is the open card.

I am very happy with the way these cards turned out. I hope you liked my cards as well and look forward to your creations in our gallery. Please do visit the  Rainbow Card Challenge for more inspiration and to link your cards to the gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenges.

Sisterhood of Crafters - Make It Clean & Simple:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes:

STAMPlorations November CAS Challenge:

STAMPlorations November Theme & Photo Prompt Challenge:

Love,
Nandini

Papercraft Challenge #23...

Hi! Welcome to the October challenge at the Papercraft Challenge blog. We have a new challenge on the first of every month. This month onwards we are also bringing some mid-month inspiration. Do visit the Papercraft Business site for some great tools that can help you take your papercraft business to the next level. Like the awesome Papercraft Business Planner that helps you keep track of your favorite challenges!

The theme for October is – Tag, You’re It!

I love making tags, they are just so cute! So I combined tiny tags with a card as my inspiration. I also decided to a short break from stamping and used loads of die-cutting.

• Take a bunch of paper scraps and die-cut two tags from each color. I used blues and greens as I wanted to make a masculine card. I used an old Sizzix tag die set to cut my tags.
• Die-cut the letters ‘h’, ‘b’, ‘u’ and ‘2’ with the alphabet dies. I used Quinn’s alpha and number dies by Lawn Fawn.
• Layer the tags and add a dot of glue at the top of the tag.

Here is one of the tags.

• Cut small rectangles and adhere the tags to them with glue.
• Cut a mat out of white cardstock and ink it lightly with blue.
• Stamp the sentiment at the bottom. I used the Sentiments of Hello stamp set by Poppy Stamps.
• Mount the inked panel on foam tape and adhere it to the card base. Also add the small rectangles popped up on foam tape.

Here is another look at the card.

I hope my card inspires you to create something beautiful. Do remember to check out the Papercraft Challenge blog for inspiration from the rest of the design team. There are lots of cute creations that you will love! 

The winning prize: Magnolia - Romance Tag Doohickey

You can get more information about Papercraft Challenge Planner here. It is an invaluable tool for all crafters who love taking part in challenges. The Papercraft Business site also has tools that can help you take your papercraft business to the next level. 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love,

Nandini

Happy Little Stampers October Challenge...

Hi! The October challenge at the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies is now on. You can create anything, as long as you use dies.

I often give card sets as gifts. This set was meant for my brother and I deliberately kept the colours gender neutral. The sentiment is also such that they can be used for many occasions. Here is the card set. 

The die I used is the Scalloped Border die by Lil’ Inker. I cut out a bunch of scraps of coloured cardstock and assembled them to create an ombre look. Here is a closer look at the panel.

The sentiment is from the Fresh Freesia stamp set by Altenew. 

Here are the individual cards. 

Blue

Green

Red

Purple

Orange

I created a simple box using the same cardstock as the card bases and put the cards in with matching envelopes.

Hope you find my card inspiring and pull out your dies to play. You can check out the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge blog for more inspiration and also link your creations. Looking forward to seeing your cards in our gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenge:

CAS On Friday #165 - Make It Masculine:

Love,
Nandini