Hi! I am back with a fresh new challenge at the Make My Monday blog. This time the theme is 'At The Beach'. Whenever I visit a beach I am always fascinated by the cute little crabs that run around in the sand. So I decided to make a card using a crab image.
I used an old Itsy Bitsy stamp set that has several cute sea creatures and stamped on a watercolor paper with Versamark. I heat embossed using black EP by Wow!. Originally I planned to use my watercolors to do the coloring. But then I came across this great tutorial by Julia Altermann of Just One More Card where she demonstrated a technique of using regular sketch pens to do the coloring of images. I decided to use my Camlin Brush Pens. And I loved the results! Here is a close-up of the panel.
I kept rest of the card super simple. I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch. The sentiment is from the Woodland Creatures stamp set by Hero Arts. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP by Wow!.
I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful by my card. You can link up your creations to our gallery here. And don't forget to visit the Make My Monday blog for some amazing inspiration by my fellow DT.
Entering this card in the following challenges:
CAS(E) This Sketch #225:
STAMPlorations June CAS Card Challenge:
Cardz 4 Guys Challenge #171 - Something Blue:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Make It Masculine:
Sparkles Monthly Challenge #92 - Four or More Legs:
Love,
Nandini
Hi! It is another Wednesday and that means a new challenge at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog. This time around we have an interesting photo to inspire you.
Isn't this great? There are so many ways to interpret it and I am looking forward to your takes on it.
I decided to concentrate on the subway style lettering. Here is my card inspired by today's pic.
One of my favorite ways to test new inks is by creating plaid backgrounds. I created this top folding card base on which I stamped a plaid pattern using a DIY stamp and the Red Cosmos mini ink cubes set by Altenew. The black stitching lines were stamped using an old Itsy Bitsy stamp set.
I took a piece of white card stock and die cut it with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling Card. I stamped the Graphic Greetings - Birthday stamp with Versamark ink and heat embossed with a pink EP by Wow!. I mounted my panel with foam tape on the card front.
To finish up I added three heart shaped gems to the bottom of the panel.
I hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please link up your creations to our gallery here. Also don't forget to visit the blog and check out the fabulous inspiration by my teamies.
Entering this card in the following challenges.
Craft Stamper Magazine Take It Make It Challenge - June:
CAS On Sunday Challenge #109 - Use a Repetitive Image
I think my card qualifies since I used one stamp to create the plaid pattern and another to create the stitching lines.
AAA Cards Game #91 - 3rd Big Birthday Bash
Just us Girls #396 - Word Week
I die cut the sentiment panel.
Love,
Nandini
Hi! I love working with stencils. And I am so happy to see all the great Indian brands coming with such great designs. One of my favorite techniques with stencils is to combine them with glitter. This is a technique I picked up from Jennifer McGuire. You can check out her great tutorial here. And here is my card.
I used the Rose Bunch stencil by Craftyscrappers and two colours of glitter. The card base is a lovely pale pink also from Craftyscrappers. The sentiment is from the Let's Party stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed with some metallic pink EP. Here is a closer look at the glitter panel.
I am entering this card in the following challenges.
Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #48 - Inspired by a Song:
Definitely inspired by Pink by Aerosmith!
The Flower Challenge #9 - Anything Goes:
The Paper Players - PP347:
ModSquad Challenge - Background Stash:
Love,
Nandini
Hi! I am back with a new challenge at the Make My Monday challenge blog. The theme is Victorian Romance.
Here is my inspiration card.
I had a tough time coming up with this card. Victorian style of design to me means lots of girly lace, multiple layers and soft pastels. Which is rather different from my style. I always admire such designs by others. But I really struggle to with it. At the last moment I remembered a pack of pattern papers called Sofiero from Maja designs that I have had for years. This was the very first giveaway I ever won and I love the beautiful, feminine designs.
I simply cut a few pieces from the papers and adhered them to a piece of scrap paper. I trimmed the panel to size and added faux stitching lines with the Stitches stamp set by Bo Bunny. I used Versamark and Metallic Pick EP by Wow! for the heat embossing. The scrap of lace is from my stash. Here is a close up of my card.
I used the Downton Abbey - Ornate Mirror die by Crafters Companion to cut a piece of handmade paper and few pieces of white card stock and layered them together. The sentiment is from the A Tree for All Seasons stamp set by Winnie & Walter. I stamped it with Versamark on a piece of paper from Sofiero stack and heat embossed with Vanilla EP.
I hope my card inspires you to create something beautiful. Please don't forget to link your creations in our gallery here and also check out the fabulous creations by my fellow DT.
Entering this card in the following challenges:
ModSquad Challenge - Birthday Bash
Stamps & Stencils - Fabric & Fibres
Allsorts Challenge Week 417 - Vintage Style
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Use Your Old Stash
The pattern papers I used are from the Sofiero collection by Maja Design which I won in a giveaway in 2014. I have used stamping for adding faux stitching detail and the sentiment.
Crafter's Cafe Challenge #173 - Birthday
Love,
Nandini
Hi! It is that time of the week again when we unveil a new challenge at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog. This week the theme is
I decided to try out a few designs for my Diwali cards. I have been sending them for the last two years and it is always a rush to complete them. Here are two versions of the same design that I made.
I tried a galaxy background with the kraft card and a simple ombre ink blending with the white one. Here is a closer look at the first.
To create the background I blended several distress inks on a panel. I used an old Diwali themed stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps to stamp with foiling glue and applied gold foil. These foiling products were recently introduced by Craftyscrappers and I am completely addicted to them!
Here is the second card
I used four shades of blue distress inks to get an ombre effect. I used the Starry Borders stamp set by Craftyscrappers to stamp with foiling glue and applied the silver foil. I love the beautiful, shiny background this created. I decided to make this into a shaker card.
The sentiment is from an older Mudra Craft Stamps set that I love. I stamped and heat embossed both on strips of black paper. I used the Gina Marie X stitch circle dies for die cutting.
I hope you like my cards and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please do visit the Addicted To Stamps And More blog for some great inspiration by my team mates and also to link your creations. Looking forward to seeing you in our gallery.
Love,
Nandini
Hi! I am so excited to bring you this post today! Craftyscrappers recently introduced a brand new product in the market - Foil Bonding Glue and Transfer Foil sheets.
I have always loved the beautiful effect of foiling on cards. But there are two major stumbling blocks. First the techniques need a laminating machine which seems like a needless expense to me. And second the foils themselves are very expensive. But the new products by Craftyscrappers are very pocket friendly and easy to use. I ordered them immediately and they arrived yesterday. I was too excited to wait and started experimenting. I made several panels and managed to convert one into a card. Here is the result.
I took a scrap piece of paper and covered it with thin double sided tape. I removed the release paper and applied the foil. This was the foil sheet remaining after I had used it with the glue and the Memory Box Texture Mesh stencil. After running it through the Big Shot, I peeled off the foil paper to get a beautiful mesh pattern on my paper. I decided to take this one step further and poured two shades of green glitter on it. I ended up with a lovely glittery panel. Here is a closer look at the panel.
It is difficult to capture the amazing shine in the photo. It looks fabulous in real life!
I trimmed the foiled panel and also a larger rectangle as the mat. The die cut branch is the Vintage Leaf Branch by Nagashri Arts. Sentiment is from Geometrical Patterns stamp set that I designed for Craftyscrappers. I inked a strip of white paper with some green Clearly Kelly dye ink. I cut a thin strip and adhered it across the black card base. I then stamped the sentiment with Versamark and heat embossed with Ranger's clear EP. I then covered the entire panel with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
To finish I simply adhered everything together.
Coming to the new products, I absolutely love them! They are easy to use and very pocket friendly. Here is what I bought.
You can check out Konica's very informative video here. She has given very clear instructions on the usage. I tried both methods - with glue and double sided tape. I found the glue easier to use since the foil paper comes off much easily. However you need to work fast as the glue dries rapidly. It is very easy to clean the stamps and stencils though. I simply wet both and washed off under the trap.
Double sided tape also works well. Only drawback is that the foil paper has to be pulled very firmly.
The foiling is more even if you run it through the die cutting machine. Just rubbing it in with your fingers gives a more distressed look. Here are some of the panels that I created using the foils.
Another small advice is to keep the sheets ready before you start working. They are a bit delicate and require careful handling.
The white panels were made with the foiling glue and Memory Box Texture Mesh stencil. I placed the stencil on the paper and applied the glue with a blending foam. Since the stencil was covered with glue, I simply flipped it and pressed down on another piece of paper. The leaf panel was made using a DIY stamp and kraft card stock. I applied the glue with the blending foam and pressed my panel firmly on top. The pink and kraft panel is made with double sided tape since I wanted to add glitter.
I hope you found my blog post informative. Looking forward to hearing from you.
I am entering this card in the following challenges.
Freshly Made Sketches #288:
Watercooler Wednesday Challenges WWC119 - Masculine Anything Goes:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - A Bit Of Sparkle:
HLS May Anything Goes With Dies:
Love,
Nandini
Hi! I completely forgot to post this card on my blog! It is the my last card as DT for the Craftyscrappers blog and I am sad that my term is ending. I have made wonderful friends here and generally had a great time. A special thanks to Konica Das, the owner of Craftscrappers who is the sweetest person ever, for giving me the opportunity to design my own stamps.
The theme for challenge #16 is CAS, my all time favorite style of card making. Here is the card I made.
This is a one layer card. I simply took a top folding black card base and randomly stamped the circles from the Doodly Blooms stamp set with Versamark. I heat embossed using gold, silver, copper and platinum EPs.
The sentiment is from the Lotus stamp set.
I hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please do link your creations to our gallery here. And don't forget to visit the Craftyscrappers blog for some great inspiration by rest of the talented DT.
Love,
Nandini
