Multi-step stamping...

Hi! Multi-step stamp sets are very trendy right now. I love looking at the gorgeous cards and marvel at how easy people make it seem. But I was not sure that I could do it! Part of the problem was that I felt I did not have the right inks to start with. I finally gathered my courage and existing supplies to make my first card with multi-step stamping.

The stamp set is Pretty Little Peonies by Wplus9. I stamped the blooms and leaves several times on white cardstock with different colors of distress inks. Then I die cut the best ones with the matching dies.

I used a top folding kraft card base and stamped a band of dots with distress ink Rusty Hinge and a stamp by Itsy Bitsy. I cut out a rectangle and layered it for added dimension. I arranged the flowers and leaves and adhered them with glue. The purple flower is mounted on foam tape. The sentiment is stamped with Amazon Trail, part of the new Artistry range of distress inks by Shilpi. Few sequins in gold and copper finished the card.

I was honestly surprised by how easy it was to use this stamp set! And the beautiful results are really easy to achieve.

Love,
Nandini

August Challenges - Week #3

Hi! Week #3 of the August challenges at Create Something Catchy was hosted and sponsored by the super talented Gayatri Murali. You can check out her awesome blog here. The theme was watercolor and here is the inspiration board.

I decided to go completely CAS for this challenge.

I tried watercolor stamping demonstrated by the queen of techniques, Jennifer Mcguire. You can check out her original post and video tutorial here. Instead of the Aqua markers that she uses, I tried distress inks in three colors - Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed and Fired Brick. The stamp is from the Petals from Scratch set by Fiskars. The sentiment is heat embossed with white EP. I added a few dots with metallic gold 3D outliner by Hobby Ideas as a finishing touch.

Hope you liked my take on watercoloring. Also don't forget to check out the gorgeous entries for this week's challenge here!

Love,
Nandini

A DIY Stamp..

Hi! One of my favourite type of stamps are the background stamps. I especially love the Impression Obsession cover a card range. But there is another, easy option if you don't have suitable background stamps. You can make your own out of fun foam! Here are two cards that I made with a DIY background stamp.

I used the Fancy Butterfly die by Impression Obsession to cut several butterflies cut from a sheet of foam and mounted them on a 7" x 7" piece of sun board covered with thin double sided tape. Here is the stamp.

For the other stamp I used a Cuttlebug die.

I covered the stamp with white acrylic paint and stamped on a piece of watercolor paper. Once the paint was dry, I smooshed the panel with pink and blue acrylic paints. I ended up with a panel large enough to make two cards.

Close up of the first card

And the second card

Both the sentiments are from the Persian Motifs set by Altenew. I heat embossed them with black EP on strips of vellum.

You can check out more examples made with my DIY stamps here

And here

And also here

Hope you enjoyed this post on DIY stamps and give it a try.

Love,

Nandini

August Challenges - Week #2

Hi! The month of August was very special at Create Something Catchy Challenges. For we hosted four weekly challenges instead of the usual monthly challenge. Each challenge was different and exciting, sponsored by some of our favourite crafters.

Week #2 was hosted and sponsored by the our beloved Dr. Sonia! You can check out her awesome blog here.

The challenge was to create any project incorporating handmade flowers. Here is my inspiration project.

I love working with fabric and have a large stash of different varieties. I created two types of flowers. The small ones are made from circles of fabric. The large one is made from two strips of fabric. Here is a photograph of my daughter, wearing the large flower.

After she had worn it, her friends demanded more. So I ended up making three more bands!

Some more hair bands that I had made in the past are here

And here

Hope you enjoyed my creations! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Love,
Nandini

One stamp, two ways...

Hi! I have a lot of cards that I made, photographed and never uploaded on my blog. The cards I am showcasing today are part of that.

I love the cover-a-card stamps by Impression Obsessions. They have a huge range of beautiful background designs and at 5.75" x 5.75" the stamps are really useful. I had purchased the Dotted Floral stamp some time ago. The first thing I did when I it was to stamp it on white, black and kraft cardstock and heat emboss with clear, white and black EPs.

I ended up making two cards from the backgrounds, rest are in my stash.

For the first card I went in for the classic black & white combo.

I stamped in black on a piece of white cardstock and heat embossed with clear EP. I trimmed the panel and mounted on a square piece of black card stock.

The sentiment stamp is from Altenew's Persian Motifs set, heat embossed in gold. I added a gold border around the white panel with a gold gel pen.

For the second card, I went for a more colorful look.

I heat embossed in white on a piece of kraft cardstock. I used my watercolor pencils to color the panel.

The sentiment is heat embossed in white on a strip of black paper. A metal brad completed the card.

Hope you enjoyed the two completely different looks from a single background stamp.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love,
Nandini

Distress Ink Stamping...

Hi! I just realized that it has been more than a month since I blogged! I have done very little except my DT cards. Which I have not posted on my blog! My craft mojo has been seriously missing this past month.

I decided to sit down with the supplies and try something simple to get started.

I first stamped with Altenew's Striped Florals in black. Then I used the solid stamps from the Circle Scribble Flowers set by My Favorite Things in three distress inks - Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough and Crushed Olive. The sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays, heat embossed on black in white.

Entering this card in the MFT Color Challenge #28

I omitted the lilac color since I wanted my card to be more masculine.

Also entering it in the You Could Be a Card Design Superstar Card Contest by My Favorite Things.

Since I had my supplies out, I decided to try a technique that I had seen during OLC's Background Check class.

I don't have any solid stripe stamps. So I simply created one from some fun foam and stamped with the same distress inks and Pumice Stone. After the panel was done, I decided to add some faux stitching lines for interest. The stamp is from Itsy Bitsy.

I decided to created a shaker tag to add on the background.

Entering this card in the Tag You're It! Challenge #29

Also linking both the cards to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use a stamp & Blog Hop.

Love,
Nandini