Floral Card with Layered Stencils...

Hi! I recently tried the layered stencils by CrafTreat. These have been around for some time now and I was curious to see how well they worked. I am already a huge fan of layered stamps and have a large collection in my stash. I also love stencils, both using them and designing them.

I bought the Tiger Lily stencil since I loved the large blooms and the samples I checked out on the CrafTreat blog. Here is the card I made with the stencil.

I started with a panel of white cardstock and distress inks. I taped the stencil to the panel and inked through the panel with a soft brush. I used shades of yellow and red for the two flowers. After the flowers were done, I masked them and inked the leaves. Here is a close-up of the flower.

The sentiment is from */* stamp set by Technique Tuesday. I stamped it directly on the panel.

Since I didn’t have a card base in the shade of green I wanted, I inked the base with distress inks. To finish, I just popped up the panel with foam tape and adhered it to the card base.

Here is another look at the completed card.

I hope you liked my card and will give layered stencils a try. They seem to be the latest and hottest trend, with lots of companies introducing their own designs. Since stencils have a lower price point, they are a great option for crafters who like the layered look. But don’t want to spend on layered stamp sets. Also, the range of products you can use with stencils is much larger and they can be easily used on surfaces other than paper.

I really loved the CrafTreat stencil. The layering is very easy and the quality of stencils is excellent. I would love it if CrafTreat includes a small layering guide with the stencil. It took me some time to figure out how the layers worked and a beginner crafter might find it intimidating. Also, a mask for the flower would be a welcome addition. That said I am looking forward to adding more of these beautiful stencils in my stash.

Entering my card in the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge #42:

Yes, Virginia... March Show & Share:

Make My Monday Challenge #118 - Something Tropical:

The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge:

Love,

Nandini

Review of CraftGully Online Store...

Hi! I am here today with a review of some products by Craft Gully, a great craft supplies store based in Goa. I met Kunjal Nirwani, co-founder of Craft Gully through a mutual friend. She was sweet enough to send me a selection of products to try and review.

The very first product I tried was the glue. And I was very impressed by the quality! The glue is very strong, dries quickly and is suitable for paper as well as foam, plastics, etc. Since it dries to a clear, matte finish there are no ugly stains or shiny spots to mar your work. Definitely a winner and a product that is going to be in my stash!

Moving on, the second range that really caught my eye was the Scrappy Tales pattern papers. Kunjal is a graphic designer by training and I fell in love with her beautiful designs. Her floral papers are elegant and pretty. And the monochromatic papers are just gorgeous. I made a very simple, layered card using one of the papers from the Floral Corsage paper pack.

I took some pattern paper, vellum and black cardstock and die-cut all of them using nested banner dies. Here is a closer look at the layering.

You can really see the high quality of the design and paper. The sentiment is from the Birthday Wishes stamp set by Altenew. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed with metallic red embossing powder.

Here is another look at the card.

I used the two papers from the Floral Corsage paper pack for my second card as well. This time I created a baby card.

The card has a flap that opens up.

I used the Fishtail Banners Two die set by Lil Inker Designs to cut the opening. I used stamps from the Little One stamp set and the coordinating die for the onesie and the sentiment.

Here is another look at the card.

I used the Monohues Series –Black paper pack for my next card. This pack has really gorgeous papers in black, white and grey. I love the mix of floral and graphic designs. Some of them are perfect for coloring too. I went for a black-n-white card with a pop of teal.

The die is the gorgeous 3D Fantasy Florals die set by Altenew. I used a mix of pattern papers and black cardstock to cut the various layers. Here is a close-up of the flower.

I wanted some teal splatters on the card to tie in with the circle die-cut. So I used the Jamaican Teal chalk paint.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well the teal color shows up on the pitch-black paper! Even when diluted the color is so vivid.

The sentiment is from the Painted Greetings stamp set by Altenew. I stamped it with white pigment ink. I offset the stamp slightly and re-stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder.

To finish, I assembled the card and rounded the bottom corners with a corner rounder. Here is another look at the card.

Entering this card in the following challenge

Just Us Girls Challenge #527:

Timeout Challenge #157 - Birthday:

Craft Gully also has a range of beautiful metallic acrylic paints. They are very shiny and opaque and show up beautifully on black paper.

I created a quick background by dry-brushing the copper paint on a black panel. I stamped one of motifs and sentiments from the Persian Motifs stamp set by Altenew and heat embossed both with metallic copper embossing powder.

I adhered the die-cut circle with glue and added the motif and the sentiment strip popped up on some foam tape.

Here is another look at the card. You can see the beautiful dimension that the foam tape gives.

Entering this card in the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge March 2020. I used metallic copper acrylic paint, stamping and heat embossing.

For my final project, I wanted to test the chalk paints. So I decided to make coasters.

I used washi tape to mask off areas and painted them with the chalk paints. The Creative Genie chalk paints are creamy and have excellent coverage. Though I used two coats, even a single coat is opaque enough to give a good finish. The consistency of the paint is just right to use directly from the bottle. They also dry quickly. So I hardly had to wait between coats. Here is a close-up look of the coasters.

Note the smooth matte finish of the paint. The metallic acrylic paint is also very opaque and has a beautiful, rich sheen.

Once the paint was dry, I again masked off areas and added some stamping with the line stamps from the Painted Flowers stamp set by Altenew. Here are all four coasters.

I had lots of fun playing with the products from Craft Gully. Thanks, Kunjal for sending them to me. I hope you guys enjoyed this review and will give these great products a try. You can check them out here. Here is a final look at all the projects along with the products I used.

Love,

Nandini

Review of the Itsy Bitsy Stamp & Die Set...

Hi! I am here today to review the new Clear Stamp and Coordinating Die Set by Itsy Bitsy. You can find my previous reviews here, here and here. 

Itsy Bitsy recently launched 3 stamp sets along with their coordinating die sets under their brand Little Birdie. I selected the set called Florence which has beautiful roses along with buds and leaves. 

This set has 9 stamps and 9 dies. The price is only 999/- which makes this set very reasonable. The images are perfect for different coloring mediums. I loke that these are plenty of leaves. So building a floral cluster is very easy. I was also lucky to try the other two sets during my demo at the Itsy Bitsy store in Panaji. I will share those cards at the end of this post.

For my first card, I created a window card with some simple coloring.

I started with a white card base and a white mat. The stamping was identical on both. I stamped the large flower first. Then masked it with masking paper and stamped rest of the cluster. I used alcohol markers to color the image. I die-cut the images from the mat with the coordinating dies. This created a window that fits perfectly over my flower cluster. 

To add more interest, I inked the mat with a blue die ink. To finish, I stamped the sentiment and popped up the panel on some foam tape. Here is another look at the card.

For my second card, I decided to use some of the beautiful papers that Itsy Bitsy has. I used the Pretty Pastels paper pack. I also pulled out some handmade papers out of the Assorted Textures Value Pack. I love these packs and have several of them.

Each pack has an assortment of papers, jute, fabric etc. These packs come in really handy while card making. Here is my card.

I started with three sheets from the Pretty Pastels paper pack. I used a pink polka dot paper for the flowers and two shades green plaid papers for the leaves. I stamped the images and then cut them out with the coordinating dies. I inked the die-cuts with dye inks to add some depth and interest.

The card base is a dark grey. I stamped the smaller flower randomly with grey ink to create a nice tone-on-tone background. I cut pink, teal and white papers using the Itsy Bitsy oval dies. I stamped the sentiment on the white oval with pink ink.

To finish, I arranged the flowers and leaves in a pleasing pattern and adhered them to the card. Here is the completed card.

For my final card, I decided to do some water coloring and inlay die-cutting.

I took a panel of Little Birdie Watercolor Paper. This is a professional-grade, cold-pressed 100% cotton paper. It is thick and I love that it is bright white. I stamped only the leaves with black ink and then colored them with shades of yellow and green. Once the paint was dry, I splattered the background with the diluted paints. I also added some splatters of black and white.

I trimmed the panel and a green handmade paper with Little Birdie Rectangular Dies. These nested dies are a great addition to your stash as they are made to fit a standard A2 size card. I die-cut the leaves from the watercolored panel with the coordinating dies. I took a black card base and adhered the green handmade paper and the water-colored panel to it. I popped up the leaves and added them to the panel. This creates a lovely 3-dimensional background. Here is a look at the angled panel.

This card is now ready. I can either use it without a sentiment. Or just add a suitable one whenever I want to send the card. Here is another look at the card.

I hope you found my review helpful. I would definitely recommend these sets to crafters who like coloring and, like me, don’t like fussy cutting. At 999/- per set they are priced very well and each set has loads of options to create beautiful designs. Here are my three cards together.

I got the opportunity to use the other two sets as well during one of the demos that I do at the Itsy Bitsy store in Panjim. These demos are held every Saturday, with different techniques covered every week. You can contact your nearest store for more details. Here are the cards I made during the demo.

With the Florence set, using Song of the Sea pattern paper pack and some stenciling.

Masking and sentiment stamping. I colored the flower with the Little Birdie alcohol markers.

With the Bloom Vista set, some simple water-coloring and inking.

With the Florenza set, using the Song of the Sea pattern paper pack and partial die-cutting.

Stamp and die sets are great for creating twofer cards. The first card with an inked background.

Second card with a splattered background.

Both cards together.

I hope you will give these great sets a try.  You can buy them at any of the Itsy Bitsy stores. Or order online from the website here.

Love,

Nandini