Happy Little Stamper August Watercolor Challenge...

Hi! I hope you are ready for the fresh new challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

This month we have an optional prompt for the HLS Watercolor Challenge.

I created a birthday card for today's challenge.

I started by creating a watercolor background using the Liquid Watercolors by CrafTangles. The colors I used are Lemon Tart, Pretty Peony and Soulmate. After my paper was dry, I stamped the Delightful Daisies background stamp by Whimsy Stamps with the Versafine Onyx Black ink. 

I cut a long strip around 2 inches tall. I set aside the rest of the panel for another card. I ran a piece of black cardstock through the Argyle Background embossing folder by Darice so added texture. After rounding one corner of the watercolored panel, I glued it to the card base. The sentiment is from the Altenew One Go Birthday stamp & die set by Altenew.

I hope you liked my card. I look forward to your beautiful creations in the HLS gallery. Do visit the blog for some more inspiration by my teamies.

Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More #265...

Hi! We have a beautiful challenge up at the Addicted To Stamps and More blog this week.

There are so many ways in which you can interpret this lovely photo. I decided to concentrate on the pink and black combo.

I found a piece of watercolor paper on which I had tried a galaxy background in pinks and purples. I trimmed it to size and adhered it to a black card base. I  cut another black panel to size and then used the Text Block: Birthday die by Papertrey Ink to cut it. I love this die since it is large enough to cover the front of the card. 

I decided to make it into a shaker card. I popped up the panel with double sided tape and added a few sequins from my stash. Here is a closer look at the panel.

I love this quick and simple shaker card and hope you like it too! Please do check out the fabulous creations by my fellow DT at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog for more inspiration. And don't forget to link your cards to our gallery.

Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More #261...

Hi! This week at Addicted To Stamps And More we have the easiest of challenges.

You can create anything for this challenge and link it to our gallery!

I decided to create a masculine card inspired by autumn colors.

I started with the Painted Alphas stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps. I love the bold alphas in this set. I lined up the letters to spell the word HAPPY and stamped it a few times with Memento Tuxedo Black ink to get a good, dark impression. Lining up the Mudra alpha stamps is super easy as they are cut to align at the top and bottom.

I took out a few Memento dewdrop ink pads and stamped the circle from the Grunge Effects stamp set by Mudra around the edge. I then used the Ferns and Leaves set and stamped the images in black. I used the Simple Alphas set again by Mudra to stamp the word 'birthday'. Initially I stamped it in dark red. But changed my mind and used black. Luckily I was left with a halo of dark red around the word which I really liked. 

To finish I simple trimmed the panel to size and mounted it on a black card base.

Here is a closer look at the card.

I hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please do check out the ATSM blog for more amazing inspiration by my talented team mates! I am looking forward to seeing your beautiful entries in our gallery.

Entering my card in the following challenges.

Happy Little Stamper September CAS Challenge:

CSW Challenge #18 - Leaves:

Uniko Challenge #43 - Autumn/Fall with optional twist of Halloween:

Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More #259...

Hi! This week is the Clean and Simple challenge at Addicted To Stamps And More.

I made a quick card with some watercoloring and stamping.

I used the bud and the foliage stamps from Altenew's Peony Bouquet and stamped them randomly on a piece of watercolor paper. I used distress inks to color the images loosely. Once the panel was dry I trimmed it and mounted it on a navy blue card base.

The sentiment is from the Magical Birthday stamp set by Craftyscrappers. I used Vanilla White EP by Wow! for heat embossing.

I hope you liked my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please don't forget to check out the beautiful creations by rest of the DT at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog. And be sure to link up your creations in our gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday #480:

As You Like It - Flora or Fauna:
Very tough question as I love animals too! But I will go with flora since flowers and trees always soothe me and make me happy.

Just Add Ink #376 - Just Add 'D':
I used distress inks for coloring.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - STAMPtember Stamp It


Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - STAMPtember Stamp It

The Flower Challenge #12 - Tic-tac-toe:

I used heat embossing for the sentiment, watercolor and blue.

Love,
Nan

Addicted To Stamps And More #257...

Hi! Wednesdays mean a new challenge at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog. This week's challenge #257 is all about

Here is my take on this challenge.

I decided to try a wet-on-wet stamping technique as shown by Sandy Allnock that I have been meaning to try for a very long time. You can check out the original blog post with the video tutorial here. 

I started with a piece of Textured White card stock by Itsy Bitsy. I love this paper since it is a lovely bright white and thick. You can check out my review of this paper here. I can add to that review and vouch that this paper is good for watercoloring as well! For coloring I used the new Camlin Brush Pens. They have recently come out with a set of 24 pens and I am totally in love with them! At Rs. 350/- they are a steal! The colors are vibrant and mix very well.

I mounted the Hydrangea Silhouette stamp by Joy! Crafts on my stamp positioner  and used a mix of pinks, yellow, green and orange pens to stamp. After the panel was dry, I die cut it with the Double Stitched Rectangle dies by DCAM. Here is a closer look at the panel.

The sentiment is from the Many Thanks stamp and cut set by Momenta. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I trimmed a piece of black card stock and die cut the center. After laying in my watercolor panel, I mounted the whole thing on a black card base with foam tape.

I hope you liked my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Don't forget to check out the fabulous creations by my super talented team mates at the Addicted To Stamps And More challenge blog. You can also link your creations there.

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

#TGIFC122 Technique Challenge - Watercolor:

Happy Little Stampers August Watercolor Challenge:

Happy Little Stampers August CAS Challenge:

House of Cards August Challenge - Floral Images and/or Colors:

Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More #253...

Hi! The new challenge is up at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog. This week's theme is interesting.

There are two ways to interpret this theme. You can make something celebrating your favorite holiday like Diwali, Christmas, Rakshabandhan etc. Or like me you can make a vacation themed creation.

I used the Grunge Effects stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps and Radiant Neons pigment inks by Tsukineko to stamp the backgrounds. I stamped the images and sentiment from the Bon Voyage stamp set by Craftyscrappers with Tuxedo Black ink by Memento. 

I popped up the panels on a kraft base and added a stitching line with a white gel pen. The button at the center was die cut with the Button Quartet set by My Favorite Things.

I hope you like my card and are inspired to make something beautiful. Don't forget to check out the amazing DT inspiration at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog. And do link up your holiday themed creations at our gallery here.

Linking my card to the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS Challenge #116 - Wheels:

Less Is More Challenge #339 - Use piercing on your card
I used stitched rectangle dies to add piercing.

CWS Challenge #17 - Boys to men:

Paru's Card Making Challenges August 2017 - Anything Goes:

Love,
Nandini

Make My Monday Challenge #50...

Hi! The latest Make My Monday challenge is up and the theme this time is Travel/Vacation. It is a wonderful theme which can be interpreted in so many different ways! Here is my inspiration

I made a card with only die cutting after a very long time. I started with the MFT Die-namics Sailboat die. I used a paper pack by Papericious to cut the sails. Rest of the paper I used is from my scrap box. Here is a closer look at the sailboat.

I used a top folding navy blue card base. I die cut a window in a piece of gray cardstock. I also cut the bottom with the Die-namics Stitched Basic Edges.

The sentiment was cut using the Sizzix Bubble Alphas set. Here is a closer look at the sentiment.

Hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please do visit the Make My Monday challenge blog for more amazing inspiration from my teamies.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

MFT Color Challenge #72

HLS July Anything Goes with Dies Challenge:

Cut It Up Challenge 125 - Patriotic Red, White & Blue:

Cardz For Boyz #173 - Besides The Sea:

Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More #249...

Hi! I am back with some inspiration for the latest Addicted To Stamps And More Challenge #249. The theme this week is

This is my favorite theme since I love making CAS cards. I decided to pull out my current favorite the Simply Florals stamp set by Mudra. I have been eyeing this set since it was first launched and received it as a part of my DT kit from Mudra Craft Stamps. Here is the card I made.

I started with a top folding white card base and a piece of red handmade paper. I trimmed the red paper slightly smaller than the card base and used DCAM's Double Stitched circle die set to cut a window in it. I lightly traced the window onto my card base with a pencil to serve as a guide to my stamping. I used the lovely Simply Florals stamp set to stamp with Versamark ink and heat embossed with the Primary Apple Red EP by WOW!. Here is a closer look at my heat embossed bloom.

To finish, I simple popped up the red panel with some foam tape. I deliberately avoided any embellishments as I wanted to keep my card super clean and simple.

Hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please don't forget to visit the ATSM gallery for some more fabulous inspiration from my super talented teamies.

I am entering this card in the following challenges.

CAS On Friday Challenge #111 - Flowers

Just Us Girls #400 - Word Week:

CWS Challenge #16 - Celebrate:

Love,
Nandini

Make My Monday Challenge #48...

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

Addicted To Stamps And More #245...

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

Make My Monday #47...

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