30 Days Coloring Challenge - Day #3

 My experiments with underpainting continue. I do need time of practice before I get good. 

I will convert these into tags or bookmarks.

Lil' Inker Inky Flowers Stamp Set + Camlin Artists Watercolours

Love,

Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More #408 - Birthdays...

Hi! I am so thrilled to be rejoining the ATSM team after a small break! Addicted to Stamps and More was the very first DT gig I got. And it is still one of the best teams I have worked with! Thanks, Kylie for giving me another opportunity to join this great challenge! The theme this time is:

This challenge is also the 9th birthday celebration for the ATSM blog! I created a shaker + easel card for a little boy who celebrates his birthday next week. 

This card came together really quickly, mainly because it had to be posted the next day! I used the beautiful Hello Dino stamp and die set by Lil' Inker and Memento dew drop inks to stamp and die cut the images.

 I inked the base circles lightly with distress inks. I used the Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape to create the shaker. I really love this tape as it is very strong and easy to work with. The sequins are from my stash.

This was a fun card to create and I am happy that I was able to combine a shaker element with an easel card. You can check out my other card with the same combination here. 

I hope you liked my card and will create something beautiful for this challenge. You can link your creations to the ATSM gallery. Please don't forget to visit the other DT who have some incredible inspiration for you. I look forward to visiting you in our gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge:

Always Fun Challenge #219:

Dragonfly Dreams June Challenge:

Dare2B Artzy June Challenge:

Di's Digi Challenge:

Send A Smile 4 Kids Challenge:

Crafty Catz Challenge #556:

Simply Create Too Challenge #171:

Craft Rocket Challenge #82:

Stinkin' Inkers Challenge - You're the Man:

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #220:

ModSquad Challenge - Masculine:

Paper Funday Challenge #30:

Love,

Nandini

MFT Summer School Day 1 - Visual Triangle...

Hi! I recently completed 5 projects for the MFT Summer School. This is a fun, educational series by My Favorite Things. It teaches you the basics of good design and how to apply those designs in your cards.

Day 1 covered the concept of creating a visual triangle to add interest to your card. You can read more about it here.

Here is the card I created.

You can check out my video on how I created the card here or you can head over to my YouTube channel.

I used the Buildable Bouquet stamp and die set by MFT for the flowers and Zig real brush pens for all the coloring. 

I used the Smile word die by Lil' Inker for the sentiment.

I have also started keeping track of my NBUS products. NBUS stands for Never Before Used Stuff. These are products that we crafters buy on impulse and never get around to using! I am trying to use as many of these as possible. I have created a Pinterest board for this and plan on updating it. For today's card I used the MFT Buildable Bouquet set from my NBUS stash.

Here is another look at the card.

 

Hope you liked my card and enjoyed the video. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Creations in Pink #25:

Yes...Virginia August Show & Share:

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

In Memory of Bill Blog Hop...

Hi. Today I am here as part of the blog hop to support Sue Trembeth during a difficult time. Sue is a beloved member of the design team at The Rainbow Card Challenge Blog. Her elder brother Bill passed away from esophageal cancer some time back. Losing a loved member of our family is always tough. My thoughts and prayers are with Sue and her family during this difficult time. 

The theme is periwinkle, the color of esophageal cancer awareness. Here is my card.

I started with a panel of watercolor paper on which I stamped the flowers from the Lil Inkers Inky Flowers stamp set with Versamark ink. I heat embossed the flowers with white embossing powder. After the heat embossing was done, I used distress inks in shades of blue and violet for ink smooshing. I allowed the panel to dry and then added some more ink to the flowers with a brush to make them pop a bit more. Here is a closer look at the left side of the panel

And the right side

I kept the rest of the card very simple. After trimming the panel, I mounted it over a black mat on a grey card base. The sentiment is from the Forest Friends stamp set by Pinkfresh Studio. I heat embossed it in white on a scrap of black paper.

Here is another look at the completed card.

Your next stop is the awesome Mary Ellen Driggs. You can also start at the beginning. Here is a list of all the stops of the blog hop.

Mynn Kitchen
Rocky Crafter
Em Fairley
Nandini Karmarkar - That's me!
Mary Ellen Driggs
LeAnn Skinner
Lee Ann Barrett
Gietje Boja-Ligthart
Ewa Pas
Jacqueline Mantle
The Rainbow Card Challenge Blog

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