Stencils and Glitter...

Hi! The current challenge at the Mudra Craft Stamps is 

I made a bunch of cards as inspiration. This one is one of my favorites.

You can get more details on how to make this card here.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

CAS Mix Up November Challenge:
I used stamping for the sentiment, glitter, stencil and die cutting.

Less Is More Challenges #353 & #354 - Fireworks

Watercooler Wednesdays Challenge - WWC144:

Love,
Nandini

Stencils & Glitter...

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

Easy Peasy Foiling...

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

Make My Monday Challenge #35...

Hi! There is a new challenge up on the Make my Monday Challenge blog and the theme is CAS Christmas. Here is my inspiration

I love this card since it came together very quickly and exactly as I envisioned it! I used a new die called Christmas Snowflakes die by Nagashri Arts. She has recently ventured into manufacturing dies and I really loved the designs when I saw them. 

I used the largest die to cut my panel and used the negative space. I covered a small piece of white paper with thin double sided tape and added Navy Blue and Light Blue glitter. After buffing it well to ensure that the glitter will not come off, I glued the panel to a dark blue card base. I popped the white panel on some double sided tape and placed it over the glitter panel. Here is a closer look at the snowflake.

The sentiment is from Essential Sentiments by Bo Bunny. I stamped it with Versamark on the white panel and heat embossed it with the Lapis Lazuli Blue EP by Lindy's.

Hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. You can link your projects at the Make My Monday Challenge blog here and also check out the fantastic inspiration by my team mates.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

The Paper Players Challenge PP322: Clean & Simple Christmas

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #200

Love,
Nandini

Craftyscrapper Challenge #11...

Hi! The new Craftyscrappers challenge is up. With Diwali just around the corner I am sure you have guessed what the challenge is. We want to see your creations for Diwali this time around in our gallery.

Our sponsor for the challenge is:

Participating in the challenge can let you stand a chance to win amazing prizes as defined below:

• FIRST WINNER: a clear stamp set along with craft goodies.
• SECOND WINNER: assorted die cuts.
• THIRD WINNER: assorted embossed cards pack.

This is the card I created for this challenge:

I put rows of thin double sided tape on a piece of white card stock, peeled off alternate backing papers and poured some orange glitter over it. After tapping off the excess and buffing it into the tape, I repeated the process with pale blue glitter. The result is a beautiful, glittery panel. 

I stamped one of the images from the Persian Motifs stamp set by Altenew on some watercolor paper with Versamark and heat embossed with Platinum EP by WOW! I used Abandoned Coral and Broken China distress inks for coloring my image. To add some shimmer on the image, I tried a trick which worked wonderfully. I diluted Metallic Silver acrylic paint by Hobby Ideas and applied a thin coat over the image. This paint is rather watery and dries translucent. It is a great and economical way to add shimmer if you don't have the Wink of Stella pen. Here is a closeup:

The sentiment is from Craftyscrappers. I stamped it with Versamark on a piece of black paper and heat embossed with Platinum EP. 

I adhered the glittery panel to a orange card base that I had in my stash. I cut a circle out of some translucent paper with the X cut Stitched Circle dies by Gina Marie and added it behind the sentiment panel. I trimmed the sentiment panel and adhered it directly to the card base. The colored image was die cut with the coordinating die. I added dimension to it by cutting out four more die cuts from scrap card stock and staking them together. Here is a closer look at the card.

The final touch was the addition of some white half pearls from my stash.

I hope you liked my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. I look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery. Please do visit the Craftyscrappers blog for some amazing inspiration by my super talented team mates. You can post your creations on FaceBook at Craftscrappers Craft Challenges or email us the entries at craftyscrappers@gmail.com. 

Entering my card in the following challenges:

HLS October CASE the Designer Challenge - Brigit Norton:

I was inspired by the way the colors on the bird echo the colors of the background, the die cut highlighting the focus image and the sentiment on a black strip.

Ranganjali October Challenge - Traditional

STAMPlorations October CAS Challenge:

CAS Colors and Sketches Challenge #195:

Love,

Nandini

ATSM Challenge #209 - Clean & Simple...

Hi! We have a new challenge up on the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge blog. This time it is

You can enter any creation as long as it is Clean and Simple. This means that clean and crisp lines, minimal or no embellishments and lots of 'white' space should be used. Though White space does not need to be 'white'. It can be any colour. White space is a term used for the area of your card with no stamping, embellishments etc.

Our lovely sponsor is

QKR Stampede and Eureka Stamps was purchased by Stamp On It in 2013 from the state of Colorado and moved to its new home in Michigan! We(Stamp On It) had its humble beginnings over 25 years ago and is now a mobile(on-the-road) family owned and operated business. We travel coast to coast and attend as a vendor over 25 retail stamping and scrapping shows each year. 

Blog: http://eurekastamps.blogspot.ca

Prize: 3 digital images 

Clean and Simple or CAS as it is commonly referred to is my favorite style of card making. Here is the card I created for this challenge.

I started with a piece of water color paper and stamped the images from the Peony Bouquet stamp set by Altenew with Versamark and heat embossed with silver EP. I colored the images with several distress inks, both Ranger and Artistry. Here is a close up of the bloom.

After the inks were dry I cut out the images with the matching dies and then arranged them to my satisfaction. I clicked a picture of the arrangement with my phone. This is a great trick. Especially if you tend to spread out your card making over a couple of day. 

Then it was time to create the base. I was very inspired by the current Stamplorations sketch challenge and decided to follow it. I took a piece of kraft cardstock and used the Die Impression background technique with my Lifestyle Crafts nested circle dies. This technique is explained in detail by Jennifer Mcguire and you can check out the post and the video here. I dabbed the Indian Jamun distress ink by Artistry before running the paper through my Big Shot. The result was a lovely, subtle background of concentric rings. I used another technique by Jennifer Mcguire (tutorial here) to add some silver splatters to my card. I simple flicked some plain water on the card and covered it with silver embossing powder. I then heat set it normally. It does take some time to set the EP, since the water needs to dry. But the effect is gorgeous. Here is a closer look.

I used some thin double sided tape and silver glitter to create the silver strip on the side and mounted the whole thing on a cream card base with foam tape. The sentiment is from the Big, The Bold and The Extras set by Winnie & Walter.

I hope my card inspires you to create something beautiful. Please do check out the Addicted to Stamps and More blog for more inspiration by my super talented and amazing DT teamies. And be sure to add your entries to our gallery here!

Entering my card in the following challenges:

Stamplorations August Sketch Challenge:

Penny Black and More August Challenge - Anything Goes with a Stamp

AAA Cards Game #72
I used two new techniques - die impression background and using water to add splatters and heat embossing.

Love,

Nandini

A Holiday Themed Card For ATSM Challenge #203...

Hi! The challenge #203 this week at the Addicted to Stamps and More blog is

Link up your entries celebrating your favorite holidays like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Diwali, Eid, Holi etc. You can also link up entries that celebrate a favorite holiday memory or destination.

Our Amazing sponsor this week is

Founded in June 2013, California-based STAMPlorations™ is owned and managed by husband-and-wife team, David & Shery Russ. From just a handful of stamps, we now have 100+ stamp designs, 4 stamp designers, our exclusive line of stencils, and 20 amazing crafters spread across 3 teams who constantly produce gorgeous projects featuring our products. Our clear stamps are perfect for creating CAS, one layer, and mixed media cards, and they can be combined to create a variety of paper crafts. All of our stamps are proudly made in the USA. Our clear stamps are made from the finest, non-yellowing photopolymer resin. Through our stamp line, we hope to encourage crafters of all ages and

experience levels to "Stamp with all your ART!" 

Blog: http://stamplorations.blogspot.in/

Prize: 2 digital images

I created a glittery, festive card with a technique using glitter and stencils by the ever wonderful Jennifer Mcguire. You can find her detailed video tutorial here.

Unfortunately I couldn't quite capture the shimmery effect of glitter and silver EP. It looks really gorgeous in real life!

I started with a plain piece of white cardstock, thin double sided tape and the Merry Go Round stencil. This stencil always makes me think of the colorful bursts of firecrackers in the night sky during Diwali!

One of the useful tips that Jennifer Mcguire gives is to cover the back of the stencil with Versamark ink. You can also use soap, apparently. Though I went with Versamark since it was the most handy. This prevents the stencil from sticking too strongly to the double sided tape.

I covered the piece of cardstock with the double sided tape, overlapping each layer slightly. This is important since the glitter will not stick to the cardstock and you will get patchy areas which look really bad and cannot be touched up later! Keep a few strips of the release paper handy and lay them over the seams before pressing firmly to get a smooth finish. Press down the stencil gently, but firmly onto the glued area.

I first added the pink glitter at the center, tapped it off on a sheet of paper and then added the peach glitter. I used a piece of old tshirt to really work the glitter into the glue. The excess went back into the bottle. I was actually surprised by the small amount of glitter I needed.

After I had carefully peeled off the stencil, I added the turquoise glitter generously and again worked it in. I was very happy that there was almost no contamination between colors and I ended up with a beautiful, shimmery panel of cardstock.

I die cut the stenciled panel and some pale turquoise hand made paper with Gina Marie x-cut rectangle dies. I mounted the turquoise panel on a top folding white card base. The stenciled panel was popped up with a piece of fun foam for some added dimension. The sentiment is from the Sentiment Builders: Celebrate set by STAMPlorations. It was stamped on a scrap of pink handmade paper with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Ranger Silver EP. Here is another look at the card.

I hope you like my card and are inspired to join the fun at the ATSM challeneg blog. You can link up you creations here.

I am linking this card to the following challenges:

Make My Monday Craft Challenge: Sentimental

STAMPlorations July Sketch Challenge:

STAMPlorations July CAS Challenge:

STAMPlorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge:

Love,

Nandini