Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies Challenge - April 2021...

Hi! I am so happy to be back with the inspiration for the month of April for the HLS challenges. 

This is a very special month for me as my mom, hubby and son all have birthdays in April. My card today is for my son, who turns 9. 

I used the Ice Cream Cone Parade die by Simon Says Stamp, which has been in my stash for a long time. I die-cut snippets of watercolored paper and arranged them in the rainbow order. The sentiment is from the Sweet Cakes stamp set, also by Simon Says Stamp.

Here is another look at the card.

I hope my card inspires you to create something beautiful. You can visit the Happy Little Stampers challenge blog for more inspiration and link your creations. I look forward to visiting you in our gallery.

Entering my card in the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge #25:
The Ice Cream Cone Parade die set has been in my stash for a long time. I used it for the first time.

AAA Cards - Game #187:

HLS April Watercolor Challenge:

Love,
Nandini

Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge - February 2021...

Hi! Welcome to another month of the Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge. 

I created a very loose, artsy background with my stencils and Brushos.

This technique actually creates two backgrounds. So it is a great twofer technique. I had the other card as my inspiration last month. You can check it out here.

I used the Layered Hydrangea stencil by CrafTreat and Brushos to create the background. You can check out my video on this technique here.

Here is a closeup of the card. The sentiment is from the Fresh Freesia stamp set by Altenew.

Close-up of the stenciling.

Another look at the card.

I do hope you will join us in this great new challenge. Looking forward to your beautiful creations in our gallery.

Love,

Nandini

#AutumnDecor Video Hop & Giveaway...

Hi! Today I am happy to be part of the #AutumnDecor Video Hop & Giveaway. I hope you will check out all the beautiful projects that we have created celebrating the season.

I used the faux watercolor technique to create a background and incorporated a poem that my daughter, Saee wrote.

The stamp set is Autumn Splendor by Sunny Studios.

You can watch the video here or on YouTube by clicking here. 

Please remember that you need to visit all the blogs and comment on the videos to be eligible for the giveaway! Here is the whole list:

Erica

Mynn

Jeanie

Mary Ellen

Monica 

Nandini - You are here! 

Janie

Cyn

Entering this project in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Not A Card:

Yes...Virginia October Show & Share:

I added some gold splatters on the background and gold embossing on the edges of the vellum.

STAMPlorations October Theme & Photo Prompt Challenge:

Word Art Wednesday Challenge #463:

Splashy Mix Challenge #22:

Love,

Nandini

 

Quilt Style Hexagon Background with Layered Stamping...

Hi! I am here with another card I made for some challenges. This is a new technique I tried, inspired by a card by Yana Smakula. You can find the original card with a video tutorial here.

I started by cutting a bunch of shapes with the Hexagon Quilt die by Spellbinders out of watercolor paper. I bought this die a few years ago and never got around to using it. I am so happy that I finally used it! I played around with the shapes until I was happy with the pattern. For coloring the pieces, I used distress inks in shades of rust, blue, and teal. I just smooshed some ink on my media mat, sprayed water, and dunked the pieces into it. Once the pieces were dry, I started putting the card together. 

The floral bouquet is from the Magnolia stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps. The sentiment is from another stamp by Mudra called Critter Party.

I put both stamps in a stamp positioner and stamped on a light cream card base with VersaFine Black Onyx ink. While the base dried, I prepared the die-cut pieces for stamping. The Stamping Mask Sheet by Mudra Craft Stamps was an invaluable tool in doing this. I simply trimmed a sheet of the masking paper to A2 size and arranged the die-cut pieces over it. The masking sheet ensured that my pieces didn’t move while stamping. I stamped again with the black ink. I had to do this couple of times as the paper was textured.

The rest of the card was very easy. It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. I popped up the pieces with foam tape and aligned them with the stamping on the card base.

The whole process of putting the card together actually went much faster than I expected! Here is another look at the completed card.

I hope you liked this card. Please do let me know if you want a video of the process in the comments.

Entering this card in the following challenges.

Mudra Craft Challenge #35:

Yes...Virginia September Show and Share:

NBUS Challenge #18:

I used the Spellbinders Hexagon Quilt die for the first time.

Retro Rubber Challenge #144:

The Magnolia stamp set was released by Mudra Craft Stamps in April 2018. It was part of my DT kit. It is also one of my favorite stamps from Mudra.

Color Throwdown #612:

Love,

Nandini

Slim-line Card | Watercoloring with Dye Inks

Hi! I am here today with my very first slim-line card. Slim-line cards are such a hot trend right now! I really enjoyed working with different proportions for my card.

I started with a piece of watercolor paper measuring slightly more than 3” x 8”. I stamped the flowers from the Fresh Cut Roses stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps with Versamark and heat embossed with Sea Foam embossing powder by Ranger. I smooshed Lemon Yellow and Tangerine Orange Mai inks on my mat with some water and pressed the watercolor paper over it.

Once the paper was dry, I used the Mai inks to watercolor the flowers. These were the inks I used – Flamingo Pink, Fuchsia Pink, Ruby Red, Lilac, and Ultra Violet. For the leaves, I used a mix of distress inks and watercolors.

The sentiment is from the Wishing You stamp set by MudraCraft Stamps. I stamped it with Versafine Black Onyx ink. I used a black marker to extend the lines across the width of the card.

To assemble the card, I cut a piece of foam slightly smaller than my water-colored panel and adhered the two together. To finish, I popped up the piece on a dark green card base measuring 3½” x 8½”. The card base is from the Paperum range by Mudra.

Here is another look at the finished card.

I had fun making this card and look forward to making more slim-line cards in the future.

Entering this card in the following challenges.

Mudra Craft Challenge #35:

Yes...Virginia September Show and Share:

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