Watercolor Florals...

Hi! A quick card today with some stamping and water coloring.

I started with a piece of watercolor paper and a stamp set by Studio G which I had picked up from Itsy Bitsy a long time ago. I stamped the flower trio with Versamark Black ink pad. I used a few Ranger distress inks to color the flowers. After the panel was completely dry, I went over the outlines with a black glitter pen. The sentiment is also from the same stamp set and embossed on vellum with white EP. I simply layered it with stripes of grey and black card stock for more emphasis.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Less is More Colour Week - Citrus
I have used Twisted Citron for the little leaves.

Freshly Made Sketches #226

CAS Mix Up March Challenge

I have used stamping, water coloring with distress inks and heat embossing for the sentiment.

NBUS Challenge #6: Any thing Goes

The Studio G stamp set that I used was bought more than a year ago, since it was on sale. First time I used it.

Love,
Nandini

One Layer Card with Altenew...

Hi! One of my all time favorite stamps is the Striped Florals by Altenew. I decided to combine the Striped Florals with the Artistry Distress inks to make a one layer card . This is similar to another card I had made some time ago. You can check it out here.

I simply stamped few stamps from the Striped Florals set by Altenew with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.. Then I used the solid stamps from the LJD Circle Scribble Flowers by My Favorite Things to stamp with Artistry inks Lush Lilac, Dry Weed, Ocean Reef and Elegant Emerald.

I loved the background so much that I decided to go without a sentiment. A simple green ribbon tied across the top of the card completed this simple card.

Hope you like this simple little card.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

CAS on Sunday Challenge #77 - One Layer Wonder

Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes

Love,
Nandini

A Floral Card...

Hi! I am back with a floral card which I made using some of my older supplies.

I started with the two step floral stamp by Leane Creatief which I had bought ages ago. I used the Hero Arts mini cubes for stamping. I trimmed the panel to 3 inches wide by 7 inches long and mounted it on a 5 x 7 inch top folding card base. Then I used the Fancy Frame die by Sizzix to cut the sentiment panels. I heat embossed the top layer 4 times with silver EP for a lovely metallic finish. The sentiment is from the Woodland Creatures stamp set by Hero Arts, which was a gift from The Craft Shop.

I heat embossed the sentiment with silver EP to match the frame.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Hero Arts Fabulous Florals Challenge

I used the Woodland Creatures stamp set and the inks are also from Hero Arts.

Sketch Saturday Challenge Week #401

Time Out Challenge #50: Home Sweet Home Photo Inspiration

I was inspired by the monochromatic look and the scattered graphics.

Hope you liked my card. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love,
Nandini

Joseph's Coat Stamping Technique...

Hi! I am back today with my final post as Guest DT for Craftyscrappers. I have thoroughly enjoyed my term and enjoyed the great crafters that I have met through this.

Since Craftyscrappers has recently started dealing in stamps, we decided to make stamping techniques our main focus.

I chose to do the Joseph's Coat technique. It is an emboss resist technique, also called Emerging Colors technique. I have put together a small tutorial which I hope is helpful.

I started by going through my stash. I have a bunch of backgrounds that I tried some technique on. Sometimes there are extras and other times the technique didn't work. But the colors were really pretty. I tend to keep these and recycle them. The Joseph's Coat technique is really great for this. I selected three that I really liked.

I added a bit of texture on the first by stamping with the Kaisercraft Texture Script Stamp and Artistry Amazon Trail ink. For the second, I covered my Memory Box Texture Mesh stencil with gold acrylic paint and pressed it on the paper. For the third I used gold acrylic paint again with my daughter's Guides woggle.

Once the papers were dry, I went to next step which is to make the emboss resist with clear embossing EP. I used Striped Leaves stencils by Crafter's Workshop, Garden Flourish background stamp by My Favorite Things and a DIY stamp I made some fun foam.

Here is a closer look at the embossed papers.

Now comes the last step of the technique, which is most fun!

I applies several layers of the Artistry Dark Garnet ink with a blending foam. The ink blending tool is from Papericious and I love how light it is.

I cut the piece on which I had used the Garden Flourish stamp and applied Artistry Dark Garnet ink on one and Memento Tuxedo Black on the other.

I ended up making three cards with two of the backgrounds. The third one is in my stash.

Here are some closeups of the cards.

Finished with some cream ribbon and a button from my stash. The sentiment is from Altenew's Persian Motifs set and stamped with copper Delicata ink by Tsukineko.

I stamped the kraft card base with Ranger's Ground Espresso distress ink. The sentiment was die cut from gold foil paper with the Simon Says Stamp Happy Birthday die and mounted on translucent paper from my scrap bin.

This was my daughter's favorite. The sentiment is Wplus9's Hand Lettered Hello die which I die cut from some sparkly glitter paper.

I hope you liked my cards and will give this fun technique a try. Also do check out the Craftyscrapper's FB page for an amazing variety of die cuts and stamps. Their products are super high quality and very pocket friendly. And definitely check out the Craftyscrapper's blog for all the different stamping techniques that the DT have put together. I am sure you will be inspired to make something beautiful and participate in the Craftyscrappers Challenge #7 - Stamping Techniques.

Entering the cards in the following challenges:
Can You Case It - CYCI #108

Happy Little Stampers February Mixed Media Challenge: Paint

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Love,
Nandini

A cardmaking workshop...

Hi! I recently held a card making and paper craft workshop in Mumbai at a friend's shop called Paro's Artville. My friend has a fabulous collection of hand crafted items and has a keen interest in learning new crafts and techniques. We were sponsored by the very sweet Shilpa Kenia, owner of Shilpi, which has introduced India's very own brand of distress inks called Artistry. Every body had a great time getting inky with Artistry. I made a sample card with some heat embossing and ink blending.

The card is a very simple, one layer card. I heat embossed the large butterfly from Inkadinkado's Mindscapes stamp set with silver EP. The sentiment is from Winnie and Walters' A Tree fro All Seasons, also embossed with silver EP.

I just sponged Fancy Fuchsia, Lime Kiss and Tenacious Teal with blending foams over the butterfly and the card was done.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Stamplorations January CAS Card Challenge: Anything Goes with Optional Colour Twist - Silver

Inkspirational Challenge #100: Blast from the Past

I chose Challenge #95 - Anything goes with Silver

House of Cards January Challenge: Embossing and/or Colour Inspiration

I used heat embossing.

ABC Challenge: Z is for Zero

No embellishments used.

Love,

Nandini

Pretty in Pink...

Hi! I am here today with my inspiration for the Craftyscrappers Challenge #6: Pretty in Pink. Show your love for all things pink and make a card/a tag or anything of your choice that should have atleast 1 stamped image with "a pink-thing".

I went super CAS for my card.

The starting point of my card was this beautiful pre-stamped die cut from Craftscrappers. I used the Stitches stamp set by Bo Bunny. I mounted the five stitched borders on an acrylic block and stamped them with Ranger's Hickory Smoke couple of times and the double stitched border once with Ranger's Picked Raspberry. I distressed the edges of the die cut and my stamped panel lightly with Hickory Smoke and mounted on a grey card base.

The pre-stamped die cuts from Craftyscrappers make it so easy to create great cards quickly. You can check out their vast range of high quality diecuts here. They update and add to their stocks every week. So make sure to check often.


For the details of the challenge check out the blog here.


Hope my card inspires you to created something beautiful. Looking forward to seeing your beautiful creations in our gallery.


Love,

Nandini

Guest DT - Craftyscrappers

Some Cupid Love...

Hi! I am back with my inspiration for the Craftscrappers Challenge #5: Cupid Love. In this challenge you need to include at least one thing that showcases a cupid/a heart/a wing.

In the goodie bag that I received from Craftyscrappers was a great pre-stamped sentiment. I was very keen on using it on my card. Since the sentiment was stamped in a lovely shade of brown, I decided to go for a masculine look. Here is my card.



I started with a piece of watercolor paper that I smooshed with shades of yellow and brown. These are photo inks from Camlin and they have really beautiful, intense colors. I then stamped repeatedly with my Script stamp by Kaisercraft with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Metallic Copper EP by WOW! I then trimmed it with Spellbinder's On The Edge Shapeablities die for a nice pinked edge on both sides, which I mounted on a black card A2 size card base.

For the sentiment, I sponged the die cut with a little Rusty Hinge and coated it with several layers of clear EP. This was then mounted on a piece of black cardstock which I had run through the Distressed Stripes embossing folder by Cuttlebug.



Be sure to check out the Craftyscrappers blog for more amazing inspiration from my fellow DT members and also the challenge details.

Craftyscrappers also has an huge range of die cuts for sale. The catalogues are updated regularly. So keep checking!

Entering this card in the following challenges:

HLS January CAS Challenge:

HLS January CASE The Designer: Kylie Purtell

CASEplorations January:

Fusion Card Challenge: 2nd Year Celebration with Special Guests

I used only the sketch.

Just Us Girls #325: Use Metals/Metallics
I used Metallic Copper EP on my background.

Love,

Nandini - GDT, Craftyscrappers