Exciting announcement...

Hi! I am here today with a very exciting announcement that I have been sitting on for some time. I am absolutely thrilled and honoured to be joining the super talented Design Team at Addicted to Stamps and More! 

The challenge this week is very easy and a great favourite of mine...

You can create anything for this challenge, so go crazy and make sure that you link up your creations to Challenge #201.

This challenge is being sponsored by

Happy Little Stampers was created in 2015 by Kylie (owner of ATSM and ATCAS). Kylie wanted to bring out a line of stamps that were useful for every day crafters. From cute to whimsical images, from everyday to funky sentiments there is something for everyone!

Shop: Happy Little Stampers

Prize: $15 gift certificate

My first DT card for ATSM is very special to me because I made this card for my closest friend for her birthday this year.

I started with plain white cardstock and stamped the blooms from MFT's Mini Modern Blooms set with an assortment of Memento dewdrop ink pads. I used the matching dies to cut them. The circles were cut with the Gina Marie X stitched circle dies. The sentiment is from the Folk Sentiments set by Docrafts. I stamped it with Versamark ink and heat embossed with some WOW! Fluorescent Tickled Pink embossing powder. I used the beautiful Woven - Next Level Embossing Folder by WRMK to add some texture to the card. Here is a close up of the blooms. 

I am very happy with the way this card turned out. I hope it inspires you to create something wonderful for the ATSM Challenge #201. You can link up your creations here. 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love,
Nandini

Altenew June Challenge...

Hi! The photo inspiration for the current challenge at Altenew is absolutely gorgeous!

I was very inspired by the soft colors, the subtle texture of the dress and the sprinkle of crystals at the top. I also needed a special card for somebody celebrating her first wedding anniversary. So here is my take on this card.

I decided to combine a shaker with a circle easel card. Here is the card when open.

I started with a piece of some textured, translucent paper that I attached to some cream card stock. I really love that matte look! I stamped the blooms from the Painted Flowers set by Altenew and water colored them with distress inks. Once dry, I cut them out with the matching dies. The sentiment is from the Floral Fantasy set by Mudra Stamps. I stamped it with Versmark on a piece of acetate and heat embossed with black EP. Here is a close up.

I used the Gina Marie X-stitched Circles and Lifestyle Crafts Nested Circles sets to cut the circles and make the shaker. The sequins are from my stash.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Altenew June Inspiration Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Add Some Shimmer:

Stamps & Stencils June Challenge - Floral Frenzy

Fairy's Challenges:

Penny Black and More June Challenge - Flower Power

CASEplorations June Challenge

Stamplorations Theme Challenge:

Mod Squad Challenge - All That Glitters

Virginia's View Challenge #22

Edited – 10-06-2021

Creative Creases Challenge #8

Love,
Nandini

Stained Glass Technique...

Hi! I am back today with a technique that I have been wanting to try for a long time. I had seen this beautiful card using a stained glass technique by Sandy Allnock a long time ago. When I saw the Grungy Butterflies stamp set by Mudra Stamps, I knew it would be perfect for this fun technique!

I started with a plain white card stock. I stamped the butterflies with Versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder. After the heat embossing was done, I used my Camlin brush pens to scribble colors randomly on the paper and sprayed with plain water. I allowed the piece to air dry completely. Here is a closer look at the panel.

There is a detailed video tutorial on Sandy Allnock's blog. You can check it out here.

Rest of the card was very easy. I used two nested circle dies by Gina Marie Designs to cut the thin frame out of black paper. The sentiment was also die cut from black paper. I used the Wplus9 Hand lettered Hello die, one of my all time favorites.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

CASEplorations June Challenge:

AAA Cards: Game #66 - Watercolours

Muse Challenge #170

CAS on Sunday Challenge #85 - Butterflies

Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge: June - Lets get Inky
I used several colors of watercolor brush pens.

CAS Mix Up June Challenge:
I used stamping, die cuts, heat embossing and watercolor.

HLS June Anything Goes with Dies

Virginia's View Challenge #22

Love,
Nandini

Shaker Card...

Hi! Some cards come together so easily that they almost seem to make themselves! This card is one of them.

The starting point was the left over scrap of paper from my layered embossed panel using the Floral Fantasy set by Mudra Stamps. You can check the original card here. The panel turned out so beautiful that I couldn't bear to throw it away. And then I had the idea of turning it into a shaker card!

I stamped the sentiment from the Hip Hip set by Kaisercraft with Versamark on a brown card base and heat embossed with some Seafoam EP by Ranger. Then I added a mix of sequins from my stash and adhered the shaker panel on top. Here is a close up of the shaker:

Entering this card in the following challenges:

CASEplorations June Challenge:

CAS on Sunday Challenge #84 - Sparkle


Addicted to CAS Challenge #89 - Petals

CAS-ual Fridays CFC149 - Florals:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Summer Garden

Love,
Nandini

Background Techniques...

Hi! This was my final post as DT for the Create Something Catchy blog. I never got around to posting it. The challenge was to create our own backgrounds.

I made two cards demonstrating two different techniques.

I love the white on white look. I die cut several pieces of white cardstock with the Spellbinder Medallion 4 and then arranged them on a card base cut from the same white cardstock. Once I had glued the die cuts, the card front looked deeply embossed. The sentiment is my own design which I got my local stationery guy to make up into a stamp. I heat embossed it in gold EP on a scrap of red paper. I also used the gold EP on a couple of white half pearls and adhered them to the sentiment strip to look like studs.

For the second card, I went back to my trusty acrylic paints.

I first took a piece of handmade paper and smooshed it with different shades of pink, orange and yellow. Once it was fairly dry, I used white acrylic paint and different sponge daubers to make circles. 

I trimmed it to size, rounded the corners and mounted on a bright pink handmade paper card base. The sentiment is die cut from gold foil board and mounted over a piece of vellum. Some gold sequins in different sizes finished this card.

I hope you liked these two different techniques for creating your own backgrounds.

Love,
Nandini

Multi-step Stamping...

Hi! I am here today with a set of cards that I made sometime ago. I wanted to try multi-step stamping and also my new Memento dew drop ink pads.

I ended up making five cards with the same layout but different color combinations. The stamp set is Painted Flowers by Altenew and the sentiment is from the A Tree for All Seasons set by Winnie & Walter. I also used my Stampaholic for all the stamping, which went very fast and effortless thanks to this wonderful tool! The sequins are from my stash. Here are the individual cards with the combination of inks I used.

Memento inks Angel Pink, Lulu Lavender, Tuxedo Black and Artistry ink Dry Weed.

Memento inks Lulu Lavender, Rose Bud, Pear Tart and Tuxedo Black.

Memento inks Angel Pink, Lilac Posies, Pear Tart and Tuxedo Black.

This is my favorite combo. I used Memento inks Pear Tart, Bamboo Leaves, London Fog and Tuxedo Black.

After I had finished stamping, I realized I had stained this one with black. Luckily I could fix it with a few splatters of black acrylic paint. I used Artistry distress inks for stamping this card and they worked beautifully! The shades are Golden Turmeric, Cinnamon Tea, Dry Weed and Memento Tuxedo Black.

I hope you liked these cards as much as I did.

Love,
Nandini

Layered Embossing Resist...

Hi! I am back today with a card that I made keeping in mind a couple of challenges and also a new technique that I have been really keen on trying. It also gave me an opportunity to ink up one of my favorite stamp by Mudra Stamps, a new, Indian company. I love their quality and the designs are really, really gorgeous!

I started with a plain piece of white cardstock and stamped the bloom from the Floral Fantasy stamp set several times with Versamark ink. I used the layered embossing technique by Svitlana from the Altenew DT. You can check out her awesome video here. I used the Red Cosmos inks by Altenew. Here is a close up of the panel.

Rest of the card was super easy. I used the X stitch Rectangle die by Gina Marie Designs to cut my stamped panel. I used the Square Grid die by Simon Says Stamp to emboss the grey card base and mounted the stamped panel with some black fun foam. The sentiment is from a Studio G stamp set and heat embossed with Ranger's Silver EP.

Entering the card in the following challenges:

Color Throwdown #393
I was very inspired by this week's colors.

CAS Mix Up May Challenge
I used Stamping, Heat Embossing, Sponging, Die-cutting, Resist and Dry Embossing.

Stamplorations May CAS Challenge

Addicted To Stamps & More Challenge #194 - CAS

Stamplorations May Theme Challenge

Love,

Nandini