All About Layering 3 - Project #1...

Hi! Altenew Academy's All About Layering 3 class taught by the Lydia Evans is a must-do if you like layering stamps and want to get the most out of them. The All About Layering series is amazing, with lots of tips for lining up the layers correctly to different techniques you can do with these type of stamps! And the best part - it is completely free at the Altenew Academy!

My card today is based on Day 5 where Lydia Evans shows how to add lots of texture to your card with a die-cut background and groups of smaller, die-cut flowers.

I started with the beautiful Flower Background die by Gina Marie designs. I die cut two pieces of white cardstock and glued them together to make it more sturdy. I adhered this to a top folding, white card base. After that, I stamped a bunch of images from the Altenew Mini Blossoms set and die-cut them with the coordinating dies. I used Altenew inks for the stamping I also stamped the sentiment from the Birthday Greetings set by Altenew with Mudra Jet Black ink. I am in love with this ink. It is very crisp and dark and dries quickly. My favourite black ink previously was Versafine Onyx Black. But since it is a pigment ink, the drying time is more and chances of smudging are high. And, of course, Mudra Jet Black ink is a made in India product!

I popped up the sentiment trip on some foam tape and then arranged the flowers and leaves around it, some with glue and others with foam tape. To finish, I added some tiny half pearls from my stash. Here is a close up of the die-cuts.

Really love the texture that the background has and the dainty blooms cascading down. Here is another look at the card.

I hope you like my card. I look forward to hearing from you.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Colour Throwdown #527:

ModSquad Challenge - Use Multiple Images:

CAS On Sunday Challenge #150 - Birthday:

STAMPlorations January CAS Challenge:

HLS January Anything Goes With Dies Challenge:

Yes, Virginia... Show and Share:

Color My Heart Color Dare #327:
I used diagonal colours - Green, White & Grey. I also added the colour Blue. 

Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More #281...

Hi! The easiest challenge is on this week at the Addicted To Stamps And More Challenge blog.

You can make absolutely anything creative for this challenge. I made a very quick card as inspiration.

This card came together in just minutes! It started with discovering the Heart of Roses diecut painted with strips of photo ink by Simon Says Stamp in my stash. I also found a green card base that matched the diecut. I used the Upcycled Woodgrain background stamp by Justrite Papercrafts to add some darker texture to the base. The white panel was cut using the Xcut rectangle die by Gina Marie Designs. The sentiment is from the Wonderful Words stamp set by CAS-ual Fridays. I stamped it with memento ink.

Here is a close up.

I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful and link it to our challenge here. Please also visit the Addicted To Stamps And More challenge blog for more inspiration by my very talented DT friends.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers February CAS Challenge:

Happy Little Stampers February Watercolor Challenge:

Happy Little Stampers February Anything Goes With Dies Challenge:

Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More Challenge #277...

Hi! The new challenge is up at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog. This week the theme is 

My inspiration today is a set of cards that I made for a friend recently.

I started with a piece of plain white card stock that I die cut with the X stitch Rectangle die set by Gina Marie Designs. The stamps are from the Sweet Cakes set by Simon Says Stamp. I used a bunch of Memento dew drops ink pads for stamping.

Here is a look at the entire set.

To finish I popped up the stamped panel on some foam tape. The teeny tiny flowers were die cut with the Floral Wreath die set by Sizzix from scraps of colored paper. I added a drop of white 3D to each flower as the final touch.

I hope you are inspired by my cards to create something beautiful. Please check out the Addicted To Stamps And More blog for more inspiration and to link your creations. Looking forward to seeing your entries in our gallery.

Love,
Nandini 

Make My Monday Challenge #48...

Hi! I am back with a fresh new challenge at the Make My Monday blog. This time the theme is 'At The Beach'. Whenever I visit a beach I am always fascinated by the cute little crabs that run around in the sand. So I decided to make a card using a crab image.

I used an old Itsy Bitsy stamp set that has several cute sea creatures and stamped on a watercolor paper with Versamark. I heat embossed using black EP by Wow!. Originally I planned to use my watercolors to do the coloring. But then I came across this great tutorial by Julia Altermann of Just One More Card where she demonstrated a technique of using regular sketch pens to do the coloring of images. I decided to use my Camlin Brush Pens. And I loved the results! Here is a close-up of the panel.

I kept rest of the card super simple. I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch. The sentiment is from the Woodland Creatures stamp set by Hero Arts. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP by Wow!.

I hope you are inspired to create something beautiful by my card. You can link up your creations to our gallery here. And don't forget to visit the Make My Monday blog for some amazing inspiration by my fellow DT.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

CAS(E) This Sketch #225:

STAMPlorations June CAS Card Challenge:

Cardz 4 Guys Challenge #171 - Something Blue:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Make It Masculine:

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #92 - Four or More Legs:

Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps And More #243...

Hi! It is that time of the week again when we unveil a new challenge at the Addicted To Stamps And More blog. This week the theme is 

I decided to try out a few designs for my Diwali cards. I have been sending them for the last two years and it is always a rush to complete them. Here are two versions of the same design that I made.

I tried a galaxy background with the kraft card and a simple ombre ink blending with the white one. Here is a closer look at the first.

To create the background I blended several distress inks on a panel. I used an old Diwali themed stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps to stamp with foiling glue and applied gold foil. These foiling products were recently introduced by Craftyscrappers and I am completely addicted to them!

Here is the second card

I used four shades of blue distress inks to get an ombre effect. I used the Starry Borders stamp set by Craftyscrappers to stamp with foiling glue and applied the silver foil. I love the beautiful, shiny background this created. I decided to make this into a shaker card. 

The sentiment is from an older Mudra Craft Stamps set that I love. I stamped and heat embossed both on strips of black paper. I used the Gina Marie X stitch circle dies for die cutting.

I hope you like my cards and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please do visit the Addicted To Stamps And More blog for some great inspiration by my team mates and also to link your creations. Looking forward to seeing you in our gallery.

Love,
Nandini

Craftyscrappers Challenges...

Hi! We are back with our challenges on Craftyscrappers after a break. Our first challenge is an easy one - Anything Goes.

I used the stencils that came with my DT pack to create two cards. Stencils are part of the new release and let me tell you they are fabulous! They are sturdy and flexible which makes them very easy to use. Also they have a large hole at the top. So storage is very easy. And the designs are fabulous. So is the size at 6.5" x 6.5". I have always loved stencils, from my college days when we used to hand cut them out of plastic sheets. Here are my cards.

I started with two pieces of colored cardstock, one green and one blue. I used a beautiful ink layering  technique by Jennifer McGuire to create my panels. You can find the video tutorial here. I used the white pigment ink from the Colorbox Paintbox pigment ink pad set first and then used the Artistry distress inks Amazon Trails and Ocean Reef. Here is a closer look at the cards.

The cardstock was pale blue. I sponged the white ink first and then moved the stencil up slightly. Then sponged the blue ink. Here is a close up of the panel.

I used the Arrow stencil (CS-STNL-06) and the sentiment from the Lotus stamp set (ST-FLW-09) designed by me.

Here is the second card

I used a light green cardstock for this card. Here is a closer look at the panel.

I used the Victorian stencil (CS-STNL-07) and the sentiment from the Lotus stamp set (ST-FLW-09) again.

The sentiment panels were cut using the Gina Marie X stitched circle dies. I used Memento dewdrop inks to stamp the sentiments using my trusty Stampaholic.

Hope you like my cards. Please do check out the Craftyscrappers blog for more amazing inspiration.

Love,
Nandini

Addicted to Stamps and More #229...

Hi! The new challenge is up at the Addicted to Stamps & More challenges this week and the theme is 

So we want to see all your creations that use clean and crisp lines, minimal or no embellishments and lots of 'white' space. 

This is also my favorite theme since I am very much a CAS girl.

I created a rather masculine card this time.

I started with a panel of white card stock that I cut with my DCAM Double Stitched Rectangle dies. I did some ink blending at the center of the panel with distress inks. Then I used my Gina Marie Stitched Star die to cut out a star. I wanted to 'dress up' my star a bit. So I stamped Script stamp by Kaisercraft with the Bronze metallic ink by Encore. I love this ink since it is very rich and has a beautiful shimmer. I distressed the edges a bit for more definition. Here is a closer look at my star.

I stamped the sentiment from the Let's Party stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I used the Stampaholic to get the perfect placement of my sentiment. I finished the card by adhering the star directly to the kraft card base and mounting the panel on some foam tape to pop it up.

Hope you like my clean and simple card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please do visit the ATSM blog for some amazing inspiration by my team mates. Looking forward to seeing your creations in our challenge gallery.

I am entering this card in the current HLS Anything Goes with Dies Challenge.

Also entering it in the Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #157 - No Pattern Paper. Thanks Julie for the suggestion.
Love,
Nandini

Addicted To Stamps & More #223...

Hi! This week the challenge #223 at the Addicted To Stamps & More is 

The challenge is sponsored by

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://qkrstampede.blogspot.ca

Prize: 3 digital images 

I decided to make a card that could be easily mass produced and yet look beautiful and festive. Here is my take

I started with a piece of white card stock. I used the Dazzlers stamp set by Penny Black and stamped the various medallions with different colors of the Memento dew drops ink pads. I used my Stampaholic for stamping. The sentiment is from the A Tree For All Seasons set by Winnie & Walter. 

I trimmed the stamped panel with the Gina Marie Xcut rectangle dies and mounted it on an orange handmade paper card base with double sided tape. The final touch was a scattering of sequins from my stash.

Hope my card inspires you to create something beautiful. You can link up your creations here. For more inspiration, check out the ATSM Challenge blog here.

Looking forward to seeing you in our gallery.

Entering my card in the following challenge:

Twelve Days of Christmas Cards Challenge:

Love,

Nandini

Addicted To Stamps & More #221...

Hi! The latest challenge at Addicted to Stamps & More is live and the theme this week is 

Our lovely sponsor this week is

DRS Designs - a family owned company since 1950 - boasts hundreds of original rubber stamp designs. All images are available fully mounted, completely unmounted or mounted on cling cushion and are proudly hand crafted in the USA.

Our rubber stamp collection includes a wide assortment of images including sentiments for all occasions, easy background designs and fun technique stamps such as our stained glass and plaid designs.

The DRS Designs website features a huge card sample gallery, online demos and tips, a secure shopping area and more. Be sure to visit our daily blog with posts from our fantastic design team for inspiration and ideas.

Website: http://www.drsdesigns.com

Prize: $10.00 gift certificate

I made two very simple cards as inspiration since I wanted to try out the stamps and some inks. Here are my cards

I started with plain white card stock and stamped all the layers of the large bloom from Altenew's Peony Bouquet stamp set using the Stampaholic. I used Memento dew drops and Altenew Red Cosmos inks. After my stamping was done I die cut a panel with the Gina Marie X-cut dies. I stamped the sentiments from Altenew's Painted Greetings stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I just popped the die cut panel with some fun foam to finish the card.

I hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please do check out the inspiration by rest of my talented teamies at the ATSM blog. And don't forget to link your creations here.

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

Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge #217...

Hi! The latest challenge at Addicted To Stamps and More is

Our wonderful sponsors are 

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 

Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More is proud to sponsor of Addicted to Stamps and More. 

Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More, a division of I Did It Creations, was created and is owned by Robyn Weinrib. 

Robyn offers a wonderful variety of digital stamps and digital papers, designed to meet the needs of all digital paper crafting addicts for every occasion. 

Website: http://robynsfetish.com

Prize: 3 digital images (does not include designer papers)

I created two masculine cards for this challenge.

I started with a piece of white card stock on which I stamped a plaid pattern using Hero Arts and Memento inks and the Plaid Background Builder set by My Favorite things. Once my plaid panel was ready, I die cut it using the X cut stitched rectangle dies along with some red and black handmade papers. I used the Hip Hip stamp set by Kaisercraft to stamp two sentiment blocks with Versamark and heat embossed it with black & silver EPs. I simply layered the die cut panels and my cards were ready. I added some tiny black die cuts as embellishments as the final touch.

Here is the close up of the first card:

I used the tiny stars cut with the Confetti die by Mama Elephant to accent the card. The plaid panel is popped up with foam tape.

I used the hearts cut with the Confetti die by Mama Elephant. I popped up the sentiment panel and the plaid frame with foam tape this time.

I hope you like these simple cards. Please do visit the ATSM blog for more fabulous inspiration and don't forget to link up your creations to our gallery.

Love,
Nandini