Guest Designing for Words 2 Craft By...

Hi! I am very excited today. I am a Guest Designer at the Words 2 Craft By challenge blog!

The words for the October/November challenge are 

Happiness is a warm puppy. By Charles Shulz

I love dogs and totally agree with this sentiment. So this was so much fun! Here is the card I created.

I started with a piece of handmade paper. I used the Dogs stamp set by Inkadinkadoo that I had bought a long time ago on a whim because the dog images are so cute. I used Versamark ink to stamp different images and heat embossed with metallic embossing powders. I used masking to create a small grouping and cut it with the X stutch Rectangle dies. Here is a closer look.

I used the Upcycled Woodgrain background stamp by Justrite to add some texture to the plain brown card base. The sentiment was created using the Simply Alphas set by Mudra Craft Stamps. I heat embossed it with Opaque Vanilla White EP by WOW!. 

I also decided to continue the theme inside the card.

I added a cream panel cut with the same X stitch Rectangle dies, stamped the sentiment and randomly stamped some paw prints with the Memento Peanut Brittle ink.

I hope you liked my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Make sure you visit the Words 2 Craft By blog for some amazing inspiration by the super talented DT.

Love,
Nandini

Make My Monday Challenge #32...

Hi! The latest Make My Monday challenge is up and the theme is this beautiful photo.

The thing that really caught my eye was the beautiful background. I decided to use one of my favorite techniques - Joseph's Coat. Here is my card.

I started with two pieces of watercolor paper on which I smooshed various inks in yellow, pink, green and orange and let them air dry, On one I randomly stamped the leaf image from the Leafy mini stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps with Versamark and heat embossed with Ranger's Clear embossing powder. Then I covered the whole thing with Dark Garnet Artistry ink. I trimmed this piece to size and mounted it on a black card base. 

I used the Text Block Birthday die by Papertrey Ink to cut a piece of dark brown card stock which I mounted on the other piece of watercolor paper. I also covered the whole piece with Versamark ink and Ranger's Holographic embossing powder for some added pop.

Hope you liked my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Please do visit the Make My Monday Challenge blog to link your entries and also some really fabulous inspiration by my talented team mates.

Freshly Made Sketches #257:

CAS on Sunday Challenge #93 - Heat Embossing:

STAMPlorations October CAS Card Challenge:

HLS October Anything Goes with Dies

Uniko Challenge #36

Love,

Nandini

Craftyscrappers Challenge #10...

Hi! The new Craftyscrappers challenge is on and theme is Women Power. Today is the first day of Navratri, a festival celebrating the goddess Durga and her victory over evil. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, we want you to make feminine cards for the women in your life.

Our sponsor for this challenge is 

Craftyscrappers is a great e-shop selling high quality die cuts, stamps and embellishments at very pocket friendly rates.

You could be the lucky winner to win amazing prizes from our CRAFTYSCRAPPERS SHOP

FIRST WINNER: a clear stamp set along with craft goodies.

SECOND WINNER: assorted die cuts.

THIRD WINNER: assorted embossed cards pack.

I made a card for a dear friend whose birthday falls in October. Since she loves bright colors, I chose a vivid card base combined with pretty flowers.

I started with a pre-stamped die cut from Craftyscrappers. It is very handy to have these on hand, especially if you are not a confident stamper or don't have a lot of stamps. Since the image is precut there is no bother of fussy cutting. I used distress inks to color the image.

I chose a bright blue card base and embossed it with the WRMK Next Level embossing folder. I cut a frame out of the same paper with DCAM's Double Stitched Rectangles dies. These dies are great since they have stitching on both sides of the cutting line. And the quality is amazing. Here is a close up.

The sentiment is from the Lotus Delight stamp set by Peek-a-boo Designs. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed with WOW! white EP. To assemble, I popped up the frame and the image with some double sided tape. 

I hope you like my card. Please be sure stop by the Craftyscrappers blog and check out the amazing inspiration by my super talented teamies.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches #256

Color Throwdown #412

Love,

Nandini

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #213...

Hi! There is a new challenge up at Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge blog and this week it is

You can make your creations celebrating any holiday like Diwali, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Something that celebrates may be a special vacation can also be entered.

Our wonderful sponsor this week is

SLSlines is the work of Sal Scheibe, a freelance illustrator and graphic designer who loves to draw and create fun illustrations. Sal works as the Art Director of ArtTrader Magazine. Prior to freelance illustrating, she worked as a Creative Designer for a music firm working with TV and advertising clients. 

Sal spends her nights drawing geeky things like RPG characters, zombies, fairies, awkward people, pretty girls and odd animals. She offers a broad range of fun digital stamps in many themes from geeky to cute and whimsical to realistic. Her digital stamps start life as sketchy little doodles which are then cleaned up digitally in Photoshop and made presentable and perfect for you.

Sal's favorite tools are Wacom pen and tablet as well as Copic markers, lots of fineliners and many types of erasers (which are used often). Her favorite artists include John Singer Sargent, Norman Rockwell, JC Leyendecker, Joe Sorren and Phil Hale. And Steve Epting too.

If you'd like a custom digital stamp made or have some suggestions, feel free to write to Sal with themes you'd like to see in the Etsy store.

Blog: http://slslinesdigitalstamps.blogspot.ca

Prize: 2 digital images

I made two cards as inspiration and they are very, very special to me since a bunch of them are going to the brave men in uniform who guard the borders of our country. I want to thank my dear friends Neha Gala and Tejal Mehta-Shah who have taken the initiative in putting this card drive together. You can find more details about Cards For A Cause - India here. Please try and join this drive and send at least a few cards for our brave soldiers who risk their life everyday for us. These men are stationed in one of the most inhospitable areas in the world, far away from their loved ones. We can surely send them a token of appreciation.

My cards are for Diwali, the festival of lights which will happen at the end of October.

I kept the design super simple. I find that is the best way when you are mass producing cards. I am planning to use the same template for all my Diwali cards. I will just change the colors. The pretty pattern paper is from a local shop. I stamped the beautiful sentiment from the Diwali Sentiment stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps in Versamark and heat embossed with Ranger's Gold EP.

I hope you like my cards and are inspired to create something beautiful. You can visit the Addicted to Stamp and More Challenge blog for more inspiration from my talented DT friends. Looking forward to seeing your beautiful creation in out ATSM gallery.

Entering these cards in the following challenge:

Mudra Craft Stamps Challenge #1

Love,
Nandini

Make My Monday Challenge #31...

Hi! There is a new challenge up on the Make My Monday Challenge blog and the theme is No Pattern Paper. This is a rather easy theme for me as I rarely use pattern paper in my cards. I do like to hoard it though!

I decided to make a baby card for a friend who has recently been blessed with twins, a boy and a girl. I wanted to stay away from the cutsie cards and include the colors blue and pink. This is what I came up with.

I started with two pieces of plain white card stock. I smooshed three shades of pink on one and three shades of blue on the other. I splattered some water and dabbed it away with a paper towel for more texture. I also added some splatters with diluted metallic silver acrylic paint. After drying the pieces, I used the Stitched Star dies by Gina Marie designs to die cut both pieces. I ended up with two stars. 

Here is a close up of the star.

I took the Texture Mesh stencil by Memory Box and placed it on top of a panel of white card stock. I applied Hickory Smoke distress ink to get some pattern in the background. I mounted the star on two more die cuts to get a little dimension and glued it to the stenciled panel. 

The sentiment was cut with the Scripty Congrats die by Lawn Fawn from some silver glitter paper. I again glued three die cuts for some dimension and then added it over the star. I trimmed my panel a bit and added a strip of the same glitter paper to the left of the card base.

At this point I felt that the card needed a little more. So I used the tiny stars from the Let's Part stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps. I stamped them with some silver pigment ink.

I finished the card by mounted the panel on the card base with double sided tape.

I hope you like my card and are inspired to create something beautiful. Be sure to visit the Make My Monday Challenge blog and check out the fabulous inspiration that my awesome teamies have created for you. Looking forward to seeing your creations in our challenge gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Mudra Craft Stamps Challenge #1 - Anything Goes

Memory Box Challenge #16 - Stencils

Lawnscapping Challenge #138: Geometric

CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #192

Love,
Nandini

Craftyscrappers Craft Challenge #9...

Hi! The Craftyscrappers Crafty Challenge #9 is back with a new challenge. This is a easy one - Anything Goes. So you can create anything you wish - only the sky and your creativity is the limit!

Our sponsor for this challenge is 

Craftyscrappers is a great e-shop selling high quality die cuts, stamps and embellishments at very pocket friendly rates.

You could be the lucky winner to win amazing prizes from our CRAFTYSCRAPPERS SHOP

FIRST WINNER: a clear stamp set along with craft goodies.

SECOND WINNER: assorted die cuts.

THIRD WINNER: assorted embossed cards pack.

I made a birthday card using loads of die cuts for this challenge.

My starting point was the beautiful die cut window frame that was a part of my DT kit. Here are the supplies that I started with. 

I used the Tulips die set by Impression Obsession to get a bunch of flowers out of white card stock and the Sizzix Floral Wreath set to get some foliage. I then colored them with sketch pens. I also traced the die cut window onto a kraft card stock and cut it out with a craft knife. The stamp set is also from Craftyscrappers. It has loads of beautiful sentiments perfect for every occasion.

I changed the color of the die cut by applying Versamark and then heat embossing it with Ranger's Sea Foam White EP. I applied several coats to get a sturdy die cut with a lovely texture. Here is the die cut after heat embossing.

After I had finished my flowers and the window, it was time to assemble my card.

I used some red tacky tape that Shalini Mittal of Crafters Corner was kind enough to send to adhere a piece of acetate to my aperture panel. This tape is super strong and perfect for this kind of work. I then adhered the die cut window to the front of the card. I added some dark brown paper behind the die cut on the card base and added the aperture panel mounted on foam tape. 

I added the flowers and foliage die cuts and finally added the window box which also doubles as the sentiment panel. Here is a close up.

For the window box I cut a scrap piece of kraft card stock and shaped it. I then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment. I also added some texture by simply laying down my Tim Holtz Wood Grain stencil and tracing through it with my embossing pen.

I hope you like my card and are inspired to create something lovely. Please link up your to our challenge and maybe you will be one of the lucky winners! Looking forward to seeing you in our gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

Penny Black and More September Challenge - Add a Sentiment

Mod Squad Challenge Blog - What's That You Say?

The Card Concept #57 - Rainbow Connection
I made a Clean and Layered card. The hanging baskets remind me of the multicolored tulips that I have used on the card.

Love,

Nandini

ATSM Challenge #211...

Hi! The theme for the Addicted To Stamps and More Challenge #211 is one of my favorites

You can create anything you wish for this challenge - sky and your creativity is the only limit! 

Our wonderful sponsor for this challenge is 

Sponsor

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.ca

Prize: 2 digital images

Since the challenge is anything goes, I decided to make a card that has been in my mind for some time.

I started with a piece to bright blue cardstock. I used the leaf dies from Folk Art Florals by Wplus9 and Seasonal Tree by Paper Smooches to die cut a border around the panel. Here is a closer look at the die cutting.

I stamped the sentiment from the Painted Greetings set by Altenew and heat embossed it with white EP. I added some paint splatters with white acrylic paint and then mounted the panel on foam tape on a white card base. The biggest challenge was popping up the tiny bits without the tape showing.

I hope you like my clean and simple card. Make sure you check out the awesome inspiration that my super talented teamies at ATSM have put together for you. And don't forget to enter your creations in the challenge. Looking forward to seeing you in our gallery.

Linking this card to the following challenges:

Virginia's View Challenge #23 - Spray, Mist, Splatter

Altenew's Ultimate Challenge Blog Hop

Love,

Nandini