Rainbow Card Challenge - Magically Metallic...

Hi! We have a great new challenge is up at the Rainbow Card Challenge. Here is the inspiration pic.

This challenge is perfect with the festival season just starting. Unfortunately, my card making mojo seems to be taking a holiday! I actually discarded two cards before I started on these. 

One of my tricks for kickstarting design ideas is to go through my existing supplies. I decided to use the Wreath Turnabout stamp set by Concord & 9th and make some easel cards for Christmas. 

Opened...

I started with two square pieces of cardstock, one red and one ivory. I stamped each turn of the stamp with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Ranger's metallic embossing powders. The shades I used are Gold, Silver, and Copper. I also used Snowflake Tinsel for the red card and the Gold Tinsel for the ivory card.

Here is a look at the red card.

I die-cut the red panel with a circle die. I also cut the circles for the easel card out of ivory cardstock and assembled the card. The sentiment is from the Poinsettia stamp set by Mudra Craft Stamps. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed with Wow! Glitter Red embossing powder. After trimming it, I popped the sentiment panel up with some foam tape and attached it to the card front.

Here is the open card...

To finish the card, I added nested circles of red and ivory cardstock and a half pearl to prop the card up.

The ivory card was made the same way, with minor differences.

I used the Gold Tinsel instead of the Snowflake Tinsel embossing powder. I also matted the sentiment panel and used copper embossing powder for heat embossing.

Here is the open card.

I am very happy with the way these cards turned out. I hope you liked my cards as well and look forward to your creations in our gallery. Please do visit the  Rainbow Card Challenge for more inspiration and to link your cards to the gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenges.

Sisterhood of Crafters - Make It Clean & Simple:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes:

STAMPlorations November CAS Challenge:

STAMPlorations November Theme & Photo Prompt Challenge:

Love,
Nandini

Papercraft Challenge #23...

Hi! Welcome to the October challenge at the Papercraft Challenge blog. We have a new challenge on the first of every month. This month onwards we are also bringing some mid-month inspiration. Do visit the Papercraft Business site for some great tools that can help you take your papercraft business to the next level. Like the awesome Papercraft Business Planner that helps you keep track of your favorite challenges!

The theme for October is – Tag, You’re It!

I love making tags, they are just so cute! So I combined tiny tags with a card as my inspiration. I also decided to a short break from stamping and used loads of die-cutting.

• Take a bunch of paper scraps and die-cut two tags from each color. I used blues and greens as I wanted to make a masculine card. I used an old Sizzix tag die set to cut my tags.
• Die-cut the letters ‘h’, ‘b’, ‘u’ and ‘2’ with the alphabet dies. I used Quinn’s alpha and number dies by Lawn Fawn.
• Layer the tags and add a dot of glue at the top of the tag.

Here is one of the tags.

• Cut small rectangles and adhere the tags to them with glue.
• Cut a mat out of white cardstock and ink it lightly with blue.
• Stamp the sentiment at the bottom. I used the Sentiments of Hello stamp set by Poppy Stamps.
• Mount the inked panel on foam tape and adhere it to the card base. Also add the small rectangles popped up on foam tape.

Here is another look at the card.

I hope my card inspires you to create something beautiful. Do remember to check out the Papercraft Challenge blog for inspiration from the rest of the design team. There are lots of cute creations that you will love! 

The winning prize: Magnolia - Romance Tag Doohickey

You can get more information about Papercraft Challenge Planner here. It is an invaluable tool for all crafters who love taking part in challenges. The Papercraft Business site also has tools that can help you take your papercraft business to the next level. 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love,

Nandini

Happy Little Stampers October Challenge...

Hi! The October challenge at the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies is now on. You can create anything, as long as you use dies.

I often give card sets as gifts. This set was meant for my brother and I deliberately kept the colours gender neutral. The sentiment is also such that they can be used for many occasions. Here is the card set. 

The die I used is the Scalloped Border die by Lil’ Inker. I cut out a bunch of scraps of coloured cardstock and assembled them to create an ombre look. Here is a closer look at the panel.

The sentiment is from the Fresh Freesia stamp set by Altenew. 

Here are the individual cards. 

Blue

Green

Red

Purple

Orange

I created a simple box using the same cardstock as the card bases and put the cards in with matching envelopes.

Hope you find my card inspiring and pull out your dies to play. You can check out the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge blog for more inspiration and also link your creations. Looking forward to seeing your cards in our gallery.

Entering this card in the following challenge:

CAS On Friday #165 - Make It Masculine:

Love,
Nandini

More Partial Die-Cutting...

Hi. I am back with another card using the partial die-cutting technique. This time around I used a word die to create a floating die-cut panel on the card. The original post and video are again by Jennifer Mcguire and you can check it out here.

I started with a panel of watercolour paper that I cut to fit the front of my A2 sized card. I used the watercolour paper by Little Birdie. I love this paper as it is a bright white and very thick and sturdy. The die is Simply Hello by Altenew. I placed the die on the white panel and die-cut it such that the top and bottom were still attached. I used my craft knife to carefully trimmed away the rest of the paper.

I took a grey card base and stamped the flower sprigs from the Beautiful Day stamp set with grey ink to add some texture to the background. I also die cut the Simply Hello die several times out of black cardstock and layered them together. The white panel was popped up with foam tape. I added the layered die-cuts under the 'hello' word, slightly offset to create a shadow and give stability to the word.

Here is a closer look at the panel.

The bloom is from The Japanese Mum stamp set by Altenew. This is my first stamp set from the build a flower series and I absolutely love it! I stamped and heat embossed the outline with silver embossing powder and coloured it with Camlin Artist Watercolors.  I stamped the leaves and berries from The Beautiful Day And Peony Bouquet stamp sets in grey and yellow and die-cut them with the coordinating dies. I splattered some diluted yellow ink on the white panel and then arranged tye die-cuts over it. Here is a closer look.

Here is another look at the completed card.

I am very happy with the way this card turned out.

Entering this card in the following challenges:

HLS October Watercolour Challenge:

Just Add Ink #477:

Love,
Nandini

Bold card with Partial Die Cutting...

Hi! Today's card uses a technique that I have wanted to try for a long time. The original post and video are by Jennifer Mcguire and you can find them here.

I had tried this once before, with disastrous results. This time around, though my first try ended in the bin, I persisted and managed to master it. Here is the card I created.

I started with a piece of black cardstock and the Gorgeous Gardenia die by Memory Box. After running the paper through the Big-Shot with the die, I carefully trimmed away the excess. One thing that really helped me was scoring a fold at the line where the die-cutting ended. Here is a closer look at the die-cutting.

I die-cut more pieces out of black cardstock and stacked them to make the partially die-cut flowers more stable. For the background, I took some watercolour paper and Camlin Artist Watercolours. I recently bought this set and I really love the gorgeous, bright colours. I wet the paper and then applied yellow and crimson colours with a large flat brush to get an ombre look. I also added some splatters of gold paint. After drying I adhered the watercoloured paper to a card base. 

The sentiment is from the Birthday Greetings stamp set by Altenew. I stamped and heat embossed with Ranger's Gold Tinsel embossing powder. I added some foam tape to pop up the sentiment strip. Here is another look at the card.

I am entering this card in the following challenges.

Memory Box STAMPtember 2019 Exclusive Collaboration:

Just Us Girls Challenge #505:

Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Challenge:

Love,
Nandini

Artsy Card with Pinkfresh Studios...

Hi! I am here today with a card which is a bit different from my usual style.  I made this card for the STAMPtember celebration, where Simon Says Stamp is releasing a new collaborative set with different companies every day. One of the brands is Pinkfresh Studios. I am a big fan of Pinkfresh Studio products. I love their designs, especially the dies. The delicate Floral Squares die set is really beautiful, with six different designs. I used three of the squares to create my card.

I started with a piece of white watercolour paper by Itsy Bitsy and smooshed distress inks in red, yellow and green with pieces of acetate on it. The secret to getting a good look with smooshing is to dry the colour between layers. Otherwise, the colours mix and become muddy. Once I was happy with the colours, I splattered some water droplets for a distressed look. After drying the panel, I splattered black ink with a brush. Here is a closer look at the panel.

The squares were die-cut out of black paper and adhered to the panel with liquid glue. I glued the panel to a black card base directly, tilting it a bit for a more artsy look. The sentiment is from the Fresh Freesia stamp set by Altenew. I stamped it on a scrap of black paper and heat embossed it with Wow! Rich Gold embossing powder. Here is a closer look.

Here is another look at the completed card.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Pinkfresh Studio STAMPtember 2019 Collaboration:

Color Throwdown #560:

HLS September Watercolor Challenge:

The Flower Challenge #36 - Anything Goes:

Love,
Nandini

Happy Little Stampers September Challenge...

Hi! I am here with my inspiration for the September challenge at the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge. If you love playing with your dies, this is the challenge for you. 

I created an easel card as inspiration. I also plan on using this card as a sample for a demo on die-cutting that I am doing at a local craft store.

I started with some black cardstock that I cut with the Labels and Frames Stitched die by Sizzix. You need three identical pieces for an easel card - one top piece and two pieces cut on a fold. To assemble the card, fold one of the pieces in half and adhere the top piece over it. Here is the opened card.

I also cut out a bunch of wreaths from red, orange, dark orange, yellow and pink colored papers. I layered the wreath die cuts and adhered them with glue. The sentiment is from the Say It With Florals set by Pinkfresh Studio. I stamped and heat embossed it with the Gold Tinsel embossing powder by Ranger. Here is a closer look at the card.

To finish, I cut a smaller piece out of the orange card and adhered it to the base. I also added two half pearls to keep the easel propped up when open. Since I didn't have them in gold, I simply used my gold Sharpie marker to colour them.

Here is another look at the completed card.

Hope you find my card inspiring and pull out your dies to play. You can check out the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge blog for more inspiration and also link your creations. Looking forward to seeing your cards in our gallery.

Love,
Nandini