Saturday, October 27, 2018

Tic-tac-toe Blog Hop Challenge


Hello and welcome to our newly re-vamped monthly blog hop! This month we at Ink.Stamp.Share are participating in a Tic Tac Toe challenge. Now this is my first time doing this challenge, but the rules are simple. We are given a 'board' and we just choose a line and utilize all three items in that line on your card. Got it? Let's play!

Here's our Tic Tac Toe board:

For my card, I decided to do the top horizontal line which consists of Christmas, Embossing and Circle. And here's what I came up with...
Fun, huh?! The moment I saw the candy cane I immediately saw a sled. And who better to ride a Christmas sled than a Christmas Bella?! I thought she looked cute! 

For instructions on how I created my card, I made a video tutorial down below. Full disclosure, I did the video in a rush and made a few mistakes in the process so I apologize for that! If you have any questions, just lemme know. 


Thank you for joining me today and please continue to hop along with our creative team and see what lovely projects they have created for this challenge! Hope to see you next time. Happy crafting!

MATERIALS USED:
Bella & Friends stamp set                                          Balmy Blue cardstock
Candy Cane Season stamp set                                 Whisper White cardstock
Winter Woods stamp set                                            Silver Foil Sheet
Peaceful Noel stamp set                                            Cherry Cobbler cardstock                  
In the Woods Framelits                                              Night of Navy ink pad
Candy Cane Punch                                                    Balmy Blue ink pad
2" Circle Punch                                                          Berry Burst ink pad
Softly Falling Embossing Folder                                Versamark
White embossing powder                                          Vellum
Wink of Stella                                                             Santa's Workshop Memories & More
Frost White Shimmer Paint                                        Big Shot
Roll Call List






Monday, October 22, 2018

Thinlits to Stamps

Have you ever looked at one of your thinlits or dies and wished that you could stamp with that image? Well I have, and so I've played around with my thinlits and created my own stamps with them. All you need is craft foam...super easy!

Today I played with my Detailed Poinsettia Thinlits. I wanted a big poinsettia with leaves, but unfortunately the coordinating stamp set did not have this image. So I went on to make my own. I just die cut my images on a piece of craft foam and mounted these pieces onto my acrylic blocks and voila! Instant stamps...how easy was that?!
For my card I decided to gold heat emboss my images on a piece of Mossy Meadow cardstock (4 1/4" x 5 1/4"). I made two of these since I was making a total of four cards. Then I just cut my embossed piece in half and layered it on top of a gold foil sheet.
Next I used my Buffalo Check background stamp and stamped on two pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") using my Mossy Meadow ink pad, and then cut these in half as well. 
I used my 2" circle punch to cut out my Mossy Meadow circle pieces, as well as my Starburst punch for my Very Vanilla layering piece. My sentiment comes from the set Snowflake Sentiments, which I gold heat embossed.
Lastly for embellishment I just die cut the same leaf image from the Detailed Poinsettia Thinlits on a piece of gold foil sheet with the multipurpose adhesive sheet stuck at the back. Then it was just assembling everything on top of an A2 sized Very Vanilla card base.
And these are my simple cards for today. With all of our beautiful thinlits, the possibilities are just endless! I hope you liked today's cards and my quick tip as well. Happy crafting and see you next time!

Friday, October 19, 2018

Snowflakes Galore

I just recently finished a big order of handmade cards, and because of this, I realized how much I appreciate making cards that are super easy and quick to make but with pizzazz and appeal. So for today's project I decided to make simple cards featuring the beautiful snowflakes in the Blizzard Thinlits and Snowfall Thinlits (Part of the Snowflake Showcase which will be available all of November. Contact me for ordering details!) Here's what I came up with...
I started with two pieces of Whisper White cardstock that is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I wanted to emboss these with my Blizzard thinlit die, so I used my silicone mat for this (I do not currently own the Embossing mat) and ran it through my Big Shot. My layers were as follows: Base plate, silicone mat (or Embossing mat if you have it), cardstock, thinlit, and finally the top plate. I added some paper shims to make it snugger (as needed).

Next I sponged my embossed pieces using Calypso Coral, Merry Merlot, and Crushed Curry ink pads. Finally to make my colors blend better I sprayed it with my shimmer spray (Frost White Shimmer Paint + water). I then just cut up these pieces in half for my four cards.
Moving on to my die-cut snowflakes, I used the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet and adhered it to the back of a piece of Gold Foil Sheet to make it easier for me to assemble my card later on. I then die cut multiple snowflakes in different sizes using the gorgeous Snowfall Thinlits.

To assemble my card, I layered my sponged piece on top of a Merry Merlot piece of cardstock 2 3/8" x 5 1/2". This whole piece was then adhered to my A2 sized Very Vanilla card base. I then stamped my sentiment in Tuxedo Black Memento ink pad which is from the Half Full stamp set, and finally just stuck my snowflake die-cuts randomly on the card. 

Now how simple was that?! I enjoyed making these cards and exploring more non-traditional Christmas colors. Thank you for stopping by today and I hope to see you next time. Happy crafting!



Saturday, October 13, 2018

Purple Blizzard

It is currently snowing outside...how sad is that?! It is mid-October, supposedly Fall, but apparently that season doesn't exist anymore. We jumped from a smokey summer, straight into winter it seems. Owell, more time for me to play in my craft room I guess! 

So to match the weather outside, I decided to play with my Blizzard thinlits die. I love pretty snowflakes, and this big die is jam-packed with 'em! Here's what I came up with...
I started with my background using my F block, Berry Burst and Pacific Point inks, and my spray bottle. I just dabbed bits of my ink on my big block, sprayed it generously with water, and then applied my piece of Whisper White cardstock right on top of it. This makes for a super quick and easy background piece. I then used my heat gun to dry off my piece.
Next I die cut this piece using my Blizzard die, and saved all the cut up snowflakes for another card. I sprayed it with my shimmer spray which consists of a few drops of Frost White shimmer paint and water in a spray bottle. Then I trimmed my blizzard piece to        3 7/8" x 5 1/8" and layered it on a piece of Basic Gray cardstock that is 4" x 5 1/4". This whole piece was then layered again on a 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" piece of Gorgeous Grape cardstock before adhering it on an A2 size Whisper White card base.

My sentiment is from the gorgeous Snow is Glistening stamp set which I heat embossed in white and silver (I couldn't decide which one was better) on a strip of Gorgeous Grape. For embellishment I die-cut a snowflake using the Snowfall Thinlits die on a silver glimmer paper. Finally I added rhinestone basic jewels in the center of my snowflakes for a little accent. 
Now I couldn't very well waste my beautiful cut-up snowflakes so I decided to use them up in another card. I adhered the snowflakes on a Basic Gray cardstock that is 4 1/8" x 5 3/8". Then I sprayed it with my shimmer spray before adhering it to my Whisper White card base. I used the same sentiment and again added rhinestones to the centers of the snowflakes.
And those are my cards for today! Hopefully this gave you a bit of inspiration in using those beautiful dies. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you next time! Happy crafting!

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Snow Is Glistening

My pre-order just arrived and I just HAD to play! I didn't have much time to play lately as I was finishing up an order of 60 different cards for all occasions, and boy was that ever a big task. But I am finally done, and now it's time to play! 

I pre-ordered the beautiful stamp sets and thinlits from the Snowflake Showcase, and wow, they are all absolutely amazing! 
So right away I dove into my new sets and played with the Snow is Glistening stamp set...just gorgeous! I made this card using just this one stamp set...don't you just love those all-around sets?! I sure do!
I started by stamping my snowflake border stamp all around my piece of Night of Navy cardstock (5 1/4" x 4") in Versamark ink. This was then covered in gold embossing powder and heat-set. 
Then I cut my gold foil sheet to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" and trimmed the inside to use as my mat for the tree (3" x 4 1/4"). My Whisper White piece is 2 3/4" x 4", with the tree stamped onto it using Night of Navy ink pad. And my sentiment was gold heat-embossed onto a double piece of vellum to make it stand out more against the tree. 
Finally the star on top of the tree was from a retired metallic sequin assortment. And that is my simple card for today. I think this will be a fantastic project for a make and take...simple, easy, using minimal supplies but producing maximum impact!

Thank you for stopping by today and hopefully now that I have finished the big order, I can have more time to play and do more blog posts. See ya next time!