SHC - One Background - Four Ways

... Hello again! I'm beginning to get back into card making - so many birthday cards needed this month. I'm here with my Seven Hills Craft blog post. I've used one background stamp - four different ways. Here's the first card:

Stamps: Altenew - Woven Stripes, Just a Number, Birthday Builder; Colorado Craft Company - Big & Bold Majestic Moth

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone, Keylime, Blue Raspberry, Sea Glass; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versafine - Onyx Black

Dies: C&9 - Confetti Card Die

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Pear Pizzazz; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush

I'm submitting this card to Seize the Birthday - STB#253 - I'm using the toppings option - 'winged things'.

I made an A2 note card using green card from my stash. I put the Woven Stripes stamp into my MISTI and masked off sections, I stamped the panel in four colours. I used a scallop edge die to cut out a piece of the panel and glued it to the note card. I stamped a simple birthday greeting in the bottom corner of the panel, along with a dragonfly above. I stamped the dragonfly again on white card, coloured it with Copic markers, restamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I then carefully cut out the dragonfly, edged it with a black marker and glued it to the note card. I finished the front by adding some shimmer to the dragonfly with a clear aquashimmer brush. I cut a piece of white card for the inside, I stamped a fun sentiment and another dragonfly.

Next is a card for Ben's grandmother:

Stamps: Altenew - Woven Stripes, Just a Number, Enchanting Beauty, Sentiment Strips 3

Inks: Gina K - Powder Blue; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versamark; Memento - Angel Pink

Dies: Altenew - Just a Number, Enchanting Beauty

Accessories: White & Black Card; Watercolour Card; Brusho - Cobalt Blue, Violet, Rose Red; Silver Mirri Card; Silver & White Embossing Powders; Vellum

I'm submitting this card to a new challenge - Birthstone Challenges - BSC#01 - January (Garnet) and February (Amethyst).

This time I stamped the Woven Stripes image in Versamark on watercolour card and heat embossed with white powder. I sprinkled Brusho crystals onto the panel, spritzed with water and allowed the colours to flow and blend. Once dry, I trimmed the panel and layered it onto a black mat layer. I glued the whole piece to the front of a note card measuring 6¼" x 4½". I stamped the leaf image in Versamark onto vellum and heat embossed with silver powder. I used the matching die to cut out the leaf and adhered it to the panel. I finished the front with a die cut birthday greeting. Inside the card, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel I stamped the leaf image in pink and added a birthday greeting.

Next up is a clean, simple card:

Stamps: Altenew - Woven Stripes, Just a Number, Sentiment Strips 3, Half-tone Stars;

Inks: Gina K - Wild Dandelion, Red Hot, Lucky Clover, Blue Raspberry, Medium Lilac; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Accessories: White & Black Card

I'm submitting this one to The Male Room - TMR#170 where the theme is 'galaxy and/or stars'. I've not played along with this challenge for a long while, so it's good to play along.

I stamped this background in several colours - using my MISTI and masking off areas. Once stamped, I cut the card in half along the long line of the biggest set of stripes. I turned one section and glued it to the bottom of an A2 white note card and trimmed off the excess. I then added a thin strip of black card above. I finished the front by stamping a simple birthday greeting and adding several stars stamped to match the colour of the stripes. For the inside, I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than the note card. I added two more portions of the Woven Stamp panel at the corners and edged them with a black marker. I finished by adding a fun sentiment and a few more stars.

For my last card, I simply stamped the Woven Stripes background directly on the card:

Stamps: Altenew - Woven Stripes, Just a Number, Sentiment Strips 3; C&9 - Triple-Step Hooray

Inks: Kaleidacolor - Blue Breeze; Gina K - Powder Blue, Ocean Mist, Blue Raspberry; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Accessories: White & Black Card

I'm submitting this card to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#72 where it's always 'anything goes'.

I used my Kaleidacolor ink pad to stamp this background - I love the ombre effect you get with these ink pads. I stamped the three-step word 'hooray' on white card - it's very easy to line up these stamps. I then cut out the word and layered it onto a black mat and adhered it to the front of the card. I finished the front by stamping one of the smaller sentiments from Triple-Step Hooray in bold black ink, trimmed it to size and used dimensional pads to adhere it to the card. On the white panel inside, I stamped a birthday greeting and some stars.

That's all my cards for today. I'm so pleased to be making cards again. I need to replenish my own card stash. See you soon. Take care.

SHC - Halloween Stars ....

.... Morning! It's the last week of October, and the last day of the month is my very favourite holiday of the year - Halloween. My card for this week's Seven Hills Craft blog post is a non-traditional Halloween card. My mojo has gone AWOL and I've been browsing the 'net' for ideas. My card has been inspired by one designed by Therese Calvird - I changed the layout from portrait to landscape, change the theme, the colours and my card is layered. Here's the card:

Stamps: Altenew - Halftone Stars; Lawn Fawn - Celebration Scripty Sentiments, Scripty Autumn Sentiments, Happy Add On: Family

Inks: Gina K - Sweet Mango, Tangerine Tango, Key Lime, Lucky Clover, Lovely Lavender, Wild Lilac; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: C&9 - All the Letters

Accessories: White & Black Card

I'm submitting this card to Inkspirational - INK#250 where they want to see cards for Boys or Men.

I stamped my own background using the halftone stars in Halloween colours of orange, green and purple. I stamped a piece of card bigger than I needed and once I'd selected the area I wanted, but the panel to size. I used dies to cut out the word 'Halloween', along with three more sets in black card. I layered black letters together and finished with the patterned letter on top. I stamped the word 'happy' in bold black ink above the die cut word, and adhered the panel to a black mat layer. I added the whole piece to the front of an A6 (US size - 6¼" x 4½"). I used the inlaid die technique to inlay the letters.

Inside the card, I cut a black mat layer and on the white panel I stamped three stars to match the front of the card. I created the sentiment by using stamps from three Lawn Fawn sentiment sets - I like mixing things up!!

I took a close-up photo of the inlaid letter dies - you can clearly see the depth given with the black layers.

This card is for our son - he like Halloween too, but he's not into cute at all. So I was very happy to come up with a non-traditional Halloween card for him. That's it from me today. Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon.

SHC - Gone But Not Forgotton ...

.... Morning! I'm here with my weekly Seven Hills Craft blog post. I suggest you grab a coffee (or tea) as this is a long post. In my stash I have stamps from several companies that have sadly closed their doors. However, this week, I'm using some of these stamps as Tara still has some stock of Lil' Inkers and Neat & Tangled on the website - all at bargain prices. Grab them while you can!! One of my favourite Lil' Inker stamp sets is Darling Diamonds - it's small, but so useful. I've made a few cards, and I'll start with a reasonably clean and simple birthday card:

Stamps: Lil' Inker - Darling Diamonds; Concord & 9th - Tiny Tagalongs; Altenew - Just a Number

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone, Powder Blue, Blue Denim

Accessories: White Card; Copic Marker

I'm submitting this card to Addicted to Stamps and More - ATSM#413 where the theme is Birthdays. I'm too late to submit this to Color Throwdown - CTD#658, but I got the inspiration for the colours from their challenge.

I did all the stamping on this card freehand. However, in order to try to keep reasonably straight lines, I did pencil in a straight line before I stamped the complete line of diamonds. Once stamped, and allowed to dry, I erased the pencil line and winged it as I stamped the rest of the pattern. I finished the front with a simple birthday greeting in blue ink. I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than the A2 (US size) note card, onto which I stamped a fun greeting and added a few more diamonds.

I used bright yellow and orange inks on my next card:

Stamps: Lil' Inker - Darling Diamonds; Altenew - Hello Hydrangea

Inks: Gina K - Peach Bellini, Sweet Mango, Tangerine Twist, Wild Dandelion, Sweet Corn, Tomato Soup; Versamark

Dies: Lil' Inker - Wonky Squares

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Tangelo Twist

I'm submitting this card to the Color Hues Challenge - CH#25 - love the colours they've picked.

I randomly stamped the sweet diamond images on the front of an A2 note card. I made the sentiment the focal point of the card. I used the Lil' Inker Wonky Square dies to cut an orange mat layer and a white layer. I used Versamark to stamp more diamonds on the orange layer for a tone-on-tone look. I stamped 'hello' in bright yellow on the white panel. I love the way these dies echo the shape of the darling diamond stamps!! Inside the card, I cut a mat layer of orange card. On the white panel I added a message at the bottom of the card, along with some more diamonds. There's lots of space for my own message.

I got a bit carried away with this set of stamps. It is so easy to build background patterns - and all done freehand too. I'll start with my rainbow card:

Stamps: Lil' Inker - Darling Diamonds, Happy Shiny Sentiments; Altenew - Hello Hydrangea

Inks: Gina K - Bubblegum Pink, Lipstick, Sweet Mango, Wild Dandelion, Lucky Clover, Blue Raspberry, Wild Lilac; Versamark; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: Gina K - Master Layout 1

Accessories: White Card; GK Card - Black Onyx; White Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#62 - where it's Anything Goes.

I cut a piece of white card to 4¼" x 5½" and used my t-ruler to draw a light pencil line at ¾". I then stamped the first line of solid diamonds in red ink. Once dry, I erased the pencil line and stamped the rest of the card freehand hand. It's reasonably straight, going slightly wonky towards the bottom of the panel. I used dies to cut a mat layer of black card and the stamped panel. I stamped a fun sentiment on black card with Versamark ink and heat embossed with white powder - it's not perfect, but it'll do!! I trimmed the panel to size and adhered it to the front of the card. I finished the front by adding a sentiment above the panel. Inside the card, I have a mat layer of black card. I kept the white panel very simple, with a sentiment at the bottom and a tiny diamond stamp. Lots of space for my message.

I was having fun making background patterns, so I did a couple more - here's the first:

Stamps: Lil' Inker - Darling Diamonds; Altenew - Halftone Stars

Inks: Gina K - Red Hot, Blue Raspberry, Wild Dandelion; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: Lil' Inker - Wonky Squares

Accessories: White Card; GK Card - Black Onyx

I used the colours from last week's CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#435 - I'm too late to submit, but then I didn't use the sketch, just the colours!

For this pattern, I drew pencil lines to mark the centre vertically and horizontally. I started stamping in the middle of the card and built the pattern from there. I cut a mat of black card and trimmed the stamped panel to fit on top and adhered it to the note card. I stamped the sentiment on white card, used a wonky square die to cut it out and made the black mat by drawing around the die on some black card and cutting it out. Inside, there's a black mat layer and on the white panel I stamped a birthday greeting and added some bright diamond images.

My last background pattern has a slightly more masculine feel to it:

Stamps: Lil' Inker - Darling Diamonds, Shiny Happy Sentiments; Altenew - Hello Hydrangea

Inks: Gina K - Blue Denim, Tranquil Teal, Faded Brick, Soft Stone; Versamark; Memento - Tuxedo Black

Dies: Gina K - Master Layout 1

Accessories: White Card; GK Card - Black Onyx; White Embossing Powder; Copic Markers

I started stamping the pattern in the centre of the white panel as before, but this time I stamped the ''petal' impressions different colours either side of the black dot, and I only filled in the centre of every other row. This gives a very different pattern. I used dies to trim a black mat and the white panel and adhered them to the notecard. I stamped a sentiment on black card with Versmark ink and heat embossed with white powder and adhered it across the front of the card. Inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel stamped greeting in the corner which I coloured with Copic markers.

The inspiration for this next card came from the sentiment:

Stamps: Lil' Inker - Shiny Happy Sentiments; Altenew - Halftone Stars

Inks: Gina K - Key Lime, Jelly Bean Green, Fresh Asparagus, Ocean Mist, Turquoise Sea, Blue Lagoon; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers

I'm submitting this card to Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#30. I've had the Halftone Stars for a while, but this is the first time I've used them!!

This is a larger card at 6¼" x 4½". I stamped the sentiment in black ink towards the top of the card and then filled in the front with stars of all different sizes - both solid and halftone. I used greens and teals as they are my husband's favourite colours. I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than the note card and stamped another of the sentiments from Shiny Happy Sentiments. I think this is just perfect for my hubby! I used a Copic marker to edge the panel and adhered it inside the card.

You'll be pleased to know, that we have come to my last card today - it's a Christmas card:

Stamps: Neat & Tangled - Winter Trees

Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Gina K - Stormy Sky, Lemon Drop, Wild Dandelion; Versafine - Onyx Black

Dies: Lil' Inker - Wonky Squares

Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog - MLCCB#38 where it's always Anything Christmas Goes.

Using my MISTI, I stamped the Christmas trees on white card, removed the panel and coloured with Copic markers. I returned the image to the MISTI, restamped with Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear powder. I used a wonky square die to cut out the image and then added lots of little stars to the sky. I stamped the trees again directly on the front of a square notecard and adhered the stamped image on top. I finished the front by adding a Christmas greeting. Inside I cut a panel of white card slightly smaller than the notecard, stamped a greeting, some more trees and a few more stars.

Well, that was a long post - thanks so much for sticking with me to the end. I'm very sad that both Lil' Inker and Neat & Tangled have shut up shop, but I'm so pleased I have some of their stamps and have been able to show them off here. Don't forget to visit Seven Hills Craft website to see what they - it's all at a great price. See you soon!!