SHC - Shimmer and Shine ....

.... Morning! I can't quite believe that it's already August - the year is flying by. However, it's Wednesday and that means it's time for my weekly Seven Hills Craft Blog post. Not a Christmas card in sight today, instead I've made a set of three cards all using products from Concord & 9th. Here's the first:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Stripes & Sayings, Everyday Greetings

Inks: Gina K - Wild Dandelion, Passionate Pink; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: C&9 - Confetti Card Die, Butterfly Perfect Pairing

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Melon Mambo; C&9 - Tintables Card Fronts; Silver Holographic Card; Sheer Shimmer Spray - Sparkle

I'm submitting this card to Color Hues - CH#23 where the colours are yellow and pink, and to Inkspirational - INK#244 where they want to see Dots/Spots.

I started by blending yellow and pink inks over the dotty tintable card front. I love the way the pattern is revealed as the colour is blended! I spritzed the panel with a shimmer spray and once it was dry I used a fancy edge die to cut the panel to fit on the front of an A2 (US size card) notecard. I stamped a simple greeting in bold black in the bottom corner of the card. I finished the front by adding a flutter of butterflies. I die cut a silver layer and two white layers. I adhered them together to give strength and stability to the die cut, and then I glued them to the card. Inside, I cut a mat layer of bright pink card. On the white panel I stamped a birthday greeting in bright pink and added a tiny sun stamp in yellow. I also added a silver holographic butterfly - some of the waste from the die cut!!

Next, I used word tintable card front:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Everyday Greetings

Inks: Gina K - Lemon Drop, Key Lime, Lucky Clover

Dies: C&9 - Confetti Card Die

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Granny Apple Green; C&9 - Tintables Card Fronts; Sheer Shimmer Spray - Frost

I'm submitting this to the current Never-Before-Used-Sctuff - NBUS#29 - first time I've used the Confetti die, despite having it for a while!!

I used acid lemon, lime green and grass green for this tintable cover sheet. In real-life the words are clearly visible, but not so much in the photo. I think perhaps, I'll use darker colours next time. As before, I used the Confetti die to cut out the panel, after first adding shimmer with a frost spray. I adhered the panel directly to an A2 notecard. Inside, I cut a mat layer of bright green card. On the white panel, I simply adding a bold greeting in green. Lots of space left for my own message.

My final card is a simple hello card:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Shine On

Inks: Gina K - Powder Blue, Blue Denim, In the Navy, Slate

Dies: C&9 - Confetti Card Die; Everyday Sayings

Accessories: White & Black Card; C&9 - Tintables Card Fronts; Sheer Shimmer Spray - Frost; Copic Marker

I'm submitting this card to Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#276 where they want us to use Shades of Blue - done!!

This time I used blue and grey inks to blend over the chevron tintable card front. I spritzed on some frosty shimmer and, once dry, I used the Confetti die to cut the panel to size. I adhered it to the front of an A2 card. I used a large 'hello' die to cut a black shadow and three white hellos. I layered the white words together, glued them to the black shadow and then adhered the lot to the front of the card. Inside, I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than the note card. I edged it with a dark grey Copic marker and stamped a message and some stars. There's plenty of space for my message. I think this one will go to our son, Ben.

That's all from me today. I'm taking Mum and Kat into Chester later this morning for a bit of retail therapy. And then, in the afternoon, I'll be watching the Olympics - just love all the sports. See you soon.

SHC - Shine Like a Diamond ....

... Good morning! I hope everyone is well and coping with all the changes in lockdown regulations. Here in Wales, we still have to stay at home - but that might change next week! So I've been making good use of all my at-home time. I got a new stamp set from Altenew - Shine Like a Diamond - it's fabulous and I've stamped so many different backgrounds with it. Here's my first card:

Stamps: Altenew - Shine Like a Diamond
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Tim Holtz Water colour Card; Zig Clean Colour Brushes; Clear and White Embossing Powder; Vellum; Gems

I'm submitting this card to Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - HLSWC#06 where it's anything goes with the option of layers, done!

I stamped the large geometric background on white watercolour card using Versamark and heat embossed with white powder. I then covered the image with plain water and added a rainbow of colours to create the gradient background. Once dry, I cut the panel to size. On a strip of vellum I stamped the greeting in black Versafine ink and heat embossed with a clear powder. I wrapped the vellum strip around the rainbow panel and adhered the whole lot to a black mat panel, and attached it to a card. I finished the front by adding some gems. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel I stamped a greeting which completed the sentiment. I also added a strip of the watercolour card.

My next card is being submitted to Inkspirational - INK#215 where they have a photo for inspiration. I took the colours yellow and grey for my card.

Stamps: Altenew - Shine Like a Diamond; Concord & 9th - Shine On
Inks: Versamark; Gina K - Jet Black Amalgam, Wild Dandelion, Lemon Drop
Dies: C&9 - Shine On
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Grey Granite, Basic Grey, Crushed Curry; Silver Embossing Powder; Vellum; Nuvo - Clear Aquashimmer Brush; Copic Markers; Sakura Stardust Pen; Glossy Accents

I used my MISTI for this card. I stamped the background image in pale grey ink, took it out and coloured with Copic markers and a Sakura Stardust glitter pen. I repositioned the image, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with silver powder. I cut the panel to fit a side opening 5½" x 4¼ grey card. I made the 'shine' embellishment by adhering two of the diecut shine words, covered with shimmer and glossy accents and layered them onto the vellum shadow. I attached it to the front of the card and finished with a simple sentiment on a white strip. On the inside, I cut another white panel onto which I stamped a greeting and some diamond shapes.

My last two cards have a Christmas theme:

Stamps: Altenew - Shine Like a Diamond, Majestic Mistletoe; Concord & 9th - Joyful Noel
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Fruitcake; Gina K - Jet Black Amalgam, Sandy Beach
Dies: C&9 - Joyful Noel
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Basic Black

I'm submitting the Noel card to Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - HLSXMAS#06 where it's Anything Goes, and the Joy card to Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies - HLSAGD#06.

I stamped the geometric background using Kaleidacolor's Fruitcake pad - I think this works perfectly for festive cards. I used Concord & 9th's Joyful Noel dies to cut out the wreath and letters, and used them to make both cards. The background of the Noel card was made using the text image from Joyful Noel, while the leaves on the Joy card came from Majestic Mistletoe. I kept the inside of each card reasonably simple:

Thanks so much for sticking around to the end of the post. That's all from me today. Take care and I'll see you soon.