Hello Friend

Hey stampers, Anni here!

It seems I can't stop using the no line coloring technique at the moment! I hope you don't mind. I love it so much, especially with Ranger Ink reinker!

For today's card I inked up Reverse Convetti's Big Bear. This is such an adorable set, the bears are so cute! And I also love all the sweet details that come with this set.

I stamped the images I wanted to use in a very light ink and colored them using the reinkers. It's very important to add the eyes and the nose with a black gel pen. That's what brings the critters to life. For this set there are coordinating dies available.

For the background I blended some ink on white cardstock. It looked a little boring so I decided to use Neat & Tangled's Rice Paddies stencil. I turned it in different directions while ink blending to add even more intrest.

Then I die cut a lawn using the grass die from Lawn Fawn's Mushroom Border from green cardstock and finally the sentiment came from Mama Elephant's Mini Messages.

Do you have a favorite technique that you can't stop to use? Let me know! Maybe I can fix myself on something else.

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty weekend.
Anni

         

Set of Mini Cards

Hey stampers, Anni here!

Recently I got this super cute Spring Pals Stamps Set by Reverse Confetti from some very sweet crafty friends of mine. They gave it to me because I couldn't stop raving about the cutest duck in the set. But when I held the set in my hands I fell in love with the other awesome critters in the set.
I decided to give them all some love and make a mini set of cards.

I started by stamping all the images with an alcohol marker friendly ink onto white paper and colouring them with alcohol marker, nothing fancy, these small images don't need a lot of shading. For cutting these images out there are coordinating dies available for this set.



For the backgrounds I die cut four times one of My Favorite Things' Inside & Out Stitched Square. I added some ink blending with Distress Inks but only to the corners where I wanted the animal to sit. Then I matted the squares all with a piece of black cardstock to make the colours pop.

To give the critters something to sit or to stand on I added a stripe of black and white striped paper to all of the panels. The sentiments came from several sets: Mama Elephant's Wishful Taggins and Mini Messages and W Plus 9's Hand Lettered Hello.

On two cards I stamped the sentiment onto the panel using my favorite black ink for sentiments: Versafine Onyx Black Ink. On the other two I stamped the words in Versamark on black cardstock and heat embossed it in white.

Then I adhered the panels to square cards.
Do you make sets of cards? Or always one at a time?

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty weekend.
Anni

            

Friends In The Forest

Hey stampers, Anni here!

I am back with another set of Christmas cards featuring this super cute stamp set called Friends in the Forest by My Favorite Things. The set is actually no Christmas set but I think it works with the conifers in the background and a warm cap for all the critters. I chose traditional Christmas colours as red and green to make it even more christmassy (is that even a word?).

I started by stamping, colouring and fussy cutting the animals (there are coordinating dies available, too).

Then I die cut three squares using My Favorite Things Stitched Pinking Edge Square from white cardstock. I masked of the adges and created a sky by ink blending some light aqua ink onto the paper. 

For the trees I chose a pigment ink because it is more opaque than a dye ink. I draw the stems with a brown coloured pencil.

I die cut more Stitched Pinking Edge Squares and cut snow slopes from them. That way I kept the pinking edge on my squares.

The sentiments I used are all from my go-to-set called Mini Messages by Mama Elephant.

For the finishing touch I decked the trees with sequins and pearls.

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty weekend.
Anni

   

Autumn Leaves

There's a definite feeling of autumn in the air. I love the changing seasons and I'm ready for cosy jumpers and winter boots now!

I'm bringing that autumn feel to the blog today, with a card perfect for those fall birthdays.

On a piece of card, I blended on inks in autumnal colours. I then ran this through my die cutting machine with two leaves from the MFT Leafy Greenery set. 

On a card base, I used the Lil'inker Stitched Woodgrain cover die to add some subtle details. Then I adhered the leaves onto the card base.

I die cut a tag and embossed a sentiment in gold, then added some gold twine at the top. I used foam tape to add it to the card.

Thanks for joining me today,

Gemma

MFT Leafy Greenery

Lil'Inker Stitched Woodgrain Cover Up Die

Mama Elephant Mini Messages

Lawn Fawn Gold Sparkle Twine

MFT Tiny Tags

Critter Gift Boxes

Hey stampers, Anni here,

From time to time we all need a gift box to give away not so romantic gifts as money - for teenagers for example. I made some in advance to be prepared.
These are easy to make if you have a die on hand to cut them. I really like Lawn Fawn's Scalloped Treat Box because it has just the right size and is just super cute.
I die cut it two times from patterned paper -  I still have some 12''x12'' papers in my stash from times before they came up with these cute 6''x6'' paper pads. These big sheets are perfect for these boxes.

For the decoration I stamped a fox and a skunk from an all time favorite set called Into the Woods by Lawn Fawn on white paper. I used alcohol markers to colour them and added some highlights with a white gel pen. I also stamped the trunk in brown (it is a solid stamp) and some leaves. I fussy cut all the images (but there are coordinating dies available, too) and arranged them on the box.

For the sentiment I die cut clouds with Lawn Fawn Spring Showers die set from white cardstock. As these gift boxes are supposed to be given away as a birthday presents I stamped Happy Birthday on them (surprise, surprise). I chose a little sentiment from the set  Mini Messages by Mama Elephant. You may have noticed that I use this set a lot. I just like the size of the sentiments in this set.

Thank you for stopping by and have a fun weekend - and make some gift boxes - you never know!

        

February Challenge - Week 3

It's your final reminder to play along in this months colour challenge and this month I've gone with my personal "go to schemes"   As I'm sure you've guessed - teals and turquoise feature in lots of my makes along with lime greens (just like the logo) but one of my favourite options for card making is greys and yellows so hopefully you will find something that you can work with too.

You must use at least 3 shades from one of the options above AND use at least one product from the range we sell in store to be eligible for the £15 prize.  New projects only - no back linking.

Here are the DT's final inspiring posts to get your mojo flowing.

Esther
I couldn't resist the first colour palette of turquoise, lime and grey. This card uses Lil'Inkers Quilted Stitched Pattern Die, My Favorite Things Funky Flowers and matching Dienamics, Avery Elle Pierced Banner Layer Elle-ments and My Favorite Things Absolutely Fabulous Dienamics.

Gemma
I'm using the middle colour palette as I love yellow and grey together. My card features:
Mama Elephant Little Cat Agenda, MFT Stepped Up Chevron Die-namic, and
Mama Elephant Mini Messages.

You have until 10pm on Saturday 25th February to play along this month.  Link up to the challenges page here

Birthday Present with Mini Tag

I had an idea for a card featuring a birthday present and a mini gift tag. I searched through my craft stash but didn't have a present stamp big enough, so instead I got creative.

The stamp I chose is from the MFT Fall Florals stamp set. It's the flower stems image, but I thought it would work really well for what I wanted.

I chose some MFT ink cubes in blue colours, and stamped the stems image five times onto white card, going from dark to light ink. I made sure to remove the ink from any part of the stamp that I didn't want to use before stamping.

Next, I die cut some Mama Elephant Mini Tags from white card, and stamped a greeting from their Mini Messages set. The stamp set has a great range of mini sentiments, which perfectly fit on the tags.

To add the tag to the card, I used some Lawn Fawn twine. I also added a bow and more twine to the present.

As this was a fun and simple card to make, I recreated it with pinks and reds.

Thanks for joining me today.

Gemma

MFT Fall Florals

Mama Elephant Mini Messages

Mama Elephant Mini Tags

Lawn Fawn Twine

Lawn Fawn Twine