Fa La La La Llama!

For today's card I thought Id have a little delve into older Christmas stash.

I never did get round to using this Fa La La die from MFT last year and I wanted to pair

 it with this cute Llama by Sugar Pea Designs for a fun Christmas Card...

I stamped and coloured the Lama and scarf then used the dies to cut them out, I decided I

 didn't like the white edge on the scarf so used scissors to trim it further.

The card base has been masked around the edges and two shades of blue ink blended 

on the central panel for an ombre sky. I used embossing paste through the Falling Snow stencil

whilst the mask was still in place and then added the letters and Lama.

He does look rather snug in his woolly scarf which is adorned with a festive sprig of holly from Mama Elephant's So Many Snowmen... Fa La La Llama indeed :)

   

Thanks for stopping by :)

Jenny x

Stamping on Fabric

I've got something a bit different to share today, and some new products to go with it!  My first crafting love a million years ago was cross-stitch and embroidery and so I do love to be able to add that to my stamping crafts when I can and whilst you can stitch on card, you can also stamp and fabric and then that opens up a whole new world of crafting (and gift making) opportunities.....

You'll find all the new products in our "other/miscellaneous brands" section

Firstly, I've gone for some simple straight forward stamping onto an already existing product - I've used some plain cotton make-up bags/pencil cases I bought cheaply on amazon, but by adding some simply stamping you can transform them into something much more special.

For all my stamping, I have used Stazon Pigment inks - if you give these a quick press with a hot iron (no steam) then the fabric is fully washable (at low temp).   For this bag I've used Peacock Feathers as the colour and MFT's Flower Silhouette for the images.  The trick for stamping onto a ready made product is to put a piece of card inside so you don't get any ink transfer through to the other side.   You can pick up bags like this is various sizes for a couple of pounds each, or even tote bags, aprons and napkins, or you can also stamp on clothes if you fancy a bit of upcycling!

We have also added some plain unbleached calico to store in small pieces for a pound so if you want to have a go without risking something more costly til you get the hang of it, you can practice or you make some mini art to go in the fabulous mini frames I found an fell in love with!  We have them in portrait and landscape ovals as well as super cute little rounds!

For this one I simply cut a tiny scrap off my calico, and used the Stazon Pigment inks to again stamp my mini Christmas floral display using Altenew's Poinsettia Pieces stamp.  Each frame comes with 3 wooden pieces (and a screw and bolt to hold it together but I didn't use them as I wanted to add thread to turn them into hanging ornaments for the Christmas tree).  Once the stamping is complete all you need to do is add some red liner tape to the wooden piece without a notch and then fold all the edges around to secure it.

Then you just pop the finished piece into the frame and use a little wet glue to secure the wooden back plate (with the notch) to the back which covers all mess!

Then either secure in place with the screw and bolt or string with thread and tie to turn into a hanging ornament.  You could even add a piece of magnet to the wooden back to turn them into fridge magnets.

To take it a stage further, I've combined stamping with embroidery for some personalised monogram ornaments using Altenew's Floral Alphabet stamp.

I stamped the letters I wanted onto the calico using Shamrock Green and then popped it into our new embroidery hoops so I could sit and stitch the details using the threads from our sew essentials kit.  The needle in our kit is designed for use with card so is too thick for stitching on calico so we've also added some embroidery needles to store to go with it.

I've just done some really simple fill in stitches on the leaves and flowers, back stitch on the stems and french knots on the buds, but you can take it any way you like, or just stick to stamping if sewing is not your thing.

You might want to check out our other "wooden" items - we've added some easels and some really clever magnetic wooden frames which are a really easy way to turn your stamped projects into works of art.

So what are you waiting for - get making mini masterpieces - perfect for gifts for Christmas!

NEWS FROM THE STORE


As you know - there are lots of new products in our "other brands" section, and we'll be adding a few more embellishment lines later today - sequins, jingle bells and pompoms all ready for Christmas crafting.

We're also still ploughing through the Flora and Fauna releases - adding a whole year's worth in one go is going to take a while!

We have the kit release and vault release along with some restocks from MFT due, but one box has gone astray in the FedEx system - we HOPE it will be here tomorrow - keep everything crossed!

The lastest release, plus last month's release from Neat and Tangled is also in transit and due this week.


We'll then be back in the cycle of ordering all the October releases so keep an eye out for new stuff next week too!

Catch you later

Tara

This Card is a Hug

Hey stampers, Anni here!

A handmade card is a good way to let a friend know that you think of him or her, isn't it? We send a lot of cards for birthdays and Christmas but not so often in between these "big" days.
So I made this card for a lovely friend so that she know that she is in my thoughts.

I started by stamping some of Mama Elephant's Stackable Cuties in a very light ink and did some no line colouring with Distress Reinkers. For the eyes and the noses I used a black and for the highlights a white gel pen. There are coordinating dies available for these images.

For the background I did a light ink blending. Over this background I used Newton's Nook's Tumbling Hearts stencil and added more ink. Then I added another layer of ink without the stencil to make the edges of the heart softer. I sprayed a glimmer mist on the background.

I die cut the panel using My Favorite Things' A2 Rectangle Frames and die cut also a frame from light grey cardstock.

In My Favorite Things' Lots of Hugs set I found this super sweet one. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed it in white on a stripe of dark grey cardstock.
For the finishing touch I added some sequins.

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty weekend.
Anni

         

Found on Friday - September Part 2

It's time for another look at what our fabulous customers have been making and sharing over in our SHC VIP's group on Facebook today and we have some wonderful inspiration coming your way from them!

First off this month we have this fun card from Claudia - I really love how she cut the So Many Snowman set from Mama Elephant into blocks and mounted them on black - gives the card a comic book feel and is a great way to get a different look from a stamp designed to cover the front of a card.

Sticking with the winter them I loved this cute card from Roz - I love the little scene inside the cut-out tree shape on the front.  What an interesting way to to create a focal point.  Roz used lots of Lawn Fawn products in the card, Mice on Ice, Winter Village, Christmas Tree Die and Ho Ho Holidays.

And another fabulous Christmas card was popped in the group by Silvia - I loved her inside pop feature - great way to make a card really special by adding a surprise inside.  She used more Lawn Fawn - Ho Ho Holidays and Yeti or Not.

One final Christmas card this issue - this gorgeous shaker card from Linda - I love the clear elements in the dark winter sky on this shaker, makes it feel super frosty!  Linda used Snow Friends and the Forest cover Die from Mama Elephant.

We'll leave Christmas behind for now and share this fun birthday Card from  Annamaria.  I love how the sentiment on the inside ties in so well with the cake on the outside!  She used the Confetti Turnabout Stamp and Cake Layers Die from Concord and 9th on the outside and the Hey Winter set from Sugar Pea Designs on the inside.

Finally for this issue I wanted to feature Kerry's fun layout.  I love how the flowers scattered across the page draw your eyes into the focal images - looks like it was a fun meet up too!   Kerry used Altenew's Doodle Blooms for this scrapbook page.

I hope you found as much inspiration in these makes as I did!   If you want to join in for a chance to be in a future Found on Friday issue, then head over to customer only group and join in the fun chat!   You must have a valid order number to gain entry - you will be asked to provide it when you click to join the group so find one first.  This is the way we can keep the group just for our customers.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/shcvips/

Catch you on Sunday with my makes and news for the week ahead.

Tara

Hero Arts Flower Garden Fancy Die Three Ways

Tara here with a quick announcement.  Unfortunatley due to changes in her family circumstances Anna has had to step away from the blog at short notice - today was going to be her last post and she was going to say goodbye in person but I'll have to do it on her behalf.  I know it's only been a short tenure but I know you've been inspired by her stunning makes.  We wish her and her family well.  

We've got Beverley stepping in to take her place for a while - you may already know Beverley as she runs her own UK based stamp brand Uniko but she's a customer of ours too and loves American brands and is looking forward to playing with them for us so I'll hand over to her for her first fabulous post!


Hello!

It's Bev here for my first Design Team post with Seven Hills Crafts, it's a honour to be here and to be able to share my love of stamping and all things paper crafts with you all.

I've been stamping and making cards for well over 20 years now and looking back all those years, my love affair with stamping started with Hero Arts products and more so when they started their blog in 2008. 

Anyway, with having a love for their products I thought it fitting to use them in my first post here. I instantly fell in love with the Flower Garden Fancy Die and couldn't wait to combine it with my favourite colours of  their new Hero Hues Reactive inks.

The Flower Garden Fancy Die is 10.5 x 13 cm perfect for filling the front of a standard C6 size card, though I've made my base card slightly larger (11x14cm) as I wanted a nice black border.

I started out blending four colours of the Hero Hues Reactive inks, Lemon Drop, Key Lime Fizz, Pool Party & Berry Smoothie. These are my 'go to' colours when starting a new ink collection as they blend and work nicely together. The ink format and consistency is much like the Distress Oxide Inks and blend just as smoothly. 

Now the Flower Garden Fancy Die is stunning. So beautifully detailed that with my first card I simply die cut it from white card and adhering it to my ink blended panel using Hero Arts Precision Glue. 

Not to take focus from the die and rainbow of colours I kept the sentiment simple, using partial stamping of them from Altenew's Geo Frames clear stamp set.

For my next card I decided to create another ink blended background and this time I die cut the Flower Garden Fancy Die from it...

And just look at how those colours pop against the black card base - yum! Again I kept the sentiment simple, this time choosing the Congrats from Concord & 9th Everyday Bouquet Turnabout Tool Kit (I'll be sharing more on this in a later post). 

I've used foam adhesive to adhere the sentiment and I added some small embellishment to the flower centres using dimensional drops.

I couldn't stop at two cards, so for my last card I used the die as a mask to blend over the top of and to give you another way of using your dies.

I used some thin scrap card to die cut my mask and I used some temporary stencil adhesive to adhere it to my card panel. 

I felt this method gave a softer appearance of the blended colours and so I used a sentiment from Hero Arts Acts of Kindness clear stamp set, stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I almost always use VersaFine Onyx Black for my sentiment stamping, it always gives a nice crisp impression. 

That's all from me today, I hope I have given you some inspiration for ways to use your large fancy dies and I look forward to sharing more with you next week.

Crafty Hugs 

Bev x

Products Used Available from Seven Hills Crafts...

Happy Gnome Birthday

Hello, Tallie here. I'm back today with a happy little gnome birthday card! This one reminds me a little of Gnomeo and Juliet. I used a bunch of Lawn Fawn products and the Oh Gnome! and Big Scripty Words stamp sets to create this scene card.

I started off by stamping out the gnomes, toadstools, flowers and wheelbarrow from the Oh Gnome! stamp set in some MFT Extreme Black Ink onto some blending cardstock. I coloured these in with my alcohol markers, sticking to bright gnome-like colours and cut them out with the coordinating dies.

To create the scene, I coloured up two panels in some Mowed Lawn/Twisted Citron and Salty Ocean/Faded Jeans Distress Oxide inks. I cut the blue panel with a Lawn Fawn Scalloped Rectangle and the green with the Grassy Border die. I also cut out some clouds using the Simple Puffy Clouds dies and coloured them in with some Weathered Wood Distress Ink. I adhered these directly to a card base, adding the coloured elements to create the scene.

I created the sentiment using two different sets. Firstly, I stamped the birthday greeting from the Big Scripty Words stamp set and die cut it with the coordinating die. I stamped out the HAPPY greeting from the Oh Gnome! set into a strip.

Thanks for reading, catch you next week.

Tallie