New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'm here with a quick post for Inkspirational, where our new challenge is "Santa". I had very fun creating this card with various dies and other products! The Merry die is by Sizzix/Tim Holtz and the Santa die comes from Simon Says Stamp. I created the post stamps with Marianne Design dies and patterned paper from Dear Santa paper pack from memory-place. I gave a vintage look to the background with some 49 and Market rub ons and finished my postage stamps by adding detail with Waffle Flower Crafts postage collage stamps. All and all this card needed lots of die cutting, glueing and fiddling with things but it was very fun! 

I hope to see you joining us! Lots of more DT inspiration and all of the challenge details HERE. 

I'd like to join:

Snippets Playground #493

Lots and lots of paper scraps where used for die cutting the Santa, the stamps and the Merry-sentiment

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'm here with my DT card for Inkspirational where we this time want to see some layers! 

I chose to play with one of my Altenew CYL  kits, Meadow Breeze, and used the floral stamp, coordinating die + matching embossing folder in my card. I've colored the images with Karin markers. The sentiment is from another Altenew CYL kit, Sunshine Flowers. My card has several layers and I've created also extra dimension by popping up the floral images with foam. I quite love how this turned out although I'm just learning with my Karin markers! Such beautiful color hues though. 

Please head on over to our challenge blog HERE for all the challenge details and lots of more DT inspiration. I look forward seeing you joining us! 

I'm joining:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

 

Inkspirational Challenges Reminder!

Hi friends!

I'm here with a quick post to remind you of our current mood board challenge at Inkspirational! The challenge is still running for about one week and there's lots of inspiration for you in the DT cards as well as in the player's gallery. Don't miss the beautiful cards or any of the challenge details, click HERE! 

I loved the ombre blue blanks in the photo on right in the top row and wanted to replicate that. I had some grey patterned paper that looked almost identical and I inked it with blue inks to make it match the moodboard. I then used a Marianne Design background stamp for adding texture that we see in the mood board photo planks too. I stamped the texture images with light brown distress ink first and with gold Delicata ink second. Love how that turned out! 

I then cut some leaves from alcohol ink and watercolor panel scraps that I had. The dies are by Memory Box and Honey Bee. I loved the brown in the sand and pop of white in the waves in the moodboard and brought these colors to my card as well by using a washi tape in the left edge and heat embossing the sentiment with white on brown card. 

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you joining us! 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hi friends!

We have a new fun challenge for you at Time Out; it's a photo inspiration challenge, but you can also use it simply as a coffee themed challenge. You could also be inspired by some elements in the photo AND coffee, which is what I have done with my card!

This card is actually taken by me on my work trip to New York on spring 2023. I was fortunate enough to meet my good friend and our Time Out general manager Stephanie during my trip! We where together when we bumped into this sign outside a cafe and thought it would be a perfect coffee themed photo inspiration! I hope you'll agree and join us! 

Our winner receives a prize from Newton's Nook and also gets called to guest design in a future challenge. This time our GD is the talented Heidi Kunkel and she has made a wonderfully colorful card for us. Don't miss her inspiration or any of the challenge details, click HERE. 

I used a stamp set by Simon Says Stamp in my card. I've stamped everything with white Hero Arts pigment ink on black card for sort of a chalkboard look. My only embellishment is a die cut, red heart. I quite like how this simple card came together!

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you joining us! 

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hi friends!

I'm here with my DT card for Time Out, where we have one of our Inspired by Words challenges for you.The quote for your inspiration is:

'As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, 

canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see'

Vincent Van Gogh

You could be inspired by the whole quote or just use one word or some words as your starting point. Using only words like "hands" or "canvas" can take your card to a very different direction than making an autumn inspired card! 

Our wonderful sponsor is Poppy Stamps. They're generously offering a $20 store credit to our challenge winner, chosen by the DT. Our winner also gets called to guest design in an future challenge and this time we are joined by Deborah Wheeler of Deborah's Crafty Blog. Do not miss any of the challenge details,  Deborah's elegant card or any DT inspiration, click HERE! 

I've made a fall inspired shaker card with a large maple leaf die from Concord and 9th. The background is an alcohol ink + foil background and my shaker elements are pretty sparkly too... So this card has a lot of shine! 

I hope to see you playing a long at Time Out, I look forward seeing what you'll create! Happy crafting! 

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

We have a very fun and unique challenge for you at Inkspirational for the next fortnight: Headwear! Here's what our fabulous Ink boss lady Carol says about the challenge:

"Ideas galore for this challenge: fashionable toppers, seasonal necessities, sports requirements, ceremonial headdresses, costume decoration - and so much more. If it goes on your head, it goes in our gallery."

I look forward seeing what you'll create!

I made my card with Honey Bee Stamps hat die and combined it with a sentiment from Altenew. I'm pretty happy about the CAS design but keep wondering if the amount of hats should have been more or less lol! I just couldn't decide and went with 6 hats in the end... But how about 7 hats and a sentiment in the place of an eight hat?!? Or 5 hats and a sentiment in the place of an sixth hat?!? Hmm!! Let me know what you think!

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

We have a new challenge for you at Inkspirational and this time I had the honors of choosing our theme. I chose "Make Your Mark" -we want to see you adding color to your stamped images or die cuts with markers, water color, pencils, inks... Lots of options. For example coloring stencils will do too or inking your die cuts for added dimension. 

I chose the good old "coloring stamped images with markers" and colored in a cute Waffle Flower flower with Copics and colored pencils. I found a dry embossed panel from my stash and used that as a base for the fanel.. And stamped a sentiment by Garden Favorites sentiments by Spellbinders. I thought this sentiment matched the large flower well. I kept my card pretty CAS this time!

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you joining us! 

I'd like to join:

The Flower Challenge: Include a Stamped Flower

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Stamp It 

Stamping Sensations: Anything Goes

We Love Stamping: Handcoloured image

 

Inkspirational Challenges Reminder!

Hi friends!

I'm here to remind you of our current challenge at Inkspirational, where we want you to make clean and simple cards! To help you out, here's what we'll be looking for with your Clean and Simple designs: 

✅ One main focal point
✅ Lots of OPEN space (doesn't 'have' to be white)
✅ Minimal Layers
✅ Minimal Embellishments

My card is sort of "grungy", layered CAS, but I do feel that gathering all my elements to the middle of the card creates only one "focal point"... And the color scheme is very monochrome which also tones it down. I've heat embossed the sentiment with gold powder. Sentiment stamp is by Simon Says Stamp (I've done little surgery, there should also be a Y'all in it but I cut it out), background stamp by Marianne Design and leaves are by Memory Box. The leaves are cut from a piece of water color paper that I "cleaned" a film of acetate with - I had done some water coloring with distress inks in fall colors and the left over of the inks is now on these leaves. :) 

I hope to see you joining us! 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hi friends,

today I'm here with a quick post with my DT card for Time Out Challenges! We are having our annual Friendship/Encouragement/Support challenge, which is one of my favorite challenges of the year. This year I decided to "send a virtual hug" with Altenew products... I've cut the floral panel out of black card stock and attached it on an alcohol ink background that also has some gold foil on it. This card has beautiful shine IRL. The base card is embossed with an old folder from my stash, no idea of the maker of that unfortunately. 

Please head on over to our challenge blog for all the challenge details and lots of DT inspiration! This time Uniko sponsors the challenge with a coupon to our winner. The winner also gets called to guest design in a future challenge and this time our GD is the very talented Nancy Leppek.

I look forward seeing you joining us! 

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hi friends!

I'm here with my DT card for Time Out Challenges, where we have a fun photo inspiration for you! Have a look:

I decided to use my Altenew Lemon Craze stencil, but in all honesty I'm unsure if there is any lemons in this photo... So I made them a bit orange-y to reflect the colors of the photo better! Sentiment is by Altenew as well (Zesty Life) and so fun I think! 

Make sure to check out all the challenge details and lots of more DT inspiration HERE. Our wonderful sponsor is Graciellie Design with a generous prize of a $25.00 store credit for our challenge winner. Our winner also gets called to guest design in the future and this time our talented, wonderful guest is Steff Perry with a very adorable card! Don't miss it! 

I'd like to join:

August Inspiration Station Challenge: photo inspiration

The Four Seasons Challenge: Anything Summer Goes (I'd say fresh fruits is very summery! )

Allsorts Challenge: Summer Days/ Anything Goes

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'm here with my DT card for Inkspirational, where we are inspired by a cute, summery moodboard! I drew my inspiration from the top left corner of the moodboard and tried to replicate the sunset sky look with some inking and stenciling. I stamped a floral image with black ink for a simple, CAS look on top of my sunset. All products by Altenew! I hope to see you joining us, don't miss any of the DT inspiration and all the challenge details HERE. 

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hello friends!

I'm back with a DT card for Time Out Challenges where we have one of our Inspired by Words challenges this week. The quote is:

"It's always summer somewhere"

In our Inspired by Words challenges you can be inspired of the whole quote or just pick one word/some words as your starting point. For example this time some less obvious interpretations could be "I'll always love you"-theme or "Somewhere over the rainbow". Simply let us know how you were inspired if it's less than obvious! 

Along with the sponsor prize, our winner gets to guest design in a future challenge. This time our GD is the talented Betty Keefe with a stunning floral creation. Don't miss Betty's card, all the challenge details and DT inspiration, click HERE.

In my card I've used dies and stamps from Honey Bee Stamps for a beachy, tropical sunset card! The background is made with masking and inking. I created the mask with torn washi tape for giving torn edges to my sort of rectangle. Got this tip from a fab youtube channel, NB Cards! The palm trees I've cut from colored card stock an added some ink for extra detail. Hammock and pillows are cut from patterned paper. I hope you like this card and thanks for popping by! 

I'd like to join:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Anything Goes

Allsorts Challenge : Season's Delightss/AG

Papercraft Challenges: Holiday Time

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'm popping in to share my DT card for the new "Woodland" challenge at Inkspirational! Our challenge runs for about two weeks. Don't miss any of the challenge details or DT inspiration, click HERE! 

I decided to make a sort of contemporary and whimsical take on the theme -or that's at least how I see these dies from Waffle Flower Crafts! The frame actually has six openings but I cut it down to four little windows. I used ombre colored patterned paper for the sky. The trees I colored with Copics and then covered them with Versafine ink and clear sparkly Wow embossing powder for extra whimsy! The sentiment I die cut from two different green card and glued them offset so that the darker version makes a shadow. The green base card is die cut with an Altenew cover plate. 

I'd like to join:

Die Cut Divas: Add Glitter 

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Add a Sentiment

Cut It Up: CAS (I hope it's CAS enough! I do think it's a pretty clean look!)

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you joining us at Inkspirational!

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hi friends!

I'm here with my DT card for the new challenge at Time Out where we challenge you to be "On Vacation"! As you can see from the badge this can go to many, many directions... And our challenge blog is filled with beautiful DT samples from our regular DT members and our very talented guest Claire. Our sponsor this time is Varada Sharma with a generous $25 coupon to her store! 

Don't miss any of the inspiration or challenge details, click HERE.

I used dies and sentiment stamp from Honey Bee Stamps with scraps of patterned paper. I even found pretty good paper for sand and sea in my stash! I tore the sea paper edge to look like foamy waves touching the sand. 

This was a quick make so I didn't ink any of the die cut edges this time. I do like how sharp this looks but I can't wait to see how the die cuts will look a bit more shaded next time!

I'd like to join:

Die Cut Divas for July: Add some glitter (glittery Sticles in the sunglasses)

Snippets Playground: All dies are cut from snippets of paper

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Lots of Layers

I hope to see you joining us at Time Out! Thank you for popping by! xxx

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'm here with my DT card for the new challenge at Inkspirational. Our challenge theme is chosen by my talented team mate Marlena and it is to use products from two or more different companies. Fun, right!! 

If you follow me on Instagram you might be thinking that you already saw this card on Monday... and you are not completely incorrect!! This is a re-make of Monday's card with a different background stamp and a different sentiment. I got some requests to make a tutorial for the "faux letterpress with heat embossing" that I used for the flower and I'm currently working on a little video tutorial... So I naturally had to re-make the card for the tutorial. I then realized it would be pretty perfect for our challenge because the flower die is by Altenew, background stamp is by Catherine Pooler, sentiment comes from Hero Arts and if I remember right, the embossing folder for the background is by Spellbinders. So if you feel you already saw this... My apologies!! My video will be ready some time on Sat evening ( GMT) so if you are interested, do check it out from my Instagram HERE.

I hope to see you joining us at Inkspirational! Plenty of fabulous DT inspiration and all the challenge details in the challenge blog HERE. 

I'm joining:

ABC Christmas: Off the edge

Stamping Sensations: Anything Goes

We Love Stamping UK: Anything Goes

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

 

Hi friends!

I'm here with my DT card for Time Out where we have a theme challenge for you for the next fortnight! The theme is "Seeing Stars". 

Picket Fence Studios generously sponsors our challenge with a $25 coupon to our winner. Our winner also gets called to guest design for us in the future and this time our talented GD is Simeen! You can check out Simeen's fun star shaker card in Instagram HERE. 

I realized I didn't have much star stamps or dies that would have inspired me! I found some star patterned paper and wanted to play with that instead. I decided to die cut letters from the paper to use the star theme in a very subtle and less obvious way. In addition to the stars, the paper had a pattern that reminded me of honeycomb pattern and there I got the idea to make my card Bee-themed. So stars and bees! :) The bee stamp comes from Funky Fossil designs and the letter dies are from Marianne Design. 

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you joining us at Time Out Challenges!

I'd like to join:

Seize the Birthday: Add a Star

Simon Says Wednesday: Stars

Cardz 4 Guys: Anything Masculine Goes

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'm back with a DT card for Inkspirational, where we want to see you using stencils. Head on over to our challenge blog for all the challenge details and lots of more DT inspiration! We also have an optional twist of "use paste" but I chose not to this time. 

Creating this card was super easy although it did require some steps and drying time. The first step was debossing the Altenew florals with their 3d embossing folder on patterned paper that had random earthy colors on it. Next I did the "black out"-technique, where you swipe black ink on top of your debossed design so that what ever is debossed, shows clearly, and other areas turn black. I let this dry overnight. I then took a STAMPlorations stencil and stenciled the geometric pattern with white ink around the flower. I used Hero Arts white pigment ink which is the only white ink that I've been ably to get completely dry without setting it with anything... It does help setting the ink if you dry it with the heat tool in the beginning... But I anyway did let this one set for some hours before turning the panel over and attaching it to the card base. 

I love how this turned out although it does have a melancholic vibe... I actually needed a sympathy card so I added a Finnish condolences sentiment to this, heat embossed on vellum. I keep thinking if it's too dark and not comforting enough for a sympathy card... But it is quite beautiful and has a tranquil feel. I want to try this method with more happy colors in the future!

 I hope to see you playing along at Inspirational!

 

Reminder for the current challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'm here with a reminder card for our challenge at Inkspirational! For still about one week, our inspiration is "Frame". Make sure to check out the challenge post with lost of DT inspiration and linky for your cards HERE. There's already beautiful inspiration from our players in the gallery too!

I decided to play with my Waffle Flower Postage Collage die, matching stencils and stamps and pair them with some dog stamps that I had in my stash (sorry, no idea of the maker of these, the package has gone missing and they are old!). In the background I used a Funky Fossil stencil and white pigment ink. Hope you like and thank you for popping by! 

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hi friends!

I'm back with a quick post to share my DT card for the new challenge at Time Out. 

It's time for one of our Inspired by Words challenges. You can be inspired by the whole quote or just choose one words/some words from it as your starting point. 

The quote is:

 “There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”– Henri Matisse

I have used Altenew  Deco Cover die set, Versatile Greetings die set and Decorative Florals 3d embossing folder in creating my card. I used acetate as my card base to really showcase the delicate frame. The florals are embossed on gold card stock and I then gently wiped white pigment ink on top. I set the ink by heat embossing it with clear sparkly powder. This card is very glitzy! Is that even a word lol! 

I hope to see you joining us! 

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hello friends!

We are back with a new challenge at Time Out Challenges and this time we challenge you to be Magical! 

There's many many ways how to interpret this challenge. Our DT and guest designer Carol have made fabulous samples for you -don't miss them or any of the challenge details, click HERE! 

The winner of our challenge gets called to guest design in a future challenge and also wins a generous $25 gift card to Picket Fence Studios. 

I was in need of a card for a new baby... I don't often make baby cards and don't really have stamps and dies that are specifically for babies... But I think this unicorn stamp from Avery Elle worked quite well (and unicorns are certainly magical too!). I combined it with some patterned paper from my stash and gave the image some color with Copics and LOTS of sparkle with Stickles. Love how it turned out! I've had this arch die from Spellbinders for some months now and I seem to use it every second card that I make... I really love it! 

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you playing along at Time Out!

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'm here with my DT card for Inkspirational where our DT member Pia has chosen a very fun theme for the next fortnight... Spotlight technique! There's many possible ways to execute this technique and there's great DT samples in the challenge blog. You can also make a quick google search and find many videos, tutorials and more image inspiration! 

In my card I've used Altnew's CYL kit Meadow Breeze stamp with coordinating stencils. I stamped and stenciled the image twice: my first image was stenciled with only grey ink... And my second image was stenciled with very colorful inks! 

I cut an arch shape out of the colorful version and placed it on top of the grey one and voila, I used the spotlight technique! :) The die cut sentiment is from Altenew's CYL kit Seasonal Blooms. I splattered with black water color this time and it was a bit runny... Some Altenew enamel dots cover a couple of crazy looking splatters... Luckily they fell into a pretty nice visual triangle lol! 

I hope to see you joining our challenge!

I'd like to join:

Altenew May Inspiration Challenge

The Flower Challenge for May: Color Your Flower 

Stamping Sensations May Challenge: Anything Goes

We Love Stamping May Challenge: Anything Goes

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hi friends!

I'm here with a quick post to tell you about our new challenge at Time Out! For the next fortnight our theme is Alphabet Magnet Day.

Although traditionally, we might think of magnetic letters as a children’s toy, the first known magnetic letters were actually created for the space industry. Click HERE for a bit of history behind the magnetic letters that have been decorating the faces of refrigerators for 50 years.

For this challenge you can for example use letter dies, large word dies, patterned paper with writing as focal point, embossing folders with letters or large words... many possibilities! 

For my card I used supplies form our sponsor Altenew: JOY-die and coordinating stencils and Festive Greenery embossing folder. The embossing folder has coordinating stencils too, but to make my card front mimic a fridge door more, I left it white lol! 

I hope to see you playing along. In addition to the Altenew prize, our winner also gets called to guest design in the future. This time our guest is the very talented Carol from Saw it. Had to Make it.  She made two amazing cards for our inspiration! Don't miss Carol's card, more DT inspiration and all the challenge details, click HERE.

I'd like to join:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Use Die Cuts