The Beatles Song “And Your Bird Can Sing” is the inspiration for my Design Team project for Craftin’ Round The World Challenges today, and I had so much fun creating this card.
I have used the new Basic Beige cardstock for the card base and also the next layer, which has been stamped tone on tone with Basic Beige ink and the Stippled Roses stamp set. I have taken a piece of old sheet music – I’ve been a musician since I was very young, so there’s plenty of it lying around – and I have scrunched it up before sponging some Crumb Cake ink around the edges and on the raised areas.
I’ve used some of the Country Woods Designer Series Paper and the Country Birdhouse Dies to create the bird house. For those cute little birds I have used the reverse image technique, of stamping the image from the Country Birdhouse bundle onto a Silicone Craft Sheet in Memento Black ink, and then pressing a piece of white cardstock over the image, which in effect, reverses the image when it goes onto the cardstock. Perhaps this is a good time for me to get back into doing Facebook Live and YouTube videos to demonstrate that one.
If you are on Facebook (or even if you are not), come and share your projects with us at Craftin’ Round the World Challenges, we love to see what you have been creating.
And don’t forget that the Country Birdhouse Bundle, and all the Bundles are an extra 10% off the already discounted price until the end of June, and you can find them in my online store. Happy stamping! Chris
I do love a card challenge. I’ve been on many Design Teams over the years of papercrafting, and still am now, and I love using different challenges to give me a way to challenge myself and create something different. I guess that’s why they are called a challenge, right? I have three cards to share with you today, all of them made with the same set of colours which are the current Global Design Project Challenge (#GDP449). The colours are Peach Pie, Shy Shamrock and Petunia Pop, all from the new In Color range (2024-2026). They are all gorgeous colours, but not ones I would normally put together. To add to the challenge, I created three different style of cards, and I’ll explain why shortly. Here’s the first card.
I was recently listening to a recorded interview between two of our wonderful Australian Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators, Kylie Bertucci and Maheswari Rajaguru, and part of the discussion was around what style of papercrafter they were. That discussion has given me a lot to think about, and so I used this challenge to play with some different styles. This first card is not one that I like very much, not one that I am at all happy with. However I wanted to use the rather neglected Planted Paradise stamp set in a different way along with using the challenge colours. I don’t think the card showcases my style, however I am sure the person who I send it to in the mail will enjoy receiving it.
The second card is more like my style….
This card features the Magnolia Mood bundle (don’t forget Bundles are currently on sale!). The Magnolia has been stamped onto watercolour paper and then coloured with inks and water painter. I love colouring, whether that’s with Blends (alcohol markers), pencils or ink, or a combination, I love the process of colouring. And so that is a large part of my style. I also love nature, plants, flowers, birds, butterflies, animals, and these are things that I am more drawn to than anything else.
Card number three also features some colouring:
This card is probably the most indicative of my style of papercrafting, colouring plus lots of layers, texture and interest, such as paper tearing, distressing and sponging. The card features the Inspirational Sketches Stamp set, Perennial Lavender Designer Series Paper, and leaves from the Stippled Roses Dies. While I have used the colours from the challenge, I have also used a lot of Crumb Cake to soften the colour combination. So what would you call my style of crafting? Vintage with a touch of modern. ?? What are your thoughts? Which is your favourite card?
In the end, I feel that one of the things I really do enjoy doing, is creating cards in different styles, sometimes it feels good to make a Clean and Simple card, other times I love to put the time into creating a vintage style card that might take me days to put together.
Thanks for hanging around, as you can tell, there has been a lot of thought and introspection in recent times, and not just about crafting. I hope you are having a crafty weekend. Happy stamping! Chris PS Don’t for to make the most of the extra 10% discount of Bundles for the rest of May. Browse through my online store here.
Hi. If this is your first time visiting, welcome to my crafting blog.
I am honoured to have been asked to do a Guest Design spot with the CASE-ing the Catty crew this week, and we are taking our inspiration from the Bundles on Pages 57 – 73 of the Annual Catalogue.
I have chosen the Happy Birthday card in the centre of Page 60 (see below) as my inspiration.
The stamped images have been inked with Memento Black ink, and then coloured with Stampin’ Blends initially to create base colours. The hummingbird was coloured with Bronze, Crumb Cake and Pool Party Stampin’ Blends, with just a touch of Blueberry Bushel. The flowers and leaves with Old Olive, Flirty Flamingo, Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight.
After the Stampin’ Blends I have coloured over the top with Stampin’ Up! Watercolour Pencils to increase the intensity and vibrancy of colour.
Good morning and if this is your first time visiting, welcome to my crafting blog.
I was honoured to be asked to become a Design Team member for the Craftin’ Round the World Challenges. This is a monthly challenge held on Facebook, where there are two different themes to choose from, which you can combine, or choose one at a time. And for my card today, I have chosen the Monochromatic Theme.
My card uses heaps of the Stampin’ Up! green colours including Soft Sea Foam, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Granny Apple Green, and Lemon Lime Twist. The beautiful Magnolia image has been stamped in Soft Sea Foam on basic white cardstock before being die cut using the matching dies. And the leaves come from the Magnolia Mood Dies and the Stippled Roses Dies.
If you would like to join our challenge you can find us here in the closed Facebook group, where you are very welcome to share your own projects.
Hello and welcome back. Did you know that on Page 22 of the Annual Catalogue, at the bottom of the page, there are 22 sketch ideas for making cards? I have used one of these sketches for my inspiration today, the sketch on the top row, 5th along from the right hand side, and I have used this to create a clean and simple masculine card.
My card features the bird from the Inspirational Sketches stamp set. The image has been stamped with Black Memento ink onto Crumb Cake cardstock, and then coloured with watercolour pencils in Basic Black, Basic White and Early Espresso. I also created a reel on my Facebook page, showing how I coloured the image, which you can find here. While you are on my Facebook page, make sure you follow me so that you can get updates when I post there, which is generally more often than I do here, at least at the moment. I have then modified the sketch a little, extended the panel with the main image and added a layer behind it, to create a different look altogether.
I hope you are enjoying a crafty Sunday wherever you might be. It’s a chilly day here, the start of winter, and we have the fire going, so I will be enjoying staying warm in front of the fire today, and perhaps creating something different. Happy stamping! Chris
I love the Stampin’ Up! Stippled Roses stamp set soooo much, as you will see soon, since I have been using it a lot recently (although I haven’t shared enough here). And today I create this card which I coloured with the Stampin’ Up! watercolour pencils.
The rose image was stamped with Memento Black ink, and then I have started shading using a Basic Black pencil, which I used to go over the already darker areas of the stamped image, just to intensify the shadowed area. For the leaves, I have then come over the black with a Garden Green pencil, followed by a little Granny Apple Green to give them some lighter highlights. The roses were coloured in the same way, Basic Black pencil over the shadowed areas, followed by Pumpkin Pie and then Daffodil Delight. The leaves are from the Stippled Roses matching dies, using Basic Grey cardstock. In the background you will see some of the new Country Woods Designer Series Paper which is an absolute favourite from the new catalogue. I just loved colouring the roses for this card, it’s very relaxing and I am happy with how this one turned out. Hope you are having a crafty day or evening depending on where you are. Happy stamping, Chris
There is an AMAZING deal going right now, check out the image below, and if you have ever thought about join Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator, even if it’s just for the discount on products, now is a great time to do it. Send me a message if you live in Australia and would like to know more.
My card today features both retiring items, some that are staying on, and some that are in the new Annual Catalogue and not available until May.
My son is an avid sailor so the Let’s Set Sail stamp set with the matching Sailboat Builder punch was a bundle I had to have! But I am sad that it is retiring. It will be staying in my own personal stash though.
I’ve watercoloured the background behind the boat and used some of the new In Colors, Shy Shamrock, Summer Splash and just a touch of Peach Pie. The boat has been stamped in Shy Shamrock and some of the new Basic Beige. I’ve also used some Balmy Blue and Azure Afternoon ink for the watercolouring, along with a tiny touch of Starry Sky ink.
And behind the watercoloured panel is some of the new Lily Pond Lane Designer Series Paper which is also available in May in the new Catalogue – just one of many perks of being a demonstrator, we get to play with new goodies before they are released publicly.
I’ve been enjoying some quiet time recently while I recover from a nasty flu that took hold a few weeks ago. Sitting and colouring has helped to keep me occupied and creative. So now I’m putting together some cards and notebooks using the coloured images.
I decided to use the new Online Exclusive Designer Series Paper called Tartan Foil this week during my Facebook Live, as a background for a Christmas Card, and I’m very pleased with the result. The Tartan Foil comes in three colours, this one is Copper Clay, and also in Lost Lagoon and Pebble Path. Perhaps I will make similar cards in the other colours, too. The candles have been coloured using watercolour pencils and then some Wink of Stellar to add some shimmer and help the colours blend. Below is the youTube video of how I made the card. I did add some ribbon and some extra leaves after I finished the video.
You may have noticed that I love, love, love decorative masks, stencils and sponging, I love the look and the amount of different ways they can be used to create and decorate. I also love colouring. So my card today is a mixture of both of these. Cute little birdie, along with the branch and leaves from the Bird’s Eye View stamp set has been coloured with Watercolour Pencils before I used Wink of Stella to blend the colours and add a bit of sparkle. They have all been fussy cut and glued to the front of my card. And the strip of gorgeous Afternoon Azure colour down the left hand side has been masked off with Masking Paper and sponged with Blending Brushes before I added one of the Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks over the top, and sponged a little more, for some tone on tone colour to brighten the card up.
Below is the video of how I made the card.
The gorgeous Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks are new and now available in the Mini Catalogue, along with a stack of other new goodies, including Christmas products.
Make sure you head on over the The Crafty Addicts site to check out what the Design Team have created for this month.
Dot Dot Stamping Designs 