Spotlight on Spring

Another seasonal inspired card today, to go along with the current challenge at Craftin Round The World, this time Spring inspired, and I have featured the Spotlight on Nature stamp set and Dies for my card.

In the background is some of the Country Woods Designer Series Paper and I’ve also used the Fun Patterns embossing folders to create some texture.

The flowers and leaves have all been coloured with watercolour pencils and then fussy cut.
Yes, there’s a lot of fussy cutting there.
So what’s the trick to fussy cutting? (fussing cutting is cutting around an image using scissors rather than using a die to cut). The trick is to move the piece you are cutting, rather than moving your hand around the piece, so keep your scissors in one direction as much as possible, and move the piece of cardstock, paper or whatever else it might be. I’ve found that to do this successfully I need to keep the piece of cardstock as small as possible, so I usually do two cuts, one to reduce the size and then one around the image.
The other trick is to make sure your Paper Snips (scissors) are nice and sharp.
And I enjoy fussing cutting, I find it quite relaxing, a little like meditation.

Happy stamping, and happy crafting.
Chris

Inspired By A Song

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

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Stampin’ Up! Flowering Zinnias

I’m not sure about you but this gorgeous Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Paper is just beeeautiful!!

I apologise for again a huge gap in my posts, I’ve had a lot of trouble with internet and getting WordPress to behave, so I will keep this short and sweet.
It’s called the Flowering Zinnias Designer Series Paper and is one of the Online Exclusives. It doesn’t really need anything else, does it?
The creation of this set of four cards used one sheet of the paper and took just a few minutes.
You can purchase the Flower Zinnias DSP right here in my online store.

Colour Creations Stampin’Up! Bubble Bath

This week in our Colour Creations Blog Hop we are featuring the beautiful pale pink, Bubble Bath.

I have used some of the Bright and Beautiful Designer Series Paper for my background, a gorgeous ombre look, adhered to a thick Basic White cardbase. The reverse side of this sheet of DSP has bubbles in pink and if you look closely at the top where the very pale pink and white areas are, you can just see the bubbles from the reverse side – not intentional on my part, but I like the added dimension.

Over the Designer Series Paper, I have used various elements from the Gorgeously Made Dies, ( which I may be a little obsessed with at present), in Smoky Slate and Night of Navy, as well as Bubble Bath. The sentiment is from the Wildlife Wonder stamp set, stamped in Night of Navy ink.

Next along on our blog hop is Ros Davidson.

If at any time you find a broken link, please go to the blog of our Colour Creations host, Catherine Proctor, who will have a list of all of the participants in the Blog Hop.

Happy stamping, and happy hopping,
Chris

If you are in Australia and are interested in purchasing any of the items used in the project, you can click here to go straight to my online store, or click the items listed below.

Product List

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Alternatively, if you would like to scan the QR code using your device here it is.

And don’t forget the fantastic sale on Designer Series Paper, during June 2023.

Delightfully Eclectic Covered Notebooks

It’s been a very busy few days in our house with two different markets in different towns, along with all the preparation and travel that goes along with that, it makes for quite an exhausting few days.
We began doing market stalls as a way to sell my son’s beautiful woodturned items, and since I had to be there (as designated driver, since he hasn’t got his driver’s licence yet), and like to be there to support him, I thought I would try selling some of my own items.
And these covered notebooks have been the most popular items.

These notebooks have been covered with the Delightfully Eclectic Designer Series Paper, the large flowers fussy cut from it using my trusy Paper Snips, and that has been paired with some retired Dainty Flowers Designer Series Paper.
They are a great way to use up retired DSP as well as bits and pieces of all sorts of things, and they make lovely and useful gifts – great for customer gifts, there’s plenty of room for a long Wish List!

I hope you are having a lovely relaxing weekend, and getting some crafting time.
Happy stamping,
Chris

Delightfully Eclectic Designer Series Paper is on sale right now, and you can find it in my online store here.
You can browse the rest of the store here.
And don’t forget the fantastic special available if you would like to join Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator.

If you prefer to scan a QR Code with your device, here they are……



The Crafty Addicts Challenges – Colour Splash Card

The Crafty Addicts is back again this month with an open challenge, meaning we want to see any and all of your cards, there’s no restriction as to what you can use, just craft away and share with us.
My card for this month is one that was a bit of an experiment, I’m not too sure that I am happy with the colours, they are for a colour challenge, and I’m not sure I would normally put them together. But it’s always fun to play with colour.

I have used the Foursquare Decorative Masks and some Masking Paper. Each section has been masked, then coloured with ink and blending brushes. Then the masks removed and replaced to create a new area to sponge in a different colour. The circle mask I left there during that process of colouring the background. I’ve then simply used a ruler and black marker to draw the lines in between each colour.
It looks a whole lot more complicated that it really is. Masking is one of my favourite stamping techniques.
And just to add to all the masking going on, I decided to mask the sentiment which comes from the Sending Smiles stamp set, they are two different stamps, I’ve masked half of the strip of cardstock and stamped the word birthday, then masked over the stamped word, and stamped the word hugs.
The colours used are Azure Afternoon, Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lolly, Crushed Curry, and Flirty Flamingo.

Come on over to The Crafty Addicts challenge site where you can see what the rest of the Design Team have made this month. And do share your creations, we love to see what you’ve been crafting.
Happy stamping
Chris

You can click on the images below to go to my online store or click here, or if you prefer to use your device with the QR Code, you can find it below. Don’t forget about the amazing joining offer, if you live in Australia I would love to welcome you to my team, feel free to email or leave a comment if you would like more information.

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Bouquet of Pink Flowers

I’ve been finding different ways to use my Stampin’ Up! supplies recently, and different ways to help keep my business alive and thriving. And that has involved a lot of thinking, playing and experimenting, which is always fun!

I made this bouquet of pink Flowers as a gift, and uses mostly retired or retiring items.

The Gerberas are 5 layers of Polished Pink cardstock punched out using the retired set of Daisy punches. The small flowers were die cut from a small flower die out of the Pretty Pillowbox Dies, and rose is white cardstock which has been sponged with Polished Pink ink, and the petals all hand cut using a pattern of my own. Some Opal Rounds were used for the centres providing a touch of bling.

And I’m going to say ‘Happy Stamping’, even though there was no stamping at all.

Chris

Stampin’ Up! Crane of Fortune

Hello again and welcome back.
The Stampin’ Up! Crane of Fortune stamp set is the set I have used for my card today, in particular the pretty flower image.
I stamped the flower with Fresh Freesia ink, and then to add some vibrancy and intensity to the colour of the centre of the flower, I have added some Rich Razzleberry ink using a Blending Brush, just gently and with a very small amount of ink, but it makes that colour pop out just a little more.


In the background I have used a layer of the Sale-a-Bration Simply Marbleous Designer Series Paper, and one of the Heart and Home Doilies.
The sentiment is from another Sale-a-Bration item, the Special Moments stamp set.
My card was inspired by this week’s Just Add Ink sketch challenge.


Happy stamping!
Chris

Stampin’ Up! Calming Camellia

My card today features the beautiful Sale-a-Bration Host Stamp set, Calming Camellia, which I have stamped onto Crumb Cake cardstock with Night if Navy ink. Then using a Blender Pen I have coloured it with White ink on the petals, Old Olive on the leaves and Soft Suede on the stem.

I plan to make a set of these and some tags as well. They will make a beautiful gift.

I hope you are having a crafty Sunday!

Happy Stamping!

Chris

Product List
Blender Pens
[102845]
$21.00

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Playing with Colour

I don’t have a card to share with you today, I am spending the day at the lake while my son sails. And while he is, I am enjoying nature, listening to the beautiful Bellbirds, and enjoying this view.

And also playing with colour with some new images. I’m not sure what I will make with this yet but I will share the finished project soon.

Enjoy your day!

Happy stamping!

Chris