CASE Sandie + DT Call at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!
A new challenge has just seen daylight at Inkspirational and it's very much to my liking: we ask you to CASE my very good blogging friend Sandie. Her blog London Days is filled with inspiration to choose from... Or you can choose to CASE one of the 4 cards we've pre-selected for you, see all those cards here. I CASEd one of the example cards because I wanted to try Sandie's layout with score lines and bold sentiment. The score lines don't show very well in the photo but they are there. :) I also rounded the corners because that's something I think Sandie likes to do quite often! The Papertrey Ink flower is colored in with Copics and white gel pen. The sentiment is Finnish and means Happy Easter. Only one rhinestone embellishes the card -Sandie is a CAS girl and this card is for her honour! I hope to see you all joining us at Inkspirational CASEing her! We offer GDT spots for our winners -this time Sandie (yes, Sandie but not Sandie!) is joining us as our GDT. Happy crafting!

Home Sweet Home at TIME OUT Challenges!

Hello friends!
There's a new challenge for you at TIME OUT Challenges! We truly enjoyed our first ever challenge and had a lot of  fun going through the entries. Now it's time for Home Sweet Home Challenge -photo inspiration with a homely twist! Our inspiration images gain influence from home decor but you may interpret them the way you want. I think that bed with those beautiful linen looks very inviting -I'd want to jump in and enjoy waking up into a sunny spring morning! :)

I chose the butterflies, the colors and the white space as my starting point. I also wanted to join the current Less Is More: 3 of something and that inspired my layout. I think I haven't missed any LIM Challenges this year! :) I used Copics to color in my butterflies, added dots with white gel pen and finished the images with Stickles. They have lovely sparkle!

There's beautiful DT samples in the challenge blog so I hope you'll now head to check them out! After that... Take TIME OUT and join us! You have almost 2 weeks to link up your projects. Happy crafting!

Surprise!!! Happy Birthday Maria!

Hi there!

My STAMPlorations DT-friend Maria is celebrating her 50th birthday today and Shirley is throwing her a surprise birthday linky party! Happy birthday Maria! I hope you will have a great day. :) If you haven't visited Maria's blog Rieslingmama you are in for a treat -go and have a look! The birthday linky is in Shirley's blog: you have plenty of time to enter your cards if you want to congratulate Maria also. Thank you Shirley for creating this fun happening! :)

Since Maria and me are both in STAMPlorations DT I thought STAMPlorations stamps would be perfect for her card -I used the Eclectic Florals and Chevron and Arrows. I've been taking the Online Card Class on one layer cards and I put some of my new skills to good use here. It was very fun to stamp the flower border! I heat embossed the sentiment with gold and added gold, glittery sequins for some birthday bling!

Have a great day everyone and don't forget to visit Maria and leave her some birthday love!

Chicks!

Hello friends!
Despite the look of this card I was not on acid or on anything else either when making the color choices... Deepti Stephens used such a great sentiment in one of her cards lately, "Dance to your own music" -I think I was definitely dancing to my own music when making this and so are these chicks! :)

The stamps I used are from the newest set from Avocado Arts. I've stamped with Memento Inks -the flower and grass are just stamped but the chicks are colored in with Copics. I found a nice new combo for yellow: yr31, y35, yr12 and yr14. I don't have that many yellows and I've had trouble finding good combinations before. I also used white gel pen to highlight the faux stitching in the stamped tulip and grass. "Kevätterkut" is Finnish for "Spring Wishes".

Now that I continue looking at this I think the chicks might be on acid... There's fumes coming out of their heads and everything! Sorry about that. :)  I'd better end this post before things get too crazy. Have a great weekend and thanks for popping by!

Dancing in the Rain Reminder!

Good morning guys!
Just a quick post before heading to work... I'd like to remind you of our current TIME OUT Challenge with the inspiration phrase "Dancing in the Rain". You may interpret this how you want! My take on the inspiration phrase this time is a bit out there, I know... But I've used a color scheme with spring colors -it rains a lot during spring, doesn't it! The blue especially makes me think of rain. As you know, word inspiration challenges don't have to be so literal -let your creativity flow! :)

I've used vellum and Copics for the background of my card. This is one of the techniques I've been learning in Online Card Classes Clean and Simple 3. I stamped the cute birds for interest and added an Easter greeting in Finnish. Super simple! Thanks for popping by... And don't forget to take TIME OUT and join us here!

I'd like to enter:
http://addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.fi/ Make Your Mark

Belated Birthday Party for Anita!

Hi friends!
This card is for Anita, a very talented paper crafter known from her blog My Papercraft World. She makes very joyful and beautiful CAS cards so if you don't know her yet, I hope you'll check out her blog asap! :) The rumor says Anita was celebrating her birthday the 18th of February... Which is a perfect reason to surprise her on 18th of March! Belated Birthday Wishes, Anita! There's a bunch of card makers congratulating Anita and you can take part too -there's a linky you can enter here .

I used some techniques I've just learned in Online Card Classes: Clean and Simple 3 for creating Anita's card. This one layer design was achieved with masks, a stencil and some Distress Inks. This is the first homework card I've had time to make and I hope I'll soon have time for more -the class is amazing!

I'd like to enter my card to:
http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.fi/ Masking/Stenciling
http://theshabbytearoom.blogspot.fi/2014/03/week-210-anything-goes.html Anything Goes
http://cleanandsimpleonsunday.blogspot.fi/2014/03/challenge-29-one-layer-wonder.html One Layer

I hope you'll now visit Anita and leave her some love... And check out The Belated Birthday Party Linky, maybe you'll want to join in! :)

Sketch Challenge at STAMPlorations!

Hi friends!
The second sketch challenge of March has just begun at STAMPlorations. Are you already familiar with how our challenges work? We have a monthly challenge (March challenge with spring-theme here) and 2 sketch challenges every month. All challenges have individual prizes + there's an extra prize for grabs for those who play along in all 3 challenges -this time it's a beautiful collection of washi tape (photo below). Many, many chances to win at STAMPlorations every month! :)

In my DT card I've used stamps from PATCHWORK FRENZY: Graphic Squares and VIGNETTE: Chevron and Arrows (sentiment). It was super fun to stamp the squares with various Memento Inks and then stamp the faux stitching on top. Very relaxing crafty time! I added a big flower and some ribbon strips for embellishments. The sentiment is embossed with white powder. I hope you'll now head on over to our challenge blog for checking out the rest of the DT cards -you'll love what you see. :) Thanks for popping by and happy crafting!

Photo Inkspiration at Inkspirational Challenges!

Hi guys!
Time flies... Another fortnight has gone by and it's time for a new challenge at Inkspirational Challenges: a very fun inspiration photo! I  had to settle for a quick-make this time but it ended up being a quite cute card. I created the background with neon colored washi tape and heat embossed the floral image with white powder on top of the washi -I wanted to experiment if this would work and it did -no fire or anything! ;) My starting points were obviously the neon colors but also friendship (those sheep look like a friendly bunch!) and nature. How will you interpret the photo, what will you create? I can't wait to find out! Join us in the fun at Inkspirational Challenges. For Inkspiration from the regular DT + our very creative and artsy GDT Gerrina, click here. Have a fun weekend!

First Ever Challenge at TIME OUT Challenges!

Hi friends!

The day has finally come... First challenge at TIME OUT Challenges is now up and running! We start with our Inspired by Words-challenge at this time we get inspired of the phrase 

Dancing in the Rain

To celebrate our first ever challenge we have 2 fab sponsors:

Avocado Arts

Make the Day Special

Check out all the details in our challenge blog.

I couldn't resist on making two cards for our first challenge! My first card with the happy chick jumping in water uses stamps from Avocado Arts -I'm a stamp club member and the Sassy Chic set is the set for March. Such a fun set! There's amazing free postage + free stamps offers going on at  Avocado Arts at the moment, check them out! 

My second card uses the beautiful dancing couple silhouette from STAMPlorations set VIGNETTE: Ever After. I've also stamped some Mr. & Mrs- texts to the background (from Avocado Arts) but they show really poorly in the photo. I used patterned paper strips + small die cut hearts to embellish the card.

Our fab, fab, fab!! DT has created great cards for your inspiration, I hope you'll check them out and then play along here. You'll have one fortnight -I can't wait to see what you create! Take TIME OUT and craft, friends. ;)

I'd like to enter the Dancing Couple-card to Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes and my Chick card to Make it Monday: Anything Goes, Created with Love: Think Spring and Craft Your Passions: Young at Heart.

Spring Flowers

Hi guys,
just a quick post to share my card for this week's Less Is More: One Layer Card with the theme Spring Flowers. I used stamps from brand new Sassy Chic set from Avocado Arts, it's a fun set with cute style, great for CAS and coloring in. By the way I just noticed Avocado Arts is having free shipping WORLDWIDE until the end of March -tempting!!! There's many older sets I like and maybe now have to order... :) Anyways, I used Copics to color in the images and added some white gel pen to the flower too. The sentiment is heat embossed, I wanted it to really pop up from the card. That's all from me now, have a great week everyone!

Happy International Women's Day!

Well well...
My first week of NOT being in the Design Team of Addicted to Stamps and More and I'm playing along right away... But how could I resist a fab challenge like this?!? Hello dear ATSM Girls! :)

Happy International Women's Day, everyone! I think the Kenny K flapper girl in my card is so fun and girly that this was a great image to use for this theme. My coloring is done with Copics. No embellies in this card, just some beautiful DP given to me by talented crafty friend Milla. Sentiment is by Fresh Squeezed Stamps.

I'd also like to enter:
http://kennykskraftykrew.blogspot.fi/ Anything Goes

Enjoy your day and thanks for popping by!

Spring Challenge at STAMPlorations!

Hi friends!
Before I had time to really notice it, February was gone... The good news is that March is here with a feel of spring (well, at least at some locations in the world...) and at STAMPlorations Challenge Blog we celebrate this with a Stamps & Spring challenge as our monthly theme. We also have a sketch challenge running here and there will be another sketch challenge later this month -if you participate in all 3 STAMPlorations challenges in March you could win the washi tape prize pack below! Not to mention the stamp & digi products for grabs in the challenges... Do play along!

In my spring card I've used stamps from VIGNETTE Eclectic Florals (the flower stamp) , Distressed Floral Swirls I (the leafy border) and  Art Deco Border Builders (the sentiment). I quite love the one-layer CAS look I achieved here! The leaves are colored in with Copics and I added half-pearls as little accents. The card is on it's way to cheer up a friend and I do hope she will like it. ;) 

I hope you'll now go and check the other spring themed projects by the fabulous STAMPlorations DT here. Remember that stamps from all companies along with all styles are welcome to STAMPlorations! Happy crafting!

I'd like to enter:
http://thecraftingcafe.blogspot.fi/ CAS
http://craftingforallseasons.blogspot.fi/ Spring
http://rubysrainbow.blogspot.fi/ Green + one color
http://twistedtuesdaychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ Clean + Green
http://stampandcreateblog.blogspot.fi/ Ready for Spring

MOM!

Hello friends!
This is a surprising card for me... It includes water coloring! Well, at least making a background with water coloring. :) I created the gradient look with 1 green and 3 different blue Disteress Inks -I tapped some ink to an acrylic block and took the color with my water color brush. I'm stunned of how well this worked -it must be the DI:s -I've never succeeded this well with water color pencils. I believe my card qualifies for Virginia's fab challenge in her new challenge blog Virginia's View. Congratulations on your new blog, Virginia!

Are you admiring the stamped sentiment collage I've embossed with white? It's from a brand new STAMPlorations line called Subway Art Builders and the first set concentrates on the words and sentiments around the theme Mother. Check out the image below! The 5 sets are now on pre-release sale: if you order them before March 13th (the stamps are officially released March 14th) you'll get them with a 30 % discount: only 24.50 $ for all 5 sets (regular prize 35 $ for all 5 sets)! Read all about the offer and place your order here.

Apart from the water coloring and heat embossing my card is very straight-forward: some designer paper, a doily and punched flowers. I quite like how the very traditional elements look fresh with this contemporary stamp design and water colored background.

Before I wish you all a fun weekend I hope you'll pop by at TIME OUT Challenges: the second group of DT ladies is being introduced there today. It's only one week before the challenges start... I'm ready to take TIME OUT and craft! ;)

I'd also like to enter:
http://www.lovesrubberstampschallenges.com/ Anything Goes
http://cardmaniachallenges.blogspot.fi/ Use a Sentiment
http://lexiscreations.blogspot.fi/ Mother's Day

Green and Yellow

Hi friends!
Here's my take on this week's Less Is More: Green and Yellow. Such a pretty color combo with a spring feel! I played with my new Papertrey Ink stamps and was also inspired by a layout in PTI's March Signature Sketches so I'm linking my card to PTI March Inspiration Archive. I stamped the Doodlie-Do flower three times: left one flowers as a base and fuzzy cut the upper two layers from the two other flowers. My coloring is done with Copics (y15, y17, y38) and I also added white gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from STAMPlorations Vignette: Art Deco Border Builders. That's if from me now... Thanks for popping by!

I'd also like to enter:
http://cleanandsimpleonsunday.blogspot.fi/2014/03/challenge-28-color-me-pretty.html Color me pretty
http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.fi/ Thinking of Spring (my 2nd entry)

New Sketch Challenge at STAMPlorations!

Hi stampers!
Can you believe it, it's March already... That means a new round of challenges at STAMPlorations! We start with Sketch 7, one of my new favorite layouts! Shery uses this often and now that I've done a card with it myself, I think it won't take long before I'll make another one! The stamps that I used in my card come from Art Deco Border Builders and VIGNETTE: Ever After sets. I used my Copics to add some color to the stamped border and embellished the card with black half pearls. I think this is maybe quite dark for a wedding card but it was fun to try a bit different color scheme than usually!

So, March... We are looking at 3 challenges at STAMPlorations. Every challenge will have a winner with prizes but that's not all, there's the twist too: if you play along in all 3 challenges you have a chance to win the surprise prize pack and in March it looks like this:

That's 60 metres of washi for you! :) I hope you'll play along in all our challenges. Our DT is super talented so if you need more inspiration on how to work with the sketch, simply click here. Happy crafting!

I'd like to enter:
http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.fi/ Vintage
http://eclecticellapu.blogspot.co.uk/ Vintage

Color Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!
We have a new challenge for you at Inkspirational Challenges: a color trio of purple, green and white. Use all three colors or pick just two! You may use any shades of your chosen color... And add black + realistic colors for skin, hair and fur. :)

I made this card using my new Doodlie-do stamps from Papertrey Ink. It's a big set with many different floral images with very cute style. I also used a stripe stamp from Super Stripes. My coloring is done with some blue and red violet- Copics and I think I even might remember the green combo by heart... Maybe YG3, YG6 and YG63. Just maybe. :) I added some white gel pen to the flowers too.

We are happy to have a guest designer at Inkspirational this time: Cathy. She has a very elegant card making style, I hope you'll pay her a visit! The DT members at Inkspirational have done very inspiring cards too -do head on over to our challenge blog and check them out! Happy crafting!

I'd like to enter he following challenges:

http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.fi/ Thinking of spring (colors, flowers and a mention of sunshine in the sentiment!
http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.fi/ Keep it simple
http://stampinroyalty.blogspot.fi/ CAS