Special Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I've been having internet problems so this post is almost one week too late... But better late than never! :) We have a special surprise color challenge for you at Inkspirational: we are celebrating our DT member Pia  who is getting married this weekend! We are sponsored by Clearly Besotted Stamps and this is how you can win in the draw: 

For ONE entry:  Make a card for our colour challenge , featuring the colour purple

For a SECOND entry: make a card that has BOTH purple AND a love/wedding theme.
The main feature of my card for Pia is white card which I embossed with a heart embossing folder I have. I think it's quite elegant and suitable for weddings! The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted Stamps and came with a stamp set with a crafting magazine. I used some ribbon and gems to embellish the card.

Congratulations Pia !

I hope to see you all playing at Inkspirational and celebrating Pia's wonderful day!

ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop Day 3!

Hi guys!

We are having some stencil fun at STAMPlorations with a 5 days long blog hop! I'd love you to leave a comment on this post, the STAMPlorations blog and my fellow designers blogs! You'll find all the links to the blogs participating in the stencil blog, along with all the prize info, from STAMPlorations blog. The commenting closes on 29th of June and the winners are announced on the 1st of June. 

In my card I've used a beautiful stencil called Flutterby

I've sponged some of the butterflies to a softly patterned designer paper and combined the panel with other designer papers for a sort of shabby chic card. The sentiment is from an older STAMPlorations set:

VIGNETTE: Art Deco Builders

Hope you like! Now check out what the rest of the team made here. 

ARTplorations Stencil Hop Day 2!

Hi guys!

We are having some stencil fun at STAMPlorations with a 5 days long blog hop! I'd love you to leave a comment on this post, the STAMPlorations blog and my fellow designers blogs! You'll find all the links to the blogs participating in the stencil blog, along with all the prize info, from STAMPlorations blog. The commenting closes on 29th of June and the winners are announced on the 1st of June. 

In my card I've used 2 ARTplorations stencils: 

Christmas Reindeer

and

Oh My Stars

The sentiment comes from a set called Noteworthy

This card is super simple: just sponging and stamping. :) Hope you like! Now check out what the rest of the team made here.  

ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop Day 1

Hi guys!

We are having some stencil fun at STAMPlorations with a 5 days long blog hop! I'd love you to leave a comment on this post, the STAMPlorations blog and my fellow designers blogs! You'll find all the links to the blogs participating in the stencil blog, along with all the prize info, from STAMPlorations blog. The commenting closes on 29th of June and the winners are announced on the 1st of June. 

In my card I've used a stencil called Confetti Circles. I've sponged Versamark ink through the stencil on a stripy designer paper, removed the stencil and heat embossed the stenciled design with white powder. My sentiment comes from a set called Fond Expressions. Hope you like! Now check out what the rest of the team made! You'll find links to all our projects here.

New Sketch at STAMPlorations!

Hi friends!

Time for a new sketch challenge at STAMPlorations. Click here for all the details of the challenge -you'll find very inspiring DT projects there too! Our guest designer this time is Carol Mayne: a fantastic card makes and a very, very nice lady! She made a super fun grungy card for this challenge. Don't miss it!

My interpretation of the sketch is a bit simplified -and turned also. :) I used a grass/flower diecut (the card I used for die cutting was glossy card I had previously stained with alcohol inks), an ombre designer paper for background where I had stamped some cute butterflies from Trendy Butterflies stamp set. The sentiment, heat embossed with white powder, comes from a set called Fond Expressions. Hope you like and see you at STAMPlorations! 

Happy Birthday Sandie!!

Hi friends...

...and one friend especially! Happy birthday my dear Sandie -not only a fun blogger buddy but a great, great friend in real life too! We'll meet again in just about a month -I'm visiting Sandie in London for the second time. That's not all -Sandie and her husband Callum will spend the next Christmas in Finland at my place! So as you see guys... Sandie is a GOOD friend. Always there for me, helping me during difficult times... And always available for more lighter, crafty chats as well! I hope you'll all join Sandie's Birthday linky party here . If you don't know Sandie yet, please visit her blog London Days : you'll be very inspired of her CAS designs.

My card photo is awful but I couldn't re-do it -the card was already on it's way towards London! IRL the card is quite pretty: I've made a clean and simple design using a large flower stencil with inks and Wink of Stella. The sentiment is heat embossed and the designer paper has a lovely ombre look. Fingers crossed the postman has done his job and Sandie has received her card on time!

Happy Birthday Sandie! Love you. xxx

New Challenge at TIME OUT!

Hi friends!

We have a new challenge for you at TIME OUT! It's

Grunge with the optional twist of Embossing

You can use any kind of embossing that you want.

What does 'Grunge' mean for us papercrafters??

Grunge is characterized by distressed, worn-out elements and the use of subtle
or earthy colours. Think torn edges, textured backgrounds, 'dirty' appearance, splatters, stains, even hand-drawn lines. That said, grunge doesn't always mean
"dirty" or subdued colours. A card can have subtle grunge elements in light or soft ink 
and yet still look clean and simple. Just think of grunge as the
opposite of "polished". 

We are sponsored by STAMPlorations:

There's two 10 $ coupons on offer. 

This time our Guest Designer is Ksenija. I hope you'll check out her project and the cards of our regular DT members from the challenge blog! 

In my card I've used stamps by STAMPlorations:

VIGNETTE: Celebrate Artsy

Fond Expressions

My card consists of simple stamping, a strip of designer paper and some twine. Hope you like and see you at  TIME OUT!

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

It's time for a new challenge at Inkspirational. I'm glad to be back joining the DT again after my break for a couple of months! Here's the challenge this time:

Recipe - Use at least 3 of these 4 elements:

 Distressing, Flowers, Embossing, Pearls

I chose Flowers, Embossing and Pearls and used a Sheena Douglas stamp I've got for free with a crafting mag. My design is inspired by the cards shown in the magazine: I simply sponged the background with Distress Inks, stamped the image in black and then stamped it again with Versamark and heat embossed with gold powder. The panel is matted on gold card and I added pearls to embellish the flowers. Hope you like! The strip of white card with the sentiment does not please my eye... But I messed up the sentiment I stamped straight to the panel. :)

Please have a look at all the rest of the DT cards (Inkspirational has the most fantastic DT!!) here  and I hope to see you playing along. 

New Challenge at One Layer Christmas Card Challenges!

Hi guys!

Yesterday I returned to blogland after a two months break and today I'm here again! :) Above is my DT card for One Layer Christmas Card Challenge 9 which has just begun. Our challenges are anything one layer goes, but if you want to have a chance to win a prize, do use the twist: Angels. Plenty of DT inspiration in the challenge blog!

I went through my Christmas stamps and found 2 stamps with angels... But when I tried to make a card with them the results were not pretty! I decided to abandon the twist then and took out one of my favorite sets from last Christmas. My card is super simple: some two-tone stamping, little inking on the edges, a Finnish Christmas sentiment and Wink of Stella on all the leaves. 

Please click here for all the challenge details and prize info. I hope to see you playing along!

New Sketch at STAMPlorations!

Hi friends!

I think it's nearly two months from my last post... But now I'm back and you are not getting rid of me for a while! ;) It's very fun to start the DT "work" again with STAMPlorations Sketch Challenge #33. I love how the challenge DT girls have used STAMPlorations stamps and we have talented a guest too:

Monika Reeck

Monika is a very sweet girl and makes great, great cards -do pop by her blog!

In my card I've used two stamp sets:

Blossom Overture and Subway Art Builders: Dare

I've colored the rose with Copics and heat embossed the sentiment with white powder. This turned out super-girly I think. :)

Please click here for all the challenge and prize info and I hope to see you playing along!