Go fly a kite

Today I am sharing two inspirational cards that I have made using the digi stamps from this month's progressive monthly digi stamp challenge from Imagine that digistamp.

As I took part in last month's challenge  I was sent this month's digi kit; Go fly a Kite, to use in this month's challenge. As I am not a colourist, I tend to choose the pre-coloured option and decoupage areas to add dimension where I choose to.

I think these digi stamps are really cute and like the inspirational sentiments. After just over a year of being in and out of lockdown, sending cards to say hi, how are you? seems to be on the increase again which is a great thing. 

It really doesn't cost a lot to put a smile on someone's face to show that you are thinking of them. It just takes a little more time out of your day to do something thoughtful for someone else, no matter how small, that could make a world of difference to them.

I used some papers from my stash and a little silver thread for my kites.  I remember flying kites when I was little, running what seemed like a half marathon to get the kite off the ground and then hanging on for dear life as it shot off like a catherine wheel in all directions...

Why not check out the Imagine that digistamp blog challenge and the inspiration from the other crafters that have joined in too. 

Have a great start to your week and enjoy your day whatever you have planned.

Happy Crafting.

Bee Kind Notecard

 Another little notecard to share today using a combination of digi stamps this time.

I decided to mix these digi stamps as I thought that this combo would make a lovely little card. For my 5.5 x 5.5 inch black card front I used these lovely design papers and flowers from the Honey Bear kit by Imagine that Digi Stamp. I love these daisies, which I have resized and added glossy accents to the centres.

For the centre of my card I have added the Bowbee digi stamps by Vera Lane Studios, which I have coloured with promarkers and added glossy accent to their eyes and wings

I also added this lovely proverb from the Honey Bear Kit. Words so significant for the times we live in and sometimes, a meaningful saying, words or proverb are just what you are looking for to finish your card.

I've added some 3mm gold pearls to finish my card and as much as I don't like to make the same card twice, I really do like this combo, so will probably have to change the design up a little if I do. Have a lovely day whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

    Daring Cardmakers Challenge - Let's Hear it for the Bees

Happy Bee Day

A little notecard to share today using one of the papers from the Honey Bear digi stamp kit from Imagine that Digi Stamp.

This is my favourite collection so far since the start of the progressive blog challenge and today I am only using a small part of the kit, as this was the paper that I originally did not get to use on both of my cards.

 For my notecard I used:-

• White 5.5 x 5.5inch card blank
• A layer of two-tone yellow card 
• Happy Bee day sentiment - Resized to form the topper for the card
• A mix of the pretty daisies 
• bumblebee die cuts by Tattered Lace
• A piece of lemon gingham ribbon
• gold pearls

I added glossy accent to the centre of the daisies and the tiny bumblebee wings on the sentiment, also adding sparkle to the honeycomb wording with my sparkle pen. I carried this sparkle through by edging the papers with it too.

I really love these daisies, they are so simple and yet so pretty, which makes them so perfect in my eyes and the fact that they can be resized makes mean that I can make them fit what I am crafting, especially as they also come not coloured too.

I added the extra bees as I wanted this notecard to be more of a sunny greeting card rather than a birthday card and as Kris adds these sentiments that are more interesting than the usual everyday ones, which gives you more to play with.

This little card has already gone off in the post, have a great day whatever you have planned for yourself.   

 Happy Crafting!

    Daring Cardmakers Challenge - Let's Hear it for the Bees                                                

Rosy Tea Party

A thank you card is my make to share today and this one is an adorable digi stamp for this month's progressive monthly digi stamp challenge from Imagine that digistamp.

As I took part in last month's challenge  I was sent this month's digi kit; Rosy Tea Party, to use in this month's challenge.

I really like the pre-coloured option to these digi kits and although I am only using one of the sentiments if you follow the link to Kris's website at Imagine that digistamp not only is there inspiration for her projects from herself and her design team but more info on her digi stamps and the contents of each kit.

I chose a 5.5 x5.5 inch white card base and thought the Crafters Companion Sweet Treats paper collection with matching rolled roses would go nicely with this adorable bunny digi stamp. I did have this beautiful card collection but for this project,  I just used the download of the month which can still be found under April 2018 at:- 

https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/page/download-of-the-month-2018/

I really like these sentiments too, they are not generic which is refreshing and fit the digi images in the kits perfectly. I also thought these papers complement my bunny topper perfectly too.

I used my pearlescent Dreamees dinky inkies in powder puff pink and planet green to ink around the edges of my cardstock and rolled roses, also highlighting the roses on the topper too.

I decided to add a few little leaves to my rolled roses using one of my punches as they looked a little bare without any foliage and some mint green pearls. 

It's been a lovely sunny Easter Spring weekend, but the snow flurries amid the sunshine that followed after have been a bit bizarre. I think we are all looking forward to seeing brighter skies. Have a good day, whatever your plans are. 

Happy Crafting!

Honey Bear

The project I am sharing today is part of the monthly progressive digi blog challenge with Imagine that digistamp.

As I took part in last month's challenge  I was sent this months digi pack the Honey Bear, to use in this months challenge.

I used my Tattered Lace hexagon nested pindot dies for my card base with two of the three design papers provided, creating a picture frame front for my honey bear image to sit comfortably into. I used the smallest hexagon die to make honeycomb embellishments on the edge of my card. I decoupaged the pre-coloured image of my bear to add a little dimension and used one of the sentiments, which I die cut into a tag. This sentiment is so cute.

One of the great things about digi images is that you can re-size them which makes them even more versatile when you are crafting. I resized these daisies, which I absolutely love and clustered them into 3s, which made them easier for me to cut out and position where I wanted them on my project.The other brilliant thing about them is that they can be coloured for you or left for you to add your own. I also used my favourite go-to product, glossy accent and used it on the honey, sentiment and flower centres.

I used the same bumblebee pattern design paper on the back of my card and thought that I'd also carry the design through to the inside also, where I used more of the sentiments. I added a few little flowers too.

For my second little card, I added the other pre-coloured honey bear image to the turquoise daisy design paper before I printed it out. I also enlarged these gorgeous daisies which I think would make really cool daisy chains and all sorts of other things too which is why I really like this particular really simple digi stamp.

Glossy Accent has also been added to the honey and the flower centres as well as a little shimmer added to the beehive too. The reason I really like the simplicity of flowers like this is that they are easier to cut out and layer up to make really pretty dimensional flowers like this.

This was my favourite sentiment from the pack that I was sent and one that I will definitely be using again in my projects. I added a few more flowers to the inside of the card to balance it out.

I didn't get to use one of the beautiful design papers from this collection but as there are so many elements that I will revisit for future projects, it will give me a good excuse to share another project soon.

Have a look at some of the inspiration Kris at Imagine That Digistamp and her design team have provided for her designs, along with the other crafters' contributions who have joined in this challenge to which are always really interesting to see.

Happy Crafting!

Birthday Bunny ATC cards

 A couple of ATC cards to share today which I made using this month's digi stamp free download from Imagine that digi stamp for their monthly progressive challenge.

This month with these adorable digi stamps, I decided to make some ATC cards, another one of those crafts I really enjoy doing and on my list to get back to making and swapping this year.

I coloured my image with some promarkers and shimmered the balloon, then layered it onto some coloured card with a top layer of sumi paper that had been heat embossed with a worded stamp (leftover from another project). A little ribbon behind the sentiment and a few gems.

For my second card, I used the pre coloured digi image and added the extra pre coloured circle discs which i reduced in size. I added enough glossy accent to these to make them dome an set  into embellishments and was really happy with how they turned out.

I could have made a birthday card with cute little digi stamps but decided on an alternative by making these ATC cards and now these cards are ready for me to send, swap or make some more.

Happy Crafting

Falling leaves card

 A simple little card to share today which can be used for a birthday or even a just because card, an excuse to stay in touch, brighten someone's day with some unexpected post, especially for those struggling with staying at home in order to stay safe.

So,  for my little card, I used some simple little leaf digi images and the easiest way to get a more natural on these leaves is to smoosh a bit of Tim Holtz distress oxides with a spritz of water, which is exactly what I did here.

 I used wild honey, lucky clover and frayed burlap and after covering the leaves in one pass, I dried them off with my heat gun. I have to say I am really impressed with the paper that I've been using that was recommended to me, it holds the ink really well considering that it is only 120gsm. I've also been using it to make my flowers too.  I purchased a ream of this Navigator paper (orange wrapper - for colour documents) from Wilkos for £4.99. definitely worth a try and good for your charisma die cuts too.

 I made a 6x6 card from kraft card and added a topper in burnt orange and olive green before added a few of my leaves on top. I will save the rest of my leaves for another project. I added a piece of hessian ribbon and a button.

A little sentiment from one of my Dreamees stamps with I mounted on some co-ordinating card and a few gold pearls to finish my card off.

I had been looking for a big leaf stamp to make a card like this but found that these digi stamps worked out much better as they can be resized.  I'm really loving Autumnal leaves at the moment, so have a few more cards in mind to do.

Enjoy your day, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy crafting

Added to ITD - Ribbons&Bows challenge

Panda Love Drops cookie box

 It started cold snowy out there today and it always looks so pretty as long as you are inside in the warm especially as I am not a lover of the cold weather.

Today I am sharing a cookie box, made with card and decorated using a digi stamp download, to put my homemade shortbread for a gift.

I have used this adorable Panda Love Drops digi stamp set along with the design papers and one of the sentiments from the set for this month's digi stamps from the Imagine that digi stamp monthly progressive challenge.

I decided to die cut a pre-coloured digi image into a heart shape and then a decoupaged one on top that I had also fussy cut around which was easier than I had anticipated. I used glossy accent on the hearts, panda eyes and more importantly the umbrella long handle, which made it a lot easier to cut around the curved umbrella handle when dry. I even managed to decoupage it.

For my cookie box, I used quite a simple template to follow from Crafters Companion using the Ultimate Pro box board. I have used this template quite a lot and you can make this box from an A4 piece of card. The instructions for the box can be found on their website and they even have pictures too which is also a bonus. Just click on the link below:- 

https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/page/2015/12/06/tutorial-mini-pizza-box/

I used the umbrella design paper to make the panels for my box, the heart design paper for the 2nd layer heart and tag, saving the worded red design paper for the top tag and the die cut border lace edge on my box.  I also added one of the sentiments from the digi set to my tag.

The dies I used on my project were; a mini tag by Xcut, Xcut heart dies and a border die from the beautiful babysuns by the Dreamees. I also wanted to see if I could utilise as much of this digi set as possible, so I used glossy accent on the hearts..... which, I did have help to cut out and these made wonderful little heart gems!

I did, however, make the shortbread to go in the box, as well as cut out the little confetti hearts I printed onto tissue paper using the heart design paper. I thought I would look nice as a liner for the shortbread to sit in the box. The tissue paper was printed on a draft setting as I didn't need a lot of ink for this.

This is such an adorable digi set and I've really enjoyed this one. The papers are so pretty too. When I first started this challenge, I thought that I might struggle as I'm not a colourist but the good thing with digi images is that they are resizable, which makes them so much more adaptable for your projects and they never run out.

Kris has created some lovely digi designs and I still have my gnomes to use yet, which I am really looking forward to creating with.

Time for a cuppa I think! Enjoy the rest of your day.

Happy Crafting