Having a pop at Pop Up...

Hi there,

Well, today has been one of those frustrating days where nothing seems to turn out right!  I wanted to make a card to play along with the current Lawnscaping Challenge, where this time round, the theme is, 'Try A New Technique'.  I love the recent trend that's emerging for cute 'pop up' cards, and hadn't tried my hand at it yet, so thought I'd give it a blast.

And here's where it took me...

I had recently bought the Mama Elephant's 'Pop Up Trio' die, so used that, along with Lawn Fawn's gorgeous 'Whale You Be Mine' set.  I also used the cloud die from Mama Elephant's 'Landscape Trio' set, to create my waves.  

Using the cloud die, I die cut one piece of watercolour card into many sections, (the idea being to create many waves and a sunset) and water colour washed each part in different Distress Inks, cutting and colouring an extra 'wave' at the same time to use as my first layer.  Now I don't know why, I think it may have been due to the wave I wanted to 'Pop Up' as my first layer, but for some reason, everything got a little confusing when I came to die-cutting the 'Pop Up' parts to get it to work.  I had to add little tabs to get my Whales to sit at the height I wanted them, and everything got a little, shall we say, 'testing'!  But hey ho, the challenge was all about trying something new, so I should have expected a bumpy road!  I eventually ended up some where close to what I pictured when the idea for this card popped in my head.  I watercolour washed a scrap of card in Picked Raspberry Distress Ink and cut Lawn Fawn's 'Tiny Hearts' from it to embellish with, and then stamped out my sentiment from the same 'Whale You Be Mine' set in black ink.  I also gave my whole piece a spritz of 'white', and a spritz of 'shine' spray, to make it glisten like water.

I then took another piece of card the same size, as a cover, and washed this piece in Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink to match the sunset on the inside.  I stamped one of Lawn Fawn's 'Flirty Frames' on the cover, adding only dots to it, so that all the excitement is kept hidden inside!

And there you have it, a very not perfect Pop Up card!  ...And if you made it to the end of this post, you deserve a medal! Haha.

I hope you like it.

Jillxxx

The Love Cats...

Hi everyone,

Jill here, hope you are all well.

Today I'd like to share a clean and simple card I made using the irresistibly cute 'Smart Kitty' set from WPlus9...

Now I'll be honest, I'm straight up, through and through, well and truly, an 'all about the dog' kinda gal!  I've got a little Yorkshire Terrier who I am pretty much obsessed with, and will happily cross a road if it means getting to pet a little cute pooch!  But oh my word, the minute I set eyes on this set I fell in love with these gorgeous little Kitty's and just HAD to have them!  The expressions on their little faces though...they are just adorable.  And here's my finished card...

I love this set, you get so many little extra stamps to use as props to help build up your scene.  It makes it so versatile, and makes it easy to mix and match with stamps you may already have to create just the right message.  

I stamped out my scene, masking as I went, and coloured using alcohol markers.  I wanted to keep everything clean and simple, so the love story of the little boy lovingly staring up at his sweetheart could take centre stage...it's so easy to get carried away with these sets, I always end up with a whole story in my head, I mean, I've pretty much got these two little cuties married off :)  The little love hearts are heat embossed, and I added a splash of matching colour to my sentiment, for added interest.  I added the little girls bow, also from the 'Smart Kitty' set, for a hint of dimension, and there you have it.

As always, everything I used is linked below so make sure to have a quick click and see what story you could tell!

See you soon.

Jill

Bejewelled Butterflies...

Hi everybody,

Hope you are all well.

I've got some simple water colouring I'd like to share with you today...

Now, if I had to, (like really really really had to), choose a favourite technique, I think I would have to choose watercolour, (I'm so sorry inks, pens, papers, powders - you are all beautiful and I love you all very much!).  I just love the simplicity, the naivety, and how calming and enjoyable it is to do.  You don't have to be a master artist, just have fun and enjoy the process.  

I chose to use the stunning 'Bejeweled' set from Altenew for my card.  The loose, cool, stylised design screams out watercolour, and inspired me to keep it clean and fresh by using only a couple of colours.  I used Spectrum Aqua pens to paint my beautiful butterflies, but there's so many options when it comes to watercolour, we're spoilt for choice! I stamped both butterflies off the page, in Versamark Ink, heat embossed in white powder, and added my colour.  My sentiment is from the same 'Bejeweled' set, and is stamped out in the same two colours I used on my butterflies, mixed on the stamp, and spritzed with water to carry the laid-back theme through.  

I hope this has made you wanna go get your paints out - go on...you deserve a little 'you time' :)

As always, everything I used is linked below, so click over to the store and check out all the gorgeous Altenew designs!

See you next week.

Jillx

Pretty setimental...

Hi everybody,

I'd like to share a card I made for the current challenges going on over at the delightful, Mama Elepehant, (which is now hosted via Flickr), and the awesome Simon Say Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog.

And here it is -

  

*Brag Alert* ...I was lucky enough to win the last Mama Elephant Flickr Challenge, which I was so thrilled about!  The challenge this time is to 'Make Me Say "Ooh That's Pretty', and the Simon Says Stamp Challenge is 'Let's get sentimental'.  I instantly had an idea in my head that I wanted to create a kind of Pinterest inspired 'Inspirational quote' poster/print kind of vibe, (you know the sort), and I thought the Bokeh effect would work perfect so went with that. 

I used Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, Spiced Marmalade, and Fossilised Amber Distress Inks to make up my background.  I then die cut several sized circles from a piece of weighty cardstock, creating my own stencil, and blended white ink over the top, going from large to small circles, increasing the depth of the ink as I went.  Once I was happy with my panel, I stamped out my sentiment using Mama Elephant's 'splendid' set, in Versmark Ink, and heat embossed in white powder.

Like I say, I wanted my card to look like a print or a poster, so kept embellishments simple by adding a scattering of sequins, and some glossy accents to create pretty clear pearls, or little dew drops as I like to see them.

I adhered my panel to a beautiful Pool coloured Avery Elle notecard, and there you have it...'a pretty sentiment'.  I really hope you like it and would love to read your comments.

See you soon.

Jillx

Better with Special friends...

Hi everybody,

Here's my second post for the awesome Make The Day Special Blog.  I still can't believe I'm part of their amazing Design Team! Unreal chuffed :)  And here's my post...


Today I'm sharing a card I have made using the 'oh-soooo cute' Mama Elephant's, 'Ella & Friends'.

I fell in love with this set the second my eyes caught sight of it.  It feels like Elephants are everywhere at the moment, and I've gotta say - Ella is by far my favourite!  But you know what, it's Ella's friends who really make my heart skip a beat.  I just LOVE them, and can picture using them in so many different ways.  And here's my card -

  I love how sweet and naive the images in the Ella set are, and wanted to carry that theme through my card.  So, after stamping out my scene, I coloured it using Spectrum Noir pencils.  As I said, the little critters are my true stars, so I stamped Ella off the page to make them the main focus.  Once I'd finished colouring, I stamped out my sentiment, from the same set, in black ink and clear heat embossed.  To keep my card sweet and simple, I added only a little detail beneath my scene using Paper Smooches 'Dots and Dashes' die, and embellished using only a couple of clear gems to incorporate the bubble fun!  

I mounted onto an Avery Elle Notecard, from the Midnight Collection, in a beautiful smoky grey, off-setting it to one corner.  And there you have it.  A sweet and simple little scene using the cutest critters around!

I really hope you like it.  Everything I used is linked below so make you go have a peek!

See you next week.

Jillx

               

A dream come true...

Hi everybody,

Well, well, well ... I have got the best news ever to share (well, for me!) - I have been asked to join the Design Team over at my favourite place on The Internet....Make the Day Special!  I can't believe it, I am such a megafan of their blog, and their shop - oh my oh my - I think I own half of it haha.  Pretty much my full stamp collection is from there - Tara who runs it (amazingly well, and all on her own I might add!), has THE best taste, and the prices are unreal amazing.  Yes, I'm gushing, but i really really love it!!!  So I obviously wanted to share my very first post here as well - and here it is :)
...

Jill here.  I can't tell you how pleased I am to be part of this amazing and talented team, it really is a dream come true.  I only hope I do you guys, and all the awesome products we all love, justice!

So, without further ado,  here's a sneak peek at my first offering...

Deciding what to do for my first post was such a tough decision!  I came to the conclusion that the best way to introduce myself was to stick to a couple of my, (and hopefully your) favourite things - Mama Elephant and watercolouring!

I used Mama Elephant's 'In My Heart' set, Lawn Fawn's 'Grassy Border', and 'Spring Showers' dies and a whole lot of watercolour, to create my bright Springtime scene.  

I die cut my back panel into several pieces, giving each piece a watercolour wash using Distress Inks, and pieced it back together so it remained in one layer.  My little cutie patooties from the 'In My Heart' set, are watercoloured, again using Distress Inks, fussy cut, and added to the front of my card using foam adhesive to really make them 'pop' off the page.  I stamped out my sentiment direct onto my card, and heat embossed using a Black Sparkle powder.  I finished  by embellishing with a couple of bright yellow enamel hearts to give an extra splash of colour, and there you have it.  The sun isn't shining up here in the North of England, so I thought I'd make it shine on my card!

I really hope you like it, and all the products I used are listed below, so go and give them a closer look!

See you all next week.

Jill

                  

*I should have published this post on 1st May...oopsy*