A big splash with Whaley small stamps.

Hi everybody,

Jill here, and this week, I'm getting the most from those uber cute tiny stamps we all have that sometimes get over-looked...

Using Lawn Fawn's Whale You Be Mine, and Altenew's Tiny Bubbles.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these wee little sets that Lawn Fawn come out with absolutely rock my world.  The price point is incredible (especially in our amazing store!), and they are always so so cute.  And now Altenew are joining the party and have released a few small stamps recently, I've used Tiny Bubbles here but they have Tiny Stars and Tiny Hearts also, all amazing for building up backgrounds etc.  Just brilliant.

I started by stamping out my lovely whales and the surrounding scene, including the sentiment which is from the same set, in Versamark and white heat embossing everything.  I knew I wanted to create an emboss resist background.  I then masked off my whales and the little heart using masking fluid, and went town with a big inky wash background.  once that was dry, I added a load of Altenew's Tiny Bubbles across my washed area, making sure to 'dab off' the ink form the edges of the stamp to give a softer finish.

I then added a flicker of darker blue ink, and a good splash of white to complete my background.  I removed the mask from my whales and heart, and coloured using Zig Clean Colour Brush Pens.

I finished with a slick of Glossy accents to make my scene stand off the page, and there you have it.

I really hope you like it and it makes you want to re-visit some of your smaller stamps that sometimes get lost amongst our vast collections :)

As always, everything I used is linked below so be sure to stop by the store.

See you next week.

Jillx

Party time!

Hi there,

Awesome news...Lawn Fawn have started their own twice monthly challenge over at Lawnfawnatics.com! Chooo Chooo!  I do love a challenge as it's a fun way to get your creativity flowing, and boy oh boy am I a fully fledged paid-up member of the Lawnfanatics club already!  These guys can do no wrong in my eyes.

Lawn Fawn are celebrating their 7th birthday, so the 'theme' of the first challenge is 'Happy Birthday', and here's where it took me...

Because it's Lawn Fawn's 7th birthday, I thought it would be a really sweet idea to use an element from a set from each year they have been going, and set up a little party gathering to celebrate this milestone.  So in my head, all these wonderful and varied critters are on their way to a Lawn Fawn party in the woods.  Now yes, yes, it is rather unlikely that these creatures would ever be in the same place at the same time haha - but that's the beauty of our stamps isn't it?  It is only our imaginations that set the boundaries :)

All my elements are stamped out, coloured with Copics, and fussy-cut; and I used foam adhesive to try and help with the perspective, so the idea is that the scene is set in layers, like a long lense shot through a camera.

I love the idea I have in my head of all theses little critters, spanning all the years of Lawn Fawn's story so far, rocking up to a party in the middle of woods.

I'll list below what elements are from what sets and from what years etc, but all that's left for me to say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAWN FAWN, here's to the next seven.  Oh, and thank you so much for the new challenge!

Thanks for stopping by.

Jill

2010 - rabbit (one of my all time favourite images EVER) from Critter's In The Burbs.

2011 - Hedgehog from Critter's In The Forest.

2012 - Little house from Sweet Christmas

2013 - party banner from Blu Skies

2014 - little birdie from Hello Sunshine

2015 - Squirrel from Let's Play

2016 - chick from Chirpy Chirp Chirp

2017 - Sloth from Hang In There

Little cats being Lil Painters.

Hi everybody,

Jill here, and I've got some 'Little Cats' playing at being 'Lil Painters' for you today...

...by mixing up two gorgeous sets from Mama Elephant.

This scene popped in my head as soon as I got my hands on these delightful sets for some reason, with the little cat from 'Little Cat Agendas' painting his little pal playing around, using the easel from 'Lil painters'.

I started by stamping out all the elements I wanted to use from both sets, colouring using my Zig Clean Colour Pens, and fussy cutting.  I also used the sun & clouds from Mama Elephant's 'Sunday Stroll' and did the same with those.  For the actual painting the little kitty is doing, I just did a silly little doodle onto the easel and lightly coloured.

I did a little ink blending to create my background, sprinkling and soaking up some water droplets across it to add a little interest.

My sentiment is from another Mama Elephant set, 'Ella & Friends' and is stamped in black ink then clear heat embossed.

I then adhered all my pieces in place to create my scene.

I really like how this card came out as it makes me smile.  I love using my sets together to create alternate stories and outcomes.

I really hope you like it.  

As always, everything I used is linked below.

See you next week.

Jillx

Starry Starry Night.

Hi everybody,

Jill here, and this week I'm looking to the sky on a starry night...

...and using my supplies to create a deeply sentimental card for an incredibly special friend, taking inspiration from the very beautiful Don Mclean song, 'Vincent'.

It had been a while since I did a galaxy/night sky background so was looking forward to getting very inky!

I started with a panel of white card and my choice of coloured inks to use as my constellations. I chose pink, yellow, and blue and inked them randomly across my card.  I then went in with the black.  Now this is quite intimidating to most of us, I think the trick is to go slowly and steadily, but be brave and bold.  Once I had laid all the black I wanted down, I gave my piece a good sprinkling of water droplets which I then soaked up with paper towel.  I also added a good flicker of white paint and a spritz of shine mist.  Once I was happy with how it looked, I took Wplus9's Starry Background, and cut it twice from my panel.  

I took a piece of vellum and cut Lawn Fawn's Forest Border from it, I really wanted to emulate one of those stunning photos you see of the Northern Lights, really magical and beautiful, and thought the Forest Border really helped set the scene.  I then stamped out my sentiment in the spare space using these beautiful words from Mama Elephant's Shooting Star set, and white heat embossed.  I find myself turning to this set a lot for sentiments as they are all heaped with meaning. 

I adhered my vellum in place by creating a wrap and hiding my double sided tape around the back of the panel, then mounted my whole piece onto some silver sparkly card to really make my stars 'pop'.

I finished by cutting a few stars from the same silver sparkle card using Mama Elephant's Confetti and adding them as embellishments

I really enjoyed making this card, so really hope you like how it came out.

See you next week.

Jillx

For Lee, 'This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you'.

A Slow and Sorry Sloth.

Hi everybody,

Jill here, and this week I'm saying sorry for being slow...

...with the help of this adorable little sloth from Lawn Fawn's new Hang In There set.

There are few things in life more embarrassing than missing a loved ones birthday, probably even more so for us card makers, but it certainly helps soften the blow if you make up for it with an uber cute card, and this set steps up to that mark perfectly!  I mean, everybody has a soft spot for the gorgeous sloth, don't they?

I started my card by stamping out my sweet sloth, watercolouring him using ink and fussy cutting.  I then cut a ton of Stitched Leaves from Lawn Fawn and, again, watercoloured with ink.

I cut a circle aperture from a panel of white card and built up my leaves behind, then added my sloth, hanging from his branch, so he was over-hanging the aperture.

I then took a cute little bloom of foliage from Lawn Fawn's Penelope's Blossoms and stamped it along the bottom of my panel, then stamped the sentiment from the Hang In There set, in black ink and clear heat embossed.

At this point I really liked how striking the green looked against the stark white so, after mounting onto a white card blank, decided to leave it there.

I love this new set, and have fell head over heels for this lovable guy!  I certainly hope he helps deliver my 'sorry I'm late' message with a smile!

I hope you like, as always, everything I used is linked below.

See you next week.

Jill

Fab flowers for your fabulous mam.

Hi everybody,

Jill here, and this week, I've got a fab floral bouquet fit for the finest Mam!

Using the gorgeous new Fab Flowers from Lawn Fawn.

I loved this set as soon as I set eyes on it and knew straight away I wanted to create a huge bouquet using it.  I love all the different flower layering stamps that are around nowadays, and especially loved the more whimsical style of this set as I felt it was more 'me'.

This card was incredibly simple to make; I started by making myself a circle card base, then stamped out the beautiful range of flowers and foliage you get, in all different colours I wanted featured in my bouquet.  I then cut them all out using the matching die set.  Once all my flowers and foliage were cut, I simply built them up over my card base to create a pretty arrangement and, once happy, I adhered everything in place.

I then cut Lawn Fawn's Happy Mother's Day Border from white card, added a strip of teal card behind, and cut around the border to help the sentiment 'pop'.  I added a twirl of twine and added my border over the top using foam tape to give some dimension.

I finished by adding a good scattering of clear sequins around my Fab Flowers, and there you have it.

I'm really happy with how this turned out and think my Mam (yes, it's 'Mam' where I'm from), is going to love it!

Simple?  Yes.  Time consuming?  Certainly.  Worth it?  Definitely!  

I really hope you like it and it inspires you to do something a little different for your Mam's this year :)

As always, everything I used is linked below.

See you next week.

Jillx